Baby Boom in the Courtyard

This summer, our apartment complex has undergone quite a baby boom. We knew that The Myers and Ballard family were expecting, and due to receive new ones a few months before us, but then, to everyone's surprise, our dear friends the Espinos were able to adopt twin boys! That meant, by the time Scott arrived, there were 5 new babies in just a few months time!

Here are the Espinos with their boys and Jen Myers with her daughter, and me with Scott.
Last night we all happened to be out chatting at the same time, so we got a picture. Of course, it's the Spangler child in the middle crying for the picture while everyone else looks happy. Figures. :)
I thought this picture of three of the dads was cute.


Real men hold babies.

1st Bath

he didn't love it, but he survived.

Mommy Loves Me Anyway

I have really bad baby acne right now...
(and don't I look so unhappy about it?)
but since I conk out on her in the cutest ways...
my Mommy loves me anyway!

Similarities

We've gotten a lot of comments about who everyone thinks Scott looks like, and our response is, "Addie." Here's a few pictures to prove it!


Addie, minutes old.

Scott, minutes old.

The difference between them? Addie is screaming, Scott is sleeping. This sums up the difference between them for the entire first two weeks.

Addie, about one week old. Notice the wide open, alert eyes. She had an intensity to her right from the beginning.

Scott, about one week old. His eyes are more squinty than hers, but other than that, they look very similar!

He's Scrumptious

Some of my favorite "eye open" pictures....
There aren't many. He sleeps A LOT!

How's the Big Sister Doing?

Lots of people have asked how Addie is doing with her new brother, and we say, "Great!"
Greg's mom arrived to help us about a week before Scott finally arrived, and during that time Addie acted up PLENTY. But since we brought home brother, she is doing really well. She really loves him!

Addie and I had gone on a special shopping trip before Scott's arrival for her to pick out a gift for him. She chose a little cow rattle, and was very particular about what she got for him. We spent at least half an hour picking just the right thing. Here she is at the hospital, happily giving him his gift. (there were a few gifts at the hospital for her too).

We brought Scott home at night, after Addie was in bed. Here she is the next morning, just talking to him in his car seat.
And this is Mommy's favorite! The girl who up till now could care less about dolls, got her doll out the other day and played Mommy. Here she is nursing the baby. She proudly told me, "My baby likes this side better than the other."

Well sure, we like each other...

Mom and Dad put us in these shirts to take some pictures. They thought it would be really cute. And hey, we DO like each other....
It's mom and dad taking our picture that we don't like!

Meeting the Family

Big sister with little brother at the hospital.
Meemaw meets the little man
Addie helps Daddy give brother a bottle (he's off the bottle now, but we were sure glad for it while at the hospital when we needed it!)
Scott picks up his head to look at Daddy

Labor & Delivery

We're finally able to blog about Scott's arrival! Here's some pictures and details you've all been asking for.

Niki was admitted to the hospital and induced Tuesday morning, the 11th (5 days after the due date).
Here we are with Niki in hard labor, yet smiling and feeling pretty good because of our dear friend Vonna. Vonna, who was our labor & delivery nurse for Addie's birth, works at the hospital and came on her lunch break to encourage me through labor and make me more comfortable. What a blessing she is!!!!! She was able to finish her shift and come in for Scott's birth too, we were so glad.
Here's Scott Ryan Spangler just minutes after birth. Weighing 8 lbs., 7 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long. He was born at 5:45pm. Niki's labor lasted a little less than 9 hours. (And I was confortable for most of it!) I was less sick this time than last time, but still gave Greg and Vonna the wonderful privelege of catching my vomit. I'm a giver.
Resting after the big ordeal.
Getting his first bath. Not too excited about it.

Quote of the Day

During lunch, I said to Addie "I wonder what your brother is going to be like."
Her response was great. She said "He'll probably be like Daddy and be handsome."

I couldn't agree more.

Almost Done!

Sorry for the pathetically out-of-date blog everyone! There is lots I could report on, but I only have enough time to say that we are getting very close to the end. The due date is now August 6th, but the Dr. says I could deliver any time. For the last two nights I've had good contractions, but they always peter out after awhile. We are all waiting with much anticipation for the arrival of Scott Ryan! We'll try to post his arrival information when the time comes, and pictures too!

Greg: AKA: Super Husband/Dad

Greg may have had a little vacation from being the super-duper-do-everything-guy around here for a few months, but last week he had to snap right back into his role. Unfortunately, I got really sick-- an ear infection, sinus infection, and bronchitis, and I was no longer a functioning wife & mommy. Of course it hit on the week of our 8th anniversary, my baby shower, and Father's Day. Oh well. We skipped the anniversary and I made it to the shower, though I wasn't myself. Father's Day got a little effort, though not as much as Greg deserves!

We decided it is only fitting to kinda miss these holidays, since we've skipped most holidays for the past year! My birthday last summer (I was sick), Christmas, Greg's Birthday, and Valentines all came while I was in the first half of the pregnancy, so those got skipped. On Mother's day, Greg was sick, on Father's Day and our anniversary, I was sick. For awhile we kept pledging that we'd make the day up and celebrate later, but there's just too many to catch up on now! Now we just know this will be the year we'll never forget, and we have lots of precious memories of taking care of one another (and being taken care of) and a lot of love and appreciation for each other. You can't buy that for a gift!

Anyway, I am feeling a little better each day. The doctor put me on antibiotics and I am slowly recovering. I am amazed at how tired I am! My body must be fighting really hard. Had a check-up on Scotty yesterday and I've lost 3 pounds since my check 2 weeks ago, but the doctor didn't seem alarmed, so I won't be either. I've got just a little over a month to go to get to the finish line- hooray! Now it's time for all the last details to get put in place, the last items purchased, and then sit around and wait!

Sneak Preview

Well, yesterday's ultrasound gave us a sneak preview on what Scotty will look like! And here he is!
(that's the umbilical cord in front of him, not an arm by the way)





Dr. said everything looks great! He weighs just over 4 lbs. now and is right on track. Everything is going really well.

Parents

I gotta tell ya, we love being parents!
Here is my new favorite picture of my favorite people in the whole world. Man, I love these two.
And here's a picture of me that shows how the new Spangler is getting bigger and bigger. Only two months to go!

Lukas' cowboy birthday

This morning we got to join in our neighbor Lukas' birthday party at the park. It was a Brown/Cowboy themed party. Brown because that's what he said he wanted when his mommy asked him (he's three people!), and cowboy to make it extra cute. We had such a great time!

Here's cowboy Lukas and Cowgirl Addie. I do not think they could get any cuter. Nothin' like a toddler with a gun to win a young girl's heart I guess.
The Espino family, our neighbors and some of our favorite people.
Here's Addie "helping" me push Ally on the swing. Until she got a bottom to the head, it was great.
Lukas just after blowing out the candle on his cupcake. Happy 3rd birthday!

Soda Pop

Is it SODA? Or is it POP?
Yes, I am brave to start what I know could become a heated debate. Folks here in So Cal are going to say soda, whereas folks from everywhere else (I think) call it pop. Well, at the Spangler home we call it soda and makes us happy. It actually provided the icing on the cake (or should I say the bubbles in our drink?) for the great weekend away Greg and I had a few weeks ago.

There's a place I'd heard about that I've been wanting to visit for quite some time now, and we made it our first stop on the way East. It's called Galco's Soda Pop Stop, and we have to tell you- YOU GOTTA GO! It's an old little market that now carries almost nothing but soda pop, and the most unheard-of, hard to find, and interesting sodas you can imagine. We went in intending to each pick out two, and, well, see the picture?

We picked out lots and spent the weekend and the next week and a half sampling all kinds of interesting sodas. It was a hoot! We loved seeing what the other picked, and even picked out one each for the other person. It provided for some fun conversation and made every meal interesting.

Here's what we picked out, left to right.



-Kickapoo Joy Juice: We bought it just because of the name. It's a citrus flavored soda. My dad really liked it.
- Lorina Frenchberry Lemonade: oooh la la! It's from France. I bought it because I wanted to know what a "Frenchberry" would taste like. Turns out it's actually strawberry lemonade, and I thought it was too fizzy.
-Hank's Root Beer: Greg loved it. He actually licked his lips just remembering it now. He says it was "Smooth at the start, just right root beer flavor without being too syrupy, and a sharp but not strong bite at the end." It was his favorite.
-AJ Stephans Sarsaparilla: Greg thought it was OK.
-AJ Stephans Rasperry Lime Rickey: A taste sensation, a burst of joy to my tongue, a true delight!
-Stirrings Pink Grapefruit Soda: My mom thought it was OK
-Hot Lips Pear Soda: My absolute favorite. It really tasted like real pears and it wasn't overly carbonated. I could drink this stuff morning, noon, and night.
-Stirrings Tart Cranberry Soda: It was OK
-Nesbitt's Peach: "An American Classic" the bottle says, and everyone of a certain age seemed to brighten up and say "Nesbitt's!" and we understand why now. It was deeeeelicious.
-Lorina's Blueberry Lemonade: Also too fizzy. The French seem to overdo it a bit.
-Moxie Cherry Cola: Greg thought it was "slightly more cherry-y than wild cherry Pepsi", and says it's worth a try.

So really people, if you live in the Los Angeles area, you should really take a little trip down to Galco's. You won't regret it, and you'll enjoy every sip!

Drivin' Miss Addie

Pics from a while back when Allie gave Addie a ride in her jeep.

Addie making sure everything is as it should be.