2 week check-up

Laney will be two weeks old tomorrow; we had a good checkup today. She gained 11 oz since last week and now weighs 6 lbs 5 oz, 1 oz more than she did at birth. She's also 1.5 inches longer. She's growing and that makes me happy.

Her cord fell off Sunday so she got her first real bath tonight. As you can tell she hated it.

I had to take this picture of her sleeping. I love how one hand is on her chest and one is at her face...

singing and dancing

this video is 2.5 minutes of cuteness...

the first bit is luke (and sam in the background) singing along to "Real Gone" from the Pixar movie "Cars". There's a part where Sheryl Crowe grunts in the song; Luke grunts along every time. So B and I got it on video, and just for fun kept rewinding the song so we could hear him grunt over and over.

the rest of the video is of the boys dancing. they have moves.

our weekend

After a wonderful week of Ron working only a few hours a day and B staying with us to help with the kids we had a fun weekend with a visit from Aunt Bekah. I haven't been alone with all three kids for more than about an hour; I'm so spoiled! I hope I can handle it when Ron's at work and everyone has gone home and it's all on me...

Rebekah made it in town Friday in time for an early dinner at Rosie's. She showed Luke how to throw pennies into the fountain.

We tried taking some pictures of Laney for her announcement, but instead took pictures of Sam and Luke. I'm just no good at photographing a newborn; they have a mind of their own.

Ron and Sam went to Lowe's Saturday morning for a kids' workshop. He built a pirate ship. Ron said he even hammered the nails in all by himself. He came home with an apron and safety goggles he'd used while there. He loves the safety gobbles, as he calls them...

We made it to church this morning, but not for long. I'm not one to let my kids stay in the service and distract everyone, so when Laney started getting a little fussy I scooped her up and headed home. Sam and Luke enjoyed being back in the nursery with all their friends. It was nice being back, even if only for a short time.

5 day checkup

Laney saw the doctor yesterday for her first well-visit. She weighed in at 5.10 and got a good report for the most part. Only negative was that her bilirubin was high. So the home health nurses brought out a phototherapy machine yesterday afternoon. Her blood results already came back today and her levels are much closer to normal. 24 more hours of the blue light and she'll be free to sleep in her bed again.

Our little lightning bug...

Yummy fingers

Sam the Builder

We finally got our front door fixed today. Props to the guys at Henley Supply... this was their third time here trying to fix the broken middle section of the door and they finally got it right. These guys were so concerned about getting it done right and hated the fact they had to leave twice before with an unfinished job. The builders broke the piece during installation before we moved in and tried gluing it back together. That obviously didn't work and we've had to live with a slight draft and a wiggly door.

Sam welcomed them in saying "good morning" and quickly got his construction hat and hammer. I love this picture with his hammer in hand resting on his hip like he's running the show. ☺

Coming home

Before leaving the hospital I got a quick picture with Donna, my L&D nurse. She was such an encouragement! Ironically, she is the nurse who gave me and Ashley our tour at Crestwood a couple of months ago. I left that tour thinking how great it would be to have her as my nurse; she has a quirky and fun personality.

We put Laney in the car seat and she just looked so tiny. The pink dress is the outfit I made in case she was a girl. Looks like I'll be giving the blue outfit away to Denise since I won't be needing it.

As soon as we got home Sam wanted to hold her. He is so sweet. When she cries, he walks up to her and says "It's okay Laney, Sam's here..." He strokes her face and gives her kisses whenever he has the chance. Luke mostly just points to her and says "baby", although he did give her a kiss for the first time this morning.

It's definitely going to take a while to adjust. I'm so glad to know we'll have help from family for a while. The Philleys are coming today for the weekend, Rebekah is coming next weekend, and my mom is coming Monday-Friday for a few weeks. I am blessed!

Some hospital pictures

Finally a few more pictures... It's been crazy since we got home. It definitely would have been crazier if not for the wonderful help of my mom. Thanks to B we had a delicious dinner last night after we got home from the hospital. And while we were in the hospital B and Pops took good care of our boys and our house; we couldn't have done it without y'all!!

Here's me, Laney, and Karen Raiford within 10 minutes of her birth. I was so glad Karen could deliver Laney. Her son, Thomas, is Sam's best friend at MDO. It made the delivery even more special.

Just like Luke, Laney came out "sunny side up" and was a little swollen. She came out with huge lips! The swelling went down within a few hours... but poor little thing, she had some bumps and bruises.

Our first family picture. Pops and the boys came in within 30 minutes of her delivery, so they got to meet their little sister pretty soon after her arrival.

Here's Sam holding her for the first time. Hard to believe it was one year and 3 weeks ago that I took a similar picture of him holding Luke. Time has flown! He's absolutely in love with her... he told Ron he's going to protect her from all the mean boys. So cute!

It's a Girl!!

Laney Grace joined us yesterday, June 17th at 12:37pm weighing in at 6 lbs 4 oz. I will upload more pictures tomorrow when we get home from the hospital. Until then, here's sweet Laney...

24 more hours

Newbie will be here tomorrow! We're going in at 5:30 am for an induction. The doc seems to think we'll have a baby by lunch. So as you just mentioned KC, we're getting this "show on the road". Praise the Lord!

We'll post pictures as soon as we have a chance. Thanks ahead of time for your prayers!

The Nursery is Done

The nursery and all its details are done. Technically I finished the nursery a week or two ago, but I still had a few things left to do for Newbie. I made a few outfits for him/her to wear when leaving the hospital (one pink and one blue), a diaper bag, a blanket, a pillow for the crib, and some artwork. I've really enjoyed making all this stuff; I've done a lot more for this kid than I did for Sam and Luke combined.

Ashley used these bunny templates from Martha Stewart online for some frames in Kate's nursery. So I cut out the rabbits on card stock and used my yellow minky dot fabric for the background. I love how these turned out!

As you'll see in these pictures, I used the minky dot fabric and bunny toile fabric for a lot of things. The crib bedding and 2 curtains were spotted at a garage sale. So I bought extra toile and made a little blanket, pillow, and diaper bag. It's great because it has pink and blue in it...

The main part of the bag is in toile while the strap is yellow minky dot. Surprisingly I'm not tired of yellow yet. I thought I might be by now. Once Newbie gets here I plan on personalizing the room with pink or blue. Hopefully I'll be able to do that soon. Seriously y'all, I think this baby will be here by the weekend. I sure hope I'm right!

Family of Four...

We took a quick picture at church today assuming it's our last time to go as a family of just four. I know it's optimistic of me, but I have a feeling Newbie will be here by next Sunday.

After the family pic Sam insisted he get a picture with his buddy Pierson. Aren't they a cute duo?

what do you do when you're about to pop and can't stand staying at the house for another minute? go to wal-mart. i took the boys up to wal-mart this morning to ride on some toys. it was luke's first time and he wasn't sure about it.

luke's a little out of focus in this picture but you get the idea. sam's having a blast and luke is a little concerned about what i've gotten him in to as he holds on to sam's arm for dear life.
on a side note, i tried giving luke some strawberries for breakfast. he didn't want anything to do with them until i brought out the fork. once each bite was on the fork he was willing to eat it up.

little luke has started crawling around the house wearing the construction hat uncle big mac passed along to us... he crawls until it falls off, then stops and looks at it. he tries to put it back on himself but hasn't quite mastered it yet.

Hair cuts induce labor?

I took Sam to get his hair cut yesterday. He was so defiant in the chair that I ended up having to hold him down in my lap. This led to LOTS of pressure on my stomach and continual kicks and elbows to the belly... I had my first contraction while at the hair salon and several more for the next couple of hours.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but I went to the doctor today for my 38 week appointment and I have progressed. The baby is close to being here! Maybe even within a few days. But we will have to see... So if you've ever wondered, hair cuts just might help induce labor. ☺

Sam cleaning off the hair...it was everywhere!

Meanwhile, Luke has a blast in the plane

Sam's Vacation: Days 3-7

Days 3-7 were spent in the Smokies in Sevierville, TN.  He had fun going to Dollywood, Gatlinburg, and hanging out at "the condo" (as he calls it).

These next 2 pictures are before and after the River Rampage water ride.  He didn't like it because he got wet.  Grandee said he could have sat there all day watching people ride it.  He laughed and laughed as they came down the ride and got soaked.  He just didn't want any part of it for himself...

poor teary-eyed Sam

After they bought some new dry clothes at the gift shop it looks like he enjoyed some comfort food: popcorn.

He was excited about watching the guy make candy.  He did lots of other fun stuff and had a great time.  

I'm glad he had so much fun with such special grandparents.  But I'm glad he's home.  He got here about 2 hours ago and just keeps telling me how much he loves me.  Oh, it melts my heart...

Sam's Vacation: Days 1 and 2

Last Saturday Sam left to vacation for a week with the Philleys.  Days 1 and 2 were spent in Montgomery with Uncle Big Mac, Aunt Bekah, and baby Jackson.  Here he is in the car on the way...  

They went to a Biscuits baseball game in Montgomery.  One of the first things he showed me when he got home was his toy biscuit; he thinks it's funny that the little stuffed biscuit has butter in it's mouth.  Here's Sam with his uncle and cousin...

37 week update

Just a quick update on my doctor's appointment yesterday.  Thanks so much to all of you who prayed over the last week.  At my ultrasound yesterday I was thrilled to find out that the baby is in the correct head-down position.  So no need to turn the baby or schedule a c-section for now.  We're so happy!

They gave the baby an estimated weight of 6lbs 10oz.  That may not seem like a lot, but it's a pound more than Sam's birth weight and I still have 3 weeks to go!  Can't wait to see how big he/she ends up being.

Family Pictures

I realized a few weeks ago that we haven't taken a professional family picture since Luke was born.  I wanted to get one before Newbie arrived, just so we could capture the short time we were a family of four.  So a few weeks ago we headed to Portrait Innovations and got a few pictures taken.