Maternity leave is over. I had 13 wonderful weeks off, but I had to go back. My main motivation was to get Will to quit saying "Da works, Mom shops"! Will, you are hilarious! By shopping, he clearly meant grocery shopping. I can't believe my 2 year old is already trying to get me in trouble!
I noticed that JT has left after me this first week. He says it is to help, but I assume he was making sure that I didn't need to be pushed out of the house! JT has been a great help taking care of Will in the morning so I can get ready. I always hope that Evie will wake up before I leave, but that doesn't always happen. Hope has done great with managing both kiddos! JT is doing great a night with them, although I know Evie is giving him a tough time.
NeeNee and JT took care of Will and Evie together for my first Saturday and Sunday. They learned together how to get through a day with Evie - loud noise! She can be silenced with the noise of a vacuum cleaner or hum of the dryer which they finally learned.I came home to a clean house and JT was cooking dinner. He better stop showing off how great he is at this or I will make him a stay-at-home Dad!
It was nice for me to be back at work. I'm very lucky to have a job that I love! I have missed my customers. I spend a lot of my day telling them all about Evie and how Will has adjusted to big brotherhood. Talking about them and getting pictures from Hope always gets me through the day.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Evie - 3 Months
Happy 3 Months Old Evie!
Evie is starting to show a little personality, but it is coming on slowly. She smiles a lot now when we talk to her. She likes to see lights and shiny things. A few times she has focused on TV cartoons that Will is watching. She is starting to coo a little and has a little sound that sounds like a sweet "hi".
She got her first wubbanub. It is a sweet pink elephant. She likes it better than a regular pacifier, but her interest is still low. Not that I really want her to be attached too it, but it would be nice if I could use it as a calming tool every once in a while. I'm starting to give it to her at bedtime, so maybe she'll associate it with her sleep times.
She is finally wearing 0-3 month clothes. We didn't have a doctor's appointment is month, so I am not exactly sure of her weight. She is probably around 12 pounds. Her cheeks get bigger by the day! She is losing more of her hair, especially around the back where her head lays when she sleeps. She is going to have a mullet. I put the headband bows on her every once in a while for some added cuteness.
She is sleeping 10-11 hours at night. I have tried putting her to bed around 7:30-8:00 so that we can get Will to bed with her already asleep, but the times aren't always consistent yet. She is sleeping until at least 7:00 AM (if not later), so I can not complain!
She is becoming more content alone but still loves to cuddle. I can finally get her to sit in chair, swing, or propped up on boppy pillow for a little while. Sometimes she wants to be picked back up right away and other times she'll hang out for 45 minutes. She sometimes looks at the stuffed animals on play mat. She prefers to grab the elephant and have a staring contest with it.
JT and I went to Gatlidnburg and Evie had her first sleepover at Gram and Gramps house. She did great and they enjoyed getting to spend time with her.
A few more pics from the month:
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| Hanging out with Will |
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| Is picture time over yet?!?! |
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Thanksgiving 2013
Happy Thanksgiving from our littlest turkey! Will isn't still long enough to be in pictures.
This was a busy holiday for us this year! We managed to see 3 out of 4 families in 1 day. We ate a lot and traveled some.
On Wednesday we went to Gram and Gramps house because some family would be there that had not yet met Evie. We had dinner with Gram, Gramps, Mama, Poppa, Aunt Cricket, Uncle Jimmy, Brandon, Monica, Kyle, and Leslie. Aunt Cricket had Evie almost laughing. Evie loved being held by Monica and Leslie. Will decided Poppa was his new playmate and we heard Will yelling "Watch Poppa!" for about 2 hours straight.
Thursday morning we started the day early with NeeNee and Jon at our house for breakfast. NeeNee then went to Aunt Julia's, so Jon tagged along with us for the big lunch at Gram's.
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| Leslie, Monica, and I make a great team! |
After a big lunch and yummy desserts, it was time to head to Chattanooga. Evie and Will both slept the entire ride to Pop's house. Jon met us there and we got to see the whole crew. Evie met her aunts and uncles for the first time. This was our first meeting with Savannah. Big announcement - Traci Jo and Jimmy are having a baby! Yay for another cousin! This family has grown a lot just this past year and we are so excited that it is continuing to grow.
We stayed at Pop's for the weekend. Kristen brought Tripp and Savannah over on Friday. Will and Tripp played together a little bit. They liked chasing each other. Nonna had a cute idea for the kiddos for Christmas, so we made Santa ornaments from all of their hand prints. Evie was the easiest because she was asleep and didn't have any idea what we were doing. Will took longer and lots of convincing to create 5 hand prints. We had to tell him silly things like "this is for Dixie" and "show Woof Woof how to make a hand print". We got it done though and they turned out so cute! Will spent a lot of Friday hanging out with Pops, Jon, and JT. They were out in the yard cutting bushes and trees, and Will wanted to "help". He stayed out with them for a while and had a blast!
After all of that work, Uncle Jon and Pops had some quality time with Evie.
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| A rare pic of Jon because he is usually the one taking the pictures. |
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| Pops and Evie |
We are so thankful for all of our family and all of our many blessings!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Sleeping Beauty
What can I say...my babies are good sleepers! They may not look like me, but they take after me when it comes to sleeping!
Evie slept through the night the day after she was 2 months old. She had seemed capable of it for a while, but her startle reflex would wake her up more than it should have. I tried the SwaddleMe wraps (looks like a straight jacket), but she would scream like she was in pain. She wanted her hands free. I put her in a sleep sack thinking that might help keep her warm, but her hands were free so she would wake up a few times. Finally I decided that we were going to use the SwaddleMe wrap again. She wasn't happy about it at first, but she slept through the night. She has been put in it at night ever since. Sleeping baby = happy household!
I play music and dance/rock her to sleep at night. Her pediatrician told me that by 4 months she should be able to fall asleep on her own. So we are going to work on putting her down drowsy but not sleeping. I am enjoying our little night time routine right now, so maybe I'll start working on this a little to closer to when I have to go back to work.
Evie slept through the night the day after she was 2 months old. She had seemed capable of it for a while, but her startle reflex would wake her up more than it should have. I tried the SwaddleMe wraps (looks like a straight jacket), but she would scream like she was in pain. She wanted her hands free. I put her in a sleep sack thinking that might help keep her warm, but her hands were free so she would wake up a few times. Finally I decided that we were going to use the SwaddleMe wrap again. She wasn't happy about it at first, but she slept through the night. She has been put in it at night ever since. Sleeping baby = happy household!
I play music and dance/rock her to sleep at night. Her pediatrician told me that by 4 months she should be able to fall asleep on her own. So we are going to work on putting her down drowsy but not sleeping. I am enjoying our little night time routine right now, so maybe I'll start working on this a little to closer to when I have to go back to work.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Evie - 2 months
Happy 2 Months Old Evie!
Stats:
Height - 23 inches
Weight - 11 pounds **I bet at least 1 pound of this is in those cheeks!**
Evie has become more alert this past month, but still sleeps a lot. When she is awake, she looks around and seems to take in every detail of the world. She isn't very content alone for very long and still wants to be held all of the time. Don't get me wrong, I am loving the cuddle time, but it would be nice to be able to put her down so I can get some stuff done around the house.
She loves noise! My best ways to calm her down are to turn on my hair dryer or vacuum cleaner. I've even walked past the washing machine when it was on and she instantly fell asleep. Maggie's barking and Will's running around don't seem to phase her at all. A car ride is another way to calm her down. The car must be moving though - red lights and traffic are not on my side!
We still haven't gotten on a true schedule, but we are working on it. She gets up once or twice at night and usually is really sleepy until around noon. I take advantage of this and run errands in the morning so she sleeps through it all. She sleeps 5-6 hour stretches at night. She really is a good sleeper, but it is hard to get her in her crib at night. She usually falls asleep with me holding her or after she eats. As soon as she feels me put her down in the crib, her eyes pop wide open and we have to start the process all over again.
She is losing her hair. It is dark in the back and on sides but lighter on the top. Hope and I think we see some strawberry blonde in there.
This has been a big month for her. She went on vacation to the beach. She also got to do some fun fall activities - Lucky Ladd Farms, Fall Festival at Mother's Day Out, and Halloween.
This is my favorite picture from this month. I kept trying to get her to smile for me, but she wouldn't. Will walked up to her chair and her face just lit up. It looks like they have been having a fun conversation.
We love you so much sweet girl!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Evie - 1 Month
Happy 1 Month Old Evie!
Stats: (at 2 weeks)
Weight - 7 lb 7 oz
Length - 20 inches
Well this has been a fast month! Time is flying by faster and faster each day. I have enjoyed every minute of it with this baby girl, even the crying times.
The first few weeks she has spent sleeping away! Will was a good sleeper, but did not sleep the 20 hours that the baby books said he would. Evie on the other hand has done just that up until this past week. She is a little more alert now and has more awake times during the day. Her normal routine is eating about every 2 hours during the day, and then going 3-4 hours at night. Last night she slept 6 hours! I doubt this is going to happen again because it is too early for her to be sleeping through the night, but JT and I really appreciated the long stretch of sleep. It was however a rough 2 hours before she fell asleep. She seems to be starting to have the "witching hour" beginning when JT gets home until we can finally get her down for the night. She won't take a pacifier usually so it is a little rough, but we survived it with Will and know that it will pass. Now that we are at the 1 month mark, I'm going to try to start getting her on more of a routine. It will be a very flexible routine though probably until she is at least 2 months old.
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| Sweet sleeping Evie |
She is slowly starting to lose her hair. It isn't really that noticeable yet. Her eyes have become a beautiful blue (smoky grey when born). I'm not one to think a baby looks like a parent at birth because they change so much over the first few weeks, but I think now she is starting to like Will. (MAO loves to tell me how much she looks like me, but if you compare pictures, she is identical to Will who doesn't look anything like me!)
We have been out and about a few times. Gram drove us around to get some things for her nursery. I put Evie in my sling/wrap and she loved it - she falls right to sleep as soon as she gets all snuggled up. This is how she and I go to the grocery store and it has been so easy so far. Evie attended her first party - 2nd birthday for the Eller twins. She cried the entire time. The next day we went to a City Auto company picnic where she met tons of people and was passed around for hours. She slept through the entire thing so now everyone thinks she is the easiest baby ever!
Will and Maggie have adjusted well to her. Will loves her! He kisses her and wants to "hold baby" about once a day. He gets tired of holding her after about 5 seconds so I have to be close to catch her when he decides to "no hold baby". It wouldn't surprise me if he just tossed her off of the couch when he was done. He tries to comfort her sometimes when she is crying. He rocks her vibrating seat (a little too hard) and I've seen him grab her hand and "shh" her when she is crying. Maggie just lays around beside her and sleeps in her room at night.
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| Getting Will ready for bed |
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| Will's "hold baby" time. She actually fell asleep with him like this. He felt it was necessary to wear his bike helmet. She is the one that is going to need a helmet! |
We love you so much sweet Evie! I don't think either JT or I ever realized how much we needed a little girl to complete our family!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Second Pregnancy
They say every pregnancy is different. Overall, I would have to agree. I had a post about my pregnancy with Will, so I feel like I need to write about this one too so I don't forget. There were plenty of similarities, but enough differences that I thought the baby would be a girl.
Sickness:
I was much sicker this time. I had morning, noon, and night sickness from week 7 up until 6 months. JT actually started preparing himself to have a girl after the sickness continued into the second trimester. Sweets made me sick with Will, but this time there was no certain food that triggered it. I ate sweets this time, but I didn't necessarily crave them. I actually didn't crave anything. Just like last time, my diet consisted of lots of ginger ale, bagels, and apples.
Looks/Weight Gain:
I had gotten up to 21 pounds, but started losing weight toward the end. I ended up with 19 pounds above pre-pregnancy weight. I gained 30 pounds with Will.
I was "all belly" again! This is the one thing that made me think we were having another boy. Back to girl thoughts, my "bump" was definitely higher this time though. When I looked in a mirror, I thought I had gained weight nowhere but my belly. I see it in my face and arms though when I look at pictures.
I had some swelling like last time. It was mainly my right hand and right leg though. It actually hurt in my fingers because of all of the extra fluid. I expected more swelling since I went through some summer months, but it really wasn't too bad. Thank goodness this was a mild summer!
Gestational Diabetes:
At 28 weeks I failed my first glucose tolerance test. I was expecting that since it happened with Will. I had to go through the 4 hour glucose test and failed the fasting portion of that which was an automatic indicator for gestational diabetes. I argued with the nurse about this though because I had taken my blood sugar that morning 2 hours before I went for the test and it was within goal. I have no idea how it jumped up for the lab test. I demanded a retest, but honestly I really didn't want to go through all of that again. (What should have been 4 needle sticks ended up being 7. I hate needles - and my veins refused to cooperate during this entire pregnancy.) The nurse said I had to go to diabetes nutrition and education class, but I told her that I actually teach that class at Publix so she let me skip it if I promised to check my blood sugar 4 times a day and follow a low-carb diet. Since I was still convinced that the lab was wrong, I checked my blood sugars for 2 weeks and couldn't wait to show off my awesome results - and I didn't even change my diet really! When I went for my 32 week appointment, I showed Dr. Crowe my blood sugar readings and told her that her lab was wrong. She looked them over and told me they were excellent blood sugars for a diabetic, but not a pregnant diabetic. What?!?! The goals are so much stricter for gestational diabetes, and I was not aware of this. My goodness I felt like a fool! I begged her to let me change my diet to control it because I did not want to be on medicine, especially insulin shots! She told me to fax my readings over each week and I could stay off medicine if I could stay at goal. I worked so hard at this (aka starved myself) and was able to keep it managed by myself throughout the rest of the pregnancy. Dr. Crowe taught me a trick that we both feel is absolutely ridiculous, but it works - eat a bedtime snack with carbs. I didn't do this at first because I just couldn't understand why I would do that when the whole point was to cut out carbs. But it worked! Before bed I would eat an apple or peanut butter toast or a small bowl of ice cream. My fasting blood sugar the next morning would be 70-80. If I didn't have that snack, it would be high 80s. Makes no sense, but it was the one time of day that I actually enjoyed eating!
**I think I probably had this with Will too. I was just exercising several times per week with him which I know helped me, and I didn't exercise at all this time.
The night my water broke (before I actually realized what happened), I had a really good time with Will. JT had been asleep since dinner and Will and I just hung out. We had a little dance party together and then I put him to bed. I didn't get to tell him bye before we left for the hospital, so I am so thankful for this fun memory.
This pregnancy went by so fast! I really enjoyed being pregnant both times, even though this second one was definitely not so easy.
Sickness:
I was much sicker this time. I had morning, noon, and night sickness from week 7 up until 6 months. JT actually started preparing himself to have a girl after the sickness continued into the second trimester. Sweets made me sick with Will, but this time there was no certain food that triggered it. I ate sweets this time, but I didn't necessarily crave them. I actually didn't crave anything. Just like last time, my diet consisted of lots of ginger ale, bagels, and apples.
Looks/Weight Gain:
I had gotten up to 21 pounds, but started losing weight toward the end. I ended up with 19 pounds above pre-pregnancy weight. I gained 30 pounds with Will.
I was "all belly" again! This is the one thing that made me think we were having another boy. Back to girl thoughts, my "bump" was definitely higher this time though. When I looked in a mirror, I thought I had gained weight nowhere but my belly. I see it in my face and arms though when I look at pictures.
I had some swelling like last time. It was mainly my right hand and right leg though. It actually hurt in my fingers because of all of the extra fluid. I expected more swelling since I went through some summer months, but it really wasn't too bad. Thank goodness this was a mild summer!
Gestational Diabetes:
At 28 weeks I failed my first glucose tolerance test. I was expecting that since it happened with Will. I had to go through the 4 hour glucose test and failed the fasting portion of that which was an automatic indicator for gestational diabetes. I argued with the nurse about this though because I had taken my blood sugar that morning 2 hours before I went for the test and it was within goal. I have no idea how it jumped up for the lab test. I demanded a retest, but honestly I really didn't want to go through all of that again. (What should have been 4 needle sticks ended up being 7. I hate needles - and my veins refused to cooperate during this entire pregnancy.) The nurse said I had to go to diabetes nutrition and education class, but I told her that I actually teach that class at Publix so she let me skip it if I promised to check my blood sugar 4 times a day and follow a low-carb diet. Since I was still convinced that the lab was wrong, I checked my blood sugars for 2 weeks and couldn't wait to show off my awesome results - and I didn't even change my diet really! When I went for my 32 week appointment, I showed Dr. Crowe my blood sugar readings and told her that her lab was wrong. She looked them over and told me they were excellent blood sugars for a diabetic, but not a pregnant diabetic. What?!?! The goals are so much stricter for gestational diabetes, and I was not aware of this. My goodness I felt like a fool! I begged her to let me change my diet to control it because I did not want to be on medicine, especially insulin shots! She told me to fax my readings over each week and I could stay off medicine if I could stay at goal. I worked so hard at this (aka starved myself) and was able to keep it managed by myself throughout the rest of the pregnancy. Dr. Crowe taught me a trick that we both feel is absolutely ridiculous, but it works - eat a bedtime snack with carbs. I didn't do this at first because I just couldn't understand why I would do that when the whole point was to cut out carbs. But it worked! Before bed I would eat an apple or peanut butter toast or a small bowl of ice cream. My fasting blood sugar the next morning would be 70-80. If I didn't have that snack, it would be high 80s. Makes no sense, but it was the one time of day that I actually enjoyed eating!
**I think I probably had this with Will too. I was just exercising several times per week with him which I know helped me, and I didn't exercise at all this time.
The night my water broke (before I actually realized what happened), I had a really good time with Will. JT had been asleep since dinner and Will and I just hung out. We had a little dance party together and then I put him to bed. I didn't get to tell him bye before we left for the hospital, so I am so thankful for this fun memory.
This pregnancy went by so fast! I really enjoyed being pregnant both times, even though this second one was definitely not so easy.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Getting to Know Evie
We spent 4 days at Baptist Hospital since I had a c-section again. Unlike last time, we were ready to get home! (With Will, we wanted to stay there forever because everything was going so smoothly and we didn't want to return to the "real world".)
All of the grandparents were able to meet Evie the first day except for MAO. He had planned a trip to visit his parents in Florida and we never thought we'd have this baby early. Lauren came to visit that night and so did Hope and Garrett.
On Wednesday, Evie made her acting debut! The nurse manager came in that morning and asked if we would be interested in being in a promotional video. Baptist is in the process of changing their name to St. Thomas Midtown and they were making a video about "One Healing Community". I thought they were just going to video Evie, but they said I would have a line to say. I was all for it as long as I had time to take a shower first. Our acting career only lasted about 10 minutes, but we had fun! Check out the video at https://vimeo.com/75501244 and password is "mvp". It is about 6 minutes long, but we are right after about 1:30.
We finally got to see Will on Wednesday and it was a wonderful reunion. We hadn't seen him since I put him to bed Monday night. We didn't even get to say goodbye to him before we went to the hospital. I didn't want him to come until I was unhooked from IV's and stuff - he knows what those are all about and I didn't want to scare him. Gram and Gramps brought him to the hospital and JT was standing in the hallway as they came in. Will RAN and jumped into JT's arms. (Gram started crying because it was so sweet!) I met them out in the hallway and we walked around with Will for a minute while Gram and Gramps stayed with Evie.
.JPG)
Then we let him come in and meet his little sister. He did really well! He was distracted by all of the "big brother presents" that I was bribing him with, but he did look her over and even gave her a kiss. He earned himself a great big sticker!
Uncle Jon came to the hospital to meet Evie.
NeeNee came back to visit on Thursday during her lunch hour. Will ended up coming back up on Thursday for a few minutes with Hope and KiKi. He probably thought JT and I moved there without him and now he and Maggie were on their own at the house with a rotating crew of favorite people to babysit them! The Ellers came to visit Thursday evening and Maddy enjoyed holding "baby Evie".
Most of the hospital stay was uneventful. She passed her hearing screening. We got some good rest and just hung out with Evie. She stayed in the room with us all day and night except for an hour in the mornings when the pediatrician came by. There was no option to send her to the nursery at night like there was with Will, but she slept well so it wasn't a big deal since I felt like I knew what I was doing. I would have panicked if it had been like that with Will! She nursed well and cuddled a lot. JT and Evie even took a few naps together on his little couch bed.
She seems so little. We call her "Lil' Bit" or "Bit".
She has a little grip and likes to hang on to my shirt.
.JPG)
She grunts and squeaks.
She has the chubbiest cheeks I've ever seen. JT calls her "Cheeks".
We knew we would get to go home Friday and we were so ready! JT had our bags packed by 8:00 A.M. I'm sure the nurse was annoyed with us because we weren't being very patient. We were finally headed home at 11:00. We couldn't wait to get home and finally have our little family all together!
Since we've been home, Evie finally got to meet MAO.
Uncle Kerry and Aunt Julia came for a visit.
And she met one set of her Great-Grandparents. She loved staring at Mama.
All of the grandparents were able to meet Evie the first day except for MAO. He had planned a trip to visit his parents in Florida and we never thought we'd have this baby early. Lauren came to visit that night and so did Hope and Garrett.
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| Gram and Gramps with Evie |
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| Pops and Nonna with Evie |
On Wednesday, Evie made her acting debut! The nurse manager came in that morning and asked if we would be interested in being in a promotional video. Baptist is in the process of changing their name to St. Thomas Midtown and they were making a video about "One Healing Community". I thought they were just going to video Evie, but they said I would have a line to say. I was all for it as long as I had time to take a shower first. Our acting career only lasted about 10 minutes, but we had fun! Check out the video at https://vimeo.com/75501244 and password is "mvp". It is about 6 minutes long, but we are right after about 1:30.
We finally got to see Will on Wednesday and it was a wonderful reunion. We hadn't seen him since I put him to bed Monday night. We didn't even get to say goodbye to him before we went to the hospital. I didn't want him to come until I was unhooked from IV's and stuff - he knows what those are all about and I didn't want to scare him. Gram and Gramps brought him to the hospital and JT was standing in the hallway as they came in. Will RAN and jumped into JT's arms. (Gram started crying because it was so sweet!) I met them out in the hallway and we walked around with Will for a minute while Gram and Gramps stayed with Evie.
.JPG)
Then we let him come in and meet his little sister. He did really well! He was distracted by all of the "big brother presents" that I was bribing him with, but he did look her over and even gave her a kiss. He earned himself a great big sticker!
Uncle Jon came to the hospital to meet Evie.
NeeNee came back to visit on Thursday during her lunch hour. Will ended up coming back up on Thursday for a few minutes with Hope and KiKi. He probably thought JT and I moved there without him and now he and Maggie were on their own at the house with a rotating crew of favorite people to babysit them! The Ellers came to visit Thursday evening and Maddy enjoyed holding "baby Evie".
Most of the hospital stay was uneventful. She passed her hearing screening. We got some good rest and just hung out with Evie. She stayed in the room with us all day and night except for an hour in the mornings when the pediatrician came by. There was no option to send her to the nursery at night like there was with Will, but she slept well so it wasn't a big deal since I felt like I knew what I was doing. I would have panicked if it had been like that with Will! She nursed well and cuddled a lot. JT and Evie even took a few naps together on his little couch bed.
She seems so little. We call her "Lil' Bit" or "Bit".
She has a little grip and likes to hang on to my shirt.
.JPG)
She grunts and squeaks.
She has the chubbiest cheeks I've ever seen. JT calls her "Cheeks".
We knew we would get to go home Friday and we were so ready! JT had our bags packed by 8:00 A.M. I'm sure the nurse was annoyed with us because we weren't being very patient. We were finally headed home at 11:00. We couldn't wait to get home and finally have our little family all together!
Since we've been home, Evie finally got to meet MAO.
Uncle Kerry and Aunt Julia came for a visit.
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| Protective Maggie melted at Uncle Kerry's feet! |
And she met one set of her Great-Grandparents. She loved staring at Mama.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Daddy's Little Girl
There is no doubt that JT is absolutely wrapped around Evie's finger...actually all 10 of them! From the moment he said "It'a a GIRL" I knew he was in big trouble! He has always said that he just didn't know if he could handle a girl. Well, no doubt he is absolutely in love and Evie can have anything she wants!
I love watching them together. She is such a cuddler and loves to be laying on Daddy's chest! They took naps together while we were in the hospital, and now they cuddle at night before we all go to sleep.
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Evie got her first present from him when he went down to the cafeteria the first night and stopped at the gift shop on the way back up to the room. He got her a little pink polka dot puppy dog.
.JPG)
When we came home from the hospital and got settled, JT went to the grocery store to get a few things. He came back and asked if I was good for about 10 more minutes because he had to go get something for Evie. He came back with a dress, jacket, and a kitchen! It was the weekend for the fall neighborhood garage sale and he passed by a house and saw this little kitchen set. The women selling it convinced him he needed the clothes that he bought too. Such a sweet daddy! He was so excited to show it to me when he brought it home. We have it put up for now until she is ready to play with it. We'd hate for Will to mess it up if we have it sitting out now.
Don't worry, I'm going to teach Evie everything that she needs to know on how to be a Daddy's Girl. I have a feeling it isn't going to be very hard for her though!
I love watching them together. She is such a cuddler and loves to be laying on Daddy's chest! They took naps together while we were in the hospital, and now they cuddle at night before we all go to sleep.
.JPG)
Evie got her first present from him when he went down to the cafeteria the first night and stopped at the gift shop on the way back up to the room. He got her a little pink polka dot puppy dog.
.JPG)
When we came home from the hospital and got settled, JT went to the grocery store to get a few things. He came back and asked if I was good for about 10 more minutes because he had to go get something for Evie. He came back with a dress, jacket, and a kitchen! It was the weekend for the fall neighborhood garage sale and he passed by a house and saw this little kitchen set. The women selling it convinced him he needed the clothes that he bought too. Such a sweet daddy! He was so excited to show it to me when he brought it home. We have it put up for now until she is ready to play with it. We'd hate for Will to mess it up if we have it sitting out now.
Don't worry, I'm going to teach Evie everything that she needs to know on how to be a Daddy's Girl. I have a feeling it isn't going to be very hard for her though!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
It's a GIRL!!!
Evelyn Nicole Livezey was born 9/10/13 at 4:52 A.M. She was 7 lb 2 oz and 18.25 inches long - impressive size considering she was over 2 weeks early! She has a head full of black hair, except the very top of forehead which is blonde.
Labor:
I had scheduled a c-section for 9/26 which was her due date. I knew she would probably come earlier than that, but I was thinking only a few days at the most. I had been to the doctor Monday morning (9/9) for my 37 week appointment. I had not been having any real contractions and was not dilated at all. On Monday night after dinner I thought my water may have broken, but it wasn't anything like what I would have expected, so I kind of ignored it. After an hour or so, I called some friends to get their thoughts and then decided to call the doctor on call. The doctor didn't really think it sounded like my water broke and told me to come in the morning so they could check me again. She said to call back if I had any contractions or any other changes. I felt fine so I went ahead with my nightly routine and put Will to bed. I still wasn't completely comfortable with whatever was going on, so I started packing a bag for the hospital "just in case". I went to bed and woke up around 11:00 with some discomfort. It wasn't pain around my belly like I expected a contraction to be; it was all in my lower abdomen. It kept coming and going and getting more uncomfortable each time. I downloaded a contraction timer on my phone and started keeping up with them that way. They were already less than 5 minutes apart but only lasted about 30 seconds each. Around 1:30 I gave in and called the doctor back. She said I was definitely in labor and needed to get to the hospital soon. I woke JT up (he had been asleep through all of this) and told him we need to go to the hospital. He was so confused but got up and added a couple of things to my hospital bag that I had been packing. I called our neighbor Karen and asked her to come over and stay with Will. I didn't want to wait on Gram or NeeNee to get to the house. Karen has been on "baby watch" for weeks now, so thank goodness she answered and came right over. JT called NeeNee only the way and asked her to come relieve Karen in a few hours. He then called Gram and told her just to be on standby to come to the hospital. JT and I were both pretty sure that I was being crazy and we would be sent back home, so we didn't see any need to have everyone rushing to hospital at 3:00 in the morning. On the way, we got pulled over for speeding - classic! The cop seemed to take forever getting out of his car, so JT yelled out the window "My wife is in labor!". The cop quit walking toward us and told JT to go on. We were relieved because we thought they would have to escort us to the hospital. We made it to the hospital and got checked in. Once we got to the room I was hooked up to all of the monitors and was dilated to 1 cm. They went ahead and called my doctor and got the c-section pre-op started since they confirmed that my water had broken. It took 3 tries to get my IV in - I have had the worst luck with needle sticks with this pregnancy. My fear, anxiety, and all other emotions had me shaking uncontrollably. The shaking and constant contractions were making me miserable. Let me just say that I suffered through about 2 hours of this pain. I realize that this is nothing compared to women that labor of hours and hours. Those women are nothing but amazing in my eyes. I don't know that I could have handled much more of it. JT was of course amazing and let me almost break his fingers and rip his shirt from my grip.
Delivery:
Dr. Crowe came in a little after 4:00 and was ready to go. We went to the operating room and JT had to wait outside until I got my spinal injection and was all prepped. I have never been so excited to have a needle in my back! I was starting to panic because they were waiting to do it until I had a break in between contractions, but I felt like I was never getting a break. Finally it was done and I was numb almost immediately. JT came in when it was time to start and everyone was ready to go. Dr. Crowe got to work and asked me right before she pulled out the baby about my guess to the gender. I said "girl" but not with much confidence - I really thought "girl"from the beginning up until the last month where I started thinking "boy". Finally she told JT to stand up and he excitedly said, "It's a GIRL!". It took me a couple of seconds to process what he had said...GIRL!!! Dr. Crowe showed her to me and then the nurses started checking her out.
Baby Girl:
She weighed 7 lb 2 oz and was 18.25 inches long. She scored an 8 and a 9 on her APGAR tests. She had a head full of dark hair (not as much as Will had). Of course JT looked her over and made sure she had no extra markings of hemangiomas like Will. She had no problems, but she looked like she was sunburned all over because she was so red. The nurses wrapped her up to let me hold me hold her. Dr. Crowe made an adjustment to her little hat so that she would have a bow, because every little girl needs a bow!
Post-Op:
Gram was already at the hospital when we got to post-op. JT went out and told her that she "got her GIRL!". Gram has said this baby was a girl from the day I told her I was pregnant. Pops and Nonna arrived shortly after. NeeNee came over when Hope got to the house to take care of Will. We all went together to our room that we would be in for the next few days and started getting to know this precious little girl.
Name:
JT and I were narrowing down her name. We had pretty much decided that Nicole would be her middle name (Nicole is my middle name). Evelyn was most likely the first name (name of his grandmother that he never met). I have loved the name Caroline though so it was still up for consideration. Will is named after family and we wanted to continue that, so it officially became Evelyn Nicole. We are calling her Evie.
We are absolutely in love with her!
Labor:
I had scheduled a c-section for 9/26 which was her due date. I knew she would probably come earlier than that, but I was thinking only a few days at the most. I had been to the doctor Monday morning (9/9) for my 37 week appointment. I had not been having any real contractions and was not dilated at all. On Monday night after dinner I thought my water may have broken, but it wasn't anything like what I would have expected, so I kind of ignored it. After an hour or so, I called some friends to get their thoughts and then decided to call the doctor on call. The doctor didn't really think it sounded like my water broke and told me to come in the morning so they could check me again. She said to call back if I had any contractions or any other changes. I felt fine so I went ahead with my nightly routine and put Will to bed. I still wasn't completely comfortable with whatever was going on, so I started packing a bag for the hospital "just in case". I went to bed and woke up around 11:00 with some discomfort. It wasn't pain around my belly like I expected a contraction to be; it was all in my lower abdomen. It kept coming and going and getting more uncomfortable each time. I downloaded a contraction timer on my phone and started keeping up with them that way. They were already less than 5 minutes apart but only lasted about 30 seconds each. Around 1:30 I gave in and called the doctor back. She said I was definitely in labor and needed to get to the hospital soon. I woke JT up (he had been asleep through all of this) and told him we need to go to the hospital. He was so confused but got up and added a couple of things to my hospital bag that I had been packing. I called our neighbor Karen and asked her to come over and stay with Will. I didn't want to wait on Gram or NeeNee to get to the house. Karen has been on "baby watch" for weeks now, so thank goodness she answered and came right over. JT called NeeNee only the way and asked her to come relieve Karen in a few hours. He then called Gram and told her just to be on standby to come to the hospital. JT and I were both pretty sure that I was being crazy and we would be sent back home, so we didn't see any need to have everyone rushing to hospital at 3:00 in the morning. On the way, we got pulled over for speeding - classic! The cop seemed to take forever getting out of his car, so JT yelled out the window "My wife is in labor!". The cop quit walking toward us and told JT to go on. We were relieved because we thought they would have to escort us to the hospital. We made it to the hospital and got checked in. Once we got to the room I was hooked up to all of the monitors and was dilated to 1 cm. They went ahead and called my doctor and got the c-section pre-op started since they confirmed that my water had broken. It took 3 tries to get my IV in - I have had the worst luck with needle sticks with this pregnancy. My fear, anxiety, and all other emotions had me shaking uncontrollably. The shaking and constant contractions were making me miserable. Let me just say that I suffered through about 2 hours of this pain. I realize that this is nothing compared to women that labor of hours and hours. Those women are nothing but amazing in my eyes. I don't know that I could have handled much more of it. JT was of course amazing and let me almost break his fingers and rip his shirt from my grip.
Delivery:
Dr. Crowe came in a little after 4:00 and was ready to go. We went to the operating room and JT had to wait outside until I got my spinal injection and was all prepped. I have never been so excited to have a needle in my back! I was starting to panic because they were waiting to do it until I had a break in between contractions, but I felt like I was never getting a break. Finally it was done and I was numb almost immediately. JT came in when it was time to start and everyone was ready to go. Dr. Crowe got to work and asked me right before she pulled out the baby about my guess to the gender. I said "girl" but not with much confidence - I really thought "girl"from the beginning up until the last month where I started thinking "boy". Finally she told JT to stand up and he excitedly said, "It's a GIRL!". It took me a couple of seconds to process what he had said...GIRL!!! Dr. Crowe showed her to me and then the nurses started checking her out.
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| First look at the little girl! She already seems calmer than Will! |
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| Waiting on baby girl to get cleaned up while I get put back together. |
Baby Girl:
She weighed 7 lb 2 oz and was 18.25 inches long. She scored an 8 and a 9 on her APGAR tests. She had a head full of dark hair (not as much as Will had). Of course JT looked her over and made sure she had no extra markings of hemangiomas like Will. She had no problems, but she looked like she was sunburned all over because she was so red. The nurses wrapped her up to let me hold me hold her. Dr. Crowe made an adjustment to her little hat so that she would have a bow, because every little girl needs a bow!
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| 7 lb 2 oz |
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| Dr. Crowe's bow for baby girl |
Post-Op:
Gram was already at the hospital when we got to post-op. JT went out and told her that she "got her GIRL!". Gram has said this baby was a girl from the day I told her I was pregnant. Pops and Nonna arrived shortly after. NeeNee came over when Hope got to the house to take care of Will. We all went together to our room that we would be in for the next few days and started getting to know this precious little girl.
Name:
JT and I were narrowing down her name. We had pretty much decided that Nicole would be her middle name (Nicole is my middle name). Evelyn was most likely the first name (name of his grandmother that he never met). I have loved the name Caroline though so it was still up for consideration. Will is named after family and we wanted to continue that, so it officially became Evelyn Nicole. We are calling her Evie.
We are absolutely in love with her!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
MRI of Spine
Will had an MRI done of his total spine yesterday. The MRI done last year started at lower back and went down to his toes. They couldn't look at his entire body then because it would have taken too long and he doesn't need to be under anesthesia that long.
Backing up a little bit, we are seeing a different neurosurgeon that we originally started with because he transferred to another hospital out of state. I really liked the original doctor because he was not too eager to do surgery; he felt like there were other issues most important that Will was dealing with. The plan was to keep watching him and do something if necessary. The new doctor is the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and my first impression of him when we met a few months ago was that he was the type that wanted to fix the problem he saw without looking at he big picture of Will. He scheduled this MRI because he wanted to see what was missing from the first one.
We went yesterday morning and Will played with the "choo-choo" (Vandy has an incredible train setup) and fed the fish outside while I was checking us in. We got called back to pre-op pretty quickly. Will refused to get on the scale, take his temp, etc. He finally calmed down and then we couldn't get him off of the scale - new favorite toy! The nurse found him some cars with a track to race, so he stayed entertained for the most part.
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He kept asking for the "choo-choo" so we told him he could play when he was finished. He of course got upset when the nurse took him away, but she bribed him with a Thomas the Train sticker, so the crying wasn't as bad as the past. The procedure would take 2-3 hours, so JT and I left and went to get some lunch.
Did I mention this was our 7 year anniversary?!?! Not a great way to celebrate, but at least we were spending the day together. We walked around for a while and then found a spot in the hospital to sit back and wait for them to call us. Of course we kept staring at my phone, and finally it rang. The nurse was trying to get Will to talk to me, but he was way to upset and all I could hear was him crying "Momma". We got to him as fast as we could, but he was hard to calm down, as he always is. He never seems to recover well. But I can't really blame him - last thing he remembers is being taken away from us and then waking up in a strange place with a stranger taking care of him. He was not happy about the "no-no" that he acquired while asleep along with the IV, and he was trying to rip it off. I was trying to calm him down so the nurse could take it out, but he kept yelling at her to stop, which actually comes out as "TOP" when he says it. It would have been a lot cuter if he wasn't so mad! He refused to eat or drink anything. JT finally held him and they sat in a chair together. His first words once he calmed down were "choo-choo', because I told him we could go back to that when he was done. He remembers everything! We got him dressed and went back to the trains. He started coming back to himself then and finally eating and drinking.
We met with the neurosurgeon about an hour later. The full radiologist report wasn't ready yet, but he knows what he is looking for. He said that Will has a tethered spinal cord. Instead of the end of the spinal cord flowing freely, it is attached to something like a fluid sack. The big concern was that the fluid was CSF (spinal fluid) and could be affecting the brain. It was confirmed that it is not CSF - just another type of fluid. This is good news! This means that nothing needs to be done urgently. I imagine it is some type of fluid pocket/hemangioma like Will seems to have all over the place (like what got infected in his abdomen after hernia surgery). Because of his vascular issues being so prominent at where they would go in to "un-tether" the cord, no surgery is recommended at this time. We have things to watch for like bowel/bladder problems, change in walking patterns, and other neurological things. Will's strength, coordination, agility, and other movement factors are things that we are absolutely not concerned about right now. He is so active and never seems to be anything but normal in all of these areas. Hopefully that won't change! The doctor said that the radiologist did mention some areas of concern in front of the spinal cord. I think this will be reviewed by pediatric surgery and our pediatrician. I wouldn't be surprised if what he is seeing is the fluid pockets that we are already aware of (the radiologist probably doesn't know much about Will's history). I guess we will hear about that later on. For now we have planned another MRI in 6 months to see if there have been any changes. JT and I would prefer to push that a little further because we aren't really up to putting Will through this 1-2 times each year. Hopefully we can all agree to repeating it in a year, but of course we will do whatever is best for Will.
Overall, we were pleased with the continue to "watch and wait" attitude. We are going to contact pediatric surgery about his right foot seeming to get larger every day - we don't want to wait until we see them again in April or May, but nothing urgent.
Will was a trooper as always. His strength and resilience is absolutely incredible to me!
Backing up a little bit, we are seeing a different neurosurgeon that we originally started with because he transferred to another hospital out of state. I really liked the original doctor because he was not too eager to do surgery; he felt like there were other issues most important that Will was dealing with. The plan was to keep watching him and do something if necessary. The new doctor is the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and my first impression of him when we met a few months ago was that he was the type that wanted to fix the problem he saw without looking at he big picture of Will. He scheduled this MRI because he wanted to see what was missing from the first one.
We went yesterday morning and Will played with the "choo-choo" (Vandy has an incredible train setup) and fed the fish outside while I was checking us in. We got called back to pre-op pretty quickly. Will refused to get on the scale, take his temp, etc. He finally calmed down and then we couldn't get him off of the scale - new favorite toy! The nurse found him some cars with a track to race, so he stayed entertained for the most part.
.JPG)
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| For some reason, he prefers stickers to be put on his belly. I have no idea where this started. |
We met with the neurosurgeon about an hour later. The full radiologist report wasn't ready yet, but he knows what he is looking for. He said that Will has a tethered spinal cord. Instead of the end of the spinal cord flowing freely, it is attached to something like a fluid sack. The big concern was that the fluid was CSF (spinal fluid) and could be affecting the brain. It was confirmed that it is not CSF - just another type of fluid. This is good news! This means that nothing needs to be done urgently. I imagine it is some type of fluid pocket/hemangioma like Will seems to have all over the place (like what got infected in his abdomen after hernia surgery). Because of his vascular issues being so prominent at where they would go in to "un-tether" the cord, no surgery is recommended at this time. We have things to watch for like bowel/bladder problems, change in walking patterns, and other neurological things. Will's strength, coordination, agility, and other movement factors are things that we are absolutely not concerned about right now. He is so active and never seems to be anything but normal in all of these areas. Hopefully that won't change! The doctor said that the radiologist did mention some areas of concern in front of the spinal cord. I think this will be reviewed by pediatric surgery and our pediatrician. I wouldn't be surprised if what he is seeing is the fluid pockets that we are already aware of (the radiologist probably doesn't know much about Will's history). I guess we will hear about that later on. For now we have planned another MRI in 6 months to see if there have been any changes. JT and I would prefer to push that a little further because we aren't really up to putting Will through this 1-2 times each year. Hopefully we can all agree to repeating it in a year, but of course we will do whatever is best for Will.
Overall, we were pleased with the continue to "watch and wait" attitude. We are going to contact pediatric surgery about his right foot seeming to get larger every day - we don't want to wait until we see them again in April or May, but nothing urgent.
Will was a trooper as always. His strength and resilience is absolutely incredible to me!
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Baby Livezey #2
I am so behind on keeping up with this blog. I have several posts that I have started about holidays and Will updates, but I never seem to get around to finishing them to actually post. I'm so behind that I haven't even mentioned that Will is going to be a BIG BROTHER!
Baby Livezey is due 9/26. Everything has gone well with the pregnancy so far. I have been much sicker this time around than with Will. Maybe that means it is a girl, or maybe it is because I am chasing around a 2 year old!
We had an ultrasound at the end of 19 weeks and everything looked great. As with last time, JT and I have chosen to be surprised with the baby's gender. This ultrasound tech was apparently very nervous about this, so she turned off our TV monitor for most of the ultrasound. She finally let us look at the end when she knew she was the head. Baby Livezey was moving constantly and was stubborn through most of it, but finally cooperated and everything was seen that needed to be. I was kind of hoping that the tech would give up and just let me come back another day to finish it so that I could see the baby again, but no such luck. This will be the only ultrasound that we have since there are no problems (can't be upset about that!). We could always get one on our own (like the 4-D ones, but those honestly creep me out.
JT and I immediately thought the profile looked just like Will's did. Of course, JT has all of the dominant features, so no doubt this kid will look just like him.
We got a picture of Baby Livezey with a hand up to the face. Looks like it is thinking.
And my favorite...the very last picture shows Baby Livezey with both hands raised above head. This is Will's sign for "all done". Baby Livezey apparently had enough and couldn't wait to be done.
Will doesn't really understand. He loves to see babies, but I'm not sure it will go over to well to have one at his house. I know in time he will be a great big brother, but what an adjustment it is going to be!
Baby Livezey is due 9/26. Everything has gone well with the pregnancy so far. I have been much sicker this time around than with Will. Maybe that means it is a girl, or maybe it is because I am chasing around a 2 year old!
We had an ultrasound at the end of 19 weeks and everything looked great. As with last time, JT and I have chosen to be surprised with the baby's gender. This ultrasound tech was apparently very nervous about this, so she turned off our TV monitor for most of the ultrasound. She finally let us look at the end when she knew she was the head. Baby Livezey was moving constantly and was stubborn through most of it, but finally cooperated and everything was seen that needed to be. I was kind of hoping that the tech would give up and just let me come back another day to finish it so that I could see the baby again, but no such luck. This will be the only ultrasound that we have since there are no problems (can't be upset about that!). We could always get one on our own (like the 4-D ones, but those honestly creep me out.
JT and I immediately thought the profile looked just like Will's did. Of course, JT has all of the dominant features, so no doubt this kid will look just like him.
We got a picture of Baby Livezey with a hand up to the face. Looks like it is thinking.
And my favorite...the very last picture shows Baby Livezey with both hands raised above head. This is Will's sign for "all done". Baby Livezey apparently had enough and couldn't wait to be done.
Will doesn't really understand. He loves to see babies, but I'm not sure it will go over to well to have one at his house. I know in time he will be a great big brother, but what an adjustment it is going to be!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Choo-Choo, Will is 2!
Happy 2nd Birthday to Will!
His birthday party was easy to pick this year thanks to his obsession with trains, or as Will calls them "choo-choo". I got his invitations, thank-you notes, banner printables, etc. off of Etsy. I had a T-shirt made with a train for him to wear. I ordered engineer hats for all of the kiddos to wear and some train whistles for gift bags. The cupcakes were set-up as being pulled by a train, and we decorated the food table with an old wooden train.
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| T-shirt - Choo-Choo Will is 2! |
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| Cupcake Train |
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| This train was made by Poppa for me when I was Will's age. |
We had the party at our house again this year and Gram made the best decoration/toy ever! I found the idea on Pinterest, and as usual, she was able to go above and beyond to make it perfect! We started with a few cardboard boxes, a box cutter, and some tape. Will knew when we were done that it was a "choo-choo". We left it at Gram's office to be painted. I couldn't wait for him to see it all fixed up for his party.
Sadly, we made a big production about it and tried to force him to play in it, so of course he wouldn't. At one point he finally got in with Kennedy, and then it fell over, so of course he was done with it for the rest of the day. The other party guests had a blast playing in it though!
Uncle Brandon provided another form of entertainment...bubbles! And not just regular bubbles...big, huge, giant bubbles!
We had all kinds of food and of cupcakes. Will was much more eager to dive into his cupcake this year than he was for his 1st birthday cake. He was covered in blue icing!
He got all kinds of great gifts! Our house looked like a train toy store! He also got some tractors, a wheelbarrow and gardening set, clothes, shoes, and golf clubs!
A few pics of our party guests:
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| Hope and Will |
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| Maddy, Will, and Addison - He has already got the girls' attention! |
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Sweet Kennedy - the happiest little girl I've ever met!
It was a wonderful day celebrating with friends and family. Thanks to everyone that was a part of it and for all of those that helped me out!
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