The Week in Pictures

Ready for my first trip to the mall!

Ready for the 1st A&M Game of the Season

Picture by the football at 1 Week Old

Logan finds out he's going to "Auntie's" house

The morning that they left

...Family Band...

I love this outfit, Rachel!!! Look at those hands!!!

Baseball Game with Logan, Pops, Uncle Andrew and Daddy

A boys game of Candyland to end the evening

1 Week Old

Well, Ms. Ellyse is one week old today and doing amazing. It is hard for us to believe, but somehow she is an even better baby than her brother was--and we thought that Logan was a pretty great baby. Jarrod and I keep asking ourselves when we will wake up from this dream. She sleeps constantly, eats for 6-10 minutes and then is awake for maybe 30-45 minutes per day. We fight over who gets to hold her during those rare minutes of alertness. haha! She does not have the "witching hours" that we experienced in the evenings with Logan, she's pretty much just 100% happy. We have to wake her up at nearly every feeding, including at night. Its pretty amazing. I was really worried about how short her feeding times were--I dreaded nursing this time because Logan fed for 40 minutes to an hour every 3 hours, but somehow my body knows what it is doing this time and sister is more than efficient. She was 3 ounces from her birth weight when we took her to the pedi. at 5 days old, so she is getting more than enough to eat.

Many of you have asked how the c-section went and I must say--it was an absolutely fantastic experience. I had begun to doubt myself and had pretty much concluded that I was just didn't have any pain tolerance...well, now that I know what a c-section should feel like, I feel like I was Wonder Woman with Logan and wonder how in the world I survived the pain associated with his birth. There were no complications, no worries, and especially no pain this time. When Jarrod described what was involved, I was amazed that somehow I didn't feel anything and that I am recovering as wonderfully as I am now. I truly feel wonderful and don't have a lot of pain--of course there is some, but nothing in comparison.

Jarrod and I have marveled at how perfect God's timing and His plan is. We have absolutely loved having Logan to ourselves for 3 years and 9 months. If we would have had a great experience last time we would have expected to have been trying to have another baby during a particularly trying time in our lives, we would have never had the joy of the time with Logan, and I have a feeling that the adjustment to 4 of us would have been a little more difficult with a 2 year old, rather than a nearly 4 year old. We've marveled that I was dilated to a 3 with Logan for 3 weeks prior to his birth and I was not dilated at all with Ellyse--this makes the recovery so much easier and shorter, apparently. To my utter amazement, the fact that a v-back was not even an option and we didn't have to make that decision is totally a Godsend. During the birth, the doctors noted that the cord was wrapped around Elly's neck--this is the exact situation that caused the emergency c with Logan. Praise God that we did not try for a v-back to end up in the same situation again.

Logan is adjusting so well--he LOVES his sister and holding her. It is so sweet to watch. He very excitedly went home with his Auntie and Uncle Andrew yesterday and has yet to talk to me on the phone. He is having a ball, but MAN do I miss him and his sweetness. I'm already ready to have him home, but it helps to know that he's not ready to come home yet!

Some of the highlights of Ellyse's first week:
-She won't nurse well until she has her little fingers wrapped around my finger
-Logan coming into our room every morning with arms out ready for his morning Elly "holding"
-Logan stating that she won't be a bunny rabbit, she's just Elly Hope (we all have rabbit names right now (according to Logan)--I'm Peter Rabbit, Jarrod is Daddy Rabbit, Logan is Thumper)
-Daddy singing "You Look Wonderful Tonight" to Ellyse
-We've been getting a lot of sleep
-Changing the kids into pj's and having our Bible Story time in Elly's room with Logan and Elly
-Logan telling us that when he gets back from Auntie's Elly Hope will be ready to play with him
-Going outside to watch Logan playing baseball with Daddy, Pops and Uncle Andrew
-Logan helping to give Elly her first bath and not wanting to miss a bath time since
-The sweet faces and smiles that she doesn't even know she's giving yet
-Truly feeling God's presence in your life through your babies

She's a Beaut!

Here are a few more pics:







Gig 'Em!



Best Buds!



Peek-a-boo!

SHE'S HERE!!!

Ellyse Hope joined us this morning at 9:18am! She was 8lbs. 2oz. and 19.5in long. Mommy and baby girl are resting well.

For those of you that have been dying from suspense, our grand decision was made last night about midnight. I say it was perfect timing.

You should all also take heart, I successfully talked my wonderful wife off of the cliff when she suggested (at about 11:15pm) that we needed to start from scratch regarding a name. So as hard as it is to believe (Amanda K.) , I may just be good for something after all.

"Me no likey the bath!"

"Daddy, consider this your warning. Don't mess with my hair!!"

The Nursery

Well, here are the long awaited pictures of the nursery...now complete, sans pictures of miss priss. Note that there are initials above her bed...but rest assured that there is a C ready and waiting if we choose Caroline instead of Emma or Ellyse. Yes, we have 4 nights of sleep left before we have to reach that decision...and unfortunately, we plan on using all 4 of them!Jarrod's Nanny made the quilt below. She actually started the squares when we found out that we were having Logan, but saved them when we found out Logan was a boy.

These are the burp rags and socks that I made last week:

"Special Logan Day"

Jarrod and I planned yesterday to be a day full of things Logan loves since it was his last full "play day" with just the three of us. We started the day going to get donuts at his favorite donut shop in town. From there, we went to play at Putt-Putt. It was his first experience there, but he LOVED it. I only beat him by 5 strokes and even that was because he just got impatient if it was "taking too long" to get into the hole (more than 3 putts). He scored 2 hole-in-ones! After that, he played miniature bowling and loved it too. We ate lunch at Kincaid's burgers and then came home for a nap. He didn't ever go to sleep because Jarrod told him we had another "treat" for him when he woke up. He was just too excited to sleep, so he "rested" for the next 2 hours. When Jarrod got him up, we left for his favorite place--Chuck E. Cheese. He had a ball ALL day! He loved having undivided attention and getting to do all of the things that he loves--including calling his "auntie" from various places throughout the day while he was riding in the car. (I really think that he called her about 20 times.) It was a priceless day and the last full day of our little family of three--we are so excited though to have another little one to share days like this with!Our last church morning with no bows and little dresses!

Logan's New Pool

I decided last weekend that I needed something for Logan to do outside when its unbearably hot because he just loves being outside. Being the end of August, its a little late to buy "pools" but I found this one and he loves it!

38 Week Update

Well, I went to the doctor on Wednesday and was surprised to find that she was out on vacation. So, we didn't get a lot of information at all...to be quite frank...I was a little bit upset with this. I am 38 weeks pregnant, set to deliver this baby next Thursday and I have yet to be checked at all. On the surface, this seems like a great thing--I only have to be checked once in the entirity of my pregnancy...however, I have become more and more concerned that we really have no idea what is going on and I'm more than a little anxious that I could go into labor and have the same situation as we had with Logan with an emergency c-section. So, my husband has tried to calm me down (these are his comments: you could be in Thailand with a doctor that doesn't even speak English, you could be delivering on the prarie and I could be the one delivering the baby....thanks Jar...we need another direction here...I don't feel very comforted...) I'll go back on Wednesday of next week for my final visit, but it seems pretty useless at this point...I guess theoretically they could take her on Wednesday instead of Thursday if necessary.

We also went to have our last ultrasound yesterday...another not so great experience...we waited for an hour in the waiting room, were called back and I was not able lay on my back due to some pretty intense breathing issues. So, she had me lay on my left side. Well, the monitor was on my right side...so Jarrod and Logan got a pretty minimal view and I got a look at her heart and leg before I had to turn over for the remainder of the ultrasound. After she had me turn over, she gave no commentary, so Jarrod and Logan had no idea really what they were looking at....just that it was our baby girl. Now anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a very patient person, so I was trying every maneuver possible to crane my neck around to that monitor...how do you lay in an ultrasound room and NOT be able to see your baby while everyone else in the room does???? Not only that, but they didn't have the printer hooked up to the machine so we didn't get to even see pictures afterwards...we'll get them next week she assured us...seriously, why do I need them on Wednesday when I'll be holding her on Thursday morning??? We did find out that she is head down and they expect her to be about 8 1/2 pounds. It seems like she spent an eternity on her head size...Jarrod said that she was measuring and remeasuring her head...so she's liable to have a big noggin'!

Sorry for the venting session...hopefully my attitude will improve before the end of the day!

Escape Artist

We got our dog "Maddie" labor day weekend of 2002. She is 6 years old as of July 17 and has been a huge part of our family. Last summer she got regulated to the back yard as an outside dog...due to getting sprayed by a few too many skunks in early morning escapades at my parents house. It was so nice not having the dog hair and allergies she brought inside that she stayed there after the skunk smell wore off. Even though she's been an inside dog most of her life, she has still spent a significant amount of time outside. She's never gotten out of our yard and gone anywhere...except the front porch. As a puppy, she went under the gate of our fence and we would always (always being twice) find her at the front door waiting for us.

Well, apparently she has decided that she no longer wants to be an outside dog without full freedom...2 Sunday mornings ago, Logan ran into our bedroom crying his little eyes out saying that he couldn't find Maddie. I told him that she was just around the side of the house and to go look again. He was emphatic that he'd already been over there and she wasn't there. Jarrod hopped out of bed and sure enough...she was no where to be found. Well, we kind of hit a panic mode at that point because she still had her old tags with our old phone number. Jarrod called our old number and sure enough someone had called it, but the people did not get a phone number for who had called. We were just thankful to know that she was okay and somewhere close by. Jarrod spent Sunday afternoon looking for her with no luck, but on Monday morning at 6:45 someone rang the doorbell and said that she was out running. We got her back in the yard and promptly put her new tags on. Logan comes back into our room on Thursday morning joyfully announcing that we need to yet again go look for Maddie. Thankfully, she had gone to the same house, the people called our correct number and Jarrod went to get her that afternoon. Well....we thought that would surely be the end of this romping through the neighborhood...until last night at 11:45 the doorbell rings and a police officer is standing there asking Jarrod if he's missing a dog. Apparently she had once again gotten out and was at the neighbor of her "new family's" home...they were apparently not dog people, were scared to death of our "vicious" dog and called the police. Their neighbor (her dream owners) came out, called Maddie and once again put her in their garage. We've filled in the holes, but lets face it, she's a lab that knows how to dig a hole, so hopefully she's learned her lessons, otherwise, she'll have to be an outside dog that gets kennelled every night.

Logan took these, so I had to post more than one of them...didn't he do a great job??

Catch Up and 37 Week Update

Well, as you can tell...I had a ton of posts to catch up on! I still have to post nursery pictures, but we are still waiting on a few final touches...one of those being this little girl's name so that I can hang her initials above her bed...oh well...maybe we'll post nursery pictures after she's here.

I went to the doctor yesterday. All is going well and we are still set for the c-section on the 21st. Its a pretty special day in that it is the day after Jarrod's Nanny's (91st) birthday. Logan was born the day after Jarrod's birthday and is named after Nanny too. She's a pretty special lady!

I'm doing weekly visits now, but its a little crazy to think that we will have her 2 weeks from today! I now have carpal tunnel in both hands, but am assured that this will go away after the baby's born. I've also been having some dizzy spells, but the doctor isn't concerned--I'm not swelling very often and my blood pressure is great, so that is a huge blessing. She just said that its normal with it being so hot outside...did I mention that it was 108 on Sunday and 109 on Monday??? When I started the truck after running some errands and it had been sitting on the hot concrete, it actually read 122...granted it came down to 109 within 20 minutes, its a little disturbing to see that one! Despite those two things and the fact that I'm sleeping a little less...I feel great. Again, that is a huge blessing. I can actually say that the end of this pregnancy is a little different in that I'm more than ready to share her with the world. I wasn't ready with Logan--I didn't want to share him with anyone and I felt like he was so safe and protected in my body. With Miss Priss, I feel like my stomach could split open at any moment and that we'd all be better off if I could share some of this weight and heat with someone else!!! Ha!ha!

Today, my mother-in-law was wonderful enough to go grocery shopping with me and help me cook some meals to freeze for after we get home from the hospital. It feels great to feel like I'm ahead of the game on something and to know that my family won't be regulated to cereal and sandwiches after we get home from the hospital!

Ranger Game with Pops

Logan got to go to the Ranger Game this week with Daddy and Pops. In the first inning Josh Hamilton hit a homerun...which meant fireworks...Logan hates the sound of fireworks and is going through some crazy sound sensitivity right now...so this is how he spent the rest of the game. Jarrod finally convinced him in the 5th inning that when the Yankees were batting there wouldn't be any fireworks.