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!