The Best Big Sister

Trying out the bumbo chair for the first time!

Hmm, I'm not sure how I like this...

 As soon as he decided he was done with the chair, Haylie was by his side, asking him what was wrong.

Aww, a hug will totally make it all better.

In the past two weeks...

we've been busy.

Haylie learned to do somersaults

Haylie and Grandma made me a "happy cake" for my birthday...and might have sampled the batter.  I don't know what gave it away.

Justin bought me tools for my birthday.  I was confused too. (He told me later he wanted to get me new nursing bras but didn't know how to shop for those.  So he bought me these since he wanted me to know he was thinking about me.  We've since returned the tools. :P)

Haylie learned how to wash her own dishes

She is getting better at holding her brother, despite his scared look and the choke hold she's got on him

Grandma's hat!

Is it so sad that my cat is way bigger than my baby?

A new love. The bumbo chair.

Okay, saying we have been busy might be exaggerating, but we've had our hands full with the two kids.  Justin's mom was here for the past two weeks and she helped entertain Haylie like a pro!  She let me nap at random times of the day and kept us in clean underwear and the dishes to a minimal.  They went to the park practically every day and barely watched Elmo.  Tomorrow is my first day as a solo mom of two and I'm a little anxious about how it's going to go down.  I'm sure 5pm won't come fast enough when Daddy gets to come home. It might be an Elmo marathon tomorrow.

Someone had a big boy bath the other day...in his very manly pink bathtub.

Best Day Ever

Last week, Haylie had the best day of her two year old life. Grandma found out that Elmo was visiting the Edmond library that week!  At first I was thinking - too bad, Haylie has school that day.  But, you know that Grandma, she was not about to let that get in her way.  She and Haylie got ready early and went up to be there on time so Haylie could see her furry red monster friend.  

I don't think Elmo was supposed to give out hugs, but Haylie stole one.

Turns out, one of Haylie's friends was there too!!  Made the day even better. I'm sure Haylie will remember this for awhile.  Thanks Grandma!

Time Flies

Our little guy is 2 weeks old today!  I can not believe how quickly the time has gone.  Here he was just a few weeks ago, fresh from the hospital.

 Since then, Big Sis has taken quite a liking to him.  She now gets upset when he is upset (geez) and gets pretty excited to come home and see him (since he and I pretty much don't leave the house).

 J still does the same things - eat, sleep & poop - but has added a little bit of awake time, which is good...

Although, you can't tell by these pictures.  Ha.  But you can tell that he has been eating - look at that double chin ALREADY!!!

Justin's mom Barb is here for a few weeks to help out...and she has quite an undertaking with Haylie.  They spend lots of time playing Play-Doh, going to the library, on walks, to the park, you name it!  I think they are having a good time. :)

Sleep is still few and far between - especially when your 2 year old gets out of her room at 4 am for whatever reason and comes to yours crying.  We are hoping this is short lived phase...but we can only hope.  

Settling In

I've forgotten what life with a newborn is like.  All they do is eat, sleep and poop, but definitely on their own time schedule and not yours.  So far, Jace has done really well with his to-do list. He is a champ at all of the above and proved it yesterday at the doctors office.  We had his 1 week visit - where he is still perfect - and he is already 4 oz above his birth weight!  He should be though with the amount of time I spend feeding that dude.

Haylie is, well, she's adjusting.  She got hit with the stomach bug on Monday and has been battling the eating issue since.  Not to mention everything is different lately with Daddy being home, Mommy not being 100% available and a new squeaky brother thrown in her mix.  Mostly though, she is doing awesome and loves likes tolerates her new brother. She helps with diapers and notices when he is sad.  But today she did tell me, "Jace down!!" because I was holding him and she wanted me to do something with her.

One thing she does love is Jace's stuff - swing, bouncy chair, monkey mat, bed.  She thinks that Elmo and Bear have new places to hang out! Oh, and Jace's paci.  Elmo gets those too.

Regardless, we are adjusting to being a family of four and I'm adjusting to less sleep than my usual 10+ hours. (You think I'm kidding!)  Justin is ready to go back to work - staying home and not being 100% busy is not up his alley.  But he has been a huge help and has let me "sleep in" while he gets up with Haylie.

The transition has been good...and the only time I've balked at the fact that I am actually a mom of two is when Justin said the word "kids".  As in we now have more than one and that's just weird.

Because didn't I just graduate from high school like, last year?

So I had a baby...

on Thursday, February 2, 2012!!!

Jace was taking his sweet time in getting here so since my Dr. is AWE-SOME, we scheduled an induction time.  We arrived early that day, met our nurses (we were the lucky ones to have a nursing student with us the whole time - honestly, I didn't care), started pitocin, waited for contractions, broke my water (um, so gross) and waited for more contractions.  Once they got "moderately uncomfortable" (are you flipping kidding me?? Those babies HURT) I was finally able to get my epidural.  I was the happiest person alive at that moment.

Around 1, Justin decided to go get lunch. I was in the room by myself and felt a strange, new pressure.  I knew at that point the baby was ready.  Thankfully my nurses came in at that moment and confirmed everything.  Called the dr, called my hubby, and off we went!

 Ta-da!  Here's our new naked bundle.

Family of four!!  I promise H is excited about her new brother.

 We made our nurse on Friday nervous, I think.  We kept asking when we could go home because quite honestly, a nights sleep in the hospital is anything but restful.  We had a lady from vitals come in at 4 am, after we just shipped Jace off to the nursery, flip on 3 lights and took my blood.  Seriously?! 

On our way home!  Thanks to everyone who called, texted, FB'd, visited, brought cookies and balloons, etc. We are beyond blessed by our friends and family.  It's amazing how fast he is already such a part of our family - what did we do without him?