10/29/06 We're home and adjusting... The kids are unbelievably interested in their new little sister, and she is pretty interested in them too, when she's awake. I'm healing, slower than I would like, but I'm up moving around pretty well. Bella is sleeping quite a bit, although we're working on the whole night vs. day thing. We ended up staying in the hospital an extra day because when they did my epidural, the anesthesiologist punctured my dura (?) and I ended up with spinal headaches because of leaking spinal fluid. Sounds much worse than it is, however the headaches were unbearable, so I had to get a blood patch, which worked instantly, and the headaches were magically gone the instant the patch went in! Go team!
Lucas and Soph are growing up so fast! I was only gone a few days, and I swear they have grown several inches and have learned a million new things. They are talking in sentences now, with a mix of words and signs. Literally 3-4 words in a row. For example, we ordered pizza tonight, and Will asked Lucas if he wanted to ride along in the car to go pick it up. Lucas ran out to Nana and said " Bye Bye", "Car", "Dada" and then made the car sign and sound. I guess just letting her know he was leaving.... They both say please and thank you now on their own, and appropriately... TOO CUTE
Ok, I'm off to try to get a little rest before Bella wants to eat again, but check outthe new pictures in the October album, as well as the entire album dedicated to Bella (so you can all see her and get to know her too!), cleverly titled Bella's Birth. I'll update again soon with the million and a half new things they have learned this week!
10/25/06 Yesterday at 3:40 PM, we welcomed our newest member of our family. Weighing in at 6 lbs 13 oz and 19.5" long, Isabella Grace came into this world. She is a happy and very healthy little girl and Lucas and Sophie are already practicing being big brother/sister. Jess is recovering well and will be in the hospital until Friday/Saturday.
10/19/06 They are growing up so fast!!! Both Lucas and Soph have really started telling me exactly what they want/need, which is nice sometimes (less frustration), but also not so great sometimes, since they often tell me they want ice cream or a piece of candy, or a toy that was taken away since they were fighting over it. They are combining several signs and words to let me know exactly what they are thinking. It is really neat to watch their little brains work! I put Lucas in his Big Bird sweatshirt today for Mother's Day Out, and we started talking about going to "school" today. He started making his sign and noises for ducks and birds (quack quack and put your pointer and thumb together to make a beak - open and close). I kept asking, "Are you going to see birds at school?" Finally, he got frustrated and just pointed to his sweatshirt. Duh! Big Bird is a bird and he was excited to be wearing it.... Come on Mama, catch up!
Soph had a rough day yesterday after a not so great naptime, and threw a few SERIOUS tantrums. She was in the back hallway throwing one, and I told her to let me know know when she was done. I walked just out of sight and acted busy, while listening to her. She started to wind down pretty quickly until she was just whining, then I saw her little ornery butt walking toward me until she could see me. She then FELL OUT again with a huge tantrum once she knew I could see her. I laughed so hard that I think it distracted her and she ended up laughing too.
What little characters!
As for the family news, Will and I have decided that we are going to stay in Memphis for his next job rotation. It just seemed like, with the options we had, it would be best for the whole family to stay here for a while. That way, the kids wouldn't have a lapse in services, and Will could do his ideal job, plus we have developed a pretty nice support system here. Now all we need is a bigger house! The baby is due next Tuesday and Nana is driving in tomorrow, with Papa George following on Sunday or Monday. Wow! A full term baby... we won't know what to do with ourselves!
As for the family news, Will and I have decided to stay here in Memphis for his next job rotation. Although we would love to be closer to family,
10/14/06 We've survived another round of being sick! This past week, the kids didn't have their mother's day out program because it's fall break around here, so my sister, Aunt Hannah (Neenee as the kids named her) came down to help out. It's a good thing too, cause I'm not moving around nearly as well as I used to and of course, they got sick AGAIN! We spent the first 5 hours on Monday in the pediatrician's office while they decided whether or not to hopsitalize Lucas with Croupe. He was coughing really bad, but was also having trouble breathing, so they watched him to make sure the steroids they gave him kicked in and helped out. We initiated Neenee by spending all morning in the doctor's office, complete with shot, three breathing treatments, and two large vomits (all over himself and me). Nothing like throwing our help to the wolves! Luckily, she stayed for the rest of the week, and she developed two small shadows while she was here. Both kids fell absolutely in love with her and chased her around relentlessly (they didn't even wait for her to have her coffee in the morning before bombarding her with books to read and games to play). They spent most of their time showing off all their tricks and skills, like brushing their teeth by themselves and spoon feeding by themselves. We can't wait for her to come back at Thanksgiving and bring Uncle Ryan (who I'm sure will also get a cute nickname).
Other than that, we've been talking alot about halloween and we got the kids' costumes. We can't decide who gets to be Pooh bear and who gets to be the honey pot (check out the pictures... soo cute!) The kids got mini pumpkins (gourds) and realized really fast that they don't taste as good as they look. We've found a new way to bribe them.... candy corn! It's an all around favorite, and a VERY special treat.
As for me, I'm moving pretty slowly these days. I have about 10 days left until baby-day, so i'm trying to enjoy the last few days of moving without pain (C-section) and picking up the munchkins (I have to stop for a month!!) I'll update again before then, but we're quickly moving toward having the next one! I'll have Will update as soon as we/he knows whether it's a boy or girl!
10/4/06 We've had a really busy week! Now that the kids are feeling better, we decided to go to the Mid South Fair last Sunday. The kids got to pet a bunch of animals at the petting zoo (thank goodness for hand washing stations) and also got their first taste of fair food. They both loved the sheep and goats, and were pretty interested in the pigs and llamas too, but I think the ducks and chickens stole the show. As for the food, they both really liked the funnel cake (I think they want the recipe) and the lemon shake up, but the cotton candy was another story. Soph tasted it first, and actually made the Mr. Yuck face. She refused to try any more. Lucas tasted it and got this look like, it's sweet so I probably SHOULD like it, but the texture...... WOOH! I think they thought I was trying to feed them insulation. They just kept looking at me like, Are you kidding me? You really want me to EAT this? They had the best time just watching all the people. I mean, it was the fair, so there were some pretty interesting characters there. They spent an enormous amount of time waving to people (again, like we were in a parade or something), and overall had a pretty good time. The only downfall was that Lucas managed to get a little sunburned, even though we slathered on the sunscreen. :(
Today, my little kiddos decided that the best way to let Mama know that they have poopy diapers is to stick their hand down their diaper and show her exactly what is in there. Soph tried it first, and managed to get it not only on her hand, but her pajamas too, and by the time I got finished cleaning her up, Lucas walked right up to me and shoved his little poopy hand in my face to show me that he too was ready for a new diaper. How thoughtful! We can't WAIT for potty training!:)
Other than that, I had my 34 week checkup yesterday and the baby is officially scheduled to be born on October 24th. As long as everything goes as planned, we'll have a new one 3 weeks from today! Hard to believe we're doing this all over again. Will and I realized the other day that we are going to have to do rice cereal and baby food again, as well as 8 feedings a day, learning to roll over, figuring out specific cries and burping (hopefully without reflux this time). What an adventure. I guess to go along with all that, we get to see the first smile and laugh, we get to watch the baby figure out toys and learn about it's surroundings and big brother and sister, and we get to share love with yet another beautiful child. It's a toss up, alot of work, but alot of reward. Overall, we're excited and a bit overwhelmed. We're also just really excited that I've made it this far in the pregnancy and that everything is looking normal and healthy! Go Team Gockley! :)
Posted by our3babies
at 10:21 PM CDT
