antsy

Evelyn will be 3 weeks come this Monday. I seriously can't believe it. Things are still going really well. She is getting better at sleeping at night although the last couple nights have been a little tricky. She loves her schedule that we've roughly made up for her and if it gets off that seems to throw everything off....especially her night sleeping. She usually just wakes up twice now to eat and I'm getting in good 3 hour sleep slots, which is amazing for 3 weeks. She's growing a lot and nursing really well still. I've had to supplement with formula about once or twice a day because my milk is just not coming very much at all. I remember having this problem with Marshall so any tips you'd like to send my way would be awesome! :)

I still feel like I'm adjusting to 2 kids. I mostly feel bad that I don't have the time with Marshall that I used to have. I'm just feeding, feeding, feeding all the time it seems like. I have to really fit in some time with him or else he kinda goes nuts...doing naughty things to get attention. I knew this was all coming so I'm not surprised and really, it could be worse. Overall, he has handled everything very, very well.

I'm feeling really good. Physically, I'm feeling better and better everyday and have made a few outings out of the house this week. I feel like in the next week or so I could be back to my usual self but I'm kinda enjoying this lazy lifestyle...ha! :) Taking it easy and letting myself chill has really been nice but I'm feeling the urge to get out and about a little bit more and starting up on our usually routine again. We had a going away party this last week for our dear friends who moved (post to come...and BOO!) and it was so nice to get out and see some familiar faces...I kinda forgot there is a world out there! 

I'm really getting anxious to get back at the gym. That's such a big part of our lives around here. I'm sure Marshall misses his friends and I can tell a difference from him not getting in as much play-time. I'm getting excited to get my butt back in gear. I only have about 12 pounds to lose after this one...which is NOTHING compared to the 40 I had to lose with Marshall so I'm feeling pretty dang good. I can get into my pre-pregnancy pants but they are just  a little too tight. I have one pair that is slightly bigger that I have been wearing...when I'm not in PJ bottoms. YAY! :) I'm hoping to run a 10k in October or something more if I can. We will see how I feel. Can't wait to get going....

Davis starts night this next week...UGH!!! But his mom and sister are coming into town to help me out, which will be super, super nice. Its really hard not having Davis home as much, I miss him a lot and the kids do too. My mom comes in town after they leave to help me out the rest of the month. I'm looking forward to that too. 

I'm excited for summer too. The weather has been so strange this spring...hot, cold, rainy, really hot, colder, rainy so I'm excited for something more steady. 

Well, that's the update for now. Life is good!!!

How it Went...

I hate writing a whole, very long blog post and losing it. URG! Well, here's my second attempt in documenting my birth story with little Evelyn.

I had been having contractions off and on for the last couple weeks of my pregnancy. Some were stronger than others but they were never consistent. I had the thought here and there that MAYBE this little girl would come on her on...and early...actually that was my DREAM but I never though it would happen.
Truly, the Lord knows the desires of my heart. I felt every.single. prayer about this delivery was answered. And not only just answered, but answered in exactly how I had wished. I felt humbled, spoiled and extremely loved.

Come Sunday night of General Conference I felt very strongly that something was going to happen soon. And I really did feel like it could happen within the next 24 hours. I didn't really have very many contractions that night but by 4am I felt them coming on strong about every 20 minutes. By the time Marshall got up at 7am they were every 10 minutes and by 8:30am they were every 5 minutes. I called Davis and told him he better come home NOW! We dropped Marshall off at a friends, called my mom to have her pack her bags...just in case, and headed off to the hospital. I had no expectations at this point and was really planning on coming home. Call me a pessimist but I know myself too well...I'm a wimp and I'm dramatic so I didn't want to work myself up for something that might actually not be happening...i.e. Labor.

Once I got to the hospital, the nurse checked me and said I was only at a 1.5cm (which bugged me because my OB checked me 3 days prior and I was at a 2cm...but whatever). They had me walk around for an hour (it was soooo hot this day...90 degrees!) and when I came back I was surprisingly at a 3!!! What? AH!
One of the biggest things with this birth was that I didn't want anything artificial and I didn't want to push anything. I really wanted to "let nature take its course" but after discussing everything with the mid-wive (who was a man...maybe mid-husband...I don't know???), and him saying that I probably would be back later that night we decided to stay and have my water broke (Davis's idea, which actually was genius!) We had Marshall taken care of, it was during the day, we wouldn't have to come back, my mom could be there by that evening and after much prayer and thought we felt like it was definitely time for her to come.

By the time I was admitted to my room (about 11am), my contractions were still pretty mild. I could walk and talk through them and was feeling pretty good. By 3pm when they broke my water they were coming on pretty strong. I asked for a labor ball (which saved my life...I LOOOOVED that thing!) and held on for the ride. I really, really wanted to be off an epidural as long as I could last. My goal was to make it to a 7 and I had to make it to 5pm when the "really good anatheisia doctor" was coming in. I felt that this was totally doable but I didn't know how fast I would progress. By about 4:40pm my contractions were a steady, every 2 minutes apart and I was crying at the end of them. Rocking and rolling on the ball really did help though and I pushed through until about 5:20pm when I got the meds. It was super nice to relax the last little bit. About 30 minutes after I got my epidural, the nurse came in to confirm that I was at a 10, so I'm guessing I made it to at least an 8 or 9 on my own. I felt pretty good about myself then and kinda am getting the idea of going all natural next time...maybe. I just didn't know how bad it would get...I thought it would hurt much worse, but trust me...it hurt. I'd never cried out of pain before.
Well, time FLEW after this and before I knew it I felt the urge to push a bit but had to wait for my OB to come (she was awesome and came in that night to deliver. I was surprised to find out that not a lot of OBs will do this. Davis asked me if I would want him to go in for every single one of his deliveries...and I was like 'yes!'...isn't that the whole point? Anyways...)
After a short couple minutes and 4 easy pushes, baby girl made her appearance...screaming! Man, she cried and screamed for what seemed like forever. We were just shaking our heads wondering what we've gotten ourselves into. :) She does still have this funny little squeal but really is a mellow newborn.
Just an itty-bitty 6lbs 15 oz. Getting more and more beautiful everyday. Eating like a champ. Sleeping better now--last night was the best night yet, thank goodness because Davis was on-call. Growing, growing, growing.

The adjustment to 2 has been a little easier than I thought. Its just all about balancing it all out. Bedtime last night was a struggle because Ev was absolutely starving right when Marshall needed to go down, but we made it work. We are all doing really well. My recovery has been incredibly easy...almost too easy that I have to tell myself to chill a bit here and there. I'm really getting excited to get back into the world, get our schedules back on track...and honestly, back to working out again. I miss it.

Life is so good to us. The Lord spoils us. He truly does...and my cup runneth over. We feel so blessed and acknowledge God in all our blessing that we receive. He truly is looking out for us and continues to shower us with blessing after blessing and our beautiful new daughter is nothing less than the most perfect blessing ever. I'm so grateful for my experience this time around. What an incredible difference!!! So happy things went as planned and that she made it safe and sound!

YAY for family!

Look who showed up!

Nothing less than perfect!!!

Evelyn Lucy
6lbs 15oz 19 3/4 inches
4/2/12 7:42pm

Itty bitty & precious!

We are all doing awesome!

last picture?

39 weeks.

I'm hoping this is the last picture....pregnant at least. Thanks to instagram and my new iPhone picture-taking has been excessive this pregnancy. But its been fun looking back on the pictures I took with Marshall so I wanted to document somehow. 

This past week went by really fast which, I guess, is a good thing. I had a really good doctors appointment! Major progression and she said she'd give me til Tuesday. I kinda had to chuckled inside and trying not to get my hopes up. I left excited for the change but discouraged because I doubt baby girl is coming anytime soon and still planning on being induced. I did tell Davis that I do feel like its just around the corner, so I've been super anxious.

I've also had every single sign of labor in the book. And have had "false labor" about 3 times which is really, really annoying but I guess my body is just getting ready. I've probably gone to bed 3 times in the last week thinking, "I won't be surprised if I wake up and have to go to the hospital about 3am"...obviously hasn't happened. 

We are all getting antsy and excited. Having some more birthing flash-backs with Marshall as it all becomes more real. Its harder the second time around because you actually KNOW what you have to do to get them out. The first time around you kinda go in blind...not knowing what to expect. So to say the least, I've been nervous. Good thing instincts kick in and take over. Let's just hope for less pushing, shorter labor and no tearing this time around. Plus, a better recovery. :)

We will see...wish me luck!

Marshall Recently

I realized that I haven't written much about Marshall recently. He really is growing up so fast. By the end of winter, all his pants were about 1-2 inches too short (but still around the waist---ha!), he's been talking more, cracking some jokes, playing better with friends and making us fall more and more in love with him.

He had a doctor's appointment recently and I think I shared the stats---still tall and skinny. He's growing well and developing and learning so much.

He's been potty-trained for almost 2 months now, still has a few accidents here and there but didn't wear a pull-up last night (we ran out) and woke up dry! YAY! We'll see if that sticks around.

He's our little morning-guy and has had me up for the last couple weeks at 6am. He woke up at 7am today though and I thought..."Yay, I got to sleep in!" Sad! He's always ready to go and do something fun, which is fine with me because so I am. We don't like to bum around the house much.

He loves his friends at the gym and the day-care workers there just eat him up---they love him as well. 

PS. They are so awesome there, probably wouldn't go as much if I didn't like who watched him so much! :)

He's eating better and better. Trying out more things. If you've been keeping track of posts about him, you'll remember his eating has been a huge stress for me. He's picky and doesn't eat much but he's coming around and we've had to set-up some "ground rules" to get him to eat more.

We've also been having to discipline more (which I am horrible at, I give him too many chances and that seems to back fire...ha!). He HATES time-out so that usually does the trick. He is always trying to do his best though and doesn't have the "naughy-ness" a lot of parents complain about. But...he does have his days, trust me!

We hit this awesome whining phase a couple weeks ago that went away after I realized that he still needs naps, which he does take still. Lack of sleep made him super crabby and crazy! Marshall really loves attention and affection, if I give these to him he's pretty easy to handle. We like to keep busy by coloring, doing playdough, playing baseball and basketball, going to the park, playing with his "tracks",visiting the local children's museum, going to the Zoo, playdates with friends, watching a movie here and there that he really likes, playing cars, going out somewhere cheap to lunch, having "pre-school", finger-painting, playing bubbles, making cookies, playing games...list goes on and on. We really like to keep busy around here! :)

Whenever Davis gets home he's got to get in his "man-time" in and they love to wrestle, play golf and fly this remote helicopter around that Davis has. 

He's also started this thing where he loves us to call him certain characters and yesterday I was telling Davis he listens better when I call him the "character of the day". Some include Simba, Franklin (the turtle), monster, duckie, Bolt (that Disney show), Timon (and these days I'm Pumba), son (yes, son...), Lion, Bear (any animal really), and whatever silly name he can think of for that day. I think its hilarious. He will say things like, "Say, 'Eat your breakfast Simba.'" and I will say it and he'll do it! It works GREAT for bedtime! 

We've really been drilling him about baby sister coming around. He talks about her, knows her name and seems excited. We make sure to mention that she's staying at our house too. He seems to grasp it but it will be interesting to see how everything goes down when she comes. We are getting sooooooo excited and really anxious. I feel like our little family will be more complete with her here.

Marshall continues to be nothing but a complete joy to us. He makes us smile and laugh, and feel so proud to have him in our family. Classic saying when it comes to Marshall is, "He's such a good boy." And its true! 

Love ya Marsh!

family

My very talented and lovely friend, Kami, took these family pictures of us this past Fall and she took so many that sometimes I come across some I don't think I'd seen before and just absolutely love. 

 I'm sorry, but seriously...Marshall is such a handsome dude! :)

And Davis ain't so bad himself....wow-zas! :)

Here's a few that I found...

I'm getting so antsy and excited to add another little cutie-pie to our family. I just can't wait to hold her and give her some smoochies!!!

Yay for family...its everything.