We just got back from our first family of 4 outing. We went to run some errands and then to the park. Jack and Colin played while Gracie and I sat in the shade. Jack woke up before his nap was supposed to be over, so he started off our outing on the crabby side. It made it a little difficult to get both babies loaded up and on the road. That will hopefully be easier next time! Kind of reminds us of the first time we tried to take Jack out after he was born. That trip was a disaster that we look back on and laugh about. This one will be right up there with it. Ha ha ha!

It feels so strange to not be pregnant. I've been pregnant for the better part of the past 2 years, since March 2008 (with the exception of 5 months). Colin and I went to the doctor to get my stitches removed, and it was odd that we didn't park in the "expectant mother parking" section.

I'm STILL recovering and having pain, but hopefully that will be going away soon. I just have to take it as easy as I can.

Right before going back for the c-section

All dressed for the surgery

The c-section was scheduled from 8AM, but we had to be there by 6AM so they could hook me up to the monitors.

8:56AM - Baby Grace Elizabeth was born.

So thankful for these 3 people :)

At the park playing in the play house

You want me to stop to take a picture!?

Enjoying the sunshine :)

At the park

It's not easy being the big bro! Suddenly Jack seems so big!

Jack loves to kiss and hug Grace

Jack and Grandpa

One day old at the hospital

Gramps came for a visit

Grace in her hospital basinet

This is Grace in the hospital nursery. She was about 10 minutes old here. Colin just picked her up to put her on the scale, then it was back to the warmer before her first bath.

Grace Elizabeth

Baby Grace was born via c-section on March 23rd at 8:58AM. She was 21 inches long and 8 pounds 11 ounces at birth. Of course, we think she is just perfect and fell in love with her sweet little self immediately. We are doing great, and it seems we have an excellent little sleeper. Thankfully, right now we have my parents and sister here helping us cook, clean, take care of the babies, and keep up. The recovery seems to be taking longer for me than my last c-section (unless I'm just forgetting). I'm really looking forward to being pain-free and able to move and do things easily. Colin is so in love with his little girl and loves to call her "gorgeous". Jack is adjusting well and loves to give his little sister kisses and hugs. He has been very gentle with her, so that has been good. We have some good videos to post whenever we get a chance. All is well. Enjoy a few pictures from my iPhone since we haven't uploaded the camera pictures yet! :) We have lots more to share.

So peaceful

Love her in purple with her dark skin and hair

She has some of the same features as her auntie! At first I thought she looked a lot like Jack when he was a newborn, but now I'm beginning to see my sister too.

Naptime

So sweet

Still sleeping...

Big brother waiting on momma and dadda to come home from the hospital with new baby sister

:)

Sleepy Boy

No pictures today, but I have a couple of funny stories from the week.

One day when I was working, Colin was on the computer, and Jack was playing in the pantry. We don't keep much on the bottom shelf because this is a favorite place of his. He came out of the pantry and towards where Colin was. He goes, "Dada, mmmmmm." Colin looked up and he had a girl scout cookie in each hand with a bite out of each one. :)

Yesterday morning we were lounging around and Jack kept bringing us books to read. He brought his favorite, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? to Colin. They were reading it, and it got to the page with the goldfish on it. He was pretending to pick up the fish and put it in his mouth. He even pretended to chew it up. We think maybe it is because he eats goldfish crackers, but who knows! He is a goofy kid though. :)

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

2 More Weeks!

Well, we are finally on the mend I think. We have had a sick household for a couple of weeks now, and it is great for us all to be feeling better.

What a difference 14 months makes!! :) The first one was Christmas morning 2008...the day we brought him home from the hospital.

He is really into feeding himself these days. He loves to use his fork and spoon, but doesn't want any help...which means a big mess for us at each meal! I went to take a shower, and Colin was watching TV when he was finishing up his breakfast. He decided to dump the fruit on his head and rub it all in his hair. Lovely!
Love using my spoon like a big boy!
Enjoying the weather. This kid loves to play outside as much as we'll let him!
We had an ultrasound this Wednesday to check the size of Grace. She measured to be about 7 lbs. 7 oz. at that point. She can still gain up to a 1/2 lb. a week. She definitely won't be as big as her brother was, but I don't think she is going to be a small baby either. Everything looked great with the ultrasound. I have another appointment this Wednesday, but I'm not sure if I'll have another ultrasound this time. Grace was no longer breech last week. At 28 weeks she was head down, at 32 weeks she was head up, and at the 36 week check she was back to head down. We definitely have a moving girl! They scheduled the c-section with the hospital, and it will be at 8:00AM on Tuesday, March 23rd. At that point I will be 39 weeks and 1 day. Hopefully she doesn't make an early appearance. We can't wait to meet our baby girl!

Things are good around here. Counting down the days (4 weeks on Tuesday) until baby Grace's arrival. We are getting super excited! We set the bassinet up in our room this weekend. Nichole and I took Jack to Disney today. Hopefully we will be returning on Saturday. Got to get as much as I can of Disney before my pass expires next month. I guess we aren't going to renew our passes right away. We went on the boat ride in Mexico then had lunch in Mexico. Jack was a perfect little boy through the entire dinner, which was GREAT!!! When Nichole got him out of the high chair we noticed that his gray sweatpants were soaked entirely. I thought he must've spilled his apple juice, but no... He is having some major stomach issues. I wanted to go home, but she convinced me that we could take him to the baby care center to wash him up and then buy him some new clothes.

I'm glad that she convinced me to stay because it really was fine. We then took him on Nemo, Figment, and the big ball. He loved it all!

I have a dr. appointment on Wednesday, so I will update then with the new stats. :)

Getting cleaned up...completely un-phased by the whole craziness

Sporting his new Mickey shirt

Exhausted after a long day at Epcot

33 Weeks

Jack's new thing is to look at you and scrunch up his nose with a big fake smile. That's what he is doing here:

A picture from the time he fell asleep in the car.

Wearing an outfit that 3rd cousin, Emma, gave him for Christmas.

Just a quick update... I had a 33 week appointment yesterday. Everything checked out well for the most part. My blood pressure was what is always is - 110/68. Her heart was beating at 138 beats a minute, which is very good. When they measured me with the tape measure, I was only measuring at 30 weeks (hard to believe when you see the size of me!), so the doctor wanted me to come back today for an ultrasound to make sure everything was developing fine. It turns out she is just positioned funny, making my stomach measure inaccurately. She is completely breech with her head way up in my rib cage, which would explain why I'm always out of breath and why I've been feeling her get the hiccups way up high. This just means that I have to have a c-section, which I am anyways, so no concerns with her being breech. The technician checked the placenta again, and it is perfectly positioned. Everything is great and healthy! March 23rd is coming very quickly. I'm hoping she doesn't make an entrance before that. Here are pictures to compare the way I carry. The first picture I just took the other day, and the second one is around this same time with my pregnancy with Jack. You can tell that Jack is way torpedoed out, while Grace is stretched up high. Her estimated weight is 4 lbs. 14 oz., which falls in the 50th percentile. I think we may have a normally sized kid this time!!!

Congrats to Katrina, Trent, and big sister Paige on the arrival of their precious Wes, born on February 4th. Can't wait to meet him!!! It's ***so*** hard to live this far away when things like this are going on.

I'll try to update again soon with more pictures. :) Keep in touch.