Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Christmas 2012

Christmas season this year was packed. Between you know giving birth and all, church stuff, and our family coming to town it was busy, busy, busy. Let's recap:
Thanksgiving Day: Kathy and Steve arrive to make sure they are here for Olivia's arrival- turns out we had to wait a week and a day until she came!
November 30th: Olivia arrives
December 15th: Youth Progressive Dinner
December 22nd: my Family came to town
December 23rd: We went to my sister's house in Kingsland
Christmas Eve: church service and dinner
Christmas Day: enjoyed a relaxed day of opening presents, breakfast burritos, and resting with our family of 4 and Nana and Papa Stout
December 30th: Nana and Papa (Kathy and Steve) went back to TN
December 31st: Matt and the youth rang in the New Year at the church and I stayed home with the girls. It was sad to not be with Matt for midnight, but I got a lot done and enjoyed spending time with my sweet babies!
January 1st: We did very little and rested!

Here are some pics in no particular order of our Christmas!

Ruthie enjoying the Hokewaters tree at the Progressive Dinner
sweet girls


Christmas Eve family pic

reading on Christmas morning

momma loving on Olivia



The pups wanted to be in the pic

opening stockings- books, crayons, bubbles, and coloring books

dinner at Merry Anna and Thomas house on Dec 23rd

playing Settlers of Catan- this is what I bought Matt for Christmas and he was very happy!

we gave Ruthie a slide and we gave Olivia a Fisher Price Adjustable Gym for tummy time and to play on when she can pull up in a few months! Olivia also got an Olivia the Pig stuffed animal



playing with Uncle Thomas

Hypster kid wear the hat that Thomas' mom made Olivia

sweet Christmas dresses!

play kitchen from Nana and Papa Stout

Christmas PJs

Ready for Church in her snowman dress

playing on the table from Gigi 

a pizza lunch before Nana and Papa head back to TN- we really enjoyed and appreciated them being around for the whole month to help with the transition to a family of 4! We are very grateful for both of them and we love them very much!

The cook! Thanks for the apron and hat Aunt Sarah


Uncle Thomas and Olivia

day after Christmas and loving having a table  all of her own!

kisses

Aunt Merry Anna 
My mom, my sisters, and my girls all at my house! So special!
I think all is going pretty great here. We are learning how to live with 2 kids and 2 adults. This week: we transition to a new schedule! I start back to work!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Olivia- 2 and 3 weeks/ Ruthie- 23 months

I'm so behind on posts. With Ruthie I was on top of stuff, but not so much now. So here I go with some pics and then some info I want to share/remember!

smiling Olivia


Ruthie sitting like a big girl

sisterly love

big beautiful eyes!


Nana and the girls


Olivia meeting Great Grandmom Stout

Daddy with the girls and pups

girls having a meltdown in momma'a lap
Ruthie enjoying the fish at Pet Smart the day before Olivia was born. It was our last outing as a family of 3!


bed time!



I'll start with Olivia:

Olivia is now almost to 9 lbs. She weighed 8lbs and 13 oz as of last Thurs! She has moved up to 0-3 month clothes even though they do not completely fit. Her newborn clothes, some fit and some don't. She eats almost every 2 hrs during the day and at night will sleep two 4 to 6 hrs. It is amazing. We are all still very tired, but it is great! Olivia also has a stuffy nose that she has had since she was birthed. I am so ready for the to be gone and so is Daddy. I bet Olivia is the most ready though! Olivia has the most beautiful big blue eyes and the cutest dimples. It is so precious! She is so calm and relaxed and laid back. She doesn't seem to care when the dogs bark or Ruthie tries to love on her and kiss and hug her. It is great!
Ruthie hit a huge milestone this month: she became a big sister! She loves being a big sister. She loves her "baby" and plays with her all the time. Ruthie won't even go to the car if Olivia is still inside. Ruthie is learning to make sentences and has officially learned the word "please" which sounds more like pees. I can't believe that in less than a month Ruthie will be 2 years old! Where has all the time gone, really? Ruthie has also learned to sit at the table like a big girl and eat. It is so cute and she is so proud of herself! 

I think that is pretty much it for now. Hopefully I can get a Christmas post up before January!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Olivia's First Week

Olivia turned a whole week old this past Friday. Life is crazy, but fun here. We are adjusting and enjoying life with both of our girls. We are tired, but that's ok b/c the 2 of them are just so wonderful. 
Olivia had her one week appointment. She had grown 1/2 inch and was down to 8 lbs 7 oz. Hoping she will gain some weight now that my milk has come in. 

I guess I will share a little of her birth story. We were induced with Olivia. I didn't really want that, but i was just getting so uncomfortable and had been having contractions for so many days that I was just done. Turns out, it was good that we went ahead with the induction b/c if we waited any longer she would have been too big most likely and I would have been sent for a c-section.

We got to the hospital at 5 am on Friday and got checked in. They hooked me up to the monitors and put in an IV. Then Dr. Joseph came and checked me. I was still only 3 cm. He broke my water and then nothing really happened. I felt a few more contractions, but was not in any pain. 

Also, during the breaking of the water our dr. informed us that he was about to go home and have to figure out something to do with the RACCOONS he caught the night before. Turns out all this time our dr. is actually a redneck and a Florida fan. He had told us all about his fishing and hunting, but now he was telling us about catching raccoons in his backyard that had been pooping on the top step of his pool. Anyway, kinda a weird story to hear, but also having my water broke at the same time well that just makes it even more hilarious. Don't worry, there is more to come about this story.

Dr. Joseph came back about 4 hrs later and I had not made very much progress. So he checked again and turns out there were two sacs and he had to break my water again.

This time he informed us that he found a lady to take the raccoons so she could eat them. However, he had to kill them first and in the process of shooting the raccoons something had come back and hit him in the face and he had a nice little cut on his cheek. Yep, that happened.

Well, about 30 minutes after the second breaking of water, I was in pain. I told Matt to go get the nurse that i needed that epidural. He went out and got the nurse b/c she just wasn't coming fast enough when I called the nurses station. For those of you that don't know I have a low tolerance for pain! When the nurse finally was able to come check I was in lots of pain. She ran out to the hall to hurry the anesthesiologist up. She returned in just under a minute with him and he got that epidural in quickly! 

For the next 5 hrs or so I just rested, watched some The Big Bang Theory, and facebooked. Around 3 the dr. returned and I was 9 cm. The nurse set me up in the thrown position (sitting straight up in bed with my legs hanging down to hurry Olivia along). Dr. checked once again and Olivia was indeed head first. At this point everyone still is telling me she will be around 7 to 8 lbs. At 3:45 dr. came back and I was ready. We got in position and all was going smoothly and I started pushing at 3:50. I pushed for less than 15 minutes and then the panic happened. I looked up and saw the dr.'s face. He did not look to calm at this point and I said to Matt "This is starting to hurt Matt". I had not felt anything up to this point other than some pressure. Well, she was stuck. The dr. turned her and maneuvered her out and gave me a 3rd degree episiotomy. Fun times! 

Olivia had some bruising on her head and they rushed her off since there was a small complication. However, she was great. They monitored her for about 24 hrs b/c of her weight. 9lbs and 4 oz is a big baby, people! Olivia was one ounce shy of being 3 lbs heavier than Ruthie! All I can say is praise God for epidurals b/c they would have been so much worse. 

We spent the next 2 days resting and introducing Olivia to family and friends, but most importantly to Ruthie Roo. Ruthie loves Olivia so very much. It is the most precious thing ever! 

For now, I am resting and trying to let my body heal. Prayers are greatly appreciated as we learn to adjust to life with 2 kids and as I rest and relax (not something I am good at doing). 

God has blessed us with such a precious baby and we 3 are so happy to welcome her into our family! 
Enjoy the pictures!



seconds after birth!

Our wonderful OB/GYN- Dr. Jason Joseph- If you need one and live in the Brunswick area, check him out. He is wonderful! Tell him we sent you!

clean and ready to cuddle!

hat and flower like her big sister

Our wonderful nurse, Melanie
 Here are some pictures from after arriving home!
Baby Sis and Big Sis

sweet cheeks and a little pout- looking a lot like her sister at this age

daddy and his girls

sisterly love

first bath at home- not too happy about it!

after her bath and still not happy

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Olivia Kate's Birthday

Our sweet baby girl was born yesterday, Nov 30th, at 4:05 pm!
She weighed 9 lbs and 4oz and was 20 inches long. We had no idea that Olivia was going to be so big. She is perfect and besides some bruising from having a hard time during her big entrance into the world, she is fine! Momma is good too. Here are some pictures and there will be many many many more to come later. Enjoy!

flower and hat like her big sister but in her own colors!

Momma and Olivia

Olivia Kate Stout

Daddy and Olivia
We had a few visitors today from our youth group: George, Megan, and Wendy! They were so excited to meet baby girl!


Ruthie is staying with Nana and Papa, but she came to visit. I guess all the duties of a Big Sister have worn her out b/c she passed out on the couch for an hr! So cute!

Friday, November 30, 2012

She's Coming...

We are at the hospital waiting on Olivia. My water broke and now we wait. Will keep everyone posted over on facebook! yay!!!!