Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day began with the most delicious breakfast I've ever tasted - seriously, you have to try the Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs. Do not click on this recipe expecting something healthly - it was, after all, the day dedicated to love, and in our house, there's nothing we love more than bread dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar!
We made our first trip to church, which I would later regret (more on that later), and then spent the day together as a family. R was the perfect Valentine and made (picked up from Central Market) a wonderful lunch! He even thought of dessert, which we enjoyed during nap time :) Valentine's Day looks just a little different when you've got two kids under the age of two!

The loveliest breakfast I've ever tasted

I love Elmo!

I don't think she quite understands the concept of a cookie cutter . . .

Our romantic lunch :)

My Valentine

Snow Day

Almost all of North Texas is enjoying a snow day today - we got almost a foot of snow, which is an all-time record. Areas around us reported 12-14 inches! The bad weather turned out to be a huge blessing for me - Tinkerbell has been sick since Wednesday, and is still feeling pretty terrible. Add to the fact that she's feeling a little resentful of the attention her brother is getting ,and she is not my biggest fan right now. We had a few rough days this week, and I counted the minutes until R came home. Thanks to the snow, R got to stay home today AND his Saturday meeting in San Antonio was cancelled! I was not looking forward to playing single mom to a newborn and a sick 22-month-old, so saying I was relieved is quite the understatement. R went outside this morning to shovel the driveway, so Tink and I decided to join him for just a few minutes to get some fresh air and a picture or two. She also got to have her very first mug of hot chocolate and bowl of snow ice cream - two "must-haves" for every snow day!

Two Weeks Old

We had our two week appointment yesterday - yes, in the middle of the craziest snow storm North Texas has ever seen, I made my first outing with both kids. On a normal day, I would have rescheduled, but Tink started running a fever on Wednesday, and I wanted to make sure that nothing scary or horribly contagious was about to invade our household. It was just as challenging as you might imagine, but I survived :)

J gained almost another pound beyond his birthweight (8lbs 5oz), has grown an inch (21in) and looks great! He is an excellent eater, and has started looking at us while we talk to him. He's working on holding his head up just a little, and is a huge snuggler! We're working on getting him on a daytime schedule so that he'll do a little better through the night. Right now, he's a big sleepyhead during the day, and at night, is ready to party!

Dr. Z was also super sweet to look at Tink while we were there and make sure that she was ear infection and strep throat free. While I was relieved, I'm still a little stressed with the thought of trying to keep them separate and washing my hands constantly - I guess I'm jumping headfirst into the role of being a Mom of two. My Mom reminded me that this is how I'll feel when either of them is sick for the next eighteen years :)

I hoped to take some pictures of the kids together on Wednesday, but Tink was not at all in the mood, so I got just a few of my boy that I thought I would share - isn't he a cutie?

Big Sister

Just a few of our first "Big Sister, Little Brother" pictures

Just a few pics to compare - think they look alike?

Welcome Home

Last Thursday, we were both released from the hospital and allowed to go home! I was a little nervous to be on our own (especially because I would now be juggling two), but SO thankful to have a full-term baby that was released the same day I was! We were able to pick up Tink on our way home so that she could show her brother our house. She was very excited and couldn't wait to read him books and show him her toys! The first few days were a little blurry, but J is a great baby and we're starting to feel a little more settled into the "new" normal.

ready to go home

buckled in for the first time

Welcome home, brother!

reading books together

napping with Mommy

first bath

first time in the swing

Happy Birthday!

So, I'm a bit late in posting pictures and J's birth story, but I've been just a bit busy! I figured better late than never, so here goes:
I went to the doctor on the 19th (39 weeks) with no more progress than the week before. My doctor offered to induce me the following weekend, but we waited for Tink to come on her own, and that's what I felt the best doing. They all looked at me like I was crazy, and sent me away with a 40 week appointment and plans to induce on Feb 2 (41 weeks) if nothing happened by then. Tink and I had a great week together, doing puzzles, reading, and cooking. We even took her Daddy to the zoo for the first time! I felt strange most of the weekend, but didn't think much of it considering my previous experiences. The following Monday, R and I stayed up late watching TV and had only been asleep for about an hour when I woke up thinking I had wet the bed. About ten minutes later, I decided that what I felt was not "wetting the bed". I woke R and called my sister, and we were off to the hospital around midnight. As we arrived and I got hooked up to the monitors, I had a hard time believing that this was the real thing. The nurse was able to confirm that my water had broken, and we started the wait. Three hours later, I hadn't progressed (big surprise), so the doctor decided to put me on pitocin. I requested my epidural because pitocin scares me, and it's a good thing I did! I received both pitocin and the epidural around 4:30am, and by 5:15, I was fully dialated and ready to deliver! We waited for about 20 minutes for my doctor to arrive, and our sweet boy was born at 5:52. He weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20in long. What a beautiful sight to see after going into labor at 32 weeks and being on bedrest for over a month - God is so good! We spent the next two days in the hospital snuggling with our little guy, getting used to having a newborn again, and looking forward to bringing him home and beginning our life as a family of four.

Welcome to the world

All clean

Bundled up

Sneaking in a nap

And three became four

Giving kisses