He's Baaaaaack!

Along with FOUR new bottom teeth! You can see the tips of both bottom molars, as well as the 2 teeth beside his bottom middle ones. All at once. Awesome! Right now I don't even care, though, because I'm just so glad to kiss these scrumptious cheeks!


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Girls' Week (+ Daddy )

What have we been up to?? Well, Knox has been with Lolli in AU all week long (yes, I know. I sent him to Auburn fresh off a National Championship title. If he comes back a converted fan, it's all my fault) so that I could have some more one on one time with G-baby, and also so that I can be in prayer over the chaos that is about to hit this house!! Once Foxie comes back I am pretty sure it will be family of 4 from here on out...at least for a while. No more extended trips to the grandparents house for him, which means if you think about us AT ALL in the upcoming days and weeks, feel free to pray it on up for us. I am sure that we will be needing it!

Don't be scared of your own children, Regan...
Don't be scared of your own children, Regan...

SO, in the meantime I have been enjoying my time with her. We have fed, napped, fed, napped, taken a picture here and there, fed, napped, fed, napped. You get the drift. Let me tell you, I have only been nursing her for a little over 3 weeks, and MAN I feel  like it has been 3 years. I forgot how all consuming nursing can be! It shall be very interesting to see how nursing goes when I have Foxie back and I have to play with him, feed him, take him to school, pick him up, etc. Like I said...prayer. In fact, if you want to pause for a brief moment to send one up for me now, I fully support that.

Sweet Holland came over to play this week. I need to take a moment and discuss this child. Misty, the mother, is probably down to sleeping with one eye open in fear of me sneaking in her house in the middle of the night and stealing this baby. Seriously. Her cheeks are, well...the pictures will explain it all:

And these pictures really don't even do them justice! She is such a smiley and happy baby, I can't stand it. And I'm completely jealous of her bobbed/banged hair. I think I might take a picture of this 5 month old to my next hair appointment-which, btw, will be in the year 2013- to see if they can replicate. OK, enough about Holland before Misty puts burglar bars on her windows.

As promised earlier, I tried to take some fully body shots of Greer so that you can see her ridiculously long legs. These aren't great pictures, but you can see what I'm talking about:

I mean, really? Do I HAVE to be the only short, stumpy person in my family? And...where are the leg rolls?? I guess I will be the only family member that sports those as well... at least after Knox's fade :) 

I think she is asking Bun-Bun where the bright flashes are coming from??:

I'm still laughing over the hair and the skin. If she didn't have Knox's nose and Lee's legs, I would pack her back up and return her to the hospital and kindly ask them to find my real baby. Some olive skin person must accidentally have her.

Thanks to my sweet husband, I got to break free and go to a Kidz Klozet sale this morning. All I can say about the sale is this:

Me + 2 children to shop for now = trouble. Especially when one of them is a girl. I love me some cute boy clothes, but the selection for girl clothes is about triple the selection for boys. It was nice to get out and get some cute spring stuff for the kids. Here is one of my favorite purchases of the morning. Hope G-baby is ready to go swimming! 

Yes, the sale had on site monogramming. For cheap. Gotta love it!

Thank you, Lolli, for keeping Knox for the week. I know he is having an absolute blast (and wearing you THIN!). I miss him very much, and I hope he will want to come home with us :). 

Oh, and today is Greer's original due date! Can you believe it? I honestly can't image not having her here with us, and it has only been a little over 3 weeks. Love this little girl, and I thank God for her everyday. 

That's it for now. Remember, people...prayers, prayers, prayers!

2 week Check Up

G-Baby had her 2 week check up last week, and all is well. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and is almost 22 inches long. I have yet to get a really good picture of her super long legs, but when I do I will post. Are you ready for this? Looks like Greer is going to have brown hair and OLIVE skin. Hysterical. WaWa has a good bit of Indian in her, so it apparently Greer has her skin. Doc Rux and I were laughing at the fact that no one is going to believe that Knox and Greer are related. One fair skinned red head, and one olive skinned brunette. However, other than color, Knox and Greer have some very similar characteristics. Greer seems to change a little bit every day, but when she was first born you could not really tell the difference between the 2 of them. Here is Greer gazing at sweet Dr. Rux:

I am loving her. I mean...LOVING her. She is so stinkin' sweet, and you barely know that she is in the room. She seems to be very laid back and is pretty much content wherever she is (thank you, Lord!). She is still sleeping well and waking only once during the night for a feeding (double thank you, Lord!). She doesn't even blink an eye when Foxie is running around the house like a mad man. Now that she is 2 weeks, I am trying to get her in the feed/wake/sleep cycle, but it is HARD trying to keep ole' girl awake. I am lucky to get her to keep her eyes open for 20  minutes after a feeding. Knox has started paying a little more attention to her, but not too much. He loves to kiss her on the head now that he knows we will clap for him. I still haven't had TOO much time alone with them, but the times that I HAVE had them alone have been...interesting?? Things I use to care about with Knox I don't so much care about these days. I had them both at dinner time the other night and I was nursing Greer while trying to feed Knox because both were starting to get a little fussy. I ended up tossing Knox a spoon and letting him feed himself his yogurt, and here is what the result of that was:

You just gotta roll with it. I started to get stressed, but halfway through I just started laughing. Lee walked in not long after, thankfully, so he was the lucky one that got to clean all this up...including my floors.

This morning I woke her to feed her, and when I unswaddled her I found this:

No more belly button cord! It was nice to be able to submerge her completely in warm water during her bath. By the way, she usually sleeps through her entire bath. Really? Knox sleeping during his newborn bath time??? Not to much...

Here is my favorite picture of the week since both of her eyes are open:

And lastly, the boys went for a run 2 nights ago and came back with flowers for the girls

So cute. Lee sent Knox into the kitchen by himself when they got home, and Knox came toddling around the corner with the flowers. He thought he was big stuff and had a huge smile on his face, and then he started swinging them like a baseball bat and we quickly had to take them from him and put them in water. Such a gentle child :).

So thankful for another good week. I know it is only by His grace that we are surviving over here, one day at a time...

2 under 2, and 2 weeks in!

Hello blogging world! While I feel like it has been a bit since I last posted, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone else's posts :). Thank you for entertaining this girl while I continue my sentence of newborn house arrest. I am going to need everyone to keep the blogging pace at a maximum for my sanity :).

Welp, we are 2 weeks in the newborn stage..and I definitely now have 2 kids under 2 years of age. What?? I really don't know a better way to talk about it other than to make it a topical approach. SO..I am just going to address some of the questions that are asked most frequently...

How is Greer sleeping?
So far, so good! Her last feeding is at 10 pm right now, and on most nights she sleeps until about 3:30 ish and wakes for another feeding. She is not too demanding with her nursing, so it only takes about 20 minutes and then she is back down until I wake her in the morning. She woke up 2 times the other night and I thought I was going to lose my mind because I was "sleep deprived." If you know me well, then you know that sleep is something that I need. No, I don't like to lay around and sleep all day. Heck, I usually can't even sleep past 7, but I definitely go to bed a little earlier to ensure that I get my 8 hours. SO...the sleeping habits she is portraying thus far are a huge answered prayer. Huge. I am praising God with almost every breath because I know how crazy I can get without sleep. She sleeps in a bassinet in our room right now and it has worked out well so far...

How is Greer eating?
This one is a bit trickier. She is not too much of an eater. I am not sure if it's because she is technically considered a premature baby or what, but she doesn't nurse for too long and isn't very demanding about it. In fact, I am pumping in between feedings in order to keep my supply up. Thankfully, pumping is going well. She eats every 3 hours during the day, and sometimes getting her to stay awake can be a challenge. We go to the doctor tomorrow for a checkup, so I am interested in seeing what her weight is. I so wish you could see this little girls legs! Oh my word. I am not use to skinny babies, and her little chicken legs are too much! ANd those suckers are LONG (wonder where she gets that from?). I am ready to see some rolls on them. I LOVE  baby rolls...they are the best!

How is Knox adjusting?
Honestly...as apprehensive as I am and overwhelmed as I feel at times, Knox has been pretty good. Today was probably the first day that he paid attention to her for more than 5 seconds. It was really cute. Robyn and Brady were here, and he was kissing her on the head for the first time. I think he just liked the fact that we were clapping for him afterwards, so he kept doing it for the attention. I love that kid. The only thing that has been hard for me is the fact that he is super super super tight and clingy to Lee now. Don't get me wrong, I think that is awesome, but I miss my little man a lot. I use to be his favorite, hands down, but it looks like daddy is the light of his life right now. oh, and don't doubt for 1 teensy weensy second that Lee is ALL over it. I mean, ALL over it! Those 2 are thick as thieves...

Here we are kissing sister, and I must say that I love Robyn's face in this pic as well... 

Knox thinks that smooching on G-baby is super funny. Side note- he spilled paint on his shirt at school today, so they took his shirt off and washed it. Thanks for that. But more importantly, thanks for sending him home is a tee shirt that is size 6 MONTHS! hahaha. We died laughing when we saw him sporting the muscle shirt! 

How are you with having 2?
Ah, the beloved question. How am I with having 2. Well, I honestly can't really give you a great answer. I have had SO much help from my family and friends that I am rarely with them at the same time by myself. I have had a few hours during the day here and there, but nothing for long periods of time. Lee wakes up, gets Knox up, bathes him, dresses him, AND packs his lunch before he takes him to school, so thats been amazing. I do have to say that my husband is incredible. So, I haven't taken him to school with Greer by myself yet. My dad has taken off a little this week to come and get Knox for the day...another huge blessing. Mom mom and WaWa came yesterday and brought me lunch and hung out with G-baby and I. We all packed up in the Pilot that afternoon and went to pick up Knox from school. He thought he was big stuff when he saw that RiRi and WaWa were present for the pick up. They stayed and played with us until Knox went down for his nap, and then Lee came home right when he woke up so it worked out perfectly. Today, my sister came and brought me some groceries (and new sunglasses from Ann T Loft -whoop!), played with G-baby, Angie, Brady, and I, and then she went to pick Fox up from school...so you get my drift. Lots of help, and I am very very thankful and humbled by it. I haven't cooked dinner since before I had Greer and friends from church have dinner lined up for us through the end of February. I am sure that's one of Lee's favorite parts :). All this to say that I have still had a tremendous amount of help so I am not really sure how things are with 2 quite yet. I won't lie. I got super overwhelmed and scared Sunday night at the thought of Lee going back to work and me having to just wake up and take care of 2 by myself. But...then I had to calm myself down and tell myself that there isn't anything to be scared of necessarily. They are MY children...not aliens...and I shouldn't be scared of them. I can do all things through Christ...I can do all things through Christ...I can do all things through Christ...

I have to say that I love being home around family and friends. We have had some super cute visitors come over and help out!

Baby Holland...who I obsess over with those precious cheeks!

Foxie and Marissa played together all night on Monday. She is seriously the best baby sitter (not to mention a gorgeous blonde :))

 And this sweet boy is Jackson! His blue eyes will steal your heart. He and his mama and daddy live in Atlanta. He is such a happy 4 month old, but as you can see he wasn't loving picture time :(. Sorry, buddy!)

And the Sandman that we all know and love! Greer's first kiss??

And let me finish with this: If you ever feel like testing your marriage, you should purchase one of these puppies and apply it to the wall together. Oh. My. Soul. My personality is to measure it 100 times in all directions and then carefully take forever to apply it. Lee? He would be fine if we put blindfolds on and smacked that sucker on the wall. Yikes! I will say that I LOVE LOVE it, but it seriously took us over 2 hours to apply it and peel it carefully. My nerves were shot! But since I love it, I will say that it was worth it!

As I am typing this...look who showed up a little early with treats! Love this guy :)

So much to be thankful for! Please keep us in your prayers that the adjustment phase continues on a smooth path. Thank you SO much to my family and friends who have played such a huge role in making this transition such a positive experience! We love and adore you!

Bathing Buddies

Even though I miss the stew out of him, something tells me he's doing quite fine with the situation at hand :)...


I love waking up to pictures like this. Thanks, sister!

Boo!

Things have been going so smoothly for the first week of Greer's Homecoming. I was even praying about it in the shower this morning and thanking God that I am just blown away at how different things are this time around, and how it is going so well...
UNTIL...
Lee had a little fever and decided to go to the doctor this morning just to get some meds and "nip it in the bud." He was scared to be around Greer too much since he got the fever. Turns out that he has the flu, and his doctor told him to talk to our pediatrician and see what he said about the kids. Dr. Rux gave me some medicine for me to take to protect myself, and that way Greer would be able to get the meds through my breast milk. He also called in a prescription for Foxie. Here is the kicker. He wants Lee to be as far away from me and the kids as possible for the next 24-36 hours! Yikes! Lee is playing such a vital part in helping with everything right now...I feel  like we have a man down :(. SO...thankfully my sister is coming to get Knox to spend the next 2 nights and Lee is going to Montgomery to lay around in a hotel and get some work done from his computer and hopefully be able to make a meeting or 2. I am sooo sad right now. Things have been so great-and I don't want my joy to come from my circumstances-but I can't help but to be sad. I really, really, really don't want Knox to leave. I feel like my time with him is rare at the moment and he is not really paying me too much attention since Greer came home with us. I haven't been upset or sad about anything at all since I have been home, but when Lee told me he called my sister and that Knox had to leave, I definitely started crying. I know it is the best and that it will be so much easier for him to be with my sister right now, but I deeply miss my time with him, if that makes sense.

I also just wanted to say how blessed and lucky we are to have my sister, mom, and dad helping out so much. They would literally do anything in the world for us and stop what they are doing at the drop of a hat to help us. It doesn't matter what they have on their plates. Both my mom and dad work full time, but it doesn't matter to them. We come first. My sister has 3 girls that are very involved in school and extra activities, but watching Knox for us is NEVER a problem. She loves it and gladly takes it on. Thank you, Lord, that even when things seem a little overwhelming, YOU always provide a way out...and You have done so this time by providing sweet family to step in selflessly and serve us. Thank you!

Please pray that the kids haven't been infected with the flu virus and that we will be able to adjust to the situation in a smooth manner.

She's Here!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 started out to be a normal day. Foxie and I spent the morning together eating breakfast, playing, getting a bath, etc. I had a doctor's appt at 11:15, and Lee came home to watch Knox while I went. As we all have learned from the blog, I have been super uncomfortable for a while now. I went to bed the night before feeling the pains that I have been feeling for a week now. My friend Cathie kept reminding me that the hospital was a mile from our house, and it wouldn't be a crime to go get checked out just in case I was in labor. I cringed at the thought of false labor and chose to keep it at the house and complain to my patient husband...

Back to the appointment. I walk in and immediately my doctor and nurses start giving me a hard time about how I am a waddling duck and they can't believe I am still carrying the baby. I told them that if I didn't hear that I was progressing to a maximum at this appt, I might hold everyone hostage until the babe came. I was really joking and honestly thought I would be the girl to go past her due date with her 2nd child. As the doc started to check me, his face immediately went straight and he stopped joking with me. He takes my hand and pulls me up and says, "Regan. Call Lee. You are over 3cm dilated and almost 100% effaced, and as I am talking to you right now, I see your stomach contracting. Why didn't you call me or come in sooner? You are in active labor and we need to get you on a monitor ASAP." I was shocked and scared at the same time. I have the smiliest, nicest, most loving OBGYN and to listen to him get short with me made me a little nervous. He told me I didn't have time to run home, that Lee was going to have to meet me at the hospital. My first thought? "When will I be able to have a baby and actually have time to prepare and look decent?" My hair was in an air dried pony tail and I threw some lipstick on before the appt. People...I told you I didn't feel well!

So he put me on the monitors to watch contractions. They were about 4 minutes apart. Within the hour they were getting closer, and MIGHTY PAINFUL! My sister had relieved Lee and took Knox, so Lee flew up to the hospital in a panic ASAP. My sweet friend Angie came up ASAP as well, and I am pretty sure I scared her with all of my teeth-grinding talk. It was pretty ouchy and I still had not had an epidural. I kept thinking in my head that I was only 36 weeks and 6 days along and that Greer's lungs weren't ready (along with anything else that could go wrong with a baby born that early), so I was a little scared. Lots pf people decided to have a baby that day, so while we were waiting for our room to get cleaned, Lee just prayed for Greer for a little while and for my pain as well. I could tell he was nervous, too, but he wasn't going to tell me that. However, if you know Lee, you can look on his face and easily tell what he is thinking. 

SO... the entire family is now at the hospital and I still had not an an epidural. I was 7 cm dilated before they gave me one. When I was at 6 cm they gave me Nubian to take the edge off, and for some reason I thought that maybe I could have the baby without the epidural since I was already so far along. Lee and my sister both practically yelled the word NO! at the same time when I mentioned the idea. I decided to get the epi, and life was very different about 2 seconds afterwards :). Love me some epidurals...

Doc broke my water and I progressed pretty quickly after that and before I knew it I was pushing. Lee was beside me and my mom and sister were on the other side of the room ready and waiting with cameras. Honest to goodness, I pushed maybe 2 or 3 times, and in between those pushes we all talked and hung out like nothing was really going on. We were ALL very curious to know 2 things...

#1...Was it really a girl ??

#2...Will she have red locks to match her brother??-The nurses died over Knox's hair when he came in earlier before I started pushing, so they were all pumped about Greer possibly having red hair. There were also many family and friends that were eagerly pulling for matching hair and awaiting the answer.

While we were all talking I could feel pressure and I looked down and Dr. Shoemaker was literally pulling her out by himself. He just twisted and turned her once or twice and - Wha-La! Instant baby. It was amazing. But...when she first came out she didn't really cry. All the nurses got quiet as well as my sister and mom. My heart stopped as they carried her over to the heating table thing. They did a few things and then we heard her cry, but it still wasn't loud. At all. I kept studying my sister's face and trying to get a read on everything and she had a worried expression. The nurse told us that she was struggling to breathe a little probably since she was early, and that she was a little blue. I honestly don't think I took a breath the whole time this was happening. You could see her little chest working so hard to get some air. They kept doing stuff to her and within a few minutes her breathing had regulated and she ended up not needing any oxygen. PRAISE GOD! I mean, seriously...Praise God! I really can't describe how scary those few minutes were. I think that it's so easy to take a healthy baby/delivery for granted. Lee and I have had that discussion about 1,000 times since Greer was born. Thanking God for giving our little daughter the strength she needed to breathe well on her own and for developing her lungs in just enough time for her early delivery. 

So...she is here! And wonderful! And healthy! And Perfect! She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 21.5 inches long! Oh my! That is longer than Knox was at birth. If you could see these CRAZY long and skinny legs, you would be amazed. I know I am. She definitely gets that from daddy :). And the big answer to her hair...light brown. I don't think that anyone was necessarily disappointed in Greer not having red hair, but I have gotten a few comments that maybe my 3rd will have it. Haha. I'm sorry? 3rd? Maybe when Knox is 15. We are definitely going to have our hands full with a 17 month age difference for quite a while. 

Greer is eating and sleeping wonderfully, thus far. I forgot how painful nursing was in the early stages, and I feel like someone has taken my chest and run it up and down along the pavement in the streets (sorry, but it's the truth). Things are slowly starting to heal and so that part is getting less painful, thank goodness. I had no tearing from the birth (I definitely did with Knox), so I am so super thankful for that. Greer is so peaceful and wonderful and calm at this point, so we are enjoying that part. So far, she has only woken up for feedings 1 time during the night. LET THE MINUTES REFLECT that I am NOT naive enough to think that it will always be this way. We are praying hard that it will continue like this as long as possible, though :). 

Knox really hasn't paid too much attention to her. He has looked at her and pointed, but then goes along his merry way. I love that child. I can't tell you how much we missed him and were dying to get back to him while we were in the hospital. I was a little taken back by how much I missed him. I figured I would want to stay in the hospital bubble as long as possible, but I ended up wanting Foxie back ASAP. He had a grand time spending the night with Papa and playing with all the cousins and getting away with who knows what. Wish he could communicate to me and tell me all the stuff that he got to do and eat. Lord knows that it was probably like a vacation for him! He did come up to her and pat her head tonight a few times. That didn't last long, though. He has had lots of company playing with him since we have been home, so something tells me that when that all dies down he will be more curious about G-baby. 

Sorry for the length. Just wanted to get everything down for documentation. I am pretty tired and don't feel like downloading much tonight, but I promise to upload more soon. 

Oh...and just for the record...I am REALLY glad it's a girl. I mean, REALLY glad. I didn't realize how much I wanted it to be a girl until I first saw her. I cried so hard in the delivery room and kept saying "I have a daughter. I have a daughter." over and over again. It's a feeling I can't describe and had no idea that I would experience. She is even sitting in her PINK bouncy chair right now, wearing her PINK pajamas, and I love it :). Oh my how the Lord has done a work in me...and in such a short time!

Nursery

I decided to go ahead and post the unfinished nursery. There are a few things that I would love to do before she gets here, but who knows if I will get around to it. Things have been a little crazy over the holidays, and I have definitely taken advantage of Lee being off work and home with me. Plus, Foxie has been out of school as well, so free time is at a minimum!
I am about 36.5 weeks along, and went to the doctor last week. Mainly for my weekly check up, but also for the fact that I was in substantial amount of pain Tuesday night. Lee asked me to go to Montgomery with him since he had some work to do up there, and I thought nothing of it. I was excited to be with him and to see some family while we were up there, so I hopped in the car and wasn't worried about going out of town for the night. Rest assured, as soon as we pull up to Monkey-town I start having painful, painful and consistent contractions. Sometimes it was hard for me to talk through. We went to Aunt B's that night and they were pretty steady. Lee begged me to call Dr. Shoemaker and just make sure it was OK for me to stay the night in Montgomery. I fall on the side of not wanting to make a scene (hence, not wanting to go to the hospital when Knox was born because I was afraid I wasn't really in labor...and when we finally got there I was at an excruciating 5 cm dilated), so it took him a while to convince me. I kept thinking about me having to deliver Greer in Montgomery and my family being here, and it made me sick to my stomach, so I called. As expected, he said that it was OK for me to stay the night, but that I needed to keep it at a 1 night minimum since my first child came early and fast. Anyways, not that it's much of a big deal, but I found out at my appt. that I am 50% effaced and a little over 1 cm dilated. I mean, it could be 3 weeks from now or it could be sooner. Who really knows. All I know is that I feel like I am getting jabbed with knives in the girl parts every time I stand up or walk. Doc said cervix was super super soft and she was really low, so that's what's causing it. SO...we decided to get some things done around the house like put up Christmas decor, clean, pack some bags, wash some final baby stuff, etc. It's so weird because I wanted Knox's room completed to a T before he came, and with Greer...well, I would love for it to be finished, but I also know that we will survive if it isn't. Therefore, I decided to go ahead and take some pictures and send them to out of town family and friends just in case she comes sooner rather than later.

Since Knox's room is so bright with greens, blues, and browns, I wanted to try and keep Greer's room simple, neutral, and crisp. I ordered a small vinyl bible verse to go in the wall beside the cross. It's become one of my favorite verses for children:
"Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity."

1 Timothy 4:12

I think this mirror is one of my favorite parts of the room

In the window pane, I am suppose to be painting her initials in the top middle, along with 2 other verses on the bottom outsides, and then once she is here I will put black and whites of her, her hands, and her feet on the top outsides and bottom middle. Let's see if I actually get it painted before her first birthday...

Some of her little smocked bishops from sister...

Newborn to 1 year. Nice to know I don't have to buy TOO much :)

Lolli (mother in law), is in the process of smocking her a coming home gown and a bonnet to match, and so I kept a little space open on the bonnet rack for that one :). THANK YOU, LOLLI! Also, we are making some green pull back ties for the curtains. 

 Another one of my favorites! Jessica, Lee's sister, gave me this amazing cross...and words cannot express my love for it.

We got this shutter from the same store we got her furniture, but we had to sand it and repaint it.

Not a good picture. The flash makes the ribbon look yellow, but it's really the same green that's in the rest of the room.

And lastly, a closer view of the handles that we refinished...

Hard to believe that we will have a little baby occupying this room in the near future. Praying that the Lord would bless us with a healthy labor and delivery, and that Knox would be able to adjust well. I find myself more and more worried about that factor these days. It makes me sad to think that he might  feel a little less loved because of a new baby in the house. I am trying not to dwell on that thought, and instead think about him gaining a playmate. Something tells me that if she sticks with Foxie, she will be one tough cookie!