Jumping

We went to a movie yesterday (Ice Age, the Dinosaurs -as Hayden calls it). Our movie theater is attached to the mall and they have trampolines with harnesses where you can jump. We've always just assumed Hayden was too little, but he wasn't! We let him get on after the movie. At first he was having fun, but right after I stopped this video he got a very bad look on his face. I seriously thought he was going to throw up before it was over, but he held it in and did great!

Swimming

Hayden finally tried swimming without floaties last Friday for a little while, and yesterday he really got going! We are so proud of him and he was so excited!

My little model

She has to dress up everyday to wear all of her clothes! My mom joked this morning that she's a little model.

Here's her "Little Sister" onesie.

And here's one of Hayden for good measure. He had to pose while on the potty.

Doctor's Visit

We had Livee's 2 week checkup today and she is 7 lbs, 14 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. She's doing great! We had some concerns about an indentation on her lower back, but were assured today that the ultrasound and abdominal x-ray they did in the hospital came back completely normal. She has been spitting up quite a bit more than Hayden and curiously the doctor asked today where Livee was sleeping. I told her either in the bouncy seat or the bassinet and she said that it's better for them to sleep flat because sleeping upright can compress her little belly and make her spit up more. That was something that I never knew! We will definitely be working on getting her sleeping flat more often! She cluster feeds at night and that makes the gas worse, so I'm thinking that this will help alleviate the problems. I'm getting tired, but since Dave's on vacation next week I'm thinking we can get rested up. Hayden's 4th birthday is coming up in 2 weeks and I can't believe how big he has gotten. Preschool is just around the corner, starting the day after labor day!

2 weeks old already!

Livee is already 2 weeks old, which feels like an eternity to me since I've been trapped in the house (mostly upstairs). I can't wait to be able to get out a bit more and get back into a routine...however mundane that might be. She is doing really well even though nights are still hard. I'm trying to get her on more of a schedule, simply b/c I can't keep up with when she's eaten last if I don't. She sticks to eating every 3 hours most of the time. Sometimes it's a bit earlier and sometimes a bit later, but I can handle that if I know what to expect. She spits up quite a bit which I didn't have with Hayden, so that's a new phenomenon that I don't really know what to do with. I'm hoping that it's just her digestive tract being immature and will clear up as time goes on. She's still eating really well and I can tell that she's growing because she's filling out her clothes a little better. We go back to the doctor this Friday for a 2 week checkup so I will post some stats then.

Hayden is getting a little used to the idea of having her here. He went through a few rough days and with all of the visitors and guests, I'm sure it will take him a while to adjust. My parents left last Friday and Dave's mom arrived on Saturday. Then Dave starts vacation this Friday, so I won't be alone with both kiddies for a couple of more weeks at least. That's a relief to me because it really helps not having to worry about Hayden and housework too much.

Here is a picture collage of Livee and me. I'm on the left and Livee is on the right. I think she looks a lot like me as a baby, with a little difference around the eyes. Only time will tell!

And here are some more pics of me as a baby (around 6 weeks old).

6 days old...

We went to the doctor this morning and Livee is already up to 7 lbs! That means she has gained 11 oz since last Thursday. This girl definitely likes to eat! She hates being weighed and having her temperature taken, so doctor visits are a bit of a challenge. We have had a few rough nights due to her having days and nights mixed up, but I'm hoping that we are fixing that. Other than that, she only cries when she's hungry or cold. We're keeping her bundled up and hopefully she'll warm up in a couple of weeks. She really is a sweet little baby doll and seems to be pretty easy going. She makes all kinds of noises...grunts and gurgles so far. Hayden loves her and is really good with her. He usually holds her for a minute or two and then he's ready to move on to something else. When Dave's not here, he of course wants my attention. Hopefully I will be able to manage that a bit more when Livee is a bit bigger.

Pics from Tuesday

Going home - This was my little outfit.

Livee after being pulled out.

Big brother Hayden

Right after delivery

Prepped and ready to go.

The day before (39 weeks)

Livee is here!

Livee is already 3 days old! We are so thankful and blessed to have our little girl home and healthy.

As you know, I was scheduled for a c-section on Tuesday morning at 7:30 am. This meant that we had to get up and get to the hospital by 6:15. This would normally not be a problem, except that at around 12:30 am on Monday I started having contractions every 5 minutes. They were not Braxton Hicks either. I was in pain!!! So, I slept very little the night before my major abdominal surgery! We got up after a rough night and made it to the hospital a little early. Dave's mom and stepdad met us there and helped out with keeping Hayden busy. A little later my parents and grandparents showed up. All this time, I was getting prepped for surgery. To me the time went by pretty quickly, but I'm sure it was slow to everyone else. All of the staff at the hospital was fantastic and I felt very well taken care of, which was a very pleasant surprise. Anyways, they eventually wheeled me back to the operating room and I got my spinal block (which was so much better than the epidural that I had last time). They finished setting up the room and brought Dave back to get started at around 7:30. At 8:01 am, Olivia Frances was born! She is a tiny little baby doll weighing in at only 6 lbs 12 oz and measuring only 17 1/2 inches! We knew that she was smaller than Hayden was just by looking at her, but we couldn't believe how tiny she is! They immediately took her and Dave to the nursery so that everyone could see her and she could have her bath and vitals taken. She got an 8 on her first Apgar score and a 9 on her 5 minute one.

After recovery, I was brought to the room and got to hold her for the very first time. After she nursed, of course she was passed off quickly to all of the other relatives who were waiting patiently to hold her. Everyone is in love with her, just like us. Hayden was super excited about wearing his big brother t-shirt and has taken to his new role pretty well. He still wants all of Dave's attention, but we're hoping that the newness of all of this will wear off soon and he won't monopolize him so much. He loves Livee and wants to hold her quite a bit and even rocked her to sleep yesterday afternoon.

We arrived home yesterday morning and other than a little pain (on my part), we are doing well. Livee is eating around every 3 hours and is fairly easy to get back to sleep. I'm enjoying these early lethargic days with her! She goes back to the doctor on Monday for a bilirubin level and weight check and I go back on Tuesday to have my post-operative checkup. Right now, I am upstairs (and staying that way...stairs plus c-section equals bad) so pictures are hard to get, but I will try to post some soon!

July 4th

We had a fairly uneventful 4th celebration this year. We had planned to go down to our big fireworks celebration in town on Friday night, but decided against it since it was a little too hot for me (not to mention the crowd, yikes!). So then we thought we might drive just close enough to watch them, but not get in traffic. Well, we didn't do that either because Hayden was absolutely exhausted and wouldn't have made it until 9:30. So, needless to say, we didn't see any fireworks this year. We're pretty okay with that since we just saw fireworks at Stone Mountain in May.

Anyway, yesterday we met up with our good friends the Pilgrims at one of our neighborhood pools and feasted on pizza, ribs, chicken, cookies, and various other snacks. We stayed and swam for almost 4 hours, so we were all pretty worn out by the time we got home. The Pilgrims have twins, Emily and Ryan, and Ryan is Hayden's best friend. They absolutely love playing together. Miss Emily is just happy to be anywhere there is a pool! She would stay in all day if her parents would let her. I didn't get very many good pics, but here are three. (I really should have gotten pics of the kiddies together, but I'm just not thinking straight right now.) The first is Hayden and Ryan swimming side by side. The second is Hayden about to jump in and the third is Ryan mid-air. Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Only 2 more days until Livee joins our family!!!