"Bring it ON"

I attempted a baby announcement photo shoot today. This was one of the products and I thought it was hilarious. She's so serious and ready to take on anyone!

let the sun shine

Message from the Hinney

My Little Twins!

No, I don't plan on doing this all of the time - matching the girls. But, occasionally I don't think I'll be able to resist! Plus the fact that Annagrace already wears a 5T makes it really hard to find matching outfits.Did you see those cheeks? How yummy they are? Emmalee just had her two week check up and she is:
8lbs 4 oz - a whole POUND heavier and
20" long - a whole inch longer
She is growing so fast! The newborn size outfits that fit yesterday were too tight today! It's probably because she eats ALL of the time. We are up to 3oz every two hours and sometimes it's even a little sooner than 2 hrs. Her cheeks are full but she still has tiny little legs and no hinney! And while she is steadily gaining, I'm steadily losing! 36 pounds so far!! When I get to add in some exercise, maybe just maybe I can get rid of 24 more to be back to Pre-Annagrace pregnancy weight!

"Farming"

As they headed out the door Annagrace said, "we are going farming Mom, see you later."

Everything is growing really well and quickly. I can't wait to actually get to pick some veggies!

(Please don't look at the dump pile in the background)

Storytime

One of my favorite times of the day - Storytime!
Just me and my girls.
(That still sounds funny to me - "girls" - it's plural now!)

Surgery #3

We went back to the medical center for surgery #3 within the last two weeks. They did a Delayed Primary Closer of my C-section wound. I just couldn't imagine continuing for weeks and weeks of wet-to-dry dressing changes, just waiting for the wound to heal on it's own from the inside-out. So, one of my other options was surgery to close it up.
The original plan was for me to stay in the hospital for 3-5 days after surgery to have IV Antibiotics to ensure no infection was growing in the wound. But, the surgery and hospital stay were contingent on me being able to bring Emmalee with me (she's nursing). But, when the hospital said no, my heart sank. I thought my chance to close this thing up was over! But, the doctor said that he could do it outpatient and send me home with Antibiotic pills to take. I was SO EXCITED! I wouldn't have to be without Emmalee OR Annagrace, I didn't have to worry about who would be keeping Annagrace, who would be at the hospital to help me, or being discharged before my Mom had to leave for vacation. It was the perfect solution and a wonderful blessing.
The only down side is for Tyler and my Mom - they have to do EVERYTHING around here, taking care of all three of us and the house. I feel so useless and get really frustrated that I can't help. It really embarrasses me to have to have someone else clean my bathroom!
I really appreciate them and everything that they do!

Another bath time

We love bath time around here! Annagrace helped with Emmalee's today. She is such a sweet, loving, big sister. She wants to hold her all of the time, kiss her head, and say "AWW Emmalee."

Disney on Ice

Annagrace loved it! Emmalee slept through the whole thing! She is the best baby.

First Real Bath

Emmalee's belly button finally came off yesterday so she got her first bath!!

Everything was going good until I tried to rinse her hair and the water ran down her face! It shocked her so bad she stopped breathing. SO, that was the end of her bath!She was fine as soon as she got a pat on the back and a warm towel.

eatin' up the cuteness

Her poor little bloated belly! It didn't react well to the codeine in my Tylenol 3. Luckily we figured it out right away and changed my pain meds.
Getting too hungry to pose for pictures!

YUMMY TOES

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day was more of the same: lounging in my recliner, either pumping, feeding, or holding the baby while watching whatever I can find on TV. We did manage to have steaks for dinner, go see GG, and do a little photo-shoot.

Do you know how wonderful

My Mom is????

To give you a little idea of what she has been doing for me on a daily basis, this is what she did just yesterday:
1. Had Annagrace sleep over at her house to give us a break and have one-on-one time with Emmalee.
2. Entertained Annagrace by working in her yard.3. Gave Annagrace a bath (no easy thing with a cast!) and came to our house.
4. She assisted the Home Health Nurse in doing my daily dressing change. (She did it all by herself the day before).
5. Fed Emmalee while I pumped
6. Put Annagrace down for a nap
7. Did my laundry
8. Changed the sheets on my bed
9. Cleaned out an entire flower bed and transplanted the vegetables that we had started in pots.

10. Went to Walmart with Annagrace and picked up a few groceries for us.

She has been here everyday, helping me do everything! This past week has not been easy for our family. But, she is always there to help in anyway possible. She spent two night in a row in a hospital - one with me, the next with Annagrace. She changes diapers, sweeps and mops my floors, trapped a lizard that got in the house, and . . . showers me and my girls with more love than you could imagine.
I love you Mom and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!
(But, you'll probably be here at my house all day doing everything that I can't)

What A Week!

Emmalee was born on Friday April 30th
We were discharged from the hospital on Sunday May 2nd at 12:30
at 5:00 Annagrace fell on her elbow and BROKE it!
Tyler took her to the ER at The Jack (where I work) and Dr. McGrory was so wonderful to leave his lake house and rush in to treat her. The hospital isn't equiped for pediatrics. So, after he assessed and diagnosed her, he called another surgeon and set everything up for us at the Medical Center. Since they had already inserted the IV, she had to be transported by ambulance and they were able to walk right into her room and get settled in with some good pain meds.
Tyler and Grandmother stayed overnight in the hospital with her. I had to stay home b/c I had just been released from the same hospital just earlier that day with Emmalee. Carol immediately hopped in her car and came down to help me and Emmalee.
They said they would be taking her to surgery at 6:00 the next morning. So, I came in at 5:00 to spend the last few minutes with her and go with her to the holding room.The surgery went really well and quickly. I ran home to check on Emmalee and came back in time to meet her in the recovery room.

In the recovery room, I was so thankful they let me climb in bed with her. It was killing me to just stand there and stare at her while she cried and moaned. As soon as I laid down, she calmed down and went back to sleep. I even stayed in bed as they wheeled her back to her room.

Once she got back to her room, her Daddy spoiled her rotten with movie after movie of her choice and anything to eat. I had to go back home and take care of Emmalee and missed out on the fun part of the hospital stay.

She has pins in her elbow with a HUGE cast to cover them. They didn't have to cut her. They set the bones and pinned them in a closed reduction. She was able to come home later that afternoon.
The next morning we had to go to Emmalee's 48 hr check with the Pediatrician.
Then on Wednesday I had to go to my OBGYN to have my staples removed. But, my incision wasn't closed and healing. It is still a gaping, open wound. They packed it with a wet-to-dry pack and told me it needed to be changed EVERYDAY! Tyler can't handle that kind of stuff. So we went to the Wound Center the next day and they repacked it. Luckily Mom was able to go with me and learn how to do it. Home Health hadn't finished getting all of the insurance stuff taken care of so she had to do it for me today. It is so gross, it looks like a sliced open raw chicken but WORSE! Everything is set up now and a nurse will be coming to our house once a day to change out my dressing.
SO, I think we are done, HOPEFULLY! No more accidents, no more issues. We are trying to get back to normal and enjoy having a new baby at home. Poor Tyler has three invalids to take care of and he is doing a wonderful job. I don't know what we would do without my family. My Mom and Dad are here everyday to help and clean. Carol is always willing to drop everything and rush down to help. I love them all so much and don't know what I would do without them.

One Week

Emmalee is a week old today!!!

I feel like she has been here a month or two. I think it's the fact that we have had a month's worth of stress in one week. She is the sweetest baby and very easy going! She looks and acts just like Annagrace did at her age.

Sisters

First Meeting!! It was so incredibly sweet, I just cried the whole time. I was pushing to get released as soon as possible so Annagrace could meet her sister. They wouldn't let her into the hospital to see me or Emmalee. It just didn't seem fair that anyone else, over 19, could come upstairs and hold Emmalee. But, her own sister couldn't!

At home and loving on her little sister.

Taken 10 minutes before the fall and break!