The view from here

It is really hard for me to take an afternoon nap with Ashton because I can't get enough of watching this precious angel sleep.

Ashton on Wednesday

Just some pictures of Ashton in his bouncy today. Trying to make an effort to take more pictures of him...

Out of the mouth of Emerson....

On the way home from school today:

Emerson: "There is a new person in our class named Lauren"

Me: "Oh yea? Is Lauren a new student or a teachers helper?"

Silence

Me: "Emerson, is Lauren an adult or a kid like you?"

Silence

Me: "Emerson, was Lauren at school today? Who is she?"

Emerson: "I am busy right now. You figure it out yourself, mom"

Okay then.

Day at the Park

A couple days ago, we decided to take a family outing to the Botanic Gardens with some friends. We desperately needed some fresh air and thought a brunch picnic in the shade would be nice before it got too hot. Emerson loved being able to run around with her best friend and Jennifer and I sat with the babies. Thank goodness Steve was there to keep tabs on the girls.

Armed with her camera. All clean and ready for the playing to begin.

Jaylee arrived and she was not quite sure what was going onAshton enjoyed being held the entire time
Best buds (notice how they start playing and their nicely fixed hair immediately becomes completely disheveled!)

Let the game of chase begin

You think that is Emerson's *real* smile?

Chasing each other down the boardwalk

So cute!

Emerson practicing her wheelbarrow walk with daddy

Jaylee taking a break

Look at those red cheeks!

We really did have a good time but I am seriously looking forward to fall when we can stay longer and play more without worrying about heat stroke at 10am.

Ashton is 2 weeks old!

I cannot believe that Ashton is 2 weeks old! Time is passing so quickly. As many people warned me, poor Ashton is getting photographically neglected. I love taking pictures but finding time to have little photo shoots with him is near impossible...and that is WITH Steve being at home. I am afraid that when I am on my own next week he may never be in another picture again. Poor guy...when Emerson was a baby we took close to 50 pictures A DAY of her. I guess that is because I had nothing else to do!

Anyways, Ashton had his 2 week check on Friday and is doing great. Here are his stats:

Weight- 9lbs 4oz (above his birth weight!)- 70%

Height- 22"- 97%

Ashton at 2 weeks you are already out of newborn size diapers...those only lasted about 4 days. You are still in newborn sized clothes but I know that is quickly fleeting too. You are such a good eater and eat every 3-4 hours. You are currently favoring one side over the other, but we are trying to work through that. Your favorite things to do (other than eat and sleep) are to be snuggled and to watch your sister. This is a great thing seeing as she loves to watch you too. One thing that sets you apart from your sister is that you do not like shopping with mommy. Both times I have taken you out, you have screamed the entire time. We need to work through this because you are going to be my errand buddy.

Ashton, you are such a joy to our family already.

Random pics

These really have no place and don't warrant their own post but I wanted to include them somewhere for record keeping sake.

Ashton likes his baths about as much as Emerson did. Not.a.fan.

Playing on the Einstein mat for the first time. Emerson had to get under there too so she could show him how it works.

Emy wants to hold Ashton any chance she gets.

Pictures!

Finding time to blog with a newborn and a toddler is hard (even with all the help I have)! Anyways, here is a quick post to share some tidbits for record keeping sake and pictures for those of you who have been patiently waiting... And, because I am so tired, these are in no particular order:)

These hands are so precious!

Loves holding her baby brother

Our family in our TCU purple for the tailgate today

Holding baby brother (again)

Watching over baby brother.

And, just for record keeping, here are a few things that I don't want to forget (again, in no particular order because I am too tired for organization)

• Emerson is absolutely in love with Ashton. All she wants to do is be near him and hold him. All I hear is "Mommy, he is smiling at me", "Mommy, I love him so much", "Mommy, he is so cute", etc. It is absolutely precious.
• When Emerson first came to the hospital to meet Ashton, she was holding him and looked up at me with the sweetest face and said, "Mommy, I LOVE his hair". It was something I will never forget.
• Ashton went home from the hospital on Wednesday weighing 8lbs 5oz. At his weight check on Friday he was up to 8lbs 10oz...He is such a good eater!
• Breastfeeding is going so well and it absolutely thrills me. It was such a trainwreck with Emerson and I totally beat myself up for it until I came to grips with formula being okay for her needs. This go round, I decided to be much easier on myself and just go with it...if it worked then great and if not then that was fine too. It is such a pleasant surprise that it is working!
• Ashton is a great baby. He sleeps, eats and has contented awake time. The only time he fusses is if he has a gassy tummy or is hungry. I think his favorite thing to do (other than eat) is to watch his sister.
• Having a boy is just joyful. I am so much more in love with him than I thought I could be. I knew I wanted a boy one day but I mainly thought that it was just because I didn't want all girls. When we found out it was a boy, I was genuinely excited but also nervous. I love our princess-y girly girl so much that I was afraid I would not know how to love or appreciate a boy. He totally has me wrapped around his finger already.
• Steve has been such an amazing help so far. I remember him being helpful with Emerson, but the helping out has been brought to a new level this time. Whenever I ask for anything at all, he does it and without question. There is nothing like loving your spouse and feeling their love in this postpartum phase.
• Emersons current favorite game is to play nurse. She visited me so often in the hospital that she just picked up on what it is to be a nurse. Here is how the game goes: Let's say I am in the nursery feeding Ashton, she will pop her head in and say "If you need anything, just let me know" and then leaves the room. When she is gone, I will say out loud "Nurse Emerson, I need some _____". She hears me over the baby monitor. She comes SPRINTING in the room with whatever I requested. She hands it to me and then as she leaves the room she says, "Okay, if you need anything else just let me know". It is such a sweet and funny game and I love to see how much she enjoys it. She really is a helper at heart.

That is all I can remember right now. Time to give Ashton his first bath and get to bed!

Name Change?

Well, I think it is time for me to officially change the name of this blog because we are a family of four! Ashton just couldn't wait 3 more days for his scheduled arrival! He is healthy and precious and looks nothing like Emerson!


So, for record keeping sake, here is the "story".


Saturday was spent shopping at the semi-annual Just Between Friends consignment sale. There is a group of us that goes everytime and it is so worth it. I got a blue bumbo, 6 boy outfits, 6 girl outfits (all were carters or gap), 2 pairs of shoes for Emerson, an embroidered backpack for Emy, some brand new Lansinoh products still in the box and a couple other things that I cannot remember....All of that was only $96 after tax! Told you, the sale is a can't miss.



Anyways, we were at the sale (aka on our feet) for4 hours. Later in the evening we went to our great friends house to grill out and watch the TCU season opener. Dinner was so good and there were even cupcakes for dessert! I was exhausted from the long day and tried to go to bed early but I was in a lot of pain. I did not think anything of it though because pain in the evening had been really typical in this pregnancy.


I woke up at 2:30 in the morning to go to the bathroom and it happened. My water broke. This is really no surprise to have your water break at 38.5 weeks pregnant but in my case, the real surprise was that I made it to 38.5 weeks. You see with this pregnancy came a fibroid problem. At my very first sonogram the doctor noticed a fibroid and wanted to cautiously watch it. I had very frequent sonograms to track its growth...and it certainly kept growing. At one point I was seeing the doctor weekly for sonos and we were all just hoping that I make it to 32 weeks because my cervix had already started funneling (the early stages of labor). Needless to say, despite the odds, I carried our baby and his "friend", the fibroid, to term.


Back to the story- My water broke early Sunday morning. I came out of the bathroom and told Steve and his reaction was to be expected..."What? Are you serious?" We quickly got up and started packing to go to the hospital. Since our families were not expected to be in town for a couple of days when my csection had originally been planned for, we did not know what to do with Emerson. We called friends and decided to just take her to the hospital with us and one of our friends would meet us there to play with her while Steve and I were in the operating room.


Steve went in to Emerson's room to wake her up. He excitedly told her that we had to get up and take mommy to the hospital because baby Ashton was coming. To say that she was excited would be the understatement of the year. Next thing I hear is Emy running around saying, "I'm a big sister, I'm a big sister"!

We got to the hospital at about 3:45am and spent the next few hours doing paperwork, being monitored, etc. At some point Steve took Emerson over to her best friend, Jaylee's house, to spend the morning. At about 7:15 they wheeled me into the OR and got me all set up with a spinal and an epidural. Listening to the doctors talk about what they see and are doing is weird. Listening to their reaction when they saw the fibroid was hillarious...."Whoa! It is huge".

Ashton arrived at 7:57 am weighing a whopping 9lbs 3 oz and measuring 21.25 inches long. He is such a big boy! Almost 2 full pounds larget than Emerson (7lb5oz) at birth. I still cannot believe that I was carrying a massive fibroid and a massive baby. Combine the weight and I literally could have been carrying twins- I looked like I was too.

What I can tell you about Ashton so far is that he is a snuggler who likes to eat. Basically, if he is not snuggling (preferable skin to skin), eating or sleeping then he is screaming. No joke! From the moment they pulled him out to about an hour later when I got to feed him and hold him for the first time in recovery, he screamed the entire time. Literally. And not a sweet newborn scream but a bloody murder scream. He was just hungry though because once he latched on he nursed for an hour! I am hoping that when my milk comes in and he is really able to eat that he will be more content, but who knows!

He is quite precious although he does not look anything like his sister. Steve and I are trying to figure out who he looks like...my vote is that he looks the most like what Steve's brother, Scott, looked like at birth. He is so chunky and roly-poly all over and already has a little double chin!

Here are a couple of pictures. I promise to post more soon.

Goofin' around

There was a storm blowing in yesterday evening so the temperatures were way down and there was a cool breeze. We took advantage with a few minutes of outdoor playtime when daddy came home from work. Here are a few candids of sweet Emy having a blast...