Grayson at 8 weeks

Today marks Grayson's 2 month birthday, so I thought I'd post a few pictures from today and give everyone an update on how the big boy is doing.

• First and foremost, Grayson is a super happy baby! He only cries when mommy isn't fast enough with the food or his tummy hurts.
• Grayson has been a terrific sleeper from day one! I had expected the worst since Ella was also a good sleeper, but God has blessed me with two! He hasn't made it a full night yet, but goes to bed around 8 or 9 and doesn't wake up until around 2 am. He falls right back to sleep after eating and wakes up again around 6. We eat and then go right back to sleep until 9ish and then are up for the day. Life may be tough when I go back to work in a week!
• My baby loves to eat! We had started him on Similac Advance which is a milk based formula, but while at the hospital we noticed him not tolerating it very well. Before coming home we switched to Isomil and all was good! I wasn't about to go through the torment we went through with poor Ella (You can read all about it in my earlier blogs). She would throw up all the time even after breastfeeding and the doctors swore it was reflux (and maybe a little was). When we tried regular formula when I stopped pumping, she threw up so much that I thought she was going to die. I have never been so scared in all my life! So long story short, I'm by passing the tummy aches and milk intolerance and playing it safe this time around. My babies have super sensitive tummies and get it from their daddy. Any who, Grayson loves his bottle and drinks 5 ounces every 3 to 4 hours during the day.
• Grayson loves to be talked to! He will smile when you talk to him and loves hearing Ella sing to him. She usually chooses Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Rock A Bye Baby.
• I am loving all of Grayon's grins and coos. Hearing him talk is the highlight of my day!
• Grayson has found his hands and chews on them more than he sucks his paci now days. Don't get me wrong though... he LOVES his paci!
• We don't have our 2 month check up until the end of the month, but did go for an appointment last week to check on his Thrush and tummy. He weighed in at a few ounces short of 12 pounds and was 21 inches! Such a big boy! :)

I'm in love ...

with this precious baby boy!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella Chase!

This past weekend was a fun-filled birthday weekend for Ella! We celebrated in three parts for each of her three years! :)

Each year mom and I take Ella to Toys-R-Us to get her birthday balloon and crown from Geoffrey the Giraffe and let her spend her $3 gift card. She loves every minute of it!


We also took her to P.F. Chang's for a delicious birthday lunch which I think mom and I enjoyed the most! :) I love the veggie lettuce wraps and really enjoyed Ella's chocolate birthday treat!

One thing we knew for sure is that we wanted to have Ella's party away from home this year. We looked into several places and decided on Chuck E. Cheese for several reasons: the price, the amount of children you can have, and fun! Ella had a blast as did everyone who attended! :)

Since we had Ella's party a few days before her actual birthday, Kermie and I decided to take her somewhere fun on her birthday. We headed to Jalepeno's for lunch and Monkey Joe's for the afternoon. We all had such a fun time and I have a few battle wounds to show how "hard" we played! :)

Dear Ella,

Three years ago, I couldn't wait to meet you and see your beautiful face. I had always dreamed of what my little girl would be like and you have most definitely been a dream come true. I love every minute we spend together and cherish every moment. You are not only a beauty on the outside, but on the inside as well. The past three years have been incredible and I can't wait to enjoy the years to come. I love you and thank God every day for such a wonderful blessing!

Love,

Mommy :)

From the Mouth of a 2 Year Old

I have debated whether or not to put these stories on the blog due to their content and I've finally decided to do it! Anyone who knows Ella knows that she is quite comical and will comment on anything "out of the ordinary" that she observes. And lately, she has been quite the observer. So, everything you are about to read are her latest observations and reactions... enjoy!


Boys vs. Girls:

We spent a lot of time with Ashley and the boys this summer. One day we decided to go to Sejla's house where she had filled up the baby pool for both Ella and Brayden. As Brayden was getting changed Ella noticed there was a little something different about him. "Mommy, what's Brayden got?" she asked. And I proceeded to tell her that all boys look different down there. That was basically the extent to which the conversation took us until.... we were at home a few days later and Ella began her usual drawing of smiley face families. She drew a head, face, arms, legs, hair, and then a stick right between the two legs. "What's this Ella?" I asked her assuming she would respond with something like "he has three legs". But, no, she responded with "Boys have long peepees mommy." We then extended our talk and spoke about how we don't draw peepees regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl. I'm hoping she learns how to draw clothes before kindergarten! :) A few days later, Ella was spending some time with her Nana and they were doing some drawing. As Ella's Nana walked into the room Ella very quickly covered her paper. Nana asked, "What did you draw Ella?" already aware of what had happened with the previous smiley face. Ella replied with, "Boys have long peepees Nana." As my mom tried her hardest to hold in the laughter she also gave the whole "we don't draw private parts" speech. Ella has drawn a few more long peepees since these incidents, but I think we are finally overcoming this hurdle! I think having a baby brother has helped tremendously!

My Baby Can't Suck a Bottle:

Yesterday morning I was putting some lotion on when Ella walked into the room with her baby doll. I had noticed that she had been strolling her around and stopping to change her diaper, but was unaware of the next thing. As Ella entered my room, she said, "Mommy, my baby can't suck from her baba yet. She has to suck from my boobies like Emma sucks from her mommy's boobies." I looked at her not knowing what to say. She continued, "And, you are her Nana so she needs to suck from your boobies since they are bigger." I tried my hardest not to laugh and told her that babies only get milk from their mommy's boobies and that she needed to go find the baby's bottle right away and teach her to suck from it. :) As she walked out of the room she tried to console her baby who was apparantly upset that her NANA would not feed her!

My daughter never ceases to make me laugh!

A Bump in the Road

Today started out terrific for several reasons:

1. Grayson slept terrific last night (including an almost 7 hour stretch).
2. Ella was chipper and patient all morning.
3. Ella dressed herself and did not throw any fits about clothing choices probably because she was allowed to wear a dress (the one she wears everyday now).
4. I was able to get the entire house picked up.
5. I munched on a few chocolate donuts and got in a glass of Coke! YUM!
6. We were all excited about heading out to see Sejla and Emma for some catch up time.

Then, the day hit a slight bump and knocked us all for a loop for these reasons:

1. Grayson screamed the entire time I gave him his medicine (he developed a case of Thrush which is new to me and absolutely hates the medicine).
2. Upon pulling into Sejla's driveway Grayson threw up (projectile) all over himself and his car seat. This was the first major throw up and was a little scary.
3. His throw up continued to seep out of the car seat and all over Sejla's floor so I had to take apart the seat and do a load of laundry at her house.
4. Grayson was quite fussy which is very unlike him! I am assuming the medicine might be upsetting his tummy :(
5. Ella began transitioning into "meltdown" mode while I was trying to get Grayson to sleep in Emma's rocking chair so I decided it was time to go.
6. Ella started the whole "I don't want to go" fit and cried as we got in the car.
7. I realized I still needed to take a trip to Wal-Mart for a few things with two fussy children! YIKES!
8. Ella cried the entire trip to Wal-Mart... and when I say cried.. I mean screamed!
9. She fell asleep on the way home, but woke up the minute I tried to put her down in her bed. Oh.. and did I mention she peed in the car while asleep???
10. When it came time for bath time, I was splashed and hit several times by one very cranky 2 year old who lost her brand new Strawberry doll and Barbie for the night.
11. Grayson cried again when I gave him his medicine.

So.... up until this point the road was smooth and an easy drive! After today, I'm hoping these kind of days are few and far between! Wouldn't trade any minute of the maddness for the world though :)

Our Life: The First Month

Tomorrow marks one month for Grayson and our first month with our new and improved family of four! This first month has brought many things with the days that passed: hugs and kisses galore, lots of dirty diapers, the wonderful scent of baby lotion, dry hands from bottle washing (I did not breast feed this time around and have been very happy with my decision so far!), a few jealousy issues and quite a bit of moaning and groaning from Ms. Ella to get her way, some crying from pretty much every member of the family, lots of laughing, visits from friends and family, the addition of being thankful for baby Grayson in Ella's prayers, a little fatiuge, loads and loads of laundry, the use of my rocking chair, the rekindled love for the Boppy, and the list continues. We are all beginning to get the hang of our new life and to be honest, it's been much easier than I thought! Grayson is a wonderful baby and Ella is a huge help! We've had our moments of course, but I wouldn't trade them for anything! It is already going by way too fast and I'm sure the last 5 weeks will fly by! But, one thing I know for sure is how blessed I am to be able to spend so much time enjoying both of my children! God is GREAT!

Here are a few pictures from some of our outings this past month. I haven't been the best about picture taking!

Brayden and Ella


Emma, Keaton, and Grayson


Jackie and me at Evan's Orchard

My lovelies! :)

Grayson's exciting day at the park with mommy and Ella.

Ella at the park. She refuses to wear anything but a dress these days! It's like pulling teeth!

Ella and Ava at the Orchard.

Ella and Grayson sitting under a shade tree during one of our daily walks around town.

Grayson Jack Donovan

Ella loving on her new brother.


Mommy, daddy and Grayson.


Our family of four!

My chubby cheeked mohawk man! :)

Grayson is here! He's actually been here since August 6th, but being a mommy of two has kept me a little preoccupied the past week and a half so that is the reason for the delayed blog post.

So, here's the stats for those wondering... He ended up being 9 pounds 5 ounces, 20.25 inches long, and was born at 2:23 pm. We were shooting for 2:19 pm since Ella was born then, but Grayson's "largeness" got in the way! :)

I was honestly expecting the worst as far as deliveries go since Ella's seemed so "easy," but Grayson's birth has hers beat by far! We went to the hospital around 5:30 and were placed in a room and started meds within an hour. Upon arriving, I was already 3 cm dialated and about 85% effaced if I'm remembering correctly. Going in this time I knew I did not want any pain meds before the epidural and I think that is what made this experience so much better! I felt so alert and very aware of everything going on around me unlike the "zomielike" state I was in with Ella! I received my epidural at about 4/5 cm and other than being able to feel it this time around, the epidural itself was perfect! Not too strong, not too weak. I could not move my legs the next day because of my epidural with Ella (slept through labor and pushed 3 times), but with this one I could move my legs, feel the pressure of contractions, but never felt an ounce of pain. The lady knew what she was doing! :) My blood pressure got low again this time around, but they quickly fixed that and we were back in business. As time went by, I began feeling quite a bit of pressure and sure enough, Grayson was making his way into this world! They let me watch the entire birth through a mirror and we were all a little bit shocked to see the "big" baby that appeared after about 10 minutes pushing! He was the most beautiful baby boy I had ever seen of course! :)

Our stay at Central Baptist was terrific! Our labor and delivery nurses were great and one happened to be a friend of our family which made us all feel very comfortable. When they moved us into Mother/Baby, Kermie and I were tickled too death to see the full size Tempurpedic bed! I was so excited to get to sleep beside him :) I remembered feeling bad for him sleeping on the chair the first time around! My night nurse, Dee, was absolutely amazing during our two night stay. She did everything in her power to make sure we were comfortable and the baby was doing well.

So, we've been home for over a week now and things are going well. I have dealt with the emotional overload much better this time although I have had a few meltdowns. I think having done it before makes everything much easier. Although, adding an almost 3 year old to the picture adds a new dimension! Kermie went back to work Monday after being off for 3 weeks, so that was a little hard. I think Ella had the most difficult time with his return than anyone. She really enjoyed his company! Overall, she is doing great with the transition. I love the age she is at because she has been such a big helper! She can get diapers, wipes, clothes, etc., etc., etc. and actually enjoys doing it! She kisses on Grayson and asks to hold him quite a bit. She is learning that she has to share her time with Grayson now and that babies require lots of attention. She's going to be a great big sister!

I have another 8 weeks at home from school so I will try to take pictures as I can and keep everyone updated on my life with two children! :)