Two Hands Full

    Our house is a bit noisier now, but right now its very quiet. I'm getting the hang of caring for two demanding kiddos, but its going to take some practice taking care of them along with the other things around the house. Today, I decided I could be brave and took both of them out by myself for the 1st time. We went to Target to gather some baby things. We don't have much in the way of clothes for boys so I'm always on the hunt for some more along with more items to make breast feeding a little easier. Who knew that something thats supposed to be so natural, could feel so unnatural at times. Since I had to pump for AE, this is a new experience for me. I'm not sure that we've got the correct latch going on. I was sure of it at 1st, but there's a few little difficulties that I'm facing. Its only been 2.5 weeks so its still very new. Hopefully these things will work themselves out VERY soon.
   While its only been 2.5 weeks, I feel really well so far. I'm only waking up once every 4 hours at night to feed so I'm getting my much needed sleep so early on. Praise God for that. I thought AE was easy, but Hardy is easier so far (mostly b/c I'm not having to pump, feed, clean supplies every hour of the day like I had with AE). I just feed, then move on:) So much better. He does cluster feed from 7-10pm... by cluster feed, I mean, he's on me for 3 hours straight, but whatever helps him sleep, right? One thing I learned from the 1st kiddo, was just to give my worries to God and keep praying about them. Everything else is just temporary and will be much better after 3 months when they really start sleeping longer, and routine is easier.
    AnnElise is finding it more normal for me to be dividing my attention between the two of them. Now she's ok that Hardy is occupying my lap and she'll sit beside me so that I can still read her a book. There's still the difficult jealous times. When we were at Target this morning, Hardy began to cry, so I picked him up and kept on strolling along, then AE decided that she needed to be picked up too. I was trying to decide if I could carry them both and push the cart, then realized that I couldn't. AE is usually persistent, but she just ended up sitting back down like a big girl after some whining. I was proud of her. There are many other times when the end result is her throwing everything within reach then crying for half an hour until she's forgotten or distracted.
   I don't want to wish this precious newborn stage away so fast, but I really look forward to the two of them laughing, playing, fighting, and learning together. I love that our house is already filled with so much love and laughter and sometimes crying, but I can't wait to hear 1 more laugh added to it.

Our Son

   We have been incredibly blessed to have spent the last week getting to know our son, Hardy. Many people have asked about his name. The name Hardy comes from my maternal grandmother's side of the family that dates back to "Hardy Mizell" 1785. The name Neal is from my late father's middle name which is also my fraternal grandmother's maiden name. It means "Strong Champion". We've learned a lot about Hardy so far, we've learned that he wants to eat when he's not sleeping, he really enjoys sleeping, peeing on the wall during diaper changes, does not like pacifiers, but really enjoys AnnElise poking at him and petting his head. AnnElise had a really hard time in the beginning with jealousy and wanting to play with him. The day that Hardy was born, AE came to the hospital with a rash and fever so she wasn't allowed to be very close to him. Since we've let her touch him she's been much better and every day gets easier for her. She still gets tons of attention, but its hard for her to see us cuddling him especially if its her daddy. I have really enjoyed watching her reaction to him. She gets so excited to see him and always says "Hey Babies" then proceeds to point out every body part he has.
   Since we have been out of the hospital we have had a doctor's appointment EVERY day (except for Sunday) for either him or me. Hardy has jaundice so we have to keep a bili light on him all of the time, and I have high blood pressure that is a little out of control. I had preeclampsia during pregnancy with AE, delivered this baby a week early before my blood pressure got too high to avoid preeclampsia and the magnesium treatment during delivery. Technically, I don't have post-partum preeclampsia so far, but my doctors are keeping a close eye on it. Despite the high blood pressure, I actually feel really good. I'm getting at least 7 hours of sleep, maybe more, have energy and am getting the hang of having a newborn again. I feel like its been a really easy transition. It helps that Daniel is off of work for two weeks and takes on AnnElise while I take care of Hardy. We are looking forward to this next week with less appointments and more relaxation before Daniel goes back to work.

Surprised that we have a son! He was so proud.

AE checking out her little brother!

Welcome to the World

... ITS A BOY, Hardy Neal George!  Born on 8-24-2011 at 7 lbs 5 oz, 20 inches long. AnnElise doesn't care much for him yet. The most she wanted to do with him was put him into her stroller so she could push him around like her baby dolls.

False Alarm...

  Last night, Daniel and I went to the hospital not sure whether I was really truly in labor... yes, it can be tricky. I was told by a nurse that they look for contractions to be regular but not necessarily painful. I timed my contractions and decided that maybe I should go in. At the hospital they were every 2-3 minutes, but within an hour of being observed, I hadn't progressed anymore, so I asked to go home since they weren't hurting. The labor and delivery nurse said that they looked for them to be more painful and become more intense, then I'll know I'm really in labor. Apparently, I can walk around for weeks having contractions every 3 minutes, but not really be in labor! If I do not go into labor on my own before Wednesday morning, then we are scheduled to be induced, hopefully to avoid me getting pre-eclampsia again and having the magnesium during labor. I don't really care how the baby gets here, I have no birthing plan, just going with the flow, as long as the end result is a healthy baby and I'm still healthy. BTW, if you plan to come to the hospital, its at the new MTMC on Medical Center Pkwy. The labor and delivery rooms are huge, but we never checked out the postpartum rooms. Apparently more and more women are inviting their mothers, mil, sisters, ministers, best friends, and everyone else in to the labor rooms to witness the births. Sorry, everyone, but you're not invited. Daniel really isn't even invited, but I'm sure he'll be in there anyway!
As for the guesses, only 3 people guessed girl, and over 20 people have guessed boy.

Double the Trouble, Double the Fun

 The last few days, we've had some of our best friends staying with us, Brett and Christie Harrison along with their daughter, Baylor, who is also our daughter's age. AnnElise has really enjoyed having a playmate around thats her age. She's been chasing her around calling her name, hugging on her, and giving her sweet kisses. They've also been climbing in and out of cribs together, refusing food together, and throwing fits together, but its all in the name of toddlerhood! We wish we could keep them around for longer, but they have family and friends that I'm sure are dying to see them as well.

A hot day at the Park before Chuck E Cheese

Here's Brett keeping the girls' occupied so we could play at Chuck E Cheese!  I think the adults had way more fun than the kids.

More hands to keep off of computers!

I'm not sure if you can tell how nasty that water is, but it was bad.  They had been playing outside!

AnnElise got excited to see that Baylor likes to play in the sink as well!

Two picky eaters eating a snack together!

Progression

    Just a note to everyone to get those guesses in, gender and birth date! Doc says I'm progressing really fast this time. (I could probably walk the baby out, but it could also be another 3 or 4 weeks.) Blood pressure has been good the last couple of visits so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. You have to tell me your guesses by Saturday. So far, not one single person has guessed girl!!!

Just around the corner...

36-ish weeks and huge feeling! 

20 months and feeling cool. These sun glasses go everywhere
with us now!