Saturday, December 3, 2011

SHE'S HERE!

On Monday, Nov. 28, it was business as usual. I ran a bunch of errands frantically trying to get Christmas presents taken care of and a few last minute "to do's" done before the baby arrived. We had a doctor appointment that morning where we had finalized our plans to be induced on Thursday, Dec. 1. At the last store, my mom sat in the car with Baylor so I could quickly make a return. While "hustling" in I felt one of those lovely "lightning pains" as I like to call them. That was my last stop for the day so I dropped my mom off, called Russ and made plans to take Baylor to Build-a-Bear when he got home, and headed for home. At about 6:00 I stopped at the mailbox to grab the mail, and when I hopped out of the car I got a little surprise... let the flood gates open! My water broke! I thought that only happened in the movies. I was just grinning from ear to ear and luckily it was dark so no one could see my surprise :) I drove home, got B in the house, and called Russ. Thankfully he had just got off the train and would be home in 5 minutes. I frantically starting throwing stuff into a bag. I guess that's why they tell you to pack one ahead of time lol. I was certain that they would have to start me and had only started gathering things up. My sister came over and got Baylor and we headed to the hospital. It was truly one of those surreal moments and I just kept asking myself if it was really happening. My mom met us there about an hour later and the fun began :)
From the time my water broke until I delivered our sweet girl was about 7 hours. 4 hours shorter than Baylor. I know even 11 hours is considered a pretty short labor, but not in my world. 7 was much better :) I went into labor dialated to a 4 and about 75 % effaced. The majority of the labor was getting to a 5 and being completely thinned out. After we reached that, she was delivered within about 2 hours. We had some complications right at the end, but thankfully it all worked out and the baby and I were both okay.
Introducing...
Alexis Elaine Olsen
November 29, 2011
1:06 am
8 lbs. 6 oz.
21 1/4 inches long

Love at first sight

Her first bath :)
The nurse gave her this right in my room so I got to watch
Regardless of what time you deliver, routine is the same, so we were up ALL night
The next morning Baylor got to come and meet his little sister. He wasn't sure quite what to think and was very nervous about the hospital setting in general. The first day he was pretty nervous, but by the second day, he warmed up. He brought her this cute little bear that I took him to pick out a few weeks ago. "She" also gave him a little present with some little stuffed dogs and a Big Brother book.

Day 2 he got a little closer and told us "she is so cute"

This day he and my mom brought her the cutest pink giraffe I have ever seen and some balloons. We had lots of visitors that wore masks with all the sickness going around. Russ was worried the whole time because he had sick coworkers and felt like he might be getting something, so he wore one just to be on the safe side. Avagard in... haha
We are so in love with our sweet little girl
I can't get enough of her little feet. Her hands are very girly as well. Long and skinny fingers :)
And for all of you who I told she had lots of dark hair... I wasn't kidding!!!
Can you believe her hair?! Her skin is more of an olive color too. My Grandpa Forrest would have said "it's the gypsy in her" Lots of people in my family have it, just not me...

All bundled and ready to go home.
She was 2 pounds heavier and almost 2 inches longer than Baylor!
She is still so tiny, you forget how small they are at first!
We are doing great and are busy adjusting to FOUR of us.
And remember how Baylor would tell everyone that his baby sister was coming when we put up the Christmas tree... well please believe I got all the Christmas stuff up the night before! (probably helped put me into labor!) But at least we were good on our word, she certainly delivered and came right on schedule :)
Welcome Baby Alexis, we already love you more than you'll ever know.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

We know how to PARTY

We had so much fun this past week with all of the Fall festivities! I LOVE this time of year, and this year didn't fail to deliver. A few highlights...
The Pumpkin Patch!
Although it was really cold, we found a few "perfect pumpkins" and Baylor had the best time pushing around the mini wheelbarrow. He pretty much thought it was the best. thing. ever. And I had the best time watching him!

Then we headed back to Grandma Juju's to FINALLY pick the pumpkin they have been growing in her garden. He has gone out with my mom for months to check on their little pumpkins, one in particular, and a few days before Halloween they finally got to cut it off the vine. B was so excited.
We baked up some monsters...
My mom gave us a fun little monster cupcake kit so me and my sidekick decided to bake them up. Baylor had a blast pouring in all of the ingredients and especially decorating them. I frosted them, but let him do all the rest.
They were too cute to eat!
(He didn't think so... he dug right in on one before we were done)
We carved pumpkins...
Russ opted to watch football with my dad, but my sister and her kids were there to carve with us.
We painted pumpkins...
We painted the white pumpkins from the patch. I was watching my nephew Cruz, so I got brave and let them paint together. Their pumpkins turned out so cute.
We went to the annual Halloween dinner at my parents, one of my favorite traditions. Baylor's highlights were probably the doughnuts and his "dance party" with Aspen :)
On Friday, the 28th, Baylor got to trick-or-treat at Russ' work. This is where the BUT comes into play. Notice Baylor's costume- oh wait, he's not wearing one...
I tried ALL month to get him excited about his DARLING Mickey Mouse costume. He wasn't having it. I don't know if it was the full suit that freaked him out or what, but I had held out thinking that he would finally put it on when the time came. NOPE. After he cried for 20 minutes, we finally settled him down and he walked around in his clothes. Thankfully he still had a good time. He did love riding Trax to get downtown.
And as you can see, Russ was an old time baseball player, so I of course was... A BASEBALL. I thought it was pretty fitting. I hurried and stitched some thread onto a white shirt about an hour before we had to leave, but I thought it turned out pretty well. I felt like an idiot riding the train when it wasn't even Halloween, but what do you do right?!
Needless to say, by Sunday I finally convinced Baylor to dress up like a pirate. It took some serious searching, but we came up with a costume. He wouldn't put on the bandana or the striped socks, but I was just glad he put SOMETHING on. And maybe next year, he will wear the darling Mickey costume- and he'll even have a Minnie to be his sidekick.

The trick-or-treaters
aka his fabulous cousins
Aaarrggghh Matey!

He finally figured out that wearing a costume and getting candy is actually pretty fun :) In fact, he had so much fun, he cried to take the costume OFF and slept in half of it. Seriously Baylor?!
And I'm not going to lie- as much as I LOVE Halloween and all of the decorations, they came down today and I put up the Thanksgiving decor BECAUSE after we eat that bird, I get to put up Christmas decorations and then you know what happens...
As Baylor will tell you, "baby sister is coming when we put up the Christmas tree" or at least she better :)
HaPpY HaLlOwEeN 2011

Saturday, October 1, 2011

my "sweetest heart"

Here are the latest pics of our little man. Words can't describe how much I love this little guy. He has the sweetest personality. I often tell him that he's my "sweetest heart". The other day when I was leaving, he stood by the door with my mom and said "goodbye my sweetest heart!" I just melted. He is also at such a fun stage. Every stage is fun and different, but the 2 and a half stage is comedy hour. Not only does he say the sweetest things, but he says the funniest things. He has us all laughing ALL the time. He's quite the clever little rascal. If you can't tell, I love him to pieces...

















Thanks a ton to my sister Michelle for taking these pics too! Her photography blog is on my list, meeshka photography. If you're ever bored, you should check it out :)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

MY BUMP

To all my blogging friends!!!
I am in a contest on a local radio station for the "best baby bump"! The winner gets a $2,000 dream nursery and $500 worth of maternity clothes! Holy wowza! The winner is determined by votes and I NEED YOURS! You can vote once per day with your email address. It's super easy and only takes a second. Voting ends next Thursday, the 29th at noon. I am contestant 71 and truly appreciate you taking the time to vote! And while you're at it... have your husband, your mom, your kids, anyone with an email address :)
THANKS, I LOVE YOU ALL!


#71
Seriously, can you imagine winning a
TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR DREAM NURSERY?!

Friday, September 2, 2011

SNUGGIE LOVE

As I have mentioned before, Baylor has a beloved "snuggie." He had so many blankets as a baby, but he chose the little one with the dinosaurs that my mom gave him. It came in a set with a little outfit and hat. Of course he wore the outfit when he was a few months old and then they were retired, but the snuggie became a staple. After its 2+ years of use, his poor snuggie is getting WORN out. My mom has tried stitching up the holes, but the poor thing is falling apart.

Last Spring, I was walking down the hall at school and saw a friend/former parent of 2 of my favorite students and she was pushing her own little guy in a stroller. When I looked down at him, he was wearing the notorious dinosaur outfit that Baylor had (that came in the set with the snuggie). When I saw it, I excitedly told her that Baylor had the same outfit and then realized.. oh my gosh- do you have the blanket that came with it?! Well, the outfit was one her sister had borrowed her so she didn't have the blanket, but she said she would mention it to her.

I had forgot all about it and a few weeks ago got an email from my friend letting me know that her sister had another baby and when going through totes, found the BLANKET! They wondered if I would like it... um, YES! So her sister sent it to us all the way from Newport Beach :)

When it arrived in the mail, we let B pull it out of the envelope and he just smiled, ran to the couch, and tested it out. Russ and I were laughing at how his snuggie USED to look. Apparently a lot of love will wear a snuggie out :)


The NEW and the ORIGINAL
crazy!
Granted, it isn't HIS snuggie and he doesn't haul it around like his beloved, but he does like it and will sleep with it. I'm just so glad that we have a backup and that when the sad day comes that he snuggie is just string... we will have something similar :)