Surviving with Two

Here are some pictures from the last few days. Things have been going pretty well around here. I had one bad night where Tripp cried from 1am until 5am. It was a rough one. But Hollie put me on to some gripe water and Allen likes to refer to it as black magic. That stuff was amazing! Tripp was a rockstar last night! I will say that handling two can be a challenge. Kaylen didn't really want to go to bed last night. So that was trying. She was crying because she wanted her Mommy and Tripp was crying because he didn't want his diaper changed. We managed and after a good night's rest... all is well. Enjoy the pics!







Kaylen went fishing with Daddy, Mamaw and Papaw yesterday. She got to use her Princess fishing pole and here are the fruits of her labor. She reeled them in all by herself!!

Tripp is here!

Tripp was born on May 21, 2009 weighing 7 pounds and 3 ounces. He was 20 inches long. The exact same stats as Kaylen! The delivery was quick and I was able to do it naturally. I was only doubting myself from about 10 am until he arrived at 11:07 am. I literally didn't push at all. I was trying to hold him in because my doctor wasn't there yet but the contraction pushed him out. He slid out onto the bed and the nurses were there to "guide his path". No stirrups or anything! I must say that I am glad to be on this side of things and we are all healthy and doing great. Kaylen has been a great big sister already. She loves to hold him and she keeps saying, "wake up, little buddy". I put together a few pictures for everyone. The first one is the night before.

Kaylen and her new baby brother!!

Look at his big feet!!

Mommy and Tripp

Me and Allen seeing him for the first time.

Emily and Hollie were there for me so much! I have great friends. Hollie took pictures for me during the birth and if it weren't for her giving me a play by play of what was happening on the contraction machine, I wouldn't have made it!

Me and my sweet babies. There isn't a better moment in life so far as the one where my two met for the first time. It is so wonderful to have children. I am honored to be their mom.

Aunt Nikki visiting with Tripp.



I am sure there will be many more pictures to come!

Week 38 and a Visit to Sci-Quest

I am trying to do as much as I can with Kaylen before Tripp is here. So I picked her up from school on Friday and took her to Sci-Quest. It was actually really fun and there weren't many people there. This first picture is of her in a music room. She really didn't weigh enough to make the keys sound but I helped her.


This was probably her favorite area. She loved making dinner.

Here they had a simulated tornado in a glass box. You could stand in it but I didn't really get it because the winds weren't strong at all so it wouldn't be like standing in a real tornado. It was more like standing in a steam bath or something. Oh well, it was neat to her.

Here she is coming down the slide backwards. She really had a good time there and I recommend it for kids her age. (And if they aren't quite three yet... they would be free! That would have been better but I had to be honest... she is three. The lady actually asked me if she wasn't quite three yet... I told her she was but how odd to prase the question that way.)

And I had to take one last about to pop picture. This is at 38 weeks... and the last week before he is here. Next time I am on this blog I hope to be a bit smaller. :) I will say that I have enjoyed carrying him much more than the first. (Sorry K) She was so much more difficult and I felt so much worse the entire time. He has been much easier and I feel very thankful that the worst of my difficulties this time was altered by a diet plan. Much better than getting sick every day and gaining 5 million pounds!!!

7 days until Tripp's here!!!

Today was my ultrasound and it was sooo good to see Tripp. He is definitely a boy and I am so glad to know that since everything is monogrammed and ready for him! He measured at 6lbs8oz. So that could be off a pound in either direction. He is head down and in position. I am not much more dilated than I was before. So I will come back in next Wednesday to check my progress and then we plan on inducing on that Thursday. So May 21 is the latest we will be waiting for him!! I hope he comes on his own before that because I think that will make the experience a bit easier but other than that, I am quite pleased! Everything is going great. Here are some pictures of him:


I have been trying to spend quality time with Kaylen this week before Tripp arrives. Here are some pictures of us at the park yesterday. She is becoming such a sweet little girl. I love spending time with her.


Here are a few pictures of Kaylen and Rylie. They are both so sweet and they really play so well together.


This is really high in the air but Kaylen is so brave. I have to watch her because she will climb up on anything... safe or not!

And here she is hanging upside down!!! Having a blast.

This is actually right before we left. She got her cup from her teachers as a gift. She looooved that cup so much that she took a nap with it and also took it to the park. I also love how her feet are. She looks so innocent and sweet. I love it!

And the last thing is a picture of our new window in the kitchen. What a difference it makes in that area. So much brighter and the actual window isn't ugly at all! I am so glad to have that done.



I'll be in touch with the news of Tripp's birth soon!!! Have a great day!

My Last Day at School

Today has been full of surprises. If anyone thinks that I have a rough job teaching middle schoolers... let me tell you, it is the best in the world! These kids have hearts way bigger than you could imagine. My advanced art class came in today and threw me a shower for Tripp. It was sooo nice and totally unexpected! How in the world can I be so surprised by two surprise showers for this little bundle?!?! These kids again surprised me with their generosity. Great gifts that were so thoughtful. I know... they decided that we weren't having actual class instead of asking. It was so totally alright with me. This group has worked hard lately and we all deserved a little party. On top of that, I had a regular ed student bring me the cutest little outfit at lunch. Middle school is such a great age. They are old enough to be thoughtful any yet still young enough to care about their teachers enough to think of them outside of the school day. I am in awe of them. I really love what I do.

On top of having great students to work with, I have great co-workers. They threw me a shower a while ago but since then so many of them have done additional things for me! I am totally speechless. One teacher made me a precious blanket that totally goes with the colors in Tripp's room. It was handmade and she does a lot of really great quilting. You should look at more of her stuff on her blog. She has an amazing sense of style and colors. I seriously covet her latest batik quilt. And how she sewed complete circles I will never understand.

Then today another teacher brought me a gift. She makes jewelry and she brought me a bracelet that is awesome! I work with some really talented people! And since I tend to give homemade gifts, I really appreciate when other people do that for me. I know the time put in to the gift and the thought that someone is sitting at home using their precious time to make something special for me means so much to me.

I have had a great day today and I am really going to miss this place while I am gone. My posting might be less regular but I will at least update with Tripp information! I have an ultrasound scheduled for next Wednesday. I am so ready to see him again!!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Craziness

So for those of you who don't live in the same town as me... my absenteeism is due to the Swine Flu Scare of '09. I am talking people went into lock down mode over a few measly cases of a different strain of flu that we don't have a vaccine for. They closed all of the schools within a 30 mile radius for two days because of two kids being sick! It was crazy. I mean even churches canceled childcare and youth services. Check out what offices made Allen wear to come in and give them medicine:

Is that not insane?!?!? These people don't mess around with any kind of flu! ha!

Anyway, everything on my calendar from Thursday to Sunday got wiped off. The only sad part is that it rained like crazy the whole time so I really just stayed inside, cleaned and slept. That is until Allen's entire small group spent the night on Saturday. I am talking 11 tenth grade boys and a lot of rain. My house is destroyed. I didn't sleep at all that entire night. The last of the guys didn't leave the next day until around 2:30. And most importantly we all had a blast. It is one cool group of guys. They are musically talented, athletic, smart and wild. It was good to see what I have to look forward to with Tripp. Guys are so much different from girls.

Speaking of girls, mine is so cute right now. She has started this new thing where she likes to play "American Idol" and get up on our fireplace area and sing songs for us. We get to choose what she will sing and we always start with Old McDonald. We get to choose the animals. She calls on us. She also makes up songs. Those are the best because her little mind is thinking as fast as possible to come up with the words on the spot. I love it! It will be the most random stuff too. Some other fav songs are Jesus loves the little children (but not Jesus Loves Me), This Little Light of Mine, If Your Happy and You Know It, and more... Oh, and she is a ballet princess. Not a ballerina but a ballet princess. And for a while now she has been calling her dolls by two names. I have no idea where in the world these names came from but they are her two names of choice: Donna Lynne and Doolin. Don't ask me! Last night she said it was because she doesn't know a lot of names and she likes funny names. So there ya go. Just because all posts are better with a picture of her... here she is in the morning: