18 Days Later...

It finally fell off. Good bye nasty umbilical cord, hello bath time!

Not a fan.

Loving someone washing her hair - that's my girl!

Still not happy.

Look at all that curly hair!

Totally worn out.

If You Asked Me Today the Answer Would Be "No, I am Not Having Any More Children"

I feel like I am updating this blog all of the time now. I really don't have spare time, but I know that this time in my life is fleeting and it is important to me to remember. I have found myself having a hard time remembering some things from Kayla and Macy's lives and they are only 4 and 2. I know that this day will too be forgotten, and as difficult of a morning as it has been, I want to remember these things.

So much for my easy baby. She is growing up and showing that she has an opinion about things - like how and where she wants to sleep. During the night we are still doing okay, although I have to spend 15-30 minutes getting her to sleep after she eats. During the day is a different story. Cradle? Nope. Crib? Nope. Baby Carrier? Nope. Mama's arms? Yep. As much as I would love to spend my day snuggling with a sleeping baby, it is just not possible. First of all I have 2 other children. The television has been on for over 3 hours, but there will be days like that. I'm okay with that. The mommy guilt for leaving them alone for so long while I try to get Brooke to stay asleep - well, that's not so easy to deal with. They are fine, after all Max and Ruby is on. I really don't care for that show, but the girls love it and today that is what matters. Besides, I have spent most of the show in Brooke's room. Secondly, laundry doesn't do itself. Thank you cards don't write themselves. Clean dishes don't put themselves away. Oh, how I wish they would.

We might be taking a car ride later. She will sleep in the car, and she will stay asleep when we get home. So if you see me driving around today you can probably be assured that I haven't been able to shower yet, but I'm okay with that too because I will probably be driving around in a quiet car, and that is priceless.

Sleeping

All at the same time. For over an hour. Need I say more?

Children's Museum

The girls LOVE Curious George. If I ask what they want to watch on television 8 out of 10 times it will be George. We have our DVR set up to record them and they could watch the same episode 3 times in a row. The Children's Museum in town has had a special Curious George exhibit since October, and we had planned to take the girls. Y'know, one of those plans that you keep talking about but not doing anything about. Well we remembered on Friday and it was a good thing because this was the last weekend of the exhibit.Doing a little fishing.

Working hard on that wheel!

Oh how they LOVED the moon sand, and mom loved how they weren't covered in it when they were finished.

This is part of a large contraption of balls that move around with the help of children turning wheels, pulling ropes, and moving air jets. It is definitely a favorite at the museum.

The girls had a great time and were completely worn out. For lunch we decided to take a walk through Centennial Park to the CNN Center. It was quite chilly outside, but we enjoyed the adventure. Brooke was great and pretty much slept the whole time. We are so glad we had such a fun, spontaneous day.

I'm Starting to Beg

Dear Nasty Umbilical Cord,

Please finish drying up and fall off. It has been 16 days and I am tired of looking at you. I'm tired of being careful during diaper changes. I am tired of trying to bathe Brooke while holding her. She doesn't like it and neither do we. She needs a real bath. I would appreciate your help with this.

Thanks,
Brooke's Mommy

Frustrations

We potty trained Macy in November. It was too easy, and I should have known it was too good to be true. She has totally regressed. Well, not totally, but significantly. She used to tell us when she had to go 9 out of 10 times. She rarely had accidents and she would never poop in her panties. I've heard that bringing a new baby into the house can cause this, but honestly, it started over the Christmas holidays. It's mostly our fault. I won't deny that. With all of the going back and forth to grandparents houses, shopping, and all of the other fun stuff, we put her in pull-ups. A lot. Now we are starting over. Maybe not from square one, but maybe square two. So we are back to panties all day, setting a timer, doing a silly song and dance when she stays dry and goes on the potty, and passing out the candy. The first time around it only took a few days, but this time it is taking longer. Perseverance. That's what it will take to get through this. I'm sure it would be easier to deal with on a full night's sleep, but it is what it is, and I am thankful for the 4 1/2 stretch that I was able to get last night. It's the small things in life...

2 weeks old

Wow! Brooke is 2 weeks old. In some ways it has flown by, but in some ways my memory of life before her is fuzzy. It's amazing how a little baby can come into your life and your life changes so much so quickly. She is such a great baby. I wanted to make a few notes as to what our life is like so that in 5 years I'll have something to look back on.

• She really only cries when she is hungry and sometimes right before she goes to sleep.
• She is a great eater. She regained and surpassed her birth weight in 5 days.
• She loves to be held or swaddled. She's not a fan of the swing or bouncy seat right now.
• The last few days she has been much more alert, but at night she always goes right back to sleep after eating.
• Her umbilical cord has not fallen off yet. I am so ready to see that nasty thing gone! Hopefully it will be any day now.
• Her sisters, especially Kayla, are totally in love with her. She has done very well at tolerating all of the attention they give her.
• She is still wearing newborn size clothes and diapers, although I don't think she will for much longer. :(
  

We had her pictures taken over the weekend and we can't wait to see how they turned out. Our normally calm baby was quite fussy, but I'm sure Candace was able to get a few great shots. I'll be sure to post some when I get them back.

First Day Back in Routine - Whatever that Might Be

Marc went back to work yesterday. He has been home 28 of the last 30 days. He was home for a couple of weeks for Christmas, went back to work for 1 day, and then Brooke was born so he was home for about 2 more weeks. We have been so spoiled. I started dreading him going back to work over a week before he was supposed to go back. However, yesterday was fabulous! Brooke let us have a 5 hour stretch of sleep on Sunday night so I wasn't exhausted when Macy came in our room. Brooke only cried 3 times the entire day and that was when she was hungry. Then, after watching the world for a little while, she would just fall back asleep in my arm peacefully. I was able to put her in her crib every time and she took nice long naps. Kayla and Macy didn't fight one time the entire day, and Kayla was a huge help for me. She even cleaned the playroom without being asked!

She is totally in love with her baby sister.

Ice Storm 2010

We don't get much snow here in Georgia, but we do get ice. Four days later there is still ice covering our back patio. Most of the roads are okay, but there are still some dangerous areas out there. The girls played outside for a little while, but it was a too cold for them, especially Kayla. She is definitely my daughter!According to Macy birds eat snow, therefore she decided that she needed to fill the bird feeder up with it.

The best snowman we could do. Icy snow isn't too easy to gather.

Grandparents

Brooke on the day she came home from the hospital. Brooke and her great-grandmother, Nana.

Brooke and her Grammie.

Brooke and her Nini.

4 Year Old Prayers

I love it when Kayla stops to pray on her own. Sometimes it's for a better attitude or to help her feel better. We've tried to teach her that we can talk to God at any time and not just during our bedtime prayers. We want her to know that God cares about us, about the big and little things in our lives.

While we were at the hospital with Brooke, Kayla was working on a card for us. She finished, sealed it in an envelope, and was getting ready to come visit us. All of a sudden she stopped, got quiet, and closed her eyes. When she opened them my mom asked what she was doing. She said she was praying that God would take the extra air out of the envelope.

Yesterday my wonderful and brave husband took the older girls to the grocery store. I don't even do that unless I have to. On the way into the store Kayla stops on the sidewalk. Keep in mind that we have had "Ice Storm 2010" this week and it is FREEZING outside. When Marc asked her what she was doing she said was praying that God would make the wind stop so the plastic bag wouldn't blow away.

Winter Recital

Kayla had her first dance recital on Saturday. Saturday the 9th. As in the same day that Brooke was scheduled to arrive. Thankfully Brooke arrived early, and early enough that we were home from the hospital so I could go and watch her. Not that she didn't have enough fans in the audience. Her Nini, Nana, Grampie, Grammie, Uncle Chris, and his fiancee Amanda were all there to watch her. Her Aunt Jackie stayed with her to help her get dressed and hang out backstage. It was a winter themed recital and her class danced to "Sleigh Ride." This is one of my favorite Christmas/winter songs. Everytime the song would come on during the holidays she would stop what she was doing and practice her dance. She did a wonderful job and I am so thankful that I was able to come and watch her.

Brooke Nichole Dutton

Our precious little girl arrived on January 5, 2010 at 6:01PM. She was 8 pounds 4.5 ounces and 19.5 inches long. She has the cutest cheeks and baby rolls.I woke up with contractions around 2:30 in the morning. They were pretty consistent and regular for a few hours and then basically went away. We decided to head to the church to do some walking and see if that would help bring the contractions back on. Before we could leave my water broke (sort of) and the contractions started picking back up, so we decided to head down the doctor's office. I called and the nurse said she would call me back and let me know when the doctor wanted to see me. Hello! My water broke and I'm having painful contractions, I'm coming now. A few minutes later Dr. Dyar called and told me to just go straight to labor and delivery. About 2 minutes later my water really broke - good thing I was prepared! About 5 minutes after that I get a call back from the nurse (this is about 11:45) saying that the doctor would try to squeeze me in at 1:00. Ummm, I don't think so! I told her that he had already called and told me to go straight to the hospital. I'm not sure what part of "my water broke and I'm having strong, regular contractions" she didn't get, but thankfully the doctor contacted me personally.

By this point I was ready for my epidural. Unfortunately I had 482 questions to answer about my life and insurance. Then the nurses had to stab me 3 times to get an IV started (that's a whole 'nother story) and then finally some relief. Things have changed since I delivered Macy. The epidural now has a little booster contraption. If I'm having pain I click a button and an extra dose of the drugs is added in. I really wanted as little medication as I could handle because I hated my legs being complete dead weight and taking hours to get feeling back in them. This worked out perfectly for me because I could still move my legs and feel when I was having a contraction, but the major pain was gone.

I'll spare the rest of the delivery details except to say that Brooke was facing up instead of down. This makes delivery much more difficult. God orchestrated the timing of everything so that the perfect doctor was on call. He was very encouraging and didn't rush into any interventions to get her out. After she was born he said that more often than not, when babies are presenting the way Brooke was, the moms end up with a c-section. Unfortunately this did leave her with an awful looking head and excruciating pain for a few hours. The picture below doesn't even show it at it's worst.

She had fluid in her lungs when she was born and they had to call the respiratory therapist in. I hated not being able to hold her, but after several different interventions, probably taking 45 minutes, she was given to me. I was told that she might still have to go to transition nursery to be monitored, but once she had some lovin' from her mama she did wonderful and hasn't left our side.

The girls are so excited. Kayla can barely keep her hands off of Brooke and she is always giving her kisses. Macy is excited and keeps saying "Brooke came out of Mommy's tummy." She too loves to touch Brooke and give her kisses, but at 2 1/2 she has plenty of other things she is interested in.

We are so excited that she is finally here. She has been a great baby so far, and we are hoping for some rest tonight. We will be discharged in the morning and I am looking forward to being in my own home. We should be able to leave in the morning and get home before the snow comes. We are praying for lots of snow that the girls can play in. They are so excited to possibly make snow angels, snowmen, and snowballs. I, on the other hand, plan to be sitting by the window watching them have fun with their daddy, enjoying a warm fire, while holding the newest member of our family and I can't wait!