Sleeping Sweeties!

Hollis lasted about 10 seconds in his bassinet. He was doing really good then decided he would rather bunk with momma! Who can blame him? Closer to the boobs:)! I am going to keep trying to get him to sleep at least a bit in the bassinet. He is always welcomed in our bed, I am pretty sure he has figured that out! EJ asleep in her bed! EJ & G made the transition out of our bed a while ago and do really well in their own beds. They even fall asleep by themselves now! HALLELUJAH!! So here is my question, how many pillow pets does one need? CRAZY! After I took the picture I removed them, I was worried her neck would hurt! Also, Lucky sleeps with her every night! How very very sweet!

Lets Go Krogering!

Our family grocery bill has always been a source of tension in our house. ALWAYS! I do the weekly shopping and spent on average $230. I have always shopped at Walmart. I never used coupons, I did however buy store brands. When we moved we knew we would have much more store options to choose from. In the itty bitty small town we lived there was a super craptastic Walmart & a locally owned store that smells like canned cat food. Back to my story, we decided to give K. Rogers a try and I love it! Our average weekly bill is .......drum roll please......$150!!! Yes, that includes cleaning products and such! What a relief! I look at the weekly add and plan our menu accordingly. Also, I download coupons from their site to my Kroger card to save extra! I am very pleased with the savings and so is my hubby!

April 13.

We finally got Hollis' referral to ACH. His ultra sound will be April 13. I really feel like everything is fine. However, I like to prepare myself for the worst so I am overly excited when the outcome is positive. We do know now that if he does have Spina Bifida it is mild to moderate. For that we are thankful. I think we get the results the same day, I am hoping we do at least. We appreciate all those who are praying for our peanut! Hollis Timothy is an amazing blessing and we are so grateful for him!

Emery Jai

My beautiful 5 year old! I am so proud of her! She is the sweetest young lady and is developing such a heart for God. What more could a mother want?!?!

Happy 3 Weeks!

Hollis has been earth side for a wonderful and amazing three weeks! He is just a dream baby! Simply a doll. He is so happy and content. He smiles all the time and is cooing up a storm. He loves the moby wrap and sling. He is slow to cry and quick to grin! He hardly ever cries. I have no clue what I would do with a screamer, knock on wood all my babies have been so calm! He is sleeping well. He starts off in his bassinet and ends up snuggled up with me. He is great in his car seat. Hollis even loves tummy time! Hollis is just easy going and such a sweet blessing to our family! He holds his head up and looks around. He loves to splash in the bath. Just a joy! I have to get to work on his birth story, it is just so overwhelming trying to include everything. A couple of things I don't want to leave out
* I started throwing up in labor and Dr. R ran in the room! He was so worried! LOL! He was, by far, my most favorite birth attendant. I like him more that the midwives! Really! He was so amazing! He apologized repeatedly for the way labor and delivery went. He, genuinely, felt bad that it had not gone as planed. He stayed at the hospital. He came a ton during the day and then when his office hours were over he came straight to the hospital and never left. I was his only patient.
*I begged for a C-Section.
*I was at 5cm's forever then 6 forever and 8 for almost 2 hours.
*They turned off my epi.
*I would rather have a 10 plus pound baby than a OP baby any day of the week.
*I pushed for an hour. With G I pushed maybe 3 times, he was the same size. The deference was just that H was facing up G was facing down. I actually pushed less with E only 15 min., she was very high when I started also.
*The nurse asked if we were going to circumcise H and Josh said "Why would we cut 1/3 of his penis off?" She was speechless! But, honestly, WHY???
*We had a ton of visitors at the hospital. This time, unlike with Evergrace, I was prepared and did not hang a no visitor sign on my door:)!

wooohooooo!!!

NINE POUNDS & 7 OUNCES!

That is HUGE! In 10 days H has went from 8 lbs to 9.7! He is a little oinker:). I am so very thankful! I would love to say I wasn't worried at all but that would be a lie. I prayed and prayed but wasn't at peace about it. I had all my friends praying and still couldn't let it go. I had planed a no way-no how am I giving him formula speech. That is the bottom line. I didn't even need it! I have been released to stop three step feedings! I couldn't be happier and have no clue how I am going to fill all of my free time! HA!!
I am so very thankful for everyone who lifted us up today!

three step feedings....

Are far from easy! In all my years (yes, YEARS:)) of nursing I have never felt more like a cow. I nurse~pump, pump~nurse, repeat cycle all day. Also, as soon as I pump I bottle feed. So, I don't even have a stash of frozen milk to show for it. I am hoping I have a chunky monkey for all my hard work! We have a weight check tomorrow and I have put my prayer warriors on alert! BIG NUMBERS:)! I honestly, have no clue what to expect. We just want our peanut to be healthy. That is it.

This post would be incomplete without an image of my constant companion:)!
It is an Avent ISIS and I really LOVE it, as much as one can love a milker! HA!

Tarzan Hair....

Guice is still refusing hair cuts. He wants Tarzan hair... NeNa has trimmed here and there but no real cutting has taken place in months! He wants his hair to be in his eyes when he swings in the trees with Isabelle. HA! A boy with a plan! I love his hair! I just wish it was a bit more shaped up. It is looking a bit raggedy. But, I am a fan of the length! Also, because everyone always asks Josh is good with his longer than average hair:)!
He looks so grown up! Hard to believe he is 31/2!

Baby things I love...

I love these muslin swaddling blankets, they are GIGANTIC! So much easier than regular receiving blankets!
Hollis LOVES his swing & so does his mommy! It plugs in to the wall! No batteries! Also, it isn't babyish. It is gorgeous! I also have the matching bouncy seat and bassinet, I went a little Zen baby crazy:).
The DIAPER BAG! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I am gonna be sad when H doesn't need it anymore!
Hollis is sleeping so well at night wrapped up tight in a swaddling blanket! My Moby Wrap! Baby wearing at its best! I do like my ring sling better but love how cute the owl is. It also covers my post belly bump better than my sling....yep I am vain, there ya have it!

wubbanub!!

Guess who loves his binkie??? Mommy does! Way more than Hollis, but we are working on it! HA! IF the bink takes he will be my first binkie baby. EJ, G, & E call it a sippy because they have no clue! I really want him to take it at night, it decreases SIDS risk. Also, with four, chances are that on occasion he might have to wait until I can get to him and the binkie will help. In theory, anyway. We went with wubbanub because they are super cute! G wanted the long horn bull, I wanted a little lion or maybe the monkey but the bull it is:)!

Very Best Thing About Our New Place...

The backyard is amazing!!! It is the first place we have lived that has a privacy fence (well, without a giant drowning hazard also) and we are loving it! EJ, G, & EG can go out by themselves! WONDERFUL! They spend hours and hours running around. Makes for and easy bedtime:)!

Pics by my bestie:)!!

more to come:)!!

My Littles!!

Broken Bone...

Evergrace was the first of my lovelies break a bone...she cracked her precious little button nose! She was outside playing and walked right behind Boo while he was swinging. Boo felt so bad he cried too! Evergrace's nose is very swollen and as you can see a bit crooked. After she calmed down a bit she needed to call and tell Pop what happened, she LOVES her Pop! I am hoping this is the first and last broken bone, I have a feeling with 4 monkeys that isn't going to happen! HA!

Very proud of my man!

Josh took & rocked the GRE! He will enter UCA'S MAT program in the fall. I am so excited for him. It will not be easy, holding down a full time job, supporting a family of 6, and attending grad school full time! If anyone can do it Josh for sure can!

Hollis' First Dr. Appt!

We had a very hard time finding a pediatrician who was excepting new patients. I called around for two days before finding one...crazy! I really wanted to use the nurse practitioner I used with EJ but her office was one of many not excepting pt's. Anyway, we found a group who would take my monkeys and I was very nervous. I had no clue about the doctor. Well, it turned out that I loved her! She is young and super nice and pro-breast feeding and co-sleeping! Also, is fine with delaying vaccinations and skipping some all together! How awesome is that!?!?! Unfortunately, the appointment did not go as well as I had hoped. They put H on the scale and I almost fainted. He only weighed 7lbs 11oz a week after birth. My milk had been in for days, so he had lost a lot of weight. Also he was yellow. Very yellow. They did a blood draw to test his biliruben count and it was 15. I am very grateful she didn't suggest formula, she was super nice and asked if I could pump and do three step feedings. I was more than happy too:). Also, H has a dimple on his...well...crack. Josh and I had the on-call pediatrician where we delivered look at it. The nurse said it was okay. The pediatrician never once came and talked to us. Anyway, I showed it to Dr O and she is concerned. It could be a marker for Spina Bifida. We are in the process of scheduling a follow up with Childrens. After all that I felt llike I had been slugged in the gut with a baseball bat. Dad & Mom took the kids home with them all weekend so I could concentrate on plumping up our peanut. It worked! Monday his was weighing an impressive 8 lbs:)! Please be in prayer for our sweet baby and his little crack:)!!

And the winner is....

Josh!! He won the baby pool! The top three were Josh, Erica, and Summar! Congratulations! You can click on the link in my sidebar to see how everyone did..I didn't do well at all! HA!!

BROTHERS!

Just a swingin'!!

Pics of Hollis Timothy's Birth!!

I am working on his birth story, it is SUPER long and nothing went as planed. You can see from the pics I was in stirrups, I also had an epidural at 8 cms, and a dose of Demerol. It wasn't at all how I thought it would go. I was in labor forever and a day. Also, he was transverse so I started off the day with Dr. R preforming an unmediated version. He usually gives mom's something to relax them. I thought I would have him in my arms by 2, he didn't make his grand appearance until just after 9:30 p.m.! Lastly, he was OP and only tolerated certain positions. At one point they had me flat on my back with my feet elevated above my head. Good times with no pain meds and tons of pitocin. It was a hard, long labor. Josh was by my side every second. Also, My mom, mother in law, and Summar my sister in law stayed at the hospital all day long.
The nurse trying to take the baby......I wasn't done yet! HA!!
I am checking out the bump on his head:)! It went down overnight! It was from his wonky position in the birth canal.

First glimpse of our peanut:)!

I couldn't have done it without my AMAZING husband!

Mego-Prego!!

This is the last pic I have of this pregnancy. I am 36 weeks 3 days! My niece is 38 weeks. LOL! I had a ton of amniotic fluid, a ton. So very glad I didn't have a whole month to go!

First Smile!!

Hollis smiled at 1 week 1 day of age. He is already our little over-achiever!!

As you all know....

Our little man is here!! He was born at 38 weeks sharp and weighed 8lbs 11oz and was 21 1/2 inches long! The exact same size as his older brother, although, two weeks earlier! We are soooooo in love with this new life and soaking up every second with him. He is so handsome and amazing! We are so blessed!!