1 month old! Etc.....

So yesterday Lucien was officially one month old. It seems like just last week we were bringing him home!! The time has flown by and I know it will be just a matter of time till my little man is walking and talking with his sisters. It does make me sad for a bit to know this is the last time I will be doing this. But all the more reason to capture every moment! Here are some updated pictures of what he looks like today. Poor thing has such awful infant acne! I haven't had his newborn pictures taken yet because of it. Hopefully it will clear up in the next week or so. That is what I was told anyway. So just in the last few days he is starting to have a little more wakeful time during the day. He is responding to Adam and I a lot more now, following our every move and smiling when we get down and talk to him. He seems very content. On the 25th he weighed in at 9 lbs. 13 oz. so he is growing well. He sleeps pretty well in the evenings. From about 8 or so till midnight he is a little fussy and hard to calm down but beyond that he is sleeping for 4-5 hour stretches.

So I mustered up the strength to try my hand at sewing again. It is really something I want to do more of but it really intimidates me for some reason. So online they sell these things called "Hooter Hiders". It is basically an apron that is a little wider on the sides and is used as a nursing cover when you are out in public. They go for $45 at the local breastfeeding shop and they are nothing more than a piece of hemmed fabric!! I knew I could do it so I found a pattern online and for $11 in supplies I made my own! I even lined it on the backside which is nicer than the original pattern. This is my first attempt. Hopefully it will get even better with each one I make. If you know anyone that wants one..........they make great gifts, wink, wink.

Update on the girls, last Sunday we went and painted pottery at "The Artist in You" at The Summit. I will just say that the girls had a blast but I would NEVER recommend going there to anyone unless you are loaded. Heck I think Louisville Stoneware is cheaper to go paint pottery at. But, like I said, the girls had a great time so I am going to chalk it up as a learning experience and get on with it. We pick the finished products up this Sunday so I will post a pic at that time. But they had a good time getting out of the house. We have had quite a few snow days, early release, delayed openings as far as school goes lately and I think the girls have felt caged up. We are ready for spring to get here so we can return to the great outdoors again. This is a pic of one of the early release days for an ice storm we had recently. What a perfect time for hot chocolate and marshmallows! Thank you mom for the cute hot cocoa sets!

Happy Valentines Day from the kids!

Today started off well with heart shaped pancakes. Isabelle thought this was very special. Her next priority after the pancakes was to get into her special Valentines dress that Meme had bought her. She loves it! Lucien also had his holiday duds on........he didn't want to cooperate as much with the pics though. Today I took Lucien to the Lactation consultant for a little consultation. He weighs in at 9 lbs even which isn't too bad but considering the weight gain he had in the first 5 days of life, he isn't really gaining like he should. I need to be feeding him for longer lengths of time even if he seems satisfied which he seems to of been the last week......ah well. That is what breastfeeding is all about, looks like I will be tied to him for the next few days non stop while I build up my supply again. Other than that things are going well, hope to get a new stroller tommorow which will allow us to be a little more mobile. Now if the darn weather would just cooperate. I am also including some pics of the girls meeting Lucien for the first time, just cause they are so darn cute!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! From Adam and Beverly

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Feeding baby...........

Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words (is that how the saying goes?). Well Isabelle has become fascinated with how babies are fed. She thought that the baby would be fed through a bottle but she soon learned otherwise. Here she is trying out her new knowledge on her "baby". It's a stuffed ostrich in case you couldn't tell, making it all the more hilarious. She walked in the kitchen like this and I asked her what she was doing. She replied, "feeding my baby just like you mommy!!". Jenna did the same thing when Isabelle was born. Now she just thinks it's gross......ahh 8 year olds.

I'm baaaaack!

So this is going to be a long post! I have obviously been absent and very busy (notice the new layout :)) I guess I can start at Christmas and why I haven't been back to update. We continue to have computer problems and even after getting a friend to check our pc out, the front plate came off and once Adam figured out how to get it hooked up again, the darn thing wouldn't turn on. Very frustrating. So Christmas was great, and I am even more convinced than ever that Christmas is ONLY for the kids. We were up till 3 am just wrapping and putting the gifts together. We were so wiped out the next morning but it was a great time. Barbara, Joe, Tirzah, Larry, Spencer and Olivia came for brunch and we had great food and great time. After that was New Years which came and went in a blur as well. I don't think Adam or I were actually awake at midnight. I vaguely remember Adam saying, "Happy New Year" to me at some point but hardley the champagne toast and kisses of years past.


With the new year came the preparation for the addition to our new family. A new carseat was purchased, as well as other neccesities. I knew that we had Adam's 30 birthday coming up as well but Barbara and Tirzah informed me they would be planning a get together at Tirzah's house. Well we got such a pleasant suprise on arriving to find out not only was it a great 30th party for Adam complete with his closest friends but also a baby shower for our new little one. We were both so touched, more than words can say. It is so nice to know that we have lots of family and friends that care so much about us.

So through all of this I have continued working, believe me, it has taken tremendous motivation to get up in the morning and make it through the day. Not to mention the fact that I think my boss forgot that I was leaving till like the week before my leave date and then decided he had to pile on a million things in that last week. Literally my last day brought moving tons of birds in my area PLUS outside bird moves in the pouring rain because of weather concerns. One of them had me running all over the giraffe yard literally because one of out vultures decided to run into the water instead of on land. She started sinking fast and we had to run to make a rescue, amazingly enough she figured out to use those wings as a paddle and made it to the other side safely.


Well on the evening of the 29th, my last day at work, Adam decided to go to his friends house to play video games. So I took up my usual residence on the couch and promptly fell asleep once Isabelle was put down. Jenna was at her dads house. Around 12:30am I remember coming in and out of sleep with cramps but didn't really think a whole lot about them. At about 2:30am Adam got home and I got up to pee only to see blood!! I knew this was it! I called the midwife who told me to take my time but I should probably go ahead and go to the hospital. So we called mom and dad to come over. I took a shower and at that time contractions were timing 4 minutes apart. By the time I had procrastinated and freaked everyone out enough by stalling, it was around 4:30am. When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was already 5cm. I was really hoping for a higher number but I wasn't about to compliain. By the time I went through the absolute hell that is getting an IV started (apparantly I have deep small veins and thick skin) I was really feeling the contractions. I wanted to put off getting in the tub till I couldn't stand it anymore but I was really looking forward to some relief so about 45 minutes after that ordeal I got in the tub. Now I wont say it didn't help at all. Don't get me wrong it felt really good, but definitly didn't supply the relief I thought it would. Then the dry heaves came (pretty standard for me in labor) and after that and about 4 more contractions I decided I was done. I requested the epidural because I knew the anesthesiologist was not there and it would take a bit for him to arrive. I stayed in the tub while I recieved a bag of fluids and then I had to get out and wait in agony in the bed. All was right though when he came and as soon as he was done they checked me and I was 10cm. Now looking back on the whole ordeal I have no regrets about getting the epidural, I think I would have been too out of it in the end without it but thinking about it I don't really understand why my midwife didn't check my dialation BEFORE I got the epidural. I mean I already knew that I was in transition. I wonder if I was 9 or even 20 BEFORE I got the epidural. Well anyhow, she asked me to give a practice push, which must have been good because she immediatly started to get ready and 4 minutes later at 7:58am Lucien Joseph was born all 8 lbs 71/2 oz of him!! Everything since then has been a dream. This little boy nurses so well I never could have imagined how great breasfeeding could be because of my experiences with Jenna and Isabelle. We haven't had any problems except me being paranoid that there would be problems! And he even had a checkup on Monday 2/2 and he had GAINED 4 oz!! Usually the docs expect newborns to loose weight and then get up to their birth weight within 2 weeks. He had surpassed it in 5 days!! Yeah good milk supply!


So he is just the cutest little (big!) thing in the world. His sisters are fascinated and haveing to get used to being a little quieter. It has been an adjustment for all of us but I can't complain. Will update more often! Oh, also something is wrong with the spell check and I typed this FAST so don't think I am a complete idiot!