I just love these pictures...

Playing with the Tag, which is fabulous!

Pink and Bop gave this to Rex. S and Y love to find money to put in it, but all of a sudden Yates has figured out a way to get candy out without putting the money in... hmmmm.

Stella drew this picture of Rex, for Rex.

Helping me make rocky road. yummy!

Two Weeks Old and Yates' First Day

Rex is two weeks old today! Actually in 22 minutes he will be 2 weeks old. He had his 2 week check up today and did great. He is back up to his birth weight 9lbs 13 oz, 90%, was 90% in height and 80% in head circumference. I love our pediatrician who said today that Rex looks great other than he looks like a 2 month old. If thats the worst thing, I'll take it. Rex has been a really easy baby so far. I guess there's still a chance he could wake up and be different. He sleeps really well, eats well and is learning to be very patient with his older, louder, more demanding siblings.

Yates had his first day at Good Shepherd today. He was pretty excited about getting to go to "Stella's school." Michael and I decided to move him from his one day a week parents day out to Good Shepherd, where Stella goes. We are very happy with Good Shepherd and having them at the same school will simplify my life. Today was a little bit of a mess. I clearly did not budget enough time this morning, but thats ok. Everyone made it only a few minutes late. When I picked him up from school his teachers were very sweet and went on and on about how good Yates was and how nice his manners were. We had to put him in a class 2 age levels above where he should actually be, but the school went ahead and did it based on Stella's performance in her class. They were expecting him to be similar to her and luckily he put on a good show for everyone today! Yay, Yates! Good job!

Happy Birthday Yates

Sunday afternoon, Yates celebrated his 2nd birthday at The Little Gym. He had a bulldozer themed party and it turned out great for everyone. Gigi and Gabby came and Gabby held Rex the whole time. It was perfect b/c he also held Yates for the duration of Stella's 2nd birthday party. I was determined to have a real party for him b/c he went to Bob's last year and skyped his Gigi and Gabby at cake time... not the best birthday for a 1 year old. This year was much better. He was so excited about his "bu-do-du pa-ty" and is still talking about it.

Here are a few pictures from his party.

Monday Yates had his 2 year checkup. Yates, Rex and I went for the check up after dropping Stella off at school and it was a breeze. Everyone was good, we made it to school in one piece, nothing major happened. Rex is such a good, easy baby. He is really making this 3 baby thing a non-issue. Yates did great at his appointment and his stats are: Height - 73%, Weight - 40%, Head - 88%.

I also need to report that the emotional rollcoaster ride only lasted for one day which is fabulous! I think I cried for several days after Yates and Stella were born. I feel so much better physically now that Rex is on the outside, I feel like a new girl! I can move my legs without wincing and can actually hustle around. Its great!! He is 2 weeks old tomorrow. Sweet, sweet boy!

I'd like to get off please...

Tools of the trade

I think I got on the post-partum emotional roller coaster this morning and I'd like to get off. I have the hardest time letting go even when I am partially incapacitated, like if I have a baby glued to my boob or something. Sweet Michael keeps saying, "just go rest, take a nap" and I can't. I feel like a worthless lump of bad hair and boobie pads. Not good. I know in my head that I should take advantage of my fabulous husband that can do everything and does, but I kind of think its embarrassing or something to just loll about. There is a list of things I ought to be doing scrolling through my head that just won't turn off. Waaahh...

1 week old

One week down and Rex has done some big things already such as lose his umbilical cord and his little tee tee ring. He did both yesterday, one week on the dot. Another funny thing is that when he was born his ears were stuck flat to his head at the top and didn't curl around like the top of ears do. But now, one week later, they're curled. Weird.

Yesterday, SJ was drawing a picture of Rex for him and she was telling us that she was going to write his name on the paper so he would know the picture was for him and of him. She went into detail about how she knew how to spell Rex, R-E-X, and for R you just make a P with a "slapt down line stick on it" then E, then for X, "two slapt down lines." She never stops talking, but is the sweetest sister. She loves Rex and loves to say, "Aww, look how cute baby Rex is." So sweet.

Rex Hughes Grabham, Our Blue Eyed Boy

January 13th, 2010, 4:58 pm 9lbs 13oz, 22"

He's here! Yay! And he is the sweetest little baby. He is so calm and so quiet and so perfect. He hardly ever makes a peep, loves to be held and seems so content. He has dark brown hair and blue eyes (our first and only blue eyed baby), long, skinny arms and legs and huge hands and feet. He is super cute...

Michael and I went to the hospital at 6am Wednesday. My nurse, Janeicia weighed me and took me straight to my room. They did not waste any time. Michael had gone to park the car and by the time he made it to the room, they already had me in a hospital gown, in the bed and hooked up to the monitors. They gave me an IV and some gel to get labor started and off we went. We took a 30 minute walk after the gel and I felt like I was ready to push. That stuff hurt bad. After the walk, I asked for my epidural, got it and was ecstatic. I didn't realize how much discomfort I had been enduring until I wasn't in pain at all. It really was the first time I wasn't in pain from this big ole baby in like 3 months. Love that epidural!

They didn't start my pitocin until 10:30 or 11:00 and I was really ready to be out of there. I was expecting a fast delivery for number 3, but they weren't in the same hurry I was in. Gigi, Pink and Michael sat in the room with me as we waited and waited for Rex and endured my impatience and repeated requests to have my medicine turned up so we could get the show on the road. Apparently I was stuck at 9.5 centimeters for a while and Rex had his head turned to the side instead of pointing down, so they made us wait and wait for that situation to change. Dr. Hays showed up around 4:30 and we were ready to have our baby. Yay, finally!

The nurses got the room ready and we started to push at 4:55. I only got to do one count to 10, waited for his shoulders to turn, did a little half push, and he was all the way out by 4:58! What?!? I still don't get it. 9lbs 13oz, born in 3 minutes of pushing. It just doesn't seem right.

The Grandparents

Pink

Gigi

Bop

Gabby - Richard Hughes Grabham II

Serious Countdown

Induction is scheduled for Wednesday morning beginning at 6am. The kids are very excited about Rex getting here. I went into the office at Stella's school today and the ladies in the office knew that Rex would be here in 3 days, that his name is Rex and how to spell it. They obviously had a little convo with SJ, proud big sister. Everything we've been doing is our last this or that as a family of 4. We did our last trip to Gattitown this weekend with the Burriss 4. It was only 2 million degrees in there, so yeah that was fun. The babies liked it, had yet another highly nutritious meal and "won" some amazing junk.

S and Y playing in their new tent... with the potty moved in there of course...

While SJ was at school today, Yates and I did some heavy machinery stalking. We followed a garbage truck around and watched him empty about 10 huge dumpsters. That was awesome. We found lots of bulldozers, excavators, backhoes, bobcats, some guys replacing and welding up a new sign outside of a restaurant and even a big ford f350 stuck in the mud up to its running boards right on Lovers Lane. We really wanted to wait to see him get pulled out, but just couldn't wait long enough. All of it was super cool and we followed that up with our Mighty Machines video. "dig, dig, dig, dig, diggy"

Tonight we made our last trip to Houstons has a family of 4... maybe our last trip ever. S and Y could not sit still at all. Having them ricochet around the booth gets old really fast.

The highlight of today was having Lane take my maternity photo. She did an amazing job and I owe her huuuuge! I think they turned out so good and I'm so glad I decided to do these photos on this pregnancy and not the other two. I weighed a good 15-20lbs more at this point the last 2 times. Sick! Anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you Lane!

No more being careful...

Yates and Stella telling Santa what they want for Christmas, a bulldozer and an art desk.

We made it! The holidays are over and I am done being careful trying to keep this baby in. I don't know what I was so worried about. If I didn't feel so crippled and could walk like a normal person, I would be 2000% sure that there was absolutely no chance I would go into labor without medical intervention. So anyway, since nothing happened and I didn't ruin anyone's Christmas or New Years with a trip to L&D I'm trying to do as much as I can to work this baby on out. (As if something can be done. Lord knows I've tried every terrible trick in the book)

Coming down for Christmas morning.

Our Christmas was fun. We did Christmas Eve here with my parents and the babies had a great time. We actually overdid it and had to hide some presents for later. I didn't even realize that could happen. Yates has since found most of his stash and has made me open them. One day he found a wrapped gift hidden in my closet. I didn't think he would even care or be curious about it, but I was very wrong. He told me to come open it while I was getting dressed and I tried to minimize it and just say no thats not for us to open right now and walk off. That didn't work at all. He then told me that it was for him and he needed it open because his name was written on it, right there by Mickey Mouse... not in quite so many words of course. I was so impressed that he recognized his name that I caved. Poor little Yates needed that present opened. He almost had a heart attack when he saw that there were camo rain boots in there from Pink and Bop. There isn't much better than boots.

Christmas Eve afternoon we had my side of the family over for dinner and with the huge blizzard they all ended up staying the night, which was fun. Its always yuck when everyone has to leave. We woke up super early Christmas day, threw the kids in the car and creeped out of icy Dallas at a break neck speed of about 35 mph. We left all of our sleeping family cozy in their beds and made it to Houston around 9. We had another fun Christmas with the Grabhams and loved seeing everyone even for a short visit. Yates got a terrible fever around dinner time which led to a pretty bad night of sleep for us all. I don't know why he always gets sick when we go see Gigi and Gabby. Its so embarrassing.

Yates and Gabby. Yates with his little rosey fever cheeks.