The Big Kids

Mimi and Pop arrived this weekend and the big kids have been having a lot of fun playing with them and doing special things. They took Brayden to see Gnomeo & Juliet and they took Brinley for breakfast at Hardee's. Lots of book reading, snuggling, dress up and other fun activities, too! 

Brayden saw a photo in a Thomas magazine of a boy who had built a "Cranky the Crane" out of cardboard and really wanted to replicate it. He and Brinley decorated it with stickers and it is really cute.

 

Super Mario

 

Policeman

 

Astronaut. "Do you like my hat like this, Pop? Is it cool dude?!"

 

The finished product, with extra stickers hanging on the front for good measure.

 

The kids got adorable MSU jerseys! Brayden's says #1, Brinley's says #2 and Bristol's says #3. 

Can't wait to wear them to a game this fall!

 

Now everyone had their own cowbell, autographed by MSU President Mark Keenum.

Photos

 Some of the delicious goodies that our friends have brought us!

Awana Grand Prix

Brayden & Brinley were both so excited about decorating their cars for the Awana Grand Prix at our church. For some reason I decided that glitter would be less messy than paint this year...wrong! And, half of the glitter fell off before we got to church. Oh well. They didn't notice that or the fact that neither of their cars won any heats. They were so thrilled with their participation trophies!

Fun at Home

The weather was beautiful the weekend before Bristol was born and we had some fun in our new neighborhood. We can finally park the car in the garage- yeay! There is still work to be done, but this is a big accomplishment.

Kenny rigged up a trailer hitch so that Brinley can pull the little wagon with her bike, which the kids both think is so fun!

 Our cul-de-sac, which gives us plenty of room to ride our bikes and is virtually traffic-free.

 Snuggling while watching a movie.

We got this too cute violin at Cracker Barrel. It plays the song as you draw the bow back and forth across it. The kids think it is so fun and I think it's adorable.

 My wild-haired child who prefers not to wear a bow/headband/ponytail or even let me comb her hair!

Life with 3 kids...

...has been interesting so far. The older 2 are adjusting pretty well and enjoy helping me get diapers, holding Bristol, etc. When we picked Brayden up at daycare today he had to "help" carry her carseat and kept saying "I love you Bristol! I want to kiss you all week!" and was telling all of his friends about her. Brinley has been acting out a bit more, which I was expecting.

Last night Bristol was screaming and Kenny came down with sudden, severe abdominal pain. He didn't sleep well last night, but didn't think it was bad enough to go to the ER. This morning we saw his doctor who said it was probably nothing, but ordered a CT scan to check for kidney stones. He was feeling good most of the day, thankfully. So, we ended up back at the hospital for his scan and he does have a 2 mm kidney stone. We weren't glad about that, but were happy to know that there was some cause for his pain and that it wasn't appendicitis or something worse. The doctor gave him pain meds and the only treatment is to drink lots of water and wait for it to pass. Bristol happily slept most of the day away in my arms, and I had plenty of time to just cuddle her and look at her cute little face.

My "one word" for the year, CALM, was my mantra tonight at bedtime. Kenny was on the couch in pain and I was upstairs trying to get the older 2 kids in pajamas with teeth brushed and books read. Bristol was screaming, Brayden was being fairly well-behaved and Brinley was having a tantrum about getting dressed. "Keep calm and carry on!" I kept telling myself. Eventually everyone made it to bed and Kenny is feeling a bit better. I'm going to bed early tonight!!

Bristol Grace

Bristol Grace

February 23 at 4:34 a.m. 

8 pounds, 3 ounces

19.5 inches

After Monday morning's false alarm, contractions started again on Tuesday afternoon. By early evening they were painful and regular, so we headed back to the hospital around 8:30 p.m. What a difference the time makes- when we got there at 4 am Monday there was no one in the ER and only a few cars in the parking lot. This time almost all the parking spots were full and it was a zoo! After getting settled in our room we were sent to walk for an hour again and then they were checking to see if I had made enough progress to stay. If not, we were going to have a problem because the contractions were really painful at that point. I was making progress, got an epidural around 1:30 am and Bristol made her appearance at 4:34 a.m. at 39 weeks and 5 days. My two fears were not realized: she was not so quick that she was born in the car, and we didn't arrive too late to get an epidural. Yeay! We came home today and are getting settled in as a family of 5!

39 weeks pregnant

  Big Brother Brayden and Big Sister Brinley were so excited to meet Baby Bristol! They have been talking non-stop about getting jello in the cafeteria when she was born, but didn't end up choosing jello after all...

 Ready to go home! Bristol is wearing the same Mississippi State sweat suit that her Mommy wore home from the hospital in 1980, Brayden wore home in 2006 and Brinley wore in 2008!

False Alarm!

Last night I started having contractions around 9:00 pm and they were about 15 minutes apart. Starting at 2:00 am I was up with them every 10 minutes, but they were not especially painful. With Brayden my water broke and with Brinley I was induced, so I haven't had to deal with this whole contractions thing before. Not really knowing what to expect or when to go to the hospital, being about 25 minutes from the hospital, and this being baby #3, I didn't want to risk it. We called Nana & Grandpa at 3:00 am and were at the hospital by 4:00. I was put on the monitor to check things, then sent for a walk for an hour and re-checked. Contractions were consistently 3 to 10 minutes apart, but not intense enough to get things going, so they sent me home. The doctor said could be the next 24 hours, the nurse said could still be a week, so who knows! It was certainly disappointing to be sent home, but I guess it's better than hanging out at the hospital with nothing happening. Hopefully we got all of that middle-of-the-night drama out of the way and when it really happens it will be a more normal time of day! Kenny & I both came home and slept for a few hours to make up for all the sleep we lost last night. For now, we keep waiting.