New addition

We are thrilled to welcome Miss Lillian Rose to our family!

She was born December 3rd at 5:44pm & she is the sweetest little bundle of joy! 

Lilly weighed 5 lbs 15.5 oz at birth and was 18.9” long. 

Baby Lilly, Mommy, Daddy and big sister Bella are all doing wonderful and are as happy as can be with our little blessed family.

Now we have to decide what to do with our blog.  Any suggestions on new names?  I assume we’ll also have to change our address … I’m not very technologically savvy so I’ll have to get a little help figuring that.  And don’t want to “delete” all of my current posts … so any suggestions are welcome.

In the meantime – here are a few photos of our babies! :)

Mommy & Daddy holding Lilly for the first time.

   

Bella likes to check on Lilly to be sure all is well in the bassinet.

First bath. :)

Doing home phototherapy for jaundice.

Daddy and Bella playing!

Sweet little baby.

Is there something on my foot??

Big sister!

Our little doll … so sweet.

B enjoying a delicious frozen fruit treat!

Lilly and Matthew!

Our happy family!

Thanksgiving weekend!

Let’s recap Thanksgiving!

We woke up and enjoyed the Thanksgiving Day Parade and a light breakfast! Bella decided her baby doll stroller was the best seat in the house.

Tyler made a yummy quiche & I made a coffee cake for our brunch with Grandpa Stan & Bella got a kick out of seeing Santa end the parade!

Purdy watched the Dog Show!

I relaxed on the couch with a few furry babies while Bella napped.

 

(yes, I know, my belly is huge)

Then we headed to Grandma & Grandpa’s house for dinner with the family!

We had a delicious dinner & my mom proudly displayed the place cards I made earlier in the week.

 

Then it was bath time for the babies.

John must have gone potty right before the bath because he had a little TP hanging around.

We had a great day!!

Friday morning Tyler made a yummy breakfast & then snuggled on the couch and watched Toy Story 3. Perfect! It was a very relaxing & lazy day.

Tyler made breakfast Sunday morning and as he was cooking he heard a “mmmmmmm” coming from the Breakfast Room.  He looked over and this is what he saw!

Little Miss Bella climbed on the chair, grabbed an apple from the basket of fruit on the table & started going to town.  She sat there and ate almost half of the apple … then gave the rest to Purdy who gladly gobbled up the rest.

Tyler got the Christmas decorations down last weekend & while he was in the attic he grabbed Aunt Hillary’s old doll house and accessories.  YAY!

It kept Bella busy while he put the lights on our Christmas tree!

Today Bella and I had a lot of fun playing with all the new fun toys.  She set the dinner table and served her little people & her baby.

Such a sweetie giving hugs!

oh so thankful

Tomorrow, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, we have so much to be thankful for!!!

First, our Bella.

Sweet as pie and feisty as can be. 

This little love of ours is more than we ever hoped for.

She melts my heart.

Every day!

 

She’s also mature and advanced for her age.  This is especially evident as we all read the Sunday paper together.

My wonderful, smart & supportive Tyler!

He never ceases to amaze me and I truly cherish him.  

He is literally my better half and I’m not afraid to admit it!  

I especially love all the wonderful things he teaches Bella – like how to drink soupy melted ice cream from the bottom of your bowl.

YUM.

We are SO thankful for the health of our baby Lilly. It’s been five weeks since I was put on bed rest and she’s still active, healthy and growing.  Soon she will arrive and our lives will be forever changed.  I can’t wait to watch the love in our family multiply again!

And I couldn’t have stayed healthy and on bed rest the past 5 weeks without our family!

My mom is truly amazing. 

She is such a hard worker, is overly giving, selfless & so loving. 

I am beyond thankful she is my Mom and I hope my girls love & admire me even half as much as I do her!

And standing beside my Mom, with constant love, admiration and support is my Dad.  There aren’t many words to describe how much I love & appreciate him.  I am thankful he is my Dad … he’s a great role model, would give us the shirt off his back and adores his grandbabies!! And they love their PaPa!

Janet has been there for us & is always willing to give a helping hand! I am so thankful to have a Mother in Law that I love like a Mom … and who I respect and appreciate & can proudly call my family!

I am thankful to have sisters that I consider my best friends. Sisters that make me laugh & smile, sisters that I turn to for advice, talk to about everything, lean on for support & always have fun with!

I’m equally thankful for their husbands.  How amazing is it that all 3 girls found 3 wonderful guys? What a great group of friends!

And in less sappy news ….

Bella got her first hair cut today!

Aunt Jen has been pushing for this for a while, and I must admit she was right & I shouldn’t have waited so long.  So tonight after Grandma gave her a bath, Auntie Em snipped a few snips and B is a new woman!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Goodbye October

October has come & gone and it’s a bit hard to believe November is here!

Here’s a glimpse of our last few weeks …

Tyler & I took Bella to the State Fair.   

She “worked” on the farm.

Enjoyed seeing all the animals!

And stole my corn dog.

We took Bella to a local pumpkin farm & then went to a park for a picnic and some fun on the playground!

We visited the Dallas Arboretum with Grandma, Aunt Jen, John & Matthew & Diana. 

There were thousands of pumpkins, face painting, music, beautiful gardens and we brought a yummy picnic to enjoy!

What a fun day!   

Although the day at the Arboretum wore us out!

    

We ended the month with a fabulous Halloween full of games, candy, yummy dinner and a great party planned by Aunt Jen!

Bella was an adorable ballerina and John made a fantastic pirate! 

Matthew couldn’t be cuter as a parrot.

Unfortunately I couldn’t go trick-or-treating since I’m on bed rest.

Haven’t heard the news?

Well here’s the skinny on me and sweet Lilly.

At my 28 week appointment the doctor saw signs of pre-eclampsia … which is what I developed while pregnant with Bella & what caused my hospital bed rest & Bella’s early induced arrival.

I was sent to the hospital and spent a good portion of the day there with Tyler & Bella, monitoring the baby & running tests on my liver, platelets, etc.

Turns out I do have low platelets again but since my blood pressure went down & stabilized they sent me home on bed rest.

I am going to weekly doctor’s visits, with weekly Non Stress Tests (to monitor Lilly) and weekly labs to check my liver function & platelet count.

Last week the doctor & labs showed that I am stable so will continue my “modified” bed rest until Lilly arrives.  When on bed rest with Bella they kept me in the hospital & I was only able to shower & go to the bathroom … so it was pretty strict.  This time I am home and am able to shower, sit at the computer, walk around the house as needed and drive to/from my weekly doctor’s visits.  No other driving, no shopping, no cleaning, no housework, laundry, etc.

I am 30 weeks and although bed rest with a toddler isn’t ideal, we’re making it work with the help of our wonderful family!  Lilly’s health is our priority and although we’re all anxious to meet her, she needs to keep cooking for a bit longer!

In other exciting Bella news ….

She is now sleeping in her big girl toddler bed!!! We started naps only a week ago and she mastered that after a few days.  Then we started having her sleep in there at night and last night was the first night she slept in there ALL night without a peep!  I went to check on her at 8am to be sure all was well and this is how I found her. :)

She’s also becoming a pro at eating with a fork & spoon!! 

She learned (the hard way) not to chase the kitty under the bed.  Because she will get stuck. :)

She’s getting brave! And climbing on everything!

(yes I realize this is dangerous …)

And she’s just getting cuter and sweeter every day. Here she is modeling her new jeans from Grandma.