2 months old

It is hard to believe our baby girl is 2 months old already! Addy Jolee or baby is what Clayton calls her, my nickname for her is sister and daddy calls her Addy Jo. What a joy she is to our family. Her personality is already shining through. She loves to be held and bounced on the excercise ball. She is very much a cuddler and likes to sleep in her daddy and mommy's arms. At Clayton's naptime we all lay down in his bed together for a rest. She is sleeping 5 hours at night and then wakes up every 3 hours. She is a bit of a drama queen already! If things aren't going her way; she lets you know it. She loves her big brother. He is great at keeping her entertained. She is smiling lots and starting to coo. Her and brother seem to have their own language they talk to each other in. (3 weeks old)
(4 weeks)

(4 weeks)

(6 weeks)

(7 weeks)

(2 months)

A Baseball Party!

Clayton wanted a baseball party this year. He got quite hooked I guess after getting to go to 3 games this summer. I had fun coming up with ideas and making stuff for the party.

Yesterday we had Clayton's party at our house. It rained early morning and was only going to be a high of 60 so we weren't sure we would be outside, but by 10:00 there was a little glimpse of sun and the rain had stopped so we went ahead with our outside party plans. Brody made a baseball field in the backyard and we rented a bounce house for the kiddos. Clayton had 9 of his friends show up for his party. His Aunt Teresa, Joni, cousin Logan and his Pappa also came for the weekend. He had such a great time!

I decided to once again make the cake this year. I got some ideas off the internet and made a baseball field with a ball in the middle. I used crushed graham crackers for the dirt and found that Wilton sold the baseball player set at Michael's. Just like last year I used Wilton's buttercream frosting recipe. I forgot how good this frosting recipe is! It doesn't leave a greasy feeling in your mouth like some.

My boy is turning 3!

3 years ago on the 19th my little man was born! He has captured my heart just like his daddy. He is all boy through and through. I can just picture his daddy as a child being just like him. He has grown so much in so many ways this year! He can ride his big bike the neighbor boys passed on to him. Last year he could barely reach the peddles.

We took Clayton to see the Omaha Royals this summer and to a College World Series game. He loves baseball! He has to play just like the players; with a REAL ball, bat, helmet and on a baseball field. We have a baseball field in our subdivision that we often take him to play on.
Brody pitches the ball to him and he hits it 3 out of 4 times. I love his little saying, "Keep your ball on your eye."

He is having a baseball birthday party on Saturday with a baseball cake and a homemade field in our back yard.

We got a 4-wheeler from the neighbors a couple years ago and I remember thinking "I can't imagine him being big enough to ride it." He has figured out how to ride it now and zooms all over on it.

Clayton is so much like me. He already is organizing his colors. He picks out matching clothes to wear. He pays attention to much detail. If I changed one thing around in the house he would be the one to notice. He can say his ABCs, count to 10, he knows his colors and can recite "The Pledge of Allegiance".

He is such a great big brother! He is gentle with his sister and loves to hold her. If she is crying he tries to calm her down and some of the time she responds very well. He talks about "when she gets bigger" she can play catch with him and wrestle. I look forward to the bond these two will have. He is always so concerned about her. If she isn't right there with us, he wants to know where she is at.

He has such a sweet side to him. I love getting to lay with him at bedtime and talk about our day. He always says, "I love you so much". He expresses gratitude by saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you."

He isn't my baby anymore. Not because he is a big brother but because he is becoming so independent. We potty trained the end of June because he wanted to wear his big boy underwear. We went completely backwards when Addyson was born but now he is back to underwear with no accidents. He can dress himself, put his shoes on and brush his teeth and he is ready for the day!

He gave up his binkie too! Brody asked him if he wanted to trade his binkie for a baseball helmet. He had been asking for a helmet so he told him if he sent his binkie to the baseball helmet company, they would send him a helmet. So we packaged up his binkie and took it to the mailbox. In the mailbox was a letter from the baseball helmet company that said they left his helmet on the front porch. He was so excited, I wished I had a video camera to record the moment. The first night was a little rough without the binkie but after that he didn't even ask for it. I think it was a bit harder on mommy than it was him.

He loves to watch Curious George. He would probably watch it all day if we would let him. He is going to be him for Halloween and Daddy is going to be the Man in the Yellow Hat.

He loves to help his daddy. It is so cute to see him in his work boots out helping his daddy work. He got a tool set for his birthday and loves that he has tools just like dad. Him and daddy have special play time they call "wrestle run". Brody chases him around the kitchen and living room and then they wrestle in the living room.

We started music again this fall. He loves to sing and dance. I always have the silly songs stuck in my head because we have to listen to his music in the truck 24/7. I go to a women's bible group at our church on Wednesday and he looks forward to playing with his friends at the church. There is a young teenage boy that helps watch the kids during bible group and Clayton just loves him. It is so cute to see him run up to him and Jeremy picks him up.

Tomorrow he will start a preschool program through a church here in Papillion. It is called "Parents Day Out" For 2 1/2 hours on Fridays he will go and get to play with other kids. It is structured like preschool and has a thematic curriculum. They do bible story time and prayer, circle time, music, arts and crafts, outdoor play and have a snack. I have mixed feelings about putting him in right now but we are going to try it out. He has been asking to go to school so when I found this program I thought it would be a great intro to school and would give me a little break. As Addyson gets a little easier, I want to do more school type stuff at home.

It is so hard to believe my little boy is 3 now! He is so much fun! I just love my little guy.

The Birth of Our Baby Girl

As May rolled around, I began to think about my birth plan. I had such a great labor and delivery with Clayton that I wanted it to be the same or even better this time around. I didn't get to have my same OB since we moved. I didn't really think it would be that big of a deal since it was my second baby, but it was. Some people just can't be replaced in life and my doctor in Chico is one of them. I owe my great birth experience to him and my husband the first time around. It might sound crazy but I shed tears over the fact that I wasn't going to find another "Dr. Mellum". So I decided I needed to just settle for the OB I had and focus on my birth plan. I looked into Bradley Method Childbirth Classes but found out we didn't have enough time to complete the 12 week course with only 9 weeks until my due date. Then, I was in the grocery store one day and found a business card on the wall of a natural childbirth educator; so I gave her a call. I found out she taught the Bradley Method classes and was also a doula. She offered to come visit with us the following evening. Gods timing is amazing! After talking with her I felt instantly relieved about my plans for the upcoming birth. What did I want from this birth experience? A natural childbirth and a doctor who supported that. At 36 weeks I switched from my OB to a team of Nurse Midwives and from a hospital 20 minutes away to less than five minutes! We also took up reading "Husband Coached Childbirth" by Robert Bradley. Not quite Brody's choice of reading but he read it for me and we did find some interesting info and humor in it that we laughed about in labor.

At 2:30 am on July 20th I woke to the sound of thunder and the rain starting to pour. I realized I was feeling some labor pains too. So I got up to go to the bathroom and got back into bed to wait it out and see if things would progress. I was a bit anxious to get to the hospital being Group Strep B +. I needed to be on IV meds at least 2 hours prior to delivery to protect baby from not getting infected. With Clayton, the meds didn't have enough time to kick before I delivered him and he was fine but I didn't want the added risk this time.

My sister arrived the Thursday prior to take care of Clayton for us, so I let her know we were heading to the hospital finally! She asked, "How do you know you are in labor?" I asked myself the same question that morning because we all were wondering if this time would ever come. My official due date was the 18th and we thought for sure she would be here by then.

At 4:20 we headed to the hospital, I sent a text out to 9 people and 5 crazy people texted me back! I didn't really expect anyone else to be up with us. We got settled into the "maybe baby" room and around 5:00 am the nurse checked me and I was 4 cm. So they admitted me and shortly after started my IV meds. My midwife, Bridget, showed up around 7 and checked me and said I was 4-5 cm. She said we should go walk around for awhile to try to get things moving. Brody and I enjoyed some time walking around talking, enjoying the fresh air since the storm had stopped and then came back to the room and ordered some breakfast. I had to stop some for the contractions but they hadn't progressed as fast as I thought. My labor started at 2:30 with Clayton and he was born at 8:03 a.m. It was after 9 now and not a lot was happening. My midwife checked back in and checked me again. Slow progression, I was 5 cm. She asked me if I wanted to try breast pumping to try and progress labor. I really did not want to be on Pitocin so I tried it for 20 minutes. The contractions were a bit stronger during the pumping time. Once I was done we decided to walk again. It was close to 10:30 now. My contractions were a bit stronger and I really used Brody now to help get me breath through the contractions so I decided to stay in the room and pace back and forth across the room while Brody timed them. They were consistent, about 2 minutes apart now. Once I sat down they seemed to spread out even more and lost intensity. Next time I looked at the clock it was 11 and began to think my labor was going to last all day. Brody encouraged me to try the pump again so I did. My next contraction peeked off the chart and I pretty much threw the pump at him. "No more!" I was laying in bed on my side now with him rubbing my lower back and my contractions were getting a lot stronger. The nurses asked me if I wanted to try sitting in the jacuzzi tub then, so they got it ready. My contractions grew stronger and closer together and there was no way I was going to be able to move to the tub now. At 11:45 my water broke. It sounded like flood gates had opened! It was quite crazy and a big relief for me with a change of intensity with my contractions. Shortly after 12 I started pushing and at 12:07 Brody caught our daughter as she arrived into this world: Addyson Jolee 7lbs7oz, 20.5 inches long.

(Here I am, settled in our room, ready for the birth of our daughter)

(Just brand new-Happy Birthday Addyson!)

(Now a family of 4!)
(Proud big brother, the nurse helped him make her a shirt with her name on it and he helped with her first bath.)

(Ready to go home! My great-grandmother crocheted this outfit for me and I wore it home from the hospital)

Addyson was the 11th baby born at Bellevue Medical Center. We were the only ones there! We definitely felt VIP! The nurses were so wonderful in meeting my needs, Brody's (coffee 24/7)and they just loved Clayton when he arrived. The nurses let him help them with whatever they were doing.

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who supported and coached me through my labor, my midwife, and the nurses! It was everything I had hoped it to be and more! And my baby girl, I didn't know I could have enough love for a 2nd child. She has captured my heart just like her brother and daddy. What a beautiful gift from God she is!

Ready for our baby girl!

It has been so much fun getting ready for a girl after having a boy! I decided to make the sheet and crib skirt from tutorial I found, out of fabric I fell in love with from Hobby Lobby. They were both so easy to do for a beginner sewer and so much fun to see the end result! The room was already painted a light green with one bright green wall with we repainted light pink. Brody thought we should bring in brown and polka-dots to the room. I love how the bumper I found from target.com ties in with brown and polka-dots.

A rocker/recliner was my one request this time around. Brody and I both spent a lot of time in a glider we borrowed from a friend with Clayton and was not the most comfortable thing to sleep in. This is the luxury of luxury recliners. Brody picked it out and I often find him reading in it at night. The little rocker was mine that my grandpa gave me as a little girl.

I found this dresser on craigslist and painted it an off-white. I couldn't find knobs that I loved so I used some we had and painted pink and brown polka-dots on them. The shelf I ordered from JC Penney to have some extra storage.

And a must needed essential, a fashionable mommy/diaper bag! My friend Jenna made this bag for me last year for my birthday and I really haven't used it all that much with not having to pack much for Clayton anymore. Now I know why I have savered it! I just love it and can't wait to use it every day!!!

Maternity Photo Shoot

We had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with Tamra Heald Photography.
Kind of ironic that she moved here from California with her husband around the same time we did. I just love what she captured of us! Photo shoots seem to be the only way I am in the pictures these days. Here I am at 37 weeks. We did most of our pictures at the park just down the street from us. Here is just a glimpse of some of my favorites!

Our Clayton is just so excited for his baby sister and it definitely shows in the pictures! I was so nervous of how he would do, but he turned out to be a better poser than Brody and I.

At the end of the photo shoot we told Clayton he would get a sucker. He made sure we got one too! So glad we got pictures of the highlight of the shoot.

What a wonderful pregnancy this has been! I thank God for the miracle of our baby girl; for every kick and movement she makes. We are so excited to welcome our baby girl any day now!

May

I can't believe May is almost gone! I had so many things on my to-do list and didn't get them all completed. On Sunday, I will have 7 weeks left to finish projects before our baby girl arrives. I still am not finished with Clayton's quilt, it has got put to the wayside since it takes time to work on. I am so exhausted these days and feel like I am barely above water in keeping up on daily duties let alone my list of projects. I am thankful for Clayton's naps because I often nap with him! And so thankful for my wonderful husband who provides for our family and also helps me out more than ever around the house right now.

May has been busy. Clayton and I traveled back to McCook the second week for my niece's choir concert. My SIL Kerri sang in our wedding 9 years ago and it was so awesome to get to hear the girls sing for the first time. They have amazing voices like their mom. I love music and am so inspired by it but have no talent in it.
For Mother's Day, we packed a picnic and headed to the zoo after church. Here I am at 30 weeks. My sweet boy was giving me a kiss. I love these benches they have there; I want one for my backyard!

Here are some projects I did complete this month! I took my old couch pillows and recovered them by using this envelope pattern I found online.

Brody put our fence up and also built this garden area for me for Mother's day. My aunt and uncle gave us the fencing that worked perfect around the garden to keep the dog out. I planted this weekend: tomatoes, peppers, green beans, cucumbers, squash and watermelon. Hopeful for good produce soon!

I made these little clutch purses for my sisters. The cute flower tutorial I found at MamaLovesPapa. These were a fast project and turned out so cute! I can't wait to make more.

My Aunt and I also had a garage sale this month. It was the most successful garage sale I have ever had! It feels so good to have cleaned out and feel organized right down to the closet and storage totes. I can now say we are officially unpacked.

We painted the nursery this weekend and I will post pictures soon! I am full of ideas and so excited to decorate it! I am also going to try and make some cute skirts like this these for birthday gifts and finally finish Clayton's quilt. So much to do and so little time. This weekend we are heading to our family cabin in Cambridge. Looking forward to relaxing and finishing some books I have been reading.