5 Months

Little Mister, 

You are officially 5 months old.  I. can't. believe. it.  I mean, yeah, I can.  The days have been looonnnnggg but the months have been going by quickly.  We are finally starting to figure out the reasons for your tummy troubles.  Milk is not your friend.  And neither is soy.  You are starting to eat more solid foods and haven't really rejected anything I've given you.  You'll eat green beans and prunes but disliked bananas at first.  You are getting more used to them and don't spit them out like you used to.  

You are getting more animated with your facial expressions.  You absolutely love it when Lauren pushes and pulls you in your walker.  You just smile and giggle and then Lauren starts giggling...I love how you interact with your sister.  You two are fun to watch.  You are learning how to use your arms and hands more.  You reach for toys and pull them to your mouth, and you like to reach up and touch our faces.  You love to grab my hair but your sister doesn't so much love it when you grab hers.  So... could you work on that please?  You got her good twice today.  Hilarious (but not to her)!

You hate to be on your tummy.  I put you on your tummy to play and you quickly roll to your back.  You definitely have mastered that skill.  You still haven't rolled from your back to your tummy...maybe we need to work on this?  But maybe you will just skip that step...

(here are a few pictures of me trying to capture him on his tummy)

Up on his arms for literally five seconds...

going down...

(notice Lauren trying to stop him from rolling over, ha!)

Okay, try this again.

going down.

Up.

Down. 

Oh look...my foot, how long have I had this?  Has this been attached to my leg all this time?  Foot, you are way more interesting than this picture taking stuff.  

Oh, and Mr. Lleyton...one more thing we need to work on.  I need some more sleep for my survival.  So I really need you to need more sleep for your survival.  This getting up multiple times a night is cramping my style.  Coffee and naps are my best friend.  I do need to give you credit though...you were getting up every hour and a half and now you are only up like three times a night.  But still, your sister spoiled me like none other sleeping through the night at 7 weeks.  So, lets work on this together now.  Okay... ready... go!

Runnin' with the Big Dogs

Yes, it has been four months since I've blogged.
Yes, I have been extremely busy lovin' on my two three little loves (okay my husband counts too but he's not little :)
Yes, I've updated my blog to tell you this little story:

Today Lauren and I went to the park to play with some friends from church.  Well, apparently, so did about 75 middle schoolers.  Well, maybe 5th graders?  I'm not exactly sure how old they were but they decided to take over the park.  Lauren has always loved playing with "big kids."  She would rather play with the big kids than with kids her own age.  I don't know... is that weird?  Maybe it is because they can pick her up, spin her around, and will follow her any where she wants to go.  She was enjoying the slides when about 20 middle schoolers invaded the play ground equipment.  I was getting nervous because I kept losing her in all the bodies.  That's when she found Katie.  Katie was sitting on the playground with her friend talking and Lauren walked up to her grabbed her hand and made Katie go down the slide with her.  Katie kept escaping back to her friend who was still sitting in the same location where Lauren found them and every time Lauren would find her, grab her hand and make her play.  This happened like three times before Katie gave up escaping and just played with her.

I captured two pictures with my phone of sweet little Katie pushing Lauren on the swings.  Any of my Indianola friends know this girl?  If so, let me know... She'd make a good babysitter one day.  :)

Yes, I am a bit freaked out about the fact that Lauren knows no stranger.
Any tips on how to explain to your two year old that not everybody is a friend?
And yes, I hope Lauren continues to be outgoing and make friends easily.  I just pray she will be able to discern the good people from the bad.  We're doing good so far.  :)

Lleyton's Birth Day

He's Here!

Lleyton Clark Gurwell 

Born December 28, 2011 at 1:51pm

8lbs 13.6oz

21 inches long

He was born two days before his due date.

Moments after he was born.  

Big boy!  His size was definitely a shocker!  A couple hours before he was born the doctor guessed him weighing about 7.5 lbs.  But he was much bigger than expected and MUCH bigger than his sister.  Lauren weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 19 inches long.  Lleyton was two inches longer and almost two pounds bigger than her.  It's crazy how pregnancies are so different.  With Lauren (who was born in week 38) I gained more weight and she weighed less.  Lleyton was almost 40 weeks and obviously bigger but I gained 10 less pounds during the pregnancy.  Crazy how these things work.

Lauren checking out her new brother 

Lauren was very unsure about the whole situation.  Everything about the hospital made her nervous.  Mommy and daddy in this strange room...Mommy laying in a hospital bed... new baby brother.

She quickly warmed up to the idea of a new sibling.  Lauren LOVES her brother and wants to hold him and kiss him ALL the time and is constantly asking about baby.  "Where baby?  What baby doin?"  She makes sure that when we go bye-bye that the baby is coming with us.  The first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is kiss her baby.  She loves "helping" with diaper changes and is sure to tell us when "baby cryin or baby sleepin."  We are working on sharing Mommy and Daddy but she is doing wonderful and adjusting quickly. 

I was originally scheduled to be induced on December 28th but at my appointment on the 27th I learned that the 28th already was booked with inductions and was just too busy of a day for a "perfect" person like me.  And by perfect they mean, no good reason to induce.  No high blood pressure, no proteins in my urine, good weight, healthy baby.  And although I was very thankful to not have any medical condition to be induced I was bummed because I had been looking forward to meeting our baby boy on the 28th.  So, per the doctors recommendation I scheduled an induction on the 30th.  So, the 30th it will be.

Well, at 7:00 in the morning on Wednesday the 28th my doctor called and told me that 3 of his 4 inductions had already had their babies so if I wanted today could be the day.  Ahh what?  Are you serious?  I'm not ready for today, my mind is ready for Friday not Wednesday.  Well, I quickly wrapped my mind around the idea of having a baby that day and off to the hospital we went.

Everything happened super fast, completely different than my labor with Lauren.  We arrived at the hospital and they broke my water around 9am...and Nick and I walked, and walked, and walked the halls until I couldn't walk any longer because my contractions were so strong.  I really wanted some pain relief but was nervous about getting an epidural since the one I got with Lauren didn't work.  Well, I got one, I caved and am so thankful I did!  I got my epidural about 11:30am and was 6cm dilated...at 1pm they came back in to check me and I was still 6cm dilated.  I'm thinking, "Oh great, its going to be 6pm before this baby is born, I haven't dilated at all in an hour and a half!"  But how wrong I was!  This is where things started happening SUPER fast.  At 1:30pm I was feeling A LOT of pain so I had Nick call my nurse.  I assumed my epidural stopped working...WRONG!  The nurse came in and I was 10cm and ready to push.  Are you serious?  I went from 6cm to 10cm in 30 mins?  Holy cow.  Here we go.  I pushed for 15-20 minutes and he was born at 1:51pm.  I guess its true the second baby is much faster.  Well, in my case anyway.

We are so excited to welcome Lleyton into our lives.  He is a perfect and a wonderful addition to our family, we are so blessed!