Tuesday, September 29, 2009

getting settled

Since bringing Paisley home from the hospital last week it has been quite a busy week. Things have been up & down and a roller coaster of emotions for me. I don't know if it's that you really forget certain things about having a baby or you just choose not to remember them!?!

She is the sweetest, most calm baby. Nothing really phases her. Ryder screams, Rocky barks, music is loud, TV is blaring YO Gabba and not even a flinch. God knew what I needed, huh? I keep saying I don't wanna jinx it, but the child does not CRY! In the night she wakes up hungry and lets us know by moaning or grunting a little. I feed her, we change her, wrap her and put her back down and that's pretty much it. We haven't had to walk around, rock her, sing, play guitar, lay her down, hold your breath & tip toe away or anything... again, I don't wanna jinx it. I am fully aware that tonight she could change her mind and her temperament, but so far that part has been easy. The feeding part has not been so easy. For her, it's been fine - she's getting everything she needs, but causing me some major pain along the way... I'll spare you all the details and we'll just leave it at that. We are working on resolving this problem & hopefully things will get better SOON! I also forgot how crazy the combination of drugs (from the c-sec) and hormones combined make me feel.

Last week I had my mom here to help when we came home from the hospital, then Daniel's mom came on Wednesday to help the rest of the week. Then we decided it would be best if Ryder went back with the grandparents for a few days to help me recover from everything. The thing about having a c-section and a toddler is that I am not supposed to lift him AT ALL. Not to get in the high chair, not to get in and out of the bed, the car, my lap - anything. The hardest part of this to me is that I can't explain that to him when he is at my feet, arms lifted, screaming, "Mamma!" over & over! All that to say... he's with the Grands for a few days. I left him there in July for this very reason, but it didn't make it ANY easier for me this time. It was actually much harder, due to said "drugs & hormones!" Not for him though - he was LITERALLY dragging his bag to the door...

So I've been here alone with baby girl the past two days and despite all the anxiety I felt about it it's been good, relaxing and helping me recover, rest and get my mind back and focused on these 2 little blessings I've been entrusted with....

Gotta run, sleeping beauty will awake soon- and hungry I'm sure!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

First Dr. Appointment - 5 Days old.

We went to Paisley's first doctor appointment today. (Of course when we pulled up it said "flu clinic here" so I freaked & immediately completely covered her up in her carrier!) We had a feeling that they did not measure her right at the hospital. She seemed longer than 17 1/2 inches and also Ryder was 21 1/2 when born and we didn't think she was 4 inches shorter than him. Plus, Daniel saw them measure her and thought it wasn't quite long enough, well sure enough she is 19 1/2 inches! :) So unless she's super baby and has grown 2 inches in 5 days - they measured her wrong. She's already 7lbs 11oz ounces which is a good amount above her 7lb 4oz birth weight. Usually breastfed babies drop in weight a good amount in the first week, so the doctor was surprised and said she looks just perfect.
And yes, she got all dressed with a bow in her hair for her first outing...

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Her first few days

We came home from the hospital yesterday (Monday) afternoon. Last night went really well. Paisley has been sweet & calm and waking for feedings and really barely crying at all. Ryder has still paid pretty much no attention to her! ha! He stops and gives her a kiss every now and then, but has been pretty entertained by Mimi for the past couple days. They went to the park, the library for story time, chickfila and played and seemed to have a great time.

So here are pics from our few days in the hospital. We had a good stay and were blessed by all the family and friends that came by and helped out. I seem to be recovering much faster this time and was even able to be up and moving around by late the first night. Paisley started feeding well from the beginning and the nurses and doctors said she was just perfect! Here are the first few days of Miss Paisley Rose's life!

Mimi & Poppy meet Paisley.

With their TWO grandchildren!

Grammy & Grandpa with the little ones!

The aunties came to be there when she was born.


Proud daddy on day 2!


Trying to explain this whole new sister thing again...

Daniel had to take this one... her first set of headphones!
(Actually it was her hearing test)

So glad my Grandma & Daniel's grandmother (Nana) were there for the big arrival on Friday and stopped back in Saturday to see her for a bit.


My friends Chris & Brandi came by to meet her.

And so did Kristin & Phillip

Me & my little munchkins!

Poppy showing how tiny her feet are... with a guitar pick of course!

Naptime everybody!


Sweet Angel - in her "going home" outfit.

My awesome doctor, Dr Uribe, stopped by to see her & give us the ok to go.


Headed home!

Our new family of FOUR!

Paisley's YouTube Debut

Here's baby girl's 1st video. Pretty basic, but I don't have much time for editing anymore. I can't get it any smaller, so click on the video to watch full-size on YouTube.Enjoy!
-Dan

Friday, September 18, 2009

Welcome PAISLEY ROSE ALLEN

She's here! Born at 12:32 pm. Weighing 7lbs, 4oz. Measuring 17 1/2 inches long.
Her first "Spa Day"

Ryder meets his sister, giving her a kiss!
"Best Big Brother Ever"

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Waiting on a Princess...

The room is finally ready, with not much time to spare. We definitely weren't as on it this time as with Ryder's room! So the baby girl room is still doubling as a guest room for now since we have family & company a lot. I tried to make it as 'pretty' as possible & we moved things around a million times to figure out how to maximize the space with the full size bed in the room. We got the crib & changing table on craigslist and repainted them. Daniel made the shelves above the crib and my friend Dana gave me the little chest of drawers when she moved and we repainted it and replaced the knobs.

The "A" is for Allen. The other initials will be joining it soon. ;)




The awesome diaper stacker that my mom made to match the crib bedding. The crib bedding is from the Shabby Chic at Target line.

My painting... can't decide if I'm finished with it yet or not. It has evolved into this.

Ryder didn't like that I was taking pictures he was not included in (he better get used to it, huh?) So he ran in front of my picture with a big CHEESE face!

This little outfit hanging above the crib was made by Daniel's grandmother for his mother when she was born...

And this little dress was mine. :)

And speaking of clothes, whatever will the princess wear?!?

And the last belly pic! Ready to pop...2 days left!


We go in Friday morning and the c-section should be around noon. Keep us in your prayers for a smooth & blessed delivery and transition into family of 4!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Lately...

So most of the recent blogs have been all about getting ready for baby girl... but baby boy has been into things lately too! He is jabbering none stop - most of it making no sense to anyone other than himself. He's mimicking some funny things here too. Here he is in my bathroom. While I was getting ready one day. He decided he would bring Rocky's bed in there with me and take a little rest...

Sunday morning, also while I was trying to get ready, I left Ryder in his highchair eating his breakfast. He was being so nice and quiet. I thought to myself, 'man, he must have been so hungry and he's being so good this morning.' Well, a few minutes later I went back in to see that he had eaten his food, thrown the plate in the floor and then taken his sippy cup and some how used the milk to splatter paint everything surrounding him. I mean, milk was in his hair, his belly button, on the surrounding chairs, on my painting on the table... everywhere. You have to click on the picture to see the true beauty of his "milk art." He was so proud of himself.

So everyone's been asking if Ryder is ready for the baby... well, if you ask Ryder, "Are you ready for baby sister?" He shakes his head no and says, "Uh uh!" The answer is really... he has no clue! Mimi got Ryder this book called, "Babies" that is all about getting ready for a baby sibling. He's been carrying it around the house and he'll point to the pictures and say, "Baba."



Guess we'll find out what BIG BROTHER does in a couple day!!!

Friday, September 4, 2009

2 week countdown...

2 weeks from right now we will be checking into the hospital to have this little girl! Wow. For the most part I feel like this pregnancy has flown by, but in way I've felt like I've been pregnant for 2 years! (I kinda have!) This week we've hung a light fixture in her adorable shabby chic room. We've hung shelves Daniel built for her. I packed my hospital bag - just to be on the safe side! I went to my 37 week appt -all is still well. I've been to Babies R Us twice and Target twice and am currently washing the first load of baby girl clothes! My most stressful dilemma at the moment is deciding on a double stroller. I thought I had my mind set on a side by side Maclaren. (I love our single Maclaren and really like our Graco metro light that the baby carrier fits in.) Then this week I actually saw the double Maclaren at babies r us and am now back to confused & searching. I didn't want a sit and stand b/c Ryder is still so small for that and still needs to be more restraint, plus the ones with full second seats are 30 lbs and being 5 ft tall and having a c-section makes that pretty useless! Ahhh... so I go back and forth every day, read every review online and search craigslist in case of a deal that I could resale if I hated it! Plus spending over $500 on a stroller is NOT an option and that rules out about 50% of the new double strollers, crazy right? I've gotten a lot of opinions, but if you have a strong one bring it on...

For now we have a busy weekend with several things going on & lots to get done! Happy Labor Day Weekend... hope it doesn't mean actual LABOR! ;)