MY NEW BLOG SITE!

When I created this blog over 2 years ago, I guess I was smarter because I didn't think that a blog name that I created would be difficult to remember, but it has been.  So I'm finally changing it.   Follow this link to follow us from now on!

Living with Gills- livingwithgills.blogspot.com

I"m still trying to figure out how to design it, but it will be a work in progress.  

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Parade, Santas, and Trees

Finally, I uploaded some pictures from a few weekends ago....

First, we went to the Greensboro Christmas Parade, but got there a little late so our seats were a little too far back to see too much, but the kids still seemed to have fun.

Thomas the Train was a big hit being that it was one of the few we could see-

We ran into Emily and her two kids randomly in the masses-  (Emily and Chloe)

 

 We finally got Trevor to hold onto sweet Claire's hand...  Claire is so excited to see Trevor and Trevor still hasn't realized what a catch Claire is or he's got the playing hard to get game down pat.  He's gonna regret it one of these days!

Daddy offered the best seat 

But, then the street seemed to offer a little more excitement than the Parade..  (Trevor running around with Max and Claire)

I love seeing them laugh together

Rest Break (for maybe 10 seconds)

I love this one of the two love birds taking a private break

The Fredricks  (Kelly, Claire, and Max)

Kelly's husband was out of town so we all traded off managing the kids.

 

And had to document that little Charlotte was present and behaved in her typical fashion, by sleeping through the entire event

Such a nice and HOT December Saturday, we ended up walking to Natty Greens for lunch afterwards, great day.

Santas- I knew Trevor was going to want nothing to do with Santa this year, but my thought or hope was that if I exposed him to enough "santas" maybe he would eventually feel more comfortable with "him" and sit for a picture.  So our first Santa experience was at a breakfast with Santa.  

We went with the Whites.  Colin did excellent with Santa I might add...

The only way we could get Trevor anywhere near was if we did an ENTIRE family shot

 And I couldn't figure out why Santa wouldn't stand up...

I thought Bravo did a really good job, they also had a magician (balloon animals), cookie decorating station, delicious menu, and desert.  I'd like to go back next year! 

Luckily the Breakfast itself was DELICIOUS and the company was nice too.  The posing with Santa was.. well what I expected.  You win some, you lose some;)

And as I mentioned we got our Tree...

 

Again, Charlotte thoroughly enjoyed the outing

TREVOR loved running through all the trees.  We only lost him a handful of times

18 months and 1 month appointments

I guess I thought scheduling both appointments on the same day would be convenient, however, scheduling them two hours apart meant that the three of us had to truck into the doctor's office two different times with just a 45 minute break.  Too much time to stick around with all the sick kids in the lobby and not enough time to do anything worthwhile.  Not to mention, I made another mistake by making Trevor's appointment right during his nap time.  You live, you learn...

But, more importantly, both babies are healthy.  

Trevor-weight- 26 lbs- 75% 

            height- 32 1/4- 75%

            head-   19. 75%

Charlotte- Weight- 8.4.5lbs  (25%)

                 Height  20 1/4   (15%)

                 Head-  37cm  (50% i think..)

So we have a big boy and a petite little girl so far...Btw, Charlotte has fixed her little problem with releasing waste.  She works again.

And typically I would have had some photos from the actual appointment, but these days my cell phone is used purely for toddler entertainment during stressful situations:)  And visiting the doctor during nap time falls under that category-

daddy is a genius

At just around 18 months, we finally turned Trevor's car seat around. And Alec installed DVD players in the car. Now Trevor only kicks me and screams bloody murder until he sees and remembers his new toy. Life has gotten much easier these days;). Thanks Daddy!

We need crap

I'm sure we need lots of things, but we need Charlotte to have a poop! It's been at least 6 days! I took her in to the doctor yesterday and remarkably they said it wasn't a problem yet. Her stomach is soft, she's still eating, peeing regularly, and not in obvious pain. They recommended actually giving her prune juice which is crazy to me at such a young age. She loved it, but so far it's only produced a lot of nice "smells" and rumblings.

So, c'mon Charlotte!

In other news, I finally got Charlotte's new born photos which allowed me to complete our Christmas card which I'm using as a baby announcement as well. Ahh I feel like I have completed my Christmas responsibilities, although I'm still missing presents and ornaments on tree. At least there are still a few weeks in December.

Below us NOT a new born shot;). Well not a professional new born shot. Just one I had on my phone.

18 Months! (A few days ago)

And can't forget my little man who is now one and a half.  His doctor's appointment is the same day as Charlotte's 1 month appointment next week so I will get some stats then. I can't say enough about how sweet Trevor has been as a big brother so far.  Somehow I love him more every time I see him giving Charlotte "gentle" kisses and retrieving her paci for her even when he wants more than anything to pop it into his own mouth (which does happen from time to time:)).

Our biggest challenges are getting buckled into the car seat and changing diapers.  We are FAR away from potty training at this point so it's basically become a tackling fest during most changes.  Although I feel like the victim, I do think some of the fight as has to do with his perpetual diaper rash and fear of the pain.  We are going to a dermatologist to talk about other options soon.  Still haven't found an answer that works consistently enough.  As far as the car seat, we usually end up bribing Trevor into the car with his ball or playing baby einstein videos on our cell phones.  We did just break down and order dvd players for the headrests.  I had always thought I'd wait to make this purchase for when the children could actually ask for it and appreciate it.  Well, we're giving in now.... I will definitely appreciate it if it encourages less kicking and screaming as we enter the car each time.  Oh and the stranger anxiety has definitely lessened.  He's now happy to walk into his class and stay with other family members and close friends when we leave him. 

The walk to and from school and church

 He loves to get cozy with her in the mornings while I get ready

Still playing dumb about how to upload new camera pics so soon we will have some from the Christmas Parade. And speaking of Christmas, we bought a tree.  It has lights.  That is all so far.

3 weeks!

Yesterday when Charlotte turned 3 weeks, I decided to utilize the Smart Start nurse program again to have her weighed and check on her congestion. I really like this program. You can call anytime and they'll come out and check you and the baby almost that day. Really beats packing up the kids and even nice avoiding a little co pay. With Trevor we took him in at one week, 2 weeks, one month. But with Charlotte, after the first doctor's visit at 4 days, She isn't due for another visit until her one month.

Well her lungs are perfectly clear and she's gaining weight well. She's at 7lbs 13.5 ounces. We tried her in her crib two nights ago and it didn't go so well. Then last night we tried the swing and the sleep (mine and hers) was so much better! But, not wanting to have to rely on having a swing wherever we go, we are going to try the vibrating pack and play bassinet tonight. My guess is that she'll end up back in the swing.

Update on Charlotte's personality- she's still as sweet and cuddly as can be. She sleeps a lot and luckily loves her car seat and pretty much wherever we put her. Her difficult times are at night. She just seems unsettled for a few hours. Oh, And she's still doing well allowing constant kisses (heading) from her brother.

Here are some phone pics from the last week... And as soon as I upload real pictures Ill put some up from the parade today!

My Big Girl!

Well, still shy of 7lbs, "big" is maybe just in the eye of the beholder. But, Charlotte weighed in at 6 13.5lbs today which is over her birth weight of 6 11.5lbs. And it was right before her next meal. Her first appointment was 6.6lbs so she is moving up in the world:)

Also, we can walk again! Today we got the BOB Double car seat adapter.

My little bird showing off her cloth diaper

Oopsie, Someone ended up in our bed this morning...

And here Big Brother joined the party

Home SWEET home!

Tomorrow Charlotte will be a week old and she could not have been on better behavior so far. As far as I'm concerned and with a little bias, she is the perfect baby;). Everyone seems to be adjusting well.

Trevor seeks out Charlotte when he's awake and loves to love on her. We tell him to go "kiss" Charlotte and he nestles into her which is one of the sweetest things I've seen. I tried to capture it this morning while Charlotte was minding her business in the swing.

Also Charlotte had her first doctors appointment- her weight at birth was 6.12, leaving the hospital was 6.4. Before feeding her at the doctors, she was 6.6 and after feeding her she was 6.12lb. So she is definitely on the right track. Everything else looks normal so she is not due back until her one month appointment.

And.. A HUGE thank you to family and friends who have been bringing us food, flowers, and help with Trevor now that Alec has gone back to work!

A Birthday and Wet Lungs (long post)

Well as we suspected, November 9th was indeed a great day for the birth of our second little angel, Charlotte Hazel.  We were able to keep the first name a secret, well I was, Daddy had some issues.  And although we do have a Charlotte and  a Hazel in our family trees, we really just chose both of the names randomly.

We arrived at the hospital 15 minutes late at 6:15 am for my scheduled c section at 7:30am.  They took me right back and started prepping me.  That was a very quick hour.  At 7:15, they wheeled me into the OR and got started.  I was much more nervous this time.  I guess because I had more time to think about what was actually about to happen.  All of the OR staff were amazing!  They treated me like I was their scared daughter and reminded me that even though the surgery was a big deal to me, it was pretty mundane to them.  I also had snuck in a few sips of water before the hospital which was not a good idea.  Immediately after the spinal, I became nauseous and did not feel better until those few drops were out.  It was a pretty bad feeling, but luckily it stopped after only a few minutes and the rest of the surgery went smoothly..

Charlotte's little cries could be heard right away which was a great relief.  They took her away with Alec to clean her off and then brought her back to me to kiss and take some photos.  However when she came back to me, her coloring was not good.  She looked pretty blue/white.  So after a few kopics, they took her back to be worked on more and realized that she had some long fancy name problem (wet lungs) where she had fluid in her lungs so she couldn't properly breathe until that was cleared out.  Luckily they took her straight to the nursery and not to the NICU.  (a step down). 

While I was taken to recovery and waiting for a permanent room, we got news that she was going to be put under an oxygen hood and her lungs would be suctioned out until she could process room oxygen levels appropriately.  Even though they reassured me that this is not uncommon for c section babies, I still didn't want to hear that my baby was having to be observed for a minimum of 4 hours instead of in my arms.  Once we were able to get a room in the hospital, the nurses arranged for me to be pushed into the nursery in my stretcher to see Charlotte.  I thought it was so nice of them to arrange for me to see her for a few minutes.  And once we were in our room, my parents brought Trevor which was a good distraction.  Finally we got news at 1:00 that Charlotte was on no more oxygen, but that they wanted her to be observed for an hour longer in normal conditions.  So FINALLY, at 2:00p.m., Alec went to go pick up our baby girl and bring her back to us. Also, the pediatrician, who I love assured us that once this problem clears itself up, it should never be an issue again. Phew.

Charlotte is only 3 days old, but she has been amazing so far.  She loves to sleep and cuddle and she is tiny!  She was born weighing 6.12lbs.  When we left the hospital, she had gone down to 6.4lbs. Hopefully by her appointment tomorrow, she will have gained back some of that weight.   I don't think Trevor has even realized he is sharing his parents with another sibling yet because she requires so little attention.  However, I would not be surprised if Trevor can tell that I am not the same.  After the surgery, I felt like I had just completed a marathon.  Actually the thought of a marathon sounds easier to me than what we did Friday morning.  I really never thought a c section would be that difficult.  We decided to leave the hospital a day early and had a much better night of sleep at home last night without the constant nurse interruptions. 

So far and knock on wood, but life hasn't been that overwhelming.   I'm definitely ready to feel back to 100% normal.  Or to the point that I feel comfortable picking up Trevor.  It has been so nice to have Alec here and I'm not looking forward to him going back to work on Wednesday.  Alec is on Trevor duty:)

 And here are some of our pics starting with the evening before Charlotte's birth.

Night before birth

Charlotte looking a lil blue

First pic with Charlotte

Here is the oxygen hood, looked like a cake topper over her little head

This is when they wheeled me into the nursery to get a "viewing" of Charlotte during the oxygen treatment

Trevor giving his mommy a rose!

We may have had to bribe Trevor with our iphone, but this is one of our first family photos

Charlotte with Mimi

Charlotte with Doña

 

Time to go home!

 

Finally- Nursery pics!