So blessed

Words cannot describe how our life has changed over the last few days. For some reason, the reality of it all didn't sink in until we were actually at home with Sam. I knew I was pregnant and was going to have another child to love, but just couldn't phatom what it would really be like.
Well, he is here, he is absolutely amazing, and we are sooooo tired. Several people had told me adding another child didn't double the work, it quadrupled it. That is so true. Lexi Kate is so precious, and she loves Sam to death. The problem is, she loves him too much. She keeps trying to pick him up, change his diaper, feed him, and kiss him from head to toe. As her nose is dripping down her face, she kisses him right on the mouth. All I can do is pray that she keeps loving him (once she realizes he isn't leaving), and pray that he doesn't get deathly ill from her cold.

Sam was born Friday, December 26, 10:23am at Baptist Hospital. He weighed 7lb 7.75oz and was 19.5 inches long. I ended up having a c-section, because he was on his way into the world backwards. As Jeff said, he got that one honest from his daddy. I am just glad I wasn't the one that had to point that out. The c-section wasn't so bad, but it is slightly annoying now. I am way to busy to be limited in activity for 6 weeks. But, compared to my last birthing experience, this may be a better deal.
We are all doing great, just very tired from 2 kids that can't seem to get on a sleep schedule. My mom is here through Sunday, and Jeff's mom will be here all next week.

Merry Christmas

What a truly blessed Christmas it has been. Everyone has been talking about how bad the economy is, and how much we all have to cut back this year. I admit, I have not been happy about the fact that I wasn't able to buy everyone all the presents I thought they needed, and I wanted them to have this year. However, this morning when Lexi Kate woke up her first words reminded me what it was all about... "Merry Christmas Mommy, I love you. I am thankful for you. Let's go tell Baby Jesus Happy Birthday." And out of the mouth of babes.....

Lexi Kate had a great Christmas; it has been such a joy to watch her play with toys and more importantly loving on all her family. My biggest concern this year was that Sam coming would "spoil" her joy in Christmas. Well, we are all still home together, now anxiously awaiting Sam. Lexi Kate got to have her special Christmas moment. Then, she asked, "Mommy did Santa forget to drop Sam off?" Guess we over emphasized that she was getting a baby brother for Christmas. We just keep telling her he will be here in a little while.

And we can't wait....

Nothing new today

We are in the same place today we were yesterday. We decided not to strip my membranes today.... Dr. Thomas didn't think I would go into labor before evening, which means we would be in the hospital through Christmas anyway. So, for now we are just going to wait and see if we can make it through Christmas, knowing little Sam will be here by Friday.

Things are happening....

I had another doctor's appointment today. He said things were moving in the baby direction. That is a very good thing, since we are (were) on the waiting list to be induced at Baptist. The short version for those of you who don't want to read details: he thinks we will have a baby in the next couple days, and we are now off the waiting list at Baptist. Induction is scheduled for 6:30am on Dec. 26.

The details for those of you who are like me and just want to know.... I am now 3cm dialated and 50% effaced, and in the -1 position. Basically, we have 7cm to stretch, 50% more of my cervix to thin out, and need to be at the -3 position to deliver. Because at the time of my appointment this morning Baptist didn't have any openings for scheduled inductions, Dr. Thomas stripped my membranes, hoping to speed up my natural labor. I am going back in the morning to have my membranes stripped again. The goal is to actually have the baby tomorrow so we are all home for Christmas. Baptist actually called about 5:00 saying they had openings on the 26th, and we are scheduled for induction at 6:30am. I will have to talk to Dr. Thomas to make sure he is okay with that, but as things go for now we should have a baby no later than Friday afternoon.

Exciting Day

Lexi Kate had her ear worked on again this morning. I can honestly say if I never walk into another ENT office, it will be 20 years too soon. Dr. Crook is great, but watching nurses hold your screaming baby down while a doctor works on her ear with something making a sound of a heavy duty vacuum is something no mother should ever do, especially if you are 9 months pregnant. The good news is, we think everything is repaired and the infection is gone.....

The other excitement of the night was my neighbor having her baby at home. Her baby is past due, and we all know I am ready to have mine. We have been joking with each other about techniques to make the boys get here. So, about 8:30 I heard their car crank. She hadn't had any signs of labor, so I thought they were going out. I jokingly sent them a text message saying if they wanted to have a baby they better start working on it. Several text messages back and forth I finally realized they weren't joking, and were really having the baby at home. I went running across the yard in my bare feet- thankfully it was warmer today. I got to hold baby Hudson while Rory helped Shelley. An unbelievable experience to say the least.... You go girl. I am so impressed that she wasn't cussing, crying, or just totally flipping out. I am pretty sure if I had just delivered my own baby at my own house I would be doing all of the above.

Christmas program

Lexi Kate's Christmas Program at Little School was yesterday. Her class was singing "Jingle Bells" and "Clap your Hands for Santa Clause". This is Lexi Kate practicing before we went to school.
This is Lexi Kate singing with her class. She is in the bottom row, 2nd from the right. The pictures didn't turn out very good. We could have gone down front to watch, but with Lexi Kate in the 1st row, I was afraid she would come off the stage to be with us.

Lexi Kate and Aidan did thier Christmas exchange today. We had lunch and made cookies afterwards.

Surgery Follow Up

The pictures have absolutely nothing to do with the post, but I thought they were too cute not share. The first one is of Lexi Kate being just like Daddy.

We had our follow up appointment with Dr. Crook this morning to see if Lexi Kate's ears had healed after having her surgery on the 1st.... Of course not, that would have made my life too easy. I knew something wasn't going well with her left ear, becasue it still has blood coming out of it. I even called the nurse, who said it was okay. Today when he looked at it, it is still infected and has bleeding behind the drum. Wonderful! So, we have another week of antibiotics and drops, and go back to the doctor next Friday morning. If it hasn't cleared up by then, he will have to go back in and clean off the tube and repair the ear drum. So I guess at this point we are actually praying that I don't go into labor this week. I need to be able to take care of Lexi Kate next Friday....


The wierd thing is, she acts like she feels fine. I guess I should be glad that she isn't in pain. After we got home, she begged Daddy to play in the snow with her. She built her first Frosty. She couldn't quiet understand while it wasn't working like in the movie...

Good week

Lexi Kate seems pretty well recovered from her surgery on Monday. Her left ear is still bleeding a little, but it doesn't seem to bother her much. She is spending the night with BeBe and Pawpaw tonight so Jeff and I can have a last date night for the next couple months. How are we spending our big day-- I took a nap and now we are watching the SEC championship game. I promise we are going out for a big dinner later, but sleep and tv time are almost just as precious these days as a night out on the town.

Surgery update

Lexi Kate had her tubes put in today, and her adenoids taken out. We were at Baptist hospital dark and early this morning in our PJ's. They took us back about 7:30 to get started, and rolled Lexi Kate back to surgery around 8:15. We were so blessed to have a friend of ours as her nurse to keep us informed with what was going on. We met with Dr. Crook after the surgery and he said everything was a success. Lexi Kate woke up from anesthesia around 9:15. She reacts much the same way I do... crying for no reason. We finally convinced the recovery nurse that she wasn't in any pain, and to take the IV out. Once we got the IV out, Lexi Kate was much happier. She was still crying as we left, but getting better. She did get sick on the way home, but has recovered well this afternoon. She took a 2 hour nap about 3:00. Around 5:45, she was officially back to her old self. She was jumping on the bed while I was trying to fold laundry and dumping all her toys out on the floor. LK has eaten well today considering she had her throat operated on. She had 2 popsicles and 2 pieces of bread for lunch (I know not the most nutrious meal ever, but I figured if she would eat it I didn't really care.); we had fruit snacks and graham crackers for afternoon snack; and hamburger and fries for dinner. We do have to do another round of amoxicillin because she still had an ear infection when we went in today. We just hope we can get through the next 10 days of forcing drugs down.... our ENT follow up is December 12.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday at Jeff's parents' house. It was good to see the West Tennessee family that we only see a couple times each year. Lexi Kate was shy at first but finally got warmed up. Her favorite thing of the day was singing a couple words then demanding everyone clap and say "yeah". If she caught someone not clapping she was quick to call them out.

She also had a blast playing outside with Mallory. Mallory was showing her how to kick the soccer ball. Today, she has been wanting to play soccer inside with her "kickidy kick ball" (Wow Wow Wubzy is one of our favorite shows, and that is what he calls his ball).

Today we didn't get to participate in the holiday traditions of Black Friday shopping or decorating for Christmas, because Jeff had to work. Lexi Kate and I fought pretty much all day for some reason. I should have known it was going to be a rough day when we started out with her refusing to set on the potty and throwing her juice cup at the back door...

Potty training

In just 2 days I have come to the conclusion that it isn't a good idea to try to potty train when you are very pregnant. I am way too emotional and impatient for this. But, Lexi Kate is really doing well. Yesterday was our first day and she only had 3 accidents all day. She did ask for a diaper to go poop though. That is very frustrating to me. If you know you have to go, why not just put it where it belongs.... Today has gone pretty well also. She has already had 3 accidents, but 2 of those were while I was gone to the doctor. If I had to guess, BeBe didn't make her set on the potty if she said she didn't want to.
We are hoping to get this phase licked in the next 2 weeks. We are out of school and pretty much home bound this week, so I decided better now than later.
Wish us luck!!!

Having surgery

We went to see a new ENT today, just to try to come to some conclusion on Lexi Kate's persistant ear infections. I have mixed emotions about the outcome of that visit.... Lexi Kate is going to have tubes put in and her adnoids taken out on Monday, December 1. I don't think any parent is ever excited about their baby being put to sleep and having surgery. However, I am very excited at the possibility of an end being in sight. We are all so tired of being up at night and in doctor's offices and constantly on an antibiotic. We just pray that all goes well and this heals our little ears.

An Exciting Day

Yesterday was one of those days that I just didn't feel good. No particular complaint, I was just tired and couldn't get it all together. So, after Physical Therapy I came home and did pretty much nothing while Lexi Kate was in school.

I went to school early to pick up Lexi Kate and talk to her teachers... come to find out Lexi Kate had to set in time out twice yesterday for pushing and hitting other kids in the face. GREAT! LK has been a rounder at home, but always an angel at school. Now, it seems she is acting out there as well. The teacher was surprised that she didn't seem bothered by sitting in timeout. Welcome to my world- punishment in general doesn't seem to bother Lexi Kate. We also found out yesterday that one of Lexi Kate's teachers is leaving. Makes me sad, just as she has gotten well adjusted there will be more change in her life.

I had neighborhood Bible Study last night, and Jeff stayed home with Lexi Kate. Her punishment for getting in trouble at school was she could only watch 1 tv program. I wondered what Jeff would do with her for 2 hours. As I was walking home I just prayed that she was already asleep, because I was just too tired to deal with anything else. I walk in to find one of the sweetest sites in the world.... the picture above. The DVD player was still on, which means we probably had more than 30 minutes of tv. But, I didn't really care; all my babies were fast asleep. Thank you Jesus, Amen.

Heal our little ears

We went back to the doctor today to just make sure that our ear infections were cleared up, and look at the possibility of doing tubes. Bad news.... ear infection in the right ear has gotten much worse. He said there was so much fluid and puss he couldn't see what needed to be done. So, here we go with another 2 weeks of antibiotics. Please join us in praying that we get Lexi Kate's ears healed before Sam gets here.

Finding time....

I was wondering where I was going to find time to keep this blog updated now that I took the plunge to create it.... well, I have been wide awake since 2:15am, watched Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy already, and still not asleep, so why not blog... And for some reason I told my OB/GYN that I was sleeping fine and didn't need a prescription for Ambien (that was just 2 days ago).

Anyway... one of Lexi Kate's favorite things is "pupcakes", known to the rest of the world as cupcakes. This week we haven't been able to get outside and play much, so I have been trying to entertain Lexi Kate inside the house. Wednesday afternoon I asked her what she wanted to do, and of course she responded that she wanted to make pupcakes. We didn't have the things to do it the easy way, so from scratch we go.... And the only major mishaps were cocoa powder pretty much everywhere, butter and chocolate frosting in the dogs hair (who knows how that happened- but I am guessing her name is Lexi Kate), and a jar of sprinkles upside down on top of one of the cupcakes.

Thanks to our matching aprons, Lexi Kate and I remained fairly clean until she started eating her pupcake, then all bets were off. The afternoon ended with Lexi Kate and Malachi both getting a bath.

Precious Pink Poodle

Halloween 2008... Lexi Kate was a pink poodle, and her "boyfriend" was a puppy dog also. We had pizza and cupcakes with Aidan before we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

Getting up to speed.....

I have been meaning/working on creating a family blog since Lexi Kate was born. And, now that Sam will be here in just a few weeks I figured it was time to make it happen. Hopefully this will be a quick and easy way for us to share pictures and family info with all those who are wondering what is going on.

So, for those of you we haven't caught up with in ages, here is the run down:

Lexi Kate turned 2 in August, and is full of life. She can be the most sweet, precious, loving little girl, or the most rotten stinker you have ever seen. From what I am told that is normal for a 2 year old little girl. We are high on drama right now... everything must match, and she must be the center of attention. She got her daddy's gift of gab. She loves to talk and be praised. Every time she completes a task she will say things like, "Mommy, don't you love it; Oh, how beautiful; or this is amazing." She loves going to Mother's Day Out twice a week, and goes on and on about her friends and teachers. Much to her daddy's dismay, she already has a first love. Aidan is one of our neighbors, and I am sure we will post many pictures of him here as well. Rarely does a day go by that we don't do something together. From what we can tell, Lexi Kate is very excited about being a big sister and asks daily when her baby brother will be here. We will see how she feels once that actually happens.

Jeff still owns his own contracting business (JPWoodford & Co--- http://www.jpwoodfordco.com/). Like most people in that business right now, times are tight. But, we keep claiming Jeremiah 29:11 and Phillipians 4:13: God has a plan and we can do all things in his strength. We feel blessed to still be in business, because there are many who aren't. And, each day it seems that God provides just enough to make it through another day. Jeff is an amazing daddy to Lexi Kate, and I know he will be to Sam as well. Jeff is play time and tackle down, which Lexi Kate loves. I love it because it wears her out at the end of the day. The also love to cuddle snuggle, but play time is definately daddy's speciality.

Misty is primarily a stay at home mom, but also owns a realestate company (JPW&C Realty-- http://www.jpwcrealty.com/). Right now it is pretty much a one man show, with a broker we have hired to represent us. I am working on my broker's license and at that point hope to add other agents. But, again the market is slow so business isn't booming for anyone right now. I also have a part-time office administration job that I do from home. My pregnancy this time around has been much easier than with Lexi Kate. Everything is different, but I haven't been nearly as sick which makes all things a little more bearable.

Malachi is still hobbling around on all fours. He is 8 years old now, and it is starting to show. He has his hyper moments, but for the most part just hangs out on the couch. Lexi Kate may very well be the death of him.....

Sam will be our newest addition. His actual due date is January 5, but we are expecting our sweet baby boy to arrive sometime between December 15-28.