Nice November {2016}

Oh November!  Where did you go?  Where did this whole year go?  We are already over halfway through December and will soon be starting a whole new year.  November was a fairly nice and peaceful month before we started a busy and crazy month that would add another member to our family.  While it may not have been a very exciting month, we managed to have some fun together.

Little Mattox was pretty much the star of the show.  Oh the excitement he adds to the family!  He is always up to something...or in to something.  He continues to be his own fashionista wearing his clothes in unique ways.  He also likes to make a mess while eating his snack or breakfast.  If I give him a banana on a paper towel, the floor is going to end up looking like this.  That's torn up paper towel and bits of banana all over it.  Another cute thing he likes to do these days is hide objects down his shirt.  He is like a little old lady hiding money and stuff in her bra.  Haha!  We catch him sticking our cell phones and other objects down the front of his shirt.  He is the cutest little thief! 

Taking selfies with mommy. 

Brody likes pushing little brother around the yard in his car.  

They even found a small pile of leaves on the edge of our neighbor's yard.  We don't have too many leaves in our yard right now because we only have a few small maple trees that aren't in great shape. 

They love playing together at Chick-fil-a.  I like to take them right after school sometimes to let them play when it isn't busy and crowded.  

Brody was doing his homework, and Mattox did finally accomplish going down the big slide by himself. 

I had an errand to run at the mall, and I decided we would make a day of it.  We took the boys to eat at the Japanese steakhouse there which has been a favorite since Daddy and I were in college.  Our chef was so funny and full of jokes, and Brody always loves the fire. 

These boys have been playing so well together these days.  They love making tents under the bed sheets, falling asleep together, and playing in their sandbox. 

Brody is still our resident artist making tons of artwork for us.  

Mattox is a kisser.  He loves giving kisses and makes the cutest kissing sound that sounds like "bahhh."  It seemed he was really getting ready for his baby to arrive because he took his big brother's baby picture and was kissing it.  Now, he gives tons of kisses to his new baby brother. 

The boys and mom hit up Rita's one more time before it closes for the season.  Mattox and Brody enjoyed a gingerbread spice Italian ice and gelato shake while Mommy enjoyed her pumpkin spice one.  Evan stuck with his gelato sundae.  

Happiness is definitely a little boy wearing a superhero cape eating some Rita's!

Mattox was enjoying Brody dragging him around in a blanket.  

The big boys loved going to their school book fair and getting some new books to read. 

And they got their picture with Little Zax at Zaxby's one night. 

We had a breakfast treat on one of their last days of school before winter break and ate doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts. 

Mattox and Daddy went to Mommy's last doctors' appointments with her.  Then, we all enjoyed a cold night outdoors going with Daddy to a work event. 

We ate some yummy barbecue. 

I finished two projects, a wreath for Mattie for Christmas, and a new blanket for baby Grayson.  I made his out of chunkier yarn for a warmer and cozier winter blanket.  

Brody wanted his picture taken with the wreath. 

Sweet baby boy came down with a bad cold for about a week, and we both enjoyed lots of snuggling and napping together. 

We all enjoyed another Mexican feast together.  Photos courtesy of Brody. 

And a post isn't complete without some silly Brody selfies. 

We also enjoy eating at Pei Wei a lot. 

Oh this sweet, silly boy. 

We enjoyed celebrating another Thanksgiving with Great-Grandpa and Grandma, and Evan interviewed them for a Cub Scout project. 

And we got our house decorated for Christmas before baby Grayson arrived.   We are ready for a wonderful Christmas! 

Grayson's Newborn Pictures

I am so behind on sharing Mr. Grayson's first months with us.  It has been a crazy couple of months, but we have enjoyed him so much.  He has been a little ray of sunshine to our days.  He is just as sweet as his big brothers were as babies with his own special sweetness and adorable personality.  He will break into the biggest smiles looking at the ceiling or some random object.  He is very patient and easygoing which is a good thing since he is often tested by his big brother Mattox.  We just think he is a beautiful and precious bundle of joy.  Mommy just cannot stop kissing his little face.

*Photos taken by us and the property of Our Sweet Love Story.

Some of the photos we will use for Grayson's precious parts framed portraits like his big brothers'.

The precious parts portraits will be black and white.  I just love this timeless treasure. 

Sweet sleeping baby face.

So so snuggly.

Pretty pouty lips.

Wearing the hat, diaper cover, and booties I crocheted for Mattox.

I love that face close up.

Snuggled up in his crocheted newborn wrap.

Scrunchy baby face.

Sweet little newborn smile.

Pouty baby.  "No more pictures!"

"Okay, just one more smile."

"Just let me sleep, please."

Not the best quality shot, but I love this little hint of a smile. 

A precious gift from God.

"Okay, now I am done!"

"Did you hear me?"

"Okay, I guess you can take a picture of my ear."

"And feet."

"But that is it!  I mean it!"

"You asked for it!"

Grayson's Birth Story

After losing a baby when you are finally expecting to meet them, labor and delivery is never the same again.  We still hope for the best and pray, but it is never stress free.  Each day that brings us closer to meeting our little rainbows also brings us even more stress and anxiety over what can happen.  We do our best to relieve that stress with more careful monitoring both at home and at the doctor appointments.  We sit through many NST evaluations listening to baby's heartbeat and praying they stay strong and steady.  We dread the start of spontaneous labor that may cause our baby distress.  For us, going into labor on our own is no longer a happy dream announcing our baby's arrival.  We don't want to wait too long when it may be too late for our baby to take his first breath.  This time, we planned to commence with an induction at 39 weeks since that worked out well with our first rainbow, Mattox.  We went for our 36 week check up, and one of our nurse midwives said our chart stated we should induce at 37 weeks which would have been on Thanksgiving.  As thankful as we were for caring physicians and practitioners who wanted to help us get our baby here safely, we thought 37 weeks was an abundance of caution that may be a little unnecessary as we did want to make sure baby was ready to arrive.  We compromised on one additional week and scheduled induction for 38 weeks.  We were scheduled to go in Wednesday night November 30th to begin cervix ripening and then proceeding with induction on Thursday morning.  We knew induction would likely take a while from our history. Thankfully, Grayson's birth story really did have a perfect ending after so many months of anxiety waiting for his arrival.  Here's the story: 

When we arrived at the hospital on Wednesday night, the nurse midwife planned to try using the bulb cervix dilation device which she thought would work more efficiently than Cervidil.  Unfortunately, my cervix would not cooperate so we had to stick with Cervidil.  I wasn't expecting much dilation by Thursday morning but was hoping for a lot of thinning at least.  I was happily surprised that I was a couple of cm's dilated that morning when checked as we prepared to begin Pitocin.  I had been having mild contractions that were pretty regular on the monitors while I was lying down on my back.  The Pitocin worked to intensify those through the day.   I was dilated to 3 to 4 cm, and they were able to break my water by early afternoon so we were excited and anticipating a December 1st delivery.   Once my water was broken, we watched and felt the contractions get more intense.  I went ahead and got an epidural. I actually have a very high pain tolerance and do not mind painful contractions at all.  I actually get the epidural because I always tear a little during the final pushing and that pain and the after care is a lot more pleasant when you are numb.  I don't have an accurate assessment of the time from here, but I did rest for a little while under the epidural before things really started speeding up.   The baby's heart rate did start to be a little concerning and the external monitors were not able to keep track of him because he was moving so much.  They put the internal one on his head to keep him on the monitors, and he still had marks on his little head for several weeks after.  After lying on my back and sides with not much progress, I sat up in the bed cross legged.  It wasn't too long before I was starting to feel a lot of pressure and need to push.  The nurse midwife came in quickly and checked me to confirm we were finally at 10 cm.  They began making all the preparations.  Although Grayson didn't come quite as quickly as our little Mattox who shot out like a cannon, I didn't have to push too many times.  They did have to turn his shoulders a bit to help get him out, but he arrived, and we immediately heard his little cry and were so thankful.  They laid him on me and let us cuddle for a few minutes before Eddie cut the cord.  I know it is so important to have that special skin to skin contact before the cord is cut.  I am so thankful that I have always had that special time even though they did take my sweet Evan off to the nursery to monitor him for a while because he had a little breathing trouble at first.  He was fine though and never needed oxygen.  Grayson was so sweet and perfect.  All the nurses thought he looked really tiny at first until he stretched out.  He was long and skinny.   

He was born at 10:15 p.m. and the rest is history!  Grayson looked the most like his big brother Brody to me because he had the same darker hair and skin tone with some sweet little red angel kiss marks on his eyelids.  He just didn't have those crazy long eyelashes that Brody had.  He weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 inches long.   He weighed almost the same as big brother Mattox although he was a week earlier, but he was almost as long as big brother Brody.  He also had some of the longest fingers and toes I had ever seen on a newborn.  I don't know where he got those! 

First picture!  

First diaper!

Such a sweet face.  Yes, I also see a lot of Mattox in him. 

The first Mommy picture.  No, I do not look lovely.  I am not one of those who looks all lovely and perfect after childbirth.  My hair is a mess from lying in bed and makeup is the furtherest thing from my mind.  I read an article recently about things to remember to do when having a baby.  It advised to get this first picture with baby because no matter how you feel you look, it will be a very special memory for baby to have when older.  I mean, baby isn't going to remember this moment and will need to see pictures to know about it.  There is definitely a lot of love in those first pictures. 

Sweet eyes opening for the first time to take in the world. 

I think he has mine and Brody's chin and jaw. 

Meeting Dad.  Dad's get the benefit of looking a lot sharper after delivery.  

Snuggling on Mommy. 

Getting the first bath in preparation for his first photo shoot.  He looks surprisingly relaxed getting his hair washed although I remember him screaming quite a bit.  Pictures can be deceiving!