Baby William

William Arthur (middle name is after Kurt's grandfather; John Henry has his middle name, Henry) was born Friday, November 2, 2012 at 1:22 pm.  He was 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Kurt and I got to the hospital at 6 am, and they started the induction about 6:30.  I was 1.5 cm dilated when I got there.  By 9 I was 3.5 and in horrible pain!  They said they would check again at 10, and I thought I would die waiting that long.  At 10 I was 4, so I got the epidural.  It was the best one I've had yet.  I could still move, but I couldn't feel anything.  I mentioned to the nurse that I throw up a lot in labor, so she gave me Zofran and I didn't throw up once!  That was the best part.  :)  At 1 I was 10 cm. Dr. Ross was off at 1:00, but he waited to deliver William.  It was a very easy labor and delivery.  Much better than the other ones!

That afternoon Nikki, our babysitter, brought the kids to see William.  They came in and Macey walked right to me (I was holding William) and pointed to William and said, "That your baby!"  I repeated her, and she said, "No, that YOUR baby!"  She was not being mean about it; she was just shocked.  :)  John Henry wanted to hold him, so we let both of them hold William at the same time.  John Henry was immediately in love with him.  Macey held him for about 1 second and pushed his feet away and said she didn't like holding him.

Meeting William for the first time.

This is JH and his best friend, Ava.  He stayed with Ava both nights while we were in the hospital.  Kurt and I were so worried that he would be upset we were not home and cry, but he did great!  He asked to leave early both days and never got upset at her house.

Macey stayed with Nikki, our babysitter.  She had fun as well, but she's pretty laid back about leaving us so we figured she would be fine!

William brought the kids gifts. :)

And the kids made William a sign.  :)

Our first picture as a family of 5!

Our sweet babysitter, Nikki!

Going Home:

This is the gown I smocked for William.  I have made each of the kids' going home outfits.  Thank goodness I never have to do that again b/c I am not a patient smocker!

The sign that was in the kitchen when we got home. 

Things have gone really well since he has been home. So far, he's a very easy baby.  The first night he only slept from 3:30-5:30, but since then he has done well.  Last night he slept from 11:15-2:45 and woke up again at 6:00.

He likes to be swaddled, just like Macey.

He looks just like John Henry did at this age.  John Henry had a fatter face b/c he weighed more, but they look so much alike.  I think seeing William wear John Henry's clothes makes me think they look alike as well.

This is an Instagram screen shot of William (on top) and John Henry (on bottom).  They look just alike to me!

The kids are totally in love with him.  I thought they would be jealous, but so far there is none of that.  John Henry wants to hold him all the time and Macey pats him too hard on the head and says, "You're so cute!" in this sweet little voice.  These are just a few pictures from the past week, but we are missing a few days because John Henry threw up early Wednesday morning, so Macey, William, and I packed up and headed to my mom's for a day and a half while Kurt took care of John Henry.  It seemed to be a short lived thing, and no one else caught it.  I have been in a complete panic about germs since then!

Saturday

Today we went to Gardendale for our nephew's, Tucker's, baseball games.  The weather was perfect, and we had a great time!  Afterwards we went to Stix, which the kids love.  John Henry ate most of his food with chopsticks.  He did a good job!  I look horrible in this picture, but I'm pregnant so that's my excuse. :)

After Stix and naps, we went to 4D Farm for a birthday party.  The kids had a blast playing.  They loved this huge sandbox.  I had to scrub the dirt off of them when we got home.  They were so dirty!

Friday

This morning when we woke up, Macey's hair was so wild!  It never looks like this in the morning, but she has been sleeping on her Minnie and Goofy and I think she rubbed her head on them all night.  It was matted and it took a while to get out!  

We went to visit Ben, Bec, Kate, and Baby Luke today.  Laudan and I met at the Hannah Kate sample sale where we ran into Kat and some other friends.  I didn't get much, but it was fun!  Laudan drove JH and Macey back to her house in her van since she didn't have big kids with her.  They think riding in her car was the best thing ever.  They've talked about it all day long. Macey even said she likes Laudan's car better than Kurt's car.  :)

Catie and her boys came over to Laudan's too.  They are so sweet, and all the kids had so much fun playing together! 

Macey wasn't into getting her picture taken.  She moved her bow in front of her face and wouldn't push it back.  For some reason you have to click on the picture to see the whole thing.

John David, Bec, Macey, Timothy, Kate, John Henry, Ben, and Baby Luke

Thursday

In October of 2010 Kurt found a little green lizard, an anole, at his office.  He brought it home and we put it in a tank for JH to look at over the next week or so.  That was 1.5 years ago and Bill is still living on my kitchen window.  (He lived in the basement for awhile, but it was too cold for him.  I wish he would move back down there!)  I looked it up the other day and anoles can live for 8 years! Thankfully Bill is pretty low maintenance; we just feed him crickets from the pet store once every 2 weeks.

The day we got Bill: October 28, 2010.  

Today Macey decided she wanted to hold Bill.  I would never let her before (I don't get near Bill), but today I let her.  She was brave for about 3 seconds, then she started screaming and shaking her hand to get him off.  :)

JH always loves to hold Bill!

Wednesday

I said I was going to add a picture everyday, so here are today's pics.  I had to get photographic evidence that JH was eating fruit.  He doesn't eat any fruit.  He loves broccoli and some other vegetables, but he refuses to eat any fruits.  I bought this apple that is naturally flavored with bubble gum (no clue how that happens), and he actually ate it!

He was pretending to be a dinosaur attacking its prey. :)

Tonight I let them play with the muffin liners I bought yesterday at Publix.  I thought it would keep them quiet for a min, but they fought b/c Macey kept stomping the ones JH laid out.

The past 7 months

I was looking through my old posts last night, and I got really mad at myself for not keeping up with the blog!  John Henry and Macey are changing so much and are so funny.  I wish I had been better about posting!  So I am starting now.  I am going to try to do a bulleted list of our past 7 months.  

-Probably the biggest day of the past 7 months was March 1.  It was Macey's 2nd birthday, and the day we found out we are having another baby!  I was talking to my friend Emily on the phone and mentioned that I felt sick. She asked me if I was pregnant.  I was sure that I wasn't, but I started getting kind of stressed the more I thought about it.  Kurt and John Henry were at t-ball practice, so I decided to take a test before they got home.  I was fully expecting it to say "not pregnant," but it said "pregnant" immediately.  Since it was Macey's birthday, I had a gift wrapped for her so I wrapped this paper as well. I let Kurt open it.  

He was shocked!  The baby is due November 7th.  We find out next Tuesday if it's a boy or girl.  John Henry says he wants to make sure he is getting a baby brother. :)

-We went to Disney World in April for John Henry's birthday.  As soon as we found out we weren't going to be able to go in November, we booked a trip immediately.  The kids had a blast and they are now obsessed with Disney World.  Macey loves Goofy and Princesses.  She goes nuts when she sees the beginning of a Disney movie with the castle.  JH is more laid back about his obsession, but he asks all the time when we can go back.  I wrote a whole post about Disney.  I just need to add the pics!

-John Henry finished PK4 and will go to Kindergarten in August.  What happened to my baby?!  He loved his PK4 class and teacher, so he is going 2 days a week this summer to play and see his friends.  This is a picture of JH and the boys on the last day of school.  That morning I asked him 3 times to put his shoes on and even put them by the door, but he didn't put them on.  I didn't realize until I got to school, so I made him  go in and take pics without shoes.  He was so embarrassed!  Right after this picture, he burst into tears and I took him home with me to go get them.

-John Henry played t-ball this year.  We had the sweetest, most patient coaches ever- Rusty Daniel and Kurt!  JH liked it and had fun, but he got bored quickly. Macey thought it was the greatest thing ever.  She likes to get my purse and shoes on and tell me she's going to t-ball.  She would scream, "Hit the ball Day Day. Run!  Good job!" It was so cute.  We had our t-ball party tonight at 4D Farm (our coach's farm).  It's a great place, and the kids had so much fun.  JH loved loved the animals, and he and Macey got to ride a horse.  When JH was Macey's age I tried to get him to ride a horse and he was terrified and refused.  That totally fits their personalities- she's a daredevil and he is so much more reserved!

-We went to the beach with Kurt's family for Memorial Day.  Macey refused to be in the cousin picture, but I still think it's adorable!  I love Tucker and JH. They look so happy.  :)  The other pic is the kids with their beach toys I let them pick out at Target before we left.  I made them wait until we got to the beach before they opened it. They were about to lose it. :)

- Macey is still a honey badger.  :)  In fact, she earns that nickname more every single day!  My awesome awesome sleeper has gone on a napping strike this week!  I am dying.  I make her stay in her crib for 2 hours while she plays and rolls around and chews holes in her new pacis.  I am trying to just put her in bed at the same time everyday and pray she starts napping again!  The good news is that she is going to bed around 6:30-7 when she doesn't nap, but I need the nap!   Macey is fearless, funny, loving, sweet, mean :) (If you tell her no, she growls at you.  She loves to hit JH), independent, wild, and strongwilled.  I love this kid!  Macey does not meet a stranger.  She will go up and hug people she has just met.  John Henry would never ever!  She and JH are complete opposites.  Macey has my sleeping habits (until this week :( ) and Kurt's personality.  JH has Kurt's sleeping habits (neither require any sleep) and my more calm personality.  

I turned my back for about 2 seconds and she colored the couch.  Thank goodness it was washable.  Or maybe I wish it weren't b/c I hate that couch! 

My new van!  The funny thing is that Macey doesn't like it.  Kurt got a new MDX when I got my van and she always asks to "ride Daddy's car" and not my car.  She says his car is her favorite. :)  

Throwing chewed pacis away.  This only lasted about 5 hours before I caved and gave her 2 for bedtime.

A lot more has happened, but I am tired and going to bed.  I need to do an update on John Henry. I am going to try and add a pic everyday this week and update at least once a week!