So Handsome!

Here's my little boy at two weeks!

Preschool Graduation 2008

Thursday night was Lacy's Preschool Graduation and Ice Cream Social. We got there early and gave our gifts to the teachers before the program started. Lacy's class was the first class to sing--and then we skipped out on the rest. (Hey, don't judge. I just had a baby!)

Here's Lacy's preschool graduation song. She's NEVER shy but I think the little girl next to her was a bad influence ;) Actually, she had been practicing the song all day today and yesterday! So we were a little disappointed when she decided to be shy because we knew how well she could sing the song. In her defense, she didn't know any of the kids that she was standing by either, because they are all from the Tues/Thurs class and she was in the Mon/Wed/Fri class.



When we got home, we made her sing the song for grandpa who missed the performance. Anjali thought it would be nice if she was a backup dancer.

What the Girls have been up to...

Posing


Riding Bikes


(I love how Anjali 'pedals')


Playing with Halmony and Grandpa


Getting every game out of the game cabinet and making a HUGE mess when mom and dad accidentally took naps at the same time.

Anjali's Defense

My girls fight...a lot...
Its to the point now, where both of them instigate. -sigh-
My mom thinks its hilarious because she says its payback for all the agony my sister and I caused her. Anyway, today they were fighting over the toddler-size arm chair. Lacy started crying and said that Anjali bit her (Anjali's a biter...) but we started giggling when she told us where. On Lacy's LIP! Anjali made Lacy's lip bleed and it swelled and got purple. What am I going to do?! Is it too early to give a 19 month old baby hot sauce for biting?

Lacy's Last Day of School

Today was Lacy's last day of preschool. In September she will be in Pre-K! They had a little party that Cliff went to (I was sad that I missed it) and took lots of pictures for me.

Lacy with her "Diploma"


Lacy with her girlfriend Vas


Eating with her girlfriend Carly


Licking the frosting off her cupcake


With her awesome teacher, Mrs. Jennifer

First Bath

So....Wes is NOT a fan of the bath. Too bad. Both my girls loved the water.


Both girls were very interested in what was going on and so they decided to watch and get right in on the action. Lacy's easy to see here, but Anjali is actually right there behind my elbow (and totally in my way!)


And I like this picture because Lacy is very much into looking at herself lately. She likes to catch glimpses of herself in the mirror OR her reflection in the TV--sometimes making silly faces or diva smiles. Are we in trouble or what?!

First Week

Our first week at home was pretty mellow. Cliff was a BIG help. He took care of the girls while I slept, recovered, and took care of Wes. We are so thankful for our friends who brought us dinner. And for all of our family that came to visit (both at the hospital and home).

Wes' first doctors appointment went well. He was up to 6lbs 10 ounces on Wednesday (day 5) so we know that he's nursing well. There was a concern for his jaundice level, so we did the heel prick to get a base line that day as well. We went in on Thursday for the comparison heel prick and his level was the same so they left it up to us whether we wanted to do the bilirubin blanket or just leave him alone and keep an eye on him. We opted to leave him alone. I was more nervous than Cliff was about it--neither of my girls had jaundice. And I flipped out a little more when Cliff told me that if the jaundice levels got really high it could cause mental retardation. YIKES! All is well though. We are counting our blessings!

I'm doing pretty good all things considering. This is my easiest recovery so far--I've been itching to get out. On Wednesday, we went as a family to The Original Pancake House, one of our favorite breakfast places, after we picked up Lacy from school. They just opened a new location across the street from Lacy's school. A few evenings also, I've left the kids with Cliff while I got to do some 'errands.' Nothing that desperately needed to get done, but it was a nice opportunity to get out of the house.

On Sunday, Grandpa Clinton came down to visit and meet his newest grandson. It was so nice to have him here. The girls LOVE their grandpa Clinton and Wes did a good job sleeping in his arms. Here's our generations pictures I made sure to get while he was here.
Three generations of Clinton men.


The girls are doing great. They're giving Cliff a run for his money :) Now he knows how much work I really do at home. My girls are so high maintenance!! Anjali and Lacy still LOVE Wesley. And Wesley tolerates their loves, hugs, pets and kisses for the most part.

Baby Burrito

I'm a BIG fan of the swaddle.
Here's a few pictures of my baby burrito.


And my two handsome sleepy boys.

Pajama Photoshoot

Early this morning, before Lacy left for school, we decided to get some pictures of her holding Wesley so we could print them and she could take them to school and show them off.

Of course, Anjali wanted a turn too.

And here's Anjali when her turn was over.


Afterwards, Cliff let me sleep some more while he got the girls ready and took Lacy to school. He even braided Lacy's hair. Not too shabby!

Wesley Byron Clinton

Here's our new little man!

Born May 31st at 8:53AM
6lbs, 14 oz
19 inches
He came two and a half weeks early--which I had been fervently praying for!

Here's the labor story--skip over the next paragraph if you're not interested:
For the last week and a half I've been contracting spontaneously and have been very uncomfortable. I had an appt on Friday afternoon where the midwife told me I was 3-4 cm and 70%. That night we had mexican for dinner (spicy foods) and walked around Target for 2 hours (no joke!) to try and induce labor. By 10:30pm, my contractions were regular. We went to the hospital at 1:15am (Saturday the 31st) and they told us that they were doing a system wide computer update and that they would have to do all paperwork by hand for the next 3-4 hours. (this kind of stuff always happens to us!) The nurses and staff were fantastic though and worked really hard and efficiently to get me my epidural ;) After an hour or two of waiting, the anesthesiologist came in and started taking my history. As he began to get his stuff organized to administer my epidural, a nurse ran in and told him that they were doing a crash c-section and needed him. He was the only anesthesiologist on and that meant another 1-2 hours for me to wait for him to be done. What I have learned from my two previous labors, was that I don't need to be a hero, so I gladly accepted the narcotics every time they were offered to me during my extended wait. Now after three labors, I have also learned that epidurals just don't work really well for me. They take away the pain in a lot of areas but also miss some crucial areas. After hours of extra boluses administered by the anesthesiologist I was still crying and whimpering in pain. The anesthesiologist offered to try again with another epidural to see if they could hit the right nerve. I sat back up (at this point I was 10 cm but still a 0 station) to get my second epidural. When I laid back down, I still had pain in my lower abdomen, but my back pain was moderately better. The nurses decided to check me again to see if I was ready to push. (Exit anesthesiologist) I pulled my legs back and both nurses quickly said "DON'T PUSH! DON'T PUSH!" Wesley's head was right there. They called the midwife in but I had to wait another 20-30 minutes as there was a shift change of all doctors and midwives. (See what I'm talking about? Always happens to us!) The midwife came in told me to put my legs up while she got dressed. I asked if I should push, I could feel a contraction coming, and she looked at my crotch and said "DON'T PUSH!" She quickly finished getting dressed and told me to push in between contractions with small little grunt pushes and to relax through the contractions. I did little grunts, relaxed through one contraction, did little grunts again, relaxed through the second contraction, but that second contraction pushed his head out and I was done.

Here's some pics from the hospital.



I like this one. "Please! NO cameras!"




Lacy and Anjali love their baby Wesley. When Lacy first saw him, she timidly walked up and said "That's a cute baby." I then told her that he's her baby brother to help her gain a sense of ownership and after that she smothered him with affection--hugs, kisses, tickles, and sharing of toys. Anjali only says "Baby! Baby! Baby!" and points and jabs at him. She's very curious and excited but seems so far that she has loving intentions.

Wesley is a very mellow baby so far. He doesn't really cry, he just kind of squeaks and whimpers a little. He nurses well, and sleeps well. And he's very gassy. I think he looks just like my girls did when they were born except he doesn't have the long feminine eyelashes. His hair is dark, but his eyebrows are blonde. His eyes are dark, but look like they could go light. So his physical features are still to be determined. He's a cutie and we are all enjoying having this tiny little baby join our family!

A couple more pics:

Family of 5!

View from the brand new hospital (Girls silhouette)

Getting ready to leave the hospital (I love how baby Wes looks like an accessory. He's so tiny!)