Welcome!

Welcome to the world little man!

Grady Alexander

12/7/12

9 lbs. 3 oz.

22 1/2 in.
 

We are in love and Wyatt and Maggie are so excited to have him home!  They can't get enough of him and we are so blessed!

 

I will post again later when I have time to tell his birth story (for my friends who are birth story addicts like me!).  We are all doing great...tired, but great!



40 weeks?

So the 40 week due date has come and gone and I'm still pregnant!  We definitely did not expect to make it this far.  However, a due date really is just an educated guess.  It could be off by a week or two in either direction.  In my case, I don't think it would be off by more than a week.  I was late, so it's supposed to be normal for me to have a late baby too.  If I don't have the baby sooner, I'll go to the doctor on Thursday and have a few tests to make sure everything is good with the baby.  I think he's fine. I have contractions a good bit here and there throughout the days and nights and I'm still feeling a good bit of movement from the little man inside.
Kev would like for me to go ahead and have the baby now!  Every Monday when he shows up to work, his students (and co-workers) keep reminding him that he's not supposed to be there!  I wouldn't be surprised at all if I go into labor tomorrow (when my doc gets back in town).  I think I'd be surprised if I made it to the doctor appointment Thursday.  Either way, my goal is still to have a safe delivery with a healthy baby.  We continue to pray for little man and me as we know we're coming to a close on this pregnancy.  I think the kids are sensing baby's imminent presence as they've become a little more clingy in some ways, and in other ways, they seem to be getting used to Daddy doing more for them when he's around.
At my appointment last week, I was dilated 3 cm and 80% effaced.  Let me just say that that's huge progress considering the last few weeks.  However, a pregnant woman can stay at this stage for a while still.  I was the same when I was pregnant with Wyatt for a couple weeks until we were electively induced with him at 39 weeks.
People keep asking us if we'll induce, but for now, the goal is to go into labor on my own when the baby and my body are ready, unless our doctor tells us we need to do something else.  Dr. M is totally supportive of our wishes and we trust that God is giving her wisdom and guidance as she cares for us during this time.

We do ask for continued prayers for:

1. health and safety for Baby 3
2. health and safety for me
3. continued wisdom and guidance of our doctor
4. a quick labor and safe delivery
5. flexibility on my part if labor and delivery don't go as I hope
6. endurance for Kev as he stands by my side and supports me during labor and delivery
7. endurance for Kev as he takes care of us all during my recovery
8. smooth transition to a family of 5
9. peace during this most wonderful time of the year as we celebrate a new baby and remember Jesus' birth as well!

39 Weeks!

So we've come this far...we might as well just wait till next week when Dr. M will be in town for the duration!  I went to the doc last Wednesday and still not enough progress to indicate labor might be near.  Kev made a pretty good point the other night about the fact that I would like for baby to wait until I get my to-do list finished and the doctor is in town.  I could very well be willing this little guy to stay put without realizing it.  It's amazing what power your mind has over your body!  I go to the doctor again Thursday and I'm hoping for similar results, so we'll just have to wait and see!  We've managed to get a few things taken care of that were pretty important to me.  The last few things involve a little more cleaning, straightening, and organizing. I feel pretty confident that we can achieve these things this weekend while the doc is away.

We had a great Thanksgiving with family.  I didn't take many pictures, but I did manage to snag one of the kids with Cousin B.  Luckily it turned out because as soon as the shutter clicked, Wyatt was off again.  He didn't take a nap that day so he crashed completely during the 20 minute drive back home.

We are so thankful for all of our family!

 

I also got to go black Friday shopping Thursday night into Friday morning with some great friends.  I didn't go overboard, but I'm regretting not getting a few other things for my sister's kids.  Maybe I should've gone overboard...I could've returned what I didn't want, right?  I think I fell into bed around 2:30 and my wonderful hubby let me sleep in that morning!  I think we were all hoping I might go into labor...but obviously, that didn't happen!  Oh well, maybe next week!

On another note, I took the sick kiddos to see wonderful Dr. B yesterday.  Wyatt has an ear infection that we suspect just never fully cleared up last month.  Maggie has some pretty nasty sinus stuff, most likely infection.  So both kids are on antibiotic and Wyatt will get rechecked at one of the baby's newborn visits.  Now if Kev can get all better, we'll be in business!  He's not sick, he just has the crud. I think we've all just been passing it around over the past couple of months.  I'd really prefer for everyone to be on the mend by the time baby makes his big debut!

We're so blessed by our wonderful parents who've been able to help us tackle a few things here and there to get ready for baby and knowing they'll be here to take care of the kiddos while we're in the hospital is huge!  Thank you parents for all you do for us!

38 weeks!

So the time is just ticking away! Little man is coming soon...hopefully, but I'm hoping he'll wait till next week now that it's Thanksgiving week. I'm assuming my babies might be 39 weekers since I haven't managed to pop one out sooner at this point!  Sunday marked 38 weeks and I was able to get a couple more things marked off my checklist (i.e.--girls night with pedicures and maternity pictures).  Hopefully I'll be able to link to a sneak peek of those soon, but my photographer has been super busy lately so it might not be till after baby 3 comes.  We were lucky we actually got the pictures done.  Here's one quickie of Wy and Mags in their "big" shirts.  This was pretty much the only way we got them to pose together, facing the camera at the same time!

**Note to Mom: now you know why I don't get tons of pics of the kiddos together!**

I still have a few things I'd like to get done before he gets here and a couple things that are must-dos before he comes!  I go to the doctor again tomorrow so I may have a better idea of how much time we have left (but probably not). Apparently, there's just no real way to know when a baby will come on his/her own! Go figure!  All in God's time, but hopefully God's time will be when my doctor is in town!  She'll be gone Thanksgiving day and then Dec. 1-4 so I'm praying that we'll be blessed to have my doctor present for this guy's debut.  I know people have a preference for their doctors, but mine is truly amazing and I've been so blessed to have her for the past four years!

I'll try to post a picture when little man comes, but don't be surprised if it's not on time!

37 weeks

First of all, we had our 3rd trimester ultrasound a few weeks back and little man is measuring right on track to be tall (big shocker)!  They estimated his weight to be about 6 lbs which puts him at about the same as Wyatt and Maggie.  His head is also measuring a little over 9 cm.  For those that are unfamiliar with the process of birth, the hole he has to come out only opens to 10!  Wyatt had a large head too, so it's not uncharted territory for us.  It was a great ultrasound session.  We got to see a beautifully formed heart just beating away and doing exactly what it's supposed to do.  I wasn't too interested in all of that when I took Biology years ago, but it's so much more interesting when you see it working live in a being that God has created inside of you!  We also noticed that he is in fact still a little man! Nothing has changed in that department.  He was also being quite uncooperative when it was time to peak at his face.  He wouldn't move his little hand out of the way for anything.  The sonographer poked and prodded and did all she could to get him to move, but he was quite the stubborn little mister!  I guess we'll have to wait until he gets here to see his sweet face!  It is worth it though!

So according to the medical community, the new little man inside is given the OK to come on out since I've hit that 37 week mark. I'm not quite ready for him, but I think I will be soon!
I honestly wouldn't mind if he decided to come on out before Thanksgiving (I'd love to be able to eat my fill without someone squishing my stomach!) but I'm patient enough to wait as long as it's deemed safe by my doctor.  Maggie came along at 39 weeks 4 days and Wyatt was induced at 39 weeks (given that I was progressed a good bit, he most likely would have come that week anyways so it worked out).  I imagine that he might decide to wait until later, but I just feel like he could come sooner.  I'm trying to not get my hopes up though.  As of last week, I was already dilated to 2 cm.  I'm pretty sure I was not progressed with the others that early, but I honestly don't remember exactly.  I've also been having tons of contractions (braxton hicks and real ones) for several weeks now.  For those of you who don't know--a pregnant woman can be dilated a few centimeters for weeks!  Being 2 cm makes me feel better after all the contractions I've experienced, but I know very well that it doesn't bring me any closer to actual labor!

I have a few things I'd like to accomplish before little man comes, so I'm perfectly content waiting him out.  I'm sure I'll become less patient as I finish things and feel more ready for his arrival!  I'm seeing the doctor again this week and next so I may post more if things change.  Otherwise, I probably won't post much until his big debut!  The kids are getting excited, although Maggie probably doesn't have a clue what's really coming!

Keep us all in your prayers as we prepare for this newest blessing from God!  He is truly amazing and we could not pretend to do anything we do without his mercy and grace! 

Specifics to pray for:

1. Please pray for the remainder of the pregnancy to remain uncomplicated and keep me and baby boy safe and healthy.
2. Pray that the labor and delivery are smooth for me and little man.  Pray for our health.
3. Pray for Kev to remain solid and unstressed during the labor and delivery.  Pray for his energy levels to stay up.
4. Pray that we'll be able to get rest during the first few days at home and that little man will adjust well to life outside the womb.
5. Pray for Wy and Mags to adjust to having a new little brother in the house.  Maggie's become quite clingy lately and rarely lets Kev do things for her (unless it involves food)! Pray that she'll learn to be a little more laid back during this transition and that few tears are shed during this process (from her and me).
6. Finally, pray for us to continue to fully trust in God through all He has planned for us in this wonderful season of our lives!

October

So October has now come and gone and we are that much closer to meeting our newest blessing! For now, here's a little info of what's been going on here lately!  I think I mentioned in the last post that everyone was getting a little under the weather.  We pretty much had someone sick or potty training for 4 weeks in a row!  Yes, that's right! Wyatt is finally training and he's doing a fantastic job (with mommy and daddy).  He can't stand to tear himself away from grandparents to go, so we'll just worry about that as he progresses!  So week one: Kev had a bug and Wyatt had croup/ear infections.  2: Wyatt's first weekend of potty training. 3: Maggie was sick with something viral and was super congested.  She's much better, but still a little congested and irritable.  She's also getting some teeth though!  4: Kev caught the virus.  It's been a trip.  I've been fortunate enough to just be pregnant and tired and so far I don't seem to have caught anything from the crew9 knock on wood)!  Hopefully everyone will stay well for a while!
I promised pictures from Pirate/Princess night at CFA so here's a couple.  I wish I had a pic of all of us together on our camera, but we just did it in the photobooth they had available and I don't feel like scanning them in!  Maggie also got her pic with the CFA cow in the photobooth too.  Wyatt wasn't interested, but Maggie was precious!  So here's our pirate and our princess:

 

 

 I took the kids to a little craft/local vendor outdoor event when Kev was under the weather and Wyatt got to draw on a pumpkin.  We picked one out for Maggie, but I wasn't about to arm her with a sharpie!  She didn't mind though.



 



Our church had a fall festival.  The kids had fun jumping in the bouncy house with Noni and then they got to ride a train and play some games for candy...unfortunately, my camera died during the bouncy house expedition so this is all you get! 

Happy Birthday to me!  Kev got me a cookie cake and it was soooo yummy!  I think next time we'll make sure we don't pick it up 2 nights before my birthday next time.  It was so hard to not nibble on it during the day!

Happy "dress up for candy day"!  Last year and this year, we took the kids to Kev's parents' church for a little festival and then to a "trunk or treat" at a friend's church.  They get to have fun in a Christian setting and we don't have to walk from house to house!

Maggie was a princess (thanks to Noni)!

Wyatt got to be Lightning McQueen (thanks to 50% off after last year)!

They love each other sooo much!

They also love their candy!

Gone fishin' and caught some candy!

More candy love!

Golfing with JJ!

Eating a hot dog with JJ!

Walking for cake with Nana!

 

So that wraps up October! Stay tuned for a baby update!

TIRED!

Well I'm 33 weeks along now and these next 4-7 weeks seem like they're coming up too fast! I've heard and read that many pregnant women experience fatigue when the third trimester comes...followed by a renewed burst of nesting energy as the day draws near.  I didn't have any of that during my first two pregnancies.  I really just had the fatigue/exhaustion during the first trimester and felt fine the rest of the time.  I've had a lot of people ask how it's been the third time around (especially with 2 little ones).  Well, there's been a few similarities, but a lot of different aches and pains.  I haven't had anything major with any of my pregnancies: sciatic nerve stuff with Wyatt where my leg would just go completely numb when I needed to do stuff (like grocery shopping), lots of low back pain and carpal tunnel with Maggie, and now just little aches and pains that make it rather uncomfortable to move/walk (sometimes it hits when I'm laying in bed).  I'm very blessed to have these relatively "easy" pregnancies with no complications (so far) and I thank God for this regularly.

We haven't done much lately, but I do have a few pictures to share in my next post (when I feel like finding the camera card in the camera and loading them on the computer!).  The kids have had some minor colds and Maggie may have been teething last week so at least one of them woke us up every night last week.  I didn't feel great, but I just attributed it to pregnancy stuff.  Apparently it wasn't completely due to pregnancy because my doc gave me some antibiotics at my appointment last week.  Then Kev woke up with a 24 hour stomach bug on Saturday so I took the kids to a local fest (it was basically a large market-type thing and they got their picture taken, looked at a bunch of goats, and decorated mini pumpkins).  We walked around there for a little bit, then went to the store to pick up some saltines and ginger ale for the daddy.
I'm guessing being outside with all of the fall allergens on top of getting over a minor cold was enough to help Wyatt develop a nice case of croup.  He woke us up at 5 Sunday morning with breathing issues so we gave him a steam bath and stuck him in front of the freezer and googled his symptoms and finally tried to go back to sleep...Wyatt did not, but Kev felt well enough to finally just take him away around 7:30 and let me sleep till after 10 (gotta love that man of mine!).  We took Wy to the clinic where he was diagnosed with croup and the beginning of a double ear infection so we got steroids and antibiotic.  He's feeling much better this week!
Maggie's either teething or having some slight allergy issues or both.  Last night she decided she wasn't going to sleep, but she finally did around 10:30.  Then Wyatt woke up at 6 and I had to put him in bed with me.

So I think I'm entitled to be a little tired!  I've definitely gone back to sleeping during nap times, but I'm hoping the kiddos will go back to sleeping through the night so I can get other things done while they nap!  That's the gist of lately.  I'll post some pics from Pirate/Princess night at Chick-Fil-A last Friday night.  The kids were too precious!

The Rest of August

We didn't do too much during the rest of August because Kev went back to work.  It's really sad to wake up in the morning to the sound of "da-da" from the monitor and realize that you have to get up instead of sleeping in like you've been allowed to do most of the summer.  So it's back to life as usual.  I do have a few pics (and hopefully some video) to share so here we go!

So Wyatt was too excited to actually eat anything (including cake and ice cream) during his party.  A few days later, perhaps his birthday day, we had some leftover cake.

I think he liked it!

Let me just tell you that this was fun.  Wyatt had a couple really good, clean hits (especially the first one that I tried to take a picture of because I didn't think it would be good enough for video--lesson learned)!  He also had a few 3 year old attention span moments where Kevin would set him up and step back and Wyatt would run put the bat in the bush.  That's my boy!

This one went the wrong way...do you see the ball?

Even Maggie got in on the fun!  She did pretty good too!

 

Here's Wyatt being 3!

 

 

Here's Maggie getting a turn and Wyatt being 3 some more!

Kev and I got to go to a Braves game...on a school night.  Needless to say, we were pretty wiped out the next day, but we got our free Chipper Jones bobble-head figures and had really great seats (if you need sporting event tickets, use scorebig.com) for about half the price.  One thing we found out after we got our dinner was that you're allowed to bring food and drink from outside the park, so we could've saved a little money there, but this pregnant lady really did enjoy the delicious corndog and boiled peanuts that my love bought for me!  We also got some souvenir cups with Chipper's signature printed inside them.  For those of you who don't know, this is Chipper's last year and he's the most awesome Brave ever!  It was a real treat to get to see him in one of his final games.

Look at all those flags of playoff years and one World Series Championship!

The man himself, warming up--we totally got lucky with 3rd base seats!

Here he is in his first at bat, about to hit his first homer for the night!  He hit another one later.  It was a great game and we had a fun time!

Check-up Time!

It's nice to have both kids' well check-ups in the same visit.  Luckily, only Maggie had to get any shots; Wyatt just had the flu-mist.  Let me start by saying that if this your first visit to my children's check-up stats reports, you may want to browse some other posts to get an idea of the size of them.  When we say we have large children (who were born regular-sized), we really mean we have large children.  They've managed to stay off the charts since their earliest baby visits.
Wyatt's 4 months
Wyatt's 18 months
Maggie's 9 months

Maggie's managed to be big like her brother, but not as big (thank goodness!).  Her percentiles are still as high as his though, since girls generally are smaller than boys.  So without further ado, here are their current stats:

Wyatt turned 3 last month so here are his 3 year old stats (above the 97th %):
height: 41 1/3 inches (3 ft. 5 1/3 in.)
weight: 45 lbs.

Maggie hit the 18 month mark a couple weeks ago (above the 97th %):
height: 34 3/4 in.
weight: 31 lbs. 7 oz.

So Maggie's slowed down significantly.  She's still squeezing into some of her 24 month clothes, but quickly growing out of them.  She fits comfortably in 2T and some 3T (I think 3T pants will be too long when winter hits).

Wyatt is wearing size 4 pants and size 4/5T shirts.  He needs bigger shirts because they're a little longer and he's never been lacking in height!

They're both developing tremendously in language.  Maggie is saying tons of words.  Wyatt started Cubbies this year (part of the AWANAS program) and is doing great at memorizing his Bible verses.

I'm really looking forward to all that's in store for my babies over the next year!

The Zoo!

The last day of July brought a last minute trip to the zoo, which is about an hour away.  We got there about an hour after it opened, took the kids to see all the animals, and got out right before we were starving and picked up some non-expensive food for the ride home.  The kids had a blast and we loved watching them have a blast!  We didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few that we did get.  I wish we had gotten pictures of feeding the giraffes, but it's probably for the best because giraffe tongues are slimy!  Maggie, our daredevil, got into it just from seeing the other kids do it and Wyatt surprised us by doing some feeding as well!  They loved it!

Let me just tell you that she loved everything!

Tiger love!

Elephants!

I'm not sure what they were looking at, but it was fun watching Wyatt getting into posing on the turtle a little bit!  Next year will be even more fun!  Yay!

Wyatt is Three!!!

It happened again. My little big man had another birthday!  I made the mistake of asking him a few months ago what kind of party he wanted and what kind of cake.  All we (and everyone else) heard about the whole summer was that Wyatt was going to have a Thomas cake! He told everyone he met that he was going to have a Thomas cake and it was going to be "de-wicious"!  Let me just tell you that he has just exploded into words (when he's not throwing a scream-fit) and is quite funny on most occasions!  I hear a lot of things that I know he's heard from Kev and me, and a few things he heard from tv or grandparents.  Then there's the things that just come out of nowhere and we're just left shaking our heads and wondering where this first miracle of ours has come from!
So anyways, we go next week for his check-up and Maggie's 18 month check-up so I'll post those fun height and weight stats as soon as I can.  For now, on to the birthday party and the famous Thomas cake!  For those who don't know, Wyatt is a typical boy and as such, has developed a love for all things Thomas the train.  I think 98% of his birthday gifts were related to Thomas and he loves them! He also got a rhyme Bible and a t-ball set and he and Maggie have definitely enjoyed them.  I'm so glad the weather seems to be cooling off and they'll get to enjoy t-ball even more!
About his cake: I decided this year that I was going to make his cake...I had no clue I was going to be making this cake when I decided this, but I refused to purchase a cake that I felt completely capable of making myself.  I googled how to make a train cake on many occasion and found quite a few different ideas and this is what the final product looked like:

The distant shot with "Annie and Clarabel" (the extra train cars).

Thomas!  I couldn't find yellow icing for his number 1, but Wyatt didn't care a bit!

Thanks to my awesome friend Abbie, who was able to come over to help me and encourage me as we cut and pieced together the shape of Thomas.  It's really scary, until you eat the leftover pieces! ;)

Opening presents--Cars wrapping paper and Thomas inside made for one very happy boy!

So excited for t-ball!

We're so blessed by our family and friends who came to watch Wyatt open his presents...and eat cake and sandwiches!

Checking out his present and Maggie getting in the action.

Oooooh! Who doesn't love money! (it goes into his college savings fund--I know, we're so mean!)

Sitting in his new Thomas chair and reading a card!

Thanks to our family and friends for helping make this a super, fun day for Wyatt! He had a blast!

Myrtle Beach '12

The end of July brought a fun trip to Myrtle Beach with Kev's parents (Nana and JJ)!  We got to stay right on the beach and one night we took the kids to a fun place and let them ride a couple rides. They had a blast!.
Day 1:  Arrival, check-in, dinner, and hitting the beach. After showers and pjs, we headed back out to watch some fireworks before going to bed.

He could not get enough time playing in the dirt!

Maggie was our water baby!

burying Nana in the sand!

sweet love with JJ!

Turns out, our kids love the shower!

Even Wy couldn't get enough shower time!

 



Day 2:  Rise and shine and hit the beach!  Then lunch, naps (Kev and I took this time to get some more beach while Nana and JJ awesomely watched the sleeping kiddos).  Afterwards, we took Maggie and walked around a neat little tourist location with lots of shopping (and we didn't buy a thing).  Then it was dinner and back to the tourist place to let the kids have some more fun before bedtime!

This girl has NO fear!

Digging for the buried treasure!

He found the treasure chest! (hey!--to him it's a treasure chest!)

Carrying his gold deblunes!

We bought a boogie board and Wyatt had a blast!

I'll never forget this day!

Thank you JJ for getting these shots on your camera and to Nana for entertaining Maggie!

Relaxing in the shade with Nana!

 

Riding the train with Nana!

Wyatt LOVED this ride! He got to ride it twice.  This was getting ready for the first ride.

That turn was fast and fun!

Ready to ride in J. Gordon's car...he's our favorite!

We determined that the carousel would be safe enough for me to ride with Maggie.  She wasn't sure when I first put her up there, but she had a blast as soon as it started! I love these memories!

 

Day 3:  Rise and shine and get in a little more beach before showering and heading back home!  It was a great trip and I'm so glad we got to have a little more fun before our family summer ended.  Thanks JJ and Nana for taking us out there and showing us the ropes!

I literally had to drag him to the water on the last day so he could enjoy it one last time. Daddy took him out into the waves and he held tightly, but loved every minute!