Last of the hospital pics!

...needing to post a few more pictures of our time in the hospital. We love the picture above--Kate seems like such a big girl and she is so happy sitting next to Jude. The next several pictures we took below we were just having a quiet morning, so decided to take advantage of the natural light and use our good camera. The quilt that Jude is laying on is his current favorite blanket; he gets cozy and falls asleep anytime he's on it. This was the quilt Amanda's granny made for Amanda's someday children when Amanda was born. Crazy that this was his blanket that just so happens was made 30 years ago, and that it wasn't used by anyone else.





This brand of muslin blankets are our favorites--Kate loved them too as a baby. She still uses one to sleep with every night.


Amanda is addicted to holding Jude like this; I think both of them are.


On our last night in the hospital Jude brought Kate a present, an American Girl baby.



Kate was very excited about her new doll, and has since named her Cindy. No idea where the name Cindy came from. She has been taking great care of Cindy since bringing her home.

Jude's Second Day

...Jude's second day with us! We were all feeling great, so it was a perfect day to get some initial bonding with the little guy. We started to learn some things about him and his preferences. Like for example, there will likely be a lot of pictures of him cuddled up on Amanda's chest with his head up and legs straight down. This is his favorite way to be held at the moment, and loves to cuddle. Kate has never been much of a cuddler from the time she was born on; Jude on the other hand wants to be held and likes to be snuggled into a blanket on a chest or neck.





He seems to be doing great and the doctors and nurses say everything looks good and he is a healthy little boy. We are so thankful for that good news!

The only down side to all of this is how much we miss Kate while at the hospital. She is coming up twice a day, but what 2 (almost 3!) year old wants to be quiet and confined to a small room with her favorite people that she likes to show off for? She seems to be handling everything well and has not been jealous of any of her people giving Jude attention. Amanda and I though are constantly wondering what she's doing, if she's being good for Granny and Papa Steve, if she's sad, if she's confused, and on and on. These pictures below are from Kate's evening visit to the hospital and she was doing much better than the morning visit. In the morning when it was time for her to leave she started crying and saying how much she missed mommy. She crawled up in the hospital bed with Amanda and they cried on each other for a while. Kate said, "I'm worried about you mommy. Please come home. I don't want you and baby Jude to stay in the hospital anymore. I'm sad because I'm worried about you." All through choking tears. She had us all crying, but as you can see from below she recovered from her morning trip. We are so ready to be home.






Our first picture with his eyes open! His eyes are so much smaller than Kate's were. Jude's are more slit like than oval.



Granny enjoying her newest grandson!



Doing what he does best right now...sleep! Hope he keeps it up!



And, finally he ends the day back at his favorite position. Amanda is loving her cuddly little boy!

Jude's First Day, part 2

...getting to meet his big sister Kate and the rest of the fam for the first time! I wanted to make sure I had a moment with Kate before letting her meet him to tell her how much we loved her and to let her know her little brother wanted to meet her. The picture above was the first moment Kate met Jude. I think she was caught off guard a little because we had been talking about him coming for so long that she might have been shocked he was finally there.

Jude and Kate with all the grandparents!



Amanda was so sick when she had Kate we weren't really sure what to expect after having Jude. I know we weren't expecting her to be feeling this good though; this was her being moved from recovery to her room following Jude's delivery. With Kate she doesn't even remember the day and was not allowed out of bed because of the meds she had to be on, but with Jude she was able to get up and walk around, eat, and felt great (considering) all day.



Once Kate got to see mommy and that she was okay, she started warming up to Baby Jude. She wasn't so sure about touching him, but each time she is around him right now the more comfortable she gets with him.





Isn't he a cute little guy?! He definitely favors Kate with the same nose, lips, hands, and feet; but the shape of his eyes and face are different.





Like I said Kate started warming up to him slowly, but was brave enough to hold his feet while Grandma Donna was holding him.

Hey Jude!

...the day before Jude was born, all of the grandparents started arriving. My Dad and Donna (Papa Ron and Grandma Donna) stayed at a hotel with a pool, so Kate got to do a little swimming. The picture above, Kate and I were having a little talk about Jude coming the next day. Amanda and I have not been nervous about loving another child or how to handle a newborn with Kate at the house. What we have been nervous about is how Kate will react and will she know that we still love her the same even though we have to pay a lot of attention to Jude--especially in those first few weeks. So far, she's been good, but a little stand-offish toward him. She will be okay, and I think we are all looking forward to getting into our routine.



Amanda and me at 5 am in the hospital, getting ready to have Jude!



One last pregnancy silhouette. Amanda was soooo ready to have him out. The worst part of the day for Amanda was getting her IV started. Amanda is a hard stick, and it took 3 different nurses 7 tries of blowing valves to finally get one started. That 7th one finally blew, and the anesthesiologist had to try 3 more times before finally getting the successful one.



The only reason I am posting this picture is because we posted one of Kate like this, so we wanted to be fair. This was the least graphic picture, so I don't think it's too bad. By the way, I was not taking this picture--I had my head by Amanda's buried behind the surgical curtain. Did not want to spend the first few minutes of Jude's life passed out on the floor.




Here he is! He made it into the world on May 20th, 2011, weighing 7 lbs 15.5 oz's, and measuring 21 inches long. The staff in the room loved his name they were singing "Hey Jude" as we headed out to the nursery.




Meeting mommy for the first time before heading to get checked out by the nursery staff! We will be posting pictures of Jude meeting Kate and the rest of the family next.

Kate's Last "Only" Weekend

...realizing this past weekend would be Kate's last weekend as an only child. We decided to make it count and focus on family fun. It started on Wednesday of last week with a field trip her school took to a farm owned by a family in the school. it was so gracious of them to ask every out. Once we got there, however, Kate realized that her definition of farm is far different than what she saw. They did have a hay ride, which she loved...me not so much since I'm more than pregnant...and they had a pony and 2 horses. That's about all they had. Kate is more used to Uncle Jason's house where there are several horses, and more importantly, lots of cows. She is also used to Papa Ron's house with even more cows and a pig (although I continue to argue that Porky is in fact a ferrel hog). Regardless, we had fun. Below is a picture of us on the hay ride, which I highly DO NOT recommend for the 8.5 month pregnant crowd.



On Saturday we decided we wanted to be with our dearest friends here (whom we had dinner with the night before too!) so we showed up to Sydney's t-ball game. If you haven't been to a t-ball game lately, you are missing a great time. It is so fun to watch Sydney watch us to make sure we are paying attention. Kate loves to cheer for Sydney. Of course, Kate thinks a tutu is proper attire for a ballgame, and really for everything else for that matter. She now wants a tutu on her body by 7:45 am everyday.



She really gets in to cheering for Sydney!



We also went to the movies and had dinner with some more friends on Sunday. As the day ended I caught Michael and Kate having a super sweet moment on the couch reading/singing her Bible. She LOVES to hear about Jesus and sing songs about him. Before you think she is so sweet and innocent, keep in mind her other favorite songs are Day Tripper and Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. That being said, she really is learning so much about the Bible and God. It's so neat to have that time together as a family to tell the stories and teach her the songs. I just love that time with her. I hope Jude just joins right in!

Basketball and Getting Closer!

...one of my favorite pictures of Kate. She just seems to be getting taller and turning into more of a kid (and less of a toddler) every day. In my opinion, this picture shows that growth.



The headband, while certainly a fashion statement, was also serving a purpose to keep the hair out of her eyes while we played basketball. She is, as Johnny Cash sang, a walking contradiction. She refuses to wear denim right now, unless it is a jean skirt, of any kind. She will not wear pants, and will barely wear knit shorts. It has to be a dress or a skirt, or if not a dress or skirt, then the top has to be something flowy enough you can tell her it is a dress. She wants to wear fancy shoes, and is actually really good at walking in high heels--she can even dance in them. But at the same time she wants to play ball, she has bruises up and down her legs, her favorite toy right now is a vet horse truck and trailer that has a working siren, and is a fan of climbing and jumping off of things. She likes to walk like a pageant girl, but likes to dance to the Zac Brown band.



In Jude news, he is on the way! Since we are having another c-section we know he will for sure be here by May 23rd, which is exactly 2 weeks from today. We are so excited to meet him! We have all been listening to the Beatles' Hey Jude a lot lately, and Kate can sing most of it now and does at random times. We'll keep you posted!