Welcome Matthew!

Matthew was born yesterday afternoon at 3:27pm weighing a whopping 8lbs 12ozs and 20.75" long. He is happy, healthy, and the whole family is doing great!

Our journey to grow our family by one started yesterday at 6:15am when we arrived to the hospital. While Brian, Morgan, and Peppy were treating Morgan to a special big sister breakfast, I was getting hooked up to monitors, IV, and Pitocin. By 7:30, things were ready to go and I was having regular contractions. Things moved VERY slowly at first. I went in at 2cm and by 2:15, many painful contractions, and an epidural, I was only 4cm. That quickly changed just a little after 3 when I started to shiver, feel a lot of pressure, and just weird. The nurse came in and Matthew was on his way out. They quickly paged to the doctor to come ASAP, and even though it only took a few minutes, it felt like an eternity while we waited. After a few pushes and two contractions, Matthew joined the world. Thankfully, he was happy and healthy. Because Morgan was whisked to the NICU when she was first born, it was a huge relief for Brian and I when he was able to stay with us and we were immediately able to hold him.

So far things are going well. It will definitely take some time to get used to having a newborn again. I guess I don't remember all of the sounds newborns make. Between his noises and the nurses coming in all night long, we definitely didn't get a lot of sleep. However, we aren't complaining. Matthew is doing well, I am recovering quickly, Brian is a awesome dad, and Morgan is a proud BIG sister. We look forward to live with our new family.

Brian's pictures can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/blemmings/MatthewBrian
Mimi's blog with pictures: http://breeze-thelatest.blogspot.com/2008/03/auntie-mimi-times-two.html

Lots of Walking

The doctor suggested lots of walking to help get things ('labor') moving. Thankfully, the weather here has been beautiful which has made the task easier. Unfoturtunately, the only thing I have to show for all of the walking are sore hips!

We kept busy this weekend by going to the park, walking the mall, and getting maternity shots taken with Morgan. It turned out to be a great weekend, but I really am looking forward to having this baby (as you can see from the time of post, it isn't like I am sleeping anyway!)

Morgan and Jackson at the Park:

Am I There Yet....

....almost??? Matthew's due date is right around the corner. The last couple weeks have been filled with lots of waiting. We have accomplished pretty much everything on our to-do list so now we are just waiting!


Thankfully we have been keeping busy so time has gone by quickly. Work has been very busy as I am trying to wrap things up before I leave for three months.

This past weekend the King family joined us for the weekend. We had a great time at the aquarium (Jackson came too!), park, and just hanging out. Morgan adores Peyton and Grayson so she had a blast!

Peyton and Morgan Swinging

Brian, Jen, and Morgan
Our Sleeping Beauty

Peyton and Morgan playing

Morgan

Grayson, Jackson and Morgan just 'chillin' at the aquarium

Morgan's First Haircut

After

Yesterday Morgan had her first haircut - Brian finally agreed with me that it needed a trim! We decided to try cutting it ourselves. Morgan has curly hair so it doesn't have to be perfectly straight-althought I think Brian and I did a great job. Morgan also did great - although getting a two year old to sit still is near impossible!

Before

Prayers Answered

My mom received some great news last week - they think the tumor is gone! We wont know for sure for a couple of months, but we are very thankful for the news!!

New Year Updates

It has been a busy year so far for us. After a quiet Christmas and New Years at home, we began transitioning Morgan to her new room. She made the transition from crib to bed without any problems (with the exception of waking up in the middle of the night - I guess she is just preparing us for the arrival of the new baby!). She really loves having her big girl bed and big girl room. Our next room transformation project is to finish the nursery. As part of the process of moving Morgan to her new room, she also gave up her binky. She was only allowed her binky at naptime or bed time, but when she moved up to her new bed she said goodbye to the binky and hasn't looked back. Brian and I are thrilled it was so easy for her to give it up and she was able to do it on her own terms. Morgan's next big girl adventure is potty training. I had hoped we would be potty trained by now, but as any parent of a toddler knows, you really can't force the issue until THEY are ready. Throughout this process we have tried fruit snacks, stickers, award charts, and M&M minis. All of those worked briefly, but the novelty eventually wore off. My sister sent Morgan a Valentine Day gift that included a heart container filled with red and pink M&Ms (not the mini size!). Morgan was only allowed to have some after she went to the potty. We are proud to say that she has made it through three days without any stinky diapers! She has even made it through some adventures outside the house (including the play place at McDonald's and a long walk with Mama and Papa) without a diaper. A BIG thanks to Mama and Papa for helping with the process. Hopefully we are well on our way with being potty trained, but if Morgan needs more time, then that is ok too.

As I mentioned, my parents are in town for a long weekend to visit Morgan and to help us get ready for the new baby. With their help, Brian and I enjoyed a wonderful date night consisting of dinner (at more than one restaurant-why eat at just one place when you can have dessert someplace different?) and a movie. We even were able to work on some projects around the house that we would like finished before the baby arrives. Morgan enjoyed the extra attention and her visit to Chuck E Cheeses, the Carousel, and Old MacDonald (McDonald's). We also celebrated Papa's Birthday with an ice cream cake Happy Birthday Papa! - we won't give away the age :). Happy Belated Birthday to Alex, Brandon, and Nene!

Two new things that Morgan has learned to do is making up songs while she is doing something and talking to her family on her toy phone. It is so much fun listening to her imagination work!

Brian and Morgan playing in the snow - yep, it snowed TWICE in one week!

Thankfully we have made it through this pregnancy without any complications (so far anyway) and we look forward to the arrival of our little boy soon. We know things will not settle down before then so the time should fly by. Stay tuned for pictures when Matthew joins our family. We can't wait.

A Step Up

We finally cleaned out the guest room this weekend and made progress in putting Morgan's new room together. Brian did an awesome job painting (he even was able to paint without any painter's tape - something he is VERY proud of!) and we set up some of her furniture. We still have to add the decorating touches, but it was sleep in ready last night. The guest room we had was pretty drab so it feels great to have an extra nice warm room in our house.

We have been preparing Morgan for her new room for a while and when the time came last night to go to bed, she had no problems sleeping in her new room and bed. She even gave her binky to her brother and left it in the crib for him! Now, I know we only have one night under out belts, but we are very proud nonetheless!

Before and After pictures are below. We'll post pictures of the final room when we finish it in a few weeks: