Todd and Shana: January 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

5 weeks!

How can this sweet little boy be 5 weeks already?! It really makes me sad that the time goes so, so fast. He's already losing that newborn look and growing out of his first clothes. He won't be seeing the doctor for another week so I will update stats then, but I can see and feel that he is growing like a weed. He is such a good baby nearly all of the time, he of course has his bad moments/days. Some days he just doesn't want to be put down, but most of the time as long as he's fed and changed he's a happy boy. We are really starting to see some smiles and interaction from him. He's trying to find his little voice and it is so stinkin' cute. As sad as it makes me to see him grow so quickly, I love seeing the little milestones and it brings me so much joy to see that big smile on his face when I talk to him.

Christmas 2011

Having had Preston at the end of November made us a little bit of a homebody family this Christmas season. We missed most of the holiday parties as they were held early in December. We finally made it to the fire department's Christmas party that was held just a few days before Christmas. The kids had a great time putting together some wooden toy kits that Lowe's had donated, going through the smoke house, and sitting on Santa's lap and getting a present. Mommy even got a little present from Santa.

We started off our Christmas weekend by visiting Todd's sister, Chelsea, and her family and finally getting to see their new home. We had fun talking, playing games,watching some TV and EATING with Todd's family. The kids disappeared to the basement and we only saw them when there was some tattling to be done. The next day was Christmas Eve and we hung out at Chelsea's for a while before heading back to the Cole family party. It was fun to see everyone as always and introduce Preston to everyone that hadn't had a chance to see him yet. We headed home that evening and eventually got the excited kids to go to bed. Santa came and Christmas morning was a whirwind of wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, wrappers, and lots of excitement. If I ever get time I'll edit and post a short video, unfortunately the video camera was the only camera going that morning. The kids were super spoiled as usual. Luckily Preston slept through the whole thing, so I was able to focus on the big kids and help them get toys out of packages so they could play. The big things they got this year were...

Garrett- Star Wars Lego set, Light Saber, and a remote control helicopter

Lauren- a HUGE doll house and Princess Barbies

Ella- a battery-powered Minnie Mouse scooter and a Minnie Mouse pillow pet.

We had Christmas tree waffles and tried to quickly get ready for church. We were 1/2 hour late and had to sit on the stage, but I'm glad we made it and were able to hear some wonderful music and Christmas messages.

After church we had lunch at Todd's parent's home and then headed off to my mom's for a dinner and cousin gift exchange for the kids. Then it was off to the Cox family party and more food and fun.

It was a hectic schedule but so much fun and we are sad it is over. The kids are already looking forward to next year and we finally got the excess toys cleaned out of the closet to make room for the new ones.

Thinking back over the last year reminds me of how blessed we are. A year ago Todd was on unemployment and we had no idea what the future would bring. Little did we know that just a few weeks later he would start a great new job and by the end of the year we would add another sweet baby boy to our family. We are so incredibly grateful for the friends and family we have and for the blessings that we enjoy. We already have so much to look forward to in the next year and are excited for what is yet to come.

Ella turns 3!

Ella (Bella) Rose turned 3 last month! She is getting so big, and it seems even more so since she's now a big sister. After taking a little time to adjust, she has become quite the sweet big sister. Although sometimes this includes "scary" love, LOL! She refers to Preston as Baby "Bro Ter". This girl definitely keeps me on my toes and knows how to sweet talk her way into just about anything. If she doesn't get her way she immediately starts asking when daddy is coming home! She knows all of her big brother and sister's pet peeves/annoyances and does everything she can to get under their skin. Super frustrating for mom! We really love our chocolate-milkaholic though and can't imagine life without her. :)

For her birthday, she requested a Winnie the Pooh cake and we had a little celebration at Grandma and Grandpa C's. She was super excited about it all and got spoiled rotten. She's already talking about next year's birthday!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Gingerbread House

Every year we try to do a gingerbread house. After having Preston I just didn't know if that was going to happen this year. I came across a pre-assembled one at Walmart and quickly snatched it up. Only having to decorate the thing was super exciting to me! The kids were really excited and begged daily until we found a chance to do it. Unfortunately Ella fell asleep so it ended up just being Garrett, Lauren and I, with a little help from daddy too! We cranked up the Christmas music....it came together really easily and they had so much fun! I think it really helped to get me in the Christmas mood.

Meet our little Preston Todd...

I cannot miss documenting this important and amazing event in our lives, so hopefully 5 1/2 weeks after the fact, I can remember all the things I'd like to record about the day our 4th child came into our lives. I wasn't due until December 5th, and while I'd hoped and prayed to have him come a little early, I was shocked when I went into labor on the 29th of November!

It still boggles my mind that with each child my labor is so different. I thought by now I would easily know when it was time to head to the hospital, but after having Ella so quickly, I decided to head over as soon as I knew it was "real". We ran the kids out to Todd's parents after I called Dr. Nye to make sure I wasn't being overly anxious. He said to head on over and we'd see what was up. My contractions were (and had been) about 5 minutes apart, by the time we got to the hospital they were about 2 minutes apart but varied in intensity. We checked in at the desk and when we walked into the L&D department we were greeted by my sister-in-law Becky who informed me she would be my nurse (as long as I was good with that, which I quickly decided I was!). Soooo....I was dilated to a 3-4 so they decided to have me walk around to get things moving along. As I was walking I found out my cousin Levi and his wife Dania were also there, Dania was being induced with their first. All kinds of excitement in our family that night. :)

Things were progressing but pretty slowly so Becky suggested I rest for a bit before I got too far along. I laid down and slept for a little while and woke up to Becky looking for the baby's heartbeat. I didn't realize what was going on at first and next thing I know another nurse is in the room and they are putting an oxygen mask on me and making me get on my hands and knees. (Thank goodness for the two hospital gowns I had on :)) They told me that his heart rate had dropped and they were trying to get it back up. Being on my hands and knees helped and after a while Becky had me changing positions to see if we could get my contractions to regulate and be more effective. To monitor the baby better, Dr. Nye came in and broke my water so they could put a monitor directly on the baby. They also gave me a little pitocin to make my contractions stronger. Here's where I should have asked for an epidural, but epidurals had always slowed down my labor and I was worried about the baby if that happened. So...I figured I'd wait until I was progressing a little further. I laid down to rest again and woke up having some pretty strong contractions. It's kind of a blur after that but I had started shaking from the meds I'd been given (I also tend to shake during labor anyway). I finally decided it was time for the epidural, but before the anesthesiologist could get there I progressed pretty rapidly. I felt like I needed to push but Becky was telling me I couldn't push yet. That just put me over the edge, thank goodness Becky was there willing to get in my face and get me through it. I am so grateful that she was my nurse that night, even if she swears she's never going to do it for a family member again! Finally the anesthesiologist made it in and gave me my epidural. Life got good for about 2 seconds before they laid me back down, got the table ready, and told me to push! One good push later our little man came into the world. All the sudden our really long night had turned into a whirlwind and he was here.

Preston Todd was born at 7:08 am on November 30th, weighing 8 lbs 5 oz, and was 20 1/4 inches long. He has a reddish brown color to his hair, as compared to Garrett who had orange hair from the moment he was born. :) I was instantly in love. It's true your heart will always find room for more, not that I ever thought otherwise. We spent that day just getting to know our little man and having visits from friends and family. Preston's second cousin was born later in the day, a beautiful little girl, and I love that they will share a birthday. Just another part about being from such a big extended family that I love.

We have been so blessed with visits, phone calls, dinners, and gifts. Preston is already growing fast. About a week after he was born, Todd's sister Chelsea came and took pictures for us. It was a long day trying to keep him content enough to get some good ones, but she got some amazing pictures and we are so grateful for them!