Adiya Grace at 4 Months

A little over 4 months ago, our sweet baby girl joined our family. What a wild ride the last 4 months have been. Adiya Grace is one sweet, cuddly, and happy baby. We haven't' been to our four month appointment yet, so not stats to update, but I will fill them in once we do.

Weight: about 14lbs 8 oz (informally weighed)
Height
Head

Likes: her brother (she thinks he is so funny), momma's milk--the girl has given up on the bottle (ughhh), playing in her exersaucer, bathtime--she makes this hilarious grunting noise when she is in the bath--we call it her spa grunt (see below), being swaddled (this is a must if you want her to sleep)
Dislikes: Being out of someone's arms for long periods of times
Other Interesting Facts: Adi has started laughing more regularly now, although you still have to work for it, she has resorted to getting up every 3-4 hours during the night (I'm really hoping my good sleeper soon returns), she is almost rolling over and will be sitting up on her own in no time

I think she is looking less and less like her brother the older she gets and the more I go back and look at his monthly updates. See here for his 4 month update and see what you think.

Happy 4 month old Adiya Grace

The monthly photo shoot...oh the many faces of a four month old.

Helping daddy play his game

Sic Em Bears

I don't wear headbands very much, but when I do they make excellent eye covers

hanging out in my exersaucer.

Halloween 2012

Halloween 2012 was another wonderful event for the Blevins family. After throwing out several ideas like Batman and Superman, Eli finally decided he wanted to be a knight. Don't ask me where he got this idea, but a knight he wanted to be. So I went in search of a knight costume. I searched high and low...and when I say high or low, I mean Target and Wally's Party factory. Unfortunately, neither of these vendors had knight costumes for little guys. And since I didn't start my search for a knight costume until October 28, I was in a bit of a bind...but Amazon prime came through for me...the knight costume arrived at 3pm on October 31. Woo, she said wiping the sweat from her brow. We joined our good friends the Brooks for an evening of trick or treating. After a couple of houses, Eli was a pro...knocking on doors, charming the ladies with his beautiful blue eyes, and walking away with sweet loot. (I might have eaten some of that loot when he wasn't looking). Ben helped Eli fully assume the role as the dark knight complete with the phrase, "the dark knight always triumphs" and "had enough ay!" It was hilarious. Our sweet Adiya was a little pumpkin. I couldn't get my stuff together to find her a costume, so we pulled out the onesie Eli wore on his first Halloween and a pumpkin hat.

Our Knight in Shining Armor

The little pumpkin

Styling at the pumpkin patch

Loving on baby sister

Handsome fellas

The littlest pumpkin

Eli's 3rd Birthday Party

Our sweet boy turned 3 years old on September 26. Unfortunately we were right in the middle of a move at this point in time and had a 4 week old, so we had to postpone his birthday party until a little bit later. Fortunately, Mimi and Papa Lynn got to join us along with Gigi.

We celebrated Eli's  3rd birthday Star Wars Style. We invited a couple of his closet friends to come and celebrate. We painted pumpkins, made star hats, and ate delicious star wars cupcakes (courtesy of Sams). It was a low key birthday and I have promised myself that we will have a big 4th birthday party next year!

Gigi helping Eli paint his pumpking

Mimi supervising Eli's friends, Caleb and Josie

concentrating

the artist

Loving his star visor and cupcake face.

Adiya Grace at 2 Months

Why yes, I am a little delayed in this post...but it's here nonetheless.

Adi Grace turned two months old on October 22. At her two month appointment her stats were as follows...

Weight: 11 lbs 13oz (65%)
Height: 22 in (25%)
Head: can't remember but (85%)

At 2 months Adi is smiling and beginning to coo (today at 2.5 months, she laughed...well at least i think it was a laugh). She loves her big brother and smiles at him every time he is around. As you can tell, Adi isn't a small baby, that's probably because she loves her momma's  milk. Our little girl has rolls, I mean cute, fat, jelly rolls on her thighs. And I love them!! She is a champion sleeper. Lately she has been going to bed between 7:45-8:30 (and man she's cranky when she's tired), waking up once to eat around 3-5am, and going back to sleep till about 8am. She is such a happy baby when she wakes up, smiling and cooing.  She is becoming a much happier baby throughout the day, which is certainly a nice relief. She now likes her swing, but still hangs out on the huge island in the kitchen most of the time. She is such a joy to us.

Adi at 2 months

Hello bright eyes

snoozing

oh sweet girl

Eli turns 3!

Wow. Let's just say I am behind...way behind. It's been a pretty busy time around the Blevins' menagerie. And yes, we can now go back to being called a menagerie because we have adopted a new animal...a hedgehog named "Soda Pop." Yes, Eli named her soda pop.

So what have we been doing the last couple of months or so...

1. Started the semester (Aug 20)
2. Had a new baby (Aug 22)
3. Celebrated our 9th anniversary (Sept 14) (but we were too tired and too busy to do anything)
4. Brooke started back to work after a few weeks off (Sept 18)
5. Moved in to our new house (Sept 20)
6. Celebrated Eli's 3rd birthday (Sept 26)
7. Started potty training (Sept 28)

Yes, we've been just a bit busy for the past few months.  I am glad that things are finally slowing down a bit around here. I am hoping we settle into a bit of routine soon, but really what is ever routine with two kiddos, two dogs, a hedgehog, and two crazy adults...NOTHING. I am trying to savor every moment of this crazy time, but that is sometimes very difficult to do. I know that God is doing a major work in my life through all of this, but it is often difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel (more on this at a later post when I catch up).


 For now, we celebrated this guy's 3rd birthday on September 26, 2012. I cannot believe my little guy is 3 years old already.  At 3 years old Eli is...

• 35.5lbs
• 36 inches tall
• officially potty trained (well we started two days after his 3rd birthday)
• full of questions...many, many, many questions
• telling jokes
• an avid talker
• a little bossy and headstrong 
• very loving (he gives great squeezy hugs and lots of kisses)
• still struggling to go to bed on time in his big boy bed
• a lover of superhero "guys" and big boots figures
• an amazing big brother
• a wonderful son

The big 3 year old.

Loving his spiderman cake.

Handsome fella

The above pictures were taken on his actual birthday...which was a pretty low key celebration with mom, dad, gigi, and baby sister. 

We decided to have a little party for Eli while Ben's parents were in town this weekend. So we invited some of Eli's closest friends and had a nice little celebration complete with pumpkin painting and hat decorating...star wars style.

Painting pumpkins

Focused artist

Happy One Month Adi.

 Happy one month birthday to you Adiya Grace. At one month, you are growing like a weed. Since we didn't go to the doctor this month, I am not sure about your weight, but with the way you love to eat, I am confident you have gained a few pounds. Most certainly you have gotten taller as some of your sleepers are now too short.

At one month you love to eat, which means your momma is your favorite person these days. And you love to sleep...mostly at night and during the early afternoon. God was kind to momma this time around and gave her a baby who sleeps 5-6 hours at night and who goes right back to sleep after being fed. We swaddle you around 10 or 10:30, give you a little late night snack and put you down in your bassinet. You generally start grunting and rooting around between 3-5am, momma feeds you and then you are back down till 8am or so. Your momma is so thankful for that. The daytime is a little different story. You really, really, really like to be held and you really, really, really like to eat. So when you aren't doing those two things you get a little fussy.

Your eyes are lighting up a bit and definitely looking very blue these days. Your cheeks are a great indication of your love of momma's milk. In the past couple of days, we are beginning to see evidence of your precious smile start to emerge...especially around your brother. You already love looking at and hearing your bubba's voice and he loves talking to you. We can't wait to see what kind of relationship you guys have.

We love you sweet girl!

Happy One Month Birthday Baby Girl.

Looking pretty in my dress

Sweet big blue eyes.

This is what i do a lot...

What Ben was doing while I was laboring

While I was in labor, the early stages, this is what Ben was doing. Isn't he just so helpful. This was before they sent us home because I wasn't "progressing," only to have me return 6 hours later with Adi's head crowning.


 Eli meets Adi for the first time...just a few minutes after her birth.

Adi at 2 Weeks

 Adiya Grace is now over 2 weeks old! She is a true joy. We had our two week appointment on Thursday. Adi weighed in at 8lbs 5oz. Which means she's gained a whole lb since birth (most babies gain their birth weight back by 2 weeks). She is also now 20 inches long, so she is getting taller too.  She is right at the 50% for everything, height, weight, and head size. This is most likely attributed to the fact that my girl LOVES to eat. I mean sister friend loves her some milk! This is perhaps why she has a double chin and beautiful chunky, kissable cheeks. At this point, Adi is also a champion sleeper. She has a couple of awake periods during the day (during which she is most likely eating the entire time). At night she sleeps 5-6 hours at a time. I know, can you believe it? I never thought that was possible, since it took Eli almost 15 months to do that. Oh sweet Adi Grace, momma appreciates the fact that you let her sleep. Generally she is a very content baby, although she has her moments when she gets a bit fussy...but a little milk generally makes that all better. Big brother Eli continues to love his baby sister. Every time he wakes up he asks where baby sister is. He checks on her when she's crying and loves on her. It's hilarious to hear him imitate the things we say to her as well. Things like...it's okay baby sister, oh sweet mamas, good morning sunshine, it's okay baby girl. Again, his precious heart and gentle spirit melts my heart everyday. 

She how big I am getting!

Sweet baby girl. Momma loves you too.

The Birth Story of Adiya Grace Blevins

Adiya (meaning God’s treasure) Grace Blevins has made her entrance into this world...in her own dramatic style. Certainly, she could not have been outshined by her brother's birth story. At 39.5 weeks pregnant I was beyond ready for our little one to make her way into the world. At the same time, I was hoping to be able to start the semester and meet my students before my colleagues took over my classes for me. So I had informally told God (in my infinite wisdom and humbleness) that it would be okay for her to come on Wednesday, Aug 22. 

So about 3am on Wednesday morning I started having contractions about every 30 minutes. I slept on and off till about 6:45am when the contractions had sped up to about 15 minutes apart. Before this process, I wondered if I knew what contractions would feel like since I didn’t have them until after my water broke with Eli.  Let's just say it was pretty obvious. I told Ben and mom that I thought we might be having a baby. At that point my contractions were about 10 minutes apart, so Ben and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. The walk helped my contractions speed up to about 5-6 minutes apart.  

About 11am we decided it was time to head to the hospital. When I arrived I was 3 cm and 70% effaced, certainly not where I had hoped to be. Ben and I spent about two hours walking the halls and after being checked again, I was still at 3cm and 70%. So I hadn't progressed unfortunately. We decided it was best to go home and see if this was actually active labor. At home we took a nap, watched a little tv, and continued having contractions every 6-8 minutes.  My sweet friend Jen and mom had gone to get us some dinner. We sat down to eat and halfway through my salad and in the middle of breathing through a contraction, I felt a pop and realized that my water had broken. This was certainly not like the huge gush of water I had when my water broke with Eli, so I was a little confused. Well after my water broke, labor was on like donkey kong (as Jen says). My contractions immediately picked up to every three minutes and were much stronger than the ones previously. These were the kind you couldn’t breath through, talk through, and could barely stand with. Just look at Ben’s shoulders or his waist for indications of how much I needed his support during these.  I decided to get in the tub (which was probably not a good idea). I had three contractions in the tub and knew things were picking up. Ben barely got me out of tub and dressed. In my pain induced stupor, I told Ben to call ahead and get the epidural ordered (yes I was faltering in my birth plan).  I got in the car very hesitantly and we headed back to the hospital about 8pm. 

About 2 minutes from our house, I started to have the urge to push with each contraction. Let's just say it is true what they say about your body having to bear down instinctively.  I really thought Ben was going to deliver baby girl in the car. Ben did a great job driving defensively, holding my hand, and coaching me through each contraction. Finally, after what seemed like an hour in the car on the bumpiest road possible, we pulled up to ER.  Ben ran in and grabbed a wheel chair and told the staff his wife was having a baby in the car.  They rushed me to labor and delivery where we met the midwife in the elevator. Upon arrival in a beautiful brand new midwifery suite at Providence, Christy (my delivery midwife) checked me and found that baby girl was already crowning.  No time for questions, to get in a hospital gown, and certainly no time for that epidural I told Ben to call ahead for. 50 minutes after arriving at the hospital and barely 2 hours after my water broke, Adiya "Adi" Grace Blevins was born. It took a bit of pushing and lots of coaching from my sweet friend Jen, Ben and our awesome midwife. But once I changed towards a semi-squatting position, Adi entered this world at 9:17pm weighing in at 7.5 lbs and measuring 19.5 inches. 

God must have known that I really did want to have a natural birth. He must have also known that I was going to chicken out. And thus, he gave me no option for anything else. All I can say is what an empowering and exciting experience it was to deliver a baby without drugs. I think I screamed “we did it, we did it, we did it” for about 20 minutes in a high pitched voice. It was the adrenaline talking I suppose. Once Adi was out, she was put directly on my chest with the cord still attached. She was alert and looking around. She latched on and started nursing fairly quickly. Ben cut the cord when it stopped pulsing. I got to keep Adiya on my chest for a good hour or so, before she got her first bath. At that point, Eli was able to come in and see his baby sister and watch her get her bath. What a proud big brother he is!! He could not wait to give her kisses or put her new hat on. 

And we did it naturally!! Thanks to an amazing midwife who was patient and encouraging, a husband who was calm and so supportive, and a best friend who knew just when to wipe my brow and give me water, we did it…we had our second child without the assistance of an epidural or vacuum extraction, and without the pain of an episiotomy.  Let’s just say after Eli’s birth experience complete with two epidurals, realizing I was allergic to latex (including the catheter they used), a vacuum extraction, and a 4^th degree episiotomy…this was the most beautiful birth experience ever!  It truly is amazing how God engineers our bodies to do such miraculous things as give birth. I still can't believe it all happened this way.  

Adiya is a beautiful child, who is already eating and sleeping like a champ. She is a pretty pink baby with plump lips which make the most precious squeaks. It is hard to imagine, but our hearts doubled in size with her birth. Amazing again, how God allows our hearts to overflow for two children. I think watching Eli with Adi has been the most beautiful part of the whole experience. Our boy LOVES his baby sister. I mean LOVES her. He kisses her and pats her and wants to hold her all the time. He was upset that we couldn’t all be together at home for the past few nights though. 

We bless God for the beautiful treasure he has given us. We can imagine no greater joys than the ones we have now. 

The little guy and the little girl! Do we think they look alike?

Eli holding baby sister

So happy that we all get to go home as a family.

37 Weeks and Still Pregnant

Well, we are officially 2 weeks past the point Eli was born. 37 weeks. I keep thinking baby girl is going to arrive at any minute, but so far, she is snug as a bug in a rug. Meanwhile, her momma is feeling quite snug herself. Sleeping is now a distant dream, as I visit the potty every hour and half or so and try to get comfortable sleeping on my side with aching hips. I have officially assumed the waddle walk and cannot seem to walk with any sort of normal stride. Baby girl is still moving away inside. Fortunately, she is already head down, but that means that her rump and sweet little feet are right up under my ribs... and she is quite good at reminding her momma that she's still in there. It is quite funny, because we are now at the point where you can see little feet prints on the outside of my belly when she kicks. I don't remember being quite this uncomfortable with Eli, but that could also be because I wasn't this pregnant in the middle of steaming hot August. We are enjoying our last few weeks of single childness, but are anxiously awaiting Baby Girl's arrival. 

Meanwhile, we are also in the midst of finishing our new house. Of course, we wont be moved in before she gets here, but shortly thereafter. The house is coming along beautifully. We are sheetrocked and roofed and are getting rocked as we speak. It is so fun to see our dreams come together. We are blessed beyond measure. It will be nice to get settled in the house and set up her nursery. At this point in time, she will be in a bassinet in our room and we will be make shifting closet and changing table space. It's amazing how much more flexible and less concerned you are about certain things with the second child. School starts in just 2 short weeks, August 20. So I am trying to get everything ready to begin the semester and finish up the research that I was supposed to do this summer. Only time will tell if I will start the semester with the rest of Baylor or be at home with a new little one. Regardless, I am making lots of contingency plans. But right now, the plan is to keep working until she arrives. 

37 Weeks with Baby Girl...(maybe this will be the last picture taken before her arrival)

34.5 Weeks with Eli...the last picture taken before he was born 

33 Weeks

Well we are officially 7 weeks away from baby girl's due date. I am hoping that she is a little bit more obedient and stays in a bit longer than her brother...otherwise she would be here in two weeks and I am not quite ready. Although, I wasn't ready with Eli either and it was still God's perfect timing. Needless to say I have been nesting a bit...cleaning out closets, making freezer meals, organizing baby clothes, etc. Only problem is we will be moving in 9 weeks or so, so I can't do much nesting considering I am not even setting up a nursery in this house. I am certainly not nearly as organized as I was with Eli at this point, so hoping that I have a few more weeks to buy some diapers and a few other things to get ready for her arrival. I am measuring about 2 weeks behind with baby girl, so we will see what that means. Here is a comparison of 32/33 weeks with each of my babies.

While Daddy's Away...we wil play!

 So we are just 4 days shy of Ben's arrival back in the states (Praise Jesus). 23 days away from one's husband or daddy is just too long. While Ben's been gone we have tried to keep ourselves busy and enjoy this time together. This is probably one of the last times Eli and I will have the opportunity to bond prior to baby girl's arrival. Thank goodness that my mom and Jen Jen were here to help me with Eli on and off. Let's just say chasing a 2.5 year old around while 8 months pregnant in 100+ degree heat is more difficult than I would have imagined. I am blessed to have people who love Eli and I enough to come and help us out

Some of our favorite friends...Camron and Brandon came to visit. We visited the Museum, went swimming, ate snowcones, and had a great time playing. Then we went to visit them at their home.

We picked out fabric for baby girl's room

And made the dust ruffle for her bed...well mom and Jen Jen did that

We made treehouses for the bugs while Camron and Brandon played baseball.

We crashed out on Uncle Blake while mom and baby sister were being showered (as a surprise) by some of mom's favorite people.

We played with our friends, Lela and Peyton. This smells of trouble for sure.

We made lots of food to freeze for when baby sister arrives

We played in baby sister's bassinet (well it once was Eli's, so guess it is appropriate)

We organized the wonderful hand-me-downs and shower gifts for baby sister

All this fun precipitated a a tired little guy. (and a tired Momma...I am sure i was about to lay down next to him right after taking this picture)

While it's been awesome having this time with my little guy, we are ready for daddy to come home!! We love you daddy.

We made our annual trek to Red River, NM last week. It was amazing. The weather was beautiful and the forest was lush. It was a nice respite from the Texas heat. We took Eli last year, but he wasn't quite big enough to enjoy the great outdoors. This year though, he was a true outdoorsman. It is obvious that he shares a love of the outdoors with his daddy and mimi. We all had such a great time together hiking, playing in the stream, camping, picnicing, etc. Eli, Ben and Mimi even camped out one night (although Eli didn't end up spending the night because he wanted to come home to sleep with his momma and let's say I wasn't too upset). We did have a great campfire dinner of hamburgers that evening though and Eli helped his daddy start the fire with flint and steel. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to share Red River with our little guy and to see that he enjoyed it just as much as we do...especially for Ben and Mimi who have been coming to Red River their whole lives. It is so neat to share these family traditions and build new ones together. Of course, Pop had a great time too. He gave Eli the new name, little britches--to which Eli promptly replied, "well if I am little britches, then you are big britches." And yes, he did say that full sentence. Seriously, my kid says the wittiest things sometime. It was hard to come home, but Ben leaves for Israel on Saturday and I had to get a bit of work done before he leaves. We will return though--although next time we will be introducing baby girl to Red River too.

 

Handsome fella in the hammock

Big Britches and Little Britches

Ready to go hike Mimi

Here dad, I got some wood for you.

I love my mimi

Geez mom, why are you breathing so hard.

You can do it dad...

Maybe a hug will help you start the fire from flint and steel

The family

Be careful a cow might just fall on your car

Stick em up cowboy

Come on ya'll caving is fun

A guy needs some water after a long hike