Catch-up!

We've been taking advantage of the nice weather to go to the park! Ellie is going through a faze where she's a little afraid of the swings, but loves the slides and climbing the stairs.


She had her first skinned knees when I took both kids to the park solo to feed the ducks and for Ellie to play on the playground. She fell off a bench right into some rocks. She was a trooper though and after a couple of animal crackers all was well.


Jonah's playtime takes place at the baby gym mat in our house. I'm surprised that he already has started batting at the toys and likes to hang out there for a while. And he started smiling, which just melts your heart! We're super busy, but loving life with our kiddos!

The baby love continues...

Ellie loves to shower her brother in hugs and kisses. She always wants to know where "baby" is and asks to hold him several times a day. Jonah is sometimes receptive to the love Ellie doles out and sometimes is ready for mama or daddy to hold him instead. Mostly it depends on whether Ellie has just woken him up for some impromptu loving or if he was already awake.



Ellie is showing Jonah where her feet are after discovering that he was hiding his feet in the swaddle blanket.


Such a good big sister and we are so happy and blessed we have both of them!

Baby Jonah is here!!!

So, I finally went into labor Monday morning, April 26th. I sent Josh off to work for a few hours just until I was sure the contractions were getting longer, stronger and closer together. He worked from about 8 AM to 10:30 AM because at that point my contractions were about 4 minutes apart. We waited to go to the hospital until they were 3 minutes apart, which was around 12:30. I was excited that this was going much faster than my labor with Miss Ellie. After that, it was pretty much a blur until Jonah was born at 6:45 pm. I was definitely nesting up until we went to the hospital b/c I insisted on doing laundry, vacuuming and gave serious consideration to scrubbing some spots on the carpet before we left. And I did insist that Josh stop by the bank to deposit cash we'd received for his business. Had I been thinking about the 10 or 20 speed bumps we had to go over to get to the bank, I would have probably skipped this. By the time we got to the hospital and checked in, I had pretty much checked out and was just focusing on relaxing through the contractions. At one point, Josh discovered that I had flooded the bathroom b/c the birth ball I was sitting on in the shower was covering the drain. I really didn't care that I was flooding it and was really pissed off that I had to move. I ended up getting an epidural, which only worked on one side again. But that was perfect b/c it gave me some relief for the last hour or so and helped me relax enough that Jonah was born shortly afterwards. Way easier labor than with Ellie and way easier postpartum recovery, for which I am very thankful. Probably more than you wanted to know, but it was actually and enjoyable experience and we are just so thankful for our sweet boy! It took us about a day to figure out which name fit him, but he's definitely a Jonah and I can't imagine him as anything else.



Jonah and me just after he was born. I actually got to deliver him myself, which was amazing!


9 lbs 6.6 oz and 21.5 inches long. The doctor was so shocked, he made the nurse weigh him twice.


On our way to my postpartum room a few hours after Jonah was born.


Ellie came to the hospital to celebrate my birthday with me and loved being close to "her baby."


Daddy and Jonah. I think Jonah is going to look a lot like his daddy, except for the nose and I predict Jonah will be taller.

Leaving the hospital to go home.


Ellie loving on her brother. She kisses him all day long and wants to hold him too. When he cries, she can't stand it and will cry too which makes everything a little more stressful.


We can't tell yet, but I think his eyes will be green like Josh's. It's a fifty/fifty shot whether they will be green or blue.


Jonah seriously has the biggest feet on any newborn I have ever seen. His feet are almost as long as Ellie's are now. This is why I think he definitely got the Slater height. Josh is really hoping he got the McMillon bulk too, which would make the perfect football player.

38 weeks

So, some people have been asking for recent belly shots. Here are a few that Josh took last week. I also had a maternity photo session today, which I'm excited to see the pics from. When I get those back, then I'll post some of them too. But I have to say that I'm hopeful that the little guy arrives before the photos come back to me! :)

Business News!!

I realized today that I'd been referencing some exciting news for a while and then I forgot to post it. OOPS!! Josh opened a new practice in March and his new office is only 4 miles from home. We love that he can come home for lunch several days a week and we can often drop by to see him when we're out running errands. On a silly, selfish note I love that there is a hardware store, grocery store and pharmacy in the same shopping center so I can easily have him pick up something we need on his way home!! The new office is in the middle of a Rapid Fitness, so patients and potential patients are constantly dropping by to see the doc. Best of all, the new facility has a great energy and the patients are all eager to see Dr. Josh. It was a busy week getting everything set up. We had about 2 days notice that the gym was finally going to open. It was completely remodeled and had been delayed in opening several times due to re-inspections that were needed and other construction stuff. Josh and I had lots of fun setting up the office, hanging diplomas and posters, getting new office equipment, etc. We've been open now for almost a month and things are going great!

Pollen season

So, here in the South we have pollen season. It's a real thing. The weather channel even has a pollencast to tell us if the pollen count will be high today and what types of pollen to expect. Most people not from here say something like "We have pollen too. Are your allergies bad?" Pollen season in the South isn't so much about sneezing as it is about trying NOT to turn yellow like everything else outside. Once pollen season starts, you can't open windows or sit outside without inviting clouds of yellow pollen in your house or car. Shopping carts are covered in it, shoes, packages that are delivered, etc. I took a couple of pictures that really don't do it justice, but here is just one example. The picture above shows one of our pine trees in the backyard. The yellow tags on them is where all the pollen is coming from right now.


Our deck is actually a dark redwood stain. As you can see, it's covered in yellow powder except where I dumped out the dogs' water. If I leave water out for more than an hour or so, the bowl is covered in pollen and the water has lots of yellow floaties. The only way to get rid of the pollen is to pray for rain. Fortunately, we had a great thunderstorm last night that washed lots of it away. Now it can start building up again.


Here's one pic from Easter that I forgot to include. The family photo. Hopefully the next one will show a sweet little boy too and a much trimmer looking me. :)

Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter. It was a gorgeous day and we were able to have Ellie's first egg hunt on the front lawn. She quickly learned to put the eggs in her basket and was super excited when we went inside after the hunt and we showed her the "candy" inside the eggs. So much fun! We hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter too!