Sunday Photo Shoot

It seems we get some of our best pictures right before (or after!) church on Sundays.  I guess I always want to take pictures b/c we're all dressed up.  We took these pictures a few weeks ago.  This was Carson's first time wearing his new suit to church...and Dan is sporting a brand new suit too!  What handsome boys!  Oh, and of course Brynlee wanted in on the action!

You know Carson's photo shoot wouldn't be complete without a few Karate poses...man, I need to put him in a Karate class or something!

Lincoln's first bath

Today we gave Lincoln his first bath!  He did okay, but wasn't too sure about it.  He cried for some of it and was quiet for some of it.  Once he was all wrapped up in his towel he was warm...and happy!!

Sweet Baby Lincoln

Jen came over a few days ago to take some pictures of Lincoln.  He was exactly one week old.  She had great ideas of just how to pose Lincoln so he looked so sweet.  She sent me this picture yesterday...isn't it perfect?  I can't wait to see more! 

We've loved having my parents here this week.  They have been playing non-stop with my kiddos, which has been such a big help!  My dad has also taken lots of pictures of the kids.  I'll post those soon.  Here are a few things we've learned about our little Lincoln since he joined our family a week ago.

-He hates diaper changes.  But, who wouldn't...it's COLD!!

-His cord thingie fell off today, so now we can give him his first real bath.

-He has a little newborn rash that just won't go away....hopefully soon!

-He LOVES to be held. 

-He does not like to lay flat.  Not on the floor or in his bed. 

-He doesn't like to sleep in his bed, but will sleep perfectly well in your arms.

-He can go several hours in between feedings.

-He has two older siblings that love to hold him and kiss him.

-He is SUPER CUTE and loves to cuddle with mom....and she loves it too!

Cousins!

Dan's brother's family came to visit baby Lincoln when he was just 3 days old.  The cousins just LOVED him!!!

It's amazing what a couple days can do...

....it can make a cute baby even cuter!  I swear Lincoln is getting cuter by the minute!  The first picture I stole from Jen, she took it when she came to visit us in the hospital.

 Lincoln's baby acne is already looking better.  Oh, and did you see that cute little cleft chin...where did he get that from??

....it can make one tired mama into an even MORE TIRED mama!  Lincoln didn't give me much sleep in the hospital, but I'm hoping that will change in the next little while.


....it can make a super big belly turn into an only mildly big belly...that will hopefully transform into a six-pack soon.


....it can make a family of 4 turn into a family of 5.

....it can turn Brynlee into a big sister and Carson into a big brother x 2!

....it can make us all happy to have a healthy little boy join our family.  We love you Lincoln!

ps.  the cute little hat in the last pictures is one that I made for him.  It's slightly too big on him, but isn't he stinkin' cute!?

Zoo's Who??

My parents gave the kiddos this animal guessing game for Christmas and they love it!  Carson learned how to play immediately and became quite good at it.  Brynlee is NOT so good at keeping the animal a secret and usually just blurts out whatever animal she sees on your forehead.  We've been working with her though and she is able to keep it a secret a bit better now.  We played it tonight and had a blast! 

Lincoln's Birth Story

Here's the approximate timeline to Lincoln's birth.  I was a bit anxious the last few weeks before I had him b/c I wasn't sure if I was going to have a ssimilar experience to Brynlee's.  Brynlee was born super fast and we never made it to the hospital...she was born at home on our bed!  I definitely didn't want that to happen again and was worried that I wouldn't recognize labor till it was too late.  I wanted to be induced, just in case, and was scheduled to be induced on Friday, January 14th.  Lincoln decided he wanted to be born on the 13th, instead, and here is how it all went down. 

January 12th, 7pm:  I went to a girl's Bunco party and wasn't having a great time!  I actually was having contractions every 15-30mins that were mildly uncomfortable, but didn't think much of it.  All the other girls were excited about my contractions, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.  Plus, I only had to wait one more day to be induced.

10pm:  Came home from Bunco and was still having contractions.  I laid down and watched TV for an hour and had Dan time the contractions.  They were only about every 12-15mins apart and not too bad, but were getting a bit more painful. 

11pm: I finally decided to call my doctor and just ask him what he thought about my contractions.  He was super nice and said I better come in and get checked, just in case.  After all, we don't want another baby born on the bed!

January 13th, 12am: It took a bit to get our babysitter over and ready for us to go to the hospital.  I was still skeptical at this point that my contractions were anything real.  They were getting fairly painful though and made me hope that something was actually happening. 

12:30am: got hooked up to the fetal monitor and everything and was dilated to a 3.  I was only dilated to a 1 last time i was checked at the doctors, so something was happening.  Then we just hung out for a few hours to see if the contractions were doing any good. 

3am: Pain was starting to get really bad, but I wasn't dilating very much, I think I was maybe a 4.  The nurse asked my doctor what to do and he agreed I could stay.  Got my IV, sent off bloodwork, and waited for anesthesia to give me an epidural.

3:30am: The contractions were getting super painful now.  The anesthesiologist came in, and after a few attempts, put in my epidural.  It started working and I was so much more happy!  I rested/slept for the next couple hours.

5:30am: checked again, but not much progress.  IV pitocin started to help things out.

5:45am: Doctor Ng came in to break my water. He said that I would start feeling pressure soon after. 

6am: Feeling lots of pressure and LOTS of pain!  My epidural had been working so good, but now seemed to be doing nothing...dang it!!  Dan went to let the doctor know that I was having a lot of pain.

6:05am: Doctor came in and said I was just about ready to push!  Everyone got everything ready in the room for the arrival of the baby.  I started pushing and was in SO MUCH PAIN!!!  I was really hoping for more pain relief than when I didn't have an epidural at all, but the last 30mins were just as painful as when I had Brynlee!! 

6:19am: Baby Lincoln was born!!!  He looked great!  There was a complete knot in his umbilical cord!  Dan cut the cord and they put him on my belly.  He was adorable!!!

My AWESOME nurse and doctor, Lisa and Dr. Ng.