Arynn @ 1 Week

Arynn Lizabeth, you are 1 week old!


Daddy holding his new baby girl.

You are such a good baby! We got home from the hospital on Wednesday around 3:00 pm. Daddy took the big kids to church and we stayed home to rest. Poppa Kenneth came to visit while they were at church and said you looked like Aiden. After Daddy and the big kids got home, Mimi and Poppa Gary came and he got to meet you for the first time. He worked really hard to get some pictures on his phone so he could take them to work and show you off!



The Whobody was the first one up to get in line to hold Arynn our first morning home from the hospital.

You are able to sleep through all the noise in our house! Even when your siblings want to hold you ALL DAY LONG! Daddy has to wait in line to get a chance to hold his newest daughter.


Austen was next.

Aiden graciously allowed Austen to hold Arynn before his turn.

Addy always wants to "hold her". In the hospital there was a baby in the nursery while the kids were in the waiting room. Addy could see the baby and asked to "hold that baby!?!" multiple times througout the day!



On Thursday afternoon, you and Momma went to visit Nanny and Papa. We had a good visit while Daddy took everyone else to town to run a few errands.

Papa Bill meeting Arynn for the first time. He also has a February birthday, 13th, I have had two babies in February and haven't been able to hit his day yet!



Nanny Lee getting some cuddling time with Arynn.

On Friday, we went for a check-up at 3 days to Dr. Mark. He said you looked great. You do have a hip click, but he is not concerned and we will just watch it for now.



Arynn's first bath at home.

 Saturday we stayed home, and had two sets of visitors, both delievered meals.

On Sunday morning you attended your first church service. One gentleman stated that the church house was going tip to the left as the whole congregation got up to come and see you!

You are wearing newborn clothes and newborn diapers (even though the hospital gave you size 1, I guess they thought you were a big baby!) and you now weigh 8 pounds 15 ounces. You want to sleep a 5-6 hour stretch at night which I am thankful, but since you are gaining slowly, I have been waking you up after 4 hours.




1 week old- Playing Dress Up!

Daddy went back to work on Monday which made all of us sad, but Nana has been helping us out. We have had lots of visitors and lots more are waiting to meet you. You are sweet and precious and we love you so much!


Arynn's Birth Story

On February 26th around 4:30 am, I woke up with light contractions. We were 40 weeks and 6 days. Around 5:30, I woke Jake and told him today might be the day. I still wasn't convinced because contractions were 8 minutes apart, and nothing like the fast and furious labor we experienced with Addy. Jake went ahead and called into work to tell them he wasn't going to be there and then he called Nana. She arrived around 6:15 and we got to the hospital by 7:15. Jake wanted to make sure we could beat rush hour traffic. We were a little gun shy after our experience with Addy.

9 pounds 7 ounces
21 inches long

Once we got to the hospital we found out we were going to have a baby soon. I was dilated to 5 and contractions were coming regular but still around 8 minutes apart and very manageable.  Our OB was not on call, but Dr B was very nice and reassuring. He made sure the staff was on top of my platelet issue and to our surprise they had came up since the previous week. He offered to break my water around 8:00 to help speed things up, but I declined. I was okay with a slow labor this time.  

Meeting family for the first time.
 

Sometime later Dr B came back and offered to break my water, Jake and I still weren't ready to have any interventions so he left and then came back to tell us my Dr was going to check on us around lunch time. Dr. S came in around noon we were dilated to 9 almost 10 and he offered again to break my water, I still didn't want to just because I remembered how much more intense the labor was after that happened with Addy. I really wanted to just let things happen naturally. He told us he would eat lunch and come back in 30 minutes. 



Nanny Lee holding her 5th great-grandchild. Arynn is named after her mother, Mary Lizabeth, who would have been 113 years old on March 4th.

At 12:40 Dr. S came back, this time I was complete, but no urge to push. Arynn was still -3 station and posterior. He said if I would let him break my water she could rotate and come down like she was supposed to. I wasn't convinced but Jake knew if we sent him away again he might not make it back in time. So we agreed.



Mimi holding her 5th grandbaby.

Everything happened just like he said, I guess 50 years of delivering babies counts for something. : ) Arynn was born at 1:00 pm, no complications for either of us and Dr. S didn't even have to reschedule his afternoon patients!

Nana checking out her 3rd granddaughter's chubby cheeks.

Arynn made her appearance during the day so we had visitors come and welcome her. We actually were able to take pictures! (This didn't happen with Addy because she came in the wee hours of the morning and then went to the NICU) Bro. Ben came and stayed for a while but had to leave before he got to see her, so we don't have any pictures of him. 

Gary and Ann meeting baby Arynn.

We were so blessed with a wonderful labor and delievery. God knew the exact timing that was needed. We are thankful for all of the prayers about mine and Arynn's health. Not only did God answer those prayers but He blessed us even more with an easy labor, delivery and a speedy recovery. This has been the best postpartum experience compared to all of our other babies!

First photo as a family of seven!

We have been completely overwhelmed by the kindness and love shown to us with our 5th baby. We jokingly said it has been more like a first baby! We have had many meals prepared, gifts for Arynn and myself, prayers on our behalf, calls and visitors. We feel loved and blessed to have so many friends and family showing their love. We are thankful to everyone and love each of you! We are happy to have a new blessing in our lives! Welcome Baby Arynn, we love you!!!

The Boys' Party

Aiden and Austen's birthdays are 10 days apart, we split the difference and have a family party on the Fourth of July. They still think the fireworks at the end of the day are just for them!

Addy provided the entertainment, she was so funny jumping around!

Two peas in a pod, they both like to talk to their food.

Daddy fired up the grill and we had Nanny, Papa, Nana, Poppa Kenneth and Mimi over for lunch, cake and homemade ice cream. YUM! Poppa Gary couldn't make it because he had to work. But we met up with him later for fireworks.

Aiden and Poppa Kenneth, I am sure they discussing a hunting/fishing story.

The weather was actually not too hot, we started around 11:00.

Since we were on the porch, we put the ice chest under her feet so she could touch. She would walk to the edge and hold on with her little monkey toes. It was pretty comical.

The boys holding up their new shirts Mimi made for them.

The boys were very excited, (obvious by the looks on their faces) they received clothes, books, fishing poles and of course toys!

The dragon cake. 

Nana gave me the instructions on how to fix this, it turned out pretty cute. I told if it did not turn out well, it would be all of her fault ;-) Next time I will do things a little differently. I am by no means a cake decorator, and have no desire to be one, in fact this was my first attempt. Talk about stressful!

My brave knights! 

I know swords, shields, helmets, bad idea!?! So far no bloody noses or broken bones. These swords are used to reenact Chronicles of Narnia on a daily basis. This was a gift from Nana, not Momma and Daddy. We opted for a safer gift, bikes! We had a great day with family and enjoyed celebrating our boys!

Happy Birthday Poppa Kenneth!

At the end of March, we celebrated Poppa Kenneth's birthday. Last year, I wanted us to go to Dorey's for his birthday. But with Poppa's rotating work schedule, upcoming turkey season, and the restaurant only being open three days a week, it never happened. But this year he's retired so he didn't have an excuse! We had planned to go out on a Thursday night, and then Daddy had to switch to 2nd shift. I knew Poppa and Papa would be heading to the lake soon, so we had to celebrate without Daddy.

Ava enjoying her ice cream!

She absolutely loves sweets! Chocolate is her favorite, but we really have to limit her. If she eats too much she will never sleep!

Nanny and Papa

Nanny Lee and Papa Bill got to go with us to celebrate their oldest son's birthday. The men in my family are not big on going out to eat. In fact, I have been out to eat with my Dad more in the past few years, than my entire life (still only a handful of times). The last time we went out to eat with Nanny and Papa was for their 50th anniversary. This year they celebrated their 52nd anniversary! We love them so much. The kids are lucky to have three great-grandparents. My Nanny and Papa, and Jake's Papaw are very special to us.

Austen feeding the goats.

After dinner the kids had to play with the goats. The adults go to Dorey's for the food, the kids go for the animals! They have goats, donkeys, miniature horses, rabbits, and deer.

Austen, Aiden, Poppa, Ava and Bailee. 

(This is the only picture I got of Poppa. He looked at me like he was going to break my camera if I tried again, I know my limits, so I quit!)

The kids were highly disappointed because Poppa Kenneth would not let them in to play with the animals. It is setup as a petting zoo for the kids to enjoy but my Dad is a worrier. He told the boys they absolutely could NOT go in the fence. "If you lose a finger in the gate, it is a looooong way back to the hospital." I have heard ridiculous statements like that my whole life, I just never realized how silly they were. I think he has gotten worse with age! I know when to keep my mouth shut, so I didn't argue. However, Aiden hasn't quite figured this out. Sometimes I wish he wasn't able to read (especially in places like the checkout line). Well, Aiden read the rules (explaining how to go inside the fenced area) and asked me, "doesn't that mean you can go in?" I told him yes, you can but Poppa doesn't know that and doesn't want you to. He whispered to me, "obviously Poppa doesn't know how to read!"

 Ava and Bailee

Bailee got to go with us also. Since her Mom passed away and Bryan is away at camp, she has been hanging out with us more and we are really enjoying it. Ava is her new buddy. She especially likes the fact that Bailee carries her everywhere and pretty much lets her get by with whatever she wants.

Aiden and one of the horses.

Aiden is a little leery of this guy. He bit his shirt a long time ago, but he has not forgot about it! Aus told us the horse needed a haircut, I have to agree.

 The MEAN Goat

They have had this billy for awhile and he is MEAN! When you are trying to feed the other goats, he will ram them or the fence to get the food. The first time we took Aiden to Dorey's, he was around Ava's age. This goat rammed the fence to get our attention and scared Aiden to death! For months all he talked about was how "that mean goat, scare me"!

We all came home telling Daddy about how much fun we had, so we had to go back again. So this week we went back with Daddy and we also invited Mimi and Poppa. We arrived much later and by the time I was able to take pictures the quality wasn't very good because it was dark. There was a baby gray goat that was so adorable! He would run and kick up his heels. I tried to get pictures of him but he was too quick. The boys have been begging for goats for over a year, and after seeing how cute they can be, they almost have me convinced! We just have to work on Daddy. ;-)