4 months with Lilly Grace and Back to Work for Momma

4 months-- it doesn't seem possible that this beauty is already 4 months old. A day doesn't go by where we don't smile because of you. At 4 months, Lilly Grace is rolling up on either side, so close to actually rolling over, she's sleeping long stretches at night, a few all through the night, and she's put herself on a regular schedule. She loves watching her big brother play, and is constantly chewing on things, especially her hands, teething already. She enjoys bath time and riding in the car. She is full of smiles, coos, and a few giggles. LG likes  tummy time and loves naptime. She also loves to sit and stand up to see everything.  And this momma is sad to be going back to work this week after 4 solid months with this cutie.

Lilly Grace's 4 month wellness visit went well today, all things considered. Silly shots are no fun. She's in the 62% and 64% for weight and height. We go back in 2 months for her 6 month check up. 6 months? Are we sure that's right?! How is this possible? Didn't I just have her? Wasn't it just April? Ugh..I strongly dislike the month of August, mainly because I don't like to leave my babies. Back to work after 4 months with this sweet smiley lil cuddle bug is going to be very hard. I have some great friends and family ready to help me get back to it, but oh man is it breaking my heart. I do miss my work friends, but can I please just bring LG to work with me? I mean they'll hardly notice her, she's so good. Now, Lucas on the other hand-well he'd just keep us entertained.

This has certainly been a tough summer in some ways, brother being 2.5 and adjusting to a new baby-some days I was so ready for nap, but all things considered, he's adjusted rather well. I am excited to watch these two grow-I don't want them to get bigger, but if they're going to do it, I better enjoy it along the way. Lucas and Lilly Grace share a bond and love that I didn't grow up with, and I am excited to see it grow and strengthen over time. I am sad to this summer go, and sad my endless baby snuggles will be confined to after school and weekends, but just know that's where you can find me.

One Year

It's been just over one year...

Since the little red itchy rash appeared on the back of Lucas' neck right before a trip to the lake to celebrate my dad's birthday in June

And that spot didn't stop there...it began an all consuming issue for our family. From medicines and creams to an allergist and dermatologist after seeing his pediatrician with a food trial taking away soy, dairy, and egg...we finally came to the conclusion that Lucas has eczema. He scratched until he bled, his scratches got infected, it was literally from head to toe. My poor sweet boy was miserable, although you wouldn't truly know it, he was still happy, but you could see it. There was one point in which we were at an appt almost every week or every other week. It was hard, taxing, upsetting, and so draining on us all. It was even harder with Andrew being away for work Sun-Thurs for a couple of months, but we pushed through. We prayed, we researched, we made appts, he took meds and we tried different lotions and creams. We literally changed and tried so many things, it was very life changing. When the food trials didn't help, we realized he has eczema, which has no 'cure'. His eczema does flair up more, like when he rolls on the dogs because that is his biggest trigger.

For about 6 months we worked to find what worked or helped, and finally the answer seems to be zyrtec each morning and benadryl each night. We found that the Aveeno Eczema Therapy lotion helped heal the scratches and ease the pain. And somewhere around Dec. it seemed to slowly just disappear. There are still spots that appear and he still scratches but it is NOTHING like what we experienced last summer. We hope and pray it never returns to that level.

 

Above you can see the difference if you look at our sweet boy. Sadly, in the picture on the left you can definitely tell he doesn't feel well and in fact after our Chick fil A date that day we were headed to the dermatologist. This was one of his really bad days, swollen, red, itchy and yet 99% of the time he had the greatest disposition on it all, but it was a task keeping an 18 month old from scratching. Most of that summer he spent his days and nights in long sleeve, zip up pjs to keep him scratching his skin. Our friends and family were so helpful, especially for my sanity, because most of this fell to me with Andrew starting a new job. I emotionally was so exhausted and then to find out in August we were expecting baby 2 only added to the exhaustion. I cried, I prayed and prayed and prayed, I researched, I made appts and went to appts, (not to mention he broke his arm in all of this in Oct that year), and I cried and prayed some more. In the midst of it all I trusted God. 

A year later I can say Lucas and his eczema are much better.  There are still days where he scratches and days where he flairs up, but nothing like last summer-and for that, I am so grateful. We are so blessed and I praise God for the relief and healing. Our Lord gave us strength when we felt hopeless, and although we don't have an answer or a fool proof solution, we do have improvement. I also pray he grows out of it, as lots of kids do. I am so thankful for the strides he's made and improvements, and I pray it continues! 

Norah, Sushi, Zoo and More

Lucas spent some time with Grandma and Poppie and his cousin Norah!! Norah got to meet Lilly Grace and snuggled her lots-she didn't want to put her down, which LG loved!!! Here's a look at our weekend when Norah and Lucas came home! We took a trip to the zoo!! We went to eat at Miyabi's --Andrew and Norah enjoyed sushi, and we all enjoyed the show!! 

Cow Appreciation Day 2016

We had fun this year at Cow Appreciation Day 2016. Don't you love babies dressed up like cows? Especially when they wear tutus? 

A Look at the changes over the years at Cow Appreciation Day 

5.21.16 Lucas is 2 1/2 years old

Wow what a difference a day makes. This sweet boy captured our hearts 2.5 years ago. We knew we were blessed when we welcomed him into this world, but we had no idea the continued blessings to come from having him as our son. The past (almost) 2 months have been more focused on his new baby sister, and he has been nothing but amazing. We are so thankful for his sweet personality, his adventurous spirit, and his need for knowing how things work (just like his dad). Lucas Benjamin, we love you more and more everyday, and we are so proud of the little man you're becoming.

He was so willing to lay down and snap a few pics with LG. He is the BEST and SWEETEST big brother. This is one lucky lil girl and we are one lucky family. 

Being a 'worker man'

His 1/2 year milestones

• Sleeping in his toddler bed (went through a phase of sleeping on the floor, but has since started to stay in his bed; however, he can and will get out of his bed if you don't come get him when he first wakes up-on weekends)
• Would rather sleep in on weekdays! Duh!
• LOVES LOVES LOVES the show Bubble Guppies (OBSESSED)
• Loves to play outside, in sand, in water
• Loves trucks, trains, motorcycles, fishing, and many other BOY things
• Has a fun imagination and is very creative 
• Booming vocabulary and repeats tons of things! 
• Snuggles, kisses, and loves on his baby sister --loves to shh her when she's upset
• His favorite foods are fruits of ALL kinds,he'll eat fruit first off of his plate, but also loves pb & j, pizza, spaghetti, corn on the cob

A Mother of Two: Happy Mother's Day

Today I was able to celebrate Mothers Day as a mother of two sweet loving babies. Lilly Grace is one month old and we had a great day with family. 

 My sweet family of 4

This sweet girl purses her lil lips a lot, so mommy joined

My two lil loves

Holding this sweet boy's hand--he said, "Mommy, I hold yours hand." Yes sir! 

Lilly Grace Newborn Photos

Thanks to Stephanie we have these beautiful pictures of our sweet babies. 

Lilly Grace made her debut!

When I returned to school from Spring Break, evidently everyone on my team thought I was having LG that week, but I still doubted it since I'd made it so far and began feeling better. However, they were right...on Friday, April 8, 2016, I went to school like any other day. My intern was there for her last day and my long term sub had been shadowing all week, so she was there, too. Early in the day I started feeling some tightening in my back, but I was convinced it wasn't contractions because it was nothing like contractions with Lucas. But the one thing that kept me wondering was the fact that it kept happening and the pain would last anywhere from 30-90 sec. I started tracking the pain, just in case, and it was every 10min, 8 min, 5 min, etc...but the pain was constant. I didn't say anything to anyone because again, I seriously doubted the pain was contractions. But to be cautious I called my ob before heading to lunch and the nurse told me it was probably Braxton Hicks contractions, she told me to move around and drink lots of water...so I did both, and because I wasn't feeling the tightening across my stomach, the nurse didn't think it was contractions either. 

I went on to lunch and recess, where the whole 3rd grade was dressed in pink and gave me and LG a big shout when I came outside. They had a PINK OUT for Lilly Grace...well it worked :)

I went back inside after recess and I had been letting my sub and intern do everything anyway, but I felt I needed to at this point. I still wasn't feeling contractions in my abdomen, but my back was still hurting. I thought well I should head home and at least nap and rest because I felt like LG was coming this weekend. I knew I wouldn't get any downtime with Lucas being home so I figured a few hours to nap would be helpful. However, once I made this decision I felt a little different and thought maybe my water had started to break, but I wasn't sure. I had been messaging Andrew all day, and he wanted me to come home if I need to. I didn't want to waste any of my leave time, but I decided it'd be best to go home. I walked down the hall and found Kristen, who was actually coming back down the front hall and I told her I thought I should go home. I asked her if she'd go get Lucas and bring him to the house and that I thought I'd go ahead to the hospital. I grabbed my things, told my students and team bye. As I walked in the office to tell Ms. Hagood I was heading out ...I felt it...my water broke standing right there, luckily it was nothing like you see in the movies. 

Kristen and I walked out to my car to get Lucas' car seat out, we couldn't get the top strap to unlatch, so we decided we'd let Andrew take it out when I got home and she'd go pick it up before she picked up Lucas. She asked me many times if I wanted her to drive me home, but I felt ok to do it. As I drove home my back labor (which I didn't realize I was experiencing) turned into contractions across my abdomen and my water had definitely broke. I called Andrew and told him to get the truck packed to go, so when I got home we were ready to go. It was emotional because I realized I wouldn't get to see my baby boy again as my only baby boy, but I was in so much pain every few minutes that my focus quickly shifted. 

We got the hospital around 2:30ish and I was checked in. My admitting nurse was awesome and so sweet. We discussed that if LG was born today then her birthday would be 4-8-16, which was so cool because of the numbers, each doubles to make the next. However, it wasn't long after when my contractions got VERY intense and VERY close together. This progressed VERY FAST, to the point I was worried I wasn't going to get an epidural, and to be very honest, I was worried they weren't going to be able to get me to the delivery room. However, my Mama and Mr. Eddie made it to the room at this point and I was in lots of pain. The nurses were trying to put an IV in so I could get some pain meds, but my veins are very small and I guess because of the overall stress, they had to redo my IV, MANY MANY times...like 8+ times. My main nurse called someone else in to help, they were great at their job and what they were doing, it just wasn't the best circumstances. Luckily they got the IV in and pain meds, but they didn't help a lot to be honest. 

Finally they got me to the delivery room around 4ish and they had called the anesthesiologist for the epidural, sadly because of being stopped he didn't make it until just after 5pm. Luckly thought, he was AWESOME and so was my L&D nurse, and they both had amazing bedside manner, and the epidural went well, the first time (unlike Lucas where it had to be redone 3 times sadly). 

After my epidural, it literally was smooth sailing....I couldn't feel the contractions and I was good! Around 6pm the doctor came in to check and said we were ready to push! The nurse said she'd only get me to push on the big contractions as to not wear myself out. After 35 min and pushing, Lilly Grace Oliver made her debut!! Unfortunately, they had to use the vacuum to help get her out at the end, sadly her heart rate dropped. However, I will say that my doctor and nurse were TOP notch at Lexington Medical Center. They knew she was in distress, but they didn't say much, just communicated to get the point across. After being born, the nurse told me they thought maybe she had the cord wrapped around her neck, but she didn't. Once we had a few minutes with her though we figured she might have had her hands wrapped on the cord (because she uses and moves those hands so much). Either way, Lilly Grace and I were safe and healthy. 

 Lucas was the first to meet Lilly Grace. Once Kristen got to the hospital with him, Andrew brought him in and he got to meet her and spend some time with just us. After that, my mom, Mr. Eddie, dad, Ms. Mindy, Rebecca, Kristen and Lucas all came in to visit and hold LG. 

She was loud and not very happy. Lucas got 2 doughnuts :) haha one from Poppie and one from Pop!! He was a mess running and playing, but having so much fun with his Pop and Poppie!!

We were later moved a post partum room and we went with LG to the nursery to get her bath. 

Introducing Lilly Grace Oliver

April 8, 2016

6:35 pm

7lb 4.2oz

20 1/4" 

Grandma and Poppie

Gigi and Pop

Our sweet family of 4

Aunt Kristen

Aunt Becca

Snuggles with Daddy

Our experience at LMC was above and beyond. Every single staff member was amazing, sweet, thoughtful and just excellent. We were both worried about being at a different hospital than where Lucas was born, but man, there was NOTHING to worry about. It was such an amazing experience, and we loved it!! 

Recovery went well and we were able to go home on Sunday! 

Ready to go home

Kicks While I Type

 Today is February 1st and it's hit me multiple times that our baby girl is due in just over 2 months!!! Eek how crazy. It's exciting and sad at the same time. Exciting of course because we want to meet our baby girl, and meeting Lucas was even more perfect than we could have imagined. Now I imagine meeting LG will be perfect, too :) However, it's sad because we've always wanted 2 kids and it's sad to think these sweet kicks I'm feeling while typing might be it for me and for us after LG is born. Pregnancy, although hard, is one of the most beautiful things you can experience and I feel blessed to feel and experience this yet again. I pray for our sweet girl and myself as we enter the last weeks of  this pregnancy. I pray for us both to be healthy and have an easy delivery. I pray for us all during this transition into a family of 4, and I pray for us to easily learn how to adapt to this new role. I pray for God's healing after she arrives and I pray for my baby boy as he transitions into his new role, too. I pray he doesn't feel overlooked or unloved, I pray he feels important and that he adores his baby sister. I pray they grow up with a sweet and loving relationship that I have never experienced. I pray for my sweet husband as I know he will feel more pressure with two little sweet ones. And I pray for us to raise them both to know God's grace and perfect love each day. I am so excited to meet our baby girl, but I definitely do not want to rush this experience. 

I think we've showed off most of LG's nursery, but here's a look at the nursery and a few pics of her growing.

26 weeks

Curtains hung

"L" for Lilly Grace

28 weeks

29 Weeks and VERY tired

some more decorations

20 Weeks

We've reached the halfway point with Lilly Grace. It's hard to believe we're already that far in. We spend so much time counting down and looking forward to all the milestones, but it's a little sad how truly fast it passes in the grand scheme of things. I pray I enjoy and soak up every week and moment left in this pregnancy. At 20 weeks, the LG is the size of a mango! At our ultrasound, she was measuring only 1 day ahead, good news. All things look good and I'll return on Dec. 30 for my glucose test and another check up. The doctor even said we'd take another look at her because they couldn't see all of her spine. No worries, he just wants to be able to see it, and her position wasn't very cooperative. I am of course excited because that's another ultrasound to see our little princess!

Lucas is starting to remember a baby is in mama's belly, but I don't think he truly understands yet. But I know he'll be very excited once she arrives, although, he may not be happy she stays :) But he'll get there. We are very excited for the next 20 weeks, and we are so blessed.


And for a few weeks, we will have a pretty background for our baby fruit and bump pics!

Baby Girl or Baby Boy?

We've been anxiously anticipating this day for weeks now, even months. We got up, got ready, had breakfast, and headed off to our doctor's office, Lucas included. So not only was today the first day of our Thanksgiving break, but it was also our 20 week ultrasound to reveal the gender of Baby Oliver #2!

After our appointment, we went to Wal-Mart, Build-a-Bear, and lunch as a family ;) Here's a look at what we got on our stops.

So it's confirmed...it's a GIRL 

We both thought it was a girl and we both wanted a GIRL!! We are so excited to meet and welcome Lilly Grace Oliver into our family come April 2016. Her due date is April 15, 2016. Above all else we wanted a healthy baby, and how lucky and blessed are we, that she's healthy and it's a SHE like we wanted and like we thought!!!