Almost 3 weeks old!

Here are a few pictures from the last week....







We are still alive and things are going great! It is hard to believe how fast time is flying. We have noticed over the last few days that our "little" Adeline is definietly begining to get chubby cheeks!! I wonder if she will be following after Elias! It is a good thing I like chubby babies! :)

It seems that whenever I talk to people they always ask the same questions, so I thought I would put the answers on here.

How is Adeline sleeping?
So far she has been AMAZING!! From the time we came home almost 3 weeks ago she has slept 3-5 hours, eats and then goes right back to sleep and sleeps for another 2-4 hours. She has yet (crossing my fingers) to have a fussy period during the night and keep us up. I am averaging about 5-7 hours a night which has been a huge blessing as I feel pretty rested each day.

How is Elias doing with the transition?
He is doing great! He loves baby Addie(up for debate on how we are going to spell this). He says baby Addie lots and it is so cute to hear! He loves to hold her and always wants to know what she is doing. When I am busy taking care of her he has been so patient and kind! I am so excited for him to have a sister and watch them as they grow up together.

Did you really decide to name her after you saw her and how did you decide to name her Adeline?
Yes we waited until we saw her to choose the name. We were watching the video from the hospital the other day and actually have us deciding on video, which will be neat to have. Adeline had been the name we were planning to use if Elias would have been a girl. We came up with the name when Trisha had Jury duty and the plantif's name was Adeline. Trisha came home and mentioned it to Todd and it stuck. When we found out we were having a girl this time it was almost without question that it would be Adeline. After Christmas this past year I had even bought a stocking on sale with the name "Adeline" on it. But later I decided to revisit names and make sure there wasn't another name I might like better instead. I grew to also love the name Emery--especially because both of our kids would be "E"'s. It was so hard to decide as we loved them both! We could never narrow it down and wanted to see her first to decide. After she was born and we were looking at her Todd asked if her name was going to be Adeline or Emery and I still wasn't sure, so I asked him and he thought Adeline would fit the best. I knew that was ultimately what he wanted, so I very willingly agreed. We both knew it was the name we had picked out several years ago and decided to stick with it. :) If we are blessed with another girl someday maybe we will get to use Emery....

Has it been hard taking care of both of them by yourself?
It actually hasn't been as hard as I anticipated, but I must say that at times it is very exhausting! Elias is so kind and patient with me which is making it so much easier! It is definitely a full time job that isn't always easy, but I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. They both bring us so much joy and we are truly blessed!!


Didn't you have the same due date as your sister-n-law and cousin? When were they all born?
Yes! It is still hard to believe we had the same due dates--what are the chances of that happening!!
Adeline was born on Apri 10
Our Nephew Parker was born on April 16th
Our Cousin had Wyatt on April 17th.

They are all healthy and wonderful--Praise God! :)

It is fun to know we are going through this together and to have them all be so close in age!! :)

We have been doing photo shoots and here is a Sneak Peak of her at 2 weeks....

Easter Part 2

This is a little late, but better late then never. :) Grandma Hitchcock made Elias a wonderful Eater egg hunt a few weeks ago. The only bad part was that she was sick and we had to do it without her. :( Elias had a great time. Per Grandma we read the Easter story and had him open a red empty egg representing that Jesus was gone because he had rose from the dead. Then we let him loose outside to gather eggs. He loved finding the eggs and all the cool things inside--his favorite were the bugs and cars. Thanks Grandma!

Happy Belated Easter--Part 1

We didn't do anything on Easter as we had just gotten home from the hospital, so we celebrated today instead. Todd's mom made us a wonderful dinner and we had a Easter Egg hunt for Elias. We also took this opportnity to take our first family photos. Here are the pictures and obviously some outakes. Elias thought it was funny to pick his nose instead of smile at the camera! :) Chris and Gail (and maybe us too)were laughing which instigated this behavoir even more. We had more pictures of him picking his nose then not. I love having a 2 year old. He makes me laugh all the time these days.... I also added a picture of Elias giving Adeline one of her toys. He kept wanting to give it to her and it was so cute.

Oh and Hillary thanks for the bow!! :)

Welcome Home Adeline!

We are enjoying being home with Adeline and introducing her to her new life with us. Her first days home have consisted of sleeping 20+ hours a day, eating, pooping, and being held lots! She has the life! :) We are already so blessed by her and love her so much! I forgot how wonderful it is to snuggle with a newborn!

We are transitioning well, but I have not personally taken care of them both at the same time yet. That is when the REAL fun will begin! :) Since Elias is still recovering from a cold Todd has been taking care of him while I take care of Adeline. I have joked with Todd as I lay around and cuddle with Adeline that it has been like a vacation just taking care of her as she sleeps most of the day away. I am enjoying every minute of it as I know it is the calm before the storm when I have to take care of them both.

Elias so far has been doing WONDERFUL being a big brother!!! I have obviously been constantly taking care of the baby and keeping a distance, but it has not bothered him at all so far. He has enjoyed spending lots of time with daddy. He enjoys keeping track of mommy and baby and what we are doing. Last night after we put him to bed we could hear him in his crib saying "bye bye daddy, bye bye momma, bye bye baby. He talks about her alot and tells us that she is crying, sleeping, and eating. It is very cute. I must admit it has been very sad to make them keep a distance and not let him get close to her, but we are looking foward to hopefully truly introducing them to each other soon. I am excited for him to hold her and finally get our first family photo with us all looking! :)

Enjoy some of our recent pictures of Adeline. She is changing everyday.

Goodbye Gertrude, Welcome Adeline

Adeline arrived on Friday April 10th at 6:05 a.m. She weighed six pounds, eleven ounces at birth, and was twenty inches long. We are blessed to have her. Here is here arrival story.

The birth story starts with a sick big brother. Elias woke up at 1:30 a.m. on the tenth. He has a cold and has been struggling to sleep a little bit here of late. I got him back into bed around 2:00. Through all this comotion Trisha noticed that she was starting to have contractions, she was unsure if it was labor so she got up to go down stairs, get a snack, and monitor them more closely. At about 3:15 a.m. she woke me back up and said she thought she might be in labor, but that the contractions seemed very minor, but frequent, so she did not think at the time she was in labor. After several more conractions she called her doula, who strongly encouraged her because of her previous history of quick labor to go to the hospital to at least get check to see her progress. At 4:00 a.m. we called Trishas parents to have them come stay with Elias through the night and the next day, we left our house around 4:30. On the car ride to the hospital Trishas contractions were now averaging 3 minutes apart. We arrived at the hospital and got checked in at 5 a.m. only to find that Trisha was dialated eight centemeters. At this time her contractions were becoming quite severe, and the nurses began to scramble to get us into our room and get the doctor here. The doctor arrived at about 5:40, and after about fifteen minutes of pushing our little Adeline had arrived. Trisha and Adeline are both doing wonderful and we as a family are extremely excited to welcome Adeline into our group of four. We are so blessed to have been given another healthy child and we are so thankful that God has kept Adeline safe inside of Trisha and now delievered her to us.

Elias was somewhat interested in Adeline upon meeting her, but since he has a cold we unfortunately had to keep him at a distance. I am sure that he will be more excited when he realizes that she will be coming to stay with us permanently. Here are several pictures of Adeline, and one the first family photo we have together where Elias is looking the completely wrong direction.

Pregnancy photos Part 2

Here is Part 2 of the photos jess took yesterday. She edited some of these and they turned out really neat.

I think I can safely say I have posted enough pictures in the last three posts to make up for my lack of pictures throughout this pregnancy. Hopefully I haven't overloaded you too much.....

Photo Shoot Part 1

Jess came over today and did a photo shoot with us. Elias was not very cooperative, but I guess that is what you get with a 2 year old. She did a great job and I am very thankful to have these pictures for baby Gertrude. Thanks Jess!!

Belly Shots

Here are a few pictures of me at 37 weeks. I wanted to make sure I got some on the blog before she comes for memory sake. We are planning to do a photo shoot with Jess sometime soon with all three of us, which we are excited about. I thought the ones with Elias turned out really cute!

Trip to the Zoo and Gertrude update...

Todd is home for Spring Break this week and we are taking full advantage of this. One big thing I wanted done over Todd's spring break was to work through my nesting to do list. We are almost finished and I feel such a relief. We got all the infant stuff out of the attic, the nursery finished, and actually put the car seat bases in the cars. I am also so proud of myself because I packed my bags! This is a big improvement from last time when Todd had to throw things together for me right before we left. We have also been relaxing, reading, watching movies, and doing fun outings. Most of all this week we are cherishing every minute of this time with just the three of us! We have been trying to do lots of special things with Elias as he will be an only child for just a little longer. On Monday we went to the Zoo. Elias had lots of fun seeing all of the animals he has only seen in books. He also loved making all of the animal sounds. It was very cute. We ended up getting a membership, so we look forward to going more this summer.






Gertrude Update
I am 37 weeks tomorrow and it is hard to believe that I also just entered the month that she is due. I had an ultrasound and Dr. Appt. yesterday. Thankfully Gertrude is head down and everything looks great! She "supposedly" weighs 5 pounds 8 oz. right now. She seems to be following closely with Elias as he was 6 pounds 1 oz when he was born at 38 weeks. I enjoy small babies! :) Since I am full term I realize she could come anytime now, but my prediction is that she will make her appearance more around my due date this time. Until she comes I am enjoying storing up on lots of sleep, spending as much precious time as I can with Elias, going on fun dates with Todd, reading, watching movies, and propping my feet up and relaxing as much as I can. Reality that she will be coming soon makes us SOOO EXCITED!!! I can't wait to hold her in my arms for the first time, see Todd holding his little daughter, and introducing Elias to his new little sister in just a few short weeks! :)