A Successful Day

This morning was a sad day for us and Grandma, Grandma had to go back to Texas. We woke up and got everyone dressed and headed to the airport. Grandma was very excited to go home and see Grandpa and all the other family in Texas, but it was hard to leave her new best buddy and little Nolan. Rylee did not really understand Grandma was leaving, she even asked for her on and off all day today. I have to be honest I was a bit nervous for my first day alone with the two kids, but it went great. Rylee was my big helper again today and she did a great job entertaining herself when I needed take care of Nolan. She played with her lipstick that Santa brought her in her stocking, the cute part though was she used her mirror today to help apply the lipstick! Nolan is still sleeping a lot, but he was awake for two hours today two separate times. He is working on figuring out night and day still, we all hope it is soon! Grandma and Papa are getting in this evening, so we will have help again through Sunday and then back to reality!

Big Helper

Everything I try to do I have a big helper right next to me, and I love it. This morning we were trying to get the stroller put together, and my girl was right there to give a helping hand, bed-head and all. She is very helpful with getting diapers and wipes, Nolan's blanket, burp cloths, and making sure his beanie is on. She has grown up in so many ways over the last week, it is exciting to watch.

First Bath (at home)

Yesterday while Daddy and Rylee were at church we gave Nolan his first bath. I hate these sponge baths because the babies are so slippery, it is tricky! He did not care much for the bath, but settled down quickly once we got him wrapped up in a towel.

A Big Thank You

We had things all arranged for Rylee tp stay with friends while we were in the hospital with Nolan, but since he held out for so long we were lucky enough to have Grandma Kathi here before he was born. Grandma and Rylee had so much fun the days we were in the hospital, we are so grateful for her help with Rye. The two of them have played, read books, colored, shopped, and read more books. We were so relaxed not having to worry about Rylee and how she was behaving and what she was doing, we knew she was in great hands. Since we have been home Grandma has continued to help us with cooking meals, doing dishes, playing with Rye, helping with Nolan and lots, lots more. We know what a sacrifice it was for her to be away from Grandpa Rick for the first time on Christmas and her parents and the other family in Texas, but we must say we feel very lucky and grateful for her. We are going to savor these last few days until Grandma heads back home. Thank you!
** Photo Credit: The top picture of Grandma was taken by Rylee with her new digital camera she got for Christmas, I think she did a pretty good job.**

Adjusting

We have all been adjusting to the many changes that Nolan brings and so far things are going well, but we do still have Grandma Kathi's help. Nolan has been very sleepy lately, seeing his eyes is very unusual but we know soon enough he will be keeping us up. Rylee is having fun with Grandma still, and loving having Daddy home everyday this week to play with. She loves to hold her brother and does pretty well, we just need to be there to save his face from so many loves. Here are a few pics from the past few days, we have just been relaxing and playing.

Christmas

Santa stopped by our house during Rylee's nap and boy did she get lucky. After waking up we had her come straight down to see her stocking and Santa presents. I think we could have been done with the stocking stuffers, but of course there were many more presents to open. Her favorite present all day has been the lipstick that came with her purse in her stocking, she puts it on probably once a minute. Santa brought her a digital camera to take pictures of Nolan and also brought her some new bath toys. After Santa presents and stocking we tried to get her to open the rest of her presents, but of course she is two so it didn't go quite that smooth. She would open a present and then want that present opened so she could play with it. We tried for awhile to get her to sit and open, but eventually we just gave in and started getting the toys out. We took a break in the middle of opening presents for dinner and we got a much more animated little girl back. There are more pictures to come from Grandma Kathi's camera, I feel asleep while Rylee finished opening presents so we missed a few on our camera.

Nolan's Home

Rylee was so excited to have us home, she came running to the back door to meet all of us. Grandma had done Rylee's hair so that she looked like a present, and we thought it was so cute. She could not stop talking about Baby Nolan. She wanted to take him out so bad, but we figured he was safer strapped in the car-seat for a little bit. She did get to help Daddy hold him before she went down for her nap.

Hospital Day 3

Today was the big day, we came home! We woke up and wanted to get out as quickly as we could to get home to Grandma Kathi and Rylee. After getting checked out by the doctors, we got Nolan dressed and loaded into the car-seat and headed home!

Hospital Day 2

Wednesday was a day full of visitors, and we were so grateful for all of them. The morning started with Grandma Kathi, Aunt Karlie, Rylee and the cousins coming for a short visit. The nurses had Nolan in the nursery monitoring him for a bit, so we just took the kids to the window and let them look at him that way (probably safer for Nolan). After our quick visit from the family Nolan, Daddy and Mommy all took great naps! The evening was full of fun and visitors. Dan, Lauren and Baby James came down to meet Nolan, and we had such a fun time holding the boys next to each other, we couldn't believe how big James looked all of the sudden. While they were there Grandma and Rylee came back to play for the evening, always a fun time. Our last visitors of the evening was Rylee's best friend Tay-Tay and family. Kynna, Tay-Tay's sister, is determined that Nolan will be her best friend, not Tay-Tay, so she scooped him right up and was so good with him. We are so grateful for our good friends, the time they took to come visit, and the presents and treats they brought us.

He's Here!

Nolan DeLaney is here! Our Little Christmas Present came yesterday afternoon at 3.15, weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs, 2 oz, and is 19 inches long. He has big blue eyes (not pictured here) and just a touch of strawberry in his hair.

Krissa was amazing. I think she may have gone for a run last night if the nurses would have let her. But she's making her way up and down the hallways--not one to sit still. Credit the mom with making one cute kid.

More pics will surely follow. Thank you all for your calls, texts and visits. Have a very Merry Christmas! --m.

UPDATE: Rylee came with Grandma Kathi and is SO proud of her little brother. (She was also excited to get her Jungle Book toys for being so good with Grandma all day.) Nolan's tummy hurts today--probably acid reflux already. They're getting him fixed up.

Playing in the Snow

We have had a few snow storms here and there so far this winter, but we are having a big one now so I let Rylee bundle up and go outside for a bit last night. Daddy was breaking in a new Christmas present, his snow blower, and Rylee and I took a walk up and down the driveway. She wasn't too interested in throwing it or playing in it yet, I think she was just trying to figure out what it was exactly! She was doing great until Daddy started the snow blower, it scared her and she was ready to come back inside. Her snow clothes kept her really warm, so I was excited about that. Even I put on my snow clothes, amazingly my snow coat still zips!

Christmas Pictures

For about two weeks Rylee has been talking about going to sit on Santa's lap and telling him about the new bath toy she would like. I figured since we had to go to the mall I could get her Christmas pictures taken too. Santa was a great bribe during her pictures. She listened so well to the photographer and would do everything she asked. The best part is when the photographer was trying to get her to smile, you know the goofy noisy and stuff, Rylee gave her a look like you are crazy lady. I looked at Rylee asked her to smile and here is the outcome. The photographer was like, "Oh wow she is great!" As if it was always so easy, right?!
From pictures we headed over to see Santa. She was so excited on the walk over, and then she saw Santa. All of the sudden I had a two year old clinging to my body with everything she had. I looked down and she had the most terrified look on her face. I scooped her up and tried to explain that it was Santa and she wanted to sit on his lap--out came the finger nails! She gripped my neck and would not let go. It was then I decided we did not need a Santa picture this year! :) I am very happy we took studio pictures prior to visiting Santa.

Daddy's Girl

Rylee wore her Christmas dress to church this week, just in case we don't make it next week, and it was too cute not to get some pictures of. I tried to get some individuals with her, but she would only let Daddy hold her and take pictures with her. The two of them had a good time posing and taking pictures together.

Mystery Package

This evening after returning home from a fun night with Tay-Tay and family, there was a large package on our front porch. I went and grabbed it and saw it was from Enfamil. I figured it was a Welcome Baby package, with a little formula, some magazine, maybe a diaper bag, etc, but I was wrong. The package was rather heavy and when I opened it I found 48 two-ounce cans of ready to use formula. I was confused because this is a lot of formula, rather expensive, and I could not believe a company would give this much away. All I had done for Enfamil was fill out a little please send me offers and samples card at the doctors office, but hey I will take it. I told Matt I feel like I need to send Enfamil a thank you card!

Nolan's Room

I have been working on getting Nolan's room decorated and it is done, minus the pictures in the frames and the "O" in his name. The "O" is on back order until January, so hopefully we will have it soon. The baseball picture frame is right next to the door when you walk in, the changing table is straight ahead, and the crib is to your left. Rylee loves the baby room and looking at his clothes, but today she wanted to try out the babies bed. I can't believe how big she looks in the crib.
Check out that poor little nose in the pics, Rylee had her first good wipe out last night. We had just finished dinner with Grandma and Papa and Rylee was running from them to catch up with Daddy and me, and she face-planted on the sidewalk. Luckily it is just a scrape on her nose, but I was planning Christmas photos today so we postponed those.

Nolan's Baby Shower

That is right we actually picked a name, we didn't want to be sitting in the hospital trying to leave and still trying to decide. So when I was decorating the nursery we took it as a chance to pick a name, and we decided on Nolan.
This weekend my friend Cyd had a baby shower for me. It was so much fun. The shower was nice and small just some close friends and my Mom. Grandpa Steve took Rylee shopping when the shower started, but he said all she could talk about was coming back to see Cyd's baby. After a quick trip to OshKosh with Papa, they were back. Rylee came running into the room looking for Luke, and then proceeded to hold him, hug him and kiss him. Luckily he is quite used to it from his brother and sister. This picture is when he was about done with getting Rylee love.
We played some fun games and got some terrific presents. Rylee even got a present. Her best friend "Tay-Tay" and family made Rylee and Nolan both bath towels, they are so cute. They also gave Rylee a Big Sister book, which Grandma and I both have memorized from reading all weekend. Thanks Cyd for a fun morning with great friends.

Papa "Teve"

Rylee and I got to the airport early enough to go in and meet Grandma and Papa at the exit of security. I had to hold her back from running through security to look for Papa, but the minute she saw him come around the corner she took off. She did the same when Grandma came out of security too, but of course my batteries were dead in my camera. This is the only video I got at the airport.

Climbing the Ladder

At gymnastics Rylee did a terrific job climbing on a ladder. I was quite impressed. I tried to help her and she was like, "no, no mama," so I let her go. She was a little slow and hesitant at first, but then she took off and was climbing like crazy. She is really enjoying gymnastics and she is getting more and more used to the exercises each time. We have gotten her a leotard for Christmas, so she will be looking the part soon too.