Project 52: week twenty-six

December 15-21

 

On Sunday we celebrated Jackson's 3rd birthday!! It was a gorgeous day to have a party at the park. 

 

Pinata fun!!

Even Colt made it to the party at 5 days old! He did wonderful all snug with mommy:)

Love this picture of her!

Sunday evening mommy and daddy have 'date night on the couch' (this was given the name by Raelynn) and after the kids go to bed we always have pizza and either watch a movie or play a game together.  This Sunday was a little different because we made homemade pizza, so Raelynn had a lot of fun rolling the dough and placing the toppings on it.

Colt is doing great and spending a lot of time in the bouncer.  He loves the vibration and this is where he is happiest (other than being held, of course!)

These two get along SO well.  Just makes me smile.  Elliana was pushing this around and Declan came and sat on it:)

love love love this picture of my three boys:)

Yes, it is a busy time of year with having a newborn and being Christmas.  But that couldn't stop us from making some memories of making cut out cookies! We decided to do the cheater method this year and use premade dough and premade frosting--made it so simple!

Declan and Elliana LOVE looking at the Christmas lights.  Every morning Declan would go downstairs and go to each of the trees and point until we turned them on.  Then at night he would go to the door and want to go outside to look at our house and the neighbors.  They both would say 'whoa' and 'wow' every time they saw them.  We went on a drive to look at lights one night.  We ended the drive sitting on Kyle and Ashley's front porch swing (even though they weren't home!) to watch their neighbors' lights--4 houses with 55,000 lights all tuned to music.  It is so cool!

Thankfully this guy slept the whole time so we could enjoy the lights:)

Raelynn took her doll up on our 'changing table' all by herself and started to put a diaper on her:)

 

He's Here! He's Here!

Colt Michael Frazey
Born December 10, weighing 10 pounds 1 ounce and 21.75 inches long

His expected due date was November 29.  Of course, "they" say that a baby isn't really 'late' until two weeks after the due date.  But boy, it sure is hard to wait for them to come once that due date passes!  The OB was fine with waiting, though she was fine with inducing as well.  I knew I wanted to wait until at least a week after--thinking there was no way he would really wait that long! 
But he did.  So I scheduled to be induced on Monday, December 9. (we actually had an appointment for Tuesday but they wanted me to change it to Monday, so we did.) The appointment was for 3pm. 
At 2pm the phone rang and they said it was the hospital calling regarding my appointment. I freaked, thinking I was late!  But they were calling to tell me there was no bed available for me and we'd have to just wait for a phone call....
Fast forward to 9pm and no phone call.  I was having some contractions.  Mimi and Papa were at the house, thinking they were going to need to spend the night but since we hadn't received a phone call yet, we didn't know what to do.  Should they stay or go? Could we get a call at 2am to go in? We just didn't know.
So I called the hospital.  They said I was next up to be called and they definitely were going to be calling me that night, so to just come in at 10pm.
Now to make this a long story short....I was having contractions but they slowed down after a while.  I was dialated to 5cm when I arrived at the hospital.  I had to have the dose of penicillin before delivering, which takes 4 hours.  So they didn't start Pitocin until 3:30am.  It started slow, then they up it every 30 minutes (so there went my last full night sleep for um....a long time). At 6:30am the doctor broke my water.  Contractions got real hard real fast.  7am I got the epidural (I knew going in I wasn't going to be a super hero this time around! I had learned from my last two deliveries that my body just needs that epidural to not fight against itself. ) It only took 2 hard contractions for me to say I think it was time for the epidural. I was nervous to get it so early because I knew I could handle hard labor for a while because I had done  it in the past.  But I also knew that my body wouldn't get any further in progression, so I didn't want to wait. 
At 7:30am I thought I was going to die.  Maybe an exaggeration...but not really.  There were times I had to open my eyes just to make sure I still could.  My epidural had numbed my throat and face and I couldn't swallow and felt like I couldn't breath.  Very scary feeling.  Blood pressure dropped and I got a fancy schmancy oxygen mask to wear.  Oh, I threw up too.  How could I forget that!?
Finally a bit later (felt like a long time, but I honestly have no idea how long it was) I started to feel better.  They think it happened because I was laid on my back too flat for too long so the epidural spread to my upper body. It was awful and I was so happy when I could finally see straight again.
Then they finally checked me again and I was further dialated, I think to about a 7.  So then I hung out on the peanut ball for a while on each side.  Next thing I know the doctor comes in and checks me and says "Yep, let's try it."  I couldn't believe it was time!!!  Both of the other deliveries were over 24 hours of labor and several shifts of nurses. This time around felt so fast! It was really a breeze compared to the others.  Epidural, as awful as you treated me this time around, you really are my best friend:)
So the 'push playlist' started and about 40 minutes later our son was born! He entered this world to the theme song from Rocky (Gonna Fly Now). 
Here are some pictures:)

Holding Colt for the first time

Yeah, he was pretty blue.  But he got a 9 on the apgar! :) And he isn't blue anymore;)

So thankful for my husband--no doubt he is the best labor coach! And I think he was pretty happy he didn't even have to give me any massages or tell me how to breath this time around.

There he is--all ten pounds!

Our family of six

 

Raelynn and Declan meeting their brother

 

Grandparents and family that arrived just after Colt's birth

 

 

Found his thumb!



Project 52: week twenty-five

December 8-14 

(written on December 28!)

 

So I'm a bit behind....but hopefully I am not going to let myself get too far behind!  The camera is coming out less and less the more kids we add, so it should be easy to keep the posts short and to the point:)

 

 

We celebrated Papa's birthday this week while we were together.  (Actual birthday is December 18) And he is sharing his fancy cookies and cream cupcake with the kids!

Mimi took Raelynn to her first movie theater experience! She was packed with a sucker and prepared to buy popcorn to help Raelynn sit still (she doesn't really sit still to watch movies at home!)  but she didn't even need to use them.  Raelynn sat through the whole movie "Frozen".  She had so much fun on her special date with Mimi.

 

These silly kids having fun at home.....

 

 

 

 

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday at 3pm. We had to get one last picture of us with the 3 kids before we put them down for nap and headed to the hospital.  (little did we know, the hospital called at 2pm and told me there was not a bed available for me! We ended up going in at 10pm instead)

 

 

December 9, 2013--10 days past the expected due date

 

On December 10, 2013 at 12:03pm, our lives changed yet again! We welcomed our second son and fourth child into the world.  All praise and glory to God, the giver of life.

Colt Michael weighed 10 lbs 1 oz and was 21.75 inches long.

look at those giant hands!

 

After Colt was born, both sets of grandparents and other family members came to visit and meet the newest Frazey. 

Our family of SIX!

We opted to stay in the hospital for the full two days:)  It was so nice to have that special time with Colt just holding him and getting to know him. We had a few visitors as well.

trying to get another photo with all of us the next day

my kiddos:)

Enjoyed lots of cuddles--the nurse even told me they "look down upon co-sleeping" because I had fallen asleep with him on my chest at one point.  HAHA.  I'm definitely not a co-sleeper once we get home, but I was taking full advantage of all this cuddle time I could get in the hospital:)

On Thursday we headed home...

greeted by the excited siblings

Everyone wanted a turn to hold the new baby....

Then we said good-bye to Mimi and Papa because they were flying home early the next day.

 

 

Friday Colt had his first visit to the pediatrician. His height and weight were in the 95% (he had dropped a few pounds since birth) and his head was in the 50%.  We think that is what makes him seem so much smaller than Declan did, even though he was only 5 oz. less than him.  His head is so tiny!

 

 

Friday we also went to see Santa at the community center in our neighborhood.

 On Saturday, we celebrated Adele's 2nd birthday party via Facetime!! So thankful for technology!!

 

 

 

 

 Colt also got his first bath on Saturday! The kids enjoyed watching it. He did really well--hardly cried!

Snug as a bug after his bath:)

 On Saturday, we had project family Christmas picture with the Frazey family.  It went quite smoothly, considering we had a 4 day old baby and 3 kids up past their bed time to accomplish this mission.  It was so nice to be able to get a family photo with the kids' matching outfits!

 

 

Project 52: week twenty-four

December 1-7

Baby brother is still comfy cozy in mama's belly.  He was 9lbs 13oz (at best estimate) at an ultrasound this week.  He has also surpassed his brother's late arrival, which was 4 days after due date.  So I think he is just already starting the competition and wants to weigh more than Declan too.  But let's hope I'm wrong!!!  (Declan was 10lbs 6oz!)

Sunday Snapshot:

It's December!!  We can wear our pretty Christmas colors!:)

We had Mimi snap a quick family picture, too! We barely fit on the bench though!

Mimi and Raelynn have been baking this week.  Banana bread, brownies, and cookie dough. (yes, just the dough:)

Mimi and the girls!

 Miss Elliana has been here with us FIVE months! She's rockin' her 'made in Ethiopia' shirt and love that we had a headband to match!

She is still doing well.  She is pulling herself up now!! Not super consistent, but she has done it a lot.
Problem is she doesn't like to stand too long and can't figure out how to get down. So she stands against the couch-or wherever she is-and whines.  She is still pretty whiney about a lot of things, actually.  We have to remember that emotionally she isn't at the 12 month stage--which is hard to remember because she is there with all of her other developments.
She is now eating SO well.  Sleeping through the night--almost 12 hours!!! :) 

watching Daddy mow the grass:)

We celebrated Christmas a little early since Mimi and Papa leave on the 13th to go home. 

 

 

 

Raelynn pushing Declan around on "Elliana's" new toy.