Individual Updates

Hollynn Nicole: Has it been a week already? She is doing great! Other than not letting her mom sleep at night. She sleeps all day and is up all night. The most sleep I got was a little over 3 hrs. The other nights were none, 25 min., 1 1/2 hrs. But come morning she is fast asleep! We have been to the pediatrician twice. The Dr.'s at Baptist heard a heart murmur 2 days after she was born and it concerned them b/c typically they hear one at birth then it goes away but she was opposite so they wanted us to see our pediatrician as soon as we could. Thankfully when we took her it was gone, he even had another dr. come in to listen and neither of them could hear anything. But she had lost too much weight, double what she should have. My milk was a little late coming in and Dr. Prine said the reason she was so fussy at night was probably because she couldn't get her tummy full. So I fed her like crazy for two days and she went from 7.1 to 7.8, so we are good to go! I want to be sure everyone knows how to pronounce her name because several people want to call her Holly Lynn like it's two seperate words, but it's pronounced just like Holland, just without the "d" and I spelled it a little more girly. My big suprise was that her middle name is after my sister. I got to tell her while I was in recovery. Of course we were both in tears. Jason was totally in charge of the middle name and he had it picked out for months we just told everyone he hadn't made his mind up. I couldn't believe it when he told me it was to be Nicole. Out of all the names he could have picked, he picked Casey's, makes me want to cry all over again!

Jason: The pic. above is his favorite picture, this is within a few min. of her being born. I'm pretty sure he is completely wrapped around those long little fingers of hers! He has informed me on several ocassions that she was going to be a daddy's girl! I love listening to him talk to her. The other day I could hear him telling her, "Daddy just loves kissing your cheeks, they are just like your Mama's, and I love kissing her cheeks too!" He has had many new jobs since she came along. He is constantly making sure I'm not doing too much. He has washed a few loads of clothes and even started the dishwasher the other night, after asking me if he was suposed to take the plastic off the soap that goes in! He's been fantastic, I'm seriously blessed!

First time holding her on his own. Ignore her outfit, it was way too big!

Hudson Luke: I love looking at the pics of us all together for the first time, he was so happy! He is a GREAT big brother. He talks to Hollynn all the time and is so concerned if she cries. He loves to rub her head. We have seen him throw a few fits and act out a little but I'm thinking it was more going 4 days without us and getting a little spoiled than being jelous. I'm sure to get our cuddle time in everyday but it breaks my heart when he wants me to hold him and I can't pick him up. So I try to sit and let him very carefully get in my lap. He has a chart for good behavior and when he gets all his smiley faces he gets to watch How to Train Your Dragon, we are trying to be really positive with him and give him lots of smiley faces and so far it's working. Other than the other night our preacher and his wife stopped by and H had been in no trouble all day and when she came in he decided to talk back to his dad and got in trouble and then threw the biggest fit we've ever seen him throw! Not embarrasing at all!

Jason was the best photographer, capturing my first seconds holding her.

Me: Other than being sleep deprived and having a c section 7 days ago, I feel better than I've felt in almost 10 months. I can't even begin to tell you what a toll being pregnant took on me mentally and emotionally. People have said I would feel crazy for the first few months after she was born but so far, I feel more normal than I have in forever! Guess my normal is just crazy! I'm actually cutting up and happy like my old self and have more energy. I am emotional, but it's all at happy stuff. I cry during songs, especially ones about Jesus. I was so cold while I was pregnant, I feel like I'm falling in love with Him all over again, I know it sounds weird, but hey, surely you've figured out by now that I'm weird! The section was not as bad as I thought it would be. Other than getting sick in the OR and recovery, the worse part is when I sneeze or laugh really hard. And last night I had the giggles and me and Jason couldn't stop laughing, it was not a good feeling. I wish I could bend over and pick up things, Hudson especially. Jason takes us all out every afternoon to get me out of the house. We get in my car and go driving around the farm so I can see my horses and just be outside for a while. I cannot wait to get back to being able to go on afternoon walks with Hudson and go hang out at the barn! I feel like I could do that stuff already but Jason says no, I'm sure he's right since I have a tendency to overdo everything. Everone has commented on how much Hollynn looks like me, and the other night we looked through my baby book. If you couldn't tell the pics of me were 27 years old, you wouldn't be able to tell us apart! She definitely has her Mama's cheeks and nose!