Lots of Pics!

He is the best thing with her!

On Monday she met the horses for the first time. Well, she slept while Jason attempted to get some good pics of horses that really don't care about much. Only one of the horses sniffed her, the others were like, "Yah, we get to just stand here!"

This child cracks me up! He makes me belly laugh all the time, which is not fun when you just had a c section. But the other night after he and Hoss got finished riding the 4 wheeler, he wanted to go hang out with Hoss so off he went. Dad made them eggs (that's about the only thing he can cook), and while they were eating Hudson said he needed to go pee. Well, 99% of the time that's just an excuse to get down. This was the 1%. Before Dad could get him to where he could use the bathroom, it was too late. So this is what my Dad came up with! Silk Santa Claus boxers (who knows how deep he had to dig in his drawer to find these things!). He pinned the waist mulitiple times and actually had them fitting H's tiny waist! When he come in I just started laughing, he looked like he had on MC Hammer pants!

My 3 favorite people!

If only she would sleep this good at night! She sleeps all day and then around 1:00 a.m. she wakes up and finally goes back to sleep sometime between 4-5:00. If she drifts off in between 1-5, as soon as I lay her down she's back up and wanting to be held. But during the day she's out like a light!

Things are going well at the Carney house, other than lack of sleep, which we expected! Tonight we will be watching Ratatoulli when the boys get home from church because Hudson has all his smiley faces on his chart! Can't wait for them to get home and cuddle with my little man. My sweet girl is sleeping right next to me. I can't let her out of my sight, and most of the time I don't let her out of my arms! What a blessing these two are! I'm looking forward to the weekend, gonna get out a little for the Fall Festival at church on Saturday and then church and trick or treating on Sunday. I've missed church so much and I'm ready to get back in the routine. I'm desperate to get to moving more. I can't wait to start working out again and riding horses! I'd go do it right now if I didn't think Jason would kill me. But I'm sure it's a good thing that I'm sitting on the couch now. Yesterday I cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry, etc. and wasn't feeling to good by the time I got in bed. Seems when I do too much, fluid builds up around my incision. So for now I'm gonna just dream of loping circles in my arena, trail rides, and burning the tread off my running shoes!

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!

A few more pics...

I have hundreds of pictures to go through, but here are a few more. You can tell she has one happy big brother. And she is amazing! She had an upset tummy last night but thankfully it's now much better. Other than that things have been great. We are so ready to come home. Tomorrow morning we should be discharged. I'm so excited to see my own bed and shower! When we get home and I have time I will post some more pics and tell a little more about these past few days.

Let me close by saying that she is so worth all the nausea, tiredness, and other joys I had carrying her around. And I have an awesome husband. He has went above and beyond husband duties.

Hollynn Nicole

Hollynn Nicole Carney (middle name after Casey:) 8.2 lbs. and 19 3/4 in. long. Chubby cheeks and too sweet. I was sick afterwards and had to stay in recovery for an extra 2 hours but other than that it was great! We still have visitors so I'll post more tomorrow. I have tons of pics of family holding her and of her and I should have fun tomorrow.

Hudson was all smiles :) Loves his sister!

Loved touching her nose.

Full Heart and Mind

Above: Two years ago we held our little man for the first time!
Below: What a difference! He loves shaving with his Daddy!

Two years ago already? It doesn't seem like it. I just got finished looking back at a lot of the pics of our first trip. I wouldn't have believed you if you would have told me the wild man we have now would come out of that little boy who had a deer in the headlights look. To say he is a blessing is an understatement. I've been thinking so much about how planned and meant for us he is. Looking back at the hand of God blows me away. I get to tell both of my kids, God has such big plans for you! He meant you for our family even when Jason and I had no clue what was going on!

I've managed to keep busy this week. I was afraid this was going to be such a long week for us as we anticipated tomorrow. But Monday was fun as H and I went to the movies and had lunch together. Tuesday was pretty low key although I did get a pedicure (thanks to Mollie and Laura:). We also got hair cuts and my eyebrows waxed. Hudson was so funny getting his hair cut. The lady would say, "You are such a good boy!" And he would say, "Yes, I am!" And he was so concerned when I was getting my eyebrows waxed. He was rubbing my arm saying, "It's okay Mom, they are just tweezers!" Yesterday was pretty routine with church and errands. It was also my Granny Head's 85th birthday, love that lady, she is so special. All Hudson wanted to know was if he could sing to her. We got over there late because of church and even though half of the cake was gone, they stuck the candle back in and he sang away! Today Jason has to bid a job this morning then the three of us are going to the park to play. Although Jason is spending the day with us, nap time is all about him cleaning up the backporch. He has mountains of books/paperwork to go through! And I'm going to spend that time finishing up with some cleaning, too. Then all we should have left to do is tackle the barn. Gonna be sure all water troughs are full and put out rolled hay so no one has to worry about putting hay out for the weekend. I already miss going down to the barn and I haven't even got to that point yet!

So there's our week in a nut shell. And tomorrow is the big day. I feel ready and excited! If you think about it, please pray for us especially around 8:00, if everything goes as planned that's when it should start. I plan on Jason posting tomorrow afternoon after things settling down, so be sure to check back then. I already have the camera in the car with a full battery :) So lots of pics headed your way!

Honeysuckle Hill Farm

The slide was definitely his favorite!

He was watching Jason come down the slide.

We ran into Lindy and she walked around with us some :)

Jason seemed to enjoy the slide too!

Like we don't have sand and dump trucks at the barn! This is what he had to do several times!

The cow train!

Seriously, Mom!

"HEY MOM!"

Today we went to Honeysuckle Hill Farm. I'm not sure who was in need of a nap more when we left, me or Hudson! And Jason actually went with us! I got him thinking when I told him this is our last few days just the three of us and we need to do some fun things together. So he agreed to go as long as he could get back to go work a little this afternoon. But I think he had as much fun as Hudson :) I'm so glad he went, too, because I couldn't have done a lot of the things with H. I think if I would have glued on a few feathers they would have stuck me in the duck races the way I waddled around that place!


I have such mixed emotions about this being the last week of just me and Hudson everyday. I'm so bored since I stopped working on Tuesday, that I've been trying to find fun stuff for us to do that won't just wear me out. We have our daily routines of riding the 4 wheeler, going to Uncle Charles' to check out all the equipment, and hanging with Meemaw, but I'm still bored! Friday night we went to Rivergate and got Hollynn's sheets (this was the last thing on my list to get for her) and went out to eat for the last time for a while. I picked Red Lobster and totally regretted it last night because I ate so much I could hardly sleep! Today was the Farm place and Monday I'm taking him to the movies. I'm sure we'll do the park one day and I'll find us some other stuff to get into but this next week is all about Hudson and Mom! Just us two hanging out, doing our own thing during the day because after next Thursday night he'll have to share and I'm sure he'll be a great big brother, but I'm not so sure how he'll do sharing me!

As far as my Dr.'s appointment, nothing has changed. So far no one has went into labor that is scheduled for Thursday so I'm still down for Friday at 8:00. She said she would have her out within 10 min. which is exciting, I can make it through 10 min.! Then I'll be so distracted by her I won't even know what's going on. After the surgery is done I go to recovery for 2 hours and Jason will stay with me and one other person can come back there at a time. Unfortunately Hudson is too little to come into recovery so he will have to wait until after those few hours when they move me to a post partum room then whoever and however many can come in. There are a few things I'm looking forward to the most. #1 of course is meeting my baby girl. #2 is a tie between watching her Daddy's face when he sees her for the first time and watching her big brother meet her. We are going to be sure it's just us 4 in there (Aunt Casey will be in there too, but she'll be totally out of the way with the camera). It will be great to have those first moments together as a family of 4! There's one other thing I'm really looking forward to but you'll have to wait until next Friday to hear about it! And of course I can't wait to see the grandparents and all our family see her. I always loved going to see all my little 2nd cousins when they were born, now they get to come see mine :)

Date/Time

I cannot say thank you enough for all of the encouraging words I've been receiving. I felt like such a dork for putting myself out there and saying I needed lots of positive affirmation right now but it's worked. I'm more confident in labor now than I have been from the day I found out I was pregnant. So for all the e-mails, comments, phone calls, etc. THANK YOU SO MUCH, it has really helped!

I am scheduled for next Friday, Oct. 15th at 8:00 a.m. However, if one of the ladies who is scheduled for the 14th goes early, I am first on the list to take her spot. So it will be either next Thurs. or Fri. Which seems so close yet so far away. At this point, I'm just ready to see her!

We've got Hudson very excited about his weekend with Aunt Casey. We are anticipating some anxiety on his part since he's already shown some but now I'm thinking he's going to want me to have a baby every weekend so he can go do fun stuff with Aunt Casey. I guess this is a good time of year since there are several places around here doing the fall festival type stuff and he wants to go to the park, etc. I have a feeling little in shape Casey may be a little worn out after next weekend!

I worked my last day yesterday, for a while. I plan on starting training again in Jan. but will not be teaching lessons until March. The girls are still going to ride until Dec. but they are going to be doing trail rides instead of lessons. I'm sure they will enjoy just relaxing (I'm sure the horses won't complain either :), plus, what a great time of year to do some trail riding!

I have to tell you about the surprise shower at church. I always talk about how awesome Bethel ladies are, well, last Wed. they threw me a shower that I had no clue about. It was awesome, almost made me a little teary eyed! And they have a diapers/wipes basket set up for us in the vestibule. I was so humbled on the way home the other night. We have diapers and wipes running out our ears but I hear we are going to need them and lots of them! This will really help us out, those things are expensive!

Well, I'm back to the Dr. tomorrow with a list of questions! I'll try to do better on updating quicker than I have been.

No Pic but Lots to Tell

Sorry I didn't update last Friday or earlier this week but I was waiting for my appointment today to find out some news. What I did not want to happen has come true, but I've had a week to prepare myself mentally...I have to have a c section. She told me last Friday that my pelvis was not at a good angle and that we may need to discuss other options. Thankfully Jason was at that appointment with me and I managed to hold it all together until I got to the parking lot then I cried all the way home. But we didn't want to share until it was official. After another exam today, she said it's what is best. So we are now just waiting to hear from Baptist to confirm the date and get a time. We are hoping for the 14th but if not it will be the 15th. I had originally thought that Jason's fall break started on the 12th but was wrong, it's the 14th, so this works out better for him. So, as long as I don't go into labor before then, hopefully it will be the 14th. That's also the same day two years ago that I held my first baby for the very first time!



My c section fears are probably crazy to most people, but if you read my last post you know how I feel about any sort of human blood or grossness, it just sends me over the edge into this horribly queezy light headed state. I'm just scared of lying there wide awake knowing they are cutting into me, even though I won't see it. The other thing is the recovery, which is longer and rougher. My family keeps reassuring me, "You're tough." Well, duh! I'm joking of course, but it's not that I don't think I can handle the pain, etc. It's that I don't know how I'm going to handle having to be so careful and all that laying around at first. This pregnancy has just about driven me nuts because I haven't been able to up and do all the things I used to do. I'm a go getter and sitting still is awful on me, this is why I hate to fish! Plus a c section will take me a little longer to get back in the saddle and into exercising.


I talked to a friend that I knew would not be discouraging to me on Wed. night that has had 2 c sections and she made me feel much better. I totally agree with her that I surround myself with positive, encouraging people over these next 13 days. Why are women so into freaking out other women with their labor stories, I have no idea, but I want no part of them when it comes to this. I have already been freaked out enough by some people, which is the main reason I was so worried about labor in the first place. So...I've been trying to think of all the great things from c section...
*She shouldn't have a cone head.
*It's quick. They said once they get me in the operating room she's out in less than 45 min.
*Women have them everyday and do just fine.
*I won't have to worry about any tearing, etc.
*My Meemaw will hang out with me when I get home :) She's the only one I want washing my dirty clothes!
*I'm surrounded by great people who will be more than willing to help me out, now I've got to get my pride out of the way and let them help me out!
*Hudson loves to lay with me and me read him books, so looks like I'll have plenty of time to read to him!

Okay, if you can think of anything else positive for me to focus on, please, leave me a comment. If it's not positive then keep it to yourself! :)