Declan Michael

Declan Michael Lewis was born Tuesday, November 29, at 11:45 p.m., weighing in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 21 in. long.

 All throughout this pregnancy, I have been hoping to have a VBAC.  I did not want to have another c-section. I had been experiencing symptoms of early labor for several weeks (none of which I had with Anabelle's pregnancy). Then, on Tuesday afternoon, around 4:30, my water broke!  We were so excited and loaded up, dropped Anabelle off at a friend's, and headed to the hospital. The contractions picked up with major intensity and frequency once my water broke, and were about 3-4 minutes apart. I was able to get my epidural around 6:30, giving me some much needed relief. The contractions were 2-3 min. apart, but not all of them had a break to rest in between. I was dilated to a 4-5 at this point. An hour later they checked me again and I was still the same, so they gave me a little pitocin. Within another hour and a half, I was an 8!  About 2 hours after that I was a 10 and almost ready to push. They got everything ready and called the Dr. in. I pushed for about a half hour before he made his way into the world. Mike was so wonderful the entire time, rooting me on and telling me how well I was doing, informing me of the progress. He made it all so much easier.  I also had an amazing nurse, who took such wonderful care of me and helped coach me through everything. Then, Declan was here. He was so perfect.  I did it!  I was so relieved, and so filled with joy. What a beautiful experience.

Happy Daddy!  I neglected to mention previously that Mike began feeling sick Tuesday.  While I was in labor, he was running a 101.4 degree fever and had contracted the flu.  He had to wear a mask when Declan was born and the whole time he was at the hospital with us (although he took it off for a few pictures).  Poor guy.  Horrible timing.  Mike has been such an amazing help though, taking care of Anabelle, Declan, me, and everything around the house since Declan was born.  He's finally feeling all better :)

He is such a sweet boy.

And he loves to cuddle :)

Anabelle LOVES her baby brother and is very sweet to him.  She is a very helpful big sister

and she loves to give him kisses

and his toy

Such cute kiddos

Oh, how we love our sweet Declan boy :)

I have been recovering.  It's nice to be home.  All in all, we were at the hospital less than 48 hours.  I could finally get some (almost) uninterrupted rest. I have been very sore, but it is getting better daily.  I tore a bit (which I was really hoping to avoid) and am recovering from a small hematoma , but what can ya do?  I am on the mend and will hopefully be able to be up and moving around like normal in a few days. But I am a very happy Mama :)

Savannah, GA

We have been wanting to make a trip to Savannah, Georgia, for quite a while (especially considering it's only 2 hours away). Well, we finally did, on our way home from our Florida trip.  We had a lot of fun, got to see some cool sites, ate lunch at a delicious Southern buffet, and stopped at Bass Pro Shops (one of Mike's favorite places).
We stopped to look at this amazing cathedral.

 The inside was so intricate and beautiful

 Along the Riverwalk

 In front of the Capital Building

War Memorial

 "Occupy Wall Street" protesters

 At the restaurant, called "The Pirates' House"

 Making our Pirate faces

 This is the buffet, though you can't see much.  They had, as Mike put it, the MOST AMAZING FRIED CHICKEN EVER!!  It was pretty darn good.  Their mashed potatoes were awesome, as well as their biscuits, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, etc.  There was so much food I can't remember it all.  But it was well worth the stop.

 They had some pretty sweet decor

 More along the riverwalk

 Go Navy!

 And, amazingly, Anabelle slept the entire way home :)

 So cute

We had a fun vacation and really enjoyed seeing Savannah and its history.  We have been able to tour a lot of cities along the east coast this past year, and it has been so neat.  Each place is different and has its own unique feel and history.  We sure do live in an amazing country.

Baby's room and our cute little Ani-Bear!

I have finally completed our baby boy's room.  I've been working on getting it all put together for a while now.    It took me so long because of many different factors.  First, I had to find fabric that I liked, which proved to be nearly impossible!  I know this sounds sad, but Hancocks and Walmart, you do not satisfy my fabric palate.  I found the fabric at Joann's when we visited Florida last month.  I coordinated the colors and paintings around the fabrics (all displayed in the curtains and bedskirt).   So, in conjunction with announcing our baby's name to those who don't already know, here are the paintings I created for his room:

 I had a lot of fun creating these.  Maybe I'll do some more sometime.

 Here are the curtains.  They did not end up how I originally intended them to be.  I found upon getting home from our Florida trip and beginning the project that I only had about half as much as I really needed.  So I had to get creative and piece it all together.  I do like how it turned out though.

 A little closer up

 I even painted the knobs of the tie-backs to match :)

 Here is the coordinating bedskirt I sewed.

 And the completed room, all ready for baby Declan, whenever he may choose to join us.  Hopefully soon :)

And just because she is so fun and cute (and I haven't been posting enough about her lately),

Having so much fun playing in the leaves!!

Quilting

I have recently started quilting a bit.  I made this first blanket for my wonderful friend Jessica, who's having a baby girl about a month after I'm due.  I finished it off with a brown binding (and then forgot to take pics).  I like it :)  It was a fun one to make.  I used old receiving blankets (that I don't think I even used) from when Ani was a baby.

 This one is for some friends of ours from Florida, having their 5th baby, and first girl!  I love how it turned out, especially with the blue satin binding.  It's non-traditional girl colors are so cute!

 Some more detail, with the back of the quilt showing

 This one is for my sister Laura's baby.  I made it out of receiving blankets.  It turned out so soft and cuddly.  I'm so glad I could learn how to quilt a little bit :)

Maternity Shots

I have always wanted to have some really sweet maternity shots taken.  My belly never really gets big enough to feel justified in paying someone else to do it.  Well, yesterday I decided to just take some myself, so at least I have something.  I like how they turned out.  Now, I am no photographer, but I did have fun.  Here they are :)