Christmas

Making chocolate covered oreos has become a holiday tradition for us.  Mike LOVES those white chocolate covered ones that are only for sale during the holidays, and it is so much cheaper to make them, so we do.  We usually make some white chocolate and some regular semi-sweet or dark chocolate covered.  As you can see, Anabelle got to help this year.  She loved every minute of it, of course :)

 Another thing we did this Christmas season was visit a light show at a county park here.  They had about 3 miles of lights set up that you can drive through, along with a gift shop, walking paths, eateries, a carousel (which Ani enjoyed), and best of all, a chance to sit on Santa's lap!

 They had this awesome sand sculpture on display.

On Santa's lap, with her cheesy photo grin

Merry Christmas!

 On Christmas Eve, we got together with some good friends here, ate some delicious potato soup and homemade hot chocolate (thanks Katie!), and hung out.  We read the nativity story and dressed the kids up for it.  It was quite the ordeal getting Anabelle into her costume and took 5 times as long to dress the kids than to read the scriptures (but it was worth it).  Anabelle was holding a little nativity figurine of the baby Jesus, since we weren't really comfortable with her holding our little real babies.  Raleigh wanted to hold one to, so he carried the Joseph.

 Trent was a shepherd, always a happy boy!

 Another of Anabelle's horrid habits she has picked up recently.  I hate it.  I'm trying so hard to rid her of it.

 And cute little Wrenley was our angel.  That was fun, and I love the pictures to remember the memories.

 Sweet little boy

His Christmas jammies

Christmas morning:
And yes, her shirt is on backwards.  She dresses herself and when we tell her that her shirt is on backwards (which happens most days) she responds, "No, no, it's fine."

 Anabelle's cool new kitchen set

 You can see part of my awesome new double jogging stroller here!

 Declan's hat (size 0-3 months and it's ENORMOUS on him)

 Food sets from Gma and Gpa Lewis 

 Her first Barbie.  Thanks Uncle Dan and Aunt Kelsey

 Monkey hat from Aunt Jenn and Uncle Ben :)

 And another of our cute boy.  This pic was taken a week ago, and I can already see that he's filled out more.  He's growing like crazy!  He's over 10 pounds now, probably 10 1/2.

 "Hey everybody"

This is also a week old.  Someday I'll catch up ;)

Pictures

Anabelle, dictating "who knows what" to Declan

I made these cute little pants for Declan. They don't fit him anymore but it was fun while they lasted.

 Chillin' in the swing

 Tummy time

Hi :)

These two are so crazy!  Gotta love 'em.

Grandma (Mike's mom) came to visit after Declan was born.  She was soooo helpful and Anabelle had a really hard time saying goodbye to her.

Our kids are both growing so much, and far too quickly if you ask me.  We love them to pieces.

Little videos & more

Watching these videos has made me realize how much Declan has changed already.  They are so cute I just had to post both of them

I realize these pics are all now over a week old, so I'd better hurry up and post so I can keep up with the ones coming later.  These were taken the day we came home (Thursday afternoon).

 Notice how enormous his pants are.  He's still swimming in all of the newborn pants.

 Mike is one happy Daddy!

 He was trying to mimic Declan's face, but didn't quite catch it ;)  I still had to post it, because it makes me laugh

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 :)