Crazy

Today probably could have gone a little smoother, but what would life be like if we never had any challenges, right? I was rushing around trying to get her ready for her playgroup this morning, got a couple of phone calls and texts and left the house a little frazzled. Well, with everything going on I forgot my diaper bag. We got to playgroup and of course Grayden has a major messy diaper that explodes all over the place. His clothes were disgusting and I had no change of clothes for him or a new diaper. Luckily for me, I did have an emergency bag in the car for Andrielle (I need to get one together for Grayden - on my to-do list for tomorrow for sure!). So I put Grayden in a size 5 diaper and one of Andrielle's shirts. He looked like a very nice girl - lol. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't think he'd appreciate that later in life :)

Thanksgiving Point Farm

Andrielle, Grayden, and I went to the Thanksgiving Point farm with my mom and Carson today. It was really fun. Andrielle loved looking at all the animals that she's been learning about in her preschool/playgroup and did a great job at imitating most of their noises.


Here we are on a horse-drawn carriage ride


Andrielle and Carson are playing in the pretend jail. Carson is such a good uncle to play with Andrielle! :)

Andrielle in the jail

Here's Andrielle feeding the ducks with Grandma

This was a cute little playroom with pretend food cards that they could pretend to plant or pick from the ground, put on a conveyer belt to send to the big truck, or sort at the market. In this picture, Andrielle is sitting on a pretend tractor.

And, of course we can't forget the pony ride! Andrielle wasn't so sure about it at first, but I think she enjoyed it once it got going. Grandma is watching Grayden for me so that I can walk beside Andrielle.

Daddy, Grayden, & Andrielle

Daddy, Grayden, & Andrielle

Daddy & Grayden

Andrielle & Grayden

We're all adjusting to life as a 4-person family. Andrielle is doing pretty well, but I can definately tell she's jealous of the attention that Grayden has been getting from everyone (including Gavin and myself). She's had a few melt-downs this week, I think she's finally realizing that Grayden isn't going back - he's here to stay. But Gavin's great to take extra time with her when he comes home from work. Hopefully it's uphill from here!

Grayden Lyle

Grayden Lyle Brush was born August 20 at 12:47 am. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long.

I'd been having contractions since about 4 on Friday, but they got pretty intense while we were having dinner at my sister in law's home. After leaving Andrielle at my parent's home, we got to the hospital at about 9:00 and got checked in. I was dilated to a 5 and having contractions about every 3-5 minutes. They called my doctor, he showed up and broke my water around 11:30. About an hour and 15 minutes later, Grayden was born. I decided not to have an epidural again, and because of how quickly he came, I didn't get the pain killer through my IV this time like I did with Andrielle - so I really went completely natural. Everything went great and I was able to hold and feed him right after he was born.

Grayden is doing really well. His biliruben scores are a little high, and he's been tested 5 times now but the levels are going down and he won't need the bili-box. :)

Andrielle is a good big sister. She's still acting a little confused about who this new little addition to the family is but for the most part has been really good.

Grandma and Grandpa Brush brought her dry erase crayons while they were here and she has loved playing with them. Lucky for us, they clean up really well.

35/36 weeks

Last week I started having lots of contractions and major back pain, so even though I wasn't scheduled to see my doctor for another week, I made an appointment. We were supposed to leave for my grandparent's cabin to spend the weekend with my family Friday, and I didn't want to risk anything. So I went to the doctor Thursday evening, he told me I was dilated to a 2 and put me on bed rest - no cabin trip for us (though we did sneak up to spend the day there on Saturday). 5 weeks early is just a little too early to be going into labor. My mom was kind enough to take Andrielle every morning for a few hours and then picked me up and took me back to her house. It was nice having the extra help with Andrielle since I wasn't able to pick her up, and really do anything else, for that matter. However, it was super frustrating to not be able to do anything. I feel like I still have a huge to-do list before the baby comes, and I haven't been able to get any of it done.

I had another appointment last night (36 weeks). I am now dilated to a 3. Contractions still haven't stopped, I'm even more uncomfortable, and the back pain has only gotten worse. I'm now on a modified bed rest, I'm allowed to get up and move, go on short shopping trips, do a little cleaning - but still not supposed to pick up Andrielle (or any other heavy things), go running/jogging/swimming or basically do any excercise. My doctor said as of today, if I were to go into labor, he wouldn't stop anything - but it would be best if this little guy could wait at least one more week to make his entrance. He did basically guarantee that I won't be going full term. Kind of exciting - a little bit scary. I'm still not sure if I'm ready to be a mom of 2! Ready or not, I guess, huh?

Day in the Sun

Andrielle and I had a day off yesterday with no therapists or preschool/playgroups, so we tried to take advantage of the sunny day. We went to the neighborhood park and then I set up her pool in the backyard.

I found these little sunglasses at a swap meet we went to in Vegas for $1 :)

Las Vegas Trip - Mandalay Bay

Our family took a little trip to Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend. Gavin's sister was nice enough to let us stay in her home, and even gave us free tickets to the Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay hotel. It was really a nice getaway.\

Andrielle by the Rays


Gavin with a Komodo Dragon

Andrielle by the crocodile tank

Andrielle and myself in front of the jelly fish