January 29, 2014

Our first two weeks!!

Greyson is officially two weeks old today!  It's hard to believe that this time just two weeks ago we were meeting him for the first time and spending our first afternoon adoring is little features and feeding him his first bottles.  But here we are...two weeks later!  I've neglected our blog but not on purpose!!  Life with 3 and life with a new baby are proving to be very busy!  So...with that said...here's a photo catch up of our first week home with the amazing Mr. Greyson Oliver :)

24 Hours new...this little guy was a hit with the nurses and the owl hat ;)

On our first night at the hospital, we had Daddy with us. And boy was I glad! I was hooked up to lots of things and wasn't able to get out of bed...so I had some of my worst sleep in months. But on night two, he was heading home. After a long trying day for me (I battled headaches which were worried to be related to my spinal from my c-section...and also pretty awful nausea from pain medicine) there may or may not have been some tears shed over Daddy's departure!! But we rallied and Greyson and I snuggled in with a bottle before bedtime and thankfully got a pretty powerful nights sleep!
My 3rd full day in the hospital the boys finally made it up to visit!!  I was so excited to see them I couldn't hold back tears as I heard them come down the hall to my room!!  Here's some pics from our first family of 5 pow-wow!

 My favorite of all time....ever!!
On our final day we were all cleared to go home as soon as we were ready...so we waited for a photographer to do some hospital baby shots...then we packed up and waited for Daddy to rescue us!  This girl was absolutely ready to be home. Up at 6am, showered and enjoying coffee with my little mister...by 6:45...I had the room packed and everything ready to go before 8am.  Going home was the promise of being with my whole family again and I told Greyson that morning as we stared out at the snowy cold..."We are so lucky buddy!! Wait till we get home.  It's the best place on earth."  And I was never so glad to get there!
Carseat shot.  Such a tiny little guy in a great big seat!  And how fast that is going to change!!
There has been an absolutely awesome outpouring of love in our direction since Greyson's birth.  We were visited by wonderful family and friends at the hospital.  We also came home to a week and a half of meals provided by more wonderful family and friends!  Our first night home we enjoyed soup and an adorable cake from our good friend Missy!!  It was so fun to have a little celebratory snack as we enjoyed night one of rest of our lives as the Linley 5 :)

 Owen is a mother hen.  He absolutely cannot get enough of Greyson.  He is kind, gentle, loving and simply amazing with him.  Owen you make Mommy so proud of you!!  
 This kid is amazing to snuggle!!  He curls up in a tiny little ball and lays his head under my chin.  It's newborn baby bliss at it's best!!

 Gigi made her first visit over to see him and was so smitten with him, I think if she could have, she would have taken him on home with her!

Daddy got the chance to take off work and be home with us for a whole week and a half after Greyson's arrival.  I could not be happier we were able to have this time!!  While he was off we ventured on our first outing for fresh air, sunshine and a Goodwill drop off (note the giant boxes in the back that aren't always there!!).  I have to say getting out of the house was a bit chaotic...very reminiscent of a circus.  I suspect we'll get better at this as times goes on.  But part of me fears it's only going to get worse!!  I just heard a voice in my head saying "Welcome to your noisy, crazy life Ms. Linley!!  Enjoy!"
 I love this guy so much I just don't even have words.  He's an amazing Dad and I'm so thankful he chose me to take along on this journey. He also happens to make me laugh. Also, yes those are my sun glasses...he doesn't usually make a habit of faux-gold eye-wear accessories...but his are no where to be found!
More snuggles with little mister!!

 I asked him to say cheese.  I got this.  Gosh two years olds have attitudes!!
 Owen had a couple days of school during Jeremy's week off work at home with us.  Greyson and I thoroughly enjoyed our first quiet, around-home morning.  
 After Greyson's first bath at home, we gave him first hawk...he has SO much hair!!  Then snuggled him up! He loves being warm over everything else!!!
 At his first doctor's appt we relished in the words "He's perfect!" and "Everything looks wonderful!"  We also enjoyed the encouragement of "You guys are pros at this!!  Have fun!!"  There is something so calming to know he's doing exactly as he should and we have no concerns!!  Healthy babies are a blessing we cannot be thankful enough for!
 Owen took off on an overnight with my Grandma and Grandpa on our last weekend home before Jer headed back to work.  Here he is getting some Greyson snuggle time in before taking off!!
 Cooper is also loving and kind like his older brother...but he is a crash and bash two year old...so gentle and quiet are not his speed!  We've done lots of reminding about how to be with Greyson and over the past few days he's been getting better and better!  As of late he has asked to "pet" Greyson's hair...and he very much enjoys ripping off his hats and mittens to see his hair and hands!  He also likes to kiss him and then me.  AND tell Jeremy "Mommy holt Greyson Daddy.  You holt my hand."
 While Owen took off on his own little adventure...we did the same thing with the remainder of our crew!  Cooper crashed and Jer and I enjoyed a car ride looking over our frozen river and watching to spot eagles.  
 The next day when Owen got home we ventured out to get a little drive thru lunch and more of the plentiful sunshine!!  Upon our return home we found a silly Owen singing and dancing while he waited for us to open the car door.  Donning Jer's hat he started making silly faces and asking me to take his picture.  He's a clown...through and through. And every day his silly side reminds me of his Daddy.  And I love it!
 Day one without Daddy...and Greyson was NOT amused!!
 Day 2 without Daddy...Mommy and Greyson selfie!

 Our laundry is looking mighty different these days:
 A little Greyson snuggling...this week he's begun having some tummy issues...and needed some extra snuggling!!
 Daily photog of mister adorable!! We like to send one to Daddy since he's back to work. We are missing him a lot right now....but life must go back to normal right????
And that about wraps up our first two weeks home!  As I said we've been blessed with delicious meals, wonderful family around us and a confidence that comes with time and practice.  I've been trying to take time every day to soak up this amazing baby phase we are in.  And cherish it.  It's fleeting and I know it won't last long!!  

Also just for record keeping sake...Greyson is a rock star! He is quickly falling into routine napping/sleeping times.  He is eating around 3.5 oz every 3 to 4 hours except at night when he often goes 5 and 6 hours at a time between bottles.  He often will sleep from 8pm to 2am...waking for less than an hour to eat...then sleeping again til 7am.  We even have had a few nights where he's been sleeping from 10pm till 5 or 5:30am.  This is unheard of in our house.  While Cooper was a good sleeper by comparison to Owen who never thought much of sleep until he was around 3 and a half years old.  But we have never had babies sleep this long this early!  It's been kind of strange and so lovely!!  

Thanks Greyson for keeping this first little bit at home easy.  Mommy and Daddy are so very much in love with you already.  We are so glad you are finally here with us safe and sound!!  I cannot wait to see what life has in store for you and us little buddy!!  If these first couple weeks are a preview of what's ahead...I certainly can't think of anything better to be blessed with!!  I've said it a few times already on this journey with you...but adventure awaits buddy. And I for one cannot wait to see where we go from here!!

January 18, 2014

Greyson Oliver Linley

The newest member of our wild bunch has joined the world!!  

Introducing:
Greyson Oliver Linley
8lbs 5oz
21 inches long
Born: Wednesday, January 15 at 9:01am


Momma snuggles before bedtime:
Snack time!!  It took him a couple bottles to get the hang of things...but he is successfully polishing off a whole newborn 2oz bottles every 4 hours or so!  I suspect this will not change when we get him home!!

We had an interesting start to the c-section/delivery and recovery for me was not as easy as I expect...welcome to my 30's right??  So we have some photos to collect of his first few moments and after all the hoopla Jeremy and I were not the greatest with photos til I was back in recovery!  Sorry Grey.  I promise it was not for lack of preparedness. We just had a little more to get through to get you here with us!!  Regardless, I think we are rocking and rolling now! 
 I will be back with lots more stories and pictures once we get settled at home later today!  Yay :)

Welcome to the world Little Mister!  Momma and Dadda are already over the moon with your amazing little self!  And we can't wait to see what the world has in store for you :)

January 14, 2014

Hair cuts!!

One of my pre-Greyson to do's was to get the boys mops chopped off.  Gosh they were long.  And gosh do they both have insane heads full of hair.  

Here are some before's and after's:
For the record this was Owen least torturous hair cut to date.  Thank you Aunt Jackie for working really well with little man and putting him right at ease with what you were doing!
Monkey boy here feels it necessary to climb into the bassinet...multiple times a day.  This was just moments before Aunt Jackie unleashed scissors on this mop.  I was sad to see the curls go, but I have faith they will grow in again ;)

That afternoon, both boys took off for a sleep over...Cooper was patiently waiting for Grandma and he couldn't keep his eyes open.  Hair cutting is rough business!!

Just another afternoon with my boys!!

A glimpse of what a quiet, band also sometimes very loud, play-filled day looks like around here!!  






Catch Up...post-holiday updates!

The day after Christmas we were laaazy.  I'll call it a Christmas hangover...because we managed to stay in our jammies, not leave the house and other than some present organizing...we were bums!  It was awesome.  We busted out a new game Owen got from Santa called Don't Rock the Boat.  You load it up with penguins and try not to tip it over.  He thoroughly enjoyed this game...especially when he won!!


The boys received a Disney Infinity from Grandma this year.  It is an awesome gift that I know they will enjoy growing into!!  Jeremy and Owen spent the better part of an afternoon learning the ropes. They were like two kids in a candy store!!

The weekend after Christmas we gathered our wits and headed out to make a few pre-baby purchases we knew we needed.  $300 later we wandered to the Mills mall for a carousel ride and some snacks!  I'm so glad we snuck this little outting in.  We had a fun afternoon and enjoyed a great day of family time!

 This kid LOVES to dress up.  Capes, slippers, hats, masks.  This particular day he wore this cape and mask for literally hours of the afternoon.   It was hilarious and too cute not to photograph!

This what 37 weeks looks like...and yes folks...I've just gotten bigger.  My back and shoulders are achy for some relief!!  

My attempt at apple dumplings using crescent rolls and Mountain Dew.  This was heading into the oven...they were delicious and I will make them again!!!
I am the mother to cheesballs.  Cute ones at that!!  They love their new towels they got for Christmas.  Proof below!  God do I love these two!!! 
Lasagna in one of my awesome Christmas presents...a new deep dish lasagna dish.  It cleaned up easily and didn't drip over into my oven.  LOVE it!!!

New Years Day we had some visitors in the form of our niece, nephew and their parents...after lots and lots and lots of playing these two asked to watch a movie and after getting them set up...I found them snuggled in like this:

This one was busy enjoying The Croods in 3D with his Daddy and Uncle Jonnie..and after lots of playing...crashed. Just like this!

After the New Years wrapped up it was d-day on all things Greyson.  If you ever wonder what the term back to square one feels like being smacked in your face...wash some bottles while your almost 5 year old is pottying on the potty like a big boy and dressing himself at the same time.  Oh Momma...here we go again!!!

There is something so darn appealing about baby laundry.  I do not like laundry whatsoever...but folding this stuff?  It's so cute and small...and precious.  And given that my biggest and middle boy once fit into many of these items...this time around it's super nostalgic. I love it!
We've been trying to teach him how to sing the lines from CeeLo's song Forget You.  It's starting to work.  It's adorable. Nuf said.

 In the middle of a foot deep snow storm...a day after I had a little bit of a scare with heading to the hospital early and we put a call into the doctor's emergency line and we're packing for the hospital...we got a snow storm that brought snow, bitter cold and blizzard like conditions for most of our area. Then...we lost our power.  The temps were due to drop to the lowest they had in 20 years and here goes our power.  Thankfully, after getting online...it showed the power would return. So we built a fire, hunkered down and waited. Our house got pretty brisk but we did get our power back as promised. Thank you Ameren!!

The morning after the big snow...we woke to this.  That would be a minus sign next to that 9.  Making the wind chills about -25 or 30.  Brrrr!!!!  Owen went on to have a week off of school due to snow and cold.  Hello January!!!
I have a problem with jealousy when it comes to anyone who owns one of these awesome cargo totes from 31.  I honestly have no earthly idea why I never just went out and bought myself one...BUT now I don't have to!!  Jonnie and April stopped over on a random evening to visit us saying they had something to drop off.  This beautiful-ness is what they dropped off!!  Covet no more!!! And just in time for Greyson's arrival...I can tote it on up to the hospital and it'll get it's first good use!  Woohoo!!