My Favorite Thing!

Today was beautiful in Greenville and I was feeling well enough to get out for a little walk downtown. So we broke out the Phil & Teds and loaded up the car.

When I realized that that I was going to have two babies, I began the research of the best double stroller for our lifestyle. Every time I looked at a side by side like the double Bob, Jerel would begin to hyperventilate because they are just so big. I would stop every stranger on the street who had a Phil & Teds and everyone seemed to love it...so we took the plunge and are so thankful! I wasn't sure how Nolan would do in the back (eventually Elliott will be back there) but he did great today and seemed to really like it.

So, if there is anyone out there considering a P & T, I HIGHLY recommend it!!

Week 1

Tomorrow is the end of week one and I would say we are surviving remarkably well! They let us go home from the hospital 24 hours after I had Elliott which was great! I knew that even if I was only sleeping 3 hours is would be better in my own bed than with people constantly walking in and out of the door. Nolan came home from the grandparents the next day. He isn't really sure what to make of his little brother. He is curious and goes up and gives him hugs. I feel like he is a little more unsure of me. I feel like he keeps looking at me like "what have you done to my life???" I know this is just a phase.

Elliott is doing really well. He still just sleeps all the time and has such a sweet disposition. He will go really long stretches at night if I let him, which is so tempting....but I know that for now I have to get him up to eat.

Ok, Nolan needs a companion, so I am off.

Elliott Forrest

I know, I know, I'm blogging in the hospital. But lets face it- it may not get easier than this for a long time. Elliott is in the post-delivery coma, Nolan is at the grandparents, and people at the hospital feed me! :)

We have had a great day. I checked in at 5:30 and they started everything right away. I got the epidural around 11:00 and barely experienced any pain. At 3:30 we knew he was ready and by 3:57 after I pushed twice, our little (or not so little) guy was here.

Elliott is 8 lbs. 7 oz. 21 in. long. He has already nursed great and is sleeping like a champ the past two hours. I am hopeful that he will be able to nurse. They are taking him to the nursery tonight (YEA, YEA, YEA!!) and I am looking forward to a couple hours of sleep.

Thanks for all your prayers. I know the recovery can be rough, but I embrace the drugs that are offered to me! :) We are looking forward to getting home and introducing him to his brother and dog.

For your birthday...

...we are getting you a little brother!

Today is Nolan's 20 month birthday (which sounds so close to 2 years!!!), and tomorrow we are getting him a little brother! I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 and then let the waiting game begin. Since I was induced with Nolan I feel like I have a little clearer expectations. We are just praying to have him by dinner time and way before shift change. We learned the last time that it is a HUGE pain to deliver at shift change. We are looking forward to meeting Mr. Elliott Forrest. How big will this little guy really be?

Today was a flurry of packing Rocky, Nolan, and ourselves. I'll be glad to have us all back together before the week is over.

I am sure that we will post as soon as we can tomorrow. Feel free to pray for a safe delivery...that they can get the IV in me (no kidding, this is usually a big deal), that I will not stress out over nursing, that Elliott will be healthy. I mean, you could pray that we would get some sleep- but I am trying to be realistic! :) So, until tomorrow...

Therapy

I know that I have been a little blog-happy lately, but lets face it, there is a good chance that I am about to be on a forced hiatus. Might as well take advantage of the "time" I currently have.

Anyway, Nolan is still in occupational therapy for his eating issues. I think that it is helping, and mostly I am just no longer stressed out about it. I figure, until someone tells me that he is malnourished, I am just going to go with the flow. One of the things we have been trying to get him to do is dip one food/texture into another and actually put it in his mouth. I finally had victory with apples and pudding. When we were having "therapy" this week, it was getting a little out of control, but he was having a blast and eating. Lets be honest, I wish I could have some of this therapy! :)

Fall!

This past weekend we did the best we could to enjoy fall before this cold rainy weather rolled in, and before I am banned to my house with a newborn during flu season! We stopped by Starbucks and picked up a couple pumpkin spice lattes (YUMM!!) and picked out our pumpkins. Nolan had so much fun running around trying to pick up all the different pumpkins. Then we went to a park- which I was so thankful to have Jerel with me. It is impossible for me to handle Nolan at a playground by myself at this point. We had a great day and I love having pumpkins at my front door. Hope you all are enjoying this season as well.

Helping dad deliver the goods to the stoop!

Nesting

I don't remember it being this bad with Nolan but I have the nesting bug...bad!! I literally dream about rearranging furniture and hanging pictures. I probably did 10 loads of laundry this week getting all of Nolan's infant clothes ready for Elliott. My poor husband has taken things we are not currently using up to the attic and brought things down like the car seat and bouncy seat. But, I am happy to report that we are ready! Well, I don't actually own any newborn diapers or have any bags packed up, but I can work on that this week. If Elliott does not show up on his own by Wednesday the 21st, they are going to make sure he shows up! :) I think that I feel ok about being induced. He already weighs 7 lbs. 5 oz. and I am 2 cm dilated. Hopefully he will just come on his own. I will start walking some major hills next week! :) So, here are the boys rooms. I am pretty happy with how they have turned out.

Elliott's room...it's a vintage car & truck theme.

It's a little sparse right now, but we will add to it along the way.

I found this fun Route 66 wallpaper and Jerel and I educated ourselves with the wallpaper process last weekend. We were proud of figuring out how to hang it straight and match the pattern. I kept debating if I could make Elliott's monogram out of uniform letters. Ultimately I decided that it was my artwork and I could do whatever I wanted! :)

Cute truck bedding I got off of ebay

Nolan would like to show you his room...

View when you enter the room

I painted this mural about a month ago. The map above his crib is one Jerel brought back from Kenya. It's mostly a world/Africa theme in here.

I got rid of a changing table in his room...we just don't have anything that would work in both rooms. Maybe he will be potty trained soon! HA!!

Kitchen- after!!

Here it is!! We have actually been done for about two weeks, but I have had a cabinet door that got dinged missing, so I just didn't want to post pictures. It amazes me that we were only without a kitchen for 2.5 weeks. There were a few days that were a little crazy, but overall it was fairly painless. I love this kitchen, I feel like we made really wise choices and maximized our budget to its fullest potential. If you scroll down about 3 or 4 posts you can see the before pictures. Now onto the nursery...