Oliver Roan 3ays old!!

Here are the most recent Pics of Ollie and the best we have taken so far.
He is starting to fatten up some since my milk came in so early and he eats like a champ!! Also his face is no longer squished up so his features are more pronounced, and he does look even more like Leighton. In this picture you can kinda see the red in his hair, but its so light that its hard to catch on camera. He does have more hair than Leighton did when he was born and it does seem thicker. Also his skintone is darker more my tone than Than's and the bright white of Leighton. He has Than's hands and feet, same as his brother and other than that we are waiting to gain some weight to see whose other features he has, he is so skinny and small that he has NO FAT! Once we fatten him up it will be easier to tell whats whose and vice versa.

 

I am hoping for green eyes like mine but I think they will be the beautiful blue of Than's and Leighton's. Either way he is a beautiful baby and doesn't resemble an old man like so many babies do...we are very lucky Leighton never went through the old man phase either but maybe I am just bias since they are my babies ;) I will say that his head was so small and his eyes so big that when he first came out and scrunched up his face..he reminded me of a lil potato! So he has been given a lil pet name of "Ollie Tater" to go along with my "Lei Lei Pickle" Wow what a fatty I must be to nick name my kids after foods ;) LOL!! ENJOY!!

 

 

 

THE Brothers!!!

Here are the first pics of the Boys together! Leighton is a little aggressive with the hugging and Ollie just kinda wants to eat and sleep/not be messed with, typical newborn stuff! But we did manage to torture him enough to get these pictures. By the way I think I should brag that Leighton has his picture smile down, CHZZZ!!! Anytime he sees anything he knows takes pictures cell phones, cameras whatever he holds it up to his face and says "CHZZZ!!" Its so great b/c we don't ever have to coax a smile outta him, he loves to smile at the camera and have his picture taken...Oh Baby GAp I found you a couple new Models!!

 

Leighton loves to hug and squeeze things..this is a little rough for Ollie so its hard to explain to Leighton to hug gently, b/c he loves him more than "GENTLY" I guess. But then when Ollie cries Leighton thinks he hurt him, so it kinda freaks him out...and our response is "oh well he is just hungry", so he doesn't think he is at fault seems to be working so far. WE are trying to be very careful to include Leighton in everything, and explain stuff so that he doesn't develop any ill feelings towards having to share mommy and daddy. I am prolly over doing the thinking behind how carefully we are phrasing/wording things but I am just trying to commincate things in the safest way to prevent any bumps in road between Ollie and Leighton. Anotherwards instead of saying "No thats Ollie's bink" We are saying.." Is that Ollie's bink" hint hint and then he puts it down. Its like saying what we want but w/o a direct No, so far its working and I feel better about it, that way. Laugh it up about my fear of giving my kid a complex but I am such a worrier, whatda you expect?? LOL!

 

 

Leighton has been very helpful, trying to share his stuff with Ollie. Making sure he has a bink, even though we aren't giving it to him really, bringing us diapers, he is really doing well as a big brother and so far no jealousy, lets hope it stays that way!

 

Leighton's Big Brother Gift!

Oliver wanted to make sure Leighton knew how great of the Big Brother he was so he decided to get him a little present!
With a card that read..."You are an Incredible Big Brother" Leighton unwrapped a copy of "The Incredibles" dvd! It was a great gift since the current fav dvds in our house are starting to make mommy and daddy a little crazy...Way to pick it Ollie..WINK WINK!

 

 

 

Than's Mom "GRANDNAN" held Oliver while we opened Leighton's gift, we were so lucky to have her to help us out by keeping Leighton while we were at the hospital and then helping us for the first Overnight home! WE can't wait to have her down to stay with us again, Leighton loves playing with his "Grandnan" she takes him on lots of outdoor adventures!!

 

Ollie Going home pics

Getting dressed to go home!

 

 

Leighton meets Oliver! Leighton was so excited to meet his brother! When we came in the door his eyes lit up, and he just smiled so huge, and said "BABY!" His first instinct made everyone cry and Than and I so proud at the same time. The first thing he thought to do was to lean in and give the baby "Sugar" which is what we call a kiss! The only problem was that it was a tricky angle to get to the baby's face so he walked around the careseat and kissed ollie three times each from a different side of the carrier just to make sure that atleast one would stick! It was so adorable, we have always said that Leighton is a very affectionate child, I guess we as a family are very goey affectionate. Its something we are proud, and glad that we are raising such a loving sweet Leighton.

 

After getting the welcome "Sugars" out of the way he then wanted to make sure Ollie had all the same body parts....Nose??...Eyes??...Hair?? and he continued through the list pointing out all his features. It was such a special moment, and so relieved to know that his reaction was a sweet welcome and not an ugly threatening one! He reacted exactly how we thought/hoped he would, I guess we know our lil Leighton pretty well!

 

Ollie Close-ups Hospital Pics part 2

Ollie pics 1 day old

His eyes are showing blue, but what shade will be the question?? Also his hair does have a red tint in good lighting but is harder to catch on camera. The color isn't as bright as Leighton's was but he does have more hair. They do look very similar, but Leighton was a bigger baby so Ollie's face is smaller and its hard to tell. I will have to post comparision pics later on.

Enjoy!!

WELCOME BABY OLIVER ROAN

Finally the day we were all waiting for... Oliver Roan Hathaway was born on April 16 2009 at 3:30am. He Weighed 6lbs 12 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. Here are the details.

ON Wednesday the 15th I had an appt. well after checking me for progress the dr. stirred up some trouble and an hour after my appt. I started having some good contractions. We called Than's mom and told her to head our way, by 8pm I was in alot of pain, the contractions were very close and very painful so we wrapped up things around the house grabbed our stuff and headed to the hospital. I was still 4cm on arrival and after 20 min they put me into a jacuzzi tub to labor. This was really nice the lights were low, there was soft music playing. Even though I had already vomitted and was in intense pain, it was helpful to relieve some of the tension and help my labor progress, man did this work. After 30 min I had dilated to a 7 and finally the nurse was ready to fully admit me!! I was so upset b/c I was dying in pain and had no pain relief at all and the staff was taking their sweet time, not at all concerned about the type of care I wanted. Finally they started an IV for fluids, which meant they could finally do blood work since now they were convinced I was really in LABOR!! I guess all the shaking, sweating, puking, wiggling in intense pain and being at 4cm with strong contractions wasn't enough to convince them!!!

So there we were I was confined to the bed, wiggling in pain, Than by my side waiting for blood work. Finally it gets sent to the lab and then we have to wait for it to come back. After it comes back, everything is ok, Then they call the drug doc, WHO IS AT HOME ASLEEP!! Ok so long story but at 9cm I finally got my epidural. Then my contractions died off they didn't want to break my water, b/c then they would have to wake up the dr. so instead they let me "labor" for hours finally after turning me back on my back my contractions started again and at 3am we were finally ready to push and they had to wake the dr. I pushed for 30 minutes and he was here.

I was so worn out that towards the end of pushing it was getting hard and I had no strength left. But the delivery was wonderful and so much different than Leighton's the lights were down low, and there were only 4 people in the room, (15 for leighton) I was able to reach down and deliver Oliver myself it was so great and special and I will never forget it. The next day in the hospital was brutal, I felt like I had been severely beaten and gone through war, I never knew how physically exhausting intense pain was. I had muscles sore i didn't even know I had. it was very strange and a night and day experience compared with Leighton's delivery.

Moral to the story is: Small town hospital equals take our sweet time, but in the end that one moment when you reach down to grab your new baby is totally worth it!

My adorable hospital gown...I brought in my own gown so I wouldn't feel so gross during delivery, I am so glad I did! it fit great and was super cute I got a ton of compliments. My popsicle it was such a nice treat after laboring so hard for hours, finally with my epidural in place I was able to relax and even pose for a silly photo.

After he got cleaned up a bit I got to hold him and really check him out, Than caught this shot and the look on my face is priceless!

Isn't he beautiful!!!



We got sent home after 36 hours and everyone is doing very well. We are so happy and in love with our new lil man, even Leighton is very excited about his baby brother! Than will take leave from work for the next 2weeks so we can all adjust but so far so good. We will post more pics very soon!

Final Belly Pics! 38wks 5days

OMG I was huge!! Seriously look how big this thing was! Really I think I was smaller than I was with Leighton, but still these pictures are so nuts! I almost want to take some of me today 3 days post delivery just to size compare. Anyway its amazing the way a woman's body changes through out pregnancy and after delivery. I hope I didn't gross everyone out too too bad!

 

 

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

We celebrated Easter with Than's mom, Holly and Steve and Max. She cooked a wonderful lunch and a lemon cake that I couldn't quit eating! The Easter bunny was kind enough to leave Leighton's basket there for us, he got a couple of "Cars" and some tub crayons, some cheeze whale snacks and a couple of organic lollipops. Wow that Easter bunny knows us pretty well, I couldn't have packed a better basket if I did it myself...WINK WINK!!

Like all the other holidays this year, this was the first time for Leighton to really get into the traditions. Last year was Leighton's first year to hunt eggs and he didn't get it but I helped him along and he grabbed a few. This year he was an expert. We just took him outside with his basket and he saw the first egg and off he went! He knew exactly what to do and went through the yard picking them up one after the other. For a barely two year old he did awesome and it always amazes me how smart he is. He has been very into putting things in bags and baskets and carrying them around the house, so I guess it was like practice for this.

Hope Everyone had a Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

Coloring Eggs 2009

This year's Easter was a very very low key for us. We weren't sure if I we would be in Labor or have the baby or what, so either way we did very little. I decided not to decorate our house since I would just have to put it all away shortly afterwards. The eggs were pretty much the same thing, we decided to color a few to hunt, and stuff a few also and that was it. It was very last minute, but we made it all happen. The day before it rained all day and i was so tired, I didn't really want to go out to get egg dye....but around 9 pm i knew I had to so we could do a few the next morning. I ran out to target, and got the LAST BOX~!!! No kidding it was the last one they had as they are turning off the lights in the store and i am at the cashier I read on the box that I need vinegar. WHOOPS!!!

Its been years since I have colored eggs so I didn't remember, you needed some, I couldn't run back to grab it and was just hoping that i didn't throw out that old bottle we had. Sunday morning and no vinegar i came up with a clever substution PICKLE JUICE!!! It worked great and our eggs didn't smell like pickles.

This was Leighton's 1st time coloring eggs, he loved it!

 

He wanted to put each egg in every color it was too funny.

 

Very proud of his awesome work!


The one Casuality! Since we only were coloring 8 eggs(pathetic i know) HE got to dip the same one over and over and it was the one that he crushed instantly, he didn't care he was proud anyway and we still hid it! He even tried to eat it! LOL! This is also his first time wearing his apron he got for projects and stuff, it fit him so well I was surprised and the best part is its vinyl!

 

39th WEEK!!! and counting...

Well I am still pregnant and so uncomfortable, cranky, exhausted and big as a house!! I really want to have this baby asap!! Especially while our GrandNan is on her EAster break, how conveinent would that be??? I have another dr. appt. tomorrow is begging on your knees still considered to be desperate??

Good b/c i am, not to mention stressed!! and I can't stop cleaning except at this point I am angry at the mess, cleaning usually makes me feel better, not I am just scrubbing out the mad!!

We'll keep you posted, if these contractions decided to make any progress! At this point I feel like maybe we should have chosen the name "Alamo" b/c this kid has the "come and take it" attitude~

I'll spare you the huge belly pics...for now ;(

BUMP WATCH APRIL 2009

Today I am 37 wks 6 days preggers and am having little contractions enough to be uncomfortable but not enough to evacuate a child! So we are watching and waiting to see what is going to happen. I am so ready this kiddo is squirmy and hurting me, making me sick to my stomach.

Hopefully sooner than later, we will get to meet this lil man! I will keep you posted!

UPDATE COMPLETE!!

Well I am done updating everything for the past year! Whew that was alot so if you have alot of time on your hands, happy reading!

If you are curious as to what we have been up to for the last 12 mths start by clicking march 2009 and going back from there and then april 2009 for the rest. I did all if not most of the updating in those two months so they will catch you up!

Enjoy!!

"BABY-MOON" IN NYC

In 2 yrs we haven't ever left Leighton overnight before. The reason I guess isn't clear, other than we love hanging out with him and spending time that its hard for us to be away!! We know its important and have really been wanting to get up to New York City so this was the perfect time. Than's mom kindly offered to take Leighton for the weekend so we could go and have fun! We jumped at the chance and in less than a week planned our trip and were there. Than has been there before a couple times as an academy student on summer cruise, but never really did the tourist thing! I have always wanted to go and knew that one day we would get there, so I had a frommers nyc travel book on the shelf waiting. Thankgoodness I did with my book and the internet I was able to plan our trip in only 2days! There were several nerves in going. We weren't sure how well I would fare with all the walking at 5wks out form my due date, and even how well we would get around the city altogether.

With Leighton safe with grandnan we headed up the short 3.5hr drive to the "Big Apple". The whole ride there we kept saying how spontanous we felt and how as parents you rarely get to feel that way, but how great it was going to be to recharge our batteries before the stress of a new baby. We had no idea!!! We managed to get a great deal on a great hotel in a "Super" location! I was so excited to see all the taxi cabs and the empire statebuilding as we drove to our parking garage. Our hotel had our room ready early so we got to check right in drop our only bag, and hit the city. Packing in one bag was an adventure in itself. I am a compulsive overpacker, and wanting to be super stylish in NYC packing was even more stressful. We did so well and fit both our things into only a messenger bag.

 

We had a few things on our list of places to visit while we were there. We were only staying overnight and spending a day and a half there so we couldn't do the major things that might interest your average tourist! Besides Than and I aren't major history people, so with our limited time we decided to eat a famous dessert from a place I saw on tv and always wanted to visit. Our dinner and "Frozen Hot Chocolate" from Serendipity3 was worth the wait. It was a closet of a place so small and it was cramped but it was New York. and we loved every part of it!! I finished the dessert and it was AWESOME! We also visited the nyc staple "Dylans CAndy bar" which was this crazy huge famous candy store, it was fun and cute and sugary.

 

After our dinner and some other window shopping/browsing we hit times square!! WE stopped in the enormous toysrus to see the huge ferris wheel and pick something up for both boys! Then it was back on the subway and back to our hotel we got in around midnight~!

 

 

The next morning we had the best breakfast at a cafe near our hotel, and visited the famous Macys, Saks and central park along with walking down 5th avenue to see all the great sights and famous high end shopping. Around 5 pm we headed home. And before we even had passed back through the Lincoln tunnel I wanted to go back. A couple hours later I started having contractions, probably due to walking miles through the city in less than 2 days and wearing 3.5 inch boots on the second day! After picking Leighton up we crawled into bed, we felt rested and recharged in a different way!
A huge Thanks to Nan for watching our special boy, so we could go off and have a fun adult time!


THINGS I LEARNED IN NYC:

I am not a city girl(not breaking news) however I loved this city, its my new favorite weekend getaway spot! I am always so worried about homeless people and staying safe almost to the point of being paranoid! This had Than concerned as to how I would do...I did great..I felt so safe there, and like I fit right in I loved it and in no time was leaving Than in my dust cruising down the side walks. I felt confident about the city, it was so refreshing b/c D.C. and Baltimore are my least favorite places to visit.

Traveling there with kids isn't hard, like you may think. We were worried about when we would get to to there with two kids and how with carseats and a stroller how that would work/be difficult. It seemed to me like we could breeze along just about as easily. We didn't have to take a cab once and used the subway like pros to get everywhere. The walking was alot but not too bad especially with me being so preggers. This was a great investigative trip, and now we are planning to go back hopefully in late summer/early fall.

The shopping is amazing. OK I know I love to shop, but guilty is Than also. Nyc has the best shopping even for normal chain retailers you can find things that other normal sized stores don't carry. And in addition stores and things that aren't normally available to you. Its hard to believe that I came home empty handed this trip, although the huge belly does limit shopping some. Than however was able to pick up some goodies at the best gap we have ever seen!

Nyc is so stylish that people watching is amazing. I love fashion and how you can express yourself through it. Nyc was a great place full of stylish people of all ages. It is so ahead of the trends and with so many shopping options you could always find somethign in your price range.

NYC WAS INSPIRING!!! it was such a refreshing trip, that both Than and I needed we had no idea how badly we needed this trip! I was so inspired by all the young stylish people and it reminded me how much I used to love being fashionable and trendy and when I didn't buy the same t-shirt in every color. It was such an eye opening overnighter. It reminded us to take time for ourselves and that we are still a young Cyndi and Than and not just mommy and daddy. I think this happens to alot of people but I have to confess that as much as I love being a mommy, I have lost myself in it, and Than has also. We are so much more than that. Our trip pulled us out of our rut and reminded us to be ourselves and young! and how things used to be and how there is no reason that they can't still be that way, we just need to take the time for us!

Frommers travel guides/books are the best if you will soon be taking a trip I would recommend getting one of these books. We have used one every trip we have taken, and it really helps narrow things down and makes getting around so much quicker, this helps you make the most of a short trip. Than likes to praise my trip planning skills and how organzied I always am but really these books are the key to that!


NOW we are really ready for "Baby O" come on baby get here already!!

Just the 3 of us!!

 

This is such great picture of the three of us!! It was taken on the day of Leighton's birthday party. We had such a fun day and you can just see it in our faces. With all the waiting for the new baby to come (literally waiting day by day) its a good time to take stock of our lives and really savor these last moments of just the three of us. Its been so much fun having Leighton to share life with and revolve around. He makes us so happy, and we feel so blessed to have him. (Sorry to get so emotional) As a young couple entering into parenthood, you hear so many bits of advice and old sayings. But the best I think that rings true is that after you have this child your lives will change and you will discover a love that you didn't think was possible.


This has been so true for us and yess our lives did "change forever" they got better!!! We have always referred to it as "Our party(life) getting bigger(better)" I couldn't imagine not being a mommy its the most rewarding, fulfilling, important job and I am lucky to get to do it everyday. The three of us has been super fun but now we are ready to upgrade to a party of 4. We are so excited to meet "Baby O" and can't wait until he gets here, and for the party to just get bigger!!!

I hope everyone has enjoyed and been patient as I have finally caught our blog up-to-date. All this waiting around for labor stuff is a little uncomfortable and very boring. I hope it doesn't take you as long to catch up with reading it as it did for me to finally post things! :) I promise to try to do a better job in blogging regularly and think its no biggie now that I have my pink laptop ;)