City Park Playdate

Colby and I were able to have a special mommy/son day Friday. It was my goal to do something special with just him while he was out of school. My goal is really to do this atleast once a week. Colby has been my buddy for the last 3 1/2 years. And especially since he was 9 months old or so we have gone lots of places. He loves to be on the go and visit new and exciting things. I knew life would slow down with having a baby. We aren't slowing down so much though that we never get out we just can't do as much as we normally would. Its just not as logistically easy as it was with 1 child. Anyway my parents said they would keep Lindsay on Friday so that Colby and I could have some special time together. I decided to go to City Park. It had been since last December that he has been out there. I have been wanting to take him back for awhile but it just seems like life has gotton busy and we haven't been able to. I invited a couple of friends to come along thinking that would make it more fun for me and him. My friend Honey met us there with her son Max. Colby and Max go to school together and are pretty good friends. I also invited my friend Christina who recently moved into the neighborhood and her little boy who is 2. It was fun having other moms to visit with. I think this helped my spirits as well. Colby didn't play with Christiano too much but he and Max had fun. Although it was hard keeping up with 3 toddler boys. They all wanted to do different things it seemed!
Colby seemed to really have fun. It was good for him to just be able to run around outside and climb. He wouldn't do either slide though...I figured he wouldn't do the large dragon slide but he loved the Jack and Jill slide last time but he wouldn't even do that. I think the saying that 2 is fearless but at 3 they develop fears is so true. He wanted to so bad but never would. If I hadn't just had a baby 3 weeks prior I would have gone down with him. He kept telling me he would go next time with daddy. Usually Austin does all that kinda stuff with him. He said is favorite things where the boat, firetruck, and spaceship. After the park I took him to lunch at McAlister's. That was the first time me and him have eatin out a lone. We have gone with friends before but never just the 2 of us. It was really nice. I let him pick the place and he picked McAlister's. We got done pretty quickly then headed home to check on Lindsay and put both down for a nap! It was a great day and I'm looking forward to another mommy/son day soon!

Comparisons Colby/Lindsay

So I finally thought I would get around to doing some compare photos of my 2 sweeties! The first one is Colby then Lindsay all the way through. I think they do look a little alike!

Christmas 2011

Wow I can't believe this Christmas has come and gone! Its surely been a very different one! I can't believe its Colby's 4th Christmas and Lindsay's 1st. The Christmas season didn't feel as fun as it usually does due to me recovering from having a baby and Lindsay being so tiny we couldn't get out and do as much as we normally do. I tried to soak it all up from home though! Colby was really into Christmas this year! He remembered so much from last year plus understood so much more! I know Lindsay won't remember this Christmas. Next year will be more exciting with a 4 and a 1 year old running around!
Christmas Eve was a pretty low key day for us. Austin and Colby ran a couple errands that morning while Lindsay and I stayed home and rested. We all took naps then headed to my parent's house. That was another part of Christmas that was different. We usually do dinner at my parent's house Christmas Eve then go back on Christmas morning to do gifts. This year with Christmas falling on a Sunday we had to do everything Christmas Eve. We opened gifts first then ate. Colby was definitely more into gifts then previous years. He still pretty much ran off and played with the first thing he opened though. My parents gave him a big tonka tractor. Lindsay pretty much slept through all this activity! We ate dinner and visited awhile. We had to head home early though. We now had 2 kids to bathe and get ready for bed on Christmas Eve then put together toys. We were able to put Linday to bed first then we were able to spend some time with Colby reading the Christmas stories and putting out cookies and reindeer food! It was so neat this year to really see the magic of Christmas through his eyes! I wish in some says I could have focused more on him though this season! I know next year will be a lot of fun though! Suprisingly we had both kids in bed by 9! We had all the Santa stuff done by 10! I was shocked! Austin and I had an hour to relax and watch Christmas movies then we woke Lindsay up at 11 to feed her one last time before bed. It was not fun having to wake up in the middle of the night with an infant though. Although Colby's first Christmas Eve was rough too!
Christmas Day was very busy for us. Colby woke up around 7:30 and Lindsay was minutes behind him. So we were busy opening presents and feeding a starving baby! It was hectic but fun! Colby loved all his new cars and parking garage and little town toys! It was so cute seeing him so excited. He also loved his new camera! It was a busy couple of hours between fixing breakfasts getting 2 kids and 2 adults dressed and showered but we made it out the door and to church before church started! I was so happy to be going back to church even though it was a lot of work to get us out the door! We let Colby go to the nursery during church. In some ways I would have liked to have sat as a family of 4 on this special day but we knew Colby would be happiest in the nursery with his friends and it would be hectic enough keeping an eye out for a newborn to crank up at any minute. I think there were about 5 kids total in the nursery. Lindsay ended up doing really well in church. We thought she would wake up needing to eat but she slept through everything. We were pleased b/c her brother never even did this. He always slept right through the music then woke up as the sermon started. We left a couple of minutes early though to get her changed and fed before heading home. After church we went to Mrs. Eva's for Christmas lunch. We weren't sure we would feel like going with 2 kids and being up half the night but we decided it would be depressing to come home and eat leftovers on Christmas day. We only stayed about an hour and half before heading home. Colby really enjoyed himself though and Lindsay did great too. She basically slept through the whole thing! We were all anxious to get home though and take naps. The rest of the day was pretty low key...Colby played with his toys and we put things away.
Monday the day after Christmas is usually our anual trip to Hattiesburg to do Christmas with Austin's family. We knew this year though things would be different b/c we didn't want to travel with Lindsay being this young. We finally came up with the idea of Austin and Colby going. I was glad that they were able to do this. I hated Lindsay and I missed it but glad that Austin and Colby got that time with family. Plus Colby has been asking when we were going back to Hattiesburg. We usually go quite often but we haven't been since early fall. I hear that he had a really great time. Austin said he even behaved very well. It was good for him to get out like this and play with his cousins. We will probably try and go back soon as a family when Lindsay is about 6 weeks old. Right now I am just too worried about colds/flu/rsv with such a little baby!

I feel very blessed this Christmas even though it was a different one! I look forward to lots of fun years ahead though with our 2 little blessings!

Big Brother

So I thought I would do a post on how Colby is doing in the role of big brotherhood. I have to say its a much bumpier ride then I expected. He's doing well though but he is still adjusting. I think each week though has gotton better. He is finally becoming a little more interested in Lindsay and I think he will more so as time goes on and she gets bigger and can interact with him more. He acted out A LOT the first week we were home. I think he was just going through so many changes...its the holidays, he spent a few days with the grandparents, then Austin being off for quite a lot of time. He always gets a little crazy in December anyway. I remember going through this last year with him. And throw in a new little sister he's bound to go a little crazy?!?

He finished up his first half of the school year. We were able to see him perform at a Nursing home with his preschool. He sang and did well during the performance but the rest of the outting was a little interesting. He's pitched a lot more fits in public then he ever has before.

We are trying to make him feel special and included the best we can...I never dreamed balancing 2 kids would be so hard! We have also tried to keep his life as normal as we can. Still trying to get him out and my parents have helped a lot with that. He's spent a lot more time with them then usual but I don't think either party has minded =). He's also gotton a lot of one on one time with Austin which has been both good and bad. He loves spending time with his daddy and I think its special for them but then they have also been together a lot so they get testy around one another!

Austin and I decided yesterday to leave Lindsay with my parents and take Colby to the children's museum. It was easier to leave her plus it was a rainy day and not an ideal day to get a newborn out. Plus we figured it would be more special to Colby if it were just us and him. Even though right now Lindsay is pretty easy when we are out we still have to pay attention to her and abide to her feeding schedule. This was his first trip to the museum in months so he was very excited! We had a great time too...it was nice for him to go somewhere where we didn't have to constantly tell him no or correct him. We pretty much let him go and do what he wanted. I hope he remembers this time and that mommy and daddy tried to take time out for just him. I feel guilty already about how I divide my time between the 2. I know though it will get easier as I get used to balancing life with 2. I miss my one on one time with Colby though. He's been my little buddy for 3 1/2 years. My goal will be to have mommy/son time atleast once a week though. I hope to take him somewhere fun just me and him next week once I can drive again!

All in all he's so far been a great big brother. He talks to Lindsay and worries about her when she cries. We had our first scare last night though whenever he tried to pick her up and dropped her. Granted it was only 2-3 inches off the ground but it scared us. I fussed at him then felt bad...I know he didn't do it on purpose and it was probably our fault for never really telling him that he can't pick her up without help. He hasn't wanted to hold her at all until yesterday I got him to hold her for a few seconds but she was crying so I think it made him nervous! Anyway I know as she gets bigger he will love spending time with her!

Lindsay 2 Weeks

I can't believe our little girl has been here 2 weeks already! She's doing really well! Today we had her 2 week checkup. She is up to 7 lbs 6 oz. She has officially passed her birth weight. The doctor said she's looking great! She lost most of her cord last week but part of it is still there so we tried bathing her the night the majority of it fell off but it bled a little so we are waiting for it all to fall off before we bathe her again. She also developed a blocked tear duct Monday exactly her 2 week mark. This is exactly what happened with Colby also! It took about 4 months for his to completely go away. I'm hoping hers doesn't take that long! She is so far a really good baby like her brother. We are following babywise though and I really feel like that makes a HUGE diference. She's in a pretty good routine and I feel like things are falling in place. She is on a 3 hour eating schedule pretty much and sleeps for 3-4 hours at night. We have been putting her to bed between 9 and 10 and she wakes up around 12 or 1 then again at 4 or 5. She will usually sleep in though until about 8 or 9 in the morning which is nice. She has a couple periods of being awake for an hour or 2 during the day. She is very alert. I think she actually stays awake more then Colby did at this age.

So far she has ventured out to my doctor, the pediatrician, 2 malls, Target, Colby's school, and my parent's house. We have gotton her out a lot more then we did Colby. Its just hard to stay at home with an active 3 year old. Plus I don't think we are quite as paranoid with her as we might have been with Colby. We are still being cautious though and each time we get out she's bundled up in her carrier so no one is touching her. We plan to bring her to church Christmas morning. She will be just shy of 3 weeks. Colby was about 2 1/2 weeks his first time at church. I look forward to everyone seeing her and seeing how she does! Colby always did great during the music but then tuned up during the sermon so we'll see!

Week 1

So we have officially been home with Lindsay now for 1 week. Its been a crazy, hectic first week but we have had fun in the midst of all the adjustments. I have to say its wayy harder then I ever thought it would be! Raising 2 kids is hard, balancing time for each child, plus Austin, plus myself is hard, Colby adjusting to being a big brother is hard. But each day gets better and a little easier.




So this will recap our first week:




Last Thursday Austin took Colby out of the house to run errands and visit a park. It was very helpful b/c it gave me one on one time with Lindsay. I remember thinking with Colby as a newborn that I never got time to myself but now just dealing with a newborn seems sooo easy!




Friday Colby had school. My parents came and picked him up and took him to breakfast before dropping him off at school. He seemed very excited about this special time with them. Lindsay had her 2 day doctor visit that morning. Everything went well at the doctor and she had actually gained an ounce back. She was slightly jaundiced but so was Colby at this time. They said that was normal for breastfed babies. After the appointment we came home for a short time before having to leave to pick Colby up. I was anxious to pick him up from school since it had been a week since I had been able to this! He seemed to be happy when we picked him up. All of the teachers wanted to sneak a peek of Miss Lindsay in the van though! The rest of the day we just hung out at home.




Saturday was a busy day! We woke up early again so Austin and Colby could get off to Colby's Santa pancake breakfast at his school. I really was wishing I could go with the 2 of them! But Lindsay being less than a week and me still recovering we thought it best for me to stay home with her! I just hate missing out on these special events with him though! Once they got back home we got ready for Austin's family to visit. It was going to be his sister's first time to see her since she was born on a Monday she wasn't able to come to the hospital. We enjoyed visiting with them all. Lindsay enjoyed all the holding I think...she slept almost the entire time! Colby loved all the attention and ofcourse playing with his cousins! I think it did him the most good! That afternoon we were all worn out though. We all took naps after they left!




Sunday was another busy day. Austin took Colby to church. Once again we aren't getting Lindsay out to stuff like that quite yet. We hope to bring her Christmas Sunday b/c by that point she will be almost 3 weeks. I miss being at church though but the quiet time with her was nice. Once they got home we ate lunch then all took naps again! So far we have really lucked out and have been able to get them both down for naps every afternoon at the same time. I am glad we are training her early b/c it will be great for them to continue doing this atleast for another year.





Monday Colby had school. We decided to all get up and go take him. I was anxious to take him to school since it had been over a week since I had been able to do so. We also wanted to bring Lindsay in to show his teacher. My parents were picking him up that day. I had an afternoon doc appointment. We were able to rest a little while before the appointment though. That afternoon when I talked to my parents though they told us his teacher had said he was a little sad at school. We later found out he cried...still not sure exactly why. This broke my heart. In the midst of being so emotional anyway with post pregnancy hormones to hear my baby boy was sad at school made for a very hard day. I felt so guilty and so helpless. He has never been sad at school. We aren't sure what happened but we wonder if us bringing Lindsay in there that morning and all the teachers fussing over her upset him. He's a very sensitive little boy and wise beyond his years I just wish I knew what was really going on in his little heart. That night also was rough. After dinner while we were all watching tv he threw up all over the floor. We panicked thinking it might be a virus or bug he caught from somewhere. We surely didn't need me or Lindsay to catch it. Thankfully though it never happened again and he seemed fine.





Tuesday we were having our house cleaned so we knew we all needed to get out the house even if for just a little while. We decided to go to the mall. We probably wouldn't have normally gotton Lindsay out this soon but our house is not big enough for 4 people to hang out while its being cleaned. Colby was excited about the outting and we thought it would be good for him. He ended up pitching many fits though and acted out horribly. Lindsay on the other hand slept through the whole ordeal. I was glad we got out but I was exausted after and I think so was everyone else!

Wednesday Colby had school. I let Austin take him while I stayed in with Lindsay. I figured it would be good to kinda take it easy. I did go with him though to pick him up. We forgot his juice though and he cried the whole way home. I am figuring out how tough being a mommy of 2 is! Its so hard to remember everything for each of them! He seemed to have a much better day at school though which I was thankful for!

Its hard to believe we have officially been a family of 4 now for a week! The time is going by! I am trying to soak up each moment with Lindsay b/c looking at Colby I know how fast she will grow up!

Lindsay Anne Westbrook

So I'm finally going to try and sit down to do this! Our little girl is a week old now and life has been BUSY!


Lindsay arrived last Monday, December 5th 2011 at 7:54 am. We had to start our morning early that day since we had to check into the hospital at 5:30 am. We woke up around 4:00 am to start getting ready. It was bittersweet leaving the house and leaving Colby behind. My parents and Austin's parents came over to sit with him until he woke up. They arrived at the hospital some time after 7. When we got in the hospital they put me in a triage room on the labor and delivery floor. Basically once in there they put my IV in hooked me up to all the monitors and such! I was not nearly as nervous as when we had Colby but I was still a little anxious. My blood pressure was definitely up. The doctor came into the room about 7:15 along with the anetheseologist to see me before surgery. Around 7:15 is also when they brought Colby back to the room to see me. I think he was very curious about what was going on. He was stand offish though towards me. I think he did not understand why mommy was hooked up to all those wires and in bed like that! Around 7:30 they wheeled me to surgery. It was during this point I almost lost it. We ended up passing right by my family and Colby. I hated for him to see me being wheeled away like that. I can't imagine what might have been going through his mind. We tried to tell him though mommy was just going for a ride. Once in the surgery room they put the spinal in. I remember with Colby it being a lot less painful and over more quickly. It still didn't hurt a lot but it was uncomfortable and seemed to take forever. I started feeling numb immediately though. It wasn't long after I was laid down curtains hung up and they let Austin back into the room. Its such a wierd feeling though to be awake during surgery. It seemed to take awhile for them to actually get to her but I know it probably wasn't long at all. As soon as they were pulling her out the doctor said aww she reached for me and commented on how cute she was! She was also crying A LOT! Colby came out crying but settled down pretty quickly. She cried the entire time! Austin was able to even hold her after they did all the immediate check and work on her. They were more laid back with her then when we had Colby. After it came time for Austin and her to leave I thought this part would go by soo slow! Before with Colby they actually put me to sleep. I had asked my doctor at my last appointment if they would do this and she said they prefered not to. Anyway the time went by really fast! With Colby I also remember feeling queasy during the surgery and they had to give me something but this time nothing like that happened. I did feel a little queasy at one point but was able to control it with deep breaths of the oxygen. I also tried to focus on other things instead of the fact they were stitching me up and that seemed to help too. They finally called down with her weight right before they were done. She was 7 lbs 2 oz. Such a small thing compared to her big bro who was 8 lbs 3 oz. I was actually out of surgery I think by 8:30 or a little before. Its always wierd being lifted from the operating table back to the hospital bed which I also remember from Colby being a little afraid they would drop me since you have no control over the bottom half of your body. They wheeled me back to the triage room where we started that morning to recover. There the nurses checked me every few minutes. I was shocked when about 20 minutes after being in there they brought Lindsay in. With Colby it was hours before they brought him to us! They brought her in and she even nursed right away. I was so thankful for this experience. It seemed like we were able to bond with her so much sooner. I know with Colby they were concerned that he wouldn't cry much and they also thought he had a heart murmur. I guess she was so healthy they brought her right away! She didn't stay in long though before they took her back to the nursery. They moved me to my postpartum room around 10 or 10:30. Again also so different from Colby. I actually spent the night in the LDR room with him before they moved me. My parents along with Colby and Austin's parents were able to visit us in there. Randall and Elizabeth also got to come in and visit and hold her. We were able to call and get Lindsay in the room then too. She ended up spending almost the entire day with us. My parents brought Colby up there again after his nap. He didn't pay much attention to Lindsay at all. He was more interested in pushing buttons on the IV or the bed! That evening Michelle Benson and her girls stopped by. They also did this with Colby. It was nice to have visitors and help the time pass. That night Lindsay stayed with us except for a couple times when they took her to the nursery for certain tests. I hate nights in the hospital though b/c I don't sleep well at all. For one the beds aren't comfie at all and they come in like every hour or so to do something. I was also very ready for the catheter and IV to come out. That morning bright and early they came to draw blood and took the catheter out around 6 am. It was about 8:30 when I got up for the first time. I expected a lot of pain from getting up but it wasn't bad at all. So much different from Colby! I almost passed out the first time I got up after having him. It was nice later that morning to finally get a shower too. We had a few visitors throughout the day as well...Mrs. Debi from church came to see us around lunchtime and that night Honey and Max (Colby's friend from school) stopped by. Once again that night though I didn't sleep well so I was soo ready to go home! By Wednesday morning we were asking to go home. They finally told us they would discharge us that evening if my blood pressure went down. So basically we spent the day packing up and me trying to take it easy. We were so ready to get home to big brother and get Lindsay home to her new house! It was kinda a pain to not leave there until 6pm. We stayed a lot longer with Colby but the day we left we were discharged around 11 am so we had all day to settle in. Lindsay did really well on her first car ride. She slept the whole way! My parent's dropped Colby off around 7 and we all ate dinner. After that it was bathtime and bedtime for both kids! It was very hectic. I think we were all mentally and physically exausted! Lindsay did really well the first night I think only waking 2-3 times.

Last Week of a Family of 3

We have been enjoying our last week as a family of 3. I am trying to soak up each and every moment with Colby b/c I know this time next week life will be so different! I will pick up from last week after Thanksgiving. Last Friday I had a doctor's appointment and Colby went to stay with his friend Max. He was originally going to spend the day with my parent's but Honey volunteered to watch him so I figured it would be good for him to play with a friend. I know he had a blast too. I dropped him off about 9:45 and picked him up about 11:45. He seemed really happy and told me about all that he did! When we got home we just ate lunch and took it easy that afternoon. Austin had to work late every night last weekend so that kinda stunk but we were grateful for his 4 days off Thanksgiving week!
Saturday was a really low key day for us. We rarely stay home all day but we did Saturday. I knew I needed to take it easy and rest. Plus we do sometimes try to stay home atleast once a month on Saturdays. Its nice to hang out here and play. Colby was antsy at times but I think we both enjoyed the low key day especially after a busy holiday week! I let him ride bikes in the front yard which I think he enjoyed as well.
Sunday was church day. I decided this week that I would bring Colby and get a few things done in the nursery. I will be taking off until February so I wanted to leave them with a few things done. I was very grateful for church day and the fact that it keeps Colby busy! He was also very happy to see his Sunday School teachers and friends. I left a little before 10 and came home. I had about 3 hours to myself to rest which was soo nice! Once Colby got home we both took naps and just enjoyed staying in that afternoon.
Monday was back to school. I enjoyed Colby's week off especially since we got to do so many fun things with him before Lindsay arrives but I have to say I was ready for him to get back in his routine. I had to do labwork at the doc after I dropped him off but I still got home with about an hour and a half to hang out before having to pick him up which was nice! After I got him from school we came home ate lunch and took naps. That evening we were able to watch the Saints game as a family.
Tuesday Austin was off again which was so nice! I love when he's off but especially now at 9 1/2 months pregnant I am very glad to have him around! We planned to go get our Christmas tree! I was excited b/c in 3 years this was going to be the earliest we would get it up! The last couple of years we have taken major trips the first week of December and haven't been able to put one up until after our trip. Colby was also excited...he loves Christmas trees! We are so happy to see all he remembers from last year which will make Christmas really fun this year with him! So we went to get our tree and Colby remembered the place and everything! After getting the tree we brought it back home to continue our errands. We had to stop by the Educator to get a few supplies for the church nursery. Afterwards we went to the church to do the bulletin board for Christmas. I was glad to get it done before Lindsay is born. I usually try and change the board every month or atleast season but the last one I was able to do was Back to School. Now I just have to figure out a way in Jan to take it down and put up a new one haha! Colby enjoyed playing in the nursery he thinks thats his own personal play space away from home! He even had to play on the playground before we left. My other thing I wanted to do was eat lunch at Chickfila...this was partly a craving thing and partly wanting to take Colby there one last time and it gave him a place to play while I could sit and relax! We ofcourse enjoyed our lunch! I love chickfila! Then Colby got to play for awhile after we ate! So all were happy! That afternoon we rested and then worked on setting the tree up!
Wednesday Austin was off once again and Colby had school. This was my scheduled pre-op last appointment day so we took Colby to school then off to the doctor. Everything went well at both but it did take awhile. We got to the doc around 9:30 and left the hospital around 1ish...its a half day event! but atleast they didn't admit me this time at preop like with Colby! We were happy to have that behind us! Afterwards we were able to go to