These cute babies are home!

I'm SO excited to announce that my niece and nephew are finally HOME!  Hailey went home last week and her big brother, Jesse, followed her yesterday.  I'm hoping this means some nice "relaxing" time at home for their mom & dad.  I say relaxing because I'm sure it will be compared to the daily back and forth between Vancouver and Portland.  I'm sure they will have their share of sleepless nights, but who doesn't with a baby? I love these kids!  Wish I could go visit them again.

HAYDEN

I'm just going to brag a little about Hayden here because I CAN.  :)  I've just been thinking a lot lately about how SMART this child is.  We like to tell the boys bedtime stories (though, recently we have switched to reading chapter books instead).  On some nights I'm not feeling particularly creative so I'll try to tell a short "story" about the boys going camping, having a good time, and then coming home.  When this happens, Hayden will often say, "Mom, there needs to be a problem!"  He already understands that good stories need some sort of conflict.

A few months ago I started teaching Hayden to read.  Really it didn't take much teaching.  I worked with him for one day (Green Eggs & Ham, a book he knows well).  Within a couple days, he was reading other Dr. Seuss books.  He is now reading at a 1st or 2nd grade level.  It's so fun to see him reading books on his own and enjoying it.  I've never been a big reader.  I wish I was, and maybe someday I will be, but now I just don't have the time or ability to focus on reading. Anyway, I'm glad Hayden got his dad's brains.

I think Hayden will also be good at math.  (This is one thing he gets from me).  He's able to add and subtract pretty well in his head and he can count past 100.

Hayden is SO good with Grayson.  He just adores his baby brother and thinks he's the cutest thing EVER.   This is a big change from when Torrin came and all Hayden wanted to do was hit the baby.  Of course, he was two then, and now he's 5.  Hayden & Torrin are good buddies, but they also have VERY different personalities and fight a lot.

Hayden has a strong desire to do what's right and please others.  He still has his sneaky 5-year-old moments, but I can see him learning to distinguish right from wrong on his own.  The other day Hayden was telling Allen something his friend told him.  He said that if Hayden doesn't want to sleep at night he should pretend to sleep walk and go play the Wii because "that's what (he) does".  LOL  Hayden told Allen this and then said, "But Dad, I'm not going to do that."

This fall Hayden will start Kindergarten.  I came very close to putting him in preschool or pre-K this year, but decided not to.  I don't regret my decision to keep him home.  I have enjoyed having him here with me and will miss him when he starts school.  I know he will do well and thrive.  I am just so proud of him.  It's hard to believe that in August it will have been 6 years since I held a little 8 1/2 lb baby in my arms for the first time.  I remember a strong feeling that Hayden was a very special spirit, and that is certainly true.  I look forward to seeing what kind of man he becomes someday.

Four reasons today was extra special for me.

A lot can change in seven years.

Update on my cute niece and nephew.

They are doing great.  Both babies are over 5 lbs and off oxygen and breathing help.  I was able to travel to Portland to meet them.  When I got there they were both in separate beds.  Jesse was still on CPAP and Hailey was on a nasal canula.  On day two, Jesse was off CPAP.  On day three, the babies were moved to the same bed and "graduated" to the other side of the NICU (for more stable babies).  It was fun to see them make such progress in the few days I was there.  It's so hard being away from my family, so it was especially nice to spend time with my sisters and Mom.  Hopefully both twins will get to go home this month and my boys will get to meet their new cousins this summer.  I know Hayden is especially excited to meet them.

I'm an aunt!

Again.  But this time on my side of the family.  Stephanie gave birth to boy/girl twins last Saturday.  Jesse & Hailey were born 11 weeks early!  They have had a couple of rough patches, but are both doing well despite being born so prematurely.  Hailey was 2 lb 12 oz and Jesse was 2 lb 9 oz.  SO tiny!  I can't believe Stephanie and Jay are parents now!  It's so exciting!  I know they will do a wonderful job and be the best parents.  I love these babies so much already, and I haven't even met them yet.  I can't wait to meet them in April.

Jesse Jay

Hailey Jane

2 months already!

Grayson is already 2 months old!  I can't believe how quickly time has flown.  :(  I love seeing him reach new milestones, but can't time just slow down?  This week I'm packing away the newborn clothes.  Grayson is already 14 lbs (according to the home scale) and growing out of the newborn sizes.  He's even getting close to growing out of some of his 0-3 month stuff.  I do have to say that I LOVE this stage, though.  Over the past week Grayson has become a lot more social.  He is smiling at us a ton, and just tonight he started cooing and "talking" to me.  I was holding him as Allen and I were watching a show, and I'd look down and he'd be staring up at me with a big grin on his face as if to say, "Come on, Mom. Play with me."  I love the cute little sqeaks and squeals he makes and wish I could record everything.  Before I know it he'll be 3 years old!  Here are some of my favorite pictures.

 Grayson with his Grandma Wilcox.

 Grayson with his Grandma Williams.

 Grayson with Great-Grandma Williams

He learned a new trick!

Introducing Grayson Daniel Wilcox

Grayson Daniel was born on January 18, 2011, at 4:18 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 20 inches long.  This was my 2nd VBAC, and was a lot harder than the first.  Here is his birth story.  Don't read if you don't want to know the details. ;)

My mom came from Seattle on Monday afternoon.  I had been telling Grayson that his Birthday would be Monday night or Tuesday, so I guess he is a very obedient baby.
Tuesday morning at 8:45 a.m. I rolled out of bed achy from a long night at 9 months pregnant . I went to the bathroom and saw blood, so I knew something was starting. Called my midwife, Gretchen Faucett, and she said to wait around and see if any contractions started. By about 10 a.m. I was sure labor was starting--I was getting contractions about 10 minutes apart that didn't feel like my normal Braxton Hicks contractions.

Allen and I showered and got ready to head to the hospital (about a 40 minute drive). I got to Labor and Delivery and they put me in a closet. LOL Ok, not really, but it was not one of their regular L&D rooms, it was just a tiny monitoring room. Pretty sure they thought they'd be sending me back home. I was checked and 3-3 1/2 cm (same as I was at my appointment last week). DH and I walked the halls for about 40 minutes and they checked me again at 12:45 p.m. I had made some progress (though, only to about 4 cm), so they admitted me and gave me a "real" L&D suite.

Around 2:45 they checked me again and the nurse said I was still at 4cm. My midwife "agreed" with her at the time, but told me once she left the room that I was more like 6 cm.  She broke my water at that point and the contractions started coming stronger and closer together. And boy, were they intense! A little before 4:00 I called Gretchen in and told her I was feeling more pressure and thought it would be time to push soon. She stayed with me through a few contractions and agreed that he would be here soon. I started pushing at about 4:00 and he was born at 4:18 p.m. on 1/18/11. He weighs 7 lb 6 oz and is 20 inches long with lots of blonde hair. I think he looks like Allen.

I had absolutely NO pain meds this time. No epidural, not even stadol/nubain like I had with Torrin, and believe me it was HARD. With Torrin I remember feeling little to no pain while pushing. It actually felt good to push (of course that was only for 7 minutes). But this time, pushing was TOUGH and I still felt the contractions through the pushing. My mw said he was kind of at a weird angle and it took a bit for him to get under my pubic bone. I ended up with only a tiny tear or two, so I just needed a couple stitches for that.

Grayson and I are doing well.  He is a little jaundiced, so we've had to go in for some heel pokes, but his numbers are stable now and should be dropping soon.  He is nursing well and is already starting to get chubbier.  Though, he still has those cute scrawny little legs.