Welcome to the world, Vivien Leigh!

Vivi Leigh made her appearance at 1:49 pm, Monday, January 25, 2010.

She weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long.

She is one chubby, cuddly little bundle of sweetness and we are in love with her already!

This morning, I woke up with a lot of back pain around 3:00. After getting up several times, I finally got in the shower around 4:30 to see if the hot water could bring some relief. When Dennis's alarm went off at 5:30, I told him that I thought he might need to take me to the doctor. I so didn't want to "cry wolf" so we just called a few people and told them that I might be in labor. Between 5:30 and 7:00, we ran around the house trying to take care of all of the things that have been on hold until Vivien's arrival. At 7:00, we loaded a very clueless Amity and all of our things in the car and drove to our sitter's house.

As we drove, my contractions started coming in regular 5 minute increments but I mainly felt them in my back. We arrived at Baylor L&D around 8:15 and they sent me to triage for observation. The nurse told me to tell her when I felt a contraction. She put her hands on my stomach and said, "I can feel a little palpitation." What???? While I am nothing like my friends and cousins that have done this whole thing naturally, I don't think I am a total wimp! She did say, "It doesn't mean you aren't in pain. I just think you are in early labor." She called the doctor and was told to have me walk for 30 minutes. We headed back across the hall to L&D and walked for 30 minutes. The whole time I kept thinking about how much I would cry if they sent us home because if this wasn't labor, I didn't want to know what labor felt like!


We returned to observation at 9:30 and, THANK YOU, LORD!, I had a strong contraction that she could feel right as she came in the room. She checked me and determined that I had made some progress and called the doctor who agreed that I could be admitted.

We moved over to L&D around 10:00 and they started me on an IV. Around 10:45, Dr. Crochet came to break my water. Very soon after, the beloved anesthesiologist showed up to administer my epidural. Within minutes, I was a different person and started enjoying my sweet husband's humor again...such as when he told my parents that the third doctor in the practice, Dr. Fields-Walker, would be the one delivering the baby. He said that he thought she was American-Indian. The phone connection wasn't super clear and my parents believed him!

For the next two hours, I napped and played Scrabble on the iphone with Dennis and my brother. Dennis went to get some lunch and continued sending text updates to family and friends at work. Just before 1:00, we encouraged the nurse to check me and she was surprised to find I was complete! She called the doctor and she said, "Don't laugh too hard! You might push her out!" Since there had been some meconium in the amniotic fluid, there were some extra nurses in the room to ensure there was nothing in Vivien's lungs. The room filled with people, I lost all sense of modesty, and Vivien was out with just a few pushes at 1:49 p.m. As soon as she was out, everyone was talking about how big she looked. Dennis watched the nurses get her clean while the doctors finished with me. Very soon, she was in our arms. She started off very quiet but soon began showing us how strong her lungs were. She ate a good first meal and then quieted down for a nap by sucking on my finger and her knuckles. Then Dennis brought me Chik-fil-a and it tasted SO good!

I had to stay in L&D for a little extra time to make sure that I was not bleeding too much and we enjoyed the time to bond with our newest little girl.

Around 5:00, we arrived upstairs to the newly renovated Baylor rooms (nice!) and settled in before welcoming family. Becky and Dylan picked up Amity at Ms. Etta's house and arrived with the kids shortly after GG and KK. We had been concerned what Amity would think when she arrived at the hospital and saw us holding another baby but Vivien was in the nursery for some tests and Amity didn't even seem to notice us as soon as she locked eyes on GG and KK.

Baby Vivien soon arrived and got lots of hugs and attention, especially from her big sister and her cousins. This is the sweet picture of her as she said "night, night" before heading home with GG and KK.

We will post more pictures of our day later but, for now, we are going to watch "24" and try to get some rest! What a heavenly day!

You Would Cry Too...

if it happened to you (especially at the ZOO)!
On Sunday, Dylan and Becky called to suggest a trip to the zoo today to see if the walking would help Vivien decide to make an appearance in the near future. I was up for anything so we packed our lunch and the stroller and made it to the zoo around 10:00 am. While I made my first restroom stop of the visit, Dennis found the Connells over at the carousel. When I joined them, he was in the midst of convincing Amity to sit on one of the animals. As you can see, it didn't work! They ended up sitting on this bench and Amity was already signing and saying "All done!" before the ride even started.
Eiley, on the other hand, looked calm and collected like she has been riding on eagles for years.

When the carousel started up, Amity began screaming "Mommy!" every time they would circle around. I do think it was moving faster than the average carousel but our little girl was the only one who seemed to mind. Dennis just kept smiling and pointing out all of the things to look at to try to distract her. I just kept laughing and waving and taking pictures.

Once it was over, Amity adamantly wanted in her stroller. As we started going through the exhibits, she would just shake her head and say "No, no, no!" and "Ride!" (as in "let's keep moving"). We offered to hold her but she seemed to think she was safer in the stroller than in either of our arms. Of course, we were the horrible parents that put her on that carousel! :)

Eli got to get up and close and personal with this gorilla. He wasn't scared!

This is how Amity spent the majority of her time "looking" at the animals. She wanted us to turn her stroller away from the exhibit and she was clinging for dear life to her snack tray.

She was eventually convinced to walk if she could hold on to big cousin Eli. This picture cracks us up because we think they look like an old married couple!

With Eli's help, she gradually became a little more comfortable at the zoo...as long as she wasn't forced to look at any animals!

We finally found a place she was comfortable...the Reptile Room! Ironically, she didn't seem scared at all of any of these venomous animals. Lolly, she doesn't get this from you!

After a lunch on the sunny deck, we ended our day at the Children's Zoo. Amity was still in her cautious mode but she loved watching the other kids play and slide and pet the animals.

All in all, it was a fun day just to be with cousins and enjoy the gorgeous weather even if it didn't make Vivien come any sooner and we learned that Amity would prefer to just look at animals in books rather than in person!

I Scream, You Scream!

We all scream for ICE CREAM! Especially when Amity gets this in the mail from Lolly and PopPop:
After attending the A team and B team boys' basketball games last night at McDonald, those four dollars were burning a hole in our pockets so we headed over to McDonald's for some ice cream. As you can see Amity was not messing around when it came to eating her ice cream. She did such a good job eating from her sundae cup while Dennis and I enjoyed chocolate dipped cones. Yummy!
Amity's personal thank-you to Lolly and PopPop:

How 'Bout Them Cowboys?!?

I asked Dennis to stop by Albertsons for a few groceries the other night and he came home with an extra item that wasn't on the list (this isn't that unusual when Dennis goes to the grocery store!). Amity now has a jersey that matches her Daddy's.

Watching the game at Aunt Becky and Uncle Dylan's house on Saturday night

Let's go Cowboys!

Paco & Me

Over the Christmas break, Dennis finally let us watch Marley & Me. We knew it would be sad and he just didn't understand WHY we would want to see it! It wasa tear-jerker but it had lots of moments that we could identify with. I have a feeling I might be identifying even more with the mom at home with two little ones and a dog in the coming months. I definitely know what it is like to be viligantly watching out the window for the mailman's truck to appear so that I can make sure Paco is outside rather than at the front door ferociously barking during Amity's naptime!

Amity LOVES Paco! When she wakes up in the morning or from her nap, she always wants to know where Daddy is and then she asks "Caco?" Anytime we leave the house, she always says "Bye, Caco!" as we back out the driveway. As with any brother/sister :) relationship, they have their moments when they do not want to share or have had their fill of time together, but, more often than not, they just want to be together. Here are some recent examples:

Watching Sesame Street together on a cold morning

This is Amity's latest favorite game! She likes to "ride" Paco.

Looking outside and wishing for some warmer weather

Enjoying the sunshine indoors

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The mommy of this little girl:

emailed the mommy of this little girl:

and organized a morning playdate for these girls that WILL be good friends! :)

Even after several peptalks and telling her daddy at the pre-playdate breakfast, "I share toys!", Amity had to spend a couple of minutes in timeout when she realized what "sharing toys" really meant. All in all, it was a fun time and the mommies (both real and pretend) had a great time together! Let's do it again soon!

Amity is 21 months old!

This has been such a fun month with you, Amity! I am so thankful for the Christmas break at home that allowed the three of us to have lots of focused family time with you before your little sister arrives.

Some things that you have been doing in the past month...

You LOVE to talk, at least when you are at home! You tend to get a little shy when you are around strangers. In the past week, you have just begun putting a few words together on your own saying things like "Let's pray, Daddy!" and "I sorry, Caco." Even with just one word, you can definitely make your opinions and needs known!

When hunger strikes, you go to your high chair and say "Eat!" Then, you start making suggestions like cheese, apple, crackers, orange, cookies. We don't necessarily give in to your demands but it is entertaining to hear about your cravings! When you have finished your supper, you very sweetly say "Merry Christmas!" Apparently, our attempt at using the muffin tin Advent Calendar filled with M&Ms went awry. We continue to inform you that Christmas is over and the M&Ms are gone. Sorry that you are experiencing the post-Christmas letdown so soon!

When we are in the car running errands, you prefer to talk or sing instead of play with toys. I will point out things that I see like tractors, trucks or trees and then you start saying "More!" I have learned to only point out things that we are likely to see again because you get pretty upset when I cannot provide "more" in a timely manner. Sometimes we will talk about what we did that day or what we are going to do the next day. Whenever I stop talking, you say "more". You do the same thing whenever we sing (even when I am out of tune). You often request "e-o-e-o" (aka Old MacDonald) or the "Amity Song" which is to the tune of B-I-N-G-O.

During playtime by yourself or with us, you are constantly narrating what you are doing. We don't understand a lot of what you say as you talk to your babies or your kitchen or your blocks but we pick up words here and there.

You love to point out body parts on your dolls and Paco. Some of your favorites are feet ("beet"), elbow, wrist, eyes, cheeks ("geeks"), ears ("urs"), hair ("hur"), knees, forehead, and the all-time favorite BELLYBUTTON ("bell-butt").

You have started recognizing some letters and like to find things that have an A, O, Y, and T. You love to play with the letters in the bathtub and on the refrigerator. When you draw on the chalkboard, we often hear you "spell" your name "A-T-Y". You always want us to write your name on any papers you color.
We have just noticed you pretending to count. We think maybe you picked it up from your talking piggy bank. You typically count "2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8"! Now you want us to count everything! We will count and you say "Again!" It is like the song that never ends!

You have a thing for colors and especially like pink ("kink"), red, and blue. When we ask you what color something is, your default answer is "red" but you are starting to point out green, yellow, orange, purple, brown, and black. If we ask you what color diaper you want to wear, it is always pink. Your dad thinks I am trying to brainwash you to like pink but I told him I am doing no such thing! You should know that he has said that he will never allow us to paint your room pink! You love to sit in your "chur" and do things at the table. The peg puzzles are too easy for you but jigsaw puzzles are too hard and frustrating. My favorite thing is when you say "Almost!" when you are working a puzzle and you almost have the piece in place. You typically want to color a page from your coloring book and then use your markers for a bit. Then you do a puzzle or two and then you like to play with macaroni or sort color puffs.
While you seem to be more of a sit-at-the-table kind of girl, you do like to run around with Paco and kick or throw balls around the living room. You have just recently started to try to jump. It looks more like a gallop and you don't get more than an inch of the floor but it is really cute when you try! You are still pretty conservative when we go to a park or playplace. You watch the other kids and gradually try things out but with LOTS of caution. For all of the progress you are making in communication, you are not showing ANY signs of leaving diapers behind in the near future! We cannot even get you to acknowledge that you have a dirty diaper when it is VERY evident to everyone nearby. We ask, "Amity, do you have a poopy?" and you always say, "No!" Oh well, I am not ready to potty train in the next few months anyway!

You are getting braver about being in new places and with new people, especially if there are TOYS. When I talk to you about going somewhere, you always ask "Toys?" Of course, with this excitement about toys has come some frustration with sharing these toys. We have started having pep talks about sharing before we spend time with cousins and friends. I don't know how effective they are but hopefully you will get the idea eventually!

Finally, you are becoming more and more affectionate and give the best hugs and kisses (sometimes very sloppy on-the-mouth ones). You love to give long-distance hugs and kisses to things you like on TV or out the car window. You just lean your cheek in the direction of the object and saw "Ohhhh!" and "smooch". You have also started experimenting with showing that you do not like something. You do these air-swats at whatever you are frustrated with and sometimes, with Paco, you actually swat him. Yesterday, you almost hit Paco and I asked you if you needed a timeout and you said "Yes." I put you in your bed for a few minutes and when I went in to get you, you said "I sorry, Caco" and then gave him a hug. Paco had to have a timeout later because he growled at you. Sometimes, I feel like I have TWO toddlers!

Well, Missy, these are the things that we can think of that you are doing right now! We can't wait to see what you will be like as a big sister! We love you and thank God for you each and every day!