Thankful for Family

This year I am most thankful for family. The family I came from, the family I married into, and the family that Brian and I have made. The holidays are a busy time of year. Going from one family's house to the other family's house can be hard. Adding in two children can make it even harder. No naps, lots of eating, driving around, disruption in routines, etc. However when we are with our family none of that matters. The memories created is what matters. Having our children grow up with their grandparents, uncles, and aunts (and someday cousins) is what is important. I am thankful that we live close to have two yummy meals and have twice the fun! I can't imagine the holidays any other way. Happy Thanksgiving!

Harris Family Photo Shoot

Brian's grandmother, Grand-Ma Emma flew in from New Jersey Tuesday afternoon. We were able to spend a lot of time with her this week. On Wednesday, my mom in-law scheduled an appt. for us to take a family picture. Austin slept through the entire thing, Logan was 1 1/2 during the entire thing! He did not want anything to do with taking a picture. Our family picture for Christmas cards should be interesting. We tried everything from toys, to candy, to his favorite - jumping up and down. In the end we did get a few good pictures that even included Logan!

Thank You!

I want to thank my dad, brother Ryan, and Brian for giving back. I contacted the local high school, North Gwinnett (that is the high school in the cluster that my school, Sycamore is in and the high school I graduated from)to find out if there were any families that were in need of Thanksgiving dinners. One of the counselors emailed me back that there were a few families that would appreciate Thanksgiving dinner. It ended up being 5 families that were in need. My dad and brother Ryan agreed to make and deliver two meals (from Katie's Cafe - catering business they own) and Brian agreed to have the Pub make/donate the three other meals. Each meal was prepared for four people per family. The meals included a whole turkey (of course), several sides, and dessert. I am so thankful that these guys are always willing to help out. My dad taught us to receive you have to give. Brian and I want to teach our own children that and to start a tradition that will show them a way to give to others that don't have all that we do. My brothers, Ryan and Kevin delivered the two meals prepared by Katie's Cafe and Brian delivered the three meals prepared by the pub. Thank you for making it possible for these families to have a holiday meal and for being role models for Logan and Austin. I love you!

1st Month Comparison

Logan


Austin
It is so neat to see how much Austin and Logan really look alike. It will be fun to compare their pictures each month to see the similarities and differences. Logan has really big features compared to Austin's little bits! At 4 weeks Austin weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz. When Logan was 1 month he weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz. Now at 6 weeks Austin weighs 10 lbs 2 oz. Logan weighed 10 lbs 12 oz at two months, in two weeks we will have to comapre that to Austin's weight! I love this:)

Bath Time - Logan 1 Month / Austin 1 Month

Our boys are very similar babies. This is Logan's fist bath compared with Austin's first bath:

Austin

Austin

Logan

Week 5 Update

Austin is a smiley boy! He smiles at our voices and coos. He is so sweet. Logan is a doting big brother. He is always trying to give Austin his paci (even when he doesn't want it). Logan wants to hold the baby, carry the baby, kiss the baby. It melts my heart to see him with Austin. Logan had his 18 month well visit this week. It is hard to believe the my first baby is a 1 1/2! He is doing great and is in the 50th percentile in all areas. No shots at this visit. He doesn't have to go back until he is 2! The boys and I went to story time on Monday. We sang, danced, and listened to Ms. Nicole read stories. Logan had a great time and made some new friends. Then we went and picked out some books and a Barney dvd. To end the morning we had McDonalds for lunch and went home for a long nap. It was such a fun day! I am getting the hang of taking both kids to the store. Today we went to TJ MAXX and to Target. I was even able to get some Christmas shopping done. Tomorrow we will venture to the mall for the first time. I have a few returns and need to look for Austin's Christmas outfit. I think we will be okay as long as we stick to the stores we need to get to. Brian is busy at work but still makes time to play and hold babies each day. I had my 5 week post op visit yesterday. I am doing so much better. My hemoglobin levels continue to rise, my scar is healing well, and only a bit more swelling in my lower abdomen is all that is left! I am also happy to report only being 5 lbs from my pre pregnancy weight - being sick paid off in that area. However the bod may never be the same. It is time to start working out - ugh - maybe once I am sleeping more than 4 hours a night. I am working on getting out thank you notes and announcements. I am sending close to 100, be patient if you haven't received yours yet! We are looking forward to Thanksgiving next week and getting our first professional family of four photo taken! Life is good.

Wiggles

Last Sunday, Brian and I took Logan to see the Wiggles! Brian was able to get tickets from Eagle Rock (beer distributor); so we were able to sit in the Budweiser Suite. However that is not the place to watch the Wiggles. So a guy that Brian knows that works at the arena was able to take us down to floor seats! You can see from the pictures how close we were. Logan even shook Jeff's hand (the Wiggle that falls asleep)! Of course I didn't get that picture - I was too busy watching Logan's face! It was a lot of fun and special because it was mommy and daddy time with just Logan. Uncle Ryan and Aunt Juju watched Austin for us. They did a great job with our sweet baby.

Weeks 3 & 4

Time is really going by so quickly. Austin had his 3 week check-up. He is gaining an ounce a day. This brought him to 8lbs 12oz. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed that day and had a break down in our pediatrican's office. Dr. Peralstein is awesome. I really love her. After this appointment I really felt like the 20 dollar co-pay bought me a short therapy session as well as Austin's check-up! She reassured me that I could mother two children and that I was already doing a good job. After discussing my problems, we went on to the baby! Austin has reflux (per the ENT whom we saw for some breathing issues). So Austin is now on Prevacid to help his belly. He had an eye infection from the stuff in his nose getting backed up. So he was given an anitbiotic for that as well. The ENT felt like Austin's bones in his nose would grow as he grows. I reported that to Dr. Peralstein. During this time, Logan helped me give Austin his first bath. I am really starting to feel better and have a handle on life! I have figured out what I can get done as Logan is eating breakfast and Austin is sleeping. This is only a 1/2 hour, but I can do a load of laundry, pump, unload the dishwasher, clean up breakfast, brush my teeth and my hair , and get Logan dressed. Some days I just enjoy the morning. I sit and hold Austin as he sleeps and have breakfast with Logan. These are the moments that I will cherish forever.

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2008 was lots of fun! Logan was a monkey and Austin was a baby banana. They were too cute. Brian took Logan to a few houses to get candy. He loved it and loved being a monkey. We had pizza & wings to eat. My parents, Brian's parents, and some family friends came over to celebrate. Brian dressed as a 70's pimp for his work party that he went to later that night to award the best dressed with $250.

3 Weeks

It has been three weeks since my last post. So much has happened since then, I think I have been putting off blogging about it because of all the emotions that can overwhelm me when I think back. However I want to remember Austin's birth story and I want to share it. With that being said this may take several days to get posted!

October 14, 2008
What an exciting day it was! Brian left for work anticipating having several days off for Austin's delivery. Logan and I were left to spend some alone time together before leaving him with my parents for a few days. We woke up, showered, finished packing, took a nap, went to lunch with Mimi (our favorite place-Panera), went to Mimi and Papa's to hang out until daddy came to meet us. After Logan and I relaxed my mom took several great pictures of my big belly (one last time) and of me and Logan. When Brian got there she took pictures of the three of us. I have posted these up at Snapfish, but here are a few of my favorites.






After the photoshoot, my mom, dad, Logan, me, and Brian went to eat mexican. After dinner, we left Logan with my parents and Brian and I headed down to Northside. We arrived at Northside around 8:30 and checked into our room at 9:00. After getting hooked up to the heartbeat monitor and IV, we were left to have a peaceful nights sleep; so we thought. The baby's heart rate dropped several times throughout the night as did my blood pressure. So a nurse was constantly coming in and having me turn over and move to get the baby's heart rate up. At 5am the nurse came in to get the show on the road - induction time! I was given an enema (TMI - I know), time to shower, and get ready for pitocin. I was given pitocin around 9am and Dr. Glander came in to break my water shortly after that. I was still only 2cm at this point and the baby had not come down. We knew we were in for a long day. Our family began to arrive around 11am to wait for Austin's arrival. Little did everyone know that would not happen for almost 8 more hours. It was a long, exhausting, scary day. After I had my epidural the problems began. I was feeling all of the contractions, the baby's heart rate was dropping down to the 70's and 60's, I had to wear an oxygen mask, one nurse was convinced the baby was breech and we had to have an ultrasound. He wasn't breeched, just up high. Another nurse had me turning and putting my legs up in stirups to get the baby to go down. The doctor kept coming in and checking on me and I was slowly progressing. At one point we were given a time of 6 or 7 for the baby to come naturally or we would move to a c-section. By 6:30 nothing was changing, I was getting worse, Austin's heart rate was slowing with each contraction. The doctor said time is up and within an instant there was so many people in my room preparing me for a c-section. I was crying, Brian was worried, our family was packing up our things to take to recovery. It was a very scary time. After getting prepped I was able to kiss everyone and Brian and I headed to the OR. Brian couldn't come into the OR until I was completely ready, so he kissed me at the door and said he would see me soon. Brian and I didn't get to see Austin come into the world. My epidural was not working and the baby had to come out. I had to be put to sleep, which meant Brian was not allowed in the room with me. The last thing I remember is the anthestesiologist telling me to think about the beach and I was out. I woke up in recovery asking Brian if the baby was okay with all of his fingers and toes. Austin was okay weighing in at 7lbs 14oz and 20inches long. He had/has a head full of black hair. I asked for my mom but couldn't see anyone until I was up in my room an hour later. Here are pictures that Brian was able to take in the recovery room.



I still can't believe I had to have an emergency c-section. The days after Austin's birth were very difficult. We (me, Brian and Austin) stayed in the hospital until Sunday October 19th. I spent a lot of time holding Austin, sleeping (trying to through the pain), walking to regain my strength, enjoying the company of visitors, and watching a lot of TV! Here is a slide show of recovery at Northside:


As I said we left the hospital on Sunday Oct. 19. These are pictures of us leaving and heading home.






My mom came and helped me with the boys and the house for the first two weeks. I ended up getting really sick with an infection from surgery and bleeding internally which clotted off and was painful. I couldn't do much but sit and nurse Austin. It was really hard on everyone. Thank you to my mom and dad who were there each day to care for me, the kids, and the house. Thank you to my in-laws who came over and helped with boys and whatever we needed. Thank you to my co-workers who brought dinners for the first two weeks - so awesome! Thank you to my wonderful husband who kept it all togehter as I was falling apart.