Officially Homeowners!!

Finally, after closing getting pushed back a week, we are homeowners!!!  It doesn't really seem real yet and probably won't until we move in but we own a house!  We are hoping to move in by July 1st but we will see how things go.  The entire house needs new carpet, with the exception of the dining room which we would like to put in hardwood floors.  We also need to paint, sand some trim, put in a new bath tub and possibly remodel the kitchen.  Oh and buy appliances since the house doesn't have any.  We will certainly be busy this summer and probably put everyone who comes to visit us to work.

The past week has brought on a ton of new words for the boys.  Logan's new favorites are sample and pickle.  Gavin's is wacky.  Last weekend they got to talk to Jake on Skype and now they will point to the I Pad and say "Jake!"  They also wave and say "buh bye."  They also are in the process of learning emotions and when Rylynn cries they say "sad."  Also, they like to point to people and say "happy."  On Friday they got their second hair cuts from Auntie Sarah.  Surprisingly, Logan was the one who sat still and Gavin kept trying to run away.  He apparently wanted to keep his mullet.

Rylynn is still doing really well.  Seriously, Galen and I are so lucky to have easy babies.  (Well as easy as two newborns can be at once...) She loves her paci and the only time she really cries is when she is hungy.  At her appointment last week she weighed 7lbs 15oz.  It's crazy how big she is getting.  This week we put her in the bouncy seat for the first time and she seemed to like it.  Gavin and Logan enjoyed it more than she did.  They like to turn on the music for her and they will occasionally bounce the seat.  She is lucky to have such caring big brothers.

Here are a few pictures taken by the wonderful Derek Montgomery for Rylynn's newborn photos. 

Gavin left, Logn right

Gavin left, Logan right

 

April 18th 2013

Today was my official due date, but once again it didn't mean much with this pregnancy.  With the boys, they wouldn't let me go past 38 weeks because they were twins.  This time around they wouldn't let me go past 39 weeks because of my previous c section.  Even though she ended up arriving at 37 weeks, it worked out well.  And I got to be right about her birthday.  All day on Easter I kept telling Galen that she was going to be born on April Fool's Day.  We even decided on putting her in a blue hat and telling everyone she was a boy before we knew she was going to be born the next day.

Rylynn had her two week check up this week and she is doing great.  She weighs 7lbs 2oz and is 20in long.  Her doctor told us that her Apgar scores were 9 and 10 when she was born.  He said that it's very rare for babies to score a 10 and pretty much impossible for c section babies to score a 10.  Rylynn was actually the first baby he has even seen score a 10.  This made me extremely happy because Gavin and Logan's Apgars dropped at the five minute mark and it was a relief to find out that Rylynn did really well right away.  The doctor also reminded me that she was the loudest baby my OB has ever delivered and he has delivered over 5,000 babies!  I won't lie, this makes me a little nervous for her teenage years.

We had a little bit of a scare on Monday with Rylynn.  We woke up and discovered she was running a fever.  After calling her doctor he decided that the best place for us to be was the ER in case she needed lab work done.  The first doctor that looked her over thought she looked good but she wanted to get a pediatric consult.  Rylynn's fever was slightly lower than the guidelines for "infant fever protocol" so the doctor wanted to see if she should follow infant fever protocol or let us go home.  Luckily we were able to avoid blood draws and a cath, we had to promise to bring her back the second we felt like something was getting worse.  Her temp gradually keep decreasing on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon it was back to normal.

Gavin and Logan are still doing really well.  They love to lay down by the baby, hold her bottle and her paci.  Recently, they have started trying to eat the food off pages of books and they get upset if they can't change something in the picture.  Logan has also started requesting massages, or sages as he calls them.  He says, feet, arms and back, all of which he wants massaged.  They have also started to learn a lot more shapes and colors in the past week.  Next up is working on the alphabet.

I Think They Like Her...

 

I think that it's safe to assume that Logan and Gavin like their little sister.  They love to check on her when she is sleeping in her bed.  In the morning when they wake up, the first thing they say is "baby?"  They are being really great big brothers.  Logan loves to help hold her bottle and tonight Gavin found Rylynn's paci and gently put it back in her mouth.  We have had a few minor incidents that involved an elbow and a remote to her head but both boys quickly gave her kisses to make up for it.

Rylynn had an After Care appointment yesterday, in the middle of a blizzard of course.  When we left the house it was just snowing and Galen had just gotten home from class and the roads weren't bad.  By the time we got to the hospital the weather had taken a turn for the worse and the police had issued a no travel advisory.  People were looking at us like we were crazy for having a baby out in the bad weather.  Had we known it was so bad (or going to get that bad) we would have rescheduled.  Plus this way, Rylynn got to experience her first blizzard.  Her appointment went really well, she is up to 6lbs 3oz, up from 6lbs 2oz at birth and 5lbs 11oz when being discharged from the hospital.  It's still really hard to believe that the boys were even smaller than her.  Gavin and Logan never seemed small when they were born, they always seemed like the perfect size.  She looks and seems even smaller because she has big brothers.  

Gavin and Logan seem so big now.  I look at them and see little kids instead of big babies and it makes me a little sad.  I love that they are getting bigger and exploring the world.  Their minds are constantly working to figure things out and you can often see an intense look of concentration on their faces as their work to solve a problem.  In the past two weeks their language has exploded a ton, I can't even list off all of the new words that they know.  We are slowly working on counting and learning shapes.  Gavin will hold up one finger when you ask how old he is.  And Logan can count to two. 

Pictures Of Rylynn

Meet Rylynn Amanda!

The first picture of Rylynn we sent out to our family.  Since she was born on April Fool's day we figured it was appropriate for her to play her first prank.

Such a cute little face

Rylynn's first headband

Logan holding his baby's hand

Gavin kept saying "buddy" as he was holding her

Our first two days at home have gone pretty well.  Gavin and Logan are adjusting much better than we expected.  Logan is super sweet, loves to hold her and give her hugs and kisses.  Galen and I are pleasantly surprised by this, Logan tends to be the rougher kid, so we were a little nervous about how he would act.  He has also been very helpful, he loves to bring us diapers and give the baby her paci.  Gavin tends to shy away from her a little more and keeps doing his own thing.  He gets a great big smile on his face when he gets to hold her and loves to give her kisses.  This morning he kept going over to her bed and making sure that she was still sleeping in there. 

Rylynn is doing a great job at night, she is waking up every four hours or so but we honestly can't complain.  It's nice that only one of us has to get up with her and the other one can get a good nights sleep.  She eats quickly and falls back asleep.  We are hoping that this trend continues. 

Heading Home!

Rylynn and I finally get to go home today.  I'm so anxious to spend time with Gavin and Logan.  They have come to the hospital to visit every night but they are my much more interested in exploring my hospital room than hanging out with me or Rylynn.  So far, the seem to not care too much that she is around.  That might change once we get home but they really don't pay much attention to her.  Last night Logan helped me burp her and even held her while he sat on Galen's lap.  Gavin didn't want to hold her but kept insisting that she wear her hat and come out of her blanket.

Rylynn has been doing amazingly well.  She is eating like a champ, which is strange for Galen and I. Gavin and Logan struggled to drink 2 ounces of formula, we would have to play with their feet, undress them and do whatever we could to make them stay awake and eat.  It would also take them a half hour to an hour to eat.  Rylynn has no problems eating 2 ounces in about ten minutes and then she goes right back to sleep.  We will see if she keeps up her good behavior once we get home!

Rylynn Amanda

Miss Rylynn is here!!! She was born at 1:11pm weighs 6lbs 2oz and is 19in long.  She looks exactly like Logan, only more plump.  But she still seems so little!  Her hair is dark and her fingernails are long!  The doctors and nurses have been very impressed with how loud she is.  The boys will be coming to see her for the first time later tonight, I'm anxious to see their reactions!!