Twas the Night Before Christmas

Daddy reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'

Baking cookies for Santa with Arden

Mike with baby Audrey - it looks like Roxy is curious

Riding in the wagon inside the house because it was too cold outside

Snuggling with Daddy

Matthew likes to help put hats on Audrey

Audrey buckled up for her dr visit

It is Christmas Eve today and the winter weather is here in Dallas, 40's and rainy. It has been a busy week since we brought Audrey home from the hospital 2 weeks ago. She has been a relatively easy baby so far. She started off with the days and nights mixed up but she seems to have that straight now. I feed her every couple of hours during the day and many times I have to wake her to feed her (this never happened with Matthew). At night, she will go 4 hours between feedings sometimes and when she wakes up, I am shocked that she doesn't even cry. The first couple of weeks tend to be easier because babies sleep so much. The challenge will be in the weeks to come when she starts to wake up more. We shall see.

It has been a rough transition for Matthew. He had a cold on the day that Audrey was born and it escalated into 2 ear infections with a high fever. We took Audrey to her first dr appointment on Wed, Dec 15th and we probably should have taken Matthew at the same time. We took him to school and later that afternoon, they called and told us to pick him up because he had a fever. Thankfully, Andy stayed home the entire week because he was a big help with Matthew. Poor Matthew was not feeling well and he wanted Mama all the time but my time was devoted to the baby. It seemed that every time I went to feed the baby, Matthew wanted to be held. It was a long week and by the time Friday came around, Andy says "That's it. No more kids, no more pets. I'm at capacity!" It was funny because Andy was constantly on his toes tending to Matthew and Rusty to a lesser extent. We joked that the baby was the easy one.

On Friday afternoon, my parents and Mike arrived in town. Andy said "Bring in the reinforcements, we need it!" They cooked meals for us, entertained Matthew, and helped with laundry. Matthew did not sleep well at night because his nose was stuffy so he was not his normal self and we had lots of temper tantrums. My parents shared a room with him at night and after several days, my dad started feeling sick. They were supposed to stay through Christmas but they left early on Tuesday so that they could go see a doctor and get some rest. As bad as it sounds, there were some fun events during their stay - Andy, Papa, and Mike went to the Arkansas basketball game on Saturday and on another day Mike and Papa hit some golf balls.

Matthew is finally feeling better. He went to school on Wednesday and Thursday this week. He came home in the best of moods. On Thursday night, Arden came over and they baked cookies for Santa. Matthew is learning about Santa Claus in school but he didn't get a chance to go see him in the mall. Andy read the book, Twas the Night Before Christmas, tonight as a start in our family tradition. I decorated the stairwell with lighted garland earlier in the week and Matthew came home from school and said "it's beautiful!" I bought some stockings and I have not hung them up yet. Matthew tried to put them on his feet. We have lots of gifts under the tree from all the grandparents. Matthew wanted to open them early when we received the boxes in the mail but we made him wait. He hasn't touched the gifts since.

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We are truly blessed with our new addition, Audrey. And we are very grateful that Matthew is feeling well in time for Christmas.

Welcome Audrey

A big yawn

Matthew holding Audrey

Mama holding Audrey just before checking out of the hospital

On Friday, we welcomed Audrey Margaret Bruce into the world. We headed to the hospital at 4am and our neighbors took Matthew to school that morning. By 10am, Audrey was born.

7 lbs 10 oz

19.2 inches long

Andy picked up Matthew from school in the afternoon and his first comment to me was "mommy, what you got?" when I was holding the baby. He smiled when he saw her and he was very sweet about the new change. He wanted to hold baby and kiss her. We try to make sure he is gentle around her.

One Last Weekend Before Baby

Matthew eating a cupcake at Arden's party

Happy Birthday Arden!

Matthew riding on a pony at the party

Matthew is painting a horse shoe at the party

We stayed busy the week before baby came home. Matthew helped Daddy put together some furniture and helped mama make cookies. Matthew had a flu shot during the week and he was a big boy. Andy shoved a lollipop in his mouth afterwards so Matthew didn't even cry. On Saturday, we went to the YMCA and Matthew enjoyed swimming in the pool. As soon as daddy joined us, Matthew's confidence went up and he was jumping in the pool, swimming under water to mommy and daddy, and fetching toys from the bottom of the pool. He is a good swimmer only when daddy is around. Matthew also went to Arden's 3rd birthday party and enjoyed riding on a pony on Sunday.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

On Sunday, we picked out a Christmas tree. Matthew talked about the tree all day. And later Sunday evening, we pulled out the Christmas decorations. Matthew had so much fun decorating the tree this year and "helping mama". We played some Christmas music and decorated the tree with ornaments. Matthew would say "I did it!" as soon as he put a ball on the tree. It was cute.

Earlier in the day I took Matthew to a birthday party for one of his classmates. He loved it! As soon as he saw his friends, he was chasing them around and squealing. One of his friends, Allison, gave him a hug as soon as she saw him. He enjoyed pizza, chips, cupcake, and lemonade. He had the time of his life. We will definitely consider doing something similar for his 3rd birthday because the kids had so much fun.

Happy Thanksgiving

Matthew kisses Daddy and checks out his scratchy face
Pumpkin Cheesecake... Yum!
Stickers with Mama
Eating apple pie and ice cream with Daddy - Those left hands were shoveling it in as fast as they could!
Thanksgiving Feast
Andy's new toy - the smoker. He smoked the turkey this year and it was delicious
Nana's apple pies

Matthew had a fun Thanksgiving with lots of family in town. Lori arrived on Tuesday evening and helped with the bed-time routine. Matthew came home from school and Lori was there and he said "That's mama, who are you?" I think he was confused because Lori's voice is very similiar to mine and he came around the corner thinking it was me. He warmed up to Lori right away and before long he was telling Lori when he peed in the potty and saying "look Lori" when he would do something.

Nanna, Papa, and Michael arrived on Wednesday and they dropped off Roxy at the house before going to the grocery store. Matthew came home and saw Roxy and said "Where's Papa and Nanna?" He knew they had been there. Nana and Bryan flew into DFW on Wednesday evening and Matthew was even more excited to see more family.

Matthew enjoyed watching the Macy's parade and then we ate a delicious turkey feast. The temperature dropped from 80 degrees to 40 degrees throughout the day. Lori and I took Matthew to the park in the morning with coats and gloves on. Matthew liked getting out of the house for a little bit but he was ready to get back home after the cold, windy weather.

Nanna, Papa, and Michael stayed at a nearby hotel and Matthew enjoyed swimming in the pool on Friday morning. I also enjoyed getting in the pool and actually stayed in there longer than Matthew did. We all thought the baby would come at any moment but no news so far.

Nesting: Getting ready for baby and Thanksgiving

Cool dude wearing his shades and eating grapes

Helping Daddy sweep the leaves

The baby's closet

The changing area

The photo wall

The crib - we still have nails in the wall from Matthew's name. As soon as we pick a name, we will hang new letters above the crib.

Mobile with light green, purple, and pink

Matthew's old car seat with a fresh new look

On Friday, I went the doctor and she says that I have not changed at all. She now thinks the baby will come after Thanksgiving. I was a little disappointed to hear this news because I thought for sure that the baby would be here by now. Given that news, we have relaxed somewhat and just focused on getting the house ready for Thanksgiving and doing all the projects that we know we will not have time to do once the baby is around.

The baby's room is ready with diapers and outfits ready to go. My hospital bag is packed and in the car. My coworkers are on standby and if I disappear for any length of time, people start asking if I went into labor. I told everyone goodbye on Friday as if I was not coming back for a while but in fact, I may be around the office for the next couple of weeks since I still have 2 weeks until my due date.

It was a relatively uneventful weekend. We didn't have much planned since we thought the baby would be here at any moment. I took Matthew to the YMCA pool on Sat morning while Andy worked out with his personal trainer. Andy stopped by the YMCA afterwards and played ball with Matthew in the gym and I was able to break away for a shopping trip. Matthew's swimming skills are no where near where it used to be a couple of months ago but hopefully he will pick it back up by going to the indoor pool regularly. We took our 2-hour naps on Saturday and then took a walk to the park with Rusty. We went out for pizza that evening and then stopped by the new grocery store afterwards to stock up on some Thanksgiving food.

We will have a full house for Thanksgiving: Lori, Bryan, Nana (my grandmother), Nanna, Papa, and Michael. My parents will be staying in a hotel nearby and we hope Matthew enjoys that indoor pool. On Sunday, we enjoyed the 70-degree weather and played outside most of the day. We started the morning by going to Target and stocking up on some last minute baby items, birthday presents for Matthew's friends, and light bulbs, etc... We ordered some furniture to complete our front living room, including an entry way table with baskets so we can get organized for daily routines - Matthew's school bags will go in there instead of on the floor, my purse will go in there, and Rusty's leash.

Matthew did great with the potty training during the school day but he requested diapers over the weekend and even had an accident in his underwear at home once. Since we do not have a regular schedule at home, he finds it an inconvenience to stop and go to the potty every so often. It will be interesting to see how he does after the baby arrives.

Rusty had surgery on his ear this week where they lazered off a cyst. He has constant ear infections because of the design of his ears. The vet put him to sleep to do the surgery and they shaved off an area of his leg for the shot or iv. Matthew saw it and kissed Rusty's bobo for him. Matthew loves having Rusty around and he is always calling for Rusty to come upstairs when Rusty is downstairs. They are becoming best buds.

Matthew is Potty Trained!

We are excited to say that Matthew is potty trained! He was a little hesitant to wear the "big boy underwear" because he would have accidents. But his teacher at school insisted that he was ready for it so we brought 5 pairs of underwear and pants to school with him last Monday - Nov 8th. He had several accidents but his confidence improved throughout the week with no accidents by the end of the week.

Ms. Leah, his teacher, would take him to the potty every 30 minutes. After a couple of days, Matthew started telling Ms. Leah when he needed to go. He gets an M&M every time he goes so he is super motivated to get "M's" as he calls it. Over the weekend, Matthew continued to use the potty and wear the underwear most of the time. We were shocked and pleasantly surprised when he pooped on the potty because he usually requests to do that in a diaper away from attention.

When we would go out to restaurants over the weekend, we would take Matthew to the potty right away and then as soon as we got home. He is doing very well. We just hope that this continues after baby arrives.

On Friday, I went to my doctor and my labor is progressing. I am 2.5 cm dilated, the baby has dropped from -2 to -1 position and I am 40% effaced. The doctor still predicts that the baby will be born this week. We spent most of the weekend getting ready and doing chores that we know we will not get to afterwards. I put a pink cover on Matthew's old car seat and made sure that the safety belt was tightened for a baby. The room is ready with the exception of a name on the wall - Andy and I still haven't decided on that just yet.

Matthew had fun over the weekend. I took him to the YMCA pool on Saturday. He doesn't swim as well as he did a couple of months ago. He didn't want to wear his googles and fetch things from the bottom of the pool and he didn't want to swim on his own too much. He can still swim -it's just a confidence issue. Nonetheless, he enjoyed the pool. Afterwards, he shared one of his gummy bears with a girl in the locker room. He only had 2 left and I was surprised that he gave one away. It was a yellow one and I commented how it matched her dress. After he did it, he says "we will have to tell Daddy". We saw Andy a few minutes later and Matthew had a story to tell "Daddy, [pause] I share yellow [pause] Sophia [pause] match her dress". He had to really think about what he was saying.

He loves to sing "Happy Birthday" and imitate the pirates from the Backyardigan cartoons - "Don't ever touch the boot!" he says with a stern look. He has a grumpy face that he will imitate sometimes on demand and then we try to get him to smile by saying "Don't you smile" and he smiles really big. He also talks about the ghost cartoon where Tyrone wears a sheet and says "Boo". Andy put the blanket on and acted like a ghost and Matthew thought it was fun at first and then got scared. The other day he says "Daddy, you was a ghost and scared me". His words are getting better every day. It's so fun to hear the things that come out of his mouth.

He wanted to keep watching videos over the weekend so I tried to come up with a couple of games to entertain him. I hid easter eggs around the living room that were filled with dried cherries and raisins. He loved it! Last night, he requested to play this game again. "I play puzzle, you hide, want to?" So cute. We also played a match game with some puzzle pieces and then playdoh after that. We went to eat frozen yogurt on Sunday and Matthew was dancing and smiling.

After church, we decided to drive around the neighborhood to look at a particular house and Matthew realized we took a different turn and says "Daddy, where are we going?" He doesn't miss a beat!