Santa's Village

I know I am WAY behind on posts but I have to do this one before I forget what Luc said. First, I will start off by saying MiMi and Granddaddy took us to Santa's Village. We got to see real reindeer, elves, Frosty the Snowman, and most importantly Santa. The boys were really excited/nervous to talk to the big guy. He asked each one what he wanted for Christmas. It was really sweet.

When I was telling Luc good night that night he asked me if that was "the real Santa". I told him I wasn't sure but that I thought he looked real. He said "Well, I don't think it was. He didn't look very magical to me." haha This boy cracks me up.

 

Evan telling Satna what he wants 

 

Luc telling Santa what he wants

 

Santa with his little elf 

Girl time

I usually spend my mornings that the boys are in preschool cleaning, doing laundry, and working on other things. Sometimes I have to take a break and enjoy some girl time...

We had a few minutes of happy time this morning. She thinks her mama is really funny.

2 weeks late...

Here she was at one month...

Madeline has been diagnosed with pretty severe reflux or GERD...same thing Evan had. We have been giving her Zantac for a few weeks now. It helps for a few hours. I guess it wears off after a while. She screams about 80-90% of her waking hours. On a normal day, that is anywhere from 4-8 hours of crying/screaming. Everyone says "poor tired mama". I am exhausted but really I hate so much to see her in pain. We started her on Prevacid this week. It is VERY expensive but hopefully it will bring her relief. On a good note, she is gaining weight. She weighed 10 lbs 14 oz at the doctor's office on Friday. That's 3 lb 14 oz more than her birth weight. She is just now beginning to smile a little. Here is a half smile half fuss...at 6 weeks old...

Baby stat comparisons

I like to compare stats for my kids so I can remember later. This is a couple of weeks late but here are stats so far. Madeline seems to continue to be more petite than her brothers...which I think is a good thing.

Luc at birth: 7lb 12 oz, 20 in long,
      2 weeks: 8 lb 10 oz, 21 in long, 38 cm head

Evan birth: 7 lb 7 oz, 20 in long, 35 1/2 cm head
    2 weeks:  8 lb 9 oz, 21 in long, 36 1/2 cm head

Madeline birth: 7 lb 0 oz, 19 in long, 35 cm head ?
           2 weeks: 8 lb 1 oz, 20 in long, 36 cm head

BTW I originally said Madeline was 21 in long at birth but I think they measured her wrong. At her 5 day weight check, she was only 19 inches. The pediatrician said they aren't very accurate with length measurements in the hospital.

Madeline

I never got around to finding someone to take newborn pictures...for any of my kids. I decided I would try to take some myself. These are obviously very ammature but at least I got something done. This girl sure is sweet.

 

Before...After

 

Comparisons

Well most of you alreay know how much Madeline looks like her big brother Luc. Here are some pictures for more proof.

 

All of these are from the birthdate. Madeline is in the middle.

Luc is on the left, Evan in the middle, and Madeline on the right.

Look who's here!

MADELINE EVE MCNEIL

Born: Sept 12, 2012

7 lbs, 0 oz.

21 inches long

 

We are so happy to have our sweet baby girl here. She is so perfect. There are lots of picture below and good details that some of you will want to skip over. 

Here we are Tuesday...

Here we are Wednesday...

 

And here are LOTS of pictures...

 

 

Here are the details ONLY for those of you interested...

Wednesday morning started out kind of stressful. We were suppose to be at the hospital at 7:00 to get started. The hospital called us at 5:30 am saying that labor and delivery was full and we would have to wait to see if they could get us in later for our induction. At 9:00 they said we could come in at 11:00. We arrived at 11:00. They punctured two viens trying to get my IV started. We finally got the pitocin started just after 12:00. Dr Meritt broke my water around 1:30. She told me to go ahead and ask for the epidural but I assured her that I could wait a bit longer. By 2:00, I was begging for it. It took over an hour to get it. Around 3:30, her heart rate dropped really low. They threw me back, did the oxygen thing, the nurse was freaking out, some other nurses came...I'm not going to have a baby without some kind of drama. They were about to hook up the monitor to her head when she picked back up. I started pushing a few minutes before 4:00. Madeline was born at 4:07. She weighed 7 lbs even and was 21 inches long.

 

Madeline did great. She score 9.9 out of 10 on the newborn screening.

 

I feel great too. I had no stitches. I felt pretty normal after I had her. The most pain I've had are the after birth contractions while I'm nursing. They are by far more painful than they were with the boys. The nurse and Dr Meritt said for a lot of women the after birth pains become increasingly intense after each pregnancy. Dr Meritt also said that they can be more intense than labor pains.

Another day at the lake

Saturday, we went back tot Windy Point with the Goheans. We all had a lot of fun. Brian, Jeff, Luc, and Annie took a swim.

Evan and Meg were content hanging out on the beach 

 This picture cracks me up.

Then a big storm rolled in...just in time for naps. 

Windy Point

I have not had time lately for blogging...or anything else for that matter. I had to take out some time to post these pictures though. We went to Windy Point beach at Lake Travis this morning with some friends. The kids had so much fun playing. Kim and I sat in the water and had long uninterrupted conversations. It was the best.

 Luc made a cool sand/stick tower.

 Then they decided to take mud baths...

 I'm pretty sure Evan got the best bath.

 "I a mud monster mom"

Evan's getting ready

Our friends, Caren and Jason came over the other night. They just had their third baby, baby Zadie. Evan loved her. Every time we've seen them he watches the baby and wants to hold her. He got to hold her this time and he loved it. He kept saying "Wook at hers tiny finguhs. Wook at hers tiny feets. Wook at hers tiny nose." One time he said "She so wiggly". He was so sweet with her. I think he's going to be a great big brother. I may have to keep our baby strapped down though.

While Brian was gone

Brian was gone for the month of July. I am so lucky to have such an awesome family to travel all the way out here to help out. As much as I hate being so far away, I am so thankful that we get to see our family as much as we do.

It was so helpful to have free babysitters while Brian was gone. Brian's mom came in the first week. We spent as much time as we could at the pool. The boys had a lot of fun playing with MiMi. She was so helpful keeping my kitchen clean too. I may have gotten a little spoiled.

 Heather came in the second week. I think we spent every day at the pool while she was here. She had a fun water camera that the boys loved. Those pictures are on Facebook.We spent her last day here at the Round Rock waterpark.

My parents and brother, David came the third week. Luc loved having Uncle David here. He followed him around the whole week. David has made Luc quite the stunt man at the creek and in the pool. David doesn't get to spend too much time with us so it was really fun for him to be here. GiGi worked with Evan teaching him to swim and dive for rings. Evan became quite a Papa John's boy too.

We had a quiet relaxing fourth week alone before Brian came back. By the end of three weeks of visitors, the boys were pretty off schedule for eating and sleeping. We're all getting back on track now...just in time to have the chaos of a new baby!