Welcome Blake William!!

I went into the hospital at 7am Wednesday, October 1st.  Nana snapped a few last minute pictures before Bill and I headed to the hospital.  It was pretty early and everyone was still a little sleepy.

Blake William was born on Wednesday, October 1st at 12:41pm. Blake weighed in at 6lbs 13oz and measured 17.75in long.  He is a little peanut!!  Dr. Hulsen broke my water at 8:40am and only a few hours later Blake was in my arms. Blake was born rather quickly and had a rough transition to breathing, like his older brother Carter.  After a longer stay in the delivery nursery due monitoring, Blake finally joined Bill and I upstairs at 11pm Wednesday night.

After Blake had his footprints taken, Bill took him to the nursery for his "bath" and check-up with the baby nurses.  Once Blake was all scrubbed up he was brought back to me in recovery.  I noticed Blake was grunting when he was breathing, so the nurse took him back to the nursery for observation.  Blake was never put under the oxygen hood, but he did have to stay in the nursery for quite awhile before being brought upstairs.  Bill and I kept making trips downstairs to check on him as often as we could.

Below are a couple of pictures of Blake while he was being monitored.  He was a pretty happy camper, but was taking his time breathing without grunting.

Nana brought Nolan and Carter to meet Blake, but since Blake was still in the nursery for observation the boys could only look at him through the glass windows.  Blake is such a great brother, he gave Nolan and Carter presents!

Finally, Thursday morning Nolan and Carter met their little brother Blake.  Bill went home in the morning before school and daycare to pick up the boys and bring them to the hospital to meet their brother.  Both boys were in absolute awe of Blake.  Nolan was very protective of "his baby."

Thursday Blake and I hung out while Bill took Nolan to his transportation parade and Carter to Liz's.  Bill brought Nolan back to the hospital with him to hang out with Blake and I, while Nana brought Carter later in the afternoon.  It was fun hanging out with Nolan and letting him experience Blake without anyone else in the room.

Nana took our first family of five photo!

Friday afternoon we busted out of the hospital.  Blake was bathed, dressed, footprinted, and out the door.

Once Bill and I made it home with Blake and settled in, Bill went to pick up the boys.  Nolan and Carter couldn't wait to hold their baby again!  Boppy, Memaw, Bekah, Aunt KK, and Jimmy stopped by to see baby Blake too!

On Saturday Gigi and Grandpa Tub stopped by to meet Blake and brought lunch for everyone!!

Since Blake's hair was starting to become greasy, we decided to give him a bath on Sunday.  This kid was blessed with tons of hair!  Blake loved having his hair washed, but didn't like being dried off!

Papa and Nana came Sunday after church.  Papa finally met baby Blake and Nana was able to steal another snuggle!

Wow!! Has all of this really happened in only 5 days.  What a whirl wind.  Blake is settling in at home perfectly.  Nolan and Carter have adapted much better than I would have guessed.  They love their baby brother and like to give him kisses.  The boys do fight over who gets to hold him first, and Carter usually doesn't want to give him up in the end.

Family/Maternity Pictures!!

On September 13th, we had our family pictures taken.  The pictures were family, maternity, and Carter's 2 year pictures all wrapped up in one.  The weather was a little sketchy with rain, but we hung out under a tree and snapped some great pictures until the rain subsided.

I would highly recommend Sherry, who owns Metropolitan Picture Company.  I met Sherry when she came in as a patient and I was lucky to be the one to have her on my schedule.  Sherry did an amazing job at capturing all of our individual personalities!

Sherry took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of my absolute favorites.  Bill and I have the copyrights to these photos, so feel free to download and print them!

Nolan's Transportation Parade

Nolan took part in his school's transportation parade on October 2nd.  Each student was asked to make a wearable vehicle for the parade.  Nolan chose to make Thomas the train.  I logged onto Pinterest and found a great tutorial on how to make Thomas the train!  After a stop at Diebergs, Home Depot, and Office Depot, Thomas was ready to be made.

Nolan and I did most of the cutting and planning, while Bill took care of the painting and assembling.  Carter was there for emotional support and laughs!!  The boxes ended up being a little big, but Poot was happy with the end result!

Since I had delivered baby Blake the day before I was stuck in the hospital, while Bill and Grandma Donna took Nolan to his parade at school.  Nolan had a conductor hat from his birthday, so I asked Bill to make sure he wore it for the parade.  Bill was great while I was in the hospital making sure everything was completed for the parade! 

Bill said the kids all had a blast and Nolan did a great job!  After awhile of walking around, Nolan went up to Bill and said, "I'm out of water!"  Nolan was tired of walking and carrying the train!! Haha  I may be a little biased, but I think Nolan was the cutest conductor in the parade.

Bill took a video of Nolan during the parade too.  What a great daddy!!