Cousins

Amanda & Kevin's cousin Andrew slept the same way Kevin does now when he was a baby, so I thought I'd do a side-by-side comparison. They are definitely related! Andrew is on the left, and Kevin is on the right.

August Pics

Some pictures from August in no particular order...

Mimi & Mark holding Kevin before they headed back to Illinois.



Funny pose by Kevin in the swing



Amanda helping to feed Kevin




Amanda helping me clean the kitchen




At the beach with Mimi & Mark, Mike just got done surfing.

Amanda actually went in the water!

Update & pics

Some new pics from the last week...

I put Kevin on the floor and Amanda decided to join him!



First bath... Kevin's umbilical cord actually fell off after just a week, but that was the day he got his plastibell so we had to wait for that to fall off as well before giving him a real bath.

My little ham, smiling for the camera while she holds K.

And finally, last Friday we spent the day at Grandma's with cousin Andrew and Aunt Erin. The kids both stick to Grandma like glue, so I had to take a pic.

Nursery pics

Saturday July 25 (the day of the shower) Mike finally got the crib set up and the nursery started. It's still not totally finished (half of it is still our "office"), but it's got enough to feel like Kevin's room. Mike's Mom made all the bedding and the valances. She does such a beautiful job!

Here's the crib and changing table (which is in front of the closet for the time being until I can move the bookcase out of the room).



Close up of the crib and blanket hand sewn by Rosalie.



Other window with dresser and rocker below it. Excuse the mess, I haven't put all the beautiful gifts away yet!

First days home

Ok, not all at home :) This first one was at the hospital, Kevin being cute and cuddling up to Mommy:



Coming home. Just as with Amanda, the carseat looks HUGE compared to him!



Mooooooom, stop taking pictures of me!!



Floor time, being cute :)

Kevin's Arrival

Sunday July 26 I woke up as usual and got Amanda's breakfast ready. Ate mine and got dressed. That's when I noticed I had lost my mucous plug. I had heard in the many "expecting moms" communities that this usually means labor is probably starting in the next day or so, so I woke Mike for Church and told him about it. We decided since nothing seemed different, we would go to Church as planned. While at Church I started getting what I thought were braxton hicks. They were all over the place, sometimes 5 minutes apart, sometimes 10 minutes. And certainly not painful. When we got home, I checked my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book and it said losing your mucous plug could mean nothing. Sometimes it's weeks until you go into labor. So I just pushed it to the back of my mind and went on with my day. Put Amanda down for a nap and watched some TV. Fell asleep in front of the TV and contractions stopped. In the afternoon we decided to take Amanda to the park. That's when contractions started up again, but again nothing regular and nothing very painful. Came home and had dinner, then I took a quick trip to the market to get food for our lunches for the week. Put Amanda to bed, and settled in front of the TV again. By this time contractions were a bit more regular, but still 7-8 minutes apart and still didn't feel like "labor" to me.

I headed to bed about 9:45 and that's when they started getting painful and closer together. Finally gave up trying to sleep about 10:30 and decided to get up and time them. 5 minutes apart and lasting 1 minute... yup, must be in labor! Still, Mike had to convince me to call my mom to come and take care of Amanda. I didn't want to be the woman who shows up at the hospital and gets turned away because she's barely 1 cm! Anyway, we changed the sheets on our bed so my mom would have a place to sleep and finished packing everything for the hospital. My mom arrived at 11:30 and contractions were 3 minutes apart by that time and getting more and more painful. We left for the hospital and arrived there at midnight. Checked in and got in my hospital gown and got checked - I was already 4 cm!

The nurse told me to just let her know when/if I wanted an epidural, I said ASAP PLEASE!! So she got the IV drip ready. It took about 30 minutes to get the necessary fluids in, during which time she entered me in the computer and got everything set up. Then they had to call the anesthesiologist and by the time he got there it was 1am. I moved into position for the epidural, and that's when my water broke. By that time I was screaming in pain and begging him to give me some relief already! He finished (1st time, thank GOD!) putting in the epidural and asked if I was still feeling pressure, I said yes, so they checked me - 10 cm and ready to push! Just then the doctor walked in, so they set up and after about a push and a half, Kevin was born at 1:40 am! 6 lbs, 2 oz. and 19.5 inches long.



Mike and are still surprised at how fast labor went compared to Amanda's which was about 12 hours. Anyway, I had a very nice stay at the hospital for 2 days. They took great care of me. My mom & sisters took care of Amanda on Monday and all came to visit me. Amanda was a bit scared of me in the hospital bed and wouldn't come say hi, but she got over it by the time I got home.

I came home Wednesday morning. Here's Kevin in his coming home outfit. He was so small, he was swimming in the sleeper I brought for him!

Amanda was very excited about the new baby and asked to hold him almost immediately, so here she is checking out her new baby brother.

More pics coming soon of the last few days at home...

Onesie Party!

So just in time, my friends threw me a onesie party for Kevin on what ended up being the day before I went into labor. Everyone decorated several onesies and I got to choose my favorite as the "winner".

Here's everyone decorating at the table.



The food/present table.



Finished onesies laid out for me to judge.

Back to Amanda...

So now that the kitchen remodel is done, back to the reason you probably stopped by, to see pics of Amanda!

Here she is being cool...



This was one night she asked to go to the potty. She is all about Daddy lately, so I told Mike to take her. I turned the corner a few minutes later, and this is what I found! Like father, like daughter...



Last weekend we had some hot weather so I pulled out the pool I bought last year for her. It's a bit young for her now, but she still had fun splashing around in it.

We're done!

FINALLY. The cabinet guy showed up yesterday and finished everything that needed to be done.

Microwave & stove area:



New bar looking out into the dining room:



Fridge area (you can see the crown molding in this shot):



Dishwasher & sink area:

Just for reference, here's the "before" pics:

http://themcreynolds.blogspot.com/2009/05/kitchen-remodel-underway.html

Finally some progress!

So the contractor came to install appliances last week and found the stove didn't fit, and the fridge fit EVER so tight. So I've been fighting to get the cabinet guy back out to adjust the cabinets. He finally showed up today and at least got the stove in. He's supposed to come back tomorrow and adjust the fridge area, as well as finish up everything else...

Here's the sink with new dishwasher installed.



Stove with new convection microwave above it.

Fridge area. The right side door doesn't open all the way and grinds against the wall. That needs to be fixed still.

View of the whole kitchen from the dining room.