Grady's 1st photo shoot

Check out erinhouseholderphotography.blogspot.com to see some really cute pictures of Grady.
Thanks you Chantel for the photo shoot!

Welcome Baby Grady!!!

Grady Smith Allen was born Friday morning at 9:36am weighing 7lb. 12oz. and was 20in. long.

Here's the story. By about 5 am on Friday I was pretty sure that Grady was going to make his enterance into the world that day, so I tried to sleep more, got ready, and packed up my stuff as well as I could. We got to the hospital around 8:20 am, and all their whole OB wing was full! The nurse could tell I was in a lot of pain, so cleared out the snacks and personal items in the Nurse's Break Room, brought in a gurney from the sugery department and all the other necessary things needed to deliver a baby into the Nurse's Lounge. They checked me and I was already dialated to 8cm! That's when they first told me that there might not be enough time for me to get the epidural I was planning on. I wasn't worried though, because when I got to the hospital with Luke I was an 8 and was still able to get my epidural. They got going on that as fast as they could, but when they checked me again about 20 min. later I was completely dialated and it was time to start pushing ready or not! After about 20-25 min. of pushing, without an epidural, little Grady was born face up in the Nurse's Lounge on a gurney! I'm just grateful that he came fast! Grady's doctor jokingly said that where he was born was about 1 step up from being born in the hospital parking lot!

I've been amazed by how good I've felt and how much faster my recovery has been with this baby than with Luke. With Luke I was pretty much miserable for about 2 weeks. I can think of a lot of factors that probally have made my recovery a lot easier with Grady. I am feeling quite sleep deprived though. Grady's really got his nights and days confused. He won't sleep for longer than 1.5 hours at a time at night, but will go for 3 hours and need to be woken up during the day!I'm hopeful things will get better with sleeping. My mom and Ty have been wonderful and I'm really greatful for all their help. Luke has been funny with his adjustment. At first he wouldn't even aknowledge that the baby was there. He wouldn't pay any attention to the baby, and would ignore any questions asked to him about his baby brother. Now he's starting to take a little more interest in his little brother. His favorite thing is to, not as gently as I'd like, put the pacifier in Grady's mouth to make him happy. Anyways, I'm so happy that Grady's here now. He's already such an important part of my life and our little family.

Grady just a few hours old.

The nice sign they put on my door to keep the nurses from coming in.

Luke's 1st encounter with his little brother. They wouldn't let him in the hospital because of the swine flu.

A rare moment when we first got home!

Happy Father's day to Ty!!!

Random Update

Well, today's my due date and I'm sitting here writing this still pregnant, but I'm trying not to focus on that. I have now spent roughly 1.5 years of my life pregnant and only have one kid to show for it, but like I said, I'm trying not to focus on that. Two of my friends who were pregnant, one due 2 days after me and the other 1 week after me, both had their babies this weekend, but I'm trying not to focus on that. I know I just need to be grateful that I've had a good pregnancy and both the baby and I are healthy, but I just can't help being tired of being pregnant and feeling ready for this baby to come!






Me and my sister-in-laws, Chantel and Sara, all sporting ever expanding bellies. Chantel is due July 27th, and Sara is due August 1st. These little ones are sure to be close cousins!

My Little Princess
I used no coercion to get my son to wear these 2 princess dresses at once. He came up to me and asked me to put them both on him at once. One day he'll probably be embarrassed about this, but for now it's just really really cute (well, Ty doesn't think it's that cute)! Luke just loves playing with his cousins Riley and Cambree!





Notice the shoes!!!

Our Big Project
Ever since we moved in we've wanted to take down the sorry excuse for an awning and put in a real patio. In February we took down the old shabby thing and prepped for the cement. In March the patio and little side walk was poured. In May we took out the window and replaced it with a sliding glass door. A big thanks is owed to Ty's brothers, Chad and Curtis, for all their help with that project. Over the last few weeks the patio roof was finished, and we've been enjoying it ever since! Nothing beats being able to eat dinner outside. There's still a little bit of finish work that still needs to be done. Thanks to my husband for all his hard work and making this happen!






Removal of the window

Mini Photo Shoot

I wanted to take a few pictures of Luke in honor of him being 2. All of these were taken in my in-law's back yard. Here are a few of my favorites.