Avenlea comes home.....

June 14th was a great day...we headed up to the hospital hoping and praying that Avenlea had done really well overnight and we would bring her home. Even though we had high hopes, we knew in reality it was very unlikely that we would be walking out of the hospital today with our baby girl. We were up early to feed her before church and we wanted to talk to the doctor to plead our case. Come on....really with our experience with a newborn, who wouldn't trust us to take a baby home with a few complications. We waited and waited...it really seemed like forever til we saw the doctor, and in reality it was only about an hour after we had gotten there that we were talking to her.

We knew she had gained weight consistently over the last two days, she had held her temp for 24 hours, and she had breast fed for 30 minutes that morning. All things that were positives for her. The doctor was very happy with her progress...and seemed to like the fact that I was willing to bring her in to the clinic everyday if I had to for her to come home. She laughed and asked if she could assess her and then we got the news...the best news we could here. News that seriously was worth missing church for. We decided to wait to call our parents...and surprise my mom and dad when we got home and walked in with her. We didn't think it would take so long to be discharged...when it got past 9:30 they figured it out. Oh well. it was still exciting to bring her home. Jackson was pretty interested in his little sis when she came in too. He just kept saying Hi Bebe...constantly at different volumes...we had to quiet it down when it was right in her ear at max volume...so we tried getting him to whisper...I am sure you all know how that went. He also gave her kisses...not blown ones...he wanted to grab her head, bring it to him and kiss her cheek. We are slowly working on the fingers not heading straight for her face...gets a little scary. I am sure it will all take time... Everytime Avenlea has a bottle Jackson thinks it is his baba...and gets mad...but also wants to eat so we won't complain if we can get him to eat, right? He is also a little bit testy when mom is holding the baby and he wants something. I am sure this will only get worse instead of better as she starts to invade his stuff more. Only time will tell.

first meetings

Welcome to our Family.....here are a few more pictures. Our first pic after recovery. Avenlea all content and decked out in her yellow knit hat accessory. Jackson's first meeting with his little sister. he wasn't sure at first. but they started waving hi....once she cried. We will see what happens when she comes home.

Welcome to the Family

Well June 4, 2009 was quite the day. We welcomed Avenlea Gayle into the world at 3:00 pm only 34 weeks along. She weighed 4 lbs 11 oz and was 17 inches long. She is just as cute as the first one was. We are very thankful that she seems to be a healthy baby. Normally I would say she is a happy baby too but she seems to cry quite a bit so far. Cuddling with her mama seems to be the sure fire solution to calming her down. For those of you who are scratching your head on how to pronounce her name, I will do my best to help. a-ven-lee the "a" is the short sound like in apple or astronaut.

Nichole had an OB appointment in the morning. She had been having some leaking over the past day or so and the OB told her that she should have me come in as well. We were very afraid that they were going to keep her at the hospital on bed rest. Who knows how life was going to work if that happened. When I got to the hospital Nichole was waiting by the elevators to let me know that instead of bed rest we would be having a baby around 2 pm. Quite the mind blowing news. Completely unexpected and nowhere close to prepared we are the proud parents of this beautiful little girl. It is amazing how your plans can change so fast and so drastically.

Nichole should be discharged on Sunday. She has started to get up and move around over short distances. She hasn't gotten much sleep and is still feeling some discomfort from the surgery and the different drugs she has been on. As of right now we are guessing that Avenlea's stay in the hospital will be a little bit longer than Nichole's. She hasn't shown much interest in eating which is very normal for babies born this early. They have put her on an IV to help her stay hydrated and have put in an NG tube to get food directly to her stomach. She is also in an incubator to help her keep her body temperature up. The purpose for all of this is to help reduce the amount of energy that she has to use for these things so that she can rest and grow. We're not sure yet how long they will keep her here but it will probably be a couple of weeks. It's really just a matter of when she is ready to take on these things by herself. Like her big brother she will be a fighter.

Although we hated to see the NG tube go in we know that it is the best for her. It was also funny how much it brought back memories of what Jackson looked like early on. When Avenlea was born it was hard to say she looked like any of us but now we can see how much she looks like Jackson as a new born. As before we will deal with anything that we have to, and although we may not want to, we know that we are capable of doing it.

Thanks to all for your help, prayer, and support. It is very much appreciated.

tools, dirt and excavators= projects finished

Jackson was so intrigued by the mini excavator. he never stopped watching and his eyes got huge the closer it got to him. I have to say this whole adventure was so exciting for me. this is such a beautiful site below. Adrian and I have talked about how much these evergreen bushes bothered us and how over grown they were...so we are so happy to be able to now see our home and decide on something to put in that we like better. Now we just have the mess to clean up and find out where to dispose of it...since Colby was nice enough to do this as a favor for us. Good thing he is a pro too...cuz we had a gas line and electrical for him to avoid and he did all the above. Nice job buddy.

we also fixed our planter box around the mailboxes...it was rotted through. so gross and so full of bugs. I was happy to find out that Jackson wasn't a big fan of the bugs and spiders either. I am sure that will change later on. Unless he has his Uncle Jeremy's fear of getting dirty. as you can see he is not playing in the dirt. He is just watching.

we also got another in house job completed....I got a closet organizer for the kids room and Adrian put it in. it was so worth it. however it is expensive to find organization stuff. but I am telling you since i started this purging thing months ago. it is alot easier since i have organized and put the time and money into having a place for everything to keep it all clean and picked up. Don't Jackson's little clothes look so tiny? We wanted it to be effective even after the kids moved out, so we set it up for adult clothes. I love it. I am so excited to be ready for baby number two. I feel so much more ready this time than I was with Jackson. All of us mom's know that if you don't get it done before they arrive it is while before you get to any projects after...so I am happy to be accomplishing so much.

Nesting is in full swing

I am experiencing new things this time around. Nesting is one of them. I have never wanted or needed my house to be so picked up, organized, and clean. Macy's hair is bothering me beyond all comprehension so I vaccum like daily. I have sorted out junk in every room of the house (only to collect it in the basement), rearranged furniture in most, and repainted a few. (Adrian surprised me with picking stuff out on mother's day. He did a good job we both like the colors.) Our master bedroom actually got pictures hung and rearranged. It is strange to see the dining room with pictures too. It took me four years to get things on the walls that i am happy with. I also never thought we would ever reach the point of being done with the upstairs and ready to move to the basement. We would like to create a family room and toy room down there. plus the kids bedrooms will eventually be down there. right now we have some heating issues. So we have to check into new doors and carpet to make those rooms functional. For now the kids will share the nursery...which we rearranged and set up another crib in. Thank you King family for letting us borrow the crib.
I am actually feeling prepared this time around for the baby. In ways I didn't with Jackson being on bedrest for the last 5 weeks. But in other ways I am feeling really nervous and anxious about how everything will work when our little girl arrives. Jackson is making huge head way in the world of moving around, but I don't see him walking anytime soon.

I so can't imagine...trying to carry a 24 lb little boy and a car carrier with a baby. I guess they may balance things out. but wow, how do mom's do it that have babies 9 month a part? We are praying Jackson continues to improve in his gross motor skills over the next seven weeks. We see the doctor next week and we will then start Physical therapy again.

On to more nesting...this time outside.
We have gotten out to do a few things outside too.. We planted flowers in our baskets on the deck, and have an amazing pot on the front porch...the question is can I keep them alive. Our landscaping from last summer is weeded and looking great. I can't believe, but am so excited that everything we transplanted from our friends backyard last year has come up and is looking great. Even some of my late plants in the front are coming back. So we are trying to keep up outside too...but the rain is not helping us stay on top of our grass. Last week I think Adrian mowed like three times. and then we needed to mow almost twice yesterday to get it cut low enough.
Jackson experienced the grass again this past friday. It was the one day it wasn't raining, so I thought we would go outside. He didn't like it at first, then it was ok...but he didn't move. he was frozen in one place on hands and knees...yelling Ha daddy to everyone that past by. didn't matter if on foot, in car or on a bike. the minute they said hi back he was all bashful. Too cute I tell you. Well I should rap this up...I am sure there will be more nesting happening...in the next seven weeks. If I had my way, the entry would be stripped of wall paper, the basement would be painted, new floors would be put in, unfortunately you need money for all of this and time. When you get the time there is usually no money and when you have the money you don't have the time. So I will settle for the things we can do and continue to dream about the rest.

Til next time. Enjoy your week and the sunshine today.

having a blast

Jackson's therapist brought us this table last week. It is amazing. just the right height for the little man, (which by the way, is nearly impossible to find). Mom is so happy to have an upright position to put him in.
we stack blocks and knock them over, we did some scribbling, we have even tried a little food at this table. Here he is below...checking out a dumb, dumb sucker.. notice we play with it a little more than it goes in our mouth...but at least we are curious. right?
He loves the new bubble blowing dog that Cathy brought too. it is easy to make go too, so Jackson can do it himself. which is spectacular. On mother's day afternoon, Jackson was sitting at his table with the little key board you can see in the backround. Boppin back and forth in his seat playing the keyboard. It was the cutest thing ever. (bad mom...didn't have the camera or get a video) Then later that night he proceeded to stand up from his bench and try to walk along the table. The boy remembers...and is so frustrated that his lil' body won't cooperate. it won't be long....and we will be chasin him around.

update on the schrock household.....

jackson is movin and shakin again. He is working on bending his legs and then he will even go up on them like he is going to crawl and then he goes back to army crawling...but oh well...he'll get there. This morning i heard him coming down the hall as I was getting dressed in the bed room. it sounded like thump, thump swoosh. Kinda horor movieish...but I knew exactly what it was. He beats his arms so hard into the floor to move... needless to say none of this keeps him out of mischeif. He is into everything already...I just have a little more time to get to him, before he gets there. He still loves the dogs water and food dishes...what is it about these things.

in the past weekend we *adrian and I * accomplished the big task of painting our bedroom. It had to be repainted do to the door we closed in from our bedroom to the bathroom. I know i know. you all have the advice that we shouldn't have done that...but just wait til you visit someday and I will explain where the door went...and you won't ask anymore questions. It was rediculous. Anyway...I let my hubby help pic the decor this time and he went for pale blues with our already brown comforter. I wanted him to have a relaxing space in our house...suited for him. now I just have to keep it clean and picked up...that is his biggest thing that helps him relax. Gotta say at the beginning...neither of us was a big fan of the color we chose for the walls. Wanted a light nuetral color. (this way I can change the color scheme easily if I want to in a couple of years) but I am telling you there are so many types of nuetral...brown neutrals, yellow tinted nuetrals, green tinted neutrals. and you never know for sure what the light in your house is going to do. So we decided to hang all the curtains before we made a rash decision, cuz after a full day and a half of painting, neither of us wanted to do it again...plus we were camping on the living room floor on our matress while the work was being done and Adrian was done picking up the matress every morning to put it back in the hallway. I gotta say it was fun for like a night...but getting up to get jackson and go to the bathroom was not so easy 30 weeks prego.

Anyhoo...by the time we hung the curtains and put the furniture back in the room, it doesn't look bad. Not exactly the look I was going for but we will deal. it is calming. Still have to add the decor and then we will show you pictures. maybe....or maybe you will have to come see it in person.

baby number two is doing well. we had an appointment on Monday. HR is around 140. Way lower than Jackson's was. but the doctor says still healthy and normal. So we will go with it. Got some information on VBAC's. I was all about it until I had a dream tonight about me having a ruptured uterus in the middle of labor. Talk about scary. I am sure it is just my mind playing tricks on me. but we will see. Adrian and I have to way our options. I would definitely love the shorter recovery time, with a toddler and a newborn needing care. If anyone has advice please let me know.

I think that is it for now. Have a great weekend.