The Simple Joys of Christmas

Christmas is in the air, and for once I couldnt be more excited. Last night Nolyn slept 8 hours in her crib. She slept from 11 pm to 7:30 this morning. It was great. If this can keep up it seems I got my present a little early. Then this morning she wore her Christmas dress to church. She was SO cute in it. Everyone seemed to love it. Here are a few pictures of her in it. Sorry, these are the best we could get because it was her feeding time.

Santa

Last night my mom, 2 sisters and I took Nolyn to Willowbend Mall to do some shopping. While we were there we decided to take her Santa picture. We ALL thought it was SOOO cute. Grant liked it but didnt like the bow. Oh well, he'll get over it. I love my little ladybug.

Just to Cute

Today when I got out of the shower I went to check on Nolyn and this is what I found.

Her eyes open and smiling. I LOVE IT!!!

Give Thanks

This past Thursday made me think of all the stuff I have now to be thankful for. I have the greatest husband, who has blessed me with a beautiful daughter, and I have the best best friend anyone can ask for. This Thanksgiving was our first as a family. Although we did spend it with our families, mine was up north and we have reasons not to spend it with Grants, it was still wonderful. We spent lunch at home where Grant fixed some wonderful pork chops then we went to my best friend Kristina's Thanksgiving. Kristina is greatest friend anyone could ask for. When Grant and I found out we were expecting there was no question that we wanted Kristina and her husband Jon to be Nolyn's godparents. They've done a great good raising their son Castor, plus it doesnt hurt that Kristina is a nurse. I know if anything ever happens to Grant and I we are leaving Nolyn into great hands.

This is Kristina and Castor (Kristina's son) with Nolyn on Thanksgiving.

Then last night while I was cooking dinner Grant called me into the living room where he was holding Nolyn. And I have to say I came in to the cutest thing. Grant was holding her and she had her hands together with her fingers crossed. It was so cute I had to get a few pictures of it.

This last pictue Grant took when I went back to the kitchen. Too cute.

2 Week Update

Well Nolyn is 2 weeks old today and everything is great. We went to the Dr yesterday to check her weight since she lost so much the first week. She went from her birth weight of 7 lbs 9 oz to 6 lbs 3 oz at her well baby check up. Three days after her well baby we went back to check her weight again and this time she was 6 lbs 6 oz. Yesterday when we went she was 6 lbs 13 oz. This makes Grant and I very happy that she is finally putting weight by on. Dr McDonald ( my Dr) is very pleased with my recovery. I go back in 4 weeks and will be released from his care. I have to say that I'm very happy with Dr McDonald. If Grant and I ever have another baby I for sure will be going back to him. He settled us down many times when it came to Nolyn's kidney. For those of you who dont know Nolyn's right kidney is big. When she is 6 weeks old we are going to a specialist to check it out further. We hope all is well. We will keep everyone updated.

Life as a New Mom

Well Nolyn's been home for a little over a week now, and its been interesting. How quickly you learn that you can function on only 3-4 hours sleep a night. Last Sunday was Nolyn's first time at church. Everyone was excited to see her. Then Tuesday we went to her well baby checkup to find out that she lost over a pound since she came home. But now she's eating better so she's gaining a little weight. Since Nolyn has come home we've been busy. This last Saturday she went to her first basketball game where Aunt Kaila made the winning shot. Then we headed to Colleyville so my Mom's parents could see her. We got home at 10 pm and Grant had his first full sleepless night with her. Its good for him, now he knows what I go through every night. Tomorrow we both go to the Dr and she has to get her screening test done. I'm sure it will kill me because they have to poke her little foot. And then Wednesday little Nolyn will be 2 weeks old, I cant believe it.

In the words of Grant

Here is what Grant wrote today...

Diary of a Daddy

11-5-08 7:30am
Kacie and I arrive at the hospital, do LOTS of paperwork. Grant starts to get nervous so he goes to get food.

9:00am
Kacie begins regimen of drugs to induce labor. Shortly after, the doc comes in and breaks Kacie's water. Now mommy can feel the contractions and she does not like them!

11:00am
EPIDURAL!

3:00pm
Grant gets nervous again and goes to eat... again.

4:00pm - 6:00pm
Kacie dialates from a 4 to a 9. The room gets prepped for delivery.

6:30ish pm
Doc says it's time. We did a "practice push" that turned out to be for real. The baby crowned immediately. 2nd push almost had the head all the way out. 3rd push... there is her head. Mommy held tight for a second and the doc cleared her shoulders, pulled her out and sat Nolyn Joy Stogdill on mommy's chest. (6:37pm)

Baby gets cleaned up, dressed and daddy gets to hold her for about 30 minutes while mommy gets fixed up. Daddy's first impression... she is SO cute I can hardly stand it! That tiny button nose is irresistable! Members of the family get to come in and visit.

9:00pm
Mommy and baby go to a recovery room.

10:00pm
A very tired daddy goes home to get some sleep! (This was only the second time since we got married that Kacie and I had not slept under the same roof.)

11-6-08 10:00am
Daddy returns to the hospital. Nolyn passes her hearing test. Family visits. Daddy changes his first diaper - a poopee one! (No big deal!)
LONG DAY OF SITTING IN A HOSPITAL ROOM

9:00pm
Daddy goes home to sleep. (Two nights in a row that I did not sleep where my wife slept. Felt WEIRD!)

11-7-08 10:00am
Daddy returns to the hospital. Hospital room remains boring.

2:00pm
Stogdill family is released and comes home.

3:30pm
Family visits. Daddy goes to Walmart and nearly has a heart attack when he sees the price of formula. GREAT GRANDMA Mary comes to visit. Grandma Stogdill brings over salad, bread and AWESOME chicken spaghetti! Plays cards with daddy until 1:00am while mommy comforts Nolyn.

8:00pm - 7:15 am
A VERY SLEEPLESS NIGHT

11-8-08 12:00pm
A trip to Collinsville. Grandpa Lylle fixes a GREAT lunch. Mommy and baby play with Aunt Kaila while the boys watch football. Daddy catches a nap.

6:30pm
Home again for another all-nighter.

11-9-08 11:00am
Nolyn's first time at church. Everyone is very excited to see her.

12:00pm
Grandma Stogdill comes over to watch the baby while mommy and daddy sleep!

11-10-08 10:00am
Daddy returns to work.

2:30pm
Nolyn visits daddy at work. Everyone is excited to see the baby.

6:00pm
Grandma Paula comes to visit and gets pizza for mommy and daddy. Nolyn actually sleeps til 5:30am. YAY!

PRESENT:
Having this child was like nothing I could have ever imagined. Kacie did great. She never complained and sucked it up through all the pain and discomfort. My mind went crazy. It seemed like every little thing scared me. The hearing test was nerve racking. Nolyn's lack of interest in eating worried me, though she takes a 2oz. bottle like a champ these days. Delivering a baby is NOTHING like what you see on TV or in movies. Now, it seems that everything has changed. I live for her now. Going to work is different because every dollar earned is now to give Nolyn the best life possible. There is a peace about working a car deal, but a new sense of urgency as well. I miss Nolyn while I am at work. When I get home, I want to hold her. I love her cute baby clothes. I want to take pictures of everything. I worry that she is healthy and that we are doing everything right. I am excited, scared, calm, relieved, tired, anxious, proud, and many other indescribable things. So much is yet to come but mommy and I are ready. We'd better be!

It should also be noted here that I feel a new closeness with Kacie since Nolyn was born. I feel that she and I have a great marriage. I refuse to go anywhere without her and we have worked through things together as husband and wife in the best way we know how. Now though, I feel that our strong bond to each other has been strengthened even more. She is proving to be a GREAT mom and the love we have for our daughter has made me fall even more in love with my wife.


Grant is GREAT. I knew he would make a wonderful dad, eventhough he tried to choke my best friends son once. He cant seem to get enough of Nolyn. And he cant put down the camera. If you've seen his myspace you know what Im talking about, but its cute. Grant who is usually the calm one between us is a wreak when it comes to his little girl. And me who is usually the mess is the calm one. Now all I need is sleep but every night gets a little better.

She's here

6:37 Wednesday November 5 th Nolyn Joy entered the world. She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19 inches long. We came home Friday and lets just say what a fun night, we were up all night. But everynight has gotten better. Here are some pictures of our first few days.

What a Week

Well I haven't done a very good of updating this. But this last week has been crazy. Last Wednesday we thought I went into labor, it was a false alarm. I went to my Specialist appointment that afternoon just to find out that this little girl is BIG. The sonogram was guessing her to be 7 lbs and 7 ounces, and her head was measuring at a 10. Like I said she is BIG.

Then on Saturday I had my baby shower. It was great. We got some great stuff. A lady from our church made Nolyn a homemade baby blanket, which made me cry. When I got home I put our dogs out while I put the stuff up. After a little while I went to check on the dogs because Grant's dog Gunner had been had been sick. Bailey and Tig came straight to the door and came in and Gunner was no where in sight. I put on some shoes and started checking the yard for him. My sister came out and helped and then we found him. He was laying by the house, looking very peaceful. I went inside and got my phone and called Grant and told him he needed to come home. He asked why, and I told him I didnt want to tell him on the phone. He still asked why so I had to tell him that Gunner had passed on the phone. He came home and buried Gunner Bug. It was a sad day. Things are getting better, we just miss him.

Update on Us

I thought starting this blog would be a good idea for everyone to know whats going on with us because most my family lives away and we cant call everyone all the time. As everyone knows we are expecting our first child in 5 weeks. We cant wait for her to get here. Tomorrow I go to the Dr and have a Specialist appointment next Wednesday. I go to the specialist because I was born with a heart condition and we want to make sure our little girl doesn't have the same. So once a month I go and have an Echo done on her. So I'll be keeping this pretty well updated on whats going on with us.

Here are some pics from the 3D sono I had done last week.