Grayson is here!!

Grayson Lane
2-22-08
6 pounds 8 ounces
20 inches
1:29 p.m.

Yes, he arrived early, but we are SO glad to have this little angel here with us! I'll give you the picture overload first, and then I'll put the story at the bottom.

Here he is!!

Me visiting Grayson in the transition nursery...he had a little trouble with his breathing at first, but by 10:00 Friday night, he was fine.

Grayson and Mommy...

Caden meeting Grayson. I'm pretty sure that he sees Grayson simply as a paci dispenser. He has done REALLY well with him so far.

My sweet baby in his Moses Basket...a lifesaver!

Caden ready for school Monday morning...

Does life get any better than this??

I think that's a Frito in his mouth...this one just makes me giggle...

Forget the baby, I've got bubbles!!!

The sign on the door at the hospital...Thanks Gale!!

And now for some nursery pics that I promised earlier...

Ok...now for the story. I went to the doctor on Thursday for my weekly appointment. I was excited because we were going to set an induction date...I was thinking the first week of March or so. So I went in, had my lab work, got my weekly ultrasound, and then I waited for the doctor. She came in and looked at my chart. My blood pressure was a bit high (nothing much really), and she looked concerned. She decided to go ahead and check me...I was 3cm. Then, she said the unthinkable: "I'm going to go ahead and admit you." WHAT??? This can't be happening...Frank has D-Now this weekend! She said that they would just observe me for several hours and see what my labs were doing. So, I called Frank, and I headed downstairs to be admitted (my doc's office is at the hospital). When they got me all hooked up to everything downstairs, my blood pressure had gone way down, so that was no longer a concern. When my doc came down a couple of hours later to check on me, the blood pressure was great. HOWEVER...I had dilated to 4cm and was having regular contractions...WHAT???? So, obviously she couldn't send me home at 4cm, so we were there for the long haul. They broke my water the next morning, and Grayson entered the world at 1:29 that afternoon. I got to see him for a few minutes right after he was born, but then he started having some trouble breathing, so they kept him in the transitional nursery. But at 11:30 that night, they brought him back to me. We've had no problems since then, and we went home Sunday! God is SO good! No one deserves blessings this sweet...least of all me! Praise Him!!!!

Helping to get ready for brother...

Last night my parents brought over Grayson's bed. I think they were getting worried that Grayson was going to beat his furniture here!! While Frank and my dad assembled the bed, Caden enjoyed the big box that the bed arrived in...Once we got jammies on, Caden decided to go see what was taking Daddy and Papa so long...

"No, I think this piece goes here..."

"Yes, this will work out perfectly!!"

Stay tuned for more pictures of the progress of Grayson's nursery. We cannot wait for this little one to get here!! By the way...has anyone noticed how CLOSE the ticker at the top is getting to Caden's 2nd birthday??? I can't believe he's almost 2!!

Sorry for the lag...

Sorry there haven't been any posts lately! I've been sick, so that has put a major slow down on things here at the Porter House. I missed work on Monday and Tuesday because I was running 102 fever. My flu test was negative (so that's good!), but whatever I have/had triggered my asthma. I sound like a 90 yr old with a major chain smoking problem!!! I finished up my antibiotics and steroids today so hopefully I'll get some sleep. Grayson and I aren't going to make it much longer on no sleep.
Yesterday was "doctor day" around here. I had my weekly check up which went relatively well. Apparently I have low iron, so I'm on iron supplements now. Grayson was looking good, and the possibility of another induction is becoming more likely since my asthma is no longer behaving. This little guy is gonna be here before we know it!! I have an ultrasound at next week's appointment, so I'll let ya know just how big this little guy is getting. At the same time I was at the doctor, Frank and my Dad had Caden at his 6 month check up with Dr. Braden (cardiologist). Everything looks good...no changes!! Praise the Lord!!! We still have surgery somewhere down the road, but for now it isn't in the near future. The most exciting part is that we don't have to go back for a whole YEAR!!!! YIPPEE!!! God is so good to us. I cannot wait to see the things he has in store for the future of our family.

Ya think...

I was putting some things away in Grayson and Caden's rooms, and this is what I found...

Do you think that my child might like the bathtub???

Making room for brother...

Sorry it's been a while since the last post...getting back into the swing of school and weekly doctor appointments are keeping us pretty busy!! This weekend, Frank and I have been have lots of fun (not really!!) cleaning out the spare room. It's amazing how much stuff can accumulate in an unused room! But it must be done so that our design team (a.k.a. Mom and Gale) can get started on the nursery because Grayson will be making his appearance before we know it!! I had an ultrasound on Thursday, and everything is looking right on track with Grayson. He is quite the active little booger which makes keeping him on the fetal monitor for 30 minutes a real adventure (I'm also doing this weekly at my appointments). Friday night we went to dinner with Papa and then to Lowe's to pick up a few things. This was Caden's first time to ride in the cool car cart. He thought it was quite fun...especially when he discovered that he could throw items from the diaper bag into the cart one by one!

Caden and I were going to venture back to church this weekend, but he has had a VERY gross nose. I don't want to be "that mother" who infects all of the other children in the nursery!! Maybe next week!! We haven't been since we were in the hospital in November...Mommy is REALLY missing it!!! So instead, Caden decided to take the new toy basket in the living room for a test drive. I think he approves!!

Nursery Bedding...

We got the nursery bedding yesterday!! It's totally different from what I thought we would end up doing, but I love it!! AND it's completely different from Caden's room (which I really wanted). We haven't decided what else we're doing with the room (wall color, canvases, etc.), but I think we're going to go with black furniture...I'm so excited!! Here it is...it's called "Alphabet Soup...":

Christmas Happenings...

We're finally getting settled back into our normal routine after lots of family Christmas get togethers. It was a great Christmas, and we feel truly blessed to have such wonderful families!! The festivities began on Christmas Eve at my grandmother's house, but I forgot to take the camera inside, so the pics start later that evening. I was making the green beans to take to my mom's house on Christmas day, and I had to fry an entire package of bacon, but I HATE for my house to smell like bacon for days. I heard someone talking about having their husband fry bacon ouside...GENIUS!!! Because I have such a fabulous husband, he agreed to help me out. It worked perfectly...I had my bacon complete with drippings, AND the house didn't smell like bacon!!
Here the festivities continue at our house on Christmas morning. Here is Caden looking at what Santa brought. He still doesn't really understand what is going on, but he will.

Fun ball.

Notice the "Ooo" shape of his mouth. He made this sound all day anytime he was given a gift...it was really cute!

Playing with the giggle and go garage...

Then we continued on to my parents' house for Christmas with my family and lunch with a LOT of family. He LOVED that lawn mower.

Daddy inside Caden and Grayson's TeePee...

Caden and Daddy in the teepee...

After lunch we continued our festivities by heading up to Columbus to visit with Frank's family. Frank's dad gave his mom this little bug that crawls around on its own...Caden was absolutely fascinated!!!!

The Three Musketeers...do we see a BIT of a resemblance????
(Frank Jr, Caden, Frank Sr)

Poor Daddy...he was worn out from all the festivities!! He wasn't ready to get up the next morning...but he did in the end!

And one final pic...this one was from tonight. We went to dinner tonight and Caden decided to feed daddy some of his ice cream. Notice he's showing Daddy how to open his mouth properly (I do the same thing when I feed Caden!).

Grayson also got a check-up today. Everything is looking good with him, and now I'm going to the doctor every 2 weeks...CRAZY!!! It seems weird that we're already to 2 week appointments...so exciting! I can't wait to meet this new little one!