Outdoors

This past weekend, we all got to enjoy the beautiful weather and get outside for a little while.
On Friday, Will went with Brett and Kelly to a Student Affairs event on campus where he played on the jumpers, ate a hot dog, and got his arm "face painted." Will is a little weary of getting his face painted so Kelly and Brett convinced him to let the girl paint his arm instead. :)


Then, on Saturday, we grilled out on our back patio and Drew got to enjoy his first taste of the outside. He LOVED it! He layed in his stroller for over an hour awake and just taking it all in.

Which baby is which?

Will or Andrew? It is crazy how much these two little babies look alike.

Our first week at home...

Wow! Andrew is almost a week old already! This week has really flown by. The first couple of nights were the toughest while Andrew was still trying to figure out his days and nights, but the rest of the week has been pretty good. He was a little jaundice when we went home on Sunday, so we went back to the doctor to have him checked again on Tuesday and his Bilirubin count was up. The doctor wasn't too alarmed by this because he is a breastfed baby and he and I are both still getting the hang of nursing. For treatment, they sent us home with a "biliblanket" that he wears 24/7 and when we went back today (Thursday), his count was on its way back down. He will have to wear the blanket through the weekend and then he will be checked again on Monday when hopefully it will be all better! Nursing is getting a little easier everyday...but it is QUITE painful. For something so natural, it sure is uncomfortable and difficult! Everyone tells me that it gets easier after the first couple of weeks and I am taking their word on that! :)
The highlight of the week has definetly been how well Will has done with the whole adjustment. He has been an angel!! He is so sweet to the baby, patient with me and Dan, and overall happy. I have had a lot of help from my friends. On Wednesday, my friend, Adrienne, picked him up and took him to the library and then back over to her house for lunch and to play. Then today, Amanda had him come over to play at her house for a couple of hours this afternoon. It makes me realize what a big boy he is becoming. He is going places without me! This makes me both happy and a little sad too.
Here are some new pictures from the week...
this is his "coming home outfit"

a little help from big brother with bathtime


Super Will



my poor little jaundice baby

Here he is!!

Andrew made his arrival on Friday, April 17th at 12:03 pm. He weighed 8 lb 1 oz and is 20 inches long and has a head full of dark hair! A perfect, healthy baby!! The whole day went so well! It is definetly true what they say about the 2nd time around...a whole lot faster and easier! We arrived at the hospital on Friday morning around 6:00 and started Pitocin to get my contractions going. They broke my water around 9:45 and that is when the contractions really kicked in! I got my epidural about 11:15 and by 11:45 I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. 20 minutes later and here is Andrew! We got to spend about an hour with him after he was born before he had to go back to the nursery for a few hours. Will tried to ignore him for a little while before he finally got interested in him. It was the sweetest thing watching the two of them interact. Well, I am sure I will have lots more to report after we get settled at home, but here are the birthday pictures for all of you to enjoy!

Happy Easter

We hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Easter. We, of course, stayed here in Starkville seeing as baby could make his appearance any day now. Nonnnie and Papaw decided to drive up for the day to spend Easter with us here and we are soooo glad they did! It was nice having family around and it made the day even more special. We went to mass and then Dan grilled out some bbq chicken for lunch that afternoon. Nonnie hid some eggs around the house for Will to find and he had a lot of fun. He also got to indulge in sweets all day long which totally made his day! :) Nonnie and Papaw headed back home around 5:00 and Will was exhausted. He crashed by 7:00. It was a really nice day!
Our Easter baskets with everyone's favorites!

Turtle pretzel stick and tootsie pop...breakfast of champions!

More Easter Egg Fun

Easter Egg Fun

We have had a really fun Easter week! On Tuesday, we went to an "Easter Egg Hunt" on campus at the President's house. They had face painting, refreshments, eggs were spread out on the lawn for the kiddos to pick up, and a dressed up Easter bunny was out there for pictures. Will liked the cookies and lemonade.....and that's about it. :) We did finally get him to pick up a couple of eggs.
Then, on Wednesday, some friends of ours got together at the park to dye Easter eggs and do some crafts. Will and I had a great time and got to enjoy to BEAUTIFUL weather outside. Here are some pictures of Will playing with one of his friends, Davis.
And of course on Easter weekend, Dan, Will, and I dyed some eggs at our house. Will did really well! He took charge, telling us which color to put it in and then trying to pull them out himself when he thought they were done. It was pretty cute! Most of the finished products ended up cracked, but it was a fun project anyway!

Emily Kay's Birthday Party

On Sunday, we drove down to Jackson to celebrate Emily Kay's first birthday! Molly and Kirk put on such a great party and every little detail was soooo cute. Emily Kay seemed to have a really good time and of course loved her lady bug cake. :) Will played so hard with the other kids pushing them around in the little tikes car and throwing balls in the ball pit. It was fun to see Will as the "big kid" for a change since he is usually the youngest around. It was also really fun for me and Dan to get to see everyone one last time before the new baby's arrival.
Will and Tyler Price playing playdoh

Will and the birthday girl!

Yummy!!

All of the mommies and babies

We also got to spend a little time with Nonnie and Papaw at their house, where Will also wore himself out playing. All of this play and no nap added up to a nice early bedtime. We left Jackson about 6:30 and stopped to get some McDonald's for the ride home. Will ate about 5 chicken nuggets, a couple of handfuls of fries and then passed out all in less than 20 minutes. All of a sudden Will was quiet and we looked back to find this.....

I think he was exhausted! :)

One reason why we love Starkville!

One of the best things about living in Starkville is getting to go to all the Mississippi State athletic events. This weekend, we went to a couple of baseball games on Friday night and Saturday and had a great time! Also, on Saturday morning, Dan took Will to the open football practice. I think it is so great that Will (and Andrew) are going to grow up around MSU sports. It is such a fun way to spend the weekend with our little family! Oh yeah...Dan and I kind of enjoy it too! :)
Will loved getting all ready to go watch the "Go Dawgs"

We decided that this picture looked like those poses that baseball players make in the programs.

Will loves being silly with Uncle Brett.

Will at the football practice.

Will and the real Easter bunny

We took Will to have his Easter picture made with some baby bunnies last weekend. Here are the pictures! Will wasn't too sure about the little bunny at first, but he warmed up to him and even picked him up by the end. It made for some really sweet pictures!