Photos by Kim Davis

I'm very, very fortunate to have photography friends.  We could be bitter rivals, but instead we've made our love of photography into something else - a friendship where we encourage and help each other out...and on the occasion do photo shoots for one another.  It's wonderful and I'm grateful for them.  One of my photography friends from Lafayette, Kim Davis, came down to visit her family and take some beautiful portraits for us.  Take a look at some of my favs:

I have this theory that every mother needs beautiful photographs with her children.  I cherish mine SO much.  Motherhood is an incredibly, beautiful thing - it's one of my favorite things to photograph.  Kim did a beautiful job capturing these photos for me.

This is a fun one.  I love it.  It may become the new (and much needed) header for this blog.

Thank you so much Kim!  It means the world to me!

Grady - Newborn

This little guy is sweet as can be.  He is an eater and a sleeper.  He loves to sleep right by his momma (which I love too, all though it scares me a bit).  He's got the sweetest eyes and you want to melt whenever he calmly stares into yours.  Their color is very muddy right now - they have dark brown around the pupils and dark blue around the edges.  His expressions are to die for.  I'm just in love with him.  Can you tell?

a little side smile.  his smile is going to be so precious.  i just know it.

probably my fav:

brothers:

i asked leon to kiss his brother on the head.  this is the reaction i got:

he still is so happy and sweet

Grady's Story

We went into the hospital around 8:30.  The nurses (who were awesome) prepped me for surgery and took the time to help calm my nerves.  By 10:00 I was in the operating room.  It all went so fast.  The doctor and nurses were all amazing - talking to me and making me feel good.  I felt some pressure in my chest and then out came Grady at 10:21.  They all commented about how he was a big boy, but he looked perfect.  He didn't cry real loud, but made a little whimper and was brought over to a nurse to be cleaned up.  It was great because where she was working was actually in my line sight so I didn't have to wait another 30 plus minutes just to see him.  I was overwhelmed at seeing him.  His cheeks were so chubby and he had that dark hair like Leon did.  I was already in love with him.  They cleaned him up, wrapped him up, and then Kyle was able to bring him over to me for a closer look but of then they had to take him away.  He was having some breathing problems (fluid in the lungs) which I guess is common in ceseran babies.  Then I was having some issues - I got dizzy and told them I thought I was going to get sick right there on the operating table.  The anatigolist gave me something for the nausea and after a couple minutes of gripping Kyle's hand as hard as I could it was over.  They decided to send Grady to the NICU.  They stitched me up (no stables - horaay!) and sent me on my way to the recovery area for observation.  I spent most of the next two hours by myself.  Kyle visited me a couple of times, the nurse kept me company, and then my dad and Claudette (his wife) came.  After about an hour of Grady being in the NICU he was fine but the peditrician said they wanted to keep him a little longer just to make sure.  They took me to the post partum room where I visited with my dad and Claudette.   Kyle stayed with Grady.  Around 2:00 (the time I thought Grady would be able to come to me), Kyle came in and said they wanted to keep Grady for another two hours!  At that point, I was mad and frustrated and heart broken.  I wanted to hold him SO BAD.  I sent dad and Claudette to see their new grandson.  I tried to rest but between the itching (a side effect of the drugs) and my restlessness to see my baby which we still hadn't named, I just couldn't. So, I made phone calls to my family.  Finally at 4:30 - 6 hours after he was born- they finally brought him in.  I had my baby!  I nursed him, we talked about names, and things were perfect.  I had my baby!

I'm still overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude and love.  I'm a mother of two beautiful little boys.  We're a family of four.  Motherhood, parenthood is such a beautiful gift.  Grady is the sweetest thing.  I'll write more about him when I post his newborn photos.  I just am just so in love with him

*****

Here are some other pics, taken with our little point and shoot, of our weekend in the hospital.

Waiting for the big operation

Grady getting some extra help

Look at those cheeks!

Daddy and Grady in NICU

Papa and Claudie

They're goofballs!

Grandma Allen

Grandpa Allen

Nana.  Mom bought be the prettiest autumn floral arrangement while at the hospital.

Big Brother (of course he's picking his nose) and daddy took a break to get a snack

Grady Ray Allen

Grady Ray Allen

born on 11.11.11 at 10:21 am

19 inches, 9lbs 5 oz

Sorry it's taken me four days to put up a photo, but between the pain and just wanting to enjoy my new little one I haven't really had much time to even take any photographs.  Grady is precious.  We all love him so much.  He's a chubby verison of his big brother (you can see here).  He's been sleeping and eating like a pro.  I feel so incredibly blessed and am in complete awe of my new little guy.

Hopefully I'll get some time today to edit the photos I have taken and put up Grady's story today or tomorrow, so stay tuned!

I am Thankful for...

this guy.

This man I married is one of the best guys in the whole world - one the best husbands.  I couldn't have asked for anyone better to love, marry, create a family with, and to spend the rest of eternity with. 

Kyle finished his exam on Friday.  We're both so relieved.  The pressure and stress that has been waying on us has lifted.  We're eager to find out the results, but we have 8 weeks until then so we're not even worrying about it right now.  Kyle has spent almost every free moment studying for that crazy exam so to have him back is wonderful.  But,  this is what is even more amazing about him:  Instead of thinking "Oh, I just took all this time working, I deserve a break"  he has jumped right in to help me with whatever I need.  He's been giving me breaks.  He's contantly playing and laughing with Leon.  He cleaned pretty much the entire upstairs last night with barely any help from me (I'm not really that helpful right now even though I'd like to be).  And then before we went to bed, he gave me a much needed massage to help me relax.  Tonight he is letting me have a Ladies Night Out.  He is taking most of his vacation time to spend that next two weeks after the baby is born to stay home with us.  I feel blessed.  He could be going fishing or playing video games or trying to restore his old '55 chevy Truck that he's had stored in his parent's garage for years, but he chooses to be a husband and father first - and a good one at that. 

I love you Kyle!  Thank you so much!

You CAN Dew It!

Leon and I went out to the store today to get Kyle some "study" food for tomorrow.  He is taking the day off of work so that he can study all day for his next big actuarial exam that is taking place THIS Friday.  I know that he likes to have some snacks when he studies and I thought it might be a good way to keep him motivated throughout the day.  These exams are a big deal and they're pretty crazy hard.  I don't think anyone can really grasp how terrible they are unless they are taking them or if your a spouse of someone who is taking them.  I try to explain to people what it's like, but no one seems to really understand unless they've been there.  It's recommended that for every hour of exam you take that you should study for 100 hours.  So, a 6 hour exam should require 600 hours of studying in preperation.  Yeah.  600 hours!  Kyle spends alot of his free time studying for these exams.  He's been gone alot.  However, there is good news!  This is his second to last exam.  If he passes this one, then he only has one more!  Hooray! 

If you could please say a little prayer for Kyle, I would appreciate it so much.  It's been hard the last couple of months.  I don't want all his hard work to go to waste.  Also, pray that this baby doesn't decide to come tomorrow or Friday.  That would just be terrible.  I'd be having a baby all by myself ;)

Happy Halloween!

With Leon's love of anything and everything train, I thought it would be appropriate to dress him up as a train engineer for Halloween.  It was super easy and cost be about $10 total.  He thought it was pretty cool.

We did the trunk or treat at our ward and a halloween party with the local Mom's Club, so Leon had plenty of candy before it was actually Halloween.  However, Kyle took him out to some of our neighbor's houses on Halloween.  I think they got a kick out of him.  Leon was very, very good about saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You"  which made me proud.

After a few houses, Kyle and Leon came back and relaxed with me on the porch while we waited for the other tricker treaters.  They also played catch with Leon's little football - he loves playing catch.  Here is Kyle and Leon.  Leon is munching on some of that candy.

This is the pumpkin we carved.  I really wanted just a traditional jack-o-latern this year.  Leon thought that carving the pumpkin was pretty neat and took the whole process very seriously.