ONE WEEK OLD!

Today is Morgan's One Week Old birthday- and she has already changed so much since we brought her home on Sunday! She had her first visit with precious Dr. DeLucca, and he said she was pretty much perfect (as if we didn't already know that-ha!) She has already gained back her birth weight and then some- little chunk is now over 8 pounds! She eats like a horse, so its no wonder! I know I will jinx myself by writing this, but she is a great sleeper- only waking up twice during the night- which I can totally handle! She is really perking up and its so fun to just sit there and stare at her- we are all totally in love!!
Aunt Margaret and her friend Davy stopped by yesterday on their way back from California and we all had a great time visiting and catching up! Luke (my little "mans' man") was instantly taken by Davy and stalked him to no end- even had a little meltdown when he couldn't go into the bathroom with him!! His admiration went so far as when Davy was holding Morgan, Luke told him "Make Morgan go nigh-nigh"- his way of saying "Get rid of her!" So cute and funny! He entertained everyone with his fabulous Lukie-Dancing (which I still promise to get on video and post on here soon!)

Luke had an Open House at his new preschool today, which MiMi took him to, so I'll be anxious to hear how it went when they get home. Both he and O start school next Thursday if you can believe it! So this next week will be full of organizing, back to school shopping and trying to get on some sort of a schedule after this free-for-all of a summer! We can't wait to find out who Miss O has for 1st grade- everyone say a prayer that she'll be someone nice and sweet!!!

Her Story

Well, I am still high as a kite and hope this all makes sense, but wanted to let everyone in on the story of Miss Mj's birthday.

Jas and I arrived at the hospital around 11:30am, checked in and settled into our pre-op room. As I sat there and dreaded the awful IV I knew was coming my way, we met our nice nurses- one who happened to be the head nurse of the whole unit, so I knew I was in good hands. Jas finally got to meet sweet Dr. Zhang and my anestheiologist was SO NICE!- like a friend's mom kind of nice. An hour later, we were ready to head out, and they set Jas outside the door and I went in for all of the lovely c-section prep. One nurse joked to Jas that the OR was B.Y.O.C- when they called him in, he had to choose a chair from the hallway to bring with him! And seriously, there were like 5 different kinds of chairs out there, so he really had his pick. So random!...

Morgan was born at 2:49pm and we were all in for a shocker! Not only was she breech, she had her cord wrapped around her neck TWICE! and in all of her breech-back-flipping, she had managed to tie her cord in a perfect knot! While I was dreading having to go through another c-section recovery- the nurses told me she would have been in SERIOUS danger coming out the other way- and would have had to be born via c-section anyway! Little stinker!

All of the OR docs and nurses kept trying to guess how big she'd be considering I was as big as a house coming in there. The anestheiologist said she had seen me in the hallway coming into register and thought I was carrying twins! (nice.) After they had taken Moragn out to the nursery and were working on putting me back together, I guess the suspense was killing them, and they called down to the nursery to see the final tally! But to everyone's surprise she was just 1 ounce bigger than Luke at 7 pounds, 14 ounces. She was the same length as O almost at 21 inches long. All I can really remember about seeing her for the first time was all of that fabulous black hair- JUST LIKE O! It so long in the back- almost like a newborn mullet!

I spent the next three hours in recovery waiting for my spinal to wear off, and they brought her in so we could hang out with her. I still had the shakes and really didn't to hold her until that evening though. But that was when we discovered she has one little dimple- JUST LIKE O! Too cute! My mom and dad brought the kids up once I was in my room and Martha came too. Olivia was the first one to get to see and her she was SOOOOOOO thrilled! She held her and rocked her like a professional! Poor Luke didn't know what to think and refused to look at her, and wouldn't even kiss me good-bye! We all just hung out on Friday, and Jas was able to go home and take a nap. He had to sleep in this horrible vinyl recliner (if you can call it that!) for the first two nights, so he ran home and slept every time my parents came up to sit with me! On Firday night poor Morgan billirubin numbers came in and they were kinda high, so they took her all night and all day Saturday in the nursery and kept her under the lights. It worked out well though, because my parents brought the kids back up, and I got to visit with Bubs and O without her in the room- He was totally back to his normal self! When I was making one of my mandatory laps around the unit, I spotted a cot outside someone's room who had just left and hunted down my nurse to see if Jas could have it. I was totally the best wife ever when he walked in and saw it- no more "sticky chair"! That night we had our sweet Baby Bistro dinner, and they brought up our special order on a silver tray, complete with champaign glasse and sparkling cider- it was really cute! We toasted to getting to go home the next day- I was starting to really miss my own bed!

We got the okay to come home early afternoon yesterday, and I have been religiously taking my pills and keeping my feet up. This recovery has been the easiest so far, but by no means without it share of pain. Thank goodness, I had so many TiVoed shows to catch up, so staying in bed has been nice. HA! My mom decided to stay an extra week or so, so Martha has left to go to Alabama to see her mom. She hasn't been able to travel for over a year because of Gary, so I am SO happy she is getting the chance to go visit. We are missing her already though! Luke has come around and is Very sweet to Morgan. Luckily, there are enough people here to play with him and give into his every desire, that she has't really rocked his world. He liked to peek in at her in the port-crib and treis to give her his bink when she cries. He loves to go around the room and give everyone "high 5s" (including Mo) and he stopped by her bed yesterday to make sure he gave her one too! Pretty sweet...Other than that, not much else to report: MJ goes to the doctor tomorrow for her 5 day check-up, and Auntie Margaret is coming on Wednesday- CAN'T WAIT!!!

MORGAN JANE YARBROUGH

SHE'S HERE! And we couldn't be happier! Morgan Jane arrived at 2:49 pm on Thursday, July 24th! She weighed 7 lbs. and 14 ounces and is 21 inches long. We are finally home from the hospital today, and I am beat- so I'll tell the whole story tomorrow- just wanted everyone back home to have a sneak peek! LOVE YALL!

Luke Hates Michael Jeter

SO WEIRD: Ever since Luke was little, he would completely freak out and cry when Mr. Noodle came on Elmo's World. Without fail, I would know from the other room when Sesame Street was almost over because Luke would start loosing it! What's with that creepy guy???? Well- here we are a (few-ha!) years later, and we had another Michael Jeter incident.

Olivia had been watching Air Bud in thier room and had left it running. I guess Luke had come in and started watching it where she left off. I am in my room, Olivia is playing in the guest room, and Martha is in the hallway bathroom getting ready. All of a sudden we hear the most horrific scream/ cry I have ever heard and there is total commotion from the back of the house. Luke is screaming and I hear him bust through the bathroom door to get to Martha, scaring her senseless. The poor kid is SHAKING, crying and trying to tell us something. We all run to him and love on him, trying to calm him down. I go into "What the hell happened" mode and searched his body for injuries, and went back in the room to see what could have happened. And guess who's on the tv??? Damn, Mr. Noodle- only more scary and freaky as a real made up clown in thsi movie!!! He scared the ever-living-shit out of my kid!!!! Of course, there's no way Luke knew that was the same guy- but I think that's CRAZY!!! Poor Bubbies looks at me through his teary little eyes and says, "No watch back-et-ball mo-ey!". I told him of course not- NEVER AGAIN. Poor kid. For the rest of the day, everywhere we went, he told everyone he did NOT want to watch that basketball movie in his sweet little 2 year old way. How crazy is that? There should be a warning on things: "This show may contain footage of Michael Jeter."

Lazy Town

Well- today was moving day! The guys came early this morning and moved all of our furniture from the Anthem house to a storage place down the road from us here at Martha's. I did my final packing duties, and am now OFFICIALLY lazy. (That is until Thursday, or course.) I have NOTHING to do, other than get a pedicure on Wednesday, so the doctors have nice toes and feet to look at! Martha bought new couches that just so happen to recline, so you'll know where to find me if you need anything!


HAPPY EXCITING NEWS! Morgan's husband, Kane Macklin, was born last Monday and D and Billy are doing great! I finally got a picture of the little guy today and he's darling!!! Can't wait to get home and meet him!! Morgan has the matching outfit he's pictured in, so they will both have come home from the hospital in the same things (Can't you say, "Perfect for the wedding slide show???" HA!)

...totally gross, but totally works!

Don't ask me how this all started, but we have found that the only way to get Luke to eat ANYTHING is to tell him its a character that he loves. Chicken nuggets are Barney. Pasta is Bob the Builder...and of course, fish is Nemo. You know you're desperate when you'll sit at the table and say things like, "Ooooh! Wow- Barney tastes so yummy!" or "Come on, eat Bob up!" EEWW! Well... Monday was Martha and Gary's 40th wedding anniversary, and he loved eating at Pappadeaux (which is where he had is last official meal before gave up eating real food when it became to hard to swallow without choking too). So we all decided to take one for the team and actually go out to eat with Luke. To our surprise the was an absolute ANGEL!!?!! (Which only confirms my theroy that Luke and G-Daddy hang out all day in a Sixth Sense kind of way, and he was behaving because Gary was around.) He was eating and being cute and sweet and he had about 3 bites of catfish left. So Granna picked up a piece and had it swimming towards him and said, "Here's Nemo. Yummmy! Luuu-kkke, Neemmmooo's calling!" And she put the piece on his plate. Luke looks at the fish, looks at her kind of funny, and then puts the piece of catfish to his ear and says, "Hello?"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I almost fell out of my chair! We all laughed so hard I thought they were going to ask us to leave. And for some reason when I'm pregnant, and only then, if I start laughing too hard I burst into tears at the same time. Crazy hormones! So I looked like a total psycho! But, moments like that save his life. Seriously.

A Little Bit Biased...

I know they are mine: but our kids are the best kids in the world. Seriously. It takes being out in public, socializing with other families and just taking a moment to stop and watch them- but over the past few days I have been slapped in the face with the reality that my kids are the sweetest, funniest, smartest, little people I know. (Given, some of these features shine brighter in one kiddo over the other- ha!)

Olivia has been the through a lot these past few months and has been nothing but a dream. I think as an adult, could I handle all of the changes and events that have gone on out here with as much grace as she has? From starting a new school at the end of the year, to holding Jason and my hands during Gary's memorial service, to moving AGAIN!, and the knowledge that a new school year will start again soon- with new teachers, new faces... She has been nothing but her sweet Olivia-self- has taken everything on like a solider. She helps us do anything we ask without pouting, she has been kind to Luke- even though I know she would rather play with ANYONE but him at times, and in true- Olivia fashion, sometimes she just goes in her room and plays for hours- happy to have some time to herself- and giving us all a break from each other. I feel like at times, I don't truly appreciate how awesome a kids she is, and I feel terrible about it. And then we go to a restaurant, or to a park, and see what else is out there and I spend the rest of the afternoon in awe of her. I wonder sometime, and worry a lot, about whether or not we have spoiled her- she has never wanted for anything in her life and I know she has been over-indulged with a lot- and then I see how generous and thoughtful she is with not only her possessions, but her time and actions, that I think, maybe somewhere along the line, we've done an okay job as parents.

Disney Brainwashing!

Jason has always joked that there is something in Disney movies and shows that seep into our children's brains and make them crave more, more MORE! Take for example Luke's wacko obsession with Wall-E from only watching the preview commercial. If we didn't rewind it and let him watch it at least 5 times, he would throw himself on the ground and have the hugest fit!!! So, the other day I am pushing the cart through Wal-Mart, on my way to the shampoo aisle, when I hear Luke say, "Oh, hi Hannah" just as calm as you please- like they are friends who run into each other at the Wal-Mart all the time. I was paying more attention to my list than to him, but then stopped when I realized what he had said. I turned around and sure enough- there on the end of the aisle we had just passed was a huge HM display with hair-ties and accessories- there she was in cut-out form, almost life size! "See Hannah! Luke see Hannah"- I had to go back so he could (in his own sweet Bubbie's way of showing affection) smack her. THEN! Yesterday we were having our dance party, and were listening to the kids song channel when the first three notes, not bars mind you, but NOTES of the HM show's theme song came on and he says "Watch Hannah? Watch Hannah?" Totally confused as to why the song was on, but the show wasn't! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? Kind of scares me to think of the frightening control Disney has over my son...and daughter... or is it the other way around and Olivia is the one with all of the control over him??? Funny thing is: We are trying our HARDEST to teach him his colors and guess what the only color he gets right EVERY time is?... Pink. Makes you wonder... HA!

Lots of "Firsts"

Went to the doctors today- nothing new to report. I have been having TERRIBLE Braxton-Hicks, but they have done nothing for me... Oh, well. Dr. Zhang has asked that I kindly keep Morgan in until the 24th, just to be sure she's nice and cooked. (Damn.) After the sad, sad news of two more weeks to go, we gals decided that pedicures were in order. IT WAS SO NICE! We dropped off Bubs with Jas and we all had 45 minutes of nice peace and quiet. Olivia was the star of the salon and the women gave her the prettiest fingers and toes- O LOVED IT!!!

We realized that that was her first official trip to the "Beauty Salon" and then we started thinking about all of the great "Firsts" she's done this summer...Namely:

Getting her first pair of REAL DEAL girly golf clubs!!! Sweet "Uncle" Randy just so happens to work at the Sports Authority out here, and all Jas had to do was call him, and he found Miss O the greatest set of PURPLE golf clubs you have ever seen. She and Jas went out and hit balls all afternoon, and she acutally hit her driver 75 yards!!! We are going to start her intense training ASAP and will be homeschooling her so she can devote all her spare time to the game! Maybe she can make a million or two and take care of us all! HA! (We just about peed out pants when we looked at the box- there is a little Asian girl on there with her father hovering over her as she hits her driver!! Jas has always talked about how looney-tunes some of the Asian parents are before, during and after lessons he used to give!) Olivia's friend Ashton is back from Arkansas, so she is coming over tomorrow to spend the night! We both could not be happier- poor O is sooooooooooooooo lonely! I hope she can make some sweet friends when school starts! Now, if we could just find somewhere for the Bubs to go... we all need a break from his madness...("WannawatchBob!Uh-huh!NoBob!WannawatchBarney!Uh-huh!Bunnywhop!WantBunnywhop!NOjuice!NO!Bunnywhop!!!"...Lord, if he wasn't so cute...

Bor-ring!

We did absolutely NOTHING this week! Nothing fun to report! It actually rained here on the 4th, so we didn't even get to watch fireworks! (Had to settle for the ones on TV-ugh!) We did teach Bubs what the fireworks say though...Pret-ty cute!


We did pack a little last week, and I completely wore myself out- and have taken about 3 days to recover. Learned my lesson: I have to take it easy! We have set up Morgan's crib and changing table in our room here, which is getting us all in the "Baby Mood", and will work a little more this week on bringing over all the baby paraphanelia, so we can work on getting Mo used to staying clear of them. One problem we didn't anticipate: I walked into my room the other day, and guess who I found clinging to the side of the crib with one little leg hiked over the side??? We had a serious C.T.J. and nipped that right then and there! He now constantly asks to "Wat Mer-gon" ever since I showed Jas the DVD of the sonogram. Funny thing is: he watches it until the 4D pictures come up (there's over 100 photos on there of boring stuff like leg measurements and amniotic fluid shots too)and when her pictures come up he say "See Mer-gon"! Too cute (if he only knew what was really going on...or does he???!)

MJ's 1st Public Appearance!

Olivia and I had a "Girl's Day" and she came with me to the sonogram place! The woman who did our scan was SUPER nice and took TONS of picture for us. Poor Jas had to work, but she made him a DVD, so he can watch the whole thing tonight! I just laughed and laughed at how much she looks EXACTLY like O and Bubs! The tech said she'll have lots of hair- and in one pic you can sort of see it- super black like O's I'm sure!! Everything looked great and she already weighs about 7.5 pounds- and that's with 3 more weeks to go!! What can I say, I make big ole' babies!!! Now I am getting excited again- which is nice, considering I haven't slept in like 3 days! No place or way to get comfortable anymore. As Alyshia put it: I am a "Hot Mess" literally.