The Everyday Life of Ben, Brooke, Macy, Ava, and Aubrey Wyatt

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Aubrey James is 1 Month Old

Aubrey is one month old and life is good. She is such a sweet baby. If I had known one baby was this easy, I might not have waited 5 years to have another one! : ) She has a fussy spell between 8pm and 10pm most nights and she cries when she’s hungry but other than that she doesn’t make a lot of noise.  She eats every 3 hours during the day but at night she will go at least 4 hours. Recently she has had nights where she will go 5 or 6 hours between feedings! With Ava and Macy, I woke them up to feed them. With Aubrey, I am following the “never wake a sleeping baby” rule. And I have to say, that is the way to go. She will give a little shout when she gets hungry. No screaming. No crying. Just a little noise to wake me up when she is ready to eat. Then she just goes right back to sleep. Such a dream baby!

Ava and Macy are adjusting to life with a baby. They transitioned to being big sisters really well thanks to my mom who stayed with us for over a week and entertained them constantly. She took them places and kept them happy which helped me settle into a routine with the baby. After she left, they had a little bit of a hard time getting back into the routine of school.  Macy has been a little more clingy to me than usual but I guess that is to be expected. They LOVE Aubrey though and are constantly hugging her and kissing her and asking to hold her. They also love to show her off to their friends at school, but we are trying to keep our distance from all of their germy friends until she is a little older. There is no doubt that Aubrey has four people in this house that love her very much and are willing to hold her and love on her anytime. Even though she has only been here a month, it is hard to imagine our family without her. It feels like she has always been a part of us. Here are some pictures of her first month:
 
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This is from her first outing. We went to Five Guys to eat lunch.
 
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Treating her like their very own baby doll.
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Ava and Macy are always trying to get her to play with toys. She doesn't have much interest yet. : )
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Sunday, January 20, 2013

Christmas 2012


With the arrival of Aubrey, this Christmas was definitely different. Ben's parents were in town the week before Christmas for the birth so we celebrated with them before they left town. My parents, Craig, and Jacqueline came in town on the Saturday before Christmas so we were able to spend a few days with them. I was recovering from the c-section and still sort of in the "newborn fog" so I was not a very good hostess. Thankfully, mom and Jacqueline took over the cooking and everyone was readily available to clean up, entertain Macy and Ava, and hold the baby. We opened presents with Craig and Jacqueline on Christmas Eve because they ended up leaving early the next morning due to the bad weather that was heading to Fayetteville. They made it home safely thank goodness but we were really worried about them driving in the snow and ice that hit Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Santa came Christmas morning, mom cooked a yummy lunch and then we spent the day relaxing and enjoying our new toys. Here are some pictures from our Christmas festivities:

 
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This is from the girls’ Christmas program at their school. They sang “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” with their class. Very cute!
 
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Presents from Grammy
 
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Showing Pawpaw something. Look at tiny Aubrey curled up in Pawpaw's arms! So sweet!
 
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Christmas Eve Nap
 
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Christmas Jammies
 
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This was after they had raided their loot from Santa and sadly it is the best picture i have from Christmas morning.
 
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Santa must have been listening closely to Macy's requests because he brought them Spiderman Pajamas. This was easily their favorite gift and they put them on right away. Here is Macy striking her spiderman pose.
 
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My Nana sent them a book where she recorded her voice reading it. They loved it and knew exactly whose voice it was when they heard it.
 
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Mom and Dad got them a Wii. Here they are dancing with Dora.
 
Even though we broke some traditions and didn't get to spend any time in Arkansas, we still had a great Christmas!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Arrival of Aubrey James Wyatt

Aubrey made her appearance on December 17th, 2012 at 10:08am. She weighed 8lbs. 10oz and was 20 inches long. The delivery was so smooth and a really great experience. At the time, I was SO nervous and anxious that I didn't think it was that great, but in retrospect it was pretty awesome. Ben and I left for the hospital early that Monday morning. Both sets of grandparents were here at the house to help with Ava and Macy. They got them dressed in their "Big Sister" outfits, took them to school, and then headed up to the hospital to wait for the arrival of their newest granddaughter. I didn't know how long I would be in recovery and how long it would be before Ava and Macy would actually get to see Aubrey, so I thought it would be better for them to go to school that morning to keep them busy. That worked out well because it let the grandparents meet her first and let me get settled in my room before they came up to see her. Anyway, when Ben and I got to the hospital, we had to wait for about 30 minutes in the waiting room which was not good for my nerves! Once we went back to the prep room things moved really fast though. The nurse started my IV, took some labs, asked a million questions, and got me ready for the surgery. Different doctors and nurses were in and out of the prep room for a while and the next thing I know, they are ready to take me down to the OR. I remember thinking, "It's already time to go? I don't think I'm ready!" When we got to the OR, it was just as scary looking as the first time I had a c-section. I know millions of people have surgery every day but walking (yes, I had to walk from the prep room to the OR wearing nothing but a hospital gown) into an operating room is SO frightening. It's so bright and white and intimidating. Anyway, they gave me my epidural and spinal block which worked this time!! (It did not work with the girls.) It was so nice to have Ben in there with me this time. He had said that he wasn't sure he was going to be able to watch the c-section but he ended up watching the whole thing. It seemed like it took forever but they finally got her out and this is what I heard, "Whoa! She's a big baby!," "Look at those cheeks!," "Where were you hiding her?" This was all before I actually got to see her so I was picturing this monster baby. Then they showed her to me, and she was really big but probably not as big as I was picturing in my head. They took her over to get her cleaned up and then brought her to me so I could meet her. It was a very sweet moment and all of my anxiety was gone once I got to hold her and really look at her and see that she was here safe and sound. A few things I remember thinking when I saw her were how crazy long her fingernails were and how big her cheeks were. Also, she came out sucking on her fingers which was funny to me that she could get her hands to her mouth and suck on them even though she was only about 10 minutes old! Once they got me all stitched up, we went to recovery. Recovery was a bit stressful because her blood sugar was a little low so they wanted her to eat immediately. Since I am nursing, I was feeling a lot of pressure to get her to eat right away. Even though it took a while, she was hungry and was able to eat and bring her blood sugar up. Mom came back to recovery during all that to meet her. The other grandparents stayed in the waiting room b/c I was practically naked trying to feed her. After a couple of hours, they put me in my room and everyone was able to come in and meet her. After getting a little bit of time with her, Ben's parents went to get the girls at school. The girls were really excited to meet her and hold her. Macy was totally freaked out by me being in the hospital bed with an IV. It was really sad, because you could tell she was worried about me. I kept telling her that I was fine and that the IV was just giving me water but she still wouldn't even come near me. Because it was all kind of a blur, I asked the girls the other day what they thought about Aubrey when they saw her for the very first time. Ava said, "I thought she had crazy hair. I didn't like her hair." Okay... not the sweet, heartfelt reaction I was expecting. Macy said, "I thought she was cute." That's better.

Aubrey, Ben, and I spent 3 nights in the hospital. The hospital was amazing! Everyone was so friendly and took such good care of us. They do a "celebration dinner" for the parents of newborns on the last night in the hospital. It was steak and lobster and it was delicious! In fact, all of the food was really yummy....not regular hospital food at all and Ben got a tray every time I did. Ben's parents stayed with the girls while we were there. They brought them up every day to see us. I know it was a hard week for Ava and Macy because things were changing and Ben and I weren't at home, but Grammy and Pawpaw stepped in and did an excellent job of taking care of them and keeping things as normal as possible for them. We came home from the hospital the Thursday before Christmas and I have to say that we are 3 weeks in and so far life has not been THAT crazy. Mom was here until last Wednesday, Ben has been home from work a lot, and Aubrey is a really good baby (thank you Jesus!) so it has been totally manageable. Things might get crazier, but for now, we are doing just fine. I will post more about Christmas and life with Aubrey during her first few weeks soon. Here are some pictures from Aubrey's birth day.



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