Cooper at 18 months

- loves to play! Lately, he's really enjoyed his soccer balls. He will kick that ball nonstop for what seems like an hour.

- he's learning so much! Just when I think what I'm teaching him is not sinking in he surprises me. Yesterday I was showing him the letters A, B and C. I asked him what letter is B. Sure enough he picked it up and handed it to me.

- he knows sign language. Please, thank you, more, and food. He even puts "more please" together.

- he says many words. I am not going to list them all but his most recent one has been "please" and it sounds like "peas". When he says it he's very dramatic and repeats it over and over really fast! I think he has a little lisp type thing going on. He has a hard time saying any words with a B. He sticks his tongue to his teeth and all words that have a B sound like a D. Example: his "ball" sounds like "dall". "binky" is "didi".

- he can stand on one foot...without holding on to anything!

- he's a big climber and is NOT scared of anything.

- he can throw a ball across the room.

- he claps with joy

- phones are the best to play with. he often has a conversation (with himself) and we'll hear him jibber jabber then giggle and jibber jabber some more, and giggle more! Super cute!

- when he gets laughing pretty hard...he throws his head back

- he is super heavy and super solid. Everyone that picks him up comments on how heavy he is.

- he runs. a LOT. Like he never ever stops.

- all but 2 teeth are in!

- he can blow his nose.

- he's a pretty good eater. his favorite foods are hot dogs, pizza, and yogurt. he eats a meal 3 times a day and has snack time 2 times a day.

- he drinks a ton. 4-5 sippy cups of water or juice a day!

- he tells us when he has to go potty or when he wants a diaper change. He HATES to sit on the potty.

- TV has become something that is on often...maybe a little too often. his favorite movie is The Sandlot. He also likes Monsters Inc. Those two are pretty much the only movies he will watch.

- he has a favorite blanket, dog, and of course his binky. All 3 go to bed with him and the blanket goes everywhere (in the house and sometimes to the car).

- he likes to help take care of Crew all the time. He gives wonderful kisses and hugs to his little brother.

Wow, I seriously could go on forever about my wonderful 18 month old. I can't believe it's been that long already! But the more I think about it I can't believe it's only been that long since he's been in our family. He is so kind hearted and loves people. He forgives easy as we try to be decent parents. He is stubborn like his mommy and unconditionally loves like his daddy.

Happy 18 month birthday Coop!!

18 months!

Newborn Pictures

Here's my attempt at our own newborn pictures. I'm not a huge fan but they will do!

Birth Story + hospital stay

Surgery was scheduled for Friday morning at 7:30. I had pre-registered so all we had to do was show up at 5:30 and start the preop process. I changed into my gown and they started an IV. I finished up some paperwork and was hooked up to machines. I was having contractions of course so it was interesting to watch on the monitor. At about 7:15 we were told that our surgery was to be pushed back because of an emergency c-section. Around 8 we were told that the surgery was over and we were next. Not long after I was rolled into the surgical room and the spinal was done. That was when I started to get really nervous. I had several doctor's in the room (1 doctor, 1 physician assistant, and 1 resident). I also had NICU in the room and several nurses. It was overwhelming! Brady came in a long while after everything was situated. And the silly nurse told him he couldn't bring the camera in...DUMB.

Surgery started and it felt weird as usual. I had sharp pains in my chest again. It hurt so so bad!! The anesthesiologist didn't want to give me pain medication for it so the surgery is pretty much a blurr for me. I was trying really hard not to hyperventilate because of the pain. I was also really nauseous from it and I didn't want to throw up...he did give me antinausea medication. However, I do remember when Crew was born! He came out much easier than Cooper did and I heard the PA say "oh he has a pretty necklace on". The cord was wrapped around his neck twice. Brady didn't say anything and everything was quiet. Then I heard his screeching cry!! It was an amazing sound...and it was the weirdest little cry I had ever heard! It sounded like a screeching car. They rushed him over to NICU and wrapped him up. Brady was able to hold him for a few minutes and let me see him. He was super adorable and so little! He was then taken to NICU to be monitored. I was then informed that I would not see him for the next 6 hours!!!! I was so upset. I couldn't believe that my healthy baby (apgar scores 8 and 9) was going to be taken away from me for that long. Apparently, all babies born before 37 weeks have to be monitored for at least 6 hours. GRR.

The next 6 hours went by really slow. I was in recovery for a while and then transferred to my room. I was very nauseous so I ate saltines and ice chips. My family visited Crew for a while (Cooper was at day care) and took Brady out for lunch. Thankfully, the antinausea meds made me drowsy...I was able to rest a little. 3:00 came and they hadn't brought Crew in. I woke Brady up from a nap and wanted him to go get him. He politely told me he couldn't do that and to wait patiently. Instead, I paged the nurse and asked to hold my baby. Finally at 3:30 he rolled in! I was so happy I was in tears! I held him close and snuggled for a while before more family and friends came in.

Crew was able to get a bath that evening and I was actually able to watch it! They brought a warmer into our room and gave him a bath right there! Cooper had a bath done immediately after he was born while I was in recovery. He wasn't a fan of being bathed but he smelled so good after!

The rest of the time was mainly feeding and sleeping. Since he was considered a "late preemie" he had to eat every 3 hours. Either breastfed or bottle fed. If he didn't nurse well we HAD to give him a bottle to ensure he was getting the nutrients he needed. At night I was being checked every hour and he was coming in every 3 hours to nurse (we sent him to the nursery so we could sleep between feedings at night). We were very anxious to get home and not be bothered so often! Cooper came in one day for a few minutes! haha He went absolutely crazy and wanted to play with everything. At one point he tried climbing behind the hospital bed and playing with the cords. It was a very stressful moment for everybody!

We were able to go home on Sunday. Cooper did very well welcoming him home and was occupied with both Grandma's being here.

Overall, everything went okay and we made it home safely. Look for another post of hospital pictures...it was becoming difficult to move all the pictures around and organize it well.

Our newest little man!

Things are going great! As you can imagine I am cuddling this little guy as much as I can before he grows up and wants to run all day long. But I am recovering well from the c-section and doing things I was instructed NOT to do. Seriously, how can you not pick up your other children??

Crew is an amazing little man. He is sleeping like a champ. He sleeps 24/7. We wake him up to feed every 3 hours. If we didn't do it he would sleep for hours straight. He keeps losing weight but still within the "okay" range. He's not nursing at all. He was latching on in the hospital but now he absolutely refuses to. Just screams and screams until he passes out then he won't eat. So the doc wants us to supplement with formula to make up for the loss feeding. We are to do this because he's considered a "late preemie" and MUST eat every 3 hours. "Late preemies" become dehydrated faster and blood sugars drop faster. He fits into preemie clothes however he is REALLY long. He has the highest screech cry and often sounds like a screeching car! He poops seriously after EVERY SINGLE FEEDING! Cooper never ever pooped that much so it has surprised us.

Cooper is adjusting as expected. He's good most of the time with occasional bad times. He will tell Crew "hi" and give him kisses. He is interested in his toes, fingers, eyes, and nose. He has helped me bottle feed him (held the bottle) and has watched us change his diaper (he's even saying "diaper" now). He likes to touch his head and be close to him in general. He's doing pretty great but we have to watch him VERY closely. He's tried to share his blanket (by shoving it on him), give him toys (by throwing it at him), and wipe off his spit up (by aggressively wiping his face). He has a kind heart but hasn't quite figured out how to be "gentle"/"soft" all the time.

Well, that's all for now. Time to go to bed before both boys wake up! I'll post more pictures later :)

Kelsey is still confined to her hospital bed so the responsibility of posting pictures has now fallen on me (Brady). Here are pictures of Bentley "Crew" Ellis.

He was born at 8:29 am on July 22, 2011. He weighed in at 5 lbs. 12 oz. He still has taken a bath yet in all of these pictures...sorry.

This is Kelsey before changing into her hospital gown...

Sorry it's not much, but we wanted to get something out for all of you to see. Kelsey will update everyone on the details and post more pictures later.

Compare!

Here I am at 36 weeks currently...

Here I am at 37 weeks with Cooper...

I'm not sure what happened in the last 2 years but seriously...I looked so much cuter back then! My hair was lighter, teeth whiter, and just looked happier? I don't know but I seriously haven't done anything with my hair and it's really REALLY weird to see it so DARK! Who knows...maybe it's the angle?