Welcome Lainey Elizabeth!

Lainey Elizabeth Ludlow was born on Friday, July 22nd at 4:36pm and we couldn't feel anymore blessed!! It was an easy delivery and she is perfect and healthy!! It was a long week the week before she delivered. on Friday the 15th I contracted ALL DAY long so when Scott got home for the day we decided to go into the hospital and get checked out. I was 2cm and contracting every 3-5min but after 2hours of being watched I stayed 2cm so they sent me home. I was feeling pretty frustrated and uncomfortable. NJ and Megan decided when they heard I was going to the hospital to go ahead and come to Memphis since they were going to watch Jackson and Leah. I figured it would happen any day. On Wednesday I had a Dr.'s appt and he said I wa s 3cm and thought it would happen in the next day or two. I went back in on Friday after 2 more days of contractions and he said I was 4cm and went ahead and sent me to the hospital. I was so glad, because if I hadn't delivered on Friday, megan was going to leave to go back home since she had already been there for a week and her and NJ were planning on being in the delivery room. I would have been so sad if she missed it!!

So anyway, they admitted me and started Pitocin to get some contractions going and the Dr. came over at 1pm to break my water. I got my epidural at 3pm and by 4pm i was 10cm and delivered at 4:36pm. We were so excited to see we had another beautiful princess!! She is almost the exact same size leah was. Lainey was 20inches and Leah was 19 3/4inches and Lainey weighed 6lbs 15.8ounces so they rounded to 7lbs and Leah was 6lbs 13ounces. Crazy how close their sizes are!! She is beautiful and absolutely perfect!! It is crazy to me how she already fits so perfectly into our family. I love her so much!! Megan went to my Dr.'s appt on Friday with me while NJ watched the kids and Scott went ahead and went to work until i knew I was admitted. This is Megan and I when we first got to the hospital before I was hurting :) Sorry I couldn't get pics to rotate.

We should have known we were having a girl when we had the name Lainey picked out and our nurses name that day was Laine. I worked at Germantown for a short time when we first moved here and had the pleasure of working with a lot of the girls there and Laine was one of them I always got along with really well so i was glad she took care of us that day.

Scott and I when he first got to the hospital. He is so cute, he wore his "The Time Is Now" Mavericks playoff t-shirt to the hospital! I thought that was pretty clever :)

Lainey Elizabeth right after she was born. She had a cord around her neck when she was born so she was kind of pale and there was a question about her chest not looking quite symmetrical so they had NICU come and look at her when she was first born. She pinked up pretty quickly after they came down and they think it was just from the cord around her neck and they think her chest looking uneven was just from her position when I was pregnant because by that night in the nursery she already looked more symmetrical...just enough to scare mommy and daddy right after she was born :)

Mommy and Lainey!!

Our sweet new baby with Mommy and Daddy

Aunt NJ and Lainey

Aunt Megan and Lainey. I think Megan was holding her breath when I was pushing because she got really pale and felt like she was going to pass out so she had to sit for a little while :)

Daddy's girl already

Cuddling with Mommy

Nj and Megan picked up the kids after I delivered and drove them to the hospital for us to tell them the sex of their new sibling. They were both so excited to hear they had a new baby sister. Jackson wanted to hold her right away and has wanted to hold her ever since, Leah has been a little more apprehensive with holding her. She loved to kiss her and touch her but still hasn't held her in the 4 days since we have had her. Leah comes around on her own time and she always has...love that girls strong-will!

Leah with Daddy in her Big Sister Skull t-shirt :)

Lainey after bath-time...look at all that hair!!! It's a little lighter than I thought it would be.

Lainey with a sleepy Mommy.

The cutest thing!! Lainey LOVES to stretch!! Her favorite position is to hold her legs straight up in the air, she did it right after she delivered and she loves to do it now, even when she is sleeping. It is so cute to see her skinny little legs straight in the air.

Proud big brother.

First family picture of the 5 of us, couldn't get everyone to pose, but I still love to see all 5 of us together. We are so lucky to have our family!!

Lainey also loves to suck her fingers and her best friend is her Pacifier!! She loves that Paci!!

I love how her hair looks like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber here :)

Lainey and her best friend...now it's hard to get a picture of her without it!!!

I have to take the time to thank NJ for taking such good care of the kids while we were in the hospital. I do not know what we would have done without her and the kids absolutely adore her so I never had to worry that they were missing Mommy and Daddy while we were there. We cannot thank her enough!! Love you NJ!

We have more pics to share from the last couple of days at home that we will share tomorrow!! We love you so much already Lainey!!

Leah's Birthday and Texas Trip!

We took our final trip to Texas this weekend before the baby comes, mainly for me to work, but we were able to have a family get-together to celebrate Leah's birthday at GattiTown! We had so much fun and Leah was in heaven with all the attention. Not everyone was able to make it, my mom had to work and Scott's parents and Jeff and Abby were out out of town with their kids but we still had a really fun time. I figured between working all weekend and a 4 year olds birthday party, maybe that will help me go into labor soon :) Jackson was finally tall enough to ride the Bumper Cars and he LOVED it. I have some cute video of him driving. He was pretty good at it, too!

We had to play this sprinkler shooting game like 4 times in order for Leah to win this pony she wanted, I think everyone spent about half of their money to make Leah happy. But hey, what the Birthday Girl wants, the Birthday Girl gets!!

Scott and I bought Leah a bike, she has begging for one for the last few months. Whenever we go on walks and Jackson is on his bike she gets jealous of him and having to be pushed in her red car. She just keeps teeling us, "I'm a big girl, I need a bike!" Well she got her wish and we found the girliest princess bike they had. It even comes with a backseat to put her dolls in when she is riding!

Leah, Luke and Jackson. The kids ADORE "Baby Luke" as they call him. They are so cute with him, it makes me excited to see how they are going to be with their new sibling. Luke is a little ham, he is always so happy and I think his new favorite place is GattiTown just like our kids, it must be in their genes.

Leah rode the rollercoaster ride and Aunt Lisa had to get in with her, I said I think she is the only one who could fit in that kid ride out of the adults :) She looked like she had a better time than Leah.

Leah and I on the "Horsies"

Jackson had to get his face painted like SpiderMan, courtesy of Aunt NJ. Leah did not like this one bit!! She was crying when she saw him and yelling "My brother's face scares me!" We had to keep him at the other end of the table during the birthday cake until she warmed up to his new face.

Leah had a Dora Cake, of course!!

Jackson on the Boat Ride, he loves this one!

Leah and her favorite Aunt NJ. I love this pic of them!!

Aunt Stephie got Leah a Dairy Queen Blizzard maker with all the candy a little girl could want to choose from. She was VERY happy!

Leah and Crazy Aunt Mel! Nj and Mel got Leah her very own Cotton Candy Maker!! Leah is going to be diabetic from all the sugar she got for her birthday :)

Leah and the pony she won from the sprinkler game

Leah and Aunt Lisa

Luke and Leah hugging when it was time for him to leave! I thought this was the sweetest thing!! I love that kid! he is going to be 1 on the 8th and I can't believe how fast time has gone by!!

Luke REALLY liked skee-ball

Luke and Mommy

Leah and her Daddy

On Sunday night we were able to meet up with our good friends Alex and Ted for dinner with their little girl Daniella. It was so good to see them! The last time we saw them was Christmas when we told them I was pregnant and Daniella was only 9 weeks old! She is the cutest, sweetest little girl. She just loved playing with Jackson and Leah!

Look at those arm rolls!! Love it!!! I think Jackson had a little crush on Alex. He had to sit next to her during dinner and he kept talking to her about Dani. When we went to leave he ran up to Alex and gave her a big hug. He told NJ when we got back to her house that he thought Alex was pretty :) Oh no, it's beginning already!!

It was a nice trip, but it makes me excited that we are home and now all we have to do is relax and wait until this little baby decides to make it's arrival!! Nj is coming in about 2 weeks to stay with us until the baby comes and the kids are BEYOND excited. I just hope she gets here in time...

Summertime and SO READY FOR BABY!!!

Anyone who knows me, knows I am so not patient. I think the suspense of not knowing the sex of our baby has made the end of pregnancy that much more frustrating!! I just want to know!! Well, I want to know if it's a boy or girl and we are bringing the baby with us to Megan's Wedding in the Dominican Republic Sept 1st so we have to get it a passport. I am starting to get anxious about getting everything in time. We have to get the birth certificate and then get a passport photo of the baby with it's eyes open and then get the passport. I'm due Aug 3rd and we are leaving sept 1st...see where my stress is coming from?? I had Jackson really early, 32 weeks and had Leah at 38weeks, so I'm really hoping this one will come in the next 2 weeks, I'm 36 weeks on Tues. I have started having a lot more contractions this week and even went to the dr to make sure nothing was going on, we are going to Texas this weekend for a short trip...last one as a family of 4!!! He said nothing yet, I told him I was fine with that, being that I was only 35 weeks and we are going to be gone this weekend, but I expect better news next week, he just laughed. We have been trying to keep busy to keep my anxiety down and keep me distracted :)

Leah is turning 4 on Wednesday the 6th and I just CANNOT believe it!! She has grown up so fast and has turned into such a bright little girl. I think she is starting to sense the baby is coming soon, though. She has been more emotional this past week and definitely more needy. I have heard that kids can sense these things and I just hope she will adjust ok. She has been our baby for so long :( Jackson seems thrilled with the idea of the baby coming, he talks about it constantly and has even started to talk to the baby through my belly saying "Come out now baby because I love you and want to see you." Hopefully not too much longer!! Scott's good friend who I've mentioned on here a few times, Jeff and his family moved this week to California and we helped them pack up their moving truck, or Scott did, I played with the kids and their baby. We are really going to miss them, our kids always played so well together. We were able to go to the Sprinkler park with them and the Children's museum before they left. Here are Leah and Maryn at the Children's Museum.

Leah doing her favorite thing...COLORING

Ryan and Jackson playing in the airplane at the Children's Museum.

I've gotten past the point of caring what I look like in a swimsuit. I'm huge, I'm uncomfortable and most of all I'm HOT!!! We have all shade in our backyard so it's not a good place to put the kids pool, so we put it in the front yard where we have tons of pretty grass and lots of sun. Last weekend, we set up the pool, I wore my tankini and shorts and Scott made an obstacle course for him and the kids. It was a lot of fun to watch them play, I can't wait until I can join them for games like that again!!! Scott is such a kid at heart!

This is their starting stance to run through their obstacle course

Scott running back through the pool to the finish line

A shot of Scott DIVING into the pool, it's amazing he didn't pop it :)

Jackson running through the sprinklers, he looks so funny here!! HAHAHA!

Action shot of Jackson diving into pool

After we were done with the pool, I was out front and our mailman was delivering the mail he said he walked by earlier and saw us playing in the pool. He said at first he didn't see the kids and he thought Scott and I were practicing some waterbirth. Hahaha!!

Anyway, hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!! Keep your fingers crossed that baby Ludlow makes their appearance soon!!!