Angie Comes to Visit

Stephen's sister, Angie and her two kiddos- Kristin and Zack came to visit this week. Of course I say kiddos but they are really adults... I mean college age! It was so nice for them to come visit and spend time with Annabelle and Ethan. Annabelle especially loved playing with Angie! We wish that they were closer so we could see them more often.

2 Weeks, Already?

Ethan is 2 weeks old! Time is already flying! At our last Dr visit he weighed 6.2 lbs so he is close to birth weight again. He is even tempered and starting to figure out days and nights... thank goodness! Loud noises don't seem to bother him- good thing since Annabelle is not especially quiet and Tillie barks all the time. Ha! He is very sweet and generally doesn't cry unless we are trying to change his diaper or clothes. Ethan is not fond of naked time!

Here he is on the play mat during some tummy time. He has a strong neck and doesn't seem to mind being on his belly.

Happy Birthday Stephen

33 and still young! I love you Stephen!

Home

After a couple of days in the hospital I was finally cleared to go home on Wednesday March 5.... infection free and no open wounds this time!! Wha hoo! We were thrilled to be able to come back to our new normal in our home with Annabelle. When we got home in the afternoon we were greeted with balloons, decorations and gifts! So sweet! It was perfect and we are so thankful to have so many that love us and take such good care of us!

First Visitors

Annabelle and Mimi and Gramps were Ethan's very first visitors. I love all the pics below.... priceless.

I am not sure that I could ever say how thankful I am for Mom and Dad's help over the last couple weeks. It was such a relief to know that Annabelle was taken care of while we were in the hospital. I know that A was a little shaken since we were gone so much. It helped that Mimi and Gramps kept her occupied and shuttled her back and forth from school and to the hospital to see us. We are so lucky to have them!!

He is here!

Ethan Bruce Nickles was born on Saturday March 1, 2014 at 11:08am. He was 6.5 lbs and 19 inches long. Everything went smoothly and both Ethan and I did very well. Annabelle is enjoying being a big sister and did great while we were in the hospital. (Thanks to Mimi and Gramps). I think it was hard for her to understand why we weren't at home for a couple days but when we finally got to come home from the hospital she is now back on a relatively routine schedule again.

Here are the pics of E's birthday!

Today is the day! Last belly pic before heading to the hospital

Ethan's Room

We decided almost immediately -once we knew E was going to be a boy- that we would be doing an alligator theme in his room. It turned out almost exactly the way that I had imagined. I love his room. Mimi made the navy chevron print curtains, pillows and bench cushion for Ethan's room. Stephen painted the room and installed the best closet organizer. The artwork came from Etsy... that was a crazy debacle and it didn't arrive until three days before E's delivery date. It turned out well tho and I am very happy with the prints.

See below for before and after pics.

Before!