3.30.08 Grant and Emma Lou

One of Grant's very favorite things to do is to wrestle with Emma Lou. They were really going at it tonight, so we took a short video so you could see how much fun they have together!

My first time going to church!!

Mason got to go to church today for the first time! He was 10 days old, and wearing the most adorable little sailboat outfit from Grandma and Paw Paw Beutler. All the old ladies ooohhh-ed and aaahhh-ed over him, talking about how handsome he was. We were so proud of him. I took some pictures of him in his first church outfit this afternoon. Grant wanted to be right in the action, however, every time I'd point the camera at him to take a picture of him, he would charge at the camera laughing histerically. He thought he was pretty funny. So though they're not great pictures of Grant, they make me smile because he was being so goofy!

Week of Busyness!

Well the first week of Mason's life has been rather eventful! We brought him home on Saturday, March 22. Since Easter was Sunday, March 23, we thought it would be fun to spend some time dyeing Easter Eggs with Grant on Saturday - just something special with him to make him feel important and loved. So we decorated Easter Eggs for a while on Saturday afternoon. Grant had a blast. He enjoyed putting the eggs in the dye, which ended up all over the table. Thank goodness for trash bags and newspaper! Sunday afternoon we hid some easter eggs (in the shape of basketballs - since this year we're right in the middle of March madness, it seemed quite appropriate!) and had Grant find them, which he loved! After he found each egg, he'd take it straight to his daddy to open because he wanted to eat what was inside! He got so excited, so we kept hiding the same eggs over and over again. He'd run to the kitchen and wait patiently for daddy to tell him to come find the egg whereupon he'd run into the family room and search for the egg full of excitement, wonder and joy. It was so cute. He kept wanting to share the candy with Mason, and every time he'd pass by the baby, he'd kiss him on the forehead. He sure loves his baby! Grandpa and Granny Worley kept Grant while we took Mason to the doctor on Monday morning. Although Mason had lost another ounce - 11 ounces in all - he was obviously eating now and the jaundice was disappearing, so the doctor told us to come back for a check-up in 2 weeks when he expected Mason to be back up to his birth weight and just perfect. After we got hom from the doctor's office, Granny and Grandpa left to go back to KY. We sure enjoyed having them here with us to celebrate Mason's birth, play with Grant and celebrate Easter! My parents left at 7:30 AM on Monday for their turn with the baby, but their car broke down on the side of the road, delaying their arrival by about 6 hours and lots of money! We were so glad they were here. Mom made lots of food and froze it for us to pull out and eat for the next few weeks. Dad relaxed, took Grant to the park and had plenty of time to unwind from the busy weeks he's had in preparation for Easter. Days with Grandma and Paw Paw were filled with cooking, coloring, taking lots of pictures, playing basketball and crawling UP the slides at the park. Yesterday we all went for a walk which was quite enjoyable, although I was pretty tired by the end. My parents left yesterday to go to Gatlinburg for a few days, so today is our first day on our own. We're doing well so far. No stress yet. We'll see how I feel at the end of the day. I'm feeling great! I felt back to normal within hours of Mason's birth. Mason is finally sleeping better. The first couple of nights were rough - we were up until 2:30 the first night and 4:00 the second night. But we moved a few things around and tried a few new tactics, and he's sleeping great now. He is so content. Very quiet, and you never hear a peep out of him. You couldn't ask for a better baby. Grant loves him. He always wants to be touching him, kissing him, etc. And he thinks the noises that Mason makes are absolutely hilarious. We have enjoyed watching how loving and gentle our little Grant is. What a blessing we have with two beautiful boys. Decorating Easter Eggs Easter Egg Hunt Grandpa and Granny Worley I walked into the family room the other day and saw Grant standing next to Mason's Moses Basket holding Mason's hand and talking quietly to him. Grant is such a loving brother! Paw Paw and Grandma Beutler's Visit Cooking with Grandma Beutler Bathtime with BUBBLES! The NEW Worley Family

Welcome to our new little bundle of joy!

Thursday, March 20, 2008 dawned bright and early for Chris and I. My doctor had called on Wednesday afternoon and said that he wanted us to be at the hospital by 4:00 AM for an induction. I had already dilated 4 cm and effaced quite a bit, so he said he just wanted to induce us since I was so ready to have this baby. So we called the grandparents. Chris' parents came down that night so they could keep Grant for us, and my parents made arrangements to leave the following Monday so they could stay with us and help at home for a few days. Wednesday night was quite the night - Grant got up 5 times between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM. I wonder if he knew something was about to change. So I didn't sleep much that night. We got to the hospital at 4:00, got hooked up to all the machines, monitors, etc, and they checked to see if I had made any more progress. I had already dilated to 5 cm and was completely effaced. I had been feeling quite a few contractions on my own on Wednesday night and they were registering on the monitor at the hospital as well. They weren't sure they wanted to give me Cytotech (SP?), so they called the doctor on call, and he said to go ahead and give me the pill (although they only gave me 1/2 a pill) to help the body go into labor. They brought me the pill at 5:30 AM. We watched "I Love Lucy," and about an hour after they gave me the medication, I asked for the epidural. I waited too long with Grant and was in a lot of pain, so though I wasn't in much pain yet, I wanted to get it before I felt a lot of pain. So they called the anesthesiologist and I asked to use the restroom before he came and I couldn't walk any more. It was 7:00. The nurse said that she expected me to have this baby by 8:00. I laughed at her and told her that wasn't very far off. As soon as I stood up, to use restroom, however, the extra pressure threw me into full labor, and the pains sky rocketed. By the time I got back to my bed, I was miserable. The doctor came and gave me the epidural, and the whole time I was shaking uncontrollably and kept throwing up. By this time it was 7:30. The medication kicked in a little bit and I no longer felt the contractions in my tummy, but the pressure I was feeling was excruciating, and I thought that perhaps the nurse's prediction was correct. My OB doc came in and checked things out and said, "You're complete! The baby's right here. Are you ready to have a baby?" He looked at Chris and told him to go put on some scrubs, so Chris ran out of the room and I began pushing. Chris came back in, and after 2 hours and 20 minutes of labor, I pushed for 10-15 minutes, little Mason Alexander was born at 7:57 am on March 20, 2008. He was 7 pounds 15.5 ounces and 21 inches long, which was the same length as Grant, but nearly 1/2 a pound bigger than Grant. We were both surprised by that, because he seemed so very tiny. We thought for sure he was 1/2 the size that Grant was. He has the Beutler nose, and his daddy's long spindly fingers and toes. He is so sweet, and you hardly ever hear a peep out of him. His daddy got to deliver him, which was very special to us all. Welcome to this world, little man! We're so glad that you're here!