Welcome Alydia Jade!

Scottie's brother Danny and his wife Christie have two kids. Jimmy is 14 years old and Alayna is 11 years old. Scottie's sister Heather has two kids, Dakota who's 9 years old and Mattie who's 4 years old.  We of course had just one child last year, Caden.  Danny started things off with his two, a boy first and then a girl.  Heather fell right in line and had her two, a boy first and then a girl.  So it fit the pattern last summer when we announced that we were expecting again after starting out with our first boy.  We completely blew the whole plan when we found out our #2 was a boy (and I wouldn't trade him for all the little girls in the world). 

But we were all shocked, to say the least, when we received a phone call from Danny and Christie about 8 weeks after we found out we were expecting.  Alayna got on the phone and said "hey, you know how at our 4th of July cookout you said next year we would have 6 grandkids at the party?  Well, make that 7 grandkids!" 

-----Pause as jaw hits the floor-----

That's right.  Danny and Christie, who's youngest is 11 years old, said they were having another baby!  She was due 8 weeks after me, and she got the girl!

On May 3rd, they welcomed to the world

Miss Alydia Jade

8lb 0.4oz

She looks so much like her daddy, but sometimes I can see Alayna in her face too!

 

"Uncle Scott" holding 1day old Alydia and 2 month old Jaxten.

 

Proud daddies!! (Can you tell they are brothers?!?)

 

All 7 grandkids!

Left to Right: Mattie, Dakota, Jaxten, Jimmy, Caden, Alydia, and Alayna

Jaxten is 1 month old!

Jaxten, you are 1 month old!

You are the cutest and sweetest baby (next to your brother Caden)!  We are falling more in love with you everyday!  Here are some fun facts about you this month.


*At birth you weighed 7lb 3.3oz.  You lost down to 6lb 13oz in the hospital but had gained back up to 7lb 2.9oz by 4 days old.  At 2 weeks old you weighed 8lb 6.2oz (which is more than what Caden weighed at 8wks old!).  Then, at 1 month old you weighed 10lb 4.9oz!  My how you are growing!


*You only wore newborn diapers for a couple of weeks, then we had to switch to a size 1!  Your little thighs are not so little!


*You wear mostly newborn size outfits and some 0-3 month.

*You nurse every 2-3 hours through the day and night.  We started using a bottle and giving a little formula once in a while to get you ready for when I have my gall bladder surgery and have to spend a night away from you.  You usually take about 2oz in a bottle.

*You sleep a lot!  Basically, you eat and then sleep and then eat and then sleep some more!

*You had your first (professional) pictures made at 12 days old!  They were gorgeous, but then how could they not be with you as the subject!

*Your umbilical cord fell off right at 2 weeks (March 20th) and we gave you your first bath in your little tub that same day!  You were not too sure about it right at first, but then you decided you loved it!  You cried when we took you out of the water.

*We dedicated you and "gave you back to God" on your first day at our church, Hanes Baptist Church, on March 21st.  Our family went up to the front of the church and preacher Jon White prayed with us for God to always watch over and protect you and to guide you throughout your life.  We thanked God for allowing us to have you and prayed that he would help us raise you the right and Godly way.  You are a blessing in our life and we couldn't be happier to be your parents!

*You went to your first Crossview singing (that's mommy and daddy's bluegrass gospel group!) and were a perfect angel!  I think you like to hear the music.  We like to guess which instruments you and Caden will play, in which case I say ALL of them!  I think it would be the greatest thing to have you and Caden sing 3 part harmony with me and play the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, Dobro, bass, guitar, piano and whatever else you all want to learn!

*We celebrated your first Easter.  We went to church and had two great services that day!

 

*Easter Day was the first time you grinned at me!  It just makes my heart melt to see you smile!

Easter

Our first Easter as a family of 4! 

If you know Scottie at all, then you can appreciate the fact that we all match.  He has this thing with us matching colors when we go to church.  Not all the time, but most of the time he tries to color coordinate everyone's outfits on Sunday morning.  But this was a special occasion.  So this took weeks of preparation!  I found the boys clothes at Children's Place and thought it would be cute if they at least matched.   Then, Scottie began the hunt for the perfect purple dress shirt.  He found it at Belk.  And it was on sale too!  My dress was another story.  A couple shopping trips and several stores later......I had given up.  I told Scottie the boys could match and I would just wear something pretty.  At the last minute, we stumbled upon this dress at a Maurices store.  It's not an exact match, but it came pretty close.  I thought we did good.

Caden being the star as usual!

Daddy stealing some kisses!

Our family! 

The Hot Dad, the Sweet Bald Baby, the Handsome Little Man, and me!

God is so good!

Dedication

Sunday March 21st was Jaxten's first Sunday at church.  We knew we wanted to bring him to the alter and pray for him and our family the same way we did with Caden when he was born.  We mentioned it to the preacher earlier that week and they had an announcement in the church bulletin and everything!  Before the preaching, our interim pastor Preacher Jon (as Caden likes to call him), called us up to the front and introduced Jaxten to everyone.  He said we were going to have a little dedication and pray over the baby and our family. 

He spoke for a few minutes about the blessings that a baby brings to a family and how we as parents have a duty to raise that child up in the ways of the Lord.  The truth is that we are very blessed to have been given Caden and Jaxten.  That God would trust me enough to give me such great kids just amazes me.

Our family of 4!

We knelt down and started praying.

 

Preacher Jon got down and prayed with us too.

We thanked God for allowing us to have beautiful, healthy children.  We thanked him for all he has provided for our family.  We prayed for his grace to get through hard times that will inevitably come.  We thanked him for the day that he showed us the greatest mercy and saved our unworthy souls and prayed for the day that our children would come to know him as their personal savior too.  We thanked him for allowing us to be parents and asked him to help us raise them in the right way.  We know they are ours, but we told God that we wanted to give Jaxten back, meaning that we want him to grow to serve the Lord with all his heart and we want his life to be used in a way that pleases God.  We prayed for God to keep his protecting hand on them both and to keep them safe and healthy.   

Thank you Lord for your blessings on me. 

(written by The Easter Brothers)

As the world looks upon me, as I struggle along

They say I have nothing, but they are so wrong.

In my heart I'm rejoicing, how I wish they could see

Thank you Lord for your blessings on me. 

There's a roof up above me, I've a good place to sleep.

There's food on my table, and shoes on my feet.

You gave me your love Lord, and a fine family

Thank you Lord for your blessings on me.

Now I know that I'm not wealthy and these clothes are not new.

I don't have much money, but Lord I have you.

And to me that's all that matters, though the world may not see

Thank you Lord for your blessings on me.

There's a roof up above me, I've a good place to sleep.

There's food on my table, and shoes on my feet.

You gave me your love Lord, and a fine family

Thank you Lord for your blessings on me.

Rub-a-dub-dub, First bath in the tub!

Jaxten's umbilical cord, (aka per Caden, belly button boo-boo) fell off today!! YAY!!  That meant we got to do a real in the bathtub bath with soap!  It was a day I have really been looking forward to.  The whole "lay cold naked baby on a towel in the floor and sponge one body part at a time with used to be warm but now cold water" thing just wasn't working for us.  He did not like sponge baths one bit and he sure did let us know too.  He would be all tore up over it, Caden would start spazzing out, I would get all crazy and stressed which would make Scottie seriously wonder how he got stuck with a bunch of looney toons!  I can't even blame him for it though because I don't like stepping out of a shower into a cold bathroom. 

So today when that little rotten stump of skin fell off, we were clapping and YAYing all over the place!  Here we ALL go into my closet of a little bathroom.  And by all I mean me, Scottie, Jaxten, Caden and Pacey the 50lb dog.  Honestly it was a sight to see.  Nevertheless, we are all packed in like sardines and still excited about what was going to happen.  We had turned the heat up a little so it would be nice and warm in there and filled his little tub with water.  We had towels, wash cloths (because with a boy you definately need at least two: one to wash with and the other to place over the umm, you know, because as soon as he gets relaxed in the warm water he WILL shoot you!) soap, diaper, A&D ointment, yummy lavender lotion, baby gown, cameras, phones (to take pics that we could sent via message to all the grandparents and aunts), and I think that just about covers it.  Anyway, we got him undressed and he was no doubt thinking "Oh great, here we go again with the freeze-my-butt-off sponge bath." 

(What was I doing with my hand?)

Then, I gently put him in the little sling thingy that holds newborns off the bottom of the tub and................

Hmmm, this isn't so bad!

"Mom, why didn't we do this the whole time?  This is pretty nice!"

(See the appropriately placed washcloth? It's necessary!)

Caden was being the "big helper" by handing me things I needed and talking to his brother.

"Aahhhh, this is the life!"

"The only thing that could make this any better would be some milk!  But I'll just suck my thumb a little."

He really loved his first bath!  That is, until we got him out..............

He was pretty upset when we took him out.  But, overall it was a great success!  There is nothing better than the smell of a clean baby!  Add some Johnson's lavender lotion and it's like the smell of heaven!

Jaxten's Birth

It all began at 3:30am (which could have been my first clue because I went into labor at 3:30am with Caden also).  I woke up and had to pee (shocker, I know), and then I had the most awful pain.  I kind of blew it off, but it happened again 20 minutes later.  I woke up my husband and told him I had had two really bad contractions but it was probably nothing.  He said "I guess I'll go plug up the video camera so it can charge for a while just in case".  The next one was 11 minutes later.  Then.....BAM!  Every 3 minutes!  Back to back, non-stop!  I said "Uh, Scottie, maybe you should pack that video camera up and just plan on plugging it up at the hospital, cause' WE NEED TO LEAVE NOOOOOWW!!!!!!"  We were out the door!  Scottie was calling his mom, my mom, Heather, and my granny all while I was writhing in pain and agony in the front seat.  His foot mashed harder on the gas pedal during every contraction.  I told him I'd rather not wreck and die on the way and he would slow down a little for just a moment.  We made the 25-30 minute drive to the hospital in about 15 minutes!

We pulled up to the hospital just after 4:30am.  Last time we parked and we walked in and I was happy and excited and not in too much pain.  This time I made Scottie pull right up to the door and turn the emergency lights on.  There would be no leisurely walking for me.  So on went the flashers and he ran inside and grabbed a wheelchair and came flying back out.  Some poor little guy who was working at the desk came following behind I guess to see what was going on.  We came wheeling back in and once he saw my belly and the look on my face, you should have seen the look on his face!  He led us to the elevator and stepped inside long enough to push the 4th Floor button then bolted out of the closing doors and shouted "Good Luck".  I think he was thinking he did not want to deliver a baby in the elevator!

So we get out of the elevator and rolled up to the check-in desk where a nurse was taking her dear sweet time checking in another pregnant lady, who in my opinion did not appear to be in active labor.  So we waited FOREVER a few minutes and she looked at us and said "Oh, is she in labor?"

DUH (Excuse me, but I always double over and squeal while clinching my fists so hard they almost bleed every 2-3 minutes, that's just normal)  Whatever

We FINALLY get to a room (this is only about 4:50, but it seemed like eternity) and they check me and discover that I'm a good 6cm dilated and fully effaced.  BRING ME DRUGS NOW!!!!  They had to get me in a room first and then I had to wait because the anesthesiologist was busy.  It was around 6:00am when I got my epideral.  Relief, at last.  The dr came in and broke my water at 6:15am and I was 8cm dilated by then. 

Sometime after that, the epideral started wearing off a little and then it wore off a lot.  I told my nurse they had better fix it before I was ready to push, so in came the drug man again.  He really socked it to me this time.  I was absolutely useless from the waist down.  Couldn't even move a toe.  During all of this, the baby's heartrate was starting to drop every once in a while.  First there was one nurse checking the monitors, then there were 2, then they started flooding in the room which scared the fool out of me.  They put an oxygen mask on me and kept rolling me from one side to another.  They asked if I could get up on my hands and knees in the bed to try to re-position the baby so I tried.....and utterly failed.  I was so numb I couldn't even roll myself over much less get on my knees.  I kept asking what was going on and looking at Scottie and Kathy(Scottie's mom) and my mom, but nobody would say anything to me.  Kathy finally came over beside my bed and held my hand.  I knew she knew what was going on because she used to work there on the mother/baby floor.  I think everyone just didn't want to scare me.  They said they needed to hook up a heartrate monitor directly to the baby because the one wrapped around my waist was not picking up very well.  (Which I later found out was a little probe that they stuck in the top of his head.) (OUCH).  They said I was ready to push but they were still waiting on the doctor to get back.  The nurses started mentioning the word "c-section" and had me totally terrified.  Just then the doctor came in and so calmly stated "hey girl, let's get started, we need to get this baby out of there!" 

At 7:50am I started pushing.  Scottie was on one side and the nurse was on the other side.  After about 10 minutes, I had only pushed about 6-8 times.  Heather came bursting in the door (after standing in the elevator for several minutes because she got in and forgot to push a floor button) afraid she had missed it and Dr Lindel and Scottie started joking with her.  One of them (we won't name names here, but I have proof on video) totally dropped my leg and I almost slid right off the end of the table! 

I pushed once or twice more.......

   -----And at 8:05am-----

Jaxten Scott Speer was born

7lb 3.3oz , 21in

A perfect, precious little boy with the most gorgeous big lips!  Instant love at first sight!!

Welcome to the world!!!!!

Jaxten Scott Speer

Born March 6, 2010

 at 8:05am

7lb 3.3oz

21in

And here I am holding my new son for the first time!

The best feeling in the whole world!!

The story of his birth to come later.