Houston, we have a chunker!

Y'all, we have a chubby baby! Our Everhett Graham is officially a month old, so we carried him in today for his well visit.  Boy was I impressed.  I knew that his little face was filling out and he has even grown himself an impressive double chin, but I had no idea how much he had gained.  

Seriously, I could eat this kid!

If you knew us when Emory was this age, you understand what a huge relief this is.  It took almost a year to get Emory on the charts due to reflux.  I was dreading the battle of weight with another reflux baby.  Everhett killed it!  He weighed in at 10 pounds, 8 ounces (that is a 3 pound, 2 ounce gain from birth) putting him in the 75th percentile.  The pediatrician said maybe one out of every 100 newborns he sees displays that kind of growth.  Look at him go!  

Have I mentioned how alert Everhett is?  Holy cow!  We are in trouble when he becomes mobile.

The obligatory tribute to Daddy's Tigers.

He measured in at 21.5 inches for height, so that's a 25% leap from birth for him as well.  The only thing under the 50th percentile is his head circumference (40th).  I'm so proud of this little guy and how far he's come.  

We got the green light to try incorporating a little dairy back into my diet, so fingers crossed and prayers going up that there won't be any other intestinal bleeding.  This mama is ready for a milkshake!  

Sweet angel.

Now that we are starting to get a bit more settled, I am aiming to have more pictures and posts this week.  There's so much to catch y'all up on.  Until then, be blessed!


Kristin

Introducing Everhett Graham

Since our newest love is now four weeks old, I suppose it's time I actually post about his arrival. 

Everhett Graham Harris was born January 10, 2013 at 12:18 AM weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces (just like his mama) and measuring 20 inches long.  Oh and lest I forget to mention, we have ourselves a strawberry blonde on our hands!  

Everhett is beyond alert.  This boy has been taking in the world since the beginning.  Oh, this pose is also befitting.  He is ridiculously strong.

Excuse the look, I had just given birth.

 

A very sleepy Daddy with his two boys.

So in love and feeling pretty good about 12 hours later.  Showers do wonders for the soul!

One of the happiest, most fulfilling moments of my life.  Being a mama to two precious little boys under the age of 2 is sure to be an uphill battle, but moments like this make it worth every second.

In the interest of full disclosure, there is much more to the story of his chaotic delivery and first week of life.  However this mama is still dealing with processing everything emotionally from those first ten days, so I'm not quite ready to divulge that series of events.  

Thank you to all of our family and friends for your prayers, calls, visits, meals, and undying support over the last month.  We are so blessed!  

Kristin

New Year's Eve

So I mentioned that we were all plagued during December.  When New Year's rolled around Emory had completed his prescription and Phillip was cured via the magical Mucinex.  I was definitely on the up-swing, but I still had a cough and stuffy nose.  No one likes to be around sick people.  I completely understand, but after a hospital visit, bed rest, and three weeks of being sick this woman wanted out of her house.

Fortunately I have a friend with lots of kids (like 6), so the chances of me adding anything to her brood that they hadn't already been exposed to were slim to none.  Amanda and Dana were getting together for a low key night of hanging out with the hubbies and the kiddos.  Luckily, Amanda's television was able to broadcast the oh-so-important Clemson bowl game.  (I am happy to report they won with a nail-biting 2 seconds remaining.)

Being the absent-minded preggo that I am, I forgot everything (phone, camera, etc.).  However, I remembered my hand sanitizer, my box of Kleenex, and my Halls cough drops.  Sadly, I have no documented proof of my evening with my lovelies except a picture I stole off facebook.  

P.S. - That precious little one is Landry, Amanda's complete Mini-Me.  I want to take her home and play dress up.

It was so nice to just get out and see people (not that I don't appreciate the company of my fabulous husband and precious Emory).  I've been blessed to find friends that I can be frumpy or all gussied up around.  It was a great night of just laughing and of course the post-New Year's Nerf war that ensued. 

When we got home that evening, we took the chance to hang out as a family of three one more time.  I did get to snap a few pictures (once I found my phone):

 

 

We hope you all had a blessed New Year.  Happy 2013! 

Christmas...after the fact!

Our last post showcased how our immune systems failed us around the holidays.  As it turned out, we weren't alone.  It seemed everyone was either sick or getting over something.  We were trying to quarantine ourselves as best we could to keep everything out prior to the new baby arriving.  

Unfortunately, this was also our first Christmas home.  Every year we travel to Florence to spend Christmas day with Phillip's family.  Since we were two weeks to D-Day and I had been contracting since I was 30 weeks pregnant, my doctor said "no way" to traveling.  

Since my dad had shingles, my mom stopped by to open presents with Emory.  Here some of his craziness:

Every toddler's favorite part of the gift: the packaging.

Emory was on a roll, so he helped unwrap presents for Mama and Daddy.

Nana and Pop got Emory toys that made noise.

Always a winner with Emory is anything with four wheels. 

 

Oh buddy, has Little Man ever been some kind of busy at his work station.

A few days later, Grammie came up to stay for a while and help with Emory.  Aunt Diane had spent the first portion of the week with us, but she needed to head home.  Fortunately, she was there to witness Emory in all his glory.  

Uncle Jeff and Heather got Emory a Gator.  It now decorates Mama's coffee table (and matches the decor oh so well).

Aunt Nicki made sure Emory looked super dapper in his new Columbia jacket.  He got compliments from people all around downtown Charlotte when he sported it while visiting us at the children's hospital.

 

Opening all these gifts takes a toll on a boy. 

This was a weekday, so Daddy hadn't been up for long (thus the rough around the edges look).

Grammie needed help moving the BIG present over.  Emory obliged.

 

YAY for an awesome wagon!!!  Our boys will get plenty of use out of this.

Daddy HAD to put it together and SOMEONE HAD to go for a ride IMMEDIATELY.

Despite not going the way we had planned, we had a truly blessed Christmas celebrating with friends and family.  We hope you all had a wonderfully joyous Christmas!

 Kristin

 

Oh December!

...you were certainly one to remember!

We began our month celebrating our 5th anniversary, except it wasn't much of a celebration since I was stuck in bed at Aunt Diane's with contractions while Phillip attended a funeral.  We traveled home that night just in case my contractions got worse.  They continued on and off for the next few weeks.  Eventually, (on my birthday) they ended up forcing me in for a hospital visit followed by a stint on bed rest.  

Sweet boy was sure to keep Mama company on bed rest. 

Normally, December is full of traditions and time together.  This year we missed painting our annual ornament, didn't come close to getting Christmas cards mailed out, and even skipped going shopping for Christmas.  After bed rest was over for me, sweet Emory got sick.  Two days later, I got sick.  Three days after that, Phillip followed suit.  All three of us were like the walking dead for at least two weeks.  Emory got a prescription because his little cough was so bad.  Phillip was able to take Mucinex.  Pregnancy severely limited my options.  I was stuck with Halls, Tylenol Cold for nighttime, and nasal spray.  I got better right before I went into labor with Everhett...over three weeks later.  Better late than never though!  

Our "Let's Get Well" arsenal.  Obviously, this didn't work quite as well as we had hoped. 

Precious feet during cuddle time. 

Thankfully, this mama had ordered a lot of Emory's gifts from Amazon in November.  Phillip and I literally got one another nothing.  Ah the life of sick parents!  Fortunately, our little buddy never knew the difference.  Here's some pictures from the days rolling up to and the day of our 2012 Christmas:

 

 

Did I mention that Emory is in the midst of toddler tantrums?  Oh yes!

...and this is how you know your pregnancy has confused your toddler.  Oh hyperemesis, how I loathe thee!

Christmas morning:

He marched straight out of his bedroom and sat right on top of his toy chest. It's almost as if he was expecting this all along!

Mama was too lazy to wrap the socks, so they got shoved in Emory's stocking.  He looks thrilled though!

Daddy and Emory were practicing their motor noises. 

 

Emory LOVES this little Bible.  It's short poems about stories throughout the Bible. 

An essential.

 

We followed up our morning of fun with a breakfast from Pinterest.  Emory liked it so much that he ended up being covered head to toe with eggs.  I was going to change him.  Phillip decided vacuuming was a much better option.

Next up: Christmas with grandparents, New Years celebration, and of course Everhett's big debut!

Kristin