Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

My parents were able to come out for a week after Bryce was born. It was sure a big help to get some extra sleep. Paige had fun going for walks, doing flips, eating and building towers with Grandpa Balls. Thanks again.

Bath time

Luckily Paige can hold her own in the bath these days so that I can give both kids a bath at the same time. I can't wait for the day when they can both go in the tub at the same time for a splashing good time. Paige likes to practice her 'C's in the tub and Bryce likes to scream most of the time.

Friends

We can often been seen around the neighborhood with all our toys and friends. I fear those days are coming to an end due to the substantial drop in temperature this past weekend. That's Bryce in the background out for his first walk:)

He's here!!

Bryce Morrell Crandell

Born: October 2, 2009

Weight: 7 lbs 12 oz

Length: 20 inches

Despite telling myself (and everyone else) that I didn't want to be induced this time, we did it anyway. We got Casey's schedule for October and he had quite a few days off in a row so we thought that this might be the best thing to do for timing. We were hoping to go in on Friday, Oct 2, but after talking to the Doc office, I didn't think that it was going to be possible. Then I got a call on Thursday afternoon that I would need to be at the hospital at 3am Friday morning...yes, 3am. So approx. 14 hours later, I was on my way to the hospital. They started pitocin at 4am, broke my water at 8am, epidural at noon, and birth at 3:15pm. Not bad at all. Here he is - sleeping like a baby:)

Here is Paige visiting at the hospital. I clearly had to hold her back so she didn't maul the poor kid. She loves her little brother - who is either called Bryce, Byce and sometimes Rice.

Here are some "family shots" at the hospital. Paige had a major meltdown - unrelated to the day's events - before we could get a pick with all four of us.

Becky (Casey's sis) lives an hour away and was kind enough to come stay with Paige while we were at the hospital and hung around after we got home to cook and clean for us. She was a MAJOR help. Here is a pic of the cousins. Paige looks like a giant next to them. Bryce wears a hat to cover up his bald head, but Callie insists on wearing her wig every day. Thanks for coming Becky. You are a life saver.

This delivery was WAY better than the last one. It was faster, no complications with the epidural, no spinal headache, 15 min of pushing instead of 4 hours, and my recovery is already 10 times better than last time, and it's only been four days. We took Bryce in to the doc today and he is doing well. We getting used to what he likes. I think our first night at home was better than last night, so we will see how tonight goes. Paige is adjusting well - the first day was a mess, but I think that was increased by her lack of sleep. Our biggest problem is that she likes to jump and doesn't understand that she can't jump around Bryce. And she likes to share and give him his binky- which consists of shoving it in his face - poor kid. We'll get it figured out one of these days. More pics to come.

Oh Baby!!

I guess it is time for my monthly update. We are patiently and sometimes not-so-patiently waiting for baby boy crandell to join the world. I am HUGE and those of you that have weak stomachs should not look at the following posts for fear that the pics will frighten you. My due date is 12 days away and my doc claims that the baby could come any day. I am dilated 2cm and 50% effaced, which I think means nothing, but we’ll see. Instead of spending time resting and keeping my house clean, I have been doing all sorts of unimportant things to keep me busy. I finished the baby bedding (it still needs some finishing touches) and I’ll finish the room later. I’m making Paige a new quilt too, but I got sick of sewing so I’ll do that later. I decorated my bathroom, and most recently I painted my basement.

Paige is suddenly on a mommy kick. She thinks that I need to do everything for her and needs me to be around all the time. This could pose a bit of a problem when I go to the hospital. She thinks that her baby brother is her baby doll- which is actually kind of creepy looking. Little does she know, her real baby bro will be joining us shortly.

Casey is doing well. He works a lot, which we clearly expected. He’s been working nights this last week so that is a little more complicated. When he sleeps during the day, Paige sneaks into the bedroom, says hello and then runs out saying, shhh, daddy sleeping. It’s pretty funny.

Until next time...

Meijer Gardens

Becky and Steven came out for the weekend. They were nice enough to make me dinner last night, which was delicious. Today we went to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park to “discover the beauty and splendor of our spectacular botanic garden and world–class sculpture park.” I have been there once before to the kids area, but haven’t seen the rest of the park. We are horrible, non-artsy people who made fun of half the sculptures and made up names for them before we got close enough to find out what they were really called.

This is our glimpse of AZ. Casey loves cactus!!
Paige liked the spider - I think mostly because of the Itsy Bitsy Spider.This one is Mad Mommy so me and becky joined in.

The giant horse.

Our little (tom)boy

While we have yet to welcome our baby boy into our home, we have found a new love for trains and dinosaurs. Paige has a couple friends that have shown her their trains, and we found a couple dinosaur books at a garage sale a few weeks ago. Not only this – she has shown her love for cars. You can see her below taking after her grandpa's car skills while ‘fixing’ her Little Mermaid Car. She loves this thing. She got it for her 1st birthday and still plays with it all the time. It is now what we take on walks – who needs a stroller when you can push a car around the block. As I was loading this pic, I realized it was taken a couple minutes after her and the car fell down the stairs. I have no idea what she was doing - I just caught a glimpse of her falling down the last four steps and face planting it on the tile. I thought I was going to find a bloody mess, but she was ok. And if you put new batteries in the car, it cures all problems. Here is more of her adventurous side. She jumps off everything she can climb on. I know one day I will find her jumping off the kitchen counters.

She has no fear and is a pretty tough little girl. She takes some pretty intense falls and gets up like nothing is wrong, which is great except when she has blood running down her leg. How am I supposed to know that she is hurt if she doesn’t get upset.