Elizabeth's Home!

We brought Miss E home Monday.   Lane got to miss the first hour or two of school to help us bring her home.  He helped get her buckled into her car seat.

 She was all set and ready to go.

The woman who wheeled me out came in with an extra wide wheelchair.  Lane and Marlee thought it was for them!  I convinced them that Elizabeth and I needed to ride with them so we all four squeezed in.

 We had fun waving goodbye to all the nurses who had helped us.

 Finally home!  We took a picture where we had just stood a couple days earlier with just 4 of us.

 As soon as we walked in the door Lane and Marlee wanted Elizabeth to try out her bassinet.  I had Lane's blue and Marlee's pink things ready before we left for the hospital.  I think Lane and Marlee helped get her bassinet ready so they were excited for Elizabeth to see it.

 We took a quick picture of Lane and Marlee with their new sister.   Aunt Sarah got Lane and Marlee red outfits to coordinate with Elizabeth.  Marlee loved her dress and Lane wants to wear his new red shirt almost every day!

After all the excitement Elizabeth was worn out.  I got her changed into her little gown and she settled in for her first nap at home.

Elizabeth's 2nd Day

 Miss Elizabeth had a great second day of life.  She got to have lots of snuggle time with her family who already loves her very much.

Nina and Popeye came up to the hospital to meet Elizabeth

 And Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tyler came up one more time before they had to go home.

 Lane dressed up to come see his baby sister.  He left the sweatshirt he had been wearing on and added a tie and his blazer.  He is dressing the part of big brother already!

 Marlee wanted to give her baby sister lots of kisses.

 And I soaked up every second I had with her.  

Elizabeth Marie

Saturday, Dec. 1st started like most mornings.  I woke up WAY before everyone else and laid in bed trying to tell myself to go back to sleep.  After I had been awake for a while I began to notice I was having contractions.  I downloaded a contraction tracker app for my phone and started keeping track.  I was having contractions pretty regularly, but probably every 10 min or so.  So, I quit tracking and decided I probably wasn't in labor. 

Everyone finally woke up and Clint ran Lane to the Doctor for a flu shot - he was the last Musslewhite to get his in preparation for the baby.  When the boys got home we all decided to have a work day at our house.  I painted in the dining room and family room while Clint worked on other things.  I was a little irritable, contractions we sporadic and at one point I think I may have snapped at Clint.  He was obviously irritated with me and I said give me a break I'm probably in labor.  He looked at me like I was crazy and we both went back to work like nothing happened.  Around 3 or 4 pm we stopped for lunch, we had eaten a late breakfast.  We ate and as I sat and ate my contractions became more consistent and regular.  My Dad said I had better get to the hospital, Marlee came really fast, but I wanted to take a shower to get the paint off my legs.  I could just see myself in labor with dark paint all over my legs.  My Mom said she would help me get the paint off my legs so I could get to the hospital asap.  I agreed, but worried that I would get to the hospital and they would send me home.  About 5 pm we stopped as we were leaving for the hospital for our last picture as a family of 4.

When we got to the hospital and in a room they examined me and said I was a 6 or 7!!!  I was so surprised, my contractions still weren't consistent and weren't nearly as painful as they were with Marlee.  Now that I think about it, it was probably because I was busy all day and didn't sit and think about how much pain I was in.  We were all smiles waiting to meet our new baby girl or boy!

 I had Miss Elizabeth Marie Musslewhite at 9:07 pm.  We were so surprised to meet our GIRL.  I was sure she was a boy.  We named our sweet girl after her Great Grandmother and Great Great Grandmother.  Two women who I hope she will emulate as she grows.  My Grandmother had the most wonderful, fun and happy personality - she was the life of the party and my Great Grandmother was such a hardworker who never stopped, she could do anything she set her mind to - seriously.

 Elizabeth weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces, the smallest of our babies. 

 She was absolutely perfect!  I think because we didn't know Elizabeth's sex I felt like I had to examine her more closely than I did Lane and Marlee when they were born.   She checked out perfectly!

 Clint is one proud Daddy.  He is officially outnumbered!! 

 Lane was hilarious!  He was so excited that the baby was "finally out".  He came in before we delivered Elizabeth and asked if the baby was crawling out.  I said yes, not knowing where he thought the baby was crawling from and he said it's crawling out of your mouth right?  "You're going to have to open your mouth really wide".  I just about died laughing.  It was so precious.  Clint got it all on video, I'll post it when he gets it transferred for me.

 And the great thing about living in Bartlesville?  Our family was all there to await Miss Elizabeth's arrival.  Aunt Sarah.

 Grampy

 Grammy

 Unc Tyler

 And Big Brother Lane and Big Sister Marlee, who love their new sister.

 Elizabeth went to have her bath and immediately got a pretty bow on her head. 

December 1st was a great day!  We are so blessed and every day it still seems surreal that I am a mother to 3 precious babies.

Brotherly & Sisterly Love

 I found these cuties sharing their little rocker. 

A rare occasion and too cute to miss.

Halloween 2012

We got to go to Lane's school today for his Halloween assembly at school and I got to stay for his classroom party.  Marlee loves to go to school to see Lane.  We dressed her up in her costume so she could be like all the big kids.  I was across the gym from Grammy and Grampy and Marlee and my camera did not want to cooperate so this was the best picture I could get.

Lane's little table at school.  This is his assigned seat when they do table work.  The girl to the Lane's left, in the Tinkerbell costume is Avery.  She had the teacher write that she thinks Lane is cute on  writing assignment they did.  Shartak is across from him and to his right is Keera.

 Another table of kids.  I didn't take many pictures during the party.  Lane wanted me to stay close to him.

 After school and a quick nap we went out to trick-or-treat.  Clint found a mask to wear.  He was a little creepy.

 See what I mean?

As a part of Lane's assembly at school the kids did a flash mob dance to Thriller.  When I would be up volunteering at school I heard Thriller over and over and over.  The kids were all so cute.  You can kind of see Lane.  A bigger girl came up to help the little ones and she kept blocking my boy.  I was locked into my spot so I had to settle for little snippets of Lane.  He danced and tried to follow along the entire song, and they played the whole thing.

 

Construction Man Lane

With all of our work on our house Lane has become obsessed with tools and construction man gear.  We found this adorable set at Lowes and Grammy had to get it for Lane. 

Lane has used his tools to build his very on car.  Grampy helped him and he did great!

 Clint took him outside one night to do some "work" on a 2 X 4  and Lane was all over it!

 He gets very serious and uses a super cute big boy voice when he is "working".

 Possibly my favorite shot! 

 And Mr. Construction Man's loyal assistant.   Always by his side.

 All fogged up after working outside.

Lane's Cookout

Lane loves to have Hot Dog cookouts!  He's been talking about having hot dogs for dinner for a couple of weeks so Grammy helped him plan a real cookout at a State Park not too far from Bartlesville.  Lane invited Nina and Popeye for his special cookout.

As soon as we got there the guys got busy building the fire.

 Marlee tried out chairs to see which one she liked the best.

 We all roasted our hot dogs over the fire and chowed down.  Lane loved the rock table that he and Popeye used for their drinks.

Once Lane finished his hot dog he was ready to roast marshmallows.  Grampy and Popeye helped him load us his skewer with marshmallows. 

 He ate an entire plateful of marshmallows!

After our dinner and dessert the kids had a great time exploring.  We went on a little hike and then the kids looked for rocks.

Lane and Dad posed for a goofy picture.

 And Clint taught Lane to "spider swing".  Lane loved it!

 And Lane tired to teach Marlee hot to roll down a hill.

We all had a great time!