Ellie's Newborn Photos

I just got Ellie's newborn photos today! 

So excited, I love them all :) These were taken when she was 6 days old. 

I wanted to use some props that had meaning to our family.

This is the little baby doll crib my sister and I played with when we were kids.

And this suitcase was my grandparents.

I'm surprised we even got a family picture. Scarlett was awful that day and didn't want to have anything to do with cooperating for a picture, but I'm so glad we got 1 that turned out good!  

Photos taken by Kristi James Photography. She did a great job!

http://www.kristijamesphotography.com/

Ellie's Birth Story

She's here!!! 

Ellie Austin was born on November 23rd.

She weighed in at 8lbs 1oz and was 19 inches long. 

I had been having contractions for a few days, but kept putting it off because I didn't want to make my husband come home from work or call the babysitter if it was just a false alarm, especially since it was the week of thanksgiving! Well, my husband surprisingly got Thanksgiving day off so we decided to get down all the Christmas decorations from the attic and put up the Christmas tree since we probably wouldn't have another chance. I jokingly told him that putting up the tree was going to put me into labor. We went to Cracker Barrel for thanksgiving dinner (fancy, I know) and I was having contractions through the night but didn't really think much of it. We enjoyed our night together and Stuart went back to work the next morning. I woke up still having contractions and they seemed to be more consistent and sometimes painful, so after hesitating to go to the hospital I finally decided maybe I should go get checked to make sure. We got to the hospital around 9:30 and sure enough I was already 6cm! We were shocked! I guess laboring at home for a few days was worth it ;) I debated if I should get an epidural or not. I wasn't in much pain and I really wanted to do it without one since I knew I could (if anyone remembers my crazy birth story with Scarlett) but I decided for my husband's sake I would get one this time to make the experience more enjoyable for all of us :) I got the epidural at 12:10 and at 1:00 I was 8cm. They hadn't given me anything to speed up my labor since I tested positive for gbs and needed 2 doses of antibiotics before she was born. The IV of penicillin was awful!!!! It felt like my hand was burning! Definitely the worst part of the whole labor! After I received all the meds, they started my pitocin and broke my water at 3:00. Not long after that I started feeling some pressure and after only about 5 pushes little miss Ellie Austin was born at 4:02 pm! No matter how many babies you have, it's always such a surreal experience! And for those of you curious, Austin is my husband's middle name. Since we never had a boy, we decided it was the perfect middle name for her :)

We're so happy she's finally here and in our arms now!
In love with our little family of 5!

Big Sister Bags

A couple of months ago I decided to make the girls big sister bags for when they come to the hospital. I know they'll be excited to see the baby, but will get bored very quickly! So I thought it would be fun to get them some goodies and make them feel special!

I bought some plain canvas bags from walmart and painted big sister on the front. Then I used some fabric I already had to sew some ruffles & make flowers. I think they turned out pretty cute :)

Here's what I put inside:
-Stickers
-Paper & Crayons
-Playdoh balloons
-Bag of snacks & a drink
-Legos (Scarlett)
-Magnetic Silly Faces (Bryn)

They're all packed up and ready to go! Just waiting for a baby...

Catch Up...

I've sat down about 5 times to write a few recent posts, but haven't managed to get anything out. My brain is lazy. So here's a catch up from the past couple weeks...

The girls were cheerleaders for Halloween.
They have Texas blood :)

We went trick or treating with some friends b/c Stuart had to work, but he managed to make it in time just as we were leaving! :)

Bryn had her last soccer game.

Don't let this picture fool you, I think that's the only time she ever ran to the ball ha. 

Let's just say soccer probably isn't the sport for her. She's too girly ;)

She did like being the goalie though!

And was just excited to get a trophy at the end :)

I'm now 37 weeks pregnant! (Full term)

At my checkup last week I was 2-3 cm & 80% effaced! 

Which means she could be here soon. We're just waiting....patiently hah.

Trying to get everything crossed off my pre-baby to do list. 

I managed to prepare 10 freezer meals last week! 

Last week the USO put on a free Sesame Street show for us on base. 

The girls had fun!

The Marine Corps birthday was on Saturday. I told my husband that I refused to go this year being 3 weeks away from my due date, so he invited his dad to go with him. 

And I'll leave you with some random pictures, b/c this whole post is random & I'm lazy haha.

Maybe my next post will include a birth story & pictures of a baby girl??? 

Wishful thinking :)