Easter Sunday

We started off our Easter Sunday by attending the early service at Christ Chapel.  It was Alyssa's first time to go to church so we were a little worried of her crying.  She was asleep most of the time but started to wake up towards the end so daddy and Alyssa headed to the foyer for the remainder of the service.  After church, we of course had to head to Ol South Pancake House.  Later that afternoon, we headed to Kristin's family so Alyssa could spend some time with grandma and grandpa and of course watch us grown-ups and Reed color some Easter eggs.  Before leaving, Alyssa wanted to get a picture with her cousin Reed.  We had a great Easter with our little one and it is hard to think of her getting bigger and hunting Easter eggs here in a couple years.

Alyssa's First Time at Church

Showing off her Easter Dress

The Stanley and Willingham Family

Coloring Easter Eggs

Alyssa w/ cousin Reed

Meeting More Great Grandparents!

Alyssa got to meet another one of her great grandparents over this past weekend.  Grandma Pat was in from Florida and spent 4 days with us.  Alyssa enjoyed meeting her great grandmother and hoped she did not keep her up too much at night since she still prefers to sleep during the day.  We greatly enjoyed the time we got to spend together and appreciate her travelling the long distance to meet Alyssa.

Taking a nap in great grandma Pat's arms

Hanging out in the nursery

Easter Bunny

Amy decided it would be a good idea for the little ones to get their pictures with the Easter Bunny.  As you can see in the picture, we did not trust the Easter Bunny to hold our little Alyssa so we decided we both would be joining Alyssa in meeting the Easter Bunny.  Alyssa was so excited she decided to sleep through it.    



Kristin's 30th Birthday!!

Kristin has officially joined the 30 year old club on April 6th.  To celebrate the big occassion we ended up at Babe's Fried Chicken with Kristin's family this past weekend.  It was great as always! Alyssa loved the atmosphere so much she slept through the entire meal and let mommy and daddy enjoy their dinner which was of course low in fat.  The celebration was topped off with some birthday cake and some great ice cream dessert that Kristin's mom made.  Alyssa partied a little to hard and had to take an early nap so daddy ate her share of the dessert as well.

  

Meeting the Great Grandparents

Kristin's grandparents and Aunt Jackie came in town this past weekend to see Alyssa.  Alyssa enjoyed meeting her great grandparents from Kansas and enjoyed the new arms to rock her to sleep.  We had a great time with Kristin's family while they were in town and had plenty of great food!  We look forward to seeing them again in August when we will be heading to Destin to take Alyssa on her first beach vacation.  

Pediatrician Appointment - 3 Weeks

Today, Alyssa had her 3 week pediatrician appointment.  She is growing like a weed!!  In the last 2 weeks, she has grown 1 3/4 inches and gained a little over a pound.  She is currently at 7lbs 6.5ozs which was a good sign to see that she was up from the 6lbs 4ozs weight we left the hospital at.  Mommy can rest assure that her little baby is eating plenty!  After an exciting morning at the pediatrician, Alyssa then had to head to Baylor Hospital for her second newborn screening.  She was a little trooper just making a pouty face when she got her foot pricked for the blood sample.  Kristin and I thought for sure she woud cry a little.  The next pediatrician appointment is at 2 months old but I'm sure Kristin and her mom will be frequenting the office to see how much Alyssa has grown between the appointments.  Alyssa is doing great and is still as cute as ever!

     

Home Again

After 4 long days at the hospital, Kristin was feeling better and was released by the doctor to return home Sunday afternoon.  It was nice being back in the comfort of our home where we hoped to get a little more rest without nurses coming in & out all night long.  Kristin has continued to feel well since being released from the hospital so we continue to keep our fingers crossed that the antibiotics cleared her of any infection.  In the meantime, Alyssa has kept up with her usual routine.  A little sleeping, of course during the day and not at night, and a whole lot of eating and dirtying of diapers.  Luckily, Kristin's mom has been around to help us over the last couple of days as I returned to work and was unable to help Kristin as she needed to continue to try and rest.

Lounging in the bouncer

Resting on grandpa

Cuddling with dad

Back to the Hospital

After only being home from the hospital for 5 days with our little baby girl, we unfortunately had to return.  Late Wednesday evening, Kristin had an extremely high fever of 105 degrees combined with abdominal and back pain.  We decided to head to the ER in which we were up all evening hoping to find out what was going on.  The conclusion was that Kristin had developed an infection from the delivery and that she would need to stay in the hospital 4 to 5 days while they treated the infection with various antibiotics.  We were upset to hear that we were going to be in the hospital that long after just returning home but getting Kristin back to feeling better was definitely a priority.

While at the hospital, Alyssa discovered a couple new things.  She decided she would start sucking her thumb and with everything going on we decided to let her have her pacifier to calm her down between feedings.  After such a long day, Alyssa decided it was time to take a nap in uncle Aaron's arms.  We wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers as Kristin recovers and greatly appreciate all the support from our family and friends that brought us all the great food.  We may not have made it if we had to survive on the hospital food.

We hope to post more pictures from HOME in a couple days!!

Yum! Yum! Turkey 'O Toole from Bennigans

Thumb Sucker

Meeting daddy and mommy's new friend "the pacifier"

Sleeping on uncle Aaron

Going Home!!

After 3 days at the hospital, we were finally able to take our little Alyssa home.  We were released from Baylor Hospital last night around 8pm and could not wait to get back to the comfort of our home. Below are some pictures of us leaving the hospital and Alyssa in her car seat for her first car ride home.  Alyssa was not a fan of the car seat at all but once we get about half way home she calmed down and fell asleep.  It was a long night last night since like most babies Alyssa loves to sleep during the day but come night time she is wide awake!  We enjoyed our first full day with Alyssa at home today showing her the nursery where she will get to sleep in a couple of months.  Right now she is sleeping in our room in the bassinet as we adjust.  It is already hard to believe she has been with us 4 days.  Time is flying by!  There will be lots of pictures of our angel to come.  We are definitely proud parents!!!   

Leaving Hospital

First Car Ride Home

Exhausted - Rough Day

Daddy & Alyssa

Mommy & Alyssa testing out the comfy glider

Alyssa checking out her crib

 

Alyssa's Arrival

Alyssa's official birthdate is March 8th, 2011.  Alyssa arrived this morning at 10:01am and weighed 6lbs 10ozs and measured 19 inches long.  It was a very long evening prior to Alyssa's birth which began with contractions at 5:30pm and us deciding to head to the hospital around 11:30pm.  We stayed up all night waiting for things to progress and received our bundle of joy 10 hours after we had been admitted.  All the waiting was definitely worth it and we are so excited to have our beautiful baby Alyssa.  We wanted to thank all of our family and friends for their thoughts and prayers as we welcomed Alyssa into our lives this morning.