Sip n' See Success

Buffet table

Delicious sweets tables

The fodd was unbelievable!

Juice and Mimosas!

Visiting with the ladies

Cam reading a book with Jude, they had a ball playing!

Little Preston was adorable!

Who could have taken a bite out of the desserts and put it back??

Our friends Blakely and Jude (and Jasper) happen to be in town from Alabama!

Cam playing with friends

Can I have another cupcake??

(I think its safe to say this was the dessert swiper and taster from the above picture!)

and just one more??

Adorable diaper cake Aunt Le Le made!

The Man of the hour Mr. Brooks!

Shrimp and Grits bar. My favorite!!

Tissue balls tracy made. So cool!

Last Saturday, the ladies in my family hosted a wonderful "sip n' see". I insisted that it was not a shower, but people still felt compelled to give us a ton of lovely gifts. We opened our home to a slew of ladies to come enjoy a wonderful brunch that the hostesses prepared and take a look at the baby. One of my coworkers jokingly nicknamed it the "lick and look!" Hilarious! But, it was nice to have many people over to our house who had never been and show them the nursery. We had a ball with all the kids who showed up, Cam was in heaven playing. He was hopped up on sugar since the cupcakes on the table were in his reach and he had ample oppurtunity to swipe one when noone was looking. I think I counted 5-6 he devoured! Brooks did great but all the excitement and lack of nap left him a little fussy that night and I had to rock him and give him some gripe water to get him to finally go to sleep. He has started settling into a small routine he stays awake for most of the morning until after lunch (unless I go somewhere and he'll sleep longer from the car ride) and then a long nap in the afternoon. I usually am doing some sort of homework during this time. School has been killing me lately! I have had at least 2 papers a week it seems and then online postings and discussions. I cannot wait until May when I get a break!! But Brooks has a little bit of a fussy time at night usually around 7 or 8. He will just cry and cry and nothing seems to help. He'll usually fall asleep from exhaustion and then sleep for an hour or so and back up again, but not crying just hungry. I can't seem to get him on a great sleeping schedule at night. He doesn't like the bassinet that much and I prop him up on his boppy to sleep since he's got reflux and some sinus congestion. He doesn't sleep flat much. We've been dealing with the reflux for a few weeks now. He spits up constantly! I have never seen a baby throw up as much as he does. It isn't affecting his health, he's gaining weight like a champ. He weighed 10 lbs 4 oz at his one month checkup, but it isn't great for my laundry load! I think I get spit up on at least 4 times a day and he has to change a few times as well! Ugh!! I took his four week pictures like I did with Camden in my grandmother's rocker with the stuffed monkey (I can't see to find the giraffe that I used with Cam) but we also did some with an owl from Brooks' nursery. I included Cam's one month old picture so you can see how much they favor. I call him Cam all the time on accident, it feels like I had the same baby when I look at old pictures of Camden!

Brooks with his monkey

Four Weeks Old with Ollie the Owl

Camden as a four week old:)

 I had Cam sleeping at least 6 hours a night by this point, so I don't know what I did differently, but Brooks has only gone 5 hrs once. I guess since I gave Cam only bottles he probably ate more at a time than Brooks (and he kept it down!) I'm open for suggestions from any of my mom friends though! We're doing the stay awake for play time after eating deal but it doesn't seem to matter. I think it has to do with his sleeping arrangement, maybe I'll move him to the crib soon.

Our other development is Brooks is starting to smile (not jest when he's sleeping when he's awake)! He almost talks to me in the morning when we get up. He'll coo and grin at me like he's telling me what he wants to do for the day or about his dreams he had last night. It melts my heart, sweetest thing ever! Other than that we're just having fun watching our little ones grow. I finally ordered the birth announcements (a little late due to grad school) and they should go out next week, so watch your mailboxes! I'll post our professional photos once I mail out the announcements! They turned out beautifully.

Growing Bigger

We've been doing well the last couple weeks. This baby is pretty laid back and not very fussy. He is pretty content to swing in his swing or look around in his bouncy seat (something his older brother didn't enjoy at all!) He's nursing great making my life easier (especially at night).

Sink bath..not a fan:(

He does not like being cold, Cam is the hot natured one so this is a change for us! Pretty much the only time Brooks cries is when he is being undressed or having a diaper change. He's growing too. We had some issues with a plugged tear duct and have been to the doctor twice about it in the last 2 weeks. It's starting to resolve, after lots of tear duct massage, warm compresses and antibiotic ointment. But he now weighs 9 lbs 4 oz! I'm pretty happy about it! He's almost outgrown his newborn clothes and diapers. Everyone always says how little he is, but I feel like he's getting pretty big.

Sweet Brothers

Cam is settling into being a good big brother. He does have his jealous moments and has some acting out times which is in part to his age I think. Still doing great with the potty training. We have about one accident a week, mostly at home. The daycare is proud to say they have no accidents.

We've been blessed with lots of visitors and everyone has been so generous! Our sunday school class has signed up for 2-3 days a week bringing us dinner, which has been a Godsend! It really helps us out to not have to worry about cooking a dinner and having something prepared for us special. We have been sent lots of happies (money, personalized gifts, etc). Trey's sister's boyfriend, TJ's mom was so sweet to make Brooks a owl quilt which I'm in love with!

Mrs Milcic's owl quilt, so sweet! And the outfit is from the Richardsons, cute!

She also remembered Cam as a big brother and got him a Noah's Ark with all the animals which he plays with daily and has even tried to take to bed a couple of nights :) He lines up the animals in "trains", one of his favorite things to do.

Our Sunday School had four babies born within 2 months of each other. 2 boys and 2 girls. We all decided to meet up for lunch last week to have some adult convo before the first lady goes back to work. I have to say I know I have some work to do on my weight, but I'm at least 4 weeks behind everyone else and I think once I can start doing some walking it should come off better (I'm in a walking boot for the next 6 weeks!) but I included the pictures anyway.

Other than that we had our newborn photo shoot 2 weeks ago with Ramblin Rose Photography and they are precious! I will include some photos soon. Next weekend is our sip n' see for all the ladies in our lives to get a chance to come enjoy brunch at our home and get to meet Brooks! Trey's mom and sister along with my mom and sister are hosting and it is going to be great!

It's a BOY!! Brooks' Birthday

 Ryan Brooks Lunsford. 7 lbs 7oz, 21 1/4 inches long, beautiful:)

Well, we finally know the sex of baby #2! It's a BOY! I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of this little bundle of joy and scheduled for Tues (feb. 15th) for an induction, but this little guy decided to make an early appearance! I woke up early Saturday morning (feb 12th) around 1 am with cramps and what I thought was contractions. So, I got out my contraction timer application on my phone and began tracking them. They were coming every 8 to 10 minutes so I started getting my belongings together without waking Trey yet. I wanted to be sure I needed to go to the hospital before I totally woke up the whole house. I sat up and watched TV, my sister came over and we hung out. I started having more regular contractions around 3 am and they were coming at around five to seven minutes apart at this time. I went ahead and woke up Trey and he called his mom to watch Cam. We packed up the car and were on our way. Of course, my contractions began to slow down a bit but I figured I was past my due date and I might as well go in. The hospital triaged me and monitored me for what seemed like forever and then decided that I wasn't really progressing and I should be sent home!! I was devastated! I was hurting and tired and they wanted me to take an Ambien sleeping pill! I was horrified. I hate that drug and refused to take it. I don't even give it to my patients in the hospital, it makes people do crazy things. So I went home and was very emotional. I tried taking a hot bath, tylenol, ate breakfast drank a large glass of water whatever I could to maybe ease the pain, nothing helped. My mom came over and I decided I would go to the hospital again I was hurting really badly. When I got there, Trey and I sat in the parking lot for an hour or so to see if my contractions got closer together. We didn't want them to send us home again! Meanwhile, I fell asleep so Trey thought it best that we go back home. I ate lunch and felt better for an hour or two then the contractions became unbearable. I told Trey I didn't care what we had to do but I was not going to go through this labor all day without something for pain. We went back for the 3rd time at 5pm and I had progressed to 4 cm and my contractions were more regular and stronger. They decided to admit me this time! I was in my room and got my epidural( a Godsend!!) at around 7, they started the pitocin and by 8 I was already 9 cm and they were calling the doctor. By 9pm I was fully dilated and we were waiting on Dr. Lacy to arrive. Once it was time to push I only had to push 4 times and he was out! He was definitely ready to be born. It was miraculous! We were so happy and then my inlaws came in with Camden and he was pretty excited, somewhat confused but excited. He didn't understand the hospital bracelets and all the machines and wanted to know why he couldn't stay! We named the baby Brooks which turns out was my great great grandmother's maiden name :) We didn't know it was a family name until after we had already picked it out. I have been feeling remarkably well, with little pain and the baby is doing wonderful. He is nursing great and sleeping well. He's not fussy and doesn't have to be held constantly like Camden did. I have really been blessed with so many wonderful men in my life now I'm a little outnumbered in the house with all these boys! But we couldn't be happier. We are enjoying all the visitors and everyone has really been great to include Camden and not let him feel like it's all about the baby. He has gotten almost as many presents as he did at Christmas! Brooks is sleeping pretty well at night we had one fussy night the first night we were home but I think it had to do with all the chocolate I ate that day for Valentines! Other than that he will sleep about 3-4.5 hours at a time which I can handle just fine. He doesn't nurse too long so we only are up for about 30 mins each time, eating, burping, changing his diaper and back to bed!

I also included some pictures of a few weeks ago when it snowed once again and Camden's daycare was closed and Trey's work opened late so they enjoyed some fun in the snow! It was a blast for them. I will be posting more pictures from our newborn session with Ramblin Rose Photography and from the Sip n' See that Joan, Leigh Anne, Tracy and Mom are throwing us coming up in a few weeks. For now, thanks for your thoughts prayers, phone calls and emails we really appreciate them as well settle into a family of four!

 Love at first sight!

 Meeting mom

and CeCe

With Aunt Tracy (TT)

and Big Brother Cam!!

Hey JoJo!

Camden got baby Brooks a present!

With the rest of the Lunsford clan

Happy family of four!

So proud!

Some friends came to visit

So cool little snowboarder dude!

Look Mom :)

 Snow dog!