Levi's Place of the Day

Levi has discovered the joys of his car seat. He took 3 naps in it today. I was leaving it in the van, but grabbed it after I dropped Addi off at preschool. He was asleep, 'cause he actually sleeps in the car, so I didn't take him out of it. Then whenever he got sleepy today, I put him back in it and, sure enough, he'd fall asleep. It probably won't work tomorrow. I think I'm gonna move it to our room and try sticking him in it tonight.

But, now he's awake and fussing in his car seat. It must be time to eat again. In case you're wondering, that's the main reason there hasn't been much activity on the blog lately - all I do is feed him! Better go.

like father, like son

Some men experience "sympathy pains" while their wives are pregnant. Bryan must be experiencing "sympathy exhaustion" now that the baby's here.



This is how Bryan and Levi spent most of the evening. I fed Levi every 2 hours while Bryan snoozed and then Levi was returned back to his Daddy's arms to sleep until it was time to eat again.

I don't know about you, but it makes me tired just looking at them. Oh, wait, I'm tired because I'm waking up every few hours. All night long!

Honestly, I wouldn't trade places with Bryan for anything. I'm perfectly happy being the one who's exhausted because I get to spend precious moments in the quiet of the night with my little man.

But, I'll also be perfectly happy when he's sleeping through the night!

pictures, pictures, pictures

Levi is 10 days old today. It is almost unbelievable to me. He is precious and sweet and perfect! I am already starting to dread the end of the newborn stage as I see him becoming more and more alert each day. While I'll enjoy getting him on a semblance of a schedule, I will miss the snuggly little newborn I have now.

Today was my first day without any help. My grandmother came to stay on Sunday and left yesterday. It was so nice to have an extra set of hands, eyes and ears! I think I did pretty well on my own - we all got fed, dressed, and teeth and hair brushed by the time we had to leave to get Addi to preschool. I even got a shower taken! After Libby's meltdown in the hallway outside Addi's classroom, she was very sweet and obedient. We had a "picnic" lunch in the living room, which is something we started doing on Addi's preschool days. I think she enjoyed sharing my attention with only one sibling again! Then we even made it back to preschool on time to pick Addi up. It was a little crazy once we made it home - Levi was starving, Libby was exhausted, and Addi was excited, so she wanted to tell me all about her day right then! Now, Libby is finishing up her nap, Addi is watching "Booberang" (as she pronounces Boomerang), and I have about 15 minutes until Levi will need to eat again. My parents are coming over tonight and bringing yummy food with homemade desserts to celebrate my birthday. All in all, a very good day!

I almost forgot the best part though. It's Friday, which means Bryan will be home with us over the weekend. I'll have some wonderful help and get to spend time with one of my most favorite people.

And now for what y'all are even checking my blog for these days - the pictures...

Finally! A few pictures of our little man!

Here's Levi in the cradle my grandmother had made for me. One of his sisters covered him up, something they think they always need to do.

This was taken the day we left the hospital. He's soundly sleeping in his daddy's arms.


We only have a few with his eyes open. They are dark blue. This picture was right before we put him in his car seat for the ride home from the hospital.

I'll try and post some more tomorrow. I tried uploading a few more today, but had some problems, so I'll just not push my luck and try again tomorrow.

Is anyone else having this trouble?

I promise, I have tried to post pictures of our new little man since Friday. What is going on? I really have some cute ones of him (or, at least I think they're cute!), but I can't get Blogger to post any pictures. I'll keep trying.

For now, I'll just say that everything is going well. Libby is having some adjustment issues, but she loves her little brother. Addi adores Levi and is such a help. My grandmother is staying with us this week, so that's a big help also.

I'll try again later.

The Super-Big, Really-Great, Baby P Announcement

First off, let me apologize for not posting sooner. I really wanted to yesterday. I tried to, more than once, but couldn't get my computer to connect to the hospital's wireless. (I'll blame that on getting barely more than an hours sleep the night before - a long story for another post!)

So, without further ado...

We are now a family of 5. 3 girls and 2 boys!

Levi David was born yesterday, March 4, 2008 at 11:17 in the morning. He weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.

I had a quick labor, being induced at 8 that morning, which was a blessing. I'm feeling very good and will be ready to get home tomorrow. Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement.

Levi seems to be a content baby. We've only heard him cry a handful of times. He's nursing well and sleeping well.

Bryan and I are thrilled to get to know our son and excited about all the changes a little boy will make in our family. The girls are ecstatic about having a brother. As Addi said yesterday, "Now I have one of each!"

Some pictures for now and I'll add more later tomorrow or Friday.

Keeping Track

So, Congratulations to those of you who guessed Baby P would be a boy! The only other correct guess we had came from Poppa. He was exact with how long he thought Baby P/Levi would be.

Do you remember this post?

Well, some of you aren't fairing too well with your guesses, but some of you are still in the game. Here's the recap:

Karla - boy
Carrie - girl
Tracy - girl
Grammy - boy, 2/29, 2:10 pm, 7 lbs, 7 oz, 20 3/4"
Elysa - boy
Jess - girl
Cara - girl
Ashley - girl
Shana - girl, 2/29
Poppa - angel (well, of course), 2/25, 10 am, 7 lbs, 5 oz, 20"
Nana - boy, 2/24 or 2/25
Holly - boy, 2/17, 7 lbs, 6 oz
Aunt Lisa - boy, 2/20, 6:30 pm, 7 lbs, 11 oz
Bryan - girl, and while not in his comment, he keeps saying I'm going into labor tonight and having Baby P tomorrow, 2/29 girl, 2/20
Diane - boy
Kim - boy
Jeanine - boy
Angie - boy, 8 lbs
CJ - boy, 2/17, 9:01 pm
Unc Brett - boy
Ma - boy, 3/7, 7 lbs, 13 oz, 21"
Me - girl, 2/29, 2:43 pm, 7 lbs, 13 oz, 20 1/2" (just wait, mine will be the furthest off!)

Quite a lot of us are off on the date, if I don't start some contractions up pretty soon!

*I wish I knew how to keep this post at the top until Baby P's born, but I'm not that technical. And, I don't feel like spending any more time on the computer right now to Google it. Maybe one of you Techies (as in technical people, not red raider people who the Aggies just happen to BTHO last night (did you catch that game, Rhett?!)) can fill me in. I guess if Rhett knows, he won't tell me now! I'm just kidding you, Rhett!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

Really.

It is snowing and sleeting.

Right now.

In March.

In Texas.

The night before my baby's Birth Day.

Might make for a fun trip to the hospital tomorrow morning at 5:30, especially since I love weather like this and driving/riding in it makes me want to hide my face and cry. The silver lining is Baby P will actually get to wear the sweater and matching hat home that I've packed. Well, that is if the cool temps can hang on for the next couple days. What is more likely to happen is we'll be sweating on our way home from the 85 degree weather. It was just Saturday that I was sweating while we were at the park with the girls. But, it will make for a more memorable Birth Day for Campbell/Levi.

Look for news on our new little one tomorrow!

Looks like March 4th is the day

Not much is going on around here. It's been a quiet day. My children are with their Nana and Poppa, so Bryan and I have done fun things like lay around and watch movies while enjoying our Long John Silvers and Blue Bell ice cream. The labor thing, it's just not happening. And believe me, no one is more disappointed than I (or is it "me"? Whichever.)

I'm scheduled for an induction on Tuesday morning, which I'm fairly conflicted about, so I'd appreciate prayers. I had a great experience when I was induced with Libby, but I know many, many people who haven't. My doctor has told me she'll break my water first and only start me on pitocin if my body doesn't respond. I was so looking forward to a labor free of iv needles and those horrible baby monitoring straps! Those straps are the worst! Well, there are worse things, of course, but I really, really dislike those straps.

I may or may not post anything tomorrow. It's sure to be the most quiet day of the last 5 years for me. Such a contrast to the next day filled with a new baby cry and big sisters telling me all about their stay with Nana and Poppa and all the grandparents, aunts, and uncles making predictions about who the baby looks more like. I can't wait!

I don't have any hospital baby pictures of Addi on the computer, but here are a couple of her at probably, I don't know, 2 months old. I know she wasn't any older than 3 months because Bryan hadn't deployed yet.

And this one is Libby, minutes after her birth.

The 3 Parker girls about to be wheeled to the post-partum room.

Just Wait

In the car on the way to pick Addi up at preschool, Libby kept asking me to name pictures in a book. She would hold the book so I couldn't glance back and see it, so I had to ask her to hold it so I could see it over and over again. When she, apparently, had enough of that request she said, in all seriousness,

"Stop talking! You're frustrating me! I'm frustrated! It's frustrating when you talk!"

Oh, sweet girl, if you're frustrated with me, at the age of 2, just you wait!

Dancing to release all those built-up frustrations