First Few Days as a Family of Four

We have been home for three days now, and things are going really well! If I am honest, I am worried that this is all a little too good to be true. It's like I am waiting on the chaos to begin at any moment...not a good mindset I know! My mom is here, so that has helped more than I can say. She does a ton around here which has made my life much easier. I am afraid I am going to have a rude awakening when she goes home.

As far as Cooper goes, this may be too much information for those of you who aren't mothers :), but he is an incredible nurser! What a blessing! Also, he is already starting to get his days and nights straightened out. The first night was not so good...he woke up to eat about 12:30 and was super gassy pretty much the entire rest of the night. I think it was some medicine I took that upset his stomach. Last night he woke up to eat at 12:30 and was wide awake for a few hours...ugh...but at least he was content. He was just looking around and checking out the world around him. Today I have been keeping him up for a little while after each feeding hoping that he will be worn out tonight and go right back to sleep. 

Carter is just as happy as ever. He hasn't really given Cooper's presence much thought and doesn't seem affected at all. I don't want to speak too soon, but it seems the adjustment on his part is going well. This may all change a few weeks from now, but so far so good. I was a little worried about him feeling left out or neglected, but that hasn't been the case thankfully.

Okay, sorry for the mommy rant! God has blessed us so much with a great first few days at home. I am soooo thankful!

Big Brother, Little Brother

Carter 1 day old

Cooper 1 day old

Look what the stork brought!

We proudly announce the arrival of our son!

Cooper Arrington Bell was born  on March 28th at 12:44am. He weighs 9lbs. 5oz. and is 21 1/2 inches long.

He is beautiful, and we are so in love with him. Praise the Lord for this wonderful blessing!

Our one attempt at a family photo. Ha! Guess we will try again tomorrow :)

Thank you all for your prayers for our family. God has been so good to us!

Easter Fun

We had a family outing to the Germantown Easter Eggstravaganza this morning, and we had a blast. It was total chaos with hundreds of kids, the Easter Bunny, a petting zoo, a fire truck, a moon bounce thingy, and an obstacle course. Carter cared nothing for hunting the eggs, so we mostly hung out at the petting zoo. He really enjoyed the chaos of all the people more than anything. So much for that cute Easter basket I bought him...he wouldn't even carry it around so I could get a picture! Oh well.

It was so strange to think that this morning was our last outing as a family of three. Cooper will be here in three days or less! It is going to be so different being a family of four. I guess Joel and I will have a baby for each of us when we are out and about :) We can't wait!

Here are a few fun pictures from the Eggstravaganza:

Carter LOVES firetrucks, airplanes, and trains right now, so this was a real treat.

Carter is hilarious making the pig sound. Next time you see him, ask him what the pig says.

Me: Carter, what does the bunny do?

Carter: Hop!

He wanted IN the cage with these guys...not a good idea!

He can't decide if this rabbit is safe or not.

He's getting a little nervous...

Officially freaking out! This rabbit is NOT safe!

My one attempt at a picture of him holding his Easter basket...not a very good shot...he wouldn't even look at the camera. Oh well :) There's always next year.

Playing Pics

Carter gets REALLY excited when he gets in his tree house.

Debating whether or not he's brave enough to go down the slide without my help.

His new favorite activity...swinging.

Showing me his belly button :)

Can't quite figure out if this is edible or not.

Brand New Backyard!

For those of you who have ever come over to our house and seen our backyard or attempted to play in our backyard, you will very much appreciate this post! For those of you who never experienced the "jungle" that WAS our backyard, I apologize for not getting before and after pictures for comparison.

So how did our backyard get de-jungled? PAWPAW!!! Yay for such a wonderful Pawpaw! My sweet dad worked for almost 8 hours nonstop yesterday and about 5 hours today pressure washing, weed eating, mowing, raking, cutting down trees, dragging limbs to the curb, and planting grass seed. So needless to say, it is going to look even better in about a month when all the grass fills in. And after all that hard work, he spent almost an hour swinging Carter even though he was exhausted. What a great and selfless man!

We are so excited about all the space we have for playing now. Carter and Cooper are going to have a blast back there. Thanks, Pawpaw! We love you, and we owe you big time! How about a grilled steak dinner on our nice freshly cleaned patio?

Friends

Today was my favorite play date ever....well I guess it wasn't actually a play date since we didn't let out kids out of the strollers to "play", so I guess I should say it was my favorite outing in a long time. Nancy and I went walking at Shelby Farms (I am hoping it puts me into labor tonight...we walked over an hour!), and it was just the most gorgeous day. The sun was shining, it was about 70 degrees, and our toddlers were perfectly content for over an hour....giving Nancy and me time to actually have great adult conversation! What a treat!

I have Nancy to thank for these great pictures. She was a very prepared mommy with her camera ready. I need to take note and carry my camera with me more often to capture moments such as these. 

Carter and Emily are just the perfect pair aren't they? I know I am a little biased since Carter is my own and I have loved Emily since the day she was born, but I think with their big blue eyes and their blonde hair, they are just the two prettiest babies ever :) They had so much fun "talking" back and forth, trying to share snacks across strollers, teasing each other, and holding hands. Priceless moments! If only we could get inside their heads for a few minutes to understand those great facial expressions :)

Thanks Nancy and Emily for such a fun morning! Don't leave us, please!!! We love you :)

Waiting on Cooper

Not too much has been going on around here at the Bell house. We are just enjoying the beautiful spring weather and waiting on our little Cooper to arrive. He could be here any day now! I am actually scheduled for an induction on March 30th if he isn't here by then....that's only 10 days away!!! It's hard to believe we will be a family of four...where has the time gone? I feel like I just got married!

I have to say that I feel like I am in a wonderful place in my life right now. I am loving staying at home with Carter; I am about to meet my second child; I have the most wonderful husband I could of ever dreamed of having; I am experiencing God's grace in new ways everyday; and the list goes on. This is not to say that I don't have my down times, but overall, I am so happy and feel so wonderfully blessed. I am in such a fun stage of life, and I am trying to soak up every special moment and store it away for when I am old and grey :)

Carter has started becoming more verbal lately. It has been fun watching him improve since his surgery. Here are some of his words:
Uh OOOOOOOOh
Wow
RaRa (Rebel)
Dissie (Dixie)- our cats
Ow-sy (outside)
Shish (fish)
Guck (duck)
Nana (banana)
Shoos (shoes)

Some pictures from the past couple of weeks:

 I guess Carter is trying to see the world through rose colored glasses :)

Me and my Buddy

Hangin with DaDa and watching March Madness

Typical Carter..."BaBa" in hand

Carter admiring his reflection in the dishwasher....so handsome!

Baby Brunch

Yesterday, some good friends had a brunch in honor of me and another friend Jenny to celebrate the soon arrival of our second babies. We are both having another boy! So fun :) 

The brunch was so nice and very special. As you can see from the pictures, they went all out...china, silver, great food, etc... I received the most precious gifts for little Cooper and some practical gifts as well...diapers and wipes...yay! That's just less money I will have to spend at diapers.com :)

Thanks Nancy, Michelle, Kim, Katie, and Stacey for such a special day! 

Less than a month until Cooper is here!!!

We Survived!

Isn't this just the saddest picture?! A baby in a hospital gown just isn't right :(

Although the surgery was over at this point, you can tell that Carter and I aren't the happiest campers in this picture. We were ready to go home!

The good news is the surgery went really well. Praise the Lord! There were no complications at all. Carter went right back with the nurse without a single tear. They drained his ears, put tubes in, and removed his "impressive" adenoids. The doctor used the word "impressive" because they were so big.

The only bad part of the entire morning was waking up from the anesthesia. They told us that he would be inconsolable for 5-10 minutes....well, they were wrong. He was inconsolable for an hour. I felt so sorry for him! He was just confused and felt funny and couldn't calm down. The nurse finally gave him some pain medication that helped him relax. Soon after he calmed down, we came home, he went right to sleep, and we are now waiting on him to wake up and hopefully eat a big meal and drink lots of fluids.

Thanks so much for your prayers. God is so good!!! We are so grateful for a successful surgery!