Baby #3/Baby Boy #1

At 41 weeks and two days, Victoria and I arrived at Community North Hospital in Indianapolis for her scheduled induction to bring baby boy Rust into the world. Originally scheduled to begin at 7:00pm last evening (Friday), the induction was delayed when the doctors realized this was baby number 3 and pre-induction steps wouldn't be necessary. (I'm still trying to figure out how this piece of information was overlooked until 3:45 on the day of the scheduled induction...)

Thanks to the change of schedule, we had more than enough family help on hand by last evening to watch the girls. Grandma and Grandpa Rust were the first to arrive, followed by Grammy Sally and Aunt Krista, Uncle Tim, and cousin Addison (Cousin Sydney had to stay behind with her other grandparents for a party). Elaina and I did a little fishing last evening with help from Grandma and Grandpa until Addison arrived (after that, Elaina was more interested in playing than fishing). I made our biggest catch yet (Elaina previously held the bass catch record for for 1 week--having made quite the catch on July 4). We kept the girls up way too late playing and having fun and then all settled in around 10:30pm.

After a night of contracting (and Elaina being ready to wake up and play with Addison at both 2:00am and 3:30am...), we got up, got packed, and were on the road by 6:15. After arrival and check in, the nurse prepped Victoria and began her pitocin at 8:15am. Shortly thereafter, the doctor came in and realized that Victoria was already dilated 5cm (was only 2cm at the in-office checkup on Monday this past week.

The nurse anesthetist gave Victoria her least itchy epidural yet at about 8:45 and then at 9:30 the doctor returned. She noted that Victoria had already dilated 2cm more (now at 7) and rushed off to perform a C-section, promising to return promptly and expecting Victoria would be ready to push at that time.

Looks like this might be a quicker induction-->delivery total time than with the girls (Elaina took 13.5 hours and Julia took 15 hours).

Fall in Indiana

We're finally starting to feel settled in Indiana. We've made several trips around the state to visit family and we've enjoyed our new ability to see everyone more often! 

A few pictures of the recent months:

Enjoying a beautiful blue (Carolina blue?) sky in Indiana!

Ms. Julia at 10 months in a dress her cousin Sydney wore at our wedding rehearsal dinner in 2005. 

Elaina being silly in Chicago. We drove up for a weekend to see Jordan and Carmen while they were in town.

 

Julia playing in the "cabinet of doom". A few nights after this photo was taken, Julia fell and hit her chin on the shelf at the rear of the cabinet. She knocked her bottom two teeth loose and removed a large portion of the gum in front of her lower left tooth. After a bloody trip to emergency care, we were told that she will probably lose her left tooth. I'm happy to report that one month later, she still has her teeth! We're hopeful they'll stay put at this point. It's important to note here that she is named Julia Jordan after her uncle Jordan. Baby Jordan at 18 months old successfully knocked out one of his front teeth while playing. This was NOT the legacy we had in mind when naming her. 

Ms. Julia at her first birthday party. She's 1. OMG!

What a cute party hat. Thanks, Grammy!

Elaina is enjoying more and more the ability to "play" with Julia as she is getting bigger.

And that brings us to the present! We recently decorated for Halloween. Elaina LOVES the decorations.

Julia had fun with the decorations too!

Remember this photo of Elaina from 2009? 

And little Jordan from 1991? THIS is the legacy we had in mind.

Last but not least, Elaina has been enjoying the fall leaves. Happy Fall!

9 months

In Julia's first 9 months, we packed up our home (and life) in NC, and headed back to Indiana. With all of the chaos of moving and getting settled, we were a little late in getting her 9 month photos taken. But here they are! She and Elaina did a great job.

 At 9 months, Julia has 4(!) teeth. She says Da-Da, Ma-Ma, hi, and bye-bye. She is an army-crawler and she pulls up on EVERYTHING. We have to watch her closely, or she will DIVE out of our arms to get something she sees on the floor. She's a busy girl!

Goodbyes…

Our last Durham Bulls game… bittersweet.

Memorial Day Fun

Elaina could NOT wait to get her pool out after her nap today. This is Julia's first experience in a pool- she loves it!

6 month photos

We had Julia's 6 month photos taken this morning. She and Elaina did a great job! Thanks to Grammy for making the reversible dresses that made for an easy wardrobe change! Thanks to Matt for remembering that the dresses were reversible.

Spring!

I can't believe it is already April. That means I have successfully neglected rounds of house cleaning, piles of laundry, "meal planning", and other domestic chores for the three months that I have been back at work. I would like to say that I "quickly" realized that staying on top of everything with a full time job and two kids was a joke, but I continue to believe it is possible to get "everything" done. HA.

Despite the disarray around here, we have had a little fun recently. Julia is 6 months old and full of personality.

She thinks Elaina is hilarious.

We took a trip to the North Carolina mountains with Matt's parents over their Spring Break. It was so QUIET up there!







Easter came along, and we spent time coloring Easter eggs, playing a round of mini golf (very traditional), and enjoying Easter goodies.







Yes, Christmas jammies even made an appearance at our Easter celebration.





Hope your Spring is full of fun too!