Amelia at Two Weeks

I haven't taken any pictures in a couple of days, and I realized I should take some of Amelia today since she is two weeks old. Here are some I took this evening when she was feeling sleepy.

What a sweet face.

She still has lots of dark hair. Everyone tells me they are surprised by this, but both of the boys had dark hair too.

Here is Amelia stretching. She didn't really want to wake up, but Mommy decided it was time for her to get up.

Here she is giving me a big yawn.

While changing her diaper I had to take a picture of her little toes. Aren't they tiny?

Amelia's First Bath

Friday evening we decided to give Amelia her first towel bath, since she lost her umbilical cord a few days earlier. She didn't mind having her clothes off, but getting wet was a whole other story.

Daddy did most of the work while I took pictures. Amelia was SO mad!

Afterward we got her all warmed up and snug. She liked that much better.

Here is Jacob holding her again.

We also let her wiggle on the floor a little bit, which she enjoyed.

Later on she got to snuggle with Daddy and our new iPad. Joe found a really good deal on a new iPad, so he bought us one. We have all been having fun with it ever since.

Here are some pictures of the boys playing with it the next morning. They thought it was so much fun.

 Ephraim is playing Angry Birds. He is not as good at it as Jacob is, but at least he has fun.

 We also enjoy playing a game called "Fruit Ninja". It is a ton of fun.

Sunday we all went to church together as a family. None of the little dresses that I have really fit Amelia, and I didn't want her to get cold. So we dressed her up in this little outfit. Isn't she cute?

The headband didn't last long because it kept falling down. I guess her head is a bit too little for it.

Amelia did pretty well at church. I mostly kept her in her car seat and of course didn't let anyone hold her. Then after sacrament meeting Amelia and I came home.

I think it's funny that you can't even see her little feet coming out the bottom of these pants! She is so tiny. What a cutie.

Our First Week with Amelia

While we were at the hospital, Grandma Heiner was kind enough to stay at our house with Jacob and Ephraim. They had a great time with Grandma and were excited to get to do fun things with her like go to the playplace at McDonald's and watch "Toon Maters" (as Ephraim calls it). By far their favorite thing to do was to play on Grandma's laptops. She brought one for both of the boys and they thought it was so much fun! Check out this picture Joe took on his phone.

Joe also surprised me and brought me home the most beautiful flowers! They are so bright and colorful in the kitchen and it makes me happy to see them there every day.

The first few days at home are always busy with trying to figure out what Amelia needs and how to make her happy. I have tried to remember to take a picture now and then to remember how little Amelia is and how she is growing. Here is a picture that I took on March 19, when she was 3 days old.

Here is a similar picture from the next day, except she is asleep in her crib instead of the cradle. This particular day was Sunday. Joe took the boys to church while the Devereaux girls spent some time together at home.

On Monday Joe had to go to his class at UVU. He had someone else lecturing, but he wanted to attend his class. So my wonderful, fabulous, and awesome friend Melinda came over in the evening to help me out. She took some pictures of the boys and I with Amelia. I am so glad she came so that we remembered to take these pictures, and the boys had fun with Melinda at our house.

Here is Jacob with Amelia. He just loves to hold her and talk to her.

Look at this face! Isn't she a cutie?

Here is a couple of pictures of Amelia with Mommy.

You can already tell that she is getting bigger, don't you think?

Here is another picture Melinda took for me while I was burping Amelia. We think her eyes will most likely be blue, but I guess time will tell.

Jacob and Ephraim have been doing pretty well with their new little sister. It is a little hard for them that Mommy is so busy with Amelia. So while Melinda was at our house I let her hold Amelia while I made Jacob a sword to match the shield he made at preschool. He has been asking me to do it for a while, but I never have had time. He was so happy I made this for him!

Now he can be Amelia's knight in shining armor!

Ephraim also wanted to hold Amelia and have his picture taken while Melinda was there. He tells us that he loves his baby sister. He is not as excited as Jacob to hold her, but otherwise he has been doing just fine with her.

Yesterday Amelia was one week old. My mom reminded me that I was planning on doing some size comparison pictures of her, just like I did with Ephraim. So I pulled out a pink bunny that I had in the closet and took some pictures. Here is Amelia at 7 days old.

This bunny is a bit bigger that Ephraim's bear, and a whole lot bigger than Amelia!

It will be fun to see the bunny get smaller as Amelia gets bigger.

Yesterday we also had a break in the yucky weather we have been having all week. So I let the boys go outside and blow some bubbles. They had a great time.

Yesterday on her one week birthday Amelia actually had a really cranky day. She was awake most of the day, just screaming. We could not figure out what was the matter. Then in the evening just as we were eating dinner she started to scream again. I opened her diaper to check it out and found that he umbilical cord had become caught on her clothes or diaper and had ripped off. Poor girl!

I called the pediatrician and they told me how to take care of it. Apparently it shouldn't bug her now as long as we keep it clean and dry. Her umbilical cord was actually kind of curved, so I think it has been poking her now and again. Maybe it's not so bad that it got pulled off!

The Randalls came over again while Daddy was at his class. Sara, Jason, and Melinda were all happy to hold little Amelia. I will have to get some of the pictures that they took because I am sure there were some good ones.

Then in the evening when Daddy came home I remembered to take a picture of Daddy with Amelia.

After the long day we had, we weren't sure what the night would hold. But luckily it went great! Amelia only woke up once at 3 a.m. Then she didn't wake up again until this morning at 8 a.m. Wow! Way to go Amelia! Mommy feels like a new woman now that she got so much sleep!

Here are a few last picture from this morning. Jacob and Amelia were having fun together. He got a kick out of the fact that she was holding his finger.

She even started to suck on it, which he thought was funny!

Today has been going much better than yesterday, and I am sure it will just keep getting better as we get into the swing of things.

Welcome Baby Amelia!

Our little daughter is finally here!
Here is the information that everyone is asking for.

Amelia Jane Devereaux

5 lbs 13 oz

17 inches

Born at 5:24 pm

Here is a picture of her with Mommy shortly after she was born.

Wednesday morning Joe and I were ready to go to the hospital. They told us we were third induction on call and that they would probably call us between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. So when 8:30 a.m. rolled around I finally called labor and delivery to see what was going on. The waiting was driving us crazy!

They finally got us in to the hospital at 10:15 a.m. Then we waited an hour for them to start the pitocin, which got my labor going. Early in the afternoon I got an epidural, but it was only working on the left side of my body. After working to adjust the dosage, they finally ended up removing the first one and giving me a second epidural later in the afternoon. After that labor and delivery went really well. I was good and numb, which was nice.

When Dr. Lamoreaux came to check on me after 5 p.m., he said I was complete and we could go ahead and deliver the baby. I only had to push three times and there was our little baby girl!

I was surprised that she was so tiny! I thought for sure she would be bigger than Ephraim was at 6 lbs 4 oz, but she is actually exactly the same size Jacob was. We got to spend some time with her after delivery, and then Joe got to go watch them get her all cleaned up.

I ate dinner while they got her ready and then we went down to our room. Jacob and Ephraim were excited to meet their new sister, so we had Grandma bring them over to the hospital. Jacob was SO excited. Check out the big grin on his face.

Ephraim was a bit more excited to see Mommy and Daddy than his sister. He climbed into bed with me and gave me a big hug. What a sweet boy. He also got to hold Amelia.

Here is our whole family.

When the nurses brought Amelia to us they told us they put a green bow in her hair so that no one would pinch her after midnight, since it was St. Patrick's Day. Isn't she beautiful?

We spent a relatively sleepless night at the hospital. I think I got 2 hours of sleep or so. Not because of Amelia, just because we were are at the hospital. They are constantly checking on you, and the beds are so uncomfortable. So we told the nurses we would like to leave after 24 hours if possible.

The next morning afternoon we had some more visitors. Melinda came to see us, as did my Dad and the boys again. Here are a bunch of boys and little Miss Amelia.

Jacob is so enamored with his little sister! He thinks she is just wonderful. He talks softly to her and wants to hold her. It is the cutest thing ever. Here is Amelia holding his finger.

While the boys were there it was time to feed Amelia. So we let Jacob help for a minute. They were both fascinated with her.

My doctor and the pediatrician both gave the o.k. for us to go home after 24 hours. They told us we would need to bring Amelia to the office in the morning since she was so tiny, but that was fine by us. I would rather be home and awake in my own house rather than at the hospital.

Here is Amelia in her car seat. Isn't she tiny?

The boys were very happy to have us home. Ephraim told me that he missed me SO much. He is having a bit of a hard time with the change, but I think he will do fine once we get into the swing of things.

Our first night home with Amelia was a bit of a tough one. She did sleep some part of the night, but she was unhappy and screaming for a large part of the night. We think we finally figured out that she was too warm. Hopefully tonight will be better. I just keep reminding myself that it will keep getting easier.

We spent a quiet day at home today after returning from the Doctor's office (they said Amelia looks great and has gained weight). I laid down for part of the morning and actually got a nap in this afternoon, which was wonderful. Jacob kept asking to hold Amelia, so twice today after I fed her I let him hold her. He LOVED it.

Finally, here is a picture I took of our little Amelia this afternoon. I think she is the most precious baby. I already love her so much. We are so excited to have her as part of our family.

Happy Birthday Ephraim!

Can you believe that my little Ephraim is three years old? How crazy is that?!

I think Ephraim had a pretty good birthday. Both of the boys were awake before 6:30 a.m., but it was hard to be grouchy about that when Ephraim comes in saying "Good Morning Mommy!". He is so stinking cute.

So we all got to eat breakfast with Daddy, which was nice. Since we had plenty of time in the morning to play around at our house, the boys decided they would like to take a bubble bath. This picture cracks me up. Ephraim must have been thinking, "Stop! Don't take a picture of me in my birthday suit!"

The boys wanted to play together in the water, so I put them both in the tub for a while. They had a great time and stayed in there until they were good and wrinkly.

Then after we got dressed, the boys helped me decorate Ephraim's birthday cake. I needed some cookie crumbs for the top of the cake, and the boys were more than happy to help me create some.

After all, what could be more fun than beating on a baggie of cookies with a meat mallet?! I got my cookie crumbs, and the boys had a great time.

Once we had frosted the cake and put the cookie crumbs on (picture to follow), we went to the Randall's house to play for a while. They have a new trampoline and the weather was gorgeous, so we went outside to jump.

Jacob and Ephraim had a great time jumping out in the sunshine. They love to spend time at Melinda's house and play with her girls.

It was nice to have something else fun to go do on Ephraim's birthday. I know he had a terrific time.

Ephraim was also excited because he got to open his first present of the day, which was a Zhu Zhu Pet from the Randalls. It is basically a toy hamster, which the boys thought was tons of fun. As usual I had to pry them away from Melinda's house so we could go home.

Speaking of which, check out what was in our flower beds today. It seems even the flowers wanted to come out and play on Ephraim's birthday.

Daddy managed to make it home early on Ephraim's birthday, but not quite early enough to go to lunch. So we decided to do dinner instead. Since everyone was up so early, both Jacob and Ephraim got to take naps while I worked on the computer and Daddy went for a bike ride.

As soon as Ephraim got up from his nap he was asking to open his presents. So we let him open one present before dinner. He got some Disney Cars puzzles, which he wanted to open right away and put together. Ephraim loves puzzles!

We went and had a quick dinner at Carl's Jr. because Ephraim likes the playplace there the best. Then we came home and opened the rest of the presents. Ephraim was really into opening the packages this year, so it was fun to watch him.

He got a fun ball that you sit and hop on from Grandma and Grandpa Devereaux and the DVD of Mater's Tall tales from Grandpa and Grandma Heiner. He was really excited to get both of them!

Then he opened our presents to him. The first one was a cash register. He always plays with these at his friend's house, so we knew he would enjoy one.

Sure enough, once he got it unwrapped he was pushing the buttons and checking everything out. We were able to convince him to open one last present and then we would take everything out of the box. He was excited to find that the next package was a firetruck!

He immediately wanted his new toys out of the boxes, so Joe and I set to work freeing them. The nice thing was that Jacob and Ephraim took turns with the cash register and the firetruck, which was great. I can tell that both of these toys will be extremely popular at our house. The firetruck does make noise, but it is not too loud. They also love that the ladder on the firetruck extends and goes up and down. So cool!

Speaking of cool, here is Ephraim's cake:

Whenever I asked Ephraim what he wanted for his birthday, he always said "Monster truck Mater". So here is Monster truck Mater on the top of Ephraim's cake. I was pretty excited when I finally found this Mater at the store the other day!

I will have to upload the video of us singing "Happy Birthday" to Ephraim. He was a little nervous about blowing out the candles, but he eventually got it. Then we all ate cake and ice cream- yum!

Ok... so Ephraim ate while checking out his new Mater. Can you blame him?

After that the boys had a little time to play with the new toys. They were sad to go to bed, which must mean that it was a good day!

I was just glad to make it though the day without going into labor or anything! I definitely did not want to have this little girl on her brother's birthday. But everything is going well and she will have her own birth-day soon enough!