Girls 1 Month

Crosby 1 Month

Carter 1 Month

Sister Bath Time

I didn't get Carter's 1st bath on film, but I did get the second!  (I think grandpa Tim did)  The second bath looked and sounded much like the first.  Crosby loves her new bath time buddy.  She is very interested in "helping".  Carter loves bath time.  We're lucky that both girls enjoy the water so much.  Daddy manned both the 1st and 2nd bath time with the little ladies.  He has quite the system in place, he's so organized.  Mommy gave both girls her first solo bath already too!  

Daddy's Little "Helper"

Guess who wanted to help  daddy with the yard work?  She even picked out her own outfit.

After a little cheerleading, she started her duties!

She was a little more concerned that daddy was making mess.

Over and over again she kept saying, "daddy mess, daddy mess!"

She really doesn't like to get her hands dirty.

She would much rather explore the outdoors!

A little close,  but I just love her so!

Carter - 1 Month

Carter Joy is 1 month!  It is shocking how fast a month goes.  I think they go even faster the more children you have.  You might remember Crosby's 1st month here. Since we haven't been to the doctor this month, there are no height or weight stats.  You'll just have to check back next month.

A few of her likes:

-Cuddling

-Being sung to

-Riding in the car

-Eating

-Noise (our house is NOT quiet)

-Sleeping in her own room

-Bath time

-Her wubanubb

-Being swaddled snug

-Lounge chair 

Dislikes:

-Waiting (this is for anything and everything)

-Not having her paci

-Getting her arm out of a swaddle and hitting herself in the head

-Tummy time

Carter is getting up at 10pm and 2 am to eat in the middle of the night.  She has done a fantastic job so far about going back to bed after each feeding.  We are so thankful to get 3-4 hour stretches of sleep each night. Daddy just has to go in a couple times to help out with the pacifier.  We have just started CIO during naps only and I can only handle 5 minute increments. 

As far as who she looks like, we get mixed reviews.  We have our friends and family members who think she totally looks like Crosby, those who think she looks just like mommy, and even a few who think she looks like daddy.  Carter has changed so much in just one short month, it's tough to say who she'll look most like. 

Thank you for all of your well wishes and prayers!  We love company, let us know when you're coming over!  We have a very busy 2 year old who loves to play. 

Carter's Dedication

On Father's Day we had the honor of dedicating Miss Carter at The Avenue Church.  We had a couple family members in town to help us celebrate. Thank you for praying for our children and being Godly examples in their lives.

Family picture - the best of the 5 taken.

Pastor Slay reading our scripture verse over Carter -
Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Family group shot

Grandpa Tim and Deb were able to help us celebrate!

Grandpa Tim and his girls.

Summer Time Visitors - Grandpa Tim and Deb (Bonus Guests!)

Our final visitors were Grandpa Tim and Deb.  They too made the extremely long drive from MN to TX to spend time with the littles. We are so thankful for the company and the help!  Thank you for making the trip!  Please come back soon!

Just talking...

Tickle time!

Surprise visitors Kaley and Auntie Betty drove 6 hours from Arkansas for a 24 hour visit!

This was their first time to meet both girls. This was also Auntie Betty's first trip to Texas!

Lots of books were read!

Summer Time Visitors - Papa and Grammie

The first to visit was Grammie and Papa. Grammie taught Crosby several new songs that are requested daily. Both Grammie and Papa got lots of Crosby and Carter time in.  We are so blessed to have amazing parents who are willing to put their lives on hold to help us get adjusted to being parents of two little girls.  Thank you for all the meals, the cleaning, and loving on us and the girls.  Come back soon!

Meeting Carter for the first time.

Singing songs to Carter.

Singing songs with Crosby!

Papa and his girls

The whole group

Summer Time Visitors - Nama, Uncle Ross and Auntie Karly

 Over a 3 week time period, we had three different groups come and visit us!  Here is a summary of Nama Lonna, Uncle Ross and Auntie Karly's visit.

Uncle Ross was very helpful putting together Crosby's new tricycle and kitchen.

There was PLENTY of bubble time. 

And some quality chalk time, as long as you are the one touching the chalk.

Cooking in the kitchen...apple pie was her speciality this week.

Did I mention bubbles?

An afternoon spent at Klyde Warren Park - food trucks, picnic, playtime.

The weather was perfect for some cuddle time.

Quality time with the new baby.

Uncle Ross and Auntie Karly were excellent at coloring.

Sharing her wisdom.

Swim time!

The whole group!

We loved having you come and visit.  Thank you for making the long car trip to spend a few days loving on our family.  

Look Who Turned 2!

 Happy Birthday to you Miss Crosby! If you can't tell by her face, someone was really excited to celebrate her second birthday with her Uncle Ross, Auntie Karly and Nama Lonna!

We celebrated Crosby's 2nd birthday with a yummy steak dinner, thanks Tim for grilling a fantastic meal.  Cupcakes were served for dessert.  Just by looking at her face, you could tell she was fairly excited to not only sing, but also to eat the cupcakes.

 This is the closest I could get to a face to camera smile.  :)

Crosby is such a fun little lady.  She is growing up way to fast, both her dad and I cannot believe we have a 2 year old. 

Likes: bubbles, the park, the pool, bath time, reading stories, ELMO, singing, dancing, FaceTiming with family, helping in the kitchen, going for walks, playing on the Ipad, going to basketball with daddy, coloring, stickers, church

Dislikes: eating at a normal pace, not getting her way, coming inside

Crosby we love you so much and are blessed to call you our daughter.  You make us laugh daily with your silly sense of humor.  Every day is an adventure with you, and we wouldn't trade it for the world!  We love you!

Carter Joy's Birth Story

According to my doctor, Carter's due date was May 18.  Well, the 18th had come and gone and still Carter had not made her grand entrance into this world. We still had a week left of school, but Tim and I decided that it would be best to relax and stay at home prior to her arrival.  

The week came and went, and still no baby.  We had a care plan for Crosby in place, hospital bags were packed, we were ready.  The only problem was, she wasn't ready quite yet. I had a few doctor's appointments to check to see if all was still well.  Dr. Chancellor wanted to schedule an induction on May 28th if she hadn't come on her own.  Tim and I decided 10 days was a fair deal, however I still wasn't completely sold on being induced. Evidently, Carter wasn't sold on the plan either...

I woke up on Monday, May 27th with some fairly intense cramping.  I started my day by having a little breakfast and some quality playtime with Crosby.  Tim and I had talked about running some errands and then relaxing.  Throughout breakfast, the cramping was fairly consistant every 6-8 minutes apart.  I knew that this was it.  I figured a shower was a must and I wanted to make sure Crosby had a place to go. 

Over the next hour, the cramps (now realizing they were contractions) were coming every 5-6 minutes.  I looked at Tim and told him that I think it's time to go (he thought I was referring to Walmart, since that was a part of our original plan).  I told him that I didn't want to have my baby at Walmart.

We dropped our big girl off at Scott and Becca's and headed off to the hospital as quickly as we could.  I wasn't up for conversation, I was too busy timing contractions (4-5 minutes apart now) and trying to breath and just stay calm.  Tim was fantastic, he drove quickly and safely. It is about a 30 minute drive to the hospital, we made great time and when we arrived my contractions were about 4 minutes apart.

We parked the car and walked up to Labor and Delivery and started the checking in process.  They have this holding room to check the mother over to make sure she's actually in labor. After quickly putting on a hospital gown and answering about 50 questions, the nurse on duty confirmed that I was inf act in active labor and could be admitted. We were checked in at 10:55am.

A quick walk to our room, IV put in, monitors attached and a few more questions answered, the nurse asked how quickly I wanted an epidural.  I didn't have to think that one over, IMMEDIATELY please! My contractions were very steady and getting more and more intense.

The anesthesiologist arrived, introduced himself and 3 tries later we had a successful epidural. That's right, 3 tries. After try number two failed, I almost, almost said forget it.  I'm thankful I didn't.

The doctor arrived and introduced herself, since it was Memorial Day my doctor was off. She explained what the timeline would look like and informed us that she'd be breaking my bag of waters.  After that event they sat me up right in the princess pose to help the baby's head drop.  Once sitting completely upright all the medicine started running to my legs and I could now feel EVERY.SINGLE.CONTRACTION.  We called the nurse and asked it I could lay back down to help the medicine move back.

Very shortly after this (an being checked) the nurse let me know it was now time to push.  The doctor wasn't in the room yet, but they thought a few practice pushes would help Carter get into position.  Two pushes and I was told to stop, they could see her hair!  We were now just waiting on the doctor to come back into the room and get suited up!

The doctor finally came in and as she was getting ready they had me push again...only to quickly stop!  She was just to close.  Once the doctor was in position and ready, I pushed 2 more times and Carter was here!

I couldn't believe it...she was finally here! At 2:31pm, Carter Joy White had finally decided to make her arrival.  The nurses immediately gave her to me and I got my first look at the little one who'd been kicking me for the past 5 months.  She is beautiful! I was able to nurse her before they cleaned her up and did all of her measurements.  That was a moment that I will forever treasure.  

Tim was a fantastic coach, once again. I love watching him with our girls.  He is an amazing dad and I feel so blessed to go through this journey with him.

Our Newest Addition

Meet Carter Joy!  We welcomed this little sweetheart into this world on May 27, 2013 at 2:31pm.  Big sister Crosby is over the moon in love with her!

 Our family of 4 (plus Elmo and Dolly).  No, Tim and I didn't plan on wearing matching shirts it just worked out that way. 

 I'm simply obsessed with these two cuties.  Crosby wants to give lots of kisses and really has been a huge help.  The nurse brought her a bracelet like mommy, daddy and Carter had.  It says "Carter's Big Sister"...so sweet.

 This was a really sweet moment of daddy and his two little girls.  I'm so blessed to have such an amazing man in my life who loves being a dad and it fantastic at it.