Rex's Blessing Weekend and Cora's Birthday

This last weekend was quite the weekend. To start off, Grandpa and Grandma Marchelle came for the whole week ahead for an extended visit. They got to meet both Rex and Garrett for the first time. It was so fun to get them to finally meet them and get to hold them! It was cute seeing Randy get emotional with Rex thinking of his Dad, who Rex is named after. I also had an epiphany on Rex's name that we did not even plan when we named him. Nick's first name (Nicholas) is after his great-grandpa and his middle name, Randall is after his Dad. Rex's first name is after his great-grandpa and his middle name, Nicholas is after his Dad, if that makes sense? We didn't even plan on it, but we might have set a tradition with naming Rex. I was pretty excited! Here's pictures of when Randy and Marchelle got to meet Rex and of them at the mall riding the carousel for Cora's birthday.
The weekend was jam packed with activities. Here are a few fun pics of the cousins playing together and just being silly.

And since all of the Bell family was together, Michelle thought it was a good idea to get a big group family picture taken now that there are two new babies added to the family since our last big picture and as far as we knew (at least when we were planning the weekend) no one else was expecting. Little did we know that the cute couple found in this group of picture was expecting their first...due Feb 8th! We are excited and now have to plan for another family picture!!

Then another reason for the get together was Cora turned 3!!! I can't believe she is already this old! We just love our little Cora, and I do mean little! I always thought Kayley was little, but Cora is a bit smaller than she was and just as cute. She is always so happy, no matter what time of the day! She absolutely LOVES babies and especially her little brother. She is very inquisitive and loves to try and write her name already, even though she doesn't know how to yet...or should I say I haven't worked on it with her yet, but I bet if we worked on it, it wouldn't be long till she got it. She's more adventurous than her sister, but is still timid on some things. She is always very loving and loves to give loves to you and cuddle. We just love our Cora and can't imagine our family without her.

Here are pictures of her birthday party. She requested a Nemo party this year and at the pool. As I mentioned, the weekend was busy. So after pictures in Liberty we headed home to prep for the party to be held at our neighborhood pool. I happened to check my email while nursing Rex and found an email saying our pool was closed due to someone "defacating" in the pool. I immediately freaked out, but called Michelle to see if we could move the party to their pool. Luckily everything worked out, but it was a bit stressful having to pack it all up to go to Liberty versus having it by our house...plus of all times Nick was on call and usually he isn't as busy, but of all Saturday's he got called in 4 times....3 of which were right by the time for her party! It was crazy, but luckily the party just consisted of family so they were all flexible and VERY helpful!! Here's her cake, which didn't last very well in the heat...I'm not a professional cake decorator but it still tasted good!

We did LOTS of swimming, which is great to entertain kids!! They all were great water babies!!

We played pin the lucky fin on Nemo...the kids had fun doing that!

Then there were lots of presents to open...Cora loved opening them. She was very patient in waiting to open them. She kept telling everyone..."It's almost time to open my presents guys!" It was cute!

Then the main reason for eveyone's gathering was Rex's blessing and he got to share the blessing weekend with his cousin Garrett to make travels easier for everyone! He also was blessed on Cora's birthday, which is cool because Cora was actually blessed on my Mom's birthday. A great way to remember big events!! Here are some pics of him in his blessing outfit.

Here are pics with Garrett and the girls, who like always couldn't get enough of him!

Here's a pic of all of us on the special day!

A pic of all the Felker's that were in attendance. We really appreciate everyone that made the trip...it really meant a lot to us! It was a great weekend!!

And here are the two most important men in my life!!! Aren't they cute!?!?!

Rex's 1st Swim

Cora dancing to Train

Rex is Growing So Fast...

Well, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...yet anyway! Having three kids and a newborn, things get kind of crazy and the blog gets put on the back burner all the time! So here is a catch up post and you will really think Rex is growing so fast because the pictures range from when he was 10 days old to almost 4 weeks old! So enjoy all the cute pics!!

Here are some of him at 10 days old. I just loved him this little outfit. The onesie has a football on it and he has little jersey type socks. His legs are so NOT that skinny anymore!! And still Cora cannot get enough of him and begs to hold him any chance she gets. Here are some pics of the girls with him. They just love him so much!

Then, a couple of weeks ago we got to have a visit from the Realls and my Mom. Katie had the first of the 5 new Felker nieces and nephews of 2010. Emme was born in March, so there is quite a bit of size difference in the two of them in these pics..but they were both so cute together and we had a blast visiting with them all! The kids had so much fun playing together. Matt got to woop up on Nick in basketball and Mike got to search for "spaceships" on the school playground with the little girls and Sam. Einstein just watched and tried to stay cool with Katie and I and the babies while we watched.

The boys also got to help Nick give Einstein a bath and they thought that was pretty cool. Nick prefers to give him a bath outside with the hose cause he will admit it's kind of fun to spray him with the hose! I have to concur...sorry Einstein!! Kayley and Cora had a fun time trying to help us get a photo shoot with Rex and Emme both looking at the camera and not crying. It didn't work so well.

We got to celebrate Ashlyn's 4th birthday. The girls had a blast spending time with her and her new toys.

Daddy gets cuddle time with Rex when he gets home from work...Rex just loves to relax on him! Cora likes to pretend she's a baby sometimes and sit in Rex's chair. She's cute either way!

Kayley seriously LOVES her Rex. Anytime I'm trying to get some good pics of him, she always want to get in on the picture. Here he is at almost 2 weeks old.

Once again at 2 weeks old...my sweet, sweet Rex. I can understand the relationship a mother has with her son already! I just love my sweet little boy and sometimes can't get enough of him!! I mean...who couldn't just melt from looking at this sweet face!!

And here is Rex's first bath. He was technically over 2 weeks and his umbilical cord had actually fallen off about 4 days before this, but sorry Rex, with being the third child, it took us this long to get your first bath in. But we did get pics and even video of the event so consider yourself lucky!! He actually did really well and seemed to enjoy it except when his sisters tried to pour water on his face!

At 2 1/2 weeks we got his first professional pics taken. I wanted to get pics of him and the girls and wanted them to be when he was still really little, especially as he is growing so quickly! He did great and didn't even fuss at all throughout the whole session! The girls did great as always too and it was really hard to pick out which ones to get. Here is what we got...a cute one of him...at 2 1/2 weeks old.

And here's the one with all three of them! This picture to me just shows how much they love him with them sitting right over them!

Other things we've been up to is Cora dancing like crazy. This is actually of her dancing to her favorite song by Train. The "hey sister" song as we call it. I'm not really sure of the real title, but I will post a video of it soon.

And here is Rex at 3 weeks old. Again, I just can't get enough of him and his cuteness!! Oh and thanks to Jessica Bobal he can sport the Mizzou colors proudly for us!!

We also had a playdate with Kaelyn at Chik-fil-a. I only got one picture of them because they had too much fun doing the craft and I didn't want to interupt them. Our Chik-fil-a actually does a weekly storytime. This was the girls 2nd time going and my 1st as they went when I was at the hospital having Rex. It's pretty fun and nice and small, which we like...the girls love it because they love Chik-fil-a and they love that they get to play in the play place afterward!

We also got to have fun with cousins and swimming. Shannon, Addison, and Grandma made a trip up a couple of weeks ago. Here are some pics of them swimming at our pool. They all had fun and we didn't even realize how long we swam as the kids stayed happy and just soaked up the sun!

And here's another photo shoot with some cute pics of Rex. He is 3 1/2 weeks old in these pictures. I had the intention of doing the Anne Geddes type pictures, but I'm just not talented enough to do those and I didn't have an assistant to help me with it. They turned out cute anyway and he might be embarrassed later if I did the cute flowery Anne Geddes type pictures anyway!!

And last but not least, we have already taken him swimming and he loved it!! I will also post a video soon on his swim! He just sat and relaxed through the whole thing! The water was the perfect temperature, not too cold and not too warm. He sure looked cute in his swimsuit!! The girls also had a blast swimming and got to show him their jumping in the pool and going underwater tricks!

All in all it has been so much fun having a new baby in the house. Even though my house always seems to be a mess now and as soon as it is clean, it's extremely messy in minutes. I may not be getting all the sleep I need and my kids may not be as clean or neatly kept as they should be, we are having a ball with Rex in our family now! He is so sweet. He is already becoming a Momma's boy and just likes to cuddle with Mommy. It just melts my heart when he is fussy and just immediately calms down when I hold him. Tonight for the first time he smiled at me and what seemed to be on command too! Not bad for 5 weeks old!! :) It is so much fun having a boy around! The girls just love him and like Nick and I they just can't get enough of him!

Cow Appreciation Day 2010

Well, we did it again this year!! Anything for free and definitely anything for free Chik-fil-a!! The girls were so excited to dress up this year...it took them a while to take their nap knowing that when they woke up it would be time to dress like a cow! They dug out their Chik-fil-a cows we got a long time ago at the Chik-fil-a opening day to go along with their ensemble. I didn't think I'd need to convince Nick ONCE AGAIN to dress up, but yes, of course I did...he forgot how great of a deal it was last year. All four of us got to pick out ANY value meal we wanted...we even got the 12 count nuggets for the girls!! It was weird going as I knew this was the actual due date of Rex...instead of being pregnant for the event, I was carrying around a 1 1/2 week old baby! I decided not to dress him up since he only drinks my milk and not cow's milk!! He'll get to join in on the fun next year though!! It was fun and good food and I have to say we make pretty cute cows!!

4th of July Bike Parade

Rex Nicholas Bell

Well, now Rex is over a week old and I'm just now getting to posting about his birth..oh well, I guess that's what having a new baby does to you! Rex was due July 9th and my doctor gave me the option to induce early. I was induced with Cora and everything went smoothly, so I jumped on the option at first. However, then I realized that Cora was induced the day after her due date, so it got me worried that I would increase my chances big time of having a c-section if I induced early. My doctor assured me I wouldn't, but I still stressed. Finally after much diliberation, I did decide to go ahead with it as I had been REALLY uncomfortable with this pregnancy. So we went in the morning of June 30th. I got my antibiotics for group B strep, they started my pitocin, and then my doctor came in to break my water. As noted earlier, I had extra fluid with this pregnancy....and the ultrasounds were not kidding! Without going into too much detail, let's just say that all my uncomfortableness I felt during pregnancy was easily explained with all the water that came out. Anyway, everything did actually go smoothly with the induction. I actually got my epidural earlier than I had planned. (Call me crazy, but I like to go as long as I can without it so that it doesn't possibly slow things down.) But the anesthesiologist had to go and do a c-section, so it was now or wait 2 hours longer. I got the same guy who did Cora's epidural, so that was sort of a relief, although he still kicked Nick out while he did it and it was just him, the nurse and I. But, luckily the nurse was someone who had floated a lot over to Radiology so Nick knew her, so she was great! Funny story with that...she knew we were going to be induced on Wednesday, so on Tuesday she put in a request to have me for the day. Scheduling couldn't find me on the schedule, so she insisted that I was coming, etc. Finally they realized that I had been scheduled, but someone had accidentally erased my name. It was a good thing that Jennifer had checked otherwise it would have been a mess with us coming in that morning checking in.

So about noon was when I started pushing. It took a little longer with him to get him out than it did with Cora. My epidural must have sort of worn off too...at least in the birthing area because I could really feel him coming out, which was different than the girls. It was really hard to relax between pushes because it hurt so bad. Then in between the last set of contractions, I felt something and wasn't sure if it was him or not, but didn't want to push until they said for me to. The doctor asked if I felt him coming, which of course I did and within seconds he was here. I did actually have to stop pushing as the cord was wrapped around his neck twice, but Dr. Trout got it off his neck very quickly and all was well thankfully! As the pictures say Rex Nicholas Bell was 7 lbs. 8 oz and 21 in. long (my biggest baby yet.) He came at 12:40pm. They had to try really hard to get him to cry throughout the cleaning process...he just kept making the cutest little baby sounds. Even now he is a pretty calm baby. The only time he cries is when he is hungry, when we're changing his diaper, or when his sisters (mainly Cora) are moving him around too much!

Here's some pictures of when he was first born...
More pics of when he was first born and some pics of him with the proud Daddy. I know some people have made comments to me like, "you finally got your boy!"...like it was some contest or game or something. I have to say that yes, it is a different feeling having a boy, but it is just as special as having our girls. There is just something special about adding a new baby to your family. Although it's already proven to be just as fun to have boys as it is to have girls!!

The girls could not be more excited for their brother to come. Oftentimes when going to doctor's appointments Cora would ask if the doctor was going to take out her baby brother out of my tummy. She has anxiously awaited the day for him to get here. Sadly when they first came to see him, he had to stay under the warmer to get his temperature up. So she had to leave and come back to hold him. She was just as excited then. Still to this day she cannot get enough of him. It's the first thing she asks for when she wakes and the last thing she wants to do before going to bed. Kayley is just as excited. She doesn't want to hold him as much as Cora, but she always is right by him stroking his hair whether I'm nursing or changing him or Daddy's holding him. She calls him "Rexy" all the time. One of her favorite things to do is hold his hand when I'm changing his diaper to help calm him down since that is one thing during which he cries.

Here are some pictures of the day of his homecoming. We started out in the cute striped outfit from the Felkers, but ended up in the cute doggie outfit as he spit up all over the other one...even though he's really not a spitty baby.

Here are some pictures of 4th of July festivities. Our neighborhood has a bike parade every year. We decided the girls could participate this year as they've both mastered riding their bikes pretty well. Cora didn't make it more than 25 feet...but in her defense the route was on a bit of a hill...Kayley on the other hand road like it was nothing! I was for sure that she would complain about having to peddle harder, but she did great! They had popsicles afterward at the pool and a little pot luck lunch. Ashlyn and Preston joined us too and they all had a blast! We also went to the fireworks display at the Visitor's Center in Independence that Saturday night. The girls absolutely HATE fireworks, so Nick let them use his shooting earphones and they still cried. In fact on Sunday evening we tried to go on a walk in the evening. The girls had their headphones on and Rex was in the front pac to cover his ears. We didn't last but 100 ft as the neighbors were shooting off fireworks and each time one would go off, it was a toss up as to who would react the most, the girls would be screaming and Einstein would be cowering like crazy!

More pics of the girls with Rex. He did have jaundice, which is no surprise to us as the girls both had it. So we were given a billi blanket to lower his levels. It was frustrating since it was hard to hold and cuddle with him while he was on the blanket, but luckily it didn't last long. On his appointment on Tuesday of this last week, which was when he was only 6 days old, he had already gotten back up to his birth weight at 7 lbs 8 1/2 oz. I will be anxious to see how much he weighs next week at his 2 week appointment. I've never had a baby gain weight this fast! So he's definitely a good eater!

Here's some more cute pics of him. It's hard to catch him with his eyes open, but I was able to get a few good ones. And Cora has loved on her brother so much that it wears her out! We really do love having Rex in our family now...he is such a great addition!!

Rex is Home!

I'm in the long process of updating the blog and facebook, etc with pictures, but it is a slow process now that I get to juggle three kids!! :) So, until I get around to posting his birth story and other pictures, this video of his homecoming will have to do. Enjoy!

Lots of Family Fun!

Time to unload the camera with all the pictures...so here's what's been going on the last couple of weeks. We have been lucky enough to have Andrew and Sarah come up a couple of times to play and the girls have absolutely loved being able to see their cousins more! The first time Sarah and I took the girls to the pool and didn't realize it, but we ended up spending almost 4 hours there. It was such fun just relaxing by the pool and snacking when we wanted to...the girls had such a blast! We had a fun picnic with lunch and goodies and everyone showed their skills to each other with putting their hair in the water (which to my girls means putting their face in the water!) Audrey and Lauren are a bit more brave than my girls in actually going under when jumping in...but we're working on it slowly!
The next week we were lucky to have them here again so we ventured out to Crown Center doing Kaleidoscope, the Clifford display, and the fountains. It was yet another fun day and the girls all had a blast. Sarah and I even survived the heat of outside while they were playing in the fountains!

Lots of water fun in the fountains! It was the perfect day for it, but just not for us who didn't wear our suits, but some of the kids playing there (not our girls) made sure we were wet as they kept trying to splash everyone.

Then last week was Kayley's last day of her swimming lessons. Daddy was able to come to Monday's lesson and told her that if she jumped off the side of the pool with all the other kids to her teacher that she'd get to have a treat and pick out a toy from the store. She got in line everyday and chickened out everyday. So, finally on the last day, she got up enough courage to do it. She didn't jump off the deeper part like all the other kids, she asked the teacher to go to the more shallower part, but she made sure we knew that the water was still up to her waist when she got in. Cora of course still hated the fact that she couldn't be in the water, so I let her soak her feet a couple of times and that seemed to appease her.

Here's some pics of her getting her award and popsicle. She has slept with her award a few times and is pretty proud of it! The bottom right picture is proof of her jumping off the side to her teacher for Daddy's sake since he wasn't able to come to the last day of lessons with work. She did get to pick out a toy and was pretty excited about it. Cora made sure Daddy knew that during the week she jumped off the side of the pool to Mommy so she could get a toy too. She is actually a lot more brave in the water than Kayley so she does do great jumping off to me or Nick.

This last weekend some friends of ours came up from Columbia for some girls' weekend fun. So Michelle treated me to a pedicure since we're getting ready to have our baby. It was my first professional pedicure and let me tell you it was a bit of heaven! Well, when I got home Cora and Kayley noticed my pretty piggies and the next day Cora told me that "I wish someone would paint my toe nails!" Who can resist a cute request like that!?! So on Sunday after their morning bath before church I painted all their toe nails and finger nails...they thought that was the best! I guess I should do it more often for them!! Anyway, Cora was the only one the only one that would pose with me, Kayley was too embarrassed! But aren't they the cutest little feet you've ever seen!?! (Cora's...not mine by the way!)

Then also on that same Saturday, Nick took the girls to the fireworks stand to pick up a few sparklers and snap poppy things and snakes. We did the sparklers last night and of course the girls were freaked out just by the sparklers since they are in the category of fireworks. Sadly though as soon as Kayley got the courage to hold one, we only had one left and she accidentally dropped it before Nick lit it and it fell underneath the deck. So, now we'll have to get her to get the courage up again and maybe buy more boxes next time! We'll see how 4th of July with fireworks goes at our house! We may have to buy them some ear plugs!

37 Weeks!!

Ok, technically I won't be 37 weeks until Friday and today is Wednesday, but it is definitely close enough for me to call it 37 weeks! I had my 37 week Dr. appt today and all was well, thankfully. I had my second biophysical/ultrasound with my amniotic fluid still being high. Everything measured out well, fluid and all. My fluid actually lessened a bit from the last one 2 weeks ago and of course he has grown more. I'm a little nervous if the measurements are correct with him, if he goes full term, he will definitely be my biggest baby! Kayley was 4 weeks early and weighed 5 lbs 14 oz. Cora was one day late and she was 6 lbs 10 oz. This boy at 37 weeks is already measuring at 6 lbs 6 oz...already surpassing Kayley's weight by far and getting close to surpassing Cora's. I'm crossing my fingers that he does come early, not only for my sanity, but in fear of having a really big baby! Other than that, things are going well I guess...or at least as well as it can be at almost 37 weeks. My back pain is constant now 24/7 as well as upper leg pain. It's harder to walk or to re-position myself whether in bed or sitting in a chair or going from sitting to standing. I feel like an old woman! I definitely have this pregnancy waddle walk down pat!! I'm definitely having more pain with this one than with either one of my girls so I will be so glad and relieved to have him here, even if that does mean sleepless nights...although I'm sure I'll say otherwise once he's here and keeping me up all night!

I tried to be cute and get the girls kissing my belly as they are extremely anxious for their brother to get here too. Cora asked me if the doctor was going to take the baby out of my tummy today at my appointment...if only Cora!! My doctor is back in town for my next week's appt so I'm anxious to see what she will say on if I can be induced early or not. There is also a pic of our baby boy...we only have about a million now with all the ultrasounds we've had to get with him. I think I'll have a full baby book filled with just his ultrasound pictures!! Oh well...here's to making it to 38 weeks, unless he wants to grace us with his presence beforehand!!