One week

I cannot believe it has been one week already. What a whirlwind it has been. Time seriously flies by these days. It is so weird to think that this time last week we were in the hospital welcoming little Adeline into our family. I haven't really gotten to write much about the experience so I'm going to try to do that very briefly.

I was actually able to sleep the night before, which was amazing. I popped up at 4 am and showered and got ready to go. I was shocked I made it through all that without throwing up from my nerves. Oh I was so nervous and emotional. I cried from the time the nurse came in and said we should start in about 3o minutes until I was actually laying on the operating table. The nurse was trying her hardest to keep me distracted and calm so she turned on the radio in the O.R. and of all things Linoel Richie was on singing "All night long." No joke. That is the one and only song I remember. Everyone in there talked to me the whole time, trying to keep me calm. I remember wanting to yell at them to all shut up and let me cry and pray. The worst thing you can tell me to do is to stay calm....that just gets me all worked up. I could have done a lot better if they would have all just left me alone...ha ha.

Anyway, as soon as they brought Shay in I started throwing up and continued to do so throughout the rest of the c-section. I think the magic words were, "It's a girl." I don't remember throwing up again after that was said, however, now that i think about it I'm pretty sure the words weren't as magic as I thought they were. It was all the drugs they promised to pump in me as soon as the baby was out. They will always be magic words to me and I can't describe the overwhelming amount of joy, happiness and love I felt all because of those three words. Not finding out what we were having was the best decision I made during this pregnancy. It was so exciting and so special. I would highly recommend trying it. It was fun to know our families were just waiting, dying for Shay to come out and introduce her. I wish I could have witnessed him walking into that waiting room and announcing our new baby girl and see their reactions. It was caught on tape but I know it is not the same as seeing it first hand. Not many people, especially our family, knew the names we were planning on using so that was a fun surprise too.

Our family and friends have been so sweet and they were all just as excited as we were. Can I just tell you that I have the best friends in the whole world. Brooke was able to be there for Adeline's birth which was very exciting since she couldn't be there on the day Mary Selwyn was born. Amber and Price have come to visit already too, all the way from Montgomery, and Mary and Megan surprised me and drove all the way to Dothan and back Monday night just to see us. They kept saying, "we don't know when we can come but it will be soon." Obviously, Megan had to work and Mary is like the busiest person I know so I did not at all expect them until the weekend. I was absolutely shocked when they walked in my hospital room. It was so sweet I wanted to cry but I think the first thing I said was, "Are y'all crazy? What are you doing here? You have work tomorrow!" Along with all our other visitors and calls I've been really overwhelmed by how much we are loved. I absolutely could not be blessed with any better of friends.

Life at home is going well. At the risk of sharing too much information I am able to breastfeed this time and it has been wonderful. With Mary Selwyn I lost too much blood and was so sick my milk never came in. I am so excited it is working this time. I didn't realize how much I wanted to nurse until I wasn't able to with Mary Selwyn. I absolutely love it, the only thing is it makes me sad that I wasn't able to do it the first time.

Adeline is such a sweet and laid back baby. Mary Selwyn was a sweet baby but she was a mover and shaker from the get go. She was very rarely still....not much change there, and she never stayed in that newborn baby ball like most babies do. Adeline is a very still, calm baby and loves to be all balled up in your arms or a blanket. She is precious. She looks exactly like her big sister as a baby. I often feel like I'm having deja vu when I look at her sleeping. Mary Selwyn is being the sweetest big sister ever. She loves to hold her and love on her. She loves to help her with her paci and does it very gently. She talks her version of baby talk to her. That mostly includes the phrase, "ooooo poor baby." Not sure why but it is sweet. Mary Selwyn has not been jealous or bothered by her baby sister's presence at all. She has overall been extremely grouchy though. Her mood has not been pleasant but she has been so pleasant to the baby. It is not at all how I imagined. I know part of it is exhaustion from the last week. The over dose of grandparents she is having and a slight case of the terrible twos. I have been a tad emotional, proud to say I have only cried four times in the last week, but two of those times have been over Mary Selwyn and my worrying about her. I think once grandparents leave, which won't be for another two weeks, since I've had a c-section and can't pick MSN up, and things settle down it will get a little better. The main thing is she is way better with Adeline than I would have ever guessed. She is a perfect big sister.

Here are a few pictures we have taken since we have come home. Adeline wore the same gown that I wore, all my siblings, and Mary Selwyn wore home from the hospital. Hopefully by the end of the week I will get the pictures of my two girls up so you can see just how much they look alike as new borns and I want to post the pictures of my nursery too. It is so adorable I can't stand it but I have one last project to finish in there now that I know it is a girl. It has been such a crazy and fun week. We are so blessed and I thank the Lord a million times a day for my sweet family. I love that I have two precious girls.....it is the best feeling in the world.....

Please excuse Mary Selwyn's play clothes....or lack there of....it has been a long week of staying home.

Sweet Adeline

Here are some pictures.......there will be lots and lots and lots more to come. She is a precious baby and I can't wait to share all of the details with everyone over the next couple of days. We are so blessed to finally have her here. Mary Selwyn and Adeline are going to have so much fun growing up sisters so close in age. I'm so excited. Adeline looks just like her big sister when she was a new born. I will post pictures of them for you to compare very soon. Thank you for all of your prayers and love. We have the absolute best family and friends.

Baby is here and it's a...

GIRL!!!

Mary Selwyn is so excited to announce the birth of her little sister! Adeline Weldon Nichols was born around 9:30 this morning! She weighs 7 pounds, 5 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long. Everyone is great!

Baby Anxiety

So Monday is the big day. The doctor says baby Nichols should be here by 10 a.m. if not before, depending on whether or not I am the first or second c-section scheduled. Can I just tell you that I am one huge ball of emotions. I am having so many mixed feelings. It is so weird and I think I have cried non-stop for the past two weeks, not that surprising right?

First of all I am scared to death. I know this probably sounds a little silly. It is my second c-section so I should know what is coming. Everyone swears that your second one is way easier and my doctor promises that my recovery will be 100 times better because I won't labor for 26 hours like with MSN. I'm sure all of this is true, however, this is still MAJOR surgery and I'm scared. I had such a hard time with my recovery last time I can't help but be nervous. Thankfully my friend Dona, who has had three c-sections shared with me that she was terrified before every one of hers too. I'm very thankful for her honesty because I felt like I was being this big baby that everyone thought was crazy.

For the past two weeks I have also been super sentimental about this being our "last" time with Mary Selwyn. To be fair I had these exact same feelings right before Mary Selwyn was born about it being the last time it would be just me and Shay. A little crazy I know and it does not mean I am any less excited about the new addition or starting next chapter of life as a family. It just means I'm a little overwhelmed by this big life change. If I'm being honest, I'm probably a little sad that this chapter is closing because I try my hardest not to take for granted any of my days with Mary Selwyn and our time as a family and part of me feels like it has flown by. Poor Shay doesn't quite understand this or the tears that fall every time we talk about it. (Just in case you are wondering I'm balling my way through this blog, I can't hardly see the screen.)

Naturally, just the thought of having another child to take care of makes me a nervous wreck. I mean can I really do this, have 2 kids??? Really?? I know almost every mother has had this thought too. I also worry about how well Mary Selwyn will adjust to this new baby. I feel very confident that she will do well. She is so sweet and loving and excited about this baby. She is also only 21 1/2 months old and how much does she really understand. This new baby will come into the world with a sibling so they won't ever know any different but Mary Selwyn is smart and she knows what life is like not having to share attention. I'm sure it won't take her too long to forget but I think there will be days when she will be very aware of the baby's presence. Again, deep down I feel like she is really going to do great and love being a big sister but I have a tiny bit of lingering doubt.

Now let me talk out of the other side of my mouth. I am so extremely excited about the arrival of this sweet baby. I cannot wait to find out what it is. I am totally fine with a girl or a boy. I think ideally everyone would like to have a girl and a boy...one of each you know how it goes. A boy would be fun and a new adventure for us. A girl would be great also. How fun would it be for Mary Selwyn to have a sister so close in age? I'm super excited for the doctor to say "It's a ______!" I can't wait to hold and squeeze and kiss this little baby. It feels like forever since we have had a new born, I hope I remember how to do everything, ha ha. I'm also anxious to see how big this baby is going to be. Mary Selwyn was a whopping 9lbs 4oz and the doctor was feeling my stomach the other day and his reaction was "Whoa!!" I told him I already expected for this baby to be big one too, you can't shock me this time, Mary Selwyn's weight was a shock enough. I know that I will always be blessed with big babies, which is perfectly fine with me.

This pregnancy has been a dream. No throwing up, I'm not nearly as big and have gained less weight and overall I have felt great, well until 3 weeks ago that is. My only complaint this pregnancy has been the back pain and in the last 3 weeks that pain has spread to my hips and down my legs and there have been days when I can't move. I feel like a 90 year old woman. It is awful. This baby is so low it is putting pressure everywhere and everything below my belly button hurts. I never experienced anything like this with Mary Selwyn, I did throw up for several, several weeks but I was so comfortable with her all the time. I could have skipped into the hospital last time. I felt no need to get her out, this baby needs to come out before I have to start using a walker, no joke. As miserable as I am I really do love being pregnant and I will miss it. I can't believe I only have one more day to feel the wiggles inside of me. I know, I know, there is no winning with me....

Enough of my novel but I wanted to make note of all of my feelings. I planned on doing a night before post but things are going to be so crazy tomorrow with family coming in and I feel very sure I will not be able to sit still. I also feel sure I will be having all of these same feelings with a little extra anxiety. My nerves are going to be crazy and there will be a lot of praying. All your prayers will be appreciated.

Here are our pictures from Easter. We had a great Easter weekend. Mary Selwyn wore a dress that is almost 30 years old that Shay's Meme made. It was beautiful. I celebrated my 27th birthday last weekend and I promise I have found 27 new grey hairs, one for every year I guess. The curse of dark hair. Today we took Mary Selwyn to Chuck E Cheese for the first time. Her last hoorah before baby arrives, just kidding, it was just a fun family day and big sister present for her. She loved the robot mouse. Her favorite thing to do was ride a car with Chuck E that took your picture every time you did it so we came home with many souvenir pictures. By the way we should at least be able to do a quick post on Monday letting everyone know if baby Nichols is a boy or a girl. The hospital has wireless and since we will be there until Thursday I should be able to post pictures pretty quick also.....lets hope I will feel up to it.

Job Update and 21 months old

It is official, The Nichols family will be staying in Dothan for a while longer. Shay has been offered the account manager position at his current account so we don't have to move. What a blessing. A promotion, a raise, no move and a new baby. We couldn't ask for anything more right now and definitely couldn't ask for any better timing.

On Thursday Mary Selwyn turned 21 months old. I feel like she is becoming such a big kid, which makes me sad of course. She speaks in full sentences these days but she is still uses her baby talk gibberish sometimes, especially when she gets excited or hyper. I love the times when she uses the baby talk because that means my sweet baby is still in there and she hasn't completely grown up on me over night.

She is such a sweet child and SO loving. She is always saying "Wove you Mama/Daddy." Her new thing is "Wove you too Mama/Daddy," and she generally doesn't say it to mommy without saying it to daddy immediately after or visa versa, even when daddy is at work. She is 110% a daddy's girl. I think if she could be attached to his hip she would. Every morning when she wakes up she calls out, "Oh daaadddyyy." When I walk in the room she says, "Daddy at work." She often does the same routine at nap time in hopes that maybe he has returned home while she is napping. She loves for him to hold her and throw her and roll around on the floor with her. I'm afraid she is going to have the hardest time sharing him with her new little brother or sister.

Mary Selwyn is extremely polite. She is great at saying please and thank you and knows exactly when to use them. She is the best with thank you. She knows a lot of her colors, red, blue, yellow, pink, green, purple, orange and brown. If you ask her what color her hair is she says, "wed, bwown," or red-brown. We are working on our numbers and thanks to many rainy days, a cold and a show called Ni-hao Kilan she can count to three in Chinese and does it often. I mean what can I say she is already so worldly...ha ha. She can count to two in English and knows that 8,9,10 comes after 7. She's my little smarty pants.

She is a good eater and loves her fruits and veggies. However, she also love, love, loves all things sweet. Cookies, candy, cupcakes.....she definitely takes after Mama. Her new favorite thing is her prizes or M&Ms. This what she gets when she uses the potty. We are in the very beginning stages of potty training and Mary Selwyn is really the leader right now. She decides when she wants to try (which is usually when she is trying to get some candy) and when she wants to wear her Dora panties. We are at least trying.

I could go on for days about how great she is because I really think she is. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments but don't they all. I enjoy getting to spend all day everyday with her. They are really precious moments right now since she will only be an only child for 2 more weeks. I'm savoring this time that is completely devoted to her right now. Here is a picture of my twins.....

Fun with Friends

Megan, Mary, Ross and Mary Townsend came to visit us this week for Spring Break. We had so much fun. The kids played and played. Mary Selwyn really enjoyed having, "Woss and Town," spend the night. Shay was even brave enough to keep all three kids so Mary, Megan and I could go out for a nice, quiet dinner. Such a sweet husband. We were able to enjoy each other's company and have really good conversation. Megan and I gave Mary many suggestions on how to run her business and reduce stress in her life...ha ha... what fun would life be without friends to really butt in your life. I really needed some girl time. I know I say this every time but it is just so refreshing to get to spend time with them. Just puts me in such a better mood. (We did miss you Brooke.) Here are some pictures of the kids and the fun times they had.


Townsey had a hard time sharing her big brother at first. Ross was so sweet to MSN.


A little Girl time for Mary Townsend and Mary Selwyn.


Three little monkeys on my window sill.

It's been a while

It has been over a month since my last blog. I've missed blogging and reading all of your blogs. It has been a super crazy month and I have not had the time or energy to sit and blog but I'm back now and hopefully things are settling down. I'm going to attempt to give a short synopsis of this past month but lets face it, with me writing it will probably be a novel.

So the end of January we found out that Shay's account here with JB Hunt was being cut way back and they didn't need all the managers here anymore. He was never in danger of losing his job all together but changes were going to have to be made. We knew we would be moving, which was sad but with a move comes a promotion and raise, which is good! It looked like the destination was going to be Tifton, GA. Not my first choice but not my last. Not that it really mattered because I will follow my husband where ever he goes. We were so sure we were moving there we had the real estate agent over to discuss things and everything. This was an extremely stressful time for me because this move would mean that Shay had to move to Tifton at the beginning of March and be away from us until Baby #2 arrived. Did I mention I'm 8 months pregnant by now and that is stressful enough but just for kicks lets add job stress on top...ha ha.

Anyhow, we prayed and prayed about it and really just trusted God through the whole situation. I think He really knew our hearts and knew we were willing to do whatever was best for our family. He answered prayer after prayer for me each week we were dealing with all this stuff and I felt his presence maybe more than I ever have before. To sum up this part, JB Hunt decided not to transfer us for now. They have worked things out to make it an ideal situation for us getting to stay here for at least 6 months and get settled with the new baby and there is a good chance we may not have to move at all. I'm so thankful for a company with management that cares about Shay and had tried really hard to keep him happy. We are excited about the future account, move or not.

In the midst of all that craziness, last month my Great Aunt Dottie was also diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. I hate to even call her my Great Aunt because that seems so far removed to me and we have always been so close to her. She never married or had children of her own so she has been a part of my immediate family. Dottie was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago and when we got the report that said she was cancer free we also got one that said she now had leukemia and only had 3 months to live. Unfortunately she didn't make it 3 months. She passed away 2 weeks ago after a terrible week of struggling to breath among other uncomfortable suffering. It has been tough on the family and has completely worn out my Grandmother and Mother, who was her primary caretaker. As much as we hated to lose her in the end it was what was best because it was an illness she could not recover from. It was just a shocking diagnosis and it happened so fast.

So that pretty much explains why I have been so absent from the blog world. I'm sure I'll never get caught up on what everyone else has been up to but I'm going to try. A quick baby update, we scheduled my c-section for April 23rd. Hopefully that will be baby Nichols arrival date and not a day before. Mary Selwyn is sweet and smart as ever, however, she has gotten very good at saying "No, Mine," and has her 2 year old "moments." She has also become extremely polite and says "Tanks, Mama/Daddy," every chance she gets. She is also getting better at "No ma'am." She knows 7 colors and can count to ten if you leave out numbers 3-7, ha ha. We had postponed potty training because of the almost move. I didn't feel like I could offer her any consistency with a move and arrival of a new baby. Now that we aren't moving it is back on the table but I'm trying not to pressure her. She has pee peed in the potty twice and the first time it was totally her idea. Everyone tells me she will just revert back after the baby is born and I have seen that happen before so I'm just trying to relax and take it slow.....I'm not great with patience and sometimes find myself wondering why it is so hard. Oh well, more on that later.

We can't wait for Megan, Mary, Ross and Mary Townsend's visit tomorrow and wish Brooke had a spring break too. It has for sure been one of those months when you feel like you have gotten nothing but bad news and you can't remember the last time you said, "Wow, today was a really good day." It is nice to have something to look forward to. I know everyone experiences times like that and it does pass. The Lord is on our side and things will only get better from here.