Paternity Leave

 With the twins, Jay only took time off while they were in the hospital. We brought them home and he headed back to work. Not this time! He took a week off and we LOVED it! 

The twins didn't have preschool on Easter monday so we took full advantage and headed to the park in the morning. 

double double bobs

We only stayed at the park for a bit and then met my mom out for lunch. We came home and EVERYONE took great naps!

After naps we went outside to play. Shep loved being outdoors. 

This caterpillar hitched a ride on holdie and he was so bewildered! It was the cutest thing watching him

We spent the entire afternoon in the yard. 

Easter Sunday

Shep had a great first sleep with just two wake ups! Having a full-term baby is sooo much easier than preemies. 

We were up early and ready for church. I was excited that Jay and I could get three kids out of the house and to church on time. My mom and Allie went on to church early to get seats. Our church is so full for Easter. We still weren't able to get seats in the sanctuary but had to head upstairs to watch it on a monitor. I was super disappointed. There is something special about being in the sanctuary, especially on Easter. To be totally honest, it was hard to focus on the message while this tiny 4 day old baby was sleeping next to me. I was important to me though that we attend church, even with a newborn.

We took the kids to the nursery and Shep hung out with us for the service. I had bought all their little easter outfits in advance and completely forgot to get Shep a shirt. I had to pull this one from on of his other outfits :0

Family pictures outside the church

so loved by their family

Gigi to three!

Emma Cate randomly leaned over to do this while I was talking to another family. She has been so sweet with Shep.

I thought this was just the cutest. Holden was with Gigi and EC with Jay.

We changed this guy after church into his sweet bunny outfit! I still can't get over how tiny he was (I'm writing this 6 weeks later)

We decided to celebrate Easter at home. It was a last minute thing but thankfully we rounded up a ham and some sides from Whole Foods. My mother in law and Jay's grandmother drove down to celebrate and eat with us. 

The Easter Bunny came while the twins were napping! Our Easter bunny brings really practical things for summer. This year our Grand Easter Bunny brought the twins a picnic table for outside. They also received a sprinkler, a tent for baby Shep, a set of golf clubs, some chalk, keens (these are my FAVORITE summer shoes), new bathing suits, books, hats and water toys.

this little guy slept through most of the festivities.

After the Easter bunny set out a pretty display, he hid the baskets for the twins to find. We had the best time searching for the baskets with the help of their aunts while mommy ran around snapping pictures. 

We learned this year that our kids have humongous easter baskets compared to their friends. They had major issues carrying them around during easter egg hunts. I'm looking for smaller baskets for hunting next year!

"kookies" from Gran

Aunt Bo hanging out with baby Shep

Our sweet Easter baby

The easter bunny also delivered my sisters' baskets to the house. They had these ring pops in their baskets and shared with the kids. Their faces were hilarious.

 

Welcome Home Shep!

We woke up Saturday morning so ready to come home! When the twins were in the hospital I didn't want to leave but with Shep, I couldn't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed without someone coming to interrupt us every 5 minutes! 

My milk came in on Saturday and once again, I had the ability to feed a small village. I know this sounds like a blessing but in reality it was horrible. I was engorged for the first 3 weeks of Shep's life. It made nursing so difficult for both of us and I pretty much gave up nursing in favor of pumping and bottle feeding. Thank goodness my body has adjusted somewhat.

We enjoyed the morning before bringing Shep back to our home full of crazy! 

We dressed Shep in his coming home gown.  It's the same gown that Holden wore. We had these made for the twins and am hopeful that we'll start a tradition to bring all our family babies home in these.

We wrapped Shep up and headed out!

My Mom and Dad came to help us out of the hospital. With the twins, everyone had gone home and leaving the hospital was an awful experience. I felt sick the whole ride downstairs and Jay had to push our cart and we didn't get any pictures! I was thankful we had help carrying our stuff and taking pictures! It was also nice to wait with my mom while Jay got the car.

This waiting area is hot as hell. Both pregnancies I thought I was going to pass out at this point!

So tiny!

Can't wait to get this guy home!

I had to take a picture of us pulling up to the house with our little guy. I also took a little video of the ride home.

The stork and big brother, big sister stars

First thing we did when we got home was put on comfy pjs and snuggle. My parents went out to get some food and we had our first big family dinner. 

I can't get over these toes! They are so long!

Shep's first sleep at home

I am a firm believer in babies sleeping in their cribs. We feed, love, and swaddle our babies and then put them in their crib for their first night at home. All of ours have been great sleepers!

Hospital Day 2

Day 2 was nice and calm. Shep had an ultrasound on his kidney which didn't show much. We scheduled another ultrasound for one month out to get a better check. 

7:30am and he's snoozing!

Happy Due Day!

My mom came by to hang out while Jay went in to work. She watched Shep and I was able to take a shower and get ready. That first shower felt great!

my mom took a few pictures of me with baby shep. he seriously is the sweetest baby.

While we were at the hospital the stork arrived at our house!

jay came back in the afternoon and we napped and hung out with Shep. We tried to soak in all the time we could before we brought him home to the chaos!

that night my parents brought us a nice bottle of champs and sushi. man did I miss sushi!

last sleep in the hospital! We had made arrangements to leave the following day!