Annual Gingerbread House Party

I was asked if I was crazy several times the week of Charlie's birth. You see, we have had our Gingerbread House Party every year we have lived in Wilmington, and I was determined to do it again this year, regardless if I did happen to come home with a new baby the day before! We had a great time! My mom and I made all the houses the week of Thanksgiving and got everything ready and laid out just before Ryan and I left for the hospital. Fun was definitely had by all!

We have turned our little decorating party into quite the competition. The rules are that each family can bring one "extra secret" item but was left to share all the goodies/decorating items that were on the counter. We have one hour to decorate and then a chance to describe our masterpieces. This year we were amazed once again by the creativity of our friends. We, thanks to the craziness of our lives this year, didn't quite strategize and just created a "normal" house, but we are happy with it!

DJ and Sherry claimed the title of "Decorator Extraordinaire" once again this year with their incredible house. They let their boys decorate the outside and they created a family home on the inside, complete with iPhone fireplace! Way to go! Next year Ryan and I will have to bring our A-game!

Anthony and Shelley and their girls made a bus and in their explanation Caroline sand the "Wheels on the Bus" song. It was adorable!

Jacob may have eaten more candy than he put on the house, but that is part of the fun!

Samuel also had his share of candy, and daddy's share, and mommy's share and Charlie's share. He ate more candy that night than maybe all the days of his sweet little life! He had a blast!

Charlie even joined in!

The Carpenter girls convinced Parks to create a Pink Palace, complete with a beautiful ballerina! Good thing he is ok with PINK, he's going to be surrounded it for a LONG time!

Snatching some more candy! Pretty creative, he pushed his toy table over so he could reach the counter!

The Laniers creating their "love nest"

The winning house. Horrible picture, certainly doesn't do it justice!

LK holding Charlie. She is so sweet with the babies and is always wanting to hold one of them. She is a great big sister and I am sure will make a great babysitter and mom one day!

Charlie's Birth

Charles "Charlie" Robert Powell was born on Wednesday, December 7 at 4:24 in the afternoon. To say this labor/delivery was much better than Samuel's is the understatement of the year! First of all my due date was the 4th, so I was already eagerly awaiting Charlie's arrival. We went to see our doctor on Monday and began talking about an induction. I was somewhat hesitant, but anxious at the same time. My induction with Samuel led to a 22 hour labor, an epidural that didn't work and lots of pain. Needless to say I wasn't super ready to jump at the opportunity for another induction. Our doctor assured us that second children come faster, even with an induction, and that it was probably best to induce sooner than later based on how big Samuel was at birth. So we set the date, I was to report at the hospital at 5am on Wednesday.

I got ready to go in and called the hospital but they told me to hold off until 8, so we rested a little more (and by we, I mean Ryan!) and then loaded up the van and headed out! They broke my water at 10 and my contractions started to get a little stronger and more consistent. Our friend from church, who happens to be an anesthesiologist, just happened to be working at the hospital that morning and came for a visit. He kindly offered to put in my epidural for me, which was so kind! Right after the epidural was in they started me on a little pitocen to get the contractions more regular and stronger, and man did it work! Within about 20 minutes they were VERY strong and coming closer together. The epidural kicked in and I was able to nap for about an hour and a half before it was time to push. Our awesome nurse came to check me and at first I was 7cm dilated, then moments later she said, "no, I think you're about 8" and then seconds later, "and now you're 9, let's have this baby!". Ryan happened to be out in the hall talking with one of our friends, so I texted him to make his way back here, that our little man was on his way!

A few pushes later and Charlie was here. Moments after he was born, before we could cut the chord, it broke, causing Charlie to loose some fluids/blood. He was quickly taken to the incubator and the Neonatal nurses came in to check on him. Because, though it was a "small" amount, Charlie lost fluids they took him down to the NICU to monitor him. We were certainly concerned, but knew he was in good hands. After 24 hours he was given the OK to leave the NICU and come up to the room with Ryan and me. We stayed another night in the hospital so Charlie could continue to be monitored, and then came home on Friday afternoon.

Charlie has been a wonderful addition and the best Christmas present to date! He is sleeping well, eating well, and overall very happy!

Samuel giving Charlie a "chiss"

BeBe meeting Charlie

Samuel telling us where Charlie is.

What a good big brother. Sharing Daddy's phone already! Let's see if this keeps up!

The very proud big brother

Just hanging out

Getting ready to come home from the hospital

We made it home

Just Melts my Heart

Catching Sweet and not so Sweet Moments!

Samuel's BeBe bought him some balls a while back and as a fun "big brother" gift she got another bag to make our little pool a little more full! Samuel and Daddy had a blast last night playing in the ball pit, throwing the balls so they hit the fan and fly across the room, and jumping off the side of the bed into the pool. Well fun was had by all...until Samuel fall in the balls and banged his head on the side of the bed. We have quite the cut and a BIG swollen eye. There were lots of tears and hugs last night, a fight to put a bandaid on the side and ice, but we made it through!

Today his eye is black and blue but doesn't seem to bother him! He even asked for the balls first thing when he woke up, so the memory of the pain must be gone!!! I walked towards his room this afternoon and I found this sweet picture of BeBe and Samuel doing a puzzle. He is learning to recognize his letters so well and even other words that start with those letters! I love my big "buddy" so much and it is so fun to see how he is developing!

Check out that bruiser! A story to tell for sure! He seems to be unfazed by it!

Introducing Charlie

Our sweet "little man" was born Wednesday, December 7th at 4:24pm. I will write about his birth soon, but wanted to share a few pictures now. He is one week old today, smiles sometimes after he has a full belly and sleeps amazingly! We are so excited to have him here with us and are excited to get to know his little personality as he grows!

Monkey Joes

Mom and I took Samuel to Monkey Joes today. We had never been there but it looked like a place that Samuel would LOVE! We were right. He ran from one thing to another, smiling and exclaiming "A-ha" with each new discover and challenge conquered. We had a great time...a new and fun place for rainy winter days!

A funny site I'm sure...crazy pregnant lady trying to climb the wall!

Going down the slide all by himself!

Taking a break from jumping to drive the fire truck.

He was excited!

One final slide before heading home! Fun was had by all!

Gingerbread Men

Of course we had to go ahead with our annual Gingerbread House Decorating party/competition regardless of the fact that baby #2 still hasn't made his arrival! My mom has been here helping me decorate for Christmas, get the laundry done, making meals to put in the freezer, etc. She has really been a life saver! Well, she has been helping me make the houses and with the leftover dough we decided to make some gingerbread men. Samuel was very excited to help out!!!

Testing the dough. Quickly telling us it tasted "Yucky" and then ate another piece.

Showing me his rolling pin and mouthful of dough.

Making handprints

My cute little cheeseball

Can you tell which ones Samuel cut out?