Introducing Addison Sue!

Meet the newest addition to our little family, Addison Sue Butler! Addison was born on Sunday, November 22 at 11:45am. She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20 ½ inches long.

**Pictures below. Scroll down to skip this and get to the good stuff!**

Throughout my pregnancy, I reminded my doctor how fast my labor and delivery was with Greyson (just under four hours from the time my water broke and contractions began to the time he was born!), so I frequently asked him about the option to induce labor. As long as she was healthy and developmentally ready, we were all on board to deliver a baby in a much more controlled experience than Greyson’s whirlwind birth. The original due date was November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. At my weekly OB appointment on Wednesday, my doctor scheduled to induce the following Sunday, November 22, if she did not arrive before then. I was on pins and needles for the next 3 loooong days. Every day I went to work, I hoped I would make it through the work day so that I would be home with Blake when we needed to go to the hospital. I thanked God when I made it through Wednesday afternoon. Then Thursday. And then Friday. Any time after Friday at 5pm was OK with me. With Blake at work in San Antonio and Greyson at daycare and me at work in New Braunfels, we had plans and back-up plans. Luckily, she was a good little girl and kept everything as planned. 

We arrived at the hospital around 7am and met Nannie and Guppie there so they could take care of Greyson while we were in the hospital. After all the paperwork, the nurse started my IV and Pitocin around 8am and waited for things to progress. When the nurse asked me how I was feeling, I obviously wasn’t in enough pain, so she bumped up the Pitocin to get things moving along. Around 10am, my doctor came in and broke my water and asked if I wanted to get my epidural now, or wait until I started feeling the contractions increase. For a split second I thought I would wait, but knowing how my last delivery went, I changed my mind and decided to get it now. I’m glad I did, because by the time the anesthesiologist was available, the contractions were getting intense (although they were nothing compared to what I experienced with Greyson!).  I was not looking forward to this part. I hate needles. I nearly passed out when I had blood drawn at one of my first prenatal appointments. I made it through without fainting and soon began to feel the tingly sensation in my toes as the epidural took effect. Soon after, my nurse was informed that they were over-staffed and that she would probably be sent home soon, but things were progressing very quickly so she didn’t want to go home just yet! Each time she checked on me, she had to move the baby heart monitor on my belly lower and lower. She told us she wouldn’t be surprised if we had a baby before noon! Soon after, she checked me again and was surprised to see that it was almost time! She called Dr. Young in, and a few minutes and a couple of pushes later, we finally got to see our little girl, Addison Sue! Dr. Young and the nurse were both surprised how quickly everything happened, all while I was saying, “See?! I told y’all this baby was going to come fast!” 

Addison Sue arrived at 11:45am, just 15 minutes before kickoff for the Cowboys vs. Dolphins game (Blake didn’t get to watch the game, but it was one of the four games the Cowboys won all season). We are blessed with another healthy, beautiful child and and all the love from family and friends!

Pre-game ice chips, breakfast of champs!

Our first snuggles! 

7 lbs 7 oz of pure perfection

  

Our first attempt at a family picture as a family of four...

    

  

  

  

Wurstfest

We celebrated New Braunfels' ten day salute to sausage with our annual Wurstfest outing last Friday for our fill of beer (for Blake), sausage, potato pancakes and polka music. Greyson was getting into the music with some pretty interesting dance moves. We bought him his very own Wurstfest hat and he loved it! He even got to ride a horse on the carousel with Daddy. 

Waiting on Baby Girl

We have finally completed everything in Baby Girl's room, and I love how it turned out! It's the only room decorated in the house, and just like Greyson's room, it is full of special touches. Blake repaired and refinished the dresser, which my sister Amy and I shared as kids (and I recently learned my mom and her sister also shared it as kids also!). He also built the bookshelf/cubbies by the crib. My mom made the curtains, bed skirt and even the crib sheet. I'm so glad she was up for the challenge of all the Pintrest projects I threw her way. What a great Nannie! Blake and I made the wooden sign that says "dream BIG little one", and I even found a place for a few of my beloved antique mason jars from our wedding. We are finishing up a wooden monogram to hang above the crib (name to be announced soon!! :P). Now we just need an adorable little baby to go with all this cuteness!

Nov 9 - 37 Weeks

Nov 16 - 38 Weeks

Opening Weekend at the Ranch

We headed out of town for the last time before Baby Girl's arrival for the opening weekend of deer season. Blake hunted Saturday and Sunday mornings, and I went along with him Saturday afternoon while Aunt Amy watched Greyson. It was a rainy, windy weekend so we didn't have much luck during our hunt, but Greyson sure had fun with Aunt Amy! Every time we got into the car the next week he asked, "Amy's house?!" 

Driving around the ranch to check the cows and put corn in the feeders.

Bowling in the hallway with water bottles and a beach ball. Aunt Amy is awesome!

Waving to the train with Grandpa.

Checking the pictures from the deer camera, just like Daddy.

Our awesome new deer blind can even accommodate 8 1/2 month pregnant hunters! So thankful for a sturdy set of stairs instead of an old ladder with missing rungs.

Videos

Greyson reading/singing 8 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, and as usual as soon as we started videoing him, he didn't do it as good as the first time. 

While we were sitting at the table eating supper one day, the TV was still on after a college football game and Wheel of Fortune came on. Greyson started saying "Eeee!" and "double ewwww!" like he had been watching the show for years. Since then, he loves to watch the letter game and try his hand at guessing the letters. I have heard of College Week, but I wonder if there is a "Toddler Week?" :)

36 Weeks and Counting...

We are about one month away from welcoming our baby girl! I feel like my belly doubles in size in my sleep! She is doing good and the measurements from my latest sonogram on November 2 estimated her to be about 6 lbs 8 oz with long legs. Greyson was about the same size at this point, so we will see if she is close to his birth weight too (7 lbs 11 oz). I was a little disappointed that most of  the sonogram pictures were not clear. She was hiding her face behind her hands the whole time! She's already going to be a stubborn one... must get that from her Daddy! ;) 

Happy Halloween!

After the horrifying weather the day before, we spent a beautiful Halloween day prepping Baby Girl's room. Blake and Greyson were in the garage finishing painting and putting new hardware on a dresser while I got her room organized. The dresser is completely done and ready to be filled!

Later that evening, Greyson happily put on his Buzz Lightyear costume, and I even convinced Blake to dress as his buddy, Woody. Blake already had everything on hand, so it was an easy impromptu costume. Plus, Blake's resemblance to Woody was an added bonus ;)  Greyson was amazed that Daddy was Woody! This was Greyson's first time to go trick-or-treating. We practiced saying it throughout the week, but he was being shy when it came time to ask. Just when he was close to getting over his shyness a few stops later, the scary Halloween props had him back hiding behind Daddy, so we headed back home to hand out candy. We all ate a few pieces of candy between the trick-or-treaters stopping by and we experienced Greyson's first sugar high! He was literally beating on his chest and yelling, so we hid the rest of the candy from him. 

All done!

Before and After

Buzz Lightyear and Woody

You got a friend in me.

Candy!!!

Working on another project the next day. "Momma.... I painting!"

Tornadoes

We woke up to some pretty severe weather on Friday, October 30. A few minutes before Greyson and I were to leave the house for daycare and work, Blake called to tell me about the weather alerts and tornado warning he heard on the radio. It was raining at our house, and by the time I had Greyson buckled up, everything for his Halloween festival loaded up and myself in the car, the weather had gotten much, much worse. I could barely close my car door using both hands because the wind was so strong. I pulled up the radar on my phone while we sat in the driveway. The worst part of the storm was sitting right over us, so I grabbed Greyson and ran back inside the house. The power went out, but Greyson was entertained by a flashlight while I grabbed blankets and (calmly!) tried to decide the best place for us to take cover. The rain finally began to let up, but the wind was still pretty strong. We waited for another 45 minutes before trying to leave again. It took me twice as long to get to Greyson's daycare since one of the main roads to IH-35 in New Braunfels was flooded and had traffic backed up. When I got to work, I heard on the radio that the Guadalupe River bridge, just down the road from my office, had just been closed, and as I stepped out of my car at work, I heard the flood sirens going off.

When I got to the office, I started hearing reports that a tornado had hit the Geronimo area - less than a mile from our house. A few minutes later, I heard about a tornado that hit the main street of D'Hanis earlier in the morning. It was quite an eerie coincidence. There is a lot of heartbreaking destruction in D'Hanis and around Geronimo, but I am very thankful that everyone made it through unharmed. 

Historical buildings on the main street in D'Hanis.

My dad's friend owned this shop that he used for storage... including an old Camaro.

The old jailhouse in D'Hanis.

This used to be a two-story building. 

Happy day, Momma!

My birthday was October 27, so Blake took Greyson to pick out a cake and card for me. He has been watching the movie "Happy Feet" lately, so naturally he picked out a card with a penguin on it. Blake said it took him a while, so he must have been searching for the perfect card. They surprised me with an Oreo cake (Greyson also convinced Daddy to buy him a Halloween cupcake) and when they got home Greyson came running down the hallway saying, "Happy day, Momma! Happy day!" I love these boys!

Assembling a storage shelf for Baby Sissser.

Buzz Lightyear Dress Rehearsal

Greyson was so excited to see his Buzz Lightyear Halloween costume! I have been hiding it for a few weeks, knowing that we might end up going to daycare or the grocery store with him dressed as Buzz every day until Halloween if I didn't. He loved the costume and flying "to infinity and beyond", just like Buzz. He was even trying to push the little red "laser" buttons printed on the sleeve. 

We also had a Mickey sighting a few days later.