Ryley...2 weeks old!

It's amazing how fast time goes!  I can't believe it's already been 2 weeks since Ryley was born!  Of course, having two kids is definitely more time consuming than just one and I'm realizing I haven't posted pictures like I said I would!  I'm determined not to become one of those parents that has a MILLION pictures of the first born and only a handful of any kids after that!  Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks with Ryley, as well as Grayson!  

I turned the big 3-0 on the 12th.  It happened to be the first day alone with the boys since Will had to go to work and my mom flew in that night.  Will got me a cake and he and Grayson sang "happy birthday" after dinner that night while Ryley slept in his bouncy seat.  

Grandma Sand is now here for a couple weeks and Grayson is loving having "Papa" here!  Our goal by the end of her visit is to get him to stop calling her "papa" :)

Grayson has found it fun to sit in Ryley's bouncy seat and tip backwards since he's so heavy.  At least he's only tried to climb in Ryley's swing once!  

Ryley had his 2 wk appt today.  He's 9 pounds now and almost 21 inches long!  I'm guessing they didn't get a good measurement when he was born for height since they measured him at 18.5 inches.  I find it hard to believe he's grown over 2 inches in 2 weeks!  He's doing well though and so far has been an easier baby than Grayson was with sleeping (knock on wood!).  Hopefully it stays that way and continues to get even better at night!!  

Dancing with cousin Addie

My sister, Laura, and her daughter, Addie, came to visit for a week after Christmas.  Grayson and Addie had fun dancing together.  This video was taken a day or two before Ryley decided to join us!  

Christmas Morning

I finally got around to downloading video from Christmas.  Here is Grayson on Christmas morning.  

Aunt Laura and Addie Visit

My sister, Laura, and her daughter, Addie, came to visit for a week after Christmas.  They got here on the 27th from Ohio and stayed until the 1st.  Of course their visit seemed too short to me since we ended up having Ryley while they were here so I felt like I only got to spend the first couple days with them and then I was either preoccupied with contractions or in the hospital for the rest.  :(  In the first couple days they were here however, we did manage to have some fun around town.  We found our new favorite ice cream shop with them, and had fun playing at the park.  

Addie reading "Tickle Monster" with Uncle Will

 The winter here in Savannah, feels more like fall to me.  It had a crisp fall breeze part of the time they were visiting and finally trees are starting to loose more leaves.  This meant lots of leaves to play in at the park!  First though, Grayson had to do his favorite thing with Addie and feed the ducks. :)  

Afterwards, as we headed back to the playground the kids found the big piles of leaves and played in those for a long time.  Grayson found it lots of fun to play with Addie and would try to do everything she was doing. He loved trying to throw them high in the air like her and would fall down into the leaves when she did.  Eventually, he found a bench and had fun putting one leaf at a time through a crack in the bench.  He also had fun tackling Aunt Laura.  I guess this was just the first of multiple trips to the park for them since Laura had the kids on her own part of Friday and all of Saturday.  They ended up going to the park each day and having lots of fun again with the leaves.  In fact, when Will and I took Gray to the park this week, the first thing he said when we got there was "Addie??  Where she go??"  Too bad they don't live closer for us to see them more often!  At least we're within driving distance now!

One of the last evenings that I spent with them, Addie, Grayson and Will had a tea party.  Addie had brought her new tea set mat that she got for Christmas and Grayson had fun pretending to drink and giving Daddy a drink.  

Later on, Grayson showed us his dance moves and then Grayson gave Daddy a horsey ride while Addie rode on Will. :)

It was wonderful to have my sister and niece here for the week, I just wish I could have spent more of it with them!  It was great timing for her to meet little Ryley though before she had to leave.  Grayson loved playing with his cousin as well and still talks about her when we do something that he had done with Addie last week.  Hopefully we get to see them again soon!  

Ryley Cooper Campbell

I'm sure many of you have heard already, but Ryley Cooper Campbell was born December 31st at 11:22 am!  He weighed 8 lbs and was 18.5 inches long.  Will got his wish for a tax break after all!  He's just about the same size Grayson was when he was born, but has a little more hair and it seems to be more of a light brown color.  It'll be interesting to see if it changes color and gets blonde like his big brother. :)  

I had heard from many people that the second baby goes faster than the first so I was in high hopes of that happening this time!  However, it sadly was NOT in the beginning!  Our experience with the Army hospital though wasn't the greatest starting out though which I think had a great deal in how slow things went.  I started having contractions at 1am Friday morning.  They were typically about 6 minutes apart so we headed into the hospital that afternoon.  However, once I got into the triage room they slowed down and they sent me home.  We let the staff know that Grayson was the same way and I had to be given Pitocin with that labor to get things moving.  However, since my water hadn't broken yet they didn't want to admit me into the hospital.  I was told to come back when my water broke or contractions were 3-5 min apart.  Contractions continued to grow stronger and more painful throughout the night, but remained irregular.  After another sleepless night for myself and only able to take Tylenol every 6 hrs for the pain, once everyone else was awake Will and I headed back to the hospital around 8 Saturday morning.  My sister Laura happened to be visiting for the week with her daughter Addie so it was perfect timing so Gray could stay home with her.  Once at the hospital for the second time, we were unsure at first if nurses were going to admit me, but when they got ahold of the Dr on call he said to go ahead and he'd break my water.  After we got into the delivery room, things finally went quickly as people say it should with a second baby!  Thank goodness!!  Turned out I was already 8 cm dilated and contractions came on steady once the water was broke.  I was able to get an epidural about 40 min before Ryley was born.  However, due to my back surgery it didn't take very well since I was having a lot of back labor pain.  After looking back, I realize I probably could have just gone without any epidural since it was only 10 minutes of pushing and Ryley was born!  I was terrified at the thought of pushing again for 3 hours like I had to with Grayson so I wanted the epidural just in case!  From the time I was admitted and in the delivery room to the time Ryley was born, it was only about 2 hrs.  While the day before was very discouraging to be sent home, I was thankful it was a quick delivery!  Unfortunately it was so quick that Will never had time to go back to the car to get my bag so we'd have the camera when Ryley came!  We never did get the typical photos of Ryley being weighed and measured.  Below are pictures we took when my sister came with Grayson and Addie, her daughter, that afternoon to visit.  

Grayson noticed the baby right away when they came in to the room and wanted to see the baby.  However, he didn't want to hold him and it took a little coaxing to get him to give baby brother a kiss on the head.  :)  Addie enjoyed getting to hold her new baby cousin and then Grayson and her colored for awhile so Aunt Laura could hold Ryley for a little while before both kids got antsy.  

My sister had planned on staying until New Years so she took the kids home and Will stayed with me and Ryley that first night in the hospital.  My friend, Mel, here in GA took Grayson the next day for him to go to her house and play with her girls.  Grayson was upset and didn't quite understand what was going on and where me and Will were.  He calmed down, but Will went home Sunday evening to stay with Grayson.  Grayson was very happy to see Daddy again and spend time with Will! 

The pediatrician said Ryley was doing well.  He passed all his screenings (i.e. jaundice, hearing) and was able to go home as soon as paperwork was done!  Ryley is eating well and has no problem getting the milk he wants!!  We're happy to be home and thankfully Will has the next 10 days off to stay home and help out with Grayson and Ryley.  Once he returns to work, my mom is coming to stay for a couple weeks until after Grayson's birthday.  It will be wonderful to still have an extra set of hands to help out with Grayson during the day for the rest of the month!  I'm tired, but don't feel like a Zombie like I did with Grayson.  We'll see how long it takes for that to hit! :)  Hopefully Ryley stays the same and will continue sleeping a good 4-5 hr stretch at night like he has the last two nights.  I'm not holding my breath for that though! :)  

More pictures will be posted next weekend so be sure to check back! :)