Life at Home with a New Baby!

Nixon's first few days home proved to be better than Mom could have imagined! 

Thanks to all the help she had (from Dad, Grandma Joanie, and Uncle Will), and the fact that Nixon has been incredible, life wasn't too crazy!

Over the weekend Uncle Will and Grandma Joanie took Macie and I to our school carnival while Mom stayed home and worked on feeding Nixon.  The four of us had a great time playing games, eating snacks, and enjoying the entertainment.

After a full afternoon of fun, we were still up for more action.  Dad had been at work all day helping his staff get ready for the Spooktacular at Lifetime, and we couldn't wait to get ready and go!

Because October was a busy month for our family, Mom informed us that Halloween would be very low key this year.  That meant no fancy costumes.  For the Spooktacular, Mom pulled down some boxes of old Halloween outfits and let us choose.

Macie was Strawberry Shortcake:

I was a Zombie Bride:

And Presley was a Fire Cracker!

We showed up at Lifetime ready to party!

We had fun taking pictures with characters, and getting hair and makeup done!

Presley had fun entertaining the crowd with her smiles!

At school that next week we had themed dress up days.  Backwards day was Mom's favorite:

Superhero Day:

Sports Team Day:

While we were at school, Mom and Grandma Joanie were at home keeping the little ones company.  Mom spent lots of time with Nixon, and Grandma and Presley found all sorts of fun things to do.  Check out Presley playing with Jackson's muzzle in the yard...

Grandma and Presley sure had some fun times together!

According to Mom, Nixon has been an amazing baby!  He started sleeping for a 6 hour stretch overnight on day 5, but poor Mom still had to get up every 3 hours.  He is a lot like Presley was as a baby.  He sleeps, eats, poops, sleeps, and doesn't cry much.  Mom hopes he continues to be so perfect!

Dad is having a blast with his new son! 

Tomorrow all the girls, and Nixon, will head to Arizona for Aunt Hayley's wedding.  There is lots of anxiety over this upcoming trip, but Mom is fortunate to have help.  We will be traveling by car from Nevada to Scottsdale, Arizona with Mom, Grandma Joanie, 2 kids, a toddler, and a 6 day old baby?!??  We plan to stay for about a week, and have tons of activities planned for our trip. 

Check back soon to hear all about it...

Nixon Frankwick is here!!!!

 Nixon Xavier Frankwick 

Born October 22nd at 4:49pm.  

6lbs 15oz, 20in.

It was a good thing Mom took those maternity pictures, because at her next doctor's appointment the doctor checked Mom and informed her that she was dilated to 7cm and needed to go straight to the hospital.  Of course Mom went home first (in her defense she wasn't feeling any contractions and figured she'd be OK for an hour).  She cleaned up, packed the car, prepared our school items for the following day, and waited for Dad to finish up at work. They were both so grateful that after all the anxiety over the past weeks, the timing of the birth worked out perfectly. Grandma Joanie had flown in from Wisconsin a few days earlier, and stayed home with Presley while Will was able to pick us up from school.

Mom and Dad went to the hospital mid day.  When they checked in Mom wasn't feeling her contractions, so her and Dad hung out together while the doctors filled out the admittance paperwork and waited for a birthing room- apparently tons of women were having babies that day.  Once a room was open, the nurses took Mom back.  She was fortunate that she didn't feel like she was in labor, because they sure took their sweet time.

After the doctor on call checked Mom, he informed her that they were going to break her water. Mom and Dad knew that go time would come quick.  They broke her water at 4:20 pm, and the timer began.  After 15 minutes Mom got a little concerned that she wasn't feeling any contractions, and hoped that labor would not linger on for hours(I guess you never know). Hayley wanted to make sure the baby beat Presley's record of 39 minutes, so the pressure was on. After 20 minutes Mom only had a single contraction and then out of nowhere she got 3 BIG ones in 3 minutes and knew it was time to push.  The baby was born less than a few minutes later, and Mom was shocked at how fast everything happened- under 29 minutes!  The doctor jokingly stated (over and over) that Mom should have babies for a living.

Mom and Dad named him Nixon (no reference to the president or the watch company, Mom just thought it was different and sounded cool).

Mom breathed a sigh of relief when the doctors handed her a healthy baby boy!

She didn't get a chance to hold him long.  The doctors quickly took him to bathe, weigh, etc.

It seemed like forever before they handed him back to her.  She was so happy that she didn't want to put him down.

She finally let go of him when she realized that Dad needed, and really wanted, to hold his new son.

When the nurses took the baby for some testing Dad went home to put Macie, Presley, and I to bed.  That evening he came back with Grandma Joanie and everyone took turns passing him around.

The first night in the hospital, Nixon slept incredibly well.  Mom would have if the nurses didn't wake her up every 3 hours!  The following day Mom sat in bed admiring Nixon and waiting for the doctors to release her.

It wasn't until the evening that a doctor finally came to see both Mom and the baby. By that time the doctors informed Mom that she needed to stay an additional 24 hours for observation, and poor Mom almost lost it.  I guess sitting in a hospital bed eating and watching tv isn't mom's idea of a good time.  Luckily she had a buddy to keep her company.

Mom and Nixon were FINALLY released from the hospital that following afternoon and we were all eager to meet our new brother (thanks to a hospital policy and current health concerns, children under 16 were not allowed to visit the hospital). 

Mom couldn't wait to bring him home to his family!

Dad was pretty excited as well; he couldn't wait to share football Sunday with Nixon.

When they got home, Macie, Presley, and I were all playing outdoors with Grandma Joanie.  When Mom came through the door Presley shrieked with joy and ran to look at the new baby.  We were all shocked at her acceptance of the baby.

Macie and I couldn't believe that our new brother was finally here!!

Nixon's first night home was a success.  We all went to bed on time, and Nixon slept well for a newborn.  The next morning, Mom and Dad let us hold him.  We couldn't believe how small he was...

The first 4 days flew by SO fast, and Dad never stopped smiling.

We have a TON of stuff going on over the next week; a trip to AZ, Halloween, a wedding- life is going to be crazy!  Mom, Grandma, Macie, Presley, Nixon, and I leave town Wednesday morning, so the next few days are going to be spent packing and preparing.  Mom is fortunate to have Will and Grandma at home because poor Dad has a club grand opening at the beginning of November and is swamped at work. I

Check back soon to see how we survived it all.