Natalee's New Born Pictures

This morning was Natalee Lynn's first professional photo shoot! What can I say, just like her brother, she is a natural and so photogenic! My precious little girl is becoming more beautiful everyday and she is only 7 days old. We were hoping she would stay awake for the pictures so we could capture her beautiful eyes on camera, and Natalee did exactly as we were hoping! Her pictures turned out amazing and Nico was right there in some of them looking as handsome as ever. I can't even believe how incredibly blessed I am to have these two gorgeous angels in my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you God!

Be prepared to be wowed!!!

Introducing, Natalee Lynn...When 3 turns into 4

Natalee Lynn decided to grace us with her presence exactly 12 days early! She is so incredibly tiny, absolutely beautiful and wonderful and everything perfect!!! So, you want to hear about the birth story huh? Ok then....

One week ago today, our little family of 3 went to watch a some football at a friend's house and by the end of the night we had become a family of 4. During the game, Ed and I sat on the couch watching the Patriots and the Ravens duel it out, while every 5 minutes I poked my husband to indicate I was having yet another contraction. Now these contractions, although pretty close, were not painful, just very slightly uncomfortable so we were not too worried. We headed home after the game, but thankfully stopped to fill up the car with gas and check the air in the tires. The next couple of hours I spent sitting on the bed organizing pictures. A little before 8:00 pm, I stood up to go get Nico ready for bed, and oops...my water broke! Still not convinced that I was going into labor, I called Dr. Tabor just to see what he would say. Surprisingly he said to head on over to the hospital and we would probably need to have this baby! What a shocker...

With Nico safe and sound at his aunt Lisa's house for the night, and Gigi on the road, Ed and I arrived at the hospital at about 9:30 pm and by the time I was checked in, I was in quite a bit of pain. Ed was a wonderful coach, helping me breath and focus until the anthesteiologist arrived. I was 3 cm dilated and only an hour and a half later I was 9.5 cm! Labor moved quickly and thanks to the sweet relief of the epidural, I was able to deliver Natalee with very little stress.











Natalee Lynn was born exactly at 12:00 am on January 23, 2012; weighing 7 lbs, 6 oz, 19.25 in long and is so beautiful, and I am amazed every time I look at her that she is ours. Natalee is another incredible miracle and gift from God. Unlike Nico's birth, there were absolutely no complications, which is such a blessing. The hospital stay, with exception of the food, was a good experience. We started out on the right foot, by getting the best labor and delivery nurse! She was really amazing and stepped right in another labor coach when needed. Before leaving the hospital, Natalee was diagnosed with slight jaundice and after four consecutive days of blood tests for bili rubin levels, her risk level dropped.











Nico has been such a joy in all of this change and comotion. He is a very proud big brother, and wants to always know "Where's the baby" and "what's Natalee doing?" His teachers tell me that he has been talking nonstop about his baby/little sister, and one of the managers took a couple of picture of him standing tall and proud in front of the "Congratulations Nico" sign that was posted on his classroom door. He also has been insisting on wearing his "big brother" shirts every day! Nico may be a proud big brother, but I am most certainly a proud mamma.


















Stay tuned because there will be many, many more pictures to come...

Moved Addresses

The website of http://inthelifeofnico.blogspot.com no longer exists. The chapter in our life of Nico being the center of our world is now complete. Nico now is sharing that that love and attention with his baby sister Natalee. Thus, this blog's original address has changed to http://nicoandnatalee.blogspot.com. Please continue to read and follow the the life of Nico and now the life of Natalee, two amazing gifts from God.

My little guy is growing up...and becoming a little athlete!

As you probably read, Nico got his first bike, a tricycle, as well as a t-ball set for Christmas. I can say that this kid has some natural athletic ability, which is no thanks to me! There is no doubt he got these skills from his Daddy because his Mommy has zero athletic ability.

The bike riding is fun, but tiring for the little guy, which is understandable. His legs still seem just slightly too short for the pedaling to be easy, yet he pedals away until his little legs get too tired. I am sure with more practice Nico will soon be Mr. Speedy on his tricycle.






T-ball is where we can really some talent emerging. There is a chance that he may just be a lefty....he can catch (sort of), certainly can throw and loves hitting that ball! It is a wonderful sound to this mother's ears hearing Nico excitedly ask Daddy to go outside to play ball with him. It will be fun to watch him play t-ball on team in a couple of months. My little man is growing up and while in a way it is sad for this Momma to let her baby boy go, it is really fun to watch this awesome kid grow into what God intended for him.

Going Under

Back in October I took Nico to his semi annual dentist appt. It turned out that the dentist saw, after struggling to get x rays from the little man, a baby tooth which needed to be cleaned out. Basically, a mini root canal! He said it looked liked the tooth decay was developmental did not occur due to lack of dental hygiene. So you would think this really would not be a big deal, but on a three year old it is. Since there is no way someone would be able to give Nico a shot in his mouth and then expect him to stay still, full anesthesia was required. Well, we finally got the insurance and everything in order to schedule the procedure. Since the appt was made at the last moment (the day before the actual procedure), Daddy couldn't be there, so it was just me and Nico on our way to the Pediatric Surgery Center early Thursday morning. It is funny, because I was most worried about Nico not understanding that he would be unable to eat or drink until everything was said and done, but he did very well. The little guy did great all around and was in a great mood waiting around in the hospital.

Once the nurse called us back into a room Nico was able to enjoy himself by watching Tangled and reading books. After they got his vitals, Nico was given a nasal spray to "relax" him. This way he did not have a care in the world when they separated us to take the little guy back. I was told that in order to put him to sleep they gave him a mask and once he was down an IV was put in.

Here is Nico just sitting back relaxing in his room.


After about an hour, I was called back and was told that the little baby root canal they thought they were going to need to do, was not needed. The tooth was not as bad as the x rays had showed, so they only had to cap it; however, since he was sleeping, the dentist took thorough x rays which showed another slight cavity developing. So Nico ended up with a cap and a filling before the end of the day, which was a little disturbing since I do brush his teeth twice a day and have been doing so since he turned 1 year old. Hopefully, this will be all the tooth problem which occur at least for quite some time.

Once Nico started waking up I was called into the back again, but this time as I walked through the doors, I could hear my baby boy crying...maybe screaming is the right word. Yep, that is pretty scary for a Mommy to hear. Thankfully he recognized me, but otherwise, Nico was completely not in his conscious state. I held him (the best I could with my very large tummy) and tried to calm him down and comfort him. Poor Nico was so bothered by the IV in his foot. He tried yanking it out and kept yelling, "Owie, owie!"
Between one of the nurses and myself we wear finally able to get some water down him, which then allowed for the IV to come out, which I am sure this was a relief for Nico.

Nico fell asleep in the car on the way home and was very content was he was settled in at home in Mommy's and Daddy's bed, watching Lion King, and drinking chocolate milk.


After about an hour or so, there was no telling that Nico had been under anestheisia, had any dental work done, or had a traumatizing awakening. My brave little guy never complained about his teeth hurting and bounced back very quickly!