hello Grandpa and Grandma

Dad and Mom brought big brother up to the hospital as soon as I made it to my room and everyone got to meet E.  D and I were so thankful to have them here with us for two weeks. E got in lots of snuggles from these two over those two weeks and I got lots of naps and meals and never had to worry about transporting C anywhere thanks to them! Yep, I pretty much hibernated for two weeks. 

Daddy time

D did an amazing job at the hospital keeping me calm before and during surgery and later taking care of E while I was stuck in bed. He spent all 3 nights with me despite the terrible so called bed he had to sleep in. I'm so thankful for my amazing husband and his heart that loves me and the boys unconditionally. 

Finally in my arms

Some sweet first moments with my little Ethan finally in my arms. 

Brothers

C's first time to hold his baby brother! He was very ready to give it a try, but only held him for a few minutes before he said he was all done. C quickly told D "thanks for learning me how to hold the baby". Since we've been home he is always ready and willing to hold little E and has been a fabulous big brother! 

Introducing Ethan David Loyd!

Born on Feb 27th at 11:20 am. 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 1/2 inches. Fearfully and Wonderfully made!

Ready....Set...Go

 one last belly shot

one last sono to check baby's position

Having a planned cesarean certainly caused me a lot of nervousness in the weeks and days leading up to Feb 27th, but by the grace of God on the day of the surgery I had amazing peace and the day went amazingly well. D and I certainly felt the many prayers being lifted up on our behalf and for that we are so thankful to our friends and family.

Learning to read

 A story that C can read now! I'm amazed that less than 3 months ago he couldn't read at all.

C and I embarked on a little endeavor together about 100 days ago that has been one of the best and most rewarding decisions I could have made for him at this time. I ordered the book "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons" by Siegfried Engelmann. After reading lots of rave reviews, I decided that C was at the perfect age to give it  a try. He knew his alphabet and sounds well, but didn't know how to read many words and I was always confused at how to help him with words that couldn't be easily sounded out. This book was foolproof for me as a teacher and made our 15-20 minutes lessons each day usually the funnest part of my day bonding with him. My goal was to finish before the baby arrived, but it looks like we'll make it to lesson 91 which isn't bad! I am so proud of my little (I guess big) guy! We are now checking out Star Wars easy reader books from the library and he is getting such a kick out of reading them himself. :)

The belly picture

So here we are with only 10 more days to go until we meet our new little guy. It's been a smooth sailing pregnancy just like it was with C, but as a bonus this time around I haven't had any swelling so I can still wear my ring and shoes. Maybe with the last pregnancy the swelling had more to do with the fact that we moved to HOT and HUMID FL in July. :) Whatever the reason, I'm thankful that I'm not having to wear flip flops because that wouldn't work out as well here! The time has really flown by and I am getting nervous and excited for the 27th. I'm scheduled for a c-section that morning and would appreciate your prayers that day! Dad and Mom will be arriving next week and we are so excited to have them here supporting and helping us out. Can't wait to introduce you all to our new family member.

Beach time

Just spending some time in Mama Sue's backyard. We were able to spend 5 days after D's training was over at Mama Sue's house. The view from her living room never gets old. The water temps were a little too cold for swimming, but the conditions were perfect for seashell picking. We had a great time visiting and can't wait to have Mama Sue back with us in NY in March!

Legoland

Here we are taking in a little 4D movie. This was my favorite part of the day since I couldn't go on any of the rides.
C got his very first caricature done. The picture turned out so cute of him as a little Lego Jedi Knight with Lego Darth Vader.

C just recently got into Legos a longtime favorite hobby of D's since he was a little boy. This Christmas C had a Lego star wars advent calendar that sparked his interest in both Legos and star wars to the point that we knew we couldn't not take him to Legoland on this trip, plus Legoland is actually only about 5 minutes from where Mama Sue lives. The rides are all geared towards kids C's age so it proved to be the perfect amusement park for him. He could ride all the rides and loved every minute of our day there. The weather was perfect and we never had to wait in lines!

Resort living

D had his annual flight training in Orange County last week. C and I decided to tag along on the trip to California so we could see D's Mom and get some R&R and sunshine before little guy makes his arrival Feb 27th. We arrived in CA last Sat. and were able to take Mom along with us for 4 days at a resort near D's training in Newport Beach. C picked up a tummy bug and got sick on the drive to the resort and was down and out for the first couple of days, but thankfully recovered and was able to have some fun in the pool and children's activity area.