Grant's 2 month Stats

Better late than never. Grant weighed 12 lbs. 14 oz. at his 2 month checkup. He was 22.5 inches long. That puts him at 75% for weight and 50% for height. Brenna ran around 25% in both categories at this age. Guess Grant may end up built more like his momma. He has rolls on his legs, and a double chin. He has also found his thumb, which also means he now (for the most part) sleeps through the night. Yeah!!!

Below are some pictures of Brenna and Grant at around the same age. Can you tell who is who?

Pictures from Vacation

Brenna modeling her brand new jammies from the Disney outlet.
Outside Hillbilly Golf

Grant spent most of our adventures in this front pack.

The Hillbilly Golf Course

At the top of the course...you can barely see the bottom of the mountain.

View from the car that took us up.

Brenna, Papaw Bob, and a girl from the Dixie Stampede show.

At the top of our resort after our tour with the salesperson.

This is where the bears swim at Ober Gatlinburg. I thought it was extremely funny that one of their "toys" was a beer keg.

A bear lounging around.

Brenna at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium

Ripley's Aquarium

Brenna holding Grant at the Condo - Look how big he looks.

The flowers in the botanical gardens at the Biltmore were beautiful.

Brenna posing by a fountain in the Biltmore gardens

Brenna posing as if she is smelling the roses. She loves getting her picture taken.

Posing again. The light was really good for this one.

The front of The Biltmore

Gatlinburg

The Rogier family took its first vacation with Grant in September. We went to stay in Gatlinburg, and we were lucky enough to have Alex's parents, Bob and Trish, come with us. They were nice enough to keep the kiddos a couple of evenings so that Alex and I could go out and eat dinner on our own. Just being able to eat one's own food without telling Brenna to sit in her chair and eat her food or feeding Grant a bottle seems like a definitely luxury.

We did many fun activities. We spent one day at The Biltmore in Asheville, NC. That place is just amazing, and the winery is awesome. We also went to the Dixie Stampede, which Brenna loved. Then, I dropped some cash at the Outlet Malls in Sevierville. We took a cable car up to the top of the mountain in Gatlinburg called Ober Gatlinburg. There were bears and otters up there for Brenna to see. Then, on the way back down, we saw a bear in someone's backyard. That pretty much ensured that I will never be able to live in the mountains if bears show up in your backyard.

Last but certainly not least, we played Hillbilly Golf. This, if you have not tried it, is putt putt golf on the side of a mountain. They actually shuttle you up to the top of the course in a little car on a track. We had a great time, but Grant was tired of being hauled around in his pack by the end of it. I will post all of the pictures in the next post. Enjoy.

Thanks, Bob and Trish, for traveling with us and helping us out. We had a blast and would love to do it again.

Long time no post

So, it has obviously been a long time since I posted anything. Maternity leave has flown by, and I am actually going back to work on Monday at a new job at Mead Johnson. They make Enfamil formula and many other children oriented products. Crazy I know, but it seemed like an opportunity I couldn't pass up. So, below appear some updated pictures of Grant and Brenna, and I will try to get some pictures of our vacation to Gatlinburg up here soon. Enjoy!

Look at me...I smile now!

Week 1 - Going well so far!

Grandpa Alvey bought everyone ice cream at the zoo. He is the best!

Brady & Brenna in the canoe at the zoo.

Brady, Brenna & Matthew

Brenna, the Excellent Big Sister, with her Grandma Alvey & Grant

Grant with his eyes wide open. Obviously not screaming, which is so unlike his sister when she had her eyes open. :-)

Getting his first bath at home. So far, he doesn't like them.

The Rogier family has survived week one as a family of four. We have had many visitors this week to see Grant. My mom stayed most of the week to help out with Brenna and things around the house while I adjusted to life as a nursing mom again. Alex was able to stay home with us on Monday and Tuesday, but he returned to work on Wednesday so he could save the rest of his vacation for later in the year. My sister and her two boys came down Tuesday as did my dad. They ended up taking Brady and Brenna to Chuck E. Cheese on Tuesday night. They wore the kiddos out. Then on Wednesday, they went to the Evansville Zoo with Devin and Matthew Alvey. A great day was had by all. Bob and Trish, my in-laws, have been to visit, as have Diane and Kevin Alvey.

Our neighbors have been great. Two of them have brought meals since we have been home, which was an absolute blessing. It allowed me to not stress about fixing dinner between nursing sessions this past week. Thanks to the Braggs & the Crowleys! Tara also brought us a meatloaf that we have in the freezer for next week. My mom also cooked an excellent meal one night, so we have eaten like kings for the last week.

Grant had his one week check up on Friday. He has lost the total of one pound, and unfortunately, my milk supply doesn't seem to be satisfying him...he is such a big boy I guess. Therefore, we have already started supplementing with some formula. We will see how long I can keep up with him, and then he will have to be transitioned to formula before I head back to work. Frustrating to me, but I am having to roll with the punches this time.

Hospital Pictures are Posted!

If you want to see Grant's hospital pictures, go to the following website. Click on Grant R, and the password is grant.

http://www.mckevanportraits.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=search&showall=true&eventid=

Enjoy!

Grant David Rogier has arrived!!!

Well, I didn't have to make it another week from my last posting...just 3 more days. I worked half days for the last week, and Thursday night I started having labor pains. They were far enough apart and mild enough that I decided I needed to head to bed in order to sleep through as much of it as I could. Friday morning about 3 am, I woke up with pretty consistent labor pains, which kept me up until about 4:30 am. I went back to bed, dozed for awhile, and Alex got up about 6 am to get ready for work.

As he got ready, my contractions started coming harder and faster. At only 4 - 6 minutes apart, Alex decided maybe going to work wasn't a good idea, and we both sat in the living room timing contractions for the next 2 hours. Around 8 am, I called my mom and dad to tell them I thought it would be a good idea if they started heading this way to get Brenna. They arrived about 9:30 am, and as I was in quite a bit of pain at this point, we headed to my doctor's office. Ironically, my doctor was on vacation when Brenna was born, and once again, she was on vacation for Grant's arrival. The nurse practitioner checked me at the office to make sure I was in labor and gave me the great news that I was 6 cm already. I was ecstatic and still thought I might make it without an epidural at this point.

We got our room upstairs, Dr. Reisinger (who also delivered Brenna) came up and broke my water awhile later. I labored for another hour with 1 cm of progress. Then the pain started to get really bad, and I was at the point I was thinking I was going to get sick. The nurse said I hadn't made any further progress, so I decided that I couldn't make several more hours of this pain. The doctor came and started the epidural at 2:30. Given my past experience, they gave me extra fluids before the epidural and only gave me 1/2 the dose in my back. I still had blood pressure problems, but I didn't bottom out like I did with Brenna. The epidural started to take effect, and they rolled me onto my side. At this point, I told them I felt a lot of pressure, and the nurse checked me again. In just a few minutes with the epidural, I had gone to 10 cm. They never even had to hook me up to the epidural pump for the rest of the dose. It was time to push!
This time, it only took 10 minutes of pushing, and Grant David Rogier made his arrival into the world at 3:05 pm. It was a much more pleasant labor experience, and I am so glad that I was able to labor so long without the epidural because I think it helped everything keep progressing. Grant weighed 9 lbs 3.9 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. His head measured 14 3/4 inches. He also came out screaming like a banshee, just like Brenna, but we can definitely say that so far, he doesn't show signs of being as fussy as Brenna.

Evenings are a little rough with him, but other than that, he is being a model baby. You can see his huge feet in the pictures below. Enjoy. I am sure I will post more in the next few weeks. They change so much this early in life.

Keeping Everyone Updated on my progress - much to my husband's amazement. I told him it gave me something else to focus on besides the pain. :-)

Right before I start pushing. I had to have oxygen due to my drop in blood pressure with the epidural.

It's a boy!

Proud Mama

Father and Son

Proud Big Sister

Look at those feet - they barely fit in the box.