Ella is 1 Week Old

Ella is one week old today!! She is doing great and continues to be an easy baby. She sleeps and eats well and spends her awake time enjoying looking around (especially at lights).

Monday she had her first sponge bath at home. She enjoyed seeing herself in the mirror and the bright lights above.

The older kids have all been out of town this week, so it's been a peaceful adjustment to her being home. Everytime I talk to Catherine she asks how Baby Ella is doing. I think the kids will be excited to come home to her on Saturday- let's just hope she's as excited about the chaos to come :)

Enjoy the new pics.
The mom.

Ella at Home

Here are a few new pics of Ella since she's come home. Adjustment has been tough, but we are getting there. Mostly I had hoped to just spring back into action once I got home and my body just isn't letting me yet. Fortunately Ella is great. She eats well, sleeps well and even is the first newborn I've met that enjoys her "play time". She will literally spend 2-3 hours just kicking on the floor and looking around. Hers days and nights aren't mixed up at all and although she does wake up to eat at night, she immediately falls right back to sleep.

The kids are currently spending time with grandparents (Harbin in Florida and the girls in Chattanooga), so that's helping to relax and spend time adjusting.

On a different note, Scott has recently started back to work. About a week ago he received Active Duty orders from the army and is now working full time in Marietta training the rest of his National Guard unit in preparation for deployment next summer. It's been quite a shock to us and we are sad that he won't be teaching again this year. We were super happy with his commute and loved being able to surround ourselves with the high school community. The nice thing is that he kind of sets his own schedule and he will have Fridays off, so that will be a change that will be fun. We hope to keep up going to the football games and other sporting events since we are so close and hopefully maintain our ties with the high school as much as possible. This week is a week of tough adjustments, so just be praying for us as we get used to it all. We've never had a baby and not had some major adjustment at the same time, so I guess we should have seen it coming!

Anyways, enjoy the new pics and stay tuned for more this week as I have a little time before the kids return home!

The mom.
(PS- thanks to the new EOD unit for the delicious Edible Arrangement. As you can see in the pic, the older kids loved it!)

The kids welcome, their not-so-little sister...

Ella Rozelle
Born July 22, 2010 2:20am
9 pounds 14 ounces
22.5 inches

Well 4 impatient days after her due date, Ella arrived late Wednesday night/Thursday morning. She was a HEALTHY almost 10 pounds and very long.

I spent the afternoon having some minor, but very regular contractions and finally about 5:00 we decided to page the doctor. Two hours later, after loading hospital bags, unsuccessfully looking for kids shoes, dropping the older kids off at mom's and sitting in traffic, we checked in at the hospital. I was about 4-5cm dilated when we checked in and they decided that was enough to keep me.

I was debating the epidural (yes, you'd think by #4, I would know if I wanted one or not!), but after about an hour or so my contractions started spacing apart and they prescribed some pitocin. As soon as I heard that, I asked for the epidural and started progressing from there. By midnight, I was 7cm dilated and most of the Tinney family started to arrive. Mom stayed at home with our kids until we called to let her know I was starting to push.

Once it was time to push, everything went quickly. As with the other kids, I was able to push only 2 times before she was out!! The nurses kept saying I'd had a 10 pounder, but considering all my other kids were barely over 7, I didn't believe them. I was wrong! She was nearly 10 pounds and an inch longer than Harbin was when he was born- probably why they could see her head coming out and I could still feel her kicking me in the ribs!!! She is over the 97th percentile for both height and weight and the 88th for head circumference. To give you an idea, if she stays the same height until she's 2 months old, she'd still be in the 35th percentile!

The kids were able to come in not long after she was born. They were sleepy and a little overwhelmed, so we mostly let them meet their sister, see me in the bed and then head back to our house for a good night's sleep.

They came back the next morning and seemed to be much more excited about the arrival of Ella. Lydia is cutting some 2 year molars and was in a bit of pain, so she was ony interested in kissing Ella, but the other two were excited to get to hold her. Although we kept sayng how big she was, Harbin still thought she looked little. She tolerated all the attention very well and slept most of the day despite doctors, nurses and visitors.

We were able to come home the next morning about lunchtime. The kids met us at the house- Lydia cried when Lolli and Pop brought them to the house because she didn't understand that we had brought Ella home already- she wanted to go to the "ospital".

Anyways, they are loving their little sister and are big helpers with trying to help keep the paci in. Ella is adjusting well and is a good eater and sleeper. Hopefully I will be able to post again soon, but for now enjoy the pics. I have posted a link on the right of the blog with all the hosptial pictures!

Mom-to-4

Saddle Ridge Ranch

Harbin and Catherine got to participate in VBS this year at a church 3 doors down from our house. We missed the one at our actual church since we were on vacation and this was a good substitute since we were so close by.

The theme this year was Saddle Ridge Ranch and the kids had a blast. Each morning they were greeted by great volunteers, loud music, and even an announcer who announced them by name! A few of the mornings, Lydia and I walked the kids to VBS and Lydia was always good about pouting the whole way home- she was not excited that she didn't get to go to VBS, although she always enjoyed the undivided mommy attention when she got home.

Friday night, the kids did their VBS performance where they showed us the songs they had learned as well as walked us around to see the exciting stations they visited each day.

Harbin was a little intimidated while on stage and kind of fell to the back behind the bigger kids, so I was unable to get many pics of him. Catherine, on the other hand, felt right at home and sang and did hand motions perfectly. Both really loved the music and we are excited to get our CD tomorrow so we can listen to it non-stop (ok, I am less enthused about the potential of relentlessly listening to the same 5 songs over and over for an entire YEAR).

In other news, a quick update on Ella- we're still waiting. She is due tomorrow, July 18th, so we will see what happens. At my appointment on Thursday, I wasn't really progressing towards labor, but I know from experience that a day can make all the difference. We will just keep waiting and be sure to keep everyone posted when she does decide to make her debut!

The-very-ready-to-give-birth-mom.

Happy Birthday, America

Celebrating the 4th of July this year was a little low key since the weather has been so hot and I am more than ready to have this baby!! I have done little shopping lately and had nothing special for the kids to wear, but I was able to scrounge up some red, white or blue for everyone but Catherine. So, the night before I stayed up late making her a dress out of one of Scott's old shirts. I think it came out pretty well (although I could stand to hem it a little better since I was rushing before church on Sunday). She liked the fact it used to be Daddy's shirt and the process was relatively easy, so I may make a few more dresses one day when I run out of sewing projects (as if that day will ever come!).

We went to a late lunch with our friends Derek and Jamie (ironically the Mexican restaurant was closed on America's birthday, but Olde Towne Grill was open :) The rest of the afternoon we spent watching Independence Day (a tradition in our household), playing games and eating ice cream.

We loaded up before dark and drove to the Sam's Club nearby to watch the fireworks at the Mall of GA. I don't know that I picked the best viewing spot, but the kids were amazed none the less and they had a good time blowing bubbles, climbing on the Jeep and watching the fireworks.

Afterwards we came home to do sparklers and shoot off a few of our own fireworks. It's was after 10 at this point and Lydia was exhausted, so there a few of her twirling a sparkler- possibly while sleeping with her eyes open! Harbin loved the fireworks and was disappointed when we called it quits and had to go to bed.

Ok, so I am all caught up on posts and hopefully the next one will be about Ella!!

The mom.

PS- If you look at the pics, I like to call the one of Harbin and Catherine my Abercrombie and Fitch picture. I told them to strike a pose and that's what I got!!

Lydia is 2!

Our little Lydia turned 2 on July 1st. I asked her a few weeks ago what kind of party she wanted, and completely unprompted, she said "Bubbles Party." So, that's what we did. We invited our family and a few friends to celebrate with us and Lydia enjoyed her Bubbles Party.

This year, I opted to attempt the cake (next year I will give it all back to mom:). Mom helped me out by making, leveling and buttercreaming the cake and then Catherine helped me with the fondant. I made it from a marshmallow fondant recipe which is supposed to taste better than regular fondant. I wasnt' a fan, but the kids seemed to be ok with it. They especially liked eating the "bubbles" that Catherine helped me roll into balls.

Lydia got a lot of summer toys for her birthday including a Slip N Slide and a big Ball Sprinkler. After the bubble fun, Harbin, Catherine, Lydia and Wesley got to play in them. They topped it off by eating popsicles and trying to beat the terrible heat we've had here in Georgia.

I love doing the slideshow each year of the kids with a picture from every month between birthdays. It reminds me of how much they've grown and changed over the last year. Lydia is definitely our Miss Personality and more recently our Miss Independent. You can see in all the pics that she likes to be a ham and is constantly cracking us up. She talks a ton and is sometimes too smart for her own good. Even though she's the second girl, she is most definitely our little momma. Lydia will kindly assist (push) the other kids when I am telling them to come here. She is quick to anyone's side when they seem sad or hurt and kind of tilts her head and says "ut happened?" She loves singing and for months now has been able to recognizably sing Jesus Loves Me, ABC's and Itsy Bitsy Spider. Now she has taken to repeating choruses to songs on the radio (sometimes I stil have to have Harbin interpret these for me). When I ask or tell her to do something and she doesn't want to, she just politely says no and goes on her way- she's the first of our kids to consistently count back to me when in trouble and not care about the consequences. She is a junk food nut and especially loves "My Mellows" (aka marshmallows). In fact at the doctor back in January, she insisted on getting her hands on the "my mellows" and wasn't happy when she finally realized it was a jar of cotton balls! Her recent loves are SLIDES- she will scream and point them out even when we are driving down the road and even if they are inside a fast food restaurant. Everything can be a slide as long as it's sloped and she's even tried to slide down our concrete oil changing ramp in the yard- not such a good slide. Her daredevillish side has definitely caused her to have the most bumps and bruises of all our kids, but fortunately no ER visits yet. She is fearless in the swimming pool and without swimmies, still refuses to let you help her even though she just sinks! Lydia has definitely not let being a 3rd child impede her place in the family. She is a unique personality and has kept us on our toes! We love that she is so smart, independent and nurturing. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Happy Birthday Lydia!

The mom.