Dillon's Professional Pictures

As you all might remember when Lily was 4 weeks old, we had a photographer come to our house and take pictures of her. Well we contacted her again earlier this past week and we had her come out yesterday and take pictures of Dillon. Once all of the pictures are available, I will post the link so you can see them all, but for tonight there are only 3 that the photographer puts on her blog. Without further adieu, here they are:

She told us that the pictures will be done within a week so we will let you know when they are ready. Have a good week!

Random pics from this week

Katy & Kai came to visit on Tuesday. Here are a few pics from their visit. We are so excited that Kai and Dillon are so close in age. Can't wait to watch them grow up together!

Isn't he a cutie?

Sleeping angel

Lily loves bath time. She can say "bath" and "tub" now and will grab Anson's hand to take her up for her bath.

I must admit this is a boring video. It's of Dill in his bouncer with the hiccups. Newborns just don't do much!

Dillon is two weeks old today! He wasn't a happy boy when I took these. He was still hungry.

Lily turned 22 months yesterday. Her vocabulary is exploding. She repeats everything we say. We've been teaching her the alphabet and she repeats it pretty well. I tried to get her on video saying it, but I didn't have luck. I'll try again this weekend.

Dillon is getting his pictures taken tomorrow. The same woman who photographed Lily when she was 4 weeks is coming back to our house tomorrow to photograph Dillon.

I got some good news today. I went in to the Wound Center to get my vac changed, and it is already healing very well. The nurse was amazed that I had only had it since Tuesday. She predicted that it would heal enough over the weekend that they won't put it back on when I go back on Monday morning. I hope so! It's a pain to carry around.

First Week with Two

Anson and I survived our first week with two kids under two. It sure is challenging. And to top it off, my C-section incision wound split open (sorry if that's graphic) after I got my staples taken out so I'm in a lot of pain and can't do as much as I'd like to. Good thing Anson's mom and my parents were here to help us out!

I have to have a vacuum hooked up to me to drain out all the fluid from my wound. It's a machine I have to wear 24/7 for several weeks, maybe months. It stinks! I'm on some pretty powerful drugs to keep me from feeling it. Poor Anson has to help me change my bandages until I get my vacuum, which should be on Tuesday.

Here are some pics from this past week... (no c-section pics for the record)

Lily holding her baby brother for a second...before she started pushing him away.

Lily won't drink water unless it's from my big cup that I got at the hospital or her Papa's big water bottle. This bottle is as big as she is!

Grandpa Cross drove up on Thursday to see Dillon and take Grammy Cross back home. They left early this morning.
When Lily saw this picture she said "Grammy!"

Since there were a lot of cameras around this week, Lily decided to pretend to take photos with Grammy's camera. I told Anson we need to dig out an old 35mm camera for her to play with.

One week old photo! The sign says "I'm 1 week old today. 3/13/09. (Friday the 13th) (My due date). His shirt says "New in Town."

Family of Four - photo at The Hartville Kitchen last night

Jeremy, Grammy and Lily, Anson, Me and Dillon and Grandpa. Jeremy's new friend Heather was also there. She took the photos for us.

Lily playing with the train

Me and my baby at Hartville Kitchen. Grammy and Dillon

Lily eating a lemon! She loves them.

Lily watching Barney in my rocking chair.

First tummy time! He's very strong. He already has pretty good control of his head. He picks it up and moves it around a lot.

Today we made it to Babies R Us. My co-workers got us a bunch of gift cards and it seems like we've been trying to go there all week, but for one reason or another we never made it there until today. We got Lily's potty so I can start potty training her. We got her a step stool so she can see into the pack n play. She was climbing up the side to see Dillon. We got another diaper pale for downstairs. We got Lily a "Big Sister" shirt. And other stuff we needed. It was fun to get out. Before we went we stopped at Chick fil a for dinner. Yum yum!

Brother "Ding Dong"

Lily's attempt to say "Dillon"

Other photos from when we brought our baby home yesterday...

More Pics of Little Dillon

We are leaving the hospital today. I am so excited to go home and begin our life as a family of four! We are just relaxing at the hospital this afternoon, waiting for Daddy to come get us. He is working today but is taking the rest of the week off to spend time with me, Dillon, Lily and his mom.

Well, here are some more pics of our little man. I call him my monkey because he makes little monkey noises. He is such a good baby! He only cries when he's hungry and he is a great sleeper. He's been nursing really well, but my milk hasn't come in yet, so I'm supplementing a little formula so he can get some nutrition. He's lost over a pound and weighs 8 lbs, 1 oz. So, the more I can get him to eat, the better.

Sucking his little thumb

Me and Big Sister, Lily!

Papa and Dillon

Nana and Baby

Our little Ham. She's eating a sucker. This is her "cheese" face.

Great Grandma (GiGi) and baby boyLily falling asleep on Nana.

Lily sleeping on my bed...poor thing. These last few days have wore her out too!

Grandma C and Dillon. Or "Grammy" as Lily calls her.

Proud Daddy and Son

Cute video of Lily giving Dillon a kiss

Welcome Dillon James Cross

At 1:41 this afternoon on what I think is one of the coolest days to be born 3/6/09, Dillon James Cross finally came into the world. Tamara Mae was 39 weeks today. We went to her ultrasound on Wednesday and they told us that Dillon weighed approx 9 lbs. 12 oz. Right after the ultrasound she had her regular exam and the midwife said that he was a very large baby and that someone would call her on Wednesday evening to discuss our options on how to get Dillon out. Her cervix was still only 1 cm dialated and only 50% eface. They started to recommed a c-section due to this and how big he is, but Tamara wanted to discuss it with me. Once we discussed this and eventually found out that if we wanted to try to be induced it wouldn't happen until Sunday evening. Also we heard about complications with inducement due to the cervix and his size. The Akron General doctors wanted to weigh out the pros and cons for an enducement or a c-section. We learned yesterday afternoon that if she was to deliver naturally that there was a possibility of having to break his shoulder or arms to get him out of the birth canal along with possible nerve damage. We were assured that babies "typically" heal from nerve damage a few months after being born. I don't know about you, but I didn't like hearing that and neither did Tamara. The midwife called us Thursday night and said that Dr. Mendise (who just so happened to be the same doctor that delivered Lily) was available for a c-section either 1:30 or 3:00 today. We opted for the 1:30 time. We arrived here today at 11:30 and before we knew it we were in the operating room. Everything went really smooth. Tamara did not feel anything. I got to be in the room with her while the doctors delivered Dillon and operated on Tamara. A few hours later she was moved into a private room and is now relaxing comfortably. With that said, here are some pictures of the day.

More pictures and videos to come soon.

Love Anson, Tamara Mae, Lily, and Dillon

"Woah Baby!"

That's what my midwife said to me yesterday after my ultrasound revealed that Baby Boy is 9 lbs, 12 oz!!

I am going to have him tomorrow via a C-section at 1:30 =) I'm not thrilled with the idea of being cut open while I'm still awake, but I'm also not thrilled with the idea of pushing a 10 pound baby out the other way... so at least he's coming out! Anson and I weighed the pros and cons of being induced vs. having the C-section, and ultimately we want baby to be safe...so we opted for the C-section.

Stay tuned for details...especially the name!

Wish me luck =)

Lily is a Talker

So, I know I've been a bit of a blog slacker lately...just not much news to report until Baby Boy arrives. But, here are some tidbits of everyday life for us...

Lily is 21 months old and has really begun to talk and repeat words. We took two videos below and tried to capture some of her best words.

We are trying to prepare her for Baby Boy's arrival. Pointing out babies when we can and telling her that her baby brother will be here soon. We talk about him a lot. She still lifts up my shirt to see my belly and kisses it. It's precious.

Oh, and she gives the best hugs. She wraps her little arms around our necks and squeezes. It's the best feeling. She is very fair with her hugs and kisses, too. If she gives me one then she'll immediately go over to Anson and give him one.

As I type this, she is getting really frustrated. She is trying to put her sock on my foot. And, of course, it isn't fitting. When she gets frustrated she hits. Something we are trying to teach her not to do. She'll hit puppy or even Anson and I. She has gone into timeout when she does it.

We usually give her the cups with the straws to drink from, so today I gave her a true sippy cup with handles. She got frustrated because she didn't know to tip her head back to drink it. But, we figure she needs to learn to prepare her for drinking from a regular cup.

She's a great helper to me. I can't bend over very well, so she'll pick things up for me that I've dropped, or bring me the TV remote or my slippers when they are across the room. I'm hoping to put her to work when Baby Boy is here =)

As for me and Baby Boy, we are doing well. I am really ready for his arrival, though. I wish I knew when he was going to come. Every day I go to work, I pray my water doesn't break there. I'm really hoping I'm at home when the labor begins. But, some things you just can't control. At my last doctor's appt (Thurs) the doctor guessed that I would have him a few days before my due date, which is March 13. I was disappointed with that news, but I'm trying to stay positive and think about the extra nights of sleep and warmer weather during maternity leave. My next appt is Wednesday, and I have an ultrasound. I'm excited to see him...unless of course he wants to come out before then!