Tarheel Born, Tarheel Bred

My little Tarheels!

Big Foot

The day Landon was born, the nurse was taking footprints for his records. I noticed that this was taking much longer than what I remembered that it did with the boys and longer than I thought it should have. Next I noticed a stack of about 20 footprint stickers that had been discarded off to the side. Naturally, this made me quite curious. Either they needed a ton of prints or something wasn't going quite right. Finally, the nurse commented to me, or Landon, or no one in particular, that this kid sure had big feet! It took her several tries to get his big feet into the the specific box on the sticker where she was required to have his foot from heel to toe. Since then, the pediatrician and others have commented on his big feet. Davy and I just have to laugh... as if he really had a chance.

Landon's 10

10 days old that is...

Landon had a great check up at the doctor today. After losing a bit of weight in the first few days, he put on a whole pound since last week. He's doing great!

Landon is now 8 lbs 12 oz and looks huge. His eyes are open more and he's staying awake for longer periods of time. He is also learning what "night time" means and only feeds every 4 hours or so at night and not for very long. He responds to certain voices, especially mine and Davy's. He has the hiccups all the time, which is just too cute. If having hiccups means you are growing, we are definitely in trouble!

More New People & Good Times

Davy also brought home the most beautiful flowers for me and a new Wii game for the twins. Life is good when we are all home together!

Today Aunt Lauren came to visit and Aunt Lauren came to visit us today. Wes finally got to meet her. There's so much excitement going on!

Big Brothers

David & Tyler have taken beautifully to being big brothers. They always want to hold Landon and help out in any way that they can... sometimes a bit too much :) While, technically Tyler is the "oldest brother", David has taken to being the "largest brother". This way every one gets an -est superlative, which I guess is only fair when your siblings are twins. We are, of course, experiencing some brotherly growing pains. Since they were never "the only one", I guess it isn't quite the same as have to adjust to another kid in the house. But it has been the two of them for so long and the pace of things is certainly having to change, at least for a while, which isn't the easiest to adjust to at this point. We'll get there!

Our First Visit with Nana & Papaw

Nana & Papaw came to visit this week! Now that Landon has met both sets of grandparents, he is officially spoiled rotten.

All My Men

Favorite quote of the day...

David: I didn't think I'd feel this way [about Landon].

Me: What do you mean?

David: I like him.

Home Again

After 2 1/2 VERY long days at the hospital, we are all thrilled to be home again! Today I want to share our newest, and most up-to-date, family portrait.

Landon's Birthday

William Landon Hines

Born July 16, 2011 at 1:31 pm

8 lbs. 6 oz. , 21" long

Practically perfect in every way!

Today's the Day

Today we head into the hospital. Here's hoping that today is the today we will finally meet our Landon. The boys are very excited to be spending the day with Grammy and Grandpa while Davy and I head to the hospital.

*Update: After a long day of contractions and trying to get things rolling along, Landon has made it clear that he does not want his birthday to be the Ides of July. We'll see what happens tomorrow morning!

Fun at the Pool

Thinking Back... and Ahead

As we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest family member, we have laughed a lot lately telling the boys about the day they decided to head into the world.

I was home on bed rest but had been out running a few errands before a routine check up at the OB/GYN in Wilmington. After I got to the doctor, and as I was standing on the scales being weighed, my water broke. Actually, more accurately, Tyler's water broke. Good timing, huh? The doctor's office sent me on over to New Hanover Regional Medical Center where they wanted to try and stop my labor. At this point, I hadn't had any idea that I was in labor.

Of course, Davy was at baseball practice at Leland Middle School, where we both taught. He had also forgotten his cell phone on this one day of the year. I called his assistant coach, Kyle, figuring I would be able to talk with him that way. But, as Murphy's Law would have it, Kyle was not at practice that day. As I told Kyle that I was headed to the hospital, HE went into panic mode saying how he'd go out to school, but apparently he couldn't find his car keys. I know this because he apparently put the phone down while it was still on and he was running around yelling "OMG. Where are my keys? I can't find my keys!" I hung up. At that point, I had to call the school office, which I was dreading, because I knew that our excitable secretary Mrs. McClammy would get awfully wound up. I was right. Davy said she ran out of the building, totally out of breath, yelling, "Hines! Get your a$$ in here. Your wife is going to the hospital!"

Finally, Davy made it to the hospital around 5:00, where my worst problem was that I was hungry and they wouldn't let me eat. They tried to stop my labor, but there was to be none of that. It wasn't until after 9:00 pm and a change in position that I started feeling the contractions. And, boy, did I feel them! Heavy medication was soon to follow. We sent Davy home for the night to rest and plan on going to school the next day. The doctors were sure nothing was going to happen in a hurry. At about 2:30 AM, there seemed to be a change of plans. The doctors decided that my labor was not going to be stopped and we were going to have the twins at some point the next day. More drugs followed.

Around 8:20 AM on May 6, the nurse came in to check on me as a pre-caution. I had to deliver in an operating room, just in case there were complications, so they needed to take care of me before any scheduled, routine C-sections. She jokingly said, "You'll either have a long way to go, or we'll need to get out of here right now." She took a peek, and the next thing I know I was being wheeled into the operating room. It was time! By 9:00, and in front of an audience of about 20 nurses, doctors, and interns, we had two beautiful healthy boys. I was exhausted and still very, very hungry.

What was the worst part of the whole thing? That day, when all I wanted to do was hold my babies and to eat, they brought in my hospital lunch on the covered dish. When I opened it, there were collard greens. And everything on my plate had been tainted by the smell and juices of them. If you know me, you know that's about the ONE thing that I cannot stand! Ugh. Thank goodness for the Greek restaurant across the street and their take-out menu!

While labor this time had been a longer, more drawn out process, and I have to keep wondering when I will go to the hospital and when Landon will arrive, I know that it will be full of its own adventures! I can't wait to share them, too.

Beautiful Skies Over Asheville

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

True Love

This is how I know my hubby loves me very, very much... a hour long ride just for some hot and now Krispy Kreme. Yummy!

Spanky on Rabbit Patrol

We always get a kick out of the dogs on bunny patrol from the windows. There are so many rabbits that live in the woods by our house, but we better not let the dogs out. They are too funny!

Happy Fourth of July!

The Thinker(s)