Thursday, September 19, 2013

Brother and Sister

These two kids are so fantastic!  I am so blessed to call them mine and love watching them grow!  Here are some highlights of being the mom of Max and Gwen!

My two sweet babies!

Hugs are always good, even if both parties aren't exactly willing.

What a great big brother!

Such an admiring brother and I am sure Gwen will grow up admiring him!

He seriously loves to be by her.  He sat there himself!

My two cuties at about 2 weeks old.

These are the times I cherish...

...and these.

Go state!

Poor guy!  The Cyclones lost, and we took his cup away to try and get a better picture...

I don't know why but it made me so happy that he was so blue and she was so pink!  Its the little things, I guess.

Gwenyth Nancy Rude

Gwenyth Nancy Rude was born August 1, 2013 at 8:07am. She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19 1/2 in long.



Gwen has been such a delight! We have really enjoyed getting to know her!

The morning of the first, Jason and I drove to the hospital for our scheduled c section around 5am. Max was spending the night with grandma Karen and had been dropped off the night before so Jason and I could enjoy a little date just the two of us.  It was so relaxed compared to Max's c-section because with Max, my water broke and we were in a mad dash to pack our bags and get to the hospital.  This time, we had our bags ready, and I even had time to curl my hair and put on makeup!  


Before we left the house, I had Jason take a picture of a very pregnant me because I wanted to remember just how big I was!
I was in the operating room by 7:30am.  I got my spinal and we waited, waited, and waited.  The spinal didn't take and they told me I would have to go under.  Realizing that Jason was not going to be able to be in the room and that I would "miss" the birth of our daughter, I started to cry.  I was really bummed.  It didn't take very long to knock me out and the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room to the nurse calling my name.  I had a very sore throat but managed to ask where Jason and Gwen were.  They were in the nursery and would be right down.  I couldn't wait to meet my daughter!!!

Dad and daughter hanging out in the nursery!

Meeting for the first time!

Our family of three before Max and Jason went to go get Gwen from the nursery.

About to meet baby sister!!!
We had many visitors during our hospital stay and all in all, things went very well!  It is almost like a retreat to be in the hospital and have the nurses take such good care of you.


Grandma Karen with all of her grandchildren!

Liz (and Lilah), Maddilynn and Drew holding Gwen!



MaryBeth, Chris and Addison.  Addie loved baby Gwen!

Gwen with her friends, the Halls!




Trying to recreate a picture we took of Max before leaving the hospital.

Ready to go home! 
Since being home, I have recovered from the c-section and we are getting a handle on having two kids.  (Two kids is more than double of one kid... I was never good at math, but trust me on this...)

Max loves his baby sister and gives her plenty of kisses... when he is not poking her eyes. 

We love Gwen and are enjoying getting to know her more and more!


Our first outing to the mall.




Jason is really getting this"two kids" thing down!


At 7 weeks, Gwen is now smiling at me and Jason.  We have her two month checkup on October 1st and look forward to being told how healthy she is!