Teo had his one month check up. This little guy isn't so little, he's now 11 lbs 8oz and grew an inch! 

He's been a good little baby so far, he's only been getting up once at night, and still sleeps a lot during the day. Last night he slept 6 straight hours and the night before he slept 7! It really makes you feel like a whole new person when you get a little bit of sleep. Let's hope he keeps this up :)

He's Here!

Welcome

Matteo Keedwell Nelepovitz

Teo arrived 11 days early, born April 29th at 3:23 am. He weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long.

I ended up being in labor for about 5 hours. It seemed much longer to me, but apparently they don't officially say you're in labor until you are 4cm or your water breaks. When I got to the hospital, I wasn't either of those two things. So, they had me walk the halls, I was able to get things going and get checked in. Most importantly I was able to get my epidural! I really thought I would be able to do it naturally this time (haha). However with my contractions being pretty intense and coming about a minute apart, I wimped out, but I'm very happy with my decision.

Teo had a little bit of a rough start. When he came out, he had the cord wrapped around his neck, not once but twice. Plus, it was wrapped around his shoulder as well. Things got a little scary when that happened, we felt like there was a little bit of panic in the room. When they tell you to push, push, push, them suddenly tell you to stop (which is nearly impossible), it worries you a bit. They cut the cord off him, and he was out. He let out a tiny whimper, we could see that he was totally blue, and they rushed him over to the table to try to get him going. After a minute, which seemed like forever, he began to cry. Once he was stable (which was a huge relief) they gave him to me. I'm not sure there's anything better than holding your newborn baby. It truly is such an amazing experience.

In the hospital, we noticed Teo was breathing kinda funny, and snoring. He was also a bit bruised around his nose and under his eyes. When we talked to the nurse about it, she said everything was fine, and that when babies come out as fast as he did (in just a few pushes) they don't always clear everything out of their lungs. We carefully watched our new little man, and constantly made sure he was breathing ok. That afternoon we went home and that night he slept in bed with us. In the middle of the night I woke up to use the bathroom. As I returned to bed, I heard a faint gargling, kinda choking sound. I flipped on the light. Teo was laying on his back, with his eyes wide open, a mouth full of fluid and totally blue. We flipped him over and cleared his mouth. He started breathing again and his color came back. Of course, we called the hospital and the nurse said he would be fine, and it was because of the delivery. We took turns holding him and we could hardly sleep the rest of the night. A person can't help but wonder what would have happened had we have not woke up? It was awful, one of the worst things to happen to us, it's hard to get that image out of your head. It's definitely keeping us on our toes.

The next day we took him to the doctor, which lead to blood work and x-rays. She just wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with him, and there wasn't. We feel very lucky. It's pretty hard to see your one day old baby strapped to an x-ray table and screaming while getting blood work done. We truly feel for families that go through things like that, we made it out with a clean bill of health, many people aren't as lucky.

Teo is doing great now, he's healthy, happy and growing. Elio and Nico are great big brothers, they're having lots of fun with him and very helpful. We're starting to get into a good routine, I still can't get anywhere on time, but I know, eventually it will happen. Things are good :)

Matteo Keedwell Nelepovitz

Today was Teo's due date, thankfully he came 11 days early. He's been such a joy, we are truly blessed. You forget how wonderful it is to have a baby around, and I'm trying to soak up every second of it. 

I'm in the middle of writing up a post about the day he was born, so stay tuned...

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter. We celebrated with family, food and lots of candy!

Whew...look at that belly. I knew I was big, but looking at pictures made me realize exactly how big I am getting. When I showed Kyle the pictures, he said "Ummm ya, you're huge" (In the most loving way of course!). Good thing I can laugh at myself! The crazy part, I've gained 9lbs so far. With the size of my bump, it's hard to believe, I think that's pretty good since I have less than 4 weeks to go. I'm sure I'll make up for it, eating all this Easter candy!

Baby Update

We had another baby doctor appointment, and everything is looking great! 

I got to hear Teo's heartbeat, and they measured me. I'm still measuring a little big, this time it was around 2 weeks bigger than I was supposed to be. I'm feeling alright, and I've already had a few contractions. I'm realizing it's my body's way of telling me to slow down, I need to sit in between doing things and try to get more rest. 

 Although I look like I could deliver any day now, I have about 6 weeks left. Right now Teo weighs as much as a pineapple- a little over 4lbs, and about 17 inches from head to heel. Boy, this little guy is active too. I don't remember the boys kicking me so hard and so often. It seems like he is always moving, I feel like he's getting ready to make his appearance in this world, and we couldn't be more excited!

We're Ready!

Well, Teo's room is ready!

Teo, you ask?

Yes, after months of going back and forth, 
we finally decided on Teo.

Teo Keedwell Nelepovitz to be exact!

Keedwell is my dads middle name.

Anyway, we're ready, as ready as we can be. We just have to put in the car seat, and pack our bags for the hospital, but we still have a little while for that. As long as everything goes as planned.

We have a little over 2 months left, give or take. I'm already feeling huge! It's like I grew overnight. I'm actually feeling pretty good still. However, bending over to pick up toys and getting off the couch practically makes me out of breath, but it's all in a days work around here!

People have been asking what theme I went with for the nursery. I tried not to be too theme-y (not a word I know), but somehow my no theme nursery, has turned into some sort of theme. I wanted something kinda neutral but boyish, simple, and flowed with the rest of the house. 

We were able to reuse Elio's furniture, since getting the boys bunk beds. I picked ivory colored bedding, put some fun pillows in the crib. I hung up some leaf curtains, put up a couple rustic wood shelves, handmade a mobile with woodland animals, and painted a tree on the wall. I think it's my favorite nursery I've done so far!

Big things have been happening around the Nelepovitz household lately. Nico had his two year check up and is doing really well. He was in the 90th percentile for weight, and down to the 75th for height, however he still seems pretty tall to us. Doc says he's developing normally and is a healthy boy.

Elio  had his first day of preschool. When we were checking out the preschools for Elio, Kyle and I (Elio too) fell in love with the Caspar Children's Garden. We've heard great things about the school, and after looking at it, we couldn't agree more. It's a little bit of a drive, 15 minutes from our house, but nothing compared to commuting in the city, so we feel pretty lucky. Plus, it's only two days a week. I think it will have a nice combination of structure and free play. They spend a lot of time outdoors, which is right up Elio's alley.

I'm happy to report Elio did great his first day. I stayed for about 15 minutes, I think I was more worried than he was. I asked him if I could leave and he said "sure!" gave me a hug and that was it. No crying (on his part) and the teachers said it seemed like he had been going there for weeks. The second drop off was even easier, I brought him in, asked if I could go, and that was it, less than 5 minutes. Needless to say he loves school, he would probably go everyday if we'd let him.

I couldn't help but do a fun little photo shoot to document his first day of school.

(Inspired by Pinterest!)

With baby coming and finishing the deck just a few months ago, we've decided not to do any big projects around the house for a while. We have so many things that are half done, so this spring / summer we're focusing on getting some of the projects we have started, finished. As much as I want to start working on my new garden, with baby coming, I'm thinking finishing up a few things around the house may be a good idea. Kyle has been working hard on getting the swing set finished up. When we put up the swing set, we leveled it out, and put down wood chips. We haven't gotten around to finishing up the border and putting in the stairs. Kyle's getting the ground ready for the bricks so we can get that project completed.

This weekend we got rid of our old oil tank, and Kyle did a bunch of tractor work around the yard. He's been trying to level out different parts of our yard. So far, it's looking a little rough, but I know once the grass starts growing again it's going to look soooo much better. Plus, I have a nice flat spot for that future garden of mine :) It just feels good to finish up some projects and get a few things checked off our the list.

We had a baby doctor appointment today. Doc says everything looks great. I have really low blood pressure, which isn't really a problem, other than they're worried I might pass out.  So far, I'm feeling fine, and they think that it should be going up soon.

I'm also measuring big. I lost a few pounds when I had strep in the beginning of my pregnancy, and have gain it back. So basically, I'm back up to my starting weight, when I found out I was pregnant. Anyway, my point being, if you gain a lot of weight sometimes that can be why you're measuring big, but he said that's not the case with me. I'm 26 weeks, and I'm measuring at 29 weeks. Also, when I had my 20 week sonogram, baby was measuring large then. So, because of those two things in combination with Nico being 9lbs 4oz the doc is guessing I'm going to have another big boy. Eeeekkkkk, let's hope he's wrong!

Happy Birthday Nico!

Can you believe he's already 2? Time sure flies when you have kids, and it seems to go even faster, the more you have. 

Nico brings so much joy to our lives. He's talking more everyday. He loves his big brother. Trains and Woody are his favorites. He has the BEST smile, especially when your mad at him. Nico's pretty tough, which I think he owes to Elio.  He eats more fruit than any other child I know. He's daring, and enjoys jumping off things that are high. He has such a great heart, he loves giving hugs and kisses. He enjoys learning to ride his bike. The best part, he's almost potty trained (hopefully 100% before baby comes)!

With the boys getting older, the holidays just keep getting better every year. This year we started getting ready for Christmas with Elf on a Shelf. Elio decided the elf was a girl and named her Elfie. She watches them all day, then at night she flies to the north pole and reports to Santa, whether they've been good or bad. In the morning she shows up somewhere new in the house. Every morning the boys were filled with excitement to discover where she was.

We really tried to get into the Christmas spirit this year, and do as many activities as we could. We went to the Lighted Truck Parade, saw Santa several times, Elio was in his first Christmas play, and went to the annual Festival of Lights at the Botanical Gardens.

He was the cutest little donkey we've ever seen!

The weekend before Christmas we celebrated with my family, then the following weekend we headed to Vacaville to be with Kyle's family. The boys loved every minute of Christmas. They were both into opening presents this year, actually it was kinda hard to stop them from opening.

Waiting at the top of the stairs.

So excited!

Daddy's surprise...A bee bee gun!

Elio, Nico, and Trent

Teeter Totter!