Gabe is a month old!

Gabe is a month old! That's so hard to believe! He has changed looks so much already! We are seeing a tint of redness in his hair... My mom says my hair was strawberry blonde as a baby and the exact same color... I tell Jay we could have a little carrot top on our hands if it is red and curly! He is still sweet as ever, but is definitely starting to wake up a little more! I knew it had to happen eventually! This week has certainly been a bit harder! Lack of sleep is hitting me! We started it out with our first trip to mimi and papa's house last weekend... We went to Jayce's cousin Caleb's birthday party on Saturday and then to a going away party for Jay's sister Ashley on Sunday there... and sleep is not an easy thing to come by when traveling with Jayce these days! Gabe did just fine... but Jayce is still in a crib, which we couldn't fit in the suv, and he jumps right our of a pack n play... and it takes 2 hours (at least) lying down with him to get him to stay in a bed... SO, we missed naps 2 days in a row (this NEVER happens)! then didn't sleep well at night either... So, the week just started out with me WAY behind on sleep... then this week, Gabe has slept through the night from 11-7 just once... he had spoiled us so much last week! This week, it's been more like 10-3:45... or 11-4ish... which is still very good and I"m still very thankful for... but, I liked last week's schedule better for sure! It is probably my fault, in that I"m not staying up late enough to do a feeding closer to midnight... I"m so pooped by 10 or so, that I just say, who cares, I'm going to bed, and we'll see what happens... BUT, I'm gonna try hard to hang in there later tonight, b/c 12-6 would be much better, then I could just go on and get up... oh well, we'll see... Naps the past 2 days have coincided so that has been nice, I still can't really fall asleep though b/c I know that I need to wake Gabe up for his next feeding about an hour and a half after putting Jayce down... but I can zone out on the couch for a good hour with peace and quiet which is SO NICE!

Getting out is getting a bit easier, however I'm just accepting the fact that I won't be getting much done while out for quite some time... but it's still nice to leave the house once in a while! The problem is that once I"m finally at a store, it's time for Gabe to eat... so then we've got to get back to the car or home to feed him... oh well, that's just how it goes with a newborn right?

I wanted to write about some funny things Jayce has said lately before I forget!
Last night, there was a big thunder storm, and he came running to me after some loud thunder, and said, "mommy, that airplane scared me!"

Jay knows I love that song "you're beautiful", so Jayce comes home after church Wed. night, and Jay tells him to sing me the song they practiced, and Jayce starts singing "you're beautiful it's true... so cute! Jay had taught him this on there way home!
Then during his blessing the other day, he said, God bless nanny's horses (always the first to be blessed), then he blessed old mcdonald (from had a farm, he's just gotten into that book), then he clapped and said YEA!!! After dinner this week, unprompted, he said, thank you for dinner mommy! It made me melt! Granted, I had not cooked it, (thanks to my sweet friends who brought it) but he didn't know that! And lastly, he is very into singing Happy birthday to anyone and anything that is on his mind... We were leaving mother's morning out yesterday on our way to his friend Emma's birthday party (which was so fun!!!) and he said, Happy Birthday dear Emma, happy birthday big red truck and I look over and we're passing a big red truck... he is just so funny!

I'll post pictures as soon as I can get to the store and get some working batteries... that could be a while though, don't hold your breath :)

Curlz and We miss MIMI!

Well, today has been my first official day of having 2 children! To explain, mimi left last night... and until then, I had it pretty easy! Mimi cooked, cleaned, entertained Jayce, did laudry, let me nap, and whatever else my little heart desired for 3 weeks! Boy did she spoil me! We sure enjoyed having her here though... not because of that, but I just love spending time with her and with her being in Cola and us here, we don't get to do it often enough. It was so nice to have constant company each day... we love her so much!

Even still, today has been great, the Lord has really blessed us with such a good baby! He slept through the night for the 3rd night in a row last night! He had done this twice before but not consistently so this has been really nice! We're starting to get somewhat of a schedule down and I'm feeding him every 2 1/2 - 3 hrs on the dot, to be sure he gets lots in during the day... So far, my milk supply has been great, and he's really filling out and having lots of diapers, so we're just fine with him sleeping all night! Jayce slept until 9:45 this morning, and had been waking up earlier since Gabe came home (around 9) so this was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise! I was able to have coffee, breakfast and devotional, get in a light workout, shower, and feed Gabe by the time Jayce woke up! So, things were pretty good! I am thankful for that because I know most days will not run quite as smoothly! Anyhow, we are really enjoying both boys! Jayce is so cute with Gabe, and gets very concerned when he fusses, he starts out quietly saying, it's ok Gabe, then louder... THAT"S OK GABE... and as Gabe continues to cry, he yells, THAT"S OK GABE!!!!! He is determined to calm that baby down!

Jayce is surprising us each day with his vocabulary and new sayings! He is very into thank you and no thank you and you're welcome! I love it! Yesterday I sneezed and he said from the back seat, "God bless you mama!" It was adorable! He is starting to get better with his colors too, and gets lots of practice looking at football (Gamecock central) on the computer with daddy and naming the different colored jerseys.

I wanted to post a few pics of Gabe from yesterday, he is changing looks so fast, still looks JUST LIKE JAY, especially now b/c his curls are really springing out! Check him out! I told Jay he's his mini me!

Gabe is still doing great since coming home, no fever, and eating and sleeping great! We thank God so much for 2 healthy boys!

Pics are of a goodbye kiss from mimi and Gabe waking up this morning... we've had him sleep in the den in the moses basket the past 3 nights, so we don't here every sigh, but he's close enough and I don't have to run upstairs to get him if he wakes up...

We are Home!

I never have felt so good pulling into my garage as I did tonight... boy, am I glad to be home with Gabe! Dr. Whitehead cleared us tonight around 6 to go home... good news was that no menengitis or bloodsream infections were detected in the cultures, bad news is that they still are not sure why he had the fever and why his white blood cell count was elevated... he said we might not ever know... but we are thankful to know at least that it is neither of the serious conditions we were concerned about... We are praying for a good first night back at home and that we'll get to actually stay here this time... I'm posting a picture of Gabe when we first got there and then one of today, right before we left. I was so glad to put real clothes on him! We'll see the Dr. on Tuesday to follow up. Thank you all so much for your prayers, they were heard!

good news

Dr. Whitehead made rounds this afternoon and said that thus far, no bacteria has grown on any of the blood samples or on the spinal fluid sample. He said this is a really positive sign and that he thinks that if there were a serious infection, it would have shown up by now. We are very hopeful that we'll be able to go home tomorrow...but will not know until late afternoon most likely. Gabe's temp is down even more and he's still eating really well, so that's all good news. I'll write again tomorrow when we know more.

Please pray for Gabe

I am writing to ask you all to pray for our precious Gabe when you read this... We are currently rooming in McLeod Hospital, after being admitted this morning, as Gabe had a fever of 100.4 and had been up groaning and moaning all night long, with his fever mounting. They said that it could be absolutely nothing, such as a cold symptom, yet it could also be something as serious as menengitis and with infants this small, they could not take any chances... They had to do a spinal tap on him and an iv and draw blood all this afternoon... He was so good through it all...
We will not know any final results until Sunday, as we have to wait for cultures to grow for 48 hours on the spinal fluid that was drawn... Dr. Whitehead is very positive and says that his gut feeling is that it is not going to be menengitis and the nurses all are talking about how good Gabe looks and that he just does not look like he has that "sick" look about him... And truly, since we have been here and he's had fluids administered, he has calmed down so much and stopped all the fussiness that was so out of character for him... So, we've had lots of positives but will not know anything conclusively until results come back on Sunday.

Please pray that we will be able to bring home our precious Gabe on Sunday, healthy and safe and please pray for Jay and I in the meantime for peace and strength... Gabriel means "God is my strength" and we could not have picked a more appropriate name for him... I know that God will be his strength through this and that He is in control here. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. With love, Christyn, Jay and Jayce

"Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

One Week Old

So Gabriel is one week old today! That is so hard to believe... time has flown by! I'm starting to freak out a little knowing that my mom (mimi) will only be here one more week... yeikes! She sure has made this transition an easy one... He is still the most laid back baby EVER... we had our first little outing yesterday... We went to the mall for me to get some nursing supplies and to take Jayce for tcby and to see his favorite water fountain... However, we got there and the water fountain was gone, so much for that plan... but Jayce was ok with a little frozen yogurt and some cars and trucks he could ride on instead... thank goodness we had lots of quarters! Gabe did great, he got hungry as soon as we got in the store, so I spent 30 minutes in the dressing room fixing that, thank goodness it was the Motherhood store so they understood... after that, he slept the whole rest of the time, through all the oohs and ahhs...
Today, we went out again, crazy us... it was way too hot for that, and we'll be staying in tomorrow... BUT, I desperately needed a highlight job, as my roots seemed to have grown out 3 inches in the past week... so mom took Gabe to cvs, and Family dollar and the grocery, while Jayce was at motherhood and I had some me time at the hair dresser, it was so nice! Gabe did super and mom said he never made a peep, now that's my kind of shopper!

Sleeping is still going great, the past 2 nights he went down at 12 from his last night feeding and I woke him at 5 to eat again... it is so nice to get that much sleep, I just can't get over it, and I'm still able to nap in the afternoons while Jayce goes down too...

Jayce is still doing remarkably well, he greets Gabe each morning, by running into my room and saying, "Hey Gabe" ever so excitedly! Today, he held up his hand and said high five Gabe... and when he saw he was not responding, he said he'd give him "nucks" and settled for that instead...
We are starting to see a little delayed reaction of jealousy coming out... He has started deciding that he needs to "hold mama" when Gabe is nursing at times and this makes things challenging when I'm somewhere that I cannot comfortable hold both of them... but it is a good lesson for him to learn that he can't always get what he wants right away... it's hard for me to watch him cry through these episodes though, as I don't want him to feel replaced or left out... so I'm trying to give him lots of extra attention when I'm not busy with Gabe, and thank goodness Gabe is not very demanding at all... God knew what he was doing!

Anyhow, just wanted to update things before I forgot what all has occurred lately... we are having pictures made in our home tomorrow and I am very excited, hopefully things will go well! I'll post some if I'm able to... thanks for reading!


OH, these pictures are from our family visit on Sunday afternoon... I didn't get as many as I"d hoped but we had visits from Uncle Dave, Aunt Shawna, cousins Joseph and Caleb , and then Uncle Jason and Aunt Lorrie, and Jack and Jon (older twin cousins) and my cousin Jen and her fiance Jon... it was so nice of them all to come and we so enjoyed having company... Jayce especially!

Gabriel Taylor McLaughlin

Funny I forgot to put his full name on the site yesterday... that's what percocet will do for you! And a little sleep deprivation! I had actually put Gabriel Taylor Humphries in my email to everyone, so I wanted to clarify that I do know my current last name... I put that b/c Humphries was our original first choice for middle name, but we ended up going with Taylor, thought it flowed better and it was Jay's first pick, so we compromised a little!

Anyhow, first night was amazing... I'm just waiting for him to start being normal... he is SO GOOD... barely cries at all and last night the only way I knew to feed him was that Jay woke me once, he whimpered once, and I woke up to potty once... it was wild... And, he's a quiet sleeper so I was able to nurse him and sleep at the same time twice for an hour, it was great! I actually had more sleep last night, our first night home than I had had in the last few months... waking up only every 3 hours rather than every hour to empty my bladder! Please pray he'll continue to be so sweet and easy, God has really blessed us so far! Jayce is still doing super adjusting... even the nursing thing has not seemed to bother him, which I was really worried about... So, things are good! Gabe is just precious and I can't wait for you all to meet him! thanks for reading!

Oh, here are some pics of him in his coming home outfit yesterday... Jay let me get him his very own which I was excited about so he at least had his own of something, since we'll be using Jayce handby downs for everything else... It was from my most favorite store in the world for kids... which I have bought only 1 or 2 things from ever b/c it's out of my price range...but for this very special occassion, Jay ok'd it, and it comes with pants too which he can actually wear year round..it will actually probably be his dedication outfit...it was the all white and it has an embroidered light blue sailboat on the undershirt and jacket which you can barely see, but it was precious in person... the diaper cover was Huge and I had to roll it over 3 times for it to fit him, but at least we'll be able to wear this one for a while...
And there's one in an outfit from his Aunt Claussen which mommy had drooled over at Katie Mac so we were extra excited to get that one! Christyn

How Beautiful

Baby Pics...

more pictures

HE IS HERE!!!

Gabe was born August 1st at 3:16... 7 lbs. 3 ozs and 20.5 inches... Jayce had been born at 2:16, and was 7,6 and 20.5 inches so they were pretty similar! Labor was a little harder this time, WELL a lot harder this time...It took an hour longer, but my water was broken about 5 hours later than last time, and I think that held things up... I can honestly now say I know what pain goes along with childbirth, which I could not say last time, b/c I felt no pain... Jay says I just have some war stories to brag about, I say, we might be done now! BUT, I had no pass outs and did not get sick that first night, which was a change for the better...Anyhow, he is here and is beautiful and definitely worth any pain I experienced... I am definitely in love all over again and did not need to worry about whether I would be able to do that again, because I certainly can and do! Gabe looks exactly like Jayce did! He does have lighter hair and curlier hair than Jayce was born with... he is absolutely precious! He is so laid back and I've only heard him get a little loud 3 times since he was born, one of which was WHEN he was born... So far, he eats and sleeps and looks around, all very quietly! He is so sweet... Jayce is taking well to him and loves to hold him! We have to just be sure to supervise! His first gesture to Gabe was to hand him his blankie which was HUGE b/c Jayce does not like to give up his blankie to anyone...His first words were "who you?" to Gabe... then we told him it was Gabe and he climbed up on the bed, kissed him and said hey Gabe, I have gum... and stuck out his tongue to show him... it was hilarious!


Anyhow, mom is making me take a nap, I'll post some pics here today and many more soon! Hope you enjoy! Love to you all, Christyn