Olivia's 1 month old

I can't believe it has been a month already since our sweet Olivia was born. She is such a good baby and has such a sweet spirit. She is very easy going and doesn't mind being passed between Gavin, Madison, and Callie. All three dote on her and it is so sweet. Each night before they go to bed they give her LOTS of kisses, and Derron and I end up saying,"Okay, that's enough." She loves bath time but hates getting rubbed down with lotion and putting her pajamas on. We are so blessed to have such beautiful healthy children.

Olivia had her one month check up on Thursday. She is very healthy. She weighed 9 lbs. and half an ounce and was 21 inches long. She is the first one of the kids to actually gain so much weight by their first appointment. She is in the 50% for height and weight. This is a first for any of the Spikes kids and we are super excited.

She cooed for the first time yesterday and I swear it was the sweetest little sound. She has to go to Children's Mercy tomorrow for some test. It's nothing serious. Since Callie has reflux in her kidneys Olivia has a 30% chance of having it also, so, Dr. Powell wanted to have a renal ultrasound and a VCUG done to make sure Olivia doesn't have the same thing. Please keep her in your prayers. I will post results when I get them.

Olivia Grace

August 24, 2009 @ 5:00 am Derron and I set off for Centerpoint Medical Center to have Olivia. I was checked in and hooked up to blood pressure and fetal monitors by 5:45 am and the dreaded IV was in by 6:00 am. The nurse came in and checked me around 6:30 am and started the pitocin. Dr. Hall (the best OB Ever) came by around 7:00 am to check on me and break my water. Around 9:15 am the kids along with Nana, Papa, MaMa Jennie, PaPa Callis, and Uncle Damon arrived. Between then and 10:00 am not much happened. I got my epidural around 10:15 am and we just waited. Around 11:45 am Vickie (Nana) came in to see how things were going and to see if it was okay if they left to take the kids to get some lunch. The nurse had just checked me and I was dilated to a 7 so Derron said he didn't see why they couldn't leave just for them not to be gone for too long. Well, as this conversation was taking place I started to feel a whole lot of pain. PAIN? I shouldn't be feeling anything at all since I had the epidural. I mean pressure yes, pain NO! Well, my track record with epidurals is not a good one. I had Derron get the nurse and she came to check on me and in the 5 minutes that Derron and Vickie had been talking I had dilated to an 8. The nurse had anesthesia come up to give me some more meds. They said it should only take 10 minutes for it to kick in. Three minutes later I needed to push. And really no one should question a woman in labor EVER! Derron said,"Are you sure? They just checked you and she said you were going to feel pressure." I said,"DERRON GET THE NURSE NOW! I have to PUSH!" The nurse comes in and says the same thing Derron did. Really? I mean this is my 4th child I know when I have to push and I know what pressure feels like, this was not pressure. So, the nurse checks me and I'm ready to push. Well, they scramble to get the bed broken down and to get the doctor in the room. It's 12:15 pm. Derron told the nurse earlier in the morning that we would have Olivia by 12:30. Three pushes and 16 minutes later Olivia Grace was born. Olivia weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz and was 20 in. long. She is the biggest baby we have had. She actually had little fat rolls on her legs. Once everything was cleaned up and Olivia was cleaned up the kids and the rest of the family came in to meet our newest addition.

It's been almost 3 weeks and Olivia is doing great. She was back up to her birth weight Wednesday when we went in for a weight check and I am sure she is well over 8 lbs. by now. She sleeps really good at night only waking twice to eat. She loves to cuddle and she loves to hold your finger while she takes her bottle. We are so blessed to have 4 healthy children. We love them so much and are so thankful for them. Enjoy the pictures and I will post more pictures of Olivia as the weeks go by.

Madison's Baptism

Madison was baptized August 22, 2009. It was a beautiful day and a very special occasion. She has so many people who love her. We are so proud of her for choosing to be baptized. She looked so beautiful dressed in white. Instead of a reception after the baptism we let Madison choose where we would have lunch and she chose Olive Garden (No surprise there). We enjoyed having family here for this special time in Madi's life. Nana, Papa, MaMa Jennie, PaPa Callis, and Uncle Damon were all here and we had such a good time with them. We took lots of pictures and the kids were real troopers about it for the first 10 minutes. After that they were cranky and ready to be done. We also had some professional pictures taken of Madison in her dress and I will upload those and post them later.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Yes, I know this is very late. The kids have been in school for a whole month now. But, we have had a very busy month and lots of things have happened. So far the kids are having a great year. Callie loves Kindergarten and says that the work is too easy. We keep telling her to give it some time and things will get harder as the year progresses. Madison LOVES her teacher. This is a very big deal. She had the most horrible teacher last year and it took forever to get her teacher changed. So, the fact that she loves her teacher and the teacher actually likes kids and loves to teach and helps the kids when they need help is a big deal. Gavin is loving every minute of 6th grade. He has 8 teachers in all and I think this is good for him. Sitting in the same class with the same teacher all day gets boring for him and this means he gets in trouble. So having 8 classes is going well for him. He started band this year and every afternoon for 30 min. he has to practice his trumpet. It sounds like animals dying, but he likes it. I will try my hardest to keep you all updated on the kids school year. For now, enjoy the pictures.

I honestly have the best intentions....

I do have the best intentions to update this blog. I am so far behind. I still haven't posted pics from the first day of school or Madison's baptism and I apologize whole hearted for that. However, our computer did crash and it has taken some serious work to get it backup and going and for Derron to find all of the pictures again. And to add to the fact that I am so behind I now need to post pictures of our beautiful little girl OLIVIA GRACE. She is so perfect and sweet. I promise to put tons of pictures of her on here, but for now this will have to do.