Our week began on Monday by wrapping up our hospital stay and heading home! The day began when the audiologist came in and woke me up around 6:30 am to tell me that Reid still hadn’t passed the hearing exam in his right ear. Being awoken with such news was not a good way to start the day. She continued on about a referral and follow up exam and so on. Needless to say I was scared and upset and only retained about half of what she said. A couple hours later our pediatrician made his rounds. I mentioned it to him and he reviewed his thoughts and how the process works for the more detailed screening. He also looked at Reid’s ears and said they both look good and the same (no anomalies). We will learn more about the follow up at his first check up at the pediatrician’s office.
Mom came to the hospital with Griffin and we all enjoyed a hospital catered lunch prior to heading home. After lunch we put Reid in his first real outfit and headed out. I hadn’t thought about it much while there, but after the fact thought about how that would be our last stay in the maternity ward. We really enjoyed all of the visitors, staff, and meals we had while we were there. It was a great experience. 
We were welcomed home by a lovely sign on our door from the garage to the house, made by Finn and Grandma 🙂 Lily and Brutus greeted us with all kinds of energy and barks and kisses. Lily has been through the ropes before. Brutus on the other hand is trying to figure out if Reid is just a large squeaky toy or what!
Tuesday was Griffin’s last day of preschool in the Tiger class. Our morning started with Grandma snuggles in the red chair. Kevin packed Finn’s lunch and was able to take him to school and my mom and I headed in to pick him up. My recovery is going super great. I feel really awesome, so much better than after I had Griffin, and I’m thankful for that as we’ve had a rather packed week. while Finn was at school, Amy, Rowan, and Greta came over and brought a delicious lunch. They stayed to visit for awhile and got some cuddles with our little man. Then we headed out to pick Finn up at school and afterward we celebrated the last day with a stop at Graeter’s on our way home. When we arrived home we were greeted by a nice flower and balloon arrangement from Kevin’s work team. 
On Wednesday we headed back to preschool for cousin Rowan’s graduation from the Monkey class! He is on to kindergarten next year! After cake we enjoyed a tasty lunch at First Watch, Reid’s first restaurant experience. 
Later on Wednesday afternoon we had Reid’s first checkup at Powell Pediatric Care with Dr. Wilde. Grandma Beilstein and Griffin came along too. Our boy is doing awesome! He is gaining weight at a good pace as he is up to 8 pounds, 1 ounce (his discharge weight was 7 pounds, 13 ounces two days prior). 
Reid regularly hangs on to my shirt with either of his hands. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but he does it all the time!
Mom stayed until Wednesday around dinner time when Dad stopped through town to pick her up and head on home. We are grateful for her help while she was here – preparing meals, doing laundry, diaper changes, holding Reid so I could do all kinds of things. It was great!
This is what the time throughout many of our days looked like this week. Sleeping. Lots of sleeping (though at very short intervals for some). And snuggling. 
Thursday when I awoke I was greeting by my swollen ankles having mostly disappeared. What a sight and feeling. My ankles had been swelling alot in recent weeks, but regularly since February! How nice it is to wear shoes without having swollen feet. 🙂 Our first family outing was to head to Target to get a few baby things. It was a good trip, but ended rather quickly as Reid woke up hungry and started screaming! 
On Friday we were treated to a tasty lunch from Barry Bagels courtesy of the Vertucci’s. They were able to stay and hang for a bit too. They were without their kids and Finn was at the zoo so it was a peaceful lunch! We then enjoyed a nice dinner from City Barbecue from the Conrad’s. Kara and the girls were able to visit and hold Reid too. On Sunday we headed to church and later that afternoon to Cameron Howard’s graduation party. We had countless people ask how old Reid was and they couldn’t believe it when we told them he was a mere 8 days. He slept almost the entire time, other than two feedings. 
I was fortunate to break away from work over the lunch hour to go surprise Griffin at pre-school for the Mom’s and Muffins mother’s day gathering. I hadn’t told him I’d be there as I like to surprise him – and I just love to see the expression on his face when he discovers I’m there. So fun! I was able to play with him in his classroom where he showed me so many of his toys. Then the kids were read a book by the teacher, showed us a dance they do to music, and each child was called to the front one at a time to get the painting they had made for their mom. While the child walked up to the front the teacher read one line off their “mom” worksheet which you can see below. Some of what the kids answers were to the questions were pretty hilarious! For mine, she read that “Griffin’s mom is 10 years old”. I could tell as he was walking back to me with his painting and the paper that he was a little embarrassed. He sat down and muttered “I didn’t know what to say for how old you were…..” like I would somehow be disappointed that it wasn’t correct. So I reassured him it was ok not to know how old I was and how much I loved the painting he made and all of the answers to the questions that his teachers asked him about me. Apparently we make and eat a lot of pancakes and waffles around here…..
On Thursday morning I had yet another weekly non-stress test which again went well and the baby’s heart rate looked great. This week I met with Dr. Costa afterwards. She thinks based on my current status and that I delivered Griffin 10 days late, that I will go after my due date. She actually mentioned that she saw my ultrasound results from last week and that I have above normal amniotic fluid (mine is 18, normal is 10-14), though it’s not cause for concern. But it does make it more difficult for the baby to move down to the cervix, which is what causes it to begin dilating. Even though I’ve been having regular braxton-hicks contractions, the additional fluid makes it difficult for the babies head to move down which is why I haven’t made much progress in the last couple of weeks. I’m ok with that since it has allowed me to get through spring at work! 
Over the weekend Kevin started working on the nursery closet. We are going to customize the shelving and add some built in drawers. So Kevin and Finn headed to Lowe’s to get the necessary supplies and then began working on the pieces parts. And, as always, Brutus inserted himself in the activities wanting to be in the garage during all the activity. 
On Mother’s Day Mom and Dad came down and the Bethune’s also joined us at Griffin’s flag football game. The league gave the kids flowers to give to their Mom’s and/or Grandma’s that were there – how cute! Afterwards we headed to Graeter’s (who doesn’t enjoy a sweet treat after a little flag football) and then on to the Bethune’s for a pizza dinner to celebrate Mother’s Day. Yummers! Griffin made the sweetest card for me with Miss Debbie. I really enjoy reading the sentiments that she captures when she asks him questions like that. 
While Griffin played outside one day he created this masterpiece which he called his “collage”. A unique and beautiful compilation made when he combined water and sidewalk chalk and then painted with his feet. He was so proud. There were several colors but you can’t quite see that in the photo here. 
Griffin loves to be outside and play sports as much as possible. Anytime he hears his neighbor pals Cole and Cooper outside he immediately wants to head outside and play with them. They get in games of driveway hockey and lawn baseball quite a bit. 
And from this weeks trip to the zoo:
It’s definitely Fall around here – OSU football and apples are in full swing. I’ve been enjoying taking Tuesday’s off and taking Griffin to school. I love hearing about his day and the stories that he has to share. This day we took Tony the Tiger back from his weekend of fun with us. Part of having the class mascot is journaling what adventures and fun you had with him. Kevin put together a neat collage with all of our weekend activities! 
After school Finn and I headed downtown to enjoy a treat at the North Market. I had some tasty veggie dishes from The Little Eater, and as you can see Finn attacked a large pretzel!
I love it when Finn does art at school or with Debbie. He is so excited to share what he made and tell about it. Here he drew the Earth!
All things apples! This week Debbie had a fun activity making applesauce with the apples we picked last weekend with Mom and Dad. And at the end, after all the hard work, Finn sampled his work – it was delish!
I also love arriving home to or seeing pictures throughout the day of Finn playing dress-up and pretend. He’s got a very creative imagination and tells the best stories with his outfits. Even Lily got to wear some props. 
Kevin and I met up with the Vertuccis this week for date night at the new Pins Mechanical in downtown Cbus. It is a new concept for adult entertainment that includes numerous pinball machines, ping pong tables, and duck-pin bowling! That was our first go at playing duck-pin and it was so fun! We had a great time (and yours truly happened to win!). 
Friday was the Fun Fest at Griffin’s preschool. There are many games, one held in each of the preschool classrooms, hot dogs, ice cream, and prizes! It was a fun evening and you can see here, in Finn’s Tiger class – he pinned the spider in the center of the web! Yay Finn!
On Saturday the doorbell rang and Lily went nuts of course. Kevin retrieved a package sent to Finn from Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein. Turns out when they were cleaning the basement they came upon a Tyger (note the spelling) from Dad’s school board days – so they were kind enough to send it to our Tiger! Finn has loved sleeping with it 🙂
