Carlyn

i haven't posted in a while and that is unlike me. what has been going on?? well mostly i have been in denial about what has been going on in our lives in the last few weeks and didn't want to write about it, because that made it more real. here is the story. the hospital where james was doing his residency this year went bankrupt and closed. they gave the staff no notice and no pay. we were actually on our first day of vacation at my parents when it all went down. poor james was trying to find a new job over the phone. the hospital had been having some major financial problems, but at the last meeting they had the week before our vacation, the staff was told they would remain open at least until the end of the year. it is very hard to explain but finding a new residency positions is not like finding a new job. residency is part job and part training. you can't just go anywhere and there are a very limited number of spots. we have friends who have lost a residency spot and ...

luther's reaction when he caught a fish at the water table Bethany & Luther riding the cow James & Pearl playing the piano Pearl and the big white catfish this sand table at mcwane is fun!! hurricane Luther making waves luther and daddy changing a tire we have had a very fun week. james was off, so we got lot of activities in while daddy was around to help. on monday morning, pearl and i had our first mother-daughter shopping trip. james watched luther and pearl and i went to the most amazing consignment sale. we got lots of fall and winter clothes for luther . (pearl has enough hand-me-downs to last until she is 12) we also found some great baby items for our church. our church was blessed with 4 little girls with in about one month(one was pearl). so they needed several things to entertain all of these little ones. i got luther a few toys for his birthday too. then it was on to the doctor's office for pearl's 2 month appt and luther's 2 year a...

coolest dude at the park!! we have had lots of sickness over the past 3 weeks. luther started it one weekend. i got it then next weekend and then james got it then end of this past week. pearl has had it sometime in between. james started his ER rotation this week, but only made it one day before he had to call in sick. mom came for two days to help me out when i was still feeling bad and james was on call. well, james is now on the mend and there is no one else to get sick. so, hopefully this is all over with.

pearl smiling at mommy Pearl smiling at Luther my babies Pearl smiling at daddy Pearl is 6 weeks old and will be 7 weeks tomorrow. she has started smiling all of the time. she is beginning to love her swing and she loves being outside. if she is fussing and luther comes over to check on her, she will usually quiet down. she is starting to enjoy all of his attention. it doesn't seem to bother her at all that he is a little too rough. i think she is going to be a tough little girl. she is still not sleeping very well at night. she is usually up 3 or 4 times and many times stays up for several hours in a row. james and i try to trade off the long awake times. i went back on a regular diet last weekend. her poop has never cleared up. it is still full of mucous, actually really all it is is yellow mucous. i have never seen normal poop come out of the child. i did dairy free for 5 weeks and no soy for the last 3 of those weeks. i haven't seen any changes in her poop or her behavio...

My sweet baby boy will be 2 years old in just a few weeks!!! his birthday is on oct 19th. we are planning to have a family birthday party for him the day before his birthday. i think most of our family is going to be able to come. luther has told me he wants a choo choo train party, so i am going to make him a choo choo cake. i know people are going to be asking me soon what to get him for his birthday, so i thought i would make a list. i made one on Amazon. i am sure most of the items(or similar items) could be found at various stores, but it was just easy to make the list on amazon. also, he needs fall clothes. he is wearing a 2T. here is the link for the wish list: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2D52D79QWUMBQ i am not asking for everyone to get him a gift, i just wanted give ideas to anyone planning on getting him something.

pre hair cut post hair cut luther giving the tiger kisses pearl the lion pearl is getting cubby cheeks!! pearl hanging out with grandpa at the pool we went to the zoo on monday. pearl did very good and slept in the stroller most of the time. luther was a bit possessive of the animals. he thought they were all his and did not appreciate all of the other kids looking at them. he is definitely hitting the stage where he has trouble sharing. i had noticed it at playgroup last week, but the zoo animals!! my child is ridiculous. he also decided that the white tiger was hungry and wanted a hot dog. he was very upset that mommy couldn't just cook one up and give it to the tiger. on tuesday, grandpa and i took the kids to a park. the weather was so nice. it was very breezy and just felt wonderful. on wedneday, luther had his first real hair cut. i have trimmed it a few times, which really did not go well. so, i decided it was time for a professional. i held luther and the lady gave him so...

We had a busy week. Mom & Meemaw came to see us on tuesday and wednesday. james was on call on tuesday, so it was nice to have some company. they helped me with the babies, house cleaning and also canning tomatoes. on thursday i had cabinet people here working on my kitchen. there was some progress made, but there is still much to be done. on friday, james got off after lunch and we made a huge batch of fried green tomatoes. on saturday, james's dad arrived for a visit. james is off all weekend and even on monday. he will start a new rotation on tuesday. he will actually be working in a doctor's office less than a mile from our house. pearl had her best night ever last night. she went to bed at 10pm and got up at 2:30am to eat and was back asleep by 3:30am. then she slept until 6:30am. i got a full 4 hrs of sleep the first half of the night. that is the longest stretch of sleep i have had in ages. i think i deserved it, because i was up 7 times the night before. pearl ...

our wedding day 5 year anniversary date roses james got for me :) james and i celebrated our 5 year anniversary this past weekend. it is definitely hard to believe it has been 5 years but yet so much has happened. we got married just a few days before we started our senior year of college. we both finished college the following spring. we went to yemen for a month. we move to east TN for james to go to med school. we bought a condo. i worked as a nurse for 2 years. we had our first little blessing- luther!! james graduated from med school. we sold our condo and bought a house in AL. we moved to AL and james started residency. and then we had our second little blessing- pearl!! wow!! we have definitely been busy. it is so amazing to look back at all of the highs and lows God has brought us though in the last 5 years. i am so blessed to have such a godly, intelligent, loving, patient and fun loving husband!! i am so proud of him. he is a wonderful husband, father and doctor and he bal...

well besides have to take luther with me, pearl's check up went really well. she weighted a whopping 8 lbs and 6 oz !!! she was just suppose to be back to her birth weight of 7lbs 3oz by now, so she is definitely growing well. the doctor said i must have "very rich milk"!! i thought that was funny. he felt with her growth going as well as it is and her not having any blood in her stools, he did not think i need to cut out soy at this time. i was relieved, because as i had mentioned before, soy is really a pain to cut out and dairy is hard enough. i am still going to steer away from foods that have a lot of soy in them but at least i don't have to me so meticulous about it. i am pretty sure the soy bothers her so i am hoping as long as a stay away from large amounts of soy we won't have any major problems. we don't have to go back to the doctor until she is 8 weeks old and it will be time for luther's 2 year appt them too!!! i can't believe my baby boy...

pearl is 2 weeks old today!! the time sure is flying by. i am trying to treasure this newborn stage because remember how quickly it passed with luther. today i am on my own for the first time. mom left on tuesday after jacque and abigail got here. mom had to get home and find a new vehical before her car rental ran out (remember the wreck she had a few weeks ago). we had a nice visit with jacque and abigail. james took us all to the creek on wednesday when he got off of work. luther and abigail did not get along quite as well as they normally do, so that was disappointing. they fought over toys and pearl. but, they also played really well together at times. jacque and i decided that they have a love-hate relationship. jacque took them to chick-fila one day to play on the playground. they both really enjoyed that. yesterday they spent hours playing in the backyard having lots of fun with abigail's inflatable trampoline and luther's kiddie pool. jacque and abigail both enjoyed me...

Pearl is such a good baby and we are all really enjoying her!! Mom and candice have been here all week. James took monday and tuesday off and then went back to work yesterday. he was off by 3pm, so i think this month will be much better. this week, we also have had our counter tops and sink installed in our kitchen. there is still much trim, floor and tile work to be done, but the kitchen is finally coming together. our church has been bringing meals every other day, so we have not had to use the kitchen that much. it has been nice to have so much help as i am trying to recover from the c section and enjoy my babies. pearl has been breastfeeding very well. we went for her first doctor's appt on tuesday and she was 6lbs 12oz. the doctor and her parents were very pleased, because she was 6lbs 9oz on sunday night when she was weighed last. the doctor also did not think her bilirubin need to be rechecked. if any of you know everything we went thur with luther you will know...

so on thursday night around midnight, i noticed that i had a slow leak of my water. i was not sure that is what is was, but it was just my guess. my contractions got more painful thru the night but i decided to just wait until the morning to call the doctor's office because i was not sure. i called on friday morning and they told me to come in at 9:30am. they confirmed at the office that my water had broken and was slowly leaking. the unfortunate thing was that i was still not thinned out, had not dilated any and pearl had not dropped. now the wait was over. i was upset, but i knew that there was no way i was going to have a vaginal birth. pearl's fluid would leak from around her and my body was still days, maybe weeks from what it should have been at this point. and, as i have mentioned before, they can't give you anything to make you dilate if you have had a previous c-section because it can make your uterus rupture. all of the contractions i had been having for a week n...

Pearl Carolee Layton Born August 1st at 2:05pm 7lbs 3 oz 20 1/2 inches see pictures in albums below: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2062363&l=d094e&id=57504677 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2062364&l=6f900&id=57504677 i will update with whole story soon!!!

i may be 40 weeks and 4 day pregnant, but i can still cook figs!!! thanks you everyone for your prayers an encouragement. i am definitely feeling the prayers. i have been in much better spirits today. i am still having plenty of contractions, but they have not been near as uncomfortable as they were yesterday. my aunt sandra and cousin megan came for a visit today from atlanta. that was a very nice distractions. luther loved showing off for them. they had never seen our new house, so it was fun to show them around. we picked figs and tomatoes from our garden and sent them home with some fresh produce. i have been doing more therapeutic cooking. and made a veggie lasagna with all of our garden veggies for us to eat for lunch. mom is still here. she is in limbo, not really knowing what to do. i feel so bad that she has already been here for a week and pearl hasn't even arrived, but it is definitely nice having her around. luther has been in a very loving mood today and has given me...

well my appt today was very discouraging and painful. i am not dilated at all. pearl has not even really dropped. it doesn't really matter that i am having all of these contractions, because her head is not against my cervix so they are not going to make me dilate. they hooked me up to the monitor for about 20minutes to check her heart rate and see how she is tolerating the contractions. it was very very uncomfortable to lay on the little non padded table for that long. my hips were killing me as well as my back. then the nurse came in and said that pearl's heart rate was low and they wanted me to drink a coke. so she gave me a coke to drink laying down and then left me in there for another 30minutes. i was worried about pearl the whole time, of course. my back and hips kept getting worse and the acid reflux started from the coke. and, i was having really bad contractions by this point from all of the discomfort. i actually almost yelled for help a few times because...

yummy homemade pizza my make shift kitchen i have an appt with my doctor today at 1:30pm. she is back in town now, thanks goodness. i am hoping that i have at least started dilating after having contractions for one week now. i am trying not to dwell on this very annoying situation. we had some major breakthroughs on the kitchen yesterday. a man came and reinstalled my microwave. he also set up my old sink on a plywood board to be used temporary. now that the kitchen water is back on, i can also use the dishwasher and our outdoor water spicket to water the garden. i was so excited to have a functional kitchen last night that i made homemade pizzas and helped james make homemade fig ice cream. the pizza was so good. mom cut up a bunch of veggies from our garden to go on them. the fig ice cream turned out pretty good too. i think i am getting a little sick of figs though. mom and i have been framing and hanging pictures up to help pass the time the last few days. it is starting to look...

i just wanted to let everyone know that i am still pregnant and not happy about it. i feel aweful, i am having contractions all of the time, that at times are very painful. my back is killing me. i have 3+ pitting edema in my legs and i have a stabbing pain in my pelvis when i stand up. surely this can't go on much longer. every time the contractions get bad enough i think i should go to the hospital, they slow down and quit hurting as bad before i can get all of my stuff together. mom is very reassuring. she says she did this with all of us. poor her. this is really stinky. i am trying to stay active. we went to church yesterday and then out to eat. i made fig bread last night from all of these figs we have piling up around here. too bad figs don't induce labor. i have been at the park with luther all morning. ok, i just wanted to complain. i just want to see my little girl and i am really really sick of sharing a body with her at this point.

luther enjoying the carousel at the zoo this week my handsome boys :) i dressed them alike for church last sunday last sunday at 39 weeks my due date is tomorrow. my mom and brother are still here and my sister candice came for the weekend too. james is off this weekend. sure would be a good time to have a baby!! i am still having lots of contractions. i have stopped timing them. what is the point?? they say to go the he hospital when they are 5 minutes apart and they having been for like 3 days now. sometimes they are a lot stronger and bothersome and sometimes they are just like braxton hicks. luther is enjoying having his gran, uncle patrick and aunt candi around, not to mention his daddy home. he has decided his name is yellow. i need to video him saying it before he stops. it is so funny. we say "what is your name?" and he yells "YELLOW". he had been loving wooden puzzles this week. i am glad he has found some what of a stationary activity that he likes. jam...

so i went to my doctor's appt today at 3pm. they hooked me up to the monitors and said pearl is doing great and tolerating the contractions well. then the doctor checked me and i have not dilated at all!! i am so bummed. so now i am back at home still having contractions. i really hope this is not a repeat of luther's birth- contractions for 3 days without any dilatation!! everyone pray for my cervix to OPEN!!! the doctor i saw today was very c-section happy and i left the appt very upset and irritated. oh, when i got home my base cabinets were finished being installed in my kitchen. there is a 4 inch strip around the bottom of them where there is no tile. we are going to have to somehow patchwork tile at there base. i am worried it is going to look horrible.

Mom and Patrick are here. so are the people installing my kitchen cabinets. contractions seem the same. i have a scheduled appt at 3 pm today, so unless anything changes i may just wait until then to go. i have a family history of long labors and i really don't want to be in the hospital forever. i am doing fine as long as i am up. they hurt really bad when i lay down. i know they will want me to lay down at the hospital. i really don't want to go the the hospital for them to tell me i am not dilating.