Getting Settled In

Well, our last day in the hospital I tried to take some pictures to capture his newness. He is wearing the outfit that his daddy came home from the hospital in 30 years ago from the same pink palace. It's hard to believe that Lincoln was even smaller than him. I forget how tiny and fragile they are at first and how much they depend on you.


I love this picture. Ryan thinks the world of our new little one. He has also done a good job of making sure that Lincoln is getting the attention that he needs too. He is truly a great daddy.

We made it home and I have no pictures to commemorate the occasion because I was busy trying to not throw up in the car. I made the mistake of taking a pain pill before I left on an empty stomach and it did not settle well. I felt bad because Ryan was looking forward to bringing us all home and not one picture was snapped. Here is Madden once he was settled in. The ride home must have worn him out.

Later that night Nana, Pa, and G.G. came to visit. This is Madden's only great-grandparent that is still with us.

We did get settled in and he was very good that first night. He pretty much only cries when he is hungry, otherwise, he is pretty content just laying in his boppy or in your arms. We'll see how long that lasts.

Lincoln Meet Madden

We wanted to introduce Lincoln to his new baby brother Madden without a lot of distractions. Ryan went to go and pick him up and then we had Ryan get the baby from the nursery. Lincoln was somewhat excited but still a little timid. When we first introduced him he was a little unsure of how he got out of my belly. He quickly took to him and kept saying, "Madden is so cute". That will melt your heart and then he told him that he loved him. I hope he keeps this same viewpoint of his little brother for the rest of his life.


All the men in my life getting to know each other.


We have been reading a book called I'm a Big Brother and it's about a boy who has a new little brother and he is waiting for him to grow up so that he can play with him. It was very cute because Lincoln kept asking, "He play with my cars when he grow up?".

I am actually starting to feel outnumbered but look at how cute all those boys are.

One last story for memories sake. Lincoln came in later and saw me nursing him. He asked what I was doing and I told him that Madden was eating. His response in question form, "He eat your nipple?". You can't help but laugh at that. He then asked my cousin who came in later, "He going to eat your nipple too?". We then had to explain that he only eats from mommy. Love the mind of a 2-year-old!

Memorial Day Visitors

Monday was Memorial Day so most of our family was able to make it up to visit Baby Madden. Here are the boys with my mom. She works at the hospital so she was able to pop in and out all day.


Ryan's whole family showed up at about the same time so we had a room full of boys. It was a bit rowdy but what do you expect. Madden makes the 6th grandson (in a row) that we will have on that side.

Here is Aunt Sonya, we were so grateful that they kept Lincoln for us the night before. That was his first time to spend the night with someone other than his grandparents. I think he did fairly well.

This is Aunt Jeannie with Cousin Mason.

The rest of the cousins, Kaleb, Jordan, and Morgan. I got pictures of all them except for Ethan, he was not quite as cooperative.

Pa and Nana were in Branson and weren't able to make it for his birth. They did come up as soon as they got home on Monday to visit. Here is Nana with her 6th grandson.

Pa was excited but looked a little tired after the long drive back.

Our last visitor for the day was our best buddy, Shay. These pictures are rare because she admittedly not the most kid friendly person there is. She, however, makes exceptions for our cute little ones.

Thank you to all those that called and visited. Madden will be very excited when he looks back one day to see all the people that came to welcome him into the world.

Welcome Baby Madden!

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new little one and he finally decided to make his appearance on Sunday night. After doing more walking than I have ever wanted to do 9 mths. pregnant, it all finally paid off. My water broke at about 3:15 on Sunday afternoon so we headed to the hospital after dropping Lincoln off with his Uncle Tommy. They verified that it was actually my water that broke and we got settled in. Here I am in my last pregnant pic and Ryan expressing his anxiousness about leaving here with another baby.

A few hours later, some potacin, and an epidural we were ready to push. After a bit of a struggle due to some broad shoulders and a bit of help from Dr. Sterling, Madden Lun Gambill joined the world at 9:00 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 inches long. He was a bit bigger than we all had expected. He outweighed his brother by exactly 1 lb. and was exactly 1 in. longer than him. I think he even beat the amount of hair Lincoln had.

Here's our 1st look at our new baby boy. I have to admit I thought he was pretty cute with those chubby cheeks.

This is his 1st picture with his mommy. Don't you just love how swollen you look.

I was absolutely exhausted so I actually took a nap while they had him down in the room getting him all cleaned up. It actually wasn't that long of a delivery but it felt like forever to me. In the end it was all worth it and we had a beautiful little boy who was wide-eyed from the minute he came out. It was late when we made it to a room so Lincoln wasn't able to come up and meet his brother. I am very interested to see what his reaction will be. We'll keep you posted!

Still Waiting (Anxiously, I might add!)

I appreciate all the comments and calls, but, yes, unfortunately, I am still with child at this point. Still with child and still dilated beyond belief. He did an office procedure on Monday to help naturally induce (not comfortable at all). I guess our little one is too comfy and being a little stubborn. I am determined to coax him out before this weekend because the Doogie Howser doctor is on call and I am not necessarily wanting him to deliver. But, if that's what happens, so be it, I am just ready for him to join us in the real world. Talk to everyone soon (I hope)!

Pregnancy Update

Just a short post- went to see Dr. Williamson today and he had some interesting news. This was my first "getting checked" appointment. I was actually anticipating it because Lincoln came so early. He checked me and looked at me kind of shocked and told me I was at a 4 and almost completely effaced. I asked if he was kidding and he told me that he doesn't joke about things like that. I'm thinking that we are going to meet our new little guy pretty soon. Very exciting but very nerve racking because again I am not ready!!

A Perfect Mother's Day Weekend

I had a great Mother's Day weekend that included all of my favorite things. Ryan and Lincoln took me to the Wild Fork for breakfast on Saturday morning. If you have not been there for breakfast then you need to go and go soon. I think they have the best breakfast around. We then headed out to Philbrook for the 2nd Saturday Family Day. This was our 1st time and Lincoln had a great time. I was able to get some good pictures of Lincoln making art. Unfortunately he was too young to sign up for the My Museum program but he still had a good time.


Here is his finished painting.


We then headed out to the gardens. It was a tad dreary but the rain at least quit long enough for us to get some pictures. Here I am in all my glory, only 3 1/2 weeks left to go, yeah!

Lincoln had a good time running around and luckily Ryan was there to run after him. I thought I was going to pass out just walking back up all the steps. He is not quite cooperative with pictures these days so but I was bound and determined to get a good one of me and him to commemorate the day.

Ryan did a pretty good job and I was happy that Lincoln looked and smiled long enough to get a few good pics.

I hope that everyone had as good a weekend as I did. The best part was just getting to spend time with Lincoln and Ryan and doing things we don't normally do. I think I got an extra special weekend because I was pregnant, who's complaining though right.

Happy Mother's Day to all of my wonderful friends who are mothers. I hope that you were all able to sit back and relax.