welcome back!

I am grateful today for co-workers who help make a hard day a little bit brighter.

It was my first day back from maternity leave today and this is what my office door looked like when I came in this morning. It was very sweet and it did help to make my day a little easier.

Fifi did great hanging out with my mom all day. I went home and fed her at lunch and snuggled her a bit too. When we got home around 5:30 this evening she wanted to nurse and then was out like a light. she is down for the count, being away from mom was a lot of work apparently. poor thing.

I did okay too. It was hard to go back, but I definitely wasn't a blubbering fool like last time. Having the short week to ease into things and also having my mom watch her this week makes things easier.

I am glad I am employed right now. sigh. being a (working) mom is hard.

The Foothills

We took a drive to the foothills yesterday. It was lovely.

This man was playing at the farmer's market in Auburn, CA where we bought some surprisingly, sweet strawberries and a bag of pistachios to snack on for the second leg of the ride.  It was beautiful out and just a tad warmer than it is in Reno right now.

We met up with some friends in Coloma. They were camping, but I'm not quite ready to spend the night in a tent w/ the girlie, so we just "sort of camped" by hanging out all day around the area and later, cooking our dinner over the campfire before heading back home. It was a perfect compromise.

After grabbing some lunch in Placerville, we headed up to Apple Hill and visited a couple of tasting rooms (We were going to check out the apples, but the kids were asleep in the car and so we switched up the plans. Daddy-O went in to the first tasting and I hung out with the babies until they woke up, then I got to taste at the second place while Daddy-O kept the kids entertained.).

If you haven't wine tasted in the El Dorado County area, it's well worth the visit. They are a lot more low key than the what you will find in the Sonoma/Napa area and many of the tastings are free.

At the second spot we visited they were very family friendly. O found this little horse toy in the parking lot that he wouldn't let go of for the rest of the afternoon and they even gave him a juice box so he wouldn't feel left out of the 'tasting' ;). The third place we visited, there was a baby about 10 months younger than O hanging out in the shop. The son belonged to the young couple pouring and running the place, grandma was also there and keeping a watchful eye on the little cutie. I like that they didn't mind the whole crew coming in (Fifi was in the carrier on daddy-o, it was very sweet).

What a nice autumn weekend drive with the family and a wonderful visit with friends!

2 months

Here we are again, another month has passed with our sweet little girly. We just returned from her two month check and things are looking wonderfully. She is gaining weight and is now 12lbs 2oz (putting her in the 81% for her age) her chubby legs to prove that and I could eat them up they are so cute. She is measuring 22 and 3/4 inches long- I knew she was getting tall because the 0-3 month sleepers were getting so hard to put on her. I feel like she is bigger than O was at this age. Things that I swore still fit him at 2 months aren't working for her at this point. I will have to go back and look at what his stats were and see what the difference is.

The biggest first for the month would have to be our trip 'over the hill' to Napa, CA last weekend. She was wonderful in the car and slept the entire ride there and back. She was so good with getting passed around among family and smiled big for everyone. The smiles and the cooing have to be my favorite milestone for this month. Fifi smiles with her ENTIRE body, it is just so sweet. First the grin will fill up her face, then the shoulders raise and finally her little body curls into a c shape. Usually there is a big coo or giggle to top it all off, melting the entire room when she does.  When someone else is holding her or she is hanging out on the blanket she looks to find me when she hears my voice and does the same for Daddy-O. She also follows O around with her eyes, taking in everything that her big bro is doing.

Often in the evenings we will set her up on the ottoman and let her go crazy doing what we call her 'baby jazzersize'. This includes all sorts of kicking, bicycling and arm swimming. It is really funny to watch and pretty amazing when you think about the strength she is building during her 'work out routine'. She is able to hold her head up pretty well while being held and when I put her on her tummy she can hold her self up on her arms for a bit of time before face planting or rolling over to one side.

She has been sleeping really well (knock on wood!) and can pretty much go all night without needing to be fed or waking up. She will stir and make noise, but won't always fully wake up and actually need something other than to fall back to sleep. If I do get up with her, it is usually around 2am and then maybe at 5:30am. I have been trying to change her diaper during at least one of these wakings because she often gets up in the morning soaked completely thru her diaper and into the sheets! We moved her into her own room because we felt like O was getting jealous of everyone in one room except him and also because she is pretty noisy with snorts and snuffs while she sleeps. We were waking up and then I was waking her up thinking she needed to eat when she didn't causing all of us to be tire and needing more sleep in the morning.

We are adjusting really well into a two kid family. I have even been home at least once a week for the day with both kids and survived. I do have to admit how scared I was to take this on at first, mostly because I was worried I would be stuck feeding Fifi while O got into mischief. Either I am really good at nursing and walking around or O understands that he has to stick around and behave while Fifi eats. The hardest part has been nap time for O. He wants to stay awake and not miss a minute of the action when we are home.  I must be quite the site when I head out the door with Fifi in the sling and O in the jog stroller in order to trick him into falling asleep after lunch. Oh well, what ever gets the kid to sleep, right?!

I am so excited to see who this little girl becomes, it just keeps getting better!
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and just for comparison....

Pumpkin Patch Kids

We had big plans for O to be a knight in shining armor this Halloween. Yeah, we even found a helmet and a breast plate at the dollar store for him to wear and if you remember the Pebble I knit for him this summer, it was a perfect addition to the get-up since it looked like a tunic that a knight would wear underneath his armor. Of course he will have nothing to do with it, NOTHING. He keeps telling me that the helmet is for a horse. hrrmph.



But this morning I decided to try Fifi in one of the costumes we have for her (hand me downs rock) and slipped her into the pumpkin costume. I pulled out the other pumpkin suit that we have to see if it might still fit O. When he saw his little sister in her get up he quickly wanted to join the party. I am pretty sure I have the cutest jack-o-lanterns on the block...

generations

When I first found out we were pregnant I had my fingers crossed for a girl. I really didn't care either way, but wouldn't it be fun to have one of each? Although, I did have images in my mind of the crazy, boy filled house that could be should this new little one come out male. I am sure there would have been lots of fart jokes and black eyes along the way...

As I have said before, I am still getting over the shock of pink that has invaded the house since Fifi was born. I wouldn't call myself a girlie girl. I like to look good, but I don't think I ever wore skirts or dresses while growing up just because. (I have changed my tune these days, nothing like a cute skirt in the hot summer or paired with tights and boots during the winter) but all this frill that showed up in clothing and blankets and what not had me overwhelmed for a few weeks.

 

I don't know where I was going with this, other than to say that I am so excited to have a girl in the house. My mom and i have a very special relationship and I hope that my little girl and I can be as close. I love that my mom is so nearby that she can pop over to hold the baby for a few minutes in the afternoon and it isn't out of the way. It's pretty wonderful. Oh, and baby girl looks like her Jojo a bit too, wich is awfully sweet.

I voted (early)

In Nevada you can early vote. I headed to the grocery store and did my duty this morning.
Gotta love that you can get toilet paper, throw a few quarters in the slot machines and stand in line to vote all in the same place.
good stuff in the silver state, good stuff.

oh and since I took her brother when he was only 6 weeks old to the polls, I thought she should also come along and help me rock the vote.

As you can see, it was exhausting.

snip-its

moments from our day

One Month

Dear Baby Girl,

Today you are one month old and although the month seems to have flown by, it certainly didn't do so in the same manner as it did when I had your brother. So far with you I am getting more sleep. I am not as worried about every.little.thing I am doing as a mom, or hovering over your dad like a crazy helicopter pilot- I trust us both a lot more in our abilities to 'do this'. Don't get me wrong, we have had our rookie moments; the blow out diapers with only a short sleeve onsie to change into- when a winter jacket would surely be more appropriate, getting peed on mid diaper change, forgetting just how much of a bobble head a new born really is. Yep, definitely those moments. But I feel so much more at ease this go around.

You have already gained weight and grown. It is so amazing how fast babies change and you are no exception. Your body is filling out and so are your sweet little cheeks. We have some clothes that don't fit already and I am mixed with excitement and sadness as I fold those away into the bin for whoever will use them next.

Speaking of clothes, I am getting used to all the pink and purple that has taken over the house since you have arrived. I have been trying to mix up some of the clothes from your brother's early days (read blue, greenand  brown) just so I am not in such shock, but really it is pretty darn cute to see a one month old in a dress (sort of amusing more than anything!) I am reminded of how much time I actually spend sitting on the couch nursing and just staring at this little creature in my arms.  Wondering just who you will be, what surprises you will bring and what the laughter will sound like thru the house once you and your brother are a little bit older.

I am in love with your belly button that looks like a perfect little grin, with your long-long-long fingers and toes and that you already have eyelashes like your big brother's (I was going to feel really bad if you didn't get those too, really bad). While you nurse you squeak like a hamster's wheel and can toot louder than most grown men. You get the hic-ups at least once a day and make some of the best faces while you sleep and dream.

I am still in disbelieve that I have a little girl. I was hoping for a girl, but didn't want to get my hopes stuck on anything so I told myself that I was going to have two, crazy boys to keep me on my toes. But here you are, a girl and your daddy and I couldn't be more in love.

We are so glad you are here and are so excited to watch you grow!

siblings

Moments like this make me so happy. Watching him interact with her is really special.

Seeing him share one of his favorite things right now (match box cars have taken over the house) swells my heart.

and look how interested she is in him- so sweet.

Checking up and in

We had J's two week check up today, she will be three weeks tomorrow but that is how they scheduled us- the girl is growing leaps and bounds. She gained an entire pound since her check up two weeks ago and is now coming in at 9lbs 2oz. She also grew another half inch, 20.5 inches long and her head grew 1/4 of an inch (14 1/4 circumference). The doctor was happy with everything and says that she is right on track.

If we put her on her tummy she will hold her head up, so strong! and when she is awake she is bright eyed and alert. She is sleeping really pretty well, waking up about 2, maybe 3 times a night to eat and be changed and has even taken a bottle from Daddy-O while I was out and about getting my teeth cleaned and finding jeans that will fit my bootie yesterday.

We are having a great time when O is home with us on the weekends and also on Tuesday and Wednesday each week. Today he is out with Daddy-O swimming (it is oddly hot out for autumn) and last weekend we tried to go on the train ride at a local park but here is what happened....







To say we weren't all a little disappointed that the engine jumped the tracks is an understatement. The ride is closed for the season and so we will have to wait until next summer to try it again. At least there is a playground next door to hang out at and swing and slide to take his mind off of it all.

First Day Of Autumn

What we did on the first day of autumn...

Turned two weeks old and slept-

she loves the K'tan sling and I do too.

 

Already sick of the mama-ratzi??

Fed some geese-

Daddy-O braving the goose bite

Tossing bread

Played at the playground-

We also did some painting,but I will share that in another post.
I'm a couple days late, but...

Happy Autumn Everyone!!!

the first week

Okay, if ever week is going to go by as this first week with the new little miss in the house I am going to need to figure out how to slow down time.  This new little girl is doing wonderful. She is really mellow, squeaks when she is hungry and only really cries if I can't get the milk out fast enough or if I have to changer her clothes. I was a little worried at first that we were going to have nursing problems. She kept spitting me out and not really eating on one side but after our first doctor's visit yesterday my fears were put to rest. She has already gained about 3 oz and grown half an inch! wow. slow down sister.

We are all adjusting a bit here and there. O is doing really well and just loves on her. Checking on her and bringing her little treasures like the flower at the top of her basket in the picture above. We have only had one real melt down and that was because I wouldn't(couldn't) pick him up to go downstairs yesterday morning. He literally climbed up my leg and onto my hip as I walked away from his teary eyed face. It broke my heart, but I really am not ready to pick up all 2ft 10inches and 26lbs of him quite yet. My body needs time to heal. We made up and read "Go Dog, Go" and drank some milk while snuggling on the couch.

I am slowly coming out of the haze, though I get overwhelmed here and there with it all I do feel like this time around is easier some how. Not sure if it is that I feel more confident as a mama or what, but it is nice to not feel like I am in such a 'baby tunnel' like last time.

The story

I loved reading all the really amazing birth stories out there as I got closer to my due date-(Design Mom has a whole section of her blog dedicated to birth stories). They kept me going (especially as my EDD came and went). There is something about sharing the experience and remembering little parts of the day/night before the new one(s) arrive that is really amazing. So I am going to share how Deuce, aka Little J, came into the world. This is a story about birth so if you get squeamish at this sort of thing then just scroll thru to see the pictures and move along- if you are like me and love to hear the stories then keep reading...

~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the story

On Friday the third I had my 40wk doctor's appointment. I had been feeling a bit crampy and just really ready, but when the doctor checked me I was still at 1cm- the same as I had been for the past two weeks. She offered to induce me if I was wanting to be done, but I turned her down- As long as everything was checking out medically I really wanted this birth to start on it's own.( I found out via the Postpartum nurse staff, that Labor Day weekend had been crazy in the hospital, literally -labour day! they had to send home any gals that were there for non-medical inductions and only take they mamas who were coming in on their own- I guess both local hospitals had full beds too-so no overflow that way either!)

Saturday and Sunday were great, my Godparents came by with lunch one day, the neighbours in the cul-de-sac had a pot luck and we ran a few errands and did a few chores while hanging out around the house. I was having off and on mild contractions each night for about an hour straight, but then I would fall back asleep and wake up to nothing. My plug did start to let loose, so I had hopes that things were starting to move and we were getting closer.


Daddy-O photo

On Monday we woke up singing happy birthday to our little guy and spent the day celebrating his 2nd birthday. We spent lots of time playing with O and all of his recently acquired birthday toys (we are in matchbox car heaven over here!)That night we had some friends from down the street and my mom over for dinner and happy cakes. By the end of the day O was singing happy birthday to himself, so stinking cute.

Early in the morning on Sept 7th (around 2:30am) the night time contractions started back up again-just like they had the past few nights. When they kept up into the morning I decided to not go into work that day and just hang out around the house with the boys. I downloaded a 'contraction timer' on Andy's itouch and realized things were staying pretty regular at 6-10 minutes apart. Nothing that would really stop me in my tracks, but definitely knew that there was something going on. We called my mom and asked her if she would mind taking O for the evening, Wednesdays are one of her regular days to have him instead of daycare so it would work out for him to just be at her house. We had all of our stuff packed and ready to go to the hospital and around 6pm dropped off the boy at my mom's. We then realized that we had forgotten a few things, so we went back to our house. Daddy-O went upstairs to grab some stuff and I decided to get the dishes in the washer so I wouldn't come home to a dirty kitchen. About an hour had passed by at that point and I realized that things had just about stopped. What the heck, was tonight not going to be the night?

Andy suggested we take a walk to get things going again. I put on my shoes and we to saddled up the dog for a walk around the neighborhood. My mom and O had actually come back to our house to grab something we forgot to pack for him and I told my mom that we would just drop him off if things started to pick up once more.(we live about 2 minutes away in the car or a 10 minutes by foot) I was frustrated at that point- had the whole day been all in my head?


Daddy-O photo

We got O in his jammies around 7:30ish and he and I were sitting reading "Go Dog Go" when things started to pick back up. I had to get a few random questions in to him when I felt things start up- "what color is that car" as to avoid having to actually read the words on the page. Each time this would happen O would look at me and ask, "Is baby pushing you mama?" (he is so crazy intuitive sometimes.)

Around 8:30pm we decided to head into the hospital as things seemed to be picking up a bit and I felt like I should at least be checked for where I was at and where baby was at. I kept hearing stories about how fast the second one comes and didn't want to be in the car having the baby. ") We were monitored for about 2.5hrs and they said we could go home if we wanted. I was only about 3cm and no change from the time we had arrived to when they said it was okay to leave. I was really hungry all of the sudden and just wanted to eat one of the peaches that I had gotten at the store on Tuesday. I knew the hospital wouldn't let me eat anything once I was there so this was part of my motivation to head back home. (so silly when I think about it!) So we headed back to the house. As soon as we pulled into the driveway we realized that the garage door was not going to open for (the battery in the remote was dead and the keypad outside wasn't cooperating either) and neither of us had a key to the front door of the house. Our housemate was home, but is a champion sleeper and didn't hear us knocking or ringing the doorbell (or Cloe-dog barking her head off!) and so we had to break into our own house. (moment one that I probably won't forget about this birth)

Andy had to get the ladder from the side yard and slipped in thru a second story window (visions of me driving his broken body, while in labor, back to the hospital did flash thru my mind more than once as I watched him on the roof). Once we were in, we tried to settled in bed and got about 2 hours of sleep. Then all of the sudden I felt a punch and a large POP - my waters broke! I found my way into the bathroom and sort of got stuck sitting on the toilet shaking and not sure what to do next. I knew I wanted to get in the shower, but wasn't sure how to navigate myself there. Andy had gotten up long enough to turn the water on and then got back in bed (have I mentioned that he is not easy to rouse when he is tried? um yeah). I found my way into the shower to rinse off, but I was shaking like crazy and was really scared I would slip and fall. I yelled for Andy to come back in and help me out, then said it was time to go back. I asked him to grab a dress for me to pull on and when I picked one out he asked me, "your going to wear THAT?" I don't know if I said, "um, fashion police? really?" but I know I thought it. I just wanted something easy to pull on over my head and the green cotton dress looked so soft and light weight... (moment two that I will probably not forget, or let Daddy-O live down)


Daddy-O photo

We then headed back to the hospital (I should mention here we are only about 3 minutes away, so these back and forth trips aren't really that big of a deal). It was about 2am by this point and still shaking like mad,  not only with each toe curling wave, but between each one as well. I kept trying to breathe deep and keep my face 'soft' but... I was having a hard time. I couldn't find a position that made things any more comfortable. Andy rolled out the biggest wheel chair I had ever seen from the ER area and piled all of our stuff in the seat next to me. He got me about two steps and I made him stop because I was having another surge and the movement of the chair was making me motion sick. We finally made it up the elevator and to the L&D-

The nurse checked me again and I had progressed to about 5cm by that point. They got me set up with an iv and drew blood. I would have really liked to do this all natural but I decided to opt for an epidural. I just couldn't calm my body down from shaking and I was getting freaked out with the intensity of things. (This is where I bow down to all you ladies who did this birthing work w/o medication, I am awe). I kept thinking if this is what 5cm is like I am not sure if I can take 10cm.

We got back to sleep once the epidural set in for another 1.5 to 2 hrs. But around 4:30ish I just couldn't stop feeling like I needed to bare down and push. Plus my entire left side was asleep and I was really uncomfortable. (they had put me on that side in order to get a better reading on the baby's heart beat. I guess as soon as I was on my right they would loose the ability to monitor her correctly or her heart rate would just dip because of the position I was/she was in)


Daddy-O photo

I woke up Andy and told him I though I needed to push and/or just be moved so he went and got the nurse. About an hour later (with about half an hour/twenty minutes of pushing) Little J came flying (almost literally) out with a gush of fluid behind her at 5:33am. She made a little squeak and one of the nurses said, "It's a......GIRL" I looked up at Andy in total disbelief! They had to take her over and get a bunch of the fluid she had swallowed out and finally they put her on my chest. Once they finally handed her over to me (I had to ask a million times), she took to the breast right away and nursed and nursed. I love that part of those first moments.

She weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and was 19.5 inches long. Healthy and beautiful! Our pediatrician does his hospital rounds really early so he was in to see here by 6am (at only half an hour old!) and confirmed that she looked great.

We had a short list of names and one, that had just in the past few days, popped up that we really liked but weren't sure of. So she was just known as baby girl for the first 24hrs she was around. I love that the name we picked was the one that came last minute to us. I had been feeling like the names we had were wonderful, but not fitting some how or another.

photo by jojo

I am really happy with the way the birth went. It was SO much shorter (O. took forever to come into this world, I had been induced and it was just not how I had pictured things to work out). I am also glad I let my body do the starting work on it's own despite the multiple times I had been asked if I wanted an induction. Four days late isn't too bad, I knew I was close! Even though I didn't go 'totally natural' and had an epidural I am okay with that. Each birth is exactly as it should be and this one was so much closer to how I had imagined things to go.

She's here and awesome. Over the past few days she has been pooping, eating and sleeping really well. When she is awake she is bright eyed and checking out things all around here. She makes the sweetest little squeaks and coos. So far she only really cries when I'm not moving fast enough to get her dressed/diapered or when I haven't gotten the boob out fast enough for her to eat. MrO is adjusting well and has been so sweet with here so far. "Where my sister at?" and this morning he brought over a blanket and said, "I bring her special blankie, mama". He pats her really gently and says, "she's cute".  I am sure we will have our moments, but so far so good and that is all that matters. I feel so much more at ease this time around- not sure if it is her or me(us), but I am definitely have a much more relaxed feeling.

I think she likes it here so far, don't you?