Madeline Helene

Madeline made her appearance on Wednesday April 6 at 5:58am. It was fast as we expected and we got to make it a family experience as well. It was awesome.

I had my 39 week appt on Tuesday afternoon where Jeanean, my midwife, told us I was dilated to 2cm. I told her we would see her in the next day or so at the hospital, I didn't dilate early with either boy so we figured that meant I was going to have her pretty soon. We got home from the appt and I had a lot of bleeding so we decided we needed to make sure we were completely ready to go. After an early dinner, Josh headed to the grocery store to make sure we had some food in the house if she came that night and I got the boys ready for bed. Jacob was positive she was coming and was worried we wouldn't make it to the hospital and was all ready to call 911 if we needed him to (even though we assured him that likely wouldn't be necessary). I was timing contractions that evening, as I had been doing every evening for the past week or so. They weren't any different than what I had been having though so we went about our evening and got ready for bed. We went to bed around 10:30 but around 11:30 I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. So I timed contractions again. My mom had wanted to come over earlier in the evening but since we weren't 100% positive she was coming we waited, but around 12:30 we figured since the contractions hadn't stopped she was likely coming sometime that night or the next day so we had her come over then so there was no rush. We had gotten permission from Jeanean to wait until my water broke to come to the hospital since that is usually when my contractions picked up. So I timed contractions off and on and slept a few times, but had a hard time staying asleep. I would fall asleep then wake up with a ton of energy. The contractions weren't really getting closer together or stronger so we just continued to wait. Around 4:30 I finally had a contraction that was actually painful. Then another one. After a very brief discussion we decided we needed to call Jeanean and head to the hospital. So we called at 4:40 then got everyone up and ready to go. The contractions were much closer together and stronger at that point. They were averaging about 1:30 apart and a minute long. Thankfully, the drive to the hospital was only about 10-15 min. We got there a little after 5 and got inside and headed up to labor and delivery. They made me go up to l&d in a wheel chair but we had to stop a few times for me to stand up during a contraction. 

Jeanean had called the hospital and told them I was coming, which room to put me in, and that I have fast labors. When we got there they were still cleaning that room so they sent me to triage to get everything started. Contractions were still pretty consistent at that point so I was having to stop them and stand up when I was having one. They checked me and said I was 4-5cm. I think it was a little after 5:30 when we finally headed to a room. They had everything set up in there, but needed to have a good solid strip of Madeline on the monitor and they were having a hard time keeping her on there so a nurse was trying to hold the probe on me but with contractions and me moving to deal with them it was pretty unsuccessful. Eventually she just took the probes off and said she would ask Jeanean if I could just stay off of them. At 5:45 my water finally broke. After a few contractions I wanted to get in the shower but as soon as I took a step toward the bathroom I had a contraction that caused me to push. Then another one, and I could feel her head moving down. I told Josh to go get someone and tell them she was coming. I don't think they really believed him at first because it took them a while to get in the room. When they got there one of the nurses had her hand underneath me to put something between Madeline and the floor while I attempted to get in bed. The nurses had apparently told Jeanean she had time to stop downstairs and grab a drink, so we waited for her for a bit (it felt long but it couldn't have been very long). Once she got in she got gowned up and threw a gown and gloves at Josh to put on. She got on one side of me and positioned Josh on the other and the next contraction Madeline was pushed out in 3 pushes. Josh did most of the delivering and held her up before handing her to me. She was out less than 15 min after my water broke and less than an hour and a half after we called Jeanean.

While she was still attached the the umbilical cord the boys got a chance to touch it to feel it pulsing. Once it was done Jacob put the clamp on one side and Owen clamped the other then they both helped cut the cord. They got to see the placenta and touch it. And once Madeline was all wrapped up they both got to hold her.

I am so glad we were able to have the delivery experience we did with our whole family there. And I am really glad we decided to leave the house when we did, if we had waited until my water broke we wouldn't have made it to the hospital before she was born. 

15 Weeks

Oops! I am a little late on these this time. It has been a bit busy around here this time around.

How far along? 15 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 0lbs, I was up a pound at 13 weeks but lost two this week and gained one back
Maternity clothes? Long shirts and stretchy waist pants or maternity pants
Stretch marks? no new ones
Sleep: Mostly good after a rough week last week
Best moment this week: Sharing the news after finding out the sex
Movement: I've felt her move off and on but the other night we could feel her on the outside too
Food cravings: nothing this week
Labor Signs: this is a long time away
What I miss: feeling pretty good right now so nothing
What I am looking forward to: Feeling like I look pregnant and not fat
Differences from other pregnancies: Not much at this point, being busier I guess, less time to think about it
Milestones: I think we have finally adjusted to the idea of having a girl

Kindergarten

I am so far behind here, I need to write a summer catch up post. But today, kindergarten.

Somehow my big boy is officially a kindergartener. I don't really know how that happened. He has been so looking forward to it and was so excited for this day. I am so excited for him because he is going to love it and do great, but I am sad for me. It means my boys are growing up. In my job I frequently see kindergarteners and I get to see how much they grow and change in kindergarten, physically, mentally, emotionally. I know when Jacob is done with this year he will no longer be my little boy. But little boys grow up so here we go.

We went to meet the teacher night last week and were slightly thrown off and surprised when we were told Jacob's teacher would be out for two months for maternity leave, so he would be starting his school career with a long term sub. I was pretty nervous about that but emailed the principal for some reassurance that Jacob would be in good hands. I am thrilled with the principal for indulging my crazy first time kinder mom anxiety and being understanding about it. We have heard fabulous things about this entire school and since finding out who Jacob's teacher is, wonderful things about her. So I am still nervous but am hoping for the best. I know Jacob is a pretty adaptable kid as long as he knows what is going on so I'm sure he will be fine. We did get to meet both his teacher and the sub on meet the teacher night, and Jacob was the last one out of the classroom. He was so excited and wanted to do everything that night. We also found out two of his friends from our street would be in his class.

We have been practicing getting up (well I have been practicing getting up early, Jacob is always up early) and getting ready in the mornings for the past week. So this morning Josh stayed home and we made a big breakfast before getting dressed and getting out the door. Jacob was done quick and ready to go about 25 min early. We got the mandatory first day pictures done before heading off to ride/walk to school. Jacob looked so big riding his bike down the sidewalk with his backpack on. We made it to school early and took some more pictures there before getting to his classroom and getting him settled. Of course, as soon as we got his bike to the bike rack he was saying bye to us and we had to remind him, no no we are walking you to your classroom today. I had the hardest time when it was time to say bye to him. But we said bye and left, he of course was fine.

Bye brother!

I am so excited to pick him up and hear everything that he did today!

Owen's 2 year stats

Owen had his 2 year check up last week. Fortunately this one didn't come with shots, which he wouldn't have gotten anyways since he ended up having an ear infection. That was a first in this house. The doctor was impressed with his knowledge of colors (he knows all of them) and with his progression of speech. He is right on track where he needs to be now, although we will continue speech until his review next year (I may regret that decision later when he starts talking like Jacob). Other than the ear infection he was great, rather uncooperative due to lack of nap that day though.

2 year stats
Weight:  30lbs   74%
Height:   35.5in  85%
Head: 19.75in   86%

Still a big boy.

Happy 2nd Birthday Owen!

The past two years have flown by and now you are 2! You are such a happy but opinionated big boy (or baby if I ask you!). You will say no to everything in an adorable little voice even if it isn't your idea. For someone who was a late talker you sure have caught up and talk almost non stop, even while you are trying to fall asleep or there is no one there to talk to we hear you talking. You love trucks and Mickey and anything your big brother is doing. You are sometimes super shy and reserved, especially if its someone you don't know, but when we are just hanging out at home you are outgoing and loud and all over the place. You call yourself baby and refuse to be called a big boy. You try to tell us knock knock jokes that make no sense  but you crack yourself up. Your laugh is amazing and your cheese face anytime you see the camera is the greatest. You are starting to say people's names and sometimes make up funny names, Grammy is me, Aimee is maymay, Nickie and Mickey are Bickey. But momma hasn't changed since you started saying it (although now it frequently is followed or proceeded by no). You love your big brother so much; my favorite thing to watch is when you just lay on him and hug him and at rest time and bed time when you say nigh nigh baba, lo ou baba. You love being carried and picked up, any way you can be cuddled or close. Cuddling is definitely a favorite and I am convinced that is part of why you still want to nurse, you get good calm cuddle time to help you relax. You tantrums are epic when they happen, and the adorable little pout and crossed arms when you don't get your way is priceless. You are so expressive. I love watching you learn new things and figure things out, you are so proud when you do something new! This has been such an amazing year and I can't wait to see where you go this coming year! Happy Birthday Owen! 

Happy 5th Birthday Jacob!

I can't believe our first baby is 5 years old! What a crazy, fun, and exciting 5 years they have been. You are such an amazing little (big) boy. Always talking to anyone and everyone you see and always surprising them with what you have to say. You are so inquisitive and curious and never stop moving. It is amazing how much energy you always seem to have. But yet you still make time to cuddle and love stopping to pick flowers for Momma and making pictures for Momma and Daddy. You love playing with Owen and being his big brother, most of the time. You have grown up so much this past year and, 5 years later, still constantly amaze us with your new skills. This year is going to be such an exciting year and we are so excited to see what this year brings for you! Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you!

18 Month appt

Owen had his 18 month apt about a month ago. He is once again a big boy. He is all over the place still and into everything. He climbs everywhere, except up the stairs because he prefers to have someone else do that hard work, he follows directions pretty well, is very opinionated, signs a ton, but still isn't talking much. With his doctor we decided to go ahead and have him evaluated for speech to see if we can't get him some speech therapy and get him using some of those words he knows! For not talking though he sure does get his point across. He loves Mickey, Jacob, and cheese. He is also still a huge Frozen fan. He is also a huge goofball. He will do anything to get a laugh and once he has people laughing he will just keep going. Dinner is a fun mix of the boys cracking each other up and us trying to get them to stop being silly and eat!

18 month stats
Height: 33.5"  83%
Weight: 27lbs  90%
Head: 19.75"   98%

Summer Wrap up

Whew, we have been super busy. So a catch up post.

The end of the summer was more time spent at Hawaiian Falls and the pool. Owen was jumping in the pool, swimming a little bit, and going down the slides at Hawaiian Falls by himself. Jacob was able to dive down to the bottom of the pool and get things now and goes down the big slides at Hawaiian Falls this year. He loves the big slides.

Josh headed back to school the second week of August. We had a great summer and we were sad for it to end. I have a feeling summers will just start to go by even fast as the boys get older. That first week he was back though my cousin Page came down from Michigan to visit. It was kind of a last minute trip that she planned while we were in Michigan. It was nice to have her come visit and get to spend some time with her. Jacob loved having her here and creeping her out by standing by the side of her bed in the morning staring at her waiting for her to wake up. It was a definite change in environment and schedule for her! We took a few trips to the pool, made it to Hawaiian Falls one last time for the summer, and took a trip to the Perot Museum (with a train and trolley ride as well). Even Owen enjoyed having Page here. She babysat the boys for a couple of hours one day and Owen had no problem hanging out with her. She is planning another trip down hopefully soon!

Josh was pretty worn out after starting back to school. After a summer of fun, work is hard to go back to! But he has gotten back into the swing of things and the boys and I have gotten back to our normal schedule too.

Of course just as we were getting settled into the fall schedule we decided to mix it up a bit and buy a new house and put our house on the market. Fortunately our house sold fairly quick and the buying process was pretty uneventful, although slightly time consuming since we had to do all the leg work as we bought without a realtor. While things mostly went smoothly, because Josh was already back to work it meant the packing was mostly up to me. September was a giant blur of getting numbers and paperwork to people, responding to emails from our lender and our realtor, and packing everything, all with both boys running around. Josh was responsible for fixing a few things at our old house and getting things set up to do things at the new house. We had a few minor issues the week before closing but got everything worked out. Then we spent a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday closing, painting ,and moving. It was crazy. And by the end of the weekend we were exhausted. (As was grammy who had the boy all day Friday and Saturday by herself.) But we are in our new house and we love it, as do the boys. We are mostly settled but still getting a few things here and there finished, mostly decorating wise. We still need to make a few big purchases but haven't found what we are looking for yet.

So we are all caught up. Hopefully now that things are back to normal I will have time to return to regularly scheduled blogging.

Pumpkin Patch

We finally made it to the pumpkin patch this year. A little late since we have been so busy! But they still had plenty of pumpkins left and plenty of fun. Aunt Gini was in town so she and Grammy came with us. Jacob was so excited...but just for the bounce houses. Kid is obsessed. But he agreed to find a pumpkin and take some pictures first. When we got there though he remembered they have a pumpkin catapult that you can do and he hasn't ever been able to do it for various reasons. But this year, we were there early enough, there wasn't a line, and he was big enough. So as soon as we got there he and Josh ran off to do that. Owen tried to follow but then got distracted by all the pumpkins. He loved the pumpkins. Big ones, small ones, whatever! He tried to take them all. We found a good pumpkin and Owen found a little pumpkin he wanted, then we went to watch Jacob launch his pumpkin. It was smashed in half and he thought it was so cool. A hay ride with grammy and Aunt Gini and a few pictures and Jacob was off to the bounce houses. While Jacob was bouncing Owen was busy with pumpkins. I think he got up to 4 in his hands at one point. He was carrying around one in each hand for most of the time and was taking all the little ones out to line up on the edge of the bin. We eventually had to distract and trick him into letting go of the pumpkins that we hadn't bought.

We didn't carve the pumpkin until Tuesday since it was hot over the weekend and we didn't want the pumpkin to get moldy before Halloween. Jacob was into it this year more and stuck his hand in the grab seeds and pumpkin guts out. Owen on the other hand wanted to stick his head in but had no interest in putting his hand in the pumpkin. We were able to carve the pumpkin outside for the first time in a few years since it was warm, so we went to the front porch. Of course that also meant both boys were doing other things too. So I mostly corralled Owen while Jacob and Josh worked on carving. Eventually Jacob ran off to play too, but the pumpkin got finished. We didn't get any pictures with the pumpkin that night, but will get some tonight. I have been trying to get better at juggling picture taking with toddler wrangling and preschool chasing. But I did get some of carving the pumpkin!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michigan Trip, part II

After visiting with all the families over the weekend we packed up all of our stuff to head up North to the cabin. We tried to leave pretty early to get there around lunch time, but a stop at the grocery store and early morning meant we didn't get out as early as we would have liked. We had set the dvd player up in the van the day before so once we did get on the road for our 3 hour drive the boys watched a movie until Owen passed out. The entire time we were driving, any time Jacob saw a lake either out the window or on the navigation system, he asked "Is that Hubbard Lake?!" It was adorable, until we got to the coast and were driving right by a lake for a good hour and every few minutes he would ask. He was just so excited to get there! We got there a little after lunch time, so after we unloaded and got some lunch, we headed down to the beach to see the lake. Jacob could not wait and practically ran down to the beach with Lindsay. Meanwhile, Owen was obsessed with the rocks. All of the rocks. On the road that is rocky, on the road that has teeny tiny little rocks in it, with the rocks on the shoulder of the road. All in the half a block walk down to the beach. So it took us a bit longer to get down there. Josh eventually had to carry Owen down because he just could not resist the rocks! Once we got to the beach the boys tested out the (VERY cold) water. Jacob loved it and was knee deep before we knew it. He was all about picking up the rocks down there. Owen was more hesitant about the water, but again with the rocks! Those were enough to get him to walk around in it for a bit. Since Jacob could not resist the temptation of the water, we figured we'd better go ahead and get bathing suits on since he was going to end up swimming in his clothes if he didn't. Once we were in our bathing suits, and lifejackets for the boys, we actually got in the (did I mention freezing cold) lake. Jacob was all about it and went with Lindsay out to the raft pretty quickly. It took me a bit to get in and make my way any sort of close to the raft with Owen. And poor Josh, he was freezing just getting in up to his knees! Eventually he made it out to the raft with the rest of us. The boys loved jumping off the raft. Jacob was all about just going right off and it took Owen a few minutes to get into it. He started by sitting and falling in, then just standing and walking right off. Poor Owen was not loving his life jacket though. He looked like he had a back and neck brace on so he couldn't look around by turning his head. We thought it was hilarious though! After we got back to the cabin, we got both boys measured on the wall. That wall has everyone from our family on it, so I was excited to get to add our boys! We also headed down to the candy store that afternoon. It is a fun walk that I remember fondly doing on an almost daily basis when I was little. Jacob had a bit of a harder time with it, but since we had been in the car for 3 hours we made him walk. Although on the way home he had his ring pop and seemed much more motivated to walk then. We got the boys to bed early that night, but Jacob woke up in the middle of the night and somehow got out of bed without Josh or I hearing (we were in the same room) and ended up standing in the doorway crying because it is so dark at the cabin he couldn't find the bathroom. We laughed about it after we got him to the bathroom and back in bed. It was sad but pretty cute too. We spent the next day mostly at the lake. We took a bath down there and did some more jumping in off the raft and then the dock. Jacob absolutely loved the lake. After dinner that day we took a drive up to Mt Maria to look at the lake. It was slightly nerve wracking for me to have the boys up there since there isn't a whole lot of flat and one wrong step would have sent them rolling down the mountain. It was cloudy since a storm was rolling in so we didn't get to see the fabulous sunsets that you normally get up there, but it was still nice. Then we drove around looking for deer, we wanted to walk through the woods, but tour guide Lindsay said ticks have been really bad this year so we opted to just drive to see them. We ended up seeing a ton of them! Jacob got really good at spotting them towards the end. Back at the cabin we got Owen to bed and started getting ready for a bonfire. We let Jacob stay up late that night so he could enjoy one more bonfire and some more s'mores. He was so excited. He helped get sticks and get them in the firepit, then watched Josh work on splitting on logs. Fortunately, Nick had come up that evening, so Josh had some help since these logs were tough! It took both of them to get one split! Jacob was enthralled with the ax and log splitting. Once that was done we got the fire started. The nice warm, toasty fire. It was chilly that night since a cold front had come through so the fire was nice. I likened it to feeling about how Texas does on a summer day when it is 105*. We had good timing because we all had a few s'mores, Jacob got to roast some marshmallows, and we had a nice fire going when it started to thunder and lightning. We hung out for a while since we could see the storm over the trees and it wasn't quite to us yet. But once it started getting closer we could hear the rain falling on the lake first, then on the trees behind us before it finally started raining on us. This rain brought in even cooler weather, which was great for sleeping that night! (No air in the cabin so the cool air through the open windows is amazing.) We got up in the morning and hung out for a few hours, packing and letting the boys play before getting everything packed in the car to head back down to Aunt Gini's house.

Seeing Hubbard Lake FINALLY!

Walking to the lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this picture of our family!

 

 

 

 

We stopped and met Aunt Gini and Grammy in Frankenmuth though, first for some outlet shopping, then for some Bronner's shopping, then for fudge and dinner. Jacob got to pick out a few bulbs at Bronner's to go on our Christmas trees and both boys loved checking out all the fun displays! In Frankenmuth, they got to walk around some and pick out some fudge before heading to see the Glockenspiel and eating dinner. Owen was so tired after he ate his dinner, he passed out. We got back to Aunt Gini's and got the boys to bed pretty quickly. Time at the lake is great for wearing kids out apparently.

 

 

 

We spent our final day hanging out and not doing a whole lot. Jacob went swimming for a bit and a bunch of people came over for dinner and to say goodbye. We attempted to get to bed somewhat early though since we were getting up at 4am to get the van packed, drive back to the airport, return the van, and get all of our stuff and us to the airport. We actually made pretty good time getting all of that done, and it was helpful that we ended up leaving the pack n play in Michigan since we don't need that one anymore. We had about an hour or so to hang out in the airport before we boarded so we all got some breakfast and let the boys run around a bit. The plane ride home was much smoother and both boys slept again, and bonus, no one vomited! It was such a great trip. We had so much fun and while we were so exhausted when we got home (Josh and I went to bed at 8:30 the night we got home and 8:15 the following night!), it was so worth it. The boys had a blast and had so many new and fun experiences! We can't wait to do it again!