My sweet Kate...2 months old

Dearest Kate,
My my my....time has literally escaped me and I can't believe another month has already gone by.  I know I say it alot but you truly are the sweetest girl and I am so thankful that you have joined our little family.  You still love nothing more than to be held and talked to.  Your precious little face just lights up and you give us the biggest smiles when we talk to you.  You are still an awesome sleeper and have even give us 10+ hours some nights but you aren't much of a napper during the day.  You've finally started to like your bumbo...even falling asleep in it one morning!!  I'm also so sad to report that you got your first cold this month (we are actually still dealing with it) and it makes me so sad to see your puffy and watery eyes and nose.  I'm hoping we'll breeze by this quickly and you'll be feeling 100% in no time.  You've also become quite attached to your wubbanub paci (the duck).  We had tried several different brands and you just didn't really like any of those so when we tried the wubbanub out with you and you loved it from the start we knew we were in luck!!  You start school August 1st and I have such mixed feelings about it all.  It makes me sad to know that someone else will be cuddling you and soothing you while I'm at work but I know that it's best for you and I know you will learn SO SO much...plus, your sissy is thrilled that you will be at school with her!

OUR DAY:

Not much has changed from your first month. You eat about 4 ounces at each feeding and have no problem switching back and forth between nursing and bottle-feeding.  You aren't napping nearly as much as you did last month but you are so content and loving sitting in your rock n' play and watching the fan or looking for your momma, daddy, or big sissy.

WHAT YOU WEAR:

I think we are on our last leg with the 0-3 month clothing and I've already started pulling out some of your 3-6 month clothing.  You are wearing a size 2 in disposables but still snapped up in your cloth diapers.  Your trumpette socks are finally starting to fit on your feet and not looking silly!!!  We go for your 2 month check-up tomorrow and I can't wait to see how much you've grown from your last appointment.

SECOND MONTH THOUGHTS:

Kate, we are SO SO SO in love with you.  Now that I've gone back to work I count the minutes until I get to see you and cuddle you again.  You just have this way about you that is so sweet and calming and I feel so lucky to be your momma.  Everyone that meets you always comments on your calm and sweet demeanor.  You are so tolerant...and almost seem amused by the chaos that is constantly going on around you...we love you sweet girl!!

Week in Review

I just love this "week in review" post.  I find myself stopping to take pictures that I otherwise may not have captured so that I can document our week!!  So...here's to another week:

Firsts of the week:


from left to right and top to bottom:
1.  I hosted Bunco!!  I've been playing for the past year with a group of girls that meets once a month at one of our homes for food, drinks, a little bunco, and most importantly girl talk.  I know...seems like an old lady game...but it's fun and mindless and I enjoy the company.  I had hoped to take pictures of the food and drinks but only managed to get one of the tray of chips #hostfail
2.  My wedding rings fit again!  I took them off at around 32 weeks with Kate and just finally managed to get them back on.  Yippee...happy day.
3.  First glass of wine in a year.  It was amazing...delicious....better than I remembered.
4.  Addie's first manicure...or rather, just nail painting!!!  No worries...we used Piggy Paint, which is nontoxic...she loved it.  I did her toes too...in a fun green color and she was so excited.

Addie's week:


1.  "I got my own golf cubs, daddy."  Pretty sure those words just sealed her fate as a golfer..all S can talk about is taking her out on the course with him so she can hit a few around.
2.  That's Mumble...getting a first row seat to his own movie "Happy Feet."  Addie insisted on putting him there...it was certainly good for a laugh.
3.  Someone found grandma's lipstick....at least she applied it to the appropriate area of her face and managed to not get it all over the walls or anyone else.
4.  On Sunday morning I asked Addie to help me by getting a new bib for Kate.  Out of the gazillion bibs we have (reflux is no joke) this is the one Addie picked.  Clearly she can't read and didn't know what she was picking but it made my momma heart smile.

Kate's week:


1. Big smiles on "meet and greet" day at Kate's school for the newborn room.  I took Kate in and she slept the entire time but I at least got to meet her teachers and get all sorts of information on how her day will go and what she will need....phew, it's alot to remember!
2.  Cheers to this girl for finally warming up to her bumbo chair....so much so, she fell asleep in it..ha!
3.  My sweet girl snuggled in my arms napping.  I'm trying to soak up as much of this as possible...love this sweet girl.
4.  Her feet are at the end of her 0-3 month clothing...how is that possible?!

Highlights of the week:


1.  Maybe not a "highlight" but definitely a high....holy, weather.  It was insanely hot last week...I felt zapped as soon as I stepped outside.
2.  A very special girl celebrated her birthday!!!
3.  Yum...we found an awesome new recipe from the chew thanks to my daytime TV watching.  They were amazing and I plan to share the recipe soon...but if you can't wait and want to try these out the recipe is on the chew's website (hawaiian pork tenderloin sliders).
4.  This picture may seem pretty simple...but that little doll in Kate's hand just so happens to be Addie's world.  That's Prudence and Addie has to know where she is at all times.  She LOVES Prudence...so that fact that she gave her to Kate to hold...was monumental.  Watching Addie's love for Kate grow is one of the best gifts motherhood has given me.

So...if you made it all the way to the end...thanks for reading...phew, that was alot!!! 

WW...Kate's newborn pictures...just her

A huge thanks to the wonderful Stacey of Little Baby Blue Photography that made all of these beautiful pictures possible!!!

week in review...

I had SO much fun snapping pictures of the silly little goings-on in our life this past week...amen to the iphone...what in the world did we do before we had phones with cameras!!  I'm linking up again with Kat at "Living Like the Kings" to share our week in review.

what we did:


from left to right and top to bottom:
1. i made it through another "couch to 5K" workout and broke the 2 mile mark...with the help of a new pair of running shoes.  I bought my last pair before Steve and I started dating which makes them at least 7 years old...eeekk!  Kate spent lots of time on her tummy....well, kind of.  The little girl rolls from her tummy to her back these days...so tummy time is kind of a joke in our house.
2.  we took a family tour of the neighborhood...always fun to see what the neighbors are up to.
3.  i did some crafting...made my first bunting banner...thanks to a tutorial from my dear friend Lis.  I must admit though..she glued it all together for me last time and this time I was alone and definitely glued it all together backwards and didn't realize until I went to hang it...cue the panic.  Luckily, I was able to reassemble very quickly and all was not lost.  All in honor of celebrating my mom's sixtieth...we had a surprise party at my house (i got no pictures because I was running around like a mad woman trying to do last minute things...like reassemble this banner..haha)
4.  we had the pleasure of cleaning "Lake Dunkin" out of our coffee cup holder in our truck thanks to a hole in the bottom of the hubs iced coffee.  fun times.

what we ate:


1.  chocolate chip pancakes - I'm such a fan - it totally makes me feel like a kid again.
2.  steak fajitas - we used some delicious flat iron steak...marinated with lime, cilantro, salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil...and then added all of our favorite toppings
3.  strawberry champagne jam toast - My favorite jam that we pick up at our local farmers market...it's amazing.
4.  grilled caprese - I've got fresh tomatoes from my mom's garden but totally didn't feel like cooking bacon to make a BLT (my favorite summer lunch)...so I grabbed some of the basil I had in my window box...some mozarella and havarti cheese we had in the fridge and through it together for a fun twist on a grilled cheese...i highly recommend it!

my girls:


1.  addie LOVE LOVE LOVES her baby sister...she is always asking about her and talking to her....I got lucky and was able to capture this picture of the girls this weekend from my parent's house...Addie was so sweet trying to entertain Kate while she got her diap changed.
2.  a rare moment in our house...both girls napping at the same time.
3.  we went out on a family fro-yo date...Addie and Barbie decided to dine together at the "Little Dippers" table. 
4.  another rare moment of Kate actually taking her paci...I've been on the verge of picking up another brand to see if she just doesn't like the type I've got for her but she really does just fine without it most of the time...so maybe not.

kate's week:


1.  SMILES...we got smiles this week!!!!  Something that just never gets old.
2.  it was cuteness overload...I was working on some party crafting and I looked over to see this going on in my living room...can we say "daddy's girl"
3.  bath time - one of kate's favorite things to do...she just loves to kick her little feet around!
4.  bumbo time - one of kate's LEAST favorite things to do - yep, that would be her angry face.

So that was it...our week in review...fun times.

Kate's birth story...part II

Ok, so where I left off...begging the doctor to induce me.  I mean..I didn't beg - but I was fully prepared to.  If you missed part I, you can read it here.

After finding out Tuesday morning that I would be induced on Thursday but would need to arrive Wednesday night for cervical ripening (I was 2cm dilated but only about 50% effaced) anxiety was building.  Leaving the doctors office was a bit of a blur...they handed me a slip with some directions for when to arrive and what was involved with an induction....and explained that Cytotec would be used for my cervical ripening...not Cervidil and then they would break my water in the morning and Pitocin would follow.  Normally, I would have researched the living you know what out of this...but I hadn't....I was totally unprepared.  I just figured they would bring me in Thursday morning and break my water and give me some pitocin and we would have a baby by dinner...cervical ripening was not something I thought they would need to do.  So, I had about 36 hours to figure out what Cytotec was and if I was ok with it...dr. google to the rescue...or not.  HORROR STORIES....seriously, y'all....bad stuff on the internet about Cytotec.  Words like uterine rupture, hemorrhaging, placental abruption...even death...just horrible awful things.  I was terrified...but I read and read and read...determined to get to the bottom of what the truth was.  I don't know if I got there...but I got comfortable enough not to call off the induction...which I was fully prepared to do.  I'm no doctor...but if you're wondering how I got comfortable...here it is:  almost all of the horror stories I read involved doses of 50-100+mcg being given to women to induce labor.  My doctor would only be administering a 25mcg dose..with full monitoring...and from what I could find - this seemed to do a nice job of preparing women for labor to begin.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning...I was feeling a ton of anxiety...as evidenced by my inability to think about anything other than cleaning out my bathroom closet and refrigerator (literally the only 2 places I hadn't deep cleaned in the past 2 months thanks to my nesting instinct)...so I went to work and asked my boss if I could take a half day off to go home and get those things done before going to the hospital...call me crazy - its ok - i'm fully aware!  He obliged...I got all of my "out of office" stuff set and said my good-byes and walked out feeling a little weird knowing I was "going to have a baby."  I got my cleaning done...got Addie all packed to stay with my parents and anxiously awaited "go-time."

We dropped Addie at my parents...and that's when the anxiety and fear really started to take over...child birth is no walk in the park and I know there are risks.  I was scared...scared if something happened Addie would suffer.  I put it all to the back of my mind...kissed her and told her I loved her no less than a 1,000 times and told my parents we'd be in touch in the morning with news on how things were progressing...but not to worry, nothing would be happening tonight...it was just to get me ready for the morning.

We arrived at the hospital a little before our scheduled time and lugged our stuff up to labor and delivery.  It was so surreal to go into the hospital knowing we wouldn't be sent home...we were simply arriving for our "its time to have your baby" time slot.  We checked in and got sent down the hall to meet our l&d nurse and get settled in our room.  I spied my doc as we were walking to meet our nurse and we waved....and a sense of calmness washed over me.  Nurse Betsey was our l&d nurse and she showed us to our room...handed me a gown and asked me to get changed.  Still a little nervous about the Cytotec induction...I figured Betsey would know best so I asked her her opinion.  She said she'd seen it done a million times and actually had a Cytotec induction with one of her children and had no issues.  This settled my nerves even more.  She hooked me up to all of the monitors as asked if I had been having any contractions.  Well...I had been feeling awfully crampy all afternoon and had felt some more substantial cramps in the car but chalked it up to being on my feet all afternoon frantically cleaning up those last minute things and not contractions.  Contractions they were....4 minutes apart to be exact.  YES!!!  Maybe this meant we wouldn't need the induction after all and I could just labor on my own.  Womp...womp...womp...after a cervical check...there was no change from my last doctor's appointment so she checked with my doc and he decided he still wanted to proceed with the cytotec.  The nurse warned that the cytotec might increase the intensity and frequency of the contractions...but no dice...I felt no change.  And after about 15 minutes of being on one side I really wanted out of the bed.  I was so uncomfortable...but I knew I had to stay put for 2 hours for the Cytotec to do what it needed to do.  The nurse came in an offered up some Ambien to help me get some sleep...I politely declined...but as soon as the 2 hours was up I was eager to get out of bed.  She let me but only to go to the bathroom....insert a really angry face here.  "Only to go to the bathroom"???  You mean...I can't walk around and take the pressure off my hips (since laying flat on my back was out)...oh dear god, I'll never make it.  I figured my best bet was to just try and get some sleep...it was almost 1am and while the anxiety and excitement of Kate's arrival and painful pressure on my hips was making it hard to sleep...I figured I'd better try.  We turned the TV off and the lights down and settled in...until about 5 minutes later when I felt a pop and then a trickle....  

**I understand that inductions are controversial...as is the use of Cytotec.  I am simply documenting my story for my own memories and firmly believe that every woman needs to make her own decisions based on what she believes to be best for her.  I am not a doctor or a medical professional and what I have documented above is not meant to encourage or discourage anyone to make the decisions I have**

Our 4th

Trey and Addie living it up on the 4th

The 4th of July has long been one of my favorite holiday...fireworks...summer...celebrating our freedom and everything good about our country.  This year further validated my love of the 4th...we spent the afternoon with close friends and family eating all sorts of amazing things (basically an appetizer dinner...my fave) and then we walked down to watch the fireworks with the rest of virginia beach...i tell no lies when i tell you there were thousands of people at our local park to watch the city fireworks...it was insane and a true test of one's patience but only one day a year so we celebrate the insanity.  I had some concerns about Addie...she doesn't like loud noises..they terrify her (i.e. the vacuum, lawn mower, blower..you get the picture) and we all know fireworks are noisy!  But that kid...she LOVED them...ate em up...wanted more...and more...and more.  We watched the NYC fireworks on TV when we got home and she's still asking daily for more fireworks...sorry, kid...its just once a year.  There sure is something magical about the good 'ole red, white, and blue and celebrating that is something special....

my girls

week in review...

Pictures...I love them.  Looking through photo albums and old pictures...I could spend days doing this.  But lately...I've been bad about taking them...which means I won't have them to look back on if I don't get better about this.   SO, I've been making an effort to take pictures...of the little moments...even when a camera seems silly.  And I'm super excited to be linking up with Kat over at Living Like the Kings for her weekly, "week by iphone" linkup.

All the details (from left to right and top to bottom):

1. Found this delicious dairy free treat and was oh, so excited to be able to drink iced coffee again.  Kate has had some reflux/gassiness issues so the doc asked me to eliminate dairy from my diet for 2 weeks to see if it was the culprit...its been killing me.  I LOVE dairy...but have found some really tasty dairy free substitutes...including this one!

2. I completed workout #2 of the couch to 5K plan...it definitely felt better than the first.  I'm determined to take this baby weight off quicker than I did with Addie!

3. My sweet girl on the 4th of July...bright eyed!

4. 20 perfect toes...I could not be more thankful.  I can't wait to see these girls grow together and become the best of friends.


1. I'm just loving how much more alert and awake Kate is becoming these days!! She is starting to stay awake more during the day and is so calm and patient. She just loves watching the chaos unfold around her (courtesy of her big sissy addie)!!

2. Need I say more...I couldn't resist. And this is why I will probably gain weight this week despite my goal to get this baby weight off me ASAP.

3. Ummm...YUM!  Might possibly be my favorite meal ever.  In celebration of July 6th...just because.

Wordless Wednesday...my girls

My sweet Kate...1 month old!!

Dearest Kate,

I simply cannot believe that you are already a month old.  Being your momma for a month has been nothing but the best...you are the sweetest little girl - your daddy and I talk about that ALL of the time.  You are SO cuddly and just love to be held...you only cry when your belly is bothering you, you're hungry or need a change.  You grunt alot...which tickles everyone and you're a great sleeper...only getting momma up once a night after going down between 8 and 9pm.  Your big sissy absolutely adores you...you are the first thing she looks for in the morning and the last person she wants to kiss goodnight.  She is so proud to show you off and loves to hold you (with momma or daddy's help of course) and give you kisses.  You are starting to react to people and changes in light...and while you love your rock n'play...momma's chest is still your favorite place to nap (as I type this you are currently sound asleep on my chest and I couldn't be happier).

OUR DAY:

We are doing on-demand nursing so you are currently telling us when you want to eat, sleep, and play.  The only "real schedule" we have is that we typically swaddle and put you to bed in your crib at around 8 or 9pm and you generally sleep through the night with one middle of the night feeding (which momma really thanks you for).  You typically get up for the day between 6 and 7am.  You go about 3 hours between feedings during the day...sometimes nursing a little closer together in the evenings and then give us a good 6 or 7 hour stretch during the night.  As for playing...tummy time is still something you don't completely love but we're hoping you warm up to it soon.  You love being talked to and cuddled.

WHAT YOU WEAR:

You are solidly in 0-3 month clothing and it is starting to get tight.  Partly due to the bulkiness of the cloth diapers and partly do to the fact that you are a growing girl.  You weighed 9lbs 1 ounce at your first doctors visit (06.03.13) and by your two week check up you were just an ounce shy of 10 lbs (06.17.13) an had grown a quarter of an inch.  You are totally snapped up on your cloth diapers and we use size 1 disposables if we are planning to be out and about for an extended period of time or if all of the cloth diaps are in the wash...but I think the next batch of disposables I buy will be size 2.

FIRST THOUGHTS:

What a wonderful first month it has been....you have fit into this little family of 4 so seamlessly...God really knew what he was doing when he decided you would be the perfect fit.  You are completely tolerant of the chaos that goes on around you and you are just the sweetest little girl.  I can't wait to see you and your sissy's bond grow...I just know that you two girls are going to be the best of friends.  Your personality is completely opposite of hers (or at least thus far you have been a totally different baby) and while I think you guys look somewhat similar...you definitely have your own look that is different from that of your sissy. 

Kate, words cannot even begin to express how happy your daddy and I are to have you here and we just love and adore you.  You have brought so much joy and happiness to our home and we are so excited about what the future holds for you and for our family....welcome little one - we LOVE you!

Kate's birth story - part 1

my 35.5 week belly profile

As I was totally MIA here on the blog during my pregnancy...I figured I should at least start by writing down some of the details prior to Kate's arrival...and do to my inability to ever provide the "readers digest" version...beware of the long post ahead.

Aside from the subchorionic hematoma, my pregnancy was rather uneventful.  I had alot of friends ask me if this was one was different from my pregnancy with Addie...and it really was in a lot of ways...most notably was the feeling I got this time around at right about 30 weeks..."I don't think I can make it another 10 weeks..."  I, along with alot of my friends and family, convinced ourselves that there was absolutely no way this baby was going to term...bets were made...most with Miss Kate arriving at least 2 weeks in advance of her due date.  I was feeling so much....uumm, should we just say "pressure" that there were days I thought she might just drop out of me.  From about 35 weeks on, I had all sorts of labor symptoms...something I never really had with Addie (who was a week and a half early)...and by the time I went in for my first appointment that involved "the check"...I was sure the doc would be preparing me for imminent delivery.

So, I say all of that to say this....I WAS WRONG....really wrong.  My gut failed me this time...that first "check" revealed that I was dilated but Miss Kate...no interest in engaging...was so far up the doc wanted to do an ultrasound to determine if her head was in fact down (which it was).  With each passing week, I hoped for something...anything...progress.  But with each passing week there wasn't much change to discuss.  I was also informed about half-way through my pregnancy that my doctors were not on call every weekend...meaning if I went into labor over the weekend there was a decent chance I might not know the doctor delivering me...cue the mild panic attack on my end.  I understand that many believe they are just there to "play catch" but after some minor complications with Addie's birth...I wanted one of my doctors to deliver me...no thanks to the stranger option.  So...with the Memorial Day weekend approaching and "a stranger on-call"...I was leary and had convinced myself that this would be when miss kate would decide to arrive.  I knew I could probably convince the doctor to induce me prior to the weekend but I really wanted to wait it out and with "the stranger's" name in hand...I did some research and read his patient's reviews and decided I would chance it through the weekend.  Much to my surprise, the weekend came and went...no baby.  As relieved as I was we had survived another weekend without one of my docs on call...I was also at a loss as to when kate would arrive.  I know...I know...I hadn't even reached my due date yet and I should totally have been at ease knowing that we hadn't missed anything but remember...I, along with almost everyone else I knew were convinced that this baby would be early.  So, my appointment that week was on Tuesday and when the doc asked "So, when are we having this baby..." as he breezed through the door of the exam room...I could hardly get out "whenever you are ready to induce me" fast enough.  Yep, I said it..."induce me"....I know....some of you are shaking your finger at me right now...it's not a choice I ever thought I would make...but after 10 weeks of hardly sleeping through the night...pressure....oh, the pressure....and more comments that I can count concerning "when will she be here"....i was ready. After a quick call by the nurse over to the hospital...my induction was set for the next evening...and then the real panic set in....

Introducing...

Katherine Margaret "Kate"

photo courtesy of mom365

May 30, 2013

6:04AM

9lbs 5oz

21 inches

birth story to come...