alan and steph: Baby 2

Showing posts with label Baby 2. Show all posts

Mommy SOS | Preparing for Baby #2 UPDATE

May 31, 2011

It's been nearly two weeks since our little Elsie's grand entrance into the world (missed Elsie's Birth Story? Click here.) Who knew that a little 7 lb baby could bring such change to our home?!

Although I'm certainly not going to say we have this "Preparing for Baby #2" thing down (yet or that we'll ever have it figure out for that matter), I did want to give ya'll a quick update on this Mommy SOS | Preparing for Baby #2 post I wrote a couple of months ago.

First of all I have to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who provided such great insight (in person and on the blog) into this transition time for our family. I LOVED so many of your suggestions and will be passing on your mommy-wisdom to other friends who will go through this same transition in the future.

So here is it...the good, the bad and the ugly. :) Because that's what life is all about, right?!

Take out all of the baby stuff well in advance. Nora is a curious little girl....and busy. So at the beginning of May I decided to bring out the bassinet, the car seat and the bouncy seat. By doing so it gave Nora lots of opportunities to investigate (aka: jump on, climb in, etc) all of these "new" things. After a week or so she lost interest in them and has since stayed away from them (for the most part :)).
Read the book I'm a Big Sister by Joanna Cole. We bought this for Nora in April and she LOVED it. It was a "must-read" before every nap time and bedtime (not because we wanted to read it to her but because she wanted to read it). I do think it helped prepare her little mind and heart for Elsie's arrival.
Purchase a little something for the big sister/brother to receive as a gift from the new baby upon their arrival. I read a number of things about this “exchange” pre-Elsie but most noteworthy to me was that the gift didn't need to be expensive but something VERY exciting for your firstborn. In our case I actually buckled down and bought a 12″ Stuffed Barney. You see Nora LOVES the big purple guy. I had him wrapped up at the hospital for Nora and Elsie's first meeting. Let's just say Nora is just a tad obsessed with Barney...the thing goes everywhere with her...in her crib...to the store...to the park...in the bath (only joking - although she has attempted this).
Pray for the baby with the big sister/brother. We are very intentional to pray as a family together before bedtime. For months before Elsie's arrival we prayed (with Nora) for her arrival - for her safety and for our family as we transition to being a family of 4.
Plan on giving lots of extra grace to yourself, your hubby and your firstborn. Let's face it...bringing a baby home is a lot of work. And it's a HUGE change. I'll be honest...Nora hasn't been the most well-behaved child over the past two weeks. But that's to be expected, right?! First of all...she's two. 'Nough said. And second of all...she is no longer the center of everyone's attention (no one likes that). It's a major kick-in-the-pants-reality-check. But through it all it's been such a great blessing to be able to step aside and trust God's provision for our family in ALL things.
Put together a Nursing Basket. ***Disclaimer: I have yet to actually take advantage of this because I'm waiting until my help with Nora has left.*** Christy suggested that I put together a nursing basket. For this basket you buy a number of new toys for the firstborn to play with while you're nursing the baby. I actually still had a number of Christmas toys left and so I'll be putting those in the basket along with a couple other things to keep Nora occupied while I'm nursing Elsie.
Stay connected with your firstborn, even during the first couple weeks. This is easier said than done. One of the things I've been thankful for the most these first couple weeks is the help with Nora I've gotten from my husband and parents. I really wanted to be sure to have this time to connect with Elsie BUT I've also tried to be sure to maintain my mommy-daughter connection with Nora by changing her diaper, helping with her bath, being with her during bedtime and prayer time, etc.

Again, I'm the first to admit that we still have a TON to learn and we haven't done everything right. But that's the sweet thing about grace.

In everything our prayer is that through the successes and failures we would learn to trust our sweet Savior all the more and entrust the care and provision of our family to HIS care above all else.

Blessings to you all!

Our Birth Story | Elsie

May 26, 2011

I'll be honest...it wasn't until a couple weeks before Elsie's birth that I had even considered the possibility that this little one could come before her due date. I know, I know... weird. But for some reason I had just expected that she'd come on her due date...not earlier...not later. It's probably just because that's how my brain operates I guess - on a calendar.

That is until a number of people mentioned that oftentimes 2nd (3rd, 4th...) babies come early. WHAT?!! Let's just say when I was faced with the reality of this possibility this mama kicked her "gotta-get-stuff-done" self into high gear. :)

Thankfully come last Wednesday night (5 days pre-due date) I was pretty much completely done with my to-do list and "ready" to have this little girl.

So here's her birth story (and all of the fun details)...

I had a OB appointment Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 pm. I had asked if there was anyway he'd be able to strip my membranes. Although there was no promise that would start labor, he agreed that if I was far enough along (3+ cm) that he'd do just that. Well thankfully I was 3 cm and 70% effaced. So strip the membranes he did!

Come 6:00 pm I was starting to have mild contractions - like the kind where you don't know if you're just having a menstrual cramp sort of thing or if you're actually having a contraction. They were at this time about 30 min apart so Alan and I were going back and forth about moving forward with our evening plans of meeting with our church small group. Thankfully we decided to stay home.

From 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm (when we went to the hospital) we did a variety of hilarious things. And by that I mean things that only I would probably do while in the middle of labor. Like for example...because I knew I needed to be on my feet to encourage labor along I decided that it would be the perfect time to make a couple sets of the DIY Monthly Development Onesies for some of my friends who are expecting later in the summer. I know... I know... I was totally ironing away in the middle of contractions. And I'm proud to say I completed two sets during this time!

And Alan was under our sink fixing a leaking faucet. Yes.. you read that right. It was probably about 9 pm and I noticed some water on the ground. I called Alan into the kitchen and asked him where it was coming from. The first thing he said... I kid you not was "Did your water break?" Hehe. And what's even funnier is that I actually checked my pants to see if it had broken. As if I wouldn't notice if my water had broken. ;)

Anyway... where was I? Ok - by 9:30 we called my sweet friend Laura to ask her to come over (as she was going to stay with Nora while we were in the hospital) and at 11:00 pm we were headed for the hospital as my contractions had gotten closer and closer together and were at that point roughly 5 min apart.

Upon check-in the triage nurse checked me and I was 4 cm. So progress...but not a lot. She suggested we walk the halls for an hour and see if things would progress. (sounds a lot like Nora's birth story, huh? Just in case you're interested you can read Our Birth Story | Nora here.) After an hour my contractions were roughly 1 min in duration and 2 minutes a part and I had progressed and was 5 cm! They were going to admit me and I could get my IV and epidural - yippee!

After getting the epidural (thank you Lordy) we rested for a couple hours. Rested = slept. It was WONDERFUL. Come 4 am the nurse checked me and I was 10 cm and ready to have little Elsie!

Dr. Dado arrived at 4:15 and got things set up. I pushed 2x and out she came - at 4:25 am - Thursday, May 19th, 2011 - all 7 lbs, 1 oz of her.

The only additional side note to this whole ordeal is that poor Alan was a little sleepy and hungry and decided that the minute Elsie was born would be a good time to pass out. Really... no joke. Thankfully he had sat down before he blacked out but the first few minutes of lil' Elsie's life are a blur to poor Alan (love you honey - you're the best daddy in the whole world).

And that's it! All 4 of us are doing well and loving our newest addition.

Here's our first family picture...

And lastly - a HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family who visited us in the hospital and have since stopped by to meet Elsie (or have sent well wishes through the phone, text, FB, mail, etc). We're all feeling very loved by the incredible people in our lives.

Here's just a little treat we had for the visitors who came to meet Elsie at the hospital.

My Pregnancy #2 Tips

May 18, 2011

Nope... no baby yet! We're still patiently waiting for her arrival. :)

Rather than a baby announcement... are you interested in hearing a few things I've learned during this pregnancy?

Jump on over to Scottsdale Moms Blog today to read my "DOs and DON'Ts of Pregnancy #2" :)

Flies Girls Update

May 1, 2011

Wow! We have had quite the past 2 weeks! All fun... but BUSY! Between a number of Scottsdale Moms Blog outings, celebrating Easter and the pending arrival of Baby Girl #2 we have had a very full schedule!

Because I'm sure you like knowing what's going on with Ms. Nora and Ms. Baby #2 here are a few highlights from the past few weeks...

Splash pad.

Nora LOVES the splash pad. What adventurous kid wouldn't, right?

The above pictures were taken of a specific trip just a couple weeks ago when we met Mrs. Cherrick and Reagan at the Scottsdale Quarter Splash pad. (Best splash pad in the area - for serious)

Just a couple thoughts from this trip:

First - Nora LOVES her girlfriends, Reagan and Reagan. Yes - you read that right. She has two BFF's who are both named Reagan. (I'm secretly wondering if she thinks every little girl is named Reagan - I guess we'll see in time). But because she really only says the first syllable of every word she calls them "Rae" - as in Ray - like my father-in-law. Hehe. Too funny.

Second - Nora LOVES drinking the splash pad water. I'm not talking standing up and sticking her tongue out sort of drinking. I mean laying on the ground slurping it up type drinking. Weird.

Next up....Sesame Street Live.

We were lucky enough to be given tickets to attend Sesame Street Live at the Comerica Theater this past weekend! We attended the 10:30 am showing just yesterday and were super anxious to see how Nora would do at a LIVE show :)

Oh how I wish I would have gotten video of Ms. Nora during the production! Our little girl a)would not sit in her seat...she was far more interested in standing up and dancing and singing for the entire 1.5 hrs - b)was a little obsessed with Big Bird. I'm talking she wouldn't pay attention to the show when the Big yellow Bird wasn't on stage. And c)despite loving everything about the show decided she was "all done" about 15 minutes before the end of the production. So "all done" was she that she started waving and saying "bye-bye" in the middle of the production. Alan and I just looked at each other and said "Ok - I guess we'll go!"

Oh this girl cracks me up!

Easter.

Now I'll admit - this certainly is not one of the most entertaining videos I've posted...but I figured I'd post it as I'm sure the grandparents will like it at least. :)

Nora had a great Easter. We went to church and spent the rest of the day poolside and eating yummy food at home. Oh I love April in Arizona!!

And lastly...Baby Girl #2

(I did title the post "Flies GirlS Update," right?)

Oh Baby, right?!

Here are just a couple of Baby Girl #2 thoughts....

- In case you're interested in seeing what I looked like with Nora around this time be sure to check out my Belly Project | 36 week update post to compare. Note: one thing that is funny to compare in these pictures is the amount of finger prints on the mirror behind me. Pre-Nora - not too many. Post-Nora - Holy Finger-print-mola! :)

- Mom-to-Mom advice: When packing your little one's clothing away be sure to pack the larger clothes on the bottom. I suggest this as I recently went to get out all of our 0-3 month girls clothes and had a terrible time as they were at the bottom of our 0-6 month bin! Ugh! I realize it's more work when you're putting the clothing away but believe me, that's when you'll want to put in the extra time. Not when you're getting ready for additional children :)

I'm just saying.

- Lastly - this very well may be my last Belly Project update. Honestly, I don't think I'll want any more pictures of this growing belly.

Next time you'll see a pic of me I'm hoping I'll be holding our sweet little girl :)

All for now!!!

Family & Maternity Pics {by Bri Anderson}

Apr 3, 2011

We just received our maternity/family pics from Bri Anderson and I just HAD to share a selection of them with you! Because she really is THAT good!!

You can view more pics on Bri's Photography blog here. And check back on Scottsdale Moms Blog later this week where we'll be doing a recap of our photo shoot with Bri.

For anyone in the Phoenix area.... do keep Bri in mind for your future photography needs. She is AWESOME!

Thank you Bri for sharing your time, talent and passion with our family! We are so thankful to you.

some {photo} catching up

Mar 23, 2011

Oh wow! There are just some posts that call for mostly pictures.... and this is the post :) Plus I did promise in this post to tell you all more about our time in CA earlier this month.

Let's start with our time in California.

Nora and I went out to visit Abby, Adelyn and Mason at the beginning of the month. Nick was out of town for business and so it was a perfect excuse to have some girl (and kiddo) time. We went to Chuck-e-Cheese (yes - you did read that correctly), an indoor bounce-house and a number of parks. Needless to say we were consumed with keeping the girls BUSY.

While at Chuck-e-Cheese Nora found her most favorite character in the whole wide world. As you can see in the picture she was VERY happy to be sitting next to Barney.

And what would a trip to Chuck-e-Cheese be without riding some of the fun rides. Here is Adelyn and Nora doing just that.

Thanks to Nana the girls have the same coats :) Too cute, huh?! There were a number of times while we were out and about that we were asked if they were twins!

Upon returning from CA we were blessed to have my grandparents come to AZ for the month of March. We've spent a number of days over at their place. Nora loves having her great-grandparents around.

And lastly... a little update on the Baby Girl (#2). Things are progressing quite quickly (maybe a little too quickly in my opinion). Baby Girl is growing, has a name (yipee!) and we're attempting to prepare for her arrival as best as we can.

Here's an updated belly shot (so sorry about the weird lighting... my flash was being super weird).

Steph's Pick | Pregnancy Tips {Part II}

Jan 28, 2011

I'll be honest... I haven't been the best pregnant person this time around. And by that I mean that I essentially haven't opened one pregnancy book, I often forget that I'm even pregnant AND I never spend more than 10 minutes at my doctor's office. Now I realize this is pretty normal the second (and third and fourth..) time around but it still feels as if this little girlie is getting a little less lovin'.

In an effort to bring a little more attention to this growing bean I wanted to highlight a few Pregnancy Tips (for those who care).

1. Bar of Soap in Bed for Leg Cramping

Some of you remember when I blogged about this during my pregnancy with Nora. You can read that post here. Well the leg cramps are officially back (as of this morning) SO you can bet this mama is pulling out the ivory soap bar and putting it under our sheets... regardless of the weird looks ya'll may be giving me right now :)

2. Ruby Love Baby Books

I just realized that although I did highlight these on our blog (see Nora's book here), I've never really even given an update on just how much I LOVE these books.

Well - let's just say I'm slightly obsessed with Ruby Love Baby Books and was reminded of my love of these when I received Baby Girl #2's book in the mail just yesterday! You can imagine my excitement...I love me some snail mail (even if I'm the one that ordered it).

3. Baby Name Website - Social Security Administration Popular Baby Names.

I'll admit - there is nothing fancy about the website I'm going to tell you about BUT it has been a very useful tool when talking about this little girlie's name. Thanks Nealy for sending us to it.

The Social Security Administration has what I would consider the most accurate data for all names and they even go back to the 1880's! Alan spent an hour or so searching by decade for the Top 100 names of each decade (again - starting in the 1880's) to be sure we covered all of the basis!

No - we have yet to decide on a name. But we're getting closer. However, we'll wait to disclose the name until after this little girl makes her big entrance.

4. A little indulgence - Wetzel Pretzel

Ladies - I'm no saint. Not that any of you thought I was - but I certainly love to indulge every once in awhile during pregnancy. Well the little pretzel bits at Wetzel Pretzel have come to the rescue a couple times during Pregnancy II.

Read about my first Wetzel Pretzel Craving on Scottsdale Moms Blog - I still chuckle when I read that post!