Second time around

I was worried that with having two little ones to watch over that we weren't going to be able to keep up with the pictures. You know how it is where the oldest has a million pictures and then it just starts to dwindle down from there each time a new sibling arrives. Fortunately, we have been just as addicted at taking her picture as we were with Ethan. We have so many of her just sleeping or sitting with her brother. I only hope to keep up with my scrapbooking. Also, this time around sleep deprivation hasn't been too bad. Everybody kept telling me that going from one to two was going to be rough but in my opinion going from no kids to one kiddo seemed a lot harder. I think it will start to get difficult when she starts moving and they both are running in opposite directions. Here are so more pictures of our little ones.

Bath time

Ethan and Gracie taking a picture with Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Margie during their visit

Baby Sister

Well, I am now getting back into the swing of things and learning to manage my time between two little kiddos. I am still trying to process that she is really here because it all came so fast and we have waited so long for her. Eric basically hit it on the nail with the story of how she came and I know how weird this sounds but I hope that when we do have more they all come the exact same way. It was far from easy but recovery this time around has been 100 times better than it was with Ethan. I feel really good and I am even surprised how good I feel. Recovery with Ethan felt like forever. It helps not being so out there with a toddler and an infant. However, next time I will trust my instincts a little more because Eric almost got a crash course in Labor and Delivery. Out of that whole experience the thing that most shocked me was the fact that I could have such a dark haired baby. As soon as she popped out, all I could say was, “look at her hair”. I just love her hair and I am constantly touching it. Ethan had a good amount of hair but not as much nor as dark as Gracie. She has been doing wonderful and of course eating like it is going out of style. She isn’t really a crier and just does a little whine when she gets hungry. Eric tries to get her to really belt out but she may do a loud cry and then she continues to whine.

Ethan has done incredibly well and is constantly keeping tabs on her. First thing in the morning he runs up to her bassinet to check on her and continues to do it all day. When he can’t find her he puts his hands in the air and says “baby sister?” That’s what he calls her, baby sister. We ask him what her name is and he says Gracie but when he is referring to her he always says baby sister. When we got home from the hospital Gracie started to cry and I knew she was ready for a feeding but Ethan all of sudden started running around looking for something and I couldn’t understand what he was saying until he comes running up to me with a pacifier in hand. It made me smile that he knew she was in need of something and knew exactly what could help. Ethan never took to the pacifier so he had no clue what they were but he must have been paying close attention to us. He loves to help me burp her and gives her a kiss at bedtime. It is so heart warming to see them together.

Gracie on the left and Ethan when he was a baby on the right.

Gracie leaving the hospital

Ethan checking on his baby sister

Hello!

Enjoying some couch time with big brother

More Pics...

Our little princess...

The title pretty much says it all. Today we welcomed Gracie Lynn into the world. She was born today (18 Feb) at 8:13 am, weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and is 20.5 inches long.

And now the rest of the story (a short tale by Eric). When we woke up yesterday, Destiny said she felt like she was leaking something so we called the hospital and they told us to come in and get checked out. After a few hours, the doctor said her water did not break and she was barely 1 cm dilated, so it would probably be a little while before the baby would come. She was having a few contractions, but nothing consistent or painful so we went back home.

Fast forward to today...We woke up around 5:54 am and Dest was having some pretty good contractions around 10-15 min apart. This lasted for about an hour and she started getting them around every 5 to 6 minutes and they looked pretty painful. I called the hospital to see if I should take her in but they wanted to talk to Dest first. In between shrieks of agony, they decided she should wait about an hour or so until the contractions got to about 3 minutes apart. Now to provide a mental picture, here is Dest on all fours in the living rooms screaming every contraction...so...our ever playful son thinks this is a game and says, "Mommy...you a lion?" Thankfully, she didn't hear him, but I thought it was pretty funny. I don't know what happened after that, but as soon as she hung up she sort of skipped the 4 and 3 minute contractions and was now having them every 2 minutes. I realize this is a family blog, so her "edited" dialog went a little like, "Get me to the f@#&ing hospital now, I'm not waiting an hour!!!"

We already planned for Ethan to go hang out with his buddy Ty, so Carmen was already at the house to pick him up while we went to the hospital. I proceed to go about 80 mph (in a 45 mph zone) because Dest is looking like something fierce is about to happen. Since the hospital is on base, we had to try and hurry through the gate and speed our way to the hospital. I dropped Dest off at the front door and park the car. As soon as I get to the door, she says her water broke and she feels like she has to push. I grabbed the first damn wheelchair I could find and we ran upstairs to labor and delivery. As soon as we bust through the doors she is yelling, "my water broke" and since we were there the day before and she wasn't dilated they were like okay...go to the room and we'll get you checked out. Again, more profanities fly and she says she is going to start pushing now. This hurries the process a little and they get her in the room ASAP.

We got in the room around 8:00 and we are ripping Dest's clothes off to try to get her in the gown. One nurse finally checks her out and says she is at 8 cm. Dest then starts yelling for the anesthesiologist because she wants her epidural. The doctor then walks in about 1 minute later and pretty much said no happy juice for you because you are ready to rock. I looked down and yup, there is the top of the baby's head. Of course, Dest starts cursing the world and tries to squeeze any drugs she can from the docs, but to no avail. The bed and the room weren't really set up for birth yet, but time was of the essence so the doctor jumped up on the bed and said start pushing. Of course, Destiny is still looking for her drugs, but the nurse said the baby should be out in around 5 minutes or so. After Dest made her promise that the baby would be out soon, she started pushing. Lo and behold, Gracie pops out on the next push. So, from the time we arrived at the hospital to baby in hand was around 13 minutes...thats what I call efficiency. Everything with the baby was fine and Dest is doing great. I'm so proud of her and amazed at how well she did without any pain meds. She is a true superstar!

Sorry for the long post, but I found the story to be quite interesting. More pictures, videos, poems and sonnets to follow once baby and mom rest a little.

One more time

Instead of him contemplating what he will be giving me for Valentines Day, Eric’s brain has been somewhere else. Today Eric defends his thesis and as he puts it all the work from the past 18 months lead up to this moment. Poor guy was so nervous this morning when he left but I am confident he will knock it out of the park. However, he did ask me what I wanted but unfortunately since he isn’t a medical professional that can’t get my contractions going, I don’t want anything. Speaking of wanting something, Ethan has learned that when he says “One more time, please” he can pretty much get away with anything. Anytime we tell him to stop doing something or that he can’t have anymore. We get this response “One more time, Mom” or “One more cookie, Mom” He will say it while putting his cute little pointer finger in the air like he is about to declare something important. This is how I see it, we are in the store and he wants to ride the horse again, he points his finger up and says “One more time”. Once his turn is done he gets off and walks away a happy child. Where as if I say no I get a screaming kicking child making a scene and basically we all leave in a bad mood. I figure what is so wrong with an extra minute especially since he asked nicely. We just have to pick and choose our battles with him. He is too funny though, yesterday we had a doctor’s appointment and I told Ethan that he could come with me to hear his baby sister’s heart beat. So there I was laying on the table and Ethan standing right by me. Once the doctor found the heartbeat, Ethan started screaming really loud “BABY SISTER, BABY SISTER”. It was so funny the doctor and I were both laughing. He said it with so much enthusiasm like as if he found it on his own. I just hope that enthusiasm stays when she arrives.

Let me guess

Early Morning

Around six this morning, we were having a really loud rainstorm. I woke up because of it but was just lying in bed hoping Ethan slept right thru it. Well, that was until I heard the sound his diaper makes when he is running into our room. He jumps on our bed, comes about an inch away from my face and asks in an inquisitive voice “Mom, what’s that?” I reply with “Thunder” then seconds later he asks again all surprised “Mom, what’s that? I answer “Lightning”. After a while the storm starts to calm down so I tried to convince Ethan that since it is still dark we should go back to sleep. He did not like that idea because once I rolled over and closed my eyes he started to pry my eyes open with his little fingers saying, “Wake up, Mom. Wake up” I have no clue where he learned that phrase because Ethan has never been told to Wake up! I know I have said over a hundred times ‘Go to bed’ but never ‘Wake up’. Then he says with such a polite voice, “Orange juice, please”. Needless to say we were downstairs having breakfast within ten minutes.

Super Bowl Weekend

This weekend has turned out to be a mellow one for us. I am going through the nesting phase where everything has to be just right so Saturday was deemed cleaning day. Today, we have been taking it easy and just waiting for the game to start. We are going to enjoy some delicious junk food with some company and hopefully it will be a great game. I also get to try out my strategy of picking the winning team. It has worked for me all but one time. I wait until the end of the 1^st quarter and that is when I pick my team. It has nothing to do with who has the higher score or which quarter backer is hotter. It comes down to who has the better sportsmanship in my opinion. Karma comes around and if you act inconsiderate, you lose! Eric thinks I am crazy but hey, the odds have been in my favor.

Here are two videos of Ethan. One is of us singing and the other is of him and his dad playing outside. It was cold but Ethan has been itching to ride his scooter outside. He is getting really good at it!