Author: Amy

Easter Fun

Posted on by Amy
We have had a fun Easter weekend.  The girls dyed eggs with me last night.

I got the idea to use a whisk to hold the eggs from Pinterest. It worked really well, though the whisk I used for Lass was a little bit small to fit the eggs into.  I also had to adjust the level of water in the cups and the position of the eggs in the whisks in order to be able to get the eggs submerged fully.  But, this was much easier than the way we did it last year, dropping the eggs into the dye and having Miss try to fish them out with a spoon.

Miss pretty much dyed all the eggs.  Lass did one egg and then lost interest.

This morning we hunted eggs and baskets.

It was Lass’s first experience with the Easter egg/basket hunt.

She caught on quite quickly.

I love the dollar section at Target.  So much good basket filler!

Baby Sis was still sleeping while we hunted, but the Easter Bunny left her a special basket too.

I finally got a few photos with all three of my girls together.

We went to brunch with the Easter Bunny.  The girls were so interested in the bunny when he was across the room, but once he came close, they were much more reserved.  Lass wouldn’t even take a toy from his basket, though as soon as we left, she kept asking for him.  “Bunny?  Bunny?”

Miss was a bit more brave and selected a toy.  She even shook his hand.

Baby Sis was an angel at brunch.  She is such an easygoing baby.  She got all tired out from our adventures of the morning.

Sweet little bunny…

Happy Easter!

Pigtails and Stuff

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I got both of my girls to wear pigtails in their hair for a brief time yesterday.  Miss usually won’t let me do anything with her hair except a ponytail, but when I put Lass’s hair in pigtails yesterday, she was suddenly interested.  I just had to get a photo of the two of them together.

Preferably with both of them looking at the camera…

I love Miss’s posed smiles for photos.

Close enough!

Miss really wanted to put her Baby Sis’s hair in pigtails too.

We’ve had a great week.

Almost every day we’ve gotten out of the house at least a little bit.  Yesterday we stayed home for a lazy day, but otherwise we’ve been out and about.  I already mentioned getting out for gymnastics class on Monday.  Tuesday I got the girls up and was determined to get Miss to school on time.  I got them all ready to go and we got out the door only a few minutes late for the 25-minute drive to Miss’s school.  We got there and I got Miss up to the door, only to realize that I had completely forgotten it was Spring Break this week.  Miss didn’t really get what Spring Break is, but we had a good laugh about going to school when it was closed.

The girls love playing with their Baby Sis’s stuff.  The photo below looks a bit hostile, but Miss was just showing Lass how to cover her mouth when she coughs.

Sister hugs.

And kisses.

Nothing like playing soccer with sparkly Mary-Jane-ish shoes on.

Baby Sis is sleeping and nursing like a champ.  She wakes up once at night and then sleeps late.  All of my girls have been sleeping a little bit late this week (except Tuesday when I had to wake them all up for “school”) so I have been thoroughly enjoying sleeping until 8.  And my husband is off work for the next week.  I’m loving this and the Easter festivities coming up this weekend with dyeing eggs, hunting for eggs and baskets, and meeting the Easter Bunny on Sunday.  I’m a happy mama.

Happily Rolling Along

Posted on by Amy
We are adjusting happily to having Baby Sis home.
I was thrilled with the response of my big girls when we first brought her home.  Miss was ecstatic.  Lass was intrigued.  They were both happy and loving.

Miss ran right into her room to get a book to read to “Baby Sissy.”

Lass kept wanting to pull her blankets off to see her better.

And my protective eldest repeatedly put the blankets back on, very gently, so she wouldn’t get cold.

Miss was excited to help with her sister’s first bath at home.

She constantly wants to hold “her baby.”  Lass just wants to wear multiple tutus (there are five on her below).

We had a bit of a birthday party over the weekend.

And the girls “helped” their Daddy start getting ready to plant our garden.

Miss spent lots of time telling stories with her Grandma.  I think this one was a story about how her baby sister spit up, and how Lass used to spit up when she was a baby, and Miss herself used to spit up when she was a baby…

I was sad that my parents left this morning, but must say I’m pleased with how our first day on our own went.  I even got a shower and made it with all three girls to Miss’s gymnastics class.  Early.  Miss is very into helping and she and Lass play together so well, the adjustment has gone very well so far.  I have been told that the shift from two kids to three is easier than the transition from one to two.  I’d say I agree with that.  A good friend of mine also made a statement that I think is very true.  She said, “No matter how many kids you have, when you bring home a new baby it’s going to make things a bit crazy for a while.”  Yep.  Today, though I made it to gymnastics with clean hair and three adequately dressed and groomed children, I did forget to brush my teeth and put a coat on.  Goals for tomorrow, I suppose…

Fast and Furious – Sis’s Birth Story

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Baby Sis arrived yesterday, beautiful and perfect, after a labor that started out very ho-hum and ended up with a crazy fast finish.  I had agreed to be induced yesterday morning, fully believing that she would arrive before then.  Of course she didn’t, so we got ourselves all ready and came on over to L&D.
Because of my history of a c-section with Miss, it isn’t safe for me to be induced with pitocin.  That is entirely fine with me, as I would prefer not to have medication said to make contractions even more painful than they are naturally.  So, for me, an induction consisted of having my water broken and hoping labor would start.  I felt pretty confident that it would.  In fact, I was surprised by how slowly it got going.  I kind of expected the contractions to start up right away.  They didn’t.  But once they did, things happened fast.
My doc came up and broke my water at around 8am.  I had to stay in bed to be monitored for an hour.

Then I could get up and move around, though I still had to carry the monitor with me.  I put my lovely hospital-issued “track shoes” on and my husband and I got to walking.

We walked for three hours, almost nonstop.  We did have to pause for a minute after each lap around the L&D floor so our nurse could monitor Sis’s heart rate, because the mobile monitor wasn’t working well while I walked.  After three hours, we took a little break.  I didn’t want to stop, because every time I did, my contractions, such as they were, would slow down, but we were hungry and just needed to sit for a few.  So I hung out on the labor ball, my hubby got lunch and I got some Italian ice and Jello (and snuck a few of his fries), and we took a short break.

We got up and walked some more after lunch.  Labor had started, in that I was having somewhat regular contractions, but they were pretty mild and my husband and I continued to joke and chat as we walked.  After a bit we had to stop again for monitoring because of a deceleration in Sis’s heart rate, so I sat on the ball some more.  As you can see, my labor was still not too difficult at this point.

In fact, my husband and I were lamenting how slowly things were moving and trying to gear ourselves up mentally for another really long labor like Lass’s.  At 1:30 the nurse said we could get up and walk again but she wanted to check my progress first.  I didn’t really want her to, because I just knew I had not progressed much, but I let her anyway because I’m cooperative like that.  I was only 5cm.  I had been 4cm when I started at 8am.  This did not encourage me.

But things began to change rather quickly after that.  We got up and walked a bit more, though I think we only made it one and a half laps or so.  We were going much more slowly and I was having to stop for each contraction.  The contractions were coming much more closely together and I told my husband we needed to go back to the room.  When we got there I sat back on the ball and things got serious.

We weren’t joking and chatting anymore, and by about 2:30 it was all I could do to stay focused through each contraction.  As he was during my labor with Lass, my husband was awesome.

I decided I wanted to try something different, so I asked to get into the tub.  The nurse again said she wanted to check me before I did.  I was feeling kind of discouraged and thinking I was not going to be able to continue without an epidural the way things were going if she told me I hadn’t progressed much, but I agreed to let her check me.  As soon as I stood up, she almost didn’t need to.  I immediately had an overwhelming, all-consuming need to push.  This urge came with two conflicting but equally strong thoughts, “Oh my gosh this is pure torture!” and “Woohoo!  I’m almost done!”  The nurse checked me and sure enough, I was ready to get the job done.  Unfortunately, the room was not set up and my doctor wasn’t there, so I had to wait a bit before I was allowed to.  This was the worst part.  My husband and nurse kept reminding me how to breathe to keep myself from pushing.  The best thing that my husband said to me, many times during that short period of intense labor, was “This will end.  Just get through this one contraction.”  That was the perfectthing to say to help.  Even so, it seemed to take forever (though I’m sure it was only 10 minutes or so) before everything was ready and my doctor was there.  Two or three contractions later, Sis was born!

Then she peed on me.

Born at 3:06 pm.  9 lbs, 7 oz, 20 inches of gorgeous.  As you can see she is just perfect.

I am going home later today after my husband gets off work.  I can’t wait to see my big girls and let them meet their baby Sis.  I am so thoroughly blessed.

A Boa and a Bike Helmet

Posted on by Amy
We’re still waiting.

This is the longest I have been pregnant without being in labor.

My labor with Miss started on the third day after my due date at about 9 or 10 in the morning.  She was born at 5:11 PM that day.  My labor with Lass started on the third day after my due date at about 5:30 in the evening.  She was born the next afternoon at 1:38.

It’s now 9:40 pm on the third day after my due date.  I’m not stressing out about still being pregnant.

But I am getting a bit anxious.  Just wondering and waiting.

As I type this, I’m having contractions, but they aren’t very strong and not at all regular.  Nothing to get excited about.

I know she has to come soon though, so I’m trying to be as ready as I can.  I’m obsessively giving more instructions than necessary to my Mom for taking care of the girls while I’m in the hospital.  I’m checking and rechecking the contents of my hospital bag.  I’m making lists.  I’m doing laundry and taking out recycling.  I’m also sleeping in and taking naps, thanks to my parents and my husband.

And of course, I’m waiting. Maybe I ought to be walking on my treadmill instead?  I’ll try that tomorrow, if I make it that far.

Here Again

Posted on by Amy
A due date.  Yesterday.  Passed me by.  Having given birth to both of my older girls past their due dates, I really did not expect Baby Sis to come before her due date.  In fact, I made lots of plans in the past few days, like coffee with a friend on Wednesday, book club on Thursday, and a play date yesterday morning.  Now though, I’m taking it easy.  No plans for a while, as I feel like we’re really in waiting mode now.
My husband and I have traditionally gone out for a date night on my due date.  We went to a nice restaurant on Miss’s due date, February 15, 2009.  She was born on the 18th.
On Lass’s due date, August 20, 2010, we went to a more casual restaurant.  She arrived on the 24th.

Last night we stayed home and got Jimmy Johns.

I had planned for a babysitter so we could go out this time too, but then plans changed.  In a great way. The reinforcements arrived.  My parents.  My girls are in Grandma Heaven.  I am too, for that matter.

So this weekend, we’re just taking it easy.

We’re enjoying some rain, but looking forward to sunny days coming soon.

Very soon, our Baby Sis will arrive.  We are all eager to meet her.  Happy weekend.

What Does One Really Need for a New Baby?

Posted on by Amy
I know several people who have recently become first time parents, or are about to become first time parents in the next few months.  Some of these people have asked me for my opinion or advice on a few things, including a few questions about the items that are really necessary for a new baby.  That, plus the fact that I’m about to have another baby myself, have had me thinking recently about just what a new parent really does need for baby.  Of course, there are the obvious things, clothing, diapers, a place to sleep, etc.  But in thinking about the things that really made my life easier, I came up with the following list and wanted to share (plus, this is a fun excuse to post some old photos of my girls).
1. A few good swaddle blankets.  I have always preferred the blankets that fasten in some way, like with velcro (this one is Kiddopotomus).

This one is my personal favorite, The Miracle Blanket.  These are like little baby straight jackets and were the only swaddle that my girls couldn’t wiggle right out of.

These Halo sleep sacks with the velcro swaddle wrap are nice too.

I have lots of Aden and Anais swaddle blankets too, but I usually use those for other purposes.  I always just found the regular blankets to be too easy for my girls to wiggle out of.  I love swaddling.  Both of my girls were pretty great sleepers, and I attribute this at least in part to swaddling (it helped that they were also both pretty huge and big eaters).  I also found that sometimes when my girls would just get fussy and I couldn’t seem to soothe them in other ways, swaddling often helped calm them right away.  It was the perfect way to get Lass to settle when she would get fussy in the evenings.  I know not everyone is a fan, but great swaddling blankets are a must-have here.

2. A video monitor.  We started out with a regular audio monitor with Miss.  I had read a book that said that video monitors weren’t worth the money and recommended just getting a good sound-only monitor.    At some point before Lass was born, the monitor I had wasn’t working very well, so I decided to replace it with a video monitor.  I am so happy I did.  Not only is is great for keeping an eye on a newborn, but it is fantastic for watching a toddler too. When Miss transitioned to her big girl bed, it was fabulous.  We take them with us when we travel and have broken two monitor screens this way, but I have continued to replace them because they are such a great tool to have.

3. A swing or bouncy seat, or both if possible.  Miss loved her bouncy seat.  She would fall asleep in it when nothing else worked.  She had her days and nights mixed up for a bit, and liked to wake up and want to play at 3 am.  My husband and I spent many nights, half awake, bouncing her back to sleep in her bouncy seat.  Lass was a swing baby.  That swing could get her to sleep so easily.  These items were so helpful with the girls that my husband used to take them apart and we’d travel with them on road trips.  We even put the disassembled bouncy seat in a suitcase on more than one occasion when flying somewhere with Miss.

4. A good nursing pillow.  Especially if you’re new to breastfeeding, and/or with a tiny baby who is new to nursing, a good pillow is such a help.  I always have one right at my rocker in my baby’s room for night time nursing especially.  I have been known to doze off while nursing and the pillow helps keep baby in place.  My favorite is the Boppy though I know some people swear by the “My Breast Friend” pillow.  I tried that one and didn’t like it much.  Plus the Boppy is good for tummy time and helping with sitting too.

5. A Bumbo.  Speaking of sitting, a Bumbo is just an awesome little thing to have once baby is old enough to use it.  I think both of my girls were able to sit in it around 3-ish months.  I used it for feeding both of my girls when they first started solids.

I also found it to be a great way for Lass to be able to be upright and part of the “action” with her sister before she was actually able to sit up on her own.

Edit 8/16/2012 – You will notice in a few of the photos above, my girls are sitting in our Bumbo on a table.  In light of the recent Bumbo recall, I want to point out that I never leave my girls unattended in the Bumbo, whether up on a surface or on the floor, and I did order the new buckle just to be extra safe.  You can get a belt for your Bumbo as part of the recall here.  Please never put your baby in a Bumbo or other seat and leave her unattended.

6. A good carrier.  Okay, everyone has different preferences when it comes to baby carriers.  I started out with a Bjorn and a Moby Wrap and a ring sling.  I never found the Bjorn to be comfortable, and the ring sling just didn’t work for me at all.  I liked the Moby, but since it was stretchy, I couldn’t use it for long before my girls were too big for it.  I eventually found that my favorite carrier for teeny tiny newborns is a woven wrap.  The one I have is a Babyette.

And my favorite carrier of all time is the Ergo.  I love my Ergo.  It is so comfortable, even when worn for hours, like when Miss went on her first antiquing expedition with my mom and me.

And it is a carrier that my husband can and will wear too.

It even works for hiking.

And when you’ve got more than one babe in the mix, it is essential.  Before she was mobile, I could carry Lass and still be quite active with Miss.

I’ve also tried a Mei Tai style carrier, which I’ve never gotten comfortable with, and a few different slings, like the Hot Sling.  I don’t love the Hot Sling, as I don’t find it to be super comfortable, and I am just not comfortable using a sling with a tiny one.  But, the Hot Sling was great to use during the first six or so months of my second two pregnancies.  It allowed me to wear Miss, and then Lass, once I couldn’t wear the Ergo anymore because of my belly (I’ve never been very good at a back carry and found the hip carry to be uncomfortable), since I could carry the girls above the belly with the sling.

7. An upright, freestanding immobilization device.  For us, this has been our excersaucer.  I love this thing.  Miss used to sit in it in the garage while we worked out.

Both Miss and Lass have spent many shower times in this thing. It allowed me to take a shower with my baby/toddler in sight and unable to get into things, so I didn’t have to waste precious nap time minutes with showering.

And this past summer I discovered the portable/outdoor version of this.

I occasionally used it at home, but it was most useful when out and about.

I took it to the pool and used it as a high chair for Lass.  I took it to outdoor concerts, parks, etc.  It folds up like a lawn chair and has a bag with a strap to carry it.

Okay, so those are my essentials.  Each of the above things made my life with a tiny one, and then a toddler plus a tiny one, much easier.  I had to learn what would work and what didn’t through trial and error, but I am so glad I discovered each of these things.  I know not everyone will think these items are important, and others will have their own lists of essentials.  So, feel free to share.  What things did you find essential to surviving the early months of parenting or of adjusting to two or more babes?

Happy St. Patty’s Day

Posted on by Amy
We have had amazing weather this week.  We’ve been busy soaking it up.

Swinging and running and climbing.  It’s been wonderful.  Lass wakes up in the morning and one of the first things she says is “‘side?  ‘side?” asking to go out and play.  My girls definitely love to be outside.

I don’t think I really even need to describe how much fun we’ve had in our yard the past few days.  The photos say it better than I could anyway.  But I will say that one of the great things about being outside is that I can often sit in the grass and watch as they get exercise and have a blast running around.  Sitting is my friend right now.  I’m at 39 weeks and large.

We have taken some walks too, as I’m trying to get the ball rolling here, but sitting and blowing bubbles or just watching my girls chase each other, or show off how fast they can run, or play with sticks or whatever. . . Well, it’s nice.  I want to be very lazy right now.  Don’t judge.

We got decked out in green for St. Patty’s day and played outside a lot more today.  It ended up being 80 degrees here.  In mid-March.  Beautiful.

We played with shamrock stickers and ate a special shamrock treat after dinner and took a walk by the lake.

I had purchased a really cute Good Luck Bear Care Bears T shirt for Miss to wear today.  It says, “Hug Me, I’m Irish” and has shamrocks and of course a Care Bear with a shamrock belly badge. I thought she would love it.  She flat out refused to wear it today and instead picked out her own green outfit.

Miss wanted to share a shamrock sticker with her Daddy.

Oh well.  At least the shirt was only $5 from Walmart.  Maybe next year.  And the outfit she picked out almost matched.

We had a fun day.  Nice and lazy and loaded with good family time.  Whether you’re Irish or not (I’m not, but my kids are), I hope you had a great St. Patty’s Day too.

Girls’ Rooms Made Over

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As I have mentioned several times, I have been crafting stuff for the girls’ rooms for the past few weeks.  I think it has been my form of nesting.  I am finally near enough to completion that I can reveal what I’ve been working on.  Here’s a look at Lass’s room.

I’ve already posted about how to do the growth chart.  If you want to know how, see the tutorial here.

This is basically what Lass’s room looked like before (check out how tiny Miss is in this pic!).  All of my girls’ rooms had fairly pathetic wall decor, so I decided to use a few ideas from Pinterest, add a few ideas of my own, and make them much more fun and interesting.

I got the idea for the fabric rings from Pinterest.  They are so easy and cheap and really make a big impact I think.  I am not completely happy with the balance of the circles in Lass’s room, so tonight I made a couple more circles and will try adding them tomorrow to make it look better.  But I still love it even as it is right now.

I also spruced up the other side of her room.

This is what it looked like before.  I needed to take this huge rocker and move it to Baby Sis’s room, so I brought Miss’s old reading chair in and added some shelves.

I love the finished product.  My mom made these curtains!

Baby sis’s room still has a bit of work to be done, but the wall above her crib is done.

This used to be Miss’s room.  We were initially going to move Sis into our third bedroom, which was previously a guest room, but at the last minute decided to move Miss in there and put Sis in Miss’s room.  The main reason was because we couldn’t find a good place for the huge rocker pictured above in the other bedroom.

This was Miss’s crib that we converted to a full size bed when she moved into her “big girl bed.”  We converted it back and Miss got a new big girl bed you can check out below.  I made a couple of crib sheets for Sis’s crib and used the bed skirt that my mom and I (mostly my mom) made for Miss’s room before she was born.

The biggest transformation has been in Miss’s room.  We painted it this green originally to match the fabrics for Sis’s room, but the color works just as well with Miss’s new bedding.

In her old room, Miss had rails on the sides of her bed.  She was ready to have those taken off, as the only thing they have been needed to keep in her bed for the past several months have been all the “friends” Miss had been sleeping with.  I got these planter baskets from Hobby Lobby and they have been a perfect way to keep the friends within reach, though not right in the bed.

This was Miss’s reading corner in her old room.  The chair went into Lass’s room, Miss got a bigger chair, and the bookshelf stayed where it is for Baby Sis.  It’s attached to the wall, so Miss got a new book shelf.

Here’s Miss’s new reading/vanity corner.  I got her this cute little vanity to replace the dresser that was in her old room (which stayed in there to serve as a changing table for Baby Sis).

She has adjusted remarkably well to this move, considering we decided to do it kind of last minute.  She loves her new stuff, especially the vanity.  I also took some fabric flowers (left over from the arrangement I made for her that you can see below) and a few upcycled food cans (I made sure to remove all sharp spots) that I painted in coordinating colors, and I put them in one of the blue boxes on her shelf for her to use to make her own flower arrangements.  This has been a huge hit with her.

After all the shuffling around of rooms and furniture and all the crafting and sewing I’ve done (2 growth charts, tons of fabric circles, two crib sheets, and three large cardboard initials), I’m extremely happy with the results in all the girls’ rooms.  I have to give credit to my husband for all the work he did to help (moving lots of furniture, putting up a chandelier, putting together several pieces of furniture, and many other “Honey-Do” tasks). One of the projects I’ve been really happy with is the cardboard initials I did for each of the girls.  The initials came from Hobby Lobby.  I used Mod Podge to come up with three different looks for them.  They were all very easy.

For Miss’s I used torn pieces of scrap book paper and Mod Podge.  I just put the Mod Podge down before placing each piece of paper, used enough overlapping paper to cover the whole letter, and then put a final coat of Mod Podge over the top when it was all done.

For Lass’s letter I started by painting it green, and then cut out these flowers from the fabric that I had used to make her crib sheet.  The fabric flowers got Mod Podged in place, and then I again put a final coat of MP over the whole thing when it was done.

Baby Sis’s letter was done by just Mod Podging some of the leftover fabric from one of the crib sheets I made onto the cardboard.  This one was a little bit more tricky to figure out the best way to piece the fabric to get the whole letter covered and still looking nice.  I started by cutting strips of fabric as wide as the depth of the letter and covering the inner “V’s” of the N first.  Then I just used one big piece to cover the front of the letter and outer sides.  I had to wrap around a little bit, but it turned out great.

So, that’s what I’ve been doing for the past several weeks.  I still have a few more projects I would like to get done, but they don’t feel as pressing as these did.  Each of my girls has a pretty new look for her room, so I’m satisfied.