California

We had an amazing trip to California for my cousin Emily's wedding. We took advantage of the trip to party hard with all my siblings and parents who were also in town for the wedding (the Okas already live there). Thursday we went to dinner with Maria and Shane so we could get some good Mexican food (hard to find in Baltimore). The carnitas were SO delicious! Friday the rest of the family rolled in, and we got to work making the traditional Haynie taco feast (if you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about). Yum! Then that evening we went to Emily and Joey's rehearsal dinner where we got to hang out with lots of cousins and eat (gasp) more Mexican food! It was so great to chat, albeit briefly, with Crystal and Emily. The three of us have always been close, and it has been way too long since we have all been together. Saturday morning was Dad's waffles and family pictures, which, considering there are now 13 adults and 6 kids in my immediate family, went incredibly smoothly. I'll post those when I get my hands on them. Saturday afternoon and evening was Emily's wedding and reception, which were beautiful, as was Emily. It was great to see so much family, and fun to dance with my girls and Jon. Sunday we went to church, had a great family home evening where we discussed the importance of the family, and how we can protect its sanctity in this day and age, and then finished the evening with a cook out and camp fire on the beach. It was so fantastic to sit around the fire as the sun set, singing hymns with the people I love most. That is always my favorite part of family get togethers. Monday morning about half the family took off, but Joseph, Maria and I, with our respective families, headed to Disneyland. We were a group of 11...six adults and five children (oldest age two), but we ended up having a magical time. Had to be magic that we all had fun with that many babies involved! We didn't get home from the park until after midnight, so it was all we could do to get ourselves out the door by noon today to catch our flight home (a flight on which I now sit, and on which both my children have been angels, thank heaven). I feel both rejuvenated and exhausted, if that is possible, and tomorrow it will be time to face reality again. Thanks, Maria and Shane, for being amazing hosts, and everyone for loving us and our babies.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Return of the Poopmeister

When Olivia was a newborn, I dubbed her the Grand Poopmeister. I should have known it would come back to haunt me when it came time to potty train. The other day she had to go "poo poo". It was morning, and she was still wearing footie pajamas and a diaper from the night before, so I stripped her down and sat her on the potty stark naked. But she didn't want to go on the potty, she wanted to go on the toilet. I put a potty seat on the toilet and sat her down there and she went! Success! Cleaned her up, flushed, and washed my hands. While I was washing, she went and sat on the potty and went some more! Success! So I cleaned her up again, and was cleaning out the potty chair, only slightly flustered from all the moving and pooping when she came back to the bathroom somewhat upset. She pointed at her feet, and when I looked at them, they were covered in "poo poo". We cleaned off her feet, and then I asked her to take me to where the poo poo was. She took me to the kitchen. And there was a big pile on the floor that looked as if it had been danced in. Accident!? At least it wasn't on the carpet.

Dos Meses

My little Anna girl is two months old today! She is such a sweetheart! Other than the fact that she has had a cold for going on for weeks now, she is a pretty darn easy baby. She is starting to sleep through the night, and she takes great naps during the day. The car puts her right to sleep, so getting out of the house is pretty easy. She is starting to talk to us and smile so much, though I have yet to get a good picture of it. I feel like I should be saying "I can't believe it's been two months already", but the truth is that it feels like she's always been part of our family. I just love my Anna!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Princess Potty

I currently find myself with a clean house and two sleeping children. A rarity, obviously, as noted by my lack of posting. And while there are piles of laundry I could attack, I would much rather blog.

Today I took Olivia to Target and we picked out her very own potty chair. I in no way did this intending to potty train her now. I just wanted to get her used to having it around. When we got home and opened the box, she sat down on it, and without much dialogue from me on its purpose, started saying "pee pee...poo poo". And then she said "poo poo" again and went "poo poo" right on the potty. Of course, she was wearing her diaper, but still. I was very impressed. So what do you think, moms? Should I go for it now, or wait awhile longer?

Invincible

Anna is six weeks old and still has been waking up every 2-3 hours at night. Until two nights ago. We had her sleep in her car seat because she was so congested the night before that she could hardly breathe (or so it seemed to her parents), so we wanted her to be more upright to help with her breathing. And a miracle happened. She slept 5 hours straight! And then, after a feeding, slept another 3 hours till morning. Equaling 8 hours of nearly continuous sleep for mommy. She did the same thing last night, and it's made such a difference that today I feel invincible. Here's what I did today before nap time...fed the girls, got them dressed, cleaned the house, went to the gym, showered, hosted a playgroup, fed the girls lunch, and went grocery shopping. No promises that I'll keep this pace, but it is really incredible what a good night's sleep can do for a girl!

Anna's Birth Story

This is a bit overdue (kind of like my babies), but I'm finally posting to story of Anna's birth

December 28^th, 2010 started out quite peacefully, though I had a bit of a headache, which made me nervous. I tend to develop migraines, and I thought that a migraine on top of labor would be much less than desirable. I had been to the doctor the day before and was already dilated to a 4, and she had also stripped my membranes, so I felt confident that this labor would be much faster than my first.

We headed to the hospital for our scheduled induction, having passed my due date the previous day. My sister Diana and her husband Jon were staying with us (yes, both of our husbands are named Jon), so we left before Olivia woke up, totally confident that she would be well taken care of, which was a huge relief to me, since that was the one thing I had been most concerned about. We left for the hospital at 7:44 am, but had to pull over a minute later to scrape the windshield, because it was just a little bit too frosty.

By 8:09am I had been checked in, and just over an hour later, I was hooked up to my IV and ready to start pitocen. I had had come fairly serious contractions the night before, so I was hoping to be dilated to at least a 5, but when they checked me, I was still at a 4. Jon and I passed the time by playing 20 questions and updating the world on my progress (or lack thereof) on facebook, while we waited for over an hour to start pitocen, which finally happened around 10:45 am. Dr. Rogers allowed me to eat popsicles and Italian ice, which was fantastic, and Jon and I put on a movie (North and South) to distract me from the pain. Around noon, the contractions were getting really hard, and the nurses told me they thought I was progressing very quickly, and that if I wanted an epidural, I should probably order it. So even though I was still coping with the pain quite well, I went ahead and ordered it. An hour later, I had my epidural and felt much more comfortable, but when my doctor checked me shortly thereafter, I was still at a 4, and she seemed to think that since I already had an epidiral, things might not progress as well. I was frustrated with the nurses and with myself, but just kept hoping that things would move along.

After three long hours, my doctor checked me again, and I was finally at a 5. She decided to break my water, and it was the most hilarious sensation! I laughed and laughed, which made the gushing even stronger. Even the nurse was surprised at how much fluid there was. The breaking of the water must have done the trick, because an hour later, I was at an 8. The epidural seemed not to be working on my right side, and the nurse was going to order another dose. I could feel every contraction, and then felt the strangest sensation of burning and movement. I asked the doctor to check me again, and I was at a 9. I said I was sure the baby was coming very, very soon, and told the nurse not to bother with the epidural. I was in SO much pain, but I just wanted the baby to come, and I didn’t want anything to slow that down. Seconds later I felt the most amazing(ly painful) sensation, and told the doctor I was ready to push. Sure enough, I was at a 10. I pushed 3 or 4 times, and literally, within 5 minutes, Anna was born, at 5:18 pm, weighing 6 lbs 9 oz. She came out screaming her head off, but it was the sweetest sound to me. They laid her on my chest immediately, and of course I was crying with joy and relief.

It may sound strange, but I am actually really glad that my epidural stopped working, because it was the most amazing feeling to feel what was happening. Not sure I’m ready to commit to going through labor completely on my own, especially since I don’t think my body knows how to go into labor, and I may have to be induced every time (pitocen contractions are painful), but I really loved experiencing the pain with the delivery. There was something special and magical about it.

A couple hours after Anna was born, Jon and Diana brought Olivia to the hospital to visit us, and it was so sweet to see the two sisters meet. I absolutely adore my sisters, and I am so excited to watch their relationship develop and grow. Olivia gave Anna a kiss, and was really excited about the “be-bi”, which made me so happy.

We enjoyed our peaceful time in the hospital with Anna, but wanted nothing more than to take her home, and were so blessed that she was healthy enough that we could bring her home just over 24 hours after she was born. When she came home, we put her under our Christmas tree, our perfect Christmas gift, just a few days late.

New Toy

We had visitors last night...my aunt, uncle, and cousin, Eva, Wade, and Tim stayed with us at the end of their trip to DC. It must be the Haynie blood in him, because Tim wanted to check out an East Coast thrift store. Jon went along and picked up this beauty for Olivia for $4! She is totally delighted!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5