Ridin’ Down the Highway

…or the sidewalk. :)  Both our girls have made big strides in their bike riding this summer!  Actually it’s just been in the last few weeks that they’ve really taken off. 

T saw one of Bug’s little girlfriends riding down the street a month or so ago and decided it was time Bug got her training wheels off too.  He took them off last weekend and within two training sessions she was riding like a pro. We went for a little walk two nights ago and she rode all the way.  She does start and stop a lot but each time she gets going a little easier than the time before. 

Here’s a little video of her new skills. :)

At the beginning of the summer we got out Bug’s old tricycle for Boo Bear but she couldn’t quite reach the pedals.  Just this week we realized that she is now able to reach and other than a little trouble staying on course she can ride up and down the sidewalk all by herself!

Now we just need to finish the porch and get a swing so we can sit out in the evenings and let them ride their bikes up and down the sidewalk. :)

Long Weekend

Well, our Labor day weekend didn’t exactly go the way we planned…not that we had huge plans, but T wanted to work around the house and get some stuff done. However, on Saturday morning he ended up straining his neck muscles and spent the weekend not being able to turn his head. 

The girls spent Saturday at Noni and Papa’s and T and I spent the day on the couch.  On Sunday he was worse so he went up to work to talk to one of the doctors and got a muscle relaxant.  We had to go to town to fill the prescription so we met Grandma and Grandpa for lunch.  

Noni headed home on Sunday, without the girls for the first time since Peanut joined us.  The girls did fine that day but at bedtime they were both in hysterical tears from missing her.  They’ve had quite a fun time having Noni’s 24-7 attention for two and a half weeks!  Thankfully she’s coming out tomorrow to spend the night and all day Thursday with us so they’ve had that to look forward to.   

Yesterday we had a visit from our good friends, the P family!  They brought us a meal (so nice!) and got to meet Peanut.  Their two boys are so sweet. Buggy was thrilled to have E here to play with.  They went pretty much non-stop.  We walked down and got some lunch and took it to the park where they played hard until it was time to go.  Thanks for coming guys, we enjoyed your visit!

Today has been my first full day alone with all three girls and we’ve done really well.  Its definitely not quite as easy with three, but neither is it as demanding as I thought it would be. If this is our new “normal” I’ll take it! :)

Adjusting

I’d say we”re adjusting pretty well around here.  I think Boo Bear has had the hardest time, but even she is doing great now.  Neither of the girls have shown any signs of jealousy, but Boo had a hard time understanding that Mommy couldn’t pick her up. 

Thankfully when I saw my doctor on Wednesday he was happy with my progress and said I can pick her up again…just not a ton. He is very relaxed and easy-going which made it surprising when he felt so bad about my c-section. He is apparently very against c-sections. I knew that part of the reason he is so busy is because he is well known and sought after for his success with VBAC deliveries. 

When we got to the appointment we got one of the new nurses, but a few minutes later my favorite nurse came in the room and hugged me, twice, and was saying how sorry she was that I had to have a c-section.  Then my doctor came in and said, “How is my sweet couple who had the surprise of their lives?” He was apologizing for not being there for us (he was on vacation with his family) and we could tell he just felt so bad! He’s so nice. 

Part of the reason he felt so bad was he thought she must have been breech and he didn’t realize it.  He actually called me at home a few days after she was born to see how I was and apologize, but I got to thinking about it and I think she must have flipped that weekend before she was born.  The entire pregnancy she only kicked on the right half of my belly.  I remember thinking it was so strange because the other girls were all over the place, and that weekend she gave me a big kick on the left side. The way she was moving felt like she was horizontal in there all of the sudden.   It was very noticeable since she’d never done that.  I think that is when she started to turn, and then the other doctor didn’t realize it because he was too busy trying to keep poopy water from getting all over him when we saw him.  Haha :)

I think if my doctor had been there he would have realized what was going on and tried to turn her.  He implied that he would have tried a regular delivery first before giving me a c-section.  Oh well, it’s done with now.  He did say that if we have another that we will definitely do a VBAC unless I just don’t want to. Since I have had two successful deliveries in the past and the only reason I had the c-section was because she was breech it shouldn’t be a problem at all. 

We have always planned on four kids, but I think it’s going to take a while before we get over the trauma of this delivery.  We are both feeling like maybe three would be enough for us after that experience, but maybe given time we’ll feel differently. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of our two littlest girls. :)

So happy!  Boo love love loves “her” baby and is always saying, “Aww, she so cute!” and “My baby so pe-cious!” and “I wuv my baby!”

We’re very happy that the girls love her so much.

Now Peanut just needs to get a little bigger so their “help” is not quite so scary. :)

Bath Time!

On Monday we gave Peanut her first bath…I know, I know, 12 days old before she had her first bath!  What can I say? We are definitely not the best at bathing our kids regularly. :) 

She had sort of lost her umbilical cord that morning…I say sort of because while the majority of it fell off (we found it in the foot of her pjs) there is still a little piece of it stuck to her belly button.

It was quite a big deal to give her a bath.  Both girls wanted to help, of course, so we put them in their swimsuits and let them get in the tub with her.  Buggy found a matching hat for Boo Bear, and even though it was way too small she insisted on wearing it.

I edited these pictures by blurring out baby’s “parts” as Daddy calls them.  I figured she wouldn’t appreciate me exposing her on the Internet, even if she is only two weeks old. :)

Remembering the girls’ first baths I wasn’t sure how this would go.  Buggy’s was a non-stop scream fest, but Boo just sat there, quietly disgruntled, while getting washed up. 

Peanut started out okay…

She tossed around from side to side, perhaps in sheer bewilderment over what was happening.

Boo got to wash her hands. 

With a little help from Daddy.

Bug got to wash her feet…and about that time Peanut decided she’d had enough.

I handed Noni the camera so I could help get her finished up.

Maybe she just didn’t like everyone fussing over her. :)

Whatever the case she was pretty darn upset!  We quickly got her rinsed off and out of there.  Boo was alternating between trying to comfort her and putting her hands over her ears.

Whew. All done!  She looks pretty devious in this picture. “Ah, ha! I have this figured out!  If I just scream loud enough they will bow to my every whim!  Mwah ha ha!”

Bug and Boo finished up their own bath and then Noni wrapped their hair up like big girls.  They were so proud.

Feelin’ sassy! :)

I think we traumatized Peanut more than we thought because after the bath she slept for almost three hours and went the longest she’s ever gone between feedings!  We actually had to wake her up to keep her from going more than five hours without eating! 

Maybe we should give her a bath every night right before bed so we can get longer stretches of sleep! :)

2 Weeks Old!

Today Peanut had her 2 week check-up and she’s growing quickly!  She was 7lbs even when we left the hospital and at her first checkup a week ago she was 7lbs 4oz.  Today she was 7lbs 12oz, so they are very happy with her weight gain.  She had to have the PKU test again yesterday so that wasn’t fun, but other than that she did great.

She is still sleeping great for us at night.  She wakes up twice a night, eats, goes right back to sleep, and is ready for the day sometime between 6-7:30.  If we can just push that back to about 8 o’clock we’ll be good to go. :) 

She is already starting to change and fill out her scrawny newborn body.  Her face is getting a lot more expressive and sometimes when we talk to her she gives us big smiles.

Future Flamenco dancer? :)

She was laying there so sweetly on the couch the other day that I had to get a little video of her.  Sometimes she is impossible to wake up, but most of the time she has good “waketime” (Babywise term) after eating and is bright-eyed and alert.

She is such a good baby.  She does have fussy times, but I’d say she cries less than an hour a day total.  Here’s some proof that she’s not perfect. :)

Poor baby.  She’s not a huge fan of the car seat when you first put her in but she settles down pretty quickly once we get her strapped in and moving.

My 2 week check up is tomorrow and I’m hoping I’ll have a little more freedom after that.  I know I still won’t be able to lift things, but maybe I’ll be given back the privilege of driving.  I’m definitely feeling a little cooped up.  My mind says I’m ready to get back to a more active lifestyle but my body is not cooperating.  I’m going to have to work on being patient and taking it easy but I’m ready to get back into a routine and figure out a new normal with my three girls. 

Thankfully Noni is still here helping us out.  I’m starting to feel guilty for keeping her away from home for two weeks!  I’m sure Papa is missing her!  Most people don’t have such amazing help (my house hasn’t been this clean, consistently, since we moved here!) and especially for so long!  T has gone into work for half days since Monday and will go back full-time on Thursday so Noni is going to stay through the week to help me out.  She has been such a huge blessing to us! 

Thanks so much Mom!  You’re the best!

The Fair

We had a fairly busy weekend! (no pun intended) Haha :)  On Friday night we went to our local fair for a few hours. Peanut was going to need to eat right when we got there so I made her a bottle before we left. It was dinner time so we got some good old fried fair food. Good thing it’s only once a year! :) 

After we all ate we hit the animal barns.  First up was the cows.  Boo was excited to see the animals but wanted someone to hold her so she didn’t have to get too close.

With the exception of the Poultry barn.  She wasn’t scared of any of the chickens.

And she really liked the ducks.

Bug was pretty offended by the smells in the pig barn. :)

We asked Boo which was her favorite pig and she pointed to this one and said, “This Mommy one.”  To which we replied, “Oh is that one a girl?”  “Yes!” she said emphatically.  “How can you tell?” I asked her.  “The girl pigs are pink and the boy pigs are black!” she explained. Pretty good logic if I do say so myself. :)

The girls were SO squirmy while Noni was trying to take this picture!  They literally would not stand still!  It was kind of funny to watch…usually I am on the frustrating end of trying to take a picture of moving targets. :)

Why the long face? :)

“Bunny wabbits!”

I was starting to hurt and figured I was overdoing it a bit but then I realized I had forgotten to take my pain killers before we left and hadn’t had any in about 8 hours.  I finished one set of them today and have a few days left on the ibuprofen.  Hopefully things finish healing because at this point I can definitely tell when I haven’t taken anything in a while!

We headed back towards the fair entrance after the animals but of course we had to stop and get an elephant ear!  We let the girls play in the kids area and then headed home for bed.  We didn’t get to stay too long but it was nice to get out of the house and enjoy some fair fun! 

First Days

I can’t believe our little Peanut turned a week old yesterday!  It has been a fast week.  I guess it’s good I feel that way since you’d think the time would be dragging considering I haven’t done much of anything but sit for a week.  I am starting to feel a little cooped up, but it hasn’t gotten too bad yet. :) 

My mom and T on the other hand have been making up for my lack of motion.  T has been working around the house and getting a ton of stuff done!  He roofed the playhouse, put two windows in it, re-sheeted it (with plywood), and plans to put up siding soon!  It is going to look SO cute! 

He also did all the cleaning and prep work required for our new garage doors that came yesterday!!!  I am SOOO excited to be able to park in the garage again!  It will be a million times easier to get the kids in and out of the house in the rain and snow.  Not to mention we will no longer have a pile of shoes and coats at the front door.  I need to get started on my plans to turn the breezeway into a mudroom/exercise/playroom.  Very very excited.

Noni has been buzzing around like a little worker bee keeping the house clean, doing laundry, organizing things for me, and the biggest job…keeping the girls entertained so I could get some rest.  We are so very very thankful for her help!  I don’t know how we would have done this without her!

So here are some pictures from the last week…

Getting started with nursing has been pretty painful so I’ve been pumping one bottle a day just to have a little relief.  I figured out (while nursing) that I am spending 4-5 out of every 24 hours nursing.  That feels like a lot at the moment!  The girls are thrilled to have a chance to feed their sister and have been taking turns each day. 

Big sister kisses.  They love her SO much and have been so sweet with her.  The only problem is making sure their “loves” don’t smother her!

Blowing out the candles on Peanut’s birthday cupcakes.

Grandma and Grandpa came over on Sunday and brought us lunch.

Boo’s turn to feed Peanut.

Here’s Bug’s friend K and her mom when they brought us dinner.  Peanut was awake so they got to hold her.

Lots of help with a diaper change! :)  T has been doing the majority of the diaper changing since I was trying not to get up and down too much the first few days.

Boo “reading” a book to her little sister.  So sweet. :)

Mama came out yesterday to see baby so I convinced Bug to give up her turn with the bottle. 

Another big thing around here is we are getting one of our trees taken down.  This tree has been sickly since we moved here.  Every time we have a good wind storm it loses more and more branches that have fallen on the phone line more than once. 

We had an estimate to get it taken down and the guy said he would do it for half price – $1800.  I don’t know if it really would have cost us $3600 but we decided to wait.  I’m glad we did because the power company has been going around town trimming and taking out trees the last few weeks so T called to see if ours qualified.  Yesterday they stopped by and said it did!  It’s an 80ft tree and it’s smack in the middle of two sets of power/phone lines.  I will be sad to lose the shade it provides, but I’m so happy that it’s getting taken down…and even better, for free!

I tried to get a picture of Peanut on her one week birthday but she was pretty tired and didn’t want to look at me. :)

She is doing amazingly well!  Technically she only got up to eat once last night!  I had gone to bed after her evening feeding but T was still awake when she was ready for a feeding at 10:30 so I got up and joined him on the couch where he was playing his PS3.  After that she slept till 2:30, ate and went back to sleep, and didn’t wake up again until 7 a.m.! Four and half hours between feedings!  In the daytime she has got herself on a three hour feeding schedule.

She is just moving right along the Babywise plan so easily!  She has definitely adapted to it a lot faster than the other two.  They required much more effort on my part.  It’s hardly been much work at all to get this one on a schedule.  So nice!  I’m so thankful that she is such an easy baby! I hope she continues to surprise us with her good behavior! :)