Two Months

Two sweet months already!  Time seems to be moving even faster with Caroline than it did with Elli, so I really am treasuring each little stage - like the fact that I am absolutely her favorite person right now.  

I get a smile almost every time she sees me, and sometimes when we make eye contact while she's nursing, she'll unlatch and give me a huge, milky smile!  Oh, these are the moments that make my heart stop! 

Although I am her favorite, she also has eyes for her Daddy, and is drawn to her big sister whenever she is near.  Daddy has even gotten an almost chuckle, so we are all working hard to hear that precious first laugh!  Elli continues to be very loving with her little sister, and is doing such a great job of being gentle with her!  She still requests to hold her and will often stop in the middle of what she is doing to run over and give her a kiss.

 

Caroline is really starting to explore her world with those little hands.  They are in constant motion, usually back and forth from her mouth (not sure if she might end up being a thumb-sucker?) to her tummy, and she is really starting to give her toys a good swat (and occasional kick) on her play mat!

Her doctor's appointment is next week, so once again, I don't have any official stats, but according to our scale she was 11 lbs on her two month birthday.  Her little rolls are growing perfectly!

She continues to be a really easy baby, sleeping 8 hours at night, eating about every 3-3.5 during the day, and still napping between each feeding.  She really only cries when she is hungry, tired, or needs a diaper change.

Caroline, you are a delightful baby and bring so much joy to your daddy, sister and I!  We praise God for you every day!

The Fourth (Part 4 and Final, I promise!)

On the eve of the actual Fourth of July, we had a rough night.  Elli really enjoyed the fireworks during the day, but she was either afraid or over excited by the fireworks that continued late into the evening.  (Let me just take a minute to get on my soapbox - Unless you're out in the country, please stop setting off fireworks at a reasonable hour.  And by reasonable, I don't mean midnight.  Ahem.)  Okay, back to the post...

The night was less than ideal, to say the least, and I was more than a little concerned about how the day would go, not to mention the party at Daniel's grandpa's house that night.  But Elli surprised me with a mostly happy heart throughout the day, and no major meltdowns.  

Well, no more than any other day.  :)

 Micah had spent the night, and we played in the pool for a long time that morning.

These two know how to have a good time, that's for sure!

Later in the day, we tried to get a few pictures of the little girls together, but let's be real.  It's tough to get two seven-week-olds awake, fed, and happy at the same time.  So, here's the best we've got!

Of course, I think they're pretty adorable when they cry together, too!  Can't wait to see how much they've changed at Thanksgiving.

I love this progression of pics Daniel took when the neighbors began setting off some fireworks.  Some of them were really loud!

Before heading over to Papa Bob's, we enjoyed a few fireworks in the backyard.

And not just the kids...

What is it about fire that is so fascinating?

The fun continued over at Papa Bob's at his 4th of July party.
He has a huge yard, which suited these two busy ones perfectly!

Honestly, I don't know what Elli ate that night except for this cookie.  She was so busy busy busy that she would barely stop to take a bite!

While Micah joined in a game of bocce with Uncle B and Aunt Karis...

Elli grabbed her Uncle Colin's hand and directed him to sit next to her so they could watch some of the early fireworks from a nearby neighbor.  I love seeing how she has a special place in her heart for each of her uncles and aunts.
 

Caroline and her cousin Brynn slept through pretty much the whole thing!

But before that, we tried to take some family pictures... unfortunately they turned out a little blurry, but its fun to see how our family is growing.

Mom and Dad

 
Brian and Karis

Colin, Christine, Micah and Brynn

Daniel, Megan, Elli and Caroline

The whole family

The Fourth (Part 3)

Most of the weekend was spent hanging out with family and friends.  Our time was short, but it was full and sweet. 

We spent the majority of time loving on all the adorable kiddos.

But squeezed in some card games as well.  (Somebody has eyes for their Uncle B!)

We enjoyed some creative writing from Brian and Daniel's elementary days.

I love this sweet moment captured - 

Micah noticed that Caroline was getting a little concerned by all the loud laughter around her...

So he leaned over and gave her a sweet kiss.  What a precious little boy!

We spent a lot of time out on the deck, eating, blowing bubbles, swimming, enjoying a summer thunderstorm, talking, etc.

Typical:

And we played lots of basketball... mostly the guys, but most of us got in on a game at some point!  Karis pretty much dominated in horse, although I can't remember who actually won the game.

The Fourth

 Daniel and I had been looking forward to this past weekend for several weeks.  Life has been so sweet and wonderful here, but to be honest, we both felt like we needed a vacation!  We miss our families so much, and we were especially excited to meet our new niece, Brynn, who is only 13 hours younger than Caroline!  We took a ridiculous amount of pictures (over 800!) during the weekend, so I will need several posts to catch up on all of them, but here's a glimpse into our weekend.

Both of the girls did great on our drive.  As we backed out of the driveway at 4am, I asked Elli if she was excited to go to Papa and Nona's house.  She answered me by nodding and saying, "At Papa and Nona's in twee minutes."  Ha!  Fortunately, it didn't seem to phase her too much when I delivered the bad news.

We of course took pictures of the auspicious first meeting of our two baby girls, but unfortunately they are a little blurry and the girls look very concerned.  They are still stinking cute, though!  I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving when they will be old enough to notice each other.

The mommies traded babies whenever possible.

Our two bigger munchkins are at really perfect ages to play together.  Elli can communicate a whole lot more as well as keep up with Micah better!  Of course, they're also at a perfect age to fight with each other.  :)  Yup, it didn't take them long to identify each others buttons and to experiment with pushing them.  Overall, though, they had the time of their lives, and I'm sure we'll be talking about all the fun things "Ewli" and "Bitah" did together.  Many more pictures of the two of them to come...

There were bubbles and babies and basketball, squirt guns and sparklers and snuggling, cards and conversation and yes, a little crying.  My parents were able to make it up for a visit Saturday morning, and we celebrated the Fourth at Big Papa Bob's (that's what Micah and Elli call their great-grandfather).

 

Our hearts are full... and a little homesick... from our time with family and friends.  I hope and pray that someday we won't be so far away!

Birth Day

Before it becomes fuzzy...

When I was pregnant with Elli, I read all kinds of different books on childbirth.  I actually took notes to review with Daniel (who was working on his thesis at the time and didn't have time to read them with me) and brought them with me to the hospital.  I had a birth plan and a back-up plan and was as ready as I possibly could be. This time around, I barely thought about it.  The time just went so fast, that I was mere days away from having this baby before I even thought about writing up a birth plan, and I never got beyond thinking about it!  My general attitude could probably best be summed up as, "It'll all come back to me... right?"  

Then the contractions started...

And yes, it began to come back to me.  Unfortunately, what came back was the memories of hours and hours of that pain.  The endless waiting and the bitter disappointment of barely progressing after hours of intense contractions.  I've got to confess, fear kicked into a pretty high gear right from the beginning.  Multiple times throughout the day, I asked Daniel to pray for me because I just felt so mentally weak.  But, praise God, His grace is sufficient for me and my weakness, and this birth story turned out to be quite different from my first.

I began having contractions Tuesday afternoon, not very intense or close together, but they were definitely the real deal!  Even though I didn't think delivery was imminent, the contractions gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get my bags packed and the cameras charged.  My weekly doctor's appointment was Thursday morning, and I was anxious to see if there was any progress from absolutely nothing the week before. 

(Completely aside - my facebook status on Wednesday was "praying for rain... and maybe a little labor too."  Thursday morning it rained for the first time in months, and as you all know, God answered my second prayer as well!)

When the doctor told me I was dilated to two centimeters and almost completely effaced, I was thrilled.  Progress!  After sharing some concerns with him and discussing various options, we set up an appointment to be induced early the next morning.  Dr. L told me that he was betting he'd see me before then, but we all felt better about having a plan in place.  On the car ride home, I called Daniel, who immediately began wrapping things up at work, and my parents, who were already home packing their bags.  :)

Even before Daniel made it home, the contractions were already becoming more intense, although still inconsistent.  This is where the fear really began to set in.  After a few more hours of trying to decide if this was happening or not, I called the doctor.  My contractions were getting really painful, but they would be 4 minutes apart, then 5, then 8, 4, 5, 4, 8, 3, 5, 14, 5, etc.  I didn't want to be in the hospital longer than I needed to be, but I was so confused by the pattern of my contractions, and concerned since this was part of the reason my labor with Elli was so long. 

My doctor told me to go ahead to the hospital, so we dropped Elli off with the P family, and off we went!  (Actually, we first made a pit stop at Chick-Fil-A since neither Daniel or I had remembered to eat lunch and were both starving.  I was gearing up for several more hours of labor and knew I would need to eat something if I was going to make it!)  After checking in at the hospital at 6PM, I was deeply relieved and encouraged to hear the nurse tell me I was already dilated 6cm!  An hour later I was still at a 6 and my contractions were becoming inconsistent again, so we agreed to begin pitocin at the lowest setting.  Even though I couldn't tell a difference in the level of pain, my contractions became more consistent and I was very quickly in transition. Praise God!

During my labor with Elli, I wanted to be on my feet, walking or rocking back and forth, almost the entire time.  With Caroline, I honestly wanted to lay on my back in the hospital bed.  Of course, my arms were incredibly sore the next day from gripping the bars on the side of the bed during contractions, but this seemed to work the best for me!

After the doctor arrived and broke my water, things moved pretty quickly from there.  He checked me at about 8:30PM and I was dilated to 9cm.  Near 10PM, I felt the urge to push, and it was a close call for the doctor to get his gloves on before Caroline's head appeared.  She was ready to meet us, I guess!  

At 10:05 PM on May 12, 2011, after two pushes, Daniel and I once again enjoyed that miraculous, "It's a girl" moment, and I got to hold my sweet little one for the first time!  I couldn't believe how much hair she had or how perfect her little features were.  What a gift from God!

Caroline's official first photo - not too sure about getting weighed!

 

While Mommy looks on... 

I admit, when Daniel took this picture, I was thinking, "What on earth makes him think this is a Kodak moment for me?", but I ended up loving it because, despite my swollen, sweaty, exhausted appearance, I can't hide my happiness.  These were precious moments to me!

Daddy got to swaddle her for the first time.

 First time in Daddy's arms:

And back with Mommy again.

Caroline Faye

May 12, 2011

10:05 PM

6 pounds, 13 ounces

18 3/4 inches 

We are so thankful for this precious gift from God!  She is an absolute delight!  More posts and pictures to come, but just now, I'm going to go snuggle my sweet, little Caroline.

Baby Vera

 During our visit home, we were blessed to be able to meet my friend Julie's new baby girl, Vera Claire.  She is such a sweetie, and it was SO much fun to hold a newborn again!  I was especially curious to see how Elli would react to Vera, and I could not have been more pleased!  She just adored Vera, and when we let her hold her, she would not let her go!  I am so excited to introduce her to her baby brother or sister.

See that protective hold?  Love it!