Monday, February 25, 2008

monday weigh in.

a little is better than nothing, eh? 3.4 pounds GONE! :)


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

two scoooops.

i forgot to mention! i started weight watchers yesterday. i really do love it, as it really helps with portion control. i'm doing the nursing program which gives you 10 extra points every day. i am not sure how long i will keep up with the extra points, but it's nice to have them now since i'm always STARVING! we'll see if i've lost anythign in a couple weeks, and i'll go from there.
my "goal weight" is ideally 105. but i'll take anything under 110 as long as it's FIRM, lol. i'm 131 right now, and have been since a week after norah was born. i was 118 when i got pregnant with her, but was definitely at least 10 pouds over weight. and not at all firm, lol.
i'm really determined this time. i'm going to start back at the ymca next week. i've been pumping a little so john can stay with the baby. when he leaves in a few weeks for texas, she'll be old enough to go in the child watch. now that ethan's in underpants (his name for them, lol), he can go in the playzone (think tubes/slides/climbing stuff), so i think he'll be more inclined to stay. before he'd have to go in the child watch, which is basically a babyish daycare type place.
i was planning on going while kayleigh's in school, but i don't think that will work out with ethan. if there are no other kids there, he'd probably not want to stay & play... so when i go once john leaves, it will probably be after i pick kayleigh up from school, so they can both play .... but we'll see. i just really need to get back in shape. i hate how everything is fitting right now, and i refuse to buy everything in bigger sizes.
oh, and we're going to circus saturday morning!! i am so excited. i went every year growing up, until i graduated high school, lol. i was a little anti-circus for a while after reading/seeing some things that were pretty horrific, but they weren't ringling bros. .... i'm sure it's still not the most humane, but hopefully they're nicer to their animals than the ones that i read about. the kids are super excited. still have to find out if camera are allowed....

one month!

norah is one month old already! she is starting to come out of that newborn sleep, and we're even getting some real smiles. :)


the last time she was weighed was 2 weeks ago & was 10lbs on the nose. she's still nursing quite often, and althoug hshe's up for longer periods of time, is still napping like a pro (minus a rough weekend of crankyness).


she's started getting a "fussy" period every night. seems like she might be gassy? she seems uncomfortable for a few hours, and just wants to be held and walked/bounced. which was pretty much what she wanted to do all weekend, too. thankfully yesterdat day was much better than the 3 days before, and she seemed a lot more comfortable.

here's norah in the 1 month onesie i made ... it's the weirdest onesie. short and wide. my kids are long and skinny variety, so this one is weird. i guess that's what you get for a dollar, lol. the rest should fit much better.

i also took a picture of her with our sock monkey. a friend did something similar every month with her son, & it was really cute to see how much bigger he got next to the stuffed animal every month. :)


...and how mean am i? that is one big bow! no worries - she won't be wearing it anywhere, lol.

everyone wanted in on the fun. :)



as you can see, the kids just love norah ... but maybe a little too much, lol. about 2 seconds later, she was DONE. love her face here, especially with the arms. haha!


feetsies! k, n, e.
it's been pretty cold out (or rainy when it's warm, lol), so we've been stuck inside a lot. the kids have been a little wild because of staying in so much. i can't wait for it to warm up a bit again.
john bought "me" a new computer friday. i say "me," because it's really for him, lol. he loves all the tech stuff & our old computer was just fine ... maybe a little slow .. but it worked. now we're having issues with vista & the router, so i have to either pick having a phone or internet connection until he fixes it. and the laptop can't connect .... fun stuff! but ann! we bought a new monitor - you'll get yours back soon, lol.
since john was oh-so-helpful all weekend while he was trying to figure out the computer issues, and baby girl was mc cranky pants, i pulled out the babyhawk so i could get some things done. she loved it, and so did i. :)

i was skeptical at first about buying one since they a bit expensive, and i already have an ABC, but a couple days before she was born, i just went for it. i'm glad - love the headrest! she passed right out.

so, the amby has still gone unused. shocking? john still wants to give it a shot, but that's because he isn't the one getting up at night, lol. when she's in bed with us, i get a full night's sleep! she does look awfully cozy in there, though!


we played hullabaloo for about an hour yesterday. it's so much fun, and such an easy game for little kids. i'm got to try to find more like this.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

recent goings on.

it's so busy around here all the time anymore! it's totally strange because baby girl sleeps all day and night still for the most part, lol. she does have a cranky period in the evenings, no crying or anything - just a little whiny if she doesn't get her way (aka being held while standing up only, lol), lol.. thankfully she's still sleeping all night minus a couple late night snacks and diaper changes.


cute little fluffy butt. i didn't get many "designer" diapers this time ... i'm just too cheap for what goes UNDER the clothes to be so fancy anymore .... it was fun the first time around, but this being #3 in cloth, i'm going for cheap and reliable for the most part - which pretty much means fuzzi bunz. this one is by fluffymail.


john took this one - it's pretty creepy, lol. that is kayleigh's bitty. she got her from my MIL for her first birthday.

sunday we went to the virginia living museum. we love it there. we don't get up there much, but it's definitely a fun place to go. it really shows you what virginia is all about, plus many of their animals are rescues, which is even better! if you live in hampton orads and haven't been - GO! try to go on a day that isn't too cold, though, as the best parts of the museum are outside. :)



the lion fish! mr. seahorse is a classic around here. we've always got to visit the lionfish & the seahorse!


in the cypress swamp!
we brought the sling & the p&t. it was nice to be able to lay her down for a little, although i do need to get a picture of her in the sling while she's still little, and all is peeking out is her little head. :) we're really loving the KKAFP. i'm so happy to have FINALLY got the pouch thing down, although still no luck with the cradle position. i have been able to nurse in it, though - whic i've never been able to accomplish in my ring slings!
checking out the otters. :)


this picture cracks me up. john didn't know i was taking it, but he looks like he's all posed for a magazine or something, lol. pit stop at wawa for a diaper change!

sunday was really windy, like crazy windy. going throug the tunnel to get home, one side was closed. we couldn't figure out why until we got through & saw all the smoke. apparently there was a big brush fire in suffolk started by someone burning trash or the likes.


THEN, when we were getting closer to home, we saw more smoke. apparently right over the border in NC there are more brush fireas, and as of now, tuesday night - they're still burning. all i smell is burning wood outside. it's pretty creepy. i can't imagine what the people closer are feeling. chesapeake (where we live) has a ban on burning anything outside right now. scary stuff!

today was a nice lazy day at home. just catching up on cleaning and laundry. a nice break. back to business tomorrow, though. friday my parents are coming into town - so that should be fun! be back with more pictures soon, hopefully.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

norah's birth story ...

i never did post it here! sorry, sorry!
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The Birth of Norah Jane. 1.18.08

For weeks I had not been feeling mentally ready for this baby. I had so much else to consume me during the pregnancy, that I’d sort of been putting off really thinking about labor & the actual baby coming. Finally early in the week I just felt as ease with it all. I decided Friday would be a perfect day for baby to come, not that *I* had any say over that, of course! J

Thursday morning I woke up, and felt the need to head to the grocery store. We hadn’t been in a while, and although John volunteered to go on Friday, I felt like I should get it done that day. Ethan was sick with a slight fever & a cough, so I (shh, bad mom!) gave him some Tylenol & we headed out. The trip went fine, and we stopped at Sonic on the way home for a bag of ice, since it was on my birth supply list, and I was, of course, due in 5 days.

While at the grocery store I also picked up two pineapples. I ate a whole pineapple a few hours before I went into labor with Ethan, and I’ve heard that fresh pineapple was great for after-pains, so I figured it was a good idea to grab two. John laughed when he got home and saw them both on the counter. He asked if he’d be cutting it up for me after dinner. But of course!

After dinner that night, we watched a movie, and John took Kayleigh up to read her a book & put her to bed. He ended up falling asleep with her, and I took Ethan up shortly after. When I took Ethan up, I saw John had gone into our bed, so I figured he was tired from having duty the day before, and let him sleep. Normally I’d wake him up & he’d come downstairs.

Around 10pm I walked through the kitchen & noticed a couple dishes in the sink, then I looked over & saw John’s laundry he started folding earlier, still mostly unfolded on the floor in the living room. I decided this was unacceptable, and while washing the dishes, started tearing up. How dare he leave all this work for me (as if I hadn’t been doing it the 5 years anyway, haha)?! As soon as I welled up, I realized how silly I was being, and thought to myself, “I wonder if baby will be coming tomorrow?,” since I usually have some sort of moment of “doom” the day before I birth – as opposed to my usual peachy self. ;)

At 11:30pm I was sitting on the computer emailing some friends, when I had, what I first thought was a usual Braxton hicks contraction. I’d been getting them a lot lately, but this one was a little different. I was actually a tiny bit uncomfortable, and I couldn’t get in a position where I could actually make myself comfortable. After it was over, and had pressed on my bladder, I got up to use the bathroom. When I wiped, I noticed blood on the toilet paper. I knew immediately baby was coming. Even though I had a feeling this labor would start different, it started exactly the same as the other two.

I went back to the computer, and sent another email out to the friends I was chatting with, telling them it might be the start of labor, and I was going to go to try to get some sleep.

When I got upstairs I woke John up, and told him I was pretty sure I’d be in labor soon, and we’d have a baby by tomorrow night. He laughed, and said something about how it wasn’t the best day for him, and closed his eyes. I had another contraction, and it was definitely not as pleasant as the first. We talked for a while, probably 30-45 minutes, and then grabbed a paper & pen to start charting them, when John asked if I had any charts printed up. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I did remember hearing about a contraction timing program online. He opened up the laptop, and we found the site.

Ethan was still sick, and started crying for me. I went in there a couple times and got him back to sleep, but he was just not staying down. I tried to give him a little bit of Tylenol to bring his fever down a bit, but he ended up throwing up all over me. Eventually I just brought him in our room so we could time the contractions, and discuss our plan of action.

I finally got to time a couple, and they were over 9 minutes apart. I decided to call the midwife, Jeni, and let her know that we’d be calling her back again sometime to come. She told us to give her a call when they got closer to 5 minutes apart. We brought Ethan downstairs so we could get the birth tub out, and bring the supplies in. John turned on The Sword and the Stone for him, and put him on the couch.

After timing the next 5 or 6 contractions, they were anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart. We called Jeni again to let her know she should start to get ready. We then called Halie, the photographer, to let her know what was up. She decided to get ready & head right over so she wouldn’t miss it.

I could feel that this labor was moving a bit faster than Ethan’s (12 hours), but I had no idea just HOW fast. Every time I’d start a contraction, I’d yell out from where ever I was “SPACEBAR!!” so John could hit the spacebar on the laptop to time them. It was pretty funny, actually, and kept the mood lighter when labor wasn’t as comfortable as it was in the beginning. I’m not sure why we kept timing them when everyone was on their way … but we did.

Now it was about 1:45am. Ethan was still watching a movie on the couch, John was filling the birth tub, and I was trying to get comfortable. The birth ball was comfortable for a while, and I was rocking back and forth for a bit, when I felt that oh-so-familiar POP. My water had broken. I looked down, and it sure had. I noticed on a towel that it was a little brown, which meant there was meconium in the water, but I didn’t feel too worried about it – besides, what could I do? I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself off a bit, and sat down on the toilet. It felt good to have the pressure offset by the seat. John started to get a little panicky at this point, and insisted on going to get the birth tub filled. I had to tell him at least three times to quit worrying about the tub. He was just trying to help, but it seemed almost laughable for him to get the tub filled. After my water had broken with the last two, they were born in less than 30 minutes.

We made our way back to the living room, and I tried to get comfortable. I couldn’t sit on the birth ball, the pressure was too intense. I looked around for somewhere to lean on my knees, and the only thing that looked to be the perfect height was the computer chair. I walked over, and kneeled, and I noticed John was setting up a little delivery station in front of the couch. I was not moving again. I yelled for John that I could feel the baby moving down quickly, and I had the urge to push. John grabbed a towel and came running.

I started to push, and realized this was it, it was just going to be the three of us. John told me to just push when I needed to, that we could do this. I pushed once, and she came right down, he could already feel her head. A couple more pushes, and her head was out. At this point, all John could see was that her head was blue, so he told me to push – now. I didn’t have a contraction to help start the push, but I pushed anyway, and there she was! At 2:25am, less than three hours after my first suspected contraction, Norah Jane entered the world into her Daddy’s hands with only big brother in attendance.

John helped me flip over into a sitting position, and grabbed some towels to keep her warm. She was beautiful, so tiny (so we thought), and so very loud! Ethan did not even peek over from the couch as she was learning to use her lungs. I wiped her down a bit while John called the midwife and told her everything was okay, and baby was here. She told us just to keep the baby warm, and leave the cord attached until she got here. She started nursing and quieted down a great deal.

About 20 minutes after Norah was born, Halie, the photographer that was going to shoot the birth, arrived. She said she knew she was going to miss it – although I was still so shocked! John helped get the couch ready for Norah and Me, and we got off of the floor. About 10 minutes later, Terri, the midwife’s apprentice got there and checked baby out. I delivered the placenta, and John cut the cord. Jeni, our midwife (who was also at Ethan’s birth), and Vanessa finally arrived shortly after. We had a full house!

John went upstairs around 4am to wake Kayleigh up, and she was a little confused. She told him that there was no baby here, yet, and she was not in the birth tub. When she got downstairs, she realized she was wrong, and immediately fell in love. I went upstairs to get a shower, and once I came down, I had a bowl of cereal & pineapple John cut up. Halie took some pictures of everyone and Norah while she had her first exam by the midwives.

Everyone started trickling out soon after, leaving us to be, our new family of five. The rest of that day is mostly a blur. I know it involved a lot of napping, picture snapping, and cuddles and kisses.

It’s as if she’s always been here, as cliché’ as that sounds. Kayleigh has adapted extremely well, and is so gentle and loving with her. Ethan is starting to realize that she’s not going anywhere anytime soon, so he may as well get in on the baby-loving too! Every day, he warms up more and more to her.

Norah’s birth was more perfect than it could have been planned out. I had been struggling on when to call the midwife when I was still pregnant. I had such an amazing labor with Ethan, with just John and Kayleigh there (midwives arrived as I was pushing), I couldn’t imagine having anyone there this time. I would have never planned to go at it alone, but if there was ever a perfect birth coach, it was my husband. He remained so calm and steady, I could not have done it (at least I wouldn’t have wanted to!) without him. He acted as if he’d done it a hundred times before, that even Jeni, our midwife remarked she was waiting for him to tell her to not even bother coming out when he called her after her birth. He is my hero.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

long time no update. :)

i'm so frustrated with the whole photobucket thing, i've pretty much only ben updating my picasa album, and skimping here. so, if you want to see more new pics, go HERE, and check out late january & the new february album. :)

i still haven't gotten the pictures back from the photographer, but soon hopefully - i'd like to use one or two with the birth announcement. i made a mock-up with another picture, and i think they will look nice. if i don't get the ones from the photographer by the weekend, i'll just take something myself. she's almost 3 weeks old already, so i don't want to mail out pictures of a toddler. ;)

i've got all the envelopes addressed, and all the info printed & cut ... here's the mock up ... i actually don't really like that picture because the coloring is all off & she looks creepy. :/ maybe i can get a photoshop pro to fix it up, lol. you should be able to click on the pictures to enlarge them. but who knows with photobucket.

i took these last week. just playing around with my camera, that i still don't know how to use, lol. she's getting so big already. i wish i could stop time.

it's been so nice out the past couple of days, we took advantage of it & went to the playground for a couple hours. it was so nice to be able to take norah outdoors for more than a minute or two! definitely refreshing for my mood, too. :)
we took the p&t out for her (his? their?) first stroll, and norah approved! here it is in infant/toddler mode (toddler seat on top).
snoozin' away!
kayleigh showing off her "bling," lol!

what i wake up to every morning. :) sweet little sleepy baby smiles.

taken by the two year old. :) hence the uber-flattering angle.
today we met up with friends for ice cream, and when i was uploading the pictures tonight, i realized we had very similar pics from a year ago. it's going to be tough moving in june. this place really feels like "home."

ice cream for dinner? sure! why not?! :)
so sweet, even sharing his ice cream. :)
about 10 minutes before the sugar kicked in and there were 4 wild kids running around the place. :) what a difference a year makes! feb. 2007 here ...

my matchy-matchy girls (girlS!). wish i liked gymboree more - it would be easy to coordinate them with that! :)