Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Family Picture

This is our crazy family picture this year. We procrastinated too long in getting someone else to take the picture so this is what we ended up with. This is going to be such a fun Christmas. Addie is just old enough to understand that Santa is coming and bringing presents. She also kind of gets that it is someone's birthday. However, a lot of the time she sees the tree and says, "Happy Birthday Daddy." Then we correct her and tell her it's Jesus' birthday. "Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Baby Jesus."

It's got to be so confusing for her, who is Jesus and why are we getting presents instead of him? How does Santa and Rudolf come into the whole thing? I think the poor kid is going to be crushed when she doesn't get the moon sand she keeps seeing on TV and saying "Santa bring that?" Then what about the letdown after Christmas? Is she going to be disappointed that there are no more advent calendar socks to open, no more presents, no more stockings?

See House?

Addie and I decorated a gingerbread house on Sunday. I was amazed at how methodical Addie was about decorating the house. She started with lining up a perfect row of candies along the roofline. No smidge of frosting was going to be uncovered! Next we did the doors and windows, and although this was harder for Addie she did a really good job. Then I made crosshatches of frosting on the roof and started putting candies on the x's. Addie picked up on this and started putting the candies on - some x's have more than one candy, but I think for a 2 year old she did an amazing job. I really tried to let her do her own thing and be creative.

Every day (multiple times a day) we have to go into the dining room and "see house." Lily has picked up on this and follows us into the dining room to see what her cool big sister is doing. Addie of course then wants to "touch house," which really means, "let me eat the candy and frosting." I'll have to post a picture of her making the house - you can see the concentration on her face!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

December 2006

This was one of my attempts to do a cute Christmas picture without taking them into the _ell that is portrait studios at this time of year. Unfortunately I never did get a picture of them both smiling at the same time (let alone looking in the same direction!).

Thank Goodness for Big Sisters!

We were in Chicago for a baby shower on Dec 1-3 and had just gotten back and were unloading the car when Addie started screaming from the TV room. I thought she was screaming at Lily because she had taken one of Addie's toys (a normal occurrence). All I could understand was, "NO Lily, no no no!" I went out into the TV room and automatically told Addie it was OK, Lily could play with that toy. Addie shook her head and said,"No momma, mouth!" and pointed to her open mouth. I asked her if Lily had something in her mouth. "YES!"

I took out an acorn sized piece of plaster out of Lily's mouth. Someone must have tracked it in while we were unloading the car. It scares me to think what might have happened if Addie weren't there to keep an eye out for her sister! Addie may have prevented Lily from choking.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Lily's standing

Lily pulled herself up to standing yesterday. We were at Grandma and Grandpa's in Siren and she was kneeling by the cot Dad brought. She got her little feet under her and pulled herself right up. I couldn't believe it! She even inched along a little bit.

Lily is such a funny baby; she is so smily and bright. Last night I got her laughing hysterically just by putting my nose on her belly and rubbing it. Apparently Mommy is the funniest person she knows!

Addie is at Grandma and Grandpa Poskozim's today. She's staying there until Wednesday. Adam is hunting all week - our house is so quiet!! It was just Lily and I last night, I hardly knew what to do with myself. Lily seemed to be looking for Addie this morning. She settled for tormenting the cat.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

We're not in Kansas Anymore


"Auntie Em, Auntie Em"

BTW: I just changed the settings on the blog so anyone should be able to post a comment. Let me know if it's not working by email and I'll try to work some magic.

Daddy's Girl

Now that there is snow on the ground, I can hardly believe this was taken just a week ago! It's one of my new favorite pictures. :) Addie and Lily love playing outside in the leaves. Addie takes a stick and "rakes" the leaves with her stick while Adam rakes. I think more leaves are actually scattered across the lawn then are raked into piles. Lily on the other hand has figured out that leaves can be pulled inside her shirt, inside her pants, inside her mouth, and best of all - inside her diaper!

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Lily and the Lambs


This picture has been the talk of our office. Lily, Addie and I went out to Bob Wallace's farm to see the sheep. The sheep were more interested in Lily than Lily was in the sheep! Addie and I got to feed the grain sheep. She was shocked when the sheep "baaa'd" at her!


Can you believe this is Addie 1 year ago? She has grown so much! Just her hair alone has grown. Today I was noticing that she is loosing that baby belly; she's starting to get long and lean. Of course, some of that might be that she's hardly eaten in the last week because of her nasty cold... but really she's growing up on me. When I ask her if she is momma's baby or momma's big girl she tells me, "big girl."

Today she and Cathy Carey are making a Haunted Gingerbread house. I suspect more candy will end up in Addie's tummy than on the house, but oh well. Halloween only happens once a year! I can't wait to see the finished product....

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Silly Momma Bear

I came downstairs this morning in what can only be described as a frumpy teacher sweater. It's black white and grey with snowflakes on it. Addie saw me and immediately said, "ohhh pretty!" I laughed and asked her if she liked my sweater. "oh yeah!" I must have looked sceptical because she then said, "silly mamma bear." Sometimes kids are so smart!!

Potty training update: This morning Addie sat on the potty and peed.... in her pull up. Gotta give the kid credit, she knew what to do!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Biter Biscuit

Whoever invented the Gerber Biter Biscuit deserves a medal of honor. It takes Lily from a teething cranky little thing, to a blissed out baby. She gets that biscuit in her mouth and gnaws on it, drooling brown graham cracker drool all over herself and me with this look on her face that is true bliss. You know it has to feel incredible on her gums. She was so happy gnawing on that thing and watching cartoons on my lap this morning I thought she was going to fall asleep with it in her mouth.

I think Lily may have gotten her first taste of fruit this morning as well. She was picking up crumbs of Addie's freeze dried raspberries this morning. Lily was very intent upon what she was doing and I'm pretty sure she ate some of it.

Right now Lily's on her hands and knees rocking back and forth. I don't remember Addie ever really doing that. It's the classic, I'm going to start crawling so fast you won't be able to catch me move. Yikes! Creeping/low crawling is fast enough for now!

Friday, October 06, 2006

"Come Mama"

Addie has several favorite toys right now. Among the top contenders are a castle (complete with 3 disney princesses) that she got from her cousins and a set of plastic dishes. Lately she's been coming up to me and saying, "Come Mama.... play... with me" in this sweet little voice. Now how can you say no to that? I pretty much have to drop whatever it is I'm doing because it's so darn sweet! Yesterday she even let her little sister play princesses with her.

I love that under that bossy little exterior is a girl who is learning to share and play with other people. This gives me hope that Lily won't have her toys rudely taken from her forever.

I hate it when I'm right.

Well it happened, Lily is crawling. Monday night I watched her scoot/army crawl across the floor towards the strap of the black diaper bag. I moved the bag - she turned around and went right for it. Lily was determined to put that strap into her mouth. I was so amazed - she's only 6 month, 1 weeks old! I think Addie was 10 months old before she was crawling. I'm not ready for this! I guess this definitively proves the idea that you should never compare your children. Don't do it, because they'll prove you wrong every time.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Yikes!

It's not going to be long before Lily is crawling I'm afraid. She's been pushing herself up onto hands and knees. As it is, she can pretty much get anywhere she wants to go. If there is a power cord anywhere in the room Lily zooms toward it, squirming on her belly. This girl does not like to sit still! It's going to be a wakeup call for Addie when Lily starts moving more. Addie has started stealing toys away from Lily. Once Lily can fight back it's going to be a whole new world!

Adam and I had our 6th Wedding Anniversary this weekend. I can hardly believe it's been 6 years. I never would have thought at that time that we'd be here in Superior with 2 kids and me working part-time. What a crazy wonderful trip it's been. Neither one of us is the person we were 6 years ago, but we've worked hard to grow together. SZomeone told me that you have to work together to keep the person you married the right one - not that you have to change the other person, but that you have to work and grow together. I am truely blessed to have such a wonderful husband and family.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Fuzzy Bunny

Lily has a really sweet little white blanket with a white bunny attached to the middle of it. (It looks like the bunny is growing out of the blanket.) Addie was playing with it yesterday and chewing on the head (Have I mentioned she's getting her 2 year molars?). I asked Addie if it tasted good and she nodded. "What does it taste like?" I asked her. She just looked at me like I asked the stupidest question in the world and said, "Fuzzy."

Monday, August 28, 2006

DragonTales


Lily is the smiliest baby I have ever seen! I know I keep saying it, but it's true. She has such a sweet personality. She just laughs and kicks when she sees one of us. Yesterday Addie, Lily and I went shopping. I knew Lily was getting hungry, but she wasn't insistent about it so I pushed it further than I probably should have. I stopped to grab McDonalds on the way home so Addie and I could eat while Lily was eating and no one had to wait long for their meal. When I finally got Addie settled in her high chair and went to pick up Lily, Lily just started laughing at me. A huge rolling belly laugh. It was this funny, "huh, huh, huh" laugh. It was as though she was so excited to finally have my attention she couldn't take it anymore.

Lily is now trying to scootch across the floor... I'm afraid it won't be long before she's crawling. She's not up on her hands and knees yet, but she does get herself across the room.

Adam told me the other day that Lily was laying on the floor playing when Addie went up to her and kissed Lily on the head. Lily (being a normal baby) grabbed Addie's hair. Addie started whining, "no Lily, no no. Lily, no." Now if this was us touching Addie's hair she would have been screaming bloody murder. Addie started trying to hit at Lily, but because Addie was now flopped on the floor, she couldn't really reach Lily. Adam removed Addie's hair from Lily's hand. Addie said, "sorry Lily" and went to kiss her again. Lily once again grabbed Addie's hair and the whole production started all over again!!!

Police to the Rescue!!















Chris and John came to our rescue in the cool police boat!

Boating


Thursday, August 24, 2006

Sailing the High Sea

Adam, Addie and I went out with Boppa Argh (Grandpa Poskozim) yesterday on Grandpa's boat. We left Barker's Island and tooled out into the St Louis River. We got almost to the Oliver Bridge before turning around - about an hour's ride. Addie had just started getting cranky when we turned around. Up until this point she loved going fast and having the wind in her hair.

We had just turned around and were headed back when we started to smell something... was it the construction along the banks of the river? No, it smelled a little too hot for that... it was the engine! The temperature started climbing. Ray decided we should try to make it for the Arrowhead pier just a little ways away. Unfortunately, that's when the engine died. So, Adam and Ray started paddling. Ray's paddle broke and almost sent him into the drink! Meanwhile I'm calling Amy Kirchoff who's watching Lily and telling her what happened and that she may need to take a hungry Lily to church with her if we don't get back in time! Not to mention keeping a slightly cranky and very tired Addie busy. Adam called the dispach and had them get in touch with Chris Kirchoff who was the sargeant on duty.

At this point Ray and Adam decided to drop anchor because they weren't making much progress again the wind and current. After about a half hour Chris Kirchoff and John Newicki came to our rescue using the police rescue boat. It was so cool to see them come screaming up on us. Not quite lights and sirens, but close. (Pictures coming) Anyway, we tied up to the police boat and were pulled into shore. Yahoo for the SPD!!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Addie's 2!


I can't believe my baby is 2! She is growing so fast. On Saturday she was a flower girl in a wedding. She looked like a little princess in her fluffy white dress. Addie kept lifting up the fluffy tulle layer and playing with it, she loved her pretty dress! I was very worried about how she would do walking down the aisle but I think she did very well. She was supposed to walk down the aisle with her friend Gavin (they've been friends since their first days at daycare). However, Gavin got a case of stagefreight and wouldn't walk down the aisle. So the babysitter held Addie's hand and carried Gavin. It was very sweet. During the ceremony, Addie wandered off and sat by a tree and talked with another little girl. Afterwards, Addie walked back down the aisle with the mother of the bride. For a 2 year old, I think she did remarkably well. I'm glad the bride was so laid back about the whole thing!!

Friday, August 04, 2006

One step forward, two steps back.

Warning: Yucky Potty Training Story

Yesterday was a very exciting day at our house, Addie peed on the potty for the first time! (Crazy that I am so excited about this!) I even called/emailed most of the family members to tell them this. We couldn't get her to sit on the potty again though. It's almost like it's too stressful for her - performance anxiety?

Today Adam put her on the potty again when she first woke up and nothing... I think she had already gone since she had woken up and fallen back to sleep once already this morning. Then while Addie was in the bathtub she got the "POOPING" look on her face. I ran for the potty insert which had been drug out of the bathroom and into Addie's room. By the time I got the insert on the potty and Addie out of the tub it was too late. She pooped in the tub. There is nothing grosser than cleaning poop out of a tub. Yuck! So now I don't know if Addie is traumatized by being yanked out of the tub and plopped down on the toilet, but she was not happy with me.

Thoughout this whole ordeal Lily slept. 2 nights ago she even slept for 7 hours straight. Those are the good nights.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

And so it begins

Addie is "shopping" in mommy's high heels. How did I ever get such a girly-girl!? She runs around the house pushing her little shopping cart (Thank you Auntie Rene) and picking up toys to put in the cart. Hours of fun!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Falling off the wagon

Oh man, I fall off the Blogger Bandwagon for 2 weeks and now I'm going overboard. Maybe this is why no one comments on my blog, because no one reads it because I'm so erratic about updating it...

Blame today on lack of sleep. Lily and I took a long walk yesterday with Shar Valentine and Olivia. I have no idea how far we went, but all the way down to the Firehouse playground and back on the Osage Trail. It was well over an hour, maybe close to 1 1/2 hour walk. Did I mention that it was like 90 degrees. Darn we were hot and sweaty! Anyway, I gave Lily a bath when we got home because we were so gross and sweaty. She fell asleep in Addie's crib while I took a bath and didn't wake up until 11:30pm. That was at least 4 hours. So of course she was wide awake when she woke up. Lily decided that laying in the pack and play wasn't any fun, sitting in the Baby Papasan that doesn't vibrate because mom doesn't want to change the batteries at 1 am isn't any fun, and being rocked by mom isn't any fun either. So at 2:08 am I finally put Lily in Addie's crib, turned on lullabies, stuck in a binky, and shut the door. I felt like such a bad mommy, but I just couldn't do it anymore! She was fed, she was tired and I don't think she really needed me! Of course Adam was home and offered to help but he had to get up at 6 am to go to a sniper shoot. I just couldn't make him do it.

Oh man I am so tired I don't have enough energy to truely write about how happy I am that Addie is back from Grandma and Grandpa Poskozim's after 3 days and 4 nights. We missed her so much!!!!!

More Dancing Girls



Addie thinks Katie is such a big girl! It's amazing to see what a difference 1 year makes in their development.

Dancing Girls


Erin Pollard and I took the girls to Lucius Woods to see Tonic Solfa on the 8th. The girls had a blast! They danced, they ran around and they ate lots of snacks! The popcorn was a huge hit with Addie. Katie and Addie each got their own box to share with their moms. We got lots of compliments on the cute girls. Lily was great of course, it didn't matter to her that it was over 80 degrees and humid, she just snuggled up and enjoyed the show.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Peakaboo Lily


"Lily, Where Are You?"

"Mama, Are You?"

I woke up this morning to Addie calling from her bedroom, "Mama, Are You?" in a very sing song voice. I realized she's saying "Mama, Where are You" just like I do when Addie is hiding. Peakaboo has become one of her favorite games; she'll hide in the icebox chest we use as a TV stand, behind the shower curtain and anywhere else she thinks she's hidden. When she hides, she says "Addie" and that's my cue to start asking where she is.

It amazes me that this sweet funny little girl is the same one who was kicking her little sister's carseat (and Lily) all the way home from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's yesterday!

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

Watch out world, here comes Lily!!

Lily rolled over this weekend (June 25) for the 1st time. She's just 14 weeks! It's amazing to me because I think Addie crawled before she rolled over completely. Lily seems to like hanging out on her belly now. She gets really mad if you place her on her back; she works so hard to get over onto her belly and get that arm out from under her. I noticed that even when she's asleep or almost asleep she's working to roll over. Last night she got very frustrated whenever I laid her down to sleep because she'd get stuck halfway and not be able to roll the rest of the way over. I suppose she was too tired to do all that work. Poor baby is working on her skillz even while sleeping!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Momma Action Figure


I know I say my kids are the cutest kids in the world all the time, but it really is true! Here's an example of what makes Addie so sweet ~

This is what's known in our household as the Momma Action Figure. Addie carries this figurine around the house all day long while I'm at work. She says "momma" whenever anyone askes her what it is. She knows that it is Baby Lily in the momma's tummy. Mostly she carries it in the cradle position like it is one of her babies. She'll stroke it and talk to it, and even feed it pretend food. The sweetest is when she's holding it in the cradle position, strokes it's hair and say's "pretty." How adorable is that?!

In my mind I see this as a way for Addie to be less lonesome for me when I'm at work. She's such a cuddly lovey kid; she's always giving us and her toys kisses. Poor Lily might be smothered by kisses someday!! I don't know that you could ask for better kids than what we have. We are so blessed.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Ditch the Diaper

This morning when Addie woke up I walked into her room and she was saying diaper. Not a big deal, she says that all the time. So I brought Lily in and changed Lily's diaper and got her dressed and the whole time Addie continues to say diaper. Yes honey, I'm changing Lily's diaper. When I finally went to pick Addie up out of the crib I realized there was a big wet spot on the bed. Because she was wearing a nightgown, I hadn't realized she had taken off her diaper! A perfectly dry diaper. So sometime before I walked in the room she took off a dry diaper to pee in her bed. Silly girl!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Crazy Uncle Matty

Although this is Addie and Uncle Matt playing at Jim and Judy's house, I think the highlight of our Chicago trip for Addie was staying at Uncle Matt's house. She got to play with Lola - and by play I mean chase the poor dog around while screaming "LOLA!" Amazing how dog toys resemble little kid toys... a dog's ball or stuffed animal can easily become a 21 month old's toy too. She also got to have her first real dinner party. Uncle Matt made yummy grilled fish and Addie stayed up way past her bedtime to eat with all of us.

Uncle Matt is so much fun to play with; he blow bubbles, wears cool hats just like Addie and plays all sorts of games with her.

Cooking with Addie

Aunt Judy had Addie help make her famous brownies while we were in Chicago!


Have I mentioned that Addie loves to cook? When she sees me making dinner, she comes into the kitchen and says "cook!" She has to have a little pot and a wooden spoon so she can cook too. A lot of times I'll let her stir whatever it is I'm making. If it's something that she can't stir safely I'll take her stool and set it up so she can see what I'm doing.

SMILE!


How sweet is this smile! Who loves their mommy?

Monday, June 12, 2006

Ok, so not only am I a bad blogger, but the website was having problems last week.

Here's a picture of Lily in Antioch, IL at Great Grandma's house. She was such a doll for our entire trip! She didn't even mind the horrible wait for the plane trip back (We were at Midway airport for at least 6 1/2 hours waiting for our plane to land, board, taxi, disembark, reboard, and finally takeoff.) Addie did really well too. In fact the kids did better than most adults with the whole ordeal.

Lily is growing so fast! She is the smiliest baby I have ever seen. She smiles whenever anyone talks to her. Addie wasn't even this smiley! Lily loves to coo and have "conversations."

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Bubbles!

Sorry for the sideways photo, does anyone know how to rotate the picture?

Addie's latest favorite thing in the whole world is playing in a sink full of bubbles. It will entertain her while I'm making dinner, cleaning up after dinner or just working on a project. Addie had to play with bubbles in Grandma Lesley's sink last weekend too. She looks so cute on the step stool!

She's getting to be such a big girl. She is learning so much so very fast. She now says "knit" when she sees my knitting. Tonight she had to kiss and hug Lily goodnight. Then she took her Minnie Mouse doll to bed with her. As I was saying goodnight and tucking her in, Addie gave Minnie her extra binkie. She constantly amazes me with how lovey she is!

Baptism


If you look closely you can see the individual water droplets.
I'm so glad all of our family and friends could be there for Lily's baptism. It means so much to us that Fr. Tommy Thompson could baptise both our girls since he was the priest that married us and is a good friend.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Food


I'm discovering that at 20 months, playing with your food is as important as eating it. Rubbing yogurt in your hands and then rubbing it on your hair while you shout, "bubbles!" is pretty exciting. She may hate having shampoo put in her hair during a bath, but pretend play is different I guess. Chocolate pudding can be more about finger painting than about eating. Right now she's making a stack out of torn up pieces of pancake and putting applesauce on top of it. It's actually really cute. But then again, it's hard not to be cute with those big chipmunk cheeks stuffed with pancakes!

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

It's Time

Time to put the Easter stuff away. Addie has been fascinated with the Easter eggs. She's figured out that they open. I've been hiding little treats in the eggs for her to "find" - toys, crackers, etc.

As much fun as this is, we've got over 20 people coming to our house for Lily's baptism on Sunday and I've got to get the Easter stuff put away! Yikes - 20 people, a 20 month old and a 5 week old. Maybe infant baptism isn't all it's cracked up to be!! Who's idea was this anyway?

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

The girl's got rhythm...

The girl's got rhythm, or at least melody at this point. Addie can sing 3 songs (or at least parts of them. She sings "ABC..LMNOP," "Up Above" (Twinkle Twinkle), and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." It's so funny to watch her sing to herself or ask me to sing.

Lily is 5 weeks old tomorrow. I'm not sure if she's on a schedule yet, or if I'm the one being trained. It is neat how you learn what the different crys mean. Now if I could just get a good night's sleep........

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Devoted sisters


Addie's going in for a kiss...

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Motorcycle Mama?

Adam put together a little trike for Addie today. She got very excited when she saw the box, she said "ohhhhh" and just started shaking all over! We went outside and rode it down the sidewalk until she got distracted by other kids and the neighbor dogs. The dogs ended up winning out over the trike. She's really starting to play like a big kid these days - throwing a ball, riding bike, reading books to herself. I even caught her singing to herself today. :)

Having Lily around is very exciting. Now every baby in Addie's books are called "baby Lily." When Lily is sleeping Addie has to go to the bassinette and check on her. Such a good big sister!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Lillian Raey

Warning: This is a birthstory and apparently is not appropriate for all readers. I don't think it's gory but I've been given a hard time about the content.

Lillian was born on March 22, 2006 at 6:35 pm. She took her time coming! My water broke on Sunday, March 19 around 3:30pm. I started having fairly strong contractions right away and it didn't take long for them to be only a few minutes apart. We decided that we should go to Morning Star Birth Center right away. We got there around 7pm. I was only 2 centimeters dialated. :( My contractions started slowing down after we had been there awhile. Adam and I went for a walk but that didn't seem to help much. We spent the night at Morning Star and in the morning went home to mom and dad's. It seemed that my labor had stopped. Paula (my midwife) gave mom a fetoscope to use to hear the baby's heartbeat. We checked the baby's heartbeat and my pulse and temp every two hours. This way we knew that the baby wasn't in distress. That day we drove to River Falls to try acupuncture to get my contractions going again. Monday evening contractions picked up again and I had a long night in the recliner. On Tuesday we decided Adam should go to Stillwater to visit with Addie since he hadn't seen her in over 2 weeks! Mom and I went for a walk and made some cookies. My contractions started picking up again so we decided to go back to the birth center. Again, they slowed down as soon as we got into the car. This time I was 3 centimeters dialated but almost completely effaced. At least the effacement was progress! I met with the chiropractor to get some relief from the pain in my hips. We spent another sleepless night at the birth center. We even took a midnight walk around the neighborhood to try to get things going. I was exhausted! The contractions were 10-15 minutes apart and they weren't increasing in intensity. In the morning Paula's assistant Karen and I took an hour long walk around the neighborhood. We had a great conversation about home remodeling. Mom and I talked and we decided that another sleepless night wasn't going to do me any good. We decided along with Adam that I should go to the hospital and get hooked up to a Pitosin IV. We arrived at the hospital around 10:30 am. The nurse anesticist that hooked up my IV said they had been waiting for me. Apparently hospital gossip had made it's rounds and they heard that one of Paula's clients had had her membranes ruptured for more than 24 hours. I got hooked up to the Pitosin and antibiotic at 11:40 am. I walked the halls with Mom and Karen for awhile and finally settled in on the birthing ball in my delivery room. Being on the birthing ball made my legs shake, so I sat upright on the bed with my feet directly under me. I kind of got into my zone then. Mom rubbed my feet softly which helped a lot to distract me. I know I fell asleep between contractions, because I woke up to Karen telling Mom I had fallen asleep! Dr. Feigel came in to check me - I was at 6-7 cm! This meant that I could go into the birthing tub!!

While they set up the birthing tub in our tiny room, I got into the shower. It seemed like standing made the contractions more intense. Finally the tub was set up and I was able to get in. The water was wonderful - not quite the liquid epidural they promised, but very close. My hips hurt so much by this point that it felt wonderful to have one person pour water over my back while someone else lightly ran a washcloth over my hips during contractions. Mom kept telling me I was doing a great job and being a good momma to this baby. I know I spent a lot of time with my legs floating and my nose hovering just at the water line. Karen left to attend a funeral and Paula came back sometime just before I got into the shower. Paula checked me at 5:15 pm and I was at 7-8 cm. The contractions started to come very close together. It felt like I had hardly finished with one when another one would start. They were monitoring the baby with a doppler and I hated everytime they touched my stomach. At about this point I asked if it was too late for drugs. I think I knew it was, I just needed someone to tell me I was almost there. Paula told me the hardest part was the shortest, but I couldn't really tell what she was saying as the water was draining out of the tub to make room for more hot water.

All of a sudden it felt like a ball was dropping out of my stomach in the middle of a contraction. It wasn't so much an urge to push, my body was pushing whether I wanted it to or not. Dr. Feigel asked me if it was my intention to give birth in the tub; he stated that it was not hospital policy to have water births, the water was just for laboring. I remember saying, "I don't care, I just want this baby out!" I tried to give every push all of my effort. I knew I didn't want to be pushing for hours. I remember thinking that this was a lot more than three pushes! I ended up squating during the push while holding onto the sides of the tub. In between each I would go back to floating. I don't know if I necessarily enjoyed the pushing stage, but it was a welcome relief from the contractions. Paula asked me to feel how close the baby's head was. I could tell she was about halfway down, what a relief that my work was making progress! Mom had me look at Dr. Feigel because he had come into the room wearing scrubs, we knew we were getting close. Right before the baby's head was about to crown, Dr. Feigel again told me it was not hospital policy to give birth in the tubs and asked if I would like to get out. I said I didn't know how I would do that. I just couldn't imagine standing up to get out of the tub. The nurse started to drain the tub to a lower point so it would be faster to drain after the birth.

Paula had me sit on the tub's seat. With the next push the baby was crowning. I felt the warm head with all of that hair. Pushing out the head was the hardest part. Mom was holding a mirror so I was able to watch whenever I opened my eyes. Dr. Feigel checked to make sure the cord wasn't around the baby's neck. With the next push the baby just kind of "blooped" right out. It was such an amazing feeling. I wasn't sure until that moment that I would be able to have this baby vaginally. Part of me was preparing myself for another C-Section. Immediately the nurse started to drain the tub again. It was 6:35 pm and we had another beautiful girl.

Dr. Feigel handed Lily to me immediately. She was a beautiful healthy purple color but she didn't want to cry. Paula said that water babies are more mellow babies. I just kept rubbing her and talking to her and pretty soon she let out some whimpers. Adam and I knew she was ok because her cord was still pulsing. Lily just didn't want to make a big fuss. I was able to cut the umbilical cord after it stopped pulsing. Adam was able to hold her right away after the cord was cut.

I was completely wiped out and only wanted to sleep and hold my baby, but I needed to deliver the placenta. This seemed to take awhile and Paula and Dr. Feigel seemed a little nervous about the length of time. Soon the placenta came out and they inspected it to make sure it was whole. At this point Paula realized I was loosing a lot of blood. My IV had come out at some point so I wasn't receiving Pitosin anymore. They moved me over to the bed and discovered that I had a 3rd degree tear. Dr. Feigel had to do some pretty impressive stitching. :) After I was stitched up and Lily had her first meal we weighed her. She was 8 lbs, 7 oz and 22 inches long. The nurse thinks she was only one week overdue.

What an amazing event!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

How can you not love this face? A little bit Hollywood, a little bit Deer Hunting!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Grandma and Grandpa's


We're at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's waiting for the baby to come. Addie is loving all the attention she gets here. She has learned a couple of new words, "Chester" (the dog) and "Buffalo." I think my dad is thrilled that she learned "buffalo." She points to the picture of him with the buffalo he shot and says the word. So funny! She is definitely Grandpa's girl! Grandpa went out to look at some land with a friend today and Addie has been asking for him ever since. She knows when we walk in the house the 2 places she's most likely to find him - in front of the TV or in the computer room.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Bunny


I couldn't resist adding this Christmas picture... such a funny little girl!

Addie tried to diaper her bunny this morning. The bunny is about 2 feet long and an obnoxious pink color. However, it's really soft and perfect for hugging. Addie spent at least 15 minutes dragging the bunny around her room trying to get the diaper on all by herself. She didn't want any help with it!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Head, Shoulders, Knee's & Toes

Last night I was heating up dinner for Addie and she was playing with the magnets on the fridge. I looked over to her saying "head" (touching her head), "knees," toes (squatting to touch her toes). Apparently Auntie Syren had taught her Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes over the weekend. Addie seemed embarassed that I caught her singing the song, so she won't do it for an audience yet. She'll just run over to me and give me a big hug instead of singing with me!

I wish I had a camera handy for her very first song!