Our little talker

Claire has really been amazing me these days with her vocabulary and talking skills. She is on the brink of speaking in complete sentences. It's amazing to see her language develop... such an awesome thing!

Here are some of the things she has said/done lately:

She has a little doctor kit from Grammy and today she picked up the stethoscope, put it in her ears, and said, "Listen Emma's heart."

On the way to church this morning, Claire was playing with a balloon in the car and dropped it. She was upset that she couldn't get it and said, "Daddy reach it."

Whenever Claire spends time at Grammy's house, she always comes home with her fingernails and toenails painted. She looked at her nails today and realized that most of the polish had come off. She said, with a distressed look on her face, "Nails broken. Oh no. Grammy's house. Fix it."

She used to just say the word of something she wanted. For example, if she wanted to go outside, she would just say, "Outside." But she now has added the 'me' in there, so she'll say, "Me outside" or "Me fruit snacks" or whatever else she might want. :)

When playing with her ball, she'll say, "Throw the ball" or "Catch the ball."

Emma was crying and Claire said, "Emma sad. Ohhh. I'm sorry."

So fun to watch this little girl grow up and learn about the world around her.

Sisterly (and paci) Love

Big sister Claire LOVES Emma... almost too much sometimes! She constantly wants to hug her, kiss her, hold her, give her the paci, rock her, etc.. It's sweet, but poor Emma can't ever get a minute to herself. :)

My baby holding my other baby...

The paci situation is a bit of a challenge these days. Claire used to only get her paci at naptime, bedtime, and in the car. But, with all of the changes in our house lately, we've been a little less strict about it. Today I think we're going to buckle down again and get her back to bedtime and naptime only rule.

This picture cracks me up, though. Both girls, going to town on their pacis. They both even have a turtle on them. Haha!

Fun Family Outing!

We had our first official outing as a family of four today. When we woke up to amazing fall temperatures, we just had to get out and enjoy it. (Plus, Emma did a 6 hour stretch last night - I nursed her at 1:20 am and then had to wake her up to nurse her at 7:15 am... yay for sleep!!) We successfully got everyone ready in an hour... I was impressed with ourselves. :) We headed to Cedar Rapids and met Grammy, Auntie Jorie, Silas, and Joshua (Joel was at his first day of kindergarten so we missed out on seeing him) at Old McDonald's Farm. Claire loved seeing all of the animals and Emma loved snoozing in her car seat.

After a fun morning, we were all hungry, so we went to a CR favorite - The Flying Weinie - for some Chicago-style hot dogs... yum!! Then we went back to Grammy's house, where Claire took a nap, Emma and Grammy got some snuggle time, I got to relax on the screened porch, and Justin relaxed in the hot tub.... it was perfect!!

On our way home, we stopped in at the hospital because we needed to get Emma's bilirubin level checked out. When we left the hospital on Saturday, her level was slightly elevated to around 9. The hospital sends a nurse to your home a few days after leaving the hospital to check baby's weight, bilirubin level, and to make sure everything at home is going okay. It's such a nice service! When our nurse came yesterday, Emma's bilirubin level had increased even more to 17.8. She said they begin to get concerned when the level is over 18, so she didn't think we should get too worried, since the level peaks on day 5 of life - where Emma was yesterday. I wasn't totally convinced though, because Claire's jaundice took almost two months to finally go down. When I told the nurse this, she agreed that with a family history of that, we should bring her in the following day to get another reading. Thankfully, she was down to 14.2 today... yay!! So, no need to call the doctor... the level is heading in the right direction!!

Anyway, we had a full, fun day together!! I am LOVING spending this week together and am so glad I'm feeling well enough to be getting out and doing things together.

Home Sweet Home

We got home yesterday after lunch with our new little sweetheart! It was amazing to be able to come home so soon.

Emma got dressed up for the occasion. :)

All ready for her first car ride!

Emma and Mommy

Here we go!

We had a few hours at home with just Emma before Claire returned home after her little vacation at Grammy and Babu's house. Claire was so excited to see Emma when she got home. It looks like Emma was pretty excited to see Claire, too. Look at her, just checking out her big sis.

Claire checking on Emma

Our first night at home went pretty well. The first part of the night started a little rough - Emma wanted to nurse constantly and didn't want to sleep. I was anticipating no sleep! But the second part of the night went great! I nursed her at 1:45 am and she finally fell asleep after that and slept until 7:15!! When I woke up and saw the time, I felt kind of guilty that she had gone that long without eating. I actually had to wake her up to feed her! Unbelieveable!! Our nurse said that although some people tell you to wake your baby every 3 hours to eat, she would not recommend waking a sleeping baby - especially since Emma is plenty big! I'm hoping this pattern continues... could we possibly have that great of a sleeper on our hands?!

Nana and Papa came for the afternoon today. Claire was happy to see them! They spoiled both girls with all kinds of new clothes. So fun to introduce Emma to her Nana and Papa!

Thankful for a great weekend and looking forward to having Justin home with us this week!

24 hours in...

Our sweet little bundle of love is just over 24 hours old now! We've had a great first day with her. Everything - from the pregnancy to delivery to recovery to nursing - has been SO MUCH EASIER this time around. We are really able to appreciate a healthy, full term baby and the fact that we are going to be heading home with her tomorrow after going through such a different experience with Claire. I'm so thankful that we are able to experience such a normal birth this time around. It truly is a miracle that we are not taking for granted. Thank you, Jesus!!

Emma is just perfect! She is an expert nurser already. No latch problems at all - she came out knowing just what to do and has done such a great job with it!! Once again - praising God for that!!

We've had a very relaxing day and are taking full advantage of being taken care of in the hospital. Tomorrow the real adventure of life on our own begins! :)

Allow me to introduce...

Emma Annette is here!!! She was born this afternoon at 2:38 pm and weighed in at an impressive 9 lbs. 3 1/2 oz. and 21 inches long. She's completely healthy and has spent most of the evening with us in the recovery room, though I think we will elect to use the nursery tonight so we can get a couple nights of good sleep before heading home.

This experience could not have been more different then our time with Claire. After starting on pitocin, contractions started almost immediately. The initial part of the day went rather slowly. At 9:00am we were looking at 3cm, by 11:00am she had moved to 4cm, and finally 7cm by 1:00pm.

The only issue we had through the whole process was the epideral wearing off just after 1:00 pm. After several painful sets of contractions, she was able to get more drugs and though it only seemed to effect her left leg, it did appear to help with the pain. Contractions moved to about every minute and a half.

The main question we had was whether Emma would be face up or face down when she came out. If you remember from Claire's delivery, she came out face up, which led to a rather long two and a half hours of pushing and a lot of bruising. After checking, the doctor stated she was face up.

At 2:20pm the doctor came back in and said "the baby is falling out". I don't think she meant that literally, but it did mean they were about to have Annie start pushing. During the first push, the doctor was able to turn Emma so she would be face down. Three more sets of pushes and out came what appeared to be a three month old version of Claire : ) Emma looked almost identical to Claire, but Claire did not weigh that much until she was nearly 2-3 monthes old.

She had her vitals checked and everything looked good. She got her first bath in the nursery and was then sent down to our recovery room and has been with us ever since.

We had our first vistors this evening. Emma's big sister Claire came with her Grammy and Babu to meet her new baby sister. It was really cute. We gave Claire a toy diaper bag complete with diapers, a bottle, wipes, and a toy cell phone (??)...it was our way of appeasing her before telling her that we were going to bring Emma home for good.

Claire wanted to sit right next to her and would want to give her kisses and comfort her whenever she would cry.

Emma's Grammy and Babu

Here we go

It's THE day! A very different day then last time. We woke up around 5:30 after a good night's sleep to the calming alarm sound of "Light" on my HTC Hero...it really is calming. Seriously, alarms have come a long way over the years.

Bags were already packed and grouped together in the middle of the room. Claire had been on a retreat at the grandparents' house in CR since Wednesday morning. A cup of coffee, and we're off to the hospital.

We arrived at Mercy - Iowa City around 8:00 am. By 9:00 am Annie had her water broken and was hooked up to pitocin. Contractions so far have been consistent but mild. All is good. Now we get to spend our morning watching the morning show...always wanted to know what pair of pants goes best with my figure, and how to get Chelsea Clinton's wedding dress for $500!!

More updates to come.

BEWARE: Disturbing Sights Ahead!

Okay, faithful readers - I'm letting you in on a part of my life that I'm NOT proud of.... my pregnancy cankles!! I had these babies with Claire, but when people suggested I post a picture of them, I was horrified by the thought of documenting such disgust. This time around, I'm still horrified but I'm also pretty sure no one has ever had ankles this swollen before so I thought I must prove that mine are the worst kind!!!

Look at your own risk...

Please note the lovely indentations my shoes left after taking them off... amazing, isn't it?!

The good news - baby is coming tomorrow so they will be gone soon!! The bad news - last time they actually got worse before getting better! :( Many people told me not to worry, that as soon as I delivered the baby, the ankles would return to normal. Well, folks, not the case. Actually they got dramatically worse (how that's possible, I have NO idea!) and didn't return to their normal size until about 2 weeks post-partum. When they finally did get back to normal I remember thinking that they looked so skinny that they made me look like I had an eating disorder. Ha! I mean, I'm not saying I normally have the skinniest of ankles but after getting used to these babies, my normal ankles looked soo small!!

Also, in case you wanted to see the awesome shoe I get to wear around for my broken toe, here it is!!! Seriously, can I get any cooler? :)

Our Little Singer

Claire has becoming quite the vocalist lately! She can sing parts of the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday, and Rock-a-bye Baby. She just basically sings the first line of the first three songs, but she's really starting to master Rock-a-bye Baby.

Here is how her version goes:

Rock a baby
In the tree tops
When the wind blows
Fall down

She sings it that way EVERY time and it is THE cutest thing I've ever seen! She holds her baby, rocks back and forth, and sings it. We have tried numerous times to get this on video but, of course, she refuses to sing every time we try. We won't give up though, because it is totally video-worthy.

We were at Target the other day and I was looking at some baby toys. Another lady was looking at the same toys next to us and started asking me when I was due and talking to Claire. Claire was holding a baby doll and all of the sudden, she just sang Rock-a-bye Baby to the doll. The woman was amazed and said, "Do you have that on video? You need to get that on video!!" It was so funny! :) Hopefully we'll capture the moment soon!!

You have GOT to be kidding!!!

It's 10:30 pm on Thursday night and Justin and I just returned from a 5 hour stay in the hospital. Why, you ask? Nope, it wasn't because I had a baby or even because I thought I was in labor, but rather - big, 38-weeks-pregnant me fell down the stairs this afternoon. I was carrying Claire and I still don't really know what happened, but it hurt and totally freaked me out. I was so worried about the baby!

I called Justin (sobbing in pain and fear) and he decided to come home from work. I also called my ob, who told me to count baby's movements and if there were less than 6 in an hour, to go into labor and delivery to be monitored. After an hour I had only felt 4 movements (and my big toe was KILLING me) so we decided to go in. My awesome friend Jenni came and picked Claire up at the hospital and took her home (thanks Jenni!!!). Good thing she did - I had no idea it would take all stinkin night!!

Anyway, they monitored the baby for an hour and thankfully everything looked great!! The ob did want me to go to the ER and get my toe x-rayed though. So, we did and... what do you know? I broke my big toe! They taped my toes together and gave me this awesome shoe to wear for the next 4-6 weeks. Are you kidding me?! A broken toe at 38 weeks pregnant?! Umm.. clumsy much?! I already look crazy enough, waddling around with this huge belly and now I'm limping in this ugly shoe because of a broken toe. You just can't make this stuff up... hilarious!!! :)

In other news, while we were there getting my toe checked, my super awesome friend Bridget was there giving birth to sweet Nora Juliet!!! She was a total rockstar and had her baby 45 minutes after getting to the hospital. We stopped by and said hi before we left the hospital and Bridget and I just laughed about the entire situation. When we found out we were due 4 days apart, we would talk about how funny it would be if we were in the hospital at the same time. Well, we were but not for the reason we thought we'd be. Anyway, broken toe and all, we are so happy for them and their new little sweetheart!!

It won't be long...

... til we get to meet this little girl!! Progress is being made, friends. The cankles that I suffered when I was pregnant with Claire are back in full force and as nasty as ever!! I forgot just how ginormous these things can get... my goodness!! My ribs feel as if they are breaking from the way this girl keeps pushing up on them. Seriously, at times I actually scream, "OWW" out loud because she pushes on them so hard. I mean - my mom said she had cracked ribs from her pregnancies because she carried so high (like me!) so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I'm suffering the same fate.

I saw my doctor yesterday and she said my body has made a lot of progress since last week.. yay! And, we have a plan now.... if baby girl doesn't come by August 19th, I'm going to be induced that day. This baby is plenty big already and I'm so darn uncomfortable!! We are praying and hoping that she comes on her own before that, but if not - that's the plan! So, 8 days or less... WHOA!!!!

New Room Pics

As I mentioned in my previous post, we've been doing A LOT of moving this summer! Not to a new state, new city, or even new house, but just about every room in our house has been moved!! Thank goodness we're having another girl because the nursery is one of the only rooms that we actually didn't have to change or move.

We decided to turn our old office into a playroom. One of the best decisions EVER!! No more toys cluttering our living room... yay! :)

Here are some pics of the new play space. Claire loves it!

(Notice Justin's artwork on the walls! :) The perfect place to display it!)

And here are some pictures of Claire's new big girl room. Moving her to a big girl bed was surprisingly simple. She has done great in the new bed and new room. She often times wakes up around 7 am. She'll get out of bed, get a book or a doll or a stuffed animal and climb back into her bed and play until we go in and get her - hardly ever before 7:30. It's great!

And check out these darling curtains my mom made... they totally make the room!

The nursery is all ready for Baby Shoe! We even have her name up on the wall above her crib. Sorry - no picture of that! Even though Claire has told plenty of people her sister's name, we are still waiting until she's actually here to make the official reveal! :)

I got a prenatal massage last weekend and a manicure and pedicure today so now I'm OFFICIALLY ready for this baby to arrive!! Come on, little girl!

Never ending

When we found out in December that we would be welcoming another member to our family in August, a huge list of things we needed to do first soon began to develop. The list was endless and every time I looked at it, I felt sick, knowing we would never accomplish everything before August.

Here are the things we needed to do:

1. Move master bedroom into old guest bedroom (which means get rid of guest bedroom furniture, paint the room, and then move the master bedroom furniture in)

2. Tear out part of the wall in new master bedroom to allow for a larger closet

3. Repaint old master bedroom so Claire could move into her new big girl room

4. Paint new master bathroom and transfer belongings from old to new master bath

5. Turn large laundry room into 2 rooms - put up a wall so laundry room is on one side and office is on the other

6. Drywall new office

7. Paint new office

8. Tile new office floor

9. Move furniture from old office to new office

10. Turn old office into playroom

11. Build a shed

Can you see why I was overwhelmed?! Well, I am happy to report that #1-#10 are all completed and #11 is underway!! I NEVER thought we would get all of these things done in time and if it wasn't for my super dedicated and hard-working husband (as well as some helpful friends and family members), we would never have this much done. I keep saying 'we' but I should really be saying 'he' since my only real contribution was painting a few rooms and taking care of Claire while Justin worked.

A couple of weekends ago, Justin's AWESOME, HELPFUL, WONDERFUL parents came and allowed us to put them to work! Carl seems to know how to do everything and he was so willing to help Justin begin his shed (or should I say small barn) project. With only a one car garage, we desperately need this extra storage space and we can't wait until it's finished. Here are some progress shots from the weekend...

Karen did a lot of taking care of Claire, but eventually she had to get in on the building process. I can see where Justin gets his work ethic from. :)

They got all of that done over the weekend and since then, Justin has put up the walls, the roof, and started the process of shingling. We are so close I can taste it!! I told Justin that after all of this hard work he's been doing all summer, he's not allowed to do anything this fall except enjoy some Iowa football games!! :)

Claire and Nana, enjoying some root beer floats

Mommy and Claire, passing the time and being silly

So, hopefully we can completely finish the shed before baby comes, but if not, I am okay with that!! We've done more than I thought we could do and I know before too long this seemingly never ending list will indeed be done!!

Baby Shoe Update

So.. I'm 37 weeks today!! We've officially made it to full term... yippee!! Now this little girl can come any time. :) I think we're ready... at least my back is!! I definitely didn't experience this back pain when I was preggo with Claire.. ouch! I read a quote today about being 37 weeks pregnant and it said, "I can't eat, I can't sleep, but I can do a great imitation of a beached whale." That pretty much sums up the way I've been feeling lately. :)

I had an appointment today and am still just 1 cm dilated. I was hoping for a little progress.. shoot! She did feel around my stomach and say that the baby is getting big. About 2 weeks ago they estimated she was 6 pounds (who knows if they really know though...) and today I saw a different doctor who said, "She's getting generous.. not huge yet, but generous. And you still have 3 weeks to go." YIKES!!

I think that pretty much sums things up. I still can't believe that these are our last days/weeks as a family of three. I'm so excited to meet this little lady and am anxious to see Claire in her new role as a big sister.