Milk....does a baby good!

We went for Olivia's two week check-up today. And after her first weight check visit and that whole fiasco of them telling me she had lost a pound in two days, I will admit I was a little anxious. I had been telling Theo that I know she is gaining weight because her legs are full of rolls :) I wasn't with the medical assistant while she weighed her because I was busy answering questions about Carter. So when she came in and said Olivia weighed 7#8, I was a little skeptical. So I insisted that we go re-weigh her. Sure enough, the scale said she was 7.8 pounds. What I guess the medical assistant didn't know what that was not equivalent to 8 ounces because the scale is a metric scale. What Olivia actually weighs is 7#s 13 ounces. Ahhhh, much better. I knew she had gained more than 5 ounces in two weeks. She gained about 10 ounces in two weeks which is right on target. Newborns are supposed to gain between 1/2 and 1 ounce a day. Everything looked fine for her. She did not have thrush but just milk on her tastebuds...which was my first instinct even though I did end up calling and getting some Nystatin for her :) She won't go back until she is two months old.

Carter weighed 34 pounds and is 38.5 inches tall (the 75 percentile for height...hmmmmm, wonder where he gets that from!!) He is developmentally on track although he wouldn't answer the pediatrician's questions like "Carter, what do you do when you're tired/hungry/etc?" He just looked at me, smiled and said "I don't know". I held back from braggin about how truly smart he actually is and was just being silly. I didn't want to come across as one of those moms! I started doing "preschool" with him at home this week. I need to get more organized and then I think it will go more smoothly. But Carter told Theo Monday that he liked having school with mommy. We only do about 20 minutes a day as this is about all his attention span can handle at this point. And Olivia is usually awake too which makes it more difficult to concentrate on Carter. But so far, so good.

And in closing, I will leave a picture of my adorable children.

In Awe

Last night, we had to make a trip out for something. It was right around 7:00 p.m. As I topped a hill on a nearby street, I got the most spectacular view of the sun setting over the mountains. The sun had actually already set but the purple and bright blue skies were still lingering. My immediate thought was how could someone see all of this and not believe there is a God. No human being could ever be capable of creating such natural beauty. I was reminded of how big God is...how he can bless our lives beyond our wildest imaginations.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands" Psalms 19:1

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalms 90:1-2

I have desperately missed going to church over the past couple of months. I had every intention on going this past Sunday but with Olivia nursing every 2-3 hours during the day, the timing just didn't work out. Hopefully this week, the timing will be better. I miss being able to praise and worship with other believers. I feel like I need to be involved....to be doing something for God's kingdom. I have always felt there was a calling on my life to do more than what I am currently doing....to be ministering to others outside the comfort zone of my own life. But with two kids, it's a little hard to travel the world going on mission trips. Right now I am content with the mission God has for me right now.....within the four walls of our home. I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be at this point in my life. But I know eventually, there is more out there for me to do. My prayer is that my heart is open to hear the direction in which God wants me to go.

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way." Psalms 37:23

Too sweet for words

Some Assembly Required

Grandpa sent Carter money for his birthday. After going to Dick's sporting good store a couple of weeks ago and Carter falling in love with bicycles, Theo and I decided we would get him one from Grandpa. Target actually had the bike for $30 cheaper so we got it Saturday and Theo spent Sunday afternoon putting it together. It's a little big for Carter but we know he'll grow into it.





Carter already had his first accident......as evidenced by the bandaids on both knees and one elbow.

But ironically, he didn't fall off his bike...he fell while doing this

It was a good thing he had his helmet on because he was running down the sloped driveway, tripped and fell, and rolled about twice. Too bad he didn't have on his knee pads and elbow pads. :)

Ferrara's Apple Farm

Today the four of us ventured out to the apple orchard an hour away from our house. It was such a beautiful day which was nice after having nasty cold weather for three days in a row earlier in the week. Unfortunately, we didn't get to pick too many apples because the ones left on the trees were not quite ripe. But we did however get to pick raspberries and a pumpkin.





There were a ton of people there yesterday and lots of kids. Carter had a great time and loved the tractor ride the most.


I carried Olivia in the sling almost the whole day and she must have liked it because she slept the whole six hours we were out other than to wake up and eat twice.



After our berry and pumpkin, we stopped at their country store and Theo had a piece of this to eat:



We went shopping afterwards and grabbed a late lunch at the food court. Both kids did so well today. Makes me realize I can handle two kids!

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Happy two week birthday Olivia!! We love you more and more each day.

Pink is my signature color

I love the movie Steel Magnolias. I have always thought it was the epitome of all things Southern. So when I put Olivia in her cloth diapers a few days ago, I took this picture and thought about what a Southern belle she will be despite not living in the south anymore!



She didn't care too much for having her picture taken while almost naked but I think she liked the cloth diapers. Other than having a nonworking dryer these days, I really like the cloth diapers. They are a little bulky for my little baby but I think she will rapidly grow into them. And I am excited about all of the money we will save!

We had a great night last night...at least Olivia did. Carter woke up several times...ended up in our bed and after about an hour of having knees and elbows in my back and hands over my face, I made him go back to his bed. I'm wishing now I had opted for the king size bed! But Olivia slept great. No fussing and nursed every 3-4 hours. :) Yea! It's amazing what a good night of sleep can do for all of us. We were supposed to go to an Apple Orchard today with the MOPS group but someone is coming to fix our dryer this morning and that takes priority!! So Theo and I will take the kids this weekend instead. The weather is supposed to be back in the 70's by tomorrow. I never thought I would miss Louisiana weather. Tomorrow if it's nice, we are heading to Denver to visit Aunt Meredith and her boys. I can't wait!

First Bath

Olivia had her first at home bath a few nights ago. Not sure how much she liked it. I think if I had fed her first, there might not have been quite so much screaming.



I am also including pics of Carter's first bath since I wasn't blogging then.




I don't remember him hating it so much. Now, I have to almost drag him out of the tub. I wonder if Olivia will end up loving bathtime as much as Carter.

Post bathtime, she is much happier!


They look so much alike in the two pictures of them wrapped in towels.

And look at those curls!!!

First Snow

It snowed for quite a while yesterday! Not enough to go out and play in really (not that I would have anyway) but it was definitely snow. And this morning, I woke up and saw this




It was sunny though and by mid morning, the snow was melted. I felt brave so I took both kids out to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's...my two favorite stores these days. It was cold so I bundled Olivia in this outfit courtesy of my Aunt Laney.



It was so great! I loved the hole it has for the seatbelt! What a perfect thing for a Colorado baby. We were gone for two hours and both Olivia and Carter did really well. It's a little trickier getting them both in and out of the car but I'm sure I'll figure out the best method eventually. In other Olivia news, last night was much better. She was a little cranky but nothing like the night before. She did however stay up until 10:00 which actually worked out okay because I HAD to see the season premier of House. It's almost naptime and I am looking forward to a good nap myself. I'm praying for another good night.

Sleeping beauty has left the building

Don't be fooled...this is most certainly NOT how she looked most of yesterday! :) Sometimes you know when things are just too good to be true. Apparently, Olivia's long stretches of sleep during the night hours is one of those things. Last night was the night from h%&$! The only reason I am sane enough right now to type this post is because of my amazing husband. Even though he had to go back to work today and was up before the sun came up, he consoled (or at least attempted to) a very cranky Olivia until after midnight. Over the past couple of days, she has either fallen right asleep after nursing, or she cries the whole time until it's time to nurse again. Last night was the worst. She could not be comforted and spent 6 hours crying other than the times she was nursing. I didn't know what else to do. Finally, after midnight, she fell asleep and has been sleeping since other than to eat. I was so at my wits end last night that I came downstairs, washed some bottles, and was very ready to bust out the sample can of formula and give it to her. Theo kept asking me to wait a little longer and finally, she was asleep. I have some breastmilk already frozen which I may have to get out tonight if tonight is a repeat of last night. I feel fine now though. I just had a long talk with my BFF which always makes me feel better. And I again just have to say how AWESOME my husband is (and my BFF)! I truly don't know what I would have done this past week without him. He has been a trememdous help and made our lives so much easier.

In other news, I think it's snowing outside! I had been preparing myself for cold weather this week but I wasn't expecting this. I even got up, took a shower, dressed, and put on make up with the intentions of going to Hobby Lobby but as I was on the phone with Meredith, she said "It's snowing here!" and when I looked out our window, sure enough it was. Oh well, I guess Hobby Lobby can wait. And Olivia is still sleeping.

Carter has also been napping in his big boy bed the past few days without me having to lay with him. That has been so nice! He even slept until 8:00 this morning. I believe that was God answering a desparte plea from a sleep deprived mom :)

The two O's...Olivia and Omaw

How blessed we are as a family to have Omaw (and all of her other grandparents too!)






I know her all of her other grandparents can't wait to come see her. We are hoping that will be soon.

Happy One Week Birthday!

Already, Olivia is one week old. This week has flown by. I remember the early days with Carter seemed long and never ending. Maybe next week will seem like that when daddy goes back to work. But this week, I have really enjoyed being home with my whole family. Theo has been such a tremendous help and just over the past few days, I feel like our marriage has grown and we have gotten closer because of Olivia. When I watch him cradle her in his arms, I have to fight back the tears. We are so blessed and I never want to take that for granted.

Carter is still doing amazingly well adjusting to life as a big brother. Some of the things you can hear him say include:
"Is Olivia sweet? Is she AWESOME?"
"Is Olivia hungry? Does she want to drink your milk?"
"Mommy, Olivia looks like a guitar" (not sure what that is about but he says it when I'm nursing her)
"I love you baby sister.....awwww, she's so sweet"

My mom was so right when she said a mother's love is not divided when you have another child...it is multiplied. I truly believe that now. I wondered how I could love another child as much as I love Carter but I do already love Olivia that much. How could I not? So happy one week birthday sweetheart. You and your brother are the greatest things that have ever happened to us. We love you baby girl!

Superhero or boy wearing dish towel and underwear on his head?

Carter has quite an imagination. He loves watching cartoons and playing with traditional toys but he can also take just about any household item and turn it into something to play with. A couple of weeks ago, it was the belt to one of my robes and he literally spent hours playing "seat belt" game on the couch which involved us both sitting on the couch, wrapping the belt around us and pretending we were going somewhere. Tuesday, however, he was a Wonder Pet (his favorite pre-bedtime show). For those of you who don't have small kids at home, the Wonder Pets are a duck, guinea pig, and turtle who rescuse animals. They all wear caps and hats. So Omaw helped him make a cape out of a dish towel. When I told him to go upstairs and get a hat out of his underwear drawer, he came down looking like this instead:





Enough said! I love that boy and his wild imagination!

Sleeping Beauty (and her big brother)

Yesterday was a really hard day emotionally. I remember after I had Carter, it was Day #4 that the bottom fell out. I woke up feeling fine but we had to take Olivia for a check up and their scale said she lost a little over a pound in 2 days! I couldn't believe it. My heart sank and feelings of deja vu swept over me. Carter had also been very slow to gain weight while I was nursing. I really wanted to have a better experience this time with Olivia now that the stress of grad school was long gone. Then on top of that, my mom had to leave yesterday. It was so great to have her here and we all miss her so much. On the way home from the airport, Carter kept screaming "I want to go see Omaw!!". We were both crying by the time we got back home. Theo and I had a long talk last night and we were both able to get some things out and he let me cry and spill my true feelings about how overwhelmed I feel. I went to sleep with a peace that everything was going to be okay.

We headed back to Dr. B's office this morning and Olivia now weighs 7#s 3 ounces. I truly believe the weight from yesterday was a fluke. If not, she gained 10 ounces overnight? Hmmmmm, sounds suspicious if you ask me. Granted she has been nursing about every 2 hours around the clock and my milk finally came in so who knows? All I know is that I feel 100 times better and I trust that God answered my prayers. But just to be on the safe side, Theo made me get some Ensure to drink to boost my calories. I said a milkshake from Sonic would be much better :) Oh well. I didn't sleep much last night with Ms. Olivia eating every two hours so this afternoon, I was able to get a nap in while Theo entertained the kids. Now Carter is napping, Olivia is laying on my lap wide awake and staring at me, and I couldn't be happier. My care group leader from MOPS also came by last night and brought us a great meal. I also have stuff in the freezer that my mom made while she was here so we are good to go for a while!

No big plans for the rest of the week...mostly just trying to adjust to our new way of life. It has been great having Theo here to help me and I will be very sad when he has to go back to work next week. My blog posts my not be quite so long or cheery for that matter!:) Will post pictures as often as I can.

Welcome Baby Olivia!

She is finally here....our newest pride and joy! Olivia (still waiting on Theo to decide her first middle name) Elizabeth. She was born at 2:18 yesterday afternoon after about a 6 hour labor. She weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces and was 20 and 1/4 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful and looks so much like Carter did as a newborn! I couldn't believe how much bigger she was than him. We are all doing well. She is nursing great already. She had a rough spot last night but then slept the night away. Right now as I'm blogging, she is in daddy's arms and let me tell you, he is so in love with her it's unreal! He was the same way with Carter too and it melts my heart. I am quite in love with her myself. She looks like an angel and we can't wait to bring her home. Carter and Omaw came up last night and I think he was quite fascinated with her. He wanted to know what kind of cup she would be drinking from! Later Theo said, "Well, actually a C cup!!" I was cracking up! Carter kept saying baby sister jumped out of mommy's tummy. He was also telling her that he loved her. It was a priceless moment.






We have already seen the pediatrician this morning and all looks well. She will have a follow up appointment on Tuesday morning. She lost 2 ounces but that is to be expected and he seemed happy that it was only 2 ounces. She is quite a spitter though! We are now waiting on my OB to see me, the hearing screen to be done, some other discharge things to be taken care of, and the birth certificate done. After that, I'm hoping we can go home later this afteroon. The sweet nursery nurse from yesterday requested that we stay in the "suite room" and it is so nice! It's bigger than our bedroom at home and has a queen size bed so Theo was able to sleep more comfortably last night. When I told her thank you for doing that for us, she said "It's so nice to see such a great couple who love and want their baby so much". It made me tear up when she said that because I do know how much we love and want Olivia and it's so great to finally have her here.

I will try and post when I can in the next few days but I have a feeling that life is going to get a crazy so I may just post pictures for now. Thank you all for you prayers and support!

Happy Birthday Carter!

I can't believe my firstborn is three years old today! Where has the time gone? He has grown and changed so much over the past year that I can hardly believe all he is capable of now. He is such a blessing to have around and is the life of this house. I can't imagine our lives without him. He has been our greatest blessing. We love you Carter and can't wait to see what all you will do in the coming year!

Preparing for Fall

My mom's blog post about Carter's hat reminded me that I needed to post the pictures I took of him in it. She sent a "care" package last week and had a t-shirt from Jackson Hole, the airplane hat, and the cutest little outfit for Olivia. I'll try and take pictures of her in it soon. My mom made an airplance jacket over the summer that he has actually already worn once here (yea, who wears a coat in August? Life in Colorado is certainly different). This hat matches. My mom is the best!





I haven't gotten around to sewing anything else yet. I'm a little nervous to try by myself without mom's supervision. I did get a cutting mat and rotary tool. Man, sewing has come a long way since 6th grade home ec. Gone are the days where you have to pin your pattern to the fabric and cut it out. I've been buying patterns when they go on sale and I'm hoping while mom is here we can do some more sewing.

Mom is arriving tomorrow and when I say I can't wait, that is the understatement of the year! Carter is asking for her everyday and can't wait for her to watch him play in his pretend Diego Rescue Center (i.e. swingset). Today he said he wants her to blow bubbles with him. It feels so weird to think I have to go to the airport to pick her up. I've never in my life picked my mom up from the airport. It's weird to think that in order for us to see each other, she has to fly somewhere. I have spent my whole life just being able to get in the car and drive 30 minutes to see her. That's not the case anymore. But I'm adjusting.

If I'm not in labor (and after 1:00 tomorrow afternoon, I'll be praying that I am), then we are going to try and go to the hot air balloon festival if it's not raining. I think Carter would really enjoy that. If we do end up getting to go, I'll for sure post some pictures. As for the rest of the weekend, castor oil just may be on the menu! Just kidding. I told my doctor that I wouldn't do that since she didn't think it was a great idea.

Oh, and MOPS was great yesterday! I am so glad I joined and that I chose the group I did. I felt like God led me to the right place. It was surely nice to get a 2 hour break from Carter too! I haven't had many of those the past month. But it was nice to get together with Christian moms and just talk about motherhood without pretending that everything is perfect. I also won a prize for telling the funniest kid related vacation story. I'll have to post about that later. Carter is quite the character! Anyway, naptime is almost over and I still have a few things to do. Hopefully the next time I post anything will be about our precious daughter being born!! Please keep us in your prayers that we have a safe, quick, and healthy delivery.