Julie Bakes a Cake

February 25, 2017

The day after my birthday, I was at Mom and Dad's and we were having family over so Mom made me a birthday cake. Julie was asked to assist. She enjoyed this quite a bit, as you will see!

^Holding the mixer with Grammy.

^"I did it!"

^Pouring.

^And just a quick one of Laina :)

First Month

February 25, 2017

Somehow I forgot to do a post for this! So I'll just backdate it a bit.... Anyway, our first month was a little rough. I went through a bit harder time postpartum, but bounced back a lot better physically. And Laina is doing amazing of course. She grew a lot and we even got some good sleep out of her in the first few weeks together. Julie is getting used to her and our family really feels pretty complete! Here's this month's Laina facts!

It's going to be so fun to watch Laina get bigger and bigger... AND to compare her to Julie at the different ages. They really don't look anything like each other so far! Oh, and you can be sure Julie will be in most of these monthly photos as well. She's can't resist and neither can I!

^There was no way to get her to sit up enough and not tip over without a hand in the photo so she's a bit scrunched.

Laina: Week 4

February 22, 2017

What a beautiful week it was. Sadly, Julie had gone back to school and came home with a cold toward the end of the week so we didn't get to go out and enjoy it very much. But one day (when Grandpa Mike and Grandma Nore were over) we did get to take Laina for her first time outside in the sunshine. I wrapped her up in my Boba wrap and we wandered around the yard for a bit. The horses were even out! It was really warm the rest of the weekend but Julie had a bit of a temp so we didn't get out much. We did attempt our first adventure to Holland. I wanted to see the lake, and the state park was super busy but it was just too cold by the water so we went back in pretty quickly. Oh well!

Julie ended up having an ear infection so I had to take her to the doctor. Now I just have to hope my whole weekend spent trying to keep Laina healthy pays off. She got coughed on a few times so I'm not too optimistic! She did go with us to Julie's first ballet class (see previous post!) so that was fun ;)

Ballerina Julie

February 21, 2017

Even though she has a cold and an ear infection, Julie was up to go to her first ballet class on Tuesday. Since Mike was out of town (Europe trip), Mike and Lenore went with us to watch Laina and see Julie dance. At first, I didn't think that she was going to participate. She wouldn't let me put her down. But finally she did when she saw that the other girls were having fun. Allie was there too, she had been in the class the last session but never wanted to participate at all. This time, she got a little closer, probably because her friend Julie was doing it. Maybe next time she will get involved.

Anyway, they did some ballet moves but Julie mostly just ran around. She liked waving the scarf and the ribbons around. They had fun doing the moves on the floor. She was pretty amused. I can't wait for more dancing!

^The scarf got her interested.

^We almost got Allie to do it!

^Kudos to teacher for putting up with a bunch of little ones like this!

^Mostly ran around... ;)

^Allie did her dancing on the sidelines.

^Yay, we had fun!

Laina Lu: Week 3

February 15, 2017

Another week with Laina... Grandma Wanda stayed all week which was another good deal for moral support. She stayed up with Laina a couple times which let me get a little more sleep... although she's really doing pretty well, we are getting used to the nighttime routine (we being me and Laina, Daddy really just gets her to bed). Grandma went home on Saturday and it's another step back toward our new normal.

Angie had her little Simon Lewis Moe on Thursday so though Laina hasn't met him yet, I got to meet him on Saturday. He's so small and adorable! I can't wait to bring the kids to meet him, hopefully soon. He was small but very cute and got to head home on Saturday, after I had been there to meet him.

Julie went back to school this week so I'm really praying she stays healthy. It's tough for me as I've been really battling my anxiety about that stuff. Mike caught a cold to make it worse but so far it's not too bad. I've been wanting to get out of the house so much so Laina and I went to visit Dooge on Monday. It was good to get out and she slept the WHOLE time :)

It was Laina's first Valentine's Day on Tuesday, she and Julie got their gifts in the evening. Julie got her ballet outfit for classes next week and Laina got a new bathing suit for summer. I realized I already had one that probably would have worked but oh well, her new one is MUCH cuter!

^Laina wasn't very cooperative this session but we got some fun faces...

Valentine's Day for the Girls

February 14, 2017

It's Laina's first holiday. Valentine's Day was Julie's first too (well, other than New Year's but we really didn't do anything but hang around, she was so new!) so it's one of the few holidays I'll that be getting gifts for these little ones. First of all, since I am not working for a bit yet, I went to Julie's V-day party at her daycare. They had snacks and made some art. She was very excited to see me, which is always so nice.

When Daddy got home, they got to open their gifts from us. Julie got her ballet outfit for her little classes she starts next week (photos to come for that too!) and some chocolates from Daddy. Laina got a new swimsuit just like Julie did for her first Valentine's Day. I can't wait until she gets to wear it. I didn't mean it but I got her the same style Julie has for this summer too. Julie "helped" her open it ;)

^Julie likes Jell-O.

^Julie and her friend eating their snacks.

^Such an adorable little art project!

^"More lello?"

^Art with Miss Kimberlynn.

^Daddy and the girls.

^"Chocolate cake" from Daddy.

^This year's haul :)

Laina Jae: Week 2

February 8, 2017

Laina is looking less and less like a newborn every day! She's already filled out a lot and I love her ever so much! I'm really impressed with her sleeping, even though I am getting up a lot with her still. Usually she eats three times overnight and that's actually not bad at all. Pretty close to what Julie did, so there's hope that she's another awesome sleeper. I can pray and hope and dream. It's possible. She eats so much and is really a very good baby.

A few days into week 2, we did Laina's newborn photos with Pam Fallon. Her umbilical cord conveniently fell out that morning (the day after her first little sponge bath) and she did a great job for photos. Slept really well. Julie actually did better than expected too. Pam was getting irritated with her (although she's got four kids of her own, she knows how two year old kids can be... oh well, I think that's just how she is. I don't need to deal with her anymore, just wanted her photo skills ;) but I think she was awesome. Aside from sneezing right in Pam's face... oops. She put her arm around Laina perfectly and was so sweet. Daddy took her home not long after that and it was just me and Laina. I can't wait to see all her photos!

Mom went home Friday and on Monday, Grandma Wanda came down to stay for a bit... onto the next week!

 

^Gonna have a few big sister photos in the weekly shots this time around!

Laina: Week 1

February 1, 2017

Baby Laina is here and just like her big sister, it's time to do her weekly photos! I was trying to decide if I should change up her backdrop or use the same one as Julie's, but then I found this textured blanket and it was perfect! Laina's first week was eventful of course, but I already wrote about most of it. The biggest NEW stuff is working on getting her sleep schedule figured out (and feeding too... it just seems like she's eating so much!) and settling Julie into the new normal. Although since my mom was here all week, we did keep Julie home from school. Mom played with her while I did all the Laina stuff, mostly. I love feeding her (just bottles, we decided pretty early on that breastfeeding was just going to be too much for me this time) and watching her eyes. They are slowly getting more focused on our faces now! Laina also had her first doctor's appointment and she's apparently in tip top shape! Can't wait to see her grow!

She's Here! Welcome Elaina Jae

January 25, 2017

Tuesday evening, I started having some pains. The night before I was getting one every once and awhile. Angie and I had gone to get pedicures, which was lovely of course, so I didn't think a lot of it when it happened again. They weren't regular and I couldn't remember what the contractions felt like from last time so I just decided to watch it. At about 11:30, I woke up and felt the pains again. Not really bad but they were coming a regular, close together intervals. It was pretty much the middle of the night so I wasn't sure what to do. I looked at my phone and I had just gotten a notification on FB that told me Mom was awake so I texted her to tell her I thought I was going into labor. She was ready to go and on her way right away. I called Kara and she said she would come over and sleep at our place with Julie until I knew for sure they would admit me at the hospital. I figured why wake EVERYONE up for a false alarm. I woke Mike up (who was hoping that I could just wait until morning but I was just too nervous to chance that), we had time to shower real quick and get out the door when Kara got there.

They took me up to the second floor, labor and delivery, and took my blood pressure (a little high), a urine sample, and checked my cervix. I was at 5 already, and had only been at 2 that morning for my check up. I also had protein in my pee which means yay! Preeclampsia again... however I got lucky because though it was there, it wasn't bad enough to be medicated. Hooray! That was the worst part. So anyway, they checked me into my room, pretty much by 3:30 and Mom got there. We called Ron and Charyl and let them know Kara would be bringing Jules over so she could come to the hospital. Jules was a good girl (although apparently she didn't go back to sleep for a couple hours...) and Kara made it over by the time mom arrived. We let Mike and Lenore know too, though they didnt' come until later on the next day.

I fought through the contractions. My nurse, Colleen, who was very friendly and put up with my chatty self, eventually told me to go for the epidural a little earlier than I planned. The same as last time, I was terrified but it went well. No more pain, yay! My "guests" were able to get a little nap in, though I didn't really have the ability to take one. We were hanging around all morning waiting for things to happen. My contractions slowed down and they eventually put me on pitocin to get my started back up and Dr Florido, who also delivered Julie (Dr Lown wasn't in that day), broke my water. It didn't take TOO much longer after that. My new nurse, Morgan, got me started on the pushing business and I was scared again. I was not ready to have another baby but it was far too late for that now... we pushed for awhile and she was coming down and finally Mom, Kara, and Lenore got to come back in the room for a bit. Thankfully the rest wasn't nearly as dramatic as with Julie and though it did hurt some, it was mostly just pressure and baby popped out finally! She didn't even cry! Just make some little squeaks and such, and they gave her to me. I cuddled her while they sewed up all the bad business that happened and it was pretty neat. Elaina Jae was born at 1:15pm and was 19.5 inches long, 7 lbs 4 oz, and had lots of hair.

We spent two days in the hospital. I was uncomfortable but not nearly as bad as the time before. I didn't need that magnesium for the preeclampsia and was able to get up out of bed and move around a LOT more. I even got to be in the hospital photos this time, which I didn't with Julie since I couldn't get out of bed. We sent Laina to the nursery overnight but I got teary and went to see her around 2am. It was good to get some sleep though (we did it the next night too, just cuz why not?!?) and we learned that both of us were pretty healthy and good to go by Friday. Scary to take her home but we managed.

Julie got to meet her that day (we had visitors in the hospital... Angie, Caitlin Biggs, the Ronas' family, but not Julie, we figured that would be tough on her, and I don't think it was a bad choice), when Ron and Charyl brought her home. She didn't seem to upset and gave her a few kisses too. The next day was worse but I think there were just too many people around and she was tired so we'll blame it on that. It's crazy to think we have two little girls now... but sure enough.

On with the adventure!

After a few days at home...