Catching Up

Well, I've been on a blogging hiatus of sorts, but I did want to share a few pictures of Lily's Blessing and Ally's birthday. Enjoy!

4 Weeks...what??

4 weeks have gone by ridiculously fast...I can't believe we've had Lily that long! Seems like just yesterday I was fat and disgruntled. Oh wait, it was.
Today we ventured to the mall to get the kiddos pictures taken, Ally for her 3 year old shots and Lily for her 1 monthish. This is how it went down. The group in front of us went 25 minutes over, so we sat in the waiting room with our girls getting very impatient. Not good to begin a photo session with 2 kids already bored. Lily pooped (diaper #1). Finally, we got our turn to go back and we had Lily go first. She did great, although she pooped again and this time through her diaper onto the sheet they laid her in (diaper #2). Ally didn't fare so well, she was tired and hungry and wouldn't look at the camera despite promises of candy. We finally got her to cooperate by telling her there was a butterfly in the camera if she looked closely. She was really excited about that idea and kept asking for the butterfly. When said butterfly was actually produced, however, she FREAKED out...screaming and crying (who's afraid of a paper butterfly??) So needless to say we didn't get any pictures of Ally and Lily together because Ally was having an anxiety attack over a paper butterfly. Oh well.
Then while picking out the photos we wanted, Lily pooped again (diaper #3) and Ally started crying that she WANTED the butterfly. And cried all the way to the car, at which point Lily started crying. And so we left the mall with both girls screaming. A successful photo session by any standards.

We're Home

Lily Elizabeth is finally here! 8 days after her due date she finally decided to make her entrance.



I started to have contractions Friday morning around 9:30 am. When we got to the hospital they were already 3 minutes apart, but we still labored for an additional 10 hours. About then, I started to run a fever. I felt very flu-like and had a headache. But the critical part is that Lily's heartrate went up. That was the first of the complications. The way that Lily was facing (head down, but face-up) meant that labor would probably continue for another 5-8 hours and they wanted to get her out in 1-2. They could try to flip her, but she wasn't low enough. Basically we were stuck and they wanted to do another C-Section. I sobbed (not the first time that day) and for the sake of Lily, agreed.

Things went much smoother than last time I would have to say, and I am recovering nicely. Lily was born running a temperature of 103 and had to stay in the NICU for 5 days. Leaving her was the hardest thing I've ever done. Fortunately, we were able to bring her home the next day and she has been doing wonderful ever since.

Lily weighed 9 lbs 1 oz when she was born and was easily the biggest baby in the NICU. She ate so much that they put her on an "on demand" schedule and let her eat whenever she wanted, as opposed to their normally regimented schedule.

And Ally is loving her "cute baby." I do notice that she is acting more clingy, particularly to Matt. All I can say is thank-goodness for grandma!! She keeps Ally occupied when she's not making dinners and taking care of me. She is a saint, as is Matt who helps me with feedings and taking care of Ally whenever possible. I am truly, truly blessed.

Butterfly Cowgirl

Can you believe she'll be 3 tomorrow???

No News

Sadly, no new updates on the baby-front. She seems to be perfectly content where she is.

The Artist Strikes Again

While supposedly napping, the artist Ally was up to no good in her bedroom yesterday. I went to check on her and could smell poop from all the way down the stairs. Not a good sign. What we found when we opened the door was poop smeared EVERYWHERE. From her bed, to the carpet, to all the clothes she pulled out of her dresser and her toys. Oh yeah, and on her fingers, legs, and even face. Disgusting.

Matt handled cleaning up Ally while I got started on the carpet. Let me tell you, getting on your hands and knees and scrubbing poop out of the carpet is the last thing an 8-month pregnant woman wants to do. Fortunately, Matt came and helped me finish up after showering Ally down. I hope this phase ends soon!

It's finished!

Some before and after pictures for you.

Notice the small shower, the broken medicine cabinet, the weird, narrow cabinet:





Here's the old vanity that takes up most of the bathroom:



And a few coats of paint and sleepless, work-filled nights later...welcome to our new bathroom!











Kudos to Matt and all his hard work. I can take none of the credit for anything (other than picking out the vanity). He did it all: tile, plumbing, electric. What a man!!

Next project: upstairs bath

...to be continued...