Adalyn's 24-month checkup

On Adalyn's birthday, she started coming down with a cold. She had a runny nose and woke up many times during the night with a nasty cough. The cough was the worst-sounding cough I've ever heard her have. She had her 2-year-old checkup the next day. It appears to just be a cold and the coughing was much better last night so hopefully she will be able to get over it quickly. She can't breath through her nose very well and her little voice sounds hoarse. We are sad she started getting sick on her birthday but at least she was feeling fine for her party last Saturday and a visit to the Carousel on Sunday.

Adalyn has always hated going to the doctor. She is fine being in the waiting room but the second we enter the exam room, she starts crying immediately. She doesn't like taking her clothes off, being weighed or measured or having any other part of the exam and especially not the shots. It is a sad experience for us to take her since she hates it so much.

This time, she was able to stand on the big scale to get weighed. She was fully-clothed and weighed 26 lbs. The most she ever weighed at our scale at home was 24.5 lbs. the other day. She has been kind of low on the weight charts for awhile so at least she has caught up a bit for her height, although I'm not sure how accurate it was. Her height lying down was 36 inches, which is about the 95th percentile. I can't believe she is 3 feet tall! it is amazing how much growth occurs in two years time!

She didn't have to get any shots but she was ready to finish up and get out of there. She did say goodbye to the doctor when we left. We talked about the appointment before and after and she talks about getting checked out to make sure she is healthy but the actual experience of being in there is a bit much for her. Soon, we'll be bringing her sister in so we'll see if she minds being there if someone else is getting the examinations instead :)

Our sweet daughter Adalyn Grace, almost 2-years-old!

I had a few tears tonight as we were getting Adalyn ready for bed. Jamey and I switch on who reads her books and puts her in her crib every night and Jamey was putting her to bed tonight. When I went in to say goodnight to her, I realized that this was the last night of putting our little one-year-old to bed and she will wake up tomorrow as a two-year-old! Even though we had her birthday party on Saturday, we knew she wasn't "technically" two yet...and it seems really sad that she won't be our baby anymore. When she turned one, she had grown and changed so much since birth of course, but she was still our baby. Age two seems to officially signify the start of toddler-hood. We just can't believe how fast the time has gone and how big our little girl is!

Adalyn is such a little character! She talks very well already and gabs up a storm. She can be understood almost all of the time and she uses a lot of words together in sentences. When she tells us something but we can't quite understand it, she gets a little frustrated with us and tries to say it in a different way so we get it, which is so darn cute. She is very persistant if she believes something is a certain way too! Tonight when Jamey was reading to her, the book had a boa constrictor in it. He read that part and turned the page and Adalyn turned the page back and said "It's a snake" and Jamey said "yes, it is a boa constrictor snake." Then Adalyn said, "No, it is a snake, by himself." And that was that :)

She is so funny in that she sometimes calls us by our first names instead of mommy and daddy. The more we encourage her to call us mommy or daddy instead, the more she calls us by our first names. She is a rascal sometimes! It is great that she knows our names and can say them so well but it always gets a response from others who are surprised to hear her call us by name! She knows her full name when asked and says it with a huge smile.

She just cracks us up all of the time and I'm working on a list of funny things she says and does that I'll share later.

Since I can't believe it has been two years already and I want to remember the details of Adalyn's birth story without confusing it with the upcoming birth of Adalyn's baby sister, I will share about Adalyn's birth, the most amazing experience of meeting her for the first time.

Adalyn's Birth Story (kind of long but important for me to recall here :)

Adalyn's due date was January 23, 2008. I had an appointment that day and we made an induction date for the following week if she had not arrived by then. The 24th passed by and we took one of the last pictures of my belly. We weren't expecting anything to actually happen until the following week so we thought we'd go to a movie or something on Friday the 25th. During this time, Jamey was working from home in case things started happening and we needed to go to the hospital or if I needed help getting things ready. On Friday the 25th, I was so tired when I woke up and had no energy at all. I decided to go back to sleep and let my body rest. I slept for awhile and was half-awake when I felt a "popping" sensation in my lower abdomen. I was thinking "did I dream that, or was that really my water breaking?" I finally concluded that my water did in fact break, not a huge gush, but more of a trickle. It was about 12:15 p.m. My body must have been trying to get me more rest to prepare for labor because I was able to sleep again after waking up. I walked downstairs where Jamey was working and I told him. I couldn't believe it was actually happening! We were told to go to the hospital if my water broke. I was not feeling any contractions or anything so I decided to take a shower and finished packing my bag. We got all ready to head to the hospital and I remember thinking...everything is going to change, when we come home, we'll be bringing our baby with us!

We got to the hospital and they confirmed my water did in fact break so we would be staying. At this point, I think it was about 2:15 p.m. I hadn't really felt much except some cramping sensations. I changed into a gown and got hooked up to the fetal monitor. I was having contractions but not really feeling them. We called our families and told them. Everyone thought we would be hanging out there for quite some time....well, we would all be pretty surprised! I was worried about eating something since I thought I'd be waiting for hours and hours to come. I was also worried that Jamey would need something to eat. We talked to my sister who was going to bring Jamey some food and the nurse was going to get something for me to eat. Then I remember a phone conversation with my mom in which I was starting to really feel the contractions and they were taking my breath away and I was having a difficult time talking normally. After that, I started to really feel the contractions, but only in my back. And they started to hurt like crazy. I was doing my breathing techniques learned in the birthing class Jamey and I took because the pain was getting so intense. My nurse during this whole time was the same nurse who taught our birthing class. I felt that she thought I was just being a wimp but the pain was intense! I wondered how I would get through it if I was already feeling this much pain and I was expecting it would get much, much worse. I did tell her that the pain was pretty intense but I guess she didn't think I was really making any progress. I was never once checked to see what my dilation was. The policy is to not check when the patient comes in after water has broken due to infection risk.

Apparently, they decided I needed to get started on Pitocin to start labor....which I was already well in the middle of....so, they tried to get an IV started. I think it was around 3:30 at this point. Meanwhile, I was feeling every contraction of back labor, doing my breathing and trying to hold still while two or three nurses tried to start an IV at various times. They finally gave up for awhile. Then, I started to feel a need to push. I had Jamey go tell the nurse and she came in and acted like she didn't believe me at all and there was no way I could possibly be ready to push. Well, lo and behold, I was fully dilated and ready to push! So, I had been in painful transitional labor and doing breathing exercises to get through the pain the entire time they were trying to start my IV to get Pitocin started...apparently they didn't know what I was experiencing right in front of them! I was not screaming or anything but I was making moaning sounds I'm sure :) Then, we had to wait for a doctor to arrive. It was almost 5 p.m. My doctor (not my original doctor, but her partner who became my doctor in the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy due to her illness preventing her from practicing) had left the office for the day and the covering doctor for the weekend was at home just getting out of the shower. So, I had to sit and wait for a doctor to get to the hospital before I could even start pushing. I was ready to meet this little girl! I remember thinking "no epidural...how am I going to get through pushing?" I was really afraid it was going to hurt much more than the back labor. Well, it was too late and I didn't need one anyway! So, finally my doctor arrived at the hospital and I could start pushing. The time was about 5:15 p.m. Pushing was much more difficult than I thought. I was really trying to pace myself and push only with the contractions.

Adalyn was born at 6:03 p.m. and I was just absolutely amazed when I saw her. I didn't cry or anything, I just couldn't take my eyes off of her! She had the cord around her neck but they placed her right on my stomach and I couldn't believe how beautiful she was. She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. She had reddish-brown hair and she was so alert! My family had arrived during the pushing and they were waiting in the hallway outside. After Adalyn was all checked out by the nurses they bundled her up and everyone came inside and held her right away. A little later, Jamey's family arrived and got to see her as well. Later Jamey went with the nurse to give Adalyn her first bath. My sister went as well and was able to take pictures of it.

It was so amazing to meet Adalyn for the first time, to feel her against my skin and to look into her eyes! It was incredible to love her so much the second I saw her.

I want to share her birth story with her some day, not to emphasize the painful part or anything like that, but to share with her the incredible process of preparing to meet her for the first time. Oh, and maybe to laugh at the nurses who didn't seem to understand that I was in labor :)

Adalyn is my little sweetie and the hugs she gives me today melt my heart. When she tells me she loves me, it is the best thing I have ever heard!

She had a wonderful party this weekend and I will share the the rest of the photos from that very soon.

Happy 2nd Birthday my sweet girl! I love you so much and I am so lucky to wake up to your sweet voice and smile every morning!

More stuff ready for Baby Sister

We have been so busy lately. Jamey has been working on the bathroom whenever he has a spare minute and it is coming along. Adalyn will be two years old next Monday! We have been getting ready for her party this weekend. In every spare minute, I have been making decorations and things for her party and moving things around to prepare for our baby's arrival. I have been struggling with a lot of exhaustion lately and horrible swelling in my feet. My blood pressure has consistently been fine so there aren't any concerns about the swelling but it is extremely excessive. I can barely get my Dansko clogs on to leave the house, and they are normally loose! They have been very swollen since just before Christmas so it seems like it has been going on forever. Anyway, not trying to complain, just tired of painful swollen feet all day :) My next appointment is Thursday so we'll see if there is any prediction on how soon this little girl will be arriving!

A few more things we got for the baby:

I was planning on re-using a crib skirt from Adalyn's crib set but found this one on clearance at Target yesterday for $5. It is really cute and was originally $22 so we nabbed it. It doesn't match the colors exactly but it is pretty close and it should look really nice with the sheets and comforter. The set we bought didn't come with a crib skirt and the matching one was about $19 so we held off on buying it.



A long time ago I found this boppy pillow and super soft fleece slipcover for a really cheap price at TJMaxx so I grabbed it. I used my boppy pillow with Adalyn constantly for almost every feeding and it is really flat now so I really wanted to invest in a new one since I find them so useful. I'll reuse the other covers from before and use the older boppy for propping baby up or for Adalyn to use for her dolls :)



The new pack and play we got at our shower. The one we had for Adalyn actually broke and then after throwing it away since we couldn't fix it, we found out it was recalled as well. This one is a smaller size so it should fit better in our living room. I really wanted to get a new one to have a "safe place" to put the baby out of Adalyn's reach if I can't hold her for a second. We should be getting a lot of use out of it.



The new double stroller we got at our shower. It changes from regular seating to a sit and stand version so Adalyn can stand on the back when she gets bigger. We are looking forward to trying it out and using it a lot this summer!

Getting ready for Baby Sister!

We are preparing for "Baby sister" aka "Twenty-Ten" to arrive, she is due in about a month! Our friends and family threw a very fun coed baby shower for us on Sunday, January 10th. We are so lucky to have people in our lives who care so much about us! We received some wonderful gifts for our new baby girl and now it is time to get serious about getting ready for her arrival. We will be staying upstairs for awhile in her future room as it is the room we have been living in for the past four years. We want to stay upstairs right across from Adalyn's room for a few months while the baby sleeps in a bassinet. Then, we will gradually transition to having our room downstairs. It is kind of sad that we won't have "her room" ready for when she arrives but that is the best we can do for now. It should just be easier for all of us to be on the same level of the house and to only have to heat one floor during the next few cold winter months. We don't have a crib for her yet but we have ordered her dresser and changing table. Adalyn's crib converts to a toddler bed so she will continue to use it for quite a while, although she is still using it as a crib right now anyway. We decided we will purchase the same type of crib Adalyn has in a different color since we haven't had any problems with it so far and we feel it is a safe crib with a low chance of being recalled or having other safety issues. The dresser and changer is the same one Adalyn has also. We really prefer doing all of the diaper and clothes changing on the dresser top for at least the first year so we decided to go with what worked well last time.

We did buy her bedding when we found out we were expecting a girl. Adalyn has new toddler bedding she will eventually get when her bed is transitioned. We have sheets, a crib skirt and other accessories in light purple and green that we will be able to reuse for both girls so we chose this pretty bedding set.




Here is the dresser we ordered and will set up in our shared room when it arrives.


It has been a big task to start on regarding transferring all of the closet contents downstairs so this baby can have a closet of her own. Currently, all of the baby stuff for her to use from Adalyn is either in Adalyn's closet or downstairs in the room we will eventually be moving to. It has been a challenge to get stuff done while Adalyn is awake during the day, and although she helped quite a bit the other day, I am hoping to get more done this weekend. We are so busy right now, Adalyn's birthday is coming up on the 25th and I haven't even finished the partyr invites to send out yet. The upstairs bathroom is totally torn up as well. We had been planning to remodel it for quite a while and Jamey started the project during his week off between Christmas and New Years. One setback after another and the bathroom still has a long way to go. So, the only working bathroom is downstairs and we only have a shower down there. We are a little overwhelmed with everything right now....praying it all comes together soon for our sanity!