Easter Bunny!

On Sunday we took the girls to have photos taken with the Easter bunny at the mall. Adalyn just adored the bunny last year and she was very excited to see him the week before as we walked past so we prepared to come back for a cute photo. I bought the girls cute matching dresses from The Children's Place for a great price and Adalyn wore a big white hair bow and little Emery even wore a little hair bow too. We tried out our new double stroller and it worked great! Adalyn likes her "new ride." Grandma Jill met us there and Dana and Justin came to visit us and watch the girls get their photos taken. After the photos, we all ran some errands and did a little shopping in the mall and ate lunch at The Mustard Seed.

Prior to the photos, we waited for everyone just behind the photo backdrop at the fountain. Some time before, we told Adalyn that her mommy and daddy first met there, at the fountain when I was on a break from my very first job at Sears and we each had a friend meeting there and we both happened to be along. Adalyn remembers we told her about that, so she started saying "where mommy and daddy met" over and over as we waited. It was pretty cute to hear her say that while we admired our two girls and thought about all that had transpired in the past eleven-and-a-half years since our first meeting.

When we got to the bunny, Adalyn couldn't stop dancing around and waving to him, she was SO excited! When it was her turn, she ran right up to him and gave him a huge hug. She seemed a little surprised when we put Emery on his lap first and then set her up there but she was grinning like crazy for every photo. Emery did great, only six weeks old and sitting on the Easter bunny for the first time. She looked at the camera when the photographer made funny noises to get their attention.



Big feet are great for hopping!




The photographer told Adalyn to hug the bunny but she couldn't really turn to hug him so we got this cute pose and I like how Emery was looking straight at the camera


This one is so funny--Adalyn was like "what are you doing?" when bunny patted her shoulder


I can't wait to color eggs and look for eggs and baskets!

Emery's Birth Day

Here is Emery's overdue birth story. I have rarely had the chance to get to the computer and actually use two hands to type as usually I only have one free hand :) It is very long so feel free to skip it and just look at her cute photos instead!

Emery was born on February 10th, a few days before her due date on the 15th. I was having some pre-labor signs starting around the 7th so I was hoping I wouldn't have to wait until the 15th or later for her to arrive. I had an appointment with my doctor late in the day on the 9th and I had a little progress, I was 2 cm dilated. That evening I continued to have some irregular contractions but I had no idea if they would turn into anything else, since it was so different from my labor with Adalyn. Early in the morning on the 10th, the contractions were getting uncomfortable at times and my mind was going so I could not sleep any more and got up to take a shower. I got dressed and sat on the couch to watch TV and time contractions. I didn't want to wake Jamey up until I was sure. He had been working on sealing the tile on the bathroom floor that night and we went to bed very late, around 2 a.m. So, I only got about 2 hours of sleep. When I was sure the contractions were close enough, I woke Jamey up and we got final things ready to head to the hospital. I called my mom to come over to stay at our house and watch Adalyn. I was excited and nervous that it was time to go. It was still very early in the morning and Adalyn was sound asleep and I went in to her room to check on her and admire her darling face for a second, and I thought about how everything was about to change. The next time Adalyn saw me, I was holding her baby sister!

We checked in to the hospital and it was probably around 7:15 or 7:30. It was quite busy in the labor area and I think the nurses had just changed shifts. We got settled in a room and I was hooked up to monitors tracking my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. When they checked me, I was about 3-4 cm dilated. I was actually disappointed I was only 3-4 cm since I had been feeling contractions for a few hours and Adalyn's birth was very fast so I thought I would be there all day. Again, I only felt the contractions in my back. My doctor was performing a c-section that morning so the plan was for him to come in and break my water when he was finished. Jamey and I just kind of hung out for awhile and watched TV. We hadn't packed any activities to pass the time and we were a little bored and anxious. The hospital lost all of my registration paperwork I had filled out weeks before so I had to fill everything out again so that helped pass the time I guess. I asked for some food and ate a bagel and some fruit. After awhile, I stopped feeling the contractions although they were still showing up on the monitor. We walked around the labor and recovery areas to see if things would pick up. When they picked up again, I sat on the birth ball for awhile and if I sat just right, I didn't feel any contractions although they were still regular. We decided Jamey should leave to get something to eat and to run home to see Adalyn and get a pack of cards or some activity for us to do while we waited. So, Jamey left so he could get back before the doctor came, as we weren't quite sure when he would be in. The doctor came in to check me and broke my water at about 10:45. I was 5 cm at that time. I called Jamey and told him the status and he finished eating and said goodbye to Adalyn and came back. We are only about a 5-10 minute drive to the hospital from our house so he wasn't long. The contractions were starting to get uncomfortable and really hurt after that. By the time he got back, things were starting to get pretty serious. We got the cards out but it was too late, I couldn't concentrate on them anymore. I worked on my breathing but the pain was different this time. It got really intense really fast. I tried the birthing ball again but it just wasn't working as well. I didn't have an epidural with Adalyn as it was such a fast labor so I really didn't want one with this baby and fortunately by the time I was in a lot of pain and really considered one, it was transition time and too late. I was feeling pressure for a while and I think I was fully dilated and ready to push but since it felt different from before I didn't think it was time. The nurse, who was really great, finally convinced me to let her check and I was in fact ready to start pushing. They got the doctor and a nurse for the baby and at 12:55 p.m. we met our little baby girl!

Emery was born with quite a lot of dark, almost black, hair and we were very surprised! She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long. It was just as amazing to see her for the first time as it was to see Adalyn! She was so beautiful. Finally I was able to meet the little girl whom I had felt kicking around in my tummy since 15 weeks. She was such a strong little kicker and squirmer and it is evident now by the way she straightens out those arms and kicks out those legs. Our sweet little daughter had arrived to join our family and we fell in love with her the second we saw her! We are truly so fortunate to have our healthy, beautiful daughters in our life and I feel so much love when I look at them.





We had kind of decided on her name just a few days before she was born. We had narrowed it down to two names and although we had both decided Emery was most likely the name for our baby girl, we looked at her when she was born and it definitely fit her! We had liked the name Emery for a few years. We heard it just a few weeks before Adalyn was born and thought, oh, we like that name, well, maybe next time... There was actually a baby girl born in the hospital the day after Adalyn and she was named Emery as well. We chose the middle name Jillian, which is an "elaborated" version of Jill, which is my mom's name and my middle name. It was also chosen to honor my late Grandma "Moe" Bernice. Although her name was not Jillian, she chose Jill to name my mom so we liked that the name she chose was getting passed on in a new version to a new generation. Emery already has a nickname, Emmy or Emmy J. which we think is really cute with Adalyn's nickname Addy :)

A few funny things happened during Emery's birth and our hospital stay. The 10th of February was a very popular day for births at Community Medical Center. I believe there were at least nine births that day. Usually, there are just a few births a day. The recovery rooms were quite full from a lot of previous births in the days before as well. After Emery was born I was told we would probably have to share a room. I was really dreading that but thankfully just a short time later my nurse told me that there was one open single room and it went to the mom and baby who delivered first. We beat out the room next door by only five minutes but that was enough to get our own room!
Another funny thing was when Emery was born, my doctor said that she bit him as he was delivering her!

Emery and I stayed in the hospital one night and we brought her home around five the next evening. We decided to have Jamey go home and stay with Adalyn but I wished we had made arrangements to have someone stay over at our house with her because it was really difficult for me to stay by myself. I only got about 2 hours of sleep that night so I was very glad to be going home the next day.

It is crazy to think that she is already 5 weeks old! The time has gone by so fast and we are really enjoying watching her grow and change.

Emery at one month old, she's tutu cute!

Big Sister

Adalyn has been doing amazingly well in adjusting to her role as a big sister to Emery. She watches out for her and gets a little worried at times. We were waiting in the car the other day as Jamey ran into the grocery store after Emery's doctor appointment. Emery woke up and was crying because she was hungry. Adalyn got quite concerned and quickly told me, "Feed her, she's hungry!" Adalyn has been very patient when she has to wait for something when my hands are full and I am tending to Emery. She also helps retrieve things for me like Emery's diapers or blanket. Occasionally she wants our full attention and tells us to put Emery in her bassinet :) I am very impressed with how grown up Adalyn is and how well she has adjusted. When we were deciding when to have another child, it was a big concern of mine about how well Adalyn would adjust to having a sibling.



Over the months of my pregnancy, I really tried to explain things to Adalyn and show her photos of her as a baby and talk a lot about what kinds of things she did as a baby and what a new baby would be like. I am so proud of her comprehension and acceptance of Emery joining our family. I hope they grow up to be great playmates and lifelong friends. It already appears they are getting along great by the photos I've posted :) Adalyn is always "sharing" something with Emery and wants to give her toys so we have to make sure she is gentle with her sharing and she tries to be very careful.


Serving baby sis eggs and milk :)


Watching her after nap time


Sisters sharing a secret?

We have also been impressed with Adalyn working on using her potty chair. We weren't going to push or pressure anything with all of the changes in the house (Emery joining the family and the upstairs bathroom getting totally remodeled) but we have had a potty chair for quite a long time and I ordered a few potty books a few weeks ago. Adalyn had used the potty chair twice before Emery was born, probably by chance timing. The night we brought Emery home, Adalyn was getting ready for bed when she asked to use the potty chair and was successful! Since then, she has asked to use it on her own sometimes and she has spent a lot of time trying. She is very proud when she gets a sticker for her chart! I'm sure it will be quite a while before she is fully trained but we are very proud of her for trying it out now.


Our little character!

She is a typical two-year-old rascal at times and likes to push our buttons and test the limits but I am so very proud of her and how well she has adjusted these past few weeks!

Emery Jillian Maxwell has arrived!

Emery was born on Wednesday, February 10th at 12:55 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 in. long at birth. She is very precious! We can't believe she is here and we are now a family of four! I will post more of her birth story when I get a chance. It has been a very hectic time trying to adjust to having a newborn and toddler as well as the upstairs bathroom still in the middle of a remodel. We are really enjoying the time together as a family though and will eventually get around to everything.

Emery's hospital announcement can be found here

The night before Emery was born, I was having some contractions and felt like we should take a few pics just in case it was the real deal :)


Adalyn sharing her special "Kitty Meow-Meow" with baby sister Emery


The four of us :) I look pretty exhausted after only two hours of sleep the night before!


Adalyn loving her baby sister

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!