Double time

Ready to roll

Pretty flowers

Our windows are terrible.

Double mint gum

The stroller rides like a dream. Gotta go to the store to get milk. It's freezing out. I'm hungry!

haha; that's all I have time for.

our Christmas '10

***

Some of my favorite shots from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I didn't get that many pictures. It was a chaotic few days with the two babies. Louisa had a long day on Christmas and when we got home it was apparent that she was sick. I was feeling pretty run down as well, so the next day we actually opted to have Josephine's baptism postponed. With everything going on, I admit to having a hard time focusing on the 'reason for the season.' Luckily though, the Christmas season is still going on so there is still time to do that :)

Louisa got so many toys - in fact she is kind of overwhelmed with everything she has now. There are definitely some presents that have been put away for another time. We could even use some as birthday gifts. But our apartment is definitely tight so there is hardly room to have all the toys out. In fact, I noticed when she has too many she just starts dumping stuff out, not really playing with anything.

Mike got a new toy too - an Ipod touch. He is so funny - he found out he can watch Netflix on it. So I go into the living room and he's there watching a Netflix show on his little screen. With our ginormous t.v. sitting right there ;)

As for my new toy: a double stroller! I will post pictures as soon as I get the two girls bundled up and ready for a walk. So exciting!

December 8th (long post!)

*Josephine May's birth story.*

So. This post is about the details I'd like to remember about the day Josie was born. I won't be too detailed, since I realized I included the link to this blog on our Christmas letter so there might be some extra folks stopping by my blog and they might not want to be overloaded with information about my giving birth. I just promised I would write it down so here goes...

It was Tuesday night and Louisa happened to be having a terrible night. She kept waking up like every hour and wanting one of us to go into her room and reassure her. Finally she was asleep at 1a.m. and I remember falling asleep only to wake up again at about 2:30 with some contractions. Since I was so tired I really just wanted to go back to sleep. I tried but kept waking up

with more contractions so I figured I'd better start timing them. I loosely did and at first they were pretty sporadic - maybe every 10-25 minutes - ranging quite a bit. By4:30 it was apparent that they weren't going to stop so I woke up Mr. husband. He was also super tired so at first he resisted but after we timed them for a little bit I decided I needed to get up and that this could possibly be it. They were getting pretty painful at this point so I decided to hop in the shower. Taking a hot shower felt good (and I got to shave :) but the contractions were still going so at 5:30 we decided to go to the hospital. My grandma came up to watch Louisa and we were off! It was exciting, I remember, and the contractions weren't so painful or close together that I felt nervous at all about getting to the hospital in time but I knew that once my body went into labor I could reasonably hope for a short time before the baby came. (With Lou I was in labor for about 5 hours)

When we got to the hospital I was taken to triage to make sure I was actually in labor. I was dilated about 5cm so they of course wanted me to stay. But they had me go walk around the hospital for 1-2hours. I wanted to walk for 1, but Mike pushed me to keep going. I kept having to stop for contractions which felt a little weird because people would be walking by. I'm sure someone like me wasn't such an unusual sight but still. I was tired so I just wanted to go lay in bed and labor in bed, but obviously this isn't the most ideal place for a woman to be to keep labor going. By now I was getting really excited. I kept thinking about Louisa though. I missed her already and was hoping she was okay. We had lots of family who all wanted to help with her so it wasn't a matter of her being taken care of, it was just that we missed her and hoped she didn't miss us too much. So after a while I finally go to get into bed (I'm not a fan of walking :) and luckily things were progressing well. I was able to relax a little in between contractions and it felt good to have my privacy. The contractions were still pretty far apart, but they were starting to get really effective and more painful. I opted for an epidural - just like I did with my first birth. Even though I felt a little bad doing it so early this time (before I was in a ton of pain) I knew that things were going to get more intense later and after it all I did not regret that decision. I think I got the epidural around 11 a.m. Things slowed down a bit but then starting progressing again after about 1. In between I tried to rest (I was still feeling very exhausted from the night before, and I knew from experience that once the baby arrived I would have very little rest for a long long time) So then, sometime after 1, they decided to call the doctor in who was across the street at the clinic. I was getting close to pushing time! My body did so well at getting ready - and I am extremely grateful for that. By the time he got there I was fully dilated and felt like pushing. The epidural wasn't so strong that I couldn't feel some pain and I definitely felt a tremendous amount of pressure - so I knew I could push. The doc got ready and after about 7 minutes of pushing - Josephine was out! Of course, you all know by now that miss Josephine surprised us with a full head of dark brown hair. I cried when I saw her (naturally) and actually I think I was crying while I was pushing. Not out of pain but out of joy and excitement.

I remember doing that with Lou, too. When she was first laid on my chest I was so surprised at how alert she was! She nursed with her eyes wide open which was completely different than with Louisa - who closed her eyes and kept them shut for like three days I believe :) Josie seems to have a very alert demeanor even now - she loves to look at people's faces. She is such a pretty baby, too. Really, she was and is flawless.

The whole birthing experience was just beautiful all around, just like my first time, and I really can't imagine things going any better. Goodness - I know I have been blessed so far with uncomplicated pregnancies and birthing experiences. I don't take anything for granted, and I know that every time can be different. My husband did a great job talking to me and making sure I felt loved and supported through it all. He also made my heart melt when he held his second daughter because it was so obvious how much he loves being a daddy.

The rest of our stay at the hospital was uneventful. I slept a lot more than I did with Louisa. Nursing has been worlds better than with Louisa, too. I am more relaxed and barely have looked at the clock since she was born. I just nurse her when she acts hungry, let her sleep when she wants to sleep, and generally there hasn't been a whole lot of extra fuss as long as that's taken care of.

There have been some hard moments when both girls need me at the same time. Mike has only gone to work three days since he's gotten vacation, so it remains to be seen how well us girls do without him. Louisa - as I have mentioned - is quite good with her little sister - "Josie pie" and is getting better about slowing down before mauling her :) She loves to hold her hands and play with her toes. Oh, another nick-name she has developed is "tiny Josie"

I think that's about all I feel like writing right now. I know my post is a bit jumpy. I feel like I still have 'pregnancy brain' in a lot ways. Actually maybe it's just 'new-mother-of-two-babies-under-two -brain.' In any case - I apologize if this post was hard to read. Sweet Josephine has fallen asleep to my typing but I should go help Mike get Louisa to bed. We are working on weening her off her 'baba' that she has become so dependent on :( It's not so bad - but we hope that she won't need it for too much longer. Potty training to follow? Perhaps. Anyway - gotta go!

Merry 4th day of Christmas everyone! ***

The Christmas Story - a video

You MUST watch this. It is adorable. And if you are a female you will probably cry.

Sisters

Before we had kid(s) I used to love these kinds of pictures. Poor Josephine was trying her best to be happy, but by this time we had already taken our Christmas card photo (which took a while) and was pretty much done with the picture taking. I love that last photo of Louisa who is like 'um excuse me, you can take her now!" :)

This will probably be the best I can do before Christmas and beyond a little bit even. We are having Josie baptized the day after Christmas so we have to kind of get that in order.

I hope you all have a beautiful Christmas. Remember what it's all about - God loves you!

***

Josie pie

Miss Josephine entered the world outside on Wednesday December 8th at 2:22p.m. For Catholics, this is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It was a perfectly wonderful day. She was 7lbs 11oz.

As for her birth story, I will probably write that down in a little bit. I was thinking about doing it now but even though Josie is asleep on my lap, dinner will be ready soon. For now I will just add that it was a dream birth all around and I couldn't be more grateful to everyone involved - from the Lord who kept his hand over us to both Lou's grandma's who chipped in to keep Louisa happy and taken care of while we were in the hospital.

A few words about the transition from "kid" to "kids" - So far, even though we're only 4 days into it, I feel like many of my fears have already dissipated. Louisa is being so sweet and has had very few upset moments. Daddy has been keeping her busy and between feedings I feel like I have given her lots of attention. I feel like I should be prepared for it to get harder though. If it doesn't that's great - at least I'll be mentally ready for that. But I'm not saying I think it will. Physically, I feel so amazingly well. (Part of the birth story would tell you why; I only had to push for 7 minutes to get her out!) We have already eaten out for lunch once and I even went to Target today alone with Josie. (Never would have managed this when we first brought Lou home!) However, again, I feel like I should prepare for the fatigue to set in after a few weeks of taking care of two youngins. Last night was slightly tricky - as it was the first time both babes had woken up around the same time. It turned out okay - no huge meltdowns. And both babes decided to make up for it somewhat by sleeping in until 8:30. Yay.

Well, here are some sweet pictures of life with Josephine - our newest love.

Oh, and it took me by surprise, but the 1lb difference between babies (Louisa was 8lbs 9oz) has meant that many of Lou's newborn outfits are way too big for Josie pie. Only two outfits work and she still looks like she's swimming! So strange.

that's all for now but of course you can expect many more pictures and musings on having two children to come soon!

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. We are so grateful that many people love our children :)

***

Josephine is here!

...with bells!

(and hair :)

We are all home and well. The birth went wonderfully well and I honestly cannot think of how it could have gone better. Louisa was an absolute doll when she came in to see her sister. We are all so proud of her! It's amazing how much Mike and I missed her though, considering we were only gone for less than two days. So right now Daddy is having some alone time with her (Louisa) while I try to rest for a few hours. (Josie was up all night wanting to nurse) hopefully we'll both be able to sleep some. More to come later...just wanted to update those friends who might not be on the facebook.

I went to see the dr. today and the only news is that they didn't keep me there! Baby is very low, and other labor signs are somewhat imminent but it wasn't enough yet. I was told to not let contractions go for too long before calling the hospital...judging on how quickly things went last time (I was in labor for 5 hrs and pushed for 30 minutes) If nothing does happen, my next appointment is Friday morning, first thing. I know for sure we will have a baby by this time next week at least! (They will try some things to start labor if I go more than a week past my due date)

So even if it doesn't look like today will be Josephine's birthday...it is the birthday of my most awesome friend, Sarah! Happy Birthday to you & I can't wait to see you, hopefully very soon!

(Sarah and Lou, last Christmas :)

40

Yes, Indeed I Am.

Joyful anticipation

We never really had the tradition of having a manger scene in our house growing up. But I'm sure many of you did and maybe even had it so that you waited until Christmas before taking out baby Jesus and placing him in his crib. Some may even have had Mary and Joseph "traveling" around the room before finally placing them in the manger scene on Christmas eve. I think it's a lovely tradition. This year I cannot think of anything more appropriate to express the Joyful Hope. The anticipation. The giddiness of heart - in waiting for our own baby to arrive. To think we could have a newborn child in our arms any day now makes me tear up with happiness. We are so blessed to be waiting...we know the enormity of this gift and truly; we don't take it lightly.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts. I hope that your Advent season is full of anticipation and joy, too; as we are all waiting for the Christ child to arrive and redeem the world.

no tree...

...and still no baby. But first, I'll explain why we have no tree. It can't be found! See, my grandparents gave us their artificial tree last year, and since we couldn't turn down a free tree - that is what we used. We expected to use it again this year but when we went down to the garage to fetch it, it was gone! It's a shared garage (we still live in an apartment building) so it would have been easy enough for someone to take it. But, who takes a Christmas tree? Very sad, indeed. Especially since we got Louisa all excited about it. She calls them "choo-choo trees!" Now we're not sure what we will do. We had just looked forward to having a nice, free Christmas tree. We did put up our other decorations though, which is nice for getting into the spirit of things. To have them up before baby Josie arrives is probably a good idea because I'm sure it's not something I would be able to focus on once she is here. But speaking of that - I had kind of an eventful appointment yesterday. First of all, it was Providential that I decided to leave Louisa with my grandma at the last minute when I had planned on just bringing her along. Well, it was good because I ended up getting hooked up to the fetal heart rate monitor thingie (can't remember what it was called) for about 30 minutes. The doctor (new dr. by the way :( had thought her heart rate was a little high. Everything turned out to be okay, evidently, because he sent me home and said he'd see me in another week. Which will bring me to 40 weeks! I guess she is just an active little thing. I'm not sure how much I trust those machine thingies. I have heard that they can be unreliable anyway. I was also told to drink more water because both me and the baby might be low on fluids. And to get more rest. Hmpf. That is hard when I keep wanting to make sure all is in order around here for when it's time to go the hospital. Plus Louisa has been a little high needs at night lately...she has a lingering cold so she keeps waking. So this week will be interesting trying to balance rest, concern over baby, and still being ready to go any time. I realize that once the baby gets here things will be even more work, but right now I feel like I've got quite enough work on my hands! Everything is okay overall, though, and I am loving this time of year. Advent is really an appropriate time of year to be waiting for a baby to arrive...after all :)

baby baby

Baby sister is still inside. After we recover from our naps I think we'll set up our Christmas tree...

I just remembered that Lou is a 'Sunday's Child'

*Happy Sunday to you*

Thankful

outside.

inside.

oh, Lou is very much into stickers now, thanks to the grocery store clerks. She is very fond of putting them on her cheeks (does it herself) I'm thinking, woo-hoo, cheap easy Christmas present idea :)

White Monday

Turns out that even though I'm 38 weeks now and really feeling ready, today would not have been a great day to go into labor because.....

We got us some snow!

Hub decided to work from home. This turned out to be a smart decision, because now it looks like traffic is pretty dicey. So my Monday turned out to be pretty unexpectedly good. We got to have lunch with daddy and now we don't have to worry and wait for him to commute home! Yay! I hope if you're in this area that it didn't inconvenience you too much. I know tomorrow will be a bit different story for me because I have a Dr.'s appointment at 9a.m. We'll see if that even happens because that will be morning traffic time and plus the hospital is on this big hill....

Anyways, a few shots from my cozy Monday.

mmMMmm...hot cocoa for two. This was repeated several times today ;)

We ventured downtown

I guess I'll be a show off and post twice in one day. Since I posted at 1 a.m, it felt more like it was Thursday's post, so yeah...

Today I was brave and took Louisa downtown all by myself. I kept having thoughts of my water breaking as I'm walking around with a squirrelly toddler and having to ask some stranger to please escort me to the hospital. Despite my *somewhat unreasonable* fears I really felt like I did have enough energy this morning and it would be a good day to visit the Children's museum. I know it won't be long when it won't just be me and her anymore and I have this desire to do some last minute special things together. We had fun and obviously I came home with the baby still inside :) It was tiring, though. Right now I should be napping because my mom came over to play with Lou, but I have been having trouble sleeping lately. I guess I have a lot on my mind, and sometimes the more tired I am the harder it is for me to fall asleep. I know everything will be fine once we get used to having two babies but it sure is intimidating to think about. Add in a very active kicking baby, and generally being uncomfortable and you get a recipe for non-sleep. Anyways, I am glad Louisa and I have had so many good times together, and adding a little sister will only make things more fun - right? No need to worry about 'losing' out on these fun outings with just Louisa and I (that's what I keep telling myself)

(brrr...bare legs! I guess I didn't get the memo about how freezing cold it is outside. At least I dressed my daughter appropriately.)

She skipped her morning nap which she still takes pretty regularly, so she was pretty pooped! She still looks so little when she's sleeping. Sigh. I just can't believe she is no longer going to be my baby.

Dinner and a show

Probably our last date for a good while.

Glad we could do it, thanks babe!