3 weeks

This last Friday Adler was three weeks old and while I'm sure you can't see much of a difference in the photos he seems to be packin' on the pounds! 

Peanut

I have to be honest....I've been kinda tough on Sloane these past two weeks.  As I've told many people- she loves Adler, hates us.  Undesirable behaviors (i.e. running away, throwing toys, etc) that didn't seem  much of an issue before Adler now seem to be a huge deal and thanks in part to lack of sleep and patience I haven't always dealt with them in an acceptable adult like manner.  Translation- I yell at her, feel bad about yelling and then cry about it.

Now with one week under my belt of just the three of us at home alone I think Sloane and I are coming to a mutual understanding of one another.  I've relaxed a little, after all she is only a toddler adjusting to some huge life changes and she's started following directions much better.  Give a little, take a little right?

Anyways, we were outside yesterday (with the camera of course) and I snapped this picture of Sloane and thought to myself, "My God, she's not a baby anymore." **Thanks to raging hormones I'm fighting tears just writing this-- what happened to me?!  She really is a little girl, make that beautiful little girl.  She hears everything you say, remembers everything you say and despite being a little turd a lot of the time she has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. 

And just for the record no matter how old or big she gets she'll always be my peanut. :)   

Any relation?

I was outside with Sloane and Adler today and had a few minutes to snap some pictures.  As I was going through them I ran across one that Adler reminded me so much of Sloane.  What do you think? 

This is Sloane at one week.  We paid (what seemed like it at the time) big bucks to have her photo taken and she cried all the way through it.  I swear I had broken her.  People keep asking me who I think Adler looks like and the only person I can come up with is Sloane!  Which of course, in my opinion is great because I think she's adorable! 

Since then I've conned John into buying me a nice camera to take our own pictures which for these poor kids means any well behaved moment tends to turn into a "photo shoot".

And here is one I did with sidewalk chalk.... I'm trying to learn how to use new photo editing software now that picnik is gone so excuse the "flare" :)  

More pictures to come soon! 

He's here!

He's finally here- Adler John was born Friday May 4 at 1:15 in the afternoon!  After going a week overdue John and I (along with our doctors) decided it was time to be induced. 

We went in Friday morning and got things rolling right away- water broke, pitocin (to get contractions started) pumping by 8:30.  I'll spare you the gross details but around noon I started to get pretty uncomfortable with the pain and was only dilated to a 3 so I decided to get an epidural to make myself comfortable.  The nurse came in and checked me again right before the anesthesiologist entered and I was a 5.  While I was happy to make progress I was in quite a bit of pain by this point.  Fast forward 30 minutes later (1pm) the poor anesthesiologist still hadn't gotten the epidural in (probably because I couldn't sit still) and I felt like I needed to push!  The nurse checked me again- fully dialted and I quote, "He's right there."- referring to Adler's head...

All I could think was, "Nooooooo, this is not happening!  I wanted the epidural!  I'm just going to walk out of here and go home, I'm not having him today. I don't want to do this anymore!"  I hadn't practiced breathing techniques or anything- thank God for my wonderful, wonderful nurse, Denise.  I'm pretty sure I broke her hand and as John would say taught her a few new vocabulary words. 

Because I had progressed so rapidly the on-call doctor wasn't able to make it back in time.  I remember another doctor coming in and introducing herself saying she was going to help until I couldn't wait any longer.  Of course I told her in a not so calm manner that I wasn't waiting.  Someone had to be at the end of the table because this kid was coming out!  Just as I got my feet in the stirrups another doctor from our OB group entered (in nice dress clothes no less) and told me I could push whenever I was ready- thank God!

There must have been an Angel looking out for me because three contractions worth of pushes later and he was out!  It was honestly one of the most intense situations I've ever been in and of course totally worth every second but I'm not so sure I'd do it that way again. 

Enough about me :) 

Adler is a peach!  I know, I know he's only six days old but we really can't complain. He's almost back up to his birth weight, sleeps fairly well (for a newborn) and has his dad's hearty appetite!  Sloane loves him so much.  She's always ready to give him a blanket or a toy and loves giving him hugs and kisses which just melts our hearts but we're still working on "nice, gentle touches."  Of course, she's still a handful but let's be honest- she was before Adler came along. :)  There will be growing pains and we'll have to learn how to juggle two on one but we'll get there...eventually.....right?

And let's talk about John for a minute too... He's taken the whole week off to help us get adjusted.  He's always more then willing to change a diaper, swaddle, get me water while in the middle of the night while I'm nursing or take Sloane for a walk.  He's a jack of all trades dad and husband and the three of us are so very lucky to have him.  Yes, I'm bragging...be jealous.  I couldn't ask for anything more.  Annnnnddd he didn't even complain when I practically strangled him during delivery.  He's a champ.

I've taken a few pictures and will post more later but just had to get this one up.  Too sweet!