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!

      

New Deck!

What?  Two posts in one day! I'm getting pretty crazy huh?

I wanted to post this before the baby comes and I forget all about it. 

If you've been to our house before you know that the previous owners had a hot tub complete with a deck built around the hot tub.  When they moved they took the hot tub and guess what....we didn't buy one to replace it.  Surprise, surprise.  :) 

Well the deck was in pretty bad shape for many reasons other then the entire west side of it was left open, paint was chipping (which you know who would love to eat, sick) and rails were falling off.  It needed some help.

Because we don't really have a "safe" drive way for kiddos to ride bikes, draw with chalk, shoot baskets, etc due to the high traffic on our street John and I thought it would be great to tear out the old deck, build a smaller deck and replace most of the area with a concrete patio. 

We couldn't be happier!  Sloane has a great place to ride her bike in circles and bounce balls all she wants!

There is still some landscaping to do and the lumber on the left obviously will go but I couldn't wait any longer to share the pictures!  

any day now....

I am officially 40 weeks pregnant today!  I had a doctor's appointment yesterday.  I'm dilated 2cm but that's about it.  While I know this isn't any indication of when I'll go into labor, I just know my body and I think this baby wants to cook a few days longer.

The doctor did say that statistically speaking women who make it to 40 weeks typically deliver sometime between 40 weeks and 3 days and 40 weeks and 5 days....So, sometime between Sunday and Tuesday?  I'll take it!  Funny thing about that fact is that Sloane was born at 40 weeks and 3 days too.

I do have an appointment for Thursday the 3rd to be induced if I need be.  Fingers crossed I won't need that appointment though.

Here are a few pictures of the pretty much finished baby's room!

 

You've got to be kidding me

 Houdini strikes again.... and no, that's not dirt on the dresser. 

I can handle an hour of Sloane crying just about every nap time.  I can handle when she takes everything out of her dresser drawers and throws it on the floor.  I can handle it when she rips apart her bed and removes all twenty blankets and thirty stuffed animals.  Heck, I can even handle it when she gets mad and rips apart books- even my favorite ones (which I've since removed from her room) but poop.....poop is where I draw the line.

I was lucky enough to dodge this horror scene once last week.  I was getting a hair cut when John sent a picture of brown spots on the carpet.  Although the lighting was bad I knew what those "brown spots" were.  I thought to myself, "Thank God I wasn't home....I don't think I could have handled that." 

Well, Houdini struck again.  I just finished my abnormally quite lunch (which yes, should have been my first clue that she was up to something) when I heard, "Mommy come upstairs."  I responded with a firm, "You're ok, please go lay down." to which she responded with, "I had an accident."  Awesome.  Whatever is it....awesome. 

I ran upstairs and the first thing I saw was poop smeared on the door then her hands....covered.  It looked like she had been making poop cakes or something.  Carpet- poop, mirrors-poop, walls-poop.  I knew there was even more I hadn't seen because when I went to grab her she said, "come see.".  I plopped her in the bath, got her cleaned up and went to investigate.  Windows and dresser?  Poop and poop.  Are you kidding me?  How does this not just disgust her?!?

I got it cleaned up well enough to put her back to bed.  I was darn sure she wasn't going to get a treat by laying in my bed, watching cartoons and skipping nap time which is what she would have wanted for sure.  I gave her a hug and kiss and left the room.  A few minutes later..."Mommy come clean up the window."  Again I went upstairs.  More poop.  I must have missed it the first time.  It was like and Easter egg hunt (but only smeared poop) and checking to see that I found them all. 

A few minutes later after that.... found her in the bathroom by herself playing in the water and "putting on lotion". 

Ok, so I know that most parents have at least one or two stories that sound like this but the amazing thing about Sloane is--- her jammies were still on!  It's not like she took off her PJ's and thought I'll take off my diaper and make a mess.  She reached up the leg of her jammies and pulled the poop out.  She knew exactly what she was looking for and dare I say...had fun doing it. (dry heave)  Keep in mind- we still have her jammies on backwards with the zipper tab ripped off so she can't take them off herself.  I guess we can check "short" jammies off the list as appropriate bedtime attire.  And to address the bathroom issue.  Her gate was still locked when I found her out of the room.  She once again jumped the gate.  Looks like we might have to go back to two gates stacked one on top of another. Pretty soon I'm going to be posting that we have her sleep in a 4x4 padded room with only one blanket and no windows!

I know one thing for sure-  Sloane is a determined little girl.  I can only hope and pray that one day, her determination serves a better purpose then smearing poop and jumping baby gates. 

Baby Update

11 days left to go (although really I think it's going to be more like 16 days)!!  I can hardly wait! I'm getting really anxious!

There have been two or three times where I had some contractions in a row and thought, "this is it!" but then they'd stop and I'd become disappointed.  You would think that this would have been all the encouragement I needed to pack my bags and get the car seat in the car but... nope.  I have a theory that if I pack them it will be May before this baby arrives whereas if I don't pack them he might come sooner. Yes?  Maybe?

I'm still feeling good and still able to do just about everything that I want to do and anything I don't want to do- John takes care of.  He's wonderful.

I did learn an important lesson this week.  Don't take your toddler who loves to run to a large open area such as Grey's Lake when you're super pregnant unless you are willing and able to chase after her.  :) 

   

The Dentist

Last week I took Sloane to the dentist for the first time.  I know they to have your first check-up at a year old but hey, better late then never right?

Really the reason I wanted her to see a dentist is because Sloane loves to brush and floss her teeth!  She would do it every time we were in the bathroom if we let her.  I was curious to know if a toddler really needs to floss her teeth and if using the same toothpaste we use was safe for her. 

I convinced John that we needed to see a pediatric dentist (as opposed to our adult dentist) and boy was it worth it.  They had computer games in the waiting room, a movie to watch if she wanted while they cleaned her teeth and everyone has plenty of tricks up their sleeves to keep Sloane entertained while they inspected her mouth. 

She was a peach and loved every minute of it.  They let her touch all the instruments and gave her drinks of water from that little thing that squirts water and "vacuumed" our her mouth with that suction thing.  She had so much fun.

While she was well behaved the doctor did find a "sticky" spot on a tooth that he thought if we let go would become a cavity!  Seriously?!?!  A CAVITY????  She's not even three!  I asked if it was her diet or hygiene and he said her hygiene looks great but a lot of kids her age get candy stuck in their back teeth that even brushing can't get out.  He specifically mentioned suckers and gummy candies.  Hmmmmmm.....  well, if you know us you know that we constantly have suckers on us (they can buy us at least 10 minutes of time at the store) and we've used life saver gummies for potty training for the past three months.  Oops.

I left the dentist, went to the store and bought a bag of m&m's to replace the gummies.....as far as her teeth are concerned that's an upgrade right?  :)   

February and March in Review

You know what's funny?  I follow multiple (and by multiple I mean at least 15) blogs a day- it's what I do with my free time since I quit facebook, and I often get annoyed when the blogs I follow don't have new posts everyday day yet I can't seem to update our once a month even!  My apologies to our followers (g'ma and g'pa)!

So how about a quick update.... 6 weeks left til baby #2 arrives.  At least it better be 6 weeks- we still have some projects left to finish.  Is the to-do list ever wiped clean for homeowners and parents?  I'm feeling great and can't complain especially with the weather we've been having!  Sloane and I have missed being outdoors.  She's so happy to be outside and if Sloane's happy, mama's happy!  I sit on the steps and read a magazine and she makes "pancakes" for me out of sand, sticks and dirt.  That's true love.

As our due date gets closer I am getting more and more excited but I do feel a little sad that it won't be just me and Sloane anymore (and John too but you know what I mean).  I feel like she's my little partner in crime, my buddy.  My buddy that I occasionally have to put in time out :)  I know my other mom friends have told me differently but I just can't imagine that I can love a child more then I love her.  We put her to bed and by morning I miss her!  Don't get me wrong- she pushes our buttons and makes us want to pull our hair out at times but she's a great little girl and I know she'll make a great big sister.

So to "celebrate" Sloane (before the baby comes and is the new center of attention) I've put together another top ten list of things we love about Sloane.

10. Hugs still come with a kiss on the lips...even for strangers
9.  She says "hi" to just about everyone we meet on the street or in the store and then tells us she said "hi" to them- like we didn't hear her.
8.  She pronounces knife like Ife.  I guess she already knows the "k" is silent :)
7.  We've lived in our house almost a year and every time she hears a fire truck siren she runs to the window to see it....it never gets old.
6.  Anytime John or I say "ow" she asks in the most sincere voice, "You ok?"
5.  Anytime she falls down and we ask her if she's ok she says, "No, I ok".
4.  She thinks you can feed the baby through my belly button.
3.  Anytime I wear anything other then sweats she asks if I'm going to work.  (Sad, but true) Consequently, the same thing happens anytime John puts on a button down dress shirt.
2.  She thinks farts are funny.  I know one day we'll regret encouraging her but at this age- it's funny.
1.  Her smile!  I think we've made it past the horrible close your eyes and grind your teeth smile and have graduated to a rather nice smile that works (most of the time) on command!

Here a few pictures from the past couple months.... Enjoy!

At kidsfest in the police car

 At the YMCA family night carnival

   What happens when mom thinks we can make it all the way around Grey's lake

(We got exactly half way around and we "didn't want to ride our bike anymore" -there aren't exactly any shortcuts across the lake..oops)