17 Months Old!

My big boy is 17 months and 1 week old today! This has been such a big month for him. Not only has our little Daniel become a big brother to his sweet little sister, but he has also learned so many new words, animal noises, and he knows how to sing the ABC song from A to F or even up to H at times - and, very understandably by those who hear him! Just a few of his favorite new words are "moon" or "MOOOOOOOOOn", "sis", "baby sista", and he has said a lot of words just a few times such as "vitamin", "lion", and "strawberry." He still loves to 'talk' up a storm to anyone and although most of the time I can't fully understand what he is saying, sometimes I will understand a word or two which is very exciting! :o)

Daniel still LOVES his books, and since he always seems to go from a certain type of book for weeks before changing to another, the big genre this month has been animal books! Although my mom and I might be pretty tired of reading the same books over and over to him and thinking up animal noises to teach him, he does not mind the same books at all! He loves making certain animal noises and doing animal motions - hissing like a snake, waddling like a penguin, roaring like a lion, charging like a jaguar, beating/rubbing his chest like a monkey, and lots of others I can't think of right now. He has also started reaching up to his top shelf on his bookshelf and getting down all his paper-paged books instead of the board books. He LOVES the 'big boy books' although I've only let him read and play with certain ones so that hopefully they won't get all torn up. :o)

Over the last many months we have been singing Daniel the ABC song in his room, pointing to his ABC cross-stitched blanket from Scott's mom. Just in the last month and a half or so he started singing it with and to us! It is so cute because he has the 'tune' down and actually says the letters in order usually up to E or F but sometimes even further! Now he sings it all the time! Almost anytime he sees any letters on books, signs, TV, or other places he busts out singing "A, B, C, D, E, F..." He also sings it in the cat, especially if Lydia starts crying. We have been working on adding some new songs to his list so he does not completely wear out that one. :o)

Overall he has done so great adjusting to baby sister! He definitely loves her so much and has already turned into protective older brother! He has to know where she is at all times and thinks it is the saddest thing ever whenever she cries... He runs over to her to make sure she is okay and usually wipes her face with a burp cloth or a blanket (he has been watching us wipe off her face when she spits up just a few too many times). :o) It's so cute! I love having a boy and a girl! I'm so excited to see them grow older and pray they will be the best of buddies!

Okay, it's bath time for Daniel! :o) But first here are some random pictures of him from the month!

I have the best job EVER!

So I have decided that being a mom is the greatest thing in the whole wide world! :o) Even with the occasional stresses and times when I just want to cry, especially having two kids now, the same kids that might make me want to pull my hair out at times are also the reasons why I get through each day and why I usually get through the days with lots of laughter and smiles! And the number one person who makes me burst out laughing quite frequently would be my wonderful little boy, Daniel! He is quite the comedian at times and makes my days so much better! Between being entertained by him and holding my sweet little girl while looking at her peaceful little face, my days have been so enjoyable and amazing!

Today Daniel turned 17 months old and baby Lydia is officially 2 weeks and 4 days old! I have many things to tell about how much Daniel has grown and learned this month, but that busy, amazing job of mine is calling me. :o) Little girl wants to be fed, so I'll have to finish this post another time! I'll go ahead and post it but I will share this sweet little picture first!

Lydia's Birth Story

Saturday morning, September 3rd, started like almost any other weekend morning for us - getting up when Daniel woke up and bringing him in to hang out with Scott and I in bed for awhile before we made breakfast and talked about our plans for the day... Although I had been very ready to have our little baby for over a week, the night before had really been the first time I had noticed small contractions that were fairly consistent overall. But after they didn't continue over-night, I didn't think much about it until my mom texted or called Saturday morning to see how I was feeling. I decided after that that I might as well try to do all I could to get things started up again, so I decided that it would be a catch-up on cleaning and getting stuff done day and so all morning I did stuff trying not to sit down much at all. I felt pretty consistent contractions and while we walked over to Scott's parents around lunch time to deliver something, I got my first ones that actually felt much stronger. That afternoon Scott and I timed them some, but although they were getting closer together and lasted longer they were still not that intense, so by late afternoon I decided I needed to do something else or otherwise I felt like this whole day of consistent contractions 3-5 minutes apart would have been for nothing! So we joined my parents and Lelia for dinner at Chick fil A and then walked Sam's Club for over an hour until I couldn't walk through any of the contractions. We called my midwife to tell her what was up and she said to head home and see if the contractions continued while taking a bath and resting... We went over to Lelia's house since she lives in GJ but ended up leaving and heading home by 10 p.m. after my contractions almost stopped completely when I took a bath and rested. That was so disappointing because I SO wanted to have my little girl!!

I fell asleep fast and slept a good hour and a half before I awoke to much more intense contractions and back pain. I timed them some myself and woke up Scott 30 minutes later when I saw that they were hitting consistently at every 2 to 4 minutes apart and I was having to do consistent breathing through most of them. Within an hour they got a lot worse and we were heading to the hospital after Scott's mom came over to stay with Daniel. We met my parents and sisters there and made our way up to the 6th floor of St. Mary's Hospital room 618. We met our first nurse almost right away a little after 2 am, and she checked me and told me I was dilated to a 4. Two weeks prior I was 2 cm. so at least some progress had been made!

For the next six hours I labored and labored... Not much to say except for I had the most amazing team of helpers there! :o) Scott was awesome like he was with Daniel... I seriously don't know how I could ever go through something like that without him by my side encouraging me and helping me every step and breath of the way! :o) My mom and dad switched out being my lean-on person... they were awesome, also! My sister, Amanda, headed home after a little while to get some rest because she was very tired, but my other sister, Lelia, was there the entire time helping when she needed to but mainly watching and learning a lot about labor to get ready for her own come February! :o) Around 6 a.m. my new nurse arrived and she was incredible! I seriously don't think I could have done it without her encouragement and great advice getting through the contractions! She showed my parents and Scott different foot and hand massages they could do while I was going through contractions that felt AMAZING and she gave me a neck and shoulder massage while I was on the birthing ball at one point that made me almost fall asleep, even during the intense contractions! It was crazy! Anyway, around 6:30 a.m. my midwife checked me again and I was at 6 cm dilated, which wasn't as far along as I would have liked but things were going good so instead of breaking my water at that point I decided to keep going forward with what we were doing.

By 8:00 a.m. I decided to have them break my water, which they did and I was at 6 cm still! :o( Very discouraging, but I knew that breaking my water would speed things up, so I was hoping she'd arrive sometime in the next two or three hours at least! WELL, after that the labor got SO intense that I was about at the asking-for-an-epidural point because I seriously felt like I wouldn't last much longer! I was beyond exhausted and they were not letting me rest like at all! Scott told me to try the tub one more time to see if that would help me relax some. Right before I got in the tub I began feeling like I could push but I was a little scared because just 30 minutes ago they had told me I was only 6 cm, so I didn't want to push before I was ready! I told my midwife and she seemed fine with me pushing, though, so as soon as I got in the tub a contraction hit and I pushed. During that one contraction I pushed twice and with the second push she was out of me! It was crazy and a little scary as I screamed at Scott telling him "something is coming out" because he was the only one with me in the bathroom! My midwife ran in and got there just in time to 'catch' Lydia and put her up on me to hold. It was such an amazing moment but really a shock, also, because of how fast it all went! Poor Lelia was there waiting to see the delivery and totally missed it, along with my parents. I pretty much felt like I missed it because it happened so fast; I hardly knew what was happening! I couldn't believe I had had a water birth without planning to have one at all! As soon as she came out I remember thinking how small she was, especially compared to Daniel! AND, she had SOOOOO much hair! But she was adorable and I was so excited to finally be able to hold our little girl! :o) Her birthdate was Sunday, September 4th, 2011, and she was born at 9 in the morning!

They cleaned her off and did all the measurements and she weighed in at 8 lbs. 5.4 oz. and was 21 in. long with a 13 7/8 in. head. Absolutely perfect in every way! It was an amazing labor and delivery and totally worth every bit of pain when I was able to hold our little Lydia Grace Slade!

In the next few hours her uncles, Bryan, Geoffrey, and Wayne all came to see her, and her Aunt Amanda and cousin Vienna. We all hung out with her for awhile enjoying every minute before heading up to the recovery room where we'd stay until the next morning. She had many more visitors during the day and the next morning but she missed most of it because of sleeping so much! :o) But that meant I was able to hold her lots and that was amazing every single time! Her big brother, Daniel, came up with Grandma and Grandpa to see her Sunday afternoon and Daniel loved her almost right away! He gave her lots of big kisses and hugs and it was SO sweet seeing him with his "baby sister." Scott and I have the best kids ever and I couldn't even imagine a better family than the one I have! :o) God has blessed us beyond imaginable - I am SO thankful for my amazing family!

Here are some of the pictures of the labor, right after she was born, and during the day on Sunday and Monday! Enjoy! :o)

First week of a family of four!

This has been such an awesome week with my little family! I know I still have not written Lydia's birth story on here yet, but I will get to that eventually. :o) I just wanted to share what all we've done this week - her first week out in the world with us!

Monday was the day we left the hospital to come home, which was very exciting! It was nice having that time in the hospital to just rest, recuperate a bit, and spend time with little Lydia, but it was SO nice being home with Daniel and feeling like a little family again! My parents came over to help us pack everything up and load everything up in the car. We drove back right around lunch-time, stopping off to get lunch for Scott and I at Burger King on the way home. Lydia enjoyed the ride in her carseat once she got on the interstate... she definitely likes the constant movement of the car instead of the stop-and-go in town. We got home and had a grand welcome from little Daniel and Scott's mom, who had been staying with Daniel since we went in to the hospital Saturday night. (She was AMAZING and Daniel had a great time!) Daniel was a little perplexed at first when he saw Daddy take out his old carseat with a baby in it from the van... But he has figured out already that she is here to stay... :o) Whenever she happens to be in another room sleeping he looks all over for her and oftentimes has to be shown where she is. He's already turning into protective big brother! :o) It's so sweet!







Anyway, Monday afternoon my parents came over and hung out with us to help with whatever as we got settled in... That was such a fun time just hanging out with them, seeing them get that special time with Lydia, and my nap was really nice, too. :o) Mom and Dad bought an "It's a Girl" balloon for Lydia which Daniel LOVES, a super cool truck that zooms across the floor for Daniel which he loves too, and some beautiful flowers for me! :o) Scott and I tried to spend some good time playing and reading to Daniel and he seemed to adapt really well that day even with all the changes. That evening Scott's parents came over with shepherd's pie for dinner and Lelia and Wayne also joined us all for a great dinner! Lelia and Wayne spent a lot of time holding Lydia that evening, which they loved. :o) It's SO exciting to think about them having the next little one in the family! YAY! We hung out for awhile that evening until Daniel went to bed, being greatly entertained by him the whole time. He is definitely the comedic relief in this family! :o)





Monday night went pretty good overall. We put Lydia in the bassinet once everyone left around 9, but she started crying soon after and I just couldn't stand a little 1 1/2 day old crying, so I ended up letting her sleep on me most of the night, with Scott taking over one session so I could sleep for a few hours in bed. I slept fine because I was so tired, and she weighs like nothing so it was fun having her cuddle up on me and sleep! She has been really good from day one with eating every 3 hours, so that has been nice and helps me get a good solid 2 hours of sleep shifts for the most part. It's amazing how God gives mommies the strength they need to go from having lots of sleep (I was getting a good 8-9 hours of sleep at least every night during the pregnancy) to such interrupted sleep, but I actually feel pretty good overall!

Tuesday morning we hung out with Daniel, took a nap when he did, and enjoyed family time together. (It has been SOOOOOO nice having Scott here this week! I wish he could just stay all the time, but I know someone has to work, so hopefully it'll still all go okay even when he's gone.) Right after lunch we all headed into town for Lydia's bilirubin test to check on her jaundice. It was so hard seeing her go through that little bit of pain when they prick her heel, but she was a trooper and did great! After that I really wanted a Chai latte so we went over to Four Winds and enjoyed some time hanging out there with Jessica who met us over there, holding sweet Lydia, and watching Daniel have fun climbing up and down on the couches. It was so much fun just hanging out especially with Daniel in such a great mood! We then continued our afternoon out by going over to our friend, Jenny's, place where Daniel enjoyed playing outside with Daddy in water and with lots of toys while I visited with Jenny for awhile. Amanda and Vienna came over for a little bit, also, to see Lydia and were able to hold her for awhile before we headed home with a very tired Daniel... He was plumb tuckered out playing with his friends!





Tuesday evening our friend, Kacey, and her little boy, Connor, came over and brought us dinner which was amazing! :o) It was fun just hanging out with them for awhile! So many of our friends and family have been amazing and have brought us meals every day! I feel so blessed and definitely well taken care of! After they left Laura and Brandon and their little boy came over and brought us breakfast and stayed for awhile! It was so great seeing them again, but also sad because after being here all summer they are heading back to Oregon in a week! :o( I'm so glad Laura was at least able to make it over to see baby Lydia before they left! Soon after they left Uncle Bryan came over to see his favorite niece and nephew and he was able to hold Lydia a good amount of time before leaving in time for us all to head to bed. That night we tried out her swing sleeping and she did really well overall... slept great, waking every three hours or so to feed, until 4:15 when she was done with the swing so slept on me the rest of the night. :o)

Wednesday morning Mom came for the morning to help us with whatever we needed which ended up being taking care of Lydia after she played with Daniel outside for awhile. Scott had a chyro appointment that morning so he was able to go into town for that and run some errands and pick us all up some coffee. It was so nice having mom there because I was actually able to take a shower! Yay! :o) Andrea came over right before lunch to bring a delicious meal for dinner and after she left we ate lunch before Dr. Natalie, my chyro came to do an adjustment on Lydia and me. That was amazing and it was amazing how almost right away Lydia began feeling better and not having as much gas in her tummy! Plus she finally began pooping much more than before! Yay for poops! Lol. :o) The joys of motherhood! Wednesday evening we just hung out at the house and had a great dinner together as a little family... Lydia actually went down in bassinet for like 30 minutes before crying so the rest of us were able to eat together which Daniel loved! He is all about everyone eating together at the table! We watched the movie "Tangled" that evening as a family and it was so much fun all sitting together on the couch - our awesome family of four!











Wednesday night was Lydia's best night of sleep so far! She slept in the swing again, which hopefully she will switch off of soon... but, she slept great and even gave mommy three hours of sleep in a row when she made it four hours between a feeding! SO nice! And we all stayed in bed until like 8:15 which was awesome!

Thursday we didn't do all that much... at lunch time we were able to put Lydia in her little bouncer seat near the table while the rest of us ate, which was nice. Daniel was so cute because he kept trying to offer some of his food to her. :o) He just didn't want her to be left out! He is such a great big brother! After Daniel's afternoon nap, we headed into town for Lydia's second bilirubin test. Poor little girl cried even more than last time... mommy really does not like those tests! :o( We ran by David and Jessica's for a few minutes after to pick up our dinner - amazing, yet again - and then headed home to eat! We ate and then my parents and sister, Lelia, came over. Dad and Scott had a softball game and us girls hung out with baby girl while Daniel slept. That night was rough... From like seven that evening to four the next morning Lydia only got a few minutes of sleep at a time and was crying/screaming most of the time in between very frequent feedings and like six diaper changes! Mommy had definitely eaten something that did not agree with her and it was so sad seeing her go through it... :o( Finally after feeding her at 4 she started feeling better and slept on Scott while I got three hours of sleep for the first time all night!





















Friday morning I ventured out on my own with Lydia and took her to her Dr. appointment. They were going to check on her bilirubin and weight gain and both looked awesome! She had gone down from 9.2 earlier that week to a 7.something... SO nice to hear! AND, even though I was thinking she still had not gained her birth weight back, she had and totally passed it, too! At birth she was 8 lbs. 5.4 oz. and when she left hospital she was down to 8 lbs. 1 oz. and she is now 8 lbs. 8 oz! :o) So, definitely doing well! That dr. visit was pretty much the easiest thing ever... Lydia slept the entire time I was gone including while the Dr. and I were holding her! She is quite the sleepy-head! Lol. :o)

I got home with her and was able to just keep her in her car-seat sleeping while I got a nap and showered while Daniel was napping before both the kids woke up at 12:15. I love it when they are both sleeping! :o) We had lunch and then went into town again to go get some things at Wal-mart and Target. That went great and we were able to get back home in time for Daniel's nap and to be here before Levi, Jasmine, and Jaxon came over bringing another delicious meal! We visited with them awhile while Daniel and Jax played all over the place and then Daniel escorted them to the door - lol. He seriously waved bye and then walked to the door and tried to open it for them. :o) After dinner my sister Amanda came over and I had a great evening talking with her after Daniel was down for bed... Lydia slept on her for a few hours and then we put Lydia in her PJs and Amanda left. I fed and put her down by 9:30 and she has been an amazing sleeper so far tonight! It is 5:20 Sat. morning as I type this... She woke at 12:45 after her first shift in swing and then she slept from 1:45 until 4:45 in the bassinet!! So exciting! I am about to put her back down in bassinet and hopefully she'll have a great time again!







~~~~~ So, that has been our amazing week so far! Lydia has already been such a blessing to our lives... I already can't imagine us not being a family of four! I've been so happy that Daniel has adapted so well overall! God has definitely blessed us beyond what I could have imagined! I love my family SOOOOO much! :o)