The BIG sis...

Our household has defiantly changed since bringing home Alaina.  Addie has been such a great big sister and helps out whenever asked (let's hope this will last). We are appreciating the age difference of Addie and Lainey, as big sis does many of her daily tasks on her own at this point.

I have not done an update on Addie for awhile, so this is what she is up to...
- Addie is a goofball...just like her dad.  She will do anything to make someone laugh and makes lots of silly faces!

- We are never sure of what may come out of her mouth.  Most of the time we are laughing at many of the things she says.  She tells the truth, that's for sure!  Here are some that I can remember as of late:
      - "That's not spit-up, that's puke!"
      - "Wow!  Sissy has a lot of poop in her!"
      - "Ahh mom, this has been such a long day.  I am so glad to be home." (we were only gone for 3 hrs!)
      - "Mom, you are irritating me!" ME: "Why?"  Addie: "Because you won't stop telling me to put on my pajamas!  I heard you the first time!" 

- She loves to sing, and makes up her own songs.  They are quite interesting!  She walks around with her Tinkerbell flashlight, which she calls her microphone.  Many times she gets REALLY loud, but it's fun to listen to her lyrics!

- She is now learning how to write her alphabet and identify her letters and numbers.  I have been working with her since I have been home.  It's been quite the experience!!

- She loves her school time and really likes to have me give her homework for daddy to help her with when he gets home (I am hoping that this also will last...until teenage years)!

- She weighs in at a whoppin 40lbs and is in 5T clothes.  She is so tall!

- She loves to help her daddy, and is "working" with him any chance she gets.  It's wonderful to see their relationship grow!

- She does so well with pretend play.  We are always "tending" with her.  It's so cute to listen to her play with her babies and talk on her fake phone! 

- She is very observant and inquisitive.  She does not let anything go until she feels she fully understands and will continue to ask you questions until she gets it.  There have been many times when we have to work really hard to change the direction of the conversation, because it's just too much!  She has asked several questions on nursing Lainey and Dan and I before she was born.  Here are some examples of the crazy questions we have had to answer!:
      - "Dad, do you have milk coming out of your boobies?  Are you going to pump it out?"
      - "Mom, why can't I drink any of your milk?"
      - "Where was I before I was born?  Who was taking care of me?  Did I get left all alone?"
      - "Where is Emma's mommy?  Why doesn't she come and visit?"
      - "Can I feed sissy with my boobs?"
Yeah---Really?!! How do you answer some of these for a three year old?!!  We do our best!

- She is beginning to put together how family is made up.  How each of us are related.  She loves to clarify this during conversations.  "Grandma Jenny, is your mom.  You are her daughter."

- Like I said before, she is such a great big sis.  She helps me out all the time.  When I ask her to do something, she replies, "Yes, mom.  I can certainly do that for you!"  So darn cute!

- She is able to dress and bathe herself (just needing help to rinse out her hair)--really nice when you have a newborn!

- For the most part, she listens well and stays out of trouble.  BUT, she IS a toddler and there are rough days!  We do our best to redirect -- or just simply ignore.

- She will be starting school this fall in a three year old program.  She is not able to be in the four year old class, even though she will be four a few weeks after school starts because of when her birthday falls.  She is super excited to begin school -- Dan and I, on the other hand, are having a hard time coping with the fact that our little girl will be starting school!

- She is a night owl...never in bed before 10pm!  It's been even worse since we brought Lainey home.  Lainey nurses around 10, so she feels the need to stay up with all of us!  She hasn't been getting up until 9am or so, SO we are going to need to change up our routine soon to get back in the mode of mom going to work!

Here are some Addie pics!

She loves to feed her sis every chance she gets!  She was holding Lainey the other day when Lainey began to fuss because she was hungry.  Addie looks up at me and says, "I'll keep holding her, you go pump and I will feed her with the bottle!"  She has an answer to everything!!

Addie pretends Emma is her baby...poor Emma!

We have not been able to plant flowers outside, so we planted some inside!

Yes, she did try to walk out the door with two different boots.  Love the logic of a 3 year old.  She said that she could not find her other cowboy boot, so she made sure she put on two boots!

Addie at the school carnival...

Playing outside on one of our few nice days...

I am so in love with my two girls!  Life is good! 

Alaina Jean at ONE month!

Saturday Lainey turned 1 month old.  Time has been flying since little Lainey was born, but we are soaking up every minute of it!  The weather has not been cooperating with us this spring, so we have spent most of our days at home.  I am hoping that the rest of my maternity leave is a little warmer so we can get outside with both girls!

 

Lainey has started to give us some "non-gas" smiles!  Big deal in our house this past week!  Addie loves to work on making her sister smile.

 

We are in 3 month clothes and size 1 diapers.  She has really been filling out the past two weeks!  We weighed her the other night and she is approximately 12lbs! 

 

We have been falling into somewhat of a routine (yay!!) the past week or so.  She is up around 7am, eats, and then is up most of the morning.  This is the most alert time of her day, so Addie and I love to soak it up!  She then eats around 10, then takes her morning nap.  She eats about every 3 hours or so during the day, as I let her set her schedule.  She sleeps much of the rest of the day, and is up for awhile before her bedtime feeding.  She still wakes up once in the night to nurse, which is about every 4.5 hours in the night!  Addie still takes a nap after lunch and many days I can get the girls down at the same time, which is wonderful!!

 

Lainey at ONE MONTH!!

 

Such a happy girl!  Love her smiles :)

 

 

 

 

Sitting with Grandpa...probably thinking he is full of bologna!

 

 

she loves to sit up and watch everything

 

Grandpa G's first time holding her!

 

We have had lots of visitors, which Addie loves!  My friend, Lizzy made a surprise visit from West Virgina.  It made my week!  I am so glad we got to see her!!

 

Lainey really didn't know what to think during her first ride in the swing!

 

Tummy time with the boppy...

 

I love sleeping babies!

 

I tried to get a picture of Lainey in her leggings, but she didn't want one!  This was the best we got!

 

Hard to believe how fast this month has gone for us!  Makes me sad to think of how fast your children grow.  Seems like yesterday that Addie was this little!  We are taking in each moment, cuddling LOTS and just spending time together.  Before I know it, I will be going back to work.  Okay--done thinking about that! 

 

Happy ONE MONTH Lainey!  We can NOT imagine our lives without you!

Lainey's newborn pics

The photos were taken by Ashley Schrage.  She was new to us and she did a wonderful job!  She put up with us for 3 hours to get these pictures, so she truly is a saint!  Little miss Lainey did not want to sleep for her pictures, and after taking 45 minutes to nurse her to sleep, she vomited all over herself and Ashley's furniture.  It was awful!!!  BUT, we finally got her to sleep and captured some wonderful pictures!  It was all worth it!

Alaina's birth story...

Alaina was a scheduled c-section due to having a c-section with Addie.  We had it scheduled for the first day of spring.  Perfect day to welcome new life!  I had a lot of mixed emotions of having another c-section, but it turns out that it wasn't so bad!

We had to be at the hospital by 5:30am for a 7:30am surgery.  Big sister went to stay with Grandma and Grandpa the night prior so she wouldn't have to get up so early.  Addie was impatiently awaiting her sister to arrive, and told me the day prior that one more day was going to be "way too long!" 

After arriving to the hospital, we checked in and were taken up to OB.  I had my IV started, answered lots of questions, and did a few more things (that will be left to your imagination).  We then had time to just sit and wait for the surgery team to be ready for us.  I happened to hear the doctor say that surgery began at 7:32am. 

At 7:37am our little Alaina Jean was born.  She weighed a whopping 8lbs. 3oz. and was 20.5 inches long.  She let the world know she had arrived with fist in the air and loud cries.  I will have to say that hearing your babe cry for the first time is the most amazing sound in the world.  When they brought Alaina over to meet me, all I could think was how much she looked like her big sister, and how much I couldn't wait for the darn surgery to be over so I could hold her.  Dan went with Alaina to the nursery to take care of her while they finished my surgery.

Surgery went very well.  My doc came in after surgery and said as far as he was concerned we could do as many c-sections as I wanted.  I laughed and told him that I didn't think my husband would agree!!  Recovery has been a breeze the second time around.  They had me walking that evening.  We tried earlier, but couldn't keep my blood pressure up, so they made me stay in bed a little longer. 

Alaina has been a wonderful eater.  She was able to latch properly during our first feeding and it has been smooth sailing since.  I had a nurse tell me one night that we were the breastfeeding champs of the OB unit.  I was SO proud, since we didn't have that kind of luck with Addie. 

The hospital stay was also a breeze and the doctor let us go home a day early since Alaina and I were doing so well.  Dan and I were both ready to get home! We came home that Friday and have been adjusting well since we returned home!

Overall, it was a great experience and recovery the second time around was much easier than the first time.  We have been very blessed!  We are SO enjoying time as a family of four!!  Here are a few more pictures to share from my phone...

Me and the girls...

Addie meeting her little sister for the first time...

Cozy ride

 We tried out the sling for the first time a few nights ago and Alaina enjoyed riding with momma around the house!

With two children, it really comes in handy!  Especially trying to keep up with #1, who you can see crazily running around the house!

3 weeks old!

Alaina is 3 weeks old today!  She continues to do wonderful and is growing each and every day.

Alaina had a growth spurt this week.  I wish I could weigh her to see what she has gained.  She went a few days where she wanted to nurse every hour.  It was very tiring for momma, but we made it through!  You can tell her face is filling out, along with the rest of her!  Typically she eats every 3 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night.

She seemed to outgrow her newborn clothes overnight.  She is now in 0-3 months and size 1 diapers.

She is more awake during the day, and at times seems to fight sleep.  I don't think she wants to miss out on anything!

 

She dislikes bath time very much!  It is an all out crying fit when she takes one and it takes two of us to give her a bath because she gets so mad!

 

She is following voices and hold her head up well.  We have started tummy time, which she isn't a big fan of.  Addie loves to lay on the floor with her and talk away.  You can tell Lainey really wants to say something back, but it comes out as more of a grunt.

Tummy time with Addie and Emma...

 On Saturday Dan's aunt had a sprinkle for Alaina.  Big sis Addie got to show off her sister and help open presents.  It was a great way to Alaina to meet more of the family!

It's been another great week!  Just soaking in all this time with the girls before I return to work in 9 weeks...