First Weekend together

This weekend we hung out together as a family of 4! I was so worried on Saturday night when it started raining! I wanted Emily to go trick or treating so bad. We ran to her preschool for their trunk or treat just in case we didn't get to go out in the neighborhood:
Here is Mrs Myrna. She is the director of Emily's preschool:

Thankfully it was just a light drizzle when we got home and all the kids in the neighborhood were out, so we bundled up and walked around with several of our neighbors:

When Emily saw them she said she wanted to walk around "with my kids". Here she is with Sophia:
Abigail was even dressed for the occassion even though no one saw here because she was bundled up and covered in her stroller:

Emily got to eat a sucker for the first time:

On Sunday I went to a Sew What class with Abigail. She slept some in a corner of the store in a Moses basket I'm borrowing from a friend. I did manage to get some things done:
Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

2 Weeks Old!

Abigail is 2 weeks old today!

She continues to be a sweetie and sleeps well thru all the chaos in our house. Joe and I were laughing the other day thinking about how when Emily came home from the hospital we put her in her crib, turned on a fan for noise, cracked her door and whispered while we were all the way in the kitchen! With Abigail she sleeps with her door wide open or in the swing in the living room or in the pack n play in the dining room and even sleeps while Emily is up in her face talking to her or singing to her . . . so funny! And there is always noise all around her and it doesn't bother her a bit. I hope it stays that way.


Today Emily has had 2 successes in the potty department and only 1 accident. We stayed accident free until about 1:30 today. I have no idea if anything is clicking with her yet or if I'm just getting lucky . . . .we'll see. Now that my mom is gone I'm sure I won't get so lucky on the accident free department . . . but we really do want this girl potty trained so keep sending up the prayers!

Here is Emily helping my dad unload a sewing table:My parents left about 2:00 today and no major drama to report yet : ) Emily and Abigail are both sleeping!

My mom was a great help and we were sad to see them go . . . but know that we have to jump into this new life at some point so ready or not HERE WE GO!

What We're Up To

We are still spending our time getting used to caring for 2 children this week. My mom is still here and has helped so much. I'm going to be REALLY sad when she leaves on Friday. Monday will be my first day to go it alone.

Here is sweet Abigail getting her bath. She loves getting her hair washed but hates a bath. So here she is calm while I'm washing her hair:

Here she is peacefully sleeping after her bath is over:

This week has been a little harder with Emily. She has been enjoying herself immensely by being a typical 2 year old . . . alot! I know it has to do with getting used to my time being divided with Abigail and with my mom being here so she feels out of her element . . . but oh my word . . . help me! Last night I basically melted down. When Joe got home I went upstairs with Abigail and just hung out in my room for about 30 minutes chilling out . . . it was the only way to stay sane. Then I went to put Emily to bed and things were going well with reading books, etc . . . and then she decided to have another tantrum about something, and before I realized what I was doing, I had picked her up to put her in her bed. Which I'm not supposed to do because of my c-section. Anyway, I went to the doctor today for my check up and my fabulous OB gave me some great advice for how to handle 2 year olds . . . he said instead of trying to get Emily to do what I want and fighting her all the time, to just try walking away and ignoring her when she decides to be a typical 2 year old. He said I'm healing fine and didn't do any damage from lifting a 27 pound child.

Today was a much better day (thank you Lord). Getting outside to go for a walk around the neighborhood and playing in the back yard helped get rid of some tension in the house. We have been in the throes of potty training this week (yes I know I'm crazy trying this with a 1 week old at home . . . but my mom is here and it is easier to try to do this with 2 adults at home) and FINALLY had a success tonight with #1 and #2 . . . after 3 full days of NOTHING but accidents all over the place . . . the girl FINALLY went in the potty. We'll see if she got what she was doing at all tomorrow when we get up and try it all over again . . . . have mercy this training is SO HARD TO DO! This girl has been so adamant for so long about not trying anything that I just had to try this week to see if 100 accidents would finally add up to her getting it and getting this child out of diapers. Two kids in diapers is about to put us in the poor house. I even broke down and bought a little potty just so we wouldn't spend half our day in the confines of a bathroom . . . I'm so desperate because those little potties GROSS ME OUT.

Here is Emily enjoying her ice cream treat after her success tonight:

Another new thing Emily has started doing this week is getting up out of her bed and getting out of her room at night and during nap time. She hasn't tried this before with the door closed but now does it 2 or 3 times before finally staying put . . . so we've had to get creative on consequences for getting out of bed. Fun times!

One Week Old

Abigail is 1 week old today!

Emily has enjoyed helping out this week. She brings me diapers and sang to Abigail in the car the other day when she was crying. It has been sweet.
She also wanted to bring her some milk and food last night while Abigail was in the swing:

It has been a good first week at home. Recovering from having a 2nd baby sure has been a lot easier than recovery from the first. I think it's because you have to get up and moving when you have a toddler in the house so recovery hasn't been as bad for me. My mom will continue to stay with us next week . . . yea! It's been great having her here. My mom's birthday was yesterday so I took her out to lunch while Emily was at school.

Welcome to the world Abigail!

Abigail Kathryn entered the world on Friday, October 16th! We came home on Monday afternoon and are doing well. Emily has wanted to see Abigail sleeping and wanted to help give her a bath today and brings her toys all the time. She has been sweet. The first couple of days home it took me, my mom, and Joe to take care of 2 children! We were sad when Joe headed off to work today. Here are a few pictures of our new sweet baby girl.

The night before we headed to the hospital:

She is here! Emily getting to meet Abigail:

Dr. Kelley delivered Emily and Abigail:

Both Grandmothers meeting Abigail:

PawPaw and DeeDee:Grandmama:

Uncle Robert:Aunt Chelle: (Michelle)

Going home. We were ready to go at 8:30 Monday morning thinking the pediatrician was coming by before office hours . . . but she didn't come by until lunch time. But it did give us a few more hours to rest in our cocoon of a hospital room before the reality of taking care of 2 children settled in at home:
When the pediatrician did check Abigail out, she proceeded to blow poop across the room while her diaper was off! She did it twice to the doctor! The doctor was quick though and managed to dodge being hit. It was pretty funny. We were cleaning it off of the floor and the side of the hospital bed. We know how to leave a room in style : ) I hope they used a lot of cleaning solution on that room when we left.

We got home at 3:00 on Monday:

Emily loves checking Abigail out while she is sleeping. We do have to keep an eye on her because she keeps trying to put stuffed animals in her bed to let her sleep with:

We managed to do a photo shoot this morning for an announcement picture. Here are a few of them:Emily thought Abigail's head falling to the side was really funny:

Sweet sisters. My prayer is that they will be the best of friends. I have a wonderful relationship with my sister and I want the same for Emily and Abigail. Emily named her sister so they already have a special bond.

Countdown

Well we are in countdown mode now. If I don't go into labor this week we will have a c-section on Friday, Oct 16th! I can't believe the time has come to meet our 2nd daughter! We will soon be a family of 4.

This weekend we took it easy and spent time together as a family of 3 and rested alot. I did get this pumpkin shirt embroidered last week so Emily could have something for the month of October:
On Saturday we ran some errands, took long naps, and ate out : ) It was nice. On Sunday after church we walked around the mall a little. Joe got Emily some toys at the D*sney Store . . . he's such a sucker : ) Here they are walking down the mall with Emily's new bag:
This morning Emily and I took it easy. It's our last lazy day together since the rest of the week is tied up in working and doctor appointments. It was raining all morning so it was a nice day to just stay home. She lined all her chairs up in her room and read some books:
It's now after 5:00 and she is still in her pajamas. She didn't want to change clothes so I didn't make her. I suppose our next entry on here will be our new addition to the family. Suddenly over the last couple of days Emily has changed baby sister's name to Abigail instead of Anna. So we'll see what we name her on Friday!

Prayers are appreciated.

State Fair and More Work around the house

This weekend my brother Robert came to bring a buffet table to me to store china, to help us install a new toilet in the master bath, to pick up a twin mattress for the nursery, and to help me decide where to hang pictures . . . so we had a busy weekend! But I now officially have all boxes unpacked . . . yea!!!!!! That is a major accomplishment for me and makes my nesting instinct feel at ease. We still have some pictures to hang, but I'm so thankful they aren't in boxes anymore. Here are Joe and Robert installing the new toilet:
Saturday morning we also managed to squeeze in time to go to the State Fair! I'm so glad we got to go because Emily hasn't been since she was 8 months old. The rides were free for the first hour we were there so we squeezed in as many rides as we could for Emily and Riley:

The guys managed to squeeze in a few free rides too. Here is my brother on some crazy contraption slinging him upside down. He's the one in the blue shirt 2nd from the right:

They also had some animals to check out and Emily and I fed this elephant some strawberries and watermelon:We also HAD to partake in fair food which consisted of turkey legs, corn dogs, and roasted corn . . . a must when you go to the fair! We had a great time with Jason, April and Riley and Jason's parents . . . and with my brother Robert:
Thanks for such a great weekend!!!!