Our family of five

Monday morning, February 15, 2016 I was induced.  I was supposed to be at the hospital at 7:30am, however they called and said they didn't have any beds available and I was to call back at 9 to get a new induction time.  I did and they told me to come to the hospital at 10:30, and so I did.  My doctor scheduled the induction that day because she wanted to deliver the baby herself.  She came in at 11:30 and broke my water...I was a whopping 2cm.  She said she was on duty until 6pm so we needed to deliver before then.  My doctor came back to visit and check me at 5pm and said I was close, but only 5-6cm.  At 5:50 my doctor was paged to deliver.  My doctor came in thrilled that I made the 6pm deadline (though she likely would've stayed a little longer for me). 

At 5:56pm, Elise was born.  She weighed 7lbs 12 oz and was 19 inches long.

Connor and Chloe came to the hospital twice to visit their baby sister.  Chloe was fascinated with the trucks outside the window.  Connor enjoyed holding Elise.

We stayed in the hospital one night and then headed home.

Connor and Chloe love holding Elise.  Chloe is fascinated with having a baby.  She giggles with delight every time Elise sneezes or makes any type of sound.

Connor and Chloe are getting a little sister

Well most of you who read this already know we have another little bun in the oven.  But for those who don't live near here or talk to us often...Today we found out we're having another girl.  Everything in the baby looks good, but I have to get a more detailed ultrasound done soon to check on something in the uterus...though I've been told not to worry about it yet, it probably isn't a big deal (gosh that was so comforting). 

I was pretty sure this one was going to be a girl.  This pregnancy has so far been identical to Chloe's...Perfect!  I haven't been sick much (puked twice).  I was tested at 12 weeks for the 1 hour glucose test (lucky me I get to do it super early and more often since I had gestational diabetes with Connor).  I have never passed the 1 hour test before, and I passed it!  I was shocked!  I go back in between 24 and 28 weeks to test again, which puts me before Thanksgiving...arg! 

Baby girl is due February 16, 2016

All things PINK baby shower

Last weekend my co-workers threw a baby shower for Denise and I.  Denise is due in October.  We are both expecting girls so this was an all pink party.  The theme was a tea party.  Karin-our host, really outdid herself and nearly everyone pitched in to help. 

As I walked up to the front door there were two teddy bears enjoying a tea party.  Inside Karin had made an assortment of teas-hot, cold, decaf, I was told they were really good.

 

 I went with a blood orange soda-yummy.  We also had little cucumber sandwiches, quiche, scones, cookies, basically all things yummy.  There was also a table with lots of candy to take home in goody bags.  I brought home a bunch of miniature gummy bears...Connor was thrilled! 

For all special occasions my work orders these princess cakes-and boy are they amazing!

 We played the baby game where we get a clothespin and we can't say the word baby for the whole shower.  I'm generally lousy at this game, but I caught two people and that was enough to win the game.  It was hilarious when I caught Denise-she had like 5 clips and had to give them all to me.  We played a game where you guess the total price of all the items in a basket.  At the end Denise and I were told to share the items.  Well given that I still have a child in diapers at home I already had the butt paste, wipes, baby shampoo, powder, lotion, nose sucker outer thing, and I just recently bought a package of newborn diapers and a Costco sized package of size 1 diapers.  So really I didn't need anything.  The only item in the basket that I could use were the pacifiers.  So I took that and told Denise to keep everything else.  She said she doesn't use baby powder at home....and that's where I caught her saying the word baby.  It was pretty funny.

 

The gift table-after all the gifts were opened. Denise and I got a lot of girl clothes.

A really pretty centerpiece.  I took this one home. It looks great on my kitchen table.

Denise, Karin and Me

Enjoying a yummy piece of cake.

 Estella (co-worker) took all of these pictures and emailed them to me.

A friend from church told me she had a bag of girl clothes that her 5 month old had outgrown and she had some boy clothes too that she wanted to get rid of.  I took her up on the offer and to my surprise she brought over 5 bags and a box!  The box and one bag was all boy clothes mostly 3T-6.  A bag and a half were all baby blankets-Lots and Lots of baby blankets.  Then the rest were baby clothes ranging from newborn to 24 months.  I enjoyed going through it all and picking out favorites.  I could tell that they lived in Utah before moving here.  Many of the clothes were for cold weather-which won't work for my summer baby.  My mom and I went shopping before all of this and got several cute outfits as well.  And Sean and Amy are moving here and bringing with them all the girl clothes that Amy and Mary have accumulated from their kids.  Mary also kept some of her favorites and passed them on to me as she doesn't plan on having any more kids after her little boy, which is due in December.  I think this little girl is going to be well dressed.  With Connor, a family gave us a ton of hand me down toys so we didn't have to buy toys for a LONG time-we still don't have to, but we do anyway.  Looks like I'll have the same situation here except with girl clothes.  I'm really excited about it all.

"Did I really want to know that?" - Peter

Friday Peter came with me to my doctor appointment. Peter had the day off of work and I had told him that they are doing different things now. I guess I got him excited so he really wanted to come with me. We went into the ultrasound room where the doctor checked the fluid levels around the baby. She made the comment that there was a lot of fluid around the baby which was part amniotic and part baby pee. She went on to say that when I'm well hydrated, the baby is well hydrated and pees a lot. This got Peter's curiosity going. He asks, "Where does the pee go?" At this point I'm like, "You don't want to know the answer to that question." The doctor then says, "Well the baby eats it." This is followed by Peter pulling a sour face. The doctor then goes on to explain the whole process, meanwhile Peter is beside himself totally grossing out. I then had to add my two cents, "Well you know the baby poops too don't you?" I was trying hard not to laugh. My doctor sure did get a good laugh though. Then Peter says, "It's okay to tell me lies, I really don't need to know the truth." I explain to the doctor that my hubby is just a tad squeamish.

From here we went into the next room. I got to relax in a lazy boy with monitors strapped to my belly for a good 20-30 minutes. Every time I go in now I get to relax with monitors strapped to me. Basically the monitors check the baby's heart rate as well as contractions. I have a little button I push whenever I feel any movement.

This Friday I have an appointment at the hospital for the last detailed ultrasound to determine the weight and such. From there I expect they'll set up a date to induce if I don't go into labor on my own....I'm 37 weeks now...our little squirt is almost here.

Surprise Baby Shower!

Today my co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower and boy it sure was a surprise to me! My boss nearly ruined it earlier in the day, but luckily I was so oblivious that I didn’t notice a thing. All morning long everyone did their best to hide presents in the little office. They got to work before me and conveniently took their gifts to the office and I never saw a thing. Then people went out and got a cake and balloons and again I didn’t see a thing. Then I had a meeting with my boss today at 12:30. There was someone in her office so she took me to the little office and was surprised that the door was locked. She unlocked the door and told me to go in. It was dark in there so I didn’t see anything. She told me to take a seat and then turned on the light. At that moment she saw all the gifts behind me (which I of course didn’t notice) and told me “oh shoot there’s financial stuff all out, we have to go somewhere else.” I get up and walk out and was completely oblivious to the whole thing. We had our meeting in her office and then I went back to class. After school on Wednesdays we always have staff meetings, so I went and got my snack from my classroom and was the last one into the meeting. When I got to the door it was shut, which was weird because the last person always shuts the door and I guess I was the last one today. I opened the door and they all shout “SURPRISE!!!!” I was shocked! There were blue and green balloons everywhere. All of the white boards said, “Congrats Mandy, or It’s a Boy!” Hanging from the ceiling on yarn were several diapers held up with clothespins. It was super cute. There was food on the table and a large stack of presents in a corner next to a special comfy chair with a ribbon and balloons on it for me. It was pretty awesome! I’ve never been surprised like that before!

We ate turkey roll things from Costco, veggies and dip. Then I opened presents and then we had this super yummy cake. I was just a tad naughty and had a really tiny piece of the cake, but I didn’t eat the marzipan on top, since that is basically pure sugar. It was really good.

The running theme was Winnie the Pooh (my co-workers know me well). One girl gave me this giant pooh trick or treat bag with a pooh plush and a bunch of clothes inside it. Everyone said I’ll have to take a picture of the baby inside the pooh bag propped up so he sticks out. When he’s older he’ll have the biggest trick or treat bag ever.

One of the funniest gifts I received is called “Pee-pee Teepee for the sprinkling wee-wee.” I had never heard of these before but seriously is probably a super smart invention for baby boys.

Some books

And here's a bump picture for those that really wanted to see it.

Baby shower/Nesting

Last Saturday Ellen, Gretchen and Mary threw me a baby shower. Here are some of the cute gifts I received...can you tell who this stroller is? Notice the ears on top :)

Some really cute toys

Diapers and books

Some cute clothes and blankets

I got these from a couple parents at work. The little bear at the bottom was made by one parent and the outfits and blankets came from another parent.

My mom made this for us-it's yellow gingham with bumble bees in the middle to go with the crib bedding.

My mom also made this nursing shawl, and I have been working on crocheting a blanket for some time now. I originally made it for my first nephew who is now in fourth grade, when I didn't finish it in time I decided to make it for my second nephew who is in kindergarten now...again I didn't finish it on time...so now it belongs to Squirt. I think I'm almost done.
Now Peter is enjoying the little things that I keep doing to prepare for the arrival of our little one. Yesterday he told me that I was definitely nesting....I was doing an inventory of our clothes to see how much of each size we have, to determine if we had enough. I have also gone shopping a few times and spent....well I had fun shopping :) I bought some necessities as well as some fun things that I just HAD to have. I got three cases of newborn diapers (the kind with the bellybutton part cut out) Now with babies needing to be changed 8-10 times a day I figured three cases was a good start. Plus they are good for babies up to 10 pounds, so hopefully this moose is smaller than that. (Oh yes I got all the diapers with coupons, so I saved money too.) Then I needed a diaper bag, so I picked up the one I liked the most. All nurseries need a diaper genie too, so I ordered one online and got a great deal. We picked up some cute bibs and some diapering/bathing lotion/powder etc. All with coupons or on sale. I also convinced Peter that we needed the pack and play that has the bassinet in the top for when the baby is really young and I don't want to get out of bed to go get him (I told Peter he could go to the nursery and get him numerous times during the night if he wanted....he decided buying the pack and play was a good idea.) And while we were there they had one swing left, so we got it.
I have also done a bit of online shopping. I'm still expecting a few packages in the mail, but these arrived last week and I have had a great time reading them.
So there you have it....apparently I am nesting...though I like to say I'm getting ready, and I can't help it if I really enjoy buying baby things. Anyone who has had a baby and knows me well has benefited from my enjoyment to buying baby things....things jump into my cart.

I would've included a baby bump picture, but the pictures we took yesterday looked pretty awful....I have also tried many times to video tape the party that takes place in my belly several times every day. When I push record the party seems to end and the second I push stop, the party begins again. I think he is camera shy. So instead I leave you a picture of the crib all set up. Today I'm 35 weeks!
I leave you with one more thing...a link to Ellen's blog to see more stuff from the baby shower. It was a ton of fun. I lost terribly on one of the games too, and well the other game involved guessing how big my belly was using ribbon, so I of course couldn't play that. My mother-in-law was within an inch of the correct length it was fun. Most people were way off...I didn't realize how small I was.

A first for us

Last night we went out and bought these at Costco....a first of many.

More cute pictures to come...baby shower, belly bump, etc.

30 Weeks

Well here's a picture we took today...30 weeks

So a couple little funny stories:
1-Home Depot-A few weeks ago when we were buying stuff to put together the closets a random lady came up to me and started telling me that her momma told her how to determine if someone was carrying a girl or a boy. She asked me if I knew the gender, I said yes, then the conversation got weird. This lady stood there and began to tell me the gender of my baby based off of what her momma told her. She said "my momma said" like 20 times, it was kind of funny, and strange at the same time. She talked to us for a good 15 minutes. At the end of all of her rambling she finally said, "you're carrying a boy." I told her she was right and then she said, "My momma told me that when you're pregnant with a girl you get fat and ugly and girl, you're not fat or ugly." I said thank you very much and then she went on her way. I got a good laugh out of it.

2-Thursday I had a doctor's appointment. I had to take the 1 hour glucose test down at the lab. While walking back to get my blood drawn the guy following me into the room stops and I can tell he's staring at me. I asked if there was anything wrong and he said, "you really don't look pregnant at all from behind." I asked what he meant by that, was I supposed to have a big butt or something? He said, "Well my wife sure did when she was pregnant." I got a good laugh again, then told him my husband said I didn't look pregnant from behind either. I told him I've been skinny my whole life. He said, "you're a skinny sexy pregnant woman." I thanked him and went on my way.

Well the furniture we ordered on Saturday and Tuesday arrived on Friday. Peter couldn't wait to put together the crib and glider. Here he is reading the instructions like a real man.
And here's the glider all done....it rocks, reclines and rocks, and you can lock it in place and then just recline or lock it in a reclined position. I love it!
Here's part of the crib...for part of it he read the directions, then one part he decided to put together out of order. When he tried to put the springs in place they didn't fit quite right.
Mandy-"Guess you should followed the directions."
Peter- "My way still works, I just need to take one screw out on each side, place this in and then put the screw back...my way is still better."

TADA a finished crib, now we just need to get a mattress.

So there you have it, the nursery is coming together.

Shopping

On Saturday morning Peter announced that we needed to go shopping. At first I was like, "What have you done with my husband" (he hates shopping), then I asked what he wanted to go shopping for. He said a rocking chair, so we headed to Babies R Us. I had picked out a reasonably cheap glider online, but am glad I didn't order it. Inside the store, sitting in the 20 some gliders really made a difference as to which one I wanted to buy. The salesperson helping us suggested that we try this one chair that cost $450. We both made a big deal about the price, so the sales person says, "Well since I like you guys so much, you can have this." He gave us a 20% off any one item coupon. We both thought it was funny that he liked us so much...he was with us for all of maybe 5 minutes and liked us so much. Anyway we picked out a glider that was $330, still a large chunk of change, but it's a really nice glider (it also reclines and rocks while it is reclined and has a locking mechanism so you can lock it into position so it won't rock). Well while picking out the glider we found out we could only pick out the same one as was on display, if we wanted different colors we would have to wait 10-12 weeks for the special order and then we wouldn't be able to use our 20% off coupon. So with that said, we decided we liked the one on display and could wait 1-2 weeks. This changed our color scheme a little bit. I had imagined a natural color crib, changing table and glider...well the glider was cherry colored, so we found a crib and changing table to match.

Picking out the crib was a bit different. We also found ones that we liked online, but again it's so much easier to pick out one that you can really see. We walked around the store a couple times and kept coming back to the same crib. There were several that were an almost maybe, but then Peter would give it the shaking test and they failed. The one we picked out not only passed the shaking test (it is super sturdy) but it also passed the weight test (he put all of his weight onto the side and determined it was good quality). We went back today and ordered the crib with another 20% off coupon that I had at home. We saved $68 on the glider and $56 on the crib (my parents are paying for the crib).

Other stuff- Last week my dad called around 7:30 and said he was coming over so stay home. He had a box to deliver. He knocks on our door and says the box is really heavy so Peter goes out to help him bring it in. It was the car seat and stroller set that we wanted. My sister bought it and had it delivered to my parents house. It was pretty darn cool to see it. So Abbie in case you haven't listened to your message machine, or even if you have...THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

Oh yes and I've had requests for more belly bump pictures. Well my aunt and uncle were down this weekend and they took a cute one of Peter and I...they haven't sent it to me yet, but I'll post it when I get it. Or else I'll just pose by myself again....my belly is getting bigger and bigger. So pictures to come on the next post. :)

Squirt's Closet

Yesterday Peter and I went to Home Depot and bought Squirt a closet. We also ran to Frazees with a wet stir stick in hand hoping they could match the color of paint needed to paint the closet. We come home only to find the old can of paint had a sticker with the paint name on it...duh! Oh well we got the right color anyway. The closet is great. We built our closets a few years back and we love the extra storage space, now it's Squirts turn. I wanted drawers to put his clothes in so we wouldn't have to buy a dresser, so drawers we got. Then we put in several shelves to store his toys and a bar for the hanging up clothes that will always be out of his reach, but oh well. When he's able to dress himself, we can always put in a bar lower. We can also add shelves any time we want. I love it. So there's four drawers, top drawer is socks/booties/mittens.

Second drawer is onesies and some pants that a friend gave me.
Third drawer is empty for the time being, but will hold more clothes. And the fourth drawer for now is holding swaddling blankets, and other baby blankets.
My co-worker has two little girls and she gave me all of her gender neutral baby outfits and the swaddling blankets. Another co-worker gave me the pooh booties. I picked up four onesies at the Carters outlet a long time ago to give away as shower gifts...well I didn't give them away, so now they're Squirt's. I got a onesie from a friend, and the three adorable pooh outfits I bought. The one in the middle I bought intending to give away to my sister-in-law, but then she found out she's having a girl...so Squirt gets it, and the two on the outside I picked up Friday. They were just too cute to pass up.
So what it visually looks like is there's a shelf along the top, under that there's a pole across the whole top for hanging up clothes, then on the left side there's a shelf across the entire part followed by the four drawers. On the right side you see besides the two shelves across the whole thing, there are two more shelves for holding toys and such.

Squirt's room is still under construction...that will be left for another post...if I can ever get it clean :)

Revealing the news

So a couple years back I saw Target had baby socks in the dollar bins and they just so happened to have Winnie the Pooh, and being a Pooh fan I just had to buy them. Now every time I go to Target I check the bins to see if they have any new socks that I don't already have. I use these to give to friends having babies or to go along with an outfit that I have bought for baby showers.

Well since we came up with a cute way to announce our little secret to our parents, we thought we would share it. Now our announcement came earlier than we expected only because I was supposed to go to the dentist and have x-rays taken and they always ask if you're pregnant before hand because they won't do the x-rays if you're pregnant. Well I was and I was only 7 weeks but there was no way I was going to tell my dentist before my parents. So we headed over to my parents' house two days before my dentist appointment and took a small envelope with us. I gave the envelope to my parents and told them to open it. Inside the envelope were some Pooh baby socks and a post-it that said, "These might come in handy in November." They both looked at me and said, "Does this mean what I think it means?" "Yes." Needless to say they were both excited and for the rest of the night all we talked about were baby things.

Now telling Peter's family was a bit different. I asked if we should do it the same way and he said they wouldn't want baby socks. Just telling them would be good. He said he would take care of that announcement. So we went over for Easter dinner. (We would've told the week prior but it was Mary's birthday and she had guests over so we decided to wait.) So we're all sitting down at the dinner table. Peter's mom is telling us all this funny story about how her mother was stuck in Sherry's bathroom and it took Sherry and her two expecting daughters to pick his grandma back up. At this point Peter cuts in and says, "Speaking of expecting, Mandy is too." This was followed by a few screams and Diana asking me four times if I was pregnant. It was a pretty funny night.