Just love weddings!

I really enjoy weddings...particularly other people's weddings :) You can enjoy the beautiful scenery and usually yummy food without the stress of being the center of attention. Plus I think it helps to remind you of why you married your own spouse.

This past weekend we were able to attend my good friend Chris's wedding. Chris is a great guy in so many ways, in fact I kind of see him as the little brother that I wouldn't have minded having, and I was so happy that he found his 'princess charming.'

There were a couple moments that I found particularly poignant...during the ceremony, the officiant had all family and friends stand up. He then had everyone agree to essentially work together for this newly created marriage. For example, he mentioned that if one side of the couple were to ever come to us to discuss a relationship trouble or issue, we should think about what we can say to keep this couple strong...not just being the 'yes person' and adding to that person's complaints. I also very much enjoyed the father of the bride's speech...he talked about being 'one' with your spouse - no matter whether that person is right next to you or across the globe - you are one. He then mentioned how much he already respected and cared for his new son-in-law and I think that is such a great thing when two families can become one.

Well, I had my first nervous breakdown moment today. I spent the past nine of months of pregnancy in fear of days like today and was shocked that the first two weeks had not resulted in this moment sooner...

Yesterday the mini-van started acting funny. The back wouldn't open with the remote anymore and the car seemed to struggle to start - multiple times. Last night I mentioned it to the husband and he said I would need to take it in to have the battery replaced. We have a long drive this weekend for a wedding and neither of us want to be stranded in a town we aren't totally familiar with. I start getting a little anxious and frustrated about this last night...this is the 5th thing we've had go 'wrong' recently and the 4th relating to cars. And this would be my first experience taking both kids...the husband suggested taking Kendall to day care...yes, this would have been smart, however I felt guilty just thinking about it so I continued on my stubborn way...

So last night was like every other night this week...Leah won't go to bed until after midnight, then she wakes from 2 until 4 and then again at 6. The husband needs 7 hours of sleep to be functional at work, so I've been sleeping on the couch in the living room so we won't disturb anyone. Back to this particular evening...I've had a couple nighttime 'naps' and feeling very groggy when I hear Kendall wake up at 7 - much earlier than she normally does. This makes me a little grumpy because now I'll have to get everything ready to go to the car dealership with Kendall awake and on the loose too...so I get her up, get her juice...start the fun pumping process...pack the bags, feed the baby, change the baby, change the baby again, change the Kendall...run out of bottles for the road, wash bottles for the road...finally get to where I can load up the car and...

THE BATTERY IS NOW DEAD

Thus began my nervous breakdown moment...lack of sleep, frustration, BOTH children fussing...so this wasn't a very good morning for me.

Fortunately after about 30 minutes of off and on crying, I pulled it together and got a hold of the husband to come jump the mini-van. Another blessing from God, the car dealership has a children's waiting room, so Kendall couldn't escape! It was great.

So even though I had to pay $100 for a battery on a car we just bought and had to keep Kendall from banging on glass windows for about an hour...we are all calm now :o)

My take away moment of the day...I CAN handle two kids under two years old for at least 60 minutes...and people really do help you when you are pushing a stroller with one hand and have an 18 month old in the other.

Two week checkup

We had Leah's two week checkup this morning...she's perfectly healthy and has grown a half inch already. She is almost back up to birth weight so we'll just have to follow up next week to make sure she's above it, but I have a feeling she'll far exceed it by then. She's waking ME up now, instead of the other way around, ready to eat!

Trenton went back to work yesterday and it has been calm so far since I've only had the baby, as Kendall goes to daycare on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We'll see how things go tomorrow! I bought a baby sling today, so that should help to keep my hands free for a toddler :)

Monday was Miss Rachel's 5th birthday and we had the honor of celebrating it with her. Below are some pictures from the past week.

Daddy and Leah

Kendall and Ella

Kendall swinging

Maili, Ella, Rachel and Kendall playing "Ring Around the Rosie"

Rachel and her birthday cupcakes

Kendall's First Haircut

We debated for quite a while on whether to get Kendall's hair cut...neither of us really wanted to, but she refuses to wear any kind of hair pin, bow, or band so her bangs are constantly in her eyes. Well, we decided to go for it this weekend!

Kendall waiting for her turn at "Hair Dittle Dittle"

When she first got in the plane seat I think she thought it was a ride
at an amusement park because it didn't bother her at all...that is, until they put the cover up on her.

She was so upset in this picture that she was even blowing
"snot bubbles"...and mean mommy caught it all on camera!

Watching her favorite person in the world - Elmo

Almost done....




See - that wasn't so bad!

Leah Claire

Our second little bundle of joy arrived Tuesday, July 14th at 4:23 pm. She weighs 7 lb, 6 oz (amazingly the exact same birth weight as Kendall) and is 19 inches long. Her entry into this world was a little different than her big sis...I had my 39 week check up last Monday and was expecting an uneventful visit. My doctor generally won't induce until between the 40th and 41st week, so I was thinking I would go in for the usual checks and come out with an appointment for the following Monday. Well, much to my surprise, my doctor suddenly says "I'll be out of town next week, let's see what we have open this week" and with me still in shock, she left the room. Five minutes later I was being told that tomorrow was going to be the big day and to be at the hospital at 7am to have the baby! So you can fully appreciate what a shock that truly was - I have always thought my due date was too early and was getting constant confirmation of that every time they would tell me Leah was measuring a week or two behind. I was thinking that surely I would be past due and then maybe induced the week of the 20th. Then add the fact that I wasn't really quite ready for the 20th either and now maybe you see how scary the 14th of July was starting to sound.

Still shocked, I head back to the office to finish my last day of work for 3 months...I share the details with my friends and start noticing a weird glance beginning to pass between them. As it turns out, they'd had plans for WEDNESDAY, thus my news that MONDAY would be my last day was really throwing them off. But they still pulled it all together very nicely - cake, balloons, and a Nordstroms gift card...can't get much better than that :) Plus they didn't have the chance to ransack my desk, so bonus points there.

Monday was a bittersweet night...of course we were excited, but I was a little sad for a number of reasons...it would be Kendall's last night as our only baby and I didn't know how well she was going to take it all in. And it was my last night ever to be pregnant - although in many ways that would be a relief (no acid reflux - yay!) there would be so many that I missed: feeling Leah's strong kicks, seeing the bottom of my black hole belly button, and all the special things that go along with having a baby. With all the thoughts circling my mind and also the beginnings of contractions I was feeling, I did not get much sleep that night.

Early Tuesday morning, we loaded up and took Kendall to her day care before heading to the hospital. Due to a large number of births the previous day and evening, we actually had to wait two hours before being escorted to our labor/delivery room. This process was slightly new to me because my water broke with Kendall and we rushed to the hospital at 1am on a Sunday. This seemed much more scheduled...and that was slightly odd. The doctor said I was almost at 3cm that morning, so likely Leah would have been born soon anyway, and that made me feel a little better. The rest of the process went without a hitch...they broke my water and began giving me pitocin...I was able to rough the contractions for about 3 hours until they said I was only at 4.5cm so I asked for an epidural. Again, they missed the 'right' place the first time and had to do it again. I think that hurt worse than some of the contractions! I was at 7cm around 3pm when I started to feel pain and pressure. In fact, they were going to give me more medication when they flipped me on my side and I was almost instantly at a 10. That happened so quickly that they had to page my doctor twice so that she understood she needed to get there RIGHT THEN. Soon there after, sweet Leah was born :)

Kendall has been the best big sister - she is very gentle with Leah. She loves to call her 'baby' and pat her on the head. In fact, I think she is doing better with it than I am! I still have pangs of almost guilt when I look at Kendall and wonder whether she'll feel short changed by another baby in the house. At the moment, she seems completely fine, so I guess I'm the one that needs to get over it!

I am currently struggling to be 'everywhere all the time.' I have missed Kendall very much the past few days because I've been so busy with feeding and caring for her new sister. Although Trenton did help out before, I was the primary care person for Kendall so it's hard when he's taking care of all the little moments that I shared before. I'm sure in time things will calm down and I'll get to regain some of this time again - in fact, I can't wait for things to start feeling normal.

Overall, we are doing great. Thanks for everyone's well wishes this past week!

The Calm Before The Storm?

I had my 38 week checkup last Monday and the doctor said I was 2 cm dilated, but I'm not sure if that's really a big deal or not. With Kendall, I was not at all dilated at my 39 week checkup and suddenly went into labor 3 days later, although I have heard from several others about being dilated so far along for weeks with no labor in the horizon.

Last night was a rough night though. I have had periodic 'cramping' that makes me think my body is continuing to progress and yesterday I think I may have pushed myself too far. We decided to catch up on a few errands in Lewisville - unfortunately it was 100+ degrees outside! The good news - I got a pair of new sunglasses for my birthday that I have wanted for ages. I also had the opportunity to buy a new nightgown and a couple other items for my looming hospital stay. The bad news - while we were wrapping up the evening my lower stomach started to cramp pretty badly although by the time reached home, I really was feeling much better. That is - until I woke up around 1am with horrible stomach pains. If I remember correctly, that's how it all started with Kendall - a general stomachache before the real contractions began. I think I was heading that way when the vomiting started. So now I'm not sure if I had a bug or if I'm beginning the process of labor...I suppose we shall see! I still feel crampy today, but not like contractions where there is a definitive start and stop, so maybe it's just residual from my issues last night. My body does NOT like to labor in the day, so I have at least a few more hours of peace, even if tonight is the night.

Kendall's New Table!

I have been meaning to get Kendall a 'big girl' table for the past few months, but just haven't gotten around to it. Yesterday, Ma and Pa brought over a new 'Noah's Ark' table for her and she loves it already. It was the first thing she went to this morning for her cereal and juice breakfast!

Thanks so much Ma and Pa!