Fall 2011

Gosh, were do I begin. I really need to start updating more often instead of cramming so much info into one entry. The kids are growing up so fast that I feel, that in just some short time, these blog entries will be all that I have left of their youth.

Audrey has stared pre-school for two days a week. For two hours every Tuesday and Thursday she spends the morning with new friends playing, crafting and learning. She LOVES it. She's never had any issue with going and hardly even notices when I leave. I love to witness her independence. Her personality has really started to shine in her tot years. She's out going, and anything but shy. Today she had her first visit to the dentist. I'm always leary about telling her in advacance about doctor's appointments so I wanted to tell her the news this morning. She simply shrugged her shoulders and said, "okay, mommy". Still, even after we walked in the door of the dentist office, she showed no sign of fear or discomfort. She chatted away with the hygentist and even got chatty with Dr. Hunter. We're also very happy to announce, that after a lot of hard work and determination, Audrey is now 100% potty trained. She's quickly weened herself out of pull ups at night and so far we've been accident free for quite some time. Our goal was to have this done by the time she started school and she met that goal with just weeks to spare! Good job Audrey!

Henry is now 7 months old. He's sitting up all by himself, eating all kinds of baby food (and loves all of it!) and is sleeping just a tad bit better at night. He's still dealing with a lot of issues with acid reflux plus he's been teething which doesn't help matters (He has the two bottom already and the two top are coming through). He goes down for the night anytime between 7-8pm and gets up at least twice a night to feed, then getting up for the day usually around 6am. Some nights are good, and some nights are bad. When we get the bad ones, they are BAD! He'll wake up and sometimes it can take us hours to get him back to sleep. He is definately a momma's boy. It's great to walk into a room and she his face light up like a christmas tree! I'm still nursing inspite of the occational bitting. I'm having a hard time giving it up since it's one of few things that helps calm him when he's having a bad night. I hope that within the next few months his acid reflux starts to fade and he starts sleeping through the night and then I can start to slowing ween him but for now it works. He's yet to roll over but he can easily go from sitting position to laying on his tummy all on his own. I don't really recall Audrey doing this so I'm not sure if this is a good feat or not but he's mastered it.

On a seperate note, we are all also very excited to announce that Audrey and Henry will have a new cousin come this Spring. Sara and Dave are expecting their first baby due in April. It will be so nice to have another baby in the family, especially since Henry will be a wobbly tot by then.

Summer 2011

I need to begin this blog by saying sorry to Hankers. While these blog updates are for keeping loved ones up to date as it happens, I've also hoped that one day my children will grow up wanting to read all about their first few years, the years our memories don't store for us. While I seemed to be on top of it with Audrey, I've fallen short for sweet Henry. Henry is now almost 5 months and has changed dramatically since my last post, when he was just a newborn at 6 weeks. So now I'm going to cram 3+ months of changes into this one blog entry. Please bear with me, and Henry, while this may seem like a summary version, every last bit of your 5 months of life has a permanent place within my memory and heart, always.
In the last three and half months Henry has had experienced many adventures. At close to 12 weeks he's started his meds for acid reflux, went on his first camping trip and did great (just like his sister did), began daycare, started sleeping in his crib (for half the night anyway) and was blessed with his big cousin Lola.

To briefly elaborate on each issue, Henry was recommended by his pediatricians to see a specialist in regards to his acid reflux. Not long after our visit, and he was prescribed the right dose of medicine, we began to see great improvements. His fussiness and choking all started to subside, as did his colic. He began to sleep better, although still not on his back. He's a belly sleeper and I've come to terms with it. I figure in just a couple of more months he'd be able to roll over on his belly anyway. He's happy, and we're both getting sleep. I still have him sleeping in my room though after his first feeding. This was because I felt better when he was next to me however he's starting to out grow his co-sleeper so I'm afraid I'm forced to get him to sleep a full nights sleep in his own room. Wish us both "Good Luck"!
Henry's first camping trip was Memorial Day weekend, since that he's been twice more. He loves it just as much as his sister did at his age. Perhaps it's the fresh air and good company. There is never a shortage of warm arms to sleep in when we're camping. Our next planned trip isn't until Labor Day Weekend, but I get the feeling we'll probably sneak at least one more trip in there before then.

I was set to go back to work right after our Memorial Day camping trip however Henry developed his first fever on Memorial Day (a viral infection that Audrey had the week before). I was then forced to postpone my return a few days since he couldn't go to daycare with a fever. It turned out to be a week because I then developed the fever too :( It kind of worked out to our advantage though. It gave us a few more days to get Henry use to taking a bottle. We were pretty much convinced we'd failed and he was going to be just as difficult with the transition as Audrey was. He absolutely refused to take a bottle from me or Mike. We kind of just brushed it off as him being difficult due to not feeling well, and hoping he'd do just fine when it came down to it. We lucked out! He took the bottle from Nana like a champ, and still does. He naps regularly (unlike his sister) and when he's up he loves to be outside to watch the older kids (including big sis) play.

Heather and the kids were in town for the 4th of July and at that time we decided to have both Henry and Lola blessed together. We had a small gathering at my house where an ordained friend of my mom's, Audrey, blessed both kids. It was short, but sweet ...and hot! The temp kept most of us indoors, but that is July in Michigan.

Just this past weekend Henry had his first visit to Lake City to see Grandma and Grandpa. Audrey always enjoys her time there and while she loves the water, Henry not so much yet. That goes for the drive too. He wasn't happy about sitting in his car seat for three hours but we tried to make the best of it. It's worth it to to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa.

So on top of all that I found that he's cut two teeth already! Both bottom ones, and aside from excessive drooling he hasn't showed much sign of discomfort. He's an extremely happy little boy that will give you a smile anytime. My heart gets so full just thinking about him. While I'm excited to see all these milestones, it's also a bit bittersweet to see him growing up so fast.

Now quickly, I want to update you on Big Sis. Audrey has come a very long way too. She celebrated her 3rd birthday with family and friends with a Princess themed birthday party. She's also started to play soccer and loves it, but most importantly she is fully potty trained! We had a few issues, mostly the stubbornness (wonder where she got that from) but it seriously took us just one weekend of no more diapers and that was all it took. It's been over two weeks now and she hasn't looked back. She adores her baby brother and has been the one who's given him all his nicknames (chewy, french fry, Henish, and Hankers are a few of my favorites). She's a creative and outgoing little girl. This Fall she'll start a preschool program that we're all looking forward too. I'm positive that she'll do great!

6 Weeks, Really?

The title ...well that seems to be what I'm hearing a lot lately. People can't believe Henry is only 6 weeks old. He's filled out quite nicely. In fact, I clearly remember Audrey having chicken legs that plumped up after some time. Henry, he just skipped the chicken legs and went straight to plump! He's a wonderfully easy baby. He nurses well (kind of lazy but never a problem with latching), he loves to nap in the swing (Audrey wanted nothing to do with that), took a bottle a couple of times with no problems, and will occasionally take a numie but he really could take it or leave it (Audrey would leave it every time). Now, I said he was easy but I didn't say perfect. He has fussy time every evening, between 7 - 12am. Sometimes it's for an hour, sometimes five hours. He sleeps really well at night, waking to eat every 2 - 4 hours, however he is still sleeping with us. I've tried to use a co-sleeper (aka bassinet) and even tried his crib however he doesn't seem to enjoy laying flat on his back (he'll probably be a belly sleeper, like his sister). He is really congested at night, which I think contributes to his dislike for back sleeping. The doctor has placed him on a small dose of Zantac in hopes that the congestion is due to a small case of acid reflux. If they can clear that up then hopefully the congestion will clear up as well and he may learn to sleep alone. All this, hopefully, sooner rather than later. Audrey slept with us for 6 weeks ...I'm giving Henry til 8 weeks then he's getting the boot! We've gotten a few random smiles from him, mostly gas related I think, but cute all the same. Audrey has come to terms that he's here to stay. She competes for attention, especially when she feels he's getting too much, but other than that I think she's a fan of her baby brothers.

And speaking of 'lil Miss Audrey. She's a little girl now, with attitude! Her birthday is right around the corner and she's super excited about it. Aunt Heather was in town over the weekend and she was able to capture some absolutely beautiful pictures to help capture Audrey's personality. We found Henry is favorable in front of a camera too!

Welcome...

Henry Michael

Born: March 7, 2011 at 12:52pm.

Weight: 8lbs 6oz

Length: 20in

My water broke at 5:30am, by 7:00am the contractions started. Luckily that 90 minutes gave Mike and I the chance to shower and to give Grandma time to head over to help Audrey off to daycare. When we got to the hospital I was dilated 3cm. We had to quickly decided weather we were going to follow through with the c-section or to continue on with a VBAC. By 9am we were well on our way to giving birth naturally, but with the ever loving support of an epidural! By the time I received the epidural (aka pure bliss) I was dilated to 5cm. The epidural lasted about an hour and then I quickly started to feel the contractions again. I now went from 7cm to fully dilated in 25 minutes. Things were moving fast; it was now time to push. After just a short sixty two minutes I heard the most beautiful sound to a new mother's ears and then he was laying on my chest. A beautiful experience, etched in my memory for a lifetime.

Henry's Room

Henry's room is finally done. Only two more weeks and he'll be here to see for himself!

...and soon there will be FOUR!

Here we are, only 5 weeks to go until our family of three becomes a family of four! We're getting really excited for Henry's arrival. The nursery is fairly ready (not ready enough to post pics yet), my hospital bag is packed and his closet is now full of newborn clothes thanks to many friends and family members. Since I had the option of having another C-section we went ahead and scheduled Henry's deliver date for March 9, 2011.

Henry gave us quite a scare last week though! I wasn't feeling all that great one morning and was pretty sure I was having some form of contractions yet I went to work anyway, against my better judgement, thinking it would all pass. By mid morning I was instructed by my doctor's office to head to the hospital. I was indeed having contractions however I wasn't in active labor. Turns out I was extremely dehydrated due to the stomach flu which in turn caused my contractions. After 6 hours of IV fluids (I couldn't keep anything down) the contractions stopped and I was able to go home and let it run it's course. After 2 days of very little to eat and early bedtimes (Audrey was tucking me into bed ...very sweet) I was finally feeling back to normal. The good news through all this ...Henry was just fine! The midwife at the hospital gave us an ultrasound for reassurance. He was active throughout the contractions but the ultrasound showed us that he was exercising his lungs and already weights over 5lbs! Both really good signs of a healthy baby.

This past Saturday my girlfriends threw me a wonderful Sprinkle! For those that aren't familiar with the term, it's a smaller version of a Baby Shower for your second little bundle of joy. We had it at my house because there had still been so many of my friends that hadn't seen our new home yet. I was a little concerned about how well we would all fit but it turned out to be a warm and cozy setting. I'm sure the mimosas and wine helped with that as well. Henry got SPOILED too! His closet went from nearly empty to jam packed with clothes for months to come. I can't thank all my friends enough for helping us celebrate the arrival of our little boy. We are truly blessed, that's for sure!

And now we just wait! With the arrival of Henry coming early March we can only hope that Spring will follow close behind. Within the past week we've received almost 10 inches of snow. We had our fun in the snow. Audrey would stay outside until her little fingers turn to icicles if we'd let her. And while I love snow days too I also start to crave the sunshine and warm breeze this time of year. It would be really nice to enjoy that while I'm home with Henry in March.

I'll post pictures of the nursery as soon as I have the final touches applied but for now here are some pictures from the Sprinkle and our recent snow day.