Introducing Valerie Rose

Born at home at 4:30 am on December 11th. 7 lbs 2 oz. 19.5 inches long
Labor started (for reals) about 9:30 pm and continued to progress. When my water broke at midnight I knew it was the real thing and got pretty excited. I woke Brad finally and told him the news and he then went back to sleep. Around 2 am I woke him up again and had him start timing contractions for me because I couldn't concentrate on that anymore. At 3 am we let the midwife know we wanted her to come over because contractions were getting intense and 2 min apart. Brad gave me a blessing then which was comforting and reassuring. About 3:30 I started to feel like pushing and we all got a little worried that the midwife wasn't there yet and we had no idea if I was fully dilated or not. With Brad on the phone with the midwife and my mom getting things ready, I tried not to push too hard, yet, so the midwife could get there. She arrived at about 4 am and checked me and the baby and reassured me that all was well and I could push. Valerie was born soon after and did great. I held her on my tummy because her cord was really short.
I really loved having her at home. Labor was so smooth and seamless and I never felt scared or overwhelmed like with Eliza. There were 2 midwives and 2 apprentices there and I felt very secure and comfortable with their care. I am so happy that labor was short and I was able to manage it in my own home in the quiet of my own bed.

Valerie is a champion nurser and sleeper. She has been sleeping 3-4 hours at night, nursing and sleeping again 3-4 hours. I feel great just 10 days after delivering, probably because we are getting lots of good sleep.  I have had my mom here for a week helping out and now my in-laws are here to help and celebrate Christmas with us. Eliza is loving the company and attention and trying to get used to the new baby.

33 weeks along today

Yeah, I'm getting pretty big.

Fun Outside

Thought y'all would appreciate this. I watched it a couple of times so it must be a little entertaining. Sorry it's sideways.

Birthday Peek

Here are a few pics from Eliza's birthday party. It was small, but Eliza loved it. The cupcakes turned out really cute despite setbacks, but were't that yummy.We had a really fun day which included a makeover for mom, studio pictures in the morning, shopping with Daddy, friends and cupcakes. The day-after effect was pretty  harsh though. With all the fun new stuff, Eliza forgot to eat and turned into a huge grump all day. Mom wasn't much better :) 

Dad has more pictures on his phone, so when I finally get those you can see more of us! We are so lucky to have a happy 2 year old. Eliza has a huge vocabulary and will repeat and learn new words all day. She is learning her ABC's and numbers. She is sleeping in her big girl bed like a champ. She even learned how to open doors but it hasn't been a problem yet ;) She shows a preference for her clothing which makes life more interesting. Most of the time she wants to be 'naked girl'. She loves her stuffed animals, especially a new Blue Bear that Dad brought back from Seattle.

This is one of Eliza's outfits: Panties, sweater and hat (made my Grandma Carter) it was probably 90 degrees that day. Cute girl nonetheless.

Eliza's early birthday present

To keep our sanity this hot summer, I really wanted to get E a bike to ride inside or out. Basically so she won't always be on my lap, which is growing ever smaller every day. This is her after about 3 days of having it. She can pick it up off the ground and get on it all by herself. She can turn and go backwards. She likes to have a hand to get off though. It's going to be in the 100's all week, I hope this gives us just one more activity to do inside.

Oh, and yes she has no pants. After the 3rd pair she peed in, I stopped putting them back on.

Baby Wish List

I need some place to make a list that family can see and that I can add too so I choose THE BLOG! Maybe it will keep me updating more often cause I have to add to the list.
Travel Size Swing 
Baby's R US






Baby Body Sock & Cozy Cap Set 
cozycocoon.com in yellow or grey


That't it for now. More to come.

Millie and Sydney and Phin come for a visit

My sisters helped me be strong and cut off Eliza's mullet.  

Mullet above: Cute bob below.

I like it a lot. I don't really miss the curls like I thought I would.

Cute little pony tail to put in her book.

Eliza and her cousin Phin in the tub. We actually think they look nothing alike, but in this picture they sure look related.

Then we had to be girly (and lets face it, our faces were all freaking out on us) so we did a microdermabrasion scrub and mud masks.

We had a great time. The babies had a hard time sleeping. Brad felt a little out of sorts and out numbered. But we had a great time.

a little bit of Eliza

Ok, it's been a long time! We are still alive and just taking one day at a time. Eliza is a busy girl. She is 19 months now and I'll bet she has a vocabulary of at least 100 words. She was just over 21 lbs a month ago but I think she has been putting on weight recently and I would guess about 25 now. All I have are pictures of her except Brad's cousin took a picture of us out on a walk one day in the bluebonnets. 

"I'll be taking this"

at our favorite frozen yogurt place. Self serve, pay by the ounce, toppings galore, yeah we love it.

got milk?

not sure what this is, but it's Eliza

Helping in the kitchen

Eliza and the Lizard

Sleeping on her floor, bum up style

playing at the lake on a cold morning

In the bluebonnets

This video pretty much captures our evenings at home: Mom on the couch, Dad sitting down, Eliza bouncing all over the place, full of energy, Max trying to get in on the action.

Crib Theory

Warning: Journal Entry Ahead

About a month ago I had the idea to move Eliza to a big girl bed. She is 17 months old. She seemed like she was ready and I wanted to let her try out her wings. My thought was to get her bunk beds and only put the top bunk in her room with the rails on so she might stay in her bed. The other one would go in a guest room until it was needed. I searched online for bunk beds but never found a set I liked. Plus they are expensive. 

We went to a furniture store and Eliza screamed when we took her away from the ladders and steps leading up to top bunks. Hum... she is a big climber these days. Anyway, last week I was cleaning up our fort in the closet, which had a memory foam mattress as its floor, when I decided to put the mattress in her room and take out the crib. So, without consulting her or explaining the change, I took her crib out, placed the mattress (folded in half) in the corner where her crib had been and put a long blanket over it, ticked in tight under both ends. 

We call it her "nice new bed" and she loves it. We put her stuffed dog and bear on it and her favorite blanket and she jumps and rolls on it like we had done in the tent. When nap time came around I was pretty scared. We did our songs and stories and I put her down on her new bed. After I left she got up and played with her books, pulled some clothes out of her dresser,(this lasted almost an hour) and then settled down right in front of the door and fell asleep. She only slept for about 20 min.

That night was rough and after crying at the door and me taking her back to bed, I finally just rocked her to sleep and put her down on her bed. She slept the night just fine. The next night Brad put her down with a few stories and laid down with her for a minute. She stayed on her bed after he left and slept the night. 

She has done great ever since. At nap time she usually ends up on the floor somewhere. But stays on her bed at night when its dark, What used to be about an hour of play time is now just a few minutes before she is out. I peek under the door to see where she is and sometimes she is right there(and still awake) and gives me a big smile and sticks her hand under. 

Today I let her sleep in her coat, (see above picture) but she usually sleeps in a sleep sac so I know she is warm enough wherever she falls asleep. 

A few thoughts: 

She now has the independence to go to sleep or read books during her whole nap. 

She is learning that when she is tired she can stop playing and lie down and sleep without us having to put her in the bed.

She can play in her room in the morning instead of immediately needing someone to come and get her. (huge for me in the morning)

I want to potty train pretty soon and not do pull-ups or diapers at night so she needs to be able to get up and go potty if she needs to. (or get me and tell me she needs to go) This might end with pee and poop all over her room instead of just in the crib, but I think Eliza can learn to hold it all night. 

This all might come back to bite me when she is 2.5 and refuses to take naps anymore but I figure that will probably happen anyway. At least I can lay down with her on a big bed and try to take a nap with her?

Now that she is climbing, I don't have to worry about her falling out of the crib. 

Corpus Christi

There are a lot of pictures in this post. I guess it's to make up for the lack of posts lately. 

Corpus Christi is a little town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It's about a 3 hour drive to get out to the actual coast from our house. We took a ferry even! Eliza did pretty good on the drive, managing a little nap and a lot of songs. But it was worth it. She loved the beach. Once introduces to the sand and a shovel she had a blast.

Daddy also loved the sand and a shovel. 

Eliza's looses her pants and gains a sweater. 

Let's go fly a kite.

Snuggling to get warm.

We stayed overnight in the Navy Lodge on base. Well actually it turned out to be the Navy Inn which was slightly less nice than the lodge. We were all asleep by 8:30 from sun and exhaustion. The next day we went to the aquarium. We had the choice of History Museum, tour of the USS Lexington, or the aquarium and I guess we made the right choice because Eliza loved the fish.

Stopping for some lunch.  I loved these little squeezable fruit/veggies (mostly fruit), but they are expensive. Great for the road, but not for everyday. After lunch we hit the beach again but this time just the Bay and not the actual Gulf. There were no waves and the sand was more rocky but we still had fun digging. 

Back home enjoying Max's comfy bed.

We will definitely do this again sometime. Maybe in the hot summer so the water is more inviting. Maybe when someone comes to visit we will have to take a trip. You could make it a one day trip but we enjoyed the overnight. 

Oh and Some cute Kids

 This is E and her best friend J. They painted with water for a good 30 minutes, then they squoze water from the brushes for another 20. We had a good time and managed to not even get too wet. E the climber. I didn't see her get into this space but she sure wanted out.