Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. One thing we love about our new neighborhood is that it is very family oriented. They plan activities and events for children and, so far, everything we have been to has been so much fun! We decided to participate in the "Pancakes with Santa" event and the kids had a blast. Santa and Mrs. Claus were so much fun. Mrs. Claus pulled streamers out of MVP's tummy and whenever she touched his nose, it would make a honking sound! She sang funny songs with us and she was just so much fun. Aside from all that, it was fun to have breakfast with some of our friends who live in the neighborhood as well. 

We hosted a playgroup at our house with a few of our new friends. The kids were able to exchange some small gifts and, more importantly, unwrap some presents before Christmas Day. 

Christmas morning was fun, of course. MVP loved opening presents and handing out gifts for people to open. He got a VTech laptop from Santa. He had originally asked for a deer from Santa, but I think Santa needed all of his deer in order to fly his sleigh. We did leave cookies for Santa and an apple for Rudolph, or "Ruf-olf", as MVP would say. MVP also got a bike from his grandparents. I had to laugh because he did the same thing his uncle Dave did one year when he got a bike for Christmas. He walked right past it and didn't see it till it was pointed out to him. (See the video below.) 

This is a photo I took this year and absolutely love. I was amazed that it turned out so well because both kids were in no mood to be photographed, so I got this shot in about three tries.

 A few days before Christmas, we went to a local tree farm where they had some beautiful poinsettias for sale. We took a few photos and enjoyed looking at the different varieties of poinsettias.

Another thing we did was make cookies for MVP's grandparents. I realize that receiving decorated sugar cookies in the mail might actually be a little...gross, but he sure has a lot of fun doing it. He always asks if we can make cookies for his grandparents and will pretend to make cookies for them while playing with play-Doh or while in the bathtub.

For several months now, we have been thinking about getting a minivan. Andy and his dad have been researching vans, looking for good deals. We finally found one in Atlanta that was actually incorrectly listed--the description was for one model type and the photos clearly indicated it was the model above what we were looking for. So Andy contacted the dealership and confirmed the price. He also happened to have a co-worker who knew a mechanic in the area who was willing to go to the dealership to take a look at it. The car had been in an accident, but we decided that if it was repaired correctly and if the mechanic gave us a thumbs up, we would get it. Well, the mechanic gave us a thumbs DOWN. BUT he said that the dealership just got another car in and he said it was in excellent condition. It was priced well enough that it warranted buying a plane ticket down there to pick it up and for Andy to drive it home. So that's what he did the Saturday before Christmas. We love the car and it certainly made the post-Christmas drive to Tennessee to visit cousins a lot more bearable. MVP loved watching movies and I was able to sit next to the baby to keep her from getting too fussy at times.  

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well.

MVP is 3!!

Our little MVP is three years old! He is one of the happiest guys I know. He loves wearing his Happy shirt and was thrilled to be a clown for Halloween. Of course he has his moments where he has little meltdowns or will try to hit someone, but, for the most part, he is a good kid. He is a pretty good eater and about the only time he doesn't eat well is due to too many mid-day snacks. Among his favorite foods are edamame, chicken fries, cereal, bagels and granola bars. He loves his "one blankie" and has been known to only ask for love from his one blankie when he gets hurt. Mommy and daddy apparently don't love him the way his one blankie does. 

MVP is not much of one for singing. Whatever songs he knows, he takes creative license and likes to change up the words to get right to the best parts of the songs. He is quite ticklish and likes to cheer up his little sister when she is sad by tickling her too. He can recognize all of the letters in the alphabet and takes creative license with counting too. Most of all, MVP loves cars, trucks and tractors. One of the roads near our house has been under construction for the last 6 months and he loves to point out the excavators, dump trucks and cement trucks. He really likes Firemen too. He likes to pretend that his cars are in trouble and that a Fireman will come save them. 

MVP, like most toddlers, is hard to keep up with. He has endless energy and while we are relieved he is out of the up-at-4:30am phase, we wish he would develop a greater appreciation for naps. He loves going to church so he can play with his friends in nursery. For his birthday, we invited a handful of his friends over for a construction-themed party. At the end of this post, I've included a short interview with him. 

The Birth of our Baby Girl

I think I will always remember the birth of our second child, but may want to forget many of the events surrounding it. It has been a stressful time for us because of the pending move up to Raleigh.

I was fortunate during this pregnancy to not have experienced many of the symptoms that a lot of women experience during their pregnancies, but every pregnancy is different and there were some obvious differences between my first and second. Specifically, I remember a few days in November 2011, not too long after I found out I was pregnant, where I really had terrible morning sickness. In hindsight, I suspect I was dehydrated because it only lasted a couple days, but I was incredibly woozy--to the point that I had to really concentrate when walking in order to not walk into walls and I threw up a few times. This really caught me off guard because the worst I ever felt while pregnant with MVP was as if I had been on an amusement park ride and was dizzy/uneasy. I developed a new respect for women who have HORRIBLE morning sickness....especially those who have morning sickness throughout their entire pregnancies. I didn't have heartburn this time around like I did last time, but my feet did get very swollen. After sitting at my desk working for a couple hours, my feet would look like sausages and it was pretty uncomfortable to walk around on feet that felt like they were stretched to capacity. I also seemed to have more problems getting comfortable enough at night in order to fall asleep.

Here are a couple photos of me toward the end of my pregnancy at 39 weeks.

When I went to my 39-week appointment, I was given the option to induce labor or not. I had gone that route with MVP and felt that it was a great way to have a baby. I didn't have to wonder if I was in labor enough to go to the hospital or how to coordinate someone to watch Mark (especially if I should happen to go into labor at 2am or something.) This was of particular concern to us because we had no family in the area and didn't want to impose. Furthermore, with everything that was going on with the move up to Raleigh, it just seemed like the sooner the baby came, the better off I would be in my preparations for the move.

So on the morning of June 29th, we dropped MVP off at a friend's house and headed for the hospital. Because of a staff meeting, it took a couple hours for them to get me hooked up to an IV.  Once they got me hooked up, the medication slowly started to kick in. I got an epidural by a very gruff anesthetist. As things started to progress, the doctor broke my water and I recall feeling the "pop". As time wore on, I felt like the epidural was wearing off, so I asked the nurse to increase the medication, but it didn't seem to help. I was not happy. I was somewhat horrified that I was actually having the dreaded experience of having my epidural wear off. Fortunately, I felt like the pain was still manageable. Pretty soon, I felt like I REALLY needed to use the restroom and Andy reminded me that more than likely, the baby was on it's way. We called the nurse in and, sure enough, the baby was ready to come. It took a lot of restraint, but I was able to wait for the doctor to come and get everything ready. Once the doctor was ready, it took only about three pushes for her to come out! I was shocked at how quickly she arrived. 

 


 

One thing that was quite frightening was that the baby had swallowed some maternal blood during the birthing process, so the following two days, she was spitting up and choking on the blood. I had to suction it out at times and it made me nervous to take a nap or to not have her nearby. We were anxious for MVP to meet his baby sister, but had to wait till the next day since she wasn't born until after 4 PM and it took a while for me to get transferred to a private room for the night. When he finally met his little sister, MVP was a little timid and very curious to see her. He loves her very much and is so happy to have her here.

We have some friends from church who live very close to us who happened to have a baby girl the very next day. In the photo below, Our baby girl is on the left and theirs is on the right.


This is MVP's initial reaction to his baby sister. He wanted to get a real good look at her.