A new Princess...

Our new little princess arrived January 30th, at 5:48pm after almost 14 hours of labor. She weighed in at 8lbs 9oz and was 19.5 inches long. She has some dark hair and chubby cheeks- and yes, we are all already in love with her. Everything went fairly well- Mom was able to arrive in time for the last few hours of labor and the delivery- she even got to cut the cord! Kaylon was an awesome coach. The baby had low blood sugar at first, but after a formula bottle she was fine. Now she is nursing like a champ. I'll write up the birth story soon and post it for anyone who wants details :) Oh- and Kaylon and I should be deciding on a name tonight- we'll let you know when we know.

I was kinda worried about the title of my blog if we had had a boy, but I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore- just princesses at our house for a while longer :) And we are totally happy with that.

For once I'm grateful to be wrong

I did not go into labor last night. And looking at the thick sheet of ice on the roads this morning I'm very grateful for that. In fact, my doctor told me yesterday that should I go into labor last night, I would need to call an ambulance- I was skeptical, but looking at our 'driveway', I know we would have had to. Which would have been interesting, since that would mean that we couldn't take the girls to the family that is going to watch them, which would mean that Kaylon would have had to stay with them, which would mean that I might have had this baby by myself. So as anxious as I am to be done with this pregnancy, I am SO thankful that the baby didn't come last night!

My pessimistic predictions

Ok, so I'm a day away from my due date- not that uncomfortable, other than the growing bruise on the top of my stomach that the baby just can't seem to leave alone. But I'm done- everything is ready and I'm to the point that I would go through a painful labor to have this baby be born. I honestly wasn't there a few days ago- I am now.

So, onto my predictions. There is an winter storm heading our way tomorrow. Tomorrow's roads should actually be fine- just a bunch of snow, easily cleared. But sometime early Wednesday morning it should be turning to icy rain. I predict that THAT is when I will need to go to the hospital. I believe my mother had to drive in the snow (well, my grandmother actually) to get to the hospital with me. It's only fitting that I should carry on the tradition. And I'm in such a crappy mood because I haven't had this baby yet, predicting the worst makes me feel a little better- not sure why, but really, do you want to understand the mind of a crazy pregnant woman?

Updates

We had some snow yesterday, which was great timing because Kaylon had the day off. He and Grace went sledding by the high school. They had a lot of fun. Grace has been dying to make a snow angel all winter- she finally got her wish!







I am 39 weeks today. The countdown is on! We finally bought the carseat and some diapers, so we actually are 'ready.' Just waiting to see the sex so we can buy some clothes. Here is my 39 week belly shot.







Funny story of the day. Kaylon was playing with the girls yesterday- they sat in a box that Kaylon then lifted up on his feet while he was laying on his back. He was pretending to make it unstable with Grace and she was laughing- but Liliana took it seriously. She stood up and grabbed the box and said, "I got you- I got you Gracie!" It was just hilarious watching her think that she could hold Grace up- and so cute that she would try!

Oh, and Grace has been wondering if Barack Obama is "real." Maybe she thought he was just a movie or TV show (that is the only place she's seen him, after all). She was dissapointed to learn that he was, in fact, a real person. ;)

Strong baby

I have to say, this pregnancy has been easier than my other two in many regards. With Grace I was hospitalized when I got dehydrated from throwing up so much. I was just as sick with Liliana, but I knew what drugs to ask for to keep me from needing the hospital (yay Reglan!). My hips were killing me by this point with the girls, as well as my lower pelvis. And I was more bored/anxious for the birth (course, the girls are the reason I'm not as bored now).

I was sick with this pregnancy- but only had to take a pill twice (vs every day for 10 weeks). I had hip pain, until I found that sleeping in a recliner eliminated that (poor Kaylon). I've been able to exercise the whole time, as I did with Liliana, making me feel stronger. But it seems that there has to be a trade off and this baby has made known what that is...

Physical Assult. The baby is bruising me on the inside. I have at least 2- haven't decided if this other spot is one as well. One I have had for several weeks- it developed from constant kicking in one spot- it's on the top of my belly and aches whenever the baby pushes itself against it. The almost bruise is on the other side of my stomach. The third I got last night- I felt it happen. The baby pushed its foot above my ribs- so that it was wedged between my ribs and my skin. Then for the rest of the night it tried to accomplish the feat over and over again. It was very painful. Kaylon says that he's going to spank this child as soon as it's born. I'm just getting worried about its desire to push the boundries... and how that will affect my life when it's a teenager.

I haven't decided yet which pregnancy I prefer. I might just chalk it up to an increase in the variety of uncomfortable pregnancy endings that make women willing to go through labor in order to get the child OUT!

Did I mention that the countdown is to 13 days now... yes, I am counting.

Liliana's Vocabulary

Liliana had a poopy diaper on Sunday during church, so a teacher brought her to Kaylon for a change. The teacher was trying so hard to not interupt the class, but as soon as Liliana saw Kaylon she exclaimed, " Daddy! Butt!" I heard that everyone was laughing as Kaylon walked out :)

I guess at the gym daycare today she asked to go potty (again by saying "butt") and she went pee pee! I guess she's almost ready to potty train- too bad I'm not ready. There's no way I'm going near that until after the baby is born.

Please ignore the greasy looking hair...

Yes, I do bathe my children- twice in the last 18 hours, in fact. Why, you ask? Because last night Liliana found the Vasaline on the changing table, and decided to coat herself, her sister, the changing table, and the dog in the stuff. And note to parents everywhere- shampoo really doesn't do much to get it out. As far as I can tell, washing their hair just spread the jelly out making their hair shiny and sticky.

Oh yeah, and they did the same thing today, while I was finishing my lunch. We all jumped in my shower after that.

Perhaps someday this will be funny (ok, it's already funny to Kaylon, but he's not cleaning it up), but right now, I'm just annoyed. Maybe Kaylon will be soon, as well, since he's gonna have to bathe the dog- my belly is just too big for that.

****Side note- dish soap does work to take Vaseline out- thank you Debbie for the help!****

I'm driving down the road and I spy...

Ok, you need some backstory for this one. When we drove up to Connecticut for my friend Jocelyn's wedding, things got boring at times, so Kaylon started playing 'I spy' with Grace (I hate games like this, so I tried to not participate). Grace has remembered the game from time to time, and will start playing it on car rides.

Yesterday we were driving to pick Kaylon up at the metro- I was running a little late so I was trying to concentrate on the road. Out of the blue Grace says, "Say I." This was a habit she recently got over where she would make us repeat after her when we didn't understand what she was saying- one that annoyed me, so I ignored her (I know, bad mom). She said it again, and I continued to hope she would think that I couldn't hear her over the music. But then she said, "Liliana, say I."

Liliana- "I."

Grace- "Say 'going down the road.'

Liliana- (nothing)

Grace- "Liliana, say 'going down the road.'"

Liliana- "Go road"

Grace- "And what do you spy, Liliana?"

Liliana- "Pie!" (I think she meant spy)

Grace - "Hmmmm pie? Ok Liliana."

Grace then took a turn and I took a turn (had to redeem myself, after all). Then it was Liliana's turn again. The conversation above was repeated almost word for word, including Liliana's "Pie!" Then Grace said with understanding, "It's ok Liliana, you don't know a lot of words."

She is such a good big sister.

Competition

The girls have begun their life of competition, which is a headache somedays, but a help others. There's nothing like the threat of someone else doing/getting it first to light a fire beneath them. With the benefits of her age Grace usually wins whatever their doing (with the exception of eating- Liliana wins that hands down). But lucky for us, Liliana is a good sport. The most frequent competition is who can get upstairs first. Grace triumphantly yells "I win!" when she reaches the top. Liliana then follows up with a good- natured, "Ah Man!," complete with an attempted snap across her body. (For those of you who don't get the pleasure of watching Dora the Explorer, 'Ah Man' is a frequent phrase of Swiper the Fox).

We are really enjoying watching Liliana's personality emerge with her vocabulary. She keeps us laughing most of the day.