2 years old!

Happy Birthday Lilian!!!

She got a dress up chest from Mimi and Dadoo

I made Elmo cupcakes

Blowing out her candles

Seeing the Elmo cupcake for the first time

Thoroughly enjoying the cupcake

Elmo birthday hat!

Evie joined in on the celebration too

Pictures and first doctor appointment

We took Evelyn to her first pediatrician appointment this past Tuesday.  She is doing wonderfully and has gained a great amount of weight.  She is an excellent nurser.  She is also great at sleeping...during the day.  For the first few days she was up most of the night.  She is starting to sleep a bit more at night which is great since Sean goes back to work tomorrow.  Lily is a great big sister.  There are times that she has problems sharing my attention, but overall she is adjusting well. 

 Here are a few pictures.  I will hopefully get a few more up in the days to come, but I am realizing that time on the computer is hard to come by right now.

Lily helping with Evelyn's first bath

 Daddy comforting Evelyn after her bath

Snuggling with Daddy

Introducing Evelyn Rose

I would like to introduce the newest member of our family, Evelyn Rose Penner.  She was born Thursday 12/08/11 at 7:06pm.  She was much smaller than her sister at birth, weighing only 6lbs 13oz and was 19 inches long (Lily was 8lbs 3oz and 20.5 inches long).  We were only in the hospital for a little over 24 hours after she was born so we have been home for a couple days.  While Lily has been absolutely fascinated with her little sister there has definitely been some behavior problems and moments where the fascination has worn off.

Evelyn Rose Penner

Here is Evelyn's birth story.  For the past couple weeks I had been 1-2 cm dilated (which is similar to what I was with Lily for a few weeks before she was born).  Thursday morning I woke up around 4am with some contractions that were about 15 minutes apart.  This was not uncommon for me as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I had contractions every 7 minutes for 4 hours before the abruptly stopped, and then again the following Thursday I had them every 13-15 minutes for about 6 hours and then they stopped.  I went to work as normal and they continued to average about 10 minutes apart.  I left work at 3pm like I always do and went to pick up Lily from the babysitter's house.  When I got there a little before 4pm the contractions were about 8 or 9 minutes apart and still not very strong.  I was able to walk and talk normally through them.  When Lily and I got home round 4:15 they were still about the same timing apart but getting a little bit stronger.  Around 4:30 they were 7 minutes apart and I sent Sean a text at work telling him that he didn't need to rush home, but that he should probably let work know that he may not be in the next day.  He called at 5 to say he was on his way and was home around 5:15.  By the time he got home they were about 6 minutes apart and very strong.  We gathered everything that we needed, loaded Lily in the car, and were out of the house by 5:45ish.  My doctor had said to wait to call till my contractions were 5 minutes apart.  I didn't even want to leave the house when we did because I felt they weren't close enough together and we wouldn't be admitted to the hospital.  Sean convinced me to at least leave our house and go hang out at my parents' house since it is closer to the hospital.  On the way to my parents house the contractions kept getting faster and stronger so I called the doctor and she said to go on into the hospital.  When we got to my parents house around 6:15 my contractions were about every 4 minutes apart.  We basically tossed Lily and her things at my parents and were right back on the road to the hospital.  When we got to the hospital at 6:45pm my contractions were about every 1.5 minutes.  We got a wheelchair from the valet and made our way up to labor and delivery.  When I got there they took my name and Sean wheeled me back to one of the triage rooms.  The nurses stepped out while I changed into a gown.  While I was changed I kept getting the urge to push.  Sean was wonderful and helped me finish getting changed and call the nurses in.  They checked me and said I was 9cm (although in my chart later we saw that they said 9.75cm) and they immediately wheeled me to a labor and delivery room.  It was right around 7pm so there was a shift change of nurses so there were a bunch of people in my room.  The doctor on call (which happened to be the same one that delivered Lily) from my doctor's practice wasn't there yet, but a resident was.  As soon as they got me in the room and on the table they had me start pushing.  After a few pushes Evelyn was born at 7:06pm.  About 5 minutes later the doctor on call came into the room. 

This birth was much different than the 16 hours of active labor I had with Lily.  The nurses and doctors were saying that if I have more kids that I should probably come in when my contractions are about 7-8 minutes apart or else risk not making it to the hospital.  If I would have done that this time I would have been in the hospital the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and then probably sent away.    

Lily and Evelyn holding hands

Sean, Lily, and Evelyn

 I will try to get more pictures in the next few days.  Things were a whirlwind in the hospital so most of the pictures are on Sean's phone as we didn't have a chance to get the camera out of the car.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice small Thanksgiving this year at my parents house.  Overall it was great, Lily was just being a little cranky.  She has had a cough all week and yesterday Sean noticed that she has another tooth coming in, plus I think her tummy hasn't been feeling all that great.  

I decided that I wanted to try to do a few family photos that day since all of us would be looking nice for the holidays and my dad would be around to take the photos so that we didn't have to use the timer and the tripod.  I found a really cute family maternity photo pose online that I wanted to do.  It didn't turn out quite as good as the one online (I think the height difference between me and Sean is just too much), but it is still really cute.

We tried it with me standing up on a step and it helped a little bit. 

I got a great picture of Lily and Sean while we were getting ready to take the other photos.  She always has such a goofy smile when she is told to smile for pictures.

We also went to feed the fish at the lake by my parents' house that day.  It ended up being pretty cold and windy, but Lily still had a blast and I think the fish were grateful for their own Thanksgiving meal.

 I love Sean's face in this one.  It was just one of those perfectly timed photos to get a weird face.

 Lily kept wanting to eat the bread.  Probably because she only had about 3 bites of her lunch.

 She did get the hang of throwing it out to the fish after a bit.

 Lily also got to help Grandma and Papa make the mashed potatoes.

 Also, last week she got to help decorate Grandma's Christmas tree.

There are still a bunch of ornaments to add to the tree, but I am sure Lily will help over the next few weeks.  She was so proud of her work that she had to show Sean and I when we got there.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend.

37 weeks

This past Saturday was 37 weeks pregnant for me.  37 is a great milestone when pregnant because it is considered full term.  Most babies born at this time don't require extra medical care.  I had another doctor's appointment on Monday, and while my body has made more progress this time than at the same point last pregnancy, that doesn't mean she is going to be born any earlier.  It also doesn't mean she won't be born early.  We are just waiting and seeing now.  I kept saying that I didn't want her to come over Thanksgiving weekend because that is too close to my birthday and I never liked having my birthday close to a holiday.  Plus, I don't want to be in the hospital with hospital food during Thanksgiving.  Now I'm at the point though that I just want to meet her and hold her in my arms.  I have decided that the last few weeks of pregnancy are some of the longest.  

Lily is doing great.  She is talking more and more everyday and you can even hold short conversations with her.  She is super smart (I know everyone says that about their own kids).  She loves doing puzzles and playing pretend.  She particularly love taking care of her baby dolls.  She feeds them and takes them for walks in their stroller.  She is going to be such a great big sister.  We saw a baby the other day at the store and she kept looking at him.  When asked if she wanted one like that at home she said yes.  She also loves giving her little sister hugs and kisses.  Hopefully this excitement will continue once we bring the baby home.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

 This is what Lily does when you tell her to "say cheese"

 Me at 37 weeks pregnant

 She loves going down the slide

Showing Daddy around the playground

35 weeks!

So Saturday was when I was officially 35 weeks which means from that day there were only 35 days left until my due date.  I think I have finally realized that this baby is going to be coming soon.  I think since I am still so much smaller than last time I kept thinking that I had a lot more time to go before she would make her appearance.  My doctor told me a long time ago that as long as there isn't anything wrong with the baby that she would need to "cook" longer, that my doctor wouldn't do anything to stop labor after 35 weeks.  Then yesterday I was having a bunch of fairly regular contractions for about 2 hours, but then they stopped.  Sean is convinced that she is going to be born sometime in November, at first I didn't agree, but now I am starting to.

I have finally washed all the newborn clothes and started pulling out all the other baby things.  Lily was helping me fold all the tiny clothes and she kept trying to put them on.  When I told her they were too small for her and were for the baby she went and got her baby doll.  She is going to be a little surprised when we don't bring a doll home from the hospital.  She does know that her sister is in my belly, but I don't think she really understands what a sister is.

Halloween

Lily was a dalmation for Trick or Treat this year.  She walked for a little bit then decided that getting pulled around in the wagon while looking at all her loot in her bucket was much more appealing.  While she only got half of one piece of candy last night she still had a huge sugar high and had fun running around on circles, making herself dizzy, before bedtime.  I think next year she will really get the hang of Trick or Treating.

Countdowns to due date, birthday, and Christmas!

I logged onto a website that I used to frequent when I was pregnant with Lily.  It has great information about pregnancy and parenthood as well as some forums so you can talk to other people that are going through the same things you are.  This was great for me with Lily as it was my first pregnancy and I didn't have any friends that had kids that I could turn to.  This time I have only been to the website a handful of times, possibly because I don't have time chasing a toddler or because I just don't feel I need as much support this time with the pregnancy.

Anyway, when I logged in it told me there are 78 days till Lily's 2nd Birthday!  I know I am going to either have a newborn or be hugely pregnant at that time, but I really want to make sure we don't skipped over her birthday.  It would be easy to since she will only be 2 and won't remember it or really understand what is going on, but I feel since her world is going to be thrown upside down with getting a new sister that it will be great to have a day for her.  I am not sure what we are going to do yet for her, but I know I have to make it special.  I think this is going to be a challenge I will have every year, making sure both girls have a special day since their birthdays will be close to each other and close to Christmas.

After I read that there were 78 days till her birthday I realized that meant there are only 83 days till Christmas, and 68 until my due date!  This year has gone by WAY too fast.  There were so many things that I wanted to get done around the house and such before the baby is born but now I'm not sure if they will as I am starting to get to the part of my pregnancy where it is hard for me to do a lot of things because I'm getting bigger and more tired. 

One of the things that has to happen soon is getting Lily into a "big-girl" bed.  She has been sleeping in regular beds for naps at my mom's and at the baby-sitter's, but we still haven't made the transition.  One of the reasons we had been holding off was because we couldn't decide if we were going to convert her crib to the toddler bed and buy a new crib for the baby, or just get a toddler bed and give the crib to the baby.  I think we are just going to get her a new bed so she has something new and all hers.  We need to do this soon though so she doesn't feel like she is being pushed out of her crib by her sister.  I think she will be excited to get a big bed though.  I asked her yesterday if she wanted a big-girl bed in her room and she said yes.  I then asked if she wanted a crib and she said no. 

Speaking of Lily, she just woke up for the morning so now my day starts.

Pregnancy update

Wow, updating the blog is a lot harder this pregnancy than last since I have a toddler to chase around.  

Things are going well here.  I am about to start the third trimester.  I can't believe how fast it is going this time.  My energy level has been great the last few weeks, but I know that is probably going to change here soon.  I am enjoying getting to feel this little girl move all the time.  She is much better at not moving at night than her sister was though so that helps me get lots of sleep.  I can't believe how different this pregnancy has been than the first was.  One of the main differences is that I am a lot smaller this time.  I started showing a lot sooner and got big quickly, and then I seemed to stop.  The doctor says I am doing great though (last time I gained a lot more weight than recommended).  Also, I'm not swelling as much yet so that is helping me be smaller (although some swelling did start the end of last week).  I decided to take a picture at 26 weeks (2 Saturdays ago) in the same outfit I was wearing for the 26 week shot with Lily.  The differences are amazing!

26 weeks first pregnancy

 26 weeks second pregnancy!

 Lily decided she wanted her picture taken too.

Important Lesson Learned

I have learned why I let my child go to sleep at 6pm and wake up at 6am. 

Last night Lily and I had our neighbor and her two kids over for dinner and to play.  Lily was a little tired, but having a blast playing so I just let her stay up.  She stayed up until 9pm!  That is 2-3 hours past her normal bedtime.  I then realized that meant I had 2-3 less hours to myself that evening.  Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter and being a mom and wouldn't do anything to change that.  But I have been spoiled by her going to bed so early and get to have my evenings to either myself or with Sean.  Last night I sat on the couch for a bit to read and watch tv like I normally do.  I then did a few dishes and before I knew it, it was almost 11:30!  I figured since Lily went to bed so late that would mean she would sleep in late so I stayed up another hour reading in bed.  When I finally decided to turn out the light and get some sleep, the thunderstorm started and kept me awake even longer (Lily slept right through it like she always does).  By the time I finally fell asleep it was almost 2:30.

So Lily normally gets up around 6 after 12 hours of sleep, so one would assume that since she went to bed at 9 that she would sleep 12 hours and get up around 9am right? Not the case.  Evidently going to bed 3 hours later only equates to 30 extra minutes in the morning.  Plus she is super cranky today.  She has had several meltdowns over little things (like the cat not wanting to sit on her lap while she watched her morning cartoons).  She has been rubbing her eyes which is normally a sign she is tired so I laid her down for a morning nap about 20 minutes ago.  While she isn't crying in her crib, she definitely isn't sleeping.  She is singing and playing with her stuffed animals.  At least she is content in there. 

I am probably extra cranky today too since I only got about 4 hours of sleep.  Good thing there is coffee.

So from now on I am going to let my child go to bed around 6 or 7 and enjoy my evenings so that we can enjoy the next day a little more too.

My daughter the Flower Child

Yesterday Lily and I were playing in her room when she got her headbands and flower berets out.  She put on the headbands as necklaces and then kept handing me berets and pointing to different spots on her head.  This is the finished look!

  

 Once she saw I was taking her picture she insisted she put her sunglasses on.  She is just a cute little diva!

Mine

So unfortunately the word "mine" has entered Lily's vocabulary.  She will say it when she wants something (particularly something she knows she shouldn't have), when she doesn't want us to have something, or when she really doesn't want to do what we are asking like putting her dolly back in the crib (dolly stays in her crib for the most part because she is very important to sleep with and we don't want to lose her).  Each of the different reason she says "mine" also have different intonations so you know just how important it is to her. 

She has also learned the color blue.  I am not sure if it is because she is just at the point of starting to learn colors, or because she absolutely loves the show Blues Clues.  Right now we have it on Netflix instant queue and she gets to watch it every now and then.

The pregnancy is going well.  Lily is still too young to understand what is happening.  Although I have asked her several times if she wants to share her old clothes with her little sister and she always says yes, if she wants to share her toys with her little sister and she always says yes, and if she wants to share her bedroom with her little sister and she typically says no.  Only once has she actually said yes.  She definitely loves being an only child right now and getting all the attention.  It is going to be a shock for her when her little sister comes.

I am 24 weeks pregnant today.  That is a big number to pregnant women.  That is the week in development where they say the baby starts having a chance to survive outside her mom if she would need to be delivered.  She would obviously still require lots of medical attention, but her chances have increased greatly.  There is no reason for me to believe that she is going to be delivered early, especially this early, but it is still a nice feeling to get to this milestone.

The sad news in our house is that we had to make the difficult decision to get rid of our dog, Selene, this week.  She never fully got used to Lily and never liked her being within a few feet of her.  She also started showing signs of food aggressions (something she had when we first got her, but Sean worked with her on) and we didn't want something to happen to our very curious toddler that always wanted to be around Selene when she was eating.  I was also afraid of having another child and not being able to monitor Lily and Selene as closely as I can now.  It is definitely hard to deal with but we know it is for the best for our family and for Selene.  She needs a home that she can be comfortable in and not always having to worry about little kids sneaking up on her.  She also needs someone that can provide her with lots of exercise to help her get rid of some of her energy.

Its a...

GIRL!

That is right, we are having another girl.  I'm so excited.  She was being shy during the ultrasound today though and kept covering her face so we didn't get all that many great pictures, but we did get the one that matters :)

It will be great to have another little "doll" so I can dress her up and play with her hair, especially since Lily has become very opinionated about her outfits and how her hair is done.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend we will be able to scan the ultrasound pictures into the computer so that I can get some up on the blog.

Off to bed now to dream about what it will be like with two little girls!

Park

Lily and I found a cute little park close by on Monday with my mom.  There were a lot of things that she was still too little to do there so we will be able to go there for many years to come.  It isn't within walking distance, but is only like a 5 minute drive.  There are baseball and soccer fields, an open grassy area, pond, walking trails, and a fun playground.  We went in the morning since it has been so hot and I am glad we did because the playground was completely shaded by some trees.  Unfortunately the playground is mostly metal so I'm not sure how hot it would get in the afternoon sun.  Here are a few of her favorite things to do there.

She also learned how to make a cool sound on the merry-go-round

Pictures

 Enjoying corn on the cob. 

 Big smile!

 Being goofy.

 Way too much energy for breakfast time.

(The above pictures are a little old and she no longer sits in her highchair to eat.  She now sits on a real chair at the table!)

 Looking more and more like a little girl and less and less like a baby.

 At the zoo.

Out to lunch for father's day.