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.