It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for...

I didn't think it could be done but Addison rolled from her tummy to her back a full week before Caelen accomplished this feat. I'm not trying to compare my kids, but Caelen was SO early at everything that I thought it a given that Addison (and every other child in the world) would do things on a more "normal" time schedule. But Addison decided she's not going to be outdone LOL!
I put her in her crib this morning to nap. We're learning that she is very sensitive to overstimulation. Last night she had a cry-fest that lasted a good hour and there was nothing obviously wrong. Thomas swaddled her, put her binky in and we turned the TV off for some peace and quiet and she finally settled right down. It's no wonder because she has a very loving big sister constantly up in her face saying HI! in a loud toddler voice. I'm not going to discourage any sweet displays of love and affection from Caelen to her little sister, but I think it gets to be a bit much for Addie.
Anyway, all that to say, I set her in her crib this morning so she could get away from it all. And yes, I put her on her tummy because that's how she sleeps best (I know, you can save the lectures). I went in to check on her about 15 minutes later and there she is laying on her back in the "fencing" position (where they have their heads turned to one side and the hand behind their head is curved up as if to touch the back of their head, and the arm in front is straight out.) She was peacefully staring at the blanket draped over her crib and hadn't made a sound. It took me a few seconds to realize what she had done at 3weeks & 2 days old.





Addison's first official outing was for Austin Bishop's first birthday party. Caelen's frist official outing was for Tyler Bishop's (Austin's older brother's) first birthday party. Addison was 9 days old. Caelen was 10 days old. We seriously couldn't have planned our kids like that if we wanted! But here are some pictures from Austin's party.


Cupcakes! Yum

Courtney and I, always pregnant and with babies at the same time. Again, can't plan it but always works out that way.

After a typical crying spell in her carseat which she hates, whether the car is moving or not, she baaaahhh's like a sheep and drowns in her cry. It's sad, but what can you do?

My apologies to anyone who didn't get a true birth announcement. These suckers were super expensive but I just loved them so I ended up sending them primarily to family really. But here is a picture of it. I took these pictures when she was 9 days old, that was the exact same age Caelen was when I took hers.

And this was Caelen's birth announcement picture. I think the two pics where the girls have their eyes open, it looks like it could be the same baby, even though they're so distinct in person. They definitely look like sisters.

And now just for fun!

Caelen got a wagon for her first birthday party, and so did Austin, so we took these pictures. The first one was taken 1 year and 2 months before the second one. Same kids, with the addition of Austin who wasn't around back then. Baby Daniel Porter and Addison didn't make it into the shot.

Getting there.

Yesterday while sitting on the couch together reading a book Caelen puts her arm around my shoulders, pats me and says, "You're my best friend ever mama." This illicited multiple kisses and "I love you"s from me of course!

I think things have gotten better the past couple of days with regards to the girls. Most the time I still feel like I'm operating at maximum capability. Definitely keeping those plates spinning all day long. But I'm so thankful that Addison is still proving herself to be a mellow child who loves to sleep. She cries if she's hungry, has to go potty, or gets bored while awake. The solution to all of these senarios is either feed her, or hold her and pat her back. She usually falls asleep during either activity and her crying jags have so far probably not lasted more than one minute. On the other hand I remember being up at 3:00 am swaying back and forth with a screaming Caelen while patting her back and praying to the Lord above that she would just STOP! Addison has absolutley been an easy baby so far and I know that God only gives us what we can handle. If my patience and endurance for children were a pie chart, Caelen already took up 95% of it before Addison came. He knows this, and is merciful.

My pain is still a constant energy drainer and I'm getting impatient to feel back to normal. I KNOW it didn't take this long with my first C-section recovery. I think I must just be overdoing it, but I really don't see how I'm supposed to lay on the couch for 3 weeks and do nothing. I'm a wife, mother, homemaker and part time worker for crying out loud and that stuff doesn't just stop for weeks on end because of a little abdominal pain. Hopefully next week I'll notice a difference.

Well I have a little bug calling to me from her room to come rub her back and sing our songs: Wonder Pets, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle and Frosty the Snowman, like we do every night. Then I'll turn on her heater, tell her night night, shut the door...... and 10 minutes later she'll be screaming bloody murder for me to come back in. Oh well, it sounded cute and idealistic at first huh?

I'll be back

When my life isn't like working triage, I'll post another blog. :) Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it.
A couple updates:
Caelen counted from 1-13 multiple times today without missing a number.
Addison got oinment for her eye goop that's been going on for over a week. Apparently the congestion in little ones noses can back up into their tear ducts.
My house is a disaster, right now I'm waiting for the smoke from the oven to clear out of the house.
I love and live off of chocolate.
I need to get to Target in a bad way!

I guess you can guess which one wins though.

I've been pondering recently the human condition that allows me to simultainiously feel two very conflicting emotions both equally as strong as the other. I feel totally blessed by the arrival of Addison! I'm so happy she's here and healthy and beautiful, happy not to be pregnant anymore. I love to hold her, smell her newborn smell and even listen to the bah-ing cry of a brand new life. I'm blessed by my spunky and fun 2 year old who says she loves me and gives wonderful hugs and kisses. She's smart and creative and fun to watch grow. My husband is a huge light in my life and I love him more as the days and years go on.
And at the exact same time I'm fighting every urge to hop on a plane to Mexico and sip Margaritas by the Carribean and never come back....
;)

Addison's First Week at Home

Just some photos of our first days home.

Here's Addison's first bath. It had to be a sponge bath because her umbilical cord hasn't fallen off yet. At first she screamed (she hates diaper & clothing changes) but as soon as I began to put the warm water on her she calmed right down and actually "enjoyed" it?

We got Caelen a big girl pillow for her bed. First pillow ever for her and so she told me we needed to take a picture.

Here's Caelen slunked down between the coffee table and couch pitching a fit about something. I think she's actually saying, "No Papa! Go away." when he captured this typical Caelen look.

Today Addison tried the swing for the first time and Caelen had to keep pushing her because the batteries had died and we didn't know or have replacments LOL! She was just sweetly watching her sister swing and then would push her when she slowed down.

Happiness = Right now

I didn't think that there was any possible combination of genes between Thomas and I to make a baby like Addison, but we are blessed. She's my reward. She sleeps all the time. She basically lives in her bouncy seat on the coffee table by the nice warm fire. She stirs when she's hungry and may cry, may not depending on her mood. She eats well, sometimes lazily and I have to change her diaper to wake her up enough to eat some more, and then it's back to sleep.

She wakes for small periods of time during the day. Last night at about 8:00 she came to life for a couple hours. And by that I mean, she looked around the room and had her eyes open. She tried to learn how to use a binkie and then got frustrated. We put her on her tummy for a bit and she enjoyed lifting her head up (amazingly strong little one.) (This was after a lift and Thomas snapped it just as her head came down. I can't look at it because it makes me laugh so hard and laughing hurts!!! )
And then about 10:00pm I fed her and we fell asleep together on the couch.

I'm sleeping on the couch right now because I can't lay down or get back up again for that matter. This is why I wanted to avoid another C-section if I could, the recovery is a "you-know-what" especially if you're like me and just want to get back to normal! I want to clean my house and make dinners and be a normal mommy for Caelen again. It's also hard for Thomas to be working from home, trying to take care of house work, and Caelen, and find time to cuddle with his new baby girl.

The pain seems worse this time but it could be any number of things:

1) With Caelen I could just lay on the couch and be her mommy. I didn't have a toddler's demands to meet, so maybe I just wasn't as aware of the pain because I wasn't moving around as much.

2) The doctor didn't just do an incision, he cut away some old scar tissue making me think that might be harder to heal?

3) I'm older. 27 today..... LOL

4) Or baby amnesia is amazing like one nurse told me. If it wasn't, the population would die. No one would remember how awful the pain is (labor, pregnancy problems and C-section recovery) and no one would have more than one baby.

After we fell asleep (and I transfered her to her bouncy seat at about 11:00) I woke up at 3:00 in the morning and thought, "Well miss Addison, since it's been 5 hours and I'm in some serious pain from milk overload, why don't you eat?" She ate for half an hour, a good long feeding, and went back to sleep. Next thing I know I'm waking at 7:00 in the morning to Caelen calling me from her room!!!

So beautiful Addison is amazingly easy and wonderfully adorable and I thank God every day that I'm not pregnant anymore. Yes, I would rather be on drugs and in pain for weeks with my new little girl than be in that pregnant body again. I'm one happy mama today. After my Dad came to meet Addison for the first time (everyone was able to stay about 1 hour because she was born so close to visiting time ending) he said I smiled more in that small period of time than he'd seen in months. I believe it! I'm so happy. All of it is always worth it in the end.

I'm so proud of my missy moo Caelen. She has been a precious big sister. She has helped mommy change a couple of Addison's diapers.

She's put Addie's shoes on for her doctor visit. She's super good at introducing her to people. She shares with Addison and often says she wants to see or hold her baby sister.

And then she's off, playing, or singing, or reading, or just being a good girl. She's had a few temper issues, that I can't necessarily attribute to Addison's arrival, but they could be because of it. I'm very proud of her.

Two of my biggest material wishes came true these past couple of days. Thomas bought me a glider and ottoman for my birthday and it is SO comfortable! AND today he had a garage door opener installed. This will literally change my life. For 6 years I have been opening that garage door by hand. I load Caelen in the garage, open the door, get in the car, drive out, park the car. And then in any manner of awful weather, get out, close the garage door, get back in the car and then drive away. I do this AT least 4 mornings out of the week. Serious low point in my day. Very annoying, inconvienient etc. NOT ANY MORE! :) Yay! And it's so quiet.

Sooooo Thomas is out getting some things, but most importantly a Starbucks for me and we're having suhsi for dinner tonight. Yeah I think you could say I'm about as happy as it gets these days.

Addison Is Here!

So here's the story of how Addison came to be in the world!!
I went in on Thursday for my last non-stress test. All her vitals and activity looked great, they said, "We'll check you fluid levels and get you outta here!" But as soon as that ultrasound was up on the screen even I knew I probably wasn't going home without this baby in my arms. There was so little fluid and having had these 3 times before I knew what to look for. The ulstrasound showed all Addie, no fluid. My levels were boarderline acceptable. So either fluid had been slowly leaking or the placenta was shutting down.
Either way there was too much risk to Addison (with the fluid level & my blood test back at 16 weeks, there was too much coorelation between those things and major problems.) They checked me and I was only 1cm dialated (after ALL that wonderful false labor all week.) Had I been about 3cm the docotr said he would have broken my water and let me labor, but I just had too far to go and wasn't a candidate for vaginal delievry anymore. It was the answer to all our prayers and I said, Great, let's get this baby out. He said, OK, since you ate at 10 we'll have the baby at 4:00.
So I never left this room! The dressed me in my gown, got my IV going. Got all the paperwork started. I called Thomas and he got my car from the hospital parking lot, took the car seat and Caelen's bag to my parents who were already watching her curing my appointment. He ran home, took a shower, grabbed my hospital bag and was by my side by about 2:00. He was so cute, he called so many times asking what I needed him to do again? He was so excited he couldn't hardly concentrate.

We got started a bit late as another laboring woman wanted an epidural and once the anethesiologist was with me, those other ladies were outta luck for an hour or so. So finally at about 5:00 they came in and I walked leisurly into the OR. They gave me my spinal which started working immediately and I had to get into position quick! The surgeon had KZST on and I was actually singing along which made everyone laugh, but it was such a mellow experience and I was SO happy, why not sing? And besides the doctor totally joined in with me.
At 5:14pm I heard the cries! She was wailing really well and her APGAR score was 9! 10 is the best and they're rarely given out. She was perfectly beautiful. All the nurses said she was one of the most beautiful they'd seen.

When told her name the OR was ooohing and aaahhing. Everyone keeps saying it's such a sophisticated name.

Thomas jumped right up at the oppurtunity to cut the cord this time. With Caelen he hadn't given it previous thought, was caught off guard and passed on the chance. But this time he wanted to and was right there!

I really wanted to make sure we got a picture of the three of us right after the delivery and the nurses were so happy to help and then Thomas got to run off with Addison to the nursery while they spent another 40 minutes stitching me up. I was jealous and missed her already.

The doctor took his time trying to make my scar very pretty which I appreciated. Afterward I was in some pretty intense pain and couldn't stop shaking. As soon as my pain meds were brought in and I stopped shaking they brought her to me to eat. She caught on quickly just like Caelen had. Good eaters :)

Here's my sweet Caelen saying Hi to Addison and probably saying, "Look at how cute she are Mommy." Caelen has been an amazing big sister. She checks in on Addison every once in awhile, says she's beautiful and cute. She even changed her diaper once with a little help from Mommy.

Here we are all ready to go home! Caelen wasn't interested in a photo op though.

And that's how Addison came to be in the world! Born February 19 @ 5:14pm. 7lbs 6ozs, 20.5 inches long.

She's so mellow. I never thought Thomas and I could produce such a mellow baby. She only cries when she's hungry or she's getting her diaper changed. Other than that, she sleeps. If I hadn't had major abdominal surgery to get her out, I'd go back to work tomorrow and do all my normal routine right away because she's just so easy. Looking back I see now that Caelen was a much more high maintainence baby and it wasn't just first time parent jitters that made those first few weeks hard. It's definitely a personality thing.

I just love my girls and it's amazing how different they are already! We've been blessed, that's for sure!

The home stretch GRUMPINESS

Alright people. By the time I actually DO go into labor I'll probably already be half way there! Since Sunday afternoon I have been having periods of contractions. And I'm talking, good 45 second long, belly hard as a rock, painful, breath through them contractions that come about 15-20 minutes apart for maybe an hour or two and then........ they're gone.
If I do go into labor before they C-section her, I'm not gonna believe it until this baby is about to pop out. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But I'm getting a little frustrated by all the faking out that's going on. Not to mention it's horribly uncomfortable. Can we just do this thing and be over with it. Everyone around me is so anxious, and I appreciate that! It means Addison is loved and everyone is excited to meet her. But seriously people, whatever impatience other people are feeling, multiply it by 5000000000 to come somewhere close to how I'm feeling.
Sweet Caelen and I were talking about how Addison gets to decide when she wants to come out and then she does, and that there's no way to know when it'll happen. So Caelen turned that over in her mind for a minute and then yelled, "Addison, we want you to come out now!!!"
Thomas keeps asking me if there's anything I can do [to make this baby come faster]. I tell him yeah, but I like to be difficult and I LOVE being pregnant so I'm just holding her in for the fun of it.
Yes yes, I'm end of pregnancy-grumpy and super impatient. And it's not even my due date yet! Monday will come soon though and I have no doubt I'll still be as huge as a beach ball and more uncomfortable than I have really physically ever been. On a constant-basis. By the end of the day I need a wheelchair.
God bless you all for putting up with me. As encouragment I'll give you the wonderful words of wisdom everyone else gives me everyday, "It'll be over soon!"
whatever......

Addison's Room

This rainy day we managed to finally finish Addison's room (well, with everything that we have. There are a few items still on back order like her crib mattress and crib skirt. We're going to be ordering a glider this weekend too.) But I feel very accomplished, thanks to Thomas for all the manual labor, and thanks to everyone who gave us all this stuff!!! I never imagined Addie's nursery would be so adorable.

The two fairies and the unicorn (with a fairy on it's back) were mine back when I lived with my parents. In Caelen's room she has all my Classic Pooh collectables. Fairies have always been another of my favorite things and I'm so excited to be able to share these things with my girls.

The glider will go where this baby swing is now and the baby swing will probably spend most of it's time in the main living areas.

This window treatment was also mine as a teenager and I've held onto it knowing I would find a chance to use it again.

There's her car seat, diaper bag and a blankie from her Auntie Heather all ready for Thomas to grab to come pick us up from the hospital.

And this is just because my little girl started putting together these railroad tracks and built it completely around this table leg which was very impressive to me!

Weekend Ramblings

My husband is nesting and it's just awesome! He cleaned out the playroom closet (the ultimate catch all junk closet) and the cabinent underneath the TV (just from there here filled a huge cardboard box with garbage.) I've never felt so organized! Next we'll probably take care of the blinds and window treatment in Addison's room, and put up the little decorative shelving.

We're so thankful everyone is well again. I started feeling a sore throat and runny nose this morning and have been eating oranges and drinking water like it's going out of style. I also take tons of vitamins daily and I'm trying to keep a positive attitude that it will NOT turn into anything serious.

We have 9 days until Addison is due, and 10 until I turn 27 (like I even ever think about that. Actually, I totally forgot until I bought wine today and the lady asked me if I was 21.) All my Braxton Hicks contractions have been for nothing says the doctor LOL. So no progress so far. But I hadn't any with Caelen a couple days before I went into labor either. I feel like I am just sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, anxious for this girl to come!
I'll be honest, I'm anxious about the delivery. What mother isn't? But mine is a little more high risk and since Caelen's birth was so traumatic, I really don't know what to think about this one. I so wish I was one of those women who just went into labor and then some odd hours later, pushed a baby out and YAY! But for some reason making babies is not my strong suit. We battled infertility, the whole world knows I'm a horribly sick pregnant mom, and birthing so far hasn't been "easy" or "normal" and now I'm all "high-risk" and stupidly special in a way I never hoped for. I think I need a break with this one ;)

I love Lucas Wharf for mulitple reasons:
1. The food is delicious and I have multiple favorites that I choose from whenever we go.
2. The drive out makes you feel like it's a mini-get-away, even though it's not far from home.
3. It's a nice restaurant but not too snooty.
4. It's on the water.
So Thomas and I went last night as a Valentine's / Babymoon / Good-job-surviving-Caelen's-sickness Dinner. We dropped Caelen off with Grandma & Grandpa and had a wonderful evening complete with and ice cream cone and Root Beer float from Screamin' Mimi's in Sebastopol. I'm finding it's getting easier and easier (for ME) to leave Caelen and go out. I used to miss her the moment I dropped her off, but now, I think she just takes SO much energy, that I need to recharge those batteries and I'm not in a desperate hurry to rush back. I think it's healthy :)

Okay, I'm serious now, does anyone want a Bloodhound?

A few days of peace before delivering a baby, maybe?

My nerves are fried. I think I need a massage, soak in a hot tub, and a glass of wine to recover from this past weekend/week. But since I am still pregnant, 2 out of 3 of those requirements will have to wait.
Caelen had a fever ranging from 101 - 105.2! from Friday to Sunday. The scariest part was when the Motrin would wear off (always about 1-2 hours too early) and her fever would begin to go up, she'd turn blue around the mouth and on her hands and feet and begin to shake. I was on the phone with the adivce nurses 3 times in 3 days. Once they told me if I couldn't get her fever down (she was refusing Motrin like a ninja) then I had to get her to ER right away.
Once the Motrin was on board she'd feel pretty good for 4 hours or so. But then I'd dread it wearing off again. By Sunday night I was so scared and tired. I prayed so hard for it to go away. That night when I knew her Motrin would have worn off I went into to check her and she was amazingly cool! In the morning her fever was only 99.9. The doctor tested for strep (she had puss on her tonsils), flu and urinary tract infection, all of which came back negative.
So after the fever broke, her nose started pouring which chapped her face and made her incredibly uncomfortable. Last night and the night before (and every nap as well) I had to listen to her wake up crying hysterically every 15 minutes for 10 minutes or so before she'd fall back asleep. Lest you think I'm a cold heartless Mom, if I went in to comfort her, she'd kick and punch at me like a caged wild animal and tell me hysterically between sobs to go away.
Yes, by this point I didn't know what was worse, the fever, or this raging lunatic sleeping in my daughter's bed.
Today she woke up peacfully and called for me kindly from her room. Her nose is not running nearly what it was yesterday. She has not been cranky, she's been playing nicely and been telling me she loves me. She fell asleep for her nap in about 2 minutes and hasn't woken up crying. I am FINALLY coming down off an adrenaline high and yes, I'm exhausted. Because all this time I have been 2 weeks away from my due date and just praying that Addison doesn't come early (quite a switch from a week ago), praying Thomas and I don't catch whatever she has (that would be a really fun labor, with a 103 fever) and praying that she just get better. My attention has been totally off being pregnant and now I realize our due date is only 12 days away!!!

Holy Cow...

A not-so-Well Check

My poor child has now had 3 fevers in one months time. This morning she was totally crabby and lethargic which made the prospect of taking her to her 2 year check-up at 11:00am quite scary. By the time we arrived at the doctors she had a fever of 101.6. She talked a little bit with the doctor about her rain boots and the orange tree in our backyard. She talked about the scratch by her eye that her friend gave her. But when it came to check-up time she cried through the whole thing.
I'm so impressed with pediatrician's abilities to get the job done despite a screaming flailing toddler. Her ears looked good, throat was a little red and had the fever. She said if it is the flu that she has, the fever will last 8 days to which I replied, "Oh MERCY!" But Caelen got her flu shot so I'm hoping it's not. She also said, "And if you have that baby, you'll have to keep her away." YEAH like that's gonna happen!
So now all my impatience for Addison's arrival has been curbed by the desire to have my children (who are not ill) meet in the hospital after Addison's arrival and not have to be quarantined from each other.
I'm also nervous about catching whatever Caelen has. It's called having a bun in the oven, but I don't really want to cook my child. And it would be pretty lousy to have the flu while I was in labor. But I too got my flu shot and blessedly have not caught anything that Caelen has had so far although I'm worried my luck might be running out soon.

Anyway Caelen is now 35.5lbs and 37 inches tall. I have no idea what percentile that is as our sweet doctor was just trying to get us the heck out of there, with last minute advice to have lots of popsicles and juice. Now THAT won't be a problem!

Personally I prefer being clean to having fresh green beans but maybe that's just me.

There are things in life that we just manage to avoid. Like for me it's been: cavities, traffic tickets, and jury duty. Until yesterday! I finally got my first ever summons for jury duty (Thomas literally gets called every year and we always laugh that I never get called). And when was it for? March 2, the day they want to C-section Addison if she's not on time. LOL Go figure. So, of course, I postponed it.

Last night we were playing "This Little Piggy" with all our toes and Thomas decided to test Caelen to see if she knew it. He grabbed my big toe and said, "Hey Caelen, where does this little piggy go?" She throws her hands in the air and says, "This little piggy go to TARGET!!"

Thomas has been a water nazi because he's afraid there won't be enough for his garden this year if they put us on water rations. He obsessively, multiple times a day, checks the weather and rain totals. He has cut Caelen's baths down to like 2 inches of water in the bottom of the tub and only every other day (I'm fighting this one, we'll see how it goes.) So last night she says she wants to take a bath and he tells her she can't. When she asks why (oh yeah, and that's a whole OTHER story about her "Why" phase already starting) he tells her because there's not enough water so why doesn't she ask Jesus to send some rain.
She comes running into the bathroom to me and says we have to ask Jesus to send some more water. She runs over to turn on the bath afraid that it might be broken. Then she says, "I have more water in my mouth Mommy!" and she begins spitting into the bathtub!!
So this morning, the heavens graciously unleashed quite a bit of rain and she said, "God sent more rain from the store!"

Sweet Voice

When Caelen was on time out this afternoon she decided to entertain herself with a couple rounds of Jesus Loves Me. I'm so glad I caught her in the mood to preform because she loves this song and sings it a few times a day.