So, I am going to go backwards a bit...

I am feeling the need to tell the story of Adalyn's birth. Bear with me...

I had a scheduled induction at 8 a.m. on Wed, Feb. 25th, 2009.

It was a long and kind of boring day. Waiting...

I had pitocin to get labor going and then I couldn't take it much longer and had an epidural at 6:30 p.m. (who needs natural childbirth? I've done that, it is overrated!)

I got to enjoy American Idol that night. (See American Idol on the tv?)

25 minutes later, my water broke as I was talking about when my doctor was going to come in and "snag the bag". Weird, and quite funny!

I love that I can have a smile on my face while in VERY active labor. This day was a total roller coaster ride. Miss Adalyn wanted to be born hand first. THAT was not going to work. My awesome doctor (best doc in the world in my opinion!) Dr. Agudelo kept pushing Adalyn's hand away. Everytime she came to check me, her hand would be back by her head. NOT good. I could tell Dr. A was nervous and tried to prepare me for the dreaded c-section in case things didn't change. She gave it another hour and came back and checked me and pushed her hand back again. Thankfully, she kept her hand where it belonged and it was go time...

(the last belly pic...it was really distorted at this point!)

After 16 hours and 31 minutes of labor (my longest) and four pushes (my fewest) Adalyn Mae was finally here. We thought she looked so small. I guess compared to a 3 year old and a 7 year old, she was. But, compared to an "average" sized newborn, not so much. She weighed in at 9 pounds exactly. 20 inches long. She was SO mad when she came out! But, oh so sweet.

Addie's Very Important People

(OK, so I started this post on March 16th and never finished it. So, here I am a month later... ) I AM going to get better at this blogging thing.



Addie has met a lot of new people in her little life (somewhat in this order):


Her mommy (although her and I have gotten to know each other quite well over the last few months)

Her daddy

Her brothers
Her grandmothers

Her grandfathers

Her puppy
Her Uncle Kelly, Aunt Jessica and cousin Griffin Her Uncle Zack

Some Friends



some people just left gifts


Her Aunt Sonja

Her cousin Marissa


And she continues to meet many, many more important people in our lives (I just keep forgetting my camera...)



Addie's first trip to IA is in a few weeks for a family wedding, will have more VIP pics then.

Welcome Adalyn Mae!

Adalyn Mae
February 26, 2009 12:31 a.m.
9 lbs. 20 in.

Basketball, WikiSticks and Gelato!

We had a great day yesterday with the boys. Kaden had a basketball game at 10 and did great. No baskets this time, but he is definitely getting more aggressive and most importantly, he loves it and is having a ton of fun! It is SO fun to watch him!


After basketball we decided to go out to eat (and NOT McDonald's!) so we decided on Chester's. Jeremy and I really like this place, but were a little hesitant to take the kids there. Since it was Saturday at noon, we didn't think it would be too busy. We ended up making the perfect choice! The boys were great, the food was great...we had a super time! They gave the boys "Wikki Sticks" to play with when we sat down. They are the coolest things and really affordable. We stopped at the toy store at the Miracle Mile and they had them for 6 bucks! The boys played all afternoon with them! LOVE it! After lunch, we decided to go upstairs at the Galleria (yes, we still call it that!) and get some gelato at the chocolate shop. YUMMY! It is SO addicting! It tastes exactly like the kind we had at Grand Central Station in NYC when we lived in Connecticut! I keep thinking of it...I'm craving
more! When we finally got home, Kaden said, "this was the best day of my life!" Wow! I guess we don't need to take him to Disney!

Almost baby time!

Well, we are getting closer and closer to meeting Baby A! This is the "last weekend" I keep calling it! A lot of little things to get done before next week. I go in next Wed. a.m. to be induced. I'm nervous, anxious, scared, excited all wrapped into one! Little girl has proved to be a stinker so far...lots of crazy things happening since the last post. A month ago today I was diagnosed with Cholestasis of Pregnancy. It is a liver condition that affects the flow of bile in my bloodstream. It will go away after I deliver, which is a blessing! Because of this, I have had to go in twice weekly to get the baby monitored with non-stress testing and ultrasounds. So far, she has "passed" with flying colors. However, everytime we go in she is in a different position and the position she favors more than anything is BREECH! UGH. So, we add to all of the other stuff when we have to deal with that. I'm ready to get off of this roller coaster ride! I guess I'll get off of this roller coaster just to jump on to another one! :)

34 weeks...and counting!

I am officially 34 weeks. 6 more weeks to go! I am getting really sick of being pregnant. I want to try to remember how miserable I am so I won't get crazy and do this again!

The baby's room is pretty much ready. I feel so much more laid back with this baby than the last two. I remember having lists checked off of baby stuff that we would need when they came home from the hosptial and the hospital bag packed. I haven't done anything like that yet. I am more focused on getting my house in order! Those of you with more than 2, is this normal?

Vienna

I just had to share these shots from Jeremy's Slovakia/Austria trip in August. He FINALLY got them put on shutterfly so we could all see them. I guess he finally had a slow day at the office!
Anyway, I am amazed at some of these pictures that he took. He isn't known as the family's photographer, so I am proud of him for taking some of these! These are all of Vienna, Austria. He worked most of the time in Slovakia, but got to have a fun day in Vienna. Austria is close to my heart since that is where my parental grandmother's family is from. I grew up hearing her talk about how beautiful Austria is. I definitely believe her! I definitely wish I could have been on this trip with Jeremy, but I guess someday maybe my time will come to travel the globe!

I love how OLD everything is!!!!