Happy Birthday Emmy!

On July 5th, Miss Emmy celebrated her 3rd birthday.  I can't believe 3 years have flown by since our little lady was born; I remember that day as if it was yesterday.  She has grown and changed and is becoming a little person more and more each day.  She is smart, funny, caring, compassionate and creative.  She can talk like there is no tomorrow and has an amazing imagination (if you will remember back to Jerry, her imaginary friend who is still around, and now has a mom named Connie and a friend named Carl).

To celebrate the day we had a lot of fun activities planned.  First was a trip to the mall with Daddy and Ian to Build-A-Bear followed by a ride on the carousel and a quesadilla lunch at Desert Moon Cafe, one of her favorites.  We went home for a much needed nap because we had a fun afternoon planned with her friends.

Since we are still at my parents I couldn't have a party here or that would have definitely gotten us kicked out.  I'm not sure a bounce house in the backyard is a regular occurrence at a 55 and older community so I planned a quick party at Peachwave, a new self-serve yogurt place we have in town.  We met 12 of her little friends there and they had a blast.  It was an hour of chaos, sugar highs and lots of playful screaming, but she was in heaven.  She played hostess so nicely passing out water, napkins of little Olivia tattoos she had picked out for everyone.  She had a great time, felt special and of course got some really cute presents so I would say the day was a huge success!

Happy Birthday Em, we love you with all of our heart!

Big Sister Emmy!

Emmy has taken on the roll of big sister like a champ. She LOVES her baby brother and I think the fact that she now has a real life baby to take care of she is in heaven. Don't get my wrong, she has her times of "over-loving" or when she wants to send him back, but for the most part she loves him. He is the first person she asks for when she wakes up and is always asking to hold and kiss him.  She has even taking to nursing her babies.  She has regressed a little, asking us to hold her like a baby, rock and burp her, but thankfully these requests are fewer and farther between.  Ian is a lucky boy to have such a wonderful big sister, even though at this rate, he'll be taller than her in a few months!

To Be, or Not To Be...Gluten Free!

We took our beautiful baby boy home from the hospital on Wednesday, May 30th and we were so happy to be home.  It might not have been our home, since we are still living at my parent's, but it was home none the less.  Almost right away we noticed that Ian never "slept like a baby".  He would cry out in his sleep, never seemed comfortable and was extremely gassy.  He would scream every time we changed his diaper and at first we just contributed it to his circumcision, but as it continued I really became distressed.

I kept telling Andy and my mom that something was just not right.  I guess it was my motherly instinct kicking in.  I did some research and all signs pointed to cutting dairy out of my diet.  Andy told me to try it and being that it was "ice cream season" I was hesitant to do that if he didn't in fact have a dairy allergy.  I hemmed and hawed but then decided to take him to see a friend of mine who is a naturopath.  It was right away, after doing some muscle testing, that she discovered he in fact had a gluten sensitivity.  Though not severe as an allergy she said it was definitely negatively effecting him.  Not only was it gluten, but oats, cane sugar, almonds and bananas as well.  My poor baby, I thought! I had been eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning since coming home from the hospital as well as a banana and kind bar with almonds each day.  I must have been completely overloading his system. 

I went home that day, changed my diet immediately and within 2 days he was a completely different baby.  Not only did he cry less and rest more comfortably, but his baby acne went away on his face as well as his diaper rash.  I couldn't believe it!  I was so proud of myself for trusting my instinct and not just accepting that fact that he was a little "colicky" as some might have labeled him. I wasn't going to accept that label, I had to get to the bottom of it. 

Changing my diet has been quite an adjustment and I have my little kid moments when all I want to do is kick and scream and raid the cabinet, but then I look at that sweet face and know what I am doing is completely changing his life for the better, plus heck, it sure has helped me loose the baby weight as well!  It has also changed my life for the better.  I no longer just eat for the sake of eating, actually read more labels, and pay attention to the food I am putting in my body (I know what a novel concept!).  I make overall healthier decisions about my eating and feel so much healthier because of it, so to Ian, all I can say is THANK YOU!

Becoming a Family of 4!

It was Sunday, May 27th and we spent a fun afternoon a family friend's house for a BBQ. I was feeling really good; tired and large, but good. Everyone kept asking me when I was going to have this baby and I assured them it wasn't coming any time soon and in fact, I was beginning to think my due date was perhaps calculated incorrectly. However, knowing that the next day was my due date, I couldn't help but go home that night with a glimmer of hope.  I was excited, however, that we had plans in the morning with our friend's Mia & Kris to go out to breakfast for the LumberJack! This was the meal I had the day I was due with Emmy, it's the perfect breakfast for a very pregnant woman who wants a little taste of everything. It's french toast, pancakes, biscuits, eggs, bacon and sausage - a pregnant woman's dream! I might not have had the baby yet, but at least I had this meal to look forward to.

I went to bed that evening around 10PM and was woken suddenly at exactly 12:01AM. I remember looking at the clock because I couldn't imagine that I already had to pee since I had just gone to bed, but heck, I was very pregnant, so anything was possible. All of a sudden I heard a crack of thunder and realized I didn't have to pee and the thunder was what must have woken me. It was extremely loud and knowing how afraid Emmy is of thunder, I stared at the monitor waiting for the "DADDY" call!

While I waited up for her for a few minutes, I grabbed my cell phone, went to my "What to Expect" app and it said, "Due Date"! Just then I had a contraction. At first I didn't think anything of it, or at least I was trying to convince myself it was nothing because I had been having braxton hicks contractions for a few months. I didn't want to get my hopes up even though in my heart I knew this time it was different. I timed my contractions for about an hour and they were just about 10 minutes apart. After the hour I decided it was time to wake Andy. I nudged him a bit and said, "I think I'm in labor". He rolled over in his sleepy state and said "Ok, well if you need me, just let me know." I laughed and said "I need you, that's why I am waking you up." At this point he jumped out of bed and we both started pacing.

Since this time I was determined to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesearan) I knew it was in my best interest to keep moving. Thankfully I had started packing my bag a few days earlier, so I threw some last minute things in the bag, took a nice long, hot shower and continued to time my contractions on a handy iphone app I had downloaded a few days prior.  It's amazing what a difference 3 years makes, because with Em we were timing them on good ole paper and this time we were able to indulge in the advances of modern technology.  My mom said, now I have seen everything, as she came up to check on me once Andy told her I was in labor and we were going to be on our way!

It was now a little before 5AM and I was eager to see how I was progressing, so off to the hospital we went.  Upon arriving I was so upset to learn that I was only 1 centimeter after being in labor and a lot of pain for almost 5 hours. My midwife told me to walk around for an hour because I couldn't be admitted until 2 centimeters. Andy and I did just that, taking a nice tour of the labor ward, stopping every few minutes for my contractions. After 45 minutes I said I need to be checked, if this labor isn't progressing than I NEED an epidural. It was just 6AM and I was so happy to learn that I was almost 4 centimeters and was now being admitted. It was at the moment that I knew if I could get through the past 45 minutes, taking just 1 minute at a time, that I COULD do this. I didn't want an epidural because I knew if I was stuck in a bed I would have a c-section and not progress and I was already considered high risk because I was attempting a VBAC.

I continued to labor for 4 more hours until I was fully dilated. Don't worry, I won't go into all the details but let's just say I literally took it 1 minute at a time, don't think I opened my eyes for 4 hours straight and swore to Andy we were only having 2 kids!  I will tell you that I had my midwife check my progress, she said at least twice as much as she usually does.  I told her I was a numbers person and that I needed to know we were moving in the right direction and in a timely fashion.  I could handle a few more hours but if it was going to be all day I needed an epidural and a nap! Thankfully it wasn't all day and I believe because I had continued to weight train throughout my pregnancy I was able to stay strong throughout the whole experience. 

It was finally time to push and Cathy, my midwife assured me this baby would be here before lunch. I immediately told her I wanted lunch now! We all had a nice laugh and off to pushing I went. I ended up pushing for 2 hours thanks to an arm that insisted on being next to Mr. Ian's head. Cathy tried to pinch his fingers so he would retract his arm but he was having none of it and finally at 12:05PM, just in time for lunch, Ian made his grand entrance into the world. Since Andy and I were both so positive it was a boy it actually took a good minute or two before we actually checked to make sure our prediction was correct. We were right, a beautiful 8 pound, 11 ounce, baby boy came into our world and we were thrilled. He had quite a set of lungs on him and cried for about 30-40 minutes. It wasn't until Daddy came to the rescue and had skin to skin contact that he finally settled down. I told Andy, I hoped this wasn't a glimpse into our future :)

I know people thought i was crazy for attempting to even have a VBAC, and even crazier to do it naturally but I am SO SO happy with my decision.  Natural childbirth was something I had wanted to experience and even though the c-section with Emmy was necessary and at the time I was grateful for modern medicine, I wanted to experience what my body was made to do.  Andy also told me afterwards that it was the coolest experience of his life, so I am grateful and proud to give him that opportunity as well. I'll never forget him looking at me afterwards and saying, "And you tell me you can't do Crossfit?!?! You can do anything now!"

Cooking Queen!

I'm sure most almost 3 year old girls love to help their moma cook in the kitchen, but I'm not sure they are also into watching cooking shows.  I haven't asked around so I am not positive, but I really can't imagine this is common practice!  

Well Miss Emmy has been so into cooking lately and it's hilarious.  She asks me to watch cooking shows, record cooking shows and is especially a big fan of Rachael Ray & Giada.  If the meal looks interesting she'll ask to make the recipe once they are done and if she's not a fan, she will quickly ask me to change the channel and tell me that meal looks gross.  

She is the best helper in the kitchen and is actually quite skilled with a butter knife.  She will stand in the kitchen and help me for sometimes up to 30 minutes.  She doesn't even have that long of an attention span for play doh or even her babies sometimes.  She gets insulted if my meal doesn't require assistance, that more times than not, I create extra steps just to keep my sous chef happy.  Perhaps we have a future chef in the making! 

Cutting peppers - she did that whole bowl!

36 Weeks

Officially 36 weeks pregnant today!  Can't even believe it.  I have been meaning to take pictures for weeks now but because I can't get myself to look clean enough to have my mom take nice ones, I just made Andy take this today so I would at least have 1 in case I can't get my act together :) 

I have been feeling good besides some back and ligament pain in my legs.  I'm proud to still be working out with weights twice a week and hope to get some more walking in as well.  I hope I can walk this baby right out! 

Natural History Museum!

We were so lucky to spend the morning with JJ & CC (aka Jared & Corey) at the Natural History Museum and then enjoyed a nice lunch together a few weeks ago.  Em was completely confused at first by the museum and was wondering why the animals didn't talk, I think she thought it was like a zoo, but she has been really into dinosaurs the past few weeks so it was nice for her to see them.  We had a great time with them and took a few pictures to capture the day!     



 Em wouldn't get in the picture, but instead insisted on taking ours.  If you see the faces of the people behind us you can see their confusion and shock as this little peanut takes our picture - it's a pretty good one too!