Visitors

Jeremy’s extended family from Florida had planned to come through town on Labor Day.  They were planning to see Gloria that day.  Because this was attached to another trip, they came out anyway.  And we were so glad to see them! 

The girls both had volleyball games that day, but we took them after their game and met Ned and Judy (his aunt and uncle) and Ryan, Lori, Piper and Pace at the hotel restaurant where they were staying.  The girls were so excited to see new baby Pace, born in July. 

         

Piper is also entertaining.  They got to read books and play hide and seek with her as well. 

    

The adults talked and enjoyed each other’s company.  It is always good to see family.

Visitors

We had a very exciting few days …. with a baby around!!!  It has been a long time since a baby has been in my house.  The girls loved it. 

Jeremy’s cousin, her husband, little girl, and Jeremy’s aunt and uncle all drove up from Miami.  They were on a big tour of many places, but we were lucky enough to be included in their stops. 

Lori and Ryan seemed like naturals as parents.  They were laid back, willing to let others take the reins, and enjoyed teaching the girls how to care for an infant.  Madison and Ellie were able to hold and feed Piper as well as change her diaper.  Pretty cool stuff!

              

We also had fun hanging out with the adults.  We were over at Gloria’s on Sunday evening for bbq chicken.  Then, on Monday, they came over to our place with their Dariette food (it was too hot to eat it outside!).  On Tuesday, we planned to be back at Gloria’s for pulled pork, but there was a pretty serious storm that crashed through parts of the county and she lost power.  We did not.  So, they came our direction for supper and air conditioning that evening.  Also that night, there was a salesman that stopped by the house.  I was out talking for much too long.  When I came in, Ryan said I needed to tell him that people inside wanted lessons on his Segway.  So, I asked.  He was incredibly generous.  Madison, Ryan, and myself all took a try.  (I will not be getting one…or if I did, I would need a lot of practice.)

    

The storm in parts of Richland and Ashland county was confirmed as a tornado.  In the Moreland (where Jeremy’s family lives) and the surrounding area, there was no tornado, but there were microbursts and sustained 80-90 mph winds that obliterated hundreds of trees and power lines.  His relatives lost many trees in their yards and were working to clean things up in the midst of some of the hottest days we have had.  We had those that wanted to/were able to come over on Thursday night for supper – pizza, watermelon, salad, and cookies.  We had 11 here with us.  We hung out in the basement as a cool respite for them.  I am glad we could do something even though it felt like so little. 

Home

Leaving for HOME….

                            

We have made it at home for about 1-1/2 weeks now.  And it feels good.  I always want to stay at the hospital as long as possible – you know, you are well cared for (meals brought to you, no pressure to clean the house, someone caring for your newborn every night) and it just feels safe.  But… I come home, and it feels right.  In this short time we have had an onslaught of doctor’s visits to keep us busy.  I had a check up for my incision, and then a follow-up appointment to make sure it was healing. Eliana had her first visit with the pediatrician, and then an ultrasound for a sacral dimple they saw and wanted to check out; all looks good.  Madison went to the doctor for a funny sounding cough that we didn’t want to be passed along if we could help it.  I went to a follow-up appointment regarding my appendectomy.  Jeremy is the only one who avoided a doctor…. although he did go along to a few of those. 

First Doctor’s visit:  Weight: 8lbs, 5oz    Length: 20.5 in   Head circumference: 15 in

                    

                                        

The first week home, Jeremy was here.  It was amazing to watch him be a dad.  I was so busy with Ellie; he became Madison’s go-to person.  She got to fall in love with her daddy all over again.  He was up more at night helping me, since nursing was a bit iff-y those first days.  He was awesome!  Unfortunately, he had to go out-of-state for training.  (He accepted a position with Rettew for a full-time job!  Yea… what a blessing that happened around Christmas time.)  So, my parents moved in for about five days.  They are superhuman, I think.  There was a whirlwind of playing, cleaning, laundry, cooking, and doctoring.  I threw up for the first time in decades on Tuesday and was worthless.  I couldn’t hardly move.  They let me just sleep most of the day.  By Wednesday, I was feeling more human and was thankful it was only about a 24-hour thing. 

Grandparents are special…

                        

                 

Madison went overnight to Yohs to let me recuperate a little longer.  They brought her back on Thursday evening along with supper.  On Friday, they helped entertain both girls while I ran out to one of the doctor’s appointments.  Jeremy returned on Friday late afternoon.  It was so good to see him.  I had missed him more than I thought I would, and I missed our “normal” family life.  It is kinda like the hospital – it is nice to have people doting on you and helping, but you also want things to just feel normal too.  He brought normal back to our house. 

Madison’s first snow (and hanging out)…

                               

Big Sister

So, I know this is late in coming, as will most of my posts be for awhile.  I wanted to dedicate a blog to how special being a big sister is.  Madison was spoiled when Ellie was born.  She got to have BOTH sets of Grandparents come stay with her at our house.  I think she was pretty confused at how that all worked, but enjoyed talking about “this papa, that papa, both papas!”  She came to the hospital on Thursday to visit for the first time.  Ellie had bought her a present to open, and Madison brought a present to give to Ellie.  Madison wanted Ellie to hold all her gifts!  And she enjoyed her magna doodle for  a little while… although there are so many more things to interest her at the hospital!  Here are gift giving pictures:

                                   

        

Madison took some time to discover Eliana, but was fairly tentative to touch her too much.  It was fun to watch her take it all in.

                            

The highlight one day was getting to hold the baby – what a big girl!

                                      

A few family pictures… and one of the favorite parts of the hospital visits – drinking out of the cup with a straw!

              

Madison did some special things at home, too.  Here is a few pics of those memories:

                         

                    

 

She has been wonderful!  Obviously, it has helped to have Daddy here to play with the first week, and Grandparents here to play the second week.  When we got home, she followed me everywhere with her little step stool to watch everything – nursing sessions, diaper changes, putting Ellie in the crib, etc.  It was really cute.  I liked it best when I had my lap free and she could just snuggle with me.  That is what I miss most with her, just having time.  I am sure as we all adjust, we will find time to play together and continue to create special memories; right now, it just feels like Ellie sucks my time up.  Madison is a great big sister though – very gentle and sweet. 

Random Saturday Events

This Saturday was quite a day!  It started this morning when Jeremy and I took Madison over to our neighbor’s house to play with her little friend, Carston. 

Event #1: We headed to St. Ann’s Hospital – not to have a baby, but to try to turn our baby.  At my last doctor’s appt (Wednesday), we learned that baby #2 decided to follow in Madison’s footsteps and turn breech.  Yep, that’s right – there is about a 3% chance that your baby will be breech… and we are now two for two.  This time, we decided we would try a version, which is when the doctor tries to turn the baby externally.  We went into the hospital (because of a risk of the procedure) for the procedure.  I would say the version could be described as uncomfortable, and painful, but not awful.  The doctor literally pushed on my stomach from the top (the head) and the bottom (the bum) and tried to coax the baby to do a little sommersault.  We got close – the doctor thought about 10 more degrees, and Jeremy could see how close he was.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work.  So, we move on.  We have now determined our c-section date and unless the baby turns this week or I go into labor, the baby will arrive on Friday. 

Event #2:  We enjoyed beautiful weather in January!!!  Madison got her bike helmet and big wheels out.  We took off her bulky coat after a few minutes; it was too warm to need it.

              

Event #3: We were laying on the couches during Madison’s nap – me, napping; Jeremy, watching football – when I hear Jeremy say, “Oh!”  This woke me up to the fact that there was a raccoon on our deck – at 2pm in broad daylight.  Now, this follows our hunt for our attic visitors a few weeks ago when we called out Critter Control and captured two raccoons (at a fairly high price).  So, Jeremy decided he would scare it off with his bb gun and a broom. 

                           

That would have been fine, except we received a call from our neighbors about 20 minutes later with the raccoon sighting.  Jeremy called Wildlife Control to ask advice.  Based on the sluggish and non-aggressive manner of the raccoon, they thought he might have distemper.  They recommended that Jeremy catch it and bring it in.  Yep, CATCH it and bring it in.  So, the hunt was on!  It started with Jeremy and a cardboard box.  Then, I joined in with the cardboard box and he got a plastic tote.  Then, we grabbed the broom.  So, there we were – man and boxes, pregnant woman and broom circling around and around a car trying to coax the raccoon into a box.  Jeremy managed to capture it under the cardboard box, but as he was explaining to me what I needed to do to help him get it in the more durable tote, the raccoon maneuvered his body out from under the box!  After that, we were joined by our older neighbor with another broom.  We almost got him when I threw the box on top of him, but I was too scared to actually hold it down.  Then, we almost corralled him into the box by chasing him around and around the garage.  We finally gave up when we were all tired of this chase.  The raccoon was back on our deck a few hours later.  Another neighbor has a live trap; so, we have that set with some cat food and marshmallows (apparently a raccoon favorite) to lure him in tonight.  We’ll see how it goes. 

Event #4: We headed to the park – we haven’t been in ages.  While there, Madison managed to fall off the slide and bump her head.  Which both events had me laughing pretty hard (probably too hard!). 

Overall it was a good day.  I haven’t laughed this hard (my stomach was hurting) since my family’s Christmas when the adults were hanging out after the kids went to bed.  Now, I am tired, so I am wrapping this up and going to bed.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.