Happy girl

Sami and Jilli playing with the dollies

Jilli is terrified of Sam, lol

But they love each other SOOO much!

Sisters

This is her freezing face, lol. She shakes like she is really freezing and tenses up.

This is her Hot face, lol

Chew chew chew, she loves those fingers!

My Girls

Updates...

I can't believe that Jillian is almost 2 months old and I haven't been updating this blog :( I keep wanting too, but just never seem to find the time. Especially a time where I have both hands free to be able to type, lol.

Jillian is growing way too fast! It's crazy! I swear she is growing faster than Sami did. She has been smiling and cooing for weeks! I don't remember Sami doing this this early. Jillian will look at you and smile and try and make noises already. She's getting quite good too. I am amazed at her development. She holds her head up very well and when on her belly, with the boppy pillow under her shoulders, she can hold her head at a 90 degree angle and look all around. She tries to laugh, but the noises don't come out yet. It's so amazing to watch her try and make new noises and you can see how proud she is when something comes out, lol.
She LOVES to have her diaper off. She smiles every time I am changing her diaper, as soon as she hears the Velcro undoing the diaper, she lights up, lol. It cracks me up every time, then she tries to laugh too.
She's somewhat more needy, or clingy than Sami was. Samantha always wanted her own space, Jillian wants to cuddle at night or be held. If she's not being held/cuddled, nursing or in her swing, then she's pretty much not happy. Ian and I are not fans of co sleeping, but Jillian seems to have other plans for us. She likes to spoon! LMAO.

She spends most of the day in the swing, which I always feel guilty about, but it's the only place she's happy. I feel bad when Sami and I are playing, or going outside and she just wants to sit in the swing. She's not happy being outside. We try to bring her out in the stroller, but after about 5 minutes she's screaming for her swing! And she doesn't like to be in the wrap, like Sami did, so it makes it difficult.

Jillian does do good in the car though...much better than Sami did..and at the store too, maybe she will be my shopping partner since Sami really isn't a fan, unless lots of snacks are involved, lol.
Samantha is a little too in love with Jilli. She smothers her and it's hard to give Jilli tummy time or just time on the play mat because Sami is all over her! I'm beginning to think that is why Jilli likes the swing so much, lol, she feels safe from Sam in there. Sami was trying to play with Jilli yesterday and fell on Jilli's leg. Jillian screamed the most horrible scream I've ever heard and I cried my eyes out while checking to make sure nothing was broken! Today she has a nice bruise on her leg and my heart is officially broken :(
I'm having a hard time keeping Sami under control when she's playing with Jillian. She gets really excited and carried away. She doesn't realize that she's getting rough.

Now onto Sami...She is getting smarter by the second! She now talks in full sentences, she comes out with some pretty funny expressions and is always making us laugh. This morning Jillian was coughing/gaging and Sami said to her, "Careful, Careful, Careful Jilli. Oh my goodness!" I was laughing so hard, she is always cracking me up with something.
We decided to work on potty training this morning....is it normal for a toddler to pee 5 times with in 30 minutes? OMG! Guess I'll be steam cleaning the house today! By the 6th "accident" (She says "Oh no, accident! Napkin, Napkin!" every time she goes in her pants, lol. She wants a napkin to clean it up.) she got up and ran to the bathroom on her own and sat down on the potty. I rushed in after her and helped/reminded her to take off her panties...and she peed!!!! YAY!!!She's straight into underpants...no pull ups...really this is just practice. She still can't take her pants down by herself, so I'm thinking it might be too early still...I don't know? Do kids need to be able to take their pants off first? I mean, I'll have to help her every time anyway, right? I guess it's just teaching her to tell us when she has to go so we can get her to the potty...is that the way it works?

Anyway, I really need to commit more to this blog, because I do want to capture all these moments of the kids childhood. Facebook is consuming my internet time...and the fact that my internet time has greatly decreased with the new baby and the nice weather. I'll work on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 years!

Samantha,
It's hard to believe that two years ago tonight, I was giving birth to our little princess! This past year you have transformed into a beautiful little girl, full of excitement and opinions. You have learned how to walk, you know all your ABC's and can count to 13, you can sing songs (wheels on the bus, You are my sunshine, Happy Birthday, and row row your boat are some of your favorites) You know your colors and shapes. you've learned how to eat with utensils, and how to let the dog in and out. You help with chores around the house, ie. dishes, sweeping the floors, dusting... Your vocabulary has exploded! You talk in full sentences, your manners are amazing, you always seem to remember the please and Thank you, you say "bless you" when someone sneezes, you say "excuse me" and sorry. You now ask for hugs and kisses and know that it totally melts Mama and Daddy's hearts. You know about 50 Dr. Suess books by memory. You still love your books more than anything and can be found reading most of your days. You have a love for the outdoors that you get from your Daddy. The two of you are happiest outside, no matter what you're doing. You've recently become a big sister and are amazing with your baby sissy! I've never seen such love in your eyes, than that which is there when you look at Jillian and Scott. You are an amazing sister, and an amazing daughter!
We thank God everyday for bringing you into our lives. Happy Birthday Sami Sue! We love you!

It's hard to believe that we are in the 3rd week of Jillian's life, but at the same time...it feels like she has always been here. I guess it's harder to believe that less than 3 weeks ago I was pregnant! LOL. I can barely remember being pregnant with her, isn't that crazy?
Well these two and a half weeks have been great! Sami is loving her little sister and doing so incredibly well with her. She gets really excited every time she sees her and it's hard to teach her to contain her excitement. She is obsessed with Jillian's fingers and toes. She kisses them constantly and gets mad if she has socks or mittens on, lol.
Jillian is starting to look more like Jillian and less like Sami #2, lol. Some pictures are just identical, it's crazy! It is exciting to see how her looks will be as she grows and if she will continue to look like Sami.
So here is the long over due birth story:
It started on Thursday the 23rd...Ian had been in Jersey the first half of the week and I was instructed to keep her in until he got home on Wednesday night, lol. I had one or two painful contractions on Wednesday in the middle of the night. Thursday morning I started having mild contractions very sporadically that continued throughout the day, I had a moment around lunch time where I could feel my blood pressure drop and I felt really woosie and dizzy, but after lunch and a little rest I was feeling fine.
Friday, Ian decided he better work from home...just in case. I didn't have any contractions that woke me in the night, so I thought, "no way, it's not going to be today" We went downstairs for breakfast, the sun was shining and I was eager to get outside and start walking, hoping it would kick start things. During breakfast I had a few contractions, a bit more painful than Thursdays and a very painful contraction that almost dropped me to the floor. At that point Ian decided to call his parents and have them come over...just in case we had to go into the hospital, they could stay with Sami.
The contractions progressed and were about 10 minutes apart on and off so I called the Dr. They told me to call back when I was 4 minutes apart lasting 60 seconds for 2 hours!!
My parents came to the house. Now I was having painful contractions and had 5 people staring at me all day! LOL It seemed as though when ever I would sit they would stop. We were all getting pretty anxious, I was in pain and wanted to sit, but I got the hint from all the stares that I needed to get this moving, lmao.
Around 6:30- 7:00pm I started getting them very strong and very close...like 2-5 minutes apart. Ian started to get really nervous and insisted that we go to the hospital immediately, so off we went. I had a little break down on the way there because I was really sad to be leaving Sami, I just wanted to hold her one more time :(
We got to the hospital and they were FULL! We literally had to wait in a waiting room for about half an hour. Finally they got us in and we were put in a triage room with another girl who was literally crowning and opted for no pain meds! So she was also screaming! That made us all a little stressed. Ian and I were worried that I might be too far along for an epidural, I was terrified! Finally they checked me and I was 7cm!! Now I was REALLY scared that I wouldn't get the epi. They told us we should have a baby in 4 hours!
The doctor came in and said I could have the epi still but I had to have 2 full bags of IV fluid first so they started pumping it in me fast!
Once we got that in we had the ok to start the epi. I was just as scared this time around as I was with Sami. I HATE needles! HATE them! With Sami the epidural was the easiest part of the whole thing, but I was still very scared this time around. The epidural was painful this time, I literally was screaming, but still...totally worth it!
Once we got the epidural in, my doctor, who was not pleased that I was put in triage, moved me to a real room.
Little did we know that we had ALL night to wait for Jillian to make her arrival!
Soon after getting the epidural and switching rooms, my blood pressure dropped. It was dangerously low and I could see everyone in the room freaking out, the nurse rushed out to get the anesthesiologist back, they both came running back into the room and he gave me a shot of something in the epidural and I came back up. It must be some kind of reaction I have to the epidural because the same thing happened after I got it for Sami. This was the one thing Ian made me promise not to do this time around (The blood pressure drop...not the epidural) as if I had any control over it, lol, and this time around it was even worse.
So after the blood pressure drama, we pretty much just had to sit and wait. What was 4 hours when we first arrived, was all but stopped by the epidural and my body was dilating VERY slowly! We were all anxious to have the Dr. break my water so we could get the show on the road, but he had other plans and was waiting until morning, even though he came in a few times throughout the night anyway.
So bright and early Saturday morning the Dr. struggled with Jillian and broke my water. She was fighting him. The doctor was feeling her head and she was twisting back and forth and trying to scoot back up higher away from him, lol. He literally had to push down from the top of my belly to hold her in place while he broke my water.
At 6:30am we started pushing, Jillian was not very happy about this either, she was kicking me the whole time and moving all around, it was crazy! I was literally laughing the first few pushes because I could feel her kicking me as I pushed. At 6:48 am our little one arrived and forever changed our lives and our hearts. She was amazing! She had yellow hair and looked just like Samantha!
Ian almost missed cutting the cord because he was busy taking loads of pics for me and the doctor almost cut it then turned to ask him at the last minute...Ian actually got a picture of the doctor handing him the scissors, lol.
My father who had waited all night in the hospital waiting room, sleeping on a love seat sofa...was not allowed into L&D to see her :( He was not too happy about that, lol. Ian slept in the delivery room all night and didn't wake up until we told him they were breaking my water...then he asked for some coffee, because he was SO tired! UNBELIEVABLE!!! My mother and I were up all night, over 24 hours at this point and I still had to push this child out of me, and HE was complaining that he was tired!!! OMG!
Ok, that's enough for now...I can't believe it's been 3 weeks! Sami has been great with her, she loves her!!! I mean LOVES her!!! She's so excited every morning to see her. She sings to her and talks to her all day long, gives her huge and kisses and is just infatuated with her. It's amazing to watch.
Now that I have the birth story out of the way I'll try and post more often...when I have a free minute, lmao! I have tons of pictures to share too...I'll work on that.

It's time

The day started like this...

And ended with this...

Almost there

39+ weeks!! Yay! The end is near, and I can. not. wait. to meet this little girl!
Last week I gained just under a full pound, this week I lost just over a pound...hmmm, not sure what's up with that, but the doctors don't seem to be concerned. Jillian is still her little wiggle worm self, poking and prodding in all the wrong places, lol.
Samantha and I are both sick this week :( We have some nasty upper respiratory cold, with a nasty cough, a nose like a faucet, sore throat, and sinus pressure...yuck! As if being 39 weeks pregnant wasn't uncomfortable enough now everything is intensified because I am sick and feel like crap and Sami feels like crap and is whinny and clingy. We only had one thing planned for the week, playgroup tomorrow, but I think we're going to skip it and just chill out at home and try and recoup. We both need to get better so Jillian can get here! So instead we will just take it easy and work on disinfecting anything we touch, lol.

Ian is off to New Jersey again so hopefully Jillian will wait until he is closer to home to make her appearance :(
I had a dream last night that I had the baby and it was a boy and he was gorgeous! LOL He had huge chubby cheeks, beautiful blue eyes, and was a baldy..he had a little bit of blonde peach fuzz, but not much. So weird.

If Jillian doesn't come by Saturday, then I will be back to the Dr. on Monday for a non-stress test and an ultrasound, then from there we have a tentative induction date of May 4th.

Only time will tell. Hopefully next time I post, it will be her birth story!

Pics, Video and an update.

Here are a few more maternity shots that I did this week. I was trying to get Sami's Easter pics done, but failed miserably, so I decided to do some maternity shots instead. Sami refused to look at the camera, so her pics didn't come out too well. When she would look at the camera, she would not smile, then the focus and lighting were all out of wack too, so we gave up on that dream, lol.

This is my favorite picture at the moment. I love this! It is SOOO hard to get a natural looking picture of Scott these days. He's not a very good fake smiler and doesn't particularly like his picture taken to begin with. This is Scott and his Nanny. Just a sweet moment, captured by Ian...not me.

Sami has been working on her numbers lately. It amazes me how eager she is to learn. She can count to 13..she's made it up to 17 but, after 13 the numbers really all sound a like. She will count to 20 if I count with her and she will try and repeat what I say, but 13 she can do on her own. Honestly I think she just has an amazing memory. I don't think she really gets what it means. If you ask her to count something, like how many crayons are there? She will count what's there, say 3 crayons, but then just keep going, even though there are only the 3 crayons. I tried to get a video of her counting today, she's been doing it all week, just running around counting. I love the way she says "Seven" it's soo cute! It took her forever to say seven, not sure why but she would always just skip over it. Anyway, here's the video.


Oh, and as far as the napping is going. We're still hit or miss. She went 4 days refusing to nap and I really thought that was it, she was done. Then on the 5th day she rested, lol. So far this week she's napped twice. So we're up to 50/50 for the week....not too bad!
She has been sleeping GREAT at night too. (I better not be jinxing this!) I pushed her bed time back from 7:30 to 8:00 and she's been sleeping through the night, staying in her room, and this past weekend she slept until after 8:30am!!! She was getting up before 6am the week before. This week she's been sleeping until around 7-7:15. Needless to say I am LOVING it! Finally some rest. Let's hope this new trend continues.

Jillian is still a wiggle worm and moving her way down more and more everyday, getting ready for her grand entrance into the world. I'm gaining about a pound a week right now, which is right on schedule. Upto 19 pounds this week, I gained 28 total with Sam, so I'm a little behind this time around, but I do have a 2 year old that I'm chasing around all day too. The doctor doesn't seem to think that Jillian will be any bigger than Sami was, and he thought that Sam was a pretty good size for me. His guess would be between 6.5 and 7lbs.
Only time will tell, and I can't wait!! I'm so excited to see her little face, and to have my mom here with us for 2 weeks!

A case of the Mondays

Sami woke up just before 4am. I brought her back to bed.
4:30, brought her back to bed again
5:00, back again.
5:30, she's back one more time. Ian gets up to get ready for work. We're all up for the day.
6am, downstairs we go.
Samantha proceeds to scream and cry because she wants cookies for breakfast. I tell her no and sit her in her booster seat, give her a banana and pour her some juice.
I start doing the dishes, she finally quiets down and eats the dreaded banana.
She finishes the banana and Ian gets her a bowl of cereal. Cheeri0s with milk, a big deal! lol She just started having cereal with milk in it, up until this weekend it was always dry cereal.
Ian leaves for work...will be back in 2 days.
Sami is engrossed in her cereal, and MILK! lol. No bib...oopps. (oh, we don't use sippy cups at the table anymore either, so the juice is in a regular cup.)
Needless to say she is dripping milk and apple juice all over herself. Oh well. Who cares it's too early.
I am able to run around and get some chores done while she's eating her cereal.
Clean kitchen, swept floors, vacuumed house! It's not even 6:30am maybe this 4am stuff isn't that bad. Yeah, we can do this!
Sami is finally done with the cereal, she's soaking wet and smells like milk. Ok, everything off lets do bath time. I strip her down in the kitchen. Let the dog outside. Naked baby. I of course have to pee, before we can go upstairs, lol. Sami pretends to go potty too on her potty...nothing comes out. Ok, Bath time. Wait...lets wait for Patches so we can let her in before we go upstairs. I'm standing at the front door watching Patch and waiting. Sami is standing behind me at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me. Ok, Patch is done I let her in. As I'm closing the door I hear Sami say "Whoa!"
I turn around to see a huge poop on the floor!! OMG! She just pooped on the floor!
Ok, everybody freeze, don't move! Sami don't touch! Yucky! She backs up still completely amazed by this incredible thing that she just deposited on my floor.
Patches, being the incredible hunting dog, fantastic beagle that she is, does not only not smell the pile of fresh poop under her nose, but doesn't see it either.
I am screaming "No Patches Stop! Don't move!"
But she can't resist. She is on one side of the poo and Sami and I are on the other, so here she comes! And of course she steps right in the poop!!
You. Are. Kidding. Me!
Great! How am I supposed to make it to the kitchen with a dog with one foot covered in poop and keep Sami away from the poop too? I yell for Sami to stay away and drag Patches to the kitchen, rush rush rush to clean her foot and run back to clean up the poop before God forbid Sami start playing with it!
Ahh, I made it. Ok, baths for everyone and disinfect the floors!
It's not even 7am!!!!

ABC's

35 Weeks

Gained 2 more pounds this for this weeks appointment. Everything is going good. The baby's heartbeat is perfect, the belly is measuring perfect. The doctor said I have a very compact belly, lol and he doesn't expect this baby to be much different in size than Sami was. He actually felt that Sami was a "good size" for me and maybe Jilli will be a little smaller, but who knows it's all a bunch of guessing really. I have to go this week for more blood work to check again for anemia, all has gone well so far, so Im not at all worried, well...about the results anyway, the needle it self is a different story, lol.
Jillian still continues to move about non-stop. She's enjoying pressing on my hips with all her might and keeping me in a constant uncomfortable state.

I got a couple shots of Sami today. It is really impossible to get pictures of her these days. She either runs the other way when I have the camera, or she insists on sitting on my lap, making it incredibly hard to photograph her. We've been busy just about everyday with playgroup. My hopes of wearing her out during play time so that she will nap, is failing. She's still not napping. I get lucky about once or twice a week and she will sleep, but that's about it. The last 2 days she's been having issues at night too. This kid is an insomniac! Her bed time is 7:30pm, she's usually up in her room "reading" her books for at least an hour! Sometimes more. So anyway, the last 2 nights she's been getting up and crying for me. Sunday night she woke up crying and Ian said "just bring her in here with us." We don't normally do this but it's hard sometimes not to. It's more us than her. We like to cuddle with her, she's just so cute all cuddled up with us in bed. So I bring her in bed with us then I check the clock and realize it was only 12:45!! Ugh, we were in for a long night I thought it was closer to 4 am, lol. Last night, same thing. She's like clock work sometimes...12:45 she's up and crying for me. I'm like "oh, no, not tonight kiddo!" I bring her back to her bed and make her lay down. She starts playing with my heart strings saying "My mommy, my mommy" and holding my hand and rubbing her hand on my face, trying to get me to lay with her. She's sneaky I tell you! So I put on my super nanny face and kiss her good night and off I go back to bed. As soon as I hit the bed she's back up. I lay her back in her bed and stand by the door, repeatedly telling her to get back in bed. Finally, she seems to settle and I creep step by step slowly out of sight. I stand in our room, waiting for the crys....nothing...waiting, waiting....nothing. I slowly get back in bed as to not make a noise, as soon as my butt hits the bed she starts crying!! OMG! Ok, so then it was full on super nanny mode. I go in put her back in bed, no communication. We do this about 5 or 6 times. (note, that during this all Ian offers repeatedly to take over, but I refuse, the Super nanny is ON!! lol. I didn't want you to think that he was just sleeping through all of this, lol. he was my support) So it goes on, eventually she stays in bed, still crying for me, then for Daddy neither of us budge. She eventually gets out of bed and lays by her door and eventually falls back asleep.

Maybe it's her teeth. She should be getting her 2 yr. molars...right? I can't feel anything going on in there, but who knows. I just wish that she could fall asleep easier. It takes me forever to fall asleep too, but with a 2 year old, she can't just lay there and be still which makes it even harder for her to fall asleep. Pray for me that this is all some weird phase and she'll be back to napping and sleeping all night uninterrupted by the time the baby gets here, LMAO! A girl can dream right? Well if she slept she could!

Nap Time

Seriously!

Tell me again why we bought her a bed. LOL This is where she sleeps. In the door way. She'll bring her blankets and pillow and usually some books and she camps out in the doorway and goes to sleep. Heck, at least she's sleeping! She's been doing this most nights too. Nap times are still hit and miss, but we're working on it and the nicer weather is helping. Today there was no protest to the nap at all. She gladly went upstairs with blankey and 2 new books. We laid in bed and read the stories. She was all smiles and happy Mama was laying with her. I honestly didn't think she was going to sleep so I got up and gave her kisses and said good night. To which she replied "ni-night!" I heard her get up and play for about 2 minutes then silence! And here she is. She got her blankets and pillow and went right to sleep. For naps she pretty much stays here. At night I put her back in her bed, but a couple nights this last week she woke up at like 4 am and went back and laid in the doorway again. It must be really comfy there, lol.

Yesterday she woke up from her nap and Ian and I went upstairs. He sat down in the hall across from her door and was talking to her and she laid right back down and went to sleep...in the doorway! Ian wanted to pick her up and put her in bed but I figured she must be comfortable, let her go.

Then there is the one inside...Jillian. She must be just as uncomfortable these days as I am. She is moving non-stop and it is mostly painful for me since there is very little room left for her to maneuver. I remember Sami moving a lot but it seemed to slow down around this time. Jilli is doing the opposite! She never moved as much as Sami up until most recently. I kid you not it is most of the day, she is poking and prodding and I'm screaming and yelping. I swear my water is going to break at any moment with the way she moves about in there. She's not at all gently. The hiccups are more frequent as well...for her, not me, lol. I don't like them, it's weird and uncomfortable and she gets them for long bouts.
The shortness of breath comes and goes in an instant. Some days are better than others. I feel like I have more energy, but my back is constantly killing me. Yesterday I could barely walk at one point. Sleeping is a joke since there is no position that is comfortable and Jillian chooses to be hosting a dance party in my uterus between the hours of 11pm and 2:30am, during which laying down or sitting are just merely not options for me.
At my appointment a month ago we were certain that she was head down and would most likely stay that way, but with the movements I've been feeling lately, I'm not so sure anymore. I go back on Monday next week so we'll see what they have to say then. I've tried very hard to feel my belly and map out how she's lying, but there is just no use, she moves and flips and rolls and whatever! I just wish she would relax and camp out for the next 6 weeks. She's been freaking me out all I can think about is how little room is left in there and she's flipping and rolling all over and must be getting herself pretty tied up with the umbilical cord.

Well, anyway...I better go get some cleaning done or try and get some rest since break time is almost over and Sami will be up soon, then we're headed back outside to ensure a good nights sleep tonight!

Riding the Lady bug

Making cookies with Daddy

Sneaking a bite as soon as Daddy stepped away, lol.

St. Patricks Day craft at playgroup. Check out that awesome hat she made!

Real quick

Everything is going great with the pregnancy. I gained another pound so we're up to 15 pounds total this time around. the baby is doing well, I told the Dr. that I felt like she was really moving down, he said she's still got more to go. Here's a belly shot for this week.

Sami is having issues this week with going to sleep. I've had to resort to putting a gate up at her door because she likes to sneak out of her room and run around upstairs. She refuses to stay in her bed and just will not sit still long enough to fall asleep. I could feel myself getting sucked into laying with her to get her to go down for nap time. That's not a routine I wanted to start since it just will not be possible in a month or two. She's testing me, always and we're having quite a rough week. The whining, and crying and moaning...ugh! Being 2 is rough!!! We've decided that getting back into play groups will help so we've joined a second playgroup and have activities lined up for the rest of the month. It's great for both Sami and I.