Daily Life

Well, I was going to post on Friday to say how things in our house where starting to get back to some what "normal". I guess just the thought of that made things turn upside down!

This past week Michael did go back to work after taking a week off to be home with us girls. The girls and I where starting to get used to being home just the three of us (+ the dogs!). However, Addie only had school on Monday so we did not have to try our school routine yet. We all survived and things where starting to seem more like normal. I even broke out my sling and Mei Tia carriers for Margaret. She did not really take to the sling but loved the Mei Tia. In the photo I have her facing me which she is not to happy about but she loves it when she faces out and can see everything. She even sleeps better that way then facing in. Kind of odd for a newborn but if it works I'll take it!


Thursday night Addie started to complain about little aches and pains. Friday the same thing, head hurts, tummy hurts, legs, etc all at different times. But no fever... until the middle of the night Friday when she woke up with a fever over 102 degrees. Poor girl was sick all weekend. Her fever finally broke this afternoon and she seems to be on the road to recovery. Hopefully so because I don't think that she can take much more of this laying down, staying away from sister, no school Monday thing. One would think that it's the end of the world or close to it. But I have to disagree with that thought since we all survived two sleepless nights in a row taking care of a newborn every 2 or so hours and her sick older sister who never slept and would need us right after we would go back to sleep from helping Margaret. Oh the joys of parenthood :) But for some strange reason neither of us would trade it for the world.

Bilirubin be gone!

I'm pleased to say that Margaret's bilirubin levels have now shown the decline that the doctor was looking for. No more bloodwork trips out in the cold for this little one. Also, as of this morning, Margaret's weight is up to 7 lbs, 8 oz. She's gained two ounces per day since her last visit - also what the doctor was wanting to see. So no more doctor visits every other day either. All three girls will be more than pleased to stay home, and be out of the harsh winter weather for a while.

Addie's Rock Show

Addie has always loved music. She's had toy instruments, which always led to a marching band around the house. She's learning to read music at a local Kindermusik class. She picks up songs in a heartbeat. Nothing could prepare us for this. For Addie's 'big sister' gift, Emily and I decided to get her that pink guitar she'd had her eye on. That's right, Addie has been eying these for several months, and has a genuine interest.

We gave this to her on Tuesday, and spent some time tuning it and going over a little bit of ground rules (this is not a toy...). She played a song or two for us. On Wednesday, she put on a 'Rock Show'. She received no coaching on this - it is all Addie.







The camera work may just be more amature than the music. Now we just need to get her some lessons.

More Margaret

By popular demand: Margaret



So we took a TON of pictures of this little girl. Below are some of our favorites. I uploaded 37 to our flickr account also.







Both Emily and Margaret were released yesterday afternoon. We all enjoyed being back in a familiar environment. Oscar and Roxy were very excited to see Emily as they were sure she had left forever (just like when she walks down the driveway to get the mail). Emily is recovering and feeling quite well - she even went out and voted on Tuesday evening. Margaret is growing and changing by the hour. We've all been blown away by how strong her neck is. She's been able to left and control her head quite well for being a couple days old. Addie is enjoying being a big sister and big helper. She also really enjoyed her time with Nana Peggy over the last couple days.

Yesterday evening we took some time to open Margaret's gifts (birth and Christmas). She got many nice things that we are very grateful for. Addie also got some 'big sister' gifts - but more on that later.

Introducing: Margaret Anne

After a long and successful labor, Emily delivered Margaret Anne at 10.48pm on Sunday. Emily did an amazing job not only laboring all day (walking the mall, pacing our street), but in the hospital as well doing just what she was supposed to and listening to my constant reminders to b r e a t h e.

Margaret was born health, hungry, and without complication to her or Emily. Both have spent today recovering nicely and enjoyed getting some rest last night (finally!). We were fortunate enough to have both sets of parents in town for Margaret's birth. Mom (Peggy) went to the hospital with us and was great to have for all the extra love, help, and support. I don't want to oversell Margaret's birth, but it appears to have brought both Republican and Democrat together in a way not seen before.



Addie was so excited - despite having to be woken up to come to the hospital - to finally see her new baby sister. Margaret reacted to her voice and definitely recognized it. Before heading back to the house, Addie got the chance to hold her sister. Pleased as she was, it was quite a lot for her to take in.

It's sounding like we will be discharged from the hospital either late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Mom will be in town through Wednesday to help out with everything and get some Margaret time in.



We tried very hard over the past 6 days to put Margaret's birth in God's hands. Some times were harder than others, especially as things did not seem to be progressing from doctor visit to doctor visit. But now He has delivered this baby from His hands to ours and we couldn't feel more blessed.



7lbs-11oz 20-1/4"

Aren't you glad....

...we live 30 feet above this?



With all of the rain and flooding here in the midwest, the St. Joseph River is beyond it's banks. Emily noticed an increase in traffic on Friday, only to discover the flooding below. The river seems to have crested, and the mansion below us is likely safe. We saw our fair share of rain but nothing like what they got in the South Bend area. Its a little hard to see in the pictures, but the water was 3-4" away from engulfing their boat dock. I'm sure it would have taken a few more feet for it to have been in their house, but this has to be too close for comfort.

On a lighter note, there was also an influx of scum in Berrien County today. Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney was in St. Joseph this evening to attend an event with the Berrien County Republican Party. I considered going, but it didn't seem worth the $15 donation to the local Republican Party to have the chance to maybe meet Mittens and ask him why he thinks he can buy this election. Were Mike Huckabee in town, I'd have been there in a heartbeat.

Baby Update

Still no baby!
The doctor did strip my membranes today which might help to encourage labor along. He did discuss the option of inducing labor but we decided that since the baby is healthy and neither of us are having any real medical issues at this point that it was better to wait instead of rushing things. If I don't go into labor this weekend I have another appointment on Monday and we will talk about inducing again and do another non-stress test along with the exam.

Baby Update

At my appointment today they said that I really have not had any progress since last week. The doctor is going to have me come back in on Friday morning to see if there are any changes. Depending on what happens between now and then they may talk to us about inducing labor. We really did not discuss it today so if they decide to induce I don't know if it would be Friday or the following week. Once we know more we will let you know. But for now Margaret has decided she is comfy right where she is...

Baby Update

For those of you wondering.... Still no baby. Today is my due date so I'm sure it will happen fairly soon but it's not going to be today as far as I can tell. I do have a doctor's apt. tomorrow morning so if they have anything of interest to say I'll post it after the appointment.

New Blog

I started a new blog just for my sewing stuff. I really want to keep our family blog about our family and not about my sewing so I've decided to have a second blog with just my crafty stuff on it. I've included the link below if you would like to check it out. It will have both the stuff I sell on Etsy and my just for fun sewing projects as well. From time to time I might post some of my sewing stuff on here but for the most part I'll try to keep them separated.

http://auntieemshouse.blogspot.com/

Saintly Lessons

It's amazing how realivent and insightful someone's thoughts could be who died in 379AD. Today during Mass Fr. Bill quoted St. Basil the Great.

Here is the quote:
“The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor; the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.”

The quote really struck a cord with both Michael and I. It even made me want to do more research on St. Basil. I was amazed by what an extraordinary person he was. I will not go into the details here on the blog but I could not help but share the quote since it was so moving to us. I hope that you find him as fascinating as we did.

For more info on St. Basil the Great follow the link below or just Google him!
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saintofday/default.asp?id=1248

Cute as a Mouse

Here is Addie being cute as mouse with her new computer mouse she got using some of her Christmas money. She loves being on the computer but has been limited to typing word documents (ie. learning letters) because our normal sized mouse was to big for her little hand. She also asked Santa for her own computer this year. When I asked her about it she said she wanted one that she did not have to share with us and one that was her size... Well, obviously this Santa was not getting her 4yr old her own computer but Michael and I thought that a special mouse would be good. We found this super cute Hello Kitty mouse at a local store.

She fell in love with right away. As soon as Michael got it hooked up to our computer she started buzzing around on the PBS kids website like an old pro! You should see this girl play games and listen to music on their website with out any help from me. I just sit behind her and watch quietly in amazement. The only problem we have found has been setting limits on the computer time. If she had her way it would be "her" computer! As soon as she learns to read and write watch out. I'm sure she will be blogging right beside her mom and dad!

Ice Skating

Last night Emily and I took Addie and her friend Moira ice skating. The girls had a great time despite the cold weather. They managed to hang in there for about 45 minutes before they were frozen ice cubes. Afterwards they were both very excited to go to DQ for ice cream. Yes, they loved their ice cream even while they were saying they where still cold. The local DQ has a nice play area inside so after an hour of running around in there they were both thawed out and ready for bed. I don't know about Addie's friend, but Addie did sleep well last night.

This is one of the short videos Emily shot of us ice skating last night. If you want to see more of the fun clips let us know and we can post some more of them.

Baby Update

One week left until my due date! Time has went fast with the holidays being here towards the end of my pregnancy. Obviously, the baby is not here yet. I had another baby appointment this morning. My body is still making some slow progress but I don't expect to be in labor any time soon.

We are all doing good here. Michael went back to work today after a nice 4 day weekend. The three of us had a great time with him being home. We really did not do much other then play, eat, and sleep. I think that it was well over due for us to have a nice family break. It was hard today for Addie and I to see Michael leave since we really enjoyed him being home with us.