Monkey Shiner Babblings

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we spent an afternoon at my parents house. Mid-day I took JP downstairs to use the bathroom.
JP: What's that?
Mom: It's a plunger.
JP: Oh, to get all of Papa Craig's poop out?
Mom: What is Aunt Bobby teaching you?!

Mom: If you boys hurry up and finish your breakfast, you can go watch Daniel Tiger. Jim loooves Daniel Tiger...
Hunter: I don't. I love his mom.

Hunter: Can we watch Lady & the Beast?
Mom: How about we watch Beauty & the Beast?
Hunter: Uhhh...No thank you. That's not a movie...Let's just watch Lady & the Beast instead.

A Family Trip to the Pool

I can't believe I haven't shared what fun we all had swimming...a month ago! For those of you who know my boys, they have hated water, other than their bath, since creation. It was a hard pill to swallow since I worked at a hotel with a sweet water park for their entire lives. And to think I was blessed with little kids that wanted nothing to do with it. Go figure!

Last December a good friend of mine came to visit. Her son (who loves water) and Hunter had a little play date in the water park. With a little hesitation, Hunter eventually got in. Ultimately I think after seeing how much fun her son was having in the water, Hunter quickly changed his mind...and ended up butt naked in the pool. I took my eyes off him for a second, and then I see these yellow shorts floating in the kiddie pool and I knew instantly they were his... Of course it had to be my kid who was found skinny dipping in the pool... He was having so much fun though!

Anyways, since he had that *awesome* experience with the pool, he wanted to go back. Every Monday night we were too exhausted or he was too cranky, or there was something going on at the hotel that prevented us from going. Finally I made the executive decision that we were going to take both the boys, regardless of how tired we were or cranky they were. Good thing I did, because we had a little battle trying to eat dinner that night.

 When we arrived at the hotel, both boys were excited to go swimming, but after going down the frog slide once, JP had enough and sat on the edge of the pool watching Hunter.

 Hunter jumped in quickly and was all over the place. 

  JP played squirt guns with dad for a little while. He was pretty content doing only that.

 Of course they remembered the "hot pool" and had to try it out...even though they are too young for it. I even broke the rules and soaked for a while. Boy did that feel good on my back! I was...36 weeks in this photo, I think...

 After relaxing in the hot tub, we made our way back to the kiddie pool, and they boys had a "friend" join them. (Every kid their age is their friend.) He and Hunter did a lot of running around together. Perry even saved this kids' life when he and Hunter ran over to the big pool. He jumped in and luckily Perry was there to pull him out because his mom didn't see him escape from the kiddie pool. Before we left, they came over to thank Perry again and Hunter ran up to him and gave him a big hug. Very concerned like, Hunter asked if he was okay and then gave him a big kiss on the cheek. All without our prompting. I was very proud of his actions!

 Meanwhile... JP became super brave and started jumping in the kiddie pool, and then didn't want to get out! Turns out he really does like the water! WooHoo! Mission accomplished!

Aren't they so cute in their matching jammies? Aunt Erin and Uncle Cameron gave them these oneies and I love when they wear them! I'm excited for when all three kids have matching jammies :)

Our Wedding - Highlight Reel

I have watched this video probably a hundred times, and it gives me the chills every time! I absolutely LOVE it! Our brother-in-law, Colin, took all of the footage during our wedding and created this amazing video for us - I can not thank him enough for all the hard work and time he's spent on it! We truly love it!

You can check out more of his work at www.colinmoll.com

Newborn Love

Charli and I had some fun yesterday...okay, I had some fun with Charli yesterday. 

She's just too cute!

 Isn't she just a little doll?!

Daddy came home early for work...just in time to snuggle up with his new little baby.

A Week Already?!

Where has the week gone?! I feel like I just left the hospital yesterday! Needless to say, we've had a pretty busy week...

 Our first morning home, the boys were super excited to see their sister. As children do, they had a little argument about who was going to give her their monkeys. Eventually Hunter returned from the basement, arms full, with stuff animals. They were pretty proud of themselves burying Charlotte!

 Later in the day, Hunter was able to practice putting his big brother skills to use by burping her. He thought it was the coolest thing ever...when he wasn't distracted by the tv that is!

The morning came too quickly for me, so Saturday morning I was served breakfast in bed by my boys. They are so thoughtful! 

 Charlotte and I had a busy day on Saturday while Perry and the boys sorted through stuff in the garage to get ready for our garage sale we're having in the near future. Aunt Kim and Uncle Ray stopped by before we left to attend a bridal shower downtown. I was surprised as to how long Charlotte slept for, especially since she was passed around quite a bit! I left a little before the shower ended when my pain meds started wearing off. As soon as we arrived home, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for a few minutes. Before dinner, Charlotte and I stopped in at a former co-worker's graduation party. 

After dinner, Uncle Cameron stopped by to meet his first niece and to see the boys.

 And before heading to bed, Charlotte stayed up to watch Hell's Kitchen with mom and dad before crashing for the night.

Yesterday I let JP bottle feed his sister. He was so excited!!

Baby Charlotte Meets Her Family

Hunter and James were SO excited to finally meet their baby sister.

 I could not believe how proud Hunter was!

 The first thing he wanted to do was hold her. It surprised me because he showed no interest in even talking about the baby before she was born.

 The boys were also excited to see their mommy again too!

 James took a while to warm up to her. Initally he didn't want to hold her, but reluctantly did before they left. After about a minute it was "Get it off of me!"

 Here's our first family picture as a family of 5. Holy cow! 5 of us already!

 Had to have some pictures of their tooties!

 While I was away in surgery, the boys stopped by to visit again, and it looks like Hunter made himself pretty comfortable in my bed...little stinker!

 And Daddy was able to catch up on his snuggle time with his new daughter, since Mommy was being a baby hog! Who can blame me!?

JP giving his sister a kiss good-bye.

 Grandma and Grandpa Dustin stopped by late Monday night to meet their first granddaughter.

 As timing has it, Aunt Mary was in town as well as was able to meet the new addition before leaving in the morning.

 As soon as the Dustin's left, Nanny and Papa stopped in briefly to meet their first granddaughter as well. A very quick trip for them as Aunt Bobby called saying their was a fire in the guest room and Hunter locked himself inside. Apparently he had tried to turn on the lamp and the socket had a short in it, causing a fire to break out in the bulb? The smoke detectors in the house were all going off. Luckily he unlocked the door right away and no severe damage was done! Hunter called me later and was very shook about the whole thing. All he could say was "My finger is brown" and "There was fire." Poor guy!

 After calming down, Aunt Bobby came to visit in the morning.

And she held Charli as the boys kissed her good-bye!

 

 

My Labor Story

It looks like I spoke too soon Sunday night. My sisters, Robin and Kim, took me for a nice long walk that evening after having dinner at my parent's second home. We went uphill and downhill for about 2 miles. By the time I arrived home, I was exhausted, and sad that I wasn't having any contractions.

 

I woke up around 3 am to roll over and instead had my water break. I woke Perry up to let him know - he was SO excited! So excited he couldn't go back to sleep, so I sent him in to work instead for a while. After showering, I was able to get a little nap in. Hunter joined me, and then JP soon after.

 

The morning progressed with no contractions so I had Robin come over to help me take the boys to daycare. Then I went home to gather up a few miscellaneous things before Perry arrived home to take me to Labor & Delivery.

 

As soon as we checked in, I had Perry take one final pregnancy photo of me.

Here I am, 38 weeks and 1 day pregnant. 13 days left on May 13, 2013. I hope she doesn't have too much bad luck!

 

After testing me to make sure my water broke, they admitted me to Labor & Delivery and began hooking me up to monitors. Because it was now 9 am and I still wasn't having contractions, they started me on Pitocin to get my contractions started. Two hours later, my doctor came in to check my progress. In doing so, she felt a bag and asked if my bladder was full. I went to the bathroom before I left home, so I told her it didn't feel like it, but it could be. And that was that.

 

She came back in around 1pm and thought I was looking a little too comfortable so she had the nurse up my dose of Pitocin a bit more. Perry and I both sleep through the afternoon. He was a trooper, especially since he had been up since 3am. Aside from napping, we were both extremely bored. We even walked around for a bit.

 

My doctor was on call all weekend and had been at the hospital since Friday afternoon, so she was set to leave at 3p on Monday. (I don't blame her!) I was passed to the new doctor on call, another female. Super nice! I liked her too! She checked my progress when she arrived. She also noticed the bag and determined that it wasn't my bladder, but my water. (Which was why I had been in such good spirits!) I had what they call a high membrane leak, where my water broke at the top instead of the bottom. I warned them before they broke the bag that with my last two, I was told I had a ton of water. Clearly they weren't listening because both the nurse and doctor were shocked at the amount of towels they needed.

 

Once they ruptured my water, I could immediately feel contractions. I went from a 1 on the pain scale to a 6 in about 5 minutes. My goal was to have the baby without medication, but because of how quickly the pain hit, my body couldn't handle it. I have a pretty low tolerance for pain as it is, but I became super hot and nauseous. After an hour, I gave in had an epidural. Once it kicked in, I went from a 9 to a 5 on the pain scale. With the boys I couldn't feel anything. I could still feel with this one, and I liked it a lot better. It helped with pushing because I could actually feel pressure.

 

I had the epidural in for about ten minutes before I was fully dilated and ready to push. She was out in one contraction. And it happened slow enough that I was able to watch  her be born. With the boys, the cord was wrapped around their neck and they just needed to get out. Overall the experience was a ton better than with the boys, despite sitting around in labor for 8 hours before anything constructive happened.

We welcomed baby Charlotte (Charli) Gail into the world at 7:25pm on Monday, May 13, 2013. She weighed in at 5 lbs 15.5 oz and measured 19 inches long.

She is such a little angel!

Welcome Baby Charlotte!

We welcomed Charlotte Gail into the world at 7:25p on Monday, May 13, 2013. 

 Little Charli weighed in at 5 lbs 15.5 oz and measured 19 inches long.

 Mommy was very excited to have a little girl!

 And of course, so was daddy!

 Before crashing for the night, we had a very impromptu family photo taken.

 Come morning, I couldn't take my eyes off this sweet girl!

She has been one tired little girl too! Charlotte has to be waken up for nearly every feeding.

We only packed newborn clothes for the hospital, and she swims in the them! We might have to get her a couple preemie outfits!

You can read My Labor Story here

And see photos of her meeting family here

Packing Our Bags - Part 2 My Bag

I finally got around to packing my bag for Labor & Delivery. I figured with two weeks left I better get my act together. After all, I delivered Jim 38 weeks. Baby is just around the corner!

 This is all I'm packing to the hospital. Okay, well maybe my Kindle Fire too... So without further adieu, here is a tour of my hospital bag.  

 We'll start with the boring basic stuff first: Toiletries

I'm packing the basics for my shower - shampoo, conditioner, body wash. With the amount of people coming and going during our stay with Hunter, I was lucky to get a shower. With JP, it was the first thing I wanted to do before we had a bunch of visitors. 

The rest is all the usual stuff I use on a day to day basis - Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, contact solution, contact case, glasses. I'm packing my hair gel so if I'm not up for fixing my hair, I can let it go curly. Easy-peasy.

 I've packed three shirts for after delivery. One is a tank top and the other two are short sleeved, but should be easy enough to breastfeed in. I've also packed chocolate for mommy and daddy for surviving another delivery. And pads. The hospital provides some, but I like to bring my own. Just in case I'm wearing my hair down when I go into labor, I've packed a hair tie and hair clips to hold my hair back, just in case!

 Again, the hospital provides towels, but I love this one. It has elastic around the top with velcro to hold it up.   I packed two pair of pants. Both have loose waist bands just in case I have a c-section. I'm all about being comfy. Of course I've packed my socks and undies, and a nursing bra as well. This one is a nursing sports bra. Again with the comfy!

 Other things I've packed include slippers for walking around after delivery. I didn't pack a robe with the boys, but I'm bringing one this time to be able to cover up easier when breastfeeding, as well as for strolling the halls. Hospitals always seem to be cold. I've packed my pajamas too! I always forget to bring my pjs whenever I go anywhere! One of my recent sewing projects was reusable nursing pads, so I'm bringing those along too instead of the store bought ones. Lastly, I'm bringing a wet bag. I'll be able to put our dirty clothes in there, whether they are mine or baby's. I hate shuffling through dirty clothes to find clean ones...

I'm packing my flat iron and my hair dryer, but these are probably optional things for most. My hair gets so out of control sometimes that I feel these are a must for me.

And that's it. Other than my Kindle, we'll *obviously* be bringing the camera, and my cell phone and charger to let people know when the little one has arrived. Other than that, that's all I'm packing! Now I"m just waiting on baby...