Two is FUN

My baby turned two on November 2. And BOY was it fun :-)

There were presents... lots and lots of presents...









...and cake. Lots and lots of cake...




..and fun. Lots and lots and LOTS of fun :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Baby Boy Little Man! I LOVE YOU!!!

I haz a blog?

Oh, hi there! It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that. I'd like to give you glorious stories about how I've been busy gallivanting around the city, whoopin' it up and living life to its fullest. And I have, a very teeny, little bit. But mostly I've been busy doing copious amounts of laundry, picking up a plethora of toys and attempting to subdue seemingly endless tantrums. In other words, I've been busy being Mommy.

But as busy as I've been doing nothing, I've really missed blogging. It's such a good way to record all of the little quirks and nuances that pop up around here. And there are L.O.T.S, I have tons to tell you all. So let's start with Halloween, shall we?
Graham was a lion for Halloween, an adorable (and warm!!) costume borrowed from my friend Joleen. We practiced saying "rawr" for weeks before Halloween. We played pretend Trick-or-Treat ("kick-keet!"). I attempted to get Graham to wear his costume. And he really wasn't into any of it. I didn't have very high hopes for Halloween. Shows what I know...

"OK, so what's this orange thing for, again?!"

House #1

A little shy, at first


But he quickly gets the hang of it


Lugging all of his candy home

Checkin' out his loot (and Mom making sure she got a pic of the Pottery Barn treat bag!)

My kid's really good at begging for candy!


And not to be left out, my adorable Ceci Claire on her first Halloween

Cecilia's Birth Day

I want to make sure I get the details of Ceci's birth written down before I forget.

My due date was July 12th. On July 6th I had my 39 week appointment (I was 39 weeks, one day), and was told that I had made zero progress from two weeks earlier, and was holding steady at only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. My doctor and I discussed possible induction dates and the very likely probability that I would surpass my due date. I went home feeling dejected and hopeless, and drowned my sorrows in ice cream. I eventually ended up falling asleep in Erik's recliner, since it was the only place I could actually get semi-comfortable.

At 7:30 the next morning, I was woken up by a contraction, and was pretty cranky about it, since all the contractions I'd been experiencing thus far clearly weren't actually doing anything. 18 minutes later, I had another one, and continued to have them every 18-20 minutes for the next two hours. Trying not to get too excited, I called my boss and decided to work from home, just in case. Erik was at work, attempting to concentrate, and eagerly waited for my updates.

Throughout the day, the contraction frequency and intensity slowly increased, but I was still in denial that I was actually in labor. I didn't want to be one of "those" women that get sent home multiple times for lack of progress, so I kept telling myself that it was just a false alarm. By 2 in the afternoon, my sister, who came over to keep my company, finally forced me to accept that this was "it," and made me pack my hospital bag (nothing like procrastinating, eh?). At 4:00, the contractions were 6 minutes apart and bordering on painful, I had to stop and catch my breath and sway through each one. The pain was manageable but definitely NOT comfortable! By the time Erik got home from work at 5:30, it was without a doubt time to call the doctor and head off to the hospital. The contractions were 3.5 minutes apart and lasting a good minute to minute and a half. Everyone was nervous EXCEPT me -- I was STILL doubting the reality of the situation.

We found it pretty amusing that we checked into L&D at 7:00 on 7/7. I was still half expecting to hear that I'd had no progression and we were going to be sent home - afterall, I was no where near "ready" at my appointment the day before. But nope, the triage nurse checked me and I was dumbfounded to hear that I was already 5cm dilated and 90% effaced! We were really going to have this baby!!! It was all very surreal.

We settled into the birthing room and I got my epidural almost right away. Not 5 minutes later, my water broke on its own, and things really started progressing. At 9:00, I was 6cm, and was 8cm an hour and 15 minutes later. I jokingly told my doc that I'd see him in a half hour to push - he laughed at me and told me to get some rest. By the time he came back, 26 minutes later, I was in some pretty intense pain from all the pressure. I'll never forget the next few minutes. Dr. D said "Let's see how you're doing...Oh WOW, this baby has a lot of hair." She was *right there*!! I went from 8cm to the full 10 in less than 20 minutes, and was ready to push! And it was amazing, after only three pushes and some amazing support and coaching from my wonderful husband, my Itty-Bitty was born at 10:49pm. Her delivery was so fast, she had some pretty significant bruising on her little face, but other than that, she was perfect, scoring 9/9 on her APGARs.

6 pounds, 2 ounces and 20 inches long

When I delivered Graham, I pushed for over an hour and was sooo close to having a C-section three times, it was very emotionally taxing. Ceci's birth was the polar opposite - it was damn near enjoyable! I've never felt so proud of myself and my husband for being able to handle two such different experiences so equally well!

The proud papa

My Itty-Bitty, all 6 pounds, 2 ounces of her

Already a Daddy's Girl! And showing off her facial bruising from her quick delivery

Welcome to the family, Cecilia! We love you!!
Now please, let Mommy get some sleep?!?!

Family Resemblance?

See any similarities?!?! LOL

But seriously, I am still dumbfounded that I somehow ended up with not one, but TWO, blond babies. But mostly I'm just in awe of how deliciously cute they are. No?

Graham, 1 month	Cecilia, 1 month

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