Introducing Maggie

So, Maggie Elizabeth joined our family in the early morning hours of Thursday, June 16th, 2011. My due date was the 15th, and on that day I scheduled an induction for the 17th, but then went into labor naturally that evening. (Same thing happened with Jack when he was born. Guess I should have scheduled the induction for a week earlier!) We sent Jack and Kate over to their grandparents' house and then labored at home for almost eight hours before heading to the hospital in the middle of the night. Got there at 2:15, checked in, and found out I was dialated to eight cm. She was born at 3:14, before they could do all the pre-labor stuff they usually do. So, no IV, no drugs, again. Pretty proud of myself, and yes, it is painful, but it's also temporary. I've compared it before to running a marathon. We didn't know her gender, and so I remember craning my neck right after they pulled her out. Never been so relieved to see... well, you know, that she was a GIRL! From the beginning she was super quiet and content. She latched on easily and nursed for an hour after we were both cleaned up a little. We stayed in the hospital for 36 hours. She had a few problems with getting rid of some mucous in her tummy, and had to have a tube inserted down her throat to suction it out, but other than that, she was perfectly healthy.

8 pounds, 7.7 ounces, and 21 inches long:

Brian was, again, a wonderful labor coach:

Getting cleaned up:

Scrubbed dry, footprinted, and swaddled:

Big sister Kate making "funny faces" when she came to visit:

Sisters meeting for the first time:

Sure enough, those luscious lips that I'd seen in a sonogram:

At home, a perfect resting baby:

Cousins in Strasburg

My mother-in-law, Lynn, loves dresses by Strasburg. They are classic, beautifully constructed outfits with all sorts of feminine details like lace and embroidered flowers. Kate probably has four or five in her wardrobe already. Her eight-year-old cousin Marissa has quite a few as well. Lynn recently bought matching outfits for Kate, Marissa, and their second cousin, eight-month-old Skyler, and we spent a sweltering afternoon trying to take pictures of the trio together. Kate, my little darling, was the least cooperative of the bunch. But at least she stood still!

Preparing for the photo shoot:

Finally a smile from Kate:

My TWO-year-old

So, at two years old, Kate is as vivacious as ever, fiercely independent, and always lovey-dovey toward her animals and dolls. She picks up new words every day and has a vocabulary of several hundred, I'm sure. Her favorite sentence: "Me do that." She weighs about 26 pounds, likes to jump, can put on her own shoes, and drinks apple juice like the world's going to end tomorrow. She also loves to color, although for some reason, since Easter, she'll only say she's coloring "deviled eggs." Her favorite TV show is "Yo Gabba Gabba," and she usually dances throughout an episode. We're working on potty training, and she collects jelly beans in a medicine container for going pee-pee in the potty. She laughs easily, cries even more easily, and is a ham for the camera, crinkling up her beautiful eyes to say "cheeeeese." She is comforted by her "Pinky Bear," and strokes the animal gently, thumb in mouth, to go to sleep. I took her to Old Mesilla for a photo session to commemorate her second birthday, and she was a natural model.

A party for our birthday girl

Hard to believe, but Kate's second birthday is TOMORROW. We celebrated yesterday with a small gathering of friends and family at our house. (Gutsy, huh, considering I'm about 39 weeks pregnant? I had a horrible headache all day--my first in MONTHS--but my absolutely wonderful hubby helped me pull off the party. He even vacuumed. What a man!) The theme? "Hello Kitty..." as every time we pass by the massive Hello Kitty head in the Target girls' section, Kate says "Meow!" and blows an air-kiss (her seal of approval).

The Hello Kitty cupcakes were a pain to put together but turned out so cute. I found the recipe cupcakes at this site: http://www.merryantoinette.com/2009/02/hello-cupcakes.html

Happy Birthday time:

Kate absolutely did not know what to do with her birthday candle. She sat and stared at it for awhile before trying to grab it with her fingers. Guess we should have done a few practice rounds.

Being very silly with her cupcake:

We definitely crowded our small kitchen! Would have been nice to have a finished backyard for overflow (or at least some grass), but right now, there's just dirt out there.

Jack really, really wanted to open Kate's presents for her. He had to be restrained:

Oooohh! A tea set!

Kate became a very determined present-opener, refusing help of any kind:

Charlie had fun eating his cupcake:

Jack, Dylan, Kate, and Marissa trying out her new toys:

Kate's first real "dolly" (complete with stroller):

38 Weeks

This is me at 38 weeks. Hoping to have this baby soon, although since we don't know the gender, and haven't agreed on a boy's name yet, I am also hoping desperately that it's a girl. I just know I will be stressing about it going into labor if we haven't picked a boy's name yet!

Our yearly snapshot of the craziness of motherhood

Each Mother's Day for , since I've become a mom, we've tried to capture that perfect picure of me and the kid(s). It was a lot easier when Jack was younger and there was only one of 'em. Now, it's a struggle in patience and creativity to somehow capture both of their angelic faces sitting still AND smiling toward the camera. This year, my ginormous tummy added to the difficulties... I just can't move well! Also, I'm wearing a prescription knee-high compression hose on my left leg to combat pain from varicose veins, so I'm just not feeling too picture-perfect these days. Ugh. Guess that's life with kids, huh?

First game as a Sun King

Life is finally getting back to a somewhat-normal after closing on our new house (pictures to come soon) and moving in (still working on that!). We've been crazy-busy over the past month trying to get things in order before baby comes. But we have made time for Jack's first organized team sport: t-ball! His first game as a Sun King was two weeks ago. He still mostly has no idea what he's doing. But he has great fun doing it.

Warming up (Jack is #5):

Kate always wants to get in on the action:

Yeah. That would be my kid with his glove on another kid's hat:

In the dugout. Jack's in the middle, looking toward the camera:

On deck, the perfect time for drawing circles in the dirt with his bat:

At bat:

Seems like most of practice time, he's scuffing the dirt with his feet. He has a hard time remembering not to do that while he's running bases, too:

Oh, the anticipation! At third.

And safely home!

MOPS Toddler Trot

Yesterday the kids and I participated in the first-annual Toddler Trot Fun Run fundraiser for our MOPS group. The goal was to get around the Mayfield High School track four times--one whole mile. Kate, of course, rode in her stroller, but Jack took off! At the end of the first lap, he was in a solid fourth place, behind some bigger boys, after running the entire distance. And he did run most of the three subsequent laps, but stopped every now and then to throw a rock into a puddle or kick some dirt. And then he'd get right back on the track and start running again. Not sure how much money we raised, but thanks to those who did donate to help our MOPS group!

Of course we were number 24:

The starting line (Jack is on the left):

And they're off!

The finish line (Right after this, Jack said, "Mom, I'm tired of running.")

Enjoying some post-run snacks:

And he had to toss one last rock into a puddle: