Family Pictures

Yesterday we finally got some time to do some family pictures. I was VERY pleased with what we were able to get. I was setting myself up to be disappointment because Samantha isn't much of a picture person right now. She was being a big ole crab apple yesterday, so we weren't able to get many pictures of the girls together and any 2nd birthday pictures. But I was mainly concentrating on family pictures anyway. I'll be setting up another time to get her birthday pictures done. Ella did wonderful. She just chilled while we held her.
It's just amazing to watch our family grow from 3 to 4. Even though it has been tough with 2 kids. They are the world's most amazing kids EVER!!!! I love my beautiful family!!

She's Here...And..Birth Story

I'm sorry it took me so long to update. Ella Charlotte Ann decided she was ready to meet us all at 4:41pm on August 31st, 2011. She weighted 7lbs 14oz and was 20 inches long. She's just amazing!

Birth story-
That morning was like every other morning, so I thought anyway. I got Samantha up for the day and we ate some breakfast. Samantha was watching her usual TV shows and I was doing some house work. I started noticing that every time I walked there was little gushes every now and then. So I went to the bathroom thinking it was me peeing myself, lol, but then it kept happening. This was around 10am. I called my doctor to make sure. I had to wait for someone to call me back. While I was waiting, I called Seth to let him know that I could be in labor, since he was working about an hour and a half away from here. Then I called my Mom(Seth's Mom) to let her know that I could be in labor, but of course she already knew before I called, lol. She went to go pick up my sister from school and came over.  I called labor and delivery at the hospital, and they told me it was probably my water that broke and to come in.
I was surprisingly very comfortable and not having regular contractions so I stayed home for quite awhile, just hanging out, talking to Mom, my sister and waiting for Seth to get home.
Seth finally got home. We stuck around the house for a little while longer. Then my contractions started to pick up a bit more. So we headed to the hospital. We got there around 1:30pm. I was still comfortable enough not to get the epidural right away, and heck, I was thinking maybe I wouldn't need it. Well, I thought wrong. The contractions started to get pretty strong, so I got my epidural. Which was, of course, fabulous!! Except for one crappy side effect, I got the shakes, REAL bad! I also(just like with Samantha) got the worst heartburn. Seth, bless his heart, was trying to keep my mind off of everything by play some cards.
I got checked around 4pm and I was 8cm dilated. Then BOOM at 4:30 I was ready to push. And again she made her entrance at 4:41.
She's absolutely amazing!!!! And TONS of hair! Everybody comments on her hair. She has a lot more then Samantha did and it's a lot darker too.
Samantha is adjusting well. It really depends on the day. Some days she's all over her sister and some days she wants nothing to do with her. Sometimes if I'm holding Ella, I need to put her down right then so I can hold her. lol. She gives Ella kisses and hugs. She wants to know where "sister baby" is at all times. I know Samantha is wanting to play with her sister so bad, but she knows that she can't quite yet and it makes her sad. That's the one thing I'm super excited for, for them to play with each other.
Seth and I are adjusting okay. Seth has been out of town for work, still. So it's just me and the girls. It has been rough. Some days are better then others. It's defiantly a challenge. I'm just so VERY blessed to have 2 healthy, beautiful little girls! I couldn't ask for anything more! :)

Time to push

 There she is!! 

 The doctor. She delivered Samantha too

 One proud Daddy

 Samantha checking out sister

 More checking out

 Ella's ADORABLE feet

 Proud Aunt Amanda

 Proud Papa

 Holding sister

37 Weeks=Full Term

As of today, I am 37 weeks along. WOOT!!! Which means any ole time now this little girl could make her appearance. I have all of Samantha's old clothes out and ready to use. We have her take home outfit picked out. I've started packing the hospital bag. I don't really have a "birth plan". I'd like to labor at home for a little longer then I did with Samantha. But I don't think Seth will let that happen. He's too much of a worry wart. lol. I'm totally nervous for labor and delivery more this time around then I was with Samantha. I have an idea of what to expect, but I just really have no clue, but I am hoping it's about the same as last time. Hopefully better! They say the 2nd time around should be easier. We shall see. *biting nails* I sure hope that they are right.
Seth is super excited to meet this little girl. For the past week he has been saying how he cannot wait for her to get here. :) Asking me everyday if I'm in labor yet. lol. He's out of town for the week for work(could be next week too). Which worries me. But he isn't too far away. About 1 1/2-2 hours away.
Now time for my whining.....Brace yourself.
I'm still majorly uncomfortable. Lately I have been having difficultly breathing. I'm assuming little miss is the cause of that. She is still on the move all the time! Has the hiccups all the time(she has them right now, actually). Still loving my right side and my ribs. She loves my bladder! I am peeing constantly. I swear I should just live in the bathroom. I still have horrible heartburn. I've started losing my mucus plug. I'm sleeping pretty decent at night, of course I have to get up 1-2 times a night to pee. My feet and legs are a little swollen and hurt. I have gained about 30lbs, I know, holy crap! I started at 123 and I am now at 153. I'm hoping to lose the weight as quick as possible! I miss my old body.
I go to the doctor weekly now. I had an appointment last week which my doctor checked me. I was 1.5cm dilated. She's in the heads down position. I have an appointment on Thursday this week. I have to see one of the other doctors, so I don't think she'll check me at this appointment.
So now we just sit back and wait for whenever this little girl decides to make her grand entrance!

The Zoo

Last week Lisa, Samantha and I took a trip to the Niabi Zoo in Illinois. I've been wanting to go there for a couple years now and decided pretty much last minute that I'm just going to gather the girls up and go. I also felt like we haven't really done anything fun this whole summer, and it was the best time as any to start having some fun. 

Even though there were quite a few tantrums(no nap=lots of tantrums for Samantha) and it was pretty hot, we had a great time. Samantha LOVED seeing all of the animals up close and personal instead of in a book or on tv. I'd say her favorite was the Monkeys and the Elephants. I would love to go back sometime this summer and have Seth come along. I know Samantha would love that. 

Whoops...

I think there has been some neglecting going on with my blog. I've been so busy and so lazy to even pick up my computer and type out anything interesting. But I suppose I can do some updates right now.

We're all doing great!

Samantha is her fabulous self. She has a huge vocabulary now. Which is so nice. I still can't understand some of the things that she says, which stinks. She'll say something over and over again and I just have no idea what she's saying. But usually she can tell me what she needs/wants. She has started saying sorry, which is ADORABLE! If she bumps into you or something she'll say "sawrry Mommy". She's a pretty polite little girl. She'll say thank you and please.  She knows a lot of the letters of the alphabet and animals. She still loves puppies and kitties. Potty training went down the crapper a couple weeks ago. She just had no desire anymore. I'm not sure what happened. She wouldn't tell us when she had to go, had tons of accidents and always threw a fit when it was time to go potty. So she's back into diapers, for now. We'll try it again soon though. She loves her books. Every night she'll bring me books to read to her(Usually it's the same ones over and over again. I don't know why, but she loves these Easter books that I bought around Easter time), and sometimes she'll read me a book or 2. She still loves to watch Caillou, Sesame Street, Super Why, Up and a couple new ones, Tangled and Clifford. She LOVES her Aunt Lisa, Noah and Papa. Those 3 have become her favorite people in her life right now. She talks about them all the time. She has been all about Mommy lately too. Could be because she knows there's a baby in Mommy's belly. But she's VERY sweet. I'd ask her to kiss the baby and hug the baby, she'll lift up my shirt and give her a kiss and a big ole hug. Sweetest thing ever!! Melts my heart! :)

I am 32 weeks along today. 8 more weeks to go. Ella is about 4 1/2 lbs right now. I have been pretty uncomfortable, which sucks since I still have a little bit to go yet. I have been having some contractions every now and then, mainly when I am being active. I've been having outrageous heartburn.  All I can say is, thank God for Zantac. I'd probably die without that fabulous drug. My back, neck, feet, hands and legs hurt. Ya know what??....I just hurt all over! lol. Ella is constantly on the move. She loves my ribs and my right side. She has hiccups all the time. I'm getting pretty anxious to meet this little girl. I've been having this strange feeling that she may come early. But who knows, she'll just come when she's ready to. With my luck she'll be one of those babies that won't come until 42 weeks. 

We went June 16th for a 3D ultrasound. To confirm she's a girl for Seth, and I just wanted to see if she looked like her big sister. It was an incredible session. This little girl was all smiles, and she's cute as a button! I think she is a clone of her sister. I know that we'll have the 2 most beautiful little girls in the world! :)

Ella and her beautiful smile

 Lots of hair

 Defiantly a girl

 Her adorable foot

 Samantha look-a-like

32 Week Belly

Potty Training

On Tuesday, April 26th, I decided I would attempt to potty train Samantha. Don't ask me why, I just felt like giving it a shot, and if we had to wait and try again some other time, then we would wait. 

I am shocked to say that she's doing FABULOUS!!!!!!! She's doing better then I could of ever imagined! This girl just loves to prove me wrong in everything she does. 

The first few days were pretty rough, and that's when we almost stopped it all. A lot of frustration and exhaustion for the both of us. She kinda got the idea of it, But she would say potty AS she was going pee or poop. We kept working on it though and after the first week she started to tell me when she needed to potty BEFORE she had to potty. 

The first week we tried the training underwear during the day. But she kept having accidents. So we tried nothing at all, yep, nakie baby all day and night(except for nap time and bed time, which she's in diapers then). It seemed to do the trick. But I think it helped that she was in the training underwear the first week that way she knew what the feeling of wet felt like, and she does not like the feeling of being wet and dirty. My goal is to stay far, far away from pull ups.

She has had no peeing accidents in 4 days. She has had a couple of poopy accidents, but that seems to be getting better also. The day before yesterday she didn't poop at all, so I knew she would poop yesterday, so I was paranoid all day. lol. We got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and she told me "pawee", so I put her on the potty and she went poop. So like I said, she's getting better on the pooping part. I hope. I give her a couple of M&Ms each time she pees and poops in the potty, and I let her know that's why she's getting candy. Candy helps as always! ;o)

We've had 2 outings accident free. On Mother's Day, we were out all day long. Not 1 accident. Everywhere we stopped I took her to use the potty and she peed every time.  We stopped at a gas station cause Seth needed to get gas and we wanted to get some drinks. So I took her to the bathroom and she peed. I took her back to the truck and Aunt Lisa strapped her in the car seat,  I went back inside for something, I don't remember what, then I came back out and Lisa told me that Samantha was saying potty. So I took her back to the bathroom and she peed again. She did great! We finally got out to the place where we went fishing and their bathrooms were totally nasty and Samantha was not having it(I do not blame her one bit). So we just let her run around with no underwear on(she was wearing a dress, so no one noticed she was nakie). We were out there for about 4 hours and she maybe peed twice, in the water. lol.  This is what we use when we're out and about http://www.walmart.com/ip/Disney-Winnie-the-Pooh-Folding-Potty-Seat/15846724. 

If she does have accidents, it's usually not her fault. She'll either say potty too quiet that we can't hear her or we just can't understand her(sometimes puppy and potty sound the same lol). Or we'll be doing something around the house and not paying attention to her. 

So its only been about 2 weeks and she's doing awesome!! I'm seriously in shock on how great she's doing. I really thought that it wouldn't work at all right now. I thought, well maybe it's still a little early yet. But like I said before, this girl LOVES to prove me and everyone else wrong. 

22 Weeks!

Here's my 22 week belly shot.

Samantha HAD to be in this picture with me. Whenever she sees a camera she starts saying "cheese, cheese". She wouldn't let me take another picture without her in it. lol. She was in the middle of saying "cheese" in this picture.

I'm feeling GREAT! Except for the stupid heartburn at times. I'm feeling pretty energetic. I can actually stay off the couch and play with Samantha and do stuff around the house. The past few months the poor house has been a disaster. I just didn't have the energy to do a thing, but take care of Samantha. This is the part of the pregnancy that I can handle! lol

Baby sister is doing great! She moves around A LOT. And I believe she has had a couple episodes of the hiccups. Seth loves to put his hand on my belly and feel the baby move. Once he was just poking her and she would kick right back at her Daddy, that'll show ya, Daddy. lol

Naming this baby....It has been a chore to try and find a name. Seth is obsessed with the name Charlotte. I don't know why. He loves that name. But, I don't!! I recently found out that my Grandma's middle name was Luella. I was really considering on naming her Luella. But then Cruella De Vil popped into my head. Ya know, the evil lady from 101 Dalmatians. Although I absolutely HATE to associate that evil, dog killing lady with my amazing Grandmother's middle name, it just wouldn't go away. So I thought, what about just Ella.  Seth seems to be on board with it. So I think our baby girl's first name will be Ella! :o) We're still debating on the middle name. Seth wants Charlotte and will not back down *sigh* I really like Abigail, Ann, Claire and Rose. And I don't think he likes any of those. So we're stuck, yet again. I'm just glad we still have a little time to figure it out. I just hope we really do FIGURE IT OUT! lol