The first two weeks

It's hard to believe it's been 2 weeks since we came home from the hospital with Haleigh. I feel like she's been a part of our family for much longer than that and it's hard to remember what it was like without her around!!

The first week was pretty easy since my mom was still around to help out with things like doing laundry, washing dishes, entertaining Annaliese, making sure we had a dinner plan and staying up with Haleigh in the middle of the night! However, I must say that we have done quite well the last few days! Ok, I will admit, Annaliese has watched VeggieTales, specifically King George and the Ducky, at least once a day! And we've had several wonderful friends provide dinner and only one load of laundry has been done all week. But we've also met a friend for a walk, gone on a hike, played outside on the swingset, blown lots and lots of bubbles, colored several pictures, and even made it to the grocery store!!

Annaliese is really into reading stories right now, so I've been able to get a few new books on my Kindle and we read those together while I feed Haleigh. She also has a few go-to favorites like "You are my Sunshine" and "Ten Little Ladybugs." She loves to identify all the different animals in her books; my personal favorite is the Frobbit...she may have misunderstood me when I explained that a frog says 'ribbit, ribbit' and now we have a frobbit!! So cute:)

She is also Haleigh's number one fan...she loves to help change her diaper, pet her, hold her, wake her up, and tell her that everything is going to be ok! It is so precious to see them together.

It has been such a blessing to watch Annaliese interact with Haleigh and I couldn't have asked for a smoother adjustment! 

"Daddy took my food away"

My mom left yesterday, after spending almost 4 weeks with us. We knew that it would be an adjustment, especially for Annaliese, once she left so I was prepared for a slightly-crabbier-than-usual Annaliese. And she was exhausted today!

At dinner, she was busy playing with her food, yelling, and making a mess. We asked her to stop multiple times. Eventually Kyle took her plate away and told her she was done. He explained to her in words that she'd understand that if she wasn't going to listen, then there would be consequences. After a few tears, Annaliese walked over to were Haleigh was sitting in her bouncy seat and said in a very sad and quiet voice, "Haleigh, Daddy took my food away." 

So there are no pictures, and really nothing new to share. But Kyle and I both thought it was hilarious! And we knew that we would want to remember it!!

A Family of Four!

After a few extra weeks of waiting, Haleigh Eileen Gillette finally decided to join us! She is such a precious little bundle of joy and I could sit and stare at her for hours on end. I know that at some point, I will want to look back and remember her birth story, so I will share it here. It won't take long...it was a quick process!

Thursday, March 6 I had an appointment with my OB...it was the same story: everything looks good, baby is healthy. You look good. We will continue to wait and see. Thursday night around 10:00 my hips started to hurt; over the next two hours the hip pain proceeded to get worse and went in that 'contraction-like' pain of coming on, increasing in intensity and then going away and happening every 2-4 minutes. Around midnight I woke my mom up and asked if contractions could happen in your hips. She didn't really know so I called my doctor and said something to the effect of "I don't know what this is, but it hurts, and I feel like I constantly have to go the bathroom." He said, "I think you should go to the hospital." So I woke Kyle up and we headed to the hospital. We arrived about 12:55; the admissions girl in the ER looked at us like we were crazy when we told here we were there to have a baby, but she found someone to escort us back to OB. I headed to the bathroom, my water broke, and then I climbed into bed. The nurse checked me and said we were at about 7 cm. At this point, the hip pain felt more like contractions, since I was now feeling it in my stomach as well. I asked for pain medicine and the nurse told me there wasn't time; "this baby is coming now" were her exact words. My response: "Like, before the doctor even gets here?" which was answered with a very convincing Yes. And with that, Haleigh came barreling into the world at 1:20 am. ("Barreling in" were the nurses words!) She weighed 7 lbs 10 ozs and is 21 1/2 inches long! They ever even had time to get an IV in or draw some labs!!

She was born with the cord around her neck, so they promptly cut that before she was out all the way; it was a bit scary (more so for Kyle who could see what was going on) because she was blue and not making any noise. But they gave her a little oxygen and she recovered quickly. And then the doctor arrived!! 

Kyle's parents arrived around 9 am and met up with my mom and Annaliese to meet the newest member of the family!

She has taken to nursing like a champ and is doing wonderfully! Annaliese likes to check on her and constantly wants to pet her and give kisses! I wouldn't say that we are anywhere near being adjusted to life as a family of four, but we are heading in that direction!

41 weeks...and still waiting

Given my family history of having babies early, my mom flew in on Feb. 19, just 3 days before Baby Girl #2's due date, fully expecting her to already be here! She was planning on coming to, of course, meet the newest grandbaby, but also to help out with Annaliese and the overall adjustment to having two little munchkins. Well, here we are, a week and a half later and we are still waiting for her arrival! (The doctor has reassured us that she is 'happy as a clam' and that we will just keep waiting until she decides she's ready!)

40 weeks

My mom has filled the time by nesting for me:) She declared last Monday a cleaning day and cleaned and did laundry all day...just so she could have the rest of the week to play with Annaliese! She's also been doing the dishes, staying up on the laundry, and keeping Annaliese entertained. It's been super helpful because I haven't been sleeping well, so I've been able to nap at least once a day! 

There has also been lots of baking going on. Auntie Kelsey gave Annaliese her own little mixer for Christmas and Annaliese loves stirring and mixing!! And Grandma, aka Baba, loves to bake...and we love to eat...so it's perfect!

 Apple Pie

 Sugar Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

And there were lots of other fun activities too!

 Blowing bubbles

 Watering the plants

 Playing with all the kitchen utensils and water...endless fun!

'Paper' Dolls...they are actually magnetic!!

 Reading stories\

Playing with pipe cleaners and making headbands and necklaces

  Annaliese and Baba watching the tractor plow the fields next door

Running around outside

We finally got some much-needed rain with left us with lots of mud puddles. Today, during a break in the rain, we headed outside to collect some eggs, take out the trash, and play a bit!

We've also spent time doing puzzles, watching Veggie-Tales, going shopping, and playing at the park. I'm sure we will have more pictures this week!