Pt. Whitehorn and Boulevard Park

 We had some beautiful weather while Grandpa and Grandma were visiting, so we took advantage of it and did several different walks. 

We spent one afternoon out at Pt. Whitehorn. It's a flat walk in the woods that ends with some stairs heading down to the beach. Naturally, by the time we pulled into the parking lot, Haleigh had fallen asleep in the car and Lydia needed to eat. Grandma and I stayed in the car so I could feed Lydia and let Haleigh get a much-needed nap. Annaliese went ahead with Grandpa and Kyle and we met them at the beach a  short time later. 

All worn out...and this is before the walk!

Lydia's first trip to the beach!

Annaliese throwing rocks and sticks into the water

Post nap, Haleigh was able to walk almost the whole way to the beach!

We spent another lovely afternoon at Boulevard Park walking along the water. 

Grandpa and Annaliese checking out some fish

Annaliese did so much running that she was all worn out at the end and had to find some shade to sit down in!

Grandpa Jay and Grandma Kelley come to visit!

Grandpa and Grandma flew in on Thursday when Lydia was just 4 days old! It was so fun to have them here to meet their newest grandbaby and to spend time with Annaliese and Haleigh! 

Grandpa Jay and his granddaughters

Our time together was pretty relaxing; we spent lots of time reading books, playing with toys in the living room and riding bikes in the cul-de-sac! Annaliese loved having someone to watch her ride:) 

Looking through Annaliese's scrapbook to see if the girls look alike!

Watching a video of a bear at Grandpa and Grandma's cabin

Swinging with her superhero cape

Welcome to our family Lydia Megan!

Lydia Megan finally arrived on Sunday, September 4 at 2:02 am. She was 21 inches long and 9 pounds 5 ounces!

I'm sure I will remember most of her birth story, but I like to write it down just in case:) On Friday, I went to the doctor for a routine 41-week check-up. They did a non-stress test that showed some regular but infrequent contractions (that I wasn't feeling) and measured the amount of amniotic fluid just to make sure there was still enough. Turns out this baby girl was floating around in a larger-than-normal amount of fluid! We went ahead and scheduled a date to be induced (the following Wednesday) but the doctor seemed pretty confident that I would be coming in on my own over the weekend!

Saturday evening things finally started happening! My hips started to hurt (which was the first sign of anything happening with Haleigh) so I called the childbirth center and we headed in. I was definitely having contractions so I was admitted and we prepared to have a baby!

Waiting in triage to see if this was actually going to happen tonight!

I needed to receive two doses of antibiotics before delivery and as soon as the second dose was in, the doctor came and in broke my water. As noted at the doctor's appointment, there was a lot of fluid in there! In fact, after she initially did it, the baby's head was still floating and she had to manipulate my abdomen to get the rest of the fluid out! After that, contractions (which I was only feeling in my hips) became more intense and after about 20 minutes, it was becoming hard not to push! I was only dilated to 8 cm at this point so I was instructed not to push and this 'not-pushing-during-contractions' was probably the hardest part of the whole process! It didn't take much longer to get to 10 and then our baby girl was born! That makes it sound easier than it actually was...in reality, her head, her shoulder, and her belly got stuck. According to Kyle, the doctor had to pull and manipulate her quite a bit to get her out. And the first thing I recall is both the doctor and the respiratory therapist saying, "Wow, that's a big baby!"

Things have been pretty good since then! She took to nursing right away, hasn't stopped pooping and never did fit into any of her newborn clothes. We stayed at the hospital until Monday afternoon and, by that time, we were ready to get home and Annaliese and Haleigh were ready to be home too!

They pretty much adore her!!

Kissing those tiny little toes!

Annaliese and Haleigh checking out their little sister!

Grandma Tara and Lydia

Grandpa Glen and Lydia

Going home!

Labor Day Weekend

In anticipation of Baby Girl's upcoming arrival, we had no plans for Labor Day Weekend. Kelsey and Mallory came up from Seattle for the weekend while Ben went up to a friend's cabin to help chop firewood and do some biking.

On Friday, the girls and I went to Grandpa and Grandma's house to hang out with Kelsey and Mallory. It was pretty low-key; a bit of playing in the rain, blowing bubbles and trying to learn how to hula hoop. I left the girls with Kels while I headed to the doctor for my 41-week visit and then met up with Kyle, Kim, and the boys at my parent's house for dinner that evening.

When you have a driveway as steep as this, of course you come up with fun games to play on it!

We decided that it would be easiest if the girls spent the night at my parents, just in case I went into labor at night so Kyle and I tucked them into bed and then headed home.

Saturday, after a fabulous night of sleep (I think I slept in until 8:30!) Kyle and I headed to Boulevard Park to go for a walk and get some fresh air. We ended up back at my parent's house for lunch and then hung out there for the afternoon. They had promised to take Annaliese and Elias on a bike ride so while they did that, we stayed home with Haleigh, who was in desperate need of a nap.

Trying to walk this baby girl out!

All worn out...nothing beats snuggling like this!

Cousin fun!

Kyle and I spent the rest of the weekend at the hospital while Annaliese and Haleigh hung out at Grandma and Grandpas house. They had lots of fun playing with Mallory, swimming in the hot tub and doing whatever other fun things happen when you spend the night with grandparents!!