Fall Fun

Our library had a Fall Festival last weekend with all kinds of fun crafts, games, and treats. Madeline had a friend over so we decided to take all the girls down to enjoy the festivities.

They had paper apples that you could scratch and different colors would show up underneath to create a cool design.

Madeline drew a sun and a face on her apple.

Both the girls wanted to get their faces painted. Madeline chose an apple with a worm and Tessa got a pumpkin. She really liked the purple face paint so the lady drew a purple vine coming off it.

There were foam leaves with jewels and letter stickers for decorating.

The girls each got to choose a pumpkin and paint it. Of course this was their favorite because it was so messy - luckily it was washable paint!

They also had balloon animals, coloring pages, story time, and scarecrows to dress, along with apple cider and treats. I love the free activities the library does, and I especially love how much Madeline likes to go to the library thanks to all the fun things she can do there!

And what would Fall be without an enormous pile of leaves to romp around in? Good thing there is an endless supply around here.

Amelia - 1 Month

Waiting at the doctor's office.

Amelia is already a month old! She is up to 10 pounds, 15 ounces and 21 3/4 inches. She is doing really well, and her sleeping habits are actually better than Madeline's were at this age. She will often give me a solid 5 hours of sleep at night, and a few times she has gone 6-7 hours. I am so glad for those nights, because she does have her days when she is fussy and just wants to be held all day, and the nights when I am super tired and she just won't go to sleep until some time after midnight.

We did discover that she broke her collarbone when she was born. It is healing fine and doesn't bother her much because she doesn't have to raise her arms above her head. Joe broke his collarbone when he was born too, and then he broke it again later, so I am just hoping this doesn't mean she has a greater chance of breaking it again later.

Although being a mother of 2 is easier than I imagined, I will say I find it exhausting to take 2 kids out to run errands. Even if Amelia is sleeping the whole time, just hauling her around and trying to keep track of Madeline while still keeping an eye on Amelia wears me out. I feel for you moms trying to take 3 and 4 kids out.

First Haircut

I know, Madeline is over 3 years old. The thing is, it took her such a long time to really grow hair, and even now it is extremely fine hair so it still doesn't seem like she has much. But it was definitely out of hand, looking so scraggly, that she finally got her first hair cut. She was really excited to get it cut, and she was pretty good for the girl cutting it. We didn't get anything fancy, just straight across at her shoulders, but it looks a thousand time better, and she looks so much older to me now.

BEFORE:

See the excitement? She is loving this.

AFTER: I didn't get a shot from the back, where the change is most drastic, but it's cute and she likes it. Plus now I can actually let her leave her hair down sometimes without her looking so unkempt.

EFMB

Joe was able to take 10 days off from work when Amelia was born, which was so nice because he was able to be off work the whole time my parents were in town, and for a few more days after they left. It was great to have him around to take care of Madeline while I was taking care of the baby.

The day he had to go back to work he started working towards getting his Expert Field Medical Badge. This is a very prestigious badge for soldiers in the medical community of the Army. Basically, it gives soldiers more credibility as a medical soldier because only a small percentage of medical soldiers have this badge. It required him to stay on post for the duration of the exams, which took 2 weeks. I think it was actually a good thing that he stayed out there because he was only getting a few hours of sleep a night anyway, and he was spending hours and hours a day studying. We probably would have just distracted him.

In order to qualify for the EFMB, he had to successfully complete the following:

• Day land navigation
• Night land navigation
• Written Exam
• 3 Medical Lanes requiring him to demonstrate his abilities to treat patients in a combat zone
• 12 mile ruck march with roughly 50 pounds of gear in 3 hours or less

I knew the land navigation would be no problem for him because they practiced that a ton in college, and the ruck march would be hard but there was no doubt he could do it. The written exam and the lanes were extremely difficult though. One of the lanes had over 200 steps to memorize and perform in order. You get 2 chances for the written exam, but only one shot at everything else.

The pass rate for the EFMB is about 15%. Some people don't pass until they have gone through 5-7 attempts. Out of this group of 150+ soldiers, only 16 were awarded the EFMB, and Joe was one of them. At the award ceremony the Commanding General of Ft. Drum gave a speech in which he said he believes the EFMB is the most difficult of all the badges to earn in the Army. Needless to say, we are so proud of him for working so hard and passing on his first try. He is great at his job, and truly can do anything he sets his mind to.

Here are the group of soldiers who earned their EFMB. Soldiers are sent from posts all over the country to try to earn the badge, so some of these soldiers are not from Ft. Drum. Joe is the second one from left in the second row.

They came to the award ceremony directly after the ruck march, so Joe's face was all dirty. Madeline refused to give him a hug and kiss because she kept saying he needed a bath. She was excited to see him though. As they were standing on the stage and it was silent, she started waving to him. He smiled at her, but obviously couldn't wave back so she thought she would further try to get his attention by shouting out "Hi, Daddy!" Luckily she is still young enough that everyone thought it was cute and not annoying.


These are some of Joe's good friends from work. The guy on the far right was Joe's roommate during the course and they really worked together studying and encouraging each other - and they both passed! Congratulations to both of them.

Welcome Amelia

I know some people love to hear delivery stories, so I am finally getting around to posting it here, a month after Amelia was born. If you aren't interested in the gory details, just go here for the basics.

Madeline was born one day early, so I expected this baby to be on time as well. In fact, I was really hoping for an 09/09/09 birthday. After all, I had been having tons of braxton hicks contractions and I was already dilated to 3-4 cm. I thought for sure she was coming on time. That was a mistake. After she wasn't born by the 13th, I reverted back to my original due date from before the doctor changed it, which was September 19th. That was a mistake too. This baby was determined to take her time getting here. I had an induction scheduled for the 24th, but I was praying that I wouldn't have to go through that, based on all the horror stories I have heard about pitocin.

Finally, around 1 am on the 22nd I woke up to contractions. They weren't horrible, but I wasn't going back to sleep so I just got up and walked around the house cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom to occupy my time. The contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart but I didn't want any medication and we literally live right across the street from the hospital, so I was planning to wait as long as possible to go. Joe took Madeline to a friend's house around 3:30 am. The problem was, the contractions weren't getting any closer.

Around 7 am I decided that we should go over because although they weren't getting closer, they were getting more intense. We walked over to the hospital, and when I got up to the counter they thought maybe I was there to be induced or something because I looked so calm. I had to convince them that I really was in labor and I knew what I was talking about (Well, you don't really look like you are in labor. Is this your first child? No. How long have you been having contractions? Since 1 am. How far along are you? 41 weeks. Etc.). They debated making me go to the clinic to get checked and then come back, but finally they determined that since I was 41 weeks I might as well stay.

They got me into a room, and after a bit the doctor came to check me. He said I was at a 5, and contractions were 3-5 minutes apart so it could take awhile still. He suggested either giving me pitocin to speed things up a bit, or breaking my water to see if that might help move things along. I was not interested in the pitocin idea, but I did want him to break my water because I remember things going quickly after that happened with Madeline. He broke my water around 9 am, and the contractions immediately became overwhelming. They were very intense, very painful, and very long. I got in the jacuzzi tub to try to relieve some pain, but I was only in there for about 5 minutes before the nurses realized I was ready to push. They got me back to the bed, discovered the baby was right there, and started yelling for the doctor to get in there NOW, and I better not push. The doctor came, I pushed for about 10 minutes (10 minutes of pure agony - I will never ever understand how women make it through hours and hours of that) and she was born at 10:32 am. A total of roughly an hour and a half after they broke my water. It was fast, and it was intense.

The first thing the doctor said when she was born was, "That's a big baby." I had a midwife guess she was a little over 7 pounds about a week before she came, and the doctor thought she was around 8 pounds when he had first checked me. Turns out, Amelia came in at a hefty 9 pounds, 2 ounces; 21 inches long. The problem was that with a baby that big coming that fast, her whole face was totally bruised and purplish/gray. It was actually kind of scary. It faded after a few hours and went away completely within a couple of days but even now looking back at those first pictures I sort of cringe. But she was healthy otherwise, and that's what really matters. Now she is pink and chubby and a little bundle of joy.

The proud papa in the delivery room.

Whew! Glad that's over.


Can you believe this is the best family picture we got in the hospital?

My parents flew in the same day she was born. When they scheduled the flight, they planned to get here a week or 2 after she was born so that we could have had some time as a family before being bombarded with guests. They got here just in time though, and I was actually happy with the way it worked out. My parents were so helpful, making meals and playing with Madeline tirelessly. I think it did a lot to combat any jealousy from Madeline. She has not shown one ounce of resentment towards Amelia, and is a fantastic big sister. She loves to help take care of her, and is right by her side whenever she starts to cry. Sometimes if she is crying she will say, "I think she needs her big sister." It is so cute. The only trouble we have had is a bit of an increased attitude and defiance from Madeline, but I don't know if that is just the stage she is in or if it is a ploy for more attention. Probably both.

I left the hospital the next morning, mostly because my parents were only here for a short time and I didn't want to spend half of it in the hospital. As you can see here, Madeline was looking forward to me coming home.

Big sister in action.

I love this picture of Joe and Amelia. He is such a wonderful father, and really loves his girls.

My dad holding Amelia. Madeline really misses having Grandma and Papa here. When I was looking at the pictures to post, every time this one came up she had to hug the computer and exclaim, "Papa!"

My mom holding Amelia. I think it is so precious when little babies are yawning.

We are so glad Amelia is finally here! I admit I was a little nervous about how things would change with another baby. I was really happy with things the way they were, and I foolishly wondered if having another baby would somehow take away some of the love I have for Madeline so I could give some to Amelia. I knew it was silly even as I was thinking it, but you really can't comprehend until you experience it. Good news - I still love Madeline just as much, and I discovered I have enough room to give Amelia unconditional love too! Actually, it has been easier than I expected to transition from 1 child to 2. I thought I was happy with my life before, so now I guess I am blissfully happy. God has definitely blessed me with an amazing husband and these two beautiful and sweet girls.

Baby Shower

Two of my very good friends from church threw a baby shower for me on September 10th. The shower was a lot of fun. There was seriously a feast of delicious food (a pregnant woman's dream) and several people came to enjoy the festivities. I loved it because it was very relaxed and we mostly just ate and socialized. Thanks kym and Grace!

Me, Marla, Suz (who had her baby 5 days after I had mine), and Jesse

Amy, Miriam, Christine, and Colleen

Colleen, Misti, Apphia, and Christina
Everyone loves a good picture of them eating, right?


kym made this sweet cake. She even colored the cake itself lavendar to go with the theme!

The game consisted of everyone memorizing what was on this tray, and then guessing what was missing as one item was removed at a time. I thought it was pretty hard!

Even the kids got in on the action. They got to pick which item was removed next.

My friend Grace made these adorable wall hangers with both of the girls' names.

I got a lot of nice things, including some cute outfits...

...and what every mother needs, lots of diapers!

I am so grateful for my friends here. Thanks for helping me get ready for another baby girl!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned the big 2-6 on September 3. I wanted it to be low-key, so we celebrated with some doughnuts and cupcakes at play group in the morning, and then an awesome friend volunteered to watch Madeline so Joe and I could have a nice dinner together. We figured we better not pass on that opportunity, knowing that we might not get another night alone for awhile after the baby was born. Joe took me to a nice little restaurant right on the water and it was great to be able to just have some adult conversation with him and spend quality time together before Amelia arrived.

The Fishing Expedition

Joe and his pal Loren took their girls on a daddy-daughter fishing trip in late August. Loren has a boat so they took that out on the Black River and found a good spot where the fish were biting. It was catch and release, but they all caught something and had a great time. Madeline had a blast. She thought the worms were gross (in a good way, you know) and she was sooo excited about catching a fish. We had to borrow a Barbie fishing pole from a friend for the next time she went, and I think next year she may be requesting her own. I am not really into fishing myself, so I am more than happy to let daddy take her out for a fun day together!

Emma and Madeline on the boat.

Emma and her fish.

Lucy's catch.

Joe helping Madeline with her fish. Success!

The Cottage

Time for some catch-up....

In mid-August we were invited to a friend's cottage on the lake for an afternoon of swimming and relaxing on the beach. We jumped at the opportunity, especially since it was about 90 degrees out that day.


The water was perfect because it stays shallow for a looooong time, so we could let the kids play to their hearts content without worrying about them getting in too deep. Plus, the shallow water meant that it was super warm. In this picture are Madeline's friends Addie and her brother Jacob, and Liam.
Noah, Liam's brother, wasn't too fond of being in the water or the sand, so he had fun kicking it in the little chair on the grass and gobbling up some snacks.

There were lots of little toys for the kids to play with, and Jacob did his own thing most of the time with whatever little toys he found.

This green elephant water spout was the most desirable toy of the day.

Liam and Madeline were having a nice rest in the water...

...until Addie came along and decided that they were her "garden."

There was also a slide for the kids to go down, but once Madeline got up there she decided she was terrified and really had to be coaxed down. Addie slid like a champ though!

We had a fantastic day. The scenery was beautiful, the weather and the water were perfect, and we couldn't have asked for better company!