Surviving the Baby Days

I have found how hard it is to keep this blog updated now that I have 2 kiddos on my hands! I guess you can expect my posts to be fewer and farther between for the time being. In a nutshell we have been busy trying to adjust to life as a family of four. After Anna's birth, Jay stayed home for one week with us. Of course the week flew by and he was back to "the grind" as he would say in no time at all. My parents came for a week to meet Anna and spoil Emma followed immediately by a week visit from Jay's parents to do the same. After three weeks of help around the house, I found myself alone with the two girls this past week. It was very nice to finally settle in with the four of us and try to get back to our new "normalcy" of everyday life!

Anna is doing well. Despite initally having to do her weekly weigh ins with the pediatrician, much like a boxer does before the big fight, she finally reached her birth weight and we don't have to return until her 8 week check up. YAY! On one weigh in she was 8lb 13.5oz and we literally had to go back the next week because she hadn't reached her birth weight of 8lb 14oz. Ridiculous!! She does have some reflux issues, just like Emma had as a baby. She spits up quite a bit, especially about 1 hour after feedings. This can cause her quite a bit of pain too. She normally has her bewitching hours from about 8-10 pm and then sleeps about 4 hours. On average I get up with her 2-3 times per night, which isn't too bad. She usually falls back to sleep, however 2 nights ago she was wide awake from 4-6:30 am. Jay finally took her for a walk outside which put her right to sleep - what a great idea on his part! I was too sleepy to even think! She doesn't sleep much throughout the day - she likes her 20 minute cat naps. She will sleep longer if I hold her, which means I can't get much done around the house! I am working at my multitasking abilities and learning what can and can't be done while holding her.

Emma loves her baby sister. She wants to hold her all the time and play with her feet. She also loves to shove the pacifier in her mouth (a little too hard most of the time!) She loved having all of the grandparents here since she got tons of attention. However, she has had some issues of acting out since they all left. She now has to compete just for moms attention with baby Anna. She has found herself in time out more than ever this past week. One time was because she kept hitting my nice wood dining room table with her fork. Mom and dad nicely told her "no" and she promptly did it again and left little fork marks in it!! UGH! Her new favorite word is "nope". When I ask her to do something she immediately says "nope!" If Jay tries to do anything with her, such as go for a bike ride or take her to bed, she immediately starts crying and screaming "I want mommy, I want mommy!" So she is adjusting to having a little sister in the house.

On a brighter note Emma started her "school" a couple weeks ago and absolutely LOVES it! She goes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:45 to 2:30. It is at a local church where they have play time and lots of organized activites for learning letters, numbers, colors, etc. She talks about her teachers and friends everyday. She also asks every morning if she gets to go to "cool" today. I have to say that I am very proud of my little independent, confident girl. On the first day, her entire class of 2year olds was crying as the moms dropped them off. (We meet in the auditorium in the morning for 15 minutes of prayer and announcements and then the teachers lead them to the classroom. The kids each take a ring on the rope and walk together to the class.) Emma was first in line holding the rope super excited to go to her class and kept trying to pull the other crying kids behing her! Every morning she just says "Bye mommy" and runs to the head of the line! After three weeks some of the other kids are still crying - I am very happy that she loves to go. I think it is good social interaction for her and it allows me to get a few errands done with just one child in tow.

Emma also recently got her first haircut! She needed a trim as it was a bit lopsided. She got to pick to sit in a taxi or police car and she picked the taxi. She was all smiles the whole time as they were playing Nemo on the TV and she kept saying "Nemo fishy" over and over! She did a great job.

Here are a bunch of pictures below - they are actually in reverse order. The timeline may make more sense if you start at the bottom and work your way up! I will try to keep the blog updated as often as possible.

Beautiful flowers from Jay's work. They sent us a ton of wonderful gifts - thank you!


After her haircut

All smiles getting her hair cut - how cute!!

Snuggling with Nana

Our new family of four

Nana and Papa

Our little diva - she loves "taking pictures". Notice her shoes too!

Daddy and Anna

Papa with Anna

Emma's big girl potty chart - look at all of those stickers!

Grandma and grandpa with the girls

Emma proudly holding her little sis

Bad picture - but this is Emma at school holding the first ring and her teacher's hand

Her newly designed school bag

Cooking with Grandma

Grandpa snuggling with Anna

"How many kids do you have now anyway?"

Emma's first day of school

Grandma and Anna

Riding the horsey

Storytime

Emma opening her new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa

Our awesome edible arrangement!

Videos of Anna

Here are just a few videos that we have taken of Anna. Be sure to check out the blog post below for more pictures and updates!

Emma kissing her "baby sissy"

Welcome Baby Anna!

Jay and I are so excited to announce the arrival of our new baby girl, Anna Jayne Davis! She was born 8/27/10 at 12:24pm and weighed 8lb 14oz and was 19 inches long. Most importantly she is a beautiful, healthy baby girl. She looks exactly like Emma did when she was born - a big girl with lots of dark hair and blue eyes, although she is a bit smaller as Emma weighed 9lb 3oz.

Aside from some high blood pressure issues that kept me in the recovery room a bit longer than normal, I am recovering well. I have quite a bit of soreness, but Jay has been really helping around the house and with Emma. We have already had our first outing to the pediatrician and she checked up well and has gained an ounce since leaving the hospital. Jay and I were both amazed how long it took us to get the entire family ready for the day, fed breakfast, and out the door.

Anna has been a great baby and sleeps most of the day, waking up only to feed. She has had a couple good nights since being home waking only every 2-3 hours to feed and immediately falling back to sleep. Last night she decided to stay awake between 4-6am, so we are a bit tired today. Emma has been taking her presence extremely well. She LOVES to push her in the swing and bring her toys. She always asks to kiss baby sissy and wants to hold her too. So far she hasn't exhibited too much jealousy, although that could always change.

We feel so blessed to have two healthy baby girls! We are also thankful for all of our loving friends who have stopped by to visit. We also have a wonderful bunch of neighborhood friends who have been bringing us dinner every night - thanks to all of you! We appreciate it so much (we all know Jay is not the best of cooks!) They also helped to take care of Emma while we were in the hospital. We are also looking forward to all of the grandparents visits that begin this weekend for a couple of weeks.

I have TONS of pictures and posted just some of them below. I am also trying to upload videos with some difficulty so look for those in another post.

Prior to the c-section

Daddy getting ready for the surgery

Welcome, baby Anna

Proud new parents

In the recovery room holding my new babe for the first time

Finally in our room with Anna

Emma opening her gift from Anna

She got a new Mermaid Barbie!

Mommy with her two girls

Our family of four!!

Our first visitors - Jamie and Kim

She already likes to suck her fingers, just like her big sister

In her going home outfit - the same one that Emma wore

First trip in the carseat

Welcome home!

The following are pictures from my friend Jamie's camera - high quality. Thanks for taking them!

Birthday Party WHOOO!

Last weekend was one filled with birthday parties for Emma. Saturday we went to the jump zone to celebrate Emma's friend Cielle's 3rd birthday and Sunday took us to the local gymnastics club to celebrate Chase's 3rd birthday. Emma had a GREAT time at both parties and her dad managed to get her hyperactive by waking her in the mornings hollering "Birthday Party WHOOWHOO!" Emma soon followed suit and was hollering the same thing throughout the house and at the actual party. She loves birthday's and is often found singing "Happy Birthday to You" even when it isn't anyones birthday.

The biggest excitement for mom came at Cielle's party who happened to have a Dora birthday cake. I noticed Emma eyeing up the cake early on and she kept talking about the "Dora cake". As we were sitting and eating our lunch Emma promptly got out of her seat and made a mad dash for the cake. I saw it coming and chased after her as fast as I could (imagine a 9 month pregnant lady and how fast she can actually "chase" after a two year old). I managed to reach her just as her hand was touching the Dora car on the cake. WHEW! It was only milliseconds away from being a disaster! Good save, mom!

This week we have been counting down until baby sissy arrives. The big day is finally here tomorrow! We are so excited to meet her and a bit nervous for the c-section and all of the big changes about to take place! Can't believe my next post we will be a family of four!

I have also thought of a couple other phrases that Emma is found to say often - an addendum from my last post:
1. "Bess you, mama". She says this whenever I sneeze for bless you. It is adorable.
2. "Scuze me, I bupped". This actually means "Excuse me, I burped."
3. "Min alone". She says this when going potty and she wants a "Minute alone."

Also, today during nap time I heard her singing upstairs. I went up to listen to what she was singing and she was singing "Happy Birthday Baby Sissy" over and over! It was the cutest thing ever. We kept telling her that baby sissy's birthday is tomorrow and she was singing to her!! These are the moments that make me so thankful to be a mom!! Enjoy the pictures below.

Chase's birthday at the gymnastics club - it was so much fun!!

All of the kiddos - Emma in front with the two pink bows
Emma getting swallowed up by the blue styrofoam blocks

Run, run, run!!!

Crawling under the balance beams

Almost 38 weeks in this picture

Sitting in the big blow up chair at the jump zone birthday party

Emma next to Cielle - the birthday girl

Playing air hockey with daddy

Their opponents - Avery with her daddy

Emma at 2 years 3 months

Wanted to post a little update about Emma and her behavior before baby sissy arrives and time gets away from me. Here is a list of things most likely to come out of her mouth:

- "Momma, momma, momma." I swear she says this a thousand times a day. She is constantly seeking for my attention.
- "No, momma, no!" She has hit the stage where she wants to do everything herself. She will say this before I even try to help her do something in anticipation that I may interfere.
- "What's that?" She has hit her inquisitive stage and wants to know what everything is. I am sure that this will soon be followed by "why"
- "Buzz, Jessie, Woody later?" Her favorite movie is now Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and is constantly asking to watch it.
- "Lexie, Chase, Avery?" These are her bff's that she always wants to play with.
- "Baby sissy coming soon." We have been trying to prepare her for the arrival and she talks about it all the time.

A few new things that she does:
- Loves to dress herself. This is often where the "no, momma, no!" comes in when I try to help her. She does a good job, although it takes her a while. I also have to help with things not being backwards/inside out which often ends in a battle.
- Recently started getting in and out of her carseat herself. She can climb all the way up into my 4Runner, which means I need to be more diligent at keeping it clean so that she doesn't get filthy climbing in.
- Climbs up into her booster seat for meals.
- She now likes ketchup eats it on her hot dogs and chicken nuggets. She often asks for it on other food too.

She continues to be a very picky eater. She lives off from chicken nuggets (she asks for these every meal), oatmeal, macaroni and cheese or as she calls it "roni cheese", hot dogs, waffles with peanut butter, yogurt and fruit. I try to cook her decent meals with veggies and she refuses to eat them. By refuse I mean she will literally spit it out or "gag" it up. She has this voluntary gag thing now to spit up her food. At first I thought she was choking but soon realized that she has total control over it. She will be happy to not eat anything at all if I only offer healthy food. This is the biggest source of my frustration, along with the fact that she lolligags at every meal and they take 30 - 45 minutes. I feel like I fight with her every meal time. UGH! She also loves ice cream and of course cookies.

She has a new favorite stuffed animal - "Teddy Bear." It is a teddy bear that has been sitting on top of her bookshelf since she was born. She recently started asking for it and I gave it to her. She carries it everywhere including to bed at night and meals. She loves to play with her stuffed animals and babies and is often found putting them down for a nap on her bed with a blankie on top. She also feeds them and occasionally tries to put a diaper on them. She likes to put them in the baby swing too and turn it on.

She has been coloring a lot lately, but has had a hard time learning her colors (where I feel everything else has come so easily for her). If you ask her what color something is she will go through the list of colors until she happens to be right. She is not consistent at all with them. She can also now count to 15.

She loves to read and is often found reading by herself. Her favorite book this week is "Moo, Baa, La La La" by Sandra Boynton. She asks for me to read it over and over at night. And then she will "read" it to me.

That's all for now. We are on baby watch. I went to the doctor today and I am already 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. She could come at anytime! Her estimated weight is 8lb already! We can't wait to meet her!