Proud Daddy

We LOVE the baby wrap!!! It was much easier to figure out than I expected. After a few tries, I realized that it's easy and wonderful! E slept in the wrap for 3 hours while we were at a festival yesterday...O had her 1st dance performance, and she did a wonderful job! Elliott tried the wrap today, and E slept for around 2 hours while I ran errands. Hooray! I have a feeling I may be wearing this wrap (and baby!) nonstop for the next few months :) Miss E does NOT like to be put down. She's definitely an arm baby!

Handmade Thank You Cards...Baby Footprints

It was a team effort to make Ema's thank you cards! We painted her foot and pressed it onto cardstock that I'd cut to a specific size. I nursed Ema, O painted her foot, my mom pressed her foot on the cardstock, and Elliott took pictures :)

The footprints definitely aren't perfect, but they'll do :) I'll write the note on the opposite side from the footprint, seal it closed with a sticker, and write the address on the outside (eliminating the need for an envelope).

Belly Cast Baby!

We had a photo shoot yesterday with Ema in her belly cast, and we were all surprised by how content she was as soon as we put her in the cast :) We also took pics of both girls in their Big Sister/Baby Sister shirts, and we had O's annual wedding dress photo shoot. Fun!

1st Photos

We're enjoying life with 2! Ema is a champion nursling, and hopefully she'll be a champion sleeper one day :) Here are a few of her 1st photos.

Thanks, Everyone!

I just discovered that the hospital has wireless, so I thought I'd update everyone about Baby E whose blog name will be Ema (not her real name). Several people commented that it was fast, and you are SO right! It was fast, scary, traumatic, terrifying, joyful...

We went in for a dr appt at 2:15 yesterday. I was SO glad that my midwife was back because we were discussing a possible c-section since they won't induce (since O was born by emergency c-section), and they would only let me go 2 weeks past my due date. I REALLY, REALLY wanted a VBAC and had the whole planned...O was going to stay in the room with us the whole time, and she and Elliott would cut the baby's cord together. This was my dream, and I was desperately hoping it would come true (especially after the trauma of being put under general anesthesia for a c-section with O after laboring to 9.5 cm naturally).

Unfortunately, my girls like to enter the world in an extremely dramatic fashion... My midwife decided to monitor Ema's heartrate for about 15 minutes before we left the office. 15 minutes turned into 1 hour when her heartrate rarely went above 120 and went to 0, 60s, and 80s on too many occasions. They did several things to try to get a response from her...I drank ice water, turned to my side, they buzzed my tummy...nothing worked. The dr. came in and said we needed to get her out now. I was terrified, and we went across the street to the hospital.

Luckily, although things were done quickly, it wasn't done as quickly as with O, and I was able to get a spinal and therefore be awake for my baby's birth. It was so terrifying that I almost wished that I was under general anesthesia! I can't describe the relief when we heard her cry for the first time, and they told us that she was perfect. So, I didn't get the birth I wanted, but I have a beautiful, healthy baby girl and that is all that matters :) O ADORES her baby sister, and she spent the day with us at the hospital today. She was quite upset that she had to go home without us, but hopefully we'll all go home together tomorrow.

Hoping and Praying...

that today is baby day! Little Kicker is due today, and it's Elliott's birthday, so we're hoping today is the day. We had a false alarm last night and spent many hours at the hospital. It was reassuring to hear Little Kicker's heartbeat, and it was nice to have a dry run, so O knows what to expect. O was perfect and cuddled with me on the bed and watched Noggin until we finally left at midnight. So, I'm off to walk, maybe go out for a bumpy boat ride, and bounce on the birthing ball :)

UPDATE...Thanks for all the baby dust and labor vibes. Unfortunately, today wasn't today. Maybe tomorrow :)

The Kindness of Strangers...

never ceases to amaze me! Mrs. Cuddles emailed me a few weeks ago and said that she would like to gift me with cloth diapers and covers. These diapers and covers arrived a few days ago. Several are new, and ALL of them are adorable! I am stunned and inspired by her generosity and giving spirit. Thank you, Mrs. Cuddles!!!

Rain Gutter Bookshelves

We recently made rain gutter bookshelves for O's room and Little Kicker's room. O enjoyed helping! I first saw the rain gutter bookshelves in Family Fun magazine years and years ago, and then saw them again on Ohdeedoh. I decided these would be the perfect shelves for Little Kicker's room.

The shelves were easy to make and look great. I love that the books are facing outward, and the shelf takes up very little room which is important since the closet door opens to this wall.

To make the shelves, we bought vinyl rain gutters from Lowes. They are sold in 10 foot sections, and Lowes said they would NOT cut them for us. They wouldn't fit in our car unless they were cut, so my mom, O, and I walked around the store until we found someone who looked nice. I asked very nicely if they could PLEASE cut the gutters so they would fit in our car, and the guy made an exception. Phew! In addition to the rain gutters, we bought right and left caps for each end and 2 brackets for each shelf. Elliott and his dad cut the rain gutters into 2 and a half foot lengths. They put the brackets and end caps onto the gutters and used sheetrock screws to attach the brackets to the wall. Then they were done! Fast and easy! We had two 5 feet sections leftover, so we put one of each on O and Little Kicker's walls.

When I asked O if she wanted a shelf on her wall, she said "kinda...no." She changed her mind after she saw how good it looked :)

Visual Stimulation/Texture Wall

The idea for this visual stimulation/texture wall for Little Kicker's room has been bouncing around in my head for a while, and I'm glad to finally have it finished and on the wall.
To make the wall, I put fabrics of various prints and textures in embroidery hoops. We covered a stretched canvas with a white sheet and stapled it to the back of the canvas. We attached the embroidery hoops with embroidery thread. I wanted the hoops to be easily removable so that I can take the hoops down for Little Kicker to see and feel. I also plan to change the fabric fairly often.

Vintage Bunny Baby Shoes

I cringed as I wrote "vintage" since these were MY baby shoes :) However, they are from the 70's (late 70's!), so I guess they may be considered vintage! I was SO excited when we found the 2nd shoe while cleaning my mom's house a few weeks ago. (we found the 1st shoe when O was a baby, and I've been hoping to find the 2nd one ever since.) My mom cleaned them with oxyclean, and they look brand new. I can't wait for Little Kicker to wear them. I think these shoes will probably go into a shadow box once she outgrows them :)