Christmas 2009

Life has been busy these past couple months, so I'm playing catch up here in blogworld. Sam just loved Christmas this year and was thrilled to get the computer that he had asked Santa for. He was pretty disappointed once we told him that Christmas was over because, as usual, Christmas parties and celebrations lasted about a week! Our little guy was sick throughout it all, but looking back at the pictures, he seemed to hide this pretty well.

Sam with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Peach. The snow kept them up north over Christmas, but they came down for a special visit a few days later.Oscar with Sam's new truck and remote control cars
We spent Christmas Eve and Day at my parents' house, and my
Grandma was able to join us for the two day celebration as well.
Sam loved his new Lightning McQueen backpack (which he calls a packback) and sleeping bag.
Sam saying hello to future little sibling, who arrived just over three weeks later!
One of Sam's favorite songs over the holidays was "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth"!
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that your 2010 is off to a great start. Ours certainly is!!!

Sam's Big Boy Bed

About a week before Christmas (I know, I'm really behind), Sam moved into his new big boy bed! He was SO excited. Once it was all put together and made up, he started spinning in circles in his room because he just didn't know how to handle all the fun. He does great in it, and not once has he gotten out of bed when he wasn't supposed to (okay, except one morning at 4:00 am when he thought it was time for everyone to get up!). I did shed some tears when he first slept in his new bed because my "baby" was growing up. Now that Charlie is here, my "baby" seems even more grown-up! He likes to tell us that he is a good big brother, and of course, we agree.

2 Weeks Old

Charlie is two weeks old already! He had a doctor appointment yesterday, and he's doing just great. He's already past his birth weight (they usually drop in weight after they are born and are supposed to be back up to their birth weight at two weeks of age). He's now 7 lbs, 12.8 oz. When we met with the lactation consultant when he was six days old, he was at 6 lbs, 15 oz, so he is definitely getting enough to eat! He's also grown an inch in height, but who knows how accurate that is when they just stretch the little guy out on the table. He also managed to pee on the exam table THREE times!

He's been a great baby, and we are loving every minute of him. Sam doesn't seem very interested in him most of the time. Though last night while Charlie was in his bouncy seat, Sam went over to say "hi baby Charlie" and pat his head. Sam has also been a good helper at diaper changing and bath time by getting a new diaper out for Charlie and getting bath toys for him. Of course, Charlie doesn't play with these toys, but he will someday:-)

Here Charlie is waving hello, really, really fast...

The smallest person in our house creates the most dirty laundry.
We have also affectionately nicknamed him, Pukey. Below you can see why.

Charlie and Daddy

Though he does have longer periods of alertness now,
this is still how he spends most of his time.

Bath time

LOST

So excited for tonight...7:00 pm!

Adjusting as a Family of Four

For the last couple months of my pregnancy, every time Peter, Sam and I came home in the car, I'd say, "I'll get the diaper bag if you get Sam" because it was hard for me to get Sam in and out of the car with my growing belly. On Monday, after our first outing as a family of four, it went like this:

Me: I'll get the diaper bag if you get Sam.
Peter: (just gives a long look)
Me: Oh, yeah. We have two kids now. I'll get Sam out, and you can get the baby and the diaper bag.

Today was my due date, and I'm so happy that little Charlie was born nine days early, and we aren't still waiting for his arrival! We had his first doctor appointment earlier this week, and he is doing great and gaining weight just like he is supposed to. His favorite things to do right now are to eat and to sleep. It's rare to catch him with his eyes open, so I had to post the above pictures that caught this special event. My mom came over to spend the day with us today, and it was definitely his most alert day so far. He was awake and very alert for a couple hours, so it was fun to see him and interact with him a bit more. The past couple nights he's slept a four hour stretch, which has been great!

My boys

We were disappointed with the outcome of the game, but we still had fun cheering on the Vikes!

Introducing Charles Kenneth

Charles Kenneth

Born 1/18/10 at 10:10 pm

7 pounds, 7 ounces

20 inches long

This is a long post, but for those of you interested in Charlie's birth story...here you go!

We are so excited that little Charlie has joined our family! He was born nine days early, but I was expecting an early delivery because there had been so many pre-labor signs these past couple weeks (baby dropping, 3 cm dilated, 80% effaced, LOTS and LOTS of Braxton Hicks contractions, etc.). What surprised us though, was how quick this labor was! I've heard that labor can be shorter the second time around, and I can definitely say this was true in our case. I didn't have to work on Monday since it was MLK day, so Sam and I decided to take it easy and have a relaxing day involving going out for lunch and watching a couple movies. I even got in an afternoon nap when Sam was sleeping. Little did I know that this was probably good for the evening ahead of me.

That night I was going to a bridal shower for my sister. Peter got home from work just after 6:00, and I told him that I had started having some contractions that were definitely more intense than the many Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been having the past week. So, I told Peter I would head to the bridal shower and keep him updated if I thought this was actually turning into something. I got to the shower just after 7:00 and continued to time the contractions every five minutes. I called the hospital, and they seemed to think I had some time ahead of me since they weren't lasting very long at this point (only 35 seconds). So they told me to just relax and give them a call if anything changed. Just before 8:30, they started coming rapidly, every two minutes and were considerably more painful. I asked my Mom to drive me home from the shower because I wanted to be with Peter and talk about maybe heading to the hospital. We got home around 9:00 (after a brief stint of getting lost in St. Paul - not recommended while in labor). We finished packing up and headed to the hospital while my mom stayed back with Sam.

Things were pretty intense on the car ride there and contractions felt almost constant. We checked into the hospital at 9:40. After getting to the room, Peter went to park the car, and the midwife checked me to see that I was dilated 9 cm. What! I heard what she said, but I had to ask again. I couldn't believe I was to that point already. Then Peter was back, and we talked about whether or not the midwife should break my water. She said that would make delivery come quick, but it could make contractions more painful. I didn't know if I was ready for that so we decided to wait it out a little bit. Mere minutes later at 10:05 pm, my water broke all over Peter's shoes (he has since asked if he can get new shoes). I knew that with the next contraction I would be ready to push. This was the part I was most nervous about, but luckily, I only pushed for three minutes, and by 10:10 pm (30 minutes after checking into the hospital - whew!) I was holding our little sweet boy!

We feel truly blessed to have another healthy little boy in our family, and I also feel blessed that labor and delivery went as smoothly and quickly as it did. As with Sam's birth, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I know Peter feels the same way. He was a great labor coach once again, and I'm grateful to have such a wonderful and supportive husband.

We are all home now and adjusting quickly to life as a family of four. Sam likes to give Charlie little kisses and even wanted to hug him good night last night. Oscar is pretty indifferent to the whole situation, though he chooses to sleep downstairs now instead of in our room. So far, Charlie has proven to be a good eater and a good sleeper, so we hope that continues!

In addition to Charlie's birth, we also want to extend our congratulations to the parents of the other babies we know born just this week!

Brandon Paul, born 1/21/10 to Danielle and Jason
Clara Jane, born 1/21/10 to Monica and Dan
Charles Patrick, born 1/22/10 to Meghan and Mike