One Month, Visitors, and Wildlights

A couple of days ago Holly turned 1 month old!  Can't even believe it has already been a month.  She is right on schedule to being just like her sister.  She has started to hate breastfeeding, as I have now too,  she loves her binky, and she is the most strong willed little bugger!  She has been having a hard time with eating lately and hopefully she will get better.  The pediatrician said that she is doing ok but would like her to have gained more weight.  So, as of yesterday her stats were as follows:

Weight: 9lbs

Length: 20.5 in

Head: 14cm

Dad and his Ladies

 Sweet little Holly at 1 month!

 She kept wrinkling her forehead because of the flash...

I never mentioned before but my mom got to come out when Holly was born and she helped me so much.  I was very sad to see her leave.  Penny kept asking me, "Where Grama go?"  She really misses her.  My sister Stacey also got to come out for a little bit.  It seems that I don't get to see my siblings as much as my parents so it was nice to have my sister here.  We were pretty busy everyday, I made her go Christmas shopping with me.  I can't believe I didn't get pictures on either visit!  Oh well, they are in my memories:)  When both of them came I put them in Penny's room on an air mattress.  The day Stacey left I was going to put it away and instead I asked Penny if she wanted to sleep on the big bed or her little bed.  She promptly said BIG BED, Grama and Stacey!  She only slept in it one day but she loved it because her buddies slept in the same bed:)

The day before I had Holly we went to the Columbus Zoo Wildlights.  They deck out the zoo from head to toe in lights.  It was pretty cool. Penny danced to the music and enjoyed herself.  I waddled along and tried to keep up with Chuck and Penny. 

 I don't know what is going on with Penny's face in these pictures.  I couldn't stop laughing when I saw them.  I thought that maybe she was trying to grunt something out, but she was just being a goober.  We had to of course ride the carousel, her absolute favorite, even in the dark.

 Did you think that was a real alligator:)

At the beginning on Dec., Dec. 4 to be exact, Chuck celebrated his 29th birthday.  I didn't get any pictures... I am really terrible.  But I wanted him to know how much I love him!  All he asked for his birthday was a fancy meal.  So I made him filet mignon and cheese potatoes.  And we had Reese's pie for dessert.  I am so grateful for Chuck.  He makes a lot of sacrifices for our family and gives a lot to everyone else.  He is a great man:) and my one and only best friend,  Love you Chuck! 

Birth Story and Sisters

I feel like I have so much to blog about!  I first want to write down the birth of little Holly.   I had gone to my appointment on Mon. and the doctor checked me and said that I was dialated to a 3 and had about 70% effacement.  I thought, ok so I am going to go into labor within tonight!  I was really convinced  it was going to be like Penny and my water was going to break at like 4am.  Well it was a pretty uneventful night.  I woke up at about 3am and couldn't fall back asleep, but much to my dismay I was not having contractions, just couldn't sleep.  I decided to get the house in order because I was still convinced that I was going to go into labor the next day (tues).  I started to have some minor cramping and it was so inconsistent.  So I decided I would try to take a nap.  I started to have some stronger cramps and so there went my nap.  It was about 4pm and Chuck wanted to eat some dinner.  By this point I knew I was having contractions and they were about 7 minutes apart.  We went and got some Wendy's ( I was not going to cook!).  We ate and I called a gal from our ward who said she would watch Penny for us, and we went to the hospital.  While we were in the car my contractions were coming about 4 minutes apart.  I was in a lot of pain!  I just wanted to get to the hospital and get that dang epidural.  Then we hit some traffic, not too bad though:)  We got there and they checked me, I was only dialated to a 4! AHH!  I thought for sure I was going to be a 5 and get my epidural.  They had me wait a hour and then they checked me again and I was a 5, so they admitted me.  I got to my room at about 6pm.  I got my epidural from the nicest doctors!  They were so nice and funny, course I was like, don't make me laugh because that makes the contractions hurt more!  Anyways, I started to feel much more comfortable.  I kept feeling a lot of pressure and the nurse had said I should still feel like I would want to push when it is time.  It had only been a couple of hours since my epidural so, I thought, it couldn't possibly be time to push.  It was about 10 when I called the nurse in and she checked me.  She said that I had a bulging bag of water and that if it broke the baby would come really fast.  So she went to get the doctor to break my water.  When she was away all of like 5 minutes, I heard this loud, and I mean LOUD POP!  I screamed and suddenly I was nice and wet....unpleasant, but absolutely hilarious because my water must have been more than just bulging!  It was like someone threw a water balloon at me, complete with sound effects.  Anyways the doctor came in shortly after.  It was about 10:30pm and I started to push.  I remember with Penny not feeling anything.  Not feeling pressure, not feeling like I needed to push, I was just dead from the waist down.  This time, I was numb but could feel everything too.  It was so weird.  I pushed for about 30 minutes and out she came!  YAY!  It was the best relief of pressure in the world:)  She wasn't screaming like a banshee, she has a very little cry (not really anymore), and she was very red.  She has continued to be red for a couple of weeks.  We think it was because the doctor waited awhile to clamp the umbilical cord, which by the way was HUGE!  That would explain why Holly came out with some chub on her.  The doctor said that if I would have gone term that she would have been well over 8lbs close to 9lbs.  So far she is a pretty good baby.  She likes to be awake at her night feeding, like 9pm-10pm but that is ok as long as it is not 3am!  She is very grunty, so we are going to start her on some zantac and see if that will help her belly a little.  Today at her 2 week checkup she weighed 8lbs 8.5 oz.  Which if you remember she has now gained a 1 lb since birth! YAY!  Penny just got a cold so we are hoping she doesn't pass that along to anyone.  But she loves her sister and asks to hold her.  She puts blankets on her legs and turns her swing on for her.  If she is crying a lot she tells her to STOP!  it is kinda funny:)  And she gives Holly her binky.  Overall, Penny is awesome and has adjusted fairly well.  Plus she gets to watch all the Disney her hearts desires:)  Here is Holly at 2 weeks.

Holly Eliza Burtis

Well, SHE IS HERE!  Just a brief summary and then I will write the birth story later.  She was born on Tues Nov. 20, 2012.  She weighed 7lbs 8.6 oz  and 191/2 inches long.  She has lots of dark dark hair, and has very chubby cheeks.  I was only in labor with her for about 5 hours.  She is an angel and we love her very much.  She smells like candy, like the sweetest flower you can think of.  She is very strong like her sister, and unlike her sister will actually breastfeed which makes my life a heck of a lot easier.  Anyways, here are some pictures.

36 Weeks!

Ok, so on request from my dear sister Paige, I am posting this belly picture.  The magnitude of this belly is over powering.  I don't think my skin can stretch anymore!  I don't have a single stretch mark:), but I feel like I am ready to be done.  I remember being so jolly being pregnant with Penny and that is so not the case this time around.  Let me just vent for a few seconds.  I HURT!!!  Ok there, that felt good.  I have the worst pelvic pain.  I went to the doctor today and found out why.  My Dr. tried to check my cervix but couldn't because she said that the baby's head was extremely low that she couldn't get to it.  She said that her head is literally sitting on my pubic bone and pushing on it.  So I have no idea if I am at all dilated.  That doesn't give me much to go off of.  I think I have to be at least a one but I will not know unless I go into labor between now and Monday, which is my next appointment.  So, for Paige here are some really bad pictures:)  I hope you like them because I took them myself.  I wanted to update this while Penny was taking a nap and unfortunately Chuck is at work so, you get timer photos:)!  haha!

Right now, nothing fits me.  So my belly is always hanging out the bottom of my pants.  I have gained 40 lbs, which is actually better than I was with Penny.  The doctor thinks about 20 of that is simply baby and fluid.  Did I mention that I am ready to be done, because I am!  Come whenever you want little girl!

Halloween 2012: Oh well, there is always next year!

Man was I a crappy mom for Halloween!  I felt very unmotivated to do much this year.  We did go to the ward Halloween party, and we did go trick or treating, but I felt like there was something missing.  I didn't feel like I was totally in the Halloween spirit.  Oh well, I guess there is always next year.  I really wanted Penny to be a cat this year.  Don't ask why, I just did.  I thought I could find her some cute black leggings, black shirt, and ears and tail.  I went to 5 stores looking for those simple items and got stuck when I could not find a black shirt!  I find a black turtle neck but the likelyhood of Penny wearing a turtleneck is very very slim.  So, I went to Old Navy and got her a cupcake costume.  I knew there would be more kids wearing this costume, and that is why I didn't want to cop out and get something already made at a popular store.  Oh well, there is always next year.  So, Penny was a pretty darn cute cupcake but she did not want to wear the cupcake!!  She spent 15 minutes in her room crying before the ward party because she didn't want to wear it, and I said she had to, to get the treats.  Finally she wore it, but  I didn't get very good pictures. 

 This is Penny's friend, Ellie.  She asks to go to her house everyday!  They are good little friends:)

 There were many activities to choose from.  There was coloring...

 Eating a doughnut on a string...

 And a cake walk, complete with a cupcake a the end.

What I didn't get a picture of was her actually trick or treating or doing the fishing for a prize.  She was really great at trick or treating.  She would say twick or tweat, and would sometimes say thank you, but most of the time pick out a treat and put it in her bag.  Later in the week we decided to carve pumpkins.  I wanted to get it done before stupid hurricane Sandy came, because I didn't want to lose power and not be able to cook my pumpkin seeds. Penny thought it was absolutely disgusting, she wouldn't even touch the pumpkin after I was finished.  I got all my seeds out and baked them and then we never carved our pumpkins! AHH! Oh well, there is always next year:)  Like I was talking about hurricane Sandy, we ended up getting some pretty good wind and rain.  The worst thing was the rain.  It had already been raining for a couple of days straight and then Sandy came and I was just super tired of rain.  When it came time for the real trick or treating on Halloween, guess who was still around?  Sandy!  So, it was a very wet trick or treat outside. Here is Penny, who by now, knew what I was talking about when I said lets go trick or treat, could hardly contain herself. 

Like I said, there is always next year to really bang out Halloween but, being pretty pregnant with a 2 year old and Chuck was working both party and Halloween, I think it will still be memorable:) 

Hocking Hills

This week was one of Chuck's vacation weeks.  We took full advantage of the time together and did a lot of things around.  I wanted to see some fall foliage and googled good places here in Ohio and came across Hocking Hills.  It was so beautiful!  It is one of those places that you see on cool car commercials where they are driving through the woods.  We decided to hike to a place called Ash Cave.  I have never see anything like it.  I was a dunce and left my camera in the car...so you will have to deal with pictures from the internet. 

 
 

So you can see there is a little waterfall and it doesn't look like a typical cave that you would think of.  It was almost like a huge overhang but it was HUGE!  It was so cool.  I just am so mad I left my camera in the car.  You have to hike down to the bottom.  In the pictures you can see some stairs behind the waterfall.  I just about died going back up them!  Pregnancy and stairs are not a good combo...  It was a lot of fun though!  We went and ate at a Amish style restaurant called Olde Dutch Restaurant and had some potatoes and gravy and fried chicken.  It was delicious!  The rest if the week consisted of going to the zoo, shopping, and lounging.  It was relaxing:)  One day when we went to the zoo, we were literally one of 10 people there.  I guess when school gets back in session that the crowds die down a lot.  Penny finally got brave enough to touch the stingrays!  It was so funny!  We did her favorites and visited the goats to brush, and ride the carousel.  When we left we were all just quiet and walking and she turned up and looked at me and said, " I like the zoo."  Chuck and I just looked at each other and were like, did she just say that:)  It totally made our day.  We asked her why she liked the zoo and she said, " I ride the horsey's".  She has been making so much improvement on her speech.  She sometimes sings ring around the rosey and then tells me that she is going round and round in a circle.  She also has been very self entertaining with reading her books.  She LOVES to read and make up stories for the pictures. Pregnancy update is that this baby I think is super crunched.  I can't breath sometimes because I have enormous amount of pressure on my diaphragm.  She moves a lot even with limited room, so sometimes I can literally hear little tiny poppings when she really stretches.  I can't wait to see her, and also to sleep on my stomach again:)  Chuck starts back up work again tomorrow and we are all sad to see him go back.  I think Chuck most of all:)  Penny won't know what to do when she wakes up and Dad is at work instead of home, but oh well.  Vacations can't last forever.. 

Feeling Crafty!

Lately, I have been in the crafty mood.  I had made Penny another owl hat because I wasn't entirely satisfied with the first one.  I also made a felt Halloween wreath and a complete crocheted outfit for baby sister.  I am feeling a little burned out for now.  My hands have started to cramp from all the crochet and cutting, but I felt like it was all worth it.  I was pretty proud of my projects. 

Here is the outfit I made for our new little girl. The hat was fairly simple but, I had to do the dress over 5 times because I didn't understand the pattern.  It wasn't written very well and eventually I just figured it out.  I hope this little girls feet are little and dainty because the little booties are quite small.  These were the second pair I made and I think they turned out really cute.  The dress is mostly done in shell stitches, which I think makes it look quite delicate.  All of these were done with a much heavier thread than what I was supposed to use. But I wanted it to be deep red and even though the pictures look more tomato red, it is much more cranberry dark red. 

 Front

 Back

 Here is my Halloween felt wreath.  I like it ok...  It still doesn't look quite like I imagined.  I got the pattern from tatertotsandjello.com  She has some super cute wreaths on there.  She used grey felt but I wanted to make it more Halloween with the black and orange, but I am afraid it made it look much more elementary craft.  I should have stuck with the grey because it looks a lot cleaner but overall Halloween is a fun holiday and I think this wreath was fun too.

 Of course Penny has to be in the post!  She has really been such a character lately.  She has been calling Chuck and I, Honey.  Whenever we walk down the stairs she says, "careful honey!"  It is so funny.  When she goes to bed she tells me, "Bye Bye Honey!"  I don't even think Chuck or I call her honey very often!  Every morning she tells me when she wants to get into the tub by stripping from the waist down.  She can't get her shirt off so she stopped trying. This morning I slapped her little bum.  This is what she said.

Penny: "HEY! My bum bum!" 

Me:  "But it is just so CUTE! 

Penny: "Oh... Thank you."

Haha oh Penny you are just the cutest, (most times:)  She has been having some serious tantrums which hopefully simmer a little before Dec.  She gets really mad when she can't find her makeup (her lip gloss).  It is like the end of the world, along when she can't find her stupid binky.  I hate binkies!  So tired of looking for them. 

Chuck started his OB rotation this month.  I think it will give him some good practice before this baby comes.  He has yet to deliver a baby, but has to deliver 10 sometime in the next 3 weeks!  Hopefully that will happen:) As for myself,  I am getting bigger.... The END!  haha