Family!

I have so much to write about.  I did 2 blog posts so make sure you see the one below too:)  Just this past week, Chuck's family was able to visit us.  Babette, Charles, and Crystal all came.  It was so nice to have company.  It is nice to have help and someone to entertain the babes.  We got to do some fun things while they were here.  We went to Cosi (Fun science place), out to dinner, Chuck and I went on a date (sans kids), and visited. 

Smiling Holly and Grandpa

 Grandpa and his girls:)

 Grandma and Holly.  Aunt Crystal and Holly

 COSI!

 They had a submarine you can get in.  It was pretty cool:)

Holly also had her 2 month check up, even though she was only 7 weeks.  We got her some shots and she was extra sore and tired after that.  Her stats are:

Weight:  10lbs 1.5oz

Length: 21.5 in

Head 14.5 cm

The doctor says that she is looking really good.  She does have a slight lazy eye that kinda wanders sometimes, so we are taking her to the opthamologist to see what we can do for her.  She might have to wear a patch and be a little pirate for a little while. At least she would be the cutest pirate I have ever seen! She has started to smile on occasions and every now again a coo.  The doctor told me that she might do more later since technically she is a month old, since she was 3 weeks early.  She is so bright and wide eyed.  She loves her sister.  Penny loves Holly too.  One day Penny came over and asked me if she could hold baby Holly and I said yes.  While she was holding her she said "I love you.....Baby Holly".  It was the sweetest thing ever!  I hope they stay friend and that Penny always has that love for her little sister. 

Little Holly at 2 months

Christmas

We had a pretty quiet Christmas this year.  Chuck had to work till 5, so we waited for Santa all day long!  I don't think Penny minded, let a lone knew what was going on.  Holly was just a sleepy baby:)  Penny got a kitchen that I got a killer deal on.  She got various other things but that was her main big gift.  She was really excited when she was opening it.

Holly got some small things like a little light that plays music to put in her crib.  She really likes listening to music when she sleeps.  Not much else from Christmas this year.  Chuck and I had a hard time getting things for eachother this year.  He was working all the time and I had 2 babes to tote around so we just went shopping the day after.  It was a snow storm here, but that would never stop me.  Of course, here they don't have snow trucks, CRAZY!  Here some more sampling from the day.

 Holly was there watching Penny go crazy!  I am such a bad mom and forgot to get a picture with her presents.  Oh well, poor second child:( 

The couple of days later Chuck and Penny decided to make a snowman.  Penny loved playing in the snow with her dad. 

One day I gave Penny a packet of stickers and a note book.  I told her she could put her stickers on the notebook.  I went to go make dinner and when I came back to look at her she had her back turned to me.  I noticed that she had put the stickers all over her pants.  And then she looked up at me and this is what I saw.

Hilarious!  I could not stop laughing.  It shocked me at first and of course she was not happy about having her picture taken:)  Oh well!

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.