Like Mother, Like Child...

I love that my babies like to sleep just like their Mama...

with their arms above their head!

Here's Addison snoozing away last week...

Flashback 17 or so months ago, and here's Landon getting some Z's...

18 Months Old

Can you believe it...our little man is 18 months old already??? Wow, time flies!

The day before Addison was born Landon seemed like a baby to me still...now, he's a big boy in my eyes. Sad, but fun to see him learning new things every day. He has acquired quite the vocabulary lately and he surprises us everyday by how much he knows and picks up on. His latest...counting to 10 with our help. We count the odd numbers and he says the even numbers. He's speaking in some full sentences and can now tell the difference between Sammie and Carter. He doesn't see Dr. Fandel for about three weeks yet, but we can't wait to see what his growth has been since 15 months. In honor of his 18 month birthday (yesterday) here's some recent pictures of our handsome little boy...

Remember Those Preggos???

Remember these three preggos...way back in April?

Left to right...me, my Aunt Trisha, and my sister Jessica

Well, here's the babies we were so patiently waiting for...

Left to right...Addison (my baby) 3.5 weeks

Elin (Trisha's baby) 12 weeks

Blake (Jess' baby) 10 weeks

Addison's Room

Our Healthy Girl

Addison had her 2 week dr. appt. on Friday and she is a healthy girl!

Here's her stats:

Height 22 inches 96th percentile

Weight 9 lbs. 2 oz. 77th percentile

Head 37 1/2 cm 84th percentile

The dr. was very pleased with her weight growth...over a pound in ten days! She mentioned how strong Addison is already and that she is very alert. Her belly button (that we were so worried about) is looking good and she can now take a normal bath in the bathtub. No more spongebaths!

We had a busy weekend. Addison attended her first wedding on Saturday. Congrats Laura and Lance! Landon was busting a move on the dance floor with all the other kids. We are looking forward to Ashley and Loren's wedding to see him dance some more. On Sunday we went to St. Cloud to have Addison's newborn pictures and Landon's 18 month pictures taken. They turned out very good and we are very excited for them to come in.

More pictures to come soon. I am in the process of getting all my pics organized and burned onto discs, labeled, and uploaded onto Snapfish...what a job!

Welcome Baby Addison!

I finally have a free moment to update this blog! Wow, has life changed in the blink of an eye, but I love every second of it. I can't complain either, because I think we have two of the most low-maintenance kids around! So, starting back to Friday morning...

We checked in to the hospital at 7:30 Friday morning. Here's how our day progressed from there:

8:30 2 cm, IV put in place

8:50 started on pitocin and Dr. Kroska broke my water

10:30 walked the halls

10:50 3 cm, pitocin turned off

11:40 Epidural

1:10 5 cm

1:50 7-8 cm, nurses prepare for delivery

2:35 almost 10 cm

3:05 fully dialated and ready to push

3:20 Addison arrives!

She is: 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 19.5 inches long! I can't believe what a big baby I had in there!

It was a quick and easy delivery...I can't complain at all! I enjoyed all the skin-to-skin contact that the doctors and nurses allowed me to have with her.

Here I am somewhere during the process. Judging by how relaxed I look in this picture, I'm thinking it was sometime AFTER I got the epidural.

Shortly after Addison was born, my Mom and Dad arrived with Big Bro Landon. It was very emotional for me to see him walk in the room, but I was so happy to see how curious he was about the baby. He immediately tried to touch her and give her kisses.

Darren is one proud Daddy! I think that Addison already has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. Here they are enjoying her first Twins game together.

The hospital stay was short and sweet. The nurses and doctors were all fabulous! I couldn't have asked for a smoother three days there. We had no trouble with nursing this time around...Little Addison latched right on and has been nursing like a pro ever since. No need for a lactation consultant this time! My recovery has been MUCH easier this time around. Only a second degree laceration and I have been able to move around and feel like a normal person again. I haven't needed much for pain meds, so I have felt much better! We enjoyed lots of visitors at the hospital. We were more than ready to go home on Sunday morning!

Here we are getting ready to leave:

On the way home from St. Cloud we stopped out at the lake cabin to pick up Landon. Like Darren said, only a Minnesota summer baby would make her first stop at the lake on the way home from the hospital! We enjoyed lunch there with my family and then headed home.
Our first night at home was smooth and Landon couldn't be a better big brother. We have to remind him to be gentle with her. He doesn't understand how fragile she is and only wants to love on her as much as possible. In tradition, we ordered pizza for supper and enjoyed being home as a family.

Our first few night have gone very smoothly so far! Addison nurses great all day and sleeps for 3-5 hour stretches at night. We feel so fortunate to be getting this much sleep already! Darren and I both keep asking ourselves why this has seemed so easy this time around.

Here's our little princess all dressed up...isn't she a little dolly???

Last night we gave Addison her first bath at home and she loved it. Not even a whimper.

Here is Landon and Addison after their baths:

We couldn't be happier right now that everything has gone so well. Darren went back to work today and so far so good here at home. There have been a few moments when I didn't know which baby to help out, but we've made it through!
Thanks for checking in on us!

Baby Update and Como Zoo

Baby Update: Today I had my 38 week dr. appt. (although I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow) and everything is looking great! My blood pressure is up a bit, but not a huge concern. Baby's heart rate was 138...lowest it's been. Dr. Lindgren asked if I would consider induction and I told him that only if it was on my due date or later. I don't want to rush the little one out too soon! So, we are scheduled for induction on Friday, July 23rd (my due date) unless she decides to come sooner than that. I really hope so!!! I am 2 cm dialated and 75% effaced...making some progress! Lots of Braxton Hicks the past few days. Dr. Lindgren said he will be surprised if I make it to the 23rd without going into labor on my own. I hope he is right!

Last Sunday we went to the Como Zoo. I figured the walking might help pick things up a little bit. We did a ton of walking! Landon absolutely loved the animals, especially the spider monkeys! He was so amazed by them and loved how they would swing around and come right up to the glass. My favorite animals, the gorillas, slept all day so we didn't get a good look at them. Landon would have crawled right in the cages with the animals if he could have...no fear! He especially wanted to get close to the "KITTIES!" It was a really fun day for all three of us!

Here's our little animal in his cage! Actually, this is the dog kennel, but for some reason Landon likes to crawl in it lately. I just hope none of the neighbors see this and report us to child welfare services! What a stinker!

Hopefully the next time I blog, it will be with news of our little girl's arrival. Otherwise, I have my next dr. appt. on Thursday the 22nd. Please pray that the appointment will not be necessary...for the sake of me and my aching back! Thanks!