Samantha Grace

On Tuesday, June 9, 2015 we welcomed Samantha Grace!!  She was born at 10:21am, weighing 9lbs 14oz and 21 inches long.  I don't want to forget the day, so here is what happened!  We waited and waited, the doctors told me she would be early, probably born at the end of May, and she came on her own time - 5 days late.  I had a doctors appointment on Monday morning, I was already 4cm dilated and the doctor swept my membranes (ouch and sorry if TMI!).  Monday night I had mild contractions, but nothing too bad, so we went to bed.  At 4am I woke up and knew it was time, my contractions were awful. I woke up David, called the doctor, and we headed to the hospital.  When we got to the hospital I was 7cm dilated, so obviously they admitted me.  All I cared about was the epidural, and the nurse assured me that she was quickly taking care of things so that I would have time to get one.  Finally around 7am I got the epidural (after sending David out to the hall many times asking about the anesthesiologist).  My blood pressure went down to the 70s and I thought for sure I was going to pass out, but once they gave me oxygen, I felt much better.

Around 10am my back started to hurt, and it was time to push.  After only about 20 minutes, out popped Samantha!  I once again thought I was having a boy, but David said all along we were having another girl.  He cut the umbilical and I fed her right away.  After that they weighed her, cleaned her, did footprints and handprints, and the nurse made footprints on David's t-shirt for him to keep.

Later that day, my parents, along with Elizabeth, came to the hospital to meet Samantha.  Elizabeth wanted nothing to do with Samantha or me, she only wanted David to hold her.  Eventually though, she warmed up and was pointing out Samantha's head, feet, and toes.

The next day my best friend, Sarah, and her sister came over to visit me in the hospital.  They were in NYC with family, so it was perfect timing!  David went for a run and decided to run from the hospital to our house (about 9 miles).  He spent the day at home with Elizabeth and my parents came to keep me company.  Of course I don't have any pics of them at the hospital...oops!  That night David came back and spent the night with me again at the hospital.  

On Tuesday, Samantha had to go into the "sunbed" because her bilirubin was a little high.  Luckily, she didn't have to stay the night and we were able to head home by 5:30 that night.

 When we got home that night, Elizabeth was SO excited to see Samantha.  She didn't leave her side.  When I said it was time for Samantha to eat, she went to the kitchen and grabbed her a snack, it was adorable.  Elizabeth grabbed Samantha's toes and started doing "this little piggy went to the market".  It is so much fun to see Elizabeth interact with Samantha.

We feel so blessed that we have two beautiful, healthy daughters!  Life is super busy and a little stressful right now, but so much fun!  Samantha Grace is a great baby and the perfect addition to our family.

Life Lately

I figured since the baby is late (which by the way, I was told by 2 of my doctors to expect to deliver early!), I should take this time to update on Elizabeth.  Happy 22 months (yesterday) to my baby!!!!  Her personality is shining through and she is just so much fun!!
Elizabeth still LOVES her My Gym classes, and she is taking soccer/football lessons on Saturday mornings. She isn't so into soccer, but it at least gives her and David an activity to do together.

David and Elizabeth are Disney's best customers.  Elizabeth can recognize many characters in every store we go into, and of course David loves to stop at the Disney store on his way home from work to bring home "surprises" for Elizabeth.  The same Sophia the First nightgown has been worn to bed for the last two weeks straight - which not only results in my doing more laundry, but also having to reason with a 22 month old in the morning when I get her dressed!  Here is a pic of Elizabeth with her Elsa cup, another favorite, from my dad.  I actually insisted he buy another one to save me from having to wash it multiple times a day.  And yes, gasp, we allow her to eat on the couch sometimes;)

Elizabeth is a true girly girl!  She has to have a purse  with her every time we leave the house.  And now, she LOVES her jewelry.  She loves wearing multiple necklaces and bracelets, and I love it!  Since I can't "do" her hair yet (for obvious reasons;)), this is another way I get to "dress" her up.  She is also OBSESSED over shoes, when we meet new people, Elizabeth has to point out her shoes.  Baby dolls and the Wiggles are also favorites, and she is just starting to get into puzzles.

This girl is also a talker, ALL.DAY.LONG.  Elizabeth has started throwing out full sentences and it's so adorable.  Here are a few phrases/sentences:

• If you ask her if she wants something, and she doesn't, she responds with "No, I'm fine."  
• If she wants something someone else has, she will say "I need that".
• Elizabeth is great at using "please" and "thank you"
• When someone sneezes or coughs she responds with "Bless you"
• Elizabeth thinks it's hilarious to call daddy "David", she knows she shouldn't and gives the most hilarious look when she does it.
• Yesterday Elizabeth tripped on a toy, I asked her if she was ok and she responded with "I'm fine, I slipped"
• "Oh no!" and "Oh gosh!" are phrases she uses all the time
• Elizabeth has also started saying push chair and nappy when she talks to David.  She says diaper and stroller to me obviously, but she just picked up that Daddy calls them something different.  
• Counting to ten is also something Elizabeth does, but for some reason, the poor number 8 gets left out sometimes.  She can also sing her ABCs, but it gets a little jumbled up around L,M,N,O,P.

Elizabeth is a little social butterfly.  She has two best friends, Alden and Ben, that we see almost on a daily basis, and she LOVES them.  Any time we are at the playground, she loves to talk to the "older" kids.  

It is impossible to believe my little baby is going to be 2 in 2 months!  We know she will be a great big sister, and can't wait to see her interact with a younger sibling (if I'm not pregnant indefinitely, which I am beginning to think I might be!). 

Disney World - Part 5

When we got to Disney, we decided to get Elizabeth a character signature book and pen.  Of course it was more for us than her, but we figure she can have it for years to come and take it back each time we go to Disney.  What we didn't expect was for Elizabeth to figure out the entire "process".  After meeting a few characters, Elizabeth got the hang of it and was hilarious!  She would walk up to the character, hand them the book and pen, and then sit down in front of them for a picture.  As soon as she got bored of sitting, she stood back up and took back her pen and book.  It was adorable!!!  I'm so glad we decided to start the book on this trip!

Disney World - Part 4

On Saturday we headed to Hollywood Studios.  We were there for the gates to open because it was the magic hour day at that park.  As soon as the park opened, we ran to Toy Story Mania (along with every other person in the park).  The ride was so much fun, and we only had about a 20 minute wait.  There weren't long lines for anything really, so we got to ride everything we wanted to, and in David's case, multiple times for some rides. 

The amount of strollers in all the parks is INSANE.  This is just one little section in Hollywood Studios.

Another great day, and the Christmas decorations there were beautiful!