It's Great to be a Grange: March 2009

Monday, March 23, 2009

3 kids

Mabel has to watch herself around these boys.

What a face. We are loving this little girl.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

well, it's official. I am now a real mother of 3. Before when people asked me how I was doing with 3 kids, I told them that I didn't know how it was yet, because I had so much help! My mom came for a week and it was great. Not only did I get to sleep in every morning while she got up with the boys, but she also managed to make some curtains for us. They turned out great!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

first sunday with a little girl

We had fun getting a little girl ready for church. No offense boys, but girl clothes are lots more fun to pick out.

On another note, Andrew has decided that since he is now 2, he better act like it. The tantrums have started in full force.

Friday, March 13, 2009

tight squeeze

Can we say mini-van???

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

all alone

Thank you Grammy and Gramps for all your help. We have had Dixie here for 2 weeks and we couldn't have done it without her. Gramps came in this weekend and even helped Spencer put in a door to our bathroom. We have a few days in between Grandma's and so far we are surviving! Spencer stayed home today so I guess the real test might be tomorrow....if I let him go to work!

Thanks big brothers for always sharing your toys. I have found all sorts of toys placed gently on top of her while she is sleeping for mabel to "play" with.

*There are lots more pictures of Mabel if you scroll down!

Friday, March 6, 2009

delivery details

I know some of you are "delivery story junkies" so if you want to hear the down and dirty details, here they are:

Since I have such big babies, and since I was already dilated to a 5, my doctor said I could come to the hospital when she was on call and she would break my water and get labor started. We called Saturday night at 7:00pm when she got in and she said that the hospital wasn't busy, so we were good to go. It was a little "anti-climatic" as Spencer said, just leaving to the hospital to have a baby, but we were ready. Plus, Dixie had been at our house since Wed. to help with the boys so we needed to take advantage of the time we had with her! We got to the hospital around 8:30pm and it was great because they had our room already for us and everything, we didn't have to go to triage or any of that. My Dr. came in to break my water around 9:00. I was actually dilated to a 7 (I just have really good braxton hicks I guess, because I really hadn't felt any contactions at all) and she tried to break my water, but for some reason it wouldn't. So they gave me a low dose of pitocin and she came back at 10:30 to try again. She broke my water this time and within 1/2 hour the contractions were super strong and fast and I requested my epidural. Why do I wait so long??? I know I'm wimpy, but that was the longest hour ever waiting to get the drugs. But by midnight I was much better and Spencer and I just hung out and slept until the doctor came in at 2:20 saying it was time. I pushed through 3 contractions, about 10 minutes long, and she was born! I was so numb from the epidural, I couldn't believe I was actually pushing, but I guess I did ok. It was such a difference from my delivery with Andrew. I hardly tore and it was so quiet and peaceful in the room while she was born, just Spencer and I, the doctor and 2 nurses. At UW we had a full room of residents and who knows who else. Although Spencer said he was a little too close to the action this time. Last time he got to just hang back and didn't see anything until the baby was all the way out, which he prefers. This time he claims he saw the baby 1/2 way out and the Dr. made him cut the cord. I don't think he was too traumatized. I of course cried when I saw our beautiful baby girl and was so happy to have had such a wonderful delivery!

the middle child

We didn't forget about Andrew's birthday, even though it was just 3 days after Mabel was born. He was very happy to open all of his presents, which surprised us since he didn't care much about presents at Christmas time. He even was sneaky and opened up a present during the day when we weren't looking. And he thoroughly enjoyed his Elmo cupcakes. Happy Birthday Andrew! We love you!