Ryan's Home Birth Story

The morning of Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014 will be one I never forget! I had been anticipating this moment for months (even years). I didn't know quite how it would turn out, I had played it over and over in my head and "planned" how I wanted certain things, but it turned out even better than I could ever have imagined. To say that it was perfect would be an understatement. God was definitely in control and the stars were aligned that morning.

It started the night before, I had trouble getting kaylee to bed, so I let her sleep in our bed. I had a funny feeling that she was trying to get closer to me because she knew that it was "baby night" as she and Ainslee called it. So off to bed we went and at 4:09 I awoke with the overwhelming feeling of pressure down low. I laid there for a minute desperately trying to remember how I knew it was the "real" thing with Brynlee because I remember just KNOWING that was the day.  Here is what my conversation with Marcus looked like next (notice the times)

 

We started filling the pool with water about 4:50, I called Lynda (my midwife) to let her know my progress. she asked "how far apart are they?" When I told her about 8 minutes she asked if she should come now. I sort of fumbled with my words and Marcus, very assertively said from the other room "last time when you were 8 min apart we had a baby in an hour." she said she heard Marcus and then said "we are on the way." I continued to time my contractions, pacing the house trying to figure out what I needed to do next. Then I felt like I needed to try and slow things down, they were moving too quick, so I tried getting in the polar bear pose to take the pressure off. That only lasted a few seconds before I felt like it was time to wake kaylee. I struggled to get her up, and then continued to pace the house bracing myself with the counter whenever a contraction came. I noticed my contractions jumped from 8 minutes apart to 3 minutes. I called Lynda back to tell her and she assured me they were close and coming as quickly as possible. The moment Marcus announced the pool was full I told him I needed to get in. His response was "NOW??!"  So I climbed in and my immediate reaction was "oh my gosh this feels SO NICE!" I tried to get comfortable as I awaited the next contraction. The first contraction that came while in the water was way different. I felt the pressure, but it felt different. It was like the pressure was released into the water instead of building up in me, if that makes any sense. At some point Marcus sent kaylee in to wake up Ainslee, I just can't remember exactly when that was in the timeline. So I'm in the pool and a few contractions came, and then I let out a scream I felt the urge to push, so I did and I could feel my water break like a big balloon under the water. I was so relieved, one of my biggest fears/concerns was were my water would break. I told Marcus what happened and he called Lynda back again, she told him how far away she was and he told her what happened. Next thing I know they came barging in the front door, drop their bags, and got the fetal heart monitor out to check on the baby. Next thing I know Lynda was telling me that I needed to move away from the wall of the pool because the baby would have no where to go when it came out, so I crawled to the other edge of the pool when I felt the next urge to push. I had 2 contractions close together and that was when he was born. Lynda and Marcus were there to catch him as he came into this world. I had envisioned me getting to be the one to lift my baby out of the water, I imagined how magical it would be to watch him take his first breath. But alas my plan was not meant to be, and looking back on it I am so thankful that Marcus was able to be the one to lift him up and announce his gender, especially since he is our first (and most likely only) boy.  Lynda quickly handed him to me and while I sat there in total awe of my beautiful baby all I could think was "I can't believe I have a son!"

(ignore the picture, and just listen to the sound)

I knew the entire pregnancy he was a boy but even now I still have trouble wrapping my brain around it. I get so excited when I think of all the fun things to come. I'm thrilled at the opportunity to experience what it will be like to raise daughters AND a son! Each day I fall more and more in love with him! He is more perfect than I ever could imagine and he has been the best and easiest baby so far.

After I delivered him there was no suctioning. There were no interventions. I was allowed to sit peacefully as long as I wanted, just holding and staring at him. After a few minutes of him not crying Lynda gently came over and began rubbing his feet to get him to let out a big cry to clear his lungs. And he did! We waited and waited for me to deliver the placenta before resorting to me getting out of the pool. I was helped out by Lynda and Penny (her assistant) and laid down on the couch. I had attempted nursing in the pool to try and help the placenta along and then again after I got out. Unfortunately the placenta was not budging. Now I believe the reason why I had trouble was because I pulled an oblique muscle (muscle in the side of my abdomen) and was unable to push. Thankfully with a little help from Lynda I was able to deliver the placenta about an hour after his birth and all went smoothly. Ainslee was much more interested and involved than I ever imagined, while Kaylee surprised me by not being involved; she was more interested in Ryan.  After the placenta I was able to get up and get cleaned up. Lynda did the newborn assessment on Ryan with the girls right there to watch. She examined the placenta to make sure everything looked ok, and even gave the girls a little lesson. Since I had talked at great lengths about the birth process with the girls they were very interested in that part. So Lynda let them put on gloves and touch the placenta as well as ask questions about everything. I know this isn't for everyone but I couldn't be more happy with how his birthday played out! It was PERFECT!

In the days following his birth I was able to recuperate in my own home, thankfully I had the help of lots of visitors as well as Marcus; who stepped up to the plate big time! He was amazing letting me sleep in every morning, dealing with my raging hormones, taking care of the girls, and keeping the house mostly cleaned and picked up. I do think that I over did it the first couple of days just because I can't stand being slowed down. When I see something that needs to be done I want to get up and do it immediately. Which in turn was the reason why my recovery turned out to be even more difficult than just dealing with the pulled oblique. I ended up straining my adductor muscles in both legs (muscles on the inside of your thighs). This was extremely painful, mostly at night when attempting to move/roll over.  But as far as the recovery from the actual birth and all that goes with it, that was easy and only lasted about 1/2 as long as my other births.

This is the last shot of me pregnant,

I said I wanted to do this with each pregnancy and never did.

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Ive had that post written for just about 3 months, im not quite sure why I never posted it. But SOOOOO much has happened since then, I guess I'll go ahead and update it on here.

 

The biggest update I have is one of the most upsetting things for me to think/talk about. Ryan stopped nursing. He stopped just after he turned 2 months old.  I never thought this would/could happen to me. Ive never had a big problem nursing the girls, an occasional clogged duct and that's about it. But he hadn't been latching good, he was a fussy/gassy baby, he didn't eat good, he didn't sleep good, he cried and acted like he was in pain all the time. I finally gave in when I noticed he only gained a few ounces in 5 weeks. Im not a firm believer in growth charts and all that, but I knew something was wrong and that just confirmed it. I decided to ask my midwife for help. Within hours she and a lactation consultant were at my house trying to help. After many failed attempts the LC decided to try and give him a bottle to calm him and get him a little satisfied, and then try to nurse him again. So I pumped 2 ounces, she fed it to him. I think he drank it in 29 seconds and about 10 gulps. He was STARVING! I tried nursing again and he got so frustrated and refused to latch. So I pumped more and he took it from the bottle. I tried nursing again and still he wouldn't latch. And from that day on he has only nursed a handful of times and not for very long. It took me a long time to accept our new routine. In fact im still adjusting. Ive never had a bottle baby. I feel like it was all my fault, I could've done so many things differently. I cant provide for my child. I feel like a failure. it pains me to see other moms nursing their babies. I WANT to nurse him, and I just cant. Im still pumping, but Im only getting about 1/2 of what he eat in a day. Pumping is hard and painful, and time consuming. The little chunk wants to eat SO much! I know that this is what is best for him. He is such a different baby now. He sleeps, hes happy, he talks and coos, he doesn't scream in the car, and hes not in pain! He gained 8oz in just 5 days. he barely gained 1/2 that in the 5 weeks before.

So now he is on bottles full time. He will nurse a few times a week, but never to eat, mostly just for comfort. I used to have high hopes that I could pump long enough to maybe get him back on the breast full time, but alas as the days and weeks pass the less and less I think that will ever happen. I try to focus on the positives. Having a bottle baby is so much more freeing for me. I can leave him much earlier than I could with the girls. But the lack of bonding just kills me.

 

I am so thankful for the support of marcus and my midwife and the LC. Now my little guy weighs over 14lbs. he has gained about 3lbs in the month since starting bottles. and he SLEEPS, and is so happy! We have continued chiropractic care to try and help relieve the tension and possibly help get him to latch again.

 

Here's my little man so far....

 

 

To say this little man is loved is an understatement. I wish could describe how sweet and adoring his sisters are to him. They love him beyond words......and so do I!!!

Background: The Girls' Birth Stories

Im back.......and with LOTS of news........lets just say I REALLY need to think of a new name for this little neglected blog of mine


I wanted to post a little background info on my previous births before getting to "the most recent" amazingness i am so thankful I was able to experience. Don't get me wrong each one of them was super special in their own way. Let me just recap them all, as I remember them.

Kaylee my strong willed, mothering type, who can NOT wait to grow up. She was born at 5:15pm Sunday, January 7th, 2007 at GMH. She weighed 7lb 15.4oz. I added the .4 because the nurses actually argued as to whether or not they should list her at 7lb 15oz or bump her up to 8lb even. Whoever voted for the 7lb 15oz won, because that's what ended up being her official weight. She measured 20.75 inches long and pretty sure she scored 9 on both APGAR tests. I was induced with her somewhere between 5 and 7 days early; mostly because I was terrified of going into labor while teaching 18 4yr olds. I totally wish I would've know better. So we basically picked her birthday, told no one, showed up to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning, started the typical induction protocol and things started moving along rather quickly. I had decided I wanted to try going without the epidural, but when it came down to it I felt bullied by the nurses and sad to say Marcus scared me into it too. I think he was persuaded by the nurses as well. I dilated quickly the contractions were strong and close and when the nurse came in and said "you know it could be up to 2 hours before you get pain relief from the time you ask for your epidural". So I caved. Had my epidural shortly after and progressed even faster. I could only lay on my right side because if I ever tried to switch to my left side, move in the slightest way, Kaylee's heart rate would be affected and that didn't sit well with the nurses. So I was banished to my right side no matter how uncomfortable I was. And I also remember them trying to screw that fetal monitor thingy to her head, but thankfully she had so much hair they couldn't get it attached. What was I thinking? Oh I forgot to mention I had one of those "nurses in training" assigned to me too, which I didn't really have a problem with, they have to learn sometime right?? The reason why I mentioned that was because when it came time to push she had me sitting in a nearly upright position. My body was basically in a "V" shape. The baby could not descend any further due to this position so all my attempts at pushing, for like 1-2 hours mind you, were fruitless. I was beginning to tire, when I perked up and heard the doctors and nurses talking quietly by the door about a possible C-sec. I piped up rather loud and said "I will NOT have this baby by C-sec, so you might as well stop discussing that as an option". I tend to get really moody and hostile in labor. ;) shortly after that my head nurse came in to check on me and asked if I was comfortable and why I was in such an upright position. She suggested they lay the table back flat and BAM like 3 pushes later out pops Kaylee into our world! Why didn't I think of that? Total time in labor was about 9-10 hours and I required a few stitches for a minor tear. I was able to attempt nursing her almost immediately. Had a bit of trouble, knowing what I know now I had lots of trouble, and we were off to our postpartum room. She got all the routine procedures done to her accept that I asked that she be bathed in my room, not sure if it was her real first bath or not but they did bath her in my room. I had to be catheterized a few hours after having her because I had no feeling in my right leg, due to the epidural, so I was unable to get up and go to the bathroom by myself. It wasn't until the next day that I regained my mobility. So NOT cool! She went to the nursery each night and during the day when I requested it. We were discharged with a healthy baby 2 days later and our little family became a little bit bigger.

Ainslee my super sensitive, caring, thoughtful child was born at the same hospital at 12:34pm Thursday, February 12th, 2009. She weighed 7lb 4oz and was 20.25 inches long. Both her APGAR scores were also 9. I was also induced with her approximately 7 days early, it was originally scheduled for 15 days early due to our move to Hawaii. But when that fell through we moved the date back. I chose induction again primarily because I still felt such a high about Kaylee's birth, in my eyes it was perfect. (You know how they describe that feeling of your first high, that is never attainable again which is why people get addicted to drugs so easily. I wouldn't know firsthand but I clearly remember learning about it in school.) so for that reason only I chose to attempt to recreate the amazingness and induce again. Why didn't I realize that the amazingness I felt came from the fact that I brought home a beautiful, perfect baby girl. It wasn't the manner in which we chose to bring her home (make sense). Anyways, so again we picked the birthday, we told people about our induction this time, kaylee spent the night at my parents house the night before so we could go to the hospital early the next morning to start the routine all over again. Again I wanted to try and go without the epidural, especially with the complications I suffered after delivery last time. I asked if I could get up and walk around or squat or just try and manage my pain naturally. All my requests were denied. Finally, I was able to convince them to just let me get up and go to the bathroom. Labor progressed much faster this time and again I caved and got the epidural. I bet if they would've checked me prior to giving me the epi they wouldn't have given it, because I bet I was 9-10 cm dilated. She was born about 10 minutes after getting the epidural with little effort pushing. We were shocked and elated to hear we had another beautiful baby girl! I nursed her immediately and introduced her to her big sister shortly afterwards. Total time in labor was about 4-5 hours and I didn't require any stitches. During our second attempt at nursing, in delivery room, the nursery nurse came in and attempted to take her to the nursery for "evaluation and tests". I protested and said she was nursing and they could do the tests in my room when she was finished. They stated it was "hospital protocol" to take all babies to the nursery within 1 hour of birth." WHAT? So she came back at the one hour mark and physically took her off of my breast and whisked her away to the nursery for "testing".  To say I was pissed was an understatement. When they finally brought her back, not sure how much time had past, they informed me that her blood sugar was low and they needed to give her formula to raise it up. I thought my head was going to explode. I said "so you took her while she was nursing, and bring her back to me saying that she needs to eat because of her blood sugar?" Seriously? By this time she was so exhausted she wouldn't perk up enough to nurse. I was bullied more by the nurses about this whole blood sugar thing but thankfully I won and she was not given formula, at least to my knowledge. I asked if she could be bathed for the 1st time in my room, they again gave me trouble but finally agreed to the inconvenience. I didn't learn until days later that they actually bathed her for the 1st time in the nursery and then lied to me about it! I did allow her to go to the nursery at night but kept her in my room each day. Nursing came easier to me this time around. We were discharged 2 days later and our little family got a bit bigger.

Brynlee my OCD, impatient, game changer, but super lovable one came into our world at 6:54 am on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011. She weighed 8lb 10.6oz so they rounded her up to 8lb 11oz. She was 21 inches tall (but still think they measured wrong). I'm pretty sure I recall her scoring an 8 on one APGAR and 9 on the other. She is what I like to call my "unassisted hospital birth." I was adamant I didn't want to be induced, I didn't want to pick her birthday, I wanted what I set out for 5 years earlier when I was pregnant with kaylee. I deserved to labor and deliver how I wanted. This decision, I felt, was met with slight resistance from Marcus, as I don't think he could understand why I wanted to be in pain when I could have relief and why I wouldn't want to do the convenient thing and induce again. Thankfully he came to support my decisions.  I went into labor with her while Marcus was at work about 2:40ish that morning. Got up, cleaned some toilets, straightened my hair, called Marcus and my mom.....you can read her whole birth story here.  Basically this was more in line with what I had in mind when I pictured how I wanted originally to give birth. Well minus the trauma of it all. I wanted no interventions I wanted to be able to labor as my body dictated. And I didn't want them telling me what was "protocol". Again, I became hostile in labor when they attempted to do things I wasn't comfortable with, but for the most part I was pleased with this experience (again minus the trauma). I kept her by my side, literally, for the entire time we were in the hospital. I even had the nurses say to me when they came to check my blood pressure at all hours of the night, "you are going to put her back in her bassinet when you finish nursing....right???" Yeah sure whatever I need to say to make you go away and leave me alone. I struggled postpartum. I had issues I hadn't dealt with after my previous deliveries, and thankfully I was able to work through them in the weeks following her birth. She didn't have any of the typical "newborn protocol" done to her. I'm pretty sure all I let them do was the heel prick and the hearing screening. Nursing was super easy for me this time and we were discharged 2 days later.

In a nutshell those are the stories of my first 3 births as I recall them 7, 5, and 2 years later. Stay tuned for the most recent birth story.....

Minnie Mouse Pinata

I had the brilliant idea of making a pinata for Ainslee's birthday. We were unable to break it at her party, considering we were a Claire's getting her ears pierced and then a restaurant, i doubt either of those establishments would have appreciated us breaking a pinata. So I attempted (obviously not very well) to schedule a time for everyone to be in attendance for the big event! After 2 1/2 months I decided to just go ahead and get it done, I was so sad that Marcus, my mom, and Mary were not able to be there to witness it.

I didnt get many shots of Minnie in the making.......it was quite a messy project

I have to admit she turned out rather nice

2 1/2 months later........we finally busted her!

My little Minnie Mouse

After breaking this pinata the girls said "now we want to make a Daisy pinata!" I think my pinata making days are over, at least for a few months

Ainslee turns 3!

Ainslee turned 3! I cant believe it! She wanted to be a big girl like her big sister and get her ears pierced, so thats what we did. It did not go quite as smoothly as when we got Kaylee's pierced.

here is Kaylee modeling a hat she found in Claire's

Ainslee was so brave, she sat in that chair waiting and waiting soooo patiently

 Here are her Cinderella stick on earrings she wore BEFORE she got her ears pierced

And here are the REAL ones

Warning......this video might make you cry

After we left Claire's and got in the car to drive to eat, Ainslee said "Mommy I'm so happy!" It was so sweet. She was in the back of the car playing with one of her play phones and she said to me "Mommy I cant talk on the phone anymore because I have my earrings in."

Here is the birthday girl at dinner sporting some cool shades while she inhales enjoys her soft taco.

CUPCAKES

We had a few problems with Ainslee's ear piercing experience, besides the fact that she didnt have quite the pleasurable experience as seen in the video. After the crying subsided we looked at her ears and noticed that she did not get the earrings we chose. We asked for the 3mm ball and received the 4mm ball. They said the only way to get the ones we wanted was to take them out and repierce. There was NO way I was going to put her through that again so we stuck with what we got! Then we went to pay and the girl wanted us to pay for the more expensive earrings that we didnt even want in the first place. I told them that we werent paying for the more expensive ones and they reluctantly agreed to let me pay for the ones we wanted. When the total rang up it was a WHOOPING 60 BUCKS!!! I couldnt believe it! They said that the prices just went up because gold prices went up. I decided not to argue anymore and just handle it later. So today I called to explain my problems to the customer service and I found out that we didnt even pay for the 3mm ball we paid for an even more expensive cubic zirconia one. UGH!!! So the lady agreed to refund me the difference and allow me to pay the "old" price which was the one that was posted on the earrings. She is refunding me the difference. Personally I thought she should do more than just refund me the difference, but that's all she said she would do.

The 4mm ball is growing on me every day, and im starting to like it. What i DONT like is how grown up my little girl looks with her ears pierced! Oh well I guess they cant stay little forever!

Overall she had a FANTASTIC birthday with family doing exactly what she wanted to do! We still have one birthday festivity to complete, but with our upcoming trip out if town we had to postpone it.......more on that later.

Happy Birthday BIG Girl!

You are my sweet, compassionate, caring, sensitive, loving, easy going, shy, little girl and mommy loves you just he way you are!

Birthday Girl

Kaylee turned FIVE!!!

I can NOT believe I am the mommy of a 5 year old, where has the time gone? I still have vivid memories of the day she was born, and I hope that those memories stay with me forever!

Kaylee had quite the birthday weekend
We opted for a simple family party, but instead it turned into a huge weekend FULL of activities
It all started at the mall, because Kaylee had decided months ago that she wanted to get her ears pierced, and even after I told her exactly what was going to happen (including the pain part) she still wanted them pierced.  She was hardly phased by the pain, she was more concerned by all the commotion going on around her. We had a total of 12 people there who came to watch, plus all the other people in the mall that stopped to watch as well.  It was quite an ordeal.
She barely even flinched after they pierced them, while I was about to cry, she was sitting there brave as can be even after one of the guns got stuck and the lady had to pull the trigger again.  Oh and I let her pick out her earrings and she picked the PINK daisies. (how did I end up with girly girls???)

After the ear piercing we all made our way to the trampolines. Kaylee, Ainslee, and their friend Bella all had a turn bouncing high. I dont think Ainslee's smile could get any bigger!

After the trampoline came the carousel rides, then Kaylee, Ainslee, Bella, Johnny, and B (Mary's boyfriend) piled into a hurricane simulator and let the wind blow them around, then we all left and went to eat. Kaylee picked Shogun for her birthday dinner. And we had a BLAST eating, singing, opening gifts, and enjoying each others company.

The next day we all went to the zoo to go ice skating. The girls were SUPER excited about this, and while Marcus and I werent sure if we were going to allow Ainslee to participate, she knew she was going to get to show her stuff. Im so glad that we let her have a try, it was so fun watching her and she surprised the heck out of me with her natural ability.

This is a video of one of the ice workers pushing Kaylee around in a chair. That was her favorite part! Lets just say Kaylee wasnt too thrilled about the whole ice skating adventure, she wanted to get off the ice almost from the moment she stepped onto it.  But she was a trooper and suffered through it, holding the wall, my hand, Aunt Mary's hand, or Uncle Johnny's hand.

After the man pushed Kaylee in the chair he told us a way they teach children how to skate is by pushing people in a chair. So he showed Kaylee what to do and off we went. Kaylee actually did quite well pushing Ainslee around the ice.

Here is Kaylee skating in between Uncle Johnny and me

Watch towards the end of this clip, Ainslee decided she wanted to skate by herself without holding any ones hand. I was entirely too scared to try this, so I just barely held her hand and was there to grab it when she started to fall. She did WAY better than I expected. She was able to balance and move on her own with little/no assistance from me. She was also able to catch herself when she started to fall. And she LOVED every minute of it!

After the zoo we took the girls to bubble tea for the final treat of the weekend. I have to say that everyone had such a fantastic time and I enjoyed seeing the girls so happy to have everyone together and doing all the fun activities.

my birthday

I am another year older.......boohoo!

Marcus surprised me this year, my day started off with my usual Sunday routine of getting to sleep in. Marcus and the girls woke me up and he wanted to take me to breakfast, so he got the girls AND himself ready (which I think is a first) and we drive into Cville. We called my parents and sister on the way and asked if they wanted to join us and they did. We had a nice LATE breakfast and then headed home for the girls to nap. Actually we ended up ALL napping, which was quite nice. Then we had a birthday party for the girls to go to, which was at our neighbors house. It was fun, and super tiring for the girls, and Amma appreciated that when we dropped them both at her house so we could have a date night (which was also a surprise for me). Thankfully we decided to call the restaurant ahead of time because we learned that it had closed! So we drove around for AN HOUR trying to decide where to eat. With all my food "issues" and sensitivities it was not an easy decision! We finally settled on Shogun, a Japanese restaurant with hibachi grill. I was craving salad, and while they don't have the best salad they have the best ginger dressing! Also the rice just sounded really good to me, so that's where we went. We started off with a sushi roll and a giant salad, with extra dressing. Surprisingly I wanted the sushi and LOVED it too. Then we moved into the hibachi section of the restaurant and had our dinner, but by that point I was getting full and only ordered rice. I could barely put a dent in the humongous pile I had on my plate, but it was yummy!

Marcus was begging to go to a movie after dinner, and I just couldn't do it. We agreed to get a redbox on the way home and watch in the comforts of our home. Which ended up being perfect because I started feeling really sick and nearly lost my dinner on the way home. We watched "I am Number Four". I was skeptical at first but it turned out being ok.

I picked up the girls the next day from Amma's and they both thoroughly enjoyed my left over ginger dressing and fried rice! It was such a great day!

Happy Birthday Sweet Niece

My 1st niece was born last Thursday. And even though I havent seen her yet, I love her SOOOOO much! I cant wait to get to see her in person, hold her, kiss her, and snuggle her!

Feast your eyes on the most beautiful baby!

She already has a sense of humor, she will fit in perfectly with her cousins; who, by the way, are DYING to meet her!

My Awesome 2 YEAR OLD!

EXACTLY 2 Years ago today I was lying in a hospital bed waiting (but not for too long) for Ainslee to arrive. We didn't know if she was a boy or a girl, and how fitting cause apparently the public still doesn't know if she is a boy or a girl. I was SHOCKED when I was told she was a girl! I am even more shocked by the way she has changed my life. She is such a joy to have around, she is such a lovable, fun, happy, funny, sweet, energetic, and most of all EASY baby! Not a day goes by that she doesn't surprise me, she makes me smile and makes me a better person. I am sure I have aided in the fact that she is such a momma's girl, but I still love it! I love that she wants me (instead of daddy or anyone else) and cuddles with me all the time!

(above pictures were all taken at Ainslee's birthday dinner with Marcus' mom and sister, and family friend)

I searched and searched for a website that had a Happy Birthday Ainslee song (like I found for Kaylee) but I came up empty handed. So I decided to list a few of her recent accomplishments and newest behaviors.

Her favorite words are "self" and "own". As in "I want to do it myself" and “I want my own”. These words get used frequently throughout the day. Most of the things she is actually able to do by herself, but when this next particular situation began unfolding I was a bit skeptical. She announced that she had to go to the bathroom, so off she ran while I trailed behind her. She immediately pushed the stool over to the front of the toilet and pulled down her pants, that's when I came to her "assistance" like I always do, to put her on the potty. She looked up at me and said "self, self". She then proceeded to push me out the door saying "out out momma, SELF". I was crushed, she didn't want my help, but she NEEDED my help. So I stood there outside the bathroom door watching as she climbed up on the stool with her pants around her ankles. She tried to figure out the best way to actually get onto the potty, her way didn't quite work out so I stepped in to assist (and i am confident she was ok with that since she was basically stuck). So now almost every time she has to go to the bathroom she wants to do it by herself, that makes me kinda sad.

She was determined to make her last meal as a baby 1 year old a big one. Last night, unlike the past 3 nights when she had about 3 bites for dinner, she ate 2 HUGE plates of food, 2 bowls of applesauce, and dessert. She probably would've eaten more had I offered it to her. I'm telling you this kid must be going through some sort of growth spurt because she can put away more food than me most days, I swear she has a tapeworm!

She decided to be the first to rise on her birthday. She wanted to enjoy EVERY bit of her special day! She woke up a good hour before her usual time, but I was happy to spend some cuddle time with her in my bed before we started the day.

She is able to put together all the puzzles we own. She LOVES puzzles!

She knows at least 25 body parts

She has her favorite books that she asks to read nearly every night before bed, and she has memorized them!

She still is very attached to her mana (blanket)

She loves and admires her big sister! While I am usually 1st on her list, sister is a close 2nd, Ainslee is very concerned when they are separated.

She loves watching TV and probably wishes I let her watch more often, Dora and Curious George are all she watches. Although I have saved the Oprah when Sugarland was on and she LOVES watching them sing "All I want to do". She usually sits on the couch and dances/moves around while watching intently. I don't think she even blinks throughout the entire song.

She does the "we did it dance" after each Dora and it is super cute

She still goes to bed about 6 every night, some nights it is a little later depending on our schedule. And she still wakes up after 8 nearly every morning (except on her birthday) I'm not even alarmed anymore if she sleeps past 9.

She eats a RIDICULOUSLY large breakfast EVERY morning. Actually she eats solid for about the first 2 hours she is awake. When I say ridiculously I mean ridiculously! She puts away more food in the morning than most children eat in 3 days. Like this morning.....she had her usual bowl of oatmeal which is 1/2 cup dry oatmeal (when cooked is more like 1 cup) with 1/2 cup mixed berries mixed in (because I don't add sugar to their food, the berries are a good way to sweeten in up). Then she had 2 decent sized bowls of cereal, a glass of OJ with prune juice mixed in, and a clementine. This was all before she even wanted to get down from the highchair. About 30 minutes later she was asking for more food! My dad says he is going to start charging me when she comes to his house because all she does is eat all their food!

She loves putting on chap stick and Aunt Mary has given both of them a 6 tube chap stick set that gets applied about 4 times a day. She says "Yip Yip" when she wants some more

She had her 2 year check up and she is 34 inches tall (58th percentile) and 28.6 lbs (73rd percentile). So basically she is short and fat. HA! just kidding, she is perfectly proportional, unlike her giant big sister who was always off the charts in every category.

When the doc asked me if she had at least 50 words in her vocabulary I stopped and thought for a second "man 50 is a lot, does she have 50 words? I have been a bit worried about her speech. She does vocalize a lot, but does she have 50 words. Are there 50 words that anyone besides me understands?" I told the doc I thought she did have 50 words and that evening we were at my parents house for dinner. As my mom, sister, and I were preparing the table I nonchalantly asked them "Hey how many words do you guys think Ainslee has in her vocabulary?" They both stopped, thought, and looked at me like "crap I don't want to say the wrong thing, I wonder what the answer she is looking for is." Then I explained why I was asking them and was wondering if she really DID have 50 words in her vocabulary. Mary looked at me like I was crazy and said "Michele she says 50 FOOD words, that's not even counting all the other words she says!" Then it hit me, she TOTALLY has 50 words, she has WAY more than 50 words, and they are getting clearer and clearer as each day goes by.

She has cut teeth number 13, 14, and 15 in the last week.

She is NOT a fan of the snow. As in could not care any less about any snow experience at all!

She is still rear facing in the car, and I have no intention of turning her around. She likes it that way and she is safer too......win/win for everyone

Anytime she wants something to eat she says "bowl bowl," for us to put said food in bowl that she gets out of the drawer by herself

Her kisses are the sweetest thing you can find ANYWHERE around! If you dont pucker up and make the smack sound she puts both hands on the sides of your face and pulls you in. She kisses until you kiss back. And she isnt stingy at all with her kisses!

She can be very shy and she definitely is NOT a performer. When I ask her to show daddy her lastest accomplishments she almost never does.

She counts to 5 and is very proud of herself

I am sure there are more that I am leaving out, but this post is mighty lengthy already.

(pictures taken below are from her combo birthday celebration with my dad whose birthday is the 15th)

Big Girl eating her own bowl of YoLo for her birthday dessert

Thank you daddy for my YoLo

She even shared hers with Kaylee

Kaylee's Birthday

to protect our privacy I cut off the bottom of the invitation which basically was just our address and phone number

We had Kaylee's birthday party 2 weekends ago, after being sick all last week, I am just now getting around to posting about it. When asked (MONTHS ago) what she wanted for her birthday all Kaylee said was to stay in a hotel. I thought at first we would try to have a SMALL swim party at a hotel. But living in the fabulous area of the US that we live, that just couldn't happen. So we decided instead to throw Kaylee a party at the house. This is the first non all-family party for either of our children. I am new to this children's birthday party thing. And you will soon learn ALL the mistakes I made! My friend (ok more than one of my friends) kept telling me I must have been smoking crack the day I decided to invite like EVERYONE! I cant tell you exactly how many of those cute little invitations went out, I can tell you that it was a few too many! I had no idea that when people get children's birthday party invitations they actually COME! We have had MANY MANY parties at our house over the years, and this was by FAR the largest percentage of people that has ever shown up, as in like DOUBLE the percentage of our other parties! We had like 20+ children in our house, plus all the adults to go with them, which was like 25-30. It was mass chaos/craziness, it was a mad house! So much so that we forgot to even sing happy birthday to the birthday girl!.........ooops!

Here are some of the pictures from the craziness

another one of my "out of my mind" decisions, to have the children decorate their own cupcakes

one of the creations

Ainslee eating hers with a spoon

she realized quickly her hands where much more effective

Then she tried the "hands free" approach

Some of the moms thought my idea was not great, so they made their children's cupcakes for them.

Then we had to figure out where all these kids would sit while they ate their cupcakes, they pretty much figured it out by themselves........whenever they could find a space!

And here are all the gifts, after about the 3rd child who walked through the door, I wished I had put "no presents" on the invitation. This picture doesn't show all of them, it was taken after she had already opened like 6 gifts.

she sure enjoyed opening all those, and even let Ainslee open a few for her too!

It wasn't that I was completely unprepared for the party. I had multiple games ready, and ideas on how to entertain the children. But I never thought about the parents. Most of them just came and either sat down on the couch (or stood in the living room) the entire time talking to each other. Not many of them even ventured up stairs to see what their children were playing up there. It was like they dropped them off and went "off duty". Don't get me wrong we didn't have any crazy behavior from the children or anythings, we didn't even have a single broken toy, a few injuries YES (nothing serious). It just didn't go as I had thought, we will definitely be changing our strategy for the next party, not sure what yet, but something different! It was fun, I wish I would've been able to socialize more. I feel like I say that after every party though. Oh and another thing I learned from the party was that I am SO glad I have the children I have! I have seen all different types of children, and I am glad they are just the way they are!