Friday, June 27, 2008

he loves her so much

I am often blown away at how well Nathaniel adjusted to having Audrey around. People told me horror stories (not sure if they thought they were helping?) about the older one adjusting with a new one. He's made it so easy - as if he were never alone.

He constantly wants to play with her, hold her, kiss & hug her. I was fortunate to catch one of those moments on film. (or do we now say ~ caught on SD card?)


Here's another one that is a great view of how much she looks like him at this age:

Nathaniel is on the left, Audrey on the right.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

a few randoms

I get the feeling she didn't like how he was holding her





Starting to smile



Not sure about this expression

Saturday, June 21, 2008

just another day at the zoo

One of the best things I could've ever done to prepare for this summer, was buy an annual pass to a local zoo. Normally admission is $11 per person, this includes anyone OVER 1. Crazy, right? I bought the pass back in April and have already gotten way more than my moneys worth. We probably average once a week, it never gets old for Nathaniel.

We went yesterday and I actually remembered to bring a camera.




I'll see YOU turkeys in November




Apparently this goat needs more fiber

Can I take him home please?


This guy needs a haircut





I think he was trading secrets with Rudolph

And what zoo visit wouldn't be complete with a few scraped knees


He's come a long way since this visit with the goats:

Friday, June 20, 2008

I went to the bank mama!

There had been a $20 on the table one mintue & then it was just gone. I knew it would turn up eventually. A week later, Nathaniel was walking around with a $20 so I asked him where he got it, he said "I WENT TO THE BANK MAMA!"

Curious, I asked him to show me what he meant.

He'd put the money inside Dan's cd drive for safe keeping

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Is he a Songwriter or a lyricist?

Nathaniel wrote a song tonight:

Mama's car Mama's car
Mama puts her seatbelt on
Daddy puts his seatbelt on
Audrey rides in the back, next to me


where was that video camera when i needed it?

Nathaniel Safety Patrol

We came up to a red light today, I stopped and then turned right on red. Nathaniel freaked from the back seat "YOU CAN'T GO MAMA, THE LIGHT IS STILL RED!!" I said "It's ok to turn right on red" He said back "red means go?"

Already a back seat driver...

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Audrey's Birth Day

Wednesday May 21, 2008 What an amazing day

We were originally scheduled to be at the hospital at 7pm but had recevied a call the night prior saying the department was overloaded so we would be on call for the day.

We were thrilled to have my cousin Joan in town from California for the festivities. We'd spent the last two days sight seeing and getting things prepped, including our finger & toe nails. As everyone knows, pedicures are a must-do for labor prep.

I'd had a dr's appointment on Tuesday where we found out I was 3 cm and 80% effaced. Joan, Dan & I went out for a late lunch where I had ice cream sundae and fried clams. (this is an important fact for later on)

7am - came & went. I was extremely antsy, waiting for the phone call from the hospital

9am - Joan & I dropped off Nathaniel at his school. Dr Crandall called while we were in the parking lot and said he wasn't sure when he'd be able to slide me in, so I needed to start actively trying to get things going on our own at home.

9:20am - we bought some caster oil & ran the aisles at Hannaford. We spent the rest of the morning, googling caster oil and all the horrible things that can do to you. We decided against it.

11am - Michelle showed up to join our party at the house. Contractions were picking up on their own

11:30 - we sent Dan out to pick up lunch

12:15 - the hospital called, told us to be there by 1pm

12:45 - leaving for Elliot
12:50 - arrive at hospital. Thrilled to find out we were assigned Pam, the-best-nurse-ever, as our L&D nurse.
1:15 - Dr Crandall arrived & broke my water. I was now 4cm and 100% effaced. Guess those contractions at home were the real thing.



1:30 - started walking the halls. Contractions were picking up and becoming increasingly painful very quickly. Pam, the-best-nurse-ever, found a birthing ball, so we returned to the room
2:00 - contracting while on the ball. By 2pm, the contractions were 2 minutes apart but not lasting longer than 1 minute each. I stayed on the ball for an hour





3:00 - Dr Crandall came in to check progress. I was a little discouraged to find that I was only at 5cm. I stayed in the bed from here out. I wanted to get up & move around but the contractions were so fast & furious that I never got the opportunity.


Those clams started to become a little unsettled:

It was at this point that I could feel Audrey decend with each contraction. The room started spinning and I needed to lay down for fear of passing out. I think it was around 3:40

As soon as I laid down, the urge came to want to push. I remember thinking how insane that was since just 40 minutes prior I was only 5cm. I had just said to Dan that I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through transition since the pain I currently was having was so amazingly intense. I was really thinking I had another 8 hours to go. I waiting another contraction to be sure before I announced I had to push. Pam, the-best-nurse-in-the-world, checked and confirmed that her head was right there & that it was indeed time. I could hear people scrambling to get everything ready and she told me to try to hold off pushing while they tried to locate Dr Crandall. Yeah, Right. I remember thinking I'd catch the baby myself before I'd try to hold off on pushing. There was no stopping what was about to happen. It got pretty intense, I don't think anyone thought it was going to be so soon.

Dr Crandall arrived and 3 pushes later, at 4:00pm, Audrey Faith entered the world

Nathaniel joined us at 5pm and met his little sister for the first time. She got a bath, we had dinner and then by 7pm, we moved over to our new room as a family of four.


...to be continued....