We're in Love!

Introducing...

Eli Sterling

7 lbs 3 oz

19" long

Last Monday started like this. Wayne and I posed for my last preggo picture while waiting for the nurse to come in and start c-section prep.

A couple hours later, Eli arrived!

Makenna and Ryan waited patiently to see their little brother. He's there in the background!

Ryan seeing his little brother up close for the first time.

Ryan holding Eli and looking like the proud big brother he is. Later in the week, the big kids and daddy took a special trip to the Greatest Show on Earth. Ryan enjoyed the cotton candy, and really understood the jokes. He had a great time. Makenna love the lemonaid but had a hard time sitting so long.



Makenna holding Eli for the first time, with Ryan smiling and waiting his turn.


Makenna can't get enough of Eli. She wants to hold him or touch him all the time. Daddy's getting time with the youngest two and helping Makenna hold her little brother.

It's been an exciting and wonderful week in our house. Birth story to follow.

39 Weeks

All the family that are coming have arrived from out of town, we can have this baby now!

Today will be filled with last minute tasks and cherishing some time with my kiddos and family. I still haven't packed a bag for the hospital, put up the pack in play, or cleaned the swing, so I need to get to those things today as well. I find myself excited and anxious about the week ahead. I'm so excited to meet our little man, to see what he looks like, how much he weighs, what his temperment is. But honestly, I'm a little anxious about time management and how the other two kids are going to handle having less mommy time. I've had dreams the last couple nights that show my inner fears as well...c/section dreams, dead baby dreams, etc. I generally wake up from those and push on my tummy to get Eli to move for me, he's already a sweet baby and generally complies. I don't remember dreams like that with the other two, but I probably had them.

I'm so thankful that my mom, stepdad and brother are here. I imagine we'll be in the hospital for the majority of the week, so it's nice to know the kids will be well cared for and enjoying time with their uncle and grandparents. I'm sad about being away from them for a few days, but they'll come visit and it will be so fun introducing them to their new baby brother.

See you on the flip side...with pictures...and baby stats!

Makenna's Birthday Party

We had a small birthday party for Makenna after the family arrived. She had a great time with her new bike. Ryan and Uncle Colin pushed her around on it for most of the night. She also dug into her cake and had fun being sung to. She even clapped for us when we were done singing. She calls birthday candles "happy"

because she knows that when she sees them we sing "Happy Birthday". I'm glad we had a little party for her, she really seemed to enjoy it.

Happy Birthday sweet girl, we love you!

Holy Cow

I have a "follower", meaning someone who's interested in my blog and signed up to follow it. I'm feeling the love.

Hi Tasha! I didn't know you had a blog. I've added you to my favorites, guess I should figure out this whole follower thing too. :)

Gah!

I've been trying to format Makenna's birthday post for two days and I still can't get some of the paragraphs to work. Not sure if it's user error or Blogger, either way it's user frustrating!

Sorry for the rough transitions in Makenna's post, but I wanted it up and running, even if it's missing a few spaces.

She's TWO!

Dear Makenna,

Today is your birthday! You're two!! This almost surprises me because it's seems like you've been two for awhile now. You're on the high end of the growth chart for height and seem right on track socially and physically with kids that are a number of months older. You have, in the past week or so, started exhibiting more of the "terrible two" behavior that we hadn't seen much of prior to this. You really are two!

You are so much fun to be around. You smile and laugh all the time, love to play with us and your brother, and constantly want to be tickled. You're still pretty easy going and distractable, although you definitely have a mischeivious streak and have recently figured out "No!". You still love playing hide and seek, peek a boo and even patty cake, but you also appreciate light saber fights with Ryan, books (which you are constantly asking one of us to read) and anything associated with baby dolls. Oh, and I can't forget your obsession with bags and shoes. You got that from your mommy.

You continue to enjoy just about any fruit we put in front of you. You call all of them apples, even the green olives that I eat are called apples, and your favorites right now are probably cantalope and clementines. Your favorite meals are spaghetti and stir fry, both of which generally get a "YUM YUM" when they arrive at the table. Other favorites include pickles, string cheese, yogurt, milk, chi bok...which means juice box to you, and any kind of cracker or cookie you can get your hands on.

You're still pretty quiet when out of your environment or around people you don't know, but we slowly see you coming out of that. Strangers can get you to smile now, although you still survey your surroundings intensely and the smiles only come when you feel comfortable. You get tons of comments about your little ringlet curls, cute cheeks and grey eyes which you couldn't care less about, but they make your daddy and I smile.

You tell all of us that you love us all the time. It's the cutest thing and makes my heart burst each time I hear it. I really want to get it on video but every time you see the camera or video camera you freeze. I hope to catch it soon.

You have your own language right now. I find myself translating for you at times, even with your daddy. Some of your better known "words" are:

chi bok = juice box

elk = thank you...it stems from the shortened version of welcome, which you seem to think means thank you

ook/bok = milk

yock = sock

Your vocabulary is growing all the time and most words are understandable, so your "makenna-isms" are pretty cute. You've also begun stringing two words and sometimes even three together and often if you're talking about an action you have to talk about it for each member of the family, ie. "Daddy bye bye? Ryan bye bye? Mommy bye bye?"

You got Pneumonia for Christmas this year and got to be just like your brother and have breathing treatments. You did really well and even held the mask with only a few short lived battles. I hope this doesn't mean you'll develop the asthma issues that he's developed. You also got to visit a dermatologist last month because of a rash on your face that refused to go away. The doc thought it was eczema, so we're treating it as such. Seems to be working, so hopefully you won't have continued issues.

You seem to have the same appreciation for music as the rest of the family. One of your favorite Christmas gifts was a little guitar that Ryan picked out for you, you play it and dance around. You dance and clap along with songs on the radio and you're constantly singing the ABC's. You seem to have an affinity for 80's music right now...your daddy is proud.

We're thankful your baby brother hasn't arrived yet, I was nervous he'd want to share your birthday. We're glad your special day continues to be just yours.

Your favorite outfit currently consists of a diaper, your brothers sunglasses and some mismatched flipflops that your brother wore last summer. I wouldn't care, except it's the middle of winter, so we're constantly trying to put your clothes back on.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl. We love you very much!

Love,

Mommy

*1st and 2nd pictures by http://katecrafton.blogspot.com/

*Updated to add Makenna's stats from her well check up. She was a trooper and very cooperative. The nurse and ped both commented on how good she was. She shed a few tears when she got her shots, but then sat through the blood draw like it was nothing. Turns out her iron is a little low so she's on a daily vitamin for that now. She weighed in at 30lb 14 oz which is 90th percentile, 35 1/2 inches tall which is 89th percentile and head circumference is 88th percentile. Ryan better watch out, she might just be taller than he is!

Happy New Year!

It's resolution time!

I know mine need to be pretty minor, what with having a new baby in the house as well as a toddler and 7 yr old. That being said, here are a few things I hope to accomplish this year, in no particular order :

~Loose the babyweight I gained, plus about 10 lbs
~Get back to meal plans, cooking more and trying new recipes
~Pay off some debt
~Find a church
~Focus on my relationship with my hubby. (We always struggle when a new baby is in the house due to lack of sleep and stress which we take out on each other. I need to remember that and instead try to make him feel loved and appreciated and not get frustrated with him too easily.)
~Create a portfolio of rooms I've designed

A woman in my mom's group asked the question "What 5 things would you do, if you didn't have to do them perfectly?" Here were my answers:

1. Open my own decorating/staging business.
2. Community Theater
3. Host more gatherings at my house
4. Paint, as in pictures...specifically watercolors
5. Landscape my backyard and build a screened in patio.

Something to think about for future years and goals. What are your resolutions?

2008 in Review

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was fun.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Planned and executed a major home renovation project with the help of a few family members.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't really make any resolutions last year. Had a few goals but didn't do very well on those. A little surprise a few months into the year sidetracked me. I've made some for 2009, they'll be in another post. :)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My stepbrother and his wife had the sweetest baby boy and a number of women in my mom's group had babies.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Not this year.

5. What traveling did you do? We went to Atlanta for a long weekend and to Colorado to see family for a week. I also spent a long weekend with girlfriends in Atlanta early in the year and the DM travelled some for work.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? More fun times with friends. Pregnancy tends to make me become a homebody. I'd also like to find a church our whole family enjoys.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I don't know that there's a specific date but the election and our unexpected pregnancy will be the events that hold a place in my memory.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Redoing all the bedrooms in our house and feeling like my decorating ideas were actually good.

9. What was your biggest failure? Probably my parenting. I've not had a lot of energy since April and know that my kids have missed having a more active and patient mommy.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I had a few pregnancy related ailments but nothing major. Ryan broke his collar bone this year and the DM had some back trouble.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I managed to catch the 90% off sale at Target in early January. I got awesome deals and had toys for most birthdays and a number of Christmas gifts. It felt great to save so much throughout the year. My favorite purchase, however, was the stuff to redo our master bedroom. The result was exactly what we wanted and we enjoy our space every day.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? The DM's. He works really hard and then comes home to two kids who can't wait to see him and a pregnant wife that's either sick, tired or both. He's been a workhorse this year as well as an awesome father and husband.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I plead the 5th.

14. Where did most of your money go? Food, things for the kids, our house.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Our unexpected pregnancy, all of the work we did to our house and the election.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Hmmm, probably It's A New Day, since it was linked to the election and has other emotional significance for me.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: Much happier, richer, nicer? All of those are probably comparable to what they were last year. If anything I'm probably less nice, as I've become more egocentric towards the end of pregnancy.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Exercise!

19.What do you wish you'd done less of? Worry. We had a few big things come up that brought with them lots of worry and thought. They all worked out so I wish I'd worried a little less.

20. How did you spend Christmas? We spent Christmas Eve with friends and their family, who are like an extended family to us. Christmas day was spent at home with just our immediate family. It was a wonderful and relaxing day and it was nice to be home and not trying to split time between families.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Yes, with a little blob on a black and white screen and then with the little kicks that followed.

22.How many one-night stands? Since I've been married for 15 years, not a one.

23. What was your favorite TV program? Criminal Minds, or just about anything on HGTV

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nope

25. What was the best book you read this year? I really enjoyed Eat, Love, Pray and the Twilight series was surprisingly engaging.

26.What was your greatest musical discovery? Not sure I had one.

27. What did you want and get? A trip to Colorado

28.What was your favorite film of this year? I didn't see many new releases this year, although I enjoyed the Sex and the City movie. I also rented What Happens in Vegas and The Other Bolin Girl, and enjoyed both of those a lot.

29.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 36 this year...sigh. We travelled to Colorado on my birthday and spent the evening in an awesome house in Breckenridge with my mom, stepdad, brother, stepbrothers, SIL and nephew. We had a yummy dinner and dessert and enjoyed the time together.

30.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If I had done more with my desire to help people decorate/stage their homes. I helped a few friends with some small projects but I really need to figure out how to expand to a little business for myself.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Big. I don't think Maternity clothes count as a fashion concept.

32.What kept you sane? Music, books, my laptop and the DM.

33.Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Probably Barack Obama.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The election as a whole was really important to me this year.

35. Who did you miss? My family, they all live across the country, a couple close friends that I don't see much and my friend Jenna that passed away in 2007.

36. Who was the best new person (people) you met? Our newest family member and I have been becoming very acquanited over the last number of months. :) I can't wait for the rest of the family to meet him!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: You can't plan everything, fate has a way of stepping in and taking over when you least expect it.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: Capri by Colbie Caillat
"She’s got a baby inside
And holds her belly tight
All through the night"
This year has mostly been about gestating and preparing for the arrival of our little man.