Riley is 4 years old now and started preschool this fall. It is all she talked about for a long time because she was so excited! She is our outgoing, friendly and smart girl. She likes all of her teachers and talks about them frequently and has been getting really good about asking for and remembering the other students' names.
It's fun to hear about all of the things that she is learning and to see how it has changed her behavior at home. She has always loved to dance but I could never get her to sing along with me before, and now she comes home singing almost daily! She likes to play teacher and often teaches August all of the things that she is learning; he doesn't seem to mind. We love her so much!
August Pictures
These pictures were taken August 31. I love this silly little guy! It is amazing and a little sad for me to see how much he has grown. He is talking a lot and all over the place. He wants to do whatever his big sister is doing. I like to watch him dance and read himself the little blue truck book in his chair (his favorite right now). I love to snuggle him, he has always been a really cuddly boy.
Snuggling At Home
I love these pictures, the kids love Daddy time on the weekends and in the evening when Keenan gets home. They love to just crawl all over him and be crazy. Stealing Daddy's slippers is also a cherished pastime.
Falling Leaves and Pumpkins!
This year Riley picked out a pumpkin and drew a face on it and I carved it out for her. She did not enjoy pulling out all the pumpkin guts like she did last year. She said it made her hands all dirty. Haha, must be the Keenan in her. She made her pumpkin happy then named it Rory as I had been watching Gilmore Girls recently (it is fall, after all!).
This fall has been a long one and it has been enjoyable to take the kids outside to play and listen to them crunch everywhere they go. By the way I think I am a kid too sometimes because I find that amusing.
two short days later...
It's a Girl!
We went to the hospital to be induced on October 21 and got to meet Nora later that day. It was a fast and crazy labor. My cervix was completely closed this time so they ordered something called Cervidil. They told me that it was to open my cervix and that it typically takes 12 hours. The midwife did not intend to check me for a long time and said that if she came in and saw progress that she could break my water and start some Pitocin, but if she didn't see any change that we could always go home and come back on Monday. It sounded like a long process (very different from August) so I thought that the pain that I was feeling must be normal and was very unhappy that it could be 12 hours of this before any actual labor starts. Turns out that it was in fact not normal and that I was 7 or 8 cm dilated (little fuzzy on the facts [Keenan's note: it was 7cm]) and that I was dilating a cm a contraction and that this baby would be born very soon. Shortly after that I can't stand the pain, there are a thousand people in the room (check with Keenan I am sure that number is accurate [Keenan's note: give or take 993-ish]), I am throwing up because it is happening too fast and I am trying to push her out as quickly as I can because her heart rate has dropped and the many nurses are worried. From the time they took the Cervidil out to the time Nora was born, only 14 minutes passed. Keenan did a wonderful job helping with everything, by the way. He tried to keep me focused, took care of vomit (not his thing [Keenan's note: not even remotely my thing]) and tried to keep me cooled off (I felt like I had a fever). All while managing to get some pictures.
I learned that it is just as hard on the baby to have such a fast labor. It puts a lot of stress on them. Luckily our midwife knows how to keep her cool (thank you, Susan) and everything turned out okay. Scary for a bit there.
We are so in love with our newest addition! She passed all of her tests in the hospital and started nursing right away (less than a minute after being born). It never gets old to see this tiny person that I have been feeling for so long for the first time. It's amazing. Wow! She is a whole person and I couldn't wait to take her home and watch her grow.
Nursing is going really well; she has already gained so much more than expected by her 2 week check up with the pediatrician. She went from 6 lb 12 oz at birth to 8 lb 6 oz at 2 weeks of age. No more chicken legs in this house!
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| Our happy family with one more to love! |
Bringing Nora Home
Getting to know Nora has been great! The kids both adore her and love to take turns holding her. Riley and August are both so sweet and nurturing; it's cute to watch August talk to her and kiss the top of her tiny head. She is perfect, I feel so grateful and lucky and, well, tired. She is a pretty easy baby and doesn't fuss all the time. Newborns are pretty demanding with feedings around the clock but that just comes with the job. Nora looks a lot like her siblings right now. She likes her car seat and will sleep on her back, so that is as far as it goes right now.
On October 28 I took the kids trick or treating on Main Street and they had so much fun. A lot of the shops participated and it was a beautiful warm day. There were so many other families out and it was fun for the kids and I to see all of the costumes! I love Halloween - ahem - I mean, it was for the kids! Next year I would love to take them again and stay longer. Nora was only 1 week old so I couldn't be out long and August had an appointment later [Keenan's note: and I may or may not have been cursing the broken pipe and hole in our bathroom wall].
At 3 weeks, Nora has been more alert and looking around which is fun. It's nice to try to bond with her even more. Soon we should be able to start developing a better sleep-wake-eat-play-sleep routine, which would be nice. I think that would help her sleep longer at night. We have been trying to make sure she stays out with us during the day so she can make the adjustment.
The Munsons visited at 3 weeks, which was a lot of fun for all the cousins to get to play together and to meet Nora. They spoiled us and planned all of the meals so all we had to do was enjoy a fun day together! Thank you!
