Because I know you're dying for pictures....

This has been a whirlwind of a week. One that I'll blog more about in the coming days, but for now I'll post some pictures from the past 24 hours. I ended up staying in the hospital for a 2nd night on Dr. G's recommendation (he suggested I get as much rest as possible before heading home to our other 2) and I'm so very glad I did! Matt had Harrison for most of Thursday afternoon and I was able to spend HOURS just loving on Charlotte. It was perfect! I never feel like there's enough time when they're newborns to just sit and love on them -- they grow so fast -- and I'm so thankful to Matt for taking care of just about everything so I could rest.

After picking Madeleine up from school on Thursday (where she was VERY excited to announce to her class that she had a baby sister!) they headed over to the hospital to visit us. The visit didn't last too long since Harrison was cranky and Madeleine was extremely emotional and tired as well. In fact, they left about dinner time with Madeleine crying the entire way out to the car and most of the way home. She wanted to stay with me. It was pretty hard on her having mommy gone for 2 whole days. While they were there we changed her clothes and put her in her first "real" gown. She looked so sweet!

This morning we were so ready to come home! Matt and Harrison joined us at the hospital after taking Madeleine to school and we started packing our things up and getting ready to leave. We had one last visit from the pediatrician who proclaimed her "perfect." Dr. G came by and gave me one last check and my "rules" for the next few weeks -- no driving, no lifting over 10lbs, lots of rest -- and we were ready to go home!!

Here's Harrison waiting while we got all of our instructions and looking bored. :)

He was so excited to take "baby Charlotte" home with us today! He's so sweet and gentle with her and is constantly checking on her.

In her carseat, ready to leave. And, yep, she's already attached to that paci. She's eating really well, but she loves to just sit and suck on her paci. Last night I sent her to the nursery while I slept between feedings and the nurse said she spent several hours just sitting in the swing and sucking on that paci! She's all snuggled up in a blanket that was mine and another one that belonged to Grandad.

She doesn't quite have enough hair to hold onto that bow!

As soon as we came home, Harrison had to read her a story. He picked up one of his favorite books and crawled up in daddy's lap to read to her.

So far it's been a fairly uneventful afternoon and evening. We're hoping to get at least a little bit of sleep tonight and plan to spent tomorrow loving on our sweet Charlotte and playing with the two other sweeties!

New Arrival

Charlotte Elise

7lbs 1oz

Born at 12:48pm

She's absolutely perfect! We are all absolutely in love with her. Madeleine and Harrison adore her and Madeleine wants to hold her all the time. She told us that she was so happy, she might cry. How prescious is that?? Check back soon for more pictures....

12 Days to Go!

The end is finally in sight! We're counting the days around here until this little one is due to arrive....even Madeleine has started her own little countdown. She's counting the days on a paper in her room since I told her the baby would be here in about 14 days....sure hope this one is on time! :)

I think we're as ready as we're going to be. My new freezer is stocked with our favorite meals and the pantry is stocked with breakfast and lunch staples. All my lists are made and ready for when I'm in the hospital. The kids hospital fun bag is full of new goodies to keep them occupied. I have 2 bags -- a boy and girl bag -- to bring with me filled with pacis, socks, blankies, etc. and newborn clothes for both. I've decided to keep the nursery VERY basic for now and order bedding/curtains and paint after we know whether it's a he or she. We've finally settled on names -- no easy task -- and all we need now is a baby! :)

Right now we're in the process of deciding whether to induce this coming week or wait and see if I go into labor on my own. There are definitely pro/cons to both. Since our families live out of town it would be nice to know exactly when this baby would be born and it would help with the childcare issue. However, there's something exciting about NOT knowing the day in advance as well. I change my mind hourly about this -- based on how I'm feeling at the moment! Ha!

At my last dr. appointment, I was 2 cm, 90% effaced and the baby was at a -2 station, which was good for 37 1/2 weeks. The dr. thinks this baby will be around 7 lbs (between the sizes of madeleine and harrison).....that's one reason I may opt to wait until my due date for induction. It might just need all the time in there it can get! :)

Generally, I feel pretty good, although I'm definitely getting more uncomfortable every day. This baby is currently "sunny side up" which means I'm getting some very sore ribs from being poked by it's feet! I've been having LOTS and LOTS of contractions -- but with no pattern to them. BOO! And, I'm open to any suggestions any moms out there have for getting labor going. :)

BRRRRRRRR

All I know is I'll be the first car in the carpool line this week so my girl doesn't freeze!!!!

Santa Came

Christmas morning around our house is such a wonderful, lazy time. We actually woke Madeleine up after 8:00 because Harrison was awake and wanted to see what Santa had brought.....and Matt and I just couldn't wait any longer either! :) Harrison had asked for some tools and a pirate ship; Madeleine wanted a Barbie house and car. And, of course, Santa delivered! These kids may not look like me, but they definitely have some of my characteristics....they took their time looking at their toys....no screaming....no chaos.....so sweet and excited as they checked out every single thing Santa left them one by one.

Here are a few pictures of what Santa left (which I took after they'd been up for awhile).

Harrison's tool bench. This is SUCH a cute toy. It even has "wood" pieces that you can actually build some things with!

Madeleine's barbie house. We had the same version of this house when I was little, only now it makes sounds. And has a popup flatscreen TV. And a hot tub. I want to live here....

Santa also brought them an easel which ended up being a BIG BIG BIG hit! They have played school and colored on it for hours. Good job Santa!

Harrison with his FIRST piece of chocolate for the day from his stocking. Thankfully, Santa doesn't bring a lot of candy in their stockings......this year they got lots of other non-sugar items.

I also have to add that this is what we woke up to on Christmas morning.....SNOW. A white christmas. I tried to take it in since I know this will probably not happen again for years and years. This is the view from our back windows....

We had to remind the kids that there were gifts to be opened as well. They were so thrilled with what Santa had left them that they completely forgot about presents! But, it didn't take much to convince them to stop and open them! :)

Madeleine modeling her new slippers.

And her new purple tutu (we also got a new pink one....she loooooves these things!) Notice Harrison in the background in his new big boy pants Santa left in his stocking. He's so stinkin' cute in them!

Another ballerina pose....

After presents it was time to go play outside in the snow. This is the first time they'd really played in snow and what fun it was! They lasted a good 30 minutes before coming in, and when they did their little legs and arms were red from the cold. :)

My little snow angel....she was crusted over with snow. Most of that came from playing tackle with Daddy out in the snow.

The rest of our day was spent playing with new toys and spending some time with Mimi and Grandad who braved the snow to spend Christmas with us.....and we're so thankful they did. We had a yummy meal and some of us got a nice nap (not me!).

Of course, the kids had to take turns playing with each other's toys as well. Harrison spent the better part of the afternoon trying to figure out how the elevator on the Barbie house worked and Madeleine created a birdhouse with Harrison's tools.

It was absolutely the most perfect day! It took several days before our house was back in order and didn't look like FAO Schwartz, but it's all worth it.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve around our house is such fun -- in my opinion, just as much fun as Christmas! The kids are sooo excited and I love watching their anticipation of what Santa will bring them. It just makes for a wonderful day for all of us! We pretty much do the same thing every year for Christmas Eve.....we stay home all day and play and get ready for Santa.

Our day started by making some cookies for Santa. This year both Madeleine and Harrison were very into the cookie making, which made it even better! Here they are in the aprons I made them....next year, I'll have to add another one!

They did most of the cookies by themselves, all I did was roll out the dough and monitor the amount of dough they ate. :) By the time they were finished there was flour all over the kitchen!!

To help pass the time while the cookies baked and cooled, Matt pulled up NORAD on the computer and we tracked where Santa was.....this was such fun, especially for Madeleine since they've been learning about Christmas around the world at school. She spent a lot of time checking out the pictures/videos of different countries.

Then it was time to put the icing on the cookies. I made up the icing, set out the sprinkles and just let them go for it! They both tried to make the "perfect" cookie for Santa! After awhile, Harrison gave up and decided to sprinkle everything in sight! Oh, that boy!!!

It's always amazing the difference a year makes. Last year Madeleine made a HUGE mess decorating her cookies, but this year she took more time and was much more particular about how her cookies looked.

The rest of our day was spent playing games and getting ready for Christmas (i.e. Mommy baking, baking, and baking!). As we got ready for bed, we peaked outside and saw that it was snowing!!! What a magical Christmas present for all of us!

We took a moment to say goodbye to Hermie, our Elf. Both kids were soooo sad to see him go back to the North Pole. It has be the MOST fun this year trying to find Hermie each morning!! He's had some tough hiding spots where he could get a good view of our playing areas. :)

Then we headed outside to sprinkle our Magic Reindeer Food so Santa could see the path to our house. This is the third year we've done this and it's always a big hit!

On Christmas Eve we let the kids open one gift, which I get to pick out. It's always something useful for bedtime and this year they both got toothbrushes with matching cups and holders -- Madeleine got a tinkerbelle one and Harrison got a cars one.

Then it was time to put out our milk and cookies for Santa. Madeleine had drawn him a picture earlier in the day and written him a note as well. She was super excited to leave them for him and even more excited when she noticed that the next morning he'd taken them with him.

Here's an upclose picture of her work....the note says "I no that I have been good every day." She wrote it all by herself without any help from us.....very good. I love watching her write and seeing what she has to say.

Finally we read the Night Before Christmas before heading off to bed. I bought this book for Madeleine the year she was born and we've read it every year on Christmas Eve -- that's 6 years. She has parts of it memorized and quoted it along with Matt. Even Harrison knew parts of it and "read" along. I just love Harrison's smile in this picture!

We tucked the kids in bed and Matt and I curled up to watch It's a Wonderful Life while waiting for them to go to sleep -- one of our Christmas traditions. Amazingly, it didn't take them long and when we went to check on them, this is what we found.....

I'm sure they were dreaming of Santa and all the goodies he would bring them.