Do they look alike?

I thought that Kadence looked a lot like Aden, and when I found Aden's birth pictures, I was just amazed at how much they resemble each other. Aden was just a little darker. You be the judge...

Party animals...

We couldn't resist and ended up going to the Carusos for a little impromptu get-together on Saturday. We surprised everyone by showing up especially since we just got home from the hospital the day before. At 4 days old, Kadence proved to be a good fit to our family...she'll be a little social butterfly also. The best part for me was seeing the excitement on Aden's face as he told his friends that Kadence is his baby sister. It was the sweetest thing, I wish I had it on video! My sister, home for the weekend, was able to join us at the party and it was nice to be able to hang with her, even for such a short while.

Precious

We're home and enjoying our time as a family. I'm treasuring each moment, I know that it will go by so fast. The days are flying by, you forget how busy you are with a newborn. Kadence has jaundice, which we knew would happen since Aden had it also. Luckily, the nurses and lactation consultant listened to us and ordered tests early so we were able to catch it and worked out a feeding plan until my milk came in. She's a good eater but was very frustrated when my milk wasn't in yet. She was a lot happier after we supplemented with formula and used a special feeding tube. It was a pain to set up since I needed Darin's help for each feeding, but it was worth all the work since we were able to control her billirubin level. We took her to our pediatrician yesterday and she gained a couple of ounces and doing very well.

Sleep is not something that I'm getting a lot of, which is not a big surprise. Kadence sleeps good, she's sleeping at least 3 hour stretches at night. We don't really want her going longer than that due to the jaundice, she needs to eat often and she is pretty much ready for a feeding at the 3 1/2 hour mark. I'm amazingly functioning very well for not getting much sleep...part of it is my fault since I can't seem to get myself to go to bed as soon as Kadence is asleep. I'm just on adrenaline high I think. Being so miserable while I was pregnant, lack of sleep is nothing for me.

I am truly enjoying having a newborn and she is such a joy to us. She's already showing some of her personality and it is amazing to see how much she responds to her brother. She looks a lot like her dad, but definitely resembles Aden also. I'm looking forward to seeing what her eye color would be, it definitely looks like it'll be a lot lighter than mine or Aden's. Her hair is amazing, black hair with brown highlights!!! All the nurses & my doctor were just commenting on the fact that she has highlights. I need to get a good shot of her hair since I'm sure it'll change as she gets older...I'll post it as soon as I get it done.

Special thanks

We are very lucky to have great friends and we are especially grateful to our good friends, Jenn & Craig. When we couldn't get a hold of my mom after my water broke, we called them at 2am and they were at our house 20 minutes later, ready and willing to stay with Aden until my mom got here. I don't know who else we would've called at that time if they weren't around. We have always felt so blessed to have them in our lives...they've adored Aden from day one, and I'm sure Kadence will have them wrapped around her little finger soon! You guys are the best and we look forward to many years of happy memories together!

Leaving the hospital...

Just like the last time (Aden's birth), I was sad to leave the hospital. Our room was our little cocoon, I felt sheltered from everything else going on in the world and everything revolves around me and my family in that room. I love all the nurses that helped us while we were there, they were all very helpful and took very good care of us. This time was even more special for me since my doctor was there every day to check on us and it just really meant a lot to me that she was able to deliver both my babies. I will miss seeing her, not enough though to get pregnant again. My delivery and recovery was the best I could ever hope for. I can't believe I was close to pain-free the day after my surgery. Of course it helps that we were on top of the meds to make sure that I'm comfortable, but I don't remember recovering so quickly the last time. I think what helped the most is having a great nurse who made me get out of bed at 5am; just being able to stand up that early helped me a lot a few hours later and I was walking with no pain! And although I was heavily drugged, I am just amazed at how much I remember. I willed myself to pay extra attention to everything that's going on, I just wanted to remember the entire experience. I was anxious before the surgery, just having a major surgery is not something that I take lightly. But my doctor and the anesthesiologist were just great at keeping me relaxed and telling me what to expect that towards the end, I was questioning myself what I was so nervous about. I just feel so lucky that everything went so smoothly, even though it happened 2 days earlier! I guess Kadence just wanted to be born the same day (on a Tuesday) as her brother.

We didn't get much sleep and rest at the hospital, it seemed like the 4 days went by so quickly and we were very busy. Aden was there every day, thanks to my mom who brought him in so that he can quickly bond with his sister. We were also thankful to all our friends and families who came and visited....we really appreciated how everyone were excited for us and spent time out of their busy schedules to see our little one. We love sharing this experience with everyone who means a lot to us and we feel so blessed to have such great families and friends.

The best big brother

Here's our boy loving his baby sister. He has been such an awesome big brother, it's unbelievable. We didn't expect much, and I was really wondering how he'd react the first time he sees her. He was great, wanted to hold her and see her. I can't wait to experience every day with the two of them and see them interact with each other.

Meet our girl...

She's finally here!!! Kadence Grace was born February 17th at 9:04 am. She weighed 7lbs 3oz and 19in long.

My water broke at 2am Tuesday morning and it was a big shock to me. Although I had an inkling that we might have her early, I was still hoping that everything goes according to plan and that I will have the c-section on the 19th (today). Well, she let me know that I cannot control when her birthday would be and gave me a big surprise. Luckily, I didn't really go into labor after my water broke and we were able to make it to the hospital with no real pains, except for the braxton hicks that I've been having for the past 2 months.

I was really worried that my doctor won't be delivering her since we were at the hospital at 3am. I'm so glad that my little girl wasn't in such a hurry to come out and cooperated with us and my surgery was done by my doctor a few hours later. I told myself to remember the entire experience since this is the last time I would go through this again and it was really surreal to go through it and make yourself pay attention to every detail especially being drugged up. I feel extremely lucky that everything went smoothly and that everything that I hoped for happened. I'm recovering wonderfully and should be heading home tomorrow.

Sickness

Aden has been sick for the past 6 days. For a child who doesn't go to daycare or preschool, he sure end up catching whatever bug his friends has. I guess there's no way around it. He got really bad over the weekend, fever and coughing and no energy. He slept most of Saturday which has never happened before. Luckily, Darin is home and was able to take care of him for the entire weekend. The worst thing about Aden being sick is that I'm too pregnant to take care of him. So it's been quite trying for me. Oh, and to add more to it, I started coming down with sore throat and congestion yesterday and feeling pretty crummy today. This is all we need. Hopefully we'll recover soon since I do not want any sickness when the little girl shows up...in ten days!

We're still hoping I'll make it to my scheduled c-section. I will just be screaming and kicking if I end up going into labor and my doctor is not there to do the surgery. During our last appointment, she was just amazed at how much my uterus can take and felt so bad for me that she gave me a big hug after my exam. I guess we'll see this week on our next appointment and see if we need to move it up or not.

30 days and counting...

According to my scheduled date so far, in 30 days, we will become a family of four. It seems such a long time for now but it really is not. I have such mixed emotions. I feel like we have everything ready, but at the same time, I feel like there's still a lot to be done and get ready for.

Things I'm really excited about:

• Meet our baby girl
• Not be pregnant anymore
• The adventures and challenges of having a new baby - and use all the baby gear again!
• No more big belly
• To be able to travel again and have 2 (two!!!) kids with us
• No more backpain (aka not pregnant anymore!)
• See Aden's reaction when he meets his baby sister for the first time
• Not be pregnant anymore...oh I can go on and on

What I'm anxious about:

• Both Darin and I being away from Aden for 3 nights and 4 days (hopefully not any longer)

My days and weeks are starting to fill up with lots of different activities that will make the days go by even faster. Not to mention that I have a lot of loose ends to tie up for work before I have the baby. So I'm sure the next month will go by pretty fast. Plus I'm somehow expecting that my scheduled c-section date might get pushed up by at least another week. We'll see how it goes, but that definitely is in the back of my head as each day passes by and the tummy gets even bigger...

Setting the date...

I'm in my 33rd week of pregnancy and during my doctor's appointment yesterday, my doctor agreed that we should "set the date" for my c-section. My only concern is that she won't be there when it's time for me to deliver and I made sure that she's around for the dates that I was considering. I just love my OB and I would be so disappointed if she is not the one that delivers the baby. It was surreal to set the appointment for the c-section, it's like we're talking about meeting for lunch or something. Anyways, we "tentatively" set it for February 19th. I say tentatively because it could change and be earlier than that. I am measuring big again. At 33 weeks, I measure 35. So when I see her again on my next appointment, we will know if I am back to my trend of getting bigger towards the end and we might push up the surgery. I am just glad that my OB is not uptight and she promised that if I get too uncomfortable, we will reconsider our date and make it earlier.

Beach for New Year's

We are lucky folks who gets to spend a week and a half at the beach for New Year's. We got here the day after xmas and will be hanging out until Sunday, Jan 4th. We've been enjoying some down time at the beach house since it's been quite stormy and very windy outside. I've been able to work on Aden's quilt and also work while we're out here.

We took a trip to Tillamook on Monday and visited the cheese factory. Aden loved watching them make the cheese, he kept saying that they're like trains going down the conveyor belts. Yesterday was the best day so far, got some sunshine and the wind wasn't blowing as hard as it has been. So we bundled up and enjoyed some beach time. It was nice out there and it's always amazing to watch the huge winter waves. Aden is just in heaven, he loves it out here. We had dinner at Doug & Karly's last night and we were all up until after 1am and Aden was on the gas. It'll be another late night tonight for the New Year's eve festivities since most of our friends will be out here by then.

Christmas

We had a fun time this Christmas. On xmas eve, Jenn & Craig had us over for dinner along with the Winters'. We all then headed over for a party at the Tillett's. It was very nice to see friends and spend some time with them. On Christmas morning, Aden was so excited to open presents that he even said that he's too full to have breakfast, which of course didn't work with us and we made him eat breakfast before we opened presents. He did have a fun time opening presents and enjoyed everything he got. I failed and only took a few pictures since I had the video going the entire time. We then headed to my family's xmas celebration which was a fun time for all. It's nice to spend time with all my cousins and family. It sure makes me glad that we have a lot of kids in the family even though a lot of them are growing up way too fast!

Pioneer Square

My sister stayed with us for a couple of days during the snowstorm and on one of the days, we drove around town and headed downtown to see the big tree at Pioneer Square. It was awesome to see downtown covered in snow and the xmas lights all over the place is an added bonus. Aden had a great time sliding down the snow-covered steps at the Square. It sure got us in the holiday spirit!

Winter Wonderland

We enjoyed the 2 weeks of snow storm that hit the Portland area. We drove around quite a bit since my daredevil husband enjoys being out there in the element. I am bummed that I couldn't fit in any of my snowgear and enjoy the snow more. Darin & Aden took advantage of it everyday and played lots in the snow. Aden told me one morning that he didn't want the snow to go away. I had to explain to him how it would soon melt and he didn't like that one bit. Luckily we're out of town during the big melt, so he doesn't have to see the snow go away, he'll just come back to how it was before the snow storm hit.

Xmas Tree

We took advantage of the nice weather last Friday and picked up our xmas tree. We went to a different farm this year and it was a pretty decent and inexpensive place. Aden was so excited, he kept talking about it all day. He was glad to be out there, walking around and following dad around to get the right tree for us.

Petting the donkey was an added bonus to the excitement of getting the tree.

Aden helped Darin decorate the tree, I handed some ornaments to him to pass on to dad, but I mostly cooked dinner and enjoyed watching my boys. Aden just loves having the tree in the house, xmas will definitely get funner each year as he gets older and especially when he's able to share the excitement with his sister.

Mr. Birthday Boy

We had Aden's birthday party last Saturday and it was a lot of fun. Although he doesn't officially turn 3 until this coming Saturday, we decided to celebrate early since we will be at the beach house during his birthday. We had a good turnout, it was nice to see all our friends and it's just awesome that we all have kids close to the same age. I can't believe my little guy is almost 3, it went by too fast. We are thankful that he's been the best guy we could ever ask for and he's given us so much laughter in our home. We are amazed everyday at how much he changes and the conversations we have with him are priceless. Darin & I are constantly cracking up at the things Aden says, I just hope that his sister will be as funny as he is.

Since Aden is so into trains, I decided to try to make him a fun train cake for the party. Well, as usual, I have the best idea, but not the best at implementing it. Luckily, I have the most amazing husband who not only want to be involved in everything but is also the more creative one between the two of us. He baked the cake with Aden (which was a fun treat for the Dean) and after we put him to bed, Darin painstakingly decorated the cake until almost 1am in the morning. I helped a little bit, but not enough to take any credit for how great the cake turned out. Aden loved the cake and it brought tears to my eyes when he ran up to us and gave us a big hug and thanked us for the train cake. The look of awe on his face is just priceless and it was worth the late night and all the work to give him a fun party.

I did make another "healthier" cake (aka less sugar) for everyone to eat. The kids raided the raspberries, especially Aden who just LOVES berries.

Aden enjoyed everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him and blowing out the candle was an added bonus.

The kids partying and dancing to DMB. Aden loved dancing with Julia so much, he asked me if Julia can stay with us and not go home. It's the sparkly dress that got to him...

Jace is a tough little man. He's able to hold his own with the big kids. Look out for him in a couple of years...

Ms. Jade May was not herself that night; must be all the partying...she passed out way too early.

Pumpkins

We went to Kruger's on Saturday to do the whole pumpkin patch thing and it was a beautiful day! One of the perks of living so close to Sauvie's Island is to be able to go to Kruger's often, we enjoy their fresh fruits & veggies and their fun activities.

The hay ride was definitely Aden's favorite. We were also able to find the perfect pumpkin for him. They had yummy lunch there and the grilled corn was to die for!

Pump it up

We took Aden to Pump it Up last Friday since Darin didn't have to work that day (he works 4-10s most of the time). It was pretty fun to see him run around and go on their structures. Darin had as much fun as Aden.

The color is pink...

We had our big ultrasound last week and we found out that we're having a girl. Very big news and we're so excited about it. Aden knew it all along, he's always said that there's a baby girl in my belly.

Lots of fun things to come...