Pump it up

We went to Pump it up with the Johnson's a couple of weekends ago. It was a lot of fun, Aden really needed to burn some energy and it was the perfect place to do it.

Enjoying the sunset

Beautiful sunset, perfect photo-op for Aden & Jade May

Enjoying the nice sunny day...

The kids and I enjoyed the nice sunny day we had last week. After meeting my friend Michelle for breakfast, we headed to the park so that Aden can run around. We also checked out a few stores around the park (Pearl area), really cool kids store but too spendy for my taste. It was a beautiful day and after almost 2 hours at the park, Aden asked if we can eat lunch there since the sun was out. So we walked to Subway, grabbed a sandwich and ate lunch at a park bench. It was nice and it made us long for sunny days. I told Aden that we will do this more often during nice weather and he was so happy about that. Kadence slept the entire time in the Bjorn...we're so looking forward to more outings like this in the next few weeks!

What a difference a month makes...

Our little girl is a month old! Amazing how fast time flies and I often catch myself wishing that I can stop time so that I can take it all in and remember each moment that I spend with the kids. It has been a busy, exhausting but very rewarding month. I'm still struggling to set some sort of schedule during the day, there's just not enough hours in the day to get everything done. It doesn't help that I can spend hours just holding and staring at my baby. I also started work again, mostly at night since days has been hectic. Luckily I have such an amazing boss and a very flexible schedule. Sleep is definitely very scarce for me...

Before Kadence was born, I couldn't comprehend how I can love another child as much as I love Aden. I often felt that he'll always have an advantage since I've spent 3 years bonding with him. But something happened as soon as Kadence was born...it's not a matter of loving one of them more than the other. I can say that I equally feel the same love for both of them. We are all smitten with her.

We are so blessed to have such amazing kids and I am just very fortunate to have the chance to experience each moment with them. They have changed my life for the best and I will always cherish each day that I spend with them.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

A fun project after storytime at B&N.

Gymnastics

We took Aden to OGA during their indoor park and he had a fun time running around, jumping and hanging onto things.

Ready for speed

Enjoying a bit of sunshine

A couple of Fridays ago, we had a pretty nice sunny day. Darin got off work early, we had a late lunch at Elephant's and then we headed to the waterfront to enjoy the sunshine and got Aden to ride his bike some more. It took a while for him to warm up to his bike again after falling at the beach.


He was definitely more interested in climbing onto the walls and running around the park. It was a sunny but very cold day!

Ms. Kadence was bundled up and asleep the entire excursion!

Front row seat to watch Dave

My boy watches my Dave DVD more often than I do and it makes me oh so proud...

Kisses

We thank our lucky stars each day that Aden has adjusted well to having to share our time with his sister. He is an awesome kid, he tells me each day that he loves his sister. He is so affectionate with her, it is so sweet, but we still have to monitor him and make sure he's not smothering her with his kisses.

Here's some more fun pics of them hanging out on the play mat...

Bike ride at the beach

We want Aden to start riding his bike more often so we took his bike out to the beach with us and we made him ride the paths from our house to the Pelican...it is probably almost a mile each way. He did awesome, rode all the way there and back. He was getting pretty confident until he took a spill a few blocks from our house. Luckily, his helmet saved his face from the facial fall. It took a lot of coaxing to get him back on the bike, but he did it. We're very proud of our guy.

Our girl's first trip to the beach...

We were all looking forward to going back to the beach since we haven't been back since New Year's - that is the longest stretch for us. Aden has been asking us to go and we've told him that we have to wait until his baby sister is born. So, a few days after we had Kadence, Aden asked if we can go to the beach since she's here now. So, at a week old, Kadence had her first trip to the beach! She's proving to be a traveller just like her brother. She didn't make a peep the entire (almost) 2-hr drive to the house. We had a nice relaxing time and although the weather was a little stormy at times, we were able to enjoy a little bit of sunshine too! It made us look forward to many more trips to the beach!

I love this shot of Dean, just showed how much he loved being on the beach no matter how cold or windy it was. It's so awesome to see how much he enjoys it there!

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.