Oh, Steven

Steven is getting close to being 2 years old!  He's growing and learning new things every day; it's so fun to watch!  I can't believe I have a toddler and an infant!  So weird.  I couldn't be happier, though.  They both bring so much joy into our lives. :D I thought I'd just put up some pictures of some recent things he's been doing.

Steven stacking a very high column of blocks

I LOVE this picture!  Here Steven is wearing my shoes on the wrong feet.  How can you not love that face??

Steven with Sofia.  He loves his new baby sister & wants to hold her & see her all the time.  Fortunately, he's not quite as smothering as he was at first.  I think he's gotten the idea (at least somewhat) that she's smaller than he is & he has to be gentle.

He put this on his own head, it wasn't me! ;)

Steven's been giving high fives for quite a while & we've been trying to teach him how to give "bumps" recently.  This was taken at Josh's best friend's birthday party.  Steven went around the room (multiple times) giving people bumps.  He loves to give them now.  Quote from the party: "Getting bumps is like cashing in happiness."  Oh, I love it :)

I have no idea where he learned this!  Occasionally we'll find him plugging his ears like this...

What a sweet face!  Too bad it's cut off a little bit

This is another thing Steven started doing on his own...

Chomp, Chomp, Chomp!

This is an awesome head scratcher ($5 at Bed, Bath, & Beyond; go get one!) but I think Steven thinks it tickles too much ;)

One Month

Sofia is now a month old!  I can't believe it's gone by so quickly.  Time really does fly.  She's generally a great baby.  She sleeps pretty well but really enjoys staying up for 2+ hours in the middle of the night with me.  Such a joy ;)  Steven is adjusting really well.  He is very excited to see "Fifi" or "baby" every morning & loves to give her lots of affection.  Sometimes it's a little too much because if he had his way he'd just lay on top of her all the time.  We definitely have to keep an eye on him still but I'm so glad that he likes her so much!  Here are some pictures from the last month.

My brother, Marc, with Sofia on the day she was born

Josh & Steven with Sofia

My mother-in-law with Sofia on Mother's Day

Sofia will start out swaddled but end up sleeping with her arms above her head like this.  Steven used to do this too...

Steven loves to give Sofia kisses.  He really does love her...sometimes a little too much smothering love... ;)

Sofia with her cousin Adam at their one-month mark.  Believe it or not, they are only about 23 hours apart (Sofia's older).

You would never guess these two are the same age by just looking at them...

Josh's younger brother, David, with Sofia

My brother's daughter & Sofia.  They are 5 months apart

My brother-in-law, David, with Sofia & Adam

100th Post

Woo!  One hundred posts!  Now on to the real stuff:

Here I am at 39 1/2 weeks (I believe this was 6 days before I had the baby).  I was definitely ready by this point!

So here's the story of how our little baby girl came into the world.  My doctor allowed me to be induced without a medical reason because this was my second baby.  I didn't want to be induced before my due date so I ended up getting on the schedule on April 28th (2 days past my due date...I know I waited SO long! ;) ).  At about 7:30 in the morning on the 28th I got to the hospital.  It took about an hour or so to get me all set up, ask me a bunch of questions, & get an IV in me.  A little before 9 my doctor came in to break my water & start me on pitocin.  About a half an hour later the contractions started.  I was ready to wait quite a long time again because with Steven I was in labor for 18 hours.  I was hoping for a 12 hour labor this time (6 hours less than last time seemed like a good thing).  Around 10:30 the nurse came in and asked if I wanted my epidural yet because the anesthesiologist was going to be in a C-section from noon-1 so it was either then or wait.  What can I say?  I'm a wuss & I like the drugs so I got the epidural then.  Around 12 the nurse checked me & I was dilated to 6 centimeters.  I was pretty excited about that amount of progress.  45 minutes later she came in again to change the type of monitor that kept progress of the baby's heart rate & my contractions.  She checked me again & said, "Nope!  Never mind, you're complete.  You're going to have this baby now!"  I was in total shock.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would go that fast!  Looking back, I was starting to feel pretty weird a bit before this point.  Had I any inkling that I might be that far dilated I would've realized that the baby was very close to coming out.  Next time I definitely have to watch for that because if the nurse hadn't come in when she did, I may have had the baby without the doctor!  At this point the nurse called my doctor to let him know what was going on & had me start to push.  I only got about half a push out when she told me to stop.  My doctor showed up and three contractions later, she was out!  From the time my contractions started until she came out was about 4 hours.  Can you believe that?!  I go from an 18 hour labor with my first one to 4 hours with my second!  If this pattern continues (or even if my labors are now only 4 hours each time), I definitely need to be quick about getting to the hosptial next time! 

We decided to name her Sofia Lynae (Lynae is my middle name).  She was born on April 28, 2010 at 1:21 in the afternoon.  She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.  Here are some pictures for your enjoyment :)

Josh holding her when she was just minutes old

Josh giving Sofia her first bath.  He was pretty excited about this because he didn't get to give Steven his first.

Not so happy about this whole water thing...

...but apparently the head washing wasn't so bad...

Josh's dad holding Sofia

Steven meeting his sister for the first time

Steven really likes his baby sister

Sofia Lynae.  Nice face, huh?  ;)

Josh with his baby girl

Kristin & Brooke from work coming to visit

Trisha from work

Shaylynn...I think this made her a little baby hungry ;)

Help

Recently I have noticed that the page set-up for new posts on my blog has changed.  I don't know how or when this happened but I don't really like it.  The main difference is that there is no option to add a video to the post.  I can add pictures, no problem, but I am no longer able to post video.  If anyone knows more about this thing than I do (which is probably most of you) or could give me some pointers, I'd really appreciate it! 

Recent Comings & Goings

Josh & I waiting for Brian Regan to start his show a few weekends ago.  For those of you who don't know who Brian Regan is, he is a comedian & is hilarious!!  He's clean, too, which I love. This is the second time we've seen him (& both when I was about 8 months  pregnant...weird!) & we've loved both times.  I can honestly say I've never laughed so hard.  If you could be tortured by laughter, Brian Regan would be the master of it.  So go youtube him or borrow his DVD from someone; it will be well worth your time! :)

Steven with his cousin, Ethan, at the Discovery Gateway on St. Patrick's Day.  Admission was free for everyone so my sister-in-law & I decided to take the boys up there since we'd never been.

We had a pretty good time but Steven was really nervous around all the strangers at first (it was PACKED)...defintely wouldn't pay full price until he's older.  He loved this tree-house, though!

...He loved the water, too.  No surprise, there though :)

We just got the cradle from Josh's parents that is passed around for the babies.  There is a stand so the cradle will rock but it was on the ground when Steven discovered it.  For some reason he thinks it's awesome.  I think this is his half-attempt at a somersault...although I'm not sure where he would get the idea in the first place.

Saying "HI!" 

I love it that kids think you can't see them if they can't see you.

My son :D