Snow Adventures

With the few inches of snow we got last week, Lance took Kimball outside to play in it for the first time. That gesture alone warmed my heart! I'm not sure why Lance didn't put a coat on him, but Kimball didn't care. He loved the snow and those two had a good time together. Here's my red cheeked and red nosed boy, sad to come inside.

Sneak Peak

Long story short, Cora had newborn pictures taken. This is at my friend's house, I'll explain later when I get the photos. I can't wait to see them!

Merry Christmas!

First Day At Church

This is the darn cutest dress, and the only one in her size right now. I love the tights that have the booties on them, no need for shoes! (I need to figure out where I can get several since these came with the outfit). And the headband was definitely too small, it was cutting off her circulation so we went to church without it but I had to keep it on for a picture.  :)

Our ward starts at 1:30 and it took me ALL morning to get the three of us ready. By the time I fed Cora, fed Kimball and myself breakfast, bathed both kids, put Kimball down for a cat nap, got myself ready, fed Cora again, got Kimball dressed, and all of us in the car.....that took all morning. And all of my energy. But it was worth it. The RS lesson was amazing, it was awesome to see my friends again, the Christmas sacrament meeting was great including a few solos from Lance, Kimball and I desperately needed out of the house, and I desperately miss church. I don't think I'll do as well in January when church starts at 8:30.

Made Me Laugh

I know these pictures aren't of us but they make me laugh. Mom and Dad went down to visit Christine for a day since Dad hasn't met Zander yet. Dad texted me these pictures.

One proud Grandpa!

 Christine nursing, haha!

Miss This Guy!

Big Brother

P.S.

Cora is one month today! I can't believe how fast that has gone, of course she's only been home for two weeks. We are still adjusting around here. All of us. But it's a good change to adjust to!  :)

Little Lady

Yesterday Cora had a doctors appointment with the geneticist. Of all the different "soft markers" and "dysmorphic features" the prenatal and NICU doctors were concerned about, Lance and I just felt like it wasn't that big of a deal. They seemed to make so much hype about it all and got us terrified that she'd have some kind of genetic disorder or disease. They said her right ear has an extra skin fold, she tucked and held her thumbs in her hand, she didn't have any eyebrows or eyelashes, etc. Not true about any of it, not to me anyway. (Isn't "dysmorphic features" the worst phrase ever to describe a baby? I really wanted to scratch it off all their notes)!

We went to the appointment that the NICU had set up for us. They'd already had a blood sample to run for several different tests, M-something. Everything came back normal. The soft markers don't mean anything. Everything that they had scared us with had nothing behind it. Thank goodness! And I don't know how to tell them this but........I told you so, doctors!

We found out she weighed 7.9 lb. and I knew she was growing because her only preemie outfit was starting to fit. Today I got out her first outfit to wear instead of just pajamas. This outfit was the very first one I bought with Christine and Mom when we found out we were both expecting. I didn't know yet that I was having a girl but I bought this ladybug outfit anyway, it was just too cute and I love the coral color. I love all of her different expressions, I sure love this little lady!!!

Fail

Yesterday I had really good intentions. I wanted to do a little something extra for Lance so he knows how much we appreciate all that he does for our family so I thought I'd help the kids make salt dough impressions. Then I was going to put those plaques in his lunch box to surprise him the next day with a sweet note. He could keep the plaques on his desk at work and look at them whenever he needed a little break......I thought it was a good idea anyway.

So Kimball and I got to work making the salt dough. Then we did foot impressions of him and Cora, and a thumbprint impression of the kids I wanted for myself to make some kind of jewelry out of. The thumbprints didn't work, they ended up looking more like belly buttons.

 Looking good in the oven.

Uh oh! I forgot to poke holes in the dough. Great, the impressions raised and are now ruined. And to make things worse, I left them out on the counter to cool while I took Cora to her doctors appointment. Well, Lance got home before we did so he saw them anyway. I guess it's the thought that counts? Just know Lance, I really did have good intentions for a cute surprise.

As Of Late

Wow, so much has been going on I haven't had time to blog. I typically blog in the evenings but with a newborn, I value my sleep and actually can sleep now that I'm not pregnant, I choose that over journaling.

• Our ward Christmas party was on Saturday. I decided to go just to get out of the house and Kimball also needed some socializing.
• The past four nights Cora has been up about every hour. I wonder if it's acid reflux or something but I'm trying everything I can to get her back on schedule and figure out if anything is wrong. Last night I put her back to bed in the car seat and she slept great! I don't know if it's because she's more propped up or because she's snuggled tighter.....I prefer her sleeping in the crib but I also prefer my sleep so I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.
• Sunday night I caught Kimball's stomach flu. I was up all night writhing in pain and throwing up. Combine that with very little sleep and two children.....not fun! Luckily we have a great ward and I called a favor in to a friend who took Kimball all day while Lance stayed home from work to take care of Cora. Luckily it was short lived, just a 24 hour flu and I feel great right now.
• Kimball is still adjusting to Cora. He doesn't like that I have to give my attention to feeding her or to taking care of the house, so he's been more whiny. Feeding times have become story and singing time for him. I wish I knew how to better balance my attention to his needs without neglecting Cora or what needs done around the house.

The biggest news of all? Lance was offered a promotion! I'm so proud of and grateful for him, he works SO stinking hard for our family and is very good at his job, he definitely deserved this promotion. The offer was to leave the embalming center at Hazen & Jaeger as manager and go manage Ball & Dodd and their crematory. Same corporation just a different location, it's still here in Spokane. His boss, Caryn, gave him some great compliments and said (paraphrasing), "When I offered you the job to manage the care center, I told you it would take a good year for you to learn the ropes and make all the changes necessary to make it more efficient. You told me you could do it in six months and I told you no, that you needed the full year. Well, you proved me wrong and did it in four months. What you did to the care center I now need you to do at Ball & Dodd."

There are pros and cons to every job, he's really going to miss the flex staff. Vicki actually cried when she found out he was starting a new position, that was sweet. There are new challenges at Ball & Dodd that didn't exist at the care center so he'll have to face all those head on. He'll have new responsibilities that are different, be working directly with different coworkers, and much more involved in the crematory (about 40% of his time). But overall, this is a great opportunity. We moved to Spokane because of opportunity and we can't very well turn down a promotion, so he accepted the position. What a blessing! He has a great boss, great coworkers, and most importantly he loves doing what he does for a living. We are surely blessed!

Brotherly Love

This is the first time Kimball asked to hold Cora. And he flashed me this big grin right after he sneezed three times on her.

Similarities

I still can't get over how much she looks like her brother at this age. (Both of these are Cora).

 

Love This Little Darling

First Outing

It's been a little difficult being home bound with the kids. I'm still pretty hesitant to take Cora out and I still don't have quite the strength to tote along a toddler and newborn with all the accommodating gear they need. But on Tuesday Kimball had had his fill. I decided I'd go to the play group at the mall and meet up with my friends so Kimball could play. I didn't do too bad toting them by myself, I put Kimball in the stroller and had Cora in the snugli sling which I've come to dislike and need a different style sling. I actually didn't do too bad with both kids by myself, my friends even commented that I looked like I had it all together. Ha! I keep a good facade.

Later in the evening we went to Lance's work Christmas party. It was fun and delicious. On the way home just as we parked and turned the car off, we looked over our shoulder at the kids to see Kimball throwing up all over without any warning. Poor boy! I was already nauseous and on the verge myself so Lance took over. I got Cora in the house and started to feed her while Lance got Kimball in the house, bathed, put to bed, and started a load of laundry. I could tell it was going to be a very long night.

The next day he acted like nothing even happened, it was a weird and short 12 hour stomach bug. It's never fun keeping the laundry going and cleaning throw up in the middle of the night, but I guess that's all in our job as parents.

Clarification, Recovery, and Other Things

First of all, I need to clarify my last post about feeling complete as a family. A few people have asked me if it feels good to know that I'm done having kids and not having to worry about being pregnant again (dealing with hyperemesis). I'm taking motherhood one child a a time and I don't know if we are done having kids or not, time will tell. I wish I could say with certainty one way or the other but I can't. What I meant when I said I felt complete, was that I felt complete as a family having Cora finally home. It's hard to leave the NICU when you know the smallest, purest, most fragile person of your family is still struggling to breathe, eat, and keep her temperature up. You leave a part of you at the hospital. And so it felt wonderful to bring her home and finally have our family of four complete instead of always missing a member. (I don't know if that makes sense but it does in my head).

My recovery is still in progress. With Kimball I was back to normal on day three or four. But today Cora is three weeks old which means I've been recovering for three weeks. I still get headaches here and there. The nausea only happens about once a week now but I've quit taking Zofran because I'm sick of taking 15 pills a day! My incision is still painful, mostly internally. The skin around my waist still hurts quite a bit from being so stretched out but I've become accustomed to it. I feel a little better everyday but it's certainly a slow process compared to recovering from Kimball. No wonder people say to give yourself six weeks, I'm not sure I'll be 100% even by then. But recovery is still way better than being pregnant (physically).

In the hospital the nurses kept asking me if I was going to nurse Cora. I had previously told myself I would because it's free and just because I had a nightmare of a time trying to nurse Kimball, that doesn't mean it'll be that way the second time. But when they asked me I started to second guess my choice. Because my recovery has been so hard it took me a while to decide and I didn't want to add "one more thing that goes wrong". By day three I finally decided I wasn't going to try. And I'm so glad I made that decision! With recovery being slow I'm so anxious to function normal again. I need to be healthy so I can raise these two kids. I need to be happy so I can raise these two kids. I need to be confident in myself so I can raise these two kids. For those three reasons alone, I'm glad I made the decision I did. My children need a mother who can dedicate her whole self to her kids and I don't think I could have done that if I was still struggling with nursing Cora.

I love being a mother! I love my children more than anything in this world and I'm so glad they're mine. On days like today when Kimball seems to be purposely defiant and push all my buttons and limits, I might have to take a few minutes to regroup but even then I LOVE MY JOB!!!

Hmmmmmm

I didn't know America's Best carried those...

Siblings

After looking through Kimball's newborn pictures and finding this one, I didn't realize until now that even though he was a bit smaller, he had much more fat and she has absolutely none. Kimball was born at 5.7 lb. and Cora was 5.11 lb. She's finally starting to fill out a few wrinkles on her legs but she's so petite and skinny! The pediatrician does still have her on the higher calorie diet so she can gain weight quicker, but no wonder I have to keep 3 layers of clothes, 2 blankets, and 1 hat on her all the time. She's got zero fat! She's just my tiny little sweet heart.  :)

Sweet Pea

Yesterday when Mom was at the store with Kimball, I thought it would be a good time to take a few pictures of Cora. But mom had the diaper bag which had my camera in it so I had to use my phone. The quality isn't great but it'll work for now, I'm hoping to get some more soon.

Wondermom

After weeks of anticipation Mom finally arrived! She got in on Friday and stayed through yesterday, so a full week. The first half of her trip Cora wasn't home from the NICU yet so Kimball got her full attention. He loved every minute!

I already knew I had the best mom anyone could ever ask for. But now I'm just so speechless as to how blessed I am to have her as my own and to have her as my children's Grandma. She cooked every lunch and dinner and made up at least 10 meals for our freezer. She bought us a ton of groceries. She cleaned and scrubbed the house top to bottom. She even raked up leaves and other debris that was outside from past tenants. She did all the laundry. She bathed Kimball everyday. She let me sleep in or nap as I needed. She even went the extra mile to make sure I had my extra indulgences: she made up a batch of cookie dough and put it in the freezer for me! Needless to say my house has never been cleaner nor my freezer and fridge so full and packed to the edge with food and meals.

Since Cora got home Tuesday night, I only had two full days of her helping me transition from one to two kids. I'm hoping it won't be as difficult as I imagine and I wish I had her here longer. Maybe it's in my best interest to learn to do it on my own, I don't know. I wish she was here a lot longer.

Yesterday the kids and I dropped her off at the airport. I knew it was going to be hard to see her leave but I didn't know exactly how hard it was going to be. Kimball and I were bawling hysterically all the way home. Literally. And I didn't stop there, when Lance got home from work I lost it again and the water works kept on going. 

I cannot begin to express my immense gratitude and love for my Mom!

Complete

Little Sweet Pea did marvelous proving her strength the last few days and so she is coming home!!!!! I thought discharging her would take hours but it was really quite simple, the nurses made it sound like it was going to take three hours. Here she is all warm and ready to go in her new, comfy coat that's 10 sizes too big. Oh and in her new car seat.....apparently the hand me down car seat I have is expired and they wouldn't let Cora go home without a new car seat. She was in the NICU for 13 days, twice as long as Kimball was.

Since Kimball isn't allowed in the NICU he hasn't even seen or met Cora yet. As soon as we got home we were sure to introduce him to his new baby sister. He didn't really know what to think and wasn't all that interested. But he loved looking at her.

This is the only preemie outfit we have for Cora, thanks to Mom. It's still about 3" too big.

 First picture as a family of four!

The feeling I had on this night was total complete-ness. I don't know how to explain how good it felt having Cora home. We were all together. We were all happy (albeit tired). We are a complete family which feels divine!

Progression!

Cora started nippling all her feedings again, no more feeding tube! She's also off the glow blanket and in her own open bed without heat. Hurray, hopefully only a matter of day or two of proving her strength and she'll be home! She has definitely changed looks and is now all Kimball. This is exactly how he looked as a newborn, I need to post pictures of them side by side. One day I will...

 

Savannah's Baptism