Two

Having two is SO much different than having one. I feel like I'm constantly being pulled in two different directions!
In case you're wondering why I haven't posted very many pictures of Baby Ellie and her big sister, it's because her big sister doesn't like to have her picture taken anymore! I admit that there isn't as much time to take pictures either.
And to go along with the "two" theme, guess who was diagnosed with their second UTI in two weeks? If you guessed me, you're right. I'm on another antibiotic and I'm drinking lots of water. Will I ever recover from Baby Ellie's delivery!?!

Normal

I'm still overwhelmed at how not normal everything seems to me. I cannot believe that being here together doesn't feel like home. We miss our friends, our neighbors, our church and all of the old places that we used to go.

I need to lose 6 pounds to be at my pre-pregnancy weight and I'd like to lose 10 more. I'd really like to start going on those daily walks again and I can't wait for those walks in our new neighborhood. I need to be able to wear all of my old clothes AND have them fit properly.
I want The Muffin to get settled into a routine again. She has had so many changes with Big Daddy being away and then with us moving here and to an apartment and then we'll be moving again soon.
I want Baby Ellie to be more happy and less fussy. I'm almost able to set the clocks by her little bouts of fussiness...especially in the evening. I'm looking forward to meeting her new pediatrician next week and seeing how much she's grown since her birth.
I want The Muffin to love the church that we decide to go to. We think we found the right one this past Sunday, but we have one more that we want to visit. I want her to make friends and look forward to church again. I also want her to love preschool when she starts in September. I don't think this will be a problem.
I want to want to clean again. Living in this apartment has really made all of us a little sad and it's been hard for me to feel motivated to clean.
I want us all to feel like we have a home again.

Slinging It

I decided to venture out with both girls today for the first time all alone...unless you count the visits I've made to my mom and dad's house. It went well. I wore Baby Ellie in the sling and pushed The Muffin in the buggy and we managed to get everything on our grocery list. Judging by the looks that we got and the whispers that I heard, people around here don't wear there babies unless it's on their hip. Even The Muffin noticed that people were looking at us.

One more thing that I miss about "home".

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday at this time, I thought we were having a sort of bad day and by the time I went to bed, Big Daddy had given us the diagnosis of colic. Thank goodness Baby Ellie loves her sling. It's a great way to quiet a baby with colic and put a fussy baby to sleep. To quiet her pitiful crying, I fixed and ate my lunch with Baby Ellie safe inside the sling. (We have had lunch twice at the mall while Baby E was slinging it.) I have a feeling this may be her new favorite place.
I wouldn't have it any other way.

I guess I should get used to the view from here.

Just wait until next year

So...last night we were supposed to celebrate our anniversary. We'd planned to go out to dinner with Baby Ellie in tow while The Muffin was at Bible school. Our plans changed.
Baby Ellie had her first fussy day and boy, did she fuss. We contemplated whether or not to go to dinner for over an hour before Big Daddy headed to...Bo.jangle's. Yes, Bo.jangle's. If you're not familiar with this fast food restaurant, think along the lines of K.F.C.
I did go out alone to pick The Muffin up at church. I came home about an hour later to find a frantic Big Daddy and Baby Ellie. After I calmed them both down, Big Daddy decided to research Baby Ellie's recent behavior. It seems that she is suffering from the classic symptoms of...colic. Or as I like to call it, "THE Colic". What are the chances that we'd have another colicky baby?? Pretty good evidently. I just keep thinking that she couldn't be any worse than her sister was, right? This is just one more reason that I know that God has a sense of humor...that I don't always find amusing.

We spent our anniversary eating fried chicken with a crying baby and then I went to bed alone while Big Daddy stayed up way too late reading. At least I had Sweet Tea.

Wordless Wednesday With Words

The "little sister".

The big sister that refused to wear her "big sister" shirt.

Baby Ellie loves to give The Muffin kisses.

Sweetly sleeping Baby Ellie.

Baby Ellie's first little bath after losing her belly button.

Nine Years

Tomorrow, Big Daddy and I will"celebrate" our ninth year of wedded bliss. Sometimes the years have flown by and then at other times, I swear we've been married forever. We dated for four and a half years before we were married, but getting married really changed everything.
If I had any idea where my wedding pictures were, I'd post them. We've both lost weight since then and I know we've aged. It's hard to believe that nine years ago we looked like babies!
We had an extremely small wedding in the church that I grew up in. We had no attendants, no music and only invited close family and close friends. If I could go back and change things, I would have done something bigger, but at the time it was just what we wanted.
For our "honeymoon" we went to Lake Lure. We left the morning after our wedding and rode with the t-tops out until we saw storm clouds ahead. It wasn't that great of a trip and Big Daddy had work phone calls that he had to make while we were away. He left on a business trip the day after we returned and I made the first of many visits back home.
Since then we've had so many really great trips. We keep thinking that we'll do a scrapbook, but the trips all run together. Once we became parents, the trips became all about making memories and less about resting or trying to fill the days and evenings with things to do. Now that we're the parents of two, a trip to anywhere seems out of question. I don't like to be away from either of the girls for very long and they're all we seem to talk about when we're away.
This year on our anniversary, The Muffin will be at bible school with Nana and Baby Ellie will be going out to dinner with her parents.
Happy Anniversary to us!?

Because they're BOTH asleep!!!

The Muffin woke up super-early this morning and put herself in the bed for a nap a few minutes ago. Baby Ellie is a sleepy head and has been napping for a couple of hours. She'll be up soon to eat and maybe play, but probably sleep some more. I thought I'd take another minute to tell you all about our lives right now.

We are living in this little apartment and it's getting to all of us. Our new house will seem megaginormous after living here. I cannot wait to get into a nice, roomy kitchen again. It seems I'm not the only one that is excited about the new kitchen!

Big Daddy decided to go back to work last Wednesday. I didn't really need him anymore, but I wanted him. I had my crazy-lady post partum days on Sat, Sun & Mon, so I was feeling pretty stable by Wednesday. My sweet Mommy-friend April called everyday to check on me and the girls. My Mommy-friend Kristin also called. Their support meant so much!! For the most part, I have things under control when I'm alone with both girls. Cooking dinner seems to be the biggest challenge and the tiny apartment kitchen only makes matters worse.

Our house should be complete in 6 weeks or so. I managed to pick out the light fixtures last Monday. I begged the store employees to do it for me, but they wouldn't. Baby E stayed with Nana and The Muffin and her daddy played with doorbells in the store while I pondered over silver, brushed nickel and oil rubbed bronze finishes. (I'll post pictures of the inside after things are finished)

I was in serious pain after a couple of hours walking the floors trying to pick things out. I thought I had tried to do too much, but I had bad pain again for the next few days. I decided that I had some dreadful, rare complication from the episiotomy and decided to call my midwife on Thursday night. I was told to go to the office on Friday morning. Big Daddy took the day off work, The Muffin went to Nana's (AGAIN!) and Baby E camped out in her carseat. Long story made short, I had a UTI.

Baby Ellie sleeps a lot. She was diagnosed with classic "sleepy baby" syndrome in the hospital. Just kidding, but everyone would say, "She's just a sleepy baby.". She grunts and laughs and smiles and frowns so sweetly while she sleeps. On the rare occasion that she's grumbly, I can put her in the sling and she goes right to sleep. I enjoy wearing her (I think she likes it too-see picture below!) so much more than wrestling with a stroller and The Muffin. The sling also keeps strangers and their germs at bay. She "lost" her umbilical cord this morning and was so excited that she stayed awake to play a while! Her belly button is SO cute!

The Muffin seems to be adjusting to things pretty well. (She has been having huge temper tantrums, but she is three!)She wants to go to her "old room" and her "old house" and she misses her friends and our old neighbors. Big Daddy and I do too. I didn't know it would be so hard for us to move. I thought this town would just feel like home since it's where I grew up, but it doesn't. I miss my Mommy-friends and I miss the things that Muff and I used to do that Baby E will miss. Big Daddy is desperate to find a fountain that the girls can play in. We spent lots of time in the fountain at The Depot Park in Sanford. We are hoping that this will feel like home once we move into the new house and The Muffin gets her VERY pink room.

Big Daddy & I are fairly certain that Baby Ellie is our last little blessing. Neither of us can really commit to saying that there's not another baby in our future. My recovery from this VBAC was not nearly as wonderful as I'd thought it would be. I actually think that my c-section recovery was a lot easier. That being said, the VBAC was worth all of this and I'm so glad that I tried (and tried and tried) it and that my midwives were so supportive of my wishes.

We're back...sort of

Here's The Muffin (with Nana) meeting her baby sister for the first time.

We have an internet connection, but I'm still working out all of the bugs. Thought I'd take a minute to post a couple of pictures from the night of Baby Ellie's birth.
And of course, they are in reverse order!!!

Me, getting my first good look at baby Ellie.

Big Daddy, cutting the cord. And yes, this is the picture that I took!

My beloved midwife, Peg.

Yes...I'm Still Alive

Boy, it's been a long time since I've been on a computer! We still aren't Internet-ready at our little apartment, but we should be the first part of next week. I've been keeping busy with my *two* girls and Big Daddy and I have been taking care of new house business. (Big Daddy took care of paint colors while we were in the hospital and we picked out light fixtures on Monday)
The Muffin & "Baby Ellie" (we always add the baby to the first of her name!) are at Nana's house while I'm next door at my sister's trying to look up a few things on the computer. I'm anxious to blog a little about our birth experience, since this blog acts as our family scrapbook.

Real quick, I'll give you a run down on our birth experience.

-Baby Ellie was delivered by VBAC...barely. She wasn't facing the right way which gave me back labor and caused her to get stuck...and bounce back and forth with every contraction...for a long time.
-My midwife, Peg, literally gave me 15 minutes to "move her" before she called the OB in. Everyone was so sure that we were going to have a c-section. My sister even left the L&D room so that they could prep me. I cried and prayed and Big Daddy and I kept pushing through my contractions while everyone else left the room so that I could come to terms with having to have another c-section. Peg convinced the doctor to give me a fair chance at moving her because she knew how important a VBAC was to me.
-I was determined and managed to do 7 pushes with each contraction in stead of the four pushes that my midwife suggested.
-Everyone was so surprised when Baby Ellie moved! The doctor actually said "You're doing it!". Peg told me on Sunday morning that no one thought it was possible and that hey were thisclose to getting me prepped for a c-section. She said my determination and pushing capabilities were amazing...and that I had a nice pelvis.
-It was fabulous...and long...and quite painful over the course of the 15 hours of labor on Saturday.
-Yes, I gave in and had an epidural...and it was a blessing. I will never regret it. I was able to be with The Muffin up until I started pushing around 7:30 pm. I still experienced quite a bit of pain.
-My favorite part of labor was pushing and seeing the silly grin on Big Daddy's face when Baby Ellie's head was visible.
-My favorite part of the birth was hearing Baby Ellie's first cry.
-My favorite part of after the birth was seeing how excited The Muffin was about her new sister.
-My least favorite part would have to be the whole placenta-thing. Of course, mine refused to come out and the OB had to get it out. ( I saw it and it was beautifully normal!!) This cause me lots of blood loss and made me pass out once right after the birth and again the next day. I was going to receive two units of blood, but because I managed to perk up they didn't give it to me. Therefore, I still look like a ghost.
-I love my midwives, Peg, Wesley & Rita.

Hopefully, I'll have the time to post a few pictures of the birth next week. I managed to snap a couple of pictures of Big Daddy cutting the umbilical cord. (The cord was also fabulously normal!!)
Until then... I'll be busy with The Muffin and wearing Baby Ellie in her sling as much as possible!

One Week Old Today

I finally got to meet my new baby niece today. Yes I know it's been a week since she made her appearance into our world! I was trying to give them time to get settled and to rest up from the long adventure and plus I had to work every evening but one this week. Today, I couldn't wait any longer so I went over and spent a couple of hours with them this evening. She is absolutely gorgeous!! She's so sweet and cuddly and a very good baby so far. I love naked babies so as soon as I got the chance I stripped off her clothes and took a few shots of her. Isn't she so pretty? She smells so good, so sweet and that milky baby breath. I just fell deeply in love with her!

The Mommy, Big Daddy and the Muffin are all doing well. They've settled into their little apartment and they are eagerly awaiting another move into a brand new house that is in the finishing stages. It's gorgeous! I'm sure The Mommy will be sharing photos with you soon. The Muffin is being a big help taking care of her little sister. Tonight she was more interested in a little kitten that was outside the apartment. It kept coming to peek in their door. Big Daddy fed the little kitten steak! That could be a problem because now the little kitty will expect food from them every day. Big Daddy and I talked internet tonight so hopefully they will have connection before too much longer and The Mommy will get back to blogging. I filled in her in on a few things that have been happening recently in bloggy world.

Enjoy the photos of this gorgeous little girl. Ellie Grace.......

Auntie Lisa

3 Days Old

Going Home.....

The Mommy & Baby Ellie were released from the hospital today.  They are doing pretty good except that Baby Ellie has jaundice.  Instructions were to let her get some sunshine today and we have plenty of that around here today.  Say a prayer that this clears up quickly.  Also say a prayer for the little family that they will adjust to all the changes going on in their lives right now.  I know they would appreciate it.  Hopefully The Mommy will be back soon to fill you in on all the details.

auntie Lisa

Meet Ellie Grace.....

Meet Ellie Grace McMillan - born around 10:30pm 

on June 6th, 2009,  weighing in at 8 lbs 8 oz and 21.5 inches long.

Big Daddy text'd me this pic from his cell phone early Saturday morning.  I'm sure this is the first of many, many pics you will get to see of little Ellie.   

auntie Lisa

Taking A Break

After many hours of Pitocin and contractions without very much progression, my midwife (Peg, the hero that saved The Muffin's life) consulted with the OB on call for the practice and decided that my uterus needs a break. They aren't comfortable with increasing the Pitocin dosage because of the risk of uterine rupture. We are incredibly disappointed and very tired. Since the Pitocin has been stopped. my contractions have diminished. They were about two minutes apart for a long time and had finally gotten somewhat painful. AND, I forgot to mention that I'm having the infamous back labor that I've heard so much about over the years.
My mom, Auntie Lisa and The Muffin went on their way home. I had possibly the best dinner ever from the hospital cafeteria, two pieces of Big Daddy's pizza from P.apa John's, a yummy Sweet Tea and a Ho Ho. Oh, and a small nap while Big Dady was picking up our treats! We are going to try and get a little rest before the Pitocin starts all over again at 6:00 in the morning.
My midwife is very hopeful that stopping the Pitocin, letting my uterus rest and resuming the Pitocin tomorrow will lead to a successful VBAC. Please pray that this is what will happen.

In other big family news, we are as settled into our little apartment as we will ever be. Big Daddy and I wrote a contract on a new house that's under construction. It's in a nice subdivision that's close to my family and the house is scheduled for completion at the end of July. We'll be having to pick out paint colors, light fixtures and a few other things very soon. I'm so thankful that the tile for the bathroom and granite counter tops for the kitchen have already been purchased because I'm overwhelmed with all of the other choices. The rock work on the outside should be complete soon and I'll try to post pictures sometime between now and July.
Our "old" house is alone and empty! We are scheduled for that closing next Friday. It's so bittersweet to be leaving our town, neighborhood and old home even if it is to be closer to work, family and a new home. Keep us in your prayers as we stay super-busy.

Thank goodness that L&D has wireless internet, Until later,

Blogging from the hospital

We're just hanging out and waiting on Baby Ellie. Please pray that things progress over the next few hours. Auntie Lisa will update when something happens.

The Mommy...in labor

The time has come......

Baby Ellie will be making her debut on Friday June 5th!

The Mommy went for her OB visit today and it was decided that tomorrow will be the day. Unless, you know, Ellie has other ideas tonight.  The Mommy had progressed to 3 cm and due to her being very uncomfortable her midwife said it was time.   They have to be at the hospital at 5:00am in the morning.  Nana and the Muffin and me will be going just a little later.  Preferrably after daylight. The word is that labor and delivery has wireless so I'm taking the laptop and I'll be posting photos and updates throughout the day and the birth announcement as soon as it happens.  Be sure to check in tomorrow and I'm sure that the Mommy and Big Daddy would appreciate your prayers and your well wishes in the comment section.

Blessings

Auntie Lisa

The Muffin likes living near her Nana & the countdown is on......

I talked to The Mommy this afternoon and got a little update.  They have successfully moved to their temporary home and The Mommy has her swollen feet propped up to rest now.  The Muffin is enjoying being so close to Nana's house.  They have enjoyed lunch at Nana's on Sunday, ice cream treats there last night, play date at cousin Callie's school today and lunch with Nana.  The Muffin thinks they should just live with Nana.  : > )  The next OB visit is this Thursday so I will update you all when I know something after that.   ONLY SIX DAYS TO GO TIL BABY ELLIE'S DUE DATE!

Auntie Lisa