What we're up to Now

Hello! We've been busy little beavers around here. Griffin's new favourite word is "Now?" As in: Can we do this now? Not yet. Now? In a minute. Now? Soon, Griffin. Now? Mommy just needs to finish this other thing that we just started a minute ago. Now?

Some of our favourite activities:

Painting

Play-dough

Trucks (always and forever)

Sleeping (during the day)

Not Sleeping (during the night)

Baking

In the last two weeks we have made: Chocolate cake with cream cheese and toffee icing, Spice cake shaped like a train (see pic), sun-dried tomato muffins, chocolate chip cookies, and brownie mini loaves. Guess who ate most of it (hint: me.)

Next up: Pumpkin Chai Loaf, or Mediterranean Lentil Muffins. Hmmmmm...

A Few Moments...

Hello. I actually have a moment here when both kids are napping, and figured I better get on here while I can! It may be a short moment - Holly is already stirring.

Moment over.

And that's pretty much life these days! A lot of very short moments of peace, surrounded by total chaos. And me in the middle, trying to enjoy it all. We had a lovely Christmas with family and friends. Jai cooked an amazing feast. Griffin really enjoyed the whole thing this year, and can't stop talking about Santa Claus. Holly, of course, was too little, but I think she enjoyed having the extra people around, as did I.

New Year's was a quiet event this year, but that's kind of how I like it. It was wonderful to reflect back on all the things 2011 brought us. We filled it up as well as we could! Griffin, Mom, and I made it back to the West Coast for an all-too-brief visit. Jai and I made it all the way to Mexico, just the two of us. We finally got our raised beds put in, and grew tons of yummy food. We added to the natural playground. I bought myself a new camera and photographed nine weddings. We finished two more rooms in the house. We visited PEI with Jai's parents. And then, of course, we added Holly to our family.

For 2012, I hope to get outside more often and explore a little more of this province. I plan to get back to using cloth diapers. And I look forward to enjoying time with our ever-changing family, enjoying all the little moments that make up our days. I know it's often said that second children get photographed less, but I think for us, almost the opposite is true, because this time we know firsthand just how quickly babies grow. I say almost because, really, we are already pushing the limit of how many photos one family should reasonably take!

And, is it wrong how much I am enjoying dressing up Holly? Griffin likes it, too - most days he picks out one element, at least, of her outfit. We'll enjoy it while we can!

This is what he chose for her Christmas present this year:

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Ah, you know I couldn't resist saying that at least once.

Against all expectations, we are about to have a white christmas. We are happily snuggled in at home, with family and tea and cookies - I can't think of anything better!

Wishing you and yours some of the same (or whatever passes for same in your parts)...

Merry Christmas!

Holly's Birth Story

Hello! Holly is almost three weeks old, and I thought it was about time I sat down and tried to write out her birth story. I did the same for Griffin (here's a link, if anyone wants to check it out: Griffin's Birth Story) and it was kind of nice to go back. Anyway, here goes:

Things started out much the same as they had for Griffin. I woke up at around 3 in the morning, and could tell right away that we were going to be meeting our baby today. It was very exciting, and I didn't wait too long before waking Jai up and saying, "It's happening." Jai got up and started getting everything ready to go to the hospital, while I tried to rest a little longer. We called my parents, and told my Mom to start heading over. It takes about two hours to get from her house to ours, so our plan was to call our friends Brandon and Jo to come over and stay with Griffin until my Mom could get there. Unfortunately, we couldn't get ahold of them! And then we couldn't get ahold of my Mom.

So we packed Griffin up to go with us (luckily he fell right back asleep as soon as he was put in his car seat.) We were hoping to get in touch with my Mom, and tell her to meet us at the hospital, instead of coming all the way into town (the hospital is about half way between our houses), but she wasn't answering her phone, either. We decided that we might be able to see her passing us on the highway, and somehow flag her down. So, off we went, straining our eyes in the pitch black to try and see the cars going the other way as they passed us at 110km/hr. Finally, most of the way to the hospital, we passed one that we both thought might be her. Jai did a U-Turn, and started weaving back and forth behind her, and getting really close to her, flashing our lights, and honking. Did she pull over? Of course not. Finally, we got to a place with a passing lane, and pulled up beside, where I frantically waved out my window until she looked over. Thank goodness it was her! So she followed us the rest of the way to the hospital, and then took our van and drove Griffin back home. He slept through the whole thing.

In all the excitement, though, my contractions had slowed from 2 minutes to 4-6 minutes apart. We had expected to get to the hospital and be rushing in to deliver the baby (see Griffin's birth story.) Griffin was so fast, for a first baby, all the doctors said we should get straight to the hospital this time. But my contractions seemed to have stalled out at about 4 minutes apart. They hooked me up to the machine for a while, but I was only at 3cm, and the nurse told us we could leave the hospital and get some breakfast if we wanted. A little disheartened, we left and had breakfast and did some shopping.

By now, it was after ten in the morning, and I'd really expected to already be holding a baby. We went back to the hospital after another hour, and she hooked me back up and checked me - 3-1/2 cm. It was almost noon, and still things were not really progressing beyond where they were when we arrived at the hospital. We kept telling her, the first one went so fast, but she said she was not able to admit us, and was comfortable sending us home - even though it was an hour each way.

Well, there was no way I was going home! And it's a good thing we didn't! Very quickly, everything sped up. Jai and I walked around the hospital, and spent some time in the visitor's room, pacing around. It didn't take long before I could barely stand during the contractions, and we went back to the admitting room. Only now we couldn't get anyone to come and see us! Everyone was busy. I finally told Jai to go and tell them I was about to start pushing, and that quickly produced results, as nurses came rushing over, and rushing to get me and the room ready. There were people taking my blood, and trying (and trying, and trying) to put an IV in, all during crazy contractions. Thank goodness for laughing gas! And for husbands who don't mind if you crush them and scream at them at the same time. I had to do a lot more work to get Holly out than I did with Griffin, but still it wasn't too much longer before we were holding her in our arms. The nurse kept saying "he" and it was a few moments before I knew that she was actually a girl because she was pretty blue at first (the cord was apparently wrapped around her neck when she was born), so everyone was busy with that.

Anyway, while it felt rushed and, at the same time, like it took for-freaking-ever, it was almost exactly two hours between when the nurse tried to send us home, and when we were holding Holly in our arms. She was born at 2:16 p.m. And I think the extra time for pushing was actually better for both of us, because Holly didn't have all the problems with mucous that Griffin did, and I didn't need as many stitches this time, either. They made us stay in the hospital for 48 hours, because the stupid IV antibiotics that they wanted to put in need to be in place at least four hours before birth to have any effect. So why did they stick me (again and again and again) if it wasn't going to work? Anyway, that's a bit of a side rant. Everything went well, and everyone was happy and healthy at the end of it, and that's really all that matters.

I'll be back soon with a more general update!

For now...

Hello! Things are going well around here. A little busy. Luckily, there is lots of help around, for the moment. It's December! That is all.

The Picture Post

Ah, pictures. Yesterday, for my birthday, Holly was one week old already, and I realized I better try and get some pictures done a.s.a.p.

It took a little while to get her to sleep, and then I had a very helpful helper for most of the process.

Griffin was such a sweetie, though, it was hard to resist snapping a bunch of pics of the two of them together - so, of course, I didn't!

I just love the photos of the two of them together, and I know these are pictures we will cherish forever, so I'm really glad I made myself do it, even though it felt a little exhausting at the time.

I had a lovely birthday overall. Griffin and Jai worked together to make me a very special brownie cake, and Jai made pad thai (one of my all-time favourites, and not so easy to get in rural Nova Scotia!) Griffin sung me the birthday song, all by himself.

Anyway, I will come back soon, and write about more things baby related, but that's all for now. I'm going to try and get some more pics posted over on the photography site (www.laurenkayephotography.com), for those who wish to see more.

She's Here!

Hello Everyone. Meet Holly Freya Soloy! She was born on November 16th, weighing a respectable 8 lbs. I'm sure we'll be taking more pictures soon, but I wanted to just post a little note to say that she's here, and well, and we are all enjoying being home together. Next time, I'll write a bigger update, all about it!

Feeling Thankful

Hello! Still no baby! We had a nice, quiet Remembrance Day - it was a very wet, blustery day around here, so we spent some time being Thankful for the ability to snuggle together inside our warm, cozy house, listening to the services and stories on the CBC - feeling very lucky, indeed.

I did get some granola bars made, in the hopes that I will be taking some to the hospital with me as a snack. Come on, baby, everything is ready for you! Griffin and I spent two hours at the doctor's office yesterday - 15 minutes with the doctor, and an hour and forty-five in the waiting room. He did well - better than me! Needless to say, I am really hoping that the appointment we have for next week (all the way up in Kentville - an hour's drive each way) will NOT be necessary!

Griffin expressed his desire yesterday to grow up and be a Mommy. He said it like it was the most exciting thing he could imagine. Mommy!!!! Aside from being just about the cutest thing I've ever heard (yesterday he also told me I was his Sun and and Best Friend), it has me hoping he will relish his role as a big brother. I know it will be a big adjustment for everyone, but we're hoping it will just be more love going around, and not feel like less.

We were hoping Jai was going to be able to stay home for six weeks or so when the baby arrives, but financially we just wouldn't be able to swing it without putting ourselves into major debt. Still, he will have a couple of weeks to spend here, and some Christmas holidays to look forward to. My Mom will come down for a week, and I may end up going up to Halifax for a week as well. Having a new baby is no doubt always an exhausting endeavor, but hopefully we won't be quite so gobsmacked by it all this time. We'll at least have the illusion of somewhat knowing what we're doing. Good times!

To finish up, here's just a couple of things I am thankful for:

-Feeling like my family is mostly safe, most of the time

-Our ability to choose what we think is best for us as a family, without having to bow to outside forces

-Having a house, with a roof, and warm blankets, and a cozy fire

-A freezer full of home-made food

-The freedom to create

-A house full of giggles and cuddles and the stomping of little feet

And maybe one more - that Halloween only comes one day a year! These are this year's Halloween photos. He kept the costume on just long enough for me to capture those crocodile tears. Yes, I am willing to torture my child with a frog costume to keep up the tradition of the Halloween photo.

It's Nice to Have Some Help

Hello! Happy November! Wow, October really rushed by.

We did Halloween here, with some good friends, but it was pretty quiet. Griffin wore a costume for about a minute... screaming the whole time. He just wanted to be Griffin, and he just wanted to stay home. We managed to convince him that he could just wear his raincoat and hat, and we could just go to our neighbour, Pearl's, house. He got a little interested when she put some candy in his bucket. Jo joked that he's a total East Coast trick or treater, though, as he peeked around the door and said, "Maybe we could just go in for a little minute," then walked in and visited with Pearl for a little while. Nova Scotia-style. As we were leaving he said, "Maybe we could do another house." Once around the block did it, and then it was, "Time to go home."

Baby is doing well. Last week, we had a bit of a worry, as it had decided that being head down was no fun any more, and being sideways would offer a much better perspective on life. So we had to make the hour-long trek to Kentville and do an ultrasound to see if they were going to have to try and turn the baby (which did not sound fun to me at all) but baby managed to figure it all out and get itself turned the right way around again. Whew!

Jai and I are doing well, too, for the most part. Griffin and I managed to come down with a nasty cold that we've been fighting off for the last week. It doesn't slow him down much, but it sure threw me for a loop. I'm really hoping that the stuffy nose and hacking cough will be gone before I go into labour. Really hoping. A lot.

My Mom is down for a few days to help us try and get ready for the new family member. So far, I think we've mostly been doing laundry. All the baby clothes that had been in the attic got filthy when the roof got redone, as all sorts of roofing crap fell through the boards and into the attic. Yuck. Plus, the whole hauling giant loads of laundry up and down the stairs has not been something that I've been feeling up to lately. Yeah, I got a little behind. It's nice to have the help.

And Griffin, of course, is loving having Grandma in the house.

Most of these photos (except for the above two) are from Jai's parent's visit, just before Thanksgiving. We tripped off to PEI for a long weekend touring around and playing on the beach. It was lovely.

Anyway, it's after 7pm, and my brain has turned to mush. Maybe next time I write, we will be four. You never know. . .