Mary-Margaret at 5 months

Time just flies by with baby #2.  Mary-Margaret is still sweet as can be.

She is nursing every 3-31/2 hours during the day.  Because we are out most mornings, she has settled into a routine of waking around 7, a nap from about 8-9:30, we are usually out btw 10-12 and she make cat nap.  When we get home she will nurse and take a longer nap from about 1-3:30/4.  Then she will still cat nap around 5:30 or so, and bedtime is around 7:30.

She rubs her eyes, talks louder and louder and sucks her thumb when she is ready for a nap.

She rolls over onto her belly, but has forgotten how to roll to her back.  She will cry for help after being on her belly for too long.

She loves the jumperoo.

If she is awake at mealtime, she sits in her highchair like a big girl with us.

She is interested in everything going on around her, and has quit napping while we are out and about.

She is happy in the car seat, and has been a trooper on two road trips to see my parents which is about a 6 hour trip with a stop.

I think she looks like me more and more.

She loves her big sister, and Hatley-Grace can always make her smile.

4 months

Mary-Margaret is 4 months old.

She is so attentive to what is going on around her and loves watching big sister play.  She talks to us by cooing and making sweet little noises.  

 She is drooling and chewing on her hands a lot this month, teething?

 She can roll over in both directions.  Right now she rolls onto her belly most of the time, and then will cry because she gets stuck there.

 She smiles and kicks her legs when I get her up from naps.

 She nurses about every 3 hours, and takes 4 naps a day.  Her first afternoon nap is the longest.  She usually goes to bed around 7:30, and needs a little dream fed around 10 and then sleeps until about 7.

 She can grab onto some toys and her paci now.

 She loves to suck on her thumb to soothe herself to sleep. 

 She loves being outside and went swimming for the first time in Mimi and Pop's pool.  She enjoyed the water and kicked her legs.  

Mary-Margaret is just a happy content little girl right now.  Her eyes are still bright blue and a little blond hair is coming through some of the darker hair.  

Stats from the doctor:

  

Mary Margaret: 3 months

Mary Margaret at 3 months:
- She smiles constantly.

- She nurses every 3 hours during the day and is awake for about an hour-hour and 1/2 before wanting to nap.  Naps have been less consistent than with HG since we are on the go a lot more, but if we are at home she naps in her crib.

- She is a fast nurser.

-  When it is time to sleep, she needs to be rocked standing up and she fights it by crying for a few minutes before she accepts the paci and passes out quickly.  Every single time like clockwork.

-  She is settling into sleeping through the night, 10pm-7am, but has occasionally woken at 3 to nurse.

-  She can roll from her tummy to her back.

- She coos along with singing or has a conversation by cooing.

-  She loves HG and smiles when she hears her voice.

-  She is mostly in 3-6 month clothes.  

Mary-Margaret's Baptism

Mary Margaret was baptized at our church, Sycamore Presbyterian Church on June 11, 2017.  She wore the same dress HG was baptized in. 

It was a beautiful day of celebrating the goodness of God who promises to love His people from generation to generation.  Baptism is a sign and seal of those promises upon Mary-Margaret as a covenant child of our God. 

 

We wanted to celebrate this special day with the entire church family in some way and decided a cupcake bar would be a fun way to rejoice in God's goodness with our church family.  

After church we had a simple lunch of chicken salad sandwiches and strawberry pecan salad.  We indulged in blueberry crisp for dessert before our parents had to head home.   

Sweet girl snuck in a snooze during lunch. 

Happy Birthday Hatley-Grace

We celebrated Hatley-Grace's birthday last Friday night with a simple cookout with family and friends.  My parents were already coming to town for Mary Margaret's baptism so we celebrated HG's birthday a few days early.

She requested a purple princess party, so we reused decorations from last year's princess party and incorporated purple flowers, table cloths and streamers.  Of course, the cake had to be purple.  I accomplished this by cooking blueberries and straining them to color the buttercream icing.  I used the same white cake recipe from last year, and it was just as yummy as I remember.  It may turn into the "birthday cake" in our family.

My in-laws gave HG a kids trampoline which was the hit of the party.

We also had tons of dress ups, bubbles, moon sand, water table complete with Captain Hook and Ursula, and old Amazon boxes stacked like a castle to decorate.

The weather could not have been more perfect!  It was so fun to host our first outdoor event in our backyard.  Memories like this make our new house feel more like home!

Mary-Margaret has arrived

I can't begin to express how delighted we are to announce we have welcomed another little girl into our family this week.  We are completely overjoyed and in awe of God's goodness and kindness to us in blessing us with this life!  We struggled with infertility since HG's birth in June 2013.  After many trips to Orlando, FL for testing, treatments, and hormonal shot therapy we ended our care at that practice after an unsuccessful attempt in May to get pregnant with hormonal shot therapy.  Marty got really good at sticking me in the stomach :)  In June and July, Marty traveled a lot with summer trips so we decided to find a new infertility specialist when we moved to Richmond in August.

We finished out the summer in FL, sold our home, put all our belongings in a POD and moved our family into my in-laws home as we searched for a home to purchase in Midlothian.  On the drive up, we stopped at the beach for a little R&R.  I started to feel bad at the beach, yet attributed it to the move and all the stressors that come with transitioning.  When we arrived in Richmond, I still didn't feel like myself.  I did not want salads, and I wanted all things carb related, and exact feeling I had when pregnant with HG.  I was reluctant to take a test, but on Monday, 2 days after our arrival in Richmond and the day Marty officially started work, I received a positive sign on the pregnancy test. I did 3 more to make sure, and decided to take HG to church with me and surprise Marty with the news.  I wrapped up the positive tests in a little box with baby themed ribbon from the Dollar Store and we drive to Marty's new office.  Marty was in tears when he figured out what the present was showing him.  That was little Mary-Margaret's beautiful beginning.  Outside of our planning and control God worked His wonders and gave us a baby in His perfect time.

Fast forward 9 months to March 14.

We started the day with my 38 week appointment.  At 37 weeks, I had an ultrasound to check and make sure fluids and growth were within normal range and all was good, so we could let this baby come in her time.  At my appointment I was 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  HG and I went to our library for story time and picked out some books and books on tape for the week.  We headed home for lunch and nap.  When we arrived home, the power was out because of a bad ice storm that came the previous night.  After we ate lunch, HG and I snuggled and read books before nap and the power returned.  I hopped on the elliptical when HG rested and watched The Good Wife and a little of the British Baking Championship with I worked out.  I had a little leaking after my workout, but I was not concerned about it since I had experienced some of that a few days prior.  After nap we headed to ballet.  When ballet was done, I felt a lot of leaking and went to the bathroom.  It stopped and again, I wasn't too concerned.  I needed to run to Aldi for a few things on the way home, and while checking out at Aldi felt a lot more leaking.  We quickly loaded the car and I decided to call Marty and see if I should call the doctor.  The doctor recommended I come to see if my water had broken.  I fixed HG and I some eggs and toast  for dinner, ran around quickly packing the last few things in my bag and when Marty came home I drove to the hospital thinking this is just a false alarm.  Marty had a session meeting that evening, so he took HG to church with him and waited to hear what the doctors said.

I got to the hospital, and walked into the labor and delivery area.  They checked me in as though I was having my baby that night.  I got my wrist band and signed papers and got settled into my room. This is when it hit me that I may actually be in labor and we may have our baby soon!  Still in the back of my mind I thought the doctor would just send me home.  I had not had any contractions or pain or anything.  My sweet nurse, Allie, hooked me up to monitors and did some tests to see if my waters had broken.  These tests came back positive and we were having a baby sooner rather than later!  I was 3 cm dilated.  I called Marty to tell him the news, he left HG at church to play, ran home to pack her bag and himself a bag, picked up HG again and headed to the hospital.

Marty arrived with HG around 8 and his parents came to take HG home with them.  My plan was to start walking with Marty to get things "going".  We headed a few doors down the hall, and chills and shaking overtook my body.  I was so cold and needed to go back to the room to get anything to keep warm.  Marty called the nurse when we got back because the shaking did not stop.  My body was transitioning into active labor, and the nurse said looks like we are having this baby tonight.

I ordered the epidural since she had warned me it took 45min-1 hour to receive it after ordering.  I labored through Fixer Upper, telling Marty to just be quiet every time a contraction came.  They were strong and came every 2 min.  At 9:45 I had my epidural and the nurse checked my progress and I was 9 cm dilated at 10pm.

At 10:30, the nurse said it was go time.  The doctor came in and prepared for delivery.  Mary-Margaret was born at 10:52 weighing 6 lbs 7.7 oz and was 18.5 in long.

Happy Birthday Hatley-Grace!

Here is Hatley-Grace blowing out her birthday candles this year!  She celebrated 3 princess style, with her manatee too!