Gramare and Auntie Heff Come to Visit!

We just had an amazing week with Kate and Mrs. M! Charlotte had a great time meeting her Auntie Heff and Gramare. We took a day trip to see Ali Stafford at her cafe and had a delicious lunch and then we spent sometime with Gramare's long lost cousins! We had a great trip and it was so fun to spend time with them! Charlotte got held alot and was very happy - she was the center of attention all week!! Thank you so much Kate and Mrs. M for all of your help and for the amazing dinners you made for us while you were here!! Hopefully we'll get to see you in October for the birth of Baby Madden!

BFFs

On Thursday, Charlotte and I went to Ali's for the day and hung out with her and Isla, her four month old. Isla and Charlotte had a good time laying by eachother on the play mat! Just for fun, Ali and I dressed the girls the same - they looked so cute laying by eachother!! We had a fun outing eating lunch at Island's and shopping at Old Navy. Then, we came back to Ali's house and while the girls napped, we made cookies and Ali made us an amazing Pesto Chicken dinner! We learned that butter flavored Crisco is NOT the way to go when making dairy free chocolate chip cookies. Ali, the first thing Bryan said when he took a bite was, "These taste weird." I was wrong - he did notice!!!

Happy Father's Day Bryan!!

Today is Bryan's first father's day! He treated himself to a new BBQ this morning, since our old one died about a year ago. He is going to eat a burger and pollo asada today - two foods that made me totally sick during my pregnancy! Bryan is loving having a baby girl and is such a great dad! He deserves a fabulous father's day - she's been sleeping for the last two hours, so he is getting some rest!!

We had Charlotte's two week check up on Friday and the Dr. said she is doing great. She has gained a pound since her birth and now weighs 9lbs! She has also grown an inch almost - we are seeing changes in her every day. She is a very aware baby and loves to look around and explore her toys. She is tolerating tummy time and lays on her ocean jungle mat and kicks her legs and tries to grab the toys above her head. Its so exciting to see her so interested in things! We love watching her do her thing!

Penny has also discovered Charlotte. They had a bonding moment this morning while Charlotte was laying on our pillows with her Daddy. We are working on having Penny NOT lick Charlotte in the face.

A Family is Made

Charlotte is here and WE ARE HOME!!

Well, the past week has been an adventure. I had an appointment to be induced for last Wednesday night, but went into labor on my own on Tuesday night, beginning at 7:30. I was so happy because I wasn't looking forward to being induced! I wanted to see what it felt like to actually "go into labor" like in the movies and on TV. The contractions started and got more strong and consistent as the night went on, not allowing me to sleep through the night. We got up in the morning and went to a doctor appointment where I found out I was only 1 cm dialted! They sent me home and told me to walk - which I did, and ironically, the contractions slowed down! We ended up waiting the day out, while I continued to have contractions at home before going to the hospital at 7:30 p.m. (13 hours after the contractions started!). We got checked in and finally got to a delivery room where they decided that I definitely didn't need to be put on pitocin for the induction, since I was already in labor on my own. The next day consisted of inconsistent contractions, which finally led to pitocin to help steady things out. After 28 hours, I decided to take the drugs and started on morphine. After two more hours, I decided on the epidrual which was AMAZING! We were able to sleep for a while, which was good because by then we were TIRED! The day continued on and included the following: Several WONDERFUL nurses who helped us through, contractions that lowered Charlotte's heart rate, causing me to have to go on oxygen twice, fever, a sunny side up baby, a twice failed epidural, 3 hours of pushing, three attempts at a vacuum extraction, all ending in a C-Section and a BEAUTIFUL, PERFECT BABY!!!