A few days after coming home from the hospital it was time for Cutie Pie's first bath at home. Really, with the umbilical cord stub still attached it's mostly a sponge bath. We were prepared for big cries since Cupcake wasn't thrilled with her first bath but Cutie Pie didn't seem to mind. She just went with the flow and seemed to enjoy the process.
I love this little snuggle bunny towel and the fresh smells of a clean baby!
I'm sure soon enough these sisters will be splashing around together in the tub. Given the typhoon that cupcake can already manage herself I'm thinking we should invest in water proof everything for the bathroom's sake.
We're soaking in these first precious moments and the days sure fly by. We'll get back to phone calls and texts one day but for now we're just enjoying the sweet newborn moments that we won't get back!
Sweet bambina #2 made her entrance to the world last Tuesday evening at 8:55pm. I was not induced...she came on her own....early. I'll get the longer birth story up someday, hopefully soon but didn't want to keep putting off blogging for writing the longer story. So many of you have called or emailed asking for more details so I will get to it...but we've been busy with our tiny bundle of joy.
Our cutie pie was petite, especially for a gestational diabetes baby, weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces. She is an inch taller than cupcake was at birth and while these pictures are a little decieving she looks more and more like her big sister every day. She is a sweet baby who wants to be cuddled as often as possible. She loves hearing voices and will follow a toy with her eyes if you'll play with her. Cupcake loves this! Speaking of Cupcake is doing a great job in her big sister role. I've been so proud of her as she's learning to play gentle and learning that sometime Mommy has to help the baby first.
I'll post more soon but for now here's a look at some pictures from the hospital:
Just back from the nursery with Dad having had her first bath I was THRILLED to see that the nurse agrees on my bow theory. Start them early:
First thing the next morning Cupcake and Gigi came for a visit. It had not even been 24 hours since I had seen Cupcake last but I had missed her SOOOOO much! She came in saying "WOW" and when she peaked in the little baby bed she told her sister "I like your toy" (the bulb). She took a little walk with Daddy to the nursery to see the other babies too like we did on the hospital (She calls it Hos-i-pul) tour. She quickly confirmed when she returned that "her baby was the cutest baby in the whole world!"
Gigi and her girls! You may remember this sweet blanket from Cupcake's birth too. It kept their Daddy warm when he came home from the hospital and now has kept both of our girls warm too. It was made by Daddy's paternal grandmother.
This is my favorite picture so far. Cupcake loves to hold and squeeze her baby. This was one of the first big hugs. I pray they'll be hugging on each other like this for life!
I'm not really a maternity photo type girl. And I'm not a put-a picture-of-my-belly-on-facebook for the world to see kind of girl at each week mark either. I'm not against the rest of you people doing it...there is something cute about all these baby bumps. It's just not my thing. Yet a week ago I decided we should take a few pictures where I wasn't hiding the bump so that baby #2 could one day see how she looked in my belly. This go around has been so different than carrying Cupcake. I was much wider and rounder all over and had gained double the weight with cupcake. I had on no wedding rings and my face was round and pink. We took these photos at 38 weeks...I had already had Cupcake by that point.
This time....I just feel different. I am all out front, no swelling, still minimal weight gain (thank you gestational diabetes for a few postives!), I'm still wearing my wedding rings, and it looks like we'll make it to almost 40 weeks. So, I contacted my old boss's daughter who is in college for and is an aspiring photographer to see if she'd take just a few pictures of us. She agreed and we spent last Saturday morning getting some belly shots. I think she did a great job! Check a couple of them out:
We have some others that were great too but I'm holding them back for a little project you'll have to see post-baby.
We are ready! Really number 2 could come at anytime but if not before we'll have her by the end of the week via induction. We've survived 28 doctor appointments over the last 6 weeks. We've all been flu vaccinated, dental checked, eye checked, and I've had my fair share of doctor appointments, blood draws, and so on. With the diabetes I've pricked myself approximately 200 times in the past 6 weeks. I've taken my blood pressure about the same. We've monitored everything closely and I have to say the health pay off has been worth the investment. That's another post in itself. The hubs and I have both had haircuts in the past week. I got my toes polished. The house is clean and ready for Halloween. The fridge is stocked, the pantry is stocked, the freezers are still an avalanche waiting for the first person to fling them open without warning of their fullness. We have done many home projects and craft projects that were on the "some day list." Our bags are packed for the hospital. I have little activities planned and some new books and toys tucked away for Cupcake for post-baby and post-extended family. We've had some really sweet family moments together.
At this point, I'm signing off blogging until we have a new little one to introduce....between now and then we'll be hunkered down and having as many more hugs, kisses, tickle wars, dance offs, tea parties, art projects, and so on that we can fit in before Cupcake becomes a big sister. Pray for us as we make the transition...it's the greatest gift you can offer.
We are close...oh so close. But in the meantime, it's life as normal around here. So here's another photo dump of things you've been asking to see:
Patio before: Of course we didn't always have the hose and everything you see crammed on here. The hubs had mowed so it was a little more cramped than usual. BUT a certain Aunt of Cupcake's once fell backwards off our ridiculous small porch during a lunch. Cupcake has not forgotten. Neither did I and that began my obsession for enlarging it.
Patio after: With a small wet mess from a certain cupcake who LOVES to play on the new patio. But...you get the picture. No one should be falling off during lunch anymore.
The cutest flower center pieces EVER! Sadly this picture DOES NOT do them justice. There are also sweet pink roses tucked in there...
Last night some sweet friends hosted a little dessert shower in honor of Bambina 2. If all goes according to plan, she should be here by next Thursday so it was perfect timing for me to have a night out with the girls and some very sweet treats. I even got the ok from the Diabetes specialists to splurge and enjoy some of the desserts. I tried bites of everyone's and had no problem finishing mine. Of course there was a party in my belly after the indulgence because the little one has not had that amount of sugar in weeks so it was the sugar jolt of all sugar jolts!
The girls used a button theme for the party. There were sweet colored buttons all over the table...the cutest flower center piece EVER (did I mention that?) and homemade soaps with buttons on them as party favors. It was soooooo precious I couldn't even believe it was for me. They also had told people that since we were having another girl we didn't "need" anything so gifts were not necessary but homemade or recycled gifts were welcome. Of course this was RIGHT up my alley but since most of my friends tell me all the time they are not creative I fully expected it to just be a night of desserts and girl time. WRONG! Two sweet friends completely floored me and took up sewing...without telling me...and made the cutest gifts ever! I need to take pictures for you to fully appreciate the cuteness but I was down right shocked and impressed. Now they better be ready for me to insist on some sewing nights. I also got some fun hand me downs, a super soft blankie, and some books that will be read 100s of times. I also got a little outfit that I've been wanting for Bambina 2 for a project that you'll see more of soon! It was a super sweet night and I am so so lucky to have such amazing girlfriends.
Finally, it's a super blurry picture but cupcake loves Hello Kitty and these little shoes make her smile ear to ear....thanks Gigi!!!
One last note on cupcake....she has an amazon wish list. Since I've told a few people that I've already made a big dent in our Christmas shopping it's sent them into Christmas mode too. Normally I don't follow the Hobby Lobby calendar of bringing out Christmas in September BUT with Bambina 2 coming soon I figured getting a jump start was a good idea and it was fun to shop for others and dig out the Christmas paper while the weather was still 105. It made believing that it really would cool off a tad easier. So back to cupcake since some of you have asked for ideas for her we set up a wishlist on Amazon. Here's the link: http://amzn.com/w/376NYJP9L9NT2 I'll add it to the side bar too for future reference. Merry Christmas!
Where oh where have we been? Have you wondered? We've been having family time, nesting, baking, cooking, and a few other things here and there. The days seem to fly by. If you've called, I've likely not returned your call. If you've emailed, it's likely buried. I apologize....I really can't tell you where September went. When I plugged my camera in at the end of the month to do my normal clearing, I fully expected to have zero pictures. Guess I managed to take a few. So here is a quick catch up:
Out with Elmo, in with Princess. Our cupcake loves playing princess which means the Hubs gets to be a prince. They dance, she sings, and it's darling. Here's one of our "outfits" for princess pretending:
Uncle Brudder went to Africa last year to dig a well for fresh water. He made me proud and in the midst of a mission trip and manual labor still managed to do a little shopping! He brought home this DARLING dress for Cupcake. You can't see or appreciate the details from this picture but we've been anxiously awaiting it to fit. It does....right in time for Fall....and cupcake loves it. "Thanks Brudder" she's saying.....
Tonight I put one last meal in the freezer. I literally had to hold it in with one hand and slam with the other. Did I mention we have 2 freezers. Both are in the same state of affairs (note to self: I should put a post-it note warning on the freezer doors in case someone opens them to an avalanche!). We are as ready in the frozen meal department as we can be for bambina 2 to make her debut. A majority of the things we have made have been with the fresh, local, ingredients we've come to love that may not be as easy to gather in the early weeks of new baby. However....there's always room for a few treats, right? Cupcake and I have made several batches of Zucchini chocolate chip cookies. With Zucchini, cinnamon, and applesauce as the leading ingredients they are even healthy enough for my gestational diabetes meal plans. I'll let you be the judge...are they a hit?
At 36 weeks pregnant I had the joy of hosting, at my home, a shower for a sweet friend who is expecting a baby girl in December. I love the anticipation, the oohhs and ahhhs, the pink, and of course the food that comes with baby showers. So in all my 36 week glory we showered Baby G with love. I can't wait to meet her. Sneak a peek at my own baby bump here too:
I'll try to get another post up of the finished projects...the dresser for cupcake's room, a fun pintrest (know what I'm talking about) worthy lamp project, our new patio, and more. If I don't get to it...it'll be because we're holding our new little cutie pie. It really could be any day now....
Granted, I'm a Daddy's girl. Granted, I have a girl. Granted, I have another girl in my belly. Granted, the girl I already have loves her daddy. Granted, I love her Daddy too. Very much.
But I cried my eyes out throughout this article.
Rule #1: 1. Love her mom. Treat her mother with respect, honor, and a big heaping spoonful of public displays of affection. When she grows up, the odds are good she’ll fall in love with and marry someone who treats her much like you treated her mother. Good or bad, that’s just the way it is. I’d prefer good.
That is where the tears started for me. Good or bad...? In my case my Dad and Mom just celebrated 32 years of marriage. I grew up in a home where they would kiss...not just a peck...at red lights. My brother and I would scream with disgust. But I took note. They would go on regular dates leaving us to the likes of our favorite babysitter Allyson. To this day I'm still in contact with Allyson and she was dear to us all the while I watched Mom and Dad making time for each other. My Dad sent flowers, gave cards, hugged, rubbed backs, and took lesser jobs for more time with us. He never missed a dance performance...often one of the few Dads there because Saturday was a good golf day after all. He was book smart, street smart, money smart, and not afraid to stand up for things even when it wasn't popular. I had a great Dad and part of marrying my man was finding someone to fill his big shoes.
That man has filled the shoes. That man is creating his own big shoes for our girls' future spouses. And, while we're early in the journey I read through each of these so thankful that Mr. Crack is a great Dad to my cupcake and I feel confident that will continue with number 2. I could gush, brag, drag on the longest post ever about how dearly I love him and how he does all of these things so well. But I'll keep it simple: We are proud of the man, Dad, and husband he is and continues to be. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing husband and daddy.
I'll give one example because I just couldn't resist the cuteness of this video I tried to sneak:
15. Dance with her. Start when she’s a little girl or even when she’s a baby. Don’t wait ‘til her wedding day.
They dance. Sometimes as prince and princess. Sometimes to just be silly. And sometimes, in true Crack team form: A DANCE OFF!!!
Wow! On the upside of all the pricking, testing, monitoring, and so forth that dictates my days is the treat of extra ultra-sounds. Nothing is more reassuring than getting to see our little girl on the screen thriving regardless of the medical labels we've been given.
What did thriving look like today?
- She practiced breathing for us and seeing her lungs go up and down was so beautiful!
- She grabbed her toes and pulled them to her cheeks. Cutie!!!
- She made kissing/fish lips. See:
I LOVE the dramatic hand to the forehead pose here:
I'm in love! And I'm not alone. Cupcake carried these pictures around as long as I would let her. Later I found them on the Hubs desk positioned so he could see them all day long. She looks so much like Cupcake to us and we're getting so so so excited to meet her. Any suggestions for what her blog name should be? Cupcake is taken :).
