Wren - 2.75

Today we are exactly 3 months away from Wren girl turning 3!
Now that Wren is 2.75 years old, she is doing all sorts of cool things.  Wren runs super fast and can jump pretty darn high!  She has an amazing vocabulary (though we have more work to do on pronouncing "tr" sounds so they don't sound like an "f"...) and is quite witty.  Wren is a smart girl and we are very proud of all of the things she knows.  She loves to sing songs with us and finish sentences in her favorite books.
Wren had been showing no interest in using the potty and with baby Nora on the way we didn't push potty training. But we have been working more on using the potty lately and daycare has been reinforcing this.  We turned to a reward system (a gummy candy or a jellybean) even though we had hoped to avoid it, but it has been working at home some of the time.  Rewards at daycare involve getting to sit in a chair without a booster and sleeping on a mat instead of in a travel crib. Over the weekend after a rough afternoon of tantrums (Baby Nora's arrival has brought some mega tantrums) Wren turned things around by going #2 in her potty!  It was a pretty amazing act with much hooting and hollering from the family in celebration.
Being a big sister is a tough job when you're 2.75.  Wren likes to give hugs and kisses, though the hugs may be a little more forceful than Nora can handle at her age of just less than 3 weeks.  Wren bounces between wanting to be a big girl and a baby a couple times a week and as soon as I am holding Nora, Wren decides she wants to be held.  But we manage to get by with sitting down to read lots of books as a family, getting special time with just Mommy or just Daddy, and having Wren keep her daycare routine.  When we have visitors to meet the baby Wren likes to show off all of the awesome things she can do, how cool her toys are, and how loud she can sing.
We have had a run of pretty hot weather so Wren has been spending time in the backyard in her frog pool and playing with the hose.  She likes to be naked and free!  Wren and Daddy had a special trip to the aquatic center on July 4th where they went down the big slide together 2 times!  Wren plans to have her birthday party at the pool in October - by then the outside portion will be closed but we are hoping she will still be interested in the indoor pool.  And for the record, she will be serving cupcakes at her party.  The other day I asked what she wants to be for Halloween and she told me "a fox".
Wren's imagination has us laughing a lot.  Lately she has been calling us her baby kitties and she is the Mama kitty. If we say "wah wah" Wren will pat our cheeks and say "It's ok, Mama's here."  She also cooks us meals in her little kitchen - she's a good Mama kitty that way.  Wren likes to wrap herself up in the shower curtain and say "Say where's my Wren girl?" which we then repeat, and she suddenly appears from inside the shower curtain!  This goes on many times with equal excitement each time.  Kids are amazing!
Wren is an awesome little girl and we love her to pieces!  Happy 2.75 years, Wrengirl!
Some photos of our girl from recent history:

Driving to MARS!!!!

Greeting the headless chicken that came with our new house

Wren made sure her friends had a front row seat in the new house on move-in day

Easter bonnet on Moving Day/Easter weekend

Testing out a scooter at Costco

Bubble wants at Science Works in Ashland

First ever haircut!  Mother's Day 2014

Honeysuckle sampling with Geneva

Frog pool + frog swimsuit = crazy fun times!

Pulling her golf clubs down the street

Modeling the hair clippies Aunt Liz sent as a present

Balance bike!!

 

Feeding goats blueberries right out of her hand!  The fair will hopefully be a better experience this year with all of the livestock

In front of the Aquatic Center - we live very close and Wren reminds us daily that this is where she will have her birthday 

In our new backyard before we even moved in - we snuck around back!

 

 

Backpack - check.  Quackers strapped in front - check.  Ready to rock!

These kids have known each other since the beginning!  

Picking blueberries - Wren helped us get a total of 9 pounds!

Nora - 3 weeks!

This week Nora went blueberry picking for the first time!  She slept in the Ergo carrier even though it was very hot outside.  She and I spent a fair amount of time hiding in the shade while Jay and Wren (mostly Jay) picked us about 9 pounds of berries - more than Nora weighs!  

Nora is chunking up and filling in her wrinkly baby skin little by little. Her little legs are so skinny though! Her cloth diaper bum has her wearing some 3 month sized clothing for a more comfortable fit. But with our recent hot weather she only gets dressed when we have somewhere to be. 

Nora has been enjoying time in the Moby wrap carrier around the house to allow me to be hands free while giving Nora the snuggles she loves. 

We took our first car seat/stroller walk to the store during a cooler time one morning this week. We made it there and home just as she was waking up - perfect timing! 

Nora is so far a pretty great sleeper. She slept an almost 4 hour stretch last night! When she wakes at night it's for milk and back to sleep - no funny business! Diaper changes don't seem to get her very excited at night so it's a quick process. Aren't we lucky! 

Happy 3 weeks, little Nora! 

 

2 Weeks!

On Friday, July 4th, Nora not only celebrated her first Independence Day, we also celebrated her turning 2 weeks old!  Time is already flying by - it doesn't seem like 2 weeks since we first met little Nora.  With World Cup going on we have been catching games when we can and the USA-Belgium match was a must see for us.  Not sure yet if she will be a soccer player or fan but she slept right through pretty much the whole game!  Nora has been enjoying baths in her little pink tub and had her first trip to Home Depot! She had her 2 week checkup on July 3rd and weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces - growing like a weed!  Nora started wearing cloth diapers and we are back in diaper washing mode. Nora likes to snuggle and enjoys looking at dark colored furniture and shadows!  

 

 

Sock has arrived!

At 8:08 AM on Friday, June 20th (one day past due date!) we welcomed Baby Sock!  To my surprise (though Jay was quite sure of this already) we had another little girl! - Nora Pearl Well.  Delivery went a bit differently than with Wren - contractions started at 2 AM, water broke about 2:15 AM, to hospital at 4:40 AM, then 18 minutes of pushing and we had our girl.  Phew!  It was an intense 6 hours and we were so excited to meet little Nora.   8 pounds, 6 ounces.  20.75" long.  Head and chest circumference were identical at 14 cm.  While bigger than Wren was, Nora sure seemed tiny after our reference point has been our big 2.75 year old Wren.  

Big sister Wren and Grandma Ramona were our first visitors and our two girls exchanged presents with each other.  Well, Wren opened both presents, but it was a nice way to start their lifelong relationship.  Wren was very excited to hold her baby sister, "pet her" and give lots of kisses.  

I had tested positive for Group B strep and with our faster labor I did not receive the recommended two doses of IV antibiotics prior to delivery, so we stayed in the hospital for 2 days so Nora could be observed for signs of infection.  She had a few checks with high respirations, so there was some concern on Saturday, though by that evening things were calming down and we were given the green light to go home the next morning.  While we would have loved to have been home sooner I have to admit that I always appreciate having my meals provided to me with just a quick phone call.  

On Sunday the 22nd we arrived home at about 11:30 AM.  Nora wore the same newborn size jammies that Wren had worn on her trip home.  

Nora is a sweet little snuggle bug and for her first few days at home we really didn't even set her down, just passed her around or slept with her on our chests.  She started sleeping a little in a bouncy chair and for the last 3 nights now has slept in a pack n' play by our bed.  She is such a good girl and only fusses when hungry, annoyed by a diaper change or wanting new scenery.  

We are really trying to enjoy every little thing with Nora while she is so tiny - we know she will grow super fast!  We won't be having more babies in the future so we want to be sure to take every little phase in. Jay has been home with me so far but will return back to work next week - I will miss the adult company and Nora will miss her daytime daddy snuggles - but we will be more mobile soon and getting out and about will be fun!

Here are just a few of the already hundreds of pictures from Nora's first 11 days!  

 

 

 

39 weeks!

One week before Baby Sock is due!  Wow!  This pregnancy has felt a lot longer than the first one!  I'm not feeling 100% ready for baby but we all know babies come when they like so we will just wait to see what happens!  Tomorrow is my last day of work - seemed easier to just end on a Friday for the person covering for me.  Wren seems pretty excited to become a big sister though how she reacts will be interesting to watch.  We are excited, though, for her to meet her sibling for the first time - we will surely take an excessive number of photos!  I am happy to report that I am still sleeping pretty darn well and feeling good.  My wedding band is a bit tight but I can still manage to squeeze it on and off each day. With Wren and our new house projects keeping us busy there's not a lot of time to sit and reflect, which is probably not a bad thing!
Baby Sock's room is not quite ready - a rug is on order and we have a few things left to hang - but the essentials are in place.  At our OB checkup today we were told that I am dilated 1.5 cm and baby is doing great.  We have finally agreed on a boy and girl name - at least we agree as of today!  I wonder how the delivery of this baby will differ from Wren's delivery and my wonder will soon turn into a reality.  It's crazy all of the changes that we are going through with the move and house and now baby  but it all seems to be working out for us.  We are pretty lucky!
Here is a photo of our little family from this past weekend as we celebrated Jay's cousin's High School graduation.  Soon there will be 4!!

37 weeks!

Today marks 37 weeks in our pregnancy with Baby Sock!  Three weeks until due date and only 11 more working days for Crystal!  I plan to work my last day on the 13th to potentially have a few days at home to rest before baby. But we will see when baby decides to arrive!  I don't believe I made an update post after our last ultrasound - we were happy to learn that the placenta had stretched away enough from the cervix that we have no worries about a natural birth. Phew!  Growth has been right on track and we are happy to be having an unremarkable pregnancy.  We did find out today that I am Group Strep B positive, which means that there is a chance that baby can become infected during birth.  So to try to prevent that from happening I will receive IV antibiotics in the hospital every 4 hours during labor.  We were told that ideally I would receive at least 2 doses of antibiotics before delivery so we will have to think about getting to the hospital sooner rather than later (It's ideal for us to be home as long as possible).  If I do not have enough time in the hospital to receive two doses then there's a good chance baby and I will need to stay in the hospital for 2 days instead of 1 to watch for symptoms of infection in baby.  Just a few things we will have to keep in mind.  

Physically I am feeling fairly ready for baby to come - my body feels so dang heavy!  But I am very glad that I am still sleeping quite well and I haven't experienced the same amount of swelling in my face and legs as last time - at least not yet.  Mentally I am happy to have a little longer to go.  We are still settling into our new house - I have yet to put anything on the walls in Sock's room - and I am not quite ready for the sleep deprivation we will be facing.  This pregnancy has felt long, though now that we are so close to meeting Sock it seems to be going a little too fast!  

Becoming a big girl!

Our Wren is well on her way to being a big girl!!  In our new house we have set up her bunk bed though she has been telling us she will sleep in it after the baby comes (same goes for giving up the pacifier and using the potty).  But over the last week she seems to have had a change of heart!  She tried to sleep in her big girl bed one night last week but I laid with her and there was a lot of talking, so we went back to the crib.  Sunday night Wren said she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed and she did!  It took a good amount of time for her to actually settle down (the fact that the setting sun pours into her window since the blinds we ordered aren't here yet isn't helping her get to bed at a decent time) but then she slept all night!  And she napped in her big girl bed!  And then she slept in it again last night!!  We are very excited for Wren and happy to be freeing up Baby Sock's room for preparations. 
Here's a video of Wren on Monday morning after her first night in her big girl bed. 

 

P.S. - Yes - that's a haircut!  Wren got her first ever hair cut on Mother's Day, complete with bangs!  She had been asking for a hair cut and was a model client.  As a treat for her great behavior she received a balloon and her first ever lollipop! (at least as far as we know...)  Wren has been so happy to have her hair out of her eyes and it's nice to not wrestle with her to keep a clip in her hair!