Signs of Neglect

My poor blog is showing signs of neglect lately! I have definitely had trouble finding the energy to write anything recently. Our little family keeps getting sick, added to the fun of a newborn that doesn't seem to want to get on any type of schedule. This week, JD, Meg and I have all been sick.

I discovered that I have all sorts of pictures on my camera the other day that I haven't even downloaded. But since our primary computer is having technical difficulties, I can't even post any new pictures.

In other news, we weighed Baby Meg the other night and she is now 9.5 lbs! Nowhere near what her big brother was at the same age, but gaining weight nicely anyway.

I've also started reading again, now that I have run out of all of my dvr'd tv shows. I finally read last month's book club read There's a Slight Chance I May Be Going to Hell by Laurie Donato (a good read). I also read this month's book club book Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker (can't comment until after our upcoming book club meeting). I also managed to squeeze in two more books of lighter fare - an old Danielle Steele book, called A Good Woman that my mom passed on to me (perfect for late night mindless reading) and a book that I received from my book club buddy Lauren for Christmas by the author of the Shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella called Three for Cocktails.

There was a character in the Cocktails book that had just had a baby and I could SOOO relate to the things she was saying about feeling fat and exhausted and overwhelmed. I actually read some of the more hilarious excerpts to Jon, who agreed with me about the comparison. It does feel good to be reading again!

1 Month

I can't believe Miss Meg has already been with us for a month! It is amazing how slow the time seems to be going (all of those sleepless nights) and then you blink and it is a month!

We were a little concerned about her over the past few weeks because she was taking her sweet time getting back to her birth weight (such a girl). But she seems to be doing better now and put on a pound in the past week alone!

Meg is still a sleepy little girl and doesn't give us a ton of awake time yet. But I have been blessed with a few smiles and even a chuckle when she was awake. We have started to play a little bit when she is content and seems to enjoy it when her hand accidentally bumps a toy.

JD really wants Meg to play with him, but he will settle for just playing with her toys.

We also started back to Baby Boot Camp and are enjoying some workout time! Meg has been doing great in the double stroller. She looks so cute all bundled up with just her head poking out!

I can't wait to see her developments in the next month!

Christmas Past

We were just a LITTLE busy (with a newborn) around Christmas and I didn't get a chance to post our Christmas pictures!

But we had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, especially with the beautiful snow that fell on Christmas Eve and stuck around for Christmas morning.

We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's house and the kids had a ball! JD was fighting a stomach bug, so he wasn't quite as perky as usual, but he still enjoyed himself.

The biggest surprise for him was a train table (that goes under the bed) from Grandma, plus Thomas the Train tracks and a Polar Express wooden train set. He never emerged from Grandma's room for the rest of the day because he was so busy playing!

Pay no attention to the crazy woman holding JD, five days after a c-section. (Shame on me for picking up a heavy toddler!!)

On Christmas morning, after opening his presents from Santa, JD enjoyed playing out in the snow.

I love this picture because if you look really carefully, you can see a stream of snot frozen from his cheek to his nose. This is the classic winter weather face of every kid!

We had such a wonderful holiday season! We are already counting down until next Christmas!

First Day of School!

JD started Mother's Day Out officially today! After much careful investigation of the right program for him, we chose one that it is basically a gym environment with lots of "active learning" twice a week.

If you have met our son, you know that he has TONS of energy and wants to run, throw or jump all the time! So a regular classroom environment would not have fit the bill at this stage in his young life. Plus, he is so over learning letters, shapes, colors and numbers - he figured those all out ages ago (or about 12 months ago which seems like ages!). Just kidding - I know he still has things to learn, but I also want him to have a positive outlet for all of that energy!

We did a trial run last Thursday to see if the program that we found was a good fit. When we picked him up, he was dead exhausted (good thing) and said that he was ready to go back (very good thing)!

I can't wait to see what fun he had today!!

Getting Adjusted

You knew this post was bound to happen sooner or later with a new baby in our lives! We are still bleary-eyed and zombie-like from lack of sleep and if I sit down for too long, I am likely to pass out.

BUT we are enjoying life with our new little girl and all of the ups and downs that brings. She has already weathered her first bout of the sniffles (which we knew would happen with a December baby sooner than later). And she has successfully slept for 5-6 hour chunks for a couple of nights (not in a row, but we're getting there).

I love her little gassy smiles and chuckles that she bestows on me after her feedings, and when awake, I love her deep, smoky blue eyes that check out everything in the room. And I especially love how when someone else is holding her, if I start to talk to her, she perks up and tries to find me.

She loves to be held and hates to be cold and sleeps best in someone's arms (uh-oh!). This is such a change from JD who wanted to be left alone to sleep and really didn't care to be held at all when he was a baby (he loves cuddling now though). I'm thinking that I will need to invest in one of those baby slings for Miss Meg to keep her close to me.

My sweet little boy is also going through a period of adjustment and is testing his parents in just about everything. This could be the terrible twos or just a phase where he is needing a little bit more attention since he has a new little sister. I just wish I could dig up a little more patience for my first born!

I wouldn't trade these first few weeks for anything though as our little family adjusts to becoming a family of four!

**All of these beautiful photos are courtesy of Rachel Cooke Photography - she did a phenomenal job photographing Meg and our family when she was just a few days old!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

I do feel blessed this year!

The Best Present of 2009

We welcomed the newest addition to our family yesterday - our beautiful daughter Margaret Sue!

Our story started on Friday morning when we drove to the hospital for our scheduled c-section. When we got there, they hooked us up to the monitors and found out that I was having regular contractions and had gone into labor! What a blessing to have everything work out this way!

They prepped me for surgery, while Jon got things organized in our room. Jon's parents stopped by to pray with us before we went into surgery - definitely a comfort!

The surgery went so well, much better than with my son - probably because I knew what to expect this time.

Meg was born at 8:06 am on Friday, December 18th, weighing 7 lbs 13 oz and measuring 20 1/4 inches long! Same weight as JD!

So many family members and friends stopped in to visit our sweet baby girl and are still visiting us!

The jury is still out as to who Meg resembles, but I think she is already Daddy's little girl!

JD LOVES his baby sister and couldn't hold her long enough yesterday. He kept asking for "10 more minutes" to hold her. It was such a precious moment to see JD meeting his sister for the first time and the awe of holding her in his arms. I love my two kiddos more than I ever thought possible.

I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present than the birth of this amazing little girl.