Two Month

:: sorry this is so late, totally thought I had posted it already::

 Well what do you know a month has gone. Jane is now two months old!!

I don't know accurate physical stats on her, her doctors appointment isn't until the end of the month. But weighing her here she is about 12.5 pounds. Which explains why some of her size 3 month shirts are getting small. We are blessed by another very happy baby. She only cries when she is hungry, has a bubble or is tired. There are fluke times when she fusses a bit more but that is very atypical. Jane is doing amazing at holding up her head during tummy time! Her PT will be proud. ;) She really connects with people when you are talking with her and she smiles very easily at all of us. Tracking objects is coming along as well, she will follow toys and us (especially Micah) as we move around her. She is also blowing bubbles some and seems to like to suck on her hands. We also comment on how much she looks like Micah did as a baby. So I am thinking there will be quite a sibling resemblance as these two grow.

Days are very full for me. Not much time for anything else but taking care of the kids. But I have worked out a schedule that I will be implementing soon and hopefully that will allow me to accomplish more and blog more.

One Month

I was surprised every month as Micah grew and that has not changed. I can't believe Jane is already one month old (a week ago). It seems to have gone by quick and slow at the same time.

I'm not sure what her curtain weight is exactly. At her two week check up she was 9 pounds! She is somewhere in the 10 pound range now. I have been blessed by a few smiles from Jane. She has tracked a toy a little bit. Every now and then she talks and coos, but that is not regular yet. She has found her hands occasionally. It is amazing how quickly she is changing. She is a great baby, for the most part she only cries when she has a bubble, is hungry or is tired. She is pretty much sleeping through the night now too. Which is awesome!

With two little ones life is much busier now. Some days they do sleep at the same time which is about my only down time for the day. (Which is how I am getting this post done). I know I am not going to get posts up as much as I want but I am going to still try to document our life here.

Micah and Jane

Prior to Jane being born we had decided we wanted to have Micah come into the room to meet her first. When he came in he got up on the bed with Jane and me and one of the first things that he said was "hold". The next day when he came back to the hospital he kept saying "hold sister". He certainly loves her. He has read to her, brought many toys to her and laid down next to her.

A cute story I have to include is from the other day. Micah wanted to hold Jane so I had him sit on my lap. Jane was a little fussy because she was beginning to get hungry. Micah started to say "otay, otay". He then started to rock her and say "shhhh". It was so sweet that he was trying to comfort her. I'm sure there will be many more of these moments between these two. I hope and pray that I can remember these tender moments.

Jane Elizabeth

It has been over a week now since our little girl arrived and we have been greatly enjoying her. I certainly did not expect her to be nine days late. At one point I even thought she was going to come early.

The evening before she was born my contractions were starting to get stronger. They continued to be strong the next morning, but they were not regular at all. The day started as it usually does and I had no feelings that it was going to be "the day". After lunch and getting Micah down for nap I was taking care of things around our room and some contractions started to get much stronger. After a couple had come just as strong and somewhat close together I decide to start keeping track of the time. This was around 2:30, about 3:15 I called The Farmer to tell him I thought it was time. He came in and helped pull together the last few things to take to the hospital. At this point I was not paying attention to how close the contractions were. Later The Farmer told me they just kept getting closer and closer and were about three minutes apart when we left.

Once arriving at the hospital The Farmer thought it would be a good idea to walk a bit since I had been sitting in the car for about a half hour. We didn't want to things to slow down from the drive. Well we didn't make it far, I had a couple strong contractions and mentioned feeling lots of pressure. So The Farmer turned us around and checked us in at 4:47pm. The nurse checked me at 5:48 and I was at 6.5cm. At 5:49 my water broke and things really got going at this point. Just a few minutes later I was pushing and at 6:16pm on October 10th we welcomed Jane Elizabeth into this world. I had been praying for a shorter labor (Micah was 26 hours), I was not expecting it to be as short as it was, but I'm quite happy that it was. 

Jane has been great and we are loving having her apart of our family. Since this post is already long I will save the story about Micah meeting her for another day. 

40 and a Half Weeks

 

Well we have made it past 40 weeks now, and that half a week certainly impacts me. Overall I am doing good but I definitely have those times of being very uncomfortable. My activity level is lower, it is hard and uncomfortable (sometime painful) to move around. I am looking forward to having energy back and the ability to move easier.

Yesterday I had a doctors appointment and I'm still doing good. I have gained a bit more weight and my blood pressure it still great (thanks to some great genes). I measured at 42cm because the baby is up a bit higher and not dropped down as low in the pelvis like she usually would at this point. That is neither a good or bad thing, I think she has been moving up and down some all along. I am 3cm dilated and 50% effaced, last week I was 2cm and also 50% effaced. So some progress but not much. I will be going into the hospital on Monday for monitoring to make sure everything looks good to continue to wait. The Farmer and I are not big proponents of inducing so we would rather wait for when I go into labor on my own. There does come a point when we would need to be concerned about the health of the placenta. But I am praying we will be having a baby soon and we won't even need to go to the hospital on Monday. We totally trust God's timing and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little girl.

As usual here is the comparison.

Three Words

It was a little before Micah's birthday that he started to put two words together. Just a couple days ago he put three words together! I was putting him to bed and he said, "Mama sing again". I don't know if that counts since one of the words is my name. Though it seems pretty good to me. It has only been that phrase but he is making progress. Language development is so interesting!

This Moment

Soaking up and treasuring these moments

 this energy

 this wonder

 this love of trucks

 these expressions

 this time

 

 this boy and me

these two together

 even these times

 this exuberance

 this play

 this sweet boy

 this love of outside

 this excitement in the little things

 this love

 this smile

this laugher

38 Weeks

Phew! Now at 38 weeks I am really feeling it. I have been walking with a friend a couple times a week and it is getting slower and harder. Hopefully she doesn't mind. But even just moving around about my day is hard. I feel bad for the lack of energy and ability to move and play with Micah now. I have to keep remembering that I will be back to "normal" soon. And soon is, well, coming soon. Two weeks from the due date! (less then that now) I can't believe we have reached this point already!! Ready or not she is coming. Though there are many things I still would like to get done I am excited to meet our little girl.

I was thinking the other night about being prepared. I don't think there is ever a way to fully be prepared for a baby. But I question should I even been? Where would my moment by moment, day by day need for the Lord be then? He is the one who prepares me and equips me. I can try with all my humanly effort to get ready to welcome a new life to this world, though I will not succeed, I will still stumble in many ways when she is here. The way to be prepared then would be ready to trust and lean on God for the strength, wisdom and endurance needed. I pray that I will ready in that way when He chooses to to bring our daughter into the world.

As for the doctor report, everything looks good. Blood pressure is great, baby's heart rate is where it should be, I measured at 39cm and I have gained about 30 pounds. I am definitely feeling those 30 pounds in my hips and back. Below is the comparison to 38 weeks with Micah.
 

Tourist

We haven't exactly been tourist, just making more of an effort to get our and enjoy the area around us in the last couple weeks

First off we made a quick trip up to Cloud Cap Inn. It took longer to get up there then The Farmer remembered so we didn't stay up there too long due to lunch/nap time.

Not a bad view out the front door.

One morning we took a spur of the moment trip to the Mosier Tunnels. This was the first time I had ever seen them. They are pretty cool and impressive with how old they are.

Our next adventure was camping. We really wanted to get out camping this summer so Micah could have his first experience. The Farmer went out earlier to find a spot and set up the tent. He found a spot about 15 minutes from home just in case things didn't go well for Micah and for me 35 weeks pregnant.

 Nobody likes smoke in their face.

 Keeping warm in the morning.

 Micah is helping Papa pack up the tent.

The Farmer and I took a day and one night away just the two of us. Most likely the last time before this little lady arrives. We started out by heading to Timberline Lodge. I couldn't remember the last time that I had been. Luckily when we arrived a Forest Service volunteer had just started a tour. It was very interesting!

 I want to remember to get pictures of just the two of us even as the years get busier.

36 Weeks

Less then a month to go. Wow! We are getting very close to having our second child. I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. Excited to meet her and apprehensive knowing the work and sleep I will lose.

I am certainly feeling like my growth has slowed down a bit. Which is okay because I still feel huge and it is still hard to get up from sitting and get out of bed. I had a doctor appointment earlier this week and I have gained about 26 pounds (with Micah I was at 28) and I measured at 34cm (typically it would be around 36). The doctor wasn't concerned because some of it could be who is doing the measuring. The past few appointments I have been seeing the other doctors in the office in case they are the ones to deliver, so we will see next week when I am back with my doctor.

The little lady is moving around. It seems she is in a similar position Micah was, head down on her side with her legs toward my left. She has had hiccups a couple times which is always funny. Her movements do seem to have slowed down as her space is getting smaller. Braxton Hicks contractions have started up, sometimes has many as three in an hour. Which is not a concern, if I get more around five an hour and they cause me to have to stop what I am doing then we might need to call the doctor. So now it is just finishing up a few details and waiting for her arrival.

Micah week 35, now, Micah week 37

Creating for a Girl

I realized now that I am almost 36 weeks along I haven't posted anything about what I have for the little lady. Well I have been busy crafting and sewing. So here are some pictures of what I have been making.

These are all the flowers I have made (so far). I know I will make more, I already have the itch to make a crochet flower. Notice the beaver orange, she will be wearing that this season. :)

Usually for flower headbands each flower has its own band it is attached to. To me that seemed a waste and what if I wanted that particular flower on a different band. So I designed away to clip the flowers onto different bands. That also means the flowers can be used later when she has hair to clip back. It is hard to tell the colors in the picture but there is one black and the others are white and pink.

 Of course you can't forget about the hats. Which I'm actually surprised I haven't made more. But I usually don't really get going on crocheting until the weather gets cooler. The really long hat is for newborn pictures.

This is one of the pieces of art for the room (it is watercolor) and I still need to get it framed. I also have plans to paint a Bible verse on some wood for another open space on the wall.

These are the colors I used for the little lady's blanket. My Mom was great and came up last week to help make the blanket and curtains for the room. We whipped out the blanket in about two days. I forgot to get a picture of it before I packed it in the hospital bag, but I am happy with how it turned out. A few days ago I finished up all the sewing I needed to get done before she comes.

Not too many more big projects to complete before this girl comes, still many things I want to get done or at least work on. But at four weeks away I am starting to feel more ready, though maybe not emotionally ready for a baby and a toddler. That is a whole different post.

Cute Words

With Micah learning to talk there are times I have no idea what he is saying. But there are also a lot of words that just make me smile the way he says them. One favorite is outside, he says it more like "owtide".

Another cute one is sing (I sing to him before nap and bedtime) he will point to my mouth and say "Mama ting" and just keeps saying over and over. Though we are just entering into this phase of learning to talk these cute words are already starting to fade away. The other day he correctly said sing, it made me stop for a moment, I was happy he said it correct yet sad to think that "ting" might no longer be apart of his vocabulary. But then he said it again "Mama ting", and in away I breathed a sigh of relief.

A third word that is really cute is the way he says his name. Better then describing how he says it here is a video of him saying it.
8-4 Micah8 from Meagan Rice on Vimeo.

33 Weeks

 

The weeks just keep going by. I am definitely not ready for this little lady to come yet. So hopefully she will take her time. Now come week 39 and 40 I will probably regret saying that. Last week I had a doctors appointment (I now go in every two weeks). Things still look good, I've gained about 26 pounds now. I measured at 33cm, at that point I was about 32 and half weeks. So I am no longer measuring two weeks bigger. Yay! I was hoping the growing was going to slow down. The baby's heart rate was about 130 so still within the acceptable range but on the lower side. Micah's heart rate was also on the lower end.

I am starting to get more Braxton Hicks contractions some more uncomfortable then others. She also seems to be pushing down more. We are getting closer. But again so not ready for her to be here. I'm not ready emotionally, physically, or even practically. I still have a number for baby things to get ready and a few other to-dos I want to get done before she is here. I'm also not ready with Micah, there are still aspects of his behavior I want to improve before she arrives, knowing his behavior will likely regress a bit once she is here. I'm also not ready to divide my time with him. And I'm just plain not ready for two kids. But I trust God's timing for when she does arrive. So even if I don't have everything on my list checked off it will be okay and everything will work out.

Comparison pictures: Micah 32 weeks, now 33 weeks and Micah 34 weeks.

First Zoo Trip

 

Last week we were able to take Micah to the zoo for the first time. So much fun!!! My parents and sister meet us there as well. We arrived at the zoo about ten minutes before it opened, perfect time to go. The temperatures were still low enough that the animals were moving around and the crowds weren't bad.

First stop was the bears. They were really interesting to Micah because they were not only moving around but they were close to the viewing area.

This one just cracked us up the way he was sitting.

I think in this picture Micah is say "arrrhh" like a bear

There was also a small petting area. We just interacted with the goats. When you talk about it now with Micah he makes a petting motion and says nice. Now hopefully he will get the idea of nice and gentle with his sister too.

After looking at a few animals we headed over to get on the first train ride for the day. Micah had a great time

All aboard!

 

 

Waiting at the rose garden for the train to leave again.

 

Goofing around with Nana and Opa.

Last stop was the elephants, or as Micah says "eletant". Packy was inside eating and Micah was quite amazed. He continues to talk about the elephants and says "huge". While we were there he also commented that the elephant was dirty and it needed to be wiped.

Such a fun trip! I'm glad we got to take Micah and hopefully it won't be too long before we get to go again.