Friday

Well, Lizzy gets here in a few hours and we are pretty excited around here. It's been a week of cold weather (it even snowed in Maryland) and getting ready to have Liz here. Tonight Maddie is going to Dog School with her Grammy to watch the Doggy Halloween Costume party :) I think she'll get a kick out of it and hopefully it gets her in the mood to wear her Lady Bug costume tomorrow. When it arrived in the mail, I asked her to try it on, she said "no" and I pretty much wrestled her into it so that I could check if it fit. It fits really well so I have my fingers crossed that she'll wear it gladly tomorrow night. Gabe said "good luck making her wear the hat part." (It's the antennas)

The only other news around here is that my car got broken into 2 nights ago :( Whoever did it, didn't break anything; they must know what they're doing because there was no sign of how they got in. They basically went through my glove box and put all the stuff on the ground in my car (they left the tampons alone :). They went through my garbage thing in there and pretty much everything else, but nothing was missing so I consider myself lucky. I was saying to Gabe that it figures the night both of our kids actually sleep through the night without waking up, is the night someone breaks into my car right in front of our house. Normally, we're up at least 2 times a night but on that particular night even our 7 week old slept in until 6:30am!!! She's such a good baby and Maddie has been sleeping pretty well again too. So, tomorrow we'll trick-or-treat and then just hang out on Saturday. Hope you have a good weekend and Happy Halloween!

Weekend

It was a really great weekend for us! Gabe surprised me last week by telling me that months ago he had planned a one night get away for us. We were gone for a little less than 24 hours and in that time we drove to Richmond, I went to the spa for some pampering, we went out to a fabulous dinner and went to an amazing concert. We saw the Trey Anastasio Band (lead guy from Phish) play and I'm even surprised to say this, but I really enjoyed myself. We ran into an old friend there and had a blast-Sober. It was pretty special to be in one of Gabe's old environments and to watch him have such a blast as a sober person. Great memories. Grace went and stayed with her Grammy and Poppi and Maddie stayed here at home with her Auntie Patrice. Both girls did really well and we were so thankful for the small break. It brought us back with a renewed energy for them :) Today we took Maddie and Gracie to get some pumpkins for Halloween. Lizzy gets here this week to visit and to trick-or-treat with Maddie, so we thought we needed to be festive. After driving for a few hours to Richmond and back, Gabe and I weren't interested in driving any more to go get pumpkins. So, we went to this really cute church that had pumpkins for sale. Maddie loved it and Grace slept through it (what else is new?:) Enjoy the pic's!

Hospital

Saturday was a nightmare! Actually, it all started Friday evening when I watched as Maddie's breathing became worse and worse and her breathing more labored and rapid. I started to Neb her, but it wasn't helping. I called the dr. in the middle of the night and debated taking her to the ER, but figured I could just take her to the pediatrician in a few hours. So, I waited, all the while freaking out (mostly in my head) about Maddie's breathing and the fact that she could barely take in air. We went to the pediatrician at 9am and by the time they'd tried 3 different breathing treatments and a course of oral steroids, they sent us to the hospital. They said she could be better monitored there and could get a chest x-ray. So, Gabe stayed with Grace at home and I took Maddie to the pediatric ER in Fairfax. There they gave her several breathing treatments, monitored her oxygen levels, tested her for the virus RSV (which it turns out is what she has) and did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. After 6 hours, we were allowed to go home and she had started breathing much better, but not normal in any way. She was seen again yesterday to make sure she was on the mend, and she is, but she can only talk a little before she starts coughing horribly and we are still doing Neb treatments every 4 hours for the next 2 days. It was a long, tough weekend, but we are doing better. Grace seems to be stuffed up now and not sleeping as comfortably as she has been, but hopefully her lungs will stay strong and not be affected how Maddie's were. Today we are laying low and trying to just get better. Hope your weekend was less eventful :)

Update

Maddie & Aibha playing in the park together
10-10-08
I'm sorry that I can't blog as much right now. Being a mom to a newborn and a 2 year old takes a serious amount of attention-and that's how blogging gets put on the back burner. I have lots to write about, just not lots of time. I'm sure as Grace gets a bit older, it may be easier to find time to blog. A quick update is that we are doing well. Maddie had her 2 year old check up today and we all got our flu shots; not Gracie-she's too young this year. We went and had pancakes after because Maddie was so brave (and we were starving :) Maddie and I just got back from playing at the park with Aibha, Siobhan and Aisling. We may not see them again until January!!! They are off to Ireland on Wednesday for a looooooooong time and we are definitely going to miss them. I've been seeing how fast weeks go by (Grace will be 6 weeks already on Monday!), and hopefully that's the case with our friends being gone. January will be here before we know it :) I need to mention here that I just had a long break from typing this post (dinner, Target run, babies to bed, etc.) and realized that Siobhan has already posted a comment similar to what I've blogged above :) So, it'll just be me and the girls for a few months without our little friends. Hopefully busy and not too lonely. Can't wait to hear about the flight with 2 little ones; it'll prep me for March :)

Quick Post

Just wanted to say that both girls are napping right now at the same time and so it seems I should blog and then go catch up on all the Project Runway's that I have TIVO'd :) It was a busy, awesome, at times stressful, memorable weekend and I have LOTS of pic's to post... hopefully I can get to that tonight. Hope your weekend was wonderful too.

Maddie's Birthday Celebration Part 1

Here's a link to see the pictures from Maddie's birthday celebration tonight at her Grandparent's house. We had a blast and by the end she was saying "more presents please?" Very cute :)
Click here to see the pictures.

Madeline's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Madeline Elisabeth!

Wow! I cannot believe she's 2 today... I was up with Grace at 4:30am and I thought to myself that 2 years ago and 2 hours before, Maddie had been born and my whole life changed. She's been such a blessing to me; there are barely words to describe my complete adoration for her. She's a loving, kind, funny little girl and without her I'd be totally different. I love the independence she's gained in the past 2 years, not to mention the amount of words :) She's a beautiful girl on the inside and out and that is ALL I ever wished for when I wished for her.

More Pictures...

Go Redskins!

Funny Face

Tired Mommy & baby

Tired Daddy & baby

Maddie today before we left for school :)

Just wanted to say that we're doing really well. Maddie is loving going to school and Grace is allowing us to get just enough sleep at night. We sleep in shifts, but at least we sleep! We are in planning mode for Maddie's 2nd birthday which is here next week! And we are getting ready for the girls' dedication ceremony which is next weekend. Lots to celebrate around the Mejias house :) I'm trying to take it easier than I have been; my midwife told me to yesterday. It seems that even though I feel great, I've been doing a bit too much too soon and I need to slow down. Hard to do with a newborn and a 2 year old, but I'm trying. Thank God I have a helpful hubby :) Speaking of Gabe, I'm so proud of him and really in awe. Today he celebrates 6 months sober!!! Actually, we celebrate 6 months. We've come to learn it's a family thing and I think we've done/are doing a lot of hard work. Gabe's sobriety is a miracle and to be able to see an actual miracle is a true blessing. It's a great day all around.

Pictures

Exhausted :)

Maddie wearing the new dress Nonnie made for her!

Grammy, Maddie & Gracie

Maddie helps Gracie with her first bath

Nonnie & Gracie

I said the other day that I would post some new pic's and shockingly, I never got around to it. I have a feeling that may become my catch phrase for a few months! The days are passing quickly, but the nights seem loooong-probably because I'm so tired. But, we're doing well. Gracie had her 2 week appointment yesterday and she's doing well. She's in the 50th percentile for length, and 25th for weight. She weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. yesterday, so she's gained just about a pound since birth! Maddie is still doing well at preschool. Yesterday when I dropped her off, she walked right into her classroom and said "bye-bye Mommy" without any tears. She's so independent and if I remember correctly, that's something I blogged about a long time ago-wanting her to be independent and be okay. Pretty fun to watch. "The Office" is back on tonight (so excited :)- Now it feels like Fall...

One Long Day

Well, I'm still alive! I knew that having 2 kids would cut into my blogging time, but I guess I had no idea how much :) Let's see. My mom left this morning and I think I've cried about a dozen times since. There's just something about having your mom around. I think that it means more to me because she lives so far away; I don't take her for granted. She was here for two and half weeks and what a blessing that was. Seriously-don't know how I would have done it without all of that help. So today is a bittersweet day. It's the day that I become the mom of 2 little girls and I have to balance my time, energy and love-and I have to figure out how to do that on my own. Gabe's a huge help (probably more so than a lot of husbands) but I'm the stay at home mom and so ultimately it comes down to me and the two of them.
Maddie is doing well. She loves her baby sister and gives her kisses on the head all the time. She's a little less patient with me and spends a large majority of her day saying "Moooommmmmmmmmmmy" and "Where'd nigh-nigh go?" So, me and her blanket are her two favorite comfort items at the moment. She's more needy than usual, but that's to be expected. With the amount (or lack there of) sleep I'm getting, it's hard to be as patient as I normally am with her. But, I'm trying. She's doing really well at preschool and her teachers tell me they love her; and really, that's all I wanted. I wanted the teachers to love her and care about her and I can tell that they really do. What a good feeling! Grace is doing well too, although she seems to have already caught her first cold. With Maddie starting preschool that same week that I had Grace, we were all bound to come into contact with some new germs. I have a weird lingering cough, Maddie has been sleeping/not sleeping at weird times, and Grace has mucus in her nose and throat. Nothing like a Saturday morning at the pediatricians office! So, that's what Grace and I did today. It's funny, but even the second time around, I still get freaked out about some things. A sick newborn is hard to not get freaked out about. Gabe is much more calm about all this. Thank God for him! So, hopefully tonight will bring more sleep than last night-for ALL of us! I have more pic's to post and will do so hopefully tomorrow. They change so fast...

*Please excuse my ramblings but I'm blogging on only 3 hours of sleep*

Gracie is here!!!

A quick post to say that we had Gracie on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 9:36pm. She is a healthy, beautiful baby girl and aside from being tired, we are all doing well. Enjoy these pic's of her and her big sister Maddie :)
Click on this link to see the full web album of pictures: Grace

35 hours and counting

Here's the truth, I'm still pregnant (I know that was the title of my last post :) and this morning I'm okay with that. Sounds strange? I know, I know. But I've been doing some reflecting this morning and here's what I've been thinking. When you find out you're pregnant, you anticipate this certain date for 10 months or so, just waiting for it to arrive. And then, like myself and many other moms-to-be, that date comes and goes and your uterus is still blocking your view of your newly painted toes. (Didn't mean to rhyme there) So, you have to just wait. You have to realize and then accept (that being the harder of the two) that you have NO control over when this baby will be born or even how this baby will be born. You may picture it one way and then something totally different becomes the reality. See, I'm getting a little nervous about going to the hospital on Monday because I don't really know what to expect. I mean, in general, I have an idea of what's going to happen, but I don't know know. So, I'm getting scared but at the same time excited. Excited to see this little girl who I've known about since December, but haven't known. I'm nervous to become a mom of 2 and all that it entails. I'm ready, but I'm not ready-and I'm sure that many women have felt this exact same way. Tonight is Saturday and tomorrow I plan to go to church and then take it easy and really pay attention. It's going to be Maddie's last day as an only child (something she'll probably never remember) and it feels bittersweet. The countdown has now officially begun; in about 35 hours I'll be admitted to the hospital and ready to meet my baby Grace.

Still Pregnant...

Just wanted to say "Happy Labor Day" and alas, I am not in labor :) I'm still very much pregnant and feeling funny because today is my due date and there's no sign of a baby coming today. I've had an urge to clean, but that's pretty normal for me and plus, my mom arrives tomorrow night so I want the house to be just so. That's the news around here. Hope you have a great September 1st!

3 days to go...

39 and a half weeks

So, my due date is looming near and yet there isn't a whole lot that tells me Grace is on her way. Went to the midwife yesterday and she checked and said that I'm 1cm and about 60% effaced (which is progress from last week) but at the same time it's not like I'm in labor. But, that's okay. I've really wanted a September baby ever since I found out I was pregnant. So, I'm okay right now.

Something I've been meaning to write about is a couple of things that I just don't "get." The first is the fact that total strangers (grocery store clerks, nail salon tech's, cleaning ladies) feel obligated to tell me that I "look small." Meaning, they don't think my baby is big enough to possibly be born on Monday and with a tone that questions if a baby that small could be healthy. Just as it would be incredibly rude to tell a very pregnant (hormonal) woman that she is "huge" it is just as rude to say the opposite. To think that the size of one's baby has anything to do with the person carrying it is ridiculous. Meaning that I can't control her size. She is what she is; Maddie was small too and perfectly healthy. I JUST MAKE SMALL BABY GIRLS! At least that's what I feel like saying. But instead, I try to be cordial and smile, but now I'm sick of it and I'm determined to come up with a better comeback for these sorts of comments, but I'm sure that by the time I come up with one, Grace will be here! Making small baby girls brings me to my second point that I don't "get." Why is it that whenever someone (anyone) asks me if I'm having a boy or girl, and I reply "another girl :)" (I say it with a smile-to show them that I'm happy about having another girl) they give me a look and then say something along the lines of "you'll get a boy next time," or "gotta tell Gabe to keep trying." NO. We don't want to "try." We are pretty (90%) sure that we are done having babies and we are fine; scratch that, we are THRILLED to be having 2 girls. Sisters. That's what I've always wanted; is to have girls because I know the importance of a sister. And, no offense to boys, but why are they deemed such a prized possession? I mean, we're not in China and we're not royalty looking for an heir to the throne. So, I just want to say, for the record, that we are ecstatic about having another girl. Another total individual to love and know. Now, if we could just meet her...

Maddie's Picture

I just wanted to post and say that the picture to the left of Maddie is not one I took. It's beautiful and I love it so much, but a man named Tim, who works at Dog School is studying photography and he took this picture of Maddie yesterday when she was there visiting. Just didn't want to take the credit :)

The Update

So, the official update is that there still isn't anything to report :( Went to the midwife today and she finally checked me and came to the conclusion that I'm not dilated at all! Now, they always tell you that just because you aren't dilated today doesn't mean you won't be tomorrow. But, who knows. She also said that I'm measuring small again (which is what happened 2 months ago and they sent me for that second sonogram to find that nothing is wrong-she's just a small baby). She said maybe the baby has "dropped" (ya know, into the pelvis to get ready to be born) and that's why I'm measuring small. Last week and the week before I measured right on track with what I was supposed to, so this is a change, but not one that concerned me. To be honest, if she just dropped now, maybe we'll start getting somewhere :) But, as I was reminded when I told my mom about it, I really want Grace to be born in September. Plus, Gabe really thinks she isn't due on the 1st but more like the 9th (that's the due date given by the sonographer) and that would also account for her being a little small. So, anyone's guess is as good as ours. To not be too boring, I'll only post the most pertinent information as it comes along. My next appointment is next Wednesday.
On another, totally different note, I got an exciting phone call today. The preschool that is less than a mile from our house, half the price cheaper and more Christian based called today and they have an opening for Maddie!!! The bonus of this school is that it's also a co-op so I have the opportunity to help out and meet the teacher's, etc. So, we're in. I called the other preschool and said we are withdrawing. It just feels so right for her to go to this preschool instead, but it had been March, the last time I heard from them and it was only to tell me that we were on a wait list. So, prayers are answered :) Now, her first day of school will be on September 8th and my mom will be here for that which will be a really great memory. So, I'm glad this happened today because it kept me distracted from thinking about when on earth Grace would be born.

Monday

We had a great weekend, but still no baby :) To be honest, I was up at 3:30am today thinking "this might be labor" but then the contractions and crampiness stopped :( Plus, everything I've heard/read/experienced tells me that if I'm wondering if it's labor, then it usually isn't. So, another week ahead. I don't go back to the midwife until Thursday so we'll just wait until then.
This weekend, Gabe and I got to go out on a date on Friday night, then on Saturday we just did family stuff and bbq'd ribs and then yesterday we went to church and then hung out and went to our meetings in the evening. At church, when we went to pick Maddie up from the nursery, she said "bye-bye park" and I reminded her that we're at church, not the park and so she said "bye-bye church; bye kids." The teachers were laughing. It's pretty funny to hear. She loves going there though and we're so glad because it's been good practice for pre-school. She has her orientation for pre-school on the 10th of September and then she officially starts on the 17th. I'm really looking forward to her going because it's only a couple days a week (Wed. & Thurs.) and she'll get to play with other kids her age and have a break from me and the baby. But, I'm also sad at how old she seems getting ready to go to school. I'm sure that lots of moms feel this way when their oldest is starting some sort of program outside of the home, but deep down I know it's so good for her; I always said I wanted her to be independent and this just seems to be one of those stepping stones. I'm hoping that I can maybe have the baby in enough time to be out of the hospital by the day of orientation because I really want to go to that. We'll see.
We don't have a lot planned this week. The weather seems nice today so maybe the park? Happy Monday :)

Still waiting...

Well, there's no real news to report. Went to the midwife yesterday and she didn't "check" me or anything. I think maybe next week they will... not that it makes a difference because the only real sign that the baby is coming is contractions! I've been crampy for days, but nothing that makes me feel like it's EVER going to happen :) So, that's where I'm at. Maddie is feeling much better and hopefully we can stop using the nebulizer on Saturday. She's still coughing/runny nose, but not contagious, so we've been laying low waiting for her to get better. We made it to open gym at Gymboree yesterday for about 40 minutes and she had fun. Since we missed our class on Tuesday because of Maddie not feeling well, the people who work there thought that I must have had my baby. Well, obviously not :) Gabe has dog shows tomorrow and Saturday and they are sort of far away, so he won't be around much. Maddie and I will have to come up with things to do. I ordered Maddie and "I'm the Big Sister" t-shirt for when she comes to the hospital after Grace is born and it came in the mail the other day and it's so cute! I may take a picture of it and post it later. Have a good Thursday!

August so far...

A quick note about some of the pic's: The first one is Maddie lounging in my bed after her bath one night (all she needs is a cup of tea and she'd be me:) The next one is of her playing with Daddy's shoes which she does every day lately. She puts them on and tries to walk, but usually doesn't get very far. The pic in the middle is her "getting dressed" over her pajamas-she thought this was pretty clever. The next pic is her modeling an outfit that her Nonnie sent her. Then, there's the pic of the tummy last week. The final 2 pictures are her trying to wear our dishtowels :) Enjoy!

Doctor appointments and Nebulizer treatments

So, as you can tell from the title of this post that Maddie has gotten worse! She was having trouble breathing yesterday (wheezing) and I called the doctor and had to drive to Fairfax to have her seen at the other office. So, the doctor there gave her Singular to take last night, but wasn't feeling like she needed asthma med's yet. He said "let's see how she does." Well, to answer that, we woke up this morning to Maddie's breathing being shallow and rapid with lots of wheezing/coughing mixed in. It really scared me. I have asthma, but I can't remember the last time mine was so bad that I sounded like she did. Thankfully the doctors office was open this morning and they took her as the first patient; they could probably hear the worry in my voice over the phone. We went to the doctor and Gabe met us there and sure enough, they decided she needed a Nebulizer treatment. If you have kids and you've never done this, count yourself lucky. Here's the thing; I'm sure in time, she'll get more used to it and it won't seem so scary, but this was not that time. It's a loud little machine and I have to basically hold her arms down and simultaneously hold this little mask over her nose and mouth. She screamed the whole time and I thought that the stress of that was enough to make me go into labor! It's one of those parenting things-you know that what you're doing will help her in the long run, but in that moment you want to make her feel safe and not so scared. I think that can be an analogy that is useful to parents of children that are any age. So, we survived. As soon as the medicine was done, the crying and screaming stopped. Her lungs sounded better the doctor said, but now we have to do Nebulizer treatments every 4 hours for the entire weekend and then take her back on Monday to have her listened to again. Hopefully each time we do the treatments, she'll get a little less scared; I'm sure watching a little Elmo can help in that department. Too bad they don't have a DVD about Elmo getting a Neb. treatment :) So, that's been our Saturday so far. Gabe and I are supposed to go to the Redskins pre-season game tonight, but now I'm not sure. I want to go because this is probably the only game I'll get to all season, but if Maddie is still as bad as she is now, then I can't put that on Sandy to deal with. So, we'll see how the day unfolds. Also, I'm 37 weeks pregnant today (no big deal) and to be honest, I almost feel less pregnant than last week. Not sure how that's possible, but maybe because my mind has been so preoccupied with Maddie's sickness I don't have time to focus on me. That's the news for today :)