Dear Leah,

Oh, Little Leah, I love you so much. You are such a light in our house. You already have such a big, bright smile that brings so much joy to your family. You are so patient when Mom has to take care of other things and you're so hungry. I love it when I'm feeding you and you stare up at me and as soon as I smile at you, you pull away and grin so big at me. It melts my heart. You are learning how to sit up and you're just weeks away from laughing out loud. You are such a good girl and sleep more than 12 hours every night and take good naps during the day. I think my favorite thing you do right now is when you wake up and we come in to get you, as soon as you see our faces, you smile SO big and kind of cackle like you're about to laugh. It's adorable. You love the bath so much and kick and splash like crazy when you're in the water!
You are so chubby and I love to kiss your big cheeks. You are almost in 6-9 month clothes and you're only 3 months old! You are a good eater and hardly ever spit up. I'm so glad you're healthy.
 I love your Daddy so much and you have his eyes. When I miss him so much during the day, I can look at you and I feel like I'm looking right at him. You make me so happy and I'm so grateful you chose to come to our family.

I love you, Leah-Peah

Love, Momma

Dear Charlotte,

Charlotte, you are such a good little girl. Right now you are 2 years old and want everyone to know that! We've had a rough couple months together, but I know it's because you just want Mom to pay attention to you. I hope you know how much I love you.
 You are such a sweet big sister to Leah. She smiles so big when you talk to her. You are so good at giving her hugs and kisses all the time. I know she loves you so much. You are such a nurturing little girl. I love watching you play with your dolls and stuffed animals. You hold them so gently and love to give them hugs and kisses too.
You are such a smart girl. You're talking so well and remember things that really surprise me. You are so independent and want to do everything yourself. I am so proud of the things you are learning to do and your desire to do it yourself even if it takes all day. After practicing so much, you can now get dressed by yourself in less than 3 minutes! AND, your hair is long enough to put in a little pony now! Thank you for letting me put pretties in your hair. You are so beautiful, did you know that?
You are teaching me so much more than I think I am teaching you. I am such an impatient person and you are teaching me everyday to be more patient and enjoy the minutes. I can't believe how fast you are growing up. I can't wait to see the kind of strong willed woman you will become.
I love you, Char. You will always be my sweet baby girl.

Love, Mom

These sweet girls

 Charlotte was attached at the hip with Grandma ("Beebah") while she was here. Here's some sweet pictures from while my mom was here. We had a great time together. I loved having her here to ask every question about everything. I've missed her so much, it was a much needed visit. We didn't really do a whole lot since Leah was still too little to really take anywhere. We had a picnic lunch at the park, went out to eat, took a drive around town, and watched TV. Looking back, I was still recovering a lot more than I wanted to be. I wanted to go out and do a bunch of things and play games and stuff, but I was emotionally and physically TIRED. I'm hoping she had as good of a time as I did :)

Helping with bath time.

Pink dinner. Girls only!

Sweet Grandma :)

In my last post I was SERIOUSLY concerned that Charlotte hated me and the sweet relationship we had was shot now that little Leah was in the picture. Luckily, now that we've settled into a schedule again and I'm back to being the real mom, everything is all good. She still likes me :) And she loves her "bebe seeser". It's pretty cute. I love having two sweet girls to dress up everyday. It's also a blast to have all 3 of us matching. But that doesn't happen all too often yet.

Purple girls!

Cookie pizza day!

Sharing with her sister.

We'll be blessing Leah in our ward in 3 weeks, on July 3rd. We're super excited to have George's brother, Dean, coming to stand in the circle. It really means a lot to George to have at least SOME family here and in the circle with him. I'm excited to have visitors again! We'd love to have anyone else come if they want! We don't have a ton of room in our micro apartment, but there's a lot of good hotels right down the street.

Here's some things about Leah at 3 weeks old:
- Just like Charlotte, she sleeps a ton. She's waking up about every 3-5 hours to eat, then falls right back to sleep.
- I'm nursing, but apparently make good cream because she's already over 9lbs!
- Her eyes look just like George's to me. In fact, I think she looks more like him than Charlotte ever has.
- She grunts all the time. It's hysterical!
- She has a blow out diaper about every day. It's getting old.
- Her umbilical cord stump never fell off. It was hanging by a nasty thread on day 21.... so I cut it off. George was seriously concerned that I had opened up a portal into her abdomen because I didn't let it fall off naturally.
- She can't tolerate caffeine.... no Diet Coke for me :(

I'm so grateful to have little Leah in our family. We all love her to pieces.

Cute blue day.

You can guess what's going on in this picture. bwahaha!

So wide awake!!

The Story- Part 2

Well, after I got my sleeping pill and could relax a little more, my contractions decided to come even harder and closer together.... just as I got to sleep. I'm so glad though. It really meant so much to me that I didn't have to be induced. I suffered through the contractions and finally called the nurse to see if there was anything they could give me that wasn't an epidural. She gave me a shot of something that took the edge off, but I could still feel each on hard and strong. It was not fun. She checked me and I was in active labor, at a 6!! I got through a handful of contractions and thought I was seriously going to die! I asked for another shot and by the time she got back to give it to me, I asked for the epidural. She called the anesthesiologist and she came right away. Within 20 minutes, I had the epidural in and she got ready to turn on the medicine, but wanted to check me first. I had progressed from a 6 to a 9 in about 30 minutes! OUCH! They started the medicine and within an hour I was pushing. 5 pushes later, sweet Leah was born. I wish I could tell you how amazing that moment was... unfortunately, the sleeping pill, shot and epidural made my body sort of freak out. I was shaking so badly, I could hardly hold her. I gave her a quick kiss and then handed her off. I don't remember George's face or really anything more after that. I have no clue how I moved from the delivery room to the recovery room. She was born at 3:37am and the last time I remember was 6:30 that morning. NO clue were those 3 hours went. It breaks my heart. George says not to be sad because he remembers everything and said I was normal and didn't act crazy or anything, I was just physically out of it. He said the moment was just a precious for him as it was with Charlotte. He said the second he saw her he didn't care if she came out perfect or missing limbs or whatever, he loved her so much. That was another one of OUR daughters. 

Over the past 3 days I have bonded so well with Leah. I love her so much and am so grateful to have her in our family. Charlotte loves her too... which is good.

George was able to take a week off of work to help out around the house and to take care of Charlotte. We're honestly getting a little bored, since I'm feeling great and Leah's doing well too. So if anyone has some ideas of things we can do in the house or little projects Charlotte could do with us, ideas are most definitely welcome. I'm sooooo excited... my Mom is coming next week for a couple days. I can't believe it's been almost a year and a half since we've seen her. Charlotte was 8 months old when we left. She's a totally different girl now! It's going to be so fun to have her here and to show her Tulsa. I have really come to love it here, so I'm excited to show her around. 

On another note.... Charlotte hates me. Seriously, she wants NOTHING to do with me. Only Daddy can help her with anything. Getting her dressed, bath, putting on shoes, reading.... everything! I've tried so hard to include her and do things with her, but she just yells at me and says, "NO! Dad!!"..... It's breaking my heart. I really hope it's just a phase. If not, advice PLEASE!

The Story- Part 1

Well, before this sweet baby is born, I guess I'll start documenting her birth story. I've basically been in "early labor" since last Tuesday (May 10th). Almost every night my body has contractions for 2-4 hours that range from 3-6 minutes apart. It's hard and frustrating. As soon as I think, "OK, this is real. Let's call the Dr. Or, Let's go to the hospital." they stop... BAH! Last Tuesday, I got really shaky and was throwing up a lot so I thought it was the real thing. We went to the hospital (at midnight!) and on the drive there, the contractions eased up. After being there for almost an hour, I was still only at a 1, so they sent us home. I was an emotional wreck. For the next week, I would experience the same thing almost everyday. RUDE. Wednesday (the 11th, Charlotte's birthday) Charlotte woke up early, throwing up. We had to cancel her MUCH anticipated garden birthday party. I was crushed. I had an appointment that afternoon and was dilated to a 3! (2cm overnight? YAY!) Unfortunately, my blood pressure was high, so my awesome Dr ordered a bunch of lab work to make sure it wasn't pre eclampsia, and had me come back in on Friday to get my membranes stripped (ow!) and make sure my BP was down (it was!). Monday morning, she called me with my lab results, I have pre eclampsia. Lame! The only way to get rid of it is to deliver the baby, so I was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, May 18th, bright and early at 5:30am. Tuesday, the 17th at 5am, my contractions started up again and have yet to die down. They've stayed around 6-7 minutes apart, sometimes as close as 3 minutes apart... but nothing consistent. Kind of annoying. Because of the pre eclampsia, my Dr made me come into the hospital to be monitored until tomorrow morning, when I'll get induced. That is, unless things pick up and she comes on her own. In about half an hour, they're giving me a sleeping pill and some tylenol in hopes that I just zonk out until morning.
My plan this whole pregnancy has been to do this all naturally. Meaning NO epidural. No induction. Nothing... (OK, except a sleeping pill, hehe). I was mildly devastated when I found out I had to be induced. I have prepared myself to get through this with different relaxation and breathing techniques. I know I can do it without pitocin, but I'm scared to death for how it'll be once that's pumping through my veins. I'm going to try and go as far as I can. I'll post part 2 tomorrow!

Why, thank you.

This post could potentially sound unkind. It's not. It is just me venting upon the fact that there are unkind people in the world that think they can say whatever they want, because of age/gender/social status.
As you all know, I'm pregnant. Almost 37 weeks pregnant. That is still 3 WHOLE WEEKS away from full term. I know I'm huge. I know I look uncomfortable. But yes, I am still pregnant. If I have another person ask me, "You're STILL hangin' in there, huh?!" or say, as if it's nothing, "You're just so BIG!", I think I might say something unkind back. My question is, why do people think that JUST because I'm pregnant and NOT overweight or something, that they can make said comments? I didn't understand it last pregnancy, and I don't get it now. It's not OK.
I AM miserable. I am so uncomfortable. And I seriously feel like a beached whale more than 90% of my days. Believe me people, no one wants to see me UN-pregnant more than ME. But I still have 3 more weeks! So be nice. Please. Otherwise, I might cry. And that's just not pretty.

Hand Stamped Jewelry Giveaway

http://bellamichelejewelry.com/............. is connected with Craftaholics Anonymous for an awesome giveaway. I want to win SO bad. SOOO, check them both out and enter too! Maybe YOU'LL win something fun!

He can fly, he can fly, HE CAN FLY!

........... He flew!
(please tell me some of you know what movie I'm quoting..... OK OK, It's Peter Pan)

Anyway, George flew a small airplane for the first time on Monday. It was SO cool. His instructor let him send me a text right before he took off so I was able to get some pictures of him! He said he absolutely loved it and is excited to keep doing it! Just FYI- he is not getting his pilots license right now. It is no longer required for the school to graduate, it is only required that he learn to fly solo. Which I still think is cool, I mean, can any of YOU fly a plane? Didn't think so :) After he's been working as an ATC for a while, he DOES want to go back and finish his hours so he can be an official small plane pilot. I caught the bug too and totally want to learn how to fly as well. We talked about it and doing it privately instead of through a school is way cheaper, so here in a couple years, we'll BOTH be pilots! COOL HUH?! Anyway, here are some pictures of my sweetie flying away!

This is the runway...... you can't see his plane in this one. The one you can see is the one right before he took off.

Just for reference, this is the same kind of plane he flew.

His school and the tower. The hangar is the big garage thing to the left.

And that's him! I promise it's him!!!

Flying a REAL airplane!!! 

I wish I could have gotten one right as he took off, but I was reading the text he had sent, so I got some as soon as he was in the air. Good enough :)

Baby Blanket

My sweet Mom made a BEAUTIFUL baby quilt for this next little girl. I can't wait to see it in person, but isn't it just perfect?! I think it could totally be sold at Pottery Barn!

Much needed update...... sorry!

OK, I quit on the challenge.... I'm lame, I know. But I do have pictures! And updates!!

So this is a nightgown that I had when I was Charlotte's age. My sweet Mom kept it and now Charlotte is wearing it! Unfortunately, the fabric is basically see-through and starting to get some holes (it IS over 20 years old!), so she'll be the last one to wear it :( I think she looks super cute in it though!

Valentine's Day! I made pink heart pancakes.......

........Charlotte and Mom went out to lunch together while George was at school.......

....... I made a red velvet cake for our special dinner. It was good, but super rich!

A while ago, I gave Charlotte a strainer to play with in the tub. She loves it. She also enjoys wearing it as a hat :) I snapped this picture while she was reading one of her bath books.

It has been SO nice outside, so Charlotte's been able to wear cute spring clothes!

(Note to self: This green shirt is blinding! No more pics with it on!)

We planted our herb garden the other day. It was so fun to have Charlotte's help. She helped pour in the seeds and water each pot. I'm loving this age.

We had a family date to the park the other night. It was SO nice outside.

Not much else is new. I am almost 28 weeks pregnant and starting to feel it! I just feel huge, but I'm enjoying this pregnancy so much more than my last pregnancy. I just have a better attitude and that REALLY makes a difference. We still aren't settled on a name. We like Leah and Lucy, but just aren't sure yet. We'll see when she's born!! Charlotte still doesn't really know what's going on. I'm anxious to see how well she adjusts to being a big sister. Hopefully well!! 

George will (really!) start flying this semester! We're so excited that he's getting so close to the end now! I'm nervous about him flying, but I know he'll be really good at it. He started both radar and tower simulators now and really loves it! It's so fun to have him come home from class and be so excited about what he's going to be doing. I'm really glad he likes it. He's set to graduate in July and then we'll see what happens! Hopefully he'll get offered a job right away. If so, he'll go to Oklahoma City for 6 weeks at the FAA Academy and then immediately after, we'll move to the city they're sending us to. We do get to choose 3 cities. Those are Denver, CO- Nashville, TN- and Raleigh, NC. I'm really hoping we get into one of those. But if not, we'll take whatever is given to us and hope for the best! We're really excited for the rest of the year. It's exciting!

Charlotte recognizes almost all the letters in the alphabet. It's so fun! I'm going to make a video with her saying them. It's fun when we're out and about and she's pointing to all the letters she knows. Her favorite is "O". It cracked me up today. We drove next to a casino and were stuck in traffic and I hear her in the back, "C-A-sssssss-I-N-O". With "S" she just makes the noise... whatever :) 

OK, that's about all that's going on around here! We miss our friends and family, but we're having a blast here too. Come visit anytime!!!!