Happy 3 Month Birthday, Brooklynn

Happy 3 month birthday, Brooklynn

January 1, 2016

You got through your first Christmas season with lots of activity. We went to your big brother Hudson’s Christmas cantata and you listened to the music. The next night, we went to Thomaston to ride the Christmas train and see Santa.  You didn’t cry at all.  We had a surprise party for Poppy for his 50^th birthday.  You cried a bit then.  It was a little bit loud in the house.  Christmas Eve was busy with church and then Titi Fatima’s house.  You looked so pretty in your Christmas dress.  Christmas Day we went to Vovô and Vovó’s house.  You got lots of presents from everyone.  We had another Christmas celebration two days later at Aunt Ann’s house.  You were very good and beautiful.  Everyone wanted to hold you. 

On New Years Eve, we went to a friend’s house. You were good and happy. You love to laugh and smile.  You didn’t make it up until midnight. You decided to have a snooze and wake up a little later. 

This month, you started drooling a ton.  You didn’t end up getting sick like the rest of the family with a bad cold and a stomach virus.  We were all very happy that you didn’t get sick.

You are loved.

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Brooklynn

Happy 2 month birthday, Brooklynn

December 1, 2015

I love this age.  You are so sweet.  You are still a little fussy at night, but you are a joy to be around.  You laugh, you smile, you try to talk.  I can’t stand the sweetness.  We had a birthday party for Mommy at Grandma and Poppy’s house.  You were so well behaved.  You liked looking around.  You are so aware of everything. Thanksgiving was lots of fun.  You looked so pretty in your cream dress.  You didn’t cry and were happy during the different parties. The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Jones Farm to cut down our Christmas tree.  I wore you in the carrier and you slept most of it.  It was a very warm day. We had a second Thanksgiving that Saturday at Aunt Ann’s house.  You were so good and let others hold you.

You don’t mind getting passed around. You love the attention. You are very similar to Grandma in your sneezing habits.  You cannot just sneeze once or twice.  You sneeze over and over again – at least 5 times in a row.  You make this cute little sound too.  I need to get it on video.  I love it. 

You snuggle with Mommy every night in bed and you nurse a bunch.  I love you.

Happy One Month Birthday, Brooklynn

Happy One Month

November 1, 2015

Stop it. Stop growing. Stop getting older.  I am SO enjoying your baby stage, even if you do get grumpy in the evenings for a couple hours and just want me to walk around shushing you and not sitting down until midnight.  I wouldn’t give up one moment of this. 

Your brothers and family just love you so much.  Everyone wants to hold you and cuddle you.  Grandma threw Mommy a “sprinkle” for you and you got so many gifts.  You have so many clothes, socks, hair bows, and headbands.  You are so stylish.

You are rather portable.  We have gone shopping several times to try to sell things, return things, and look for things.  You generally sleep the entire time except right when I put you in the car seat.  You do not like that initially but are okay once the car moves.  You have gone to your brother’s Fall Festival at school and Trick-o-Treating for Halloween.  You snuggled in the carrier and slept the majority of the time and then had a huge poop when we got home.  You were a little ladybug. Your brothers thought you were SO CUTE.

You had a HORRIBLE yeast diaper rash that cleared up after we went to the pediatrician and your eye continued to get all goopy until we used eye drops.  You also had awful baby acne.  I still thought you were beautiful with your cute hair that sticks up all over. 

You got your newborn pictures taken when you were 10 days old.  You slept the majority of the time and looked so beautiful.

You love hanging out in your crib looking at the ladybug mobile.  As long as it is moving and the music is on, you are comfortable.  I love it.  You nap all day long and love napping in the swing.  I have to wake you up to feed you and so you will sleep at night. 

You are loved very much.

Happy 5th Birthday, Hudson

We had a fun year.  We did so much this year. You went to birthday parties for friends and family. We had playdates at fun places. We went to the beach. You had programs at your school for the end of the year and Christmas.  You are learning so much at school.  You are really enjoying it.  You like your teachers and don’t cry when we drop you off at school anymore. 

This year we went to Essex to see Thomas the Train. You thought it was fun. They had some cool rides there.  You went to Lake Compounce and Six Flags. You LOVE amusement parks.  You got a swingset that you love. You enjoyed playing in the snow and being outside whenever you could.  You helped Daddy outside every chance you got.  You love being outside with him and helping him dig and build. 

We went on vacations to Sesame Place two times this year.  We went to the Crayola Factory after Sesame once and we went to the Philadelphia Zoo once after Sesame.  We had a great time.  We went to Cape Cod on vacation this summer, too.  You LOVED our beach vacation.  We went swimming in the Brewster side (the Brewster Flats).  We walked way, way, way out during low tide and you got to see all sorts of fun sea creatures.  You went fishing with Daddy during low tide and you thought it was awesome.  We played miniature golf and ate ice cream.  We also went to the ocean side once.  You were so excited to see the waves and yelled with excitement about how big they were.  The water was FREEZING but that didn’t stop you from playing in it.

We had fun holidays this year spent with lots of family for Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  We had a fun Easter egg hunt, watched fireworks, ate lots of food, and opened lots of presents.  You got a ton of toys for Christmas. 

You had a fun birthday party at a trampoline park. You had a great time bouncing with friends and cousins.  It was a Star Wars theme.  You love Star Wars. Daddy let you watch the movies this year.  You dressed up like a Storm Trooper for Halloween this year and you wear it all the time in the house.  Star Wars, super heros, and transformers are your favorite things.  I don’t see that changing in the next year or two.

This year, you said some cute things. 

One day, you were sick with a cold and you said, “Mom, my nose is all rusty.” 

While heading to school one day, we saw a police officer and fire fighters finishing up putting out a house fire. You talked to the police officer.  Later that day while we were driving home, you said, “Mom, I’m nervous. I think our house is on fire.”

One day, we were talking about family members’ names.  When we got to Grandma’s name, we talked about how Grandma and Mommy have the same name.  You said, “Well, that’s interesting.”

I love you Hudson.

Happy 1 Week Birthday, Brooklynn

Happy One Week

October 8, 2015

You are ONE WEEK OLD already.  I am always amazed at how quickly time goes by.  You are my last little one.  I do not plan on having another baby in newborn clothes and newborn sized diapers.  I’m really trying to enjoy every minute of you, even if you only like to sleep at night on me.

We left the hospital on Saturday.  The first night there you needed to be held the entire night so we took turns holding you for about an hour and a half while the other napped.  The second night you slept a full 3 hours in one stretch and it was amazing.  Since being at home though, you will sleep alone during the daytime, but at nighttime you want me to hold you.  So, we cosleep.  It worked with your brothers and it is the only way I can function now.  You aren’t too fussy yet, but you do love to nurse and be held. You weighed 8 pounds when we went to the doctor two days shy of your 1 week birthday. You love breastmilk. 

Your brothers adore you.  Hudson is always saying how cute and sweet you are.  Camden says how excited he is.  They always want to hug you, hold you, and kiss you. They want to help out as much as they can.  You are one loved little girl.

Happy 3rd Birthday Camden

Happy 3rd Birthday

September 15, 2015

Where did three years go?  You are no longer a baby but a preschooler who looks like such a little man.  You are so sweet and fun.  You are so full of life and energy and you NEVER STOP TALKING!  You have so much personality.  I love it. 

In the past 6 months, you went to the movies for the first and second times.  The first time, you went to see The Minion Movie with Mommy, Daddy, and Hudson.  You loved it.  Then Grandma took you, Hudson, and Mommy to see Shawn the Sheep movie. It was so cute to hear you laughing.

We had a great summer.  We went to Cape Cod again for a few days. It was wonderful. We went to Brewster again and played in the water on the bay side. You loved it.  You looked for crabs and snails and hermit crabs.  We had ice cream. We played miniature golf. You were sad when it was over because but then we had to drop Daddy off at the airport for a business trip. You were so upset about it.  You cried when we left the airport. You were very happy when we went back to pick him up.  We went to the Children’s Museum with Grandma the day we had to pick Daddy back up and you loved it. 

You potty trained, sort of.  You mostly go to the bathroom to pee without very many accidents, but you prefer to poop in a diaper.  Your brother was the same way.  I’m hoping it doesn’t take you as long to get out of that habit though. Speaking of habits – you still climb into my bed just about every night.  You just love cuddling with us.

You started preschool.  You love it so far.  You don’t cry when we drop you off. You think it is lots of fun and are making new friends.  You love coming home and showing off what you did in school.

You had a Minion birthday party for your 3^rd birthday.  Daddy rented a bounce house too and you LOVED it.  It was a beautiful day and you had such a great time.  You love birthdays.  You talked about your birthday constantly since your 2^nd birthday.  When a scented candle is lit, you make us relight it over and over again while we all sing “Happy Birthday.”  You love everyone’s birthday since it means cake. 

Your favorite things right now are Daniel Tiger (specifically the episodes when he gets a baby sister), Thomas the Train (playing with the toys, you don’t like the show), Curious George, Frozen, Minions, and The Little Mermaid.  You also love when we bring bags in the house from the grocery store and yell out, “did you bring food?”  It’s funny.  You love food and always want to eat and need a snack. You love singing Jingle Bells still.  It might be your favorite song of all.

You are very loved, my sweet boy.

Welcome to the world, Brooklynn Grace

Brooklynn Grace

October 1, 2015

3:44 AM

7 pounds, 7 ounces

19 inches

My estimated due date was October 3. Once again, I assumed I would go “late” since my first two pregnancies went past their dates.  I didn’t mind though.  We just wanted to make it to October. How blessed we are that we got our wish.  On Monday evening I started losing some of my mucous plug. I knew from past experience that would mean I still might have a few days.  I was right. I went to work on Tuesday and wrapped up a few things.  I brought what was left on my desk that I would want at home with me when I left. I already had Wednesday off from work, and while I expected to be at work on Thursday, I didn’t want to chance it and leave stuff behind.

Wednesday morning, I went to my midwife’s office for my regular, weekly visit.  I did not have an internal since she knew I absolutely did not want that baby coming that day (the 30^th) and didn’t want to chance it.  She said she did not want to be blamed for labor, even though she didn’t think an internal would make me go into labor.  I went to the labor and delivery floor to get a non stress test and to check my amniotic fluid since I had felt much less movement and was worried.  It really eased my fears. I went about the rest of the day as normal and made dinner.  While I was putting the boys to bed, I noticed some contractions that were about 15 minutes apart and kind of painful.  I wasn’t too worried and didn’t expect them to progress though.  That was around 8:30.  By 10 they were more like 10 minutes apart.  I let Rich know. He was busy cleaning the baby’s room and decided to pack his stuff in the suitcase.  I finished up my packing.  I couldn’t sleep because the contractions kept bothering me. 

They progressed to 5 ½ minutes apart probably around 1am.  I decided a little after that to get in the shower to make the pain a bit more manageable.  While in there they jumped to 2 minutes apart.  Rich called his mom to come down but we still thought there was lots of time.  I called my midwife at 2:23 am to see what she thought. They were hovering around 3ish minutes after the shower.  I had 2 contractions on the phone with her and she wanted me to come in to Yale as soon as I could. I said, “I just don’t want to get to triage and you tell me I’m only 2 centimeters.” I still didn’t think it would happen quickly.  I stood up from the bathtub and told Rich what she said.  He took a shower and started packing the van up. He realized they were getting more intense and closer and that there wouldn’t be time for either of our moms to get there. It was now around 3am and they were 1 ½ minutes apart and even though they didn’t last as long, they were intense.  He tried to find the van keys. They were in his pocket.

He woke up the boys and put them in the car. Hudson was really excited and kept asking questions.  I tried to answer him but then told him no more talking.  Camden stayed asleep.  Rich was going around 90 to get to Yale.  We were calling his mom to let her know to meet us at Yale and then my mom. Noone answered the phone.  For some reason, I pointed out the parking garage to park in and Rich looked at me like I had 3 heads and that we would valet.  Smart man. I wasn’t thinking. I would have had my baby in a parking garage had he listened to me.  We pulled into the emergency entrance around 3:25 am. I was admitted. She asked if I wanted to wait for Rich and the kids but he told me to go. I got ahold of my mother at 3:27 and told her to get to the hospital to watch the boys and hung up the phone.

I was wheeled to labor and delivery and went right to the room. Eliza, the midwife on call was not in the room when I got there and I panicked a little.  I stood up and started crying hysterically that Rich was downstairs with the boys.  One of the nurses calmed me down and said “Your husband will not miss the birth of the baby. I will go watch the boys.” Eliza came in. The nurse went out to find them.  Rich came in right after that. My water broke with the next contraction. I climbed onto the bed on all 4s. They had me lean/hold on to the top of the bed and I started pushing.  I think it was only a few minutes and she was born at 3:44.  They said to mark that the water broke at 3:41, but none of us really know since they hadn’t looked at the clock, and it was so quick.  

They handed her to me through my legs so I could see her. Then they helped me flip over to stitch the first degree tare.  I breastfed her, and she latched right on. The nurse that had been out with the boys had come back because family showed up. Courtney, the nurse, thought the boys were great and Hudson amused her talking all grown up.

We were wheeled out to go to the maternity ward and passed by the family waiting for us. We covered her pink hat and asked the boys what they thought they had – a baby brother or a baby sister.  They both thought sister and were very happy to see they were correct. It was close to 6am when we finally got settled into our room. The boys were very sad that they had to leave us behind.  Camden wanted me to come home with him.

This delivery was similar to Camden’s. It was very painful and intense. I was terrified Rich wouldn’t make it to see the birth since the boys came with us. This birth was definitely the more emotional for me since I plan on it being my last.

We are all doing well and adjusting to being a family of 5.  The boys are crazy in love with their little sister.