Sitting Up!

Violet has really been developing a lot of new skills over the past few weeks! She can now sit up unassisted for quite a while. Usually she nose dives right to her toes so she can eat them though! 

We've also started introducing solid foods! We've decided to try out Baby Led Solids, which means we're skipping the cereals and purées and just giving her chunks of real good right off the bat. 

We've tried avocado, banana and sweet potato so far. She also loves gnawing on apples in her mesh teether with her two little teeth! 

Weekend Wishes || 02.07.14

Hope your weekend is sweet!

Happy Birthday Eddie!

When we adopted Eddie, they didn't know for sure how old he was, but estimated about 8 months when we got him in October 2012. We decided to pick a birthday for him and chose February 1 since it was guessed that he would turn 1 that month. So, today is Eddie's 2nd "birthday!" 

He's our neurotic little scaredy cat, but he's become a part of the family that would make it feel incomplete if he were gone. Eddie loves spending his days on or under our bed, laying on top of the chair to look out the window and playing with his ropes. He loves the dog park, but we haven't been able to take him much lately because of the cold! He would spend hours there if he could. 

Happy birthday buddy! 

Malisa's Weekly Pregnancy Photos

This was a fun project Marty and I did while I was pregnant to see how much I grew each week and to note exciting things that happened during that week or some of the growth milestones the baby was going through at the time. Now we do weekly pictures of Violet and hope to make a similar video at the end of her first year. 

Click here to view the video! 

(I tried to add music, but I can't figure it out, so I gave up!)

Dreaming

Violet makes some funny faces and sounds when she's sleeping!

Fun with Auntie Macy

We have been so grateful and lucky to have Macy watching Violet while we're at work. She does such a good job and it makes being away from her all day just a little bit easier. I get lots of pictures and videos throughout the week which eases my new mom anxiety about being away! 

We're still figuring out how long Macy will be watching her, but for us, the longer the better! She gets so much one-on-one attention, gets to be in our house instead of someone else's to nap and play and gets to spend quality time with her auntie. Plus, we don't have to wake her up in the morning or get her ready, which has been great with this crazy cold weather we've been having! 

Violet's Birth Story || 09.16.2013

After several days of false labor, my water broke at home on Sunday, September 15 around 9:15 pm. It was the typical Hollywood movie water break-- a huge gush all over our couch, floor and bathroom. Then, once it was over, I felt normal, other than the rush of adrenaline that came over me as I realized this was it.

My husband, Martin, suggested that we get some rest since we could be in for a long night so after calling the midwife on call at Methodist to let her know my water had broken but we’d be staying home for a while, I laid down. This was about 45 minutes after my water broke and I was still feeling pretty normal. Almost the instant we got in bed, contractions started and were coming about 4-5 minutes apart and were fairly strong. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep so I took a shower to see if it would relax me.

By the time I was out of the shower, the contractions were stronger and closer to 4 minutes apart, so we went to our basement so I could use the yoga ball to get through them and Martin could track them on his phone. I told him to get some rest around midnight, as I was handling the contractions pretty well and thought I’d be able to do so for a while. He went to sleep in the basement bedroom while I rolled on the ball in a variety of positions for the next 30 minutes.

When the pain was getting more intense, I decided to go back upstairs and take another shower, after which the contractions were so strong I was on my knees next to the bed trying to breathe through them. I was becoming vocal at this point and knew that it was time to go. I hadn’t brought my phone upstairs with me and was seriously wondering how I’d get down to the basement to tell Martin to get the car ready.  I draped a towel over myself and slowly crawled my way down to the basement after a particularly bad contraction. I kneeled next to the bed soaking wet, moaning in pain and a bewildered Martin was wondering what the heck was going on!

I let him know that I thought it was time to go (this was about 1:30 am) and he raced around the house getting all of our things together, throwing our dog into my sister’s room and calling the hospital to tell them we were on the way. Somehow I managed to get some clothes on and get into the car. We live close to the hospital so it was only about a 10-minute car ride, but it was the worst car ride of my life. I was literally biting the seat belt and screaming into it during my contractions. Martin ran about 4 red lights, parked in the ramp and ran to get a wheelchair. I really couldn’t bear to sit down, but it would have taken us an hour to get up to the labor and delivery ward if I tried to walk.

When we arrived around 2:15 am, we were brought to triage and I was 7 centimeters dilated! I was so glad because I wanted a natural childbirth and thought if I was anything less than a 5 or 6 I wouldn’t be able to get through it. I was quickly brought over to the water birth room and was monitored while the tub was being filled. During this time I stood in the middle of the room with my head on Martin’s chest and my hands gripping his jean pockets to death. After what seemed like eternity due to monitors not working properly, I was able to get into the tub around 3:00 am. My pain didn’t go away in the tub, but I felt more weightless and calm once I got into the water.  With Martin holding one hand and our back-up doula holding the other, I labored for about 20 minutes in the tub. My body was involuntarily pushing during my contractions so the midwife checked me for only the second time and I was ready to push!

I did not get the urge to push like so many other women describe, so I had a hard time determining when I should be pushing, but in the end I pushed for about 30 minutes and at 3:55 am, only about 7 hours after my water broke, our sweet baby was born. We didn’t know the gender so I was thrilled to be able to announce that it was a girl! Violet was 8 pounds, 3 ounces, 21.5” long and perfect!

My birth experience was everything that I wanted, albeit a little fast! 

Grandma Kathy meeting Violet for the first time.

Proud grandpa Tim. He didn't know it was a girl until he got to the hospital! 

Ready to go home!