Fun Times

Oh, you just have to love this little snuggle bug! She's so sweet I just can't stop kissing her. I especially love her "touchdown" pose.
With Fall in the air, we've been spending a lot of time outside. My "boot" isn't stopping me from doing too much - after all, I still have to keep up with Megan!
But the highlight of the week is that Grandma and Papa came to town to help us celebrate Thanksgiving and get a good helping of love from 2 sweet girls. Megan's been keeping them very busy.

And they've enjoyed meeting their new granddaughter and soaking in her snuggley hugs.

In just 2 weeks it's amazing how many changes we've seen in Nicole. The picture at the top was from last week, and this picture is from tonight. She's just changing right before our eyes. Definitely moments of joy that we are soaking in and savoring!

Is it really almost December?

It's so hard to believe that next week is the first Sunday in Advent. For months I've been thinking about what our family could do to teach Megan about Christ this Christmas season. Last year I really wanted to start the tradition of a Jesse Tree, but she was a little too young, and honestly I wasn't able to get my act together in time. But this year... I'm so excited. I know it'll be a "test year" of sorts as I try to figure out how to get organized and make this meaningful for for a toddler.

I think I've got my resources organized and a plan in my mind... now to implement. At least I have a week to actually get it all pulled together. I'm putting some links in here if anyone else wants to join in the madness! ADVENT - here we come!

Here are some ideas for Family Devotions to go with the Jesse tree ornaments.

Here are the scripture cards and ornaments that we are going to use. I'm just going to spice them up a bit and let Megan decorate with some small embellishments. This blogger has a great "plan" that I'm modifying to suit our lives and little girl.

Here are a TON of resources - printable ornaments to color, other devotionals, printable nativity scenes, etc.... a landmine of all things Christmas!

In case you can't tell.... I'm so excited about the Christmas season and all the things that entails. I think Megan will have so much fun experiencing this "season of waiting" with some of the fun traditions we are starting, and continuing. And I'm looking forward to getting our tree up and starting our Advent celebrations a week from today!

I'm sure I'll post lots of pictures (mostly for my own record and memory) of what we do, and hopefully I'll get another post with some pictures later today!

Our First Recital

We took Nicole out for her first family outing this week.
She was only 12 days old, but she wanted to support her big sister at her first dance recital. Ok, perhaps "recital" is a bit of an overstatement. Really it was the cutest and most adorable dance class where the parents were invited to come and watch as they showed off what they'd been doing in class.

There's not much cuter than a group of 2 year old's dancing around, twirling, giggling, and just being 2!

And for the grand finale.... TA-DA!!!!!

Megan loves her teacher - Ms. Mell. So much so, that we ended up coming home and signing her up for another session of classes. I knew she loved the class and I always loved watching her through the window.... but when we saw them dancing and saw how much fun she was having --- it was a no-brainer.
I just love my little ballerina!

The boot is ON!

Just an update.... remember how my foot was hurting....

Well after a trip to the Dr's it is confirmed - my 2nd toe is broken. Not a stress fracture - a break. Thankfully I'm in a boot and not a cast. So, here's to the next 4-6 weeks in a boot. Perhaps I can make it through 2010 without another break in my foot. Ugh

To answer everyone's question... I have NO IDEA how I did this. I say it's the toe that is broken - but not the actual little toe part - it's the long toe bone that is on top of your foot (the 2nd Metatarsal to be exact). It could've started as a stress fracture, I could've triped and somehow broken it and just not realized it, dropped something on it... yeah, you'd think I remember something like one of those... but no - no clue! I just remember waking up one day and my foot was hurting. Maybe I kicked Tom in the middle of the night and just don't remember it.... :^)

Oh Baby!

Wow.... Well, the last time I sat at my computer it was about 4am and I was trying to decide when to go to the hospital. Who knew that I was only hours - less than 3 hours - away from meeting this amazing little blessing!!!!!
Let's just say that little Nicole will have a great story for her baby book! Talk about fast.... seriously, my first contractions were at midnight. By 3:30 I knew I was in labor, by 4:30 Tom was getting everything ready to go and by 5:30, Natalie was here to stay with Megan. We got to the hospital and I knew I was "in trouble". Seriously at 4am my contractions were 5 minutes apart and starting to intensify. By 5 I was ready to go get my epidural. On the way to the hospital my contractions went from 3-5 minutes apart to 1-2 minutes apart. Tom and I always joked about having a Hwy 400 baby... let's just say, Thank Goodness it was very early on Saturday morning and we didn't get stopped by traffic. When I crawled into my hospital bed at 6:15 I knew I was in trouble because my contractions were every minute but they told me my epidural was on the way and that the baby still had to drop before I could deliver her.....

Well, a minute later my water broke and let's say she rode the wave and at that point all I know is that everyone in the room was repeating - don't push, your midwife is on the way. Don't push, she's almost here. Don't push, she's in the hospital.... As for me.... I was just huffing and puffing like those crazy labor video's trying to get through each contraction without pushing. At one point I thought... oh my gosh, Tom is going to miss this, I hope he finds a parking space. The happiest moment was when my Midwife walked in, threw her purse on the couch, donned a gown and delivered Nicole - in about 2 minutes. No joke! Talk about crazy.

So why did I wait so long to go to the hospital..... well - I think my foot has a stress fracture. I'm blaming it on the foot!! I was afraid I'd go and be in the early stages of labor and they'd make me walk the hospital for hours --- that's what happened with Megan when my water broke. And I just couldn't walk on my foot. I just waited a little too long. :^)

But if you are going for a natural birth... that was the way to go - 6 hours and 50 minutes from start to finish! And I will say my recovery at the hospital was a lot easier and quicker than with the epidural. And to be honest - I didn't know she was 9 lbs 2 oz till later. Holy Cow - I needed to get it in writing when they kept telling me she wasn't as big as I was afraid she was!

Now that the story is out there... here are a few pictures of our family of 4!

Megan LOVES being a big sister!

Welcome Baby Nicole Alyssa

Today was an exciting day for the Georgia Blaisdell's - We welcomed Nicole Alyssa to our family at 6:50 AM this morning. Mommy and Nicole are doing very well. Nicole has beautiful brown hair and the cutest little chubby cheeks you'll ever see! :0) Pictures to be posted shortly! :0)
We were a bit surprised by how fast the process moved. We arrived at the hospital just before 6 AM. Valerie was in her delivery room by about 6:15 AM. I filled out some paper work, parked the car, got back to the room at 6:35, and Nicole was born at 6:50 AM! Needless to say, it went so fast from the time that we arrived that Valerie had to go "all naturale" with the birth - no epidural for her. She was a CHAMP!!! She amazed me beyond belief! I am so proud of her! (Note - Nicole didn't make it any easier by being a bouncing 9 lb. 2 oz. - 22 inch long baby!) Thankfully, everything from that point went so well. Nicole's tests were good. Mommy was doing well and healthy. Big sister Megan arrived at 10:30 with Natalie and was so sweet with her new baby sister. She enjoyed holding her a few times with some help and just loved on her - at least when she wasn't chasing after the two balloons she and Natalie bought! Grandma, Grandad, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Kelly, and a few friends came by to welcome Nicole and celebrate with us. What an amazing day!!! God is so good! We are so grateful for his amazing blessing to us.

Hhhuuuummmmm... is it time?

Well 2 weeks ago I was up till 4am having false labor pains.... tonight it's 4:15 and I'm trying to figure out how long I can stand it before calling someone to come stay with Megan so we can head to the hospital.

Evidently this baby might be more ready to come on out than anyone thought..... We'll keep you posted. :^)

So as I try to take my mind off labor - here are my thoughts to pass onto this little girl...

My little baby...
The past 39 weeks have been wonderful, challenging, growing, and amazing. I can't wait to meet you - but I'm also a little sad. It's hard to imagine that in a few hours I could be holding you and studying your every detail. It's wonderful, and yet fills me with sadness because I'll also miss your little feet poking out of my tummy. It seems almost "on schedule" because tonight your big sister sat on the couch and kissed you and talked to you and was just mesmerized with mommys big belly because you were inside. She's so excited to meet you. And so are we. Somedays I am fearful of the world you are coming into, but I also know that our God will watch over you and protect you. I love you so much, and I can't wait to experience the delights of God's creation through your eyes.

Ok, now with contractions and tears - hopefully before too long we'll introduce you to Megan's little sister.

Everybody is Nesting

I just had to post this cute picture of Megan helping out with some yardwork. As our due date draws closer, it seems that everyone is in the mood to help and nest a bit. It's really not as dark as it looks in the picture, but I must say that it is hard to have it get dark so early. I miss the nice cool evenings when we could eat dinner and then go to the park as a family. Now it's do what you can outside and then eat a later dinner. It still works, just not quite as convienent.

So, for our nesting update... we are a week away from our due date. Yesterday at my Dr's appt, they pretty much said this baby shows NO signs of wanting to meet us. My midwife (who was the one who delivered Megan) basically came in saying - lets see what we can do to start this ball a rolling... and left saying, next week we will see if we need to talk about inducing. Great. This laid back girly may just wait till her due date or beyond. Of course, you never know - with Megan I showed no signs of being ready but she was born the next day (3 weeks early). God's in control of the timing of this babe's birthday so now I'm just waiting, trying to be patient, enjoying every moment (as much as I can at this uncomfortable stage of the game), and enjoying time with Megan and Tom.

Honestly my biggest concern right now is.... is my foot broken? No joke. My feet are big swollen masses, but my right foot - the one that was fractured last year - is excruiatingly sore. It's bigger than the other foot, and it's hard to walk. But, it's hard to tell if it's something I need to have looked at, or is it simply a side effect from my big swollen pregnancy feet?!?!?! At this point, I figure once the baby is here - we'll deal with it. I'm hoping it's just a swollen thing and not a stress fracture again. Maybe in a week it'll be a pain of the past!

Star Student

We had our first school project! Megan was soooo proud of taking it to school this morning.

Megan was the star student - so we made a photo poster about her favorite things. She was very very excited about picking out her favorite pictures and what she wanted to share. Of course I didn't think I'd ever get the pictures on the poster because she kept running off with them (my little helper).

Role Reversal

It was a beautiful day here so Megan and I headed to the park.... well, we had a little role reversal on the playground. Megan got bit! And not a little bite - it was a full on bite on her chest with lasting teeth marks. Thankfully it didn't break the skin. Megan was devestated but recovered quickly - and the caregiver of the little girl who did bite really wasn't in the picture at all. Megan and I had a long chat about it and about how it hurts and thats why we don't bite. I just wonder if she remembers that once she was the one doing the biting.

These are some pictures from a trip to the park a couple of weeks ago. I meant to post them awhile back. It's one of Megan's favorite parks - but it's hard to keep up with her in this park at this stage of my life (sooo pregnant) - but Natalie went with us and Megan had a great time!
This is our castle park - and it really looks like a castle - Megan loves all the bridges and staircases. I have to say, it's a super cool park. They also have an equestrian center and I'm hoping to take her over there one day to see the horses.It even comes with it's own dragon!

It's a huge maze for Megan - she'll run herself ragged inside. Thankfully it's an enclosed castle so there's only one way in and one way out.

Here's to beautiful fall days! May we have many more and may we have LOTS of fun at our local parks in the future!

Single Digits

Oh my.... I really never believed I'd get to this day - 9 days to go until our official due date. Megan was already 10 day old by this point in her pregnancy.

We are pretty much ready, which means this little girl will probably be late. Hopefully this laid back, take your time approach to her own delivery date will be a good clue to her laid back personality. That would be a nice offset to her high strung big sister. :^) She came 19 days early and was ready to take the world by storm. And now Megan is READY to meet her baby sister. Every day she reminds me that I must wash my hands a lot and be very gentle and only touch her feet. We are getting little Ms. Megan ready to be a big sister. On our way home from school she started singing songs that she wanted to teach to little siter. It was so sweet that I thought I was going to have to pull off the road to shed a few tears. I can't wait to see my two girls together. Just thinking about it makes me bleary eyed!

So - here's to nesting and waiting.... waiting and nesting..... and loving up on a 2 1/2 year old as she prepares for a little sister who will undoubtedly shock the daylights out of her little life.

Oh Moe!

On any day you could ask Megan if she wants to go out to eat and her most likely response will be.... "let's go to Moe's! Welcome to Moe's!"

And she knows what she likes! I wonder if she likes Mexican food so much because when I was pregnant with her, that was the only food that didn't make me sick. (If that is the case, her baby sister will also be a Mexican food fan!)
Seriously, when did my baby grow up? Look at her eat her taco all by herself. I actually love going to Moe's with Megan because she loves going there so much. Ok, not so healthy, but definitely yummy!