More Fun with Cousins and Photo Shoots

We had another fun weekend full of visitors.  On Saturday, Nana Jan and Papa Steve came so that Steve and BJ could head to the ISU football game.  Although Charlie was a little stinker during the afternoon, he was very happy to have Nana Jan at our house.  Later in the day, Aunt Jenn, Uncle Ben, Max and Milo came for a visit.

It was the first time that all 4 cousins were in the same house and with two babies in the family, I don't think that Nana Jan's lap will be empty for too long.  Nana Jan and Milo...

 Aunt Jenn and Lucy...

 Max and Charlie...clearly they were cooperating with our desire for a picture.

 Charlie loved having Max at our house and they spent most of the time chasing each other in the backyard.  At one point a very sweaty Charlie walked up to me to declare "I so happy - I chase Max!"

On Sunday, Uncle Randy, Aunt Carrie, Anna, Lauren and Julia came to meet Lucy.  Uncle Randy and Lucy...

 Carrie and the girls...photo bomb by Charlie...

 I asked Charlie to stand in a better spot so that he would be in the next picture - I am a bad mom.

 I think that they liked Lucy.

 Once again, Lucy was not lacking for attention or snuggles.

 I attempted, in vain, to take a few pictures that could be used for birth announcements.  Below are some outtakes with our blonde little boy boy and brunette little girl.  See any similarities? 

 A close-up of a wide awake Miss Lucy.

We've received so many cute outfits that I'm trying to remember to snap pictures of as many different outfits as possible.  It's like our own little fashion show each afternoon, but I am sure to discuss the importance of feminism and equal rights so that Lucy focuses on more than just appearance.

Meet and Greets

Lucy is officially 15 days old and making progress on her "meet and greet" list!  Last weekend, Uncle Marty came to meet his newest niece and spend a little time with Charlie.

On Saturday, Aunt Molly, Uncle Mike and my nieces came (Emma, Claire and Hannah) came to meet Lucy.  Molly was actually in the waiting room during Lucy's arrival but I failed to get any pictures of her with Lucy during the hospital stay.  As you can see, Lucy was pretty happy to be on Molly's shoulder and I think that the feeling was mutual.

 

 Lucy was held the entire time during their visit and loved every minute.  Emma, Claire and Hannah were naturals and I told them that they could come to visit and baby-sit any time!  Lucy and Emma...

 Lucy and Claire...

 Lucy and Hannah...

 On Sunday, our friend Gavin stopped by on his way back to Kansas City.  Although he may not want to admit it, I think that his big smile is indicative of the fact that he is ready to be a father :).  Charlie was being particularly spunky during Gavin's visit so we offered to send Charlie to go stay with him for a few weeks and Charlie was ready to pack his bags.  The plans changed before we were able to pack Charlie's bag, but Gavin promised that he could meet us in Lamoni to pick Charlie up at any time. 

 BJ had to be out of town for a few days this week so my mom came to help with the kids (it is still weird to think that I have more than 1) and she was a huge help with Charlie, Lucy and Copper.

 Speaking of Copper, he is in the midst of another medical mystery of allergies and infections.  He was also on a hunger strike for a few days, but I think that was more of a hunger strike due to Lucy's arrival and BJ's temporary absence than his allergies.  At some point during the last two weeks he also threw up in our bedroom which, again, I believe was his form of protest over bringing another human being into our home.  I still maintain that he will outlive all of us.  His recent attention-seeking hiding spot is behind the toilet in the kids' bathroom.  What a weirdo.

Lucy was able to take her first official bath this past week and she did great lounging in her little tub.

Nana Jan gave Lucy a tutu so I had to try it on her and snap a picture - it is both weird and nice to have pink girly things in our house!

I hate to jinx it, but Lucy has been a really content baby and very easy.  She even slept a few 4-5 hour stretches during the night, which has been awesome.  Charlie continues to be sweet with her although he has his moments with us when he is being a little stinker and misbehaving.  Overall, he's done pretty well and we're just trying to give him some one-on-one time. 

We're excited for more visitors this weekend!

Lucy Jane

She's here!  Lucy Jane Supple arrived at 12:56 PM on 8/16/12, weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 20 inches in length.  Our c-section was scheduled for 11:30 that morning but apparently a lot of babies decided to be born last Thursday because our c-section was pushed back and we weren't even admitted to an official hospital room until later that night.  The extra time hanging out on the triage area provided an opportunity for some last minute photos.

One of the last "Sweet Pea" photos.  BJ took more photos as I was lying in the hospital bed, but let's be honest, that angle isn't flattering for anyone and those pictures will stay hidden from the public's view.

 BJ in his surgery get up.  The popped collar did not make its way into the actual operating room.  We were very excited to meet "Sweet Pea" but we were also a little nervous, not knowing what to expect.  Because I was under general anesthesia for Charlie's delivery, BJ wasn't able to be in the room and we were really hopeful that we would actually be present and conscious :) for Sweet Pea's arrival.

 Success!  The c-section was easy peasy and my doctor was awesome.  BJ even watched part of the procedure, despite my concerns that he might get queasy.  As BJ pointed out, he "saw lots of things give birth on the farm" which was not at all comforting to me.  Neither of us will forget BJ making the declaration  hearing that "it's a girl", hearing Lucy's first cries or the shock that she had a full head of dark hair.  We were smitten and I instantly told BJ that he was a goner.  BJ is an excellent dad to Charlie and Charlie is his little shadow, but pair him with a little girl?  Forget about it, as evidenced by one of Lucy's first photos with BJ...

 Lucy had to make a quick pit stop in the NICU because she had a little fluid in her lungs, but was otherwise in great shape.  Personally, I think that she realized that the "normal" nursery was crazy busy that day and she opted for the private suite with the private nurse in the NICU.  That's my girl.

We were lucky enough to have a waiting room full of anxious family to meet Lucy right away.  My parents, BJ's parents and my sister and youngest niece were all at the hospital to share the good news.

The grandparents checking Lucy out for the first time.  After a brief discussion, it was unanimous that she was a keeper.

My first official photo holding Lucy.  Everyone told me not to worry about having enough capacity to love another child and while I didn't doubt their sincerity, I am happy to report that it was as if my heart doubled in size and I any fear that I had about our ability to love Charlie and Lucy as much as they need vanished.   

 BJ and Lucy bonding.

 We decided that Charlie could stop by for a quick meet and greet with Lucy.  The picture below says it all.  Charlie moving at lightning speed and wanting to check everything out on his own.  Although he was like a bull in a China shop, Charlie declared that he wanted to hold "the baby" and gave her a kiss.  A huge success in my book! 

We received many nice gifts and memorable gift was a dress that I had worn as a baby (and later used to dress my Cabbage Patch dolls) from my mom.  The pink is pretty pale so it is hard to make it out in this picture, but I'm curious to see how much, if at all, Lucy and I will look alike.

Some of my friends stopped by on Friday afternoon and our friends Mike (Birdie and Sarah (Zinn) stopped by Friday night.  It was really nice to be able to introduce Lucy to so many people!  

 Aunt Jenn found a cute "Sweet Pea" onesie a few weeks ago and we were excited for Lucy to try it on.  Lucy was a little shocked and dismayed that we would dare put something over her head, but I'm happy to report that so far Lucy's crying has been rare and easily-remedied.

 Charlie spent Thursday night with my parents and the rest of the weekend with BJ's parents.  He was so exhausted when he came to our house on Sunday that he curled up and fell asleep on my lap.  We really missed him so I was happy to have some Charlie cuddle time.

 A quick photo of Nana and Lucy.

 Charlie showing Lucy the bear that he, Nana and Papa made for Lucy.  Charlie was pretty adamant that he had a bear in his tummy while I had a baby in my tummy.  I think he got the idea from ready The Berenstein Bears "New Baby" book, but it was pretty funny.  Whenever BJ would ask how Sweet Pea was doing, Charlie would reference the bear in his tummy.  So far, it is unclear if the bear continues to gestate in Charlie's tummy.

 I had my first moment of "oh my gosh - I have two kids" on Sunday night.  I finished feeding Lucy and Charlie also wanted to sit on my lap.  It all worked out and there is plenty of lap space for cuddle time with both of them.

 Charlie's done really well - better than I expected.  He wanted to give Lucy plenty of kisses and proudly declares "that's my sister" while walking around the house or talking to neighbors.  He even managed to help give Lucy a bottle the other night.  In hindsight, he may have just been mesmerized by the return of the pink fluffy robe and felt the need to stand close to it.  That robe may be the best purchase that I ever made. 

 So far, Lucy has been sleeping in 3 hour chunks, so I think that we've been pretty lucky.  BJ took this week off of work so I've been able to nap during the day and catch up on some sleep.  I could tell that I was a little sleep-deprived when I told BJ on Saturday that it was weird that I hadn't felt Sweet Pea move very much.  Weird that I didn't feel my 48 hour old newborn move INSIDE of my stomach after she was born :).  I'd like to think that the naps have helped my brain start to function normally again.

A big thank you for all of the well wishes and help that we had with Charlie late last week and over the weekend - we feel really fortunate!

Family of 4

Well, this is our last official weekend as a family of four.  

 Sweet Pea's arrival date is quickly approaching and I need (for my own mental health and "nesting" reasons) to do a quick recap before I move into full Sweet Pea documentation mode.

Copper officially began his summer by "greetings" the ducks that choose to habitat our pond.  Much to his chagrin, he was never able to capture any ducks and would instead show his absolute hatred for them by rolling in dried duck poop.  Anyway interested in an aging, semi-psychotic dog?  Free to a good home is what I proclaim to all of the neighbors who have "lovingly" nicknamed him Kujo.

 Copper's freedom to terrorize the ducks came to an abrupt end in late June when we completed our backyard landscaping project.  A 45 degree backyard slant to a pond, next to a busy street and coupled with a very "spirited" little boy led to the decision to level the backyard and install a fence.

The nights when we came home and the "worker guys" were in our backyard with their machinery and equipment might have been the best nights of Charlie's life.  He ate dinner on the deck those nights and was absolutely mesmerized.  By the end, the "worker guys" were frequently waving at him and telling him hello so Charlie thought that life was pretty good.

 Enjoying the fenced in yard and swingset (new to us - thanks Aunt Molly and Uncle Mike) with BJ during one of the hottest weeks this summer.

 This picture pretty much sums up Copper's thoughts on the fenced-in yard...he actually snarled at me when I took his picture.  He's completely embarrassed by the fact that a little 4-foot high fence can keep him from chasing after the ducks and other neighborhood dogs.  I tried to assure him that the fence does not diminish the street cred that he's developed over the last two years but he's not buying it.

 We also enjoyed the Fourth of July festivities in Norwalk.  I would have taken more pictures of all of the fun that was had that day but I was more concerned by melting and/or overheating Sweet Pea so I didn't do much other than sit in a lawn chair and drink water.  We started the day with the parade and spent the rest of the day enjoying cookouts and some pool time with our neighbors.  I did manage to capture Charlie's reaction when he was handed some propaganda from a local, socially-conservative group.  He appropriately handed it over to me right away and I assured him that it was "yucky and we should throw it away."

 A few weeks later, one of my co-workers threw a "sprinkle" (apparently the new thing for 2nd, 3rd, etc. born children) for myself and another expecting co-worker.  It was a lot of fun and we are set for diapers for some time!

 Charlie helped me celebrate my 32nd birthday by helping bake a cake with Nana Jan.  He was pretty proud of himself when I asked him to pose by the cake.

 And even more in awe when it was time to light the candles.  I feel the need to point out that the free t-shirt that I received from the America Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals (which features a terrier-like dog holding an American flag) served me well during both pregnancies.  It is one of the few t-shirts that still fits and I wear it regularly.  A few weeks ago we were getting ready to go on our post-dinner walk when BJ asked if I was really going to wear it outside.  Wear it outside?!  Heck yeah, why should we be the only ones to enjoy a caricature of a patriotic dog? I think that Lee Greenwood would applaud my patriotic efforts.

 The extreme temperatures have rendered me completely worthless most nights so Charlie and I have enjoyed some snuggle time in the recliner. 

 Finally, last month's "Sweet Pea" photo.  I need to snap another photo this week and compare it to my last pregnant photo with Charlie.  My guess is that I look big in both photos.

I can't believe how fast the last 9 months have gone, but we are excited (and dare I say ready?) to add another person to the mix!

Are you there blog world? It's me, Carey.

I have no valid excuse for the nearly 7 week blog hiatus other than I'm very pregnant, very hot (in a body temperature way, not the attractive way) and tend to go to bed about the same time that Charlie does each night.  Someone at work the other day was talking about an upcoming trip that they have scheduled for Las Vegas and about the "clubs" that they were going to check out.  It took me a good 5 minutes to figure out that the reference was to a night club (i.e. drinking and dancing) instead of a supper club. 

Anywho, we've done some fun things this summer.  My brother, Marty, graduated with his B.S. in Business Administration (with honors) a few weeks ago so we went back for a well-deserved celebration.  We snapped a quick family picture on Saturday night after a celebratory dinner...

 and I tried (in vain) to catch some decent photos during the actual graduation ceremony on Sunday.  Sadly, the picture below was the best picture and while everyone in the photo is blurry, I'm proud to point out that Marty (the only person that I really cared to see graduate) is the least blurry person.  Raw photographic talent my friends.

 In other news, we continue to prepare for Sweet Pea's arrival in mid-late August.  The nursery has been painted, existing baby goods have been found/cleaned/sorted, a pack of newborn diapers have been purchased and girl bedding (if we should need it) has been picked out.  Charlie can even say the names that we have picked out in the event that Sweet Pea is a boy or a girl.  By God, I think that we are almost ready.

Charlie continues to love to spend time outdoors, which is always followed by a soak in the tub.  He continues to work on his stand-up routine.  Tonight he put bubbles on his head, declared himself to be Santa Claus and repeated "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas" about 10 times. 

He loves the water and was happy to dump bowl after bowl of water over his head, which makes washing his hair pretty easy these days.

The weekends have been pretty fun-filled with trips to Cascade, visits with grandparents and the Heart Walk last week (good job BJ).  And I get overwhelmed with trying to recall all of the details so I'll just leave it at that.



Finally, I've been asked by some if this pregnancy is similar to my pregnancy with Charlie and I would say that it has been pretty comparable.  Perhaps the most glaring similarity is that I ran into the side of our garage the other day when I came home from work.  I was kind of expecting to hit something with the car at some point, so it didn't even phase me.  In fact, I came into the house, greeted Charlie/Copper/BJ, ate dinner with everyone and forgot about it for awhile.  A couple of hours later, I told BJ, "Oh yeah, I ran into the garage when I came home tonight" as nonchalantly as if I had asked him to pass the ketchup.  His eyes went all wide and he asked if I was serious and I assured him that I was.  Then I think that I concluded the conversation by saying something like "oh well" and that was the end of that.  Luckily, the damage to the side of the garage is minimal (although undeniable) and the car seems to be fine.  Deep down I feel like the next 2 months could be ripe with potential for more damage.

FAQs



I haven't updated the blog for awhile because I've been answering too many questions.  What you doing Mama?  What you eating Mama?  Where you going Mama?  Where Copper go Mama? What's that Mama?  These are the most common questions that I am asked every day and BJ faces his fair share as well.  Charlie's selective hearing continues to do very well as he can ignore me when I tell him that it is time to get dressed/brush his teeth/leave for school, but the minute I try to open the Chips Ahoy bag I have two big blue eyes staring at me asking, "What you eating Mama?"

Charlie's favorite place to be these days is outside.  We are starting a major landscaping project in a few weeks since our current backyard is basically a death trap (picture a hill down to a pond and next to a busy street), so in the mean time we spend a lot of time heading to the park or riding his tricycle up and down the sidewalk.  We've also managed to sneak in a few snacks while sitting in the backyard.  The picture below is not the greatest picture of Charlie, but I demand to know who replaced my little boy with this big kid.

 Charlie is a mad man at the park and his legs are full of scrapes and bruises to prove it.  The kid has no fear and I just hope that a few bruises and scrapes will be the worst of it.

 Charlie sporting a post-park sweaty/sunscreen-filled hair do.  The poor kid is going to spend the summer slathered in sunscreen and sweaty.  Oh well, I guess we'll save on hair products.

In other news, I have considered Copper close to death at least 5 times in the last 3 years.  We made the decision to stop the allergy "treatments" since he was still miserable and shoving 3 pills down his throat each day that may or may not make him vomit wasn't a lot of fun.  Instead, we are now giving him the strongest steroids possible.  The steroids will likely lead to liver and/or kidney disease, but the allergy medicines weren't working any more so we figured that it is better for him to enjoy the last few months of his life hyped up on steroids than hiding under our bed trying to bite his legs off.  Well, old Squirrel Pup has other plans because a few weeks into the steroid treatments, the ISU vet has declared that he has never looked better and that he could live for years.  Really?  Here I was picking out a burial plot at Steve and Jan's farm.  Not that I want him to pass to the other side but I was considering our actions to be hospice-like.  Instead, we seem to have found the fountain of youth for him and he is back to his spunky self.

Finally, Sweet Pea continues to do well.  I can't believe that I am almost 25 weeks along as the time has flown.  I started my unofficial nesting last week and declared at the office that I was going paperless before shredding approximately 3 boxes worth of documents.  My assistant looked frightened and begged me to sift through the documents before they met their demise but I was determined.  Granted, I was wishing that I had a few old notes today when I was at work, but God knows that I have too much pride to admit that to her.  The nesting attitude continued this weekend because I created a whole list of items to organize/purchase before Sweet Pea's arrival.  In fact, at one low point during my sanity, I contemplated buy a lamination machine so that I could laminate all of the labels that I plan to make with my label maker. 

The craziness continued into my dreams over the weekend.  On Friday night I woke up, turned on our bathroom light and then proceeded to wake up BJ, demanding to know why he put an onion on our ceiling.  Much to his bewilderment, I repeated the question about 3 times before he told me to go sell crazy someplace else, we were all stocked up here.  Last  night, I dreamt that Kris Humphries (Kim Kardashian's ex husband) was hanging out at our house to avoid all of the negative publicity that he was receiving.  I tried to be sympathetic to Kris and his first world problem but grew so exasperated that I begged BJ to return him to Chattanooga.  None of this makes any sense.  All I know is that if Charlie's next question happens to inquire as to who placed the onion on the ceiling, I hold myself accountable.