Snow Bunny

G and Pa came up for snow day #1 because Ross had to work and I refuse to be alone yet. Hey, don't judge. It's hard :) And, they are close together in age :) And, I am scared for it to be just me :) Anyway, Amelia donned her snowsuit and her and Pa put up a birdfeeder because Amelia has been wanting one forever. Yes, Pa went and bought her one during her nap and surprised her with it. She was thrilled. Here is her sweet snowsuit.

Then it snowed some more and Ross was home for snow day #2. He blew up her new sled from G and Pa (with a tiny, unfortunate hand pump that literally took him 45 minutes) and they were all set to go. I had several heart palpitations while watching him pull her at high rates of speed and after one faceplant in the snow by Buzz I wanted to call it quits. However, she laughed and smiled and said, "MORE."If you will notice in the second sledding picture, she has a professional lean going. As they approached a turn, she would grip the handles and lean the opposite way to keep from wiping out again. Genius.

She had so much fun with barely any snow. I love her excitement :) Elise didn't care that she missed out. Just give her milk every hour on the hour and she's good. WHEW. I am worn out from last night and this morning. She was a nursing machine. At her appt yesterday, she had gained up to 7 lbs 1 oz and the doctor was very impressed. Apparently that gave her a little nudge and she is out to gain even more. Overachiever.... Hopefully she sleeps better tonight.

Oh, I ate a whole pan of brownies. FYI.

My appt was today and I am cleared to hold Amelia and the car seat and drive. Yahoodle de doodle.

Ross Story:

We leave the hospital and Ross says he is going to go ahead of us so that the car is ready and waiting. I thought, "What a gentleman." As we got in the elevator (me in wheelchair, holding Elise on my lap, wheelchair pusher behind me) I looked at the other couple being discharged and thought, "Poor things, he didn't think to go ahead and get the car. Amateurs."

We get to the front door and Ross isn't there. I tell the girl that he is a slow poke and is probably checking the carseat base a million times. We laugh. A few more minutes tick by and the guy has gone and got the car and is already back to get his wife. I'm thinking, "Who's laughing now?"

I am getting antsy and angry--not a good combo. After five more minutes the girl asks me to call him. Don't have my cell phone and she doesn't have hers. I am almost in tears as the lady with the baby that no one is taking home. After TEN MINUTES, she asks if he is at the other door. Umm...other entrance??

We go back up the elevator to the upper parking lot and she is wheeling me at the speed of light and I almost puke all over Elise. NO ROSS. We repeat our earlier conversation about where he could be and then go BACK to the other entrance and find him sitting there with a confused look.

I had seen a million couples go home while I was wheeled all over with my baby on my lap. Thirty minutes later and we leave. I will stop the story now, as what was said once I got in the van isn't important :)

Good Intentions

Amelia has on new pants from Steph and a new shirt from Jen and she is holding her new camera from Gampy. Big sisters get lots of new stuff, lol. She is also showing off her new "trick" here. Standing on one foot and smiling.
There has been a whole lotta sisterly love around here. It is one sided at this point, but I know that soon Elise will be enamored with her lively Buzzy Bee. Amelia wants beside her at all times which constantly keeps me on my toes. I don't want to discourage the affection, but whew it will prove to be exhausting I think.


Amelia spent a good thirty minutes showing Elise how to do tummy time on this mat. "Look Eeeese, look, tummy time." :)

We haven't lived here long---six months-ish and we have made some wonderful friends already. Emily brought us the most amazing spread of food, including sausage balls for breakfast and Ross turned into one I think. Then he kept hinting that we needed that recipe, lol. Her chicken spaghetti was amazing and there was fruit and salad (she remembered the specific kind I like) and then an ENTIRE other meal that we froze. Casiee delivered in the same fashion. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and chicken casserole, salad, and NO BAKE COOKIES (I hoarded them away).

--let me interrupt and say that I forgot how famished you get breastfeeding. all i have done is eat and eat and eat. i might even be gaining weight. hope these maternity clothes don't get too snug post-baby; wouldn't that be a sight?--

Back to bragging on my friends. There have been many times that I intend to do something nice for someone and don't follow through. So here is to following through and making meals for someone and dragging your kids over to drop it off and driving right back home. Several other people that work with Ross have brought meals over too and we are so grateful. Everyone brought enough for Mom too and we still had leftovers.

And even though Amy lives all the way in LR, she sent me these delish chocolate covered strawberries and when they arrived with her little note, I cried and clapped. Yum.


All that to say that when I get my groove back and am used to being a mom of two (you know, in like a few years, lol) I want to make sure I am purposeful in following through with my good intentions and nice ideas because the impact they make is so profound.

Snow pictures soon of a precious little snow bunny in a pink snowsuit. You will just die--so cute.

We Did It!!

We made it through night one without Mom. You may not realize what a big deal that is. There was a good chance I was going to have to call her and ask her to come back in the middle of the night. The thing that makes the nights so tricky is that Amelia wakes up often, as you know. And Little Bug gets up to feed inevitably about the time Amelia needs to be patted back to sleep. So, a huge feat for this family. Bedtime was hard because Elise needed to nurse right when Amelia needed to be rocked to sleep. Neither girl went down until 10:30 (a good two hours past regular bedtime), but Ross got Amelia to sleep and I was super proud of him. I was also proud of myself for not freaking out that our schedule was off. Man, I am a schedule slave. While we are at it, I am proud of Bee for not melting down that Daddy was doing bedtime and proud of Elise for rolling with the flow and SLEEPING IN HER CRIB. That's right. We are trying hard to create healthy sleep habits with this one :)

Book time with Daddo before bed

Dad, Steph, DD, and Ing came up on Saturday to see us all and it was exciting to have some visitors. Amy Jo and Bryan stopped by with gifts and stayed to chat and that was SO fun. Also, we had a wonderful surprise and Emily, Adam, and Graham came to see us on their way back to Oklahoma. I hadn't seen Emily since her wedding, over three years ago. What a fun Saturday!

Ross and Amelia are at gym right now. It is her first time to go without me and I am sad. Wah. But, she just said "Bye Mom" and gave me a kiss, lol. I know she will have fun with her Dad and I am thankful he is off most of this week. The days he has to work, G is coming up to stay with me. Yes, I am spoiled rotten. Rotten I tell ya.

Out and About

I love to be out and about. Or at least know that I can go out and about if I want to. Once Mom leaves, I will be a prisoner. So, I am trying to take advantage of having someone here to watch Elise and having Ross go with me to lift Amelia. Time is a dwindling with The Miracle Woman. WAH.

Today we went to story time at Barnes and Noble and then to Target. Amelia wanted to dress up, and chose this outfit. Presh.



Elise nursed before we left and stayed asleep the whole time we were gone, and awoke to nurse when we got back. Such a good girl. She had another wonderful night last night. I almost can't even type it. She only woke up once after midnight to eat!!! My word--love this face.

Amelia keeps wanting to hug and kiss Elise and tell her where we are going if we leave and "check" on her if she cries. Not going to lie, it is heart-melting sweet. She also has had a few breakdowns because I can't pick her up or rock her. Not going to lie, it is heart-breaking sad. She then dries up her tears and sadly reminds us all, "Mommy has bad boo-boos, no hold me." Hopefully the doctor will clear me to pick her up on Wednesday. Fingers crossed.


I love this pretty yellow outfit on Elise. Glenda and Danny Boy brought it up when they visited.
What a wonderful day :) Hope yours was as well.

Happy One Week

Elise is one week old today and as sweet as she can be. Small bow for Meme and big bow for Steph.



Elise went and had her one week check up and was up to 6 lbs 8 oz--almost her birth weight! We were tickled with that for sure. She cried the whole time the doctor checked her out. Screamed actually. Other than that, she continues to only cry when she has good reason to, i.e. hungry, poopy, etc. I am so proud of how well she is eating :)

Amelia is showing much love to Elise as the days continue. Wanting her to "go to Target and library" with us. She is giving many kisses and (very hard) love pats. It is challenging when I am breastfeeding to keep her busy with something else. I am having Mom let me practice and it is tough and I get frustrated and have Mom go play with her. Hopefully something will come to me soon. Feeding just takes up a LOT of time when they are so little and the feedings are frequent. This is one of my big worries right now for when I am by myself with both girls.

Mom took Amelia to storytime this morning and she was SO tickled. I have been trying to get her to volunteer to throw the rhyme cube since we moved here and lo and behold they come home and tell me that the pretty princess THREW THE RHYME CUBE. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Here she is applying her lipstick before they left.


Another funny thing is that Amelia will not wear socks to bed and she would never wear footed pajamas. She always wants her feet free and doesn't even want a blanket on them. Her and mom came home from Wal Mart with these pajamas and I laughed hysterically.
She now loves them and said "cozy pj's like Elise." All she has seen is Elise in her little onesies with feet and apparently now she is a fan.

I have been doing really well I think. Not many tears this past week and much less hormonal than with Amelia. But today my incision is sore and my boobs ache like ten pound weights and Ross is getting on my nerves and I feel nervous about Mom leaving and it appears I have it in my head that I am the only person in the world who has had their children a little less than two years apart. So, where do we go from here? To sleep of course.

But first, a story for Kim. We are at a restaurant and the waiter thinks Derek and I are a couple as he is dividing up the tab. Derek is flustered.

D: "No um we aren't together. We are sisters."
W: "Oh, umm okay."
D: "No, no, what I am trying to say is that she and I are sisters."
(I might have spit out some of my drink at this point laughing. I don't help D, but let him flounder and get redder by the minute.)
D: "I am her sister."

You get the point. Bless his heart--he said the same thing every time he opened his mouth. So, sisters we will forever be.


Daddy and Elise

Baby Things Continued....

I am in a thankful mood. Both as a state of being mood and a handing out mood. I still need to hand out (much like a shout out, but more 2011) thanks to...

Garrett McMullen----Your visit was a surprise and a delightful one. Thanks for taking the time to come by and visit. Hope to see you again soon.


Ally and Amy--Thanks for being there bright and early with my family to see Elise and I. After surgery I remember being dizzy and sick to my stomach AND excited that you were there lol.

Mom-- Umm. Can't tackle this one yet. It is monumental.

Ross--I have to say that Ross was amazing during the c-section. His last performance was not stellar and I didn't have much faith in him to up his game. (Last time he literally clammed up and couldn't say one encouraging thing). You were calm and informative and helpful during the spinal. I appreciate you telling me what was going on (that is for another post--there was a whole lot going on) and reassuring me that I was doing great. Love you.



Amy C, Kayla, Rebecca, Emily, Casiee, Sherrill, Aunt Sherry, Brandy, Ashley, Jaimi---Thanks for the numerous texts of encouragement and love. I didn't respond to all of them, but I read them and was grateful for your concern. They kept me from falling apart a few times. Don't assume that means I never fell apart. Duh.

_____________________________________________
Ross, Amelia and I went to Open Gym today and it was a blast. It felt great to get out of the house and do something "normal" and in our routine. Man, I am obsessed with routine, huh? I just love to do what we always do. 2011 will definitely hand me a big, fat 'get over it' as far as the routine goes I think. Nevertheless, it was fun and Ross helped Amelia do all her tricks on the trampoline and bars and I just walked around hunched over. Mom stayed with Elise and she was a gem. I nursed her right before I left and prayed she wouldn't be hungry until we returned. SUCCESS!

Amelia wore her new leotard and leg warmers from Aunt Steph. She thought she was hot stuff.


It was such a fun morning. Both girls napped and I should have to, but you remember, the cranky factor of me napping. I think I will give in and take one tomorrow. Elise was up a lot last night and I just kept reminding myself that she isn't even a week old. And that this does not indicate she will sleep like her sister. I am chanting that statement and you can join me :)

Does any of this make sense? My blog might go downhill due to sleep deprivation. Please don't leave us. The pictures are still cute.

Elise Mae Halsted

Mom of two under two. That's me :) Without further ado...

Elise Mae Halsted. 12-29-10. 7:58 a.m. 6lbs 10 oz. 19.5 in.



I can't believe she is here! I know she is tickled to make her blog debut. She is just so snuggly and has been a great eater and sleeper her first two nights home. I couldn't believe how fast she nursed and her poops and pees have made this mama proud.

Right now, I have had Mom and Dad and Ross's help (surprisingly, it is taking ALL of us lol), but Dad left today and so that will be a transition for tomorrow. He has kept her so busy that she doesn't really even realize what's happening. I can't do much of anything thanks to this incision, and Amelia is taking it well. "Mommy, boo boo, no hold me yet." She understands, but has to remind herself often in order to not get too sad. :( I am doing worse on not being sad, but trying to be a big girl like her. That is the hard part--surgery recovery + newborn + Amelia. I like to be in control (newsflash) and I can't do anything. Obviously I knew this about c-sections, but had wonderfully blocked it out.

Thanks to Steph and D for giving up holiday time at home to rest and relax to come up and take care of kids and spend the night with me at the hospital and make Elise signs and keep me company. Best sister (s) ever. Have I told you the sister story between D and I? I will have to...it's a good one.
Thanks to Meme and Pop who I asked to miss Elise's birth so that Amelia could have two people at home with her that she feels comfortable with and loves so much. That meant so much to me and I was glad to put that worry out of my mind.



More thanks later. More emotions revealed later. More of everything later.

Now. Sleep.