Mia meet Lily

Two days after Lily was born, Mia came home from Nana & Pawpaw's house...ready to meet her little sister. I'll write more about it later, but for now here's a SOOC shot of the first time Mia and Lily met. Yes, Mia's fingers are in her ears! :)

For more Best Shots, hit Tracey's

Lovely Lily

She's HERE!!! Lily Marie was born on Monday, May 18th 2009 at 6:44 pm. 7lb 9 oz. 18.5 in

(and has already had her first photo shoot by Andrea T...last two photos below)


Yesterday, during my Dr requested afternoon nap, I heard a pop...and knew my water had broken...3 1/2 hours later, Lily was born. She's perfect. She came out so fast, that she wasn't even squished a bit. Mia's Nana & Pawpaw picked Mia up from Terra Luz after school and whisked her away to Dripping Springs for a fun sleep over. A little after Lily was born, we called Mia to let her know that she was now an official Big Sister. Her reply:

'I love you with my outside voice' :)

Daryl and I had an easy night as far as Lily was concerned. She nursed well and slept even better. What didn't work out in our favor where the sweet well-meaning nurses...baby nurse check in, mama nurse check in, vitals for baby, vitals for mama, labs for mama, has mama pee'd twice yet, has baby eaten again, blood pressure check for mama, has Lily pee'd yet, Motrin for mama, need to check baby's color (healthy and pink?), vitals for mama, vitals for baby...and when we were able to get some time to sleep, Daryl snored....and I didn't have my ear plugs!

So, we're well on our way to be checked out by 7pm tonight...got ok from mama Dr and baby Dr...just need it to be a full 24 hrs since her birth. We just wanna be home, in our own bed with our new baby. Mia comes home tomorrow, and we want to be well rested for her :)

these two shots were taken by Daryl via his Blackberry

sweet, swaddled 'n sleepin

getting checked out by baby nurse while Daddy makes sure there's no funny business going on

we so appreciate Andrea for taking the time to come all the way out to meet and photograph our newest love.

Daddy with his new little baby girl mama with her Lily Marie

Waiting on a new love

My due date with Lily has come and gone. I'm sitting here 41 weeks + a few days pregnant...into my FOURTH trimester :)

I physically feel great...no aches or pains, minimal swelling in my feet. I'm good...but emotionally, I'm a little tired. I've been pregnant for a while, and have really enjoyed my pregnancy, with all it's roller coaster dips and drops. The spotting in the first trimester and anemia in my second and third seem so far in the past...it's almost surreal.

Daryl has been amazing! So supportive and pretty much perfect. My friends and family have also been so very wonderful. Everyone has given me the space I need without overly making me feel pressured to 'have the baby already'. I was part of the most beautiful Blessingway...just ready to use my birthing bracelet already :) The henna was gorgeous! My comadre, Andrea, took some super fab maternity shots that you can see here, here and here. Daryl and I have even made a belly cast like we did with Mia. I just need to gesso, sand and paint it up....

My Dr. has been warm and helpful, but now that I'm a little past my due date, he's kind of itching for an induction. So, along with waiting for our sweet little Lily to make her debut, we're having to take non-stress tests every 3 - 4 days to make sure Lily isn't in distress. I'm thrilled to do that... I get to hear her heart beat and mark down her little/big kicks and movements. I even got to see her sweet/squished face via ultrasound. We go in for another NStest tomorrow...and I know the Dr will want to schedule an induction for the end of the week...when I hit 42 weeks. From what Daryl and I have read, at that point, the cervix may just need a smidge of a nudge to get going. I hope Lily is born before that.

I'm ready to meet her, hold her...just look at her for hours. I want to rock and pat her...hear her lil newborn cries. I can't wait for her to look at me while she's trying to focus on her mamas face. I know I'll miss her being in my tummy, feeling her kicks, but I'm ready...ready to meet our new love.

Here are some pictures of Mia and I snuggling...resting....waiting :) and then some cute videos of Mia already torturing her lil sis with zerberts.

Glue

Mia wanted to paint...went and tried to get the box of paints down from the art shelves...found glue, tissue and scissors instead. "Mama, I wanna cut and glue" No prob. She never did get to the tissue and scissors, but the glue...that's what she got stuck on.

LOVE this shot of her tootsies!

not much happened on paper...her medium of choice was more her own skin

Mia's super fun attempt at rinsing herself off...she ended up needing a bath.

Indian Blankets

On Tuesdays, Mia gets out of school at 3:30, but doesn't have swim class until 5...in the same area. So, every Tuesday when I pick her up from school she asks what kind of 'adbenture' we're gonna have. This day, we drove around until we happened upon some wildflowers. An hour was easily lost by exploring all the different types, shapes, colors.... When we got home after swimming, we sat together and Googled Central Texas Wildflowers and found the names to several. Mia's favorite one was the most prolific...they looked like daisies but were bright yellow and orangish-red....we discovered they're called Indian Blankets. She didn't pick any of those b/c they were also the faves of several bees.

Happy Birthday Lulu!

Lulu, one of Mia's classmates and good friends, recently celebrated her third birthday! We all got together at Texas Jumpling Bean...a super fab inflatable jumping place. It was soooo much fun. Mia and her friends were just running around...in and out of inflatables. Mia was so brave and independent. Which worked out nicely for me...super pregnant mama got to sit in a chair and watch her have a ball. Lulu's mama made an awesome Ariel cake that I had a hard time keeping Mia from. The kids waited so patiently for their turn at the Ariel piñata, but were soooo ready for all its loot! As we were leaving, Mia noticed a face painter had set up a table...a few minutes later, Mia was a kitty...covered in glitter! :) She loved it and looking at herself so much. I felt bad that it was time for nap when we got home...the kitty face was all over her pillowcase when she woke up.

Building Lily's Swing

When Mia was a baby, she LOVED her swing. When she wouldn't sleep anywhere else, she'd always be able to sleep there. We ended up selling her swing when she got too big for it, so now that we're expecting a Lily, we knew we needed to get another swing. We found a super fab one that actually plugs into the wall..no more running out for D batteries in the middle of the night!

The other night Daryl,with some help from his assistant, assembled Lily's swing. Mia, who pulled out her tool box, was in charge of taking all the pieces out of the plastic, but the part she loved the best was attaching the hanging butterflies :) Daryl read the manual, and all was ready in two shakes of a lambs tail...all ready for the arrival of our Lily.

Here's a shot of Mia when she was about 4 months old...in her swing, wiggling her toes

Rock Climber

We hit the Pecan Street Festival this weekend, and I did not take my camera...I needed a break. Mia hit the petting zoo and pony ride...rode 'all by myself' for the first time :) She had lemonade, we shared a Texas size corndog (HUGE!) and a red velvet mini-bundt cake...and topped it off with a large frozen lemonade. We walked around and checked out all the crafts, cool clothes and jewelry...well, from the shaded sidewalk. Daryl asked me if I liked anything....you know it's a hot day, when I'd choose the cool shade over shopping! On the way out, Mia spied the rock climbing wall...and wanted to try her hand at it. She's about 35 lbs...all you have to be is 30...SCORE! She was harnessed up, given a quick lesson and up she went...just a little bit, then she repelled...THAT was her favorite part. So, she'd climb, repel, climb repel.....I'm sooooooo glad Daryl had his phone...photos!!! Mia and her adventures make it hard to remember she isn't even 3 1/2 yet!

Flash!

Last summer, Mia and I started weekly mommy & me gymnastics classes at Acrotex. At first, her focus was on running around and not really into what Coach Misty was trying to teach these 2 yr old tots with the help of their moms...but she LOVED Thursday afternoons..'nastics' time :) Over the months, she really got into the warm ups and stuff they did on the balance beams, bars, mats...she can almost do a cartwheel and is a star on the trampoline! She even asked for her 3rd birthday to be at nastics class. In January, she had about 30 of her friends over to Acrotex for a nastics party. She was in heaven!

Since becoming pregnant, our mommy and me class has been a challenge for me at times. Whenever he could, Daryl would meet us there to take over. Watching them from the sidelines always warmed my heart. The point was always to have fun...learning all the other stuff was just gravy. This month, we had to give notice that we'd be taking a little break. I'm soooo not up to picking up a 35 lb girls so she can swing on a bar, and she's not quite up to the level where she could take a class on her own...in a couple of months she may be.

Almost everyday, she'll 'flash' for me or show me her cartwheel, teeter toter, forward roll.... I'm glad she still loves it, but feel so sad that I can't take her for a while.

She will be back, but until then....here's a little FLASH!

Q&A

Q: When will my Christmas cactus ever bloom?

A: May 1st

Q: Mia? What's taking you so long?

A: 'nothing'

Q: How big will my belly be 5 days before due date?

A: Thiiiiiiis Big!

Q: When will Lily be born?

A: Not soon enough for me :)