We are officially a family of four!

Our second beautiful baby girl was born on April 28th at 4:53pm.
She weighed 9lbs. 1oz and is 20.5 inches long.

My due date was April 24, which came and went so we decided to induce on the 28th. We went into the hospital at 7:30am got checked in and hooked up. My midwife got there at 10am, she checked my cervix, I was dilated to 5cm and she broke my water. At 11:30 the contractions were still few and far between so they started me on a low dose of Pitocin. After upping the Pitocin dose a couple times I finally started getting some strong contractions and we were well on our way. By 2:30 my contractions were really bad and I debated getting the epidural. Chris kept telling me to get it already (I knew I wanted to it was just a matter of when I'd ask for it), but I wanted to wait and see what kind of progress I had made. I felt like we were close. The nurse came in and checked me, I was SURE it was almost time and much to my surprise I was only ALMOST 6!! Ugh! At 3pm I asked for the epidural because I couldn't take it anymore, the contractions were so close together and out of control painful. Just after they hooked me up, I think it was around 3:15 and before the epidural had even kicked in, the nurse checked me again. I was at 8cm! By 3:30 I was 9.5. It was almost time to push and finally the epidural had kicked in. Now all we needed was my midwife who was delivering a baby in the next room.

The nurse had me give her a "practice push" and right away had me stop because baby was coming, midwife or not. She called for my midwife (who was getting ready to stitch up the poor mom who had just delivered her baby) and said, "if you don't come now you're gonna miss the birth". It was GO time! Push one: Sydney's head was all the way out. Push two: I had a brand new baby girl.

So far she is an awesome baby. They heard a heart murmur in the hospital, but it has since resolved itself and she's perfectly healthy.

We feel so blessed and never realized there was so much love in our hearts. 

Madison is TWO!!

With my due date come and gone, planning a 2nd birthday party was just another urgent "to-do" on my list of preparations before Sydney's arrival (that's if Sydney decided to hold-off until after her big sister's big day).  Luckily there's a Chuck E. Cheese's nearby and it seemed like the perfect place to celebrate. 

I was a little worried that Maddi would be scared of the characters and just not have a good time.  Boy was I wrong! She had an absolute blast.  She hit the ground running the second we stepped foot in the place.  I'm so glad she enjoyed herself.  We invited a few guests and all had a great time. After today Sydney is welcome to make her debut any time...  

Sydney Paige in 3D

We simply cannot wait to see her precious face. We're already over the moon in love with her.

Big Girl Bed

My parents bought Maddi her first big girl bed and we got it all put together on Christmas Eve.  I went out and got her a dog/cat bedding set to make it all her own.  She loved it!  I thought for sure I'd read her a book, lay her down, leave the room and she'd be back out in the living room with us in no time, but that didn't happen.  The lack of a nap that day I'm sure had a lot to do with it.  I'm not gonna lie...I was pretty sad she didn't put up a fight. We did, however, get a nice little Christmas morning wake-up when she made her way to our room at 7:30am.

The excitement definitely wore off in no time though.  The next day (Christmas) when we tried to put her down for a nap she wasn't having it.  She'd grab her silky, binky and book and be right back out of bed before we had time to shut the door all the way.  My mom sat with her and rubbed her head until she finally fell asleep.  She only slept for an hour though and I'm sure the ability she had to get up at her leisure had a lot to do with that.  Christmas night was a no-go in the toddler bed.  I sat with her for so long before I gave in and put her down in her crib.

The next night was another no-go.  I finally got her to sleep in it again on the following nght, but again she wanted me to sit there and I could only make my exit when I knew she was completely asleep otherwise the sit and wait process started all over again. She did well through the night and slept until 8:30am which was surprising.

Last night was another no-go, but it was mostly my fault.  We got a late start on our bedtime routine and I couldn't "wait her out".  It was 9pm when I put her in her crib and let her fall asleep.  She didn't make a peep and went right off to Dreamland.

Wish me luck tonight!     

Baby Movement!

I've been feeling little Sydney move around for about a month now (since November 21st to be exact), but tonight Chris was able to feel her move for the first time when he put his hand on my belly.  I was about this far along with Maddi when he felt her for the first time as well.

It's so exciting.  Next comes being able to see the movements!

On another note, middle name options are still being discussed =]