The crying games

This week the theme at our house is crying. It is so hard to watch my babies cry, but I know as long as they are safe it is fine.

Sallie started swim lessons last week and she is always so excited to go but when we get there it is nothing but crying and screaming. I am not even sure why she cries, all she is doing is swimming with the girl and occasionally having to go under water. We do all these things at the pool when we go. So, I stand outside and listen to her cry while she does swim lessons. I know eventually she will stop being scared and learn to swim, which of course is a necessity in my book to keep her safe.

Lulie is now 7 weeks old and I have begun her sleep training. I did it at the same age with sallie rose. She was beginning the routine of falling asleep in my arms and then the minute I put her in her bed, she would wake up crying. So began the crying it out method. I put her down a little awake and she cries. I comfort her every 5 to 10 minutes until she falls asleep on her own. Not fun. 45 minutes is usually how long it takes. We have had 2 rounds of it already and hopefully it will begin to take less time and only a couple of days.

Then there's Kevin. He has been sick and very tired and he cries a lot too. Only I don't comfort him, I let him cry it out for hours before I just kick him out of the house. :) kidding

It has been a hard 7 weeks with a newborn, my father in law's health issues and of course the lack of sleep. Some days I wouldn't trade it for the world and other days I would trade it for a good 2 hour nap. But usually when I am gone from the house for more than a couple of hours I miss my little family so much.

I look forward to a fun summer.

Lulie- 6 weeks

I can not believe Lulie is already 6 weeks old, tomorrow. It has already gone by so quickly. Overall, she has been a great and easy baby. She basically sleeps good at night and just hangs out during the day with a few short naps throughout the day. Until yesterday, when she evidently was not doing well on the formula we were giving her. She has been a little fussy and gassy for a while since she has been on all formula, but I didn't really think much about it; however, the night before last she was up every 30 minutes crying and tooting.

I decided to switch her formula yesterday and she seemed so much better last night. She is still sleeping as I type, which is unusual for her to be asleep this late. We are not on a real set schedule, but we are getting there. I am still trying to learn her patterns and it is hard sometimes when I have such a busy day with Sallie Rose to try and pay a lot of attention to the fine details of Lulie. I feel bad about it, but this is the life of a 2nd child.

She stills has a full head of black hair and she is definitely growing, but she is still very tiny and petite like Sallie Rose was. I love holding her tiny little body up close. I never really enjoyed that stage with Sallie Rose, I was always looking to put her down so I could sleep, work, etc. I wish I would have done more of that with Sallie, but this time I know to enjoy these moments, because very soon she will be 3 1/2 and all you will be doing is washing her mouth out with soap, putting her in time out, or taking away her toys and occasionally have a good time with her.

Speaking of 3 1/2 year olds, Sallie Rose is doing really well. She has been such a good big sister. She genuinely loves Lulie and wants to be with her all the time. She can't wait for her to wake up and will stand by her cradle and see if her eyes are opening. She kisses her and laughs at her to see if she will smile. She calls her "Lulie Belle" or "baby Lulu". She has been so great with her and I love seeing her eyes light up when she sees her in the morning or when we pick her up from school.

We are still having some problems with her being a little naughty though. She loves to argue and talk back and I am trying so hard to stay consistent and discipline her so that she will not be a disrespectful brat. I take away videos and toys on a daily basis and I am constantly having to remind her to "act right". She seems to do fine at school and everywhere else, but at home she loves to test the limits. She also gets really tired and cries over the littlest things, but she refuses to take a nap. She will intentionally do something (like throw a toy) knowing that I will discipline her (throw away anything that she throws or slams down) and then when I do, she falls to the ground screaming. It is really frustrating and I am crossing my fingers that with continued discipline and encouragement, this will pass soon. I feel like this has been going on for months now.

When she is in a good mood and we are not having to discipline her constantly, she is so fun and silly and I love to be with her. She loves to play pretend things, like school or church. She still loves to dress up and she still loves to do anything artistic. We go outside a lot and color with chalk or just water the flowers. She also loves to play with other kids. I really love my girls and am so thankful for them, even when they are naughty. Ask me that in 12 years when I have a 15 and 12 year old.

Look how happy Kevin is to have 3 girls!

Beautiful Butterfly

Sallie Rose had her ballet recital on Wednesday night. She was precious! She performed for about a total of 45 seconds and then we had to set through the rest of the hour and half show. She was exhausted by the time we got her at the end, so the pictures are not real great. She was tired and hungry.

Sallie Rose and her friend, Ruby.

And these are the pictures they took at school. They had a professional come take them. Pretty fancy.

Friday May 11th, 2012

I always like to read birth stories that people write and I believe I did one for Sallie Rose's birth, but can't remember. I just know, that every year on my birthday my Mom tells me the story of my birth and it makes me feel very warm and tingly. I am not sure why it does, but it does and so I am going to record Lulie's birth story here and then save it in her baby book. That way she can read it for herself whenever she would like.

I had gone to see Dr. Smith on Thursday and they checked my progress. I was 50% effaced and and dilated to a 2. He told me he was on call that weekend and that if he didn't see me over the weekend, then he would see me Thursday May 17th for an induction. Her actual due date was May 19th. So, we went home and I tried my hardest to continue to get things done that were of the most importance. Making sure we had enough diapers, wipes, clothes, etc. I also went and bought her a baby book, which I did not have yet and wanted to make sure I had that before she came.

Sallie Rose was at home sick with Susan. She had been sick the day before with the stomach bug and had thrown up once already on Thursday and just did not feel well. I tried to keep a little bit of distance from her so that I would not catch it, but it is so hard for me not to take care of her when she is sick. It makes my heart hurt. That night she still did not feel well and we put her to bed hoping she would wake up feeling much better.

Friday I woke up at 6:00 am with a gassy feeling in my lower abdomen. I assumed it was contractions, but I was not sure. I went back to sleep and woke up to Sallie Rose crawling in bed with me (which never happens) and her falling back to sleep, around 7:00 am. I was still having the gassy feeling. Sallie Rose did not look good and I was afraid she was still sick. I called my Doctor's office at 8:15 and told them my symptoms and they advised me to come in at 9:00 am to get checked. I told Kevin I did not think he was going to work that day. He was a little surprised. We had to call Donna, his assistant at work and Sallie Rose's 4th grandma, and ask her to come stay with Sallie while we went to the dr. to get checked out. Sallie Rose was asleep until we left at 9:00 am and I had to wake her to tell her we were leaving.

She felt so bad and said her stomach still hurt and she needed medicine. I tried to explain to her that Mommy and Daddy had to go see about baby sister and Ms. Donna was going to stay with her. I knew that we would not be back for 2 days. She cried and begged me to stay. I cried and told her Mommy was sorry, but I had to go look for baby sister. She eventually calmed down and we left her watching a video and eating a Popsicle. That was one of the hardest moments as her Mom that I have had to experience. I cried the whole way to the hospital. I felt awful having to leave her feeling so badly. She ended up having the stomach bug for a full week, but she only threw up randomly throughout the week.

We got to the doctor's office and they monitored my contractions and they were 3 to 4 minutes apart, but I really couldn't feel them. My doctor came in and told us to go to the hospital and let's have a baby! I was so nervous. I couldn't believe I was about to give birth again to another little girl. They wheeled me over the hospital and then it all began.

Dr. Smith came soon after we got checked in and checked my dilation and broke my water. That was probably about 11:00 am. He came back again around 1:00 pm and I had not progressed much so they started a Pitocin drip to speed things up. The time went by so quickly that I have already lost track of how things went, but I know that I just laid there and wondered when I would begin to feel that pressure of the baby and know it was time to push. Dr. Smith had a C-section to perform at 3:30 and I was really hoping that I would not start the real labor during that time.

The nurses made me lay on my side, then on my other side to try and get the baby moving. Dr. Smith came in again about 4:15 pm and checked my progress. He said the baby was turned the wrong way and they made me get on my hands and knees to try to turn her. It actually felt really good to be off my back and tail bone. My rear end was starting to hurt from laying on it all day. I stayed that way for about 15 minutes. I could tell that the pressure was increasing and the nurse had me lay back down.

The baby was coming. We were getting closer. The nurse called the doctor and he showed up about 5:15 pm and after a few great pushes (I told the Dr. I was raised on a farm and therefore I was very tough and could really push. I'm not sure he thought it was funny), my baby was safely in the World. The minute I heard that cry, I couldn't help but sob and thank God that she was safe and as far as I could tell, she was healthy. She was a much bigger baby than her sister and she had all that hair! Was this my baby?

 She is definitely my baby and she is home and sleeping a lot and eating a lot. We couldn't be happier for another little girl and most days her big sister is happy she is here too!

At last, Sallie Rose met her sister

God's blessing

Lulie Elizabeth Beckwith

8lbs, 2 oz; 20.5" long

Dark black hair and lots of it! Gorgeous like her sister and healthy. Thank you God for a safe delivery, a healthy baby and a healthy Mommy. And thank you for my wonderful family, friends, and most of all my husband!

Feature on Remodelaholic

I am very excited that I have a small project being featured on Remodelaholic this afternoon. I really like their website and they usually have some great DIY projects as well as a lot of painted furniture posts, which I love to see.

So, go by there this afternoon and check it out.

On the baby news: we went to the doc this morning and I am dilated to 2 cm so it could be any day now. Sallie Rose had a little stomach bug last night so we are a little tired today, but I am going to get a nap this afternoon and hopefully she will too and we will be good to go for baby. Yeah! And my doctor is on call all weekend. That's great news.