making faces

Leah will now "make faces" on command. She does a couple of silly faces as well as a monkey, a fish, and a monster. Girl has always had a sense of humor and is now into putting on a show as well. She thinks she is pretty darn funny. Here is a sampling. Oh and she didn't stick her finger in an electric socket, that just her hair after being braided all day.

photos for auntie Bethie

I talked my sister Bethany on the phone this morning. She reports that she is a regular reader of this blog even though she RARELY posts comments. She requested additional photos of the little man. I keep talking about how much he is changing and how fast. I guess she needs proof! Oh and I've thrown in a few others too!








This one was of Paul and I at our friend Wendy's James Bond party last weekend!

Pull My Finger

So we all had the uncle, grandpa, dad, cousin, someone who was "that guy". The one who held out his finger for you to pull when you were a small child and when you did let loose a big loud stinky fart. I'm so lucky that both my dad and my husband love this little game.

Well, last night I realized that I am even luckier! Paul decided that teaching Leah this little trick was a good idea. So she's great at pulling his finger and waiting for the "toot" as she calls it. Well now she holds out her finger for Paul to pull and squeezes out a toot of her own. And of course Paul is OVERJOYED and I think I may have heard him say "this is the proudest moment of my life". . . . .really. It got funnier when she held out her little finger to be pulled four times in a row and managed to squeeze out a fart each time. It was too the point where we were scared she was going to squeeze out a turd too.

So yes, if you feel the need to pull a finger. Just ask, Leah and Paul can both squeeze out a fart for you.

motor skills

My munchkins have been working on thier motor skills this week. Jonah is working hard on rolling from his belly to his back. I know that he's not supposed to be able to do this yet but he has done it several times. . . . of course not when I'm there to catch it on film. He is a strong little booger.

As for Leah, she totally impressed me with her ability to string beads with very tiny holes on a very tiny elastic thread. She lost patience quickly but she managed to make a bracelet for herself. Fun stuff.

slide show

Baby's First Bath

No, these are not new photos. We have given Jonah more than one bath since he came home over 3 weeks ago. In fact, he gets lots of baths because he feels the need to projectile vomit at least once a day covering himself and usualy me with milk. Lovely.

Anyway, I find I guess these photos give evidence to the fact that things are harder with two kids. Leah insisted on "helping" with Jonah's bath which is why she is in every photo! That or it is evidence to my husband's poor photography skills!

Poop

Yes, poop. It's a common topic of conversation at our home. How could it not be with a brand new baby and a newly potty trained two year old! So what do I have to say about poop????

Paul is convinced that both Leah and Jonah are truly his off spring due to thier pooping skills. Jonah is a poop machine and seems to have mastered the art of the "wet fart". I don't know that I have ever heard a baby fart as loud, long and juicily as this one. We are going to go broke buying diapers for him! The only good thing about his frequent pooping is that we know he is getting enough of the boob juice!

As for Leah, Paul is throughly disturbed by the size of her turds. I have heard him describe them as many things although "poop grenades" was the one that made me laugh the hardest. The other morning he got me out of bed to check out her giant turd before he would flush it. He can't figure out how something so huge comes out of our little girl.

Sometimes I feel like we are back in junior high with all of this poop talk. I guess it's better than us all being constipated though!

a trip to the Butterfly House

Well my parents can't seem to get enough of the grandkids and made the trek down from Iowa again this weekend. The hardest part of having a new baby for Leah and I has been the fact that it's a lot harder for us to head out to all our regular playdates and activites. I've shared this frustration with my mom and when she asked what we would like to do this weekend I said "get out of the house!" Paul get permission to go golfing and we packed up the kids for a trip for doughnuts, to Costco and to see the butterflies!

more Jonah photos

It's really amazing how much they change in a short amount of time.

Umbrella

Last summer Paul's mom gave Leah an umbrella. I am a mean momma and won't let her play with it in the house. Once in a while she finds it and uses it as a sword or a stick or whatever but she know that it's only for rainy days. Well, Thursday was one of those days. Leah was going stir crazy with being the house all day and it was a warm rain so we gave splashing in the puddles a try. She didn't really get that the umbrella was supposed to keep her dry but she had fun anyway!

Jonah's birth story.

WARNING: this may be way to much information for some people. I don't think there are too many gory details and there it will not be accompanied by live action shots or anything. It's mostly for me to remember the events of the birth of my baby boy.

Jonah’s birth story.

Wednesday the 13th I had my regularly scheduled doctor appointment at 9:45. Paul was out late the night before and had planned to take the morning off so he came with Leah and I to the appointment. Leah was excited to hear baby Jonah’s heartbeat as usual. Well once again my blood pressure was high. 140/110 or so I think. The week before it had been 150/90. Dr. Foster checked me and I was dilated to 2cm. He suggested induction for the same week. With the high blood pressure there was some risk of my passing out while doing things around the house and the only way to get it down is to have the baby! We waited in the office while he made some calls and set us up to be at the hospital at 8:00am the next morning.

We spent our day of waiting getting the car seats put in the car, going to Costco to stock up on some groceries and going out for a nice family dinner to Red Lobster which Paul and I were craving. We gave Leah some extra attention too. We also made about 100 phone calls letting everyone know what was going on. My mom and Bethany did some serious rearranging to make it down to our house yet that night so Leah didn’t have to go anywhere the next morning.

I was awake at 5:30 on Thursday morning, unable to sleeping knowing that “today was Jonah’s birthday!” Said a few prayers that all would go well and we would be meeting our healthy son soon! I got in a few snuggles with Leah and made breakfast for everyone. Jumped in the shower, gave hugs and kisses and we were out the door. We were running a bit late thanks to me and Paul sped to the hospital.

We walked right up to the second floor and into room 208. The nurse, Pam, was ready for us. She had a great sense of humor considering she had been called in on her day off! Busy place. It took a while to get all the questions answered and me changed and my IV in. We did all the stuff for cord blood donation as well. They had to stick me 3 times to get it going. I have good veins but hard to get the blood flowing out I guess. My doctor was unavailable to give the orders to get the pitocin started until 10:30 so we spent about 45 min just waiting around.

From 10:30 until 2:30 it was just lots of contractions but nothing that hurt to much. It was a bit frustrating because the nurse had to continually up the pitocin. Oh and we got switched to Sandy so Pam could head home. There were a few laughs with Paul napping in my hospital bed while I posted on-line sitting in the chair. We watched lots of the Olympics and other crappy TV. I also did tons of crossword puzzles and read my book. I squeezed in a bit of a nap while Paul went home to have lunch with Leah.

At 2:30 or so Sandy let us know that Dr. Foster had called and given the okay to break my water since the pitocin was making the contractions painful yet. I guess I needed to be in pain for any changed in my cervix to occur. So at 2:45 the house doc, Dr. Venizio, broke my water. Well that had the desired effect and I was feeling much stronger contractions by 3 or so.

From 3pm till 5 or so we sat around watching more TV and Paul did some work on his laptop and took a nap. About 4 or so I was really starting to be in some pain and complaining that the contractions hurt. Paul did his best to rub my back and push where I told him too but what I thought would help didn’t.

By 5 I was anxious for the nurse to check to see if I had made any progress since I was in a lot of pain and ready to ask for drugs of some sort. I remember rationalizing that if I was dilated to 5 or less I’d ask for the epidural. If I was more than that I’d go for some IV drugs. Well I was at a 6, almost 7. Lucky for me since at 7 I didn’t have the options for IV drugs anymore. Anyway, Sandy gave me Stadol at about 5:15. Now, Stadol is supposed to “take the edge off.”. It also makes you feel like you are drunk. It totally made me feel drunk but didn’t do much to take the edge off.

I spent from 5:15 till 5:45 feeling drunk and complaining about the pain. I could feel the contractions getting stronger and stronger. I know at about 5:50 I was upset with Paul for watching Family Guy and laugh really loud and told him he HAD to change the channel. He did to the movie Road House. Nice 80’s flick with Patrick Swayze. The nurse came in shortly afterward and I let her know that I was starting to feel like I was going to crap on the table. I think my actual words were not quite so nice. They checked me again and I was dilated to 8cm and almost totally effaced. I asked if I could push now and of course was told no. I think this is when they called my Dr. and told him I was just about ready. I’m not sure if the nurse left during this time or not but I continued complaining that I really needed to push and push RIGHT NOW! The kept telling me to wait but there was no waiting. They checked me again and the baby’s head was right there.

Well that led to pandemonium. The house dr. rushed in and the nurses got me on my back, pulled the bed apart, etc. I got to push with the next contraction. I got Jonah’s head about halfway out and then got stuck. I had to wait for another contraction. These few moments were pretty horrible as all 14cm of his head were stuck. I pushed again and he was still stuck so the dr. cut an episiotomy. After that I pushed once more and he was out!

Oh I forgot to add that during the pushing, Paul was on the verge of passing out. The nurse next to him let go of my leg to get him a chair which I was NOT happy about. The dr ended up running across the room with his bloody gloves and kicking a chair on wheels over for Paul to sit on. He nearly crashed again when they were sewing me up, poor guy.

They put Jonah right up on my chest. His face was a bit blue due to the cord being wrapped around his neck and he didn’t cry right away because he was still so full of fluid. He came through the birth canal so fast that there was no time to squish it all out. The nurses hauled him off the warmer to suction him out and get his temperature up. He was chilly for a long time and I don’t think they had the warmer turned on since they were busy with me.

It took at least a half hour to get Jonah back up the temperature he needed to be before they would let me hold and nurse him. When I finally got him he latched right on and nursed for 35 minutes.

So yeah, 6:10 pm on Thursday, August 14, 2008. 7lbs, 9oz and 20 inches long.

Are you still my momma?

So yeah, had my first meltdown as a mother of two on Sunday night.

Bedtime has been an issues off and on for Leah lately. It seems that when there is transition in her life her anxiety about it hits at bedtime.

Anyway, I am a hardcore mom and do my very best to stick to a bedtime routine and limit the number of books, songs, backrubs, etc. Well things slid a bit this past week since we were feeling bad about shaking up her life so much. After three times of having to go back in her room for one more song and back rub I was on the verge of losing it. Then she pulls out the line "Are you still my momma?"

Talk about a guilt trip. Girl knows what buttons to push!

After some explaination of how some people have two kids, having plenty of love to share and sharing her momma she was somewhat okay. Paul still had to go and have a few words with her before she settled down to sleep.

I felt a little better when she asked him if he was still her daddy too.

Home Again

Well even though we have gotten VERY little sleep since Jonah has arrived we are home and happy. They let us out at 6:30 last night. So under 36 hrs at the hospital for us! Leah is thrilled to have us all back in one place. Leah is quite in love with her baby brother but is having a tough time containing all her energy. Two VERY tired parents plus a well rested toddler isn't the greatest. Thankgoodness for grandparents & auties & uncles.

And how about some more photos!?

Welcome Jonah!

He's here! Jonah William Collier Kaler arrived at 6:10 pm last night. He is 7lbs and 9oz and 20 inches long and has a full head of sandy blond hair!

Shortly after my last post the dr. broke my water which got things going a bit faster. At about 5:00 I asked for some Stadol to take the edge off the contractions. It didn't do much for me since I was in transition by 5:45. It took three good pushes to get him out!

Anyway, we are all doing well and hope to be home tonight!

Not much progress at Progress West

So here we sit at the the hospital. We got here at 8 and it was 10:30 before they started the pitocin to get the contractions going. The contractions are about 2 min apart now but I guess they have to keep upping the pitocin till they hurt and do thier business on my cervix.

So yeah, that's what's going on. In other news

- Paul is napping in the hospital bed.
- It's nice having cable since we don't have it at the new house yet.
- Damn the food network when you are on a "clear liquid only" diet.
- Wi-fi in hospitals is cool
- thankgoodness for Grandma Helen & Autie Bethany & Peter who are entertaining Leah today!

Perhaps we will have something more exciting to post later!

Tomorrow is baby day!

So tomorrow will be the day! Our little boy's birthday that is! At least if all goes as planned and labor isn't excruciatingly long!

I saw my OB this morning and there continues to be an issue with my blood pressure being high. Were I not 38 1/2 weeks along they would put me on bedrest to avoid my passing out. Instead, they will induce labor tomorrow morning. Getting the baby out is the only way to get the blood pressure down. This is similar to what happened when Leah was born as well.

It's a surreal feeling know that tomorrow is the day. I know some people these days get a week or two to anticipate and others get none. Even having the 20 hrs we have is strange to me. So how are we spending our last hours as a family of three??? Well we got the carseats situated in the cars and went to Costco to grab some frozen meals and muffins and such for the family members that will be visiting. Paul and Leah are both napping and I'm cruising the internet. So productive! I do plan to vacuum and clean the bathrooms yet tonight.

Anyway, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. I was blessed with a quick and relativly easy labor with Leah and am hoping for the same this time aroud.

Oh and there is wi-fi at the hospital so we'll try to update as much as we can tomorrow!

No baby, but we have blackberries!

No baby yet. Yesterday was full of some pretty intense contractions but they slowed down when I took a bit of a nap. Since a trip to hospital wasn't necessary we spent a little time exploring the yard and discovered that there are blackberries growing in the ravine between the house and the golf course. Not enough to bake a pie, just enough to snoop! mmmmmmm Brought me back to the days of sitting in the mulberry tree and being covered with purple juice.

Feeling huge

Since Jessica asked a while back for a belly photo and I have taken so few this pregnancy, I shall oblige. Please note that this was taken after a long day of putting stuff away in the new house at 38 weeks along! I feel really huge. I think my belly is bigger than it ever was with Leah. Or it's just different since he has been riding low the whole time!



As for progress, my blood pressure last week was high and I am now dilated to one centimeter. I have been having contractions pretty consitently since Friday but they aren't getting any closer together. Paul has to head to Springfield tonight and has left the baby with strict orders to stay put until he returns. Of course, Leah didn't listen and came when he was two hours away. We'll see what this one decides to do!

The fashonista strikes again.

So a while ago I posted about Leah's love for her blue butterfly sandals. Well, her love for shoes continued last week while I was busy packing up the old place. Unfortuneatly her access to our "real" shoes was cut off by most of them being packed up in boxes. It didn't stop Leah though. She decided to get creative.

So now we know. Beer bottle koozies make really great slippers if you wear a size toddler size 8 shoe. Oh and they go great with purple princess jammies!