Sleep

Anna, like her sister, is a noisy sleeper. She grunts, sighs, snorts, and just generally makes noise in her sleep. It's kind of cute, but it keeps us, well... Brian, awake. I'm finding that this time around, I can sleep through a lot of the sleep noises and just wake up when I need to. Brian is such a light sleeper he wakes up at every little sound Anna makes.
Grace was the same way, which is why she was in her crib in her own room at 3 weeks old. We don't have that option with Anna because she and Grace will be sharing a room. When we moved to the new house we decided that the kids will share a room and we made the extra bedroom a playroom. The plan was/is to keep Anna in our room until she is sleeping longer stretches at night so Grace's sleep is not affected.
I find it funny because most people I know have the opposite problem - their husbands don't wake up even when the kids are screaming and crying!

One Great Dad

I don't tell him enough, but Brian is an amazing father. From the moment Grace was born he jumped right in with both feet. Changing diapers, feeding, bathing, cuddling; he does it all. He's done his fair share of middle-of-the-night wake-ups and I'm sure will do the same this time around. The only thing he doesn't like to do is pick out clothes because he's concerned that the outfits won't match! Oh, and he won't cut fingernails because he's worried he'll clip their skin. I can't complain if those are the only things he won't do!
Brian and Grace have an amazing bond and I know he will have the same with Anna. I don't know what we'd do without him!

A tired Daddy with his girls. 

Great Grandparents Visit

Last weekend Grace and Anna had a visit from their great grandparents. Pepé hasn't been to this part of the province in quite a few years so we were excited for him to make the trek up to visit us! I'm sure it was a long day for them (3+ hours in the car each way!) but I think they had a good visit with their great grandchildren, and I know Grace enjoyed seeing them! I'm sure Anna did too ;)

Big Sister Gracie

Grace is an amazing big sister. She is adjusting really well to having this new little baby in the house. Throughout my pregnancy she liked to rub my belly and talk to the baby and she was always very gentle. We weren't entirely sure how she would take to the new addition, but she's doing awesome.

Zilla and Grampers brought her in to see us in the hospital on Saturday morning. By the time she got there I no longer had an IV or catheter in, and was moving around again well. She hopped right up on the bed with Anna and I and said "Hi baby sister!" She tickled Anna's feet and gave her a kiss on the head. We had a Big Sister present from Anna waiting for her with a coloring book, crayons, stickers, and a Big Sister t-shirt. On her way out of the hospital she was also given a new book and a blanket! Brian and I were a bit worried that she would get upset when she had to leave and we couldn't come with her, but she was quite content to leave with Grampers.

Since bringing Anna home, Grace has been so sweet with her. She looks for her as soon as she gets up in the morning and says "where Anna? I go see her!" She loves to give her kisses, and tries to comfort her when she cries. "It's ok, Anna!" She is generally quite gentle, but has given Anna a few pats on the head that have been a bit rough, but as soon as we remind her she gives her a gentle touch and kiss. I can't wait to see how their relationship develops!

Gracie meeting her baby sister for the first time. 

Proud big sister!

 

Kisses!

Tickle tickle!

Checking on Anna while she naps.

In Case You Were Wondering...

We opened the envelope. It was right. :)

Anna Jean

We are so happy and excited to welcome another little girl into our family!

Anna was born on Friday, November 9th at 8:10am. I had a scheduled c section at the recommendation of my OB. After having an unplanned c section with Grace due to delivery not progressing after hours of pushing (which was mostly attributed to her size - 9lbs6oz) I had planned to try a VBAC this time. I first met with my OB in August and she said I was a good candidate for a VBAC but after just feeling around my belly for a minute she said "hmm, big baby." As the pregnancy progressed my OB and my doctor predicted that this baby would be as big or bigger than Grace. I was sent for an ultrasound at 38 weeks and the baby was estimated to be 8lbs9oz at that point. My OB told me it was ultimately my decision, but that there was a strong possibility that I would need a c section anyway. We decided to go ahead and schedule the surgery. It was strange knowing the day that our baby would be born.

At 3:30am on the morning of the 9th, I woke up with contractions; apparently baby was ready to come out anyway! We had to be at the hospital by 6am and with an hour drive since moving to our new house, we hit the road just before 5am. My contractions were 8-10 minutes apart on the drive there and manageable. I was prepped for the surgery and Brian was given his scrubs to put on. The surgery was scheduled for 7:30am and we walked into the operating room right on time. It was such a different experience. When Grace was born, the surgery is a bit of a blur. I was exhausted after a weekend of labour and hours of pushing and I don't remember a lot of details of the c section, except for when she was actually brought into the world. This time, I was able to take it all in, we were chatting and joking with our nurses and doctor, and I wasn't as nervous about the whole thing.

The surgery was quick and we soon heard the beautiful sound of our baby crying. Our OB held her up for Brian to see and he excitedly said "we have another girl!" This was the best part of not knowing the sex of our baby in advance - having Brian announce it. He was right with her while she was cleaned up and held her beside me while the surgery was completed and I was stapled up.

We didn't know her name right away. It took us a little over a day to decide. We both really liked the name Anna and Jean is Brian's grandmother's name. I like the sound of Grace and Anna together.

Anna is absolutely beautiful. Her eyes are turning more blue from grey and she has brown hair. She has a sweet little nose and adorable chubby cheeks. She weighed 9lbs2oz (4 ounces smaller than Grace at birth) and she measured 53cm (1cm smaller than Grace).

We were able to go home on Sunday morning and we couldn't wait to get home to see Grace and settle in as a family of four.

One last belly picture!

Here she is!

Daddy and Anna

 

Getting to know each other. 

 

Having a nap with Dad

Going home!

And Baby Makes Four

Grace has a baby sister! Anna Jean was born on Friday, November 9th at 8:10am. She weighed in at 9lbs 2oz (four ounces smaller than Grace was) and was 21 inches long. It's funny how it already seems like she's always been here. I remember feeling the same way about Grace. We're settling into life as a family of four and getting used to a new routine. Grace is an amazing big sister and loves to help out however she can. She asks for Anna as soon as she gets up in the morning, says "good morning, Anna!" and gives her a kiss.

Our beautiful baby girl

Heading home from the hospital on Remembrance Day

Snoozin'

Big sister Gracie loves giving Anna kisses.

22-23 Months

I didn't do a 22 month update, and when Grace turns 23 months we will have a brand new baby in the house  so I may not get around to that one either, so I figured I'd post an update now.

• First of all, I can't believe our baby is almost two! 
• Grace's vocabulary continues to expand. She uses full sentences and has started speaking in the first person. 
• She can spell her name. Okay, maybe that's a stretch. But if she sees her name written, she will point to each letter and say "G - R - A - C - E spells Grace!"
• She has very little interest in the potty. She started pooping and peeing on the potty this summer, but stopped when she was sick and never got back into it. She likes to sit on the potty before bath time but it doesn't result in anything. We're not in a rush, but we make sure the potty is available to her and offer it to her when we can tell she's pooping. We might try more potty training after we get settled with the new baby.  
• We're seeing some minor tantrums. Lately I've been trying not to pick her up as much because I will likely be having a c section and won't be able to lift her for a while. She does not like this. I try instead to hold her hand if she wants to be carried somewhere or have her climb up on the couch with me but sometimes, mostly in the mornings, she just wants me to carry her. 
• She's still a big book lover. She loves being read to and is now starting to 'read' some of her favorite books from memory. Most of her books are in the playroom, but she has a few in her room; I often hear her 'reading' when she wakes up from a nap. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what you see?" Or, from Grumpy Bird "Bird woke up, he grumpy. Too grumpy eat, too grumpy play, too grumpy fly!"
• Her memory is amazing. She will randomly talk about something we did weeks ago, and has a great memory for people's names. 
• She recently started wearing size 2T clothes. She's getting so big!
• She loves to play hide and seek. When we hear Daddy open the door when he gets home from work she says "hide! hide!" and waits for Daddy to come find her. She also likes to hide things and then asks us to go find them. 
• She loves play dough. We play with at home on rainy days, but lately she's been asking for it a lot. When we go to Wee Bears she makes a beeline for the play dough table right away. 
• She likes secrets. Aunt MaryAnne always whispers this cute little secret to Grace:
  
  Wanna hear a secret?
  Promise not to tell? 
  Two little peanuts in a peanut shell!
  

  Grace will whisper in my ear:
  

  Wanna secret?

  Prom not tell? 

  Two peanuts, shell!
  

  It's pretty cute. 

  
  

  
  

Wordless Wednesday (From the Phone)

Tuesday Tune

One of my favorite blogs to read recently started a Tuesday Tune post where she posts a current favorite song in their house, so I've decided to join in the fun! 

Grace loves this song and asks us to play "rollin' rollin'" all the time. We started listening to Grampers' old Blues Brothers records this summer when he lent us a bunch of his old albums. Zilla bought Grampers a record player for his birthday so we gave all the albums back, much to Brian's dismay! 

Fall Photos

Uncle Mike found some Old Man's Beard in the leaf pile!

Gracie wanted to wear the beard!

Still holding on to the beard

Halloween 2012

We had a great Halloween! We started with some Halloween festivities on Sunday - we went to a pumpkin carving party in Aunt MaryAnne's neighborhood. Zilla came with us and did most all of the carving. It was Grace's first time helping to carve a pumpkin and she loved digging in and scooping out the guts and seeds! There were a few other kids there and Grace loved running through the paths in the garden and around the house.

We carved a pumpkin at our house on Monday night. Brian helped but said he mostly just wanted to roast the seeds!

Yesterday morning I dressed Grace up and we went to Zilla's work. All the ladies and gents loved seeing our little owl, and she got a good haul of treats just from this one stop! One of the ladies gave Grace a treat bag with a book, bouncy ball, and some treats; it was really sweet. As her treat bag got heavier and heavier, Zilla offered to carry it but Grace refused. "No, I carry it!" She was not going to let that treat bag out of her sight!

We just visited family to trick-or-treat this year, and started at Uncle Johnny and Auntie Becky's house. Their other niece had the same costume as Grace! We headed up to GG's after that, then to Aunt Jam's. Jam let Grace pick her own treats out of a basket and she kept going back for more (Jam said she could take some extra chips for Daddy!). We ended the night at Zilla and Grampers' house for supper, and Grace helped give out treats there. She was a little hesitant at first to give the treats away!