Spring is here...

...and then some days it still feels like winter. Such is Ohio. However, unlike most Ohio springs, the sun has been out shining most days and it's a great help in coping with the wintertime depression that sets in about now.

Anyway, today was a decent day and we took the girls to the playground. We had a great time and I really can't wait to go back! Emma was a little hesitant at first with the slides, which was totally weird for her since she LOVES slides. She soon warmed up and of course we couldn't get her off of them after that!

Maggie had her first ride on a swing and she absolutely loved it. She had a blast. So much so, she was cracking up!

Here are lots of pictures because I can't just pick a few...enjoy!

oh, and here's a couple pics because I just think this is neat:

Emma

Maggie

Just a quickie...or is it quicky...quickey -- oh hell, now they all look silly!!!

I just have a few pics to update with...not much is going on. The only new updates on the girls are Maggie has her first tooth and we've registered Emma in preschool for next September!

Ryan and I are doing well...we all can't wait for warmer weather so we can go outside and play!!!

So here are some pics:


Emma chillin' in the laundry basket watchin' some Thomas & Friends...

She asked me to put her hat on....so there she stands, playing on the computer with only a sweatshirt on, a hat, and no pants:

You can't see it in this picture, but Maggie has her very first tooth!! It's barely showing in this pic...if at all...I'm not sure I see it, but I thought I took this picture for that reason...

Emma's crazy static head on the couch....

The girls interacting!!! It doesn't happen often, so I try to capture every and any moment I can!

****** edited to add another little bit of info:

Emma can now read the words yes, no, cat, egg and Emma!!!

Thank you, Michelle!

I came home today to a message on my answering machine from a very dear friend of mine, Michelle. Unfortunately, we don't talk often at all, so to hear her voice was quite a surprise. So I call back immediately to find out what's up only to get grief for not having updated this blog in so long!!! So here I am, I've made it a point to sit down and keep my promise to Michelle to update our blog tonight.

We've got a lot of catching up to do!

In my last post Maggie was 2 1/2 months, she's now 5 months (as of this past Sunday) and still growing like crazy.

At her 4-month well check she was still of the charts weighing in at 18 lbs. 8 ozs., and she was 25.5 inches. I'm still nursing her and we've added some cereal to her daily menu as well as some vegetables. She LOVES to eat!

She's just started to sit independently and is in the process of mastering the art. She still sits with a pillow behind her in case of accidental tipping, but for the most part does rather well at catching herself if she starts to lean. She has mastered rolling back to front and has since made diaper changes very challenging!

Emma still amazes us with something new every day. She's so so smart, I can't get over it! She's still very much into playing on the computer, and for Christmas Santa got her a Smart Cycle, so she spends a lot of time between the two. When she's not playing those two things, she's playing with her trains, or cars, or tools (she got a Handy Manny tool set for Christmas). She's definitely not a girly girl; however, she does like to put on makeup with Mommy, so she's not ALL tomboy either ;) Her words and phrases crack me up daily. She uses 'fillers' in between words...it's like she needs to still make noise even though her brain is looking for the right word to use. If she wants Ryan to help her play with the Smart Cycle it's, "Daddy eeeeee bike eeeeeeeee please?" She knows her entire alphabet, upper and lower case, numbers 1 through 20 (although when she recites her numbers, all her 'teens' sound the same; we just found out she knows what the numbers actually are, though), she knows all her shapes including half-circle, crescent, hexagon, pentagon, octagon, and my favorite trapezoid ("da-daweeed"). When we're in the car going somewhere she calls out triangle or trapezoid depending on the shapes of the houses we pass. And one more thing to brag about: She knows how to read the words "yes" and "no".

Before I end this, I'll add that for Christmas I received Photoshop from my mom and dad, and although I don't have tons of time to learn everything the complex program can do, I have learned a couple tricks. Here are some before and afters.

I'll update again soon!! (NOT two months from now considering I know there are some who check this blog regularly) And I'll post more pictures....it's late now, time for bed!

Again, thanks Michelle for kickin' my butt into gear!

Well, good grief!

It's been two months since my last post!!! I'm sure whoever reads my blog, though, can understand my time is now FULLY occupied by my two angels. As I'm writing this, Emma is upstairs napping and Maggie is sitting next to me in her "fishy chair" shooting me the biggest smiles ever...believe me, it's hard to concentrate with this right next to me!

Trying to catch up will be difficult since so much has happened in the last two months. The girls are both doing great! Maggie is healthy and happy and is growing like crazy! She's 2 and a half months now. At her 2-month checkup she was off the chart weighing in at 14 lbs. 6 ozs., and in the 90th percentile in height at 23.5 inches! Emma, actually, was 13 lbs. 6 ozs. at her 2-month, so exactly one-pound difference! Maggie is "talking" (okay, cooing) up a storm. I think she's going to be a little talker early on. She holds her head up like a champ and can hold herself up rather well when laying on her tummy. She rolls from front to back, but I consider that kind of cheating, though, since she kind of falls over anyway. Most consider it rolling, so I'll take the bragging rights. When she rolls from back to front, though, watch out!

Emma's new obsession (among others) is playing on the computer. She's mastered using the mouse and plays all kinds of games by herself on the Playhouse Disney and Noggin websites. We also picked up a Blue's Clues game to load onto the computer for when the internet is acting up. There's no telling a two-year-old that the router's not working too well today.

Our Thanksgiving was really really nice. We were able to see some of Ryan's family who we don't get to see too often; and although Marshall and Annette's house was crowded, it was really great having everyone together. I love the family I've married into! We also went to my mom and dad's, which it's just us, them and Grandpa...very low-key in comparison, but still great!

I can't wait for Christmas. What a totally different feeling there is this time of year when you have kids to celebrate with/for. Although Emma still isn't quite understanding of it all, it's still fun. I can't imagine what it'll be like next year when she has full understanding. I can't wait to bake cookies for Santa (and then stay up to eat them)!

Here are a couple more recent pictures....I'll try to post right after Christmas, if not sooner!! Everyone have a safe and happy holiday season!

Luckiest parents on the block...so far!

We're coming up on four weeks since Maggie's birth, and things are going beautifully. Maybe it's that we're more confident this time around since we've done this all before, we know what to expect (for the most part) or maybe it's that we're just plain lucky. Whatever it is, I hope it continues!


Maggie is still an AWESOME nurser, and has even had a few bottles and made easy transitions between bottle and breast. She is a hungry girl, that's for sure!! She, like her sister, doesn't like to mess around when she's hungry. It's "FEED ME NOW" or pay the consequences ;)


She had her two-week checkup with her pediatrician last Tuesday. She weighs 10 lbs. 10 ozs. now and her doctor says she looks wonderful. See for yourselves:







Emma is still adjusting to the new addition. I think she finally realizes that this baby isn't going anywhere. She hasn't acted out at all, but she sometimes gets a little "clingy" with me. She helps with diaper changes in that she puts diaper cream on baby's belly (it's so cute), and she'll give baby her "bink" when she's crying. She'll give kisses to Maggie and tell her she loves her, but only at our request. She's doing good, though. It could be a lot worse, I'm sure!!






Days alone with the two girls have gone a lot better than I could have ever anticipated. I was so worried about sharing my time between a newborn who is very demanding and a toddler who, although is independent at times, is also very demanding. I have to admit, the Disney channel and Noggin have played a good part in time management, and I really feel guilty about that, but at least the TV Em is watching is educational and I do get some good one-on-one time while Maggie is sleeping.


I have yet to journey out with the two of them by myself. Emma can be a little bit of a handful to say the least. She hates sitting in shopping carts, and sometimes holding hands isn't her cup of tea either. That behavior is usually only with Ryan, but I'm still not ready to take that chance.


Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Home sweet home!

Maggie in her homecoming dress

We got home Wednesday afternoon and things have been great!! Shortly after we got home, though, Maggie had this crying fit and we didn't know what was wrong. Ryan and I both thought, "great, she was perfect in the hospital and now that we're home, she's going to be a nightmare child!" We realized, though, that we never got a good burp out of her after her last feeding at the hospital. We got a couple good belches out of her and all was well....and has been since. We are having such an easy, wonderful time breastfeeding; I couldn't be happier. The past two nights at home have been fairly easy, too. Last night she had a hard time falling asleep, but as soon as she did (around 3:00) she slept until 7! Same with the night previous. She woke up to eat around 2:30-ish, and then slept until 7.





I'm still a little sore, obviously, but ibuprofen has been taking the edge off pretty good. I really pulled some muscles in my back while pushing and that's my biggest complaint.





Emma's been doing really well, too. She doesn't pay too much attention to Maggie, but I'd rather have no reaction than a negative one! She's really fascinated by her nursing, she just stares and tries to understand what in the world that baby is doing to her mommy! She finally said "Maggie" this morning (and not while watching "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast"), and she's touched Maggie's forehead a couple times. Oh, and she brushed her hair last night!! I worry about handling the two of them on my own, but I think once I feel "back to normal" or at least can walk without pain, I'll be all right. I think that's the worst part with Emma; the fact that I can't play with her not because I have to tend to Maggie, but because I can't move too well yet. We'll get over that hurdle, though, soon.





I do feel a lot better now than I did at this same time after having Emma. I think I'm just thrilled to not be pregnant anymore, so these pains and nuisances that I endure right now are nothing ;) Ryan is really really great at taking care of us, too, and I'm going to be really sad on Monday when he has to go back to work. I have our moms, though, to help us out so I'm set!





Well, time to grab a quick shower before Mags's lunchtime!!!

She's FINALLY here!!

This will be just a quick post until I get more sleep and feel like posting more details:

Maggie Lee Hamric was born at 10:14 p.m. on September 15, 2008.

She weighs (get this) 9 lbs. 15.2 ozs., and is 22 inches long. She is a healthy, happy baby and is doing great!! I'm feeling pretty darn good myself. I didn't tear at all and we are all still in total shock that I pushed out a 10 lb. baby in 10 minutes!!! (after nearly 19 hours of labor, though!)

Here are a couple pics....

Monday, Sept. 15 - 5:06 a.m.

So we're slowly getting ourselves ready to head on into the hosptial. I woke up with contractions at 2:36 this morning and since 3:53 a.m. they've been 3 to 5 minutes apart.

If we're not able to get back on, the hospital's website is www.wrhhs.org and they post pictures of new arrivals. I know the L&D waiting room has a computer, though, so Ryan will try to keep everyone posted.

Wish us luck!

Another weekly update...

This week I'm just about 4 cm. and still 60% effaced.

Sue doesn't think I'll make it to next week's appointment...let's hope!!

Hopefully my next update will be "we're leaving for the hospital"!!!

Until then.....all's well.

Weekly progress report

"Progress" being the key word. I'm now 3 cm. (all right!!!) and still 60% effaced. I'm trying to remember, I think I was 4 cm. dilated when we arrived at the hospital when I gave birth to Emma.

Anyways, it's encouraging!!

My next appointment, if I don't go into labor before then, is next Monday. I'll add another update then!

Happy Labor Day!

So I was thinking for sure last night was the night it was all going to happen. I had been having some really strong, close Braxton-Hicks all day and by nighttime they were just starting to become uncomfortable in my back. Unfortunately, they were still just a tease and I'm sitting here on the couch, no labor in sight ;)

As you can tell, I'm far from patient...ever. The only time I ever have ANY patience is with Emma, and even then it depends on the situation.

Anyway, I will keep the blog updated...I've been doing good lately, haven't I??

Oh, by the way, Ryan has been working hard on Maggie's room and the painting is nearly complete. Just some trim and then we can get everything decorated and in order. I will, of course, post some pictures when it's finished!! If I go into labor before then, that's A-Okay with me...she can spend her first couple nights in her bassinet in our room...it'd be easier on us anyways!!

another week down....two more to go???

I've made only a little progress since last week. I'm now 1 cm. "and a wiggle" (as my fun midwife, Sue, puts it) and I'm 60% effaced. 10% thinner than last week!

Sue did say she thinks (what does she know?!?!?!) that I'll go to my due date. My hopes of perhaps going early shot down by a plain old mean comment! Hahaha. I'm teasing of course. I love my midwife -- both of them. I just think it's wrong to tell a 38-week pregnant woman that she has to wait longer...even though she knows damn well that waiting is all she has to do now. It's all a mental game, and I suck at it. Plus, these Braxton-Hicks contractions are driving me CRAZY...I just wish I knew they were doing something then I'd probably -- again, mentally -- handle them better.

These days it's just getting harder for me to keep up with Emma. Even the simplest activity as playing Play-Doh takes its toll. Getting up and down off the floor is not easy...or pretty for those near me! So delivering Maggie sooner than later, although having two kids in the house will be a chore too, will at least get my body feeling 'back to normal' sooner than later.


I'll update next Tuesday after my next appointment...unless I'm given reason to post before then!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Any day now??

I wish!! I know technically I'm not due for another three weeks, but I'm hopeful of the fact that I may go early since this is baby no. 2. I'm so ready to not be pregnant anymore (and of course meet our Maggie Lee). Emma was a very active baby, but Maggie beats me up so bad daily!! It's crazy. I just mentioned to a friend of mine that I hope her actions now aren't indicative of her behavior on 'the outside'!!! I can only hope and pray that Maggie is like her sister in the fact that Emma was an "easy" baby (for the most part) and we were/are really lucky!

So as a quick update of our progress, at my appointment on Monday (I'll be going every week now until I give birth), I was dilated 1 cm. and 50% effaced. Exactly the same as I was with Emma at this point! Let's just hope Maggie, with the help of these terrible Braxton-Hicks contractions, help me progress quicker.

I'll definitely keep everyone better updated as the big day draws near.


**On a side note: BIG Congratulations to my friend Chey and her husband John for the birth of their son, Riley Asher Wilson on August 18th. Also, a second BIG Congratulations to Chey's brother, Trav (who I graduated with) and his wife, Pam for the birth of their son (I don't know his name yet) on August 19th! I'm so happy for you guys!!!

Check Chey and John's blog here, and Trav and Pam's blog here.

Bad Blogger!!!

What's the point of even having a blog if you're not 'blogging'???? I'm going on almost 2 months now...I've got a lot of catching up to do this time!

So my last post mentioned my June appointment with my midwife. At that appointment I had my glucose test, which consists of drinking this highly concentrated sugar drink, waiting an hour, then getting blood drawn to test my body's ability to process the sugar. All is well, I passed the test; however, that day I wasn't the only one hopped up on the sugar drink. It affected Maggie just the same in that her heartbeat was skipping a beat. My midwife scheduled an ultrasound right then and there to check the heart as well as to check her size (since I was still measuring three weeks bigger than what I should have been at). Her heart was structurally perfect, but still skipping a beat...and she only measured a week bigger than the size she should have been.

Since the heartbeat was still skipping, I was scheduled to see a high risk doc just to get a better ultrasound. My midwife said she wasn't "worried" but wanted the second opinion...a "better safe than sorry" type situation. Ended up Maggie was fine. The high risk doctor attributed her skipping heartbeat to the sugar drink...makes total sense!!

Our big girl turned 2 on the 16th of July. Every mom says this, but I can't believe she's 2 already!

On the day of her birthday Ryan took some vacation time and we got pictures taken and then took the birthday girl and her cousins, Bri and Livi, to Chuck E. Cheese's. It was a fun day. We also went to Mandarin House, our favorite Chinese restaurant ever, for dinner.

At her 2-year doctor's appointment she was 24 lbs. 6 ozs., which is in the 40th percentile...and 35 1/2 inches tall, which is the 90th percentile! (Again, she takes after her daddy!)

Emma got her 'big-girl' bed from Mommy and Daddy for her birthday and has done great with the transition. Even to this day we haven't had one problem with her staying in bed. LUCKY!!

Emma's first night in her big-girl bed!

The following Saturday was Em's party, and although it was so very hot, it was a great time and Emma got a lot of nice things from her family.

As for me, I'm still just trying to keep up with everyday life. It is not really that easy being pregnant in the middle of summer with a toddler. As I've mentioned before, I don't have pleasant pregnancies to begin with. I've been in a lot of pain the entire time and I've also been experiencing A LOT of Braxton-Hicks contractions (my body's "practice" contractions for those who don't know what they are). They are not really painful, but definitely uncomfortable. I only had a few here and there while pregnant with Emma, but this time I get them every evening. One night Maggie was fighting back. Every time I would contract, Maggie would push really hard as if to say "stop crowding me!" Now THAT was painful!! And it was a night where I was getting the contractions every 10 minutes...for a good two or three hours! Ugh.

My 35 week pregnant belly:

Today, August 10 (one month to go) was my baby shower. It was a really nice time and Maggie got a lot of nice things. Now we just count down to our due date.

And who knows, at that rate I'm going with this blog, my next post may be Maggie's birth story and pictures of our family of four!!! I'll try not to be that bad, but I can't make any promises!!

Thanks for reading!

ugh...I know!!!

It's been forever and a couple days since the last post. I just never give myself enough time to sit down and write anything good. I have plenty to write about, I just don't.

So here's a quickie:

I've been spending a lot of my 'internet time' on a Northeast Ohio Mom's forum making new online friends and learning a lot of tricks of the trade -- for future reference as Emma gets older and a lot less easy to manage! Don't get me wrong, she's still a very good girl, but in one month from today, she will be turning 2. Along with the age of 2 comes the "terribles" and I don't have a clue what to expect. I guess the old saying "expect the unexpected" is all I have to do. I think that might have been my class motto??

Anyways, in two years I've also forgotten a lot of stuff that goes along with having an infant around. So reading the stories of other new moms out there gives me a quick refresher, "oh yeah, I remember that."

I've also been doing a lot of research -- and again, refreshing -- about breastfeeding. I'm giving nursing a good ol' college try again this time around in hopes that with a better knowledge than last time that it will go a lot better. It didn't necessarily go bad with Emma, I just gave up a lot sooner for reasons I now know I could have fixed.

In other news, Emma continues to amaze us. She's become a little 'repeater' and comes up with all kinds of new words every day. I've already bragged about her ABCs and 123s, she's added 11 and 12 to her numbers and she's also pretty darn good with her colors now, too. She has a little laptop of her very own that's recommended for ages 3+ and she's really good at a lot of the games! She of course needs help with the games that utilize the mouse, and she doesn't know her lower case letters, yet...but she's a smarty pants!

With school out now, I've been getting a lot of help during the day from my two nieces who stay across the street with my mother-in-law during the day. Emma really loves her cousins and they have fun playing outside. They help out a lot with Emma because I just can't chase her around as much as she needs being chased!! I had a painful pregnancy with Emma and it's pretty much the same this time around, so the extra help is WONDERFUL and saves my hips, back and all around pelvic area from total excruciating pain at night. Most nights it's just mildly excruciating! ;)

I have my next appointment with my midwife on Thursday of this week. At my last appointment, my belly had measured 4 weeks ahead of what it should have. I'm anxious to find out what we're measuring at this time around and whether or not she'll schedule an ultrasound to keep a closer eye on Maggie's growth. Emma was on the bigger side at 8 lbs. 5 ozs. not huge by any means, but bigger than what we expected! If Maggie's growing bigger early on, I'd rather know and perhaps get induced early than try to push out a 10 pound baby!!! I'll keep you updated! Sooner than later ;)

Life's a beach!!

Hi all...it's Tuesday night and this is my first time to get online since being down in Fort Myers. We arrived on Saturday around 4:00 p.m. as was the plan. Perfect timing considering check-in time to our house was 4, too! The drive was long and tiring, but our main concern -- being Emma -- turned out to be the least of our concerns as she did a great job for a toddler confined to a car seat for 21 hours! Of course, a good amount of that time she slept since we left at 6:30 p.m. and traveled through the night, but even through awake hours she did good.

Our house is big. Although it's a duplex, our "neighbors" are a really nice couple from Pennsylvania and we hardly see them. The husband spends all day fishing in the ocean and his wife just comes and goes as she pleases. We were worried about having wild, loud neighbors, but that's not the case at all. We don't even have to share the pool with them! Actually, speaking of the pool, we've only been in it twice and it's been in the cooler evening hours. We've spent a lot of time on the beach since it's only feet away from our house and BEAUTIFUL. I, wanting to get sun, didn't apply sunscreen at first and got burnt right away, but not TOO bad. I mean, it's not the most comfortable, but I'm not in agony. Time flies so quickly while on vacation and on the beach -- you know, not a care in the world -- but the sun caught up with me quicker than I thought. NOW I put the sunscreen on!!

We're all having a great time so far. Especially Emma. She is a total beach baby...she takes after her daddy. We can't keep them out of the ocean! She loves the "wawer" and even to bring her out of it to wipe her face or reapply sunscreen is a chore...she runs back towards it yelling "wawer! wawer!" She likes to sit and let the waves crash into her back...the bigger, the better. The harder they hit her, the louder she laughs. It's so cute!

Here are some pictures we've got so far. We took a trip Monday to Sanibel Island to do some shelling. We got quite a few nice shells, and it's a beautiful beach, but it was a bit too rough for Emma and the beach is more shells than sand, so it's not the best environment for a playful toddler.

I will, of course, post again upon our return. Wish us luck for an equally successful drive home!

...and her name is...

Maggie Lee Hamric!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

My original intention was to get a good "between the legs" shot and post it along with another poll for all of you to vote boy or girl based on what you thought you saw in the picture...however, the picture we ended up with is not so easy to decipher. I'm unsure of what I'm looking at and I was there!

Our baby girl is developing perfectly and is right 'on schedule'. Here are a few pictures from our ultrasound...I guess they look just like any other ultrasound pictures, though!!

In this one her mouth is wide open...already hungry!

This is her entire leg stretched out. She won't be able to do this for very long!!!

This is her profile. I think she has Emma's nose and cheeks...but I know it's too early to tell that...just looks like it in this picture!

We got 3D ultrasound images of Emma and plan on doing that again with this baby as well. Those are much better pictures!

This is Emma at, I think, 28 weeks:



Speaking of Emma, she's mastering her letters and numbers. She still has her unique way of saying the numbers 3, 4 and 7 (wewen), though. My mom got video of her counting by herself yesterday, but as soon as I pull my camera out she gets bashful. Today I got a quick video of her counting while on the phone with my mom. I missed her saying 1, and she just decided she didn't feel like saying 10!




A lot of times when she's counting by herself, she keeps going and going and going because she gets so much praise after she reaches 10. Sometimes she even cheats and says "8, 9, 10" but we don't allow that! No cheating! Start at 1 and earn your praise fair and square!! hahaha!


That's all for now....next time I post will probably be after we return from our week's vacation to Fort Myers Beach. We leave a week from today! I cannot wait!!!