My Beautiful Girls

Photo by the lovely Laura

The girls in matching dresses (Thanks Aunt Tina!) for Lorelei's newborn photos. I wondered if this day would ever come. What a lucky mama I am.

Ravenna has an announcement!

In case you didn't catch it in the video, Ravenna now has a baby sister. Lorelei was born July 8th at 7:13 AM. She is 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 in. long. When asked in the video what Ravenna wants to say to Lorelei, she said "I love you."

We are both doing well despite a very scary situation. At 4:00 AM, I awoke with contractions but went back to sleep after about a half hour. At 5:30 AM I startled awake because my water had broken. Unfortunately it was filled with blood and I started bleeding heavily. We knew the gravity of the situation and immediately called our midwife who told us to rush to the nearest Labor and Delivery. We had been planning a home birth but we knew that this situation was very serious. Our midwife met us in triage where I was being monitored and was a great support and comfort to us. The baby's heart rate was excellent but I was still bleeding heavily and it was decided to do an emergency cesarean section due to suspected placental abruption (where the placenta detaches before the birth).

I was administered spinal anesthesia and the surgery went ahead quite smoothly. The placenta had detached about half way. I had not expected how painful it would be to have the cesarean. When the baby was being pulled out I thought they were breaking my ribs! As soon as the baby was delivered kicking and screaming and was checked out by the pediatrician, Andrew was able to do skin-to-skin and held Lorelei that way until I was able to nurse her in recovery an hour later. It was quite an experience and now we have a long road of recovery for me.

My heart is so full of gratitude that my water broke early enough that we were able to get to the hospital in plenty of time and didn't cause any distress to our baby. It is such a blessing to finally have our rainbow baby here and doing so well.

A Trip to Upstate New York

 To celebrate the end of the school year for Andrew and to take advantage of a particularly fortuitous opportunity to (finally!) meet one of my internet friends, we took a weekend trip to Palmyra, New York. We drove up on the morning of June 7th, stopping to visit Watkins Glen State Park in the Finger Lakes District. We didn't have much time there, and at 8 months pregnant I couldn't do much hiking, but it was really beautiful and we hope to go back in the future when I am more mobile.

Just one of the 19 waterfalls in the gorge

Meeting up with Jenni was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. We arranged beforehand for Jenni to henna my belly and she did a great job. Jenni lives in Alaska so getting a chance to meet up with her and her family on this side of the world was something I really could not pass up. The henna was just a bonus!

At the Sacred Grove

On Saturday we also visited the Palmyra temple and LDS Church History sites and then made the long drive back home. It was a quick trip but definitely worth it.

Ravenna Had A Birthday!

Nearly a month ago Ravenna turned 5 years old and I during the craziness that the month of May has been, I have neglected to share any pictures. A few days before her actual birthday Ravenna had what she called her "pretend birthday." It was simply a play date for a few of her friends where her friends brought handmade gifts (so precious!) and decorate cupcakes. It went off splendidly and I don't think there is any other way to do a birthday party for young children. Ravenna was happy, the kids were happy, and it was so easy for me to put together. Ahhhh, simplicity!

You can see how much Ravenna enjoyed opening up the handmade gifts from her friends.

Opening a gift from Oma Leslie. A "baby" carrier for her build-a-bear.

On her actual birthday we tried to do many special things for her. She got a special lunch with Grandpa Whitlock at Wendy's (her choice) and then a trip to Chocolate World, and then a BBQ with her Grandparents and uncles and soon-to-be aunt.

You will notice in this picture that she is wearing a swim suit given to her by her Oma Leslie. It was really hard to get her to not wear it to school!

I love the personality of my 5 year old girl! She brings so much joy to our lives with her spunk and sunny disposition. Her friendliness with any and all people that she meets reminds me that I probably ought to be more friendly myself. I just love how easy she is to please; Any gift, handmade or not, brings a smile to her face and she cherishes it. She also adores to give away her gifts to those she loves in order to share that joy. In fact, for Mother's Day this year she gave me one of her necklaces that a friend made her for her birthday so that I too could feel special. What a wonderful girl she is! So generous, kind and loving. I am lucky to be her mother.

Winter at the Whitlock's

As far as snow goes, this winter has been lame. We have gotten many days with terrible driving conditions but only one inch of snow at a time! No sledding for us.

However, no amount of snow is too small for this girl to attempt a snow angel (with tongue stuck out to catch the falling snow).

 

Fort-building, using the couch cushions and anything else available, is a daily occurrence in our house in winter. Unfortunately it means that we don't have a couch to sit on for most of the day.

Also, wrestling occurs every day throughout the year, until Daddy falls asleep, that is. This is usually how it begins.

This Momma is aching for spring to get here already! We are all ready for sunny walks, digging in our garden, and putting our winter clothes away. Ugh...how many more weeks of winter?