It's a BABY!

I was a little behind in getting the last two posts up because I'm already back to alleviate your itch of curiosity!

We're having another little GIRL!!!

She looks like she'll be right on time--April 23rd.

All of her parts are there. Today there was a bit of a murmur in her heart beat, but there's a good chance that that will clear up as she grows bigger and stronger.

We have no idea what we're going to name her. That was probably the only disappointment. We still have our boy name picked out from last time around, so that would have been really easy. But now...the search begins!

I don't know what I'm going to do with two little girls! I don't know how to handle girl squabbles. Heck, I don't know how to handle boy squabbles!

As for the Mama, 
I'm doing GREAT! I really don't feel like I'm pregnant.
Symptoms include:

• Cravings of anything at the mention of almost any food
• Can't stand even the thought of eggs--hard boiled doesn't sound too bad though
• Overly Emotional--there's a good chance I'll cry at anything
• Non-oily hair--I usually wash my hair every 2 days, but lately it's been a few more, and I don't think it looks that bad!
• Really tired every day
• Overly anxious about getting things done (nesting)--cleaning, organizing, buying everything we need all at once because I can't stand the thought of having to try to remember it later. Which brings me to the next point
• Pregnancy Brain--forgetting how to use the English language correctly and just generally forgetting lots of stuff
• I've graduated to my pregnancy pants/yoga pants almost every day
• Running to the bathroom quite frequently

So really there isn't anything terrible going on right now. I just take naps every day with Claire and get up in the middle of the night to pee.

This is probably the biggest reason I thought we were having a boy; this pregnancy has been SO different from the last one--very relaxed.

So here is a side by side of me at 19 weeks. I'll let you guess which one is now and then! :-)

Until Next Time!
Happy Thanksgiving!

November

Why Hello November!
I guess it's almost gone now so it's time I update the blog again.

Home ownership is busy!
We have now blown through all of the money we saved up for the last 3 years for home buying. "Where did it go?" you ask? So do I!
With several thousands of dollars we bought:

• A yard, sprinkler system, and the labor to landscape and install all of it
• Blinds
• Appliances (Dishwasher, Fridge, Stove/Oven, Microwave, Washer, and Dryer)
• Dinning Table with 4 chairs and a Bench (seats 8-10 when extended)
• Claire's "built-in" shelves and bench
• La-Z-Boy rocking chair

And that's all. So you look at our house and it doesn't look very furnished or finished, but it at least has all the basic necessities. For the most part we tried to buy quality items that will last and so far, so good! There is at least one last big purchase pending: built-ins for the living room. We're waiting for our tax return for that one. Our most recent purchase though was a couch set. We were looking at buying something new, but gosh! Couches are expensive. So I checked KSL Classifieds and found a set for a little less than half the price. The guy selling the couches had only owned them 6 months, and actually, unfortunately for him but great for us, he suffers from an OCD cleaning disorder. So the couches are in GREAT condition! (for now) We borrowed Phillipa's truck  to bring them home ridiculously late at night, so no one was out and about to help Peter bring them inside. I helped him drag them off the truck into the garage--like 3 feet. They are a sage green/gray. I really like them a lot. In the other guy's apartment they looked more gray than green, but in our house they look more green. Which is slightly unfortunate because I was really going for a white, blue, and gray look in the living room, and when I put anything blue near the couch, it just looks MORE green. So... green tones it is.Oh well. Not the end of the world.

What do you think, Kady? Is there any way to have my teal/blue, white, and gray color scheme with a green gray couch?

Our front room now holds the old couch:

So my days are full of entertaining Claire, crafting, cleaning, cooking, and babysitting. Then on the weekends Peter tries to knock off a few items from his never ending project list. We're constantly clearing out and rearranging the garage. Things tend to build up there.

But honestly, with all this stuff to do, most evenings, once Claire has gone to bed, all we want to do is die on the couch and watch TV.

I've been going to a chiropractor for a few weeks now, and I really feel so much better!  I hadn't realized that I was living with so much pain! I still need to work on strengthening my back muscles, but the doctor says that will have to wait until after the baby comes. Meh. Ok by me!

My next OBGYN appointment is on Wednesday(today!). We start the day off with an ultrasound which will hopefully show us what our baby's gender is! We are super excited. Peter says he wants another girl to save on costs, but I know he wants a little boy. He says it doesn't matter if it is a boy or not though because Claire already loves trains. :-)

Events that occurred recently:

Last Saturday (Nov. 16) I finally got around to doing a project that I've been planning for the last THREE YEARS involving felt, pom poms, and hot glue and I seriously burned the palm of my hand. I had just put glue on a pom pom when Claire came over WAVING her hands at me about something obviously important and I dropped the pom pom right into the palm of my left hand. It hurt SO BAD. I got a huge blister--between the size of a dime and nickle. Yeah... I cried too. And the rest of the day Claire kept saying, "no! Mama not sad! Claire kiss it better. Be happy!" She was very concerned that I should always be happy. One week later the blister is gone and replaced by what appears to be a weird scab-like callus. I'm thinking I should have released the pressure so the skin may have returned to normal. So I probably  now have a permanent reminder of a bit of crafting foolishness.

The next day (Sunday Nov. 17) our ward split. We still overflow into the gym, but only half of the gym is full now instead of all of it. (It isn't a full sized gym, but there are two basketball hoops. The 3-point line is a few feet away from the would-be half-court line.) So this week and next week we only have sacrament meeting while the presidencies and teachers are called. Our meeting time changed too to accommodate all the wards in the building (4). We made the switch for the year so our new meeting time of 1:30 will last all through next year. Right during Claire's nap time. I've been forcing her to continue her naps daily, and I'm really afraid that this will be the beginning of the end of Claire's afternoon naps. Oh well!

Friday Nov. 22 I had 5 kids at my house (including Claire). 2 three year olds, 2 two year olds, and 1 one and a half year old. Oh my goodness. It was a couple hours of crazy here. It really wasn't bad until we got out the food. I have no idea how to feed that many kids. There were many spills, a few tears, and several messes, but we all got through and all were fed.

Saturday we went to one of Claire's friend's birthday party. She turned 3 and Clarie now thinks that she is three so that she can have a birthday. She's really excited about having a birthday. She's also a bit excited about Santa this year. Super fun!


And Sunday Peter and I hung some pictures/calendars on the walls. We have quite a few large spaces to fill and now 3 are down. Then in the evening we went to Peter's mom's house to celebrate Phillipa's and Francesco's birthdays with dinner. Claire had a hot dog and lots of olives and pickles. The rest of us enjoyed potatoes and raclette. In case you are unfamiliar, it is a Swiss cheese fondue. Yum. Honestly, it smells kinda funny while it's melting, but tastes amazing.

And that is everything interesting that we've been up to.

101st Blog Post--A Birth Story

Over the course of about two years we have now posted over 100 posts!

So in honor of the event, here's a little backlog of a big event that was missed.
Claire's birth story. (That's your warning!)

There wasn't really too much to tell about the day.
It was exciting. It was fast. It was surreal.

It was the day after my written due date, and we started the day like every other day. I woke up at 7--no alarm, just a baby moving in my belly-- like I had every morning for the last several months. Peter went to work. My mom and I stayed home. It didn't take too long (maybe an hour or two) to realize that I was having contractions. It was about then that I realized that I had been having occasional Braxton Hicks contractions for a while without recognizing them. I just thought that Claire was stretching in all directions or doing jumping jacks. I had a tub of Nestle Toll House cookie dough in my fridge which my mom balled and baked while I sat around at the computer playing on FB and blogging.  At 10 I called Peter and told him to come home around 11:30 because I was having more regular contractions and thought he should stay at work as much as he could to get things done. He got home around 10:45 am. At 11:30 I was posting this to our blog about my excitement.

Before we left we of course took one last pregnancy pose picture. (It was a hot August day, I was having contractions, and carrying an extra 28 pounds--ignore the sweat!)

I had no idea what to expect. Most of the stories I had heard/read involved women who had gone to the hospital prematurely and been turned away because they weren't far enough along in their labor to be admitted so I was surprised when I called the doctor's office to tell them that I was having contractions, and they told me to go ahead and drive to the hospital. I received the return call from the doctor's office and another 20 minutes later we were on our way to the hospital. We arrived at about 12:30. When I got to the front desk I was offered a wheel chair to get up to the second floor, but I chose to walk because I still had about five minutes between contractions.  Before getting to the room I stopped along the way and had a few more contractions.

My "birth plan" was more like a general idea. I never really told anyone anything about what I wanted because I wasn't too particular about what happened. I was open to medication and intervention if it was necessary. So my doctor arrived just before 1 and checked me out. I was at a 4. Peter says it was 30 minutes later, but I think it was sooner (which is confirmed by this picture) that my doctor came in and broke my water to speed up the process. He had a little trouble doing it and had to try twice. This was the only thing that I wish was a little different about the whole experience. I'm sure it made everything go more quickly, but I don't know that it was actually necessary.

Whatever.
We snapped a few more pictures together because what else do you do while you're waiting for time to pass as you anxiously wait for the arrival of your very first baby?!

taken at 1:50p

taken at 2:20p

By 2:30 I was dilated to 7cm and decided to start an IV with some meds. I wanted to know what the pain was like and by the time I got this point, I felt like I had tried enough. I wasn't broken yet, but I really didn't want to know what worse felt like. So I took some medication and about 10 minutes later I threw up because I was so dizzy. I was walking around with my eyes closed to sit in the rocking chair. My mom and Peter had a good laugh at me because I was quite delirious. I don't remember too much about it. I remember that I could still feel the contractions, but I really didn't care any more. It was definitely a weird feeling being aware of my body and yet hardly noticing it at all.
Apparently I kept saying "this feels good!" Peter says I was in a "happy place."

First dose at 3:10p

Before getting another dose Peter gave me a Priesthood blessing. Once again, I don't really remember everything that happened, I was being medicated and it worked really well! ;)
So after an hour, the first dose was wearing off and the pain of contractions was coming back. I could barely walk over to the bed where I was given another dose and opted for the epidural. Now that was happy! So at 4p I had been given the epidural and was at 9 cm and Peter could see the hair on our baby's head. My mom was slightly disgusted because I was WAY too happy to be having a baby. I was just sitting there talking and laughing with Peter and my mom. Every couple of minutes I could feel a twinge in my left hip as I was having a contraction. I would say "I think I'm having a contraction right now," and then the monitor would confirm it.

At 5:00 I was 10cm dilated and 100% effaced and down to station 0. As Peter recalls, "At 6 pm, Melanie started feeling a slight need to push. The nurse showed Melanie what to do and we had a “practice push”.  I could see the baby’s hair clearly now.  The nurse said to let her know when Melanie felt a very strong need to push."

This is me right after the nurse left at 6:05p

By 6:40 I had gotten tired of waiting. I didn't particularly feel a need to push any more than I had at 6, I don't think at least. So our nurse came in, called my doctor to tell him that we were starting, and we started to push through some contractions. Peter held my hand and foot. With the first contraction I didn't push as well as the nurse seemed to think I should. I stopped pushing before I got to 10 seconds when I was supposed to break so I did 4 little pushes in one contraction. 

TMI WARNING: So the nurse suggested that we use a mirror. At the very thought of it I was really grossed out, but the nurse said that it can be encouraging seeing what your pushes are actually doing. So I said I wanted to try it and then if it was too gross, we would have her take it away. I pushed through 2 more contractions and had a lot more success because I could see my baby's head coming out. I know--it sounds really gross, but I really like seeing results!

So after 3 contractions the head was crowning very well (Peter says it was coming out about 2 cm which probably means stage 2). The nurse said we should now wait for the doctor before we push any more thinking it would take another hour of pushing before she was born. The nurse called my doctor with an update. With the next contraction, Claire was coming out! The nurse said, “don’t push!” Melanie replied, “I’m not!” Our nurse hurriedly called for the on-call OB, but not 10 seconds later Claire had slid right out into the nurse's arms. She barely made it to the end of the bed to catch my baby. No one else had even arrived yet!  One nurse came in and helped with the cleanup, and when the on-site OB came in, our baby already had a hat on!

The nurse that delivered our baby

Peter cut the cord. They gave me my baby with a blanket and hat. It happened so fast!

They were all so surprised at how fast and easy it was, especially for a first time mom. A few minutes later, our doctor arrived saying, “I don’t believe it.” He said he got a call saying the baby had been delivered, but his monitor still showed a fetal heart rate!  In 20 years, he has never seen an experience like ours. There's a word or it when 1st time moms deliver as though it was a sequential, but I don't remember what it is.

So in about 12 hours I went from being vaguely aware that I was having contractions to having a baby girl in my arms! I would suggest that everyone use an epidural. I was able to really enjoy the birth of my daughter. Sure it was "expensive," but the insurance paid for it. I was calm and enjoyed the time shared with my husband and mom before the birth of my baby without pain. 

And that is how Claire Annette was brought into the world on August 3rd, 14 months ago.

Mobile Project

At the request of one of my loyal followers, ;) here is the account of my adventures in making a mobile for my cute daughter!

More than a year ago I saw a clip while watching Studio5 in Utah about making a mobile from paper, ribbon, and an embroidery hoop. I filed that idea away. At the time, I actually thought that a butterfly mobile was really cheesy. Haha.

So now having a daughter who I want to fall asleep in her crib, I decided she needed something to look at while in bed. Hence the need for a mobile.

I found the tutorial online here.

My mom gave me a Cricut cutting machine last Christmas? I think. And so I decided to use the cartridges that I have and go with a butterfly and flower theme.
You may recall that her bedding has both flowers and a few butterflies on it from this post.
So I used my Cricut to cut all of the paper pieces that hang from the mobile. There are 136 punch outs--68 pairs (one on each side of a Zot glue dot). I cut my pieces at 2" and 1.5".

Then I stretched a wire that I found in the jewelry section of JoAnn's across the diameter of the hoop and twisted it around the hoop with pliers to secure it. I crossed a second wire and repeated that step.

Then I cut 20 feet of ribbon to tie around a 12 inch embroidery hoop. I only used the inside piece because I didn't want the tightening knob sticking out. We also decided to count out how many pieces of ribbon I had so I knew how many to tie in each quarter of the hoop. It would have had a few empty inches at the end if we hadn't counted it out. (Peter thought of this after I finished tying the first quarter.)

After tying on all the ribbons, I matched all of the paper pieces up and stuck them together on 20" pieces of fishing line using Medium sized Zots. Most of the time I stretched the Zots to make them cover more space.

Then I arranged all of the pieces of fishing line according to height. (I varied how far apart I glued each shape on every line.) The longest one went in the center of the two wires. Then the next longest went in the middle of the wires, and the rest went along the embroidery hoop.

I glued 3 thick pieces of ribbon around the hoop to tie and hang the mobile from (the length of the roll only allowed me 3 pieces at the size I wanted them to be.)

Then I hung it up in Claire's room.

It took me probably 3 weeks to do all of it just because I only worked on it at night after Claire went to bed and before I went to bed. Cutting the paper definitely took the longest, even with the Cricut. I don't know if it would go faster with a regular punch though. You could punch multiple papers at one time, but I didn't do that. I was going to tie an organza bow at the top to cover the lame knot, but I can't tie a pretty bow apparently. 

Overall, I think it turned out really cute. Obviously we put the picture up before I decided to put up a mobile, so that doesn't look so great. But Claire definitely looked at it for at least the first day. I don't know anymore though because she looks at me when I come into or even near the room.

One other note, I had a hard time finding papers to match her bedding, so I decided to just ignore it and do something that was cute and coordinated.

So maybe you too are interested in making a mobile? It's definitely an easy project to do while watching TV :D

Our new baby girl!

Yesterday, at 7:05pm, we welcomed the most beautiful little girl to our family!

Meet Claire Annette Lieber

She is 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long.  We are absolutely loving her and love to hear all the squeaks and sounds she makes. She is definitely a bundle of joy!

Our new little family!

I am so excited to be a dad!

Melanie is so happy to have her finally in her arms!

Today is the day!

Well I haven't updated since last week, but today is probably going to be the day we have a baby!

On Monday I went to my doctor for the last time. During my exam he said I had dilated another centimeter to a 2. He figured that I would probably go into labor this week--given that I had continued to progress consistently over the previous weeks, but we scheduled an induction for Monday, August 8 just in case.

Tuesday, August 2 was our official due date. BUT at one of my first ultra sounds they estimated the due date to be August 3. We didn't bother changing the official due date because really, a day does not matter.

This morning I was having some contractions when I woke up at 7. Since then they've only increased in timing and pain. So we'll probably be heading to the hospital sometime this afternoon. It's almost noon now and we'll probably be calling my doctor in the next hour to let him know that my contractions have been about 5-6 minutes apart for an hour now. EEEK!

We're going to have a baby!
(And yes, it's not bad enough yet for me not to be excited about it!)

Nothing Yet...

Seeing as I am now 39 weeks along, I know you are all wondering and just as anxious as we are, but we don't have a baby yet.

At my doctor's appointment yesterday we determined that the baby is continuing to move down--very good thing--and I'm continuing to dilate slowly. My stomach actually measured smaller yesterday than it did last week, not because the baby has gotten smaller, but because more of her body is in between my hips now. So we're definitely making progress toward this baby arriving sometime soon, but nothing has happened to indicate that it will be within any of the next few days.

Peter's praying for July 28th. (That's only 2 days away!)
Why the 28th?
Well, my mom arrives today. And Thursday is just before the weekend. And it's still before our "due date" of August 2nd.

I'm just trying not to be nervous about actually having a baby. I'm done with the whole being pregnant thing. Sure, it wasn't that bad really--just terribly awkward and occasionally uncomfortable--but I'm ready to hold a baby in my arms : ) I'm even ready enough that I'm ok with pushing out a baby--almost. But there's not much choice now, is there?

So as a celebration of our last night alone as a couple, Peter and I went to see HP7 pt. 2 using tickets he bought from Fandango for $8!
I really enjoyed the movie, and I think Peter did too. As we were walking out he said that the reason people liked this movie best of all 8 films is because this one actually ended. He imagined that as people left the theater they were rejoicing because they don't have to wait for another production and then wait in lines at theaters to see yet another Harry Potter movie. I laughed.

If we have a baby before anything else exciting happens, I'll make Peter blog about it ; )

37 Weeks!!!

Hurray!

We made it to 37 Weeks!

Here's my day-of-visit pictures:

Peter also did a little photo shoot this week! He's so cute!

Also! Thank you SO much to everyone who went (or contributed) to the baby shower last week at Grandma Lieber's house! The box arrived this weekend and, holy cow, someone is a GREAT packer! This box:

Looked like this when opened:

And contained ALL OF THIS!

I find that impressive! In other news, I've been crafting. I made this baby quilt (guided by picture instructions):

And this hooded towel--I used an old bath sheet (huge for an infant, I know) and hand towel.

I used this tutorial from Make it and Love it as a guide. I didn't attach the bear ears, but I went ahead and made them from the towel scraps just in case I want to add them later. The towel was super easy though, and I already owned all the pieces to make it. It took me about an hour and a half while watching tv. I probably went kind of slow too--I'm not very good at pinning things, especially really thick towels.

So, now we're ready for a little baby to arrive! 

Any day now. 

We installed the car seat this weekend and finished the nursery, bought diapers and wipes--we're all set! And because we're pretty much ready for her arrival, I'm thinking the next few weeks will feel incredibly long! Up until now time has passed fairly quickly because there was always something left that needed to be done. Admittedly, there are a few more projects I'd like to finish, including preparing freezer meals. 

One last thing.

Yesterday my friend Amy and I got mani/pedis. Oh, it felt nice! They rubbed my feet for something like 40 minutes! 

Bliss!

And now my pudgy fingers and toes are well groomed.

Also, if you look closely at my left foot, you can see the puffiness all bunched up because I had been sitting on my foot. The left edge is flattened and then there is a mound of swollen foot. Haha. 

Being pregnant is fun!

Now I need a hair cut.

Anyone know a good stylist?

First Photo Shoot

We decided that we wanted to learn how to use our camera rather than pay for a professional for many of our photos. This Sunday, I got an extra sheet, pinned it to the ceiling and used the afternoon sun to light up our new studio. I had so much fun taking pictures of our soon to be family.  Here are some highlights.

Here is what my amazing wife can to with photoshop!

Before:

Afters:

Baby Preparedness

With less than 5 weeks left before our Little Miss arrives, you may be wondering how prepared we are to receive an infant. 

So here's what we've got!

We have a battery operated swing! 

It plays music and has dangling toys for her to look at.

It also very conveniently folds so it isn't always out.

Of course some assembly was required.

We have a stroller travel system (car seat base unit included). 

This is my sweet action shot

We have a crib which my handy husband assembled!

And a mattress and bedding.

I really like the bedding. (if you don't agree, lie!)

 Yes, there is a bumper, but I just think it's cute. And it won't really be a problem for a couple months at least, right?

I like that the colors aren't really bold. I'm a girl who goes for subtle elegance.

Not pictured are the glider, high chair, baby sling, pack-n-play, and baby tub. 

The high chair is nice for our small space because it attaches to a dinning table chair.

And we gratefully accepted the pack-n-play and tub hand-me-downs!

Because the "nursery" is a shared room with our office, we're having trouble finding a chest of drawers that fit the room, our needs, and our price range. Mostly it's just that the pieces that I like don't fit the space left in the room. 

Oh well.

So beyond all of these "gear" items, we have a smattering of clothes in a range of sizes, a few hair accessories, a few blankets, a nursing cover, and a few books.

Major necessities yet to come: DIAPERS! and wipes.

Along with a few various odds and ends. 

We have what we need in order to get her home and generally care for her though. 

So if you were thinking you wanted to contribute to our nursery but weren't sure what we needed, we've registered at Babies R Us, and there's a Wish List at amazon.com.

Registry number for Babies R Us is: 47064436

or you can just type in my or Peter's name. 

The Amazon link takes you straight to my wish list of various children's books. I'd really like to build a library fit for a baby. 

Don't worry about getting exactly what's on the list. We're first time parents and don't necessarily know what works best.

This isn't meant to be a plea for gifts in any sort of way! We just happen to live hundreds or thousands of miles away from all of our family and many of our friends, and I like to think we keep in touch through our blog.

So we're still busy over here as we anticipate the arrival of our little girl!

Her due date is August 2nd, but we're hoping for sooner rather than later!

Prayers are always welcomed :D