Fall Fun

We have been very busy since autumn started.  I'll tell ya all about our travels, but know, that I have too many paying customers to edit for, so in order to get a blog post done before a year has flown by, I don't have time to edit my own photos.  So here are the unedited versions of our fall fun.

In October the "Other Wilkes" and us met in Columbia at the in laws' home to spend a weekend together.  Emmy LOVES her cousins and talks about the fun things they do often.  While we were all together, we went to the fair.  We spent 5 hours there with 5 kids and everything went smoothly.  The kids has a blast together and I'm sure this is something they will remember for a long time.

Just look at that smile on Emmy's face!

Anna, being silly.

We especially thought this ride was hilarious, because Emmy (the photographer's child) is cheesing it up ever time they pass by us and Abby is REALLy into getting to wherever she thought they were going in that car.  

Of course we had to let the older kids ride some rides more suitable for their age.  The "littles," as we call them, were such good sports while the big kids rode their rides.  They look so cute here just conversing while they wait. 

Again, Emmy hamming it up!

Last weekend, we met up with the Smith family to attend Boo at the Zoo together.  Emmy was a little timid at first, but once Porter held her hand, she warmed up and took his lead.  She ended up having a good time, though I think it was a bit of a waste of money.  

Emmy loved petting the pony and didn't want to leave.

And this is Porter making his move! LOL!

They wouldn't let go of each other.  Such sweet friends.

After gathering all our candy, we went to the dance floor.  Emmy literally danced in circles around Porter.  He just turned around with her hand in his as if he were or axis.

 

Eventually he got tired of spinning in circles so Emmy did her own thing.  Porter wasn't much into the dancing.

Beth and Lyla got into the dancing too.

After all the walking and dancing the kids got hungry so we roasted marshmallows and made smores.

And before leaving we wanted some posed photos.  Ellie was not happy that we woke her up to get a photo, but she was so cute in her Cinderella outfit that Emmy insisted she have.  That, Emmy's chocolate mouth and Bopa's shadow on the giant pumpkin makes this a pretty funny photo.

And the Smith Family

 

Another weekend we traveled to North Carolina to visit the "Other Wilkes" before Caleb's brother headed to Germany for three weeks.  Again, Emmy loved the cousin time and Elana got a lot of attention.  Even though the day ended in an ER visit due to Abby falling off the play set, we had fun hanging out.

Here's Emmy and Anna talking to Ellie...

While Caleb and Micah made some guacamole.   Caleb learned that day that putting onions in the refrigerator before cutting into them could cut down on the eye watering. 

So Micah brought some reinforcements for them.

 

Before leaving, we had some story time on the couch.  Again, Emmy's smile shows just how much she loves her cousins.

Elana - 1 Month

Elana is now 5 weeks old.  

She is sleeping in her crib at night, but still wakes up every 3-4 hours to eat.

She is getting much more alert, especially from about 8pm-12am.

She loves to lie on the floor and watch all that is going on around her.

She spends most of tummy time trying to roll over (which she has accomplished a few times).

Ellie is eating around 3-4 ounces every 3 hours.  She nurses most of the time, but has had two bottles of breast milk and did really well with it with no confusion.

She has smiled at daddy many times, but I finally got my smile yesterday and it brought tears to my eyes.

Ellie loves to be held and cuddled, and usually only likes to lie on one side or the other, not on her back.

We are getting more used to Ellie's sounds, facial expressions, and preferences.  She is so perfect!

Life with a newborn

I forgot how life is with a new baby, but I was quickly reminded of the foggy feeling from interrupted sleep and the increased amount of laundry that accumulates at rapid rates, and the spit up, and the diapers, but most of all, the cuteness.  

As I'm trying to adjust to my new life with two children, I haven't used my camera much, but between the small amount of photos I've taken with my camera and my phone, you can see how our life has been the past four weeks with a new baby.

There has been a lot of holding Miss Ellie.  She loves to be held by anyone.

 

At first Elana did not like her car seat, but she's getting more acquainted with it and is, dare I say, somewhat fond of it now.

 

We've tried to soak up as much time with Emmy as possible and not allow her to feel left out.  The weather has been phenomenal lately so we've spent a lot of time playing with her outside.

 

We've also spend a lot of time with family.  Emmy loves going to her cousins' house to play and the cousins love little Ellie.

 

Of course, there is lots of sleeping incorporated in Ellie's day.  I wish I could say the same for everyone else.

 

But, she is getting more alert during her awake times...

 

 Even if they are during the middle of the night and then our mornings look like this.

 Memories.

My girls

Ellie is now over two weeks old.  We are getting more acquainted with her little noises and schedule (only to change soon due to a growth spurt I'm sure).  Big sister, Emmy, is adjusting well still.  I did get a chance to take a few newborn photos of Ellie.  There aren't as many poses as I'd like to have, but as I edited, I'm happy with how they turned out.

 

Ellie loves to be talked to.  She will look at whoever is talking to her so intently with her big eyes - I love it!

 

She loves to be patted on her bum to help her fall asleep, and she likes to be propped up instead of lying flat (probably so she can watch her always-on-the-move big sister).

Ellie also loves to watch Emmy.  Almost every night, we have to have a dance party with Emmy and Ellie will watch in amazement.

Ellie looks so much like her sister did when she was a baby.  It will be interesting to see how she looks as she grows up.

And Emmalyn is much like a second mommy to Ellie.

"Mommy, Lana needs a blanket because she's cold."

"Mommy, Lana is crwyin'!"

And, she loves to cuddle with her little sister.

Ellie has proven to be a perfect addition to our Wilkes clan!

Miss Elana "Ellie" Lynette Wilkes

On September 4, 2013, Elana Lynette Wilkes entered our world.

The delivery went as well as could be expected.

On September 3, I had an OB appointment.  There I was told I was 3 cm, 90% effaced, but that baby was still pretty high. I wasn't very confident that anything was going to be progressing any time soon, so I just spent the day like any other day.  Emmy and I made it home around 8pm, we got her to bed and Caleb started studying for the quiz he had the next day while I edited some photos. 

We went to bed around midnight and after tossing and turning for an hour, I decided I needed to do more housework and finally got out of bed to work.  That's when the contractions started.  At first they were irregular and didn't hurt, they just felt uncomfortable.  As time progressed, they got stronger and more regular.  By 5am, I decided I should wake Caleb up and let him know that we were going to have a baby today. 

Once I woke him up and he got out of the shower, he started to actually wake up and asking questions.  How bad do they hurt, how far apart are they, what do I need to put in the car...etc?

Once I told him that the contractions were 5 minutes apart, he started to freak out a little.  I was drying my hair and styling it, and taking my time, but daddy was worried and hurried me up.  It was kind of cute.  So, I threw on some clothes, he grabbed Emmy and we piled in the car and sped off.  Emmy was excited too, because she was wide awake when Caleb got her out of bed and was talking up a storm about the baby and going to the hospital.

The ride to the hospital was a little over an hour.  On the way, I called my family and texted my friends while Caleb drove 90 miles per hour down I-20.  It could have been the adrenaline, but the contractions got more painful and were 3 minutes apart during our ride.

Finally we arrived at the hospital.  Not long after my family arrived.  Once I got admitted, I was 5cm dilated, but still the contractions were not bad.  They hooked me up to the monitors and started an IV.  The L&D nurse noticed that the baby was having some decelerations and told me to lie on my side.  For some reason the contractions hurt a LOT more while lying on my side, so I decided to start the process to get an epidural.  

By the time the anesthesiologist came to do my epidural, I was 8cm.  After getting the epidural I was able to relax and laugh with my family some.  And hour later, they checked me again.  Still 8cm and baby was still high.  We suspected the epidural calmed my contractions while also making me numb.  We decided to turn the epidural dose down and sit me straight up.  This helped move things along and in no time I was complete and ready to push.

By this time, the epidural had worn off enough that I could feel every contraction.  It wasn't unbearable, but I was definitely ready for this labor to be OVER!

I pushed for 12 minutes.  They put her on my chest and the nurses all shouted at once, "it's a girl!"  

I cried.  Caleb cried.  Elana cried.  It was amazing.  Another beautiful life entered our family and she was just as precious as her sister!  We were overjoyed!

After I got sewn up and Elana got cleaned up, we let our family in the room.  I held Elana as Emmy entered the room and she immediately jumped on the bed and wanted to hold "her baby."   I think it was love at first sight.

 

Now, we are trying to adjust to life at home as a family of FOUR!  Emmy is doing so well with the transition.  Momma, not so much.  I have piles of laundry staring at me and I feel like I'm changing diapers and nursing constantly.  I've forgotten to eat lunch two days in row.  

Ellie is such a good eater and only lost 3 ounces from her birth weight before picking up weight again, and big sister Emmy is such a big help and seems so grown up lately.

I'm hoping to get more accustomed to parenting two little ones, but as I do, I'm going to enjoy the extra cuddles and baby coos.

Fall Forward

Because I'm nine months pregnant, it's hot outside, college football season started last week, and September is upon us, I'm looking forward to fall.  Mostly because I will hopefully have some sort of a waist, and I'm excited about not being so hot all the time.  Plus, with all the unknown in our lives right now, I figure it is good for me to have something to look forward to.  

With that said.  I can hardly wait to wear cozy sweaters, flowy tops, boots, jeans, and scarves.

Anyone want to go shopping?