Sunday, February 28, 2010

These Days



Livi's first week birthday has come and gone already. That means Daddy O's week off of work is also ending :( But we definitely made the most of this family week. We didn't venture out all that much, but we had such a fantastic time together. Liam and Daddy have had some seriously cute bonding time and Livi and I have done some bonding of our own.

There were trips to the playground, Monkey Joe's, Target (woohoo), the doctor's office and lots of great visitors (including cousin Eli from Orlando). Livi was already back to her birth weight after 5 days and the doctor said she is "perfect" which I agree with. She is a seriously good baby- what a difference from the first time around. The only time she gets fussy is to tell you she has gas or is hungry. But I am still not looking forward to dealing with both of them on my own for the next 5 weeks. I just keep telling myself there are millions of moms doing it all over the world and so can I. So we are holding onto our last day together and trying to ignore that tomorrow means back to reality for Chris and starting a new reality for me.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

He Comes Bearing Gifts


Liam loves his baby sister so much that he has decided to share his toys with her. He gets really excited when she actually holds onto one of them and very upset if you try to remove one from her bouncer.


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

26 Month Update


If there was any doubt that Liam was 2 before, there certainly isn't anymore. He is in full on sassy, bossy, independent mode and there is no stopping him. He is actually still a good kid, but there are alot more freakouts if he doesn't get what he wants, alot more ignoring the requests that he doesn't care to obey, and alot more insisting that things go his way.

He is communicating all this very well, which is actually the only exciting part of it. He just tells it like he sees it. "I don't want...." or "I want..." are common ways to start a sentence these days. He will also tell me or Chris "Don't touch that" or "Put that there" or "No more talking". And although it sounds demanding and off-putting (and kinda entertaining), I don't know that he is really trying to be mean. It's just the way he knows how to communicate what he wants. That doesn't mean we put up with it- he still needs to know that isn't how you talk to people, but I am by no means worried by it.

He has also learned the art of making a deal. If you have kids, you should already know this tactic pretty well. It's one of the many techniques parents use to get their kids to do things without a fight. I made the mistake ONCE of asking Liam if he wanted to put his pants on "later" so that I didn't have to deal with the fight at that second. Everyday since, he has insisted on putting his pants on "later" which means everyday I have a boy running around in his undies until the second before we leave the house where he concedes and puts his pants on.

But he really is still a good boy who eats and sleeps well and loves his family... and the Saints... and the Beatles (Ringo is his favorite, how do you not love a kid whose favorite Beatle is Ringo).

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Meeting Baby Sisiter

This isn't a short video- it's about 5 minutes long. But it was just all so cute that I couldn't bear to cut any of it out. Liam went to bed one night an only child and woke up the next morning with a baby sister. So we taped them meeting for the first time and I was amazed at how much he really got what happened. He was so giddy when he walked in the room and saw her.


Now he can't get enough of her. He constantly wants to hold her and touch her. And without any prompting from me will break out in a spontaneous "cheeeese- Mommy go get camera".




Saturday, February 20, 2010

Livi Ellen

So how about this new little one? Cute one, isn't she? Let me introduce you. Her name is Livi Ellen O'Neill and she was born at home at 10:53 pm on Thursday, February 18, 2010. She weighed in at 8 lbs and 10 ounces and measured 22 inches long. Not a small child, but she sure is a sweet one. So far she sleeps alot, but when her eyes are open she just has the sweetest little expression. Like you can tell from the look she gives you that she is a girl. She has a yummy set of lips, pronounced chin, and hefty, kissable cheeks. She definitely has more hair than Liam did, and if you ask me, darker hair.

I think she looks alot like Liam when he was a baby, but my nice friends are trying to convince me that she has my eyes. Still not convinced that I see that, but it's still early. A lot of people have asked about the origin of her name. When discussing names, we found that we both liked Olivia and Lilly, but they are both in the top 10 most popular names and didn't feel quite right. Livi is sort of a combination of the two and always seemed to click with me. Chris wasn't so convinced about it, but says that he likes it now that he sees her. Her middle name is after my mom, Maria Elena. Since we choose a family name from Chris' side of the family for Liam, it was my family's turn to get their due.




Labor


It all started two days before I delivered. I had a checkup on my due date where my midwife Jen informed me that I was 4cmm dilated and 70% effaced. For those of you who don't know what that means... it means you go crazy thinking your water is gonna break any second. It means even though you end up delivering only two days later, those two days feel like an eternity. I had finally resigned to the fact that I could be waiting a whole nother week before I had her when I started getting some aches that I thought could be contractions.

Liam went to bed Thursday night around 8 when I started to feel them. Once I realized that they were coming and going, we started to time them. Only thing was they were about 40-60 seconds long with 3 minute intervals. It usually takes people hours before they get to that. We called Jen and she and Sandra were there an hour later. They checked me as soon as they got here and I was already 8-9 cmm. We couldn't believe I was already almost fully dilated so we hurried upstairs where they got set up. It wasn't long before I didn't have any down time between contractions. It just seemed like one huge contraction until all of the sudden I felt the urge to push.

This was nothing like Liam's birth. Liam's birth was long and tough, but I felt in control. This pain was unbearable and I felt like I had no focus. Jen had to snap me into it and tell me to concentrate and use my hands to hold my legs. I pushed about 4-5 times before she came out. It all happened so fast that I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the crying. 3 hours from start to finish. I was expecting a speedy delivery, but this was insane. Was this labor fast? Heck yes! But was it easy? Anything but! I still don't know which I would prefer, but luckily it's over and I have quite the prize to show for it.

On a side note, can I just say that having a home birth rocks the house. There is nothing better than having a kid and being able to fall asleep in your bed just 3 hours later.