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My random thoughts while Ava does her homework. 

I have completely given up on the blanket I have started twice and started a new project. It is fall colored and will be awesome. I am just knitting at the pace of a snail. 

Isla is already 3 weeks old. I am loving this baby stage. Maybe it is because I know how short it is. Maybe she is so easy. She does cry but not often. She is just sweet and cuddly. She pukes a lot and likes me to hold her. I go back to work in a month. I will probably ease back in the week before with doing work at home so it isn't a huge shock to my routine. I am lucky enough to be able to not go back full time during the day. I will only be in the office one day a week but even that seems like a lot right now. 

Rhys started dance class this past weekend. He is supposed to be in hip hop but it turned out to be hip hop and beyond, which is all dance forms. First class was not anything remotely hip hop like. He is the only boy and clearly the oldest. I don't think he expected to be dancing to the little mermaid. He participated except for when he was supposed to dance alone. He looked embarrassed a lot. He said it was fun but he has also said he doesn't want to go back. There is an all boys hip hop class but he is too young by a couple months and they wouldn't let him in. I'm hoping he wants to continue next session when it can be more of what he wants To do. 

Random picture of Rhys at the back to school bash last weekend.

The time has come

Yes Isla is three weeks old today, but I have other kids and other things on my mind. Lots of other things. I wonder how random this will get? I guess we will see how long my thumb holds out. I am posting from my phone while nursing. It is a talent. 

Anyway, the last few years ava has had some issues with focusing in school. I did too, so did Justin so this isn't a real shock. So far it hasn't really been a problem and she can work around it. Her teacher has already mentioned it this year and we have noticed it getting in the way of homework. It is hard to know what the cause is. Is it her not wanting to do the work? Is it too much noise in the house? Is it an actual problem?  So the first step we are going to take, I think, is a specific diet. I have heard it helps. I have also hurt it is a load of crap. More or less it is cutting out fake stuff. I don't think it can hurt anything to try.  Anybody have any experience with this? 

Thumb is done. More later. It is season premier week and I haven't watched anything because I am totally hooked onScandal on Netflix. What does that say?

Life is like a box of chocolates

Or in our case, nights are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. We have now had 7 nights at home with Isla. We have not had more than 2 that are the same. First two nights were pretty much no sleep nights. She wanted to be held all night. She wanted to eat every hour. (As I am writing this, I am completely blanking on what order the nights went in and if I am even thinking of different nights. Isla has eaten my brain.) We didn't get to bed until 3 or 4am and we still had to get up to get kids to school. Then we had the two miracle nights of non-stop sleep. I had to wake her up around 4am to eat and the other night she for up at 5am. She also was fine sleeping in her bed. The only downside of the timing of this was it was when my milk came in, so she slept, I didn't.  Then we had two nights of normal baby sleep. Up every 3 hours to eat and going right back to sleep. Even when she woke up, she didn't really cry, just clearly was up and wanting to eat. Then there was last night. Keep in mind she slept all day, only getting up to eat and was awake and alert for about 45 minutes total. We were trying to go to bed around 9:30. She was wide awake, but it shouldn't be long lived, right? Wrong! She would doze for about five minutes and demand to be fed again. This went on for 3 hours. She has also decided she won't take a pacifier. Why should she when she has me???? She will cry for 10 minutes with nothing working to get her to stop. I let her latch on and 15!seconds later she is fine. She won't eat anything. She will just want to sit there. After the three hour eating marathon, I was pretty positive there was absolutely nothing left. She ended up getting about an ounce out of a bottle but only because Justin gave it to her. She won't take a bottle from me. Justin says she is too little to know the difference. Ha! That is why she acts like I am trying to poison her with the bottle. She did sleep for almost 5 hours once she finally fell asleep, so it wasn't awful, just a very long first part of the night. 

Now some pictures from yesterday.

Rhys made her a bracelet. 

I walk into the livingroom and find Ava holding her like this, swaying in front of the tv, like it was no big deal.

* I update from my phone so formatting at be weird.

Newborn cloth #1.

We have decided to go with cloth diapers and so far so good. We used th free disposables from the hospital the first couple days and then switched over. The only tricky parts have been figuring out which ones have small enough leg holes and would stay away from the umbilical cord. Her cord fell off yesterday so that has freed up some options. I got a few varieties of diapers for a variety of fit and to see which styles I like in the bigger sizes.  We have had one minor poop leak due to a loose leg hole, but honestly it would have been way worse in a disposable. We have also had a couple pee leaks, but they seem to be because the diaper was overly wet. We haven't quite figured out just how long we can go between changes. Anyway, here are some very high quality pictures to show fit.

Bumgenius all in one newborn. Super easy to put on, couldn't wear with the cord, doesn't hold a lot of pee. She is 8lbs 1 oz here.

Imagine newborn all in one. So far one of the best fits. 

Nicky's bamboo all in one. Good fit. Very trim feeling. She was 7lbs 12 oz. here.

Fuzzibunz xs. Still too big in the legs. They will fit for a while though once she bulks up. 7lbs 12 oz here. 

Smile

She smiled at me briefly this morning. Just had to document it. 6 days old and a smile while awake.

Hair, etc.

We have been asked a lot if the other kids had as much hair as Isla. None of them were bald, that is for sure. Ava had a lot of hair and didn't lose any. Rhys lost what little he had on top, but kept it all in back. He had quite the mullet for a while. Isla has the thickest for sure. 

Isla had her pictures done today by my friend Rachel (www.rachelcatherine.com) and I can't wait to see them. Ava missed out on one of these photo sessions. She was even before Bella Baby in the hospitals. Rhys had his done by my friend Terra (www.2sisphotos.com) after church on his first Sunday too. I am looking forward to get to compare them all around the same age. 

Rhys has always been one to try to get the attention if Ava was getting it. Now with Isla here, the attention seeking behaviors have definitely increased. I understand why they are happening. It has been an adjustment for him for sure. He is starting school full time and has to adjust to not being the baby and someone else getting all the attention. Part of it makes me sad. I don't know what he is really feeling, if he even realizes that he is acting out. Part of me is annoyed at the constant noise and disobeying.  Ava is definitely taking part in seeing what happens if she ignores me. They both are pushing boundaries. But the rest of the time they are being amazing. They try to be helpful. They want to love on Isla. They love to pick out clothes and help change her. Feeding a can be a family event. They talk to her, hold her hand, tickle her feet. It makes for one crowded me, but I am not knocking it. 

Introducing Isla

They is like a new baby to re-inspire blogging! 

This Wednesday is my due date. This past Thursday was my scheduled induction date. Tuesday morning at 5 am I woke up because my water broke. I had been having contractions for days that amounted to nothing, were too far apart and not getting any stronger. Part of me spent Monday really thinking that I was having the baby within the next 24 hours. The other part didn't want to get my hopes up so I ignored it.  I was feeling very done with being pregnant. Anyway, I had gone as far as getting a bag out and putting a couple things in it, like blankets and clothes to bring the baby home in. That was it. So at 5 am, Justin and I finished packing up the bag for the hospital, school bags for Rhys and Ava and their overnight bags. We fed the cats and hamsters a few times, grabbed the dog and left. I started feeling the contractions by about 5:15. I got to experience the joy of being in labor in the car. It was an experience for sure. Justin said it was the longest drive ever, but it seemed to go fast. We dropped the kids and the dog off and went to the hospital. We got there around 6:30, got checked in and set up. I got checked and was at 3cm and got an epidural around 7:30. At 9:15 the nurse said I was 8-9 and the doctor would be in to check me next unless I feel the need to push. At 9:35, Justin went and told them that I could really feel the pressure and was ready when they were. The doctor was in the middle of a c-section, so we waited. He didn't finish in time because one of the other doctor's from the practice came in for the delivery. I started pushing at 10:02 and at 10:06, Isla was born.  They put her on my chest for a minute or two. It was all so calm and easy.

We had the day to ourselves because we were waiting for Ava and Rhys to get out of school and be the first to hold her besides us. 

They were so excited to meet her and hold her. The next day was my birthday and I asked to go home.  It has been a love fest ever since. The biggest argument is who's turn it is to hold her. Justin has had the rest of the week off and will go back to work on Tuesday. He is trying to get his time in with her. I have just been a breast feeding machine. It is going well. I haven't before had such a demanding baby from hour 1 to nurse, so that has definitely been a change. I have blocked out the exact pain feeling of the first couple weeks of nursing.  She is content and loved. It just a happy time in our house with brief moments of insane hormones, but let's ignore those. I generally feel fine until I try to do normal things and then I remember that I just had a baby. 

So the stats on Isla. Born at 10:06am, 8lbs, 6oz., 20 inches long. Tons of hair! Dark brown with reddish blonde highlights. Normal baby blue colored eyes. 

And now pictures.

First bath

Coming home

First night home.

Cuddly cheeks

First trip out of the house.

First bath at home with photographer Rhys. 

There are many more firsts to come and we just can't get enough of her. I look at Rhys and Ava and know all too well that it goes too fast so I am trying to live it up.