What is going on here?

It happened again. 

The first time, I thought it was just a combination of my lack of sleep and being emotionally invested in a special occasion. Nothing to worry about.  

Now I'm scared. Today I was well rested, and not doing anything particularly note-worthy. I was making lunch I think. Nothin' special. 

Here's the thing: I cried. twice. 

*collective gasp*

I know, right? Crazy! The second time in less than a week! What is happening here? Should I see a doctor? Medicate? Watch more BRAVO? Help!

Here's the deal - on Lexi's birthday, we took her to see Brave. She sat in my lap a good chunk of the movie because she was scared. There are some emotional mother/daughter moments in that movie and I shed a tear (or 10) while hugging my Lexi. I wrote this off as a fluke - I was tired. It was her birthday - I was feeling nostalgic for her baby days. ABSOLUTELY nothin' to worry about. 

But today - TODAY - has me concerned. We listen to the Disney station on Pandora. 
Because . . . well, because it's fun. 
I don't need to justify that. 

ANYWAYS, everything is going great - the girls are laughing at me singing along, pretending to be on Broadway - and then along came Phil. That's right - Phil Collins. 'You'll be in my heart' from Tarzan. And I'm done. Completely gone. For then next 3 minutes, I blubber through getting their lunches finished and then alternate kissing and hugging my girls. They want nothing to do with this - especially Em, who doesn't appreciate anything coming between her and her food.

 hide yo kids. hide yo cookies.

The song ends. 

Deep breath. 

I'm ok. 

Laugh. 

Haha, Phil - you got me. 

You knew that as a mother, I would listen closely to every word of that song and immediately emotionally connect to the gorilla mother who loves her baby so much she'll do anything for her little one, no matter what. 

WHEW!

Good one, Disney, good one. 

It's cool. 

I'm over it now.

And two songs later - "Two Worlds, One Family" 

(also from Tarzan, by Phil Collins). 

Seriously??? 

DISNEY:3

MEGAN: 0

Lexi's 4th Birthday

What a fun day! 

Paul took off work so we could both spend the day with our 4 year old girl! 

The day started off with a new dress and sparkly birthday tiara. 

Then lunch at Old Chicago - Lexi loves pizza and french fries - perfect!

Then delicious gelato from Cafe Moderne in Old Town. 

A little fountain watching

An afternoon showing of 'Brave' 

*she did OK. There are some pretty scary parts, but luckily she had Mom and Dad there with her. 

And dinner, cake, and presents at home. 

 classy, right?

She got to watch a movie after bath while we waited for her to 'officially' turn 4 at 8:30 p.m. 

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Lexi's Birth Story

Lexi will turn 4 in two days. I felt it appropriate to tell her birth story (no gory details, I promise - I blocked out anything gross from my memory) since I was in labor with her for two days. 


Lexi was born on Sunday June 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. - 48 hours after my labor started. 
Yeah. 
Uh-huh. 
4-8. 
that's 2,880 minutes. 



OK, so Friday night around 10 I was playing around on the computer. Paul had gone to bed because he has a real job. I started feeling some pretty regular cramping and I got so excited I couldn't sleep because I knew - I Just KNEW it was labor. I had been in for my 40 week appointment a few days before and my doctor was on vacation, so I saw an associate doctor in the practice who rudely declared I would absolutely NOT be going in to labor - make an appointment next week when your own doctor can deal with you. We did not get along. 
Anyways, I was so excited that I was in labor, 
because I really like to prove people wrong. 
It's my thing. 

Finally I went to bed and laid there and laid there and laid there - not sleeping, just counting minutes between contractions. I was too excited to sleep - I was going to have a baby! I didn't tell Paul anything until the next morning, but he took over the clock watching for me and the contractions got down to 5 minutes apart so we grabbed the hospital bags (which had been packed for 3 weeks - I'm a planner) and happily trouped to the hospital, certain that we would be holding our baby in a matter of hours. 



We got in, the nurses snidely remarked that I seemed to be doing fine - surely far too happy be in labor, but they hooked me up to a monitor anyway. Well my contractions slowed down - a lot. We were sent home with an insulting pamphlet called "Ready, Set, Not Yet!" and a few 'I-told-you-so' glares.


I promptly burst into tears the moment I got home. I was so upset about being turned away; compound that with no sleep and the hormone fluxing that comes with being 40 weeks pregnant - and my poor husband couldn't take it. He called in the big guns. My mom came over and gently patted my head (like a kitten) until I fell asleep and then she cleaned my house. 
Because she's that cool. 
Back off everyone - I've got dibs on her. 


Fast forward to 7 p.m. - contractions are back, but this time they hurt. A LOT. We wait until 10 p.m. to head back to the hospital, because we wanted to make sure Nurse McRude from the morning was off duty (not really - we just wanted to be sure I was in for real labor). We get back to the hospital and this time I am shown into a real labor and delivery room - I change into a gown, they hook up the baby monitor and a chipper young (and skinny - grrr) nurse comes and after checking things over for 2 hours declares me in labor. 
YAY! 
But not enough labor. 
WHAT?!?! 
I need to go home and relax and wait until real labor starts. 
Then she handed me a familiar pamphlet entitled 'Ready, Set, Not YET!' and bounced (literally) out of the room.
She was lucky I was huge and my husband was restraining me because that skinny squirrel deserved to eat linoleum.

             totally could have taken her

We go home. I cry a lot more. I finally fall asleep. By the way, Paul's parents had driven 3 hours Saturday to be able to meet their first grandchild - who was not coming. Not yet. 


I hung out downstairs until 9 a.m., visiting and pretending not to be in excruciating pain. Lexi had shifted during the night, and with every contraction, she pushed up against my spine and it hurt. 
It really &*%^$@# hurt. 
I went upstairs and crawled into my bed and cried and tried not to scream. Paul came up to tell me his parents were going home and saw the snotty mess that I was and declared it time to go back to the hospital. 
"NO! I can't get that stupid pamphlet one more time!" I yell/wheezed. 
"I don't care," he said, "you can't even walk - they will let you stay this time."


He had to carry me to the car. When we got to the hospital (for the third time in 36 hours) all the spots were taken, so he dropped me off and I had to wait on a bench for him to park the car. An old man asked me "are you alright?" to which I sarcastically replied, "Oh I'm fine - I'm just in labor. How's your day?"
He did not reply. 
Shocking. 


We were at LONG LAST admitted at noon. I was deemed able to stay. Nurse McRude from Saturday morning came in and said, "Hunny, you didn't need to wait for me to have this baby! Haha!" Again - deserved to eat linoleum. 



I was epidural-ed and it rocked. But that really slowed things down. By 8, it was decided that I could try pushing, but we would probably need to do a C-Section if the baby didn't come quickly. Lexi's heart rate was dropping with the contractions and they suspected she was tangled in the cord (she was). My doctor was still on vacation so a different doctor from the practice delivered Lexi. He entered in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and I knew by looking at him that this was going to be a no-nonsense experience.
Awesome - I was done with shenanigans.  
Cowboys do not suffer fools. 


I ended up not needing a C-Section 
(because I like to prove people wrong, remember?) 
and Lexi was safely delivered within 20 minutes. 
(Despite there being 37 nurses that apparently had purchased tickets to the show in my room)



Lexi was born at 8:30 p.m. - weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces, 18 1/2 inches long.

 

Worth every minute. 

Love you Lexi-Lu!

Fun Fact:

She was born on June 22nd, 2008. 

Our first wedding anniversary was June 23rd. 

We didn't even care that we spent it in a hospital - couldn't have asked for a better anniversary present. 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! 

We love you so much - 

you are always willing to drop what you are doing 

and play or snuggle. 

You are always ready to bust out the ice cream after dinner, 

and that means we get some too! 

You work hard for us, 

but you are still so excited to see us when you get home. 

You have the right answers to the tough questions.

(Ex. Lexi asked "Where does glue come from?"

Mommy said, "you don't want to know"

BUT Daddy said, "The glue factory, hunny.") 

You read all the girly bedtime books, without complaining. 

You know the importance of a tutu to a 3 year old. 

You always hold our hands.

You are the BEST Daddy!

 

Love you, 

Lexi & Emma

Slippin' Awesome!

 This face says it all - doesn't it? 

We busted out the slip n' slide the other night. 

Lexi still hasn't figured out the run and slide part of this thing, but Dad was willing to step in and give her a pull down the slide.

 Em is not impressed. 

  

Welcome to SUMMER!

For the love . . .

I just wanted ONE picture 
of BOTH girls looking at me 
and SMILING 
in their COORDINATING outfits 

(cute, right? You know I love me some matchiness). 

Is that too much to ask? 

Really?

 Umm. . . I guess this works. But Lexi looks like she's giving Emma the death pinch in the three of these.

Em's had enough of this - she gives her sister the what's up

Love how Lexi is still trying to cooperate here:

 FREEDOM!

 Hey Momma . . .

Possibly my new favorite picture of Emma. 
Lexi is done posing and will now twirl around for the next few minutes.

 Please, Lexi, just look at me and smile. 
Good! 
Oh wait - you have yogurt on your face.

*Sigh*

Another place, another time, another day perhaps. 

*Really Big Sigh*

Phoning it in

Why is it that even though I own a fabulous camera, so many great moments get captured with the camera on my phone? 

Here's the story of our day, via my phone-photos: 

Paul and I went out for a mini-date last night. 

I indulged in a beer and half, thus Emma was up at 5:45! 

%^$&#!

I did not let her get up then, and she eventually fell back asleep and then slept until 7:30!

I rewarded her with syrup on her pancakes. 

She was delighted. 

Understandably.

She also got caught playing in the cookery. 

I think someone's been watching too much Tangled. 

"Oh Mama, I have got to get me one of these!"

 We went for a little pre-lunch swim. 

They were diggin' it. 

I was diggin' Emma's sweet hat.

Well, Emma was ok for about 30 minutes. 

Then she was just all about the pool snacks. 

She's in it for the food.

And by the time we got home, Lexi's hair had done this. 

NOT FAIR. NOT AT ALL.