Baby Sitter

Cameron is such a great big brother! It has been so fun to see his excitement over his "baby sitter" and so far he has done great with the transition. He runs to check on Brooklyn whenever she makes a peep, wants to help and is great and getting diapers and of course putting every pacifier in his mouth. :)




Last night Adam and I took advantage of my parents being here to watch Brooklyn and took just Cameron with us to Target. We got a treat at the food court and did a little shopping. We bought Cameron on of those big bouncy balls for like $1.99 and he was thrilled! When we got in the car to go home we were talking about taking the ball home to play with and out of nowhere Cameron said, "I Happy!" It was the cutest thing! And, when we got home the first thing he did was yell "catch!" and throw the ball to his sister! :) What a great big brother!

So far the transition has been great for me too. Brooklyn has been sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night and is very fun to have around. My parents left to go home today, so I am a little nervous to do it all on my own, but I am enjoying the new experience!

Thanks everyone for your sweet comments and support! Boy, life is just good!

Coming Home

Here are just a few quick pictures of the day we brought this beautiful little girl home from the hospital. We are absolutely loving being home and together as a family!

 Yay for little girls, pink, and pretty bows! :)

A Girl in a HURRY!

Brooklyn RuddJanuary 18, 2008, 9:38 am7 lbs 1 oz, 20 in

Hello everyone! We just made it home from the hospital and Brooklyn and I are doing great. Here is the report of our wonderful and crazy weekend...

We checked into the hospital at 5:30 am, signed all the paperwork, got all settled, and they started my iv of antibiotics and fluids at 6:30. The doctor decided to go ahead and start pitocin and break my water at 7:30. He said that they would do another round of antibiotics at 10:00 and then she may be ready to deliver by lunch time. :) When he broke my water he said I was between a 3-4. I was surprised that I didn't start contracting until about 8:10 or so. At about 10 to nine I decided that the contractions were strong enough for me and asked if we could start preparing me for the epidural. I joked about being a big baby and honestly, the contractions were still "bearable" (Now for those boys reading this - don't think that means they didn't hurt really bad! :), but as long as I was getting an epidural, why deal with the pain, right? So, they got me ready and the anesthesiologist came in at about 9:10. They sat me up to do the epidural and the contractions got a little stronger. I remember commenting to Adam that even though I said I might want to try a delivery without an epidural some day, I didn't! Anyway, they got the epidural inserted, but hadn't hooked it to the pump with the drugs yet, when I started feeling the urge to push. The nurse checked me, did the much feared shocked face, and called for the doctor! I was completely dialated and her head was crowning! The anesthesiologist gave me a small "test dose" (the amount they start off with to make sure your body reacts okay) and apologized profusely! The doctor ran in and told me it was time to start pushing. I was terrified! We laugh now, because the last thing I did was look at Adam and say, "I don't want to feel this!!" My sweet doctor just said, "I know honey, but once you get her out the pain will go away." So, 3 pushes later - she was here! My legs started to tingle about 5 minutes after she arrived - so at least the "test dose" took the edge off while the doctor did one little stitch. :) Wow, talk about a crazy experience! Now that it is over, I can say that I am glad to have had the chance to have a "natural" delivery! (How can they even say that - nothing about delivering a baby feels "natural"!) I am pretty proud to say I survived! From first contraction to delivery was only about 1 hr and 20 min and after all that I didn't even end up with one full round of antibiotics! Luckily though, Brooklyn has a clean bill of health, and I feel fantastic! I don't know if it was the short delivery or no episiotomy, or probably both, but this recovery has been great!

Here are some more pictures of our sweet little Brooklyn...

 

 

Anyway, we are thrilled to have our beautiful little girl here and Cameron is so excited about his "baby sister!" What a great weekend!

Last Post as a Mom of One!

Well, we made it! It has been a crazy few days trying to make this girl wait. She has dropped a bunch (not my favorite position she has been in :), and the contractions have been coming off and on all week. I pretty much put myself on bedrest and just took it east for a few days. Boy am I ready to get going! My parents arrive this afternoon, and then we will head to the hospital tomorrow morning. We will try to let everyone know the news as soon as we can, but it will probably not be until later in the day. Even though we go into the hospital early, I will be on antibiotics for 4-8 hours before they even induce labor. Hopefully things progress as quickly as they did with Cameron - it is going to be a pretty boring day! :) We can't use our cell phones in labor and delivery, but feel free to call whenever. If we can't answer, we will call you back as soon as we can! Anyway, here we go! I can't wait to see our little girl and especially hold her in my arms! Next time you hear from me I will be a mom of two!! Yikes! :)

P.S. I realized that I haven't put many pregnant pictures on here. I figure the second time around you don't have to take as many, right? Anyway, Adam snapped a few of Cameron and I chatting about the baby last night before I left for YW. I can't wait to work on getting back into shape, but here I am - remember I am two days before delivery, I am allowed to be huge! :)
This next one looks a little funny, but he is giving kisses to his baby sister!! He is going to be such a great big brother!

All Boy & Girly Girl

I haven't written a lot about Cameron lately and he is such fun kid, he definitely deserves it! I have absolutely loved being a mom to a little boy and Cameron is about as BOY as they come. Just like his dad he loves cars, motorcycles, and bikes! And, the two of them love to wrestle! Here are a few of the other fun things he is doing lately...

• His latest funny sayings are, "Mommy, I need it!" - he uses this when he asks for almost everything and in the cutest voice, it is hard to resist, and "Fries tonight!" Over Christmas break we went to Burger King twice to eat and let him play on the indoor playground. He had so much fun that since then every time we drive by he yells, "Fries tonight!" Too cute!
• Cameron loves to draw and describes everything he draws. None of it actually looks like what he says, but his descriptions are so cute. This morning he drew "Snowmen at night" (from one of our favorite books) including eyes, nose, hat, and buttons!
• Our friends have a little girl Cameron's age named Kaylee and Cameron loves to play with her. When it has been a few days he will walk around the house calling, "Kaylee, where are you?" Hint-Hint mom!
• Cameron will randomly start singing songs - especially in the car. His renditions of "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Monkeys jumping on the bed," and "Elmo's World" are some of our favorites!
• One of Cameron's new favorite games is "b-ball" - Actually, he loves anything involving a ball. We have created our own games using a laundry basket for basketball and a two-liter pop bottle as the bat in baseball! These are almost a daily occurrence and we have a great time!
• I love waking up in the morning to hear Cameron calling, "Mommy, where are you?" He is always ready with a hug and kiss and is always trying to get us to smile and laugh!

I could go on and on! Cameron is such a great little boy and he is going to be an awesome big brother!

Could he be any cuter? Seriously, I have loved being a boy mom! With that said, the girly side of me is very excited to have a little girl in the house! I have had fun getting ready - making bows, headbands, and even crocheting some sweater/hat sets! I can't wait to play dress up! Here is a picture of the girly things I have made...