Third Post Today... Can't Help Myself

Sorry. I really just can't help myself. Noelle's in the swing, and Riley (as you'll see in a moment), is amusing herself in her own special way...

Playdate with Robbie...

We braved the snow this morning. Totally worth it.

This is Riley, shaking her groove-thang... very seriously.

Then we came home and played in the basement-- me on the computer, Noelle in the swing, and Riley... well... you see.

No matter what you're wearing, you must make sure you have the proper accessories.

A Bit Delayed... But Too Good NOT to Post

Okay... so about three weeks ago, our neighbor, Connie Tameling, who is a professional photographer, stopped by to take some quick shots of little Noelle. I'm only just now posting them (sorry!), but they are AMAZING! Check out her website (cmtphotography.blogspot.com) or find her on facebook. She does a phenomenal job.

Look at her teeny tiny feet compared to my ring!

I love that she's sticking out her tongue. :)

This is a very typical Noelle look... the furrowed brow. :)

Fairies and Assorted Fun

Yesterday, Kona got to have a surprise playdate with Heidi, our Bernese Mountain Dog neighbor. Needless to say, she was ecstatic. And I wish I had snapped some shots because these are two of the most gorgeous dogs you'll ever see, but alas... I'm sure I'll have plenty more opportunities, though. I mention this not only because Kona receives next to no blog time but also because Susan (Heidi's "mom") brought with her a gift for Riley and Noelle. First, she brought us an adorable tea time-themed growth chart. I'd been wanting to get one but had never done so, so it was perfect. I can't wait to chart both girls! Maybe we'll make up Riley's heights from the past 21 months. Hmmm...

But Susan also brought Riley a heart fairy outfit. Naturally, we had to try it on immediately.

Checking out the wand. Also note the plethora of stickers she's attached to the front of her top.

Admittedly, the tiara was a wee bit tight.

Close-up of the cute butterfly wings

This was the best shot Riley would allow. She's not all that in to posing for me these days. Maybe when I get a better camera... Hmmm... ;)

She did, however, show me her wand when I asked. I love this shot.

Another unphotographed event was Riley's blossoming gift of nurturing. She almost makes me cry; she's so sweet. Yesterday, she gently laid her doll then Piglet then Pooh-Bear in Noelle's carseat, making sure they were properly taken care of by covering them with a blanket, burp cloth, hat and also tossing in Kona's toy squeaky squirrel, just in case anyone got bored. However, my favorite Mother Riley moment of the day was when she took our home phone and lovingly laid it in the bouncy seat. She then looked at me, put her finger to her lips, and said, "Shhh!" Blatantly disregarding her directive, I said-- in my normal speaking voice-- "Is the phone sleeping?" She looked at me again and repeated, "Shhh!" "Oh!" I quieted down, "Should we whisper?" Riley, gently reprimanding me, nodded her head. I can hardly stand how much I love this girl.

Noelle, meanwhile, is just a darling of a baby. At one point, while I was reading to Riley, Noelle snuggled up with her favorite blankey. Her chubbiness was too cute not to get on film.

Check out that sweet round face! Actually, yesterday, Riley was pointing out parts of Noelle's face (ear, nose, cheek...), and after pointing to Noelle's chin, she then pointed to it's accompanying sweet chubbiness. "Uh... double-chin, I guess," I told her. :)

New Header

I had to add a comment about the new header picture, which I'll post again here-- just for fun.

I can't get enough of these two girls together. Riley LOVES holding her little sister. It's pretty much the best bribery in the world... if it's necessary and not that we do that... Hmmm...
Anyway, this was Riley's reaction to Noelle's pooping (for the fourth time this morning) while in her lap. I suppose poop is funny at all ages. :)

Another cute sister pic. Love them.

And Now for the Dog and Pony Show

Yesterday was quite the event. Little Noelle had her one-month check-up, so Mom, Riley and Noelle all got to make their first real excursion into the outside world. It quickly made me see why new mothers of two don't make it out much.

Getting the girls into the car and into the doctor's office, not a big deal. I actually was feeling pretty darn good about myself. That rosy, warm feeling lasted through the appointment, too. Noelle "The Tank" Green impressed the doctor by showing off her three new inches and equally amazing three new pounds-- bringing her to 7 lbs, 11 oz and 20.5 inches. Riley wandered around the cramped room, playing with the spinny chair, coloring on the "crunchy paper" on the table, reaching for the blood pressure-taker-thing. And, by the way, those double strollers are surprisingly compact but still occupy quite a bit of space. Yowza. When the nurse finished taking Noelle's vitals and attempted to exit the room, we effectively trapped her with all our baby accessories for a good three minutes. Eventually, we found her an escape route-- squeezing between the garbage can and the back of the stroller. Good thing she was little.

The fun started when it was time to go. Noelle always screams, going into her carseat. So I tried to get her in as efficiently as possible, a difficult task since-- due to space issues-- it had to be accomplished from the wrong side of the stroller. Meanwhile, as Little Sister was screaming her sweet, double-chinned head off, Big Sister realized that we were leaving and that she wasn't thrilled with the idea. Commence Meltdown.

I got Noelle strapped in and went for Riley with her jacket. She was having none of it, so I tried the usual: bribery. Stickers weren't a great incentive; neither was going home to Kona. I eventually muscled her into her jacket and lifted her to her perch in the stroller. This is when she went into her highly effective stiff-back evasive maneuver.

Reminder: this is all happening in a tiny doctor's room.

Two nurses finally came and offered assistance. One got Noelle to take her paci while the other gave Riley not one but two suckers. Both children sufficiently calm, we finally moved the circus out of the room, through the waiting room and to the car.

All good fun.

Segway: here are some unrelated photos that I shot today.

Do you think Riley likes being a big sister?

I think Noelle's eyes say it all...

Note Riley's sa-weet hair as she holds her baby sister's hands.

Almost One... Month

This is going to sound crazy, but Noelle is ONE MONTH OLD tomorrow. What the what?!? I thought, just in case things got a little hairy (as they usually do), that I should snap some almost-one-month pictures while there was peace and quiet around the house. So here goes...

Noelle and Roly... with Noelle sporting a sleeper her mother wore!

Her contemplative look

I like to call this one Roly and Poly. :)

"Hey! Did anyone else notice there's a pig in the house?"

New outfit. One can only stand the smell of spit-up for so long. :)

Things start to fall apart...

... and photo shoot OVER! :)

Sweet Noelle

Noelle Christine is here!

She was born two weeks early, on December 4th at 2:06 pm. She weighed in at a whopping 4 lbs, 11 oz and 17.5 inches.

Here's the story of that Friday; it's still a little surreal to me.

I had a doctor's appointment at 10 am. My mom had gotten into town on Thursday, so she stayed at my house to watch Riley. The doctor had informed me on Tuesday that if my non-stress test wasn't absolutely perfect, they'd induce me. He also added that if it looked good, they'd give me the weekend to try to go naturally and then induce on Monday. Since I had been taking countless NST's, and they all had been perfectly normal, I was pretty much banking on Monday. I did, however, have my hospital bag with me... just in case.

At the doctor's, they hooked me up to the NST, and I just hung out, as you do with those things. I glanced over at the report from time to time and, although I have no idea how to read those things, it did look a little different. Sure enough, when the doc came in, he looked at it a little more closely before saying, "We have a dip in the heart rate here, and I think it's real, so I'm going to send you over."

As a little back story, I had been having contractions the previous night, but they were pretty sporadic and not horrifically painful. They had minimized by the morning, so I chalked them up to Braxton-Hicks. I did have one during the NST, however, and I think that's what caused the drop. More on that later...

Dr. Bowles told me, very strongly and twice, that I was to head immediately to the hospital. I wasn't to go home or stop anywhere (what? like Wendy's?). I jumped in the car, immediately called Michael (who was in a meeting and couldn't pick up! Ahhh!) and my mom.

When I got to the hospital, they put me in a room right away, hooked me up to an IV, and Dr. Hay came in. She found that I was dilated 4 cm, one more than I had been at the office, just a little while before. I have to say that this news was a huge answer to prayer. I was really hoping that my body would show some sign that it was ready to go on its own and that they wouldn't have to just fling it into childbirth. I hadn't been hoping for much, however, as the due date was two weeks away. But Noelle, it seems, was ready to make her entrance. Praise the Lord.

Pretty soon after, they broke my water and hooked me up to Pitocin. Within a couple minutes, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart, and they hurt like the dickens. I mean, seriously, these things were horrific. For those of you who are moms, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. They come so strong and fast that you can barely catch your breath in between.

45 minutes later, thanks to my phenomenal nurse, Michele, the anesthesiologist came to give me the epidural. The Labor and Delivery anesthesiologist was apparently busy with a c-section, so Michele went out of her way to bring in someone from another floor. I feel like a total wuss, but I could have kissed her feet. :)

After the epidural, I was dilated 7 cm. Since my pain was minimized and everything looked good, Mike asked, "So, now we wait?" Michele confirmed that now it was time to sit and hang out, so Mike, who hadn't really eaten all day (and it was now 1:45), decided to run to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich.

I kid you not; he was out of the room for less than 2 minutes when Dr. Bowles and 5 nurses entered the room, and Dr. B announced, "Alright, let's have a baby!" At first, I thought he must be kidding. I mean, after my epidural with Riley, I got to sleep for a few hours. Now, just minutes later, I was going to have a baby? And Mike was gone?!

Michele threw me the phone, and I called Mike's cell. Thinking it was a work call, he didn't pick up. I left a message that I believe said something to the effect of "YOU MUST GET BACK HERE NOW!" Fortunately, he listened to it and booked it upstairs.

After pushing twice (TWICE!!), Noelle was here-- all 4 lbs, 11 oz of her.

Since I've been rambling way too long, here's the good stuff... Pictures.