She's Here!

Sylvie 5 days old

Sylvie is here!  We couldn't be more excited that she has finally joined our family.  She has been so sweet.  After a very long and tiring pregnancy she decided to arrive pretty quick.  I had high blood pressure at my check up on her due date, so I was sent over to the hospital (for the second time) for labs and blood work.  After a few hours they decided to admit me and induce me.  I spent the night at the hospital by myself so Ben could take care of Rhone.  I started having strong contractions during the night, but didn't get started on the pitocin (that's what "starts" labor) until 7 am the next morning.  Ben made it to the hospital around 8 am and Sylvie was here by 9:40 am.  Ben sure did time that well :)  Rhone is a great big brother.  He is always curious and always wants to help.  I can't believe how much she has changed in a week!

7 lbs 6 oz  and 21.5 inches long

Meeting Mom

Winning over Dad

Sylvie with her birthday kangaroo from Rhone

Rhone meeting Sylvie on her "birth day"

Rhone watching a Winnie the Pooh at the hospital.  He had been talking about watching one since I went to the hospital around 10 weeks.

Getting dressed to come home.

Ready to come home.  She was just over 24 hours when we left the hospital.

Rhone and Sylvie

Everyday life

Nothing too exciting has been happening around here.  It seems like all we are doing is getting ready and waiting.  We can't wait for this little girl to arrive. Last week I had a trip to the hospital to get some lab work done, but everything came back fine, so we were able to come home.  Rhone picked out a special stuffed animal for his little sister.  Our original plan was for him to make one at build a bear, but when we got to the mall, we found out it had gone out of business.  So we settled for a trip to Kohls instead.  Rhone was pretty set on a doggy since that's what he has.  But he made due with a kangaroo and the Eric Carle book Does a Kangaroo have a Mother too.  Only 3 days until my due date!  

We have been filling the rest of our time getting the house ready to put on the market.  We have been cleaning, repairing, and painting like mad.  We are happy to say that the for sale sign is up!  Now we just need someone to BUY it.  It makes moving seem a lot more real.  

We have been having dance parties at night with Rhone.  It's been nice having Ben around since he's on "baby watch".  One night Ben and Rhone even put balloons in their shirts and we belly bumped.  Rhone thought it was a hoot!  We've made a few projects, taken Rhone to a few movies before we have a new born to keep quiet, and even saw a puppet show on base.  Ben was even lucky enough to participate.  

 

Showing off our tummies

Belly bumpin'

Making a rocket together

Picking out sister's special animal and book

Family night on base

Puppeteer Ben.  He was a pretty good sport. Our friend Renee is to the left of him.

Making his toys disappear into the diaper champ.  This entertained him for hours.  Hope he doesn't try it after it's in real use :)

Touching up all of our walls.

Grating a bar of soap for our home-made laundry detergent.  Rhone calls it, "scraping soap"

Valentine's Day

This is the first year in a long time that we have been with Ben on actual Valentine's Day.  We did a few fun things to celebrate.  We made cupcakes and Valentine's to share with friends.  The squadron had a play group, so Rhone got to make his first Valentine Box (well we used a can) to get Valentine's in.  We had fun eating treats and playing with friends at the party.  Our friend was so sweet and offered to watch Rhone on Valentine's since her husband was on a mission.  We got takeout from our favorite Indian place and ate it at home while we watched a movie.  We even had the handy man stop in to give us an estimate on repairs.  Super romantic :)  I made some photo mugs for Ben and Rhone and Ben got me 2 books.  We had such a fun time being together and celebrating the love of our little family.

 

Rhone working on his Valentine Box.  He picked green.

Opening a few treats on V day morning.

Rhone's mug is his special cookie dunking cup and Ben's has a picture of him flying the C-5

Decorating cupcakes for the play group party.

Rhone with his tin full of Valentine's

What a fun crowd of kiddos.

The night be fore Valentine's Rhone helped me make one of Ben's favorite dinners, Chicken Courdon blue with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Rhone and Ella on Valentine's Day.

Baby Love

The ladies from Ben's squadron threw an amazing baby shower for me.  It was a love bug theme since it was right before Valentine's Day.  We played a few games, enjoyed yummy food, and good company.  It was so fun to be together with friends and to get celebrate this little girl.  It has been a long hard pregnancy, so the shower was really helped get me excited and make it feel like she will be here soon.  In these pictures I am just about 35 weeks pregnant.  I will definitely miss the ladies from the 9th squadron when we move.  Now we just have to wait for her to get here and decide what we are going to name her.  I have the feeling it's going to be a long 3 weeks. 

 

My friend Tami had a baby shower that morning.  She is having a girl in May!

The goody table

More treats

Love bug diaper cake.  I forgot how tiny those newborn diapers are!

Playing baby gift bingo

Measuring my big ole belly for one of the games.

Sitting in my special chair.

The lovely hostesses, Lauren and Rebecca

Ben and Rhone came to help clean up after the party.  Rhone LOVED getting to play with Ella while we picked up.

Here is the crib painted gray with the bedding.  Rhone wanted to be in the picture, but he is covering up the blanket that I made to go with her bedding.

Around here

Ben started the new year off with a trip to Hawaii, training in Illinois, and is back on the road.  Rhone has been keeping busy with swimming lessons, playing in a tiny skiff of snow, and other random activities.  We spent about 10 min in the freezing cold for my friend to snap a few 3 year old pictures of Rhone.  We lost his lightening mcqueen car in the process.  Ben was a good sport and put on his wader, but we didn't quite manage to rescue the car.  We've also started getting ready for little tater baby.  One friend gave me a whole bunch of hand me downs, so I've been sorting through them and another friend helped me make a baby quilt.  We put together her dresser and painted the crib.  Rhone loves helping anytime there are tools involved.  Just before Thanksgiving we got new carpet installed and new furniture from Lovesac.  I spent today cleaning up the house so we could take pictures to post it for sale, so I thought I'd include one with the carpet and couch.  The couch is completely modular and can be arranged tons of different ways.  Speaking of moving, Ben has a tentative new assignment to Beale Air Force Base in Northern California.  We were pretty surprised, but now that we aren't so shocked, we are getting excited about getting back to the West and hopefully Ben will like flying a new plane.

Painting the driveway with a new birthday toy

One night we put ivory soap in the microwave to expand it.  Then we played with it like "snow".

New furniture and carpet

Our little 3 year old monster!

Trying to find the car in the freezing water.

Enjoying a tiny bit of snow.

On the first day of swimming lessons, Rhone wouldn't get in without Ben, but he goes all by himself now and is loving it.

Assembling "little sis-ers" dresser from Ikea.

Painting the crib with mom.  Hopefully there will be some after pictures of the baby room soon.