Family of Four

The grandmas (and grandpa and aunt) have already gone and we're flying family of four on our own now. It will be tough not having them close by; the little ones have sure basked in all the extra love and attention. I've basked in some uninterrupted naps! We will sure miss them.

I promised some more pictures! Here they are:

Aspen at one week with Albert, the bear.

We have another rocket-pooper on our hands

Consequently, Aspen's first bath!

Avery LOVES to give kisses and hold her baby sister

Fashioning grandma's lip stick

The girls with aunt Jessica :)

Avery working on potty training and her social life

We really love how much Avery cares for her little sister. She will rock her bassinet and "shh" her when she cries (it's adorable)! She loves to hold her and kiss her all the time and has to say goodnight to baby. Aspen is adjusting to life so well; she is a very good baby to handle. We love having our family of four!

Aspen Kay Olsen

Our baby girl (#2) has arrived! Aspen Kay Olsen: born Sunday, January 9th, 7:44 a.m., 7 lbs. 7 oz., 20 inches. Here is the best picture we have so far (her face is a little swollen), but there will be more to come!
Below is a picture of Avery for comparison. She looks just like her big sister! An overview of the labor and delivery for those interested: I began feeling my very first and mild contractions on Saturday morning (2 days after my due date). Nothing particularly notable. They picked up over the day and by the night time, I thought it was a possibility we'd go to the hospital overnight if they kept picking up. I still thought it was possible they'd subside.

I woke up at 1 a.m. with a bit stronger contractions about 10 minutes apart, lasting 30 seconds a piece. I just stayed awake trying to relax on my ball or in the tub or just breathing. By 4 a.m., they were about 5 minutes apart and 45 seconds long. Intensity-wise, they were manageable and not scary, but took attention.

I decided to have my doula meet me and Brian at the hospital (my mom stayed at home with Avery). I guessed I was probably at a 4 dilation, and I originally wanted to labor longer at home but changed my mind when I thought of how long it might take to check in and I didn't want to be nearing transition during all that. Sure enough, I was at a 4 when we arrived about 4:30 a.m. I'm glad I went at this time. They strapped me to the bed for half an hour then let me walk the halls.

After an hour, I was barely at a 5 and I thought "well, I guess this could still take a while." I wasn't worried though, because the contractions were far enough apart and the peaks didn't last long enough for me to be frantic. I did feel nauseous though and threw up once. Then within another hour, I was at a 9! I was so surprised! The contractions still didn't feel like they had heightened a great deal; I just kept breathing and moaning and even stayed in bed because I felt that walking around would drain my strength or make me dizzy (plus the doctor would not be there for another 30 minutes and I was asked to stay low key). I was feeling very hopeful at this point because I was coping really well (I had enough time between peaks to regain my bearings). They were the most tough just before pushing and throughout pushing. My face and hands were getting tingly because I was breathing too fast; I hoped I wouldn't pass out, but my nurse and doula helped me with my breathing.

The most frantic I felt through this whole thing was when I was expected to push. I never felt this relief to push or overwhelming urge. I thought it would be easier and methodical, but I kind of had to make it up. They sort of suggested I could push if I felt like it, but I was more apprehensive about it because it wasn't the feeling I imagined. Plus the contractions were enough to keep me occupied and I was afraid to start pushing. I "manned" up and did anyway. After about 4 contractions (2-3 strenuous pushes each), it was all over. Amazing! She was here! The "ring of fire" never exactly happened (which was a relief). Everything was all said and done. Amazing. I just couldn't believe it. I was SO happy to have baby here!

Avery took a few minutes to warm up to her new baby sister. She was unsure of what this was all about. Soon enough, though, she wanted to hold her and share her bear.




Avery meets Aspen

Grandma teaches Avery to paint! She does so well!

Snow and Avery

It has been very cold and snowy lately! Very beautiful. Today the temperature warmed up, and even though Avery still isn't 100%, I had to let her out of the house to visit the snow for a few minutes. It was pretty fun and I love her snow suit!

Pregnancy

I wanted to post some of my pregnancy thoughts just because. (This picture was yesterday.)

I think I've craved sweets more this time and I don't really feel bad about giving in when I want. I was big into eggs at the beginning, but now not so much. I think I eat about the same amount of food now as when I was not pregnant.

I haven't noticed this pregnancy being cumbersome at all except for a few small things. One: It's really hard to turn over in bed and get situated; two: I have to gear myself up and hold my breath to reach my shoe strings and tie them; and three: I have to reach and bend over to do the dishes since my belly hits the counter! It's funny when I don't notice how close my belly is to the oven, stove, sink, or bowl and I get stuff on myself. I also can't just "squeeze" by people in the hall at church because this thing just doesn't suck in, no matter how hard I try... and yet I still think that it's skinnier to turn sideways to get through. haha. watchout!

I officially can no longer zip up my winter coat and I'm uncomfortable in all of my going-out pants (even the maternity ones); they just cut into my belly because they're the hip low-riser stretchy ones... I'm starting to wish they were all the ugly huge panel over the belly ones. I have one of those that are jeans (and tapered in at the leg mind you), as well as a red pj pants one... not many options for going out. That's okay, we stay at home mostly anyway and I can use those to work in like we've been doing lately. I must admit that I've worn them one too many times because I'm holding out for our new washer/dryer to get here on the 5th(!) I went to the laundry mat here once as we've transitioned to the new place and it was so expensive!! $2.50 for one wash. Plus it was just really inconvenient (and I don't even have the second baby here yet). Brian agreed we needed to get that washer/dryer right away, thankfully. I feel spoiled but oh so grateful.

A few more notes. A sad story this time: I bought a needed pair of maternity pantyhose at Motherhood for a whopping $16 (for ONE pair...outrageous, I know) and only got one use out of then until I snagged a huge run. So sad and frustrating. I wouldn't bother with them if it wasn't so in the middle of winter and frigid. At least my one black pair from last time is holding out (except today they decided they were too tight for my growing belly and kept sliding down). Not much longer to go; I can make it!

Alas, pregnancy has it's challenges, but to be honest- I feel like these all have been rather insignificant for me. And aside from some growing lower pelvic pressure/discomfort if I step the wrong way, I feel like a normal person. I feel great really. I've started to allow myself to indulge when people keep saying "oh, you're so small for being this pregnant" even though I never knew what to say to that. I can take it as a compliment; surely they say it to make me feel awesome, so I let it make me feel awesome. I really only care about if that means I'll be having a small coming baby!

I can hardly believe my due date is this week; I don't think I can imagine my body spontaneously going into labor at all... much less this very week. It feels very content where it's at I think. I wonder what it'll be like....

Meanwhile, I'll sit here writing endlessly in front of this super cozy fireplace. Ah. This is so nice. G'night everyone! (Can't wait to tell you when we have an arrival!)
P.S. Yesterday was my birthday! 24! We spent it scraping off our popcorn ceiling and going to olive garden... it was great!

Christmas

This Christmas was pretty simple for us. We hadn't hyped up Avery about presents or Santa Clause this year, but she enjoyed opening gifts nonetheless. Perhaps next year we'll ham it up a little when she understands it better and we'll probably get to go visit family too.

We already have her handing out the gifts; it's funny to hear her say "heavy" with a distinct expression. (It's thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas that we even had presents under the tree this year! Thank you! The main gift for us was above our heads and below our feet- the house, of course).

Avery opening the one present we got her (wrapped in packaging paper! haha).

A cute hand-done book from Grandma Olsen.

This is a rotary saw from Grandpa Olsen (to Brian, not Avery :)

This has been Avery this week- being a great helper on the house (honestly productive) as she sweeps, picks up, puts away, and hands things to dad. She's pretty adorable- especially when trying to lift things. Of course, it's still a handful keeping an eye on an almost-two-year-old in a construction zone, but she keeps busy as I keep busy after her.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve! Today was just cooking and construction. I cooked, Brian constructed. My first turkey turned out better than I expected (I was scared)! It wasn't bad at all. Yay for me! Take a look at Brian below and the huge gaping hole in our floor! I'm so excited for the new stairs to soon be here!!

Let's talk about AVERY! She seems more mature every day. We love the things she does. Like, today she grabbed a tissue (aka TP) and assumed to blow her nose just as we do (see pic below). However, she also understands that TP goes in the toilet, so she succeeded in unrolling a quarter roll of TP into our toilet naturally. It's hard to get mad at her when she doesn't realize what's wrong. Cute bugger. I did tell her that was a no-no, and I think she understands... just like when we read a book and she sees where she previously colored in her book and points and says "no-no."

What else? She is getting better at stirring and pouring when she helps in the kitchen. She can identify so many objects from learning them in her book (I'm fascinated when she can point out a door or star or animal even when it looks different from the one she identifies in her book).

She's so funny when she responds to my offers sometimes:

me: "Juice or water?"

A: "Juice? K!"

me: "Do you want a cookie?"

A? "Cookie? K!"

She gets so enthusiastic about certain things, I love it. Like cookies. Who wouldn't? She says "wow" in a very awe-struck way when looking at the stars in the sky (mimicking us, I'm sure). Avery loves to repeat words we say and is getting better at it all the time. I'm deeply amazed at her understanding and acknowledgment when I say things like, "You can have this, but we have to wait until..." or "You can play with the pen, but you must put the cap on." It's simple stuff, I know, but I'm so proud that she can be obedient.

We're in!

First, some random pictures in reverse chronological order:

The front room (complete with stockings hung by the fire)

A snowy closing day on Thursday

Christmas time baking at our apartment, yum!

Making gingerbread houses! Avery was much more interested in stuffing her face with the plethora of candy.

Well hello friends and family!

We have much to catch up on now that we have INTERNET in our new home! I apologize for neglecting the blog so badly, but we're back in the saddle (meaning with internet after a 3-month "fast") and it feels GOOD!

It also feels good to be in our new home- I can't believe it!!! We're actually here. The move went awesome on Saturday- we probably had at least 15 helpers from the ward and it was speedy! It's a good thing that Brian and I could come clean up the carpets before hand (on one long Thursday night after our closing) because the previous owners left us a lovely mess. They owned 3 dogs and hadn't even vacuumed after getting their stuff out... so after 3 runs in every room with the vacuum and then the carpet cleaner, we got enough dog hair out to be satisfied. I'm sure we'll still be sucking up dog hair for a long while. Ah well; soon we plan to have new flooring anyway.

We're still unpacking, but have all the essentials put away. We even got Christmas put up in the front room! It is so cozy here with the fire place and pellet stove. We're so excited about this house; I was pleasantly surprised when most of the rooms felt bigger than I expected after we moved in. The kitchen is awesome: a ginormous sink, double oven, great filtered water from the fridge, plenty of beautiful hickory cabinets and everything feels new. Ahh!

We have plenty of home updating projects on our list and Brian is getting started right away on our stair case now that he has a lot of time off for Christmas. I'm so excited he'll be here tomorrow and so on! Christmas is so close- crazy. I'm preparing (mentally mostly) to cook my first turkey- it's a whopping 18 pounds, holy cow... or should I say bird. I'm also planning some other yummy dishes and it looks like we'll have a cozy Christmas all to our very selves. It's happy and sad at the same time, but I know we'll make the most of it; it'll be new.

Shooie! Move-in, Christmas, birthday, baby... so much happening. We still haven't picked out a name and we're feeling the heat since it's TWO weeks away! We have some names in mind but aren't set on a particular one. I hope one of them sticks out when the time is right.