My baby girl is two.
Born on her due date, coming into the world just a few minutes after we got to the hospital and before we even had a chance to officially check in, she has somehow grown into a sassy, opinionated, moody 2-year-old.
I won’t do a sappy post right now – there are too many emotions going on in my head right now anyway (#thankscovid), but instead, a simple post about how we celebrated the birthday.
Spring is definitely here in CLE! We had a beautiful weekend in the ‘burbs, filled with good food and pretty good weather. Friday night, B made us pizza. It had been forever since we had homemade pizza, and I was looking forward to it all week. I got to pick my toppings for my slices, too — it was pepperoni, eggplant, peppers and mushrooms. I love pizza with tons of veggies and also pepperoni on it!
After the kids went to bed, B and I stayed up somewhat late and watched Always Be My Maybe. It was just what I was looking for in my Friday night – a cute, funny romcom. I recommend it, especially if you already love Ali Wong.
Saturday morning FW got up early – like 5 something in the morning – so it was a long day. After breakfast, B went to Home Depot to get some stuff (it’s his second home these days) and then we went to our first event – a playdate with some friends who also have kids. FW had a blast playing on his favorite playground with LM and of course Celia, Maura and Maddie.
After the playground we headed home for lunch. B and FW hit up Home Depot (yes, again – 2x in one day!) while LM napped.. When he got back, it was time for our next adventure – Ruby’s birthday party! It was a party at a local ice cream shop, so I’m sure FW and LM had a good time. (we did too 🙂 )
After ice cream, we were going to try to watch soccer, but all the bars and restaurants nearby were overflowing and LOUD (aka not as kid-friendly as usual), so we just went home.
FW skinned his knees on our jog to the car, so he needed some extra care and wanted a special seat on the couch before dinner. Toddlers are a ton of work but tons of fun sometimes!
After FW and LM had dinner, it was off to bed semi-early and B and I had to figure out what we wanted. We had planned on going out after ice cream, but since it was too crowded, ended up not sure what to do for food. B was craving buffalo wings, so we ended up doing some takeout. I got a kids’ meal, which meant it came with a side (salad!) AND a drink.
Sunday morning, I got in a nice run – 6.3 solo miles. I had planned on taking out the jogging stroller, but B andFW and LM had breakfast and I got out semi-early (at least for a weekend). It was nice to still be out a little later than usual.
The day was somewhat productive. We did some meal prep, some cleaning, some playing, and some walking. It ended up being a nice day outside so B also got some outdoor chores in.
We ended the day with a jog around the block. FW ran pretty much the whole way!
And that was it. HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!
Some questions for you:
This weekend is brought to you by the letter F. F is for First birthday, Friends, Family and Food — all wonderful things and well, I’m still smiling over what an amazingly wonderful weekend it was.
Friday was LM’s first birthday. That’s right, LM turned one over the weekend and I can’t believe it! While I’m still emotionally recovering, we had a blast celebrating. Friday celebrations started off early – I took the afternoon off and we were able to get the kids early from daycare to spend some time at the playground. Both LM and FW loved the swings.
And then we took LM to get her first ice cream. No photos of her, but FW loved his 🙂
Friday night, B and I actually got in a date night. My parents came into town, so B and I snuck out to grab drinks.
And then we had tickets to see the Indians – they won!
We even made it out for an after dinner drink on East 4th.
Saturday came early (especially after staying out late Friday), but was filled with celebrations — it was LM’s party! She enjoyed her first cake.
B’s mom made the cake and cupcakes – isn’t she amazing?!
LM thought so. She got frosting in her nose 🙂
The weather was PERFECT and FW enjoyed playing with his friends, cousins and of course, me.
After Saturday’s perfect weather, Sunday turned out stormy. We managed to catch a break in the rain and made it to the Zoo with my parents.
LM is still a little too young to enjoy it, but FW had such a blast. His favorite animals are the giraffes and elephants, and he got in some quality time with both.
Monday morning my parents left, and we hit up the local Memorial Day parade. It starts about 2 miles from our house, so B rode with the kids on the bike and I ran over.
Post-parade included some hot dogs at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, followed by a run home.
Aftet naptime, it was time for bbq #2, this time at B’s uncle’s house.
FW had some more fun and food with his cousins and LM did some assisted walking.
And that was the end of our perfect three-day weekend. Cheers to the unofficial start of summer!
Some questions for you:
Warning – what follows may be TMI for you. Before having kids, the though of reading anyone else’s birth story was foreign to me. I didn’t understand why people shared them and what the point of documenting them was. But now, I actually get it! So if that sounds like you, just don’t read any more.
I didn’t really capture FW’s birth story (minus introducing him here), and I somewhat wish I had. His was pretty “normal” as far as I can tell (minus the fact that I started sorta having contractions at the Cavs parade … ) – I had some contractions that started out small in the afternoon, but lasted through the night and got stronger until it was clearly time to go to the hospital, where he was born several hours later after less than an hour of pushing.
LM, on the other hand – well, she was almost born in our car. She came out fast and I want to remember the story, so here it is!
The Weeks Leading Up to the Due Date
LM’s due date was 5/24. About 10 weeks prior, I was having some issues and the dr. told me that she thought I may go early. So, as you may know, I had to refrain from any activity for a few weeks while I had some tests done (and repeated).
The Day Before My Due Date
Even after I was cleared to do normal activity (and I participated in the Cleveland Marathon 5k and 10k events), everyone seemed to think I was going to go early – even my dr. So when the night of 5/23 rolled around, I just assumed that I was going to go another few days. FW had been 2 days late, so I assumed LM had waited this long, she’d probably wait until 5/26. Wanting to make the last few nights we ha alone with FW special, we went out for ice cream and a walk before bed. B had a soccer game that night and had decided he wasn’t going to go – but I assured him it was okay, so he went. After the game, he even went out to watch the Cavs game at a nearby bar.
(video for humor … it has nothing to do with LM’s story)
The Due Date
I woke up around 1:45 a.m. having to go to the bathroom (story my life as a pregnant person), and noticed I was having some strongish (what I thought were) Braxton-Hicks contractions. I decided to get out of bed to see if they went away. They didn’t. I realized they may be the real thing, so I decided to time them for 30 minutes before calling the dr. at 2:30. The dr. told me to keep timing them, and call back probably in an hour or two.
B at this point woke up and heard me on the phone with the dr, so he decided to call his mom (she was going to come over and watch FW). I think he called her around 2:45 a.m. and told her to come over. Knowing that it may be likely another hour or two before we headed to the hospital, I texted her, telling her to take her time and that we likely wouldn’t be heading over anytime soon (keeping what the dr. had said in mind).
Luckily, however, B’s mom didn’t see the text and came over right away. She got to our house around 3:15 a.m. and B gave her the lay of the land – what to feed FW for breakfast, his morning routine, etc. We headed out to the hospital around 3:30 a.m. At this point, the contractions had gotten VERY strong. But, they were still not what I was expecting – they were lasting less than a minute but happening about every other minute or so.
The ride to the hospital is about 25 minutes without traffic. To be honest, I was not sure we would make it. I could barely talk through the pain of the contractions. But, part of me also believed that we’d get to the hospital and they would turn us home because of how irregular they seemed to be. B could tell I was in a lot of pain and drove there FAST. (side note- it’s 45 -55 minutes to get there when it’s rush hour or traffic so thank goodness this was 3:30 AM and not PM!)
We got to the hospital a little before 4 a.m. and I got checked on at 4 a.m. to see if I could be admitted. They told me not to push and told me I was (I think?) 6 cm dilated. I asked for an epidural and they said that they’d admit me and get the process started.
I was in so much pain at this point during the contractions, that I could barely move. I told them that they didn’t need to put me in a hospital gown because I was wearing a sundress and it would be easier 🙂 Nevertheless, they got me in a gown and were about to admit me when my water broke. They checked me again, and I was 8 cm dilated. It was time!
There was no way I was walking, so they wheeled me into a labor/delivery room. By this time, it was 4:08 a.m. and they told me that it looked like I wasn’t getting an epidural – and it was time to push! I was fully dilated. I couldn’t believe it – it was all happening so fast. We had literally just gotten into the hospital less than 10 minutes earlier.
Lucille Marian was born at 4:13 a.m. She was 7 lb. 10 ounces. Shortly thereafter, B nearly collapsed from the adrenaline rush/fall (I’m sure the cup of coffee he made for himself before we left the house and had on an empty stomach didn’t help either) and I had to put an arm out to catch him (my other arm was holding the new baby). After getting some fluids and resting for a few minutes, he was all better. He was so GREAT in helping me through the birth, even without the epidural.
I’m still in disbelief that we have a baby girl! Keeping the gender a surprise again was definitely worth it. I admit that I was a little in shock after she was born and they put her on me. It all happened so so so fast, that I was a little shaken – it felt a little traumatic. Traumatic may not be the right word – after all, we are all healthy and happy and everyone is fine, but it took me some time to start to realize what had just happened and feel okay again.
So far, we are doing well. LM is an eater and is gaining weight and eating well. Now, if only we could get her to sleep at night! But she’s a newborn and I know that will change in the future – though I’m not wishing time away. I know firsthand how fast it goes.
Here’s to our new family of four! We’re still adjusting to it all, including the lack of sleep, but all are so so so smitten with our newest lovely addition. ❤
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but for a good reason – the newest addition to our family came into our lives just over two weeks ago! We now are a family of four.
Lucille Marian was born on May 24, her due date.
I’ll be sharing her birth story soon – it did not go as planned at all, unlike FW (LM was almost a car baby!). In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be either nursing, changing diapers or attempting to stop our toddler from accidentally squishing his sister.
We are all so in love ❤
I Crashed The Web 