Finally More Pictures are Downloaded

So we are now at week #5 of being the parents of 2 children. I would have to say that for the most part things are going really well. I am thankfully nearing the end of my 6 weeks of restrictions and will be happy to be able to resume all normal activities next week. I do have to say that I have already started cheating a little these past few days in lifting Grace but nothing major just little lifts here and there.




Norah is doing great. We finally got her on a formula that seems to really help with her gasiness and so she doesn't fuss as much as she used to. She does still have a little bit of a fussy time in the evenings but nothing that is too bad. She is a momma's girl though so I always feel bad when Scott has her and is trying to get her to calm down and she just won't and then she comes to me and within a few minutes i have her sleeping. I do gently remind him that it was the exact opposite with Grace, she was crabby for me but would just drift to sleep in Scott's arms. Norah has given me a few nights of 4+ hours of sleep at a time which have been wonderful. But normally we are up every 3-4 hours for a bottle. I look forward to the weekends when Scott gets up with her and I get 8+ hours of sleep.




We are getting ready for our trip to Arizona next week. I thought traveling with one child was hard but trying to pack for 2 and figure out the logistics of getting to the airport etc. has been tiring. It will all work out though and life will be good.




Nothing else new to report. Here are some new pictures of Norah and Grace!

Grace may be our budding plumber!

My Toddler Clogged the Toilet!

No she didn't throw a watch or a toy in the toilet and try to flush it down, she actually had a BM large enough to clog the toilet. Grace has always had issues with BM's, she is quite often constipated and has a rough time going. (it's never been a secret when she's going) Last night was another of those moments, we knew it was going to be a rough one as she was working quite hard at it. Scott finally convinced her to go and sit on her potty chair! Then about 2 minutes later a lot of hooting and hollering came from the bathroom! She had gone! But I must say that I am not sure how something that massive could have come out of my toddler! IT WAS HUGE! (You know if Grace ever reads this, she is going to hate me! But I guess thats what parents are for, right?)

So Scott finished cleaning up Grace and then dumped the potty chair into the big toilet and all of a sudden I hear him say something like " You have got to be kidding me!" and then he went to the garage and got the plunger. Yes, the BM that Grace had clogged the toilet and Scott had to use the plunger. Thats my girl and I am so proud of her.

Introducing Norah Margaret Vrieze

The Vrieze Family would like to introduce:

Norah Margaret Vrieze

Born January 5, 2009 12:45pm

7lb 90z, 20 inches

(Sorry some of these pictures are sideways I can't get them to rotate)

We also had to add one shot of Grace in her Christmas dress. There was no nursery during the service we went to and I have to say Grace quickly learned to whisper. However, when something really caught her attention everyone around us was able to hear her!

My Job Drives me Nuts!

Alright, so I was supposed to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and then between holidays and vacation days I was going to have off until January 5th. Then January 5th I am scheduled to have this baby!

Well today I get a call from work, I happen to be working from home since we lost our computer access at work yesterday and there were a few things to do online. Then tomorrow we were going to finish cleaning up our project office and life was to be great. Well now it has been decided that all of the paper copies in the file need to be scanned and linked in our data entry system, well I obviously don't have time to do all of that before baby but I will be working next week now to get things organized for whoever the lucky person/people are that get to do the scanning and linking of what hasnt' been linked already.

So much for my vacation/family time before new baby. Thanks work! I hope this baby comes early so I can just be done. My job is driving me nuts with all the last minute changes they are making. SOmeone told me I didn't plan this baby very well, I kindly let them know that I was supposed to be done working no later than Dec. 1st, (6 weeks before this baby was due!).

Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, its off to work I go!

Pictures

This is how we found Grace one of the first mornings after she started sleeping on her big girl bed. We still find her in all sorts of positions but for the most part she stays in her bed.

This was in Sept. at an Apple Orchard in IL, we went to visit some friends and we had to take an outing to the orchard.

Grace is showing just how much of a girl she is! She loves to talk to Mima and Bipa on the phone during snack time! I think we are in trouble when she gets older.

Bonkers is known for head butting, so Grace is just returning the favor.

We are really hoping that this is not a glimpse into what is to come with her new baby sister. We haven't seen her sit on a doll in awhile but who knows what she will do with the baby.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, I will try and do better in 2009 just like I said I would do better in 2008!

Sorry for the Delay!

So I have not been good at keeping up with the blog and that is because of several reasons:
1) it is too darn cold in our basement where the computer is so I don't spend too much time down there.
2) By the time Grace goes to bed I am beat and can't function enough to update.
3) Every night for the past week I have been timing contractions hoping that they continue to come at the constant rate they are for them to only stop coming and leave me still pregnant!

Things are going well in the Vrieze household. If this baby waits until after Tuesday to come I will have made it full term (37 weeks)! So far no issues with my blood pressure or anything like that. I am beginning to show some signs of having some issues but nothing that anyone is really freaking out about. For the past week I have had pretty strong contractions and on Friday I really thought I was in labor with how painful they were all day long but then they went away and come back sporadically. I am ready to be done and am hoping that I don't have to live like this for another 2 weeks before my c-section.

Grace is growing like a weed. She had a follow up assessment with the Physical Therapist last month and it was determined that she was still behind so we had to start going every other week again. However, in that time Grace has made incredible strides and is really catching up. IN fact I think my child just knows how to work the system so she can play with all the fun toys the PT has.

Grace is now 2 years old. ITs hard to believe that she is 2, it seems like just yesterday we were holding a newborn baby! Now she is 2 weeks away from being a big sister. She sleeps in her big girl bed (an air mattress on the floor) like a champ and is even beginning to climb onto the furniture on her own, which will be nice after the c-section.

See my next post for pictures. These pictures will be from the summer until now. Hope you enjoy and please forgive me if I don't get on here again until after the baby is born. I will post pictures ASAP when the baby is born I PROMISE!

How Embarrassing!

So yesterday I took Grace in for a simple check of her SMO braces. (The ones she wears on her feet.) By the way that child screamed and carried on you would of thought I brought her in for amputation without sedation. The dr. had no more than opened the door and she started losing it. She has never done this before so I couldn't figure out what was going on, all this dr. does is touch her feet to take shoes, braces and socks off but Grace can not handle it at all. Whether she is in my lap or not, whether I am the one who is taking the stuff off or not, she just can't handle it. Best part the appt. is no longer than 10 minutes long. As soon as we walk out of the room she is happy as a clam! I felt so bad for the dr. and I kept apologizing for her actions but I also couldn't help laugh because it all seemed to so ridiculous since we put shoes and socks and braces on everyday and there are no issues with it! The only thing I can think of is she doesn't like Dr.'s with bald heads!

I had my 28 week appt. today. All is looking good, I got the lovely privilege of doing the glucose test today, the nurse in the lab gave me the drink and I drank it fast "and she said boy you must really want to get this over with!" I said, "no sense in prolonging the inevitable!" Then one hour later she took my blood and I was off to see the Dr. My blood pressure is still looking good but I am not getting my hopes up yet as problems with my pregnancy with Grace began to happen between 28 and 32 weeks. I will start going every two weeks now until delivery just so they can keep an eye on my blood pressure. I also had the privilege today of getting the flu shot, which I have never had before and was quite painless, and also the Rhogam shot, for those of you not familiar with this my blood is Rh negative so I need to get this shot so my blood doesn't attack baby if she is Rh positive. I felt like a pin cushion but I am done for a little while now with the poking and proding, next comes the Strep B test and then then spinal for the C-section!