Comparisons

From the second Josh and I saw Eden we couldn't get over how much she looked like Macy. I literally had a flashback to the day Macy was born. I decided to look back on some pictures of Macy's first week and see if I could compare them. I'm sure they will eventually start to differ and develop their own looks, but right now I'm having a hard time finding differences in their newborn pictures.

Macy - 6 lbs 4 oz. 19 in.
Eden - 6 lbs 5 oz. 19.75 in.

Macy

Eden

Macy

Eden

Macy

Eden

Macy

Eden

Eden Joy's Arrival

Our newest addition arrived on Monday, June 20th and we are enjoying life as a family of four.

Sunday night around 11:00 I started having some contractions. At 1:00 in the morning they become stronger and about 7 minutes apart. This went on throughout the night and I even got up and got dressed at 3:30 because they became less than 5 minutes apart. Well, right after I got dressed they slowed down and became more irregular (of course!) So we waited until morning and finally decided to go to the hospital around 8:00. The contractions had picked up again and I just didn't want to wait until it was too late! We got checked in and just started waiting!

And sweet Eden arrived at 3:57 that afternoon!

Meeting her little sister for the first time. She was so sweet with her (and possessive!)

Watching Eden take her bath

I had the sweetest nurse. She included Macy by letting her rub some lotion on Eden's tummy. Needless to say, she loved this :-)

Big sister, little sister shirts

"Smile Eden" says Macy :-)

All dressed and ready to go home

Macy rocking her Piglets while we waited

Back home, we finally started seeing those eyes!

First pair of matching outfits

We are so thankful for another healthy baby girl!

Father's Day 2011

I had hoped to get my Father's Day post done before Eden got here but I didn't make it!

Josh is the most amazing father and my girls are so blessed to have him. He is so involved and extremely helpful in meeting their needs; such a great partner! I love that he loves spending time with them and misses them when he's away.

Sunday morning, he opened his gifts from me and Macy...

Macy colored Daddy a picture with her handprints. Can't believe how much bigger her prints were this year than last!!

Showing Daddy her picture

Eden's Nursery and Macy-isms

I think Macy's nursery was set up just a few weeks after finding out we were having a girl (probably around 25 weeks!) Well, I just now completed my to-do list for sweet Eden! Thus goes the life of the 2nd child, I guess:-) At least it's finished!

Macy was starting to get attached to the rocking chair in her room; climbing in and out and putting baby dolls or stuffed animals in it. When we moved it to Eden's room we decided to get Macy a new little chair for her room.

Opening the box with Daddy

Trying it out for the first time

Reading in her room. We love the new chair!

Macy has been cracking me up lately with all her little Macy-isms. I've decided to list as many as I can so I don't forget this fun and VERBAL age!

• Macy is very adamant when she wants Mommy and Daddy's attention. "Mommy....Mommy...MOMMY!" And if Mommy still has not answered, she begins saying "Amy....AAAAAMMMEEEEYYY" I'll say, "Macy, who's Amy?" And she says "Mommy." Josh taught her my name a while ago and it stuck!

• She says all sorts of phrases now. Any time you ask her where something is she immediately says "I don't know" then begins looking for it. When she finds it she says "There it is!" One thing we do when we're walking to the parking lot is look for "Macy's car". As soon as she sees it she says "There it is!" She said her first real sentence a few weeks ago and it was clear as day: "Daddy, I want to read a book!" Yesterday when we were coloring together she said "Mommy color a princess. Macy color Pooh." She was coloring in her Winnie the Pooh book and I was using a Princess coloring book. I'm not even sure when she learned the word Princess!

• When we are riding in the car together I am her personal MP3 player and she requests what songs she wants me to sing...

"Mommy....
-Ta-tales (veggietales): Broccoli, celery....
-Na-Na (Waves of Mercy): Nanananana
Bika Bika Bika (Every Breath I Take)
-Psalty: I'm a little praiser, I'm a Hallelujah raiser...
-Cat (Cat in the Hat): Here we go go go go on an adventure...
-Jesus Loves Me

• She also likes to list her colors and animal sounds while we are in the car together. It's almost like she enjoys being "quizzed" on them:-)

• She is so orderly in how she plays with her toys! She loves to line her toys and stuffed animals up. The other day I watched her line up her animals on the video monitor...
  

She was very strategic about it. She originally had Goofy between Pooh and Piglet and she moved him to the end because she knows that Pooh is supposed to go with Piglet. Then she made sure little Piglet was next to big Piglet. Olivia was a little more challenging and she stopped to think for a minute with her until finally deciding to put her next to the other "pigs".

She truly is a sponge right now and Josh and I find ourselves looking at each other all the time going "When did she learn that!?!"

She is getting very excited about Eden and I know she's going to be a great big sister. Only about 11 days (or sooner!)

Not Your Typical Hobby Lobby Trip

I've got to blog about this even though it wasn't my finest "Mommy moment"!

Yesterday morning, Macy and I made our weekly Hobby Lobby trip:-) We finished up and carried our bag out to the car. Since it has been so hot lately, I've been cranking the car before I put her in. We've also been working on letting her climb into her seat on her own as I know this will be helpful when Eden comes. Her seat is on the passenger side so I put her in on the driver side and asked her to climb across and get in her seat. I put the bags in, closed the door, and walked around to strap her in. However, when I got to her door it was locked. I proceeded to check all other doors only to discover that they were all locked! I have no idea how this happened! I do this all the time and the car never locks on its own. Well, this is the most helpless feeling! My phone is already in the car, so I immediately started looking for someone to flag down in the parking lot. I didn't want to go back in the store and leave her. Well, the Lord totally took care of me and wouldn't you know there was a sweet lady I know from church walking to her car at the exact moment! She began using her cell phone to find a lock smith. In the meantime, another young couple with a little girl walk up to me and ask "Did you lock your kid in the car?? We just did the same thing a few months ago!" (Made me feel a little better!) Well they were also very helpful because they suggested calling the fire department like they did because they would be there much faster. So, we dialed 911 instead and waited. A few minutes later we heard the sirens and a fire truck pulled up behind my car. It wasn't a life or death situation as the car was running, but I did have all sorts of fun stuff in the console that Macy was finding (nail clippers, scissors (I feared for her hair!), Listerine, coins, etc.) Let's just say she was having a big time! They had the door open within a minute and I got her out. Wouldn't you know my child would cry when I got her OUT of the car! She didn't have a clue what was going on but was enjoying the freedom she had in the car:-)

So, needless to say, I have been super careful since then and always make sure I leave my door open! Funny story, but isn't it also a testament to God's watch-care over us!?! I am so thankful he provided a familiar face to stay with me throughout the whole ordeal.

I looked in her baby book for "1st time Mommy locks me in car" but didn't see that one :-)

Projects

The countdown is definitely on and Eden is due in less than 4 weeks! I've been trying to check things off my to-do list and have finished most of my "projects"...

My sister-in-law received a really neat car seat cover when she had my nephew last fall. I thought the concept of it was brilliant - it buttons to the car seat handle so your blanket won't fall off in the wind and you can still get your hand around the handle. I found some online but they were pretty expensive, so I attempted to make one...

It's definitely not perfect but I think it will do the job!

I've been very excited about having two girls and I envision lots of matching outfits in their future:-) I've made a few pillowcase dresses to get them started...

I modge-podged her letters for her room and need to get them hung...

Made a few extra burp cloths with some scrap fabric...

Attempted a bow holder (took the picture from a distance because it's a little rough around the edges!)...

Her bumper pad straps were not long enough to tie around the corners of her bed, so our solution was to sew some black ribbon to the green straps. It should work until she gets old enough to rip the ribbons off!

Made a few basket liners...

And I decided I wanted to make their "Going Home" outfits (matching, of course) for the hospital. My mother-in-law monogrammed their names for me and I can't wait to see both girls in them!

I've been around a lot of newborns lately and I'm afraid Eden's dress is going to swallow her! You just forget how absolutely tiny they are! Hopefully we can make it work :-)

We have also been so blessed by baby showers for our sweet girl. My Sunday School girls are without a doubt the most loving, GENEROUS group of girls I've ever met! I am so thankful to experience motherhood with them. The Lord has truly blessed us with an amazing group of people to share life with. Here's a few pics from my shower...

I have also been blessed immensely by my MOPS table this past year! I love these ladies!! They were so sweet to shower Eden and I with diapers, wipes, outfits, burp cloths, blanket, and more (most of which was hand-made!)

I still don't feel like I can say I'm ready for her to come tonight, but I think we are getting there!