Special Thanks to Nana and Papa

Thanks to my mom and dad, we all survived the first two weeks of having two kids. My parents came and stayed with us for two weeks to take care of Grace while we were in the hospital and then take care of all of us when we got home. Grace loved having her grandparents around to play with all the time and Jack and I needed the help, especially since healing from my c-section was a little rougher this time. They even cleaned our basement- a job that no one should have to do. We miss them and are so thankful that they were able to take a vacation from their busy "retirement" to come and help out.

This was Kate's favorite place to be. She and Papa watched many, many football games together.One of the many treasures found in the basement- a paint with water set- I had forgotten about how fun they are and I have no idea where this set came from....(btw- it does appear I save useful things for all you doubters...)

First Bath

Kate had her first bath (don't worry, it was earlier in the week than this post might indicate). I think we all forgot how different an infant bath can be. Fortunately, Kate was pretty good and retained her generally good disposition during the bath.

Dress-up

One of Grace's new passions is playing dress-up. Say hello to Captain Grace.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great Thanksgiving- especially since it was Kate's first. My family was so kind to travel to us since we couldn't travel yet so we could spend the time together- we really appreciated it!

Everyone (besides me) helped make a great meal.
Grace chose an interesting outfit... no outfit is complete without your tutu. A picture of the cousins- only took 15 tries... what did we do before digital cameras? Kate was excited to meet her aunt and uncles

Thanksgiving Day Parade

Every year we turn on the parade on Thanksgiving Day. We usually watch it in passing, never really sitting down and watching the entire three hours. Until this year.... Grace saw the many commericals for the parade that showed all her favorite character balloons. She was so excited all week about watching the parade on Thursday morning. And she was very sweet to Kate and had us move her chair so she could watch with us. Thanks to our DVR we were able to postpone the start a little so we could fast forward through the commericals and interviews, which was a good thing because she was so excited to see each of the balloons and couldn't wait for the next one. At this point, we've actually watched the parade twice. She keeps asking to see it again so I'm sure there will be a third time soon.....

Kate at One Week

Kate's already changing! Here's a rare shot of her with her eyes open- she's been a sleepy girl!

A Visit from Great Grandma

Kate received a special visit from her Great Grandma last weekend-- thanks for coming! Daddy looks a little rough in this picture, doesn't he?

Where's Tommy?

We've all been holding our breath waiting for Grace to ask about Tommy- we all knew she was to into Tommy to just let him go. (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about- Tommy was the name she gave the "brother" that was in my stomach- she was wrong on two counts ;o))
On Thursday, Grace walked into the hospital room and said "Where's Tommy?" to my mom. My mom told her to ask her Daddy ;o)
Jack was then asked and he said to "ask Nana, he had to help Mommy in the shower" and left the room.
Nana took on the challenge and told Grace that the baby liked the name Kate, not Tommy, so that's what we are going to call her.
And somehow... that's the end of Tommy...cross your fingers. If it works, that is the shortest conversation explaining something to Grace ever.

Family Day of Service

On Saturday Grace, Wayne and I all took a brief leave of absence from baby central in order to volunteer our time at Hands on Birmingham's (http://www.handsonbirmingham.org/) Annual Family Day of Service. We volunteered at Glenwood, which is a facility for individuals with autism. Our particular project was to create chalkboards for the homes on Glenwood's campus.

A special thanks to Grace's new special friend, Paget, who "adopted" Grace for the day. She did an excellent job maintaining Grace's attention and even allowing Grace to help volunteer too.

Even Wayne, who is typically not allowed to paint, got in on the action and did a great job!

Coming Home

On Friday, we packed up all our stuff in the hospital preparing to come home. We were a little sad to leave our room where our every need was taken care of but excited to come and start life with the new addition to our family.

Grace came and brought the car seat. She reminded us all about one hundred times that the car seat was for Kate and she needed to sit in it. She was already letting us know she was going to be a good big sister.
Once we were discharged, we all headed to the car. Grace was very excited to have Kate in the seat next to her as we drove home.Kate immediately took to her new setting and settled into the seat that Grace loved when she was her age.

Wednesday- Kate Day 2

Kate had a great second day of life. We had lots of visitors, all of her tests and vitals were great and she got her first professional picture taken. She did pretty well for her picture. The photographer came by and told us she was next so we got her up and dressed and ready to smile. Well, 45 minutes later the photographer came back so she was asleep again. After a lot of work, we got a couple of pictures with her eyes open. It's funny to look at her hands, it's almost the exact same pose as Grace's first picture. Here is the website-
http://www.our365.com/newbornportraits/babydetail.aspx?birthid=bdb4f2cd-1f4c-460b-8383-61fd017021a9&babyid=65bda5cc-fb02-4b02-9225-314f24af5cda

Grace was able to come with Nana and Papa for dinner in the hospital. Our friend Stephanie had brought us some meals earlier in the week so we all dined on her meatloaf in the room. It was great to be able to eat together. If you ask Grace why she came to see us, she would tell you to get her presents. A few visitors had left "big sister" gifts for Grace and she has really taken to this part of being a big sister. She actually rudely asked for them when she got there- "any presents for me?" and has taken over the rocking chair that my work sent me as part of a gift basket for Kate. She does continue to be sweet to Kate so that's all we really can ask for with all the change ;o)

Kate's First Day

On Tuesday, we all got up as usual to begin our big day. We aren't exactly morning people so we had signed up for the 12:30pm delivery slot. My parents were here and we all had breakfast together. I asked Grace what she was going to say when she met the baby and she said she was going to show the baby a rattle and play with it. Good thing we asked- we quickly packed a rattle ;o)
Grace was able to go to her dance class with Nana and Papa and then go to story time at the library while Jack and I did some last minute packing before heading to the hospital.
Everything went great with the prep and we were very excited to see our nurse's shirt (she's in a picture below- it said "Grace is amazing.") so it was a sign that everything was going to go well.
The surgery went well- much quicker than with Grace since Kate was in the correct position ;o) Jack was able to bring Kate in our room where the family (Nana, Papa, Grandma, Pop, Aunt Kristen and Grace) were waiting and tell Grace she had a sister. She was a little overwhelmed at first but as the day went on, got more and more excited. She did ask if we could take Kate home when she saw her. And later asked if Kate could "come home after dinner?"


The rest of the day is kind of a blur for me- lots of pain medicine for me because of the surgery. Kate had her first visitors captured in the photos above- thanks for coming to see her on her first day! We had a few scary moments when Kate got some mucus stuck in her throat and struggled to breath. It was a quick fix with the bulb syringe and happened because she didn't go through the birth canal to get everything squeezed out.
Everything else went great on Kate's first day- just sleeping and eating. Grace was at home asking my parents all evening "what Kate doing now? And then? Where she sleeping?", etc. etc.). She also wanted my mom to "call Mommy and ask her where skittles are so I can go potty" so it wasn't all about Kate ;o)
Welcome Baby Kate! Your first day went wonderful and you had so many people there for you and praying for your safe arrival- we are happy to have you here!

Thursday

Thursday was another good day with Kate at the hospital. She wore the outfit that Grace bought for her several months ago and it looked great on her.Grace came by at lunch to visit everyone and she had a big first- she fed Kate for the first time. Now both of my girls are good eaters and had to be supplemented with some formula to satisfy their tummies. So, after I fed Kate on Thursday, we had to give her a bottle. Grace had been reading in her "big sister" books about babies drinking from bottles so she was very excited when we asked her to help. Here are a few clips of our big helper-

Grace found a bow from one of Kate's gifts and decided she was the present ;o)

Our neighbors the Lees came down to the hospital to meet Kate and Ella was very sweet and sang Kate several songs to welcome her to the world.

It was a nice, relatively quiet day. Kristen and Jeff came by and brought Jack some dinner so everyone was well taken care of. We needed one last day before we went home on Friday to our "new" normal lives....

Welcome Kate Elizabeth Carney!

We are all excited about the newest addition to our family. I hope she knows what she is getting into! Kate has some pretty impressive stats: 8 lbs, 10 oz and 20 in. Mom and baby are both doing well. We would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

Today's the Day

Today's the day our family of three will expand to four. Jack and I have been so blessed this last 2 1/2 years with Grace and can't even imagine what it will be like with two kids.
We both still remember the moment the doctor told us Grace was a girl and every moment since then has been an adventure. She will be a great big sister and we can't wait to introduce her to a sibling and start that chapter in our lives.
So, the closing of a chapter in this blog that has been mostly dedicated to Grace. Next up- the adventures of Grace and her sibling!

Our Family of 3 Date

This weekend, Jack and I wanted to do something really special with Grace since it was her last weekend as an only child. We had the best time!We went to the mall and the first thing we saw was a little electronic playground. Luckily Grace doesn't know you are supposed to put money in the machines (when did they change the price to 75 cents a ride?!) so she had a great time just climbing around.Next, we took her to the food court where we let her pick whatever food she wanted. Of course she wanted french fries but we talked her into some chicken too ;o) She enjoyed watching the Carousel but really didn't have an interest in riding. So- off to the Disney store we went.

We don't get to the mall very often so she had never been to the Disney Store. She was so amazed! She had the best time just looking at everything and playing with the animals and pointing out all her favorite characters. And she actually didn't ask for anything- she just enjoyed looking.

Then we were off to Build A Bear. We had never been so we weren't quite sure what to expect. And really not sure that Grace would like it. She has several stuffed animals but has never really taken a liking to them.

We started out by choosing the bear. They arrange them by price so I was showing her the $10 bears. Sweet Jack who doesn't really pay close attention, instead pointed her to the more expensive colorful bears. So, the pink mid-price bear was chosen and we were off.

Grace got to choose a heart, kiss it, put it on her ear so it could hear, put it on her head so it was smart and put it on her eyes so it could see. Then she pushed the lever with her foot to fill up the stuffing. Once it was almost full, the heart was placed inside. After a snuggle test, we were off to the bathing station.The bathing station was a loud burst of air, which she wasn't too thrilled with but we got the job done.
Next, we were off to dressing the bear. Grace picked out a pink Disney Princess shirt and some "princess shoes" to match. She was insistent the shoes be hot pink.We went to the naming station next where we learned the name of this pink bear- Pumpkin. I have a strong feeling the name came from a leftover pumpkin costume hanging on the wall but the reason isn't important ;o) Pumpkin was placed in her "house" and ready to leave the store. Jack and I asked numerous times to help carry Pumpkin, but Grace was determined to carry her herself and she did.Dessert at Grace's insistence was next. We had a coupon for a cookie but she said "No, I have a cookie later, ice cream now." After we ordered the ice cream and sorbet for Jack, Grace and I found a table for three while Jack went to get a peppermint shake for me (latest craving). Grace put Pumpkin on one of the chairs and climbed up an another. I grabbed the box containing Pumpkin and put it on the table. Grace got very upset and told me "No, that Pumpkin seat- not on table!" I asked where I should sit and I was told "on the floor." I told her I would not and she said "then you stand." Apparently Pumpkin had already earned quite a place in her heart...Jack got us another chair.Pumpkin is Grace's new best friend. She sleeps with her (and the dollys), eats with her, rides in the car with her and since all the baby stuff is out, treats her like a baby and constantly pushes her in the swing and puts her in the play mat. It's too funny- especially since she has never taken to anything like this.We had such a great night and we'll always have Pumpkin to help us remember!

Fashion Police Strikes Again

I'll be the first to admit that housework is not something I'm good at. And when I'm nine months pregnant, I'm definitely not. Poor Jack has been picking up the slack and doing pretty well. One of his many tasks these past months is the laundry. Apparently matching socks is not something he puts a priority on and it was Grace that pointed this out....
We were all sitting on the floor and Jack's socks were showing.
"Daddy! Your socks not match! They not match!"
and just in case we didn't understand....she got louder and more horrified and said-
"Daddy! That sock not the same as that one!"
We are so proud of our little observer...

Brown Day

Just keeping with our color day picture tradition....

Our Movie Date

I tried to spend as much time as possible with Grace this week since things will quickly be changing. One of the moms from our MOMS group was hosting a movie play date so we decided to give it a try. Grace had been to one movie with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sarah but it has been several months. The movie was Madagascar 2 and we had a great time! She was most excited about the popcorn, of course. The only problem was she was a talker. It was all good- she was really just trying to understand what was going on. The few shows she watches are geared for her age and they "talk to her." This movie, as all of them are, was a story. As I told Jack- she didn't share her popcorn, she talked the whole time but she wanted to hold my hand ;o) She was a great date!

Spending Money is Great!

Grace, as usual, received some money from her Great-Grandma. We had a craft fair at church and Grace was excited to take her purse and some money. We let her take a five dollar bill which she referred to as "one money." We tried to get her to see the "5" and explain it was 5 dollars but she was just excited to have the money.
At the sale, there was a booth that was selling character bracelets and Grace picked out a pink Dora bracelet for $2. She proudly took out her $5 and handed it to the lady. Imagine her pure amazement when she got the bracelet and 3 one dollar bills back! She made money! She gave her one and got three with a bracelet! If only it worked like that...

Nails

My old college roommates Jessica, Stephanie and Erika planned a great day of relaxing for me last weekend. We had a great time getting manicures and pedicures done and a good lunch. We were too busy having fun so we didn't take any pictures but I won't be able to forget it!

When I got home, Grace saw my nails and begged and begged for me to paint her nails too. She literally asked every waking hour for 24 hours straight. We finally had some time when I could paint them and we didn't have anything going on so they would have time to dry. She decided on pink (surprise, surprise) and was pretty good at holding still. After two Dora episodes, they were dry!

Grandma and Pop's House

Grace spent a few days at Grandma and Pops house while Jack and I attended a day long conference and got some things done around the house. We also had a chance to have a "date." As you can see- Grace had a great time- and picked up a new hair style!