Tea Party wih Friends

One of Sally's Christmas presents last year was a winter tea set.  She has spent a lot of time up in her room serving tea to her friends!  Mommy loves the occasional independent play!

Patiently Waiting

It's much easier to wait for the arrival of baby #2 since we are constantly busy with his or her sister.  Although, I feel like I always have to have everything in it's place at home, just in case we were to go into labor.

I've been busy checking things off of my to-do list and I think we're pretty much good to go.  I am happy to say that I have all of my Christmas shopping done and all of the presents are wrapped.  All that's left is to add the boy or girl name to a few of the presents.

It would be nice to for sure make it through this weekend as we have some fun family activities planned and it would be nice to have one last weekend of only having one child. 

Here's a fun picture idea I found on Pinterest {if you don't have an account, I'd highly recommend checking it out!}

Lots of lovin'

Lastly, I will keep the Baby Pool open through Sunday evening {over on the sidebar}.  After that, all guesses will be locked in.  The gift card total is up to $34, the more guesses {only one guess/person} the higher the worth!  Good Luck!

Basilica

Reid had a busy weekend of work, so we ended up going to Mass Sunday night.  Each time we pass the Basilica in the car we've said how fun it would be to take Sally there for Mass.

If you know how much Sally loves Church and Jesus and Mary then you'll understand when I say: taking Sally to the Basilica was basically like bringing her to Disney World.

She was in love! Throughout Mass she'd look up at the ceiling and all around at the statues and whisper "Look at the beautiful Church Mommy, wow!" She was in prime form throughout the Mass as well.  She held her song sheet out in front and sang nice and loud for all those near us, and not so near, to hear.  During the readings she would listen carefully and echo almost every verse that was read.  She gave Peace to those around her for at least five minutes.  When Mass was over we brought her to the special Mary statue, and I'm pretty sure she would have stayed the night if we would have let her.

Checking out Mary

Love how Sally knelt down because Daddy did

Next up, Rome...I wish!

Much To Be Thankful For

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday.  We missed sharing it with the other half of our Craigmile Crew {Reid's brother and family}, but we made the most of what we had! We added a bonus person to our table as my brother was able to join us!

Thankful for her Daddy! He's been a busy guy as of late...busiest time of the year for Target.com

Helping with the stuffing

Getting the turkey all buttered up!

It's not Thanksgiving without the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Carving Master

Fabulous Meal Preparers

The Feast! Fun to get out the special crystal and china!

Blessed

Thankful for this guy...oh so much!

Almost looks fake, doesn't it?!

As Reid and I were drifting off to sleep last night, Reid commented, "Okay, I'm ready. Next up is baby!" Not sure if it was this comment or just the very deep sleep I was in due to a food coma.  Apparently I was talking in my sleep last night.  I woke up frantically wondering "Where is he? Where did you put him?"  I'm assuming I was talking about the baby, guess deep down I'm guessing it to be a boy.  We shall see, 22 days give or take, but who's counting?! 

Let the Christmas Music and Christmas Decorating finally begin!  At this house, we aren't allowed to start that until after Thanksgiving! :)

**Thank you Nana and Grandpa for making Thanksgiving 2011 extra special.  We love you!

Happy Turkey Day!

We're thankful for you and you and you and yep, you too!

Helping in the Kitchen

Sally helped to make pancakes for breakfast Sunday morning:

Then she helped me make 6 dozen Santa Surprise cookies...Mama's working ahead so that she isn't behind when baby comes

She also helped herself to a snack after dressing up in her boots.  Apparently Mommy was downstairs for too long, organizing something...

Last up is a quick video of how Sally's imagination is continuing to grow...the pieces of her string cheese are having a tea party and going to the park to go on the swings and down the slide. Love this girl!

Hot Chocolate

To compliment the first snowfall, we had to have our first sips of Hot Chocolate!

She picked her own cup

She's getting so big!

"All by myself"

"So goooooooooood!"

Cheers with Mommy

Daddy's girls

First Snowfall

Sally's in love...

Thank you Nana & Grandpa on the great find for her winter coat and snow pants, they work great!

Now that the snow has come, Sally asks more often if it's time for the baby to come.  She knew that the snow had to come first and then baby would be shortly afterward...

**A special Happy Birthday wish to my dear Godson, William.  Can't believe you're already 5 today, buddy.  Seems like just yesterday I was racing to the hospital to meet you!  Love you so much!! xoxo

See You Later

We don't say Good Bye at this house.  We say 'See you later.' I think I saw it in a movie once, good-bye is forever, see you later means you will see the person again.

We said see you later to our good friend Henry this week.  He started coming to our house in April 2010

His first day here.  Sally is days away from turning 1 and Henry was a few days from turning 3 months old.  Yep, 9 months apart...I now understand why that's physically impossible :)

We had shared some great memories with Henry and we will miss his smiling face.  Sally will miss her partner in crime, and I will miss how great they played with each other without needing my guidance.  So, even though it's the end of an "era" we know it isn't good-bye, just a see you later!

Crazy how much changes in a year and a half!

We can't wait to play again soon, Mr. Henry! 

xo,
Jackie & Sally ♥

Sick Day

Sally was up with the flu last night at 3:30am...why is it that it always has to hit in the middle of the night as opposed to the middle of the day?

Hopefully it's a one hit wonder and stays far and clear from this preggo mama and busy working husband!

Can't wait to have her get back to her good ol' self {photos from a few days ago}

Playing with Friends

Peek-A-Boo with Isabelle

Tot Time at the Rec Center...a BIG hit!

Happy Hump Day!

I ♥ Target

Sorry for the later post today, I was a bit carried away with online Christmas shopping.  I've decided that's my form of "nesting."

Have you heard that Target.com launched free shipping when you use your Target REDcard? NO minimum purchase or certain items only.  Pretty sure that makes up for the kinks they still need to iron out on their new website.  Can I just say how excited I am to have diapers delivered to my doorstep in the middle of winter, especially with a new baby coming? 

Pretty proud of my finds and the deals they have going on right now.  I saved:
$22.95 for promotional discounts
$12.91 because my husband works for Target
$5.81 for using my REDcard
$37.03!!!in free shipping

TOTALING: a whopping $78.69

Thank you Target!

xo,
The Craigmile Crew

**A year ago yesterday we were hit with 8 inches of snow.  Happy to see the sun still shining today with a leaf-free lawn thanks to my hard working husband! A few pictures from our last tailgating experience for the 2011 Gopher Season {AMEN! ;-)}

Next year the baby in that "bump" will be almost a year old!!

**Now, go get yourself a REDcard, if for some crazy reason you don't already have one! Free Shipping, save 5% on every purchase and proceeds go to your school of choice! And no, my husband doesn't get any kind of compensation for his wife promoting his company.  We just love us some Target at this house!

Sally's Birth Story

2 1/2 years later...

Friday, May 8, 4:30am I rolled over to make the long jaunt from our half story to the bathroom.  To my surprise I had lost my mucus plug {sorry to those of you who don’t like goriness}. I went back upstairs to go back to bed, yeah right.  Lying there I thought, hmmm, could labor really be starting 8 days before I’m due?  Then I noticed that my lower back was hurting every so often and there was more of a bite to it than my typical dull aching back.  I decided to wake Reid up.

We hummed and hawed over whether or not to call the doctor.  Of course Reid was pushing me to call because everything you read says anytime there is blood {ahem, mucus plug}, you should call.  I was hesitant because if I was indeed in labor, I didn’t want to go to the hospital right away.  I wanted to labor at home as long as possible.  I decided to call the next best thing to the doctor, my mom :) She was very excited and said I probably was in labor, but it could be a while, try taking a warm bath and see if the contractions go away.

By now it was nearing 6am.  We needed to decide if we were going to go to work that day.  It was suppose to be my last day with my students, so I was doing everything I could to try and convince Reid to drive me to work.  His response was, “Jackie, if you know you can’t drive yourself to work, you should not be going.” Valid point, but it was my last day with my students.  You teachers out there know that it is so much more worth it to go to work sick than to call a sub.

6:30am, I caved and called the doctor to see if what I was experiencing really was labor.  They confirmed that yes, I was indeed in labor, but that I didn’t need to come to the hospital until I couldn’t talk through my contractions.  Great news to me!

6:45am I instructed Reid to make me two pieces of peanut butter toast.  I had remembered from our labor class that you should eat something with protein to help give you the energy to make it through the long process of labor, and to eat it right away, as your appetite will soon be gone.

7-10:30am I took my time packing up my hospital bag and getting everything in order. Pausing every now and then for a contraction.  I took a shower and got all the way ready…didn’t make any sense to Reid, but to me, I knew we would have a baby within the next 12ish hours and there would be pictures taken, why not take this opportunity to freshen up.

10:30am the contractions were getting much stronger, they continued to be in my back.  I would have Reid push as hard as he could as counter pressure.  I can still remember the spot on the ceiling in our living room that I starred at to get through some contractions.

11:15am I’m on all four in our hallway breathing through a contraction.  I look up after it is over and Reid says, okay Jackie, enough is enough, let’s go!

11:30am we pull into the hospital parking lot.  Reid is bummed because I make him park in the ramp and he doesn’t get his movie scene of racing in through the emergency doors.  He asks if I had any contractions on the way over, a 7 minute ride.  “Yeah, I had 2.”  “TWO?! You’ve got be kidding me, I’m glad we’re finally here.”

**Side note: Reid is forever grateful of my sister’s advice to him that he should not talk to me or ask questions while I am in labor.  I think her words went something like “If she needs something, she’ll ask for it.  Don’t question it, just do it!”

So, when Reid offers to run ahead to push the elevator button, but instead I instruct him that we will be taking the stairs to the third floor, he totally rolls his eyes, but goes with it.  Don’t mess with a stubborn laboring lady! I knew walking around is the best way to progress labor, plus I didn’t want to be stuck in an elevator with complete strangers while having a contraction.  I much preferred taking the stairs and taking my time with no “eyes on me.”

11:45am The nurses see me coming and one asks someone to grab a wheelchair for me.  Reid quickly interjects and says, “Hold the wheelchair, she won’t take it, don’t ask.” What a great husband, he knows his wife well, even at the risk of the nurses accusing him of being an insensitive jerk. J  They walk me to the admitting room where they check to make sure I’m far enough into labor that I can stay there.  I’m relieved to hear that I am already dilated to a 7.

Noon: The rest is a bit of a blur, long story short.  I had back labor the entire time.  My labor nurse was great in that she understood to let me be as I concentrated through my contractions, but she was terrible in the fact that she had never heard of back labor before and didn’t know any ways to help make me more comfortable—well, as comfortable as you can being in the middle of labor.  My water broke on its own around 12:30.  There was 45 minutes of excruciating pain where I had the urge to push, but they wouldn’t let me because my cervix hadn’t thinned all the way.

Finally at 2pm I was able to start pushing.  3 ½ hours later at 5:21pm little miss Sally Ann slipped into this world, weighing 8 pounds 9 ounces, 22 inches long, with a head circumference of 14 ½ inches {Mama felt every inch, OUCH!}.  It took Reid a minute to announce the gender as the umbilical cord is there, plus the little lady had her legs crossed.  When he finally said IT’S A GIRL! I was so excited that I had to ask him twice to confirm.  He said “Stop asking that, they’re going to think we don’t want her.” 

5:21pm-current day we have been blessed with the presence of this amazing little girl.  She grabbed hold of our hearts the first time our eyes met and she hasn’t let go ever since. We thank God every day for placing her in our life and we can’t wait to see what the future holds! We love you Sally Ann, oh so very much!

It's a GIRL!!

So in love!

worth it!!

She's got him wrapped!

Not exactly "newborn" looking :)

Proud Daddy

Here's Sally's 30 month video, compliments of Daddy: