The Arrival of My Little Drama Queen {Baby Girl}

Sunday, August 5th at 2:58pm we welcomed our little girl Maci into the world.  I thought my water breaking at the hair salon with our son was an interesting birth story... little did I know this girl was about to one up her brother in a big way.

My due date was Friday, August 3rd so by Saturday morning, one day overdue, I was starting to feel anxious for her to get here.  That morning I began to have more painful contractions but they weren't very regular so Luke, Max and I went and had lunch and did some shopping.  When we got home I needed to rest as the contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable but after laying down and timing them at about 10-12 minutes apart they simply stopped.  So much for hoping that she came Saturday.  To try and keep things moving I got up and made Max and Luke run some errands with me but even though the contractions were still painful they weren't getting any closer together.

The next morning (Sunday) I awoke feeling pretty discouraged.  I was hoping that the day before would actually lead to something but without a contraction in sight we all got ready to head to the park.  I wanted to get out of the house and get my mind off of things.  While at the park around 10:30am I had to sit down a few times due to considerable pain but wasn't about to start timing anything as I didn't want to get my hopes up.  After the park we went over to the grocery store to grab some items for lunch and the contractions were starting to take my breath away.  I thought it was wise to begin timing them and realized that they were coming about 4-5 minutes apart.  Panic started to set-in as I hurried Luke along and out of the store.  On our way home they moved to about 6 minutes apart so I figured all the walking around at the park and grocery store was probably what was making them shorter.  I called Luke's mom to come and get Max and once home at about 12:20pm called into the Hospital Triage to see if I should come in.

The Triage nurse talked to me for a bit and after explaining that the contractions were coming about 4-6 minutes apart she advised me to stay at home for a bit longer until they were more like 3-5 minutes apart.  She also said that considering I talked to her for a few minutes and didn't need to stop for a contraction that more than likely I was in the beginning stages of labor and should wait it out a bit.  I took her advice and tried to eat a small lunch.  That's when things started to get even more intense.

I laid down to try and relax and time my contractions and was so discouraged to see that they were moving to about 8 minutes apart, however, they were so intense that I was screaming in pain.  After an hour of this I didn't know how I was going to make it any longer so I called my mom crying.  She said to  call the Triage nurse back and "fib" saying that they were coming 3-5 minutes apart so I could go in.  I was in so much pain that I took her advice.  At 1:50pm I called the nurse back and she said that I was more than welcome to come in, it didn't mean I was going to be able to stay but they could at least check me out.

Luke and I slowly grabbed our bags and I stumbled down the hall to the car.  I could barely make it 4 steps without peeling over in excruciating pain.  Once in the car I tried to relax but found myself somewhat blacking out.  All I know is I yelled at Luke a few times to quit looking at his phone and DRIVE!  The hospital is about 20 minutes from our house and with about 10 minutes to go I started to feel as though I needed to push.  Luke kept telling me that I needed to relax so when I told him what I was feeling he replied "um, I don't think you are supposed to do that yet!"

When we arrived at the hospital around 2:15pm I told Luke to park out front and go get me a wheelchair as there was no way I was going to be able to walk.  I felt a little foolish about this at first as though I may be overreacting but I seriously could not walk.  Once we got to Triage they kindly asked me for my name and unable to speak due to the pain I waived at Luke to fill them in.  With that they rushed me into a room where I informed them of my feeling the need to push.  The head Triage nurse came in at that point to check me quick before getting my information and realized that I was dilated to 9cm!  Well I guess that epidural is out of the question now.

They quickly called a doctor that was there at the hospital with another one of her patients and ordered all hands on deck. They wheeled me into a delivery room not even taking the time to get my name or any other information.  Soon the room was filled with people grabbing supplies and rushing around.  I didn't even have a chance to realize what was going on.  5 pushes and 10 minutes later there she was!  All 8lbs 11oz of her!  When they told me what she weighed I was amazed and thought, no wonder that hurt so bad!

Luke started texting everyone of her arrival and I later found out that some of the texts were things like "Margaret's a pro at birthing babies"  "birthing babies is easy"  "10 minutes and done".  To which I could only laugh at because to me, that was NOT easy, but I guess birthing a baby within 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital could make it look easy to others! :)

When my mom later heard the full story of what happened she felt guilty about her previous comment from this post where she assured me that "the baby will not fall out."  She almost did in the car!

The happy ending to all of this is our beautiful little girl is super healthy, very happy and as of today a very content and easy baby.  I recovered quickly and even went home from the hospital the very next day.

Max is adjusting well to having his little sister around and likes to give her "knucks" before he leaves for daycare in the morning or goes to bed at night.  He also says "I heard that!" every time she makes a sound.

Luke says after how quick her birth was that I was made to have kids and we should have a couple more... I think I need a few years to warm up to that idea just yet!

Maci Anne

Max meets Maci.  He was a little apprehensive so he clung to me and his monkey.

Kisses for the baby.

The Countdown?

As I sit here 2 days before my due date I start to wonder, unless you have a scheduled C-section or induction can you really have any form of countdown to when the baby will arrive?  For people like me who schedule times to make a daily schedule it's torture wondering when will this all go down?  With Max it wasn't this bad as he came a whole week early and in a really unexpected way so I never made it to the "wondering when" phase.  With him I was checking out after a pedicure when my water broke and by the next morning I was a mom.  I say he came into this world with a bang and he's been an attention seeking crazy little boy ever since!  I pray that this little girl is more calm and content and maybe her not wanting to come out is a good sign of that?

Now that I'm so close I'm also starting to get the multiple daily text messages from friends and family asking THE question of the hour "how are your feeling?"  It doesn't bother me that they care so much that they are thinking of me multiple times a day, it actually makes me feel very loved. :)  The only question I have is how to respond each time?  "Good for now but 20 minutes ago I had a strange pain in my lower abdomen"  "Freaked out to go through labor again"  "Having a contraction but not sure if it's really doing anything"  "Tired" "Hungry" "Sick to my stomach" ... you get the point.  I find myself simply saying "No news to share" because let's be honest, they don't want to know how I'm feeling they simply want to know "are you on your way to the hospital yet or what?!

So for now I'm on God's schedule and have switched from praying for the baby to come NOW to praying for patience as I know that He has an exact time and way that this little one is going to come into our lives and trusting in that is what's getting me through these next few days of the waiting game.

As I write this I've been experiencing some contractions but again am not sure if they really mean anything.  Considering my water breaking last time was the sign to go in I'm not sure I will know when to head to the hospital this time if my water doesn't break.  This has been an actual concern of mine but my mom reassures me not to worry, "the baby will not just fall out!"  This small statement has kept me from worrying about keeping track of these silly contractions until they actually start to hurt a lot.  Hopefully she's right :)

Wish me luck!

Photo taken by my amazingly talented friend Laura with Laurels and Stars Photography

Mother's Day #2

Today was my second Mother's Day and so far the best!  Last year I have to admit that I felt a little disappointed in Mother's Day.  I didn't get to sleep in, no one made me breakfast in bed and I didn't even receive one card.  Instead, my husband informed me that he would have bought me a card but the Hallmark he drove by was closed... but "it's the thought that counts, right?" To this I said "NO IT'S NOT THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS! That's only applicable if you actually GET something and the person doesn't like it.  It does not mean you can go around telling people that you thought about doing something nice for them but didn't!"  This argument still comes up as he has done the same thing since.  After this year I think he's learning. :)

Flash forward to this year's Mother's Day.  Max slept in until 8:00am!  Thank you buddy :)  Luke booked a Mother's Day brunch for just our family at the Country Club and we also got a chance to spend some time with Luke's Grandparents, Mom, Brother and Uncle's at his Grandparents house.  Now as I write this Luke is still there and Max is taking a much needed nap leaving me some wonderful and always needed alone time!  I'm not sure this day could get any better :) 

One thing I loved was as we went out and about today everyone was wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.  It made me feel like I am a part of a secret club or something.  The first time it happened Luke actually responded with a "thanks" and then realized it obviously wasn't directed towards him so he then replied "uh, I mean, never mind why would I be saying thanks."  I guess we both just aren't used to this whole parenting thing yet.  

As always, thank you to MY wonderful mother for always being there for me and for showing me what a loving and attentive mother should be.  I hope I can be the same for my kids whom I am so very blessed to have.

Max's Brunch... French Toast, Pineapple and Strawberries.  Yum!

Caught with a mouth full.

Taking the cart for a spin.

Date Night

Once you have kids things change.  I realized this again after spending a wonderful dinner with my husband a week ago.  Before kids, going out to dinner was just something we did on a regular basis.  Now with a little one at home it becomes an special event!  One that gets written on the calendar and circled with a heart (ok so maybe there wasn't a heart around it but it was put on the calendar!)

As we sat in our cozy two person booth at the Melting Pot (which I had a coupon for because if you read this post you would know that dropping $100+ on one dinner isn't part of my new plan) I looked at my husband and started to think about the 8 1/2 years we have spent together and how our 4 year wedding anniversary is just two months away.  WOW!  8 1/2 years, that's the life of a 4th grader!

Mmmm Fondue

What a journey it has been.  When "they" say you never know where life will take you "they" aren't kidding.  When I first met Luke we were both heading into our senior year of college.  I had dreams of going to Graduate School (Now I realize that was probably only due to the fact that I was majoring in Communication and what in the world do you do with that degree!) and Luke was heading into his final hockey season of his college career with a team ranked #1 in the country.  If someone would have told us that in 9 years we would be married, living in Wisconsin and have a two year old and a new born I'm not sure I would have believed them (mostly due to the "living in Wisconsin" part!)

Our dinner that night was delicious and we had the fondue routine down considering we like to unofficially consider the Melting Pot one of "our" restaurants as whenever I would go visit Luke in a new city that he was playing in we would always look for a Melting Pot to go to for our special date night out.  The only disappointing part for me was the fact that I couldn't enjoy one of their yummy cocktails and instead had to settle for a non-alcoholic raspberry lemonade thingy.  It was good but Luke's wine looked WAY superior!

My drink

The best part of the night was the uninterrupted conversations that we were able to have.  No kid screaming or poking at us, no TV or other people rerouting the conversation.  Just the two of us, like it was in the beginning (plus Luke's phone, I think he suffers from being under stimulated. hehe  He's one to have the TV on all day and night just for the background noise)

Luke texting/googling/emailing.

My goal is to do this at least once a month.  For some that may sound easy but when you both work full time, have to find a babysitter in order to leave the house and have other commitments throughout the week you forget to plan for just the two of you.  I know it's important and I can see why.  I'm thinking next month maybe we should do something other than just dinner.  Any suggestions?

I would like to thank my mother-in-law and her husband for watching Max while we were out.  It sounds like he only cried for 5 minutes when we left which is pretty good these days considering he's been an overly clingy Mommy's boy the past few months.

Crockpot Fail

The other day I was super excited to try out one of my Pinterest creations.  A crock pot freezer meal!  How awesome does that sound.  A few weeks ago I put together my sauce and divided it out into 2 separate freezer bags then added pork chops to each bag.  Wrote the date, what it was and the cooking instructions right on the bag and popped it into the freezer.  So Easy!

Then the night before my dinner I stuck it in the fridge to defrost and that morning thew it into the crock pot.  I was a little hesitant as I typically like to put my crock pot together over my lunch break to make sure I don't cook it too long as most recipes call for Low 6-8 hours and I typically am gone for 9+ every day.  This day though I already had lunch plans so that morning in went the pork chops.

All day I dreamt about the tasty sauce on top of some rice and couldn't wait to have a home cooked meal waiting for me with little to no effort at all.  Then I received the phone call from my husband.  It was 10 minutes before the end of my day and he phoned to tell me that I may need to think of an alternative to dinner unless dinner was supposed to be hockey pucks with brown sludge!
 

Whoops!  I guess the 8 hours was just a little too long.  Instead I treated my family to burritos at a local Mexican restaurant and called it a night.  I thought the crock pot was supposed to be fool proof... could have fooled me!

Margaret and Max's Easter Adventure

Last weekend for Easter Max and I drove 4 hours to visit my family in Minnesota.  I was extremely nervous about driving all that way by myself with him as he's typically not the easiest in the car but the thought of staying here with Luke gone at hockey and my family in Minnesota forced me to go for it!

For weeks after I made the decision to go I prayed, planned and prayed some more :)  In the end my prayers were answered! and due to my obsessive planning all went well... except for a few minor hiccups.

My plan was to leave soon after Max woke up in the morning as he doesn't nap well in the car so I didn't want to risk him being over tired once we got moving.  The morning of our departure Max woke up an hour and 15 minutes earlier than normal and would not go back to sleep! Ugh!  I started to wonder if this was a sign of what was to come and second thoughts filled my head.  I pushed through my doubts and we were on the road almost right on time.  Max's early rising turned out to be a blessing in disguise as no further than 30 minutes into the drive...

After an hour nap and some snacks things were still pleasant in the car.  My parents had offered to meet me at the half way mark so that my mom could jump in my backseat to entertain Max.  This ended up working out perfectly as 5 minutes prior to our connection items began to be thrown and a melt down was imminent... In comes "GaGa" and all is well in the world again!  Max and "GaGa" had a great time playing and singing along to his Kindermusic CD the rest of the way there and I breathed a small sigh of relief.  The first leg of the trip was a success!

In comes the first miss hap of the weekend.  That afternoon my brother and his fiancee were loading up a moving truck as they were spending the weekend moving into their new home.  My dad was off assisting them and so left myself, my mom and Max to entertain ourselves.  What better place to do this than the park near my brother's new home.  Max had a blast and the park was great!  It wasn't until he started limping a little that I began to become concerned.  Then after a few more steps he started to crumble to the ground and physically could not walk any longer.  He didn't cry at all so I wasn't sure what the problem was but I knew that park time was now over.  We spent the evening carrying him around and trying to decide if we should take him in to see the doctor but in the end there was no swelling and he wasn't crying so we decided to see how things were in the morning.  True to his tough little boy form, he was perfectly fine the next day.  Must have simply twisted an ankle.  Of course he didn't want to sleep in his pack n' play that night and being that I wanted to be able to monitor him I allowed him to sleep in my bed.  Ok, the real reason was I'm a sucker for his sad face, however, we both slept great!

Max sleeping in the King Size bed next to the pillow barrier I set up!

The next day we headed off to the Mall of America with my cousin Katy.  Max was mesmerized by all the people and once he saw the Nickelodeon Universe it was all over!  He couldn't keep his eyes off of all the rides and action going on.  Every time he would hear a kid scream he would say "yeah!" and point.  I promised him that next time we come to visit his dad would take him on a little kid ride... I don't do rides.

In comes problem #2.  That night after playing all day at the mall and at my brother's new home Max was a little over tired.  It was more challenging to get him to sleep but he finally passed out again.  Only difference was this time at Midnight he woke up and started to have a full blown temper tantrum for at least 10-15 minutes (it felt like an hour!).  He didn't want his blankie, passie, sippy cup... NOTHING!  He simply screamed and covered his face with his hands.  My parents room was directly next door and my mom said she heard me threaten to move him to his pack n' play if he didn't quit.  Of course I never followed through with that.  In the end I'm not sure what got him to lay back down and go to sleep.  An hour later he tried to pull that crap again and I simply faked that I was sleeping and he calmed himself down and went right back to bed. :)

The next day we joined my brother and his fiancee at their church for an AMAZING Easter service.  Max played in the childcare... (until other parents started to pick-up their kids and then he cried until his face was dripping with tears and snot.)  I loved the contemporary music they sang and I knew every song!  I was so thankful for all of my prayers being answered so far regarding the weekend and also thankful for the ability to spend it with my family.

Max helping my dad load up the cars on Sunday morning.

All ready for church

The drive home ended up being ok as my parents drove with me to the half way point.  I was nervous to leave them as Max had already taken a nap during the first leg of the trip.  Again my prayers were answered.  First he played with his new favorite toy (below) then he fell asleep again! SCORE!  He woke up an hour before we got home but a few snacks (sugar cookies and Pringles- I would have shoved anything his way to keep him happy... don't judge!) and some traffic to watch he was a very content little boy until we got home.

Between the new VTech Learning Turtle electronic toy and this new toy he loved this one the most... go figures!

Casserole Exchange

My sister-in-law came up with a great idea to have a casserole exchange between her, myself and my mother-in-law.  On Friday at work we all came to the table (well actually the car as we were driving to lunch) with a few recipes each to vote on.  My mother-in-law had two recipes that included sauerkraut (I voted those out immediately!) so for her we settled on Taco Pie.  My sister-in-law really wanted to make Barbecue Chicken Mac N' Cheese but my mother-in-law told her she had to offer up more than just one recipe so she listed off a few others and in the end we all settled on... Barbecue Chicken Mac N' Cheese (sounds delicious doesn't it!)  I had originally wanted to make Chicken Pot Pie but just in case printed off a few last minute recipes from Pinterest... my new favorite thing!  In the end they voted on Cheesy Chicken Lasagna.  Found originally on Pinterest.  I have made it before and really liked it and so felt confident making it for others.

Now that the dishes were chosen we had to decide how much we were going to make.  My sister-in-law and myself wanted to use disposable pans so as not to worry about getting them back later.  We settled on using the 9x11disposable pans.  We would each make 1 per person so 3 total in order to keep one for ourselves.  The exchange was set for Monday at work giving us the weekend to purchase groceries and make our meals.

I made my Cheesy Chicken Lasagna Sunday afternoon while Max was napping.  Then I wrapped them up, wrote what they are, the cooking temp and time and when they were made.  I believe my mother-in-law was going to eat all of hers the week of the exchange but since Luke is out of town and it's only me and Max at home I knew I was going to have to freeze some for later when he's around.

This was great because I only had to make 1 recipe but will end up with 3 different meals!  Tonight I'm going to have my mother-in-laws Taco Pie.  I'm thinking this will be good to do again before baby #2 comes.  If anyone else is interested in an exchange let me know... I'm in!

Max's 1st Birthday {Whale Birthday Party}

Saturday was Max's first birthday!  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  When he was first born the only song I sang that would calm him was "Baby Beluga" by Raffi.  Therefore, when I tried to think of a theme for his first birthday party I came up with a whale theme... baby beluga whale.  The colors I chose were blue and orange.  I had so much fun collecting blue and orange things and thinking up food that would go with the whale theme and also be blue and orange.

The party turned out great.  We had about 25+ people there of mostly family.  For food I came up with the idea to do a Mac n' Cheese bar because Max loves Mac n' Cheese.  Also, it's a kiddie food but as there were mostly adults at the party I had more adult toppings like chicken, broccoli, hamburger, tomatoes, scallions, Parmesan and bread crumbs.

The sailboat centerpiece is from my mom's personal collection.  She loves all things nautical.

I made this banner on my computer and then tied it together with orange and blue ribbons.

For the dessert bar I had blue cupcakes, angel fish cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.  I made the pretzels myself, the rest of it I bought from Market Street Diner.  They did an amazing job!

I made the cupcake toppers on my computer as well.

The chocolate covered pretzels were a hit.  I added food coloring to make the white chocolate orange to match the theme. 

Jello with gummy fish.

For table centerpieces I had little pales filled with gold fish crackers topped with a pinwheel. 

Even though Max was the only kid I found this whale pinata and just HAD to buy it.

I figured Max would get bored with opening gifts but he LOVED it.  He was so excited about his gifts.

Grandpa John got him his own loader to help with the construction.  

He loved that everyone sang him happy birthday!

Market Street Diner made him his own smash cake with a whale on it. 

I expected him to dig into it but all he wanted to do was throw it on the floor so I scooped some frosting up with my finger to try and entice him to eat it.  He didn't like the frosting that much and wasn't really interested. 

Instead he just chewed on the spoon.  The smash cake is almost completely untouched and sitting in my fridge.  I guess that plan backfired!

My best friend Morgana got him his "Beep Beep" It's a super cool car that is used instead of a stroller.  He had a blast riding around in it! 

It even has cup holders.  No drinking and driving allowed! :)

Popping a wheelie.

At the end of the party we realized that we never hit the pinata so we gave Max his mini stick (of course) and he tapped at it a few times. 

Then all the adults took turns.  Isn't this a sad picture of the little whale?

Morgana and my mom tried to help Max finish it off but as soon as they began beating the whale he started bawling.  I guess he didn't want to hurt it.

I have to thank my mom, dad and Morgana for all the hard work they put in helping me pull off such a great birthday party for Max.  I know he will never remember it but hopefully he will look back at the pictures and know how much time and love I put into making his first birthday special.

Pink Bridal Shower

Yesterday I hosted a bridal shower for my sister-in-law.  She loves pink and everything girly so I ran with it!  I came up with the idea to do and dip party and was trying to think of a way to combine the dip idea along with it being a bridal shower but I couldn't make it click so I stuck with the dips and left it at that.

There was a great turnout of people and thanks to the Maid of Honor, my sister-in-law's best friend, for putting the games together.  So much fun.

Maid of Honor, Bride, Me (we did not plan the coordinating colors)