Stella is ONE Month!

Hey All,

I don't know how it happened, but Stella is one month old today. Wasn't it just last week that I had her? Sheesh! I thought time went fast with Ruby, but nobody warned me that the second would go even faster. It could be that I have a toddler who doesn't sit still for a second. Speaking of Ruby, she is such a sweet girl. I can't even handle all of her spunk and personality. Unfortunately, Ruby has a double ear infection at the moment. She has had a runny nose and has been coughing for the last few days and just looked sick in her eyes. Poor girl! So, now we are on operation keep Stella healthy.

Back to the star of the show. Stella. Here are 10 facts about one month old Stella!

1. She doesn't really cry except when she is hungry and I can't feed her because she is in her car seat. Even when she is hungry during the day, she usually just starts squirming and then when picking her up she tries to eat my arm. Ha!

2. She is getting better at sleeping through Ruby's shenanigans. She sleeps pretty well at night, but is pretty inconsistent. Two nights ago she woke up every three hours. Last night she slept from 10:00-6:00. Eight hours! Yahoo!

3. She still has hair that sticks up. It won't lay down. It also is greasy. I give her a bath and the next day it is greasy. I think I remember Ruby's kind of being like that in the beginning.

4.  She has started smiling and talking a lot more. I can't guarantee that her smiles aren't from gas though!

5. Ben, Ruby, and Moose (dog) have brown eyes. I have grey eyes. It is fun trying to figure out what color eyes Stella will have. Some days they look lighter and some days they look darker. I feel like Ruby always had dark dark eyes and now she has the most beautiful brown eyes.

6. Stella got to meet her cousin, Leni who was born just three days after her. It was fun just hearing the different sounds and the different looks. Leni has a head full of hair as well!

7. She is starting to grow out of her newborn clothes.

8. She is starting to get some baby acne on her chin. I remember when Ruby looked like a little teenager with the baby acne.

9. She loves baths just like her older sister did and still does. Just like their mama!

10. She is a great/efficient nurser. It is still one of my favorite parts about being a mom, but I don't get to enjoy it as much when Ruby is running around, climbing things, and getting into things she isn't supposed to.

Thank you everyone who has been praying for us. We are so thankful for all of you.

One Month Old! 

Enough with the pictures! 

Starting to smile more! 

Ruby's Adjustment to Big Sisterhood!

Hey Everyone,

Today is my first day completely solo with my girls. I'm blogging. Good sign, right? I just put Ruby down for a nap-no problems. Stella just got done eating and is resting peacefully in her rock-n-play. This blog post is all about how Ruby is adjusting.

Let me tell you the day we brought Stella home we put Ruby down for a nap because she was so tired. Like, as soon as we got home from the hospital she went straight to her crib. When she woke up she was SO sweet and SO lovely to Stella. Looking at her, resting her head on her and sucking her thumb. Then Ruby woke up a little bit more and I don't think was well rested yet. She was needy, whining about everything, demanding our attention. I had never seen Ruby quite like that. I think Ben and I were both thinking, "what have we done?" We couldn't reverse the situation we were in. I said, it will get better. It has to get better. When I had Stella, it was the first time Ruby had been without me in the morning. She woke up to my mom, whom she loves dearly, but I think she was just confused. She didn't really show it at the time with my mom, but I think it caught up to her about the time that we arrived home. I think it was Ruby's way of saying, "what the heck mom and dad!"

Friday went a little better and the weekend went ok as well. Ben's parents came on Sunday and so Ruby got a lot of attention and a lot of outside time. She LOVES being outside.

 Ok, lets back up about a month. Ben found out about 3 or 4 weeks before having Stella that he lost his job for the fall. They needed to make a cut, and unfortunately Ben and his non-tenured status was the one to get cut. We couldn't believe it and the whole situation left us shocked. Ben has had a great time at Buffalo High School and has done quite a bit for the school. We are trying really hard not to be bitter about the situation, but we both kind of want to just say, "Screw you Buffalo." Pray for us to have a forgiving heart will ya? Anyway, Ben since interviewed for a job in Soldotna, Alaska. Yep, you read that right. He also was given that job, but in the end turned it down. I believe we will one day end up back in Alaska, but the timing with two girls under 2 was just not the right time. We need the support of our family right now. Anyway, how does this pertain to Ruby? Ben and I were both stressed to the core about this decision. There were tears almost every night leading up to him having to give his answer. I think all that stress just put out a big tension in the house. I think it added to Ruby's demeanor.

Ok, fast forward to Monday. My mom was coming out for the week during the days to help out. Ruby continued to be sassy and into everything. Before my mom had gotten here, Ruby was eating spaghetti for lunch. I forgot to strap her into her high chair. I was feeding Stella over on the couch and I look over at Ruby and she is standing up in her high chair throwing spaghetti all over the place. Thankful to have our dog, Moose to clean up, but I thought for sure she was going to jump out. I put Stella down and went over to get Ruby. At this point I was pretty crabby with being sleep deprived and having a 15 month old who was testing my patience. Somehow we got through it though. As the week went on though Ruby got a little bit better and a little more like herself pre-Stealla.

I'm happy to report now that Ruby is back to her lovely self. She is goofy as all get out. She is learning how to climb on things, which we only really let happen when Ben is home. She has been back to her normal nap schedule and night schedule. I think she has learned that this baby is here to stay and things may be a little different, but it is ok. Ruby really does love her little sister. She will often just look at her and smile. If I'm holding Stella at Ruby's level, Ruby will come over and put her head down on Stella and give her kisses. It is the sweetest thing and it melts my heart. I couldn't ask for a better outcome at this point. I do know that things will probably be a roller coaster again at some point and I'm ok with that. I know that we will get through it and from it will come an even greater love for my girls.

Please pray for Ben (and I) that Ben would find a new job. He continues to apply to places around the twin cities. He is also thinking about getting his masters. We are in the process of finishing off our basement to put our house on the market. This leaves me so sad because we love our church, our small group,  the friends I have made through MOPS and MOMS club. However, I believe that God has a plan for us and I know that we will be ok. I often joke with Ben saying that we are used to transition. We got married and moved to Alaska right away. We found found our home there. We moved back to Minnesota three years later and found our home here in Maple Lake. Now, we will end up somewhere new and we will find out home there. We will be ok.

Such a sweet and goofy girl.

Melts my heart. I LOVE my girls. 

So thankful to have Grandma here this week. Ruby loves her so much and so do I! 

Ruby loves climbing and she almost made it. Daddy snapped a picture and then helped her down. ha! 

Stella's Arrival

Hey Everyone,

I've been meaning to blog for awhile now, but it turns out that having two girls under 15 months is crazy. Stella is now a week and a half years old. I feel like she has been here for a lot longer. Maybe that is because I was so so pregnant for so so long! There were many people who told me that because Stella was my second that I would probably go early. Keep in mind that I only went two days over my due date with Ruby. Stella was worth the wait I tell you! Here is how her birth went....

On Monday the 25th of April I started having some mild contractions that were very spread out. Like hours apart. Towards the evening they started getting a little more intense though and a little closer together. About 20 minutes apart. My mom has quilting class on Monday nights from 6:00-9:00 PM. She was our go to for watching Ruby while I was in labor/in the hospital. So, I called her and told her she better come out just to be on the safe side. Well, all night (while Ben was peacefully sleeping) I was next to him having contractions at times every 6 minutes apart. They weren't as painful as the contractions I had with Ruby though. I told Ben at about 2 in the morning that he better put in for a sub. This go around, Ben had sub plans made ever single day ready to go in case I went into labor. If you remember with Ruby, we had to go to the high school so he could put out his sub plans while I was in active labor. This time he was prepared! Anyway, I woke up on Monday morning and the contractions went to about every 45 minutes. I was feeling bad for making my mom come out for nothing and for making Ben take off work. Let's rewind real fast, my OB ran in the Boston Marathon so I had to meet with a different Doctor for my 40 week appointment. Well, it turned out that my OB was running in another marathon in California the next week. So, I had an appointment scheduled with him again for my 41 week appointment. It was scheduled at 4:00 PM. Well, I moved my appointment up to 10:30 just in case I had made any progress. So, I showered and enjoyed the morning with my mom, Ben, and Ruby. Ben and I took off to the clinic and brought our bags just in case. The doc checked my cervix and turned out that the night of having contractions paid off. I was dilated to a 3, which is a huge improvement from the "finger tip" I was the week before. He asked me if he wanted him to strip my membranes and then head upstairs to have a baby. He was that confident that it would just send me into labor. I looked at Ben and said heck yes! So, he stripped my membranes and he called upstairs and told them to expect me. It was way different checking into the hospital this time around. I was able to talk and sign the papers that I needed to sign. I think it must be a rule or law that I get escorted by a security guard in a wheel chair. I felt so silly being in a wheel chair when I could have walked. Oh well. So, we got all checked into my labor and delivery room and met our nurse. She was in training. Lovely. ha, she was actually really great. Contractions had now started to come more frequently and a little more intense. I was telling the nurse that I wanted an epidural before it was too late. Basically, my plan was to labor as naturally as long as possible and I didn't want to feel the end. I will spare those details. Anyway, they were great and just kept telling me you tell us when. With Ruby my labor was super fast and so I figured the same would happen with Stella. So, I just figured what the heck, lets just get it and then for sure I will be covered in the end. Well, that didn't exactly happen. It almost slowed things down. At one point Stella's heart beat took a big dip and all of a sudden I had an oxygen mask on and wasn't really told what was going on. Ben looked a little panicked and they had paged the doctor. I still don't exactly know what happened, or why it happened, but it turned out ok. Stella came back around and all was well. I was so worried that I was going to end up having an emergency c-section. Phew! I started feeling contractions again AKA my epidural was definitely waring off. I told the nurses and I don't think they believed me. One of the nurses told me she was going for her lunch and that if I ever felt the need to push to page her. Well, she leaves and I'm not kidding about 1 minute later I felt this great pressure and urge to push. I looked at Ben in this panic because I had never felt this with Ruby. I told him to page the nurse. He asked why and I think I screamed just do it! Sorry Ben! So, she comes rushing in and checks and says ok yep, it's time to have your baby. The head is right there. She paged the doctor and it was go time. I feel like he took forever when in reality it was probably only about 5-10 minutes. The nurse in the meantime told me to do some practice pushes. Inside my head I was thinking absolutely not. I'm not going to practice push and have you deliver the baby. So, I kind of pretended. I think she saw right through me. The doctor got there and at this point I was feeling everything. It was not fun, but I'm thankful to have gone through it. After about 20 minutes of pushing, Stella Louise Harvey graced us with her presence at 5:55 PM on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. She had a head FULL of black hair. She had the cord wrapped around her neck once, but was immediately placed on my chest. Of course there were tears and relief. I loved that the doctor really let us have that moment and didn't cut the cord right away. We spent the next two nights in the hospital and came home on Thursday. In my next blog post I will post all about how Ruby is adjusting. Let's just say there have been high high's and low low's. :) 

Thanks to all who were praying for us! We appreciate all of you!

Getting checked into my labor room. I was feeling great! 

The best feeling is when they put this baby on your chest! 

Proud Daddy!