Photo Dump

Here are some pictures from the past couple weeks. We haven't done just a whole lot around here, so there's not many stories to tell but I did want to share the pictures!

Twinkies for Charlotte's baby shower.

Ready for AWANA.

 

Just hanging out, watching TV.

I live with a bunch of monkeys! Drew, Livy, and Charlotte can all curl their toes up like this! ...maybe I'm the weird one?

New stroller for these girls! I can't wait for the weather to warm up!

Name that baby! 

 Bath time! She was too excited... can't ya tell??

Big sister sure does love little sister!

The many faces of Miss Charlotte!

Now this just melts my heart. Nothing like some good morning muggles.

We had thousands of birds in our yard yesterday... it was the strangest thing!

 

 

And who can forget the make-up queen? I think she's getting better at it. What do you think? No? Oh...

No More Icees

 

This past weekend was the first time I realized how much more difficult it is having two kids rather than just one. We had our first "real" outing to Drew's softball tournament in Jacksonville. Sure, we've been to Wal-Mart, the dance studio, and out to eat once, but this was the first time we were gone all weekend.

I spent all day Saturday counting 1,2 - 1,2 - 1,2. #2 was a lot easier to keep up with since she was in my arms the whole time. #1 was a little harder to keep an eye on. I had told Livy that she could play with the other kids, but she had to stay where I could see her, and she actually did a good job but it didn't stop me from constantly worrying about where she was.

The day was going fine at the softball field. I had to go out to the truck whenever Charlotte needed a new diaper or she got hungry, but other than that we just hung out by the field. Abby had little Levi that morning, so I was dying to go get my hands on him! After Drew's 2:00 game, we had a little break, so we left to go see Brad, Abby, and Levi at the hospital in Little Rock.

We didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked to because we had to get back for more softball games. But we did get a picture of Charlotte and Levi together before we left!

We raced back to the field, dropped Drew off, and the girls and I went back into Little Rock to do a little shopping. I hardly ever go shopping for myself. Why would I when I can buy tiny little girl clothes?! But the time had come... I barely had anything to wear in my closet, and I also had a Target gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket! We got to Target around 4:30pm, and Livy and I were thirsty so I thought it would be fun to get an Icee. I bought a large red cherry Icee for us to share, and then we went looking for me some new clothes! It hadn't been 10 minutes when I heard Livy say,
"Uh-oh Mama, I didn't mean to!"

I looked down and she had turned the entire thing upside down in the buggy. Red cherry Icee was all over my phone, the diaper bag, the carpet, a little got on Charlotte's blanket, but thank goodness none actually got on Charlotte. I was furious! I just wanted to do a little shopping, but I can't even run in Target without having to clean up a mess! We made our way back up to the front of the store, leaving a red trail behind us, took the girls out of the buggy, got the whole mess cleaned up, and then went to go get a new buggy. As soon as I got both girls back in, Charlotte woke up and started crying. I knew there was no way I'd be able to calm her down because it was time for her to eat, so we paid for my one shirt I had picked out, and we left.

When I got out to the parking lot, Drew called and said the team was going to eat at Chili's. And since I was right beside the restaurant, he asked if I could go in and put our name down to get some tables. Sure, why not. So I drove across the parking lot, got the girls out of their car seats, and went in Chili's.

"Ma'am, you're gonna think I'm crazy since there's a ton of people already waiting outside, but there's a softball team of about 20 that's wanting to come eat. How long of a wait do you think that would be?"
"About 45 minutes to an hour..."
"Ok, let me see if that will work."

I went outside to call Drew, and he said that would be fine. So the girls and I went back inside.
"That will be fine. Just put it under Baker."

She gave me a buzzer and I was headed back to the truck to feed my crying hungry baby when Drew called again. He said the team was going to the Chili's in Jacksonville, not Little Rock, so I needed to take their names off the list. Seriously?! So we went back inside. Again.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, I won't bother you anymore, but they decided not to come, so just take our names off."

I fed Charlotte quickly inside the truck, then we drove back to Jacksonville to eat with everyone else. We ordered our drinks, and after our waiter had brought them to us, I heard Livy say,
"Uh-oh Mama, I didn't mean to!"
"You didn't mean to what?"
"Drop my tea. I'm sorry!"

I just looked at Drew and said,
"You get it. I cannot handle it right now!"

Ha! I had reached my breaking point! I knew it would happen. Things had been going so smoothly since Charlotte was born, I knew we were overdue for some sort of meltdown. And this was it. Thankfully, it was nothing that a little skillet queso and online shopping couldn't fix. Online... I've concluded that's the only way to shop these days!

Amidst all the drama and drink spilling of the day, Livy did still manage to make me laugh. On the way to meet Drew for supper she said,
"It's hard being a big girl."

"I know it, baby. But I'm so proud of you when you act like one."
Then I started wondering where she was going with this, so I asked.
"Why is it hard being a big girl?"

"Mom, there's just so much macaroni."

Well, there ya have it.

Sometimes it's hard being an adult. And I wish it was because of the macaroni!

Santa Daddy?

Last week, one of Drew's friends called him and asked if he wanted to go to the Mavericks/Heat game in Dallas. The plan was for them to leave around 1:00pm on Tuesday afternoon, go to the game, and then drive back that night. He felt guilty for leaving me at home with the girls for that long, but I told him to go and have a good time. After all, he works hard. He deserves it, and free NBA tickets don't come around that often!

Drew had told Livy that he wouldn't get to see her that night because he would be home super late. But when night time rolled around, she had forgotten and I had to remind her where he was. 


"But, Mom, if Daddy doesn't come home soon we'll hafta go to bed without him."

"Yea, we'll go to bed and then he'll come home while we're sleeping."

"Wait... Are we talking about Dad or Santa Claus????"

That's a legit question. I can see how that would be confusing!

5 minutes!

 
On Valentine's day, Drew and I wanted to go out, but we were contemplating whether or not to take the girls. On one hand, we'd get to spend the evening as a family, and on the other, Drew and I would get to have some alone time... maybe even get crazy and catch a movie?! I kept asking Drew's opinion on what he wanted to do and he said, "It doesn't matter. It's a win win for me!" How sweet.

We decided to take the girls with us. I wasn't quite ready to be away from Charlotte, so we had a nice little family date for Valentine's day. I wanted to do just a little shopping before we ate dinner. The next day was going to be Charlotte's first time at church, and it was also the day of her baby shower so I wanted to get the girls a new outfit. Livy picked out a super cute hot pink dress at Target and I was able to find a matching dress for Charlotte.

Then we went to Olive Garden. We knew it would probably be a long wait, and it was, but we hadn't had it in a very long time and it sounded so good! We had to wait about 45 minutes, and thankfully, the girls were excellent. Charlotte slept the whole time and Livy was a trooper.

After we ate, we were waiting for our check, and Livy kept saying,

"I'm ready to go!"
"We will in just a little bit. We have to wait on our ticket so we can pay."
"But my pets (Palace Pets) are calling for me!"
"We'll go in just a few minutes."

Then she turns in her seat, cups her hands over her mouth and hollers,
"FIVE MINUTES!!!!"

Drew and I just stared at each other trying not to laugh. Drew asked,
"What are you doing??"
"I'm just telling my pets 5 more minutes."

Hilarious. And a little embarrassing.

Then she does it again before we can stop her.
"FIVE MINUTES!!!!"
"Livy, baby, don't holler at your pets. We'll go see them in the truck as soon as we pay."
"But Mom, if they don't hurry, 5 minutes is gonna turn into 7!"

Smarty pants!

 

 

 

Palace Pets

 Last week Livy started noticing the Disney Jr. commercial for the Princess Palace Pets. Every time it came on, she'd stop in complete amazement and stare at the TV. Then, like clockwork, she'd say,
"I really want that!"

Drew and I decided to get her some for Valentine's day. As soon as she opened the first one, she took it out, kissed it, and with a look of complete disappointment she said,
"Ugh! It don't beturn!?"

We had no idea what she was talking about, but she kept trying to make it beturn. 

The next day, we were watching Disney Jr. when the commercial came on again. I said,
"Look, Liv, there's your Palace Pets."
"Yea, but they don't beturn!"
"What are you talking about?"
"They're sposed to beturn, but they DON'T!"

I watched the commercial trying to figure out what beturn meant, and finally at the end it says something along the lines of "Just like the princesses, if you show them kindness they'll love you in return." Aha! Return! Right at that moment, the little girl on the commercial kisses her pet and sparkles appear in the air. So that's what she expected her pets to do.

Way to false advertise, Disney! We had to convince her that her pets will beturn but she just has to use her imagination. Funny girl, she doesn't miss a thing!

Snow Day!

Last Friday we got just a little snow. I figured that might be all we see this winter, so of course we had to take advantage of it. Drew and Livy went outside and played in it a little until her hands were too cold and had to come in.

But this week, we actually got enough to cover the ground! And the absolute best part was Drew got a snow day! We were so glad he got to stay home and enjoy it with us. We spent most of the day over at his parents house building a snowman, riding the four-wheeler, and tubing behind it. Oh, and eating the snow... who could forget that!

Happy Baby

Ever met a baby that never cries? Seriously, I mean never! Well, let me introduce you...

Charlotte is hands-down the happiest baby I've ever known. Olivia was an easy-going baby, but even she shed her fair share of tears. Charlotte has not cried once. When we were still in the hospital, the nurse brought her to me and claimed that she was pitching a fit but I'm not sure I believe her.

When she gets hungry or has a wet diaper, she'll fuss a little and get squirmy, but she doesn't cry. We have really been blessed with some sweet laid-back girls! I know the day will come (and I'm probably jinxing myself here) but it sure does make it easy on this sleep deprived Mama! 

I can tell I have been much more patient this time around. Not sure if its because Charlotte is a better sleeper or because I have 3 years of experience under my mommy belt, but I am enjoying every bit of having a newborn in the house again. I honestly don't remember much of Livy being a baby so I'm not rushing my Charlotte to grow up one bit!

Call me crazy, but I can already imagine our third sweet baby. Gasp! Did I just say that?? Haha! But for now I'm just enjoying being Olivia and Charlotte's mommy.

Breastfeeding 101 with Livy Lou

 

It's no secret that Olivia has been excited about having a baby in the house since the very first day we told her I was pregnant. She immediately started talking about all the things she would do with the baby... change the diapers, rock her, sing to her, feed her... and I've tried to be very open with her (on a 3 year old's level, of course) about everything that would happen, including breastfeeding. It has opened her eyes to a whole new world and the things she says about it are just down right hilarious!

Before Charlotte was born, I had gotten the breast pump out one day to make sure everything was washed, cleaned, and ready to go...
"What is that?"
"It's called a breast pump."
"What do you do with it?"
"Well... did you know that I'll feed the baby with the milk that's in my boobs? That's how I fed you when you were a baby. And this pump will help me get the milk out for when I need to use a bottle."
"Mom! You're gonna feed the baby with your BOOBS??? But I wanted to do it!!!"

Then after I had Charlotte, the whole family was still in the hospital room visiting and they were trying to decide where they were going to eat for lunch. When they left I was going to feed Charlotte and try to rest a little while. Livy came up to me and said,
"Mama, I wanna help you feed Charlotte."
"Well, do you remember how I'm gonna feed her?"
"Yea, with your boobs."
"That's right. You go eat with everybody and when you get back you can hold her, Ok?"
"Ok!"
Next thing I know, she runs up to Pappy and shouts,
"Hey Pappy! My mama's gonna feed Charlotte with her BOOBS!!"

We all had a good laugh over that one.

Once we were home, we still had family over, so I was going back to our bedroom to feed Charlotte, and I thought that would be the perfect time to let Livy see how I fed her. I figured once she saw me feed Charlotte, it wouldn't be a big deal anymore. So she gladly tagged along. Charlotte started making some funny faces and Livy said,
"Baby Charlotte says 'Boobs are gross!'"
"No they're not."
"Well, she's making a face. I don't wanna eat your boobs."
Trying to contain my laughter. "You wont, sweetie. Just babies do that."
"Oh. Well, it looks like she's gonna eat your whole boob!"
"No she won't."
"Oh yea... because she doesn't have teeth yet."

It has been one funny thing after another! She always knows how to make us laugh!

Charlotte Emily Baker

Well, SHE'S here! Yep, that's right, this baby that we waited a long 9 months to meet is a sweet precious little girl!

I can't even begin to describe how much we love her. I want to write her story out before too much time passes and I start to forget the details...

We were supposed to check-in at the hospital at 7:00pm Thursday night. That afternoon, the nurse called and asked us to come at 8:00pm because they still didn't have our room ready. What's one more hour when you've waited 9 months? It actually worked out fine. That day was Scott's birthday, so we were able to meet them, along with Pappy and Annie, for dinner at The Rails. The nurse had told me to eat a big dinner so I'd have energy, but to be honest, food was the last thing on my mind at that point. I managed to eat a baked potato, then after supper, Drew and I ran by Wal-Mart because we were out of cat food (of all things?!) We swung by the house, picked up Zoe, and took her to Pappy and Annie's. We said a quick goodbye to our Livy Lou, and we were on our way!

We checked in to our room, I changed in to the ever fashionable hospital gown, they hooked me up to the monitors, and I settled in to my bed for the long haul! Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. There were 2 other women being induced so the nurses were super busy. I finally got an IV around 10:30pm.

Since we were following the same plan as we did with Olivia and she was born around noon, we were figuring this baby would come about mid-morning. So we had told our family to expect a call sometime the next morning. Well, when I was just getting an IV at 10:30pm, I started thinking it may be more like noon or afternoon before the baby is born. I was starting to get frustrated because I was so ready to get the show on the road. When I had Olivia, I was so naive, because I had no idea what labor would be like. But with Charlotte, I knew exactly what was coming, and I was extremely nervous. I was just ready for it to be over! I was thinking I would be in labor all night and well on into the morning... but thankfully, God had a different plan...

11:30pm... The nurse finally came in and gave me the Cytotec pill. She also checked me and I was still 2cm dilated and about 70% effaced. I had already been having contractions on my own, and every time one started up, I'd get Drew to tell me what the machines said. Since I was laying in bed, I couldn't see it myself and I was curious to know how "strong" they were on a chart. The nurses were busy and didn't come in our room very often, so I wasn't getting a play-by-play of what was going on. That meant Drew and I were left to come up with the scenarios on our own. Scary, right?! Ha! We noticed the contraction machine was called TOCO, which we referred to as "TACO". We were trying to Google how to read the machine correctly, and every time I would have a contraction I'd ask him, "So what does "TACO" say about this one?" Probably not as funny as we thought it was at the time, but it was a good distraction!

12:00am... I noticed my contractions began to pick up within 30 minutes of taking the Cytotec. They were getting stronger and much closer together! The nurse came in to check on me and I asked her what exactly Cytotec was supposed to do. She said it's mainly used to ripen the cervix to prepare your body for labor. Sometimes it puts women into labor and sometimes it doesn't; it's different for everyone. I told her I could already tell a big difference, so we started getting excited! Not long after the nurse left, Drew came over to the bed, kissed me, and said the sweetest prayer for us and the baby. Just another reason why I love him so! Then we both tried to get a little rest. He was much more successful than I was, but he didn't get to sleep much either.

2:00am... I hung in there for a couple hours and the contractions were really getting stronger. They were leaving the uncomfortable stage and heading right towards painful. I asked Drew if he would go get the nurse because I wanted her to check me to see if I had progressed any. She said I was now 3cm dilated... not exactly what I wanted to hear! She asked what my pain level was on a scale from 1-10. Boy, do I hate answering that question! I don't want to sound like a pansy, but at the same time... I'm in pain! I slighted myself a little and said about a 4 or 5, but really I was feeling worse than that. She let me go to the bathroom while she went to get me some Demoral so I could get some rest. As soon as the Demoral went through my IV, my words started to slur and I could barely keep my eyes open! That stuff works! If only the contractions wouldn't have been so strong, I might would've been able to get some sleep. The nurse told me to rest and she probably wouldn't check me again until about 6:00am when they would give me the Pitocin.


3:30am... Somehow I managed to doze off in between contractions, and I woke up suddenly to my water breaking! Drew was asleep, and I told him to go get the nurse, STAT! For real, I knew it was about to be go time. I was feeling so much pressure! The nurse came in, checked me, and said I was 5cm dilated now. She called the anesthesiologist (who was at home) to come in for my epidural. Right after my water broke, things just got intense. Contractions were super painful, long, and very close together. Poor Drew tried to help the situation by stroking my hair and saying, "Just think of the beach..." to which I kindly responded, "Please don't talk." I really wasn't trying to be mean, but when you're about to push a baby out, thinking of the beach does you no good.


3:45am... About 15 minutes went by and I could tell something was happening. The pressure I was feeling was so extreme! Again, I made Drew go get the nurse. She came in, checked me, and said, "Ok, sweetie, you're a 9cm... I'm gonna lay you down and let's try not to push, Ok?" At this point, some things are a blur to me. When you're in so much pain, you don't always realize what's going on around you. They called Dr. Watson (who was also at home) to come immediately! Between contractions, I was begging for that epidural. I was so scared I was about to have this baby with no pain medication!

4:15am... Finally, the anesthesiologist showed up. I was still begging for the epidural. Actually, I think I remember saying, "Just give me anything!" Haha! I couldn't see this, but Drew said the anesthesiologist looked at the nurse, the nurse looked at her, and they both shook their heads like... there's no way... there's not enough time. But obviously they didn't want to tell me that so they tried their best to satisfy my mind. There was no way I could even sit up for an epidural, so they layed me on my side and rubbed some of that stuff on my back (I have no idea what it's called).

It wasn't long before I felt the most extreme pain I have ever felt before in my life. That baby was coming out whether we were ready or not. I told my nurse, "It's coming out!!!" I remember looking up at Drew, who was right by my head, and he had this look of terror on his face. I was scaring him. Afterwards, he said he just felt helpless. There was nothing he could do and he was so scared for me. I was scared because I had no idea how bad this was about to hurt! All of a sudden I felt another contraction coming, I told my nurse, and she told me not to push. She tried getting me to pant through it, but it was no use. The baby was coming! It was like I had no control over my body, and I didn't need to. My body knew exactly what it was doing. The baby was seriously coming out. They rolled me onto my back and literally, in 2 pushes, she was out at 4:22am.

It was instant relief for me. I immediately said, "What is it? What is it?" And my nurse said, "It's your baby!" Haha! We have laughed and laughed about that moment! 

The anesthesiologist and the nurse delivered my sweet baby. Dr. Watson came in not long after and Charlotte was already laying on the table getting cleaned up. Looking back, as painful and as scary as it was, it is so amazing to be able to say I gave birth to my daughter all natural. Without any pain medication. Just more proof to how amazing God is. He designed us in a way that our bodies know exactly what to do. Even though it didn't go according to my plan, it did go according to His. And for that I am thankful.


Charlotte Emily Baker was born at 4:22am. She weighted 9 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 21 inches long.