Sisters

I can't even begin to describe how my heart bursts when I think of the relationships between Lucy and Olive. When people ask how Lucy has been with the transition of having a baby in the house, I can honestly answer that it more than we could have ever asked for.

Yes. They will fight. They will scream. They will pull each other's hair. One of them will probably claw the other one's arms. One will throw their red cowgirl boots at the other. One will whack the other in the forehead with a broom.

Lucy will whine to me that Olive won't leave her and her friends alone. Olive will cry because Lucy no longer wants to take baths with her.

 
But, they will also share secrets. They might tell each other just one of the presents under the Christmas tree. They will join forces to beg for cookies and to go to the pool. They will takes baths together and drink each other's butt water. You know it's true...

Perhaps Lucy will drive Olive around, cruising for boys. Olive will talk Lucy into letting her do things that she shouldn't.


There will be nights that they gather in front of the television, with a spoon each, eating out of a pan of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

They will share clothes and makeup. They will secretly use each other's perfume, hoping the other won't notice. And, when clothes go missing, they will know exactly where to look.

Hopefully, they will spend summer nights belting out their favorite songs as loud as they can scream, laughing at incorrect lyrics and flat notes.

They will be able to just give each other a look, knowing what the other is thinking. This will often get them into trouble, especially during completely unacceptable, serious situations.


I will be stuck yelling, "Girls!" in my stern mother voice. Or, pretend to be appalled while announcing, "You two!"

They will fight. Yes. They will love. Yes. They will have a special relationship that cannot compare to any other. It just simply can't be compared.

But, right now, they are over the moon for each other. No fighting. No annoyance. No "sharing" issues. I am basking it all. My heart melts when they giggle together, over something as silly as making a tooting noise with their mouths.

They will take care of each other. I just know it.

Thank the Lord for my babies. And, thank the Lord for sisters. :)

Big Girl

Lucy is 3 years old.

It is blowing my mind. She is such a big girl. Although, she is just a baby in my heart...the young lady that she is becoming is keeping me on my toes!

She likes clothes, shoes, bows, nail polish, makeup, lip stick, jewelry, sparkles, coats, scarves, fixing hair, and above all the color pink! She is a girly girl to the core.

Yes. She is still a kid though and plays in the dirt, in her cavatini, and lays on the floor.

But, she is looking at her Highlights magazine! She also looks through our mail, clothing catalogs, and my gossip magazines. Oh, and forgive my uncleaned floors...

She tries to stay little, like her sister. But, the poor thing is just getting too big. She is thinning out too; her little baby fat is disappearing...

She is playing with "big girl" toys too. She has a ton of Barbies and accessories now! I have even let her play with the Barbie shoes and small purses. 

Now, instead of the continuous moping around about my first baby growing into a little girl. Let's celebrate her achievements.

Lucy Milestones:

• She is using the potty all the time now.
• She is even waking up in the middle of the night to have us take her potty, with no wet morning pull-ups.
• She ate her entire soft taco the other night! Yes. This is worth celebrating. The only thing that she really goes to town on is canned Spaghettios. Yuck.
• She can and will paint your toenails. Just ask Heath.
• She has memorized two prayers.
• And, she has become the best big sister ever! She is always helping Olive and trying soothe her when she is upset. I have never seen such love! My heart melts. Related post to come later.
• She does the Goof-bot (the robot dance Goofy does on Mickey Mouse club house). 
• She can spell 'Lucy' and 'Mickey Mouse.' 
• She can even write her name, if she is looking at an example.

I just don't know what I'll do when she starts preschool next fall. Bah!  

Birth Story: Part 3

This is the final installation of the three part story, that is Olive's birth. :) Nothing like 5 months later...

After the actual laboring and birthing, we get to all the oohing and awing that I did. Also, I should really discuss the pain I felt afterward as well. To be honest though, I have forgotten most of it. I waited too long and those memories are fading. They always say that it's the easiest pain to forget and "they" sure are right! Although every time I hear someone say that, I think of my Granny. She had a ten pound baby (my dad) all natural back in 1960. Then, she was bedridden for four days after. I'm sure her pain was a little harder to forget than mine...

Dad, have you thanked Granny lately? You totally should! In fact, your birthday is this Saturday. You should tell her "thank you!"

Anyway,  I will tell you that the night after Olive's birth, I was so thirsty. I hadn't drank anything in over 24 hours; I had only had one cup of ice and nothing else. Plus, I had lost a reasonable amount of blood with the surgery. I begged for something to drink and couldn't have it...darn! The next morning I scarfed down my breakfast and started drinking. But, I was way too into holding Olive and just looking at her to be overly hungry.

I have several, several, pictures like this. I apparently stared at her...a lot. But, I'm sure other mothers can attest. Seeing their face for the first time, that little miracle, is simply amazing. I couldn't get enough!

As the day went on, my blood pressure kept getting really low and they asked me to drink more water. Ugh, the irony. I was slightly annoyed. It went from "can't drink anything" to "drink more."

It was about 14 hours after surgery that I got to take off my massage "booties." Those things were amazing! I loved them. Once they were off, I got my catheter out. Uncomfortable! But, I could get up now! At first, I felt pretty good. Not too much pain. It seriously took over 24 hours before all of the spinal had worn off and I started to really feel the pain. It was worse than a vaginally delivery, for me. When my bladder would get full, I had a lot of pain on the incision. When I would go pee, then it wasn't as bad. So, I kept running to and from the restroom, or rather shuffling to and from. It sure was different than what I had experienced before. Pain in a completely different place, but still all of the gross discomfort...if you women know what I mean.

I really didn't mind though. I was completely on cloud nine. I seriously was on a high. I didn't get irritated at all and was just as happy as I could be. It was different than with Lucy. Perhaps my body has changed, or I have...something like that. The high lasted until, well, basically until I went back to work. Whomp, whomp. I won't beat that dead horse, so moving on...

Lucy came to visit and spent most of the second day with us. She loved seeing her new, baby sister.

She even held her for photos. When someone would talk to her, she would stick her fingers to her lips and tell us that her baby sister was sleeping. :) She's a great big sister!

The day we got out of the hospital, Lucy was there again. We wanted to make sure we got to experience these things as a family!


Then, it started. Olive was upset. I had to feed her before we hit the road. We sat the girls down to take this photo, and Lucy pooped her pants - more delay. They were breaking us in right away, to having two! That is alright though. Cloud nine...

I was welcomed home to this wonderful display my mom and sister put together - presents for all!

 

Oh boy, now that I've waited 5 months, this post is giving me baby fever. No way, Jose. We really would need a van then!

The rest is wonderful, laid-back, best baby in the world, knock-on-wood, history. :)