September 23 - Reading Time

It's almost the end of September and soccer is in full swing. Julia has three practices a week and has regular season games on Sundays. The Academy girls are divided into three tiers: gold, silver and bronze. She is currently on the silver team and has been pulled up to practice with the gold group this past week. She's been working really hard lately and it's paying off. She traveled to Beaumont, TX last Saturday for a tournament and had a regular season game on Sunday. The girls rotate positions during the games and this past weekend she played forward for a good portion of the game. She scored the first goal in the game Sunday and was able to showcase her speed. Go Jules!

Luke hasn't had any games yet but he's been practicing the last few weeks with the Junior Academy. I haven't been to practice the last few weeks but JD said he's been absolutely rocking it. He's one of the youngest and smallest kids out there but he's been trying really hard. 

It's been crazy hot here lately (the kids weren't able to play outside the other day because the heat index was 107) and soccer will be way more fun when it cools down a little. We are supposed to have a cold front next week, with temperatures dropping to 85. 85! It's sad that 85 is considered cool but we'll take it. 

In Jillian news, she is doing great. She is still very gassy but a good eater and ok sleeper. Julia loves reading to her at night and both kids love helping with bath time. 

11pm and wide awake

Little Jilly Bean

My favorite man

September 17 - Week One

Our little Jillian Noelle is officially one week old today! We got back from the hospital on Monday and it's been a whirlwind. My friend Cara was in town briefly for work and was able to stop by, which was a tremendous help (she loves to do dishes and clean). The Girl Scout moms set up a dinner rotation which has also been a huge help. JD took the week off of work and handled walking the kids to and from school. He's also taking the kids to soccer practice nightly and handling their games over the weekend. But best of all? He has impressive baby soothing skills. Jillian is an extremely gassy baby and does well being held...she doesn't do so great in her crib, especially at night. So his soothing skills are greatly appreciated!

So, how are Julia and Luke doing? Fabulous! They are still totally in love with their sister. They run home from school every day to see her. Luke loves 'Chubby Cheeks' (that's what he calls her) while Julia wants to help with everything. They are also doing well in school. Third grade is heavily math focused and Julia worked on a math workbook for most of the summer. She has assigned math homework twice a week (has to do math facts the other nights) and so far, she is doing very well. They are writing stories in writing and her first story was about her first white water rafting trip in Colorado. Luke is enjoying kindergarten so far. Star the guinea pig has arrived in class and that was big news. He's also loves to buy school lunch. He only has 15min of reading "homework" every evening but we have made a rule that he can only watch 30min of tv. If he wants to watch more, he can earn time by doing math or additional reading. So...he's on top of that! In fact, just right now he read 5 books to earn 20min of Minecraft. 

Cara snuggles

Tammy's car broke down...but a Jillian snuggle makes it all better

Chubby Cheeks

Daddy and Little J

Sisters

The dogs meet Jillian for the first time

We are so in love with this little one

September 13 - Welcome Jillian Noelle!

Jillian Noelle 7lb 4oz 20" 100% Perfection

Saturday, September 10th:
5:30am - My water broke! (first time this happened out of all 3 pregnancies) I was experiencing minor contractions but nothing too intense. I let JD sleep a few hours before I woke him up and told him 'Today is a great day to have a baby!'

9am - after dropping Luke off at our neighbors (Julia was at a sleepover) JD and I checked into the hospital. They confirmed my water broke and I was admitted. I was thrilled to find out I was dilated at 3cm!

1pm - contractions are stronger and consistent now but....still at 3cm (boo!). Epidural and pitocin are started (I am excited to be hip/pelvic pain free for the first time in months, pure bliss)

Chubby Cheeks

4pm - 8cm! I'm convinced the baby will be here soon. 

5-6pm - Still at 8cm (boo!). The baby is in a weird position and blocking the cervix from dilating anymore. The baby is in distress and her heart rate is going all over the place. The nurse (Wendy from Chicago, who was WONDERFUL) is determined to get the baby in position. We try all different positions (for me) but nothing is working. They give me medicine to stop contractions completely to give my uterus a break and advise I might need a c-section (no!)

6pm - I let the doctor know that I pushed out Luke at 9cm and said "Give me a chance to push out this baby, I know I can do it." She slapped on her gloves and said "Let's do it." It was definitely a different experience from the others where I clearly 'felt' it was time to push and this time I knew the baby wasn't in position, but being a type A-overachiever personality, 3 pushes and...

6.12pm - She's here!! Our baby is here!! Welcome to the world Jillian Noelle! We were shocked to see her looking like Julia's doppelganger (albeit a bigger version). We are so in love!

After she was born, JD picked up the kids and brought them to the hospital. They were over the moon excited. Luke even sung a lullaby to his baby sister, it was adorable. Jillian Noelle and I stayed at the hospital for two nights and were released yesterday. Expect a lot more blog posts this week!

Welcome to the family Jillian Noelle!

September 9 - Baby Update

Induction is scheduled for Tuesday, September 13th. So, unless I go into labor before then, we finally have an official end date!

September 7 - Still Waiting

Well, I definitely thought I'd be home for the hospital right now with the newest addition to our family but...no such luck. The doctor planned to induce me this week but the hospital has no availability through Sunday. So, either a spot will open up and they will call me or (preferably) I'll just go into natural labor. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and we'll see what the doctor says. So until you hear otherwise..we are still waiting. I appreciate the texts and messages asking how I am doing, but please, no need to text/call me multiple times a day every day. I'm feeling the love from everyone but it's a tad overwhelming. Believe me, when I'm labor and have the baby, we will let everyone know. Julia is upset every day I pick her up from school because she knows when she sees me, that means the baby hasn't come yet. 

The room is ready!

Karma is so funny, she loves to sit under the curtains