The Poopie Patrol :)

I think the best and most accurate card we got was from Aunt Candy - the card reads "Be careful with that new baby..." and on the inside: "It leaks." And boy does she!! ;) At her first checkup she had just spit up all over the table when the Dr. walked in and then 2 seconds later loudly let loose in her diaper! She had it coming out of both ends! When I was changing her diaper, the Dr said that her husband used to call their daughter (who just turned 1 the week Beatrice was born) the poop rocket, because one day when he was changing her diaper she started pooping and it shot across the room and hit the wall! The funny thing was later that night as I was changing her diaper for the 200th time that day... she damn near did the same thing, if I would have been standing just a hair closer... The first email I sent after she was born was to my friend Jane, and I told her what had happened that morning: "This morning was nuts! She had pooped, so I took her diaper off and she pooped again, then she peed and pooped again before I could get another diaper on her! ;) lol - then Duncan had a poopy butt, so I had Maria go take him to the crib to change him, set Beatrice on the changing table while I changed his poopy butt and she pooped again... and once again while I was changing her... my goodness!! ;) lol!! I hope that's not going to happen every day!" It was too hilarious! Thank God for Oxy Clean Baby!! It's just amazing how much she poops!! I looked in the book after the first week to see how many times it says they should poop because I was getting concerned. It said breastfed babies should poop 2-3 times a day or as often as every feeding... and that's Beatrice - poops with every feeding. Of course during the day she's wanting to eat every 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours... she's about the reverse of Duncan - he fed maybe every 3 hours during the day, then every 2 hours at night. She is very consistent with her 2 night feedings - 1am and 4:30am, which is really great! I'm not nearly as sleep deprived as I was with Duncan.

Anyway, her 1st checkup went really well! She's gained almost a pound and half an inch! :) Everything is looking good and going well! :)

Today was Mike's first day back to work. He actually got a week of paternity leave - which is pretty rare, most dad's have to take time off without pay - then he took almost 2 weeks of vacation. Of course he's been in and out of work and on the phone a lot with work business... it's funny how most people think their jobs are so important and they are so vital to the operation that everything will fall apart if they take time off... and then when they get back, they are somewhat disappointed to find that everything went smoothly and nothing went wrong... no major disasters took place... well that wasn't the case here - Mike had to deal with break-ins, thefts, and several people not showing up for work, not working and wanting to get paid for time they didn't work or not doing what they were supposed to be doing... etc... pretty unfortunate. Everytime he takes a day off something happens, or many things happen - and it was no different this time.

Anyway, Maria will be going back to school on Tuesday, so that will be my first day on my own ;) we'll see how things go... Actually, I'm sure they will go fine - Beatrice is really pretty content. She only gets fussy when she's hungry or has a poopy diaper :) Duncan on the other hand... He's really starting to test his boundaries. Last night was pretty funny - we told him to stay in the living room, so he would throw a toy into the kitchen and then stretch across the kitchen floor to get it, making sure to keep one foot in the living room. I think he's now realized that the baby is here for good. He keeps trying to get up in my lap when I'm feeding or holding Beatrice... but he still likes kissing her and checking out her piggies and hands. We got him a little baby doll - and he's taken to carrying it around giving it big kisses! :) And Mike had a great solution to two babies in the lap :) we went and got a monster recliner! It's hilariously huge! It looked pretty darn big in the store, but when we got it home - it is monstrously huge! :) But we love it!

Here's pics of Beatrice's first real bath! Mike got her undressed in her bouncy chair and the look on her face was just too hilarious! ;) She didn't mind her first bath too much, fussed a little, but I'm sure it felt good :)

My little big boy :)

I have to say that Duncan is taking the changes really well. And it seems as though he has turned into a big boy overnight. With my being gone for a couple of days, and with Mike and Maria doing more things with and for Duncan since I have been busy with the baby and with recovering, he has been doing a lot more big boy stuff! I'm afraid that I was hampering his growing up a little bit. He's capable of a lot more than I've given him the opportunity to do. I was shocked when a few days after I got home we had Duncan hop in the shower with Dad, I was going to wait for Mike to get done to help get his pants and socks on, but when I got to that part, Duncan lifted one of his legs then the other for me to slide his pants on! and did the same for his socks. I almost cried :) of course I'm sure part of it was the excess of hormones! ;) Mike said that he'd been having him do that - I guess part of me just wanted him to stay a baby as long as possible. It's amazing how big he looks now with a small baby around! I knew he would look bigger, but I'm just surprised at how so. One of the best new changes is that he is finally picking up his own toys! I had been trying to get him to do it, had read different ways to encourage them to do it and nothing had really worked, and I can't say that I was all that insistent or consistent about it... but last week I told Maria to try to get him to help pick up his toys, told her to make it a game or something - it was completely astonishing how quickly he picked up on it and got all his toys in the toybox! Now he loves pick up toy time! :) Maria and Mike have both done such wonders with him. Through this whole experience, I have come to some realizations - Firstly, that I really need to start spending time on an individual basis with all of the kids. Secondly, that I really need to start doing more interactive things with Duncan - he's probably ready for a lot more than I think!

Although, he was not quite ready for his third real haircut!! He did so well with his first two, that I figured he would be fine with another one... he bawled and screamed his head off the whole time! I had to hold his head still while Mike cut his hair! I guess in some ways he still is a big baby ;) But at least his bangs are out of his eyes! :)

Beatrice Rae DeMarr

Finally! :) We finally had the baby, and I am finally blogging about it! I've just been hanging out and taking it easy, not doing much. I know everyone is anxious for more pictures, and I have taken tons!! Now it's just deciding which ones to post... Here's a small sampling of Beatrice's first week :)





We've been home a week and a day now, and are finally starting to get into the groove of feeding/sleeping schedules... Everyone is adjusting very well. Amazingly Beatrice is only waking up once or twice a night! Maria is really enjoying helping out with Duncan, and she's doing a great job - he's enjoying it too. And they are both quite sweet on the baby :) Duncan is thrilled with her little piggies and will come up saying "mmmm," which means he wants to give the baby a kiss :) it's too cute.

Well, she really took her time getting here - She was 3 days overdue. I had a Dr's apt that day, and she stripped my membranes for the 3rd time and said that she wouldn't let me go more than a week overdue... I had a few contractions after the dr's apt, but they felt like the Braxton Hicks ones still... when I went to sleep that night I was having contractions, but I wasn't convinced they were the real thing... they were waking me up for quite a while, but I thought that I better wait until they were pretty painful.... so around 4am I had a pretty painful one that woke me up, I thought I'd better start timing them - they were 5 mins apart, so I thought I would hurry up and take a shower, which then they were coming about every 3 mins... I think we got to the hospital around 5am and they finally got around to checking me after about 45 mins and I was a little over 4cm dilated. It wasn't too long after that when it got to the point where I just couldn't handle the pain any longer - I needed pain medication right away. Strangely, they said that they could only give me the epidural and they were flying someone in - I'm guessing they were flying them in from Duluth, and I just thought there's no way I can wait that long! I knew from last time that they have shots they can give you... and I asked if there was anything they could give me temporarily, and the nurses said there wasn't... before that they had said that I needed to be dilated at least to a 5 before they could give me anything... so I was just praying that I was at least a 5. When the Dr got there she told them to go ahead and give me the shot - thank god! ;) They were just being stingy with it... Anyway, then she checked me a little after 7am and said that I was 9cm dilated! I think everyone was shocked! It was too late for a epidural, which after finding out how close I was, I wasn't upset about it at all. Too funny that Beatrice drug her feet all along and then all of a sudden decided she was in a big hurry! :) A few minutes later I said I had to push and the Dr said go right ahead because you're ready! That was at 7:20am - and she was born at 7:30! It amazed everyone that it was so quick. Before the Dr checked and said I was at a 9, I was telling Mike to remind me that I didn't want to do this again :) and I was really expecting it to drag on for hours and hours... but after the Dr checked and I was so close I told him I would definitely do it again! When I reached my pain tolerance limit with Duncan, I was still at least 10 hours away from delivery... I expected that this time it would go faster, but I never expected it to go that fast... I feel so lucky and blessed! For both the short labor and delivery and for the beautiful baby girl that we produced :)

NEW BABY!!!

Hello all. Baby Beatrice Rae DeMarr was born at 7:30am on August 14th, 2007. She is 7 lbs 5 oz, and 19 inches.

Still Cooking ;)

The baby must've decided to put on some extra layers of fat :) as she is still hanging out in there! We are planning on a longer walk today - taking the kids to the Wilderness Walk, hoping desperately that will do the trick and get things moving along! :) Luckily we are having a break in the weather - it was supposed to be in the 90s until tomorrow, but yesterday it was cooler and today again should be in the low 80s and the humidity is dropping. It was downright cold this am, and for the next week or so the overnight temps should be in the 40s and 50s! Getting time for that seasonal change...
I have a drs apt today at 4:30, so I guess we will see what happens then...

It's the end of the day on my due date and No Baby yet :)

Well, dr's apts are not magical. Of course I didn't think it would be... I've made a slight bit of progress, instead of being extremely close to being 3cm dilated, I was officially 3cm dilated... and the baby dropped further, as if she can get any lower ;) So my due date was today, and still been having contractions, but very sporadically - not consistent. I will have another drs apt on Monday, but I'm really seriously hoping to go into labor this weekend... that leaves tomorrow! ;) We went walking around tonight, to Wal-Mart and downtown Hayward - walked around in the candy store ;) and walked out with two bags of candy! ;) I think that was actually the first time I've been there since we moved here! Got a huge bag of taffy - they have like 50 flavors!! I had to grab a handful of every flavor that sounded good ;) which was probably close to half the flavors. Mom got some chocolate and maple fudge. We stopped and ate at Pizza Hut, and Duncan was too funny, he kept saying "I see Pizza"! Earlier this week when we ate in Radisson with Pat we gave him a pickle and he started talking to the couple eating near us - he said "did you see that pickle" he must have said it about 10 times - they just ignored him... how rude ;) Anyway, We all had a sugar feast when we got home! Duncan loved the fudge. He kept trying to grab it off the table. We got him some licorice, he gave his first piece to Sally and then his second piece absolutely disappeared. We'll probably find it a month from now in some place really odd... I'll probably have to grab a few pieces of taffy every trip I make to the potty tonight ;) and every night until I have this baby! I can't believe I've only gained 20lbs this time! I gained 60lbs with Duncan and didn't even snack in the middle of the night like I have been this time! That and having to have ice cream for desert every night before bed ;) But then again, I had only lost about half the weight I gained with Duncan before I got pregnant this time.
Well, anyway... just wanted to give an update... I'm just getting resigned for having to wait and wait and wait ;)

Ugh! ;)

Obviously I am still having those darn Braxton Hicks contractions... They went away when I went to bed last night... It was probably just all wishful thinking that they were the real ones... but the books do say that a lot of 2nd time moms go in with false labor - more than first timers... and probably because the braxton hicks can be stronger, more painful and I guess feel more like the real thing the second time around. How frustrating and disappointing though! I guess I probably will make it to my drs apt at 1:30 today. Grumble Grumble ;)
Everyone is getting anxious. All I can say is that for sure it will be within the next 2 weeks, since they don't really let you go beyond that... and she will have to come out sometime! She can't stay in there forever! ;)
I'm trying to keep myself occupied... which is increasingly difficult, especially since I should really be resting up for the big day - saving my energy... it's a lot harder to just sit around waiting for it to happen. Oh well ;) I will keep everyone posted.

Still Waiting!!

Just decided to do a quick update post :) since I haven't posted in a couple of days people are wondering ;) Still waiting for this stubborn baby to make an appearance! ;) Been having braxton hicks contractions for weeks now... but I think I'm starting to slowly have some real ones! Or maybe it's all just wishful thinking? They do feel different - they seem to be coming more from the top of my stomach. Maybe she's waiting for Emma's birthday. I know Emma would really like that. Of course earlier this week when we talked to Emma and she said she wanted her to be born on her b-day - I thought for sure it would be sooner, and that the 10th was just too far away, but now that's it's already the 9th, I could so deal with the 10th! I was so sure that I was not going to make it to my next dr's apt, which was supposed to be today, but they called yesterday and switched it to tomorrow... so there's still a chance I may not make it until tomorrow. Not that I'm really looking forward to the delivery part, but just really anxious to meet this little girl and bring her home! :)
Anyway, just wanted to give everyone an update. Hopefully you will all be getting a call with some news soon!!! :)

Famous Dave's Pic! and Lake Superior

We met Mike's brother Pat and his wife Terry Ann for lunch yesterday and they handed us this weeks 4 Seasons paper which had Famous Dave's on the front. I thought they were just showing it to us because Famous Dave is Terry's relative... but they finally had to point out to us that they are in the picture! There at the second table from the front is Pat, Terry Ann, Marlene, Leon, Ashley and Alyssa!! I can't believe we didn't notice that! ;) I had even looked at the paper at home. Pretty cool! :)

Mike drew me a picture on the fridge board today :) pretty funny, so I had to share it with everyone...

This past weekend we took mom and jamie up to Lake Superior to see the sights up there. It's sooo pretty ;) we also visited the new visitor's center there, which is really nice. Anyway, here are a few pictures from our trip to the big lake ;)

Still not yet... for all those who are wondering ;)

Ok, now it is 5 days until my due date! :( I'm absolutely going to explode! :) I just really didn't think I was going to make it this close to my due date! My belly button is completely out now! I'm so miserable ;) It's been super humid and my feet have been extra swollen - I can barely get them in my shoes :( I'm trying to walk around, but it's so hard... between the swollen feet and the bowling ball in my pelvis! ;) At my dr's apt on Thursday I was more dilated (very very close to 3cm), and more effaced (up to 60%). I was so hopeful after the apt - I thought for sure I would have her by the end of this weekend... now I'm just hoping that she was waiting for Mike's b-day, which is today! The waiting game is just horrendous ;) Well, eventually she has to come out - I'll just have to make it through each day until that happens :)
Jamie brought Mom up on Friday, so things should go pretty smooth when it happens. I don't have to worry about being home alone w/the kids and going into labor. So, I'm feeling much better about that part. I'm just so ready to bring this little baby home! :)
Just wanted to let you all know we're still waiting :)

The countdown continues....

:) 10 days until my due date now! Less than two weeks! Of course I could still go over my due date, but I'm really hoping not to! There are about 4 or 5 others who all have due dates around now - according to the pregnant lady at the gas station... the postmaster's friend had hers last week... the lady at the gas station was due July 27th with her second, which is also a girl, but as of the 29th she was still waiting...

I previously had mentioned a little bit about the baby shower that Mike's family threw for me the weekend before last, I wanted to wait until I got some pics so that I could post them :) Got to say thanks to Fay for being so quick with the pictures!! :) I'm still waiting for pics from the baby shower my family threw for Duncan ;) Anyway, the baby shower was so much fun! The games were great! One game was to guess how big the belly was by tearing off a length of streamer... Mike's mom got it right on!! Followed closely by Lea, who was just about a 1/2 an inch too much... Then Terry Ann had enough streamer to wrap around probably 3 pregnant bellies ;) It was really fun! :)

We also played a game where we had to find the most pins in a bowl of rice :) and the best game, which I think I mentioned already, was one where Lea had mushed and microwaved a candy bar into a diaper and we had to guess what kind of candy bar it was! That was gross and hilarious!! Of course she chose a few with nuts and such ;) it looked pretty accurate!! ;)

There was so much good food, I ate entirely too much of all of it! :) you can see all the food on the table :)

The gifts were just awesome and adorable! Too much!! :) Mike's mom and Ashley and Alyssa got the baby a 5 piece layette, a pack of onsies, two sleepers, a package of flannel blankets, a package of receiving blankets! It was a huge bag full of beautiful things! :) Terry Ann and Pat got a mongo pack of diapers and wipes, which is awesome! I won't have to go shopping for diapers for the first few weeks! Fay, Addi, Lea, Steve and Michelle got a clothes basket full of goodies :) a princess robe, two pair of ruffle butt pants ;) onsies, blankets, a huge pack of bibs, pink hangers :) and probably other things that I'm forgetting! Candy got this huge bear with a hat on it and some headbands around the neck and the cutest rooster teether :) and Rene handmade a quilt and matching pillow that I'm absolutely in love with!!! :) The shower just turned out really nice and I was really glad that they had a shower for us :) They all put in a lot of work and we all had a great time! :) Now hopefully we'll be able to throw Lea a shower soon!!! :)