now everyday is a someday come true...

23 hours after 5 am Sunday morning...i met my daughter for the first time.

her name...miss adelaide jane

her weight...9 lbs. 2.4 oz.

her length...22 inches

her arrival...4:04 am

but that cannot explain miss addie jane. if you want, you can read below...otherwise, just admire the beauty that is my little girl. i can't believe i get to have her call me mommy.

at 5am sunday morning i woke up in bed thinking something didn't feel right, i thought i was just uncomfortable so i went to sleep on the couch, only the same feeling happened twice more. i woke up greg - who immediately jumped up, got dressed, got his iphone and turned his lap making app on and...well, waited.

i took a long shower and drank like a gallon of water...but the weird feelings kept returning. so, i called my mom, and my midwife. we were timing them and thought they were 20 min. apart, so my midwife said - go out, walk around a mall, a grocery store - anything. so -even though greg was embarrassed at the thought of me stopping mid-walk to groan loudly through a contraction, he took me to meijer and to sam's.

i had a contraction in the dvd section of meijer. it was bad.

then we got some food, and i laid on the couch for awhile. it was about 4:00 before i said, IT IS TIME TO GO.

i had two more contractions before we made it to good sam's triage/admission desk. and when they checked me - the nurse laughed, saying i had dilated to 4 and was almost completely effaced...and of course the awesome - "did you know you were 1-3 minutes apart?"

so, moral of the story. i don't have a clue when contractions begin and end, because for a few hours mine were right on top of each other so much so that i thought 4 or 5 of them were one big one.

i was admitted obviously, and checked a few hours later only to find out that i was 6 cm. by 6 or 7 pm - it was time for my epidural. a moment that i both feared and anticipated for months. and i was right to fear it. i can't explain what happened...it was mostly of blur of misery and absolute panic. the "bee sting" theory is bull$#!!...and the warm relief that follows is bull$#!! too. the dude had to stick my three different times, all i could yell was "LEFT SIDE" "LEFT SIDE" because literally - my left side was on fire and my right side felt NOTHING. i knew it wasn't right.

so, moral of the story. it takes longer than the 3 minutes promised and its not a bee sting. epidurals suck...and mine took the cake.

a few hours later - i had made it to 8 cm. and shortly after that i was a full 10 cm. but was at -2 station. meaning she was all up in my ribcage and not where she should be. so they pushed pitocin into my IV to move things along. By 2:30 am I was absolutely exhausted and REALLY NEEDING TO PUSH. only the nurse wouldn't let me...until greg took her gently outside and must have said something - and then, she let me.

oh yeah, did i mention i had to be redosed four times, and then when i couldn't stand the pain and had to push ( and because they would wear off way too fast) i got a "PUSHING DOSE". which by the way, is a cop-out for "we don't know what else to do except re-stick you".

now, i had been told that with an epidural all you feel is pressure. and that someone has to tell you when you are having a contraction so you know when to push. i knew without any help, and i told the nurses when i was going to push because i felt every last inch of pain + pressure and i knew the only relief was to push.

so i pushed for an hour or so, 4 at a time, screaming, being dramatic, and telling the nurse "STOP TELLING ME TO RELAX...YOU RELAX...I CANT..." and a few choice f-bombs later and wham, there she was, shiny, perfect, and mine.

4:04 am. everything changed. i am in love.

i will write more later.

i have to go squeeze her.

oops, how did you get so big?

so, here i am, apologizing again. i blinked and my daughter turned 11 months old weeks ago.

now part of me is glad that i was somewhere having fun with her and didn't have the time to fill everyone else in on her growth and changes. so i am taking the time while i have it, to tell anyone who cares that this lady is awesome.

Things addie can do :

1. SLEEP : how did i get so very lucky? she sleeps so well that shes even been known to add a pre-dinner nap to her own schedule when needed. addie goes to bed depending on that self-ordered nap at around 7:30-8:30 pm and not get up completely until 7:30. She may wake up and talk or cry a bit, but she is a fantastic self-soother and we have found that going in after her only brings on the drama.

2. EAT : She is almost down to four bottles - that fifth one at night just seems to be the bedtime clincher and i think we are holding onto it too... She has tried a lot of foods, and even had her first meal off of a kid menu! So far anything that has to do with cheese - is her ultimate favorite. Strawberries, raspberries, spaghetti, peaches, real bananas, daddy's oatmeal, pancakes, pizza, macaroni, grilled cheese, strawberry applesauce from MOTTs (which mommy and daddy sneak too), yogurt, etc...the worst part is she fake gags on anything until you notice and then she smiles at you.

3. WALK : Every time you take her hands to help her walk somewhere, you get the feeling that lift off is about to occur...she is so close to walking on her own, and now has braved for the past few weeks to only hold one hand and go! She has a hard time keeping shoes on, since her feet are so fat on the top and short in length...she takes them off and immediately she tries to eat them..no matter what...i wonder who modeled this behavior?

4. TALK : She has so many words in her vocab, and they take on a creepy reality to the situation you are in...like she was frustrated with not being able to reach some toy (i.e. remote) and after several tries said "JESUS" She also still repeatedly says "HI" and it is truly at the appropriate time-like when greg comes home from work..she waits, watches the door, he walks in "HI" she says. She also says an inappropriate word-that she may have heard from mommy while watching the batchelor - but how was i to know she pick that one? She says "THANK YOU" & "LOVE you" which you only ever hear the first part of...

5. SIGNS : She knows 'more' and 'bye bye'...i just hope she doesn't learn the sign for milk-it makes me uncomfortable.

6. CUDDLES : She has several friends at school, ruby, jenna, elle, and tommy...her teachers say that she shares well, and takes turns..the other day she took turns hugging a doll with one of her friends...and when greg dropped her off the other day-he said another little girl went right over to her and put her head in addie's lap. So apparently she is very comforting to others. awwww. She has also fallen in love with a stuffed dog that greg bought for her-we affectionately call him socks - named by addie. She squeezes him so tight i think the stuffing might come out.

but the best thing addie does lately, is hugs. they are the best, but added to her laughter its a dangerous melt-your-heart moment. i just love the hell out of her...

rub-a-dub-dub

a little ladybug in the tub...

more snowday fun

i can't put my arms down...

seriously...i have no idea where her posture and balance come from since neither one of us has that at all. i guess this means i will be in the lodge sipping hot cocoa while these two hit the slopes. she loved her first snow...stacy and i tried to get her to make snowangels - but we couldn't get her to move. she took a few more laps after this ended and then we called it quits.

can't wait until next year when she can run and play in it herself!

SNOWWWW

so this week both our school's had unexpected snowdays, and we made the most of them together...

1. seeking the remote no matter what for addie, trying to hide it constantly for mama

2. sesame street for addie, while mama kept up with the kardashians

3. yogurt snacks for addie, a bag of pecans for mama

4. naptime for addie, an old black and white film for mama

5. laundry for mama, a basket to empty and fill and empty and fill for addie

6. laughing with her cousins for addie, window shopping at the mall for mama

7. a perfect snow suit marked 60% off for addie, awesome moment for mama.

8. bananas for addie, peanut butter for mama to celebrate the Kings 75th!

i couldn't capture everything...but i have to say besides the snow adventure outside, teaching her to make monkey noises has been my favorite moment over the past two days. i swear this little girl is so much fun to be around...

funny girl 101

im so funny. i like to hide behind things and pop out laughing. i like to say "dad" "dad" "dad" like twenty times just to hear my dad say "yes adelaide" in between. i like to fake cough until someone looks at me-then i smile at them. i like to say 'ho ho ho' but only at my house so when mommy asks me to say it to anyone else i pretend i can't. i like to bite things...anything...toes, couches, shoes, tables, tags, all my little people's heads... i like to say 'ah geeeez' like my grandpa-he's funny too. my mom thinks its funny but mostly creepy when sometimes i say things and they sound exactly like they should - like when my dad left for the store and i looked at my mom and said clear as day "where daddy?"

i am having so much fun being 10 months old.