priceless image

My favorite image right now is one that I will most likely never be able to capture on camera, it will only live in my memory which is why I want to talk about it on here.
That little post-eating, milk-comma "smile". I know Avery can't really smile yet, I hear that it is just gas or something, but I swear she is looking at me and her little face is saying "ahhh". It is the most beautiful little smile. She is so innocent, so perfect and that smile reflects everything that is precious about her right now.
I tell my sister all the time that I wish I could keep her in my pocket and pull out her picture taking abilities whenever I wanted. This is one of those times. I would give anything for her to catch that little smile in a picture so that when Avery is all grown up I can look back at that smile and remember those times that were just about her and me. Those post-eating cuddle moments where the world stands still and nothing else matters. It is those moments that seem to have faded the fastest from my memories of Sam. I know I will remember them even less this time since most of the time those special bonding moments happen while I am also reading a book, playing a game or telling Sam to stop doing something.
But I am going to try my best to remember that little smile. That perfect little "ahhh" smile!

Thank you Grandpa

Ok, so apparently someone has caught the dimple on camera, just not us. Thank you grandpa for the picture.

Two week update

We had Avery's two week appointment earlier in the week so I thought I would update you all on how big she is. Height = 20.75" Weight = 8lb 9oz Head = 37.2 cm She is growing pretty good and everything else checked out really well at the doctor's visit.

I sat with her yesterday trying desperately to catch her dimple on camera. Did I mention that she has one very pronounced dimple? It is the cutest thing but no one has been able to get it on camera yet.
Sam wanted to get in on the pictures and decided that ALL of her babies also needed to have their pictures taken. It was pretty cute.

When did she get big?

Up until about two weeks ago Sam was my baby. My little girl. She had tiny little fingers and toes. She needed help doing everything. She ate off of small, brightly colored plates and needed me to help her with some foods. She fit perfectly in my arms (even with the big belly) and was as light as a feather to pick up and carry out of the bath tub. She wore little diapers and little clothes. She was my little girl.
Now, everything about her seems BIG to me. She is suddenly talking in sentences. Asks to use the potty (even though she has never successfully gone on the potty). Her diapers and clothes seem huge. She wants to help ME with everything. She can eat with a spoon, fork and does not like to be fed. She wants to lay in her crib while we say prayers and not cuddle in my arms (which is a good thing because I suddenly struggle to hold her for more than a few minutes!). My little girl seems to have grown up overnight. Somehow I missed it and didn't notice until Avery was born, reminding me just how small they start out. My baby is not a baby anymore.

And just to show how much of a big girl she is, tonight she and Chris are at their first swim lesson!

I am going to do everything I can to cherish the moments with Avery when she truly is a newborn and not want to rush her through these early stages. I don't want to turn around one day and have her be a big girl on me too.

Showing off all her tricks!

Early Morning Counting

Try to ignore the very bad bed head that my child has!




She really likes the number six!

Happy Sunday!

New Pictures for Anonymous!

Okay, I get the message...family wants more pictures. So here are some from the last few days.

Avery is starting to take after her sister with the extreme faces!

Sister time.

An unhappy bath.

Life is still good. Chris went back to work for a half day on Thursday and even though there was no nap and both girls cried for most of the several hours that Chris was gone we made it through and no one died! I consider that a victory. He is off for three more days this coming week which is just fabulous. I have been having some bizarre cramping and bleeding issues lately that after speaking with the nurses from my doctor's office several times this week forced us to the emergency room today. After four and a half hours of tests, waiting, and more waiting I was told they couldn't find anything wrong, must still just be postpartum issues and was sent home with the instructions to just keep an eye on things. Glad nothing is wrong but I feel so stupid for wasting everyone's time.

Hoping we have a better day tomorrow.

I survived Day One.

It is the end of day one without any family here. The amount of help that we have received in the last week has been incredible. I was a bit scared about how we would function without other people to help entertain Sam, keep good food on our table, laundry done and groceries in the fridge. But we faced day one head on and survived. Chris and Sam did some shoe shopping and playing at the mall. Avery and I did some resting, feeding, and more resting. Three loads of laundry got done, some vacuuming, and lots of playing. It was a good day and we did it with no help. I am starting to feel a little bit more confident that I can do this mother of two thing. It is just the actual leaving of the apartment by myself with two kids that still has me completely terrified!

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy.

No recovery needed...WHO KNEW! Part Three.

So I don't really remember exactly how many contractions it took to push Avery out but it wasn't very many. I do remember at one point I was REALLY screaming and even said to Chris that I didn't think I could do it anymore; HA as if I had a choice! But with Chris right by my side, my sister yelling from behind her camera lens and my mom encouraging me I did do it. Avery came out and they immediately put her on my chest. I was shaking so bad and crying but I had done it. Within minutes my hands felt almost normal again, my muscles started to relax and Avery was crying in my arms. I actually remember seeing her being put on my stomach, a memory I don't have from when Sam was born.
Less than an two hours after Avery was born I was feeling pretty good. I could talk, move around, sit up and I even walked myself to the bathroom and took a shower. It took almost a day before I felt like that after Sam. I had no idea how different the recovery would be after a natural child birth. Or maybe it was because it was my second or a combination of both, I don't know. But it was awesome. I love that I have real memories from the actual labor of Avery. I love that I could actually enjoy her first moments with Chris. I love that my mom, sister and dad were there to see the struggle and then the joy of those first moments afterward.
The whole thing was a truly AMAZING experience.

*My family left to head back to St. Louis just a little while ago. While they were here they took care of Sam for three days, cooked multiple meals, did laundry, took care of our dog and took some of the most amazing pictures of Avery (thank you JOJO!). It was more help than I could have imagined and it was just really nice to be able to bring Avery home surrounded by family. John and Kathy, Chris's parents, are here now. Kathy has already gone to the grocery store, played with Sam, cleaned up our living room and cooked lunch. I think I am getting spoiled! It could be a pretty huge shock when we are without family next week and I actually have to cook for myself!
I am feeling really good today. Avery is eating well and did much better last night with her sleeping. And who said this two kid thing was difficult? I fed Avery while playing blocks with Sam! I can totally do this. Right?

Contractions where are you? Part Two.

So we made it to the right hospital, got checked in (they were waiting and ready for us) and were settled into the birthing suite. My contractions were still non-existent so the nurses and doctors weren't really in any rush to do much. They did the first test to just be sure that my water had broken, which of course it had and then we just settled in to wait for labor to progress. Time actually went by really fast and at one point I looked at the clock and could not believe that we had been there for four hours already. My family was driving really fast and making good time and with labor not moving that quickly we were pretty confident that they would make it in time.
Around 8:30pm my contractions had started to kick in but I was still barely wincing from the pain. My doctor had checked me and I was just over 3 cm dilated. He got the IV going with a very slow pitocin drip to start moving labor along but assured me that this would not make things go too fast and cause my family to miss the delivery. Quickly after the IV was in my contractions got much stronger and I asked for the epidural. They put in the orders for the epidural and got the process started.
However, my doctor quickly realized that somehow all of my prenatal blood work had been lost; they did not have a platelet count or any information on my blood work up at all. How do you lose pre-natal records when everything is done on the computer? I was COMPLETELY STUNNED! Apparently you cannot get an epidural without knowing an accurate platelet count. My doctor came out and let me know that we had to put the epidural on hold until the folks from the lab could get there to draw my blood. I started to panic at this point a little because the contractions were really getting bad and I just didn't know how much longer I could truly, physically continue to handle the pain.
You know hospitals, things never quite move as quickly as doctor's and nurses say they will and these folks from the lab were no different. When the woman finally came walking in, acting very nonchalant and like she had all the time in the world I really wanted to bite her head off. It was after 9:30pm when they had finished taking my blood. The doctor said he would need to check me to see how dilated I was before he could have the epidural put in. He checked and then came up and stood right next to me head. He whispered into me ear "You are 9 cm. The worst of the pain is almost over. I don't think you need the epidural. Let's do this without drugs." I almost had a heart attack. He could tell by my reaction that this was not something I was excited about so he went on "The pushing part is a breeze compared to what you have already been through. You are strong and I know that you can do this. Let's do this!" My mom and Chris were pretty quiet but I remember looking at my sister and seeing her eyes light up. She got very excited and between her and the doctor I got a very quick pep-talk about the benefits and thrills of going natural. I don't even remember making the decision I just remember time kind of running out because all of a sudden I HAD to push. It was too late for any other kind of pain meds so away I went with having Avery pain med free!

*We are home now (got home yesterday around 1:00pm, less than 48 hours in the hospital!) and last night was a very sleepless night. Avery wanted to snack all night long, not be set down and just basically not cooperate. And of course in our little apartment every time she would cry Sam heard her and would wake up. My mom is on her way over with Panera and to help us take care of these two sleepy girls this morning.
God bless help from family!

Her Story. Part One.

So the story of Avery's birth started at about 2:00pm on Tuesday when my water broke. I wasn't having any contractions so Chris and I kind of took our time getting Sam taken care of, cleaning up the apartment (okay it was just me that wanted to clean! I did not want family/friends to see a messy apartment while we were in the hospital and other people were taking care of Sam and Polly.) and getting our stuff together. About 3:00pm we were in the car and headed to the hospital. I still wasn't really having contractions so it seemed weird to be going to the hospital but with the amount of fluid that I had lost we knew that I wouldn't be going back home without Avery.
Side Note: The whole "water breaking" thing, at least for me, seems to be more "water continuously flowing out" rather than that giant burst they tend to show on TV and in the movies. I just felt like I kept peeing on myself. It was really very disgusting!

We got to the hospital, found the labor and delivery area and got me ready to be checked out. The nurse was having trouble finding our information in the computer. I had called my doctor's office, who then called the hospital to let them know that we were coming plus we had sent in all the pre-registration paperwork, so it was REALLY weird that they had no record of us. Finally Chris says to the nurse "This is Saint Mary's Hospital, right?". The nurse looks at us, smiles and says "Nope. This is Meriter Hospital. Saint Mary's is just down the street". HA!! We were at the wrong hospital! Who knew that Madison had two hospitals right down the street from each other? I had to get redressed, gather up our stuff and head back to the car. This is the sign we saw when we got back to the car and could not stop laughing at how embarrassing/ridiculous the whole thing was. Kind of a hilarious way to start the journey.
Feeding time calls so I will be back later to continue the story...

sam+avery. sisters. day one.

Go HERE to see a video I just posted for Ab and Chris...

Ab, I hope you love it!

love jod

ps... i kind of like having total control over someone else's blog! HA!

photos of avery lee.

This is Aunt JoJo and I am hijacking the Enlund blog to let you know I got photos of Avery over on my blog at Fresh Art Photography. Go HERE to see photos of the SWEETEST little girl you've ever laid eyes on!

Avery Lee Enlund!

Full story to come later as I am too tired right now to write/type it all down but here is the abbreviated version...
Avery Lee Enlund was born last night at 10:47pm after only an hour and a half of labor. For reasons to be explained later I had a completely pain medication free delivery!! That's right NATURAL CHILD BIRTH! She weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. She is sleeping like a champ and eating some. I am recovering great; who knew that natural child birth made the recovery process SO MUCH EASIER! Chris and I will be in the hospital with Avery until sometime tomorrow. My parents and sister drove like mad-men and actually made it here in time for the delivery and have been taking care of Sam for us today. They are all on their way up to the hospital now for the big sister introduction. I CANNOT WAIT!

So, we are all healthy, happy and doing really well. My sister of course had her camera and we will get those pictures up at some point but here are a couple just to show off the newest member of our family.

"No Progress"

These are two words that a woman in her 39th week of pregnancy DOES NOT want to hear. When my doctor checked me and said "Sorry, no progress. No real change at all." My heart sank. I am tired of being pregnant. I am tired of my back hurting, my ab muscles feeling like they are tearing in two and my body just overall feeling like it has been hit by a truck. I am ready for Avery to be here so today's appointment was not the news I was hoping for. Of course it could still happen at anytime and I will be keeping my fingers crossed but according to my doctor he will see me, still pregnant, at my appointment next week.

Good grief.

Sam went sledding!

I am playing catch up a bit with blog posts so this actually happened a few weeks ago after our first big snow.

Sam's first experience on a sled. She took some coaxing to get on the sled with me but loved it with her daddy.


Sledding with dad.



Sledding with mom.


An attempt to sled on her own!

Avery is in there laughing at me

I have had a few contractions. Saturday we got a lot of stuff done and throughout the day I would have minor (barely make me stop doing what I was doing) kind of contractions. I don't know if they are braxton hicks, pre-labor or what but they felt new and like something was getting ready to happen. So we got kind of excited, started doing last minute things to get ready thinking that surely this was the start and sometime Saturday night or Sunday we would be heading to the hospital. Saturday night/Sunday... NOTHING. Not one little contraction. I am pretty sure she was just messing with us. Then last night I had one, yes just ONE, contraction that was strong enough to wake me up at 3:45am. Which of course left me laying there for several hours waiting for the next one. It never came. She is just playing with my anxiety and emotions.

Avery - you are not being very nice to your mother!

I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon and I cannot wait to ask him what causes ONE stinking contraction! Or have I become completely delusional and am mistaking something else for contractions!! Sadly the second option is probably the one that my husband and family would tend to lean toward.

waiting = no sleeping

As a kid I never slept on nights like Christmas eve or the night before we would leave for vacation. I was just too excited and filled with anticipation that I would toss and turn not able to turn my brain off. Who am I kidding, I don't sleep on those nights as an adult either! And apparently waiting for Miss Avery means I don't sleep either! I just know she is days away from being here and the anticipation, excitement, worry and every other emotion possible has me laying awake all night. With every little movement, twinge or change in position by her my brain turns right back on and my heart jumps; "are you ready now?". I just can't wait to meet her, to know that she is healthy and to have her be HERE. To get the next part of our adventure started. But I have to wait until she is ready and that is killing me. Patience does not come easily for me.

So, its 6:15 AM let's get this day started already, I am sick of laying here wide awake!!