One Month to Go!!

There's about one month left in this pregnancy... WOO HOO!!! Despite my record breaking weight gain, it hasn't been too bad... oh and despite my puking and fatigue (who am I kidding, pregnancy sucks). I am so glad this is almost over and in a few weeks I'll be holding a brand new, beautiful baby (boy? girl?) in my arms. I'm so excited.

Speaking of babies, my cousin Emily just had a baby girl, last night actually! I haven't seen pictures yet, but she's 7 pounds 15 ounces and they named her Lauren. Congrats Emily and family!!

Well, this is just a short blog post to say that baby number 3 will be here soon! Oh and to tell you the funny thing Rosie said the other day. Rosie - "Mommy, I want to get married." Me - "ok you can when you're bigger." Rosie (stands on tiptoe) - "I'm bigger now, I'm ready!" Later on that day she looked at Joseph and said "Joseph, you're face is all messy. Nobody will marry you." Haa haa, that girl is obsessed with the idea of marriage. I think she just wants a fancy dress and flowers.

My next blog post will most likely be when the new baby arrives (unless I find the time to post some long awaited pictures).

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

It's been a LONG while!

I feel like I haven't updated this blog in FOREVER!! I started this blog in the first place to write about everything that's been happening in my life, so that when I'm old and forgetful, I'll have everything written down for my kids to read. I've been really bad at updating (sorry future self).

Ok first things first....

The new baby....
I went to the midwife this week and found out the baby is in a breached position, meaning the head is up, instead of down like it should be. I have about 9 weeks for the baby to turn around, but it still makes me a little nervous. If the baby doesn't turn around, I might have to have a C-section (something that terrifies me!) I can actually feel the baby's head at the top of my tummy which is pretty cool, and sometimes uncomfortable.

Naming the baby...
Again, like always, we're having a tough time coming up with a name for the baby. Dave has a few on his list that he LOVES, but I'm not the biggest fan. For example, he likes the name Victor for a boy. I find it too harsh sounding and I don't think it flows with the other names in our family. He also likes the name Wolf, but come on... WOLF??? That's just horrible. Also on his list of boy names are Will and Clayton. At least those are reasonable choices but neither sounds perfect to me. As for girls names he likes Juliet, Kelly, and Lucy. I like all of these but I don't LOVE them.... oh and besides, the baby's middle name will be Kelly (if it's a girl - Grandmother's maiden name) so obviously Kelly Kelly won't work.

I don't really like any boys names right now. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING feels right to me. If the baby is a boy I'm going to have to just "settle" on a name, something I would hate to do. I honestly check the baby name website on a daily basis for some inspiration and nothing jumps out at me. I see names that I think would be cool if someone else named their baby that, but nothing perfect for my baby. Maybe this just means I'm having a girl? As for girl names, well... there's a name that I love (I won't reveal that just yet) and I asked Dave about it. He said it was "ok" but not his first choice. I insisted that he re-think it because I think it's the perfect name if we have a girl. A few days later, with the baby name book in my hand, I said "Dave pick a number between 1 and 430 (or however many pages happened to be in the book)." He picked page 88. Then I asked him to pick a number between 1-10. He picked 8... WELL... guess what name it landed on?? It was the "perfect name" that I had mentioned to him earlier that week!!!! When I showed it to him he said "you gypsy woman!! How did you do that?" I didn't do anything, and I think by him "choosing" that name is a sign that we should choose it. We'll see. Dave still isn't convinced.

Rosie...
Rosie is cute as can be! We just signed her up for a program at the YMCA were she does crafts and plays games and then has a swim lesson. We can just drop her off and the instructors take care of the rest. It will be good for her to experience being away from Mom and Dad and interact with other kids and adults, plus I'm super happy about the swim lesson aspect. I'm nervous as heck to leave her alone for 2 hours, especially since she's shy about telling people when she has to go potty, but she starts JK in September so we all need to get used to it. I think I'm going to sit outside the room on her first day, just because I'm paranoid.

On another cute note, Rosie learned how to say the 3rd article of faith all by herself! She did it in primary and got a chocolate :) Oh and she's been jumping around a lot when she gets excited, not very gracefully, but maybe ballet lessons (next September) will fix that.

One more cute Rosie thing. When Joseph gets into trouble (throwing shoes off the shoe shelf, spilling Cheerios etc) Rosie will say "Joseph, Mommy and I aren't very happy about you. Please be more careful." And if he's really bad, he gets sent to timeout and Rosie will say "go to time out and get a bum smack. When you're ready to be a good boy you can come out." Hee hee she's a little mommy in the making :)

Joseph...
Joseph has become a little smartie pants. He knows pretty much all his letters, even most lower case. He will look at a book and point to the letters and name them. I'm so impressed considering he's not even two years old yet.

He's also been slowly getting into the "terrible two's" phase and protesting everything. If you say "Joseph come here and pick up your toys" Joseph will respond (while crying on the floor) "no thank you!" At least he's being polite haa haa.

Next week Joseph is going to get his first hair cut. I think he looks super cute with his crazy curly baby hair, but it is pretty long. I'll post pictures of that when it happens.

Any way, I know I promised to post pictures of all kinds of stuff from WAY earlier in the year. Maybe I'll do a blog post of just pictures. Ah, so much catching up to do...

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

Paralyzed

Well.... Dave went on another business trip. I always miss him when he goes... but this time around I had big plans, at least I thought. Dave was headed to the quilt shop, so I decided to finish his quilt top so he could bring it and have it quilted. He left at 4am on Tuesday and I finished his quilt at 3:45am, only 15 minutes to spare!!!

The next morning I awoke to my Mother banging on my front door. She had come over to help me paint my kitchen. We spent the day painting and finished up the next day. Next on the agenda was to make new curtains and a duvet cover, clean perfectly, and decorate our bedroom all nice. WELL...

On the third day that Dave was gone, I bent over to pick up Joseph so he could sit in his high chair for breakfast. I didn't even touch Joseph when my lower back completely seized up on me and I couldn't move. I couldn't stand back up and the pain was so strong that I ended up on the floor. I sat on the floor for a few minutes in a complete panic. I was thinking "how can I get back up? How long will this pain last? What if I can't get back up?" I finally grabbed onto a chair and used all my strength to get back up. I haven't been the same since.

I've spent the last few days basically stuck in my bed. I can't even lean forward to change a diaper, give a hug, or even walk. I luckily had friends and family come over to take care of the kids until Dave came back Saturday night. Oh and since I'm pregnant, I can't even take heavy medication to solve my problem. Dave has to help me go to the bathroom which is embarrassing and frustrating. I can't lift my legs so when we go to the bathroom. I have to hold onto Dave and pivot my feet (like I'm doing the sideways moonwalk) until I get to the bathroom. Then holding on to the counter and the wall, I slowly and painfully lower myself to the toilet. Getting off the toilet is a whole other ordeal. It takes everything out of me to get to the bathroom and I feel like I'm going to hyperventilate from all the heavy breathing. Today Rosie saw Dave and I headed down the hall to the bathroom. She said "Mommy and Daddy are dancing." Awww at least someone if finding joy in my injury.

I think the worst part about having this injury is that I can't be with my kids. I cried when Joseph needed a diaper change and I was unable to even get off the couch to get a fresh diaper off the shelf. I cried when he wanted to be picked up to cuddle and I couldn't do it. I cry when I can't get off my bed to tuck my kids in to bed and lean over and kiss them goodnight. I hate that I can't cook them dinner or do their laundry. I worry about the baby in my tummy, about how this might be affecting him/her and if the medication I'm taking is really safe. I feel bad for Dave who's already exhausted from his business trip and has come home to a crippled wife and fussy children to deal with. I know he hates to see me like this and he hates to see me cry. As a family, we really are having a hard time dealing with it all. The kids feel neglected, I'm sure, and Dave feels overwhelmed. I never wish this upon anyone.

I pray that this will pass quickly so life can resume. I suppose this is a learning experience, to have more empathy and to help others in times of need. Next week family from out of town will be here. I pray to be healed by then.

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

January 2011

Hi Everyone!

I really should be writing in more detail here, but I'm feeling rather pregnant and exhausted. So here's the short form of things happening this month... Maybe when I'm feeling up to it, I'll elaborate and add pictures.

- Went to Utah for the first time. Rosie and Joseph's first time on an airplane. They loved it!
- Stayed with Katie's family for a week.
- Met baby David (so cute)
- Went through the Salt Lake Temple. So beautiful and HUGE inside.
- Went to Park City and saw the Olympic training track for luge.
- Had my new sewing machine shipped to Utah. Also had some quilt fabric sent to Utah.
- Rosie told Dave she was going to Utah to see baby David and baby Jesus haahaa.
- Rosie kept on saying "I want a wedding dress and I want to get married to Joseph in the temple"
- Enjoyed the Olive Garden more that ever while in Utah! Wish they had it here.
- After returning to Canada kids were on a CRAZY sleep schedule.
- One night Rosie discovered my liquid eyeliner, drew on our bed and on herself. (pictures coming soon)
- Rosie calls herself the "helper girl" she loves helping to make cookies and macaroni.
- Joseph can sing most of "I love to see the temple" I'll sing it to him and leave out words. He always fills them in.
- Starting a new quilt for Dave using Salt Box Harvest fabric.

That's it so far. More details coming, I promise.

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

This Christmas was SUPPOSED to be low key. We weren't going to spend a lot or buy crazy amounts of toys for the kids.... WELL.... never mind that. I think Santa must be confusing my kids with some kids that sit nicely, do what they are told 100% of the time, go to bed on time, clean up after themselves, and share with each other. Rosie and Joseph got millions of presents!!

Here's the list of gifts

Rosie

1. Pajamas - from Mommy and Daddy (they get these every year)
2. Color Wonder set - Rapunzel - from Mommy and Daddy
3. Color Wonder set- Disney Princesses - from Mommy and Daddy
4. 3 bath time body paints - from Mommy and Daddy
5. 2 lip balms - from Mommy and Daddy
6. Belle Barbie - from Mommy and Daddy
7. Sleeping Beauty Barbie - from Mommy and Daddy
8. Ariel puzzle - from Mommy and Daddy
9. Princess puzzle - from Mommy and Daddy
10. Cinderella puzzle - from Mommy and Daddy
11. Barbie House - from Josh and Meghan
12. 2 ballerina Barbies - from Gabrielle
13. Alice in Wonderland coloring book - from Nana and Nannu
14. My Little Pony set- from Nana and Nannu
15. Snow White figurine set - from Nana Eleanor
16. Cinderella dress - from Grandma and Grandpa
17. Princess Jasmine outfit - from John and Michael
18. Tinkerbell play mat - from April
19. cute cookie baking accessories - from April
20. Dora toothpaste - from Nana and Nannu
21. 3 dresses for church - from Mommy and Daddy
22. 2 long sleeve shirts - from Mommy and Daddy
23. 1 sweater - from Mommy and Daddy
24. 1 t-shirt - from Mommy and Daddy
25. Money

Joseph

1. Pajamas - - from Mommy and Daddy
2. Bowl of play fruit - from Mommy and Daddy
3. Winnie the Pooh tooth brush - from Mommy and Daddy
4. Old Navy sweater - from Mommy and Daddy
5. Dress shirt - from Mommy and Daddy
6. Canada Olympic outfit - from Nana and Nannu
7. Play lawn mower - from Nana and Nannu
8. Pinocchio movie- from Grandma and Grandpa
9. Little People Garage - from Nana Eleanor
10. Robin Hood movie - from April
11. Leap Frog Text and Learn - from April
12. Outfit - from Nana Eleanor
13. Wooden truck - from Josh and Meghan
14. Teddy Bear - from Josh and Meghan
15. puppet - from Grandma and Grandpa
16. Cars book with figurines - from Nana and Nannu
17. Construction set - from Nana Eleanor
18. Children's Place sweater - from Mommy and Daddy
19. Dinosaur book - from Nana and Nannu
20. Money

I'm sure there's a lot more things, I just can't remember right now. To add to the gifts, we're also going on a family trip to Utah to see Mike and Katie and baby David, and I'm having some new Keen sandals (for the kids) shipped to Utah.

On Christmas Eve, we stayed home with the kids and had "Christmas Fettuccine" (from the movie The Holiday), we watched "Joy to the World" and open 1 present each. They opened pajamas. Then we put out milk and cookies for Santa. The next morning, Rosie was too scared to look under the Christmas tree. She's terrified of Santa and I think she thought she'd see him if she went into the room with the Christmas tree. Any way, after much convincing she made her way into the room of presents! She was happy as can be from that time onward. She would open one present and get so excited that she's shake and ask to open the packaging right then and there. Joseph didn't really understand, but he did walk around with his new tooth brush for about half an hour.

After Christmas morning at out house, we drove to the Mifsud's to open more presents and have a pancake breakfast.

We then headed to my parent's house for the remainder of Christmas Day. When Rosie opened her Barbie house, she wasn't interested in ANYTHING else. Gabrielle tried to get her to open the presents she got her (barbies) but Rosie said "No thank-you. I don't need any more presents". She also walked around asking "when we were going to have the cake for Jesus birthday" haa haa. Joseph, was teething on Christmas (poor little guy) but he still had fun playing with everyone's toys. He learned how to climb out of his playpen a few days before Christmas (talk about timing) however... he's been sleeping in his bog boy bed without any problems (more or less).

On boxing day we went to the Mifsud's for Christmas dinner take 2. April, Colin, Nana Eleanor, Nannu Charlie, Nana Olga, and Grandpa Denis, were all there for dinner and gift opening. The kids are so lucky!

Well, that's it for this year. We still have a quick New Years Day celebration at my parent's house with my Mom's side of the family. Now it's time to clean the house, and make room for all the new goodies! After that, we're packing for Utah!!

Christmas pictures coming soon!

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

Joseph's words at 18 months

Joseph is just over 18 months now, which means he has to go to the Dr. for yet another check up and immunization (poor little guy). I've got to say, I absolutely HATE sitting there, with him on my lap, anticipating two needles going into my cute baby's chubby legs. I'm know he hates it more, and that Dave hates it more than all of us combined. Dave is the BIGGEST wimp when it comes to needles. He'd rather get punched in the face than give a blood sample. Any way, I digress... this blog post is about Joseph. He was supposed to see the Dr. today, but since he's a little sick and on antibiotics, we had to reschedule. At the 18 month check up, besides the dreaded needle, the Dr. will ask a number of developmental questions. One of those questions is "can your baby say at least 50 words". That sounds like a lot for an 18 month old and most parents panic and think their baby is delayed. The funny thing is that MOST babies can say more than 50 words at 18 months, parents just never take the time to count them. So today, I'm writing down everything he can say and how he pronounces them with his little baby voice.

1. Mama (obviously)
2. Dada (this was his first word)
3. More. He uses this in a sentence saying "I want more" or in Joseph talk "my wan more"
4. Ok but it sounds more like "ah-kay"
5. No but it sounds more like "nah"
6. Cup, but Joseph says "cup-ah nun" He adds "ah-nun" to a lot of words.
7. Tummy or "tum-may"
8. Cuddle or "ka-dle"
9. Christmas. He'll only say this if you first say "we wish you a Merry..." and he says "kam-mis"
10. Cookie or in Joseph's words "kah-kee"
11. Nana
12. Banana or "mana" That's how Rosie used to say it.
13. All done or "a dunnn"
14. Up or "up-ah-nun" or "up-ah"
15. Dora
16. Camel
17. Monkey "ma-key"
18. Elmo or "amo"
19. Diaper or "dapee-nun"
20. Baby or "be-bee"
21. Open it or in Joseph's words "ah-pen it"
22. Bath or "baa"
23. Cow
24. Two
25. Purple or "pa-ple"
26. Rosie but he says it like "Ra-dee"
27. Airplane or "a-pane"
28. Amen
29. Ball
30. Boots (usually referring to the monkey on Dora) "boo"
31. Car
32. I'm going to get you (yes that is several words) "Ida get do"
33. Yogurt but he says it like "ya-gut"
34. Book or "book-ah"
35. Help me "hap mea"
36. Your welcome but he says it like "a weh-kum" If you tell him to say thank-you, he just respond with "a weh-kun"
37. Nose or "nah"
38. Yes or "yah"
39. Grandma or "ga-ma"
40. Yay
41. nap or "nap-uh-nun"
42. Dear Zoo (it's a book) "deew doo"
43. Puppy "pup pae"
44. There "dare"
45. Sock or "hawk"
46. I drop my shoe "a dop a do"
47. backpack or "baa paak"
48. Map or "maa"
49. oh no sounds more like "oh nah"
50. water "wadurn"
51. Cat in the Hat or "cat in in hat"
52. Thomas or "tom-ah"
53. I love you or "Ah wove do"

See there you have it, over 50 words. He says more than that I'm sure, but I can't remember them all.

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

Happy 3rd Birthday Rosie! Rosie's Birth Story

Happy Birthday Rosie!! Today is Rosie's 3rd birthday and to celebrate, we're going to see Tangled!! It's the new Disney movie about Rapunzel and it came out today, in 3D. Luckily, Rosie likes wearing "sunglasses" so it'll be easy getting her to wear them during the movie. I know she'll like it because she's been watching all the "Rosie's Tea Party" Youtube videos and Rapunzel is her favorite.

Any way... here's Rosie's birth story....

About a week after Rosie was born, I asked Dave to help me type out her birth story. I never really had time to type it out myself because Rosie was always nursing so I dictated, and Dave typed. Now looking back at the Word document, it's obvious that Dave changed my wording quite a bit. Oh well, it's still an accurate description. The only problem is that we never finished writing it. Dave had his sister over when we were documenting, and he wanted to hang out with her, so he promised me that he'd help me write it out later. That never happened. I really hope I can finish it with all the details I wanted to write 3 years ago. Here it is...

On November 23^rd around 2 am in the morning I started to feel some mild contractions and I knew that I was going to go into labour soon. I took a Tylenol and some Gravol and slept through most of it until 5 am, when the contractions got so strong that I couldn’t sleep anymore. Around 6 am I woke up David to tell him that I was in labour. He immediately got up and started timing them. The contractions were still pretty sporadic at first, so we knew we had some time before the baby would come. We ate breakfast, cleaned up, and got everything ready to go to the hospital. Most importantly I put some makeup on so that I would look half decent when the baby came out! Around 9am we decided to call our midwife, Rhea, to tell her what was happening. She said it sounded like things could be happening, but there was a chance that the contractions could stop during the day (as hormone levels are lower in daytime) and that it might be a false alarm. She told me to go for a walk, have lunch and not worry about it too much, but to call her if the contractions became stronger and more regular. Only ten minutes later the contractions went from annoying and slightly uncomfortable to moaning and groaning and intense pain. All I wanted to do was lie in bed, because every time I sat up or walked around the contractions felt much worse. David described the sounds I was making as the “cry of a banshee”! I called the midwife back at noon because I knew that this was the real deal and that baby was coming whether we liked it or not. She talked to me while I was having a contraction, deemed that this was in fact true labour, and said that she would be there in half an hour. She came over at 12:30 pm, checked me, and declared that I was in labour, vowing not to go anywhere until I had the baby. She and Dave helped me labour in different positions, including sitting on the exercise ball, standing with my legs apart leaning on Dave or the bathroom counters, sitting on the toilet, and walking around the apartment. While I was sitting on the exercise ball, I felt a huge gush of liquid leave me, which the midwife claimed to be my water breaking (this was around 2 pm). Suddenly the contractions became even stronger than before, and substantially more painful. Enough became enough and I decided that I was in enough pain to merit going to the hospital, as I knew that I could get an epidural there. David tried to talk me out of it as he promised my past self he would, by saying things like “millions of women have birthed without drugs”, to which I replied, “poor them!” He also said that my mom had done it five times without drugs, to which I snapped back, “well she’s an idiot!” Despite his noble effort, I wanted drugs and no one was going to stop me from getting them, even though he and Rhea both tried extremely diligently. We arrived at the hospital at about 4 pm and David dropped me off at the front entrance and I went up to the labour ward while he parked the car free of charge at the Gallentoft’s across the street. The people in the elevator were well aware of where I needed to go! At the hospital I was hooked up to an I.V and was told that I had to wait for the bag of fluid to enter into me almost completely before I could have to doctor give me an epidural. I had the feeling that the midwife was moving as slow as possible, hoping that I would give birth naturally before the epidural took place. However my temperature started to rise and so did the babies heart rate, so in light of these events, even Rhea thought the epidural would be effective at relaxing me, and thus cooling me down and slowing baby’s heart rate. - That's where it ended.... here's the rest...

So as stated earlier, we arrived at the hospital around 4 pm and hooked me up to an IV. One of the nurses came into the room and told us that they couldn't give me the epidural until they had a blood sample, and the blood sample they took hours earlier wouldn't do. The vile they took my blood in was expired. They would have to re-take it, and I would have to wait even longer for the epidural. Finally at 7 pm the anesthesiologist came in. They asked Dave to leave the room and come back in 15-20 minutes (I guess at Joseph Brant Hospital, only nurses and Dr can be in the room while they give an epidural). They had me lean forward over a pillow and the midwives held me still while the anesthesiologist disinfected my spine and gave me the needle. I must say, this is one of the creepiest things ever. Seriously, they sit you there while you're having unbearable contractions and stick a large needle into your spine to numb the pain. They also have to keep the IV going the entire time and keep the blood pressure cuff on, so they can test your blood pressure every few minutes. I also had to take some antibiotics and Tylenol because of my fever. Oh man, I'm getting the creeps just thinking about it. The good news is that the pain did in fact stop minutes after. I felt MUCH better and I could actually have a conversation with Dave. I decided to call my Mom because earlier that day she had left a message on our machine that sounded something like "You're not picking up the phone, you must be at the hospital woo-hoo!" So I called her around 8 pm and told her I was at the hospital and that I was going to have my baby. I started to tear up when I told her because I was starting to realize the reality of the situation and I was so happy and excited. I could tell in her voice that she too was starting to cry a little. I told her to stay by the phone because she'd be getting some good news soon. The midwives came into the room and told me that I should get some sleep while I could because pushing was going to be a lot of work. They put a couple of rolled up towels under me to keep me propped up on one side and dimmed the lights. Soon I was fast asleep and waiting for the baby's head to crown so I could push. During the time I was sleeping, Dave went home to get a few more things that we needed and to call his parents and let them know what was going on.

Around 10:30 pm the midwives asked me how I was feeling and asked if I was feeling any pressure. I told them that I couldn't feel anything. Lucia (my secondary midwife) check to see how dilated I was. She told me I was fully dilated and that I'd be meeting my baby soon. When she told me, I started to cry. I couldn't believe that in a little while I would finally be holding a precious baby in my arms. Rhea, Lucia, and Dianne (the student midwife) got everything ready to go and the next thing I knew, I was pushing. Dave and one of the midwives had to hold onto my legs to help me push. I laughed and said "Sorry, I only had time to shave one leg this morning!" Since I had the epidural and couldn't feel when contractions were coming, I had to look on the monitor and when the numbers went up, it meant I was having a contraction and that I needed to push. I'm sure Dave and I both thought that the baby would be out in a few minutes, but it took MUCH longer than that. The midwives told me to push my chin down and push my feet against their hands. I was also told hold my breath and to push as hard as I could. As the babies head began to crown Dave started to get excited. He and the midwives were all saying things like "You're doing great! You're so strong, keep going!". As I was pushing, I noticed Dave making a grossed out/concerned face. I said "Dave! Stop making those faces!!" He apologized, but kept on doing it (I don't think he realized he was making those faces, but I sure noticed). We were all watching the clock as I was pushing. Around 11:45 pm I realized that I wasn't going to have the baby until the 24th, oh well, no big deal, we like even numbers.

Well at midnight I started pushing harder and harder. I pushed and pushed and I could feel the babies head coming out slowly. I said to Dave "This hurts so much". The midwives call it the ring of fire (the area that's being stretched, and most women rip) and it really feels like it's on fire! Luckily for me, the midwives have a warn wash cloth ready to apply to the skin to sooth and prevent it from ripping, and it worked. Rhea asked Dave if he would like to catch the baby. Of course he wanted to, so he washed up and got ready. He tried to wear gloves but they didn't fit right. I kept on pushing and felt the head come out. The midwives said "time of birth 12:11 am" and then checked to see if the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. We were all clear so I pushed one last time and...

The next thing I knew Dave was placing the most beautiful baby on my chest!!! I immediately started sobbing tears of joy. I couldn't believe she was finally here and that Dave and I were parents. (I'm getting emotional just thinking about it). I asked Dave what "it" was and he said "ah, I think it's a girl, but I didn't get a very good look." So I did a quick check, and yes, we had a little girl! She was the most beautiful baby girl I had EVER seen in my life. I was in love the very second I saw her. I couldn't stop staring at her and feeling like the luckiest, happiest person in the world. Dave was by my side with tears in his eyes too. She was crying and she sounded like a little kitten. I can honestly say that this was the most amazing moment in my whole entire life. I was even happier knowing that I had been right all along, that I was indeed having a girl (we never found out before hand). She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces, which is the perfect text-book weight according to my midwife.

I spent the next 24 hours trying to sleep, but mostly just staring in amazement and gratitude for having such a beautiful miracle in my arms. The next morning Dave came to the hospital and said "I think I like the name Rose, we should call her that." I was very happy he agreed with me because a few days ago, when I mentioned the name Rose, he wasn't too enthusiastic. We named her Rose, with the middle name Mary.

Rosie has been a blessing in our lives ever since. We love you very much! Happy birthday sweetie!!