Monday, January 27, 2014

Happy 4th Birthday, Sydney Jo!

When I say to myself, "She's been in our lives for four years," it sounds like a long time and I can't believe it. But most of the time, especially in the last few weeks, I feel like I'm dealing with and interacting with someone much older than four, and it seems perfectly logical to me that she turned four-years old yesterday. Either way, our first baby is four--happy birthday, Sydney Jo!

Here are four things about 4-year old Sydney:
1. She is fearless. Never do I have to worry about her when she's faced with a new situation. She just jumps right in and doesn't worry about not knowing the people around her or the fact that she is in an unfamiliar place. And her fearlessness (combined with a little bit of clumsiness) on the playground gives us daily heart palpitations.
2. She likes to GO. As in, every night before bed and each day before we put her down for a nap, she asks, "Where are we going when we wake up?" She asks the same thing once she's awake: "Where are we going?" The girl likes to be out and about I tell you.
3. She values exactness and correctness. She likes for things to be just so, and insists everyone around her uphold the same standard that is expected of her (read: when her little sister does something that Sydney would get in trouble for, Sydney loves to use her "mommy voice" to correct Lorelei). Chet and I are striving to cultivate this trait so that it works FOR her and not against her later in life (we'd like to spare her from developing extreme bossiness with a side of OCD).
4. She's a girly girl. She loves clothes and likes to get dressed as soon as possible upon waking (unless she's wearing new pajamas, then she prefers to continue wearing those). When opening birthday presents from us yesterday, she barely acknowledged the new dance tights, Hello Kitty dance bag, and "Sydney" cup, and swooned over the new dress and shoes (as in, she immediately took off the current dress she was wearing and put on the new one). She also likes to have her hair fixed, and has become quite opinionated on how it gets styled. (We struggle when she says something like, "Fix my hair like Bailey's." Um, Sydney, mommy barely knows who Bailey is, much less how she wears her hair...)

Here are just a few iPhone pictures from Syd's special day. 1) It started out with some quiet time in the morning with Daddy and Baby Brother (and new pajamas). 2) She picked out her own outfit with no input from me (she chose to wear a dress AND a skirt). 3) She wore a Tinkerbell crown to school. 4-6) We celebrated her birthday and her friend's birthday at school (Lorelei was downright thrilled to be so included). 7) She was pooped, even after her nap. 8) She loves the doctor kit from Papa John. (She says, I'm going to listen to your heart "beep.") 9) She chose a Tinkerbell cake (I wasn't aware she was such a huge Tinkerbell fan). 10-11) Her dinner consisted of not much more than cake after she blew out the candles. 12) Lorelei was happy to watch the candles get blown out. 13) Syd is happy to finally turn four. 14) Fancy birthday hair-do.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

New Blog Name

Check out the new name of our blog, and let me know what you think! (My brilliant idea of "Chet & Ashley and Three Little Navy Brats" was rejected.)

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Ford's Birth Story: Part 1

I'm finally transferring Ford's birth story from my head to paper (well, virtual paper). I never wrote out Sydney's or Lorelei's birth stories because, well, they just weren't that interesting. But the girls' labors and deliveries will come out as Ford's story unfolds, because my experiences with the girls shaped my decisions regarding Ford's birth. And I have no idea how long this post(s) will be, so take a minute to go pop some popcorn and put on your comfy pants, because it might take a while...

(You may like to know that I am using my iPhone to write this, and that I am kicked back in the recliner in our bedroom with Ford snoring on my chest. Ain't no one got time to sit properly at a computer these days. :-))

The spark I needed to finally record this life event occurred last night at "Wine Night" (yes, this little event is just as glorious as it sounds). My labor and delivery nurse neighbor who delivered Ford reminded me of some things that I had forgotten about the night he was born, and I wanted to record them before I forgot again.

Wait, back up. Let's dissect that last sentence.

"My LABOR AND DELIVERY NURSE neighbor who delivered Ford..." This suggests that a labor and delivery nurse delivered my baby, and not a doctor. Which is a true statement. And something that I am perfectly fine with, because to quote my dear friend Angela (after hearing the story): "I've always thought nurses do 95% of the work--turns out she did 100!" (No offense to any doctors who may read this blog.)

"My labor and delivery nurse NEIGHBOR who delivered Ford..." This suggests that my neighbor delivered Ford, which is also a true statement. She lives five houses down from us. Thankfully she delivered him at the hospital where she works, and not in our neighborhood (not that I am against home births, I just wasn't prepared for that).

So, in case anyone is still trying to put the pieces together (I'm sure no one is), my labor and delivery nurse neighbor delivered Ford, and we rehashed the event last night at a social function involving wine. I'd like to think this makes Ford's birth story interesting, if not a little out of the ordinary. You be the judge!

(By now you're probably thinking, "Is she ever going to start telling this story?! I've already finished my popcorn for crying out loud!")

And the answer is, no, I am not going to finish (ahem, start) the story right now. Because I need to get out of this recliner and join the rest of my family downstairs, even though Ford is still happily snoring away. And I am going to stifle my perfectionist tendencies by hitting "Publish" on this post instead of waiting to create the perfect post, complete with pictures. I have to start somewhere, or else the memory of Ford's birth will slowly fade, and then I'll only be left with my perfectionist tendencies...

Aforementioned snoring baby:

Friday, January 17, 2014

Great Read and a Picture

I know it's been a while and I have a lot to catch up on, but I wanted to share this great read:

http://moneysavingmom.com/2014/01/beauty-being-authentic.html

And here is a picture of sweet Ford:

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Baby Update and Belly Pics

Still no baby (thank goodness)!  I had an OB appointment yesterday (New Years Eve), where I thought they would check to see if I was dilated at all, but they did not.  I could have asked to be checked, but quickly realized I did not want to know if I had made any progress yet.  Baby Boy will still be in my belly when Chet gets home!  He will, he will!
 
Speaking of bellies, here are the last four weeks of belly photos (by the way, the word "belly" is starting to get to me...unless Lorelei says it, because she pronounces it "bebby", and it's cute).  My dear friend Angela suggested I compare what I look like now to how I looked when I was pregnant with Lorelei, to see if there is a noticeable difference in the way I am carrying:
35 Weeks with Lorelei
35 Weeks Now
36 Weeks with Lorelei
36 Weeks Now

37 Weeks with Lorelei
37 Weeks Now

38 Weeks with Lorelei
38 Weeks Now

 
My opinion is that I don't look too much different, even though it's a little hard to tell because I'm not wearing the exact same thing in each picture.  That 38-week picture with Lorelei is the last one I have before she was born (she was born at 39 weeks, 2 days), which is a little frightening.  I also think Lorelei looks a little lower than Baby Boy does.
 
I hope everyone had a great New Years Day!  The girls and I just hung around the house, except when we took a walk around the neighborhood and then took Chet's truck for a drive around the base.  The girls love riding in his truck.
 
Often the last thing Sydney says to me before I say goodnight to her is, "Where are we going when we wake up?"  50% of the time I don't have an answer for her; the girl loves to go.  But I think all three of us are ready to venture out into public tomorrow for a change of scenery.  I hope everyone who has to return to work tomorrow has a great rest of the week!  Happy New Year!