Finishing June...SURPRISE it's July!

Wow this summer is flying by...I guess that's what happens when you have a baby right at the beginning. June is a blur, thank goodness I found the time to write my blog. Shortly after my mom left for home...the next day we started packing up for our first Tie Lake week with Grace. Matt's brother Peter, his wife Kristi and their two kids were driving out their from Utah to stay in Canada for the month. We are so happy they are going to be staying in Okotoks nice and close to us:) We had some good times at Tie, but some crappy weather...Matt, Mark and Peter helped build a new dock and it is HUGE. We had to drive home for 2 days so Matt could work. He is officially on paternity leave for the next 4 months! WOOHOO! We figured the kids are only so young for so long and life is too short, so why not have a kick A summer:) lol. We headed back up to Tie and stayed for another few days with Mark, Caitlin, Pete, Kristi and Mum and Dad. Parks went wakeboarding with Matt for the first time EVER! We were sooo pumped for him. He did awesome, no crying and very excited about doing it! So far he is the youngest in the family to do it...at 2 1/2 years old:) He LOVES being at the lake, he jumps off the dock for Matt or I to catch him...and a great perk this year is that he loves wearing his life jacket! so I don't have to have a heart attack when he's on the dock by himself:) Grace is doing fantastic...sleeping better and better each night usually 4-5 hours, eat, than up every 3 hours. She's mostly in her stroller at Tie so she sleeps well with all the bumpin around:)
When we got back to Okotoks, Matt's bike wasn't working...after charging the battery all day, getting eatin alive by mosquitos on the side of the hwy, having to push it onto his dad's trailer, buying a new battery, pushing back on to his dad's trailer, taking it apart at his parents house only to find out it needed gas and was EMPTY! lol nice one babe:)
Besides that it has been great having Kristi and her two little rippers here in Okotoks, they are staying at Matt's parents place, so we are able to get together alot. On the last really hot day we set up the sprinkler in my front yard and let the kids have some fun...I'm sure the neighbours were wondering why we weren't in the backyard like most people would do, but the kids had a blast so it didn't matter:)

Parks holding Grace at 4 weeks old

I just love this face!

Having 'snuggle' time

Cutiest bikini ever! Thanks to Auntie Bin Bin

Our brave water boy

With Daddy

The cabin life...where its fun to play anywhere

Mark and Matt building their parents a new dock

Anderson and Parks getting into trouble

still getting into trouble:)

Parks,Chase and Morgan playing in the canoe with water inside...now we're gettin creative

Our sweet little girl being a good little baby

Lifting the HEAVY dock...

The new dock

Parks jumping from the loft

Parks showing off his new moth friend

Parks and Anderson gettin some sweet air!

Parks first time getting ready to go wakeboarding AND they did a dock start!

Waving at his Mommy, what a brave boy!

WOOHOO

soooo much to blog!

We have been having so much fun with Nana and Papa visiting (my Mom and Dad). Parks is loving life! It has made his transition as a big brother so easy. Having my parents here has helped me to not have to completely abandon the things that he and I use to do before Gracie arrived... snuggling mostly. He loves Grace to pieces. His only 'jealous' thing that he does is try to take my breastfeeding pillow from me when I'm feeding Grace...weird but yes that's what he does. He also asks to sleep with it at nighttime sometimes, which I let him do now cuz I feed her in bed at nighttime. anyways Parks considers this sharing, so it works out well. I know it wont last long. The weather is FINALLY starting to cooperate with us now, it rained the whole week my dad was here! We had one good day when we went for a walk down the Sheep River. Now that he's been gone the weather has been SUNNY! sorry Dad:) Mom, Matt, Parks, Grace and I went to the Okotoks Parade last Saturday, it was neat to see all the different floats etc lots of horses which made Parks and I happy:) The following day was Father's Day, after church we went to Matt's parents house for dinner and had yummy fecent:) The 3 weeks with my mom are kind of a blur now... i wish we could have done more outings, but it was still a great time. I've had some rough nights with Grace nursing every 2 hours...than taking an hour to get her to fall asleep...not fun. Its been hard not having the energy to do things that I wanted to do. My mom has kept herself occupied with our garden...she has made it BEAUTIFUL! She also helped our grass grow like crazy:) haha and stained our front porch! Mom you are a machine! Not to mention doing all our laundry, keeping the house under control and Parks... the list goes on and on. She spoils us rotten and we love you for it:) Last week I was given a baby shower by my sister in law and mother in law. It was so nice to see everyone and be spoiled once again. Thank you so much Caitlin. The next day I got away for the afternoon to get my hair highlighted while Nana babysat Parks. Thank you again Anona for keeping Grace happy while I got pampered:) I love my hair! It was a muchly needed pick me up. Plus our 5 year wedding anniversary was the day after! Matt and I went out for dinner while Nana watched the kiddos:) Matt just bought a new motorbike, so we went cruising around Okotoks for a bit. It was really nice to feel so free...even if it was only for an hour:) I am so unbelievably blessed to have such a loving considerate husband. The past 10 years of my life have been so happy all because of him! The day after our anniversary Matt(and Parks), Matt's Dad, Rob, Tammy and their kids, Robyn and Darren, Hilary and Olivia all ran in the Marathon for Jeff Moodie here in Okotoks. It was a great turn out to raise money for Jeff and his family to have a wheelchair accessible house built for him. Mom, Grace and I stood on the side lines cheering everyone on! Matt ran the 10k in just under an hour and got in 32nd place. He ran the 1st half pushing Parks in the stroller, than dropped him off with me and made HUGE time for the second half. He is unbelievable...he doesn't even run long distance. After the marathon we went to the Okotoks spray park with some cousins and had some fun in sun. That brings me to today...sadly today Mom had to fly back home to Ottawa. After having her here for the past 3 weeks, I feel kinda lost right now. Plus Matt is at work for the night:( Mom you are amazing and I love you so much. We have had some good laughs and lots of fun times. Thank you so much for helping us adjust to our little family of 4. We miss you already.

Playing Hide and Seek with Nana

Nana loves playing with playdo

Painting with Papa

Papa with his grand babies

Nana and Papa with their one and only grandson

At the park on the one sunny day during Papa's visit

Mom and I had a girl's sushi night...best sushi I've ever had!

At the Okotoks parade, look at our new hiking backpack!!

At the parade in our spiffy new chairs:)

Nana with Grace at 3 weeks old

Playing at the park

My new highlights that I got done when Grace turned 4 weeks

Grace stretching it out at the spray park

Parks playing at the spray park in his underwear...yes I'm a good mom.

Nana finally convinced Parks that the spray park is not scary

Me and my Hunny on our 5 year Anniversary

My Mom and I at the Jog for Jeff Marathon

Matt's first 10k Marathon, no training, 32nd place! Good Job!

Rob, Madie and Zach ran the 5k, Tammy, Robyn, Darren and Matt/Parks ran the 10k. (Not in the picture but Matt's Dad, Hilary, and Olivia also ran the 5k). WOOHOOO!

Fun in the sun with Daddy after the Marathon

Parks just thinks the world of his cousin Zach...cuties

Grace's Blessing Day

Just this past Sunday we had Grace's Blessing at church, it was beautiful and so nice to have my parents there especially.  Gran and Grandad came with Aunt Alex, Rob and Tammy and their kids made the trip out from Raymond, aswell as Barb and Ben with Rachel and Emma.  It was really nice considering how late notice it was.  My Dad was only going to be here that one Sunday (he had to fly home today:() so I'm glad we could make it happen! 

Children's Hospital

Just after Grace turned 2 weeks, on Saturday night we decided we needed to bring her to the Children's Hospital.  We brought her to the Okotoks Urgent Care on Friday because her breathing was so bad, her poor little nose is always so blocked up.  It was causing her to really work to breath and she just was having a really hard time breastfeeding for long periods at a time AND ofcorse not able to sleep esp. at night.  We decided to try one more night and use some saline drops to try and break things up, but by Saturday morning it was the same, so later that day we asked Dr. Grandad what we should do and we all decided it wouldn't hurt to bring her in to the Children's.  They were great there, we only had to wait 10 minutes to get admitted!  The Dr.s concluded that it is more than likely that her nasal passage is very narrow right now, which can be very common, and that it will just take time for it to grow and open enough that she wont get so blocked up back there.  Her oxygen levels weren't horribly low and her breaths weren't anything for the Dr to be worrying about (just scary for the parents I guess).  They gave us a stronger saline solution and off to home we went.  We were so grateful it wasn't anything too serious.  Now magically after over a week of being blocked up solid she is starting to clear up:)  I think she is having a growth spurt right now, she eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours on the dot, so I guess that means her little nasal cavity is growing too:)  Thank goodness.  I am hopeful to be getting some more sleep soon!  I know this stage wont last long so I am being as patient as can be, knowing that SOON she will let Mommy sleep for at least 4 to 6 hours in a row at night time:P

2 weeks old!

Well Grace is 2 weeks old today...she has already gained a pound from her birth weight and is now 9lbs6oz!  She dropped down to 8lbs a few days after birth so she really has gained ALOT in a short time.  I feel like I am always breastfeeding!  The past week has been really tough with the lack of sleep, its alot different with baby #2 because I cant nap when Grace naps due to an energetic 2 1/2 year old.  Luckily Parks does still have one nap for about an hour, but its really tricky to get Grace to sleep at the same time...but that's all the complaints I have.  It is so helpful to have my parents here now.  They arrived on Tuesday and my mom will be staying until the end of the month:)  phewf.  Unfortunately poor little Grace has a bit of a cold that Parks and I gave her, so she has a really stuffy nose especially at night time, I hate when babies have stuffy noses...its so sad.  So that is the main reason she isn't able to sleep more than 3-4 hours in a row, at the most, at night time.  Breastfeeding helps clear her, so that makes me feel better...as for me my incision is still sore, I cant really go for long walks (which I am dieing to do!)  but overall the recovery has been alot better than my first time.  I also have a bladder infection that I got from the birth, so that sucks too cuz now I am on antibiotics for a week.  Luckily the side effects are only affecting me and not Grace.  What an experience this whole thing is, it is such a blessing to get to have your own children,  I am so unbelievably thankful for Grace and Parks in my life.

 Getting some sun to help the little bit of jaundice that she had and letting the breeze flow with her diaper off:)

Grace's first time going to church on Sunday...this was the only outfit that fit her little newborn self:)

Grace is 1 week old!

We are so full of love for our two beautiful children, they are truly gifts from God...we cant stop taking pictures of every moment:) Matt has been off work since Grace has been born and goes back on Tuesday...I'm so grateful that he was able to be home, ofcorse to help me, but mostly that we could be together for this very important time in our family.  It is so heart warming to watch how much Parks loves his baby sister.  I didn't think I could possibly love Parks anymore than I did before Grace arrived, but I do.  He is such a loving little boy and truly cant get enough of his family.  Towards the end of these pictures you will see the ones with Grace and Parks in Parks' bed reading "Goodnight Thumper"...This was lastnight, and wow the Spirit was so strongly felt.  Parks (to our surprise) read the whole book to Matt and Grace...he has heard it so many times i guess that he has memorized each page word for word!  It was the cutest thing hearing him read with his little voice.  It brought tears to our eyes:)

                                    Here she is wearing my sweater from when I was a baby:)

Baby Grace is HERE!

Grace Carol Hill was born Friday May 28th at 6:12am at the Rockyview Hospital in Calgary, Alberta.  She weighed in at 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.
I've been wanting to write this blog asap before I forget the whole experience...it'll be nice to look back on later in life.  I really wish I was blogging when Parks was born...anyways here we go!
So on Thursday May 27th (we got a dump of snow/rain...horrible driving weather!) I woke up and ate a pineapple:) and actually felt like working out??? so I turned on my FitMama Salsa DVD and worked out with Parks...Parks was so unbelievably funny doing the moves with me, so Matt decided to videotape us...which is now fun because I have video of me on the last day that I was pregnant with Grace:) anyways.  My braxtin contractions had been getting soooo strong over the past week or so.  At my 38 week doctor appointment, which was the Tuesday before,  I found out I was almost 3cm dilated!  After having my membranes stripped the next morning my mucous plug came out! WOOHOO (haha maybe too much info but this is my journal afterall:)) so that was Wednesday.  Meanwhile I had been taking Red Raspberry leaf capsules for the past week...maybe that was a help too who knows! So Wednesday night I thought for sure I was going into labour cuz Matt was working that night and I was having contraction like pains..just not regularly.  Thursday was go day! Pineapple, working out (having not worked out in a very long time)...bouncing on my exercise ball LOTS and than we went to an indoor walking track here in Okotoks.  Matt, Parks and I walked for about 1/2 hour...I was getting some good contractions at this point every 15-20minutes.  The more I walked the closer they would keep getting.  So after that we came home around 5pm and I had a little rest, but couldn't sleep through the contractions...AND this was the one day that I decided I didn't need a nap!?!? ofcourse! so I'm tired but super excited!  We arranged Matt's dad to come over around 9pm with my contractions already 5 minutes apart!  Parks was asleep for the night...thank goodness.  The driving was soooo BAD with the snow storm that it took a bit longer to get to the hospital than I would have liked, but nevertheless my water had not broken yet so we were ok.
I was admitted in really fast and got checked...5cm and i think fully effaced.  When we got into our labour room, the nurses informed me that I had to have an iv put in in case I had to have another c-section...and also I had to have the baby heart monitors strapped on the whole time.  That really sucked cuz my Dr. never told me this!  So they made me lie on the stupid bed for what seemed to be FOREVER while 3 nurses attempted to put my iv in...I'm not happy at this point and in ALOT of pain.  My goal was to stay out of the bed and upright throughout this 'natural' child birth.  So finally they checked me again...now 7cm and freaking out with how to deal with the pain...AND I was given a deadline for the epidural if I wanted it...so now I'm freaking out about whether to get it.  I had such a strong feeling that I needed it, so I opted for it AND oh boy am I ever glad!  I laboured for 13 hours and was exhausted...I pushed for 2 hours and abit...luckily I kept the epidural at a very low dose, so I was able to push on my hands and knees, alternating sides and ofcorse my back with the birthing bar.  My nurse was excellent and she was sooo sure with my good pushes that baby was going to fit under my pubic bone....than we find out the Grace isn't facing the right way!?  and she is still banging into my pubic bone...just like her big brother did! The Dr came in and tried to turn her with her hands, but this little girl was NOT budging.  I waiting as long as I could...almost falling asleep in between contractions, throwing up because of WICKED strong heartburn and I was STARVING/THIRSTY.  The Dr. finally came back and advised us that forceps would be needed at this point...but she warned us that if she gets the head passed my pubic bone there is still a good chance that her shoulders will be the next thing stuck, so she wanted to bring me into the surgery room to perform the forceps in case it ended in an emergency c-sec.  At this point I am sooo glad to have the epidural and not be dealing with all these decisions in pain.  Matt and I talked it over and decided that the risk of the forceps was too high for Grace and that opting for a c-sec would be the smartest choice.  so that is what we did.  Grace came out screaming and healthy as can be.  Recovery was good, even though I was numb as can be, I was able to breastfeed her right away in the recovery room...even though the nurses were trying to push her towards formula.  When I was able to go to my post opt room, I was soo tired and ready for some sleep, unfortunately the paired me in a room with a baby that screamed its head off for the whole  morning! Luckily they went home that afternoon and I had the room to myself for the rest of my stay:)  I wasn't able to pick up Grace let alone change her, and waiting for a nurse to come would take soo long sometimes.  I would just have to sit there and watch my poor baby crying.  That was the hardest part, I hate having to depend on people.  We are so grateful though to those that were able to help out, it was greatly appreciated!  After 2 days and 1 night post opt I was ready to leave, the nurse told us that we needed to stay 1 more night because Grace wasn't latching super great, but was definitely getting enough in.  so I told the nurse I was leaving no matter what they said.  She didn't argue with me, just got me to sign a legal release form...and at 9pm we were on our way home!  Which was so awesome cuz Matt could now help me with Grace at night:)  My husband is absolutely amazing, he has taken a week off of work with no pay and says he is working harder staying at home than when he is at work!:)  Each day is getting better with my pain and issues:)  My Mom and Dad are flying out next Tuesday and we are soooo excited!!!!
Life is perfect with our little family of 4.