Lily's first bath

Andrea gave Lily her first at home bath this evening. I must say, I was not thrilled about the prospect, as Emory was sure to help which means wet everything, but it went great. She seemed to enjoy it very much (did not cry until she was taken out of the tub) and Emory was also very good until the bath was over and he had the tub to himself (and his fish).

Below are some pictures of Emory from his first at home bath and as you can see, he did not seem to enjoy it as much as Lily did.

Popsicle

Emory has been sick for a few days, and has been on a hunger strike and we are trying to keep him hydrated without drinking milk (still his favorite drink). If my addition is correct, we changed his diaper at least 10 times today. Here are some cute pictures of my little man enjoying a Popsicle.

Blizzard of 09'

It has been snowing all day today! It started at about 5:30 this morning and has been snowing hard with high winds and is still going strong as I post. I was let off work early today; sent home at about 11:15 due to the bad weather. What normally takes me about 25 minutes to drive took me over 3 hours to get home today! The major highway was closed down so everybody had to take the back way from Boulder and it was horrible! I guess the important thing is that I made it home safe, but it still sucked!

hooray!

Welcome PIRATE SKELETON! From now on known as Eric.

Katy I can't believe how good you look in the pictures. Are you sure you just had a baby? I can't wait to see you all this summer (and fall and winter)

Andrea's at home diary- 2

I am now two weeks and two days from my surgery. I think that I should be totally recovered. However, apparently my husband and by stupid body do not agree with what my brain is laying down! Last week I began my pregnancy recovery program by going on short walks. The walks were great! But then later there were some complications and I was sent back to bed. However, I am determined to begin my recovery program again this week. Today Lily and I will go on a walk and stop by the store to shop for the makings for MIGHTY MUFFINS (more later) I feel very hopeful that this is the week for walking.

Emory is being a typical toddler and refusing to eat. Actually he refuses to do most things! So I thought I would make some Mighty muffins with him when he gets back from play room. They are ultra healthy containing all sorts of protein, iron, fiber, whole grain, and fruit. Also they taste good too. I am hopeful that making the muffins will inspire Emory to eat them. I had a long conversation with Katy (Dr. hausfrau) about this recently. She assures me that toddlers will not starve themselves but it is hard to quell my desire to feed him. So I will be prepared with a healthy option just in case he changes his mind about his protest.

Hey katy...thanks for all the other advise too! We are trying out the new table rules and so far he hates them, but he is complying. Good luck on having your baby TODAY.

So here's a dilemma...do I accept late work from a student when I am on maternity leave?

Baby Lily Update

Lily had her 2 week check-up today and is doing very well! She has gained almost a pound since coming home from the hospital, and now weights 6 lbs, 10 oz. She is a happy, health baby girl.

P.S. Thank you Tamara and Cheyenne for the wonderful clothes. They are very cute and greatly appreciated!

Saturday morning

Saturdays are such a beautiful time! We all sleep late (7:00!!!!) We hang out in our pajamas. We read books. We cuddle. There are no plans and no times to be places. We simply sit around and enjoy being a family.

Boy Time

Today Emory got some boy time. We hung out back in the yard and then went to the playground. One of Emory's favorite new game is to 'throw sticks into the water' which we did for about a half an hour straight today. It was a beautiful morning, about 70 and sunny. Great day for boy time.

Andrea's at home diary - entry one

I have been home from the hospital for a week now. I must be getting some kind of overdose of good hormones from the nursing because I FEEL GREAT. Better than in a long long time. In fact I'm sleeping more now than I was before. This is probably due to not having work anxiety. (hmmmm is that a sign?)

Transitioning from a classroom of students all clamoring for attention to a couple of small children clamoring for attention has been enjoyable but not easy. I still get emails from students begging for their grade to be raised. One asked me for extra credit. I briefly thought about making him come over and empty diaper pails! Still it is hard to turn off the level of attention that is demanded these days, but I work at it because I don't want it messing up every day of my maternity time.

Emory is becoming...hmmm....interestingly challenging. His natural proclivities for curiosity and stuborness make doing everyday chores difficult. He is extremely sweet to the new baby and insists on kissing her a lot and holding her. But then at least twice a day he tries to kill her so I can only assume he has some pent up conflicting feelings about sharing mom and dad. Gabe and I are working hard to carve out special time for him each day and this seems to help.

Lily is a very sweet baby. She is incredibly easy so far, but still very tiny! We go to the pediatrician next Monday so we can see if she has gained a lot of weight in the last week and a half. I imagine she has. my nickname for her is EATER.

Maternity leave is such a great time for reflection and introspection. There are lots of naps and walks. Meals consisting of apple juice and pretzels are concerned gourmet achievements. The only people judging you happen to also believe that you are a mommy goddess. Everything is just very concrete. What do I have to do today? Feed the kids. Play. Feed. Play. Sleep. clean. Play. Feed. sleep. feed feed feed feed feed feed. It is very quiet. Second babies are so much more fun and non worrisome.

Baby Lily & Family

Just a few pictures from our first week back home.

Emory & Lily, day 1 hour 1

Below are some pictures of Emory and Lily both within 1 hour of being born (names below pictures)

Lily

Emory

Lily

Emory

Lily

Emory

We're back....

We were released from the hospital today and are now safely home. It seems a little more 'real' now that we are home and do not have someone to bring us food, clean up after us and make sure that Mom and Baby are safe and doing well. None the less, we are very excited to be home and now we it seems we can begin...

Grandparents & Lily

Andrea's parents visiting with the 2nd grandchild, little Lily.

Baby Lily

Here she is, Lilliane Marie Pless

Lilliane Marie Pless

We would like to welcome Lilliane Marie Pless. She was born today at 9:30 am and was 6.26 oz and 20 in long. She is very healthy and doing very well. Andrea is also recovering nicely. She was able to stand on her own and eat some food and and they say both are doing very well. I am unable to post pictures from the Hospital, but will have some up for people to see tomorrow.

We would like to offer a very special thank you to Shanti, Aimee, Shilah & Serena. We dropped Emory off at their house yesterday afternoon and he spent the night with them and they brought him down this afternoon. It was so nice to be able to concentrate on the birth and thank them very much for helping.

We are all doing well and are going to try to get some sleep tonight and I will try to post tomorrow with some picture of our new baby.

Nice afternoon

Andrea and I took Emory to get him signed up for some classes at our Rec Center after work today. While Andrea went inside, Emory and I went to the fields at the Rec Center and played baseball. Emory could play baseball all day long. He throws the ball and runs after it yelling "run the bases, run the bases". The video below is what Emory would do all day long if we let him, and it is so fun to just watch him play, and it was a beautiful day here to do just that. It was sunny, slight breeze and about 70 degrees! Gotta love CO.