The Whitman's

Monday, October 29, 2012

Pumpkin Carving

Last weekend Andrew took Eleanor and Penelope to a pumpkin patch and let them pick out a pumpkin.
Eleanor also got to ride on a horse named Dakota and they have been talking about it ever since!

I can't take any credit for their fashion sense, this is all them!

Eleanor was so excited to ride Dakota!

For Family Home Evening last Monday we carved the pumpkin that they picked out. The girls were so excited about it.
Luckily Andrew had the patience to help them do it. If it was up to me we would have just drawn or painted on the pumpkins.

Penelope was excited to use the scooper until she saw what she'd be scooping!

First we picked out our stencil of a witch for one side, and a spooky face for the other side.

Then we traced the pictures onto the pumpkin. Eleanor was so enthralled with the whole process!

Finished product!

One Month

Well we made it one month with 3 little ones! When Molly was about 10 days old Andrew had to go out of town on a business trip for a week, so I got a crash course in taking care of three kids! It was SUPER exhausting but somehow we survived. My mom got in town the same night Andrew got home so I got some much needed help! The girls loved having Granny Nanny here, she was so good to them! She got up in the night with Molly, played with the girls, took them on outings, and made us lots of yummy meals! She was able to stay for about 5 days and we were so sad to see her go, but SO grateful for her help!

Here are some pictures of Miss Molly at one month old. She is such a cute little thing, and like all of my babies, I love to just stare at her! She has the cutest, sweetest, most perfect little face! I think she looks a lot like Eleanor did as a baby. She is pretty high maintenance during the day and likes to be held a lot. I think she is a little scared of her sisters. They are both very helpful though and love to be around her. Out of all my babies I think Molly has been our best night sleeper. She'll sleep for about 4 hours at a time at night, and has even gone 5 1/2 a few times! During the day her sleep is still pretty sporadic. She'll only sleep 30-45 minutes here and there with maybe one 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. For the first few weeks she HATED her carseat, which made going anywhere pretty tough. But now she tolerates it a bit more. She loves tummy time, and she is getting a lot more alert, looking all over the place. It even seems like she is itching to roll over. Why are my kids always so anxious to get moving?! Anyway, we think she is adorable and we love her a lot!!

And of course, I can't leave out her big sisters!

(Notice Penelope's haircut. I made the mistake of trying to take a nap and I woke up to Eleanor saying, "I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry mom!" I ran upstairs to find a chunk of Penelope's hair on the bathroom floor. At least Eleanor only took one cut and knew to stop. And I shouldn't have left scissors where they could reach them. Anyway, I had to chop off a good bit of Penelope's hair to even it out. She's still pretty cute though!)

Friday, September 28, 2012

One Week {New} Old

Last week (which now that I think about it, seems like forever ago!) at my 40 week appointment the doctor scheduled an induction for Friday, September 21st at 7:30 in the morning. On Thursday I was feeling a little crampy but considering I felt that way for almost 2 weeks I didn't really think much of it. Around 10 p.m. I decided I'd better get to bed so I could have a good nights rest for my induction the next day. Well I was laying in bed and thinking that these "cramps" were pretty intense. Again, I just brushed them off and kept telling myself, no big deal, I'm getting induced in the morning so maybe this will just help things along. Around 10:30 I decided to time my contractions just out of curiosity. They were coming about 4 -6 minutes apart, so by this time Andrew convinced me to call the doctor's office. I talked to the midwife on call and she said we'd better come on down to the hospital. We got to the hospital right about midnight and were in our room by 12:15 a.m. (September 21st). The nurse was really insistent about getting all of her paperwork done. I had pre-registered, so it seems like that would have taken care of a lot of it, but I guess not. I asked her when the midwife or doctor would be in to check me and she just said oh, don't worry, we'll definitely admit you since you had a scheduled induction in the morning anyway. I think she thought we were trying to jumpstart our induction or something. Meanwhile, my contractions were REALLY picking up and I was shaking, which I'm sure was transition. I bet I was at a 6 or 7 when we got to the hospital. Next time I need to remember to have Andrew tell the nurses that even though I'm smiling and being polite, it's still possible I'm in a lot of pain!! Our nurse did not seem worried about my pain level at all and close to 1 a.m. she finally got my IV placed and started with fluids so I'd be able to get an epidural. A little after 1 a.m. the midwife came in and checked me and was surprised to see that I was already 9cm dilated! That is like my worst nightmare - getting to the hospital and being so far along I can't get an epidural!! They tried to "rush" my epidural but I knew there was no way I'd be able to stay still long enough to get one plus I was starting to feel like I needed to push anyway. Nurses kept coming in and out of the room "congratulating" me on being at 9 cm and finally after one lady said something I replied, "I really don't want to talk about it anymore!" haha. I guess I do have a point where I stop being polite :) Anyway, around 1:30 a.m. I was ready to push so we got all set up and after about 10 minutes of pushing our sweet baby girl arrived at 1:51 a.m. It was so painful!!! I don't know how women do that, or even want to do it natural, but more power to them! I just remember thinking the whole time I can't do this anymore! But there's really not a choice, you just have to keep going. I even thought several times I never wanted to do it again! But isn't it crazy how holding your little miracle and loving them instantly and feeling absolute joy about the chance you have to be a mother makes you forget all the pain? Obviously I'd prefer an epidural, but I'd do it all over again for our sweet little girl. Introducing Molly Elizabeth....

9 pounds 3 ounces, 18 3/4 inches. She is our smallest baby so far - an ounce less than both of her sisters, two inches shorter than Eleanor and three inches shorter than Penelope.

Unfortunately Molly didn't arrive in time for my brother Freddie to meet her, so instead she was born on his birthday! It was fun to have Freddie here while we were waiting for the baby to come and the girls had a blast with him. When he left my mom insisted that my sister Laura should come to make sure I have help when I had the baby. She was here to help out a few days before and after Molly arrived. It was so nice to have her help, she was so good with the girls and they were both so sad to see her go. She left on Tuesday, so we've been on our own for a few days now and we are slowly adjusting to being a family of five. Andrew has class on Wednesday and Thursday nights (his last two MBA classes, wooooo!!!) so those days were pretty tough. Eleanor has turned into an awesome little helper and is such a good big sister. Penelope is excited about having a baby around, but she hasn't quite figured out how to be gentle. Molly seems to think that nighttime is from about 1 p.m. until 11 p.m. because that is when she has her best sleep. She'll just wake every few hours to eat and go back to sleep. She doesn't really get in a deep sleep from about 11 p.m. until 2 a.m. and from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. But she's only one week old so I'm sure we'll get it figured out soon enough. As for me, I'm just pretty exhausted, but luckily recovery seemed to be easier this time around.

Now for some picture overload...

Day 1 {September 21st} - Meeting Molly for the first time

{a little bit nervous}

{but very excited!}

Super Muffy (my sister Laura)

Day 2 - Checking out of the hospital

Eleanor made herself right at home with the nurse's whiteboard and markers.

Each room at our hospital has its own private patio, which was awesome to have when the girls came to visit. They could eat snacks out on the patio table and have more room to run around and be loud.

Home sweet home!