Easter 2013

Easter this year as quite the affair.  We had a full house with Mimi, Grandma S., Grandpa S., Aunt Amy, GG K, Cousin Jennifer, and her boyfriend J (and of course Mommy, Daddy, Kara, and Emily) coming over for Easter dinner!  Luckily, it was a beautiful spring day in Colorado, so we were able to hang out in the backyard.  Kara had a great time looking for eggs (she had an egg hunt in the morning and another in the afternoon).  Kara and Emily both cleaned up with presents and candy!  Emily, of course, was a little too small for the candy, so Kara volunteered to eat hers.

Emily is doing quite well these days.  She's getting a little bigger every day.  Some of her newborn clothes are starting to get a little tight on her.  It's amazing how fast babies grow!

And congratulations to our friends Patrick and Akila and their latest addition, Amara.  You guys are in for quite a ride, but a ton of fun!

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Baby Days (and Nights)

So far life with our newest addition is going pretty smoothly.  She's sleeping pretty well (at least for a newborn).  Mommy and Daddy were better prepared this time about the sleep deprivation, so it doesn't seem so bad.  Kara's adjusting to Emily's presence pretty well.  About once a day or so, she'll have a little melt down, but we're hoping that will subside as the weather gets better and we can get out more.

Mimi came out to help the Wednesday after Emily was born (March 13th).  She's been taking the first night shift (and helping out a lot around the house) while Daddy takes the late night/early morning shift.  Mommy, of course, is always on call. :-)

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Welcome to the World, Emily Rose!

Well, our little girl finally decided to join the world!  And she was only 9 days late, early compared to the 12 days late standard set by Big Sister Kara.  However, she may have stayed in there just as long if the doctors hadn't induced when they did.

The induction was scheduled for Friday, March 8th since the doctors tend to get a little concerned if the second baby is more than a week overdue.  We were told to report to the maternity ward at 7:30 am to get the ball rolling; however, we got a call at 6:00 am that morning telling us the maternity ward was overflowing and to check back later in the day (there was a blizzard forecast for Saturday and the change in weather often causes labor in women - unfortunately Mommy was not so lucky!).  We got a call around noon to show up at 2 in the afternoon.  We finally got the ball rolling at 3:45, and boy did that ball roll!  Within 3.5 hours, Mommy was ready to push.  Emily joined the world at 7:35 pm that night, weighing in at 7 lb, 4 oz and 20 inches long.

Big Sister Kara is really enjoying her new role.  She's getting really good at getting herself dressed in the morning.  She still ends up with mismatched clothes and the occasional inside-out shirt, but who doesn't have that happen?  She also decided she's too old for The Lion King songs and instead prefers Poison's Every Rose Has Its Thorn.  I think we're in for quite a ride with our two girls!

Kara Quotes:
Grandma: "Kara, what do you think of your new sister?"
Kara: "Beautiful"

A neighbor brought by dinner with cupcakes for dessert.
Kara: "Are cupcakes junk food?"
Mommy: "Yes, but it's okay to eat them occasionally."
Kara: "Cupcakes are (pause) fantastic!"

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Calm Before the Storm

Mommy and Daddy have been spending a lot of time with Kara recently.  The highlight was the Royal Ball.  Kara dressed up as a princess and Daddy got dressed up to go dance and drink punch.  Kara had a blast!  Another day, we went up to Nederland to check out the Carousel of Happiness, which Kara thought was pretty cool.  In addition, we've been getting a lot of snow recently, so Daddy and Kara have been getting out and playing.

Kara is getting exciting about having her baby brother or sister join us.  We got out the Pack-N-Play last weekend, and Kara spent the rest of the day putting her stuffed animals to sleep in there.  She also renamed Fifi to Fifi Human Baby and practiced putting diapers on him.

The baby has decided not to come on its own, so Mommy and Daddy will be reporting to the hospital at 7:30 am tomorrow to try and induce labor.  Hopefully we will have pictures to share of our little one soon!

Link to pictures