Mommy and Daddy's Baby Girl

Night and Day

So Kiera seems to have her days and nights all mixed up. This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have two energetic boys who are awake during the day. Luckily my sister has been staying with us for the past week helping take care of the boys so that I can catch some sleep. There is also the fact that she doesn't want to sleep in her bed - I think she has some reflux that bothers her when she lies flat. I do miss the days of sleep...but she's so cute :).

Two Big Brothers

Luke has done a wonderful job in his role as big brother. He is very protective of Kiera and will direct other people about what they are supposed to do to take care of her. Gabe is still a little unsure of what's happening. He likes naming parts of the baby (eyes, mouth, socks, hat). This usually involves him trying to poke her at the same time so we keep a close eye on him.

Welcome to Our New Home

Thursday, September 15th we finally started moving into our new home! Luke loves the climbing tree out front and Gabe enjoys having all of his toys out again.

Welcome Kiera Grace Miller!

Kiera Grace Miller made her entrance into this world on September 19th at 5:42 a.m. Her labor/delivery was the easiest of all 3 by far. I wanted to be sure we made it in time for the epidural after delivering Gabe without one. I knew that she was likely on her way by midnight, but waited for the contractions to get closer and stronger. I had a few 10 minutes apart then they were suddenly 5 minutes apart. A few contractions later and they were 3 minutes apart! We started calling our friends to watch the boys, but it was 2:00 a.m. by this point and they were asleep. After about 4 attempts and a debate about who else we could call, they returned our calls and headed over.

We arrived at the hospital and I was 5-6 cm dilated which is the perfect time to get an epidural. They had me hooked up and epidural in place in less than an hour. I believe the anesthesiologist got the dosage just right because I didn't feel pain (just some pressure) and was able to push way more effectively than I could with Luke. The nurse came to check me a little after 5 a.m. and surprise - I was already fully dilated and ready to push. The doctor arrived just a few minutes later to break my water and a few pushes later Kiera Grace emerged.

I had guessed that she would weight 7lb 11oz just like her brother, Gabe (that's also the address we just moved to 711) and surprisingly that's exactly what she weighed! Her birth was so quick that it seems surreal. Kiera was born with dark eyes that changed to totally brown within a couple of days. She also had a full head of black hair. Maybe she'll end up looking like her daddy. We think that she looks different than both boys. She has a small head like Gabe did and her mouth looks a little like Luke's at that age.

Aside from the uncomfortable beds and projectile spit up from Kiera, things went smoothly at the hospital and we were home the next day.

3 Days Until Moving Day

Today is Monday. We move on Thursday! Most of our stuff is packed away in storage including most of the boys' toys. Luckily it is a gorgeous day out today so hopefully we'll spend the afternoon at the park after the boys nap. The boys spent the morning playing legos while I cleaned out the refrigerator. Haven't even made it to the freezer side. Probably shouldn't wait over a year to clean these things out. Then we took a quick trip through Menards to pick up extra smoke detectors and air filters for the new house. We still have the grocery on our agenda, but at least that won't take long since we're only buying enough to survive until Thursday.

Gabe's Vocabulary at 16.5 months

These are words that Gabe has learned and how he pronounces them. He seems to be adding to the list daily.

bottle

mama

dada

bubu

k - Luke

door

window

wawa - watermelon

nana - banana

cookie (favorite word)

cracker

milk

juice

bupbup - up up

bebe - blankie

baby

turtle

duck

shh - shoes

ock - sock

diaper

night night

bye bye

mamaw

papaw

g(r)apes

boo berries - blue berries

gogurt - yogurt

moo

cow

dog (one of his first words)

car

go go

jibberish while pointing up - airplane

Trying to Break Out

This little girl has been causing her fair share of trouble and she's not even born yet! She thinks it's a fun game to press down as hard as she can on my cervix (which is extremely painful). This would be fine if it meant she was coming out today, but the odds are she'll continue doing this to me for the next 2-3 weeks...

Less Than 3 Weeks

In less than 3 weeks, we'll be in our new house and have a new baby girl! There is even a possibility of closing on both houses at the end of this week, but that's iffy since it's only a 4 day week. Just in case though, we've been busily packing the last of the boxes and sending them over to storage while Luke is visiting my parents at the lake. It feels so easy having one child here when you're used to having 2. I guess soon we'll say that having two feels like cake compared to having 3.

I've been seeing newborn babies everywhere we go which is getting me more excited to meet our little girl! We've narrowed the name pool, but we may do what we did with Gabe and make the final decision after meeting her.

Luke started preschool last week and did a wonderful job! He quickly started making friends and they had a birthday celebration on Thursday which is all he's been talking about. Luke is fiercely independent and wanted to go to school by himself on Tuesday, but it was orientation day so mommy had to go with him. He definitely doesn't have separation issues.

Gabe's intellectual growth this past month has been amazing. It always surprises me how quickly their language skills develop. He's gone from a few words and lots of pointing at the beginning of summer to more words than I've been able to keep track of. His newest development is pointing to and naming objects in books or asking what it is if he doesn't know the name. He also finally has two teeth on the bottom that are actually poking through enough to see. It seems as though he's starting to get a few more as well.