Year in Review: 2012

Beware: Picture Overload! 

Happy New Year...a month late!

I've been slacking on the monthly posts for the kiddies. The holidays really kept us busy and then I started a new workout challenge that keeps me busy in the evening once the kids go to bed. After that I just crash. I had a fairly quick workout tonight so I figured it was about time!

I enjoy looking back on the review I did of the last year and didn't want to get too far into this year before completing 2012. It was a good year to remember. =) Oh, and because I can't very well remember the details of last year, this is all done by looking back at my iPhone photos since we don't use real cameras anymore. I don't even know where the real camera is.

January

We started off the year with a bean-dos update.

A big girl bed training; which, made me very nervous that our little bean wouldn't want to stay in her bed anymore. It wasn't the case then; it is now.

Many days at home being cozy with my girl while I tried to regain some of my energy back.

February

I hosted a cute Valentine's day tea and craft party for some mommy and baby friends at our house.

The hubby and I enjoyed a wonderful V-Day dinner date at a French restaurant.

The bean-dos belly grew and we found out we were having a boy! I sorta had a feeling it was and the hubby was genuinely surprised. This meant I could get started on nursery plans!

March

Enjoyed some beautiful sunny days.

Amélie almost touched a shark. Her buddy, Josie, did.

Lots of playdates and crafts

Drove down for cousin Corbin's second birthday. We had to drive back the next day because the Hubby was experiencing some terrible allergies. boo.

First Build-a-Bear. She made her beloved Bruce.

April

Our dear and wonderful friends got married on April Fool's Day. It was beautiful and so much fun. They even had It's Its for dessert. Yum!

We visited family in Kansas and had a great time. Probably one of my most favorite trips to Kansas; it was sunny and we were able to do some touristy activities.

Took advantage of our Gilroy Garden's membership a lot.

There was some big girl bedroom planning going on.

May

First visit to the Exploratorium

After numerous hot, hot, too hot days, we bought an inflatable pool. It was a big hit with the baby girl.

Amélie started soccer. One of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Amélie moved into her big girl room! It was a hit.

I finished Sebastian's room.

June

There were lots of special days days devoted to Amélie as we neared Sebastian's arrival.

My bestie threw me a perfectly sweet and thoughtful baby shower tea party. We ate the BEST cake!

We spent Daddy day riding a train through the Santa Cruz mountains and eating yummy mexican food.

Had some awesome weekends with girlfriends in preparation of my sweet friend Kendra's wedding where we rode a gondola on lake Merritt.

July

Had daddy man come to visit and help me so much in the few weeks before Sebastian's arrival and after.

Pool time with dear friends on the fourth of July.

We bought another Volvo wagon. We now have two.

Celebrated my girl's second birthday with a super fun duo pool party.

Sebastian Gabriel was born exactly a week after Amélie's birthday.

He went home wearing the same outfit Amélie went home in too.

August

The hubby and I celebrated our birthday.

Those first 6 or so weeks with a new baby were rough! Especially once Eric went back to work on the 15th.

Sebastian went to the Children's Discovery Museum for the first time and loved it.

September

Eric's dad and stepmom came to visit and meet Sebastian.

Lots of baby growing and toddler learning going on.

October

Halloween! We went with a Star Wars theme this year. I made both of the babies costumes and my belt.

November

Thanksgiving at home in San Jose with my family and Eric's mom.

Major princess infatuation going on with the toddler girl.

"Butterfly wings, tutu." 

This shirt also belonged to Amélie. She was able to wear it until she was about 1. Sebastian can no longer wear it because it's too small. 

Many wonderful days at home with the babies. Dance parties galore and warm baby kisses.

December

Christmas at home in San Jose

I made a ginormous advent calendar.

We sent Enzo to live with a new and very happy owner. He just wasn't a fan of kids. It was okay for a while, but now that Amélie is running around and Sebastian will be doing so in a matter of time, we thought it was best for him and us.

Our family of four got to spend some quality time together while Eric was off for Christmas break.

Spent time with our dear friends and their awesome kids in Sacramento.

There are so many good pictures and great memories that go along with them. I wish I could post all of them so I can easily go back and relive those special moments of our lives. 

The Challenge

It's time! I'm feeling almost completely like my former self physically, and at seven weeks post-partum, I think it's safe that I begin to workout. Woo. I'm excited. I really enjoy working up a sweat and getting some results.

Since the beginning of September coincides with my ability to workout, I've decided do to a fitness challenge of sorts. I've actually convinced the hubby to do it as well. We are going to be doing the  "One Hundred Pushups" training program. I'm going to be adding running to my routine since that's my thing and it also happens to be one of the few workouts I can do with both of the kids. I've got the double jogger ready to go! The thing I also like about the pushups program is that there is a timeline and ending date. It'll give me a chance to compare now to then and it doesn't seem like that long of a time period. Also, my goal has been to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight and shape by three months post-partum. I'm only 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy, but my shape is another story. We'll see.

I was hoping to really begin in earnest this week, but our household has come down with a cold. First it was me, then Sebastian, followed by Eric (who's the biggest baby of all), and today Amélie's been displaying symptoms. I'm also waiting on my carseat adapter to arrive in the mail since Sebastian really prefers riding in the carseat as opposed to the actual stroller seat at this point. It's supposed to get here this week. That means I'll start running as soon as it arrives and that Eric and I will probably complete the initial push-up test this coming weekend and start the plan on Monday.

Of course, here are my dreaded before pictures. I took some showing my actual belly, buuuuut, I don't think I'm ready for the interwebs to see that just yet.

Eek! I can't believe I've added these. As you can see in the top picture, there is a pooch in the lower portion of my belly. Lucky for me, at this point my natural waist and upper torso seem to be back to the shape I was before. My skirts, dresses, and higher waisted pants fit just fine. But, most of my jeans are definitely snug(read: muffin toppin') around that darn pooch and I can grab the extra skin. I'm going to include my measurements because that'll give a better idea. Bust: 38 inches. Natural waist: 29.5 inches. Hips 37 inches. Gah. Oh yeah....my weight. Today I'm at 130lbs. Before baby I was between 120 and 125. I'm happy at 125, but will be more than happy to be at a constant 120. 

Alrighty, so here's hoping that six weeks from Monday I'll be down five (or more!) pounds and looking more fit! 

Oh, I've also been trying to be consistent about using my "Lose It!" app. This last holiday weekend was a bust, but I'm back on this week. Wish us luck! =)

If anyone wants to join in on the fun, it would be awesome to see some before and after results as well. 

Birthing Our Boy

I went in for my post-partum visit this past Thursday and my doctor asked me if we were planning on having another baby. She's so funny. I really had to chuckle while I gave her my response. I just had a baby. Actually, she also sorta laughed considering what I went through to deliver this little guy. I said that at this point we're happy with two and how I don't think I want to go through another baby surprising us with his/her position at the last minute. She understood and then commented that perhaps there's something funny about the shape of my pelvic bones. Perhaps. Or maybe we have some silly children who love moving around. I think it's the kids.

For WEEKS I had been having contractions. They started off mild, more of a tightening like Braxton Hicks, nothing major, but definitely contractions. The first weekend they started Eric was convinced the baby was going to make his appearance. I, on the other hand, was not as optimistic. I didn't want to get my hopes up and I just had a feeling. They came on very regularly, 5 minute intervals for hours and then tapered off and disappeared into the night. The next day they would come back, again, regular, continuous. But nothing that would make me believe it was time. That first weekend our neighbor came over to decipher my contractions since she just had a baby a few months ago and determined that my contractions where like the painless ones she'd had that actually led to her quick and easy delivery. Oh, how I hoped mine would turn out the same! 

I called the advice nurse that first weekend the contractions started to get her opinion on my status since we were going to be driving an hour away for a wedding and she believed that these contractions would lead to my delivery within a week. I made it through that week.

At my appointment at the end of that week, my doctor believed she'd probably be seeing/hearing about me having the baby within the next week. Yup, made it through that week as well. Contractions coming and going, but not increasing in frequency. Great.

At this point, it had been two weeks and I was a mere week from my due date. On the Monday of that week, the contractions were stronger and were coming every 5 minutes. Okay, I thought, let's call and see what they say. Off we went to L&D around 5PM. They checked me, 3.5cm. Not enough to admit. We waited and walked for two hours and still no change; back home we went. Bummer. 

Somehow, the contractions did not keep me awake that night and I slept soundly. When I woke up the contractions were still there, still painful, still 4-5 minutes apart. I did not want to go in and have them send me back home again. But, at 1PM, after walking to the library and having to stop every few minutes, I finally decided to call again. The nurse agreed we should go back, BUT...there was no room! Ahhhh! They were going to send us all the way to Redwood City but at the last minute the nurse decided they'd make it work. Thank goodness.

We were admitted for observation and again am told I haven't progressed. Oh, man. At this point I start crying, am feeling very frustrated, and tell Eric I want to go home. He convinces me we should stay because they will check me after two hours before they will send us home again. I begrudgingly decide to stay even though I'm not feeling optimistic; despite the fact that my contractions were definitely getting stronger and more painful.

A little over two hours later, they finally check me. I very clearly remember the doctor's name was also Johnson and thinking this was a good omen. =) Five and a half centimeters! I laughed/cried while the doctor, nurses, and Eric all cheered. It was about time! This meant I could finally be admitted and placed in a regular room and not the itty bitty uncomfortable room they put women in for observation. It also meant time for the epidural! This time around I wasn't going to wait it out and see how far I got. As soon as I was uncomfortable, I wanted drugs.

Once we were in our huge room, they quickly came in and started the procedure for the epidural. It felt like it took them a long time, but once they finished and the drugs were administered I felt great. From this point on, which was about 5PM until hours later, I felt fabulous! Eric and I hung out watching TV, reading magazines, listening to the music we brought, and chatting with our awesome nurse.

They checked me a few hours later and said I was moving along. That continued for a while until they decided to break my water to get things moving along faster. Things did progress faster after that and a while later I started to have a lot of pressure and pain. They checked me again and said I wasn't fully dilated yet so they brought in the anesthesiologist to give me other pain killers so I could feel better and get some rest. Whatever she gave me was heavenly! I quickly fell asleep, I believe it was around 1AM and slept for a while. When I woke up they checked me and said I was really close. It was at that point that they started to question Sebastian's position.

Oh, Sebastian. There were three doctors that started to check me and try and figure out what position Sebastian's head was in. He was definitely head first. Good. He definitely had his chest toward my back. Good. But....what was that they felt at the opening? An ear? An eye? A forehead? Well, it took a while and a lot of discussion amongst the doctors and with us, but they finally figured out he was "face presenting." Something that is very, very rare. Basically, he was facing the exit. It's funny now, but he still loves pushing his head back in that position. I have to be careful because his heavy little head will quickly bounce back. He loves looking around. Anyways, at this point they bring up the fact that I cannot deliver him vaginally if his head is in this position. One option is to give me pitocin to make my contractions stronger and hopefully push his head into the right position. We try that option and it doesn't work. The only other option is to try pushing and see if it moves. I pushed a few times and he moved lower, but his little face did not adjust. At that point it was time for the c-section.

Since he'd moved lower when I pushed, I could not get them to move me into the OR and give me more drugs fast enough. The pressure/pain was unbearable. But, since it wasn't an emergency, they went along with business in a slightly faster pace. It wasn't fast enough for me! They took care of some things in the room and then wheeled me into the OR. They did a bunch of things (drugs!), the doctors and nurses chatted, they brought Eric in, and at 6:17AM on the 18th, Sebastian was born! It felt like forever before I actually got to see him and I had to wait even longer to hold him, but once I did it was fabulous. He nursed immediately and I got kiss and snuggle my little guy.

It's a little disappointing to think about how I labored all the way to the end and then ended with a c-section. But it was really the only way he could have come out. At least, out of the 12 or so hours that I was in active labor, I was only uncomfortable for a few. My boy also came out very healthy and that's all that really matters. 

Fall Fun

Yup. I've been a bad blogger. I have a really good excuse, though. We've been having a lot of fun. Life with our little bean is so great. It's really amazing to see that little toddler brain working and then getting to enjoy the wonderful things she comes up with.

Amélie is a big "talker" lately. She's always saying something and we have some great conversations where we really connect and she chuckles, then I laugh, and it all ends with a laughing fit. She's pretty hilarious. Her favorite words to say are currently "baby," "nena" (baby girl in Spanish), "hey/hi,""agua," "leche," and "mama." But, she understands soo much (although almost all in Spanish). I can ask her to do something and she does it! Amazing! What happened to my itty bitty baby?!

We're doing all kinds of things and laughing a lot while at it. As fall in kinda here, we've visited a few pumpkin patches, but today, we visited the patch or all patches! It was huge and beautiful! I mean, look at the picture. That was just half the entrance. I felt like it was the Disneyland of pumpkin patches.

We went with Amélie's little buddy, Josie and her mommy, Chris. We had so much fun riding on the train, carousel, one of the hayrides, and taking in the beauty around us. They had the most amazing marigold fields that they plant individually by hand each year. Soo beautiful! I'm already planning on visiting again next week. 

Amélie and Josie in their Halloween headbands.

enjoying the carousel

marigolds galore

riding the train. I love that face. 

hanging gourds while on the hayride

amazing!

beautiful! I just wanna lay in the middle of that field.

enjoying the ride.

I'm so excited about fall and especially for Halloween. I'm working on our costumes this week and I can't wait to share them.