October's Random Ramblings

• Abby has had a bit of a cold or allergies. Either way she has had a snotty, stuffy nose. In an attempt to relieve some of her congestion I got out her nose sucker that we used when she was a baby. Although she is pretty good at blowing her nose, I thought this might help too. Anyway, she likes to do it herself and the past couple of days she has been walking around asking where her "snotter" is.
• Abby and I walked to a garage sale right down the street. I told Abby that she could pick out a toy at the garage sale to buy. Abby looked around for a few minutes, then turned to me and said, "I don't see anything I want, you can just take me to the store later for a toy instead!"
• Whenever I am on the laptop now, Abby comes over to me and tells me she needs to check her website. I don't even know how she knows that word!!
• Abby calls Olivia "my baby"
• I told Abby I had to feed baby Olivia and Abby said, "but Mommy, I don't want to see your boobies again!"
• We decided to go out to dinner one night to Beef O' Brady's. I guess this didn't sound great to Abby and while we were driving to dinner she asked if we could go to the "Owl place with the dancing ladies instead". She was referring to Hooters!!
  

Fall Fun

We have had a few fun fall activities in the midst of having a baby. Some of the activities Sam and Brian were nice enough to take Abby to without us so we could rest a bit. On Monday, the day after Olivia was born, Sam picked up Abby and took her and Nolan to the fall harvest festival that benefits toys for tots. They did all sorts of fun things like bobbing for apples, a sack race, painting pumpkins, and a race wearing adult clothes. From what I hear the kids had a blast! Thanks Sam for taking Abby I know it was nice for her to get out of the house and hang with her friend!

Nolan and Abby with their pumpkins

Bobbing for apples

The adult clothes race!

Painting pumpkins

The following Friday night, Sam and Brian again invited Abby along with them to the amusement park in Destin. They were running a special for $10 all you can ride. It seemed like a really good deal, but we couldn't bring Olivia out in the cold so again we opted out and our very generous friends let Abby tag along with them! The kids loved the rides and even though it was chilly out that night, they had a blast!

Best buds!!

On Saturday Abby, Andrew, Olivia, Grammy Susan and myself headed down to Destin commons for their fall activities. They had a costume contest, and then they had trick or treating at all the stores. Some of the stores had a few special activities on top of the trick or treating. The Bass Pro Shop had fishing for apples, a marshmallow toss, painting pumpkins and mask decorating. Abby's favorite activity was trick or treating. She seemed truly amazed that people kept giving her candy!!! It was a nice day and it was nice to get out of the house. Olivia did really well and slept in her stroller most of the time and did a good job eating out in public with my nursing cover! Not that she has much of a problem eating anywhere!

Tasting some of the candy after trick or treating

"Fishing" for Apples

No trip to Destin Commons is complete without ice cream! Thanks Grammy!!!

Then, this past Monday which was my first day at home alone with the two girls, we ventured out to the mom and me group we belong to. They were having their Halloween party and there was a pot luck with lots of yummy food and the kids dressed up in their costumes and "trick or treated" to a few of the offices around the church. It was nice to get out of the house and good practice for me to get both kids ready and out the door by a certain time in the morning. Abby had fun in her costume and it was good for her to get out of the house and play with the other kids. Olivia did really well and slept the whole time we were out. It was actually somewhat relaxing for me!

Group shot of all the kids. It was impossible to get any of them to look at the camera

Abby and Nolan trick or treating

Labor and Delivery--The Birth Story

Ok, so some of you may want to skip this post but I know some of you are interested and if not I would like to have a record of what happened before I start to forget. So, here is the story of how Olivia entered the world!

Susan arrived last Saturday morning (Oct. 18) from Wisconsin. We went to The Front Porch for lunch followed by a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out another pumpkin and bounce in the jumpy castle. When we got home, Susan and I went to WalMart to get a pedicures as is our tradition when Susan visits. Afterward we needed to pick up a few things for dinner. As we were shopping, I felt something and thought to myself, I either just peed myself or my water is leaking. I kind of brushed it off and continued shopping but when we were checking out I decided I better make sure everything was okay and as I was headed to the bathroom I had a big gush and knew that it was my water. I grabbed my sweatshirt and tied it around my waist since it looked like I had an accident and told Susan I would meet her in the car. We got back home, I told Andrew what had happened and called the hospital and they told us to head on in.

We arrived at the hospital around 5 PM and they hooked me up to all the monitors, and checked to make sure it was my water that broke, which it was and then we were left to wait. The contractions didn't start right away, and slowly but surely things started to progress. I guess I wasn't progressing quickly enough though because at 10PM they made the decision to give me pitocin to speed things up. At midnight I was still only 6cm and I was in a lot of pain, it was at that point I decided I needed something for the pain. I wanted to hold off on the epidural so I asked for a pain shot. The nurse went out to put in the order for the pain medicine and then I had another contraction, it was so bad I sent Andrew out to the nurses station to tell them I wanted to skip the shot and I wanted the epidural instead. The anesthesiologist came in and they got me all ready for the epidural. At this point the contractions were coming fast and furious and I was unable to stay still for the epidural. She poked me once but had to try again because "she only got bone". As she was trying for the second time, something happened and I started to freak out...I didn't know exactly what was wrong but decided I needed to push right away! The nurse told the anesthesiologist to hold off so that they could check me again and sure enough it was time for Olivia to be born. So, I never ended up getting the epidural, only the catheter and I had to push without the numbing effect of the medicine. I pushed 4 or 5 times and little Olivia made her way into the world. So, I went from 6cm to delivering Olivia in about 54 minutes. The nurse said that the position I was sitting in to get the epidural sometimes speeds up the labor process, boy she wasn't kidding!!

Olivia was born at 12:54 AM on Sunday, October 19th. She weighed 8.8 pounds and was 19.5 inches long. She was perfect and healthy and Andrew and I were just ecstatic. We spent the rest of the night and most of the next day in the same room before we were moved into a postpartum room. Abby and Susan came to visit Sunday morning and Abby met her baby sister for the first time. She was so sweet and very excited to finally hold Olivia. They let us leave the hospital a day early and we went home on Monday afternoon to start living our life as a family of four!

Before things got bad, I still have a smile on my face!

Welcome Olivia Ruth

She was much bigger than any of us thought she would be, even the docs were guessing around 7lbs. I guess she showed us!

Daddy got to hold her first

Mommy's turn

Me and my girls! Abby meets her sister for the first time!

Mom, Dad and Olivia

So sweet

Week 1

I can't believe my little girl is already a week old (well 10 days old today)! These past few days have been a whirlwind to say the least. We are settling in well, and just enjoying time as a family. I spent my first day at home alone with my two girls yesterday and it went pretty well. I was pretty tired by the time Andrew got home from work, but we had a good day. I woke up with reinforcements for the next week, Andrew picked up my step-mom from the airport last night. So I will have help for at least another week. Sorry the posts have been few and far between. I find that when I am not busy with Olivia, I am playing with Abby, taking a shower or tending to some other more important event. I hope to post some more in the next couple of days because we have TONS of pictures to share!! Until then, here is Olivia's one week picture (take one day late, oops!) It was hard to get one of her looking at the camera, maybe we will have better luck next week!

Olivia Ruth Vrabec

Ok, I have been hounded for pictures and information so here is a short post with just a few pictures. These are from my mother in laws camera as we haven't yet downloaded the pictures from our camera. Anyway, the important information is that Olivia arrived safely on October 19th at 12:54 AM. She was a big girl weighing in 8.8lbs and 19.5 inches long. Abigail is thrilled to be a big sister and is very loving and gentle with her little sister. Mom and Dad are a little tired but couldn't be happier! More to come soon.....

Pumpkin Patch Frield Trip

Last Friday Abby had her first field trip with school to the pumpkin patch followed by a picnic lunch at the park. It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast and Andrew was even able to sneak away from work for a bit to meet us! When we first got there we had about 15 minutes or so for the kids to run around and to get some pictures. After that, we broke into groups based on which class they are in and had a few activities planned. Abby's class, along with her teacher Miss Marlo started with the "pumpkin hugging" activity where they cut off out a piece of string to hug and measure different size pumpkins. After that, we headed over to story time to listen to a pumpkin story and explore the insides of a pumpkin. Last, we went over to the craft table where the kids were given a snack and made the cutest little pumpkin crafts out of toilet paper, cloth, and a brown paper bag. When all the activities were finished the kids were allowed to pick out one mini pumpkin to take home and then we headed over to the park for some lunch and running around! We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Abby had been looking forward to going to the pumpkin patch ever since the signs went up in late September!

This is the pumpkin hugging activity.

Family Photo

Here is Abby's class listening to the story. It was funny, the girls sat and listened to most, if not all of the story but most of the boys lost interest and were running around after a matter of minutes!

This isn't the greatest picture but it gives you and idea of the pumpkins we made.

Dinner and a Movie

I am a bit behind on this post..But, better late than never, right? Two weekends ago, Sam and Brian were kind enough to have Abby sleep over at their house on Saturday night so Andrew and I could enjoy one last night out on the town before the baby arrives! We decided to keep it low key since I have been exhausted lately and went to dinner and movie.We had a yummy dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse and then went and saw Fireproof.


It was a really good movie and I highly recommend it, it really makes you think about the way you treat your spouse!! Definitely some lessons to be learned through the movie. After the movie was over, we sat outside at Destin Commons and had a milkshake, talked, and did some people watching. A perfect ending to a perfect evening!

Still beach weather

It may be October, but here in Florida we are still getting some beach days. Last weekend after church we headed to the beach since the weather was so beautiful. We decided to get it in while we can, you never know how the weather will be this time of year. It was absolutely perfect! It was warm and sunny with a breeze. We went with Brian, Sam and Nolan and the kids had a blast playing with each other as always. Abby has become quite fond of the beach and its so much fun to watch the excitement and joy on her face while she plays in the sand and splashes in the water. We packed a picnic lunch and played for hours, it was the perfect end to a wonderful weekend.

I've Been Tagged

The rules are below…Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 years ago I was:

1. Had just begun my freshman year of college.

2. Learning that my study habits left something to be desired.

3. Regretting my choice of majors and in the process of deciding on a new one.

4. Living in the dorms getting to know some awesome girls that would become lifelong friends!

5. Trying to find a balance between having a good time and being a responsible student.

5 things on today’s to do list:

1. Play date at Gayle's house

2. Begin pricing items for garage sale on Saturday

3. General pick up around the house

4. cook dinner (yes its on my to do list otherwise I will put it off and we will end up eating out)

5. Pack my hospital bag

5 snacks I enjoy:

1. Pretzels

2. fruit

3. frozen peppermint patty

4. yogurt

5. chips and salsa

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Not have to worry about selling my house!

2. Savings--6 months living expenses, college for the kids, and retirement.

3. A trip to Hawaii or Greece

4. Buy a minivan, shhhh....dont tell anyone I would actually LIKE to drive a minivan!!

5. Charity

5 places I have lived:

1. Lakewood, CO

2. Boulder, CO

3. Pensacola, FL

4. Bedford, MA

5. Crestucky

5 jobs I have had:

1. Busser

2. Waitress

3. Receptionist

4. Stockbroker

5. Stay at Home Mom (so far the most work, but by far the most rewarding)

Ok....Becca, Amy, Erika, Lindsay and Michaela you guys are IT!!!

Goofy Golf

We had a fun filled weekend, it started out on Saturday with Goofy Golf. Andrew had taken Abby putt-putt while I was in New York this summer and she has asked to play again a few times. Saturday was the perfect opportunity, we had to pick up Andrew's car from the shop and had some time to waste before hand, plus the weather was good. Not too hot!! Abby did well, she enjoyed it up until about the 15th hole where she sort of lost interest was hungry for lunch. But, for $1 it was totally worth it!!

Andrew helping Abby. He is looking forward to the day that she can go play "real" golf with him, but until then putt-putt will have to do!

Kissing the snake.....brave girl!!

Goofy golf, Goofy Andrew!