Abigail's Arrival

 Here I am in labor. I think I played one game of Carcassonne before I was content to just sit and be in labor.

As you may or may not know, I was induced as soon as I hit 40 weeks. I spent a solid three weeks at three centimeters. When I headed in to the hospital around 5:00 on Monday, October 3rd, I finally made it to four centimeters.

 They didn't get around to breaking my water and giving me the pitocin until 6:45. I labored for two and a half hours. After just a couple minutes and a couple pushes, we have baby Abigail!

 Her skin was absolutely flawless! She was perfect in every way!

 Abigail Kinlee Heit

October 3rd, 2011

born 9:13 pm 

9 lbs. 2 oz, 20 3/4 in.

 Phantom sideways photo again. Mommy and baby get to take a good look at each other for the first time. So precious!

 Proof that she was so big! I thought Chelsea was big at 8 lbs. 5 oz, but Abby takes the cake for my biggest baby! (Brie was 6 lbs. 14 oz if you were curious-2 weeks early though)

 Check out those squishy cheeks! 

 Before she was even out I could hear one of the nurses exclaiming about all her hair. She has dark brown hair that is a good 1/2 inch long at least. And it's really thick, too! I hope she keeps it. I'm not holding my breath though, since Chelsea came out with dark brown hair also. And we all know she didn't stay brunette! But who knows, maybe I will get a mini-me yet. hehe

 At the hospital she didn't mind hanging out half naked, though I did keep her covered/wrapped most of the time. They didn't dress her in a little sleeper like they did with my other two. All Abby got was a long sleeved shirt-type thing to wear. It worked alright except it kept riding up her back.

 The girls got to come to the hospital to meet little sister. Chelsea LOVES babies and was excited to come meet her. She gave her kisses and adjusted her hat and was thrilled in general. 

 Brienna, on the other hand, was quite suspicious about this little person and didn't want to go anywhere near her. She wouldn't let Daddy put her down, and that tongue never left the position you see it in here. Of course we did bring her into an unfamiliar place with big crowds of people watching her, and shoved a little moving baby at her. I'm not surprised that she was less than thrilled with the situation.

 I took this while it was just me and baby hanging out at the hospital. We had lots of quiet time during the day since everybody else was working or watching big sisters. She slept soundly most of the day and night. It was really nice.

 All packed up and ready to go home! These little newborn clothes aren't going to last her very long, that's for sure! She also went straight to size one diapers in the hospital. Big girl!

 Here we see the new van we purchased last week. It works well for our family of FIVE.

 I realize I still look pregnant, especially from this angle. Bah. Oh well. Hopefully I will be able to shed most of this in the coming weeks/months. I was shopping alone at Walmart yesterday and someone commented on how I'm still carrying baby around. Uh, nope. Baby is at home with Grandma... 

Here in a more comfortable setting Brie was much warmer toward the baby. She excitedly jumped and exclaimed Baby! but she still wouldn't touch her or give her any kisses. But that's alright. At least Abby's been accepted by the whole family now.

This is our last post as parents of only two

Flood Journal complete for now. (I think.) Read it here!

 Chelsea is loving her second year of dance class. She's wanting to do ballet, which they do offer now at Brick Studio, but I didn't know she wanted to do ballet until after the first class was already done. So we are just going to continue with things as they are for this year and next year/next summer we will explore our options for a beginner ballet class. They have them for kids this little. I can only imagine how cute they would be in real tutus and toe shoes. :)

 She's into this crookedy-type smile recently. But it's so cute!

 Must be some tasty peanut butter cheese crackers and pudding. Mmmm....

 Chelsea wasn't too interested in going to the MSU Homecoming parade until I reminded her about the floats that drive by and throw out candy. Then she was pumped and almost hopped in the car immediately! 

 If you look close, you can spy Daddy at work. It was really nice to see him at the parade since I didn't expect to, being as he was on duty capturing the day's events for the university. After the parade we headed over to the tailgating party at the dome, where we met up with Daddy. He thankfully was able to take a little bit of a break and help me get the kids fed among all the hullabaloo. Then I had to go to work for a full shift. My body was so sore by the end of the day! This was last Saturday. I was fully expecting to go into labor the next day, but alas. That didn't happen. ;) 

Featured in this photo is also the Minot High marching band. These are the same uniforms that I used to march in back in high school--except the hats are better nowadays. Back in my day they were gold colored fuzz balls that looked like used Q-tips. That's what Mr. Jensen (who is still leading the band as you can see) called them. He hated them as much as we did, hehe.

 It was not comfy for me to sit on the curb in my current state, but I didn't think about taking a chair. Actually I don't have a chair to take anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered. That and I don't think I could have managed the stroller, two kids, AND a chair, hehe. :)

 She looks a little grumpy here, but actually she was having a great time. I let both girls go a little nuts with the candy eating and they didn't eat much during the tailgating party following the parade, but oh well. Sometimes I wonder how they are still LIVING with the small amount of food that gets into their mouths day after day.

And here we have Chelsea posing. This is a pose she learned at dance class. It's called the "Work it, Girl!" Maybe ballet would be a good way to go after all....
She is standing in Beth's basement work-in-progress. She had some sewer damage due to the flood and had to rip out a lot of her basement. Our focus here is the new flooring that has recently been laid. Isn't it pretty? There's also been a lot of work done on the foundation walls behind that new paneling you can see in the back. It's not finished yet, but we are liking the progress!

Here is Brienna playing with the Hex bugs that Beth got for her birthday. 

In other news of the week: This week we completed the sale of our flooded house. So we no longer own our own home. We will remain basement rats at my mom's house for an estimated 15 more months to save our pennies and get back to the same dollars of downpayment money we had four months ago when we bought the house. But we are not flood victims. We are flood survivors. We are certainly not complaining about our living accommodations. We feel very comfortable and very loved and welcome here. We are extremely grateful for our fortunate circumstances and close family who have taken us in. We can't complain about 15 more months until full financial recovery. There are SO many that have no financial security in sight-at all-due to the flood. It's an ongoing battle that we are fortunate enough to be able to walk away from with minimal losses and full recovery in sight. We are so blessed.

More other news of the week: We traded in my Chevy Cavalier for a Buick Terraza mini van. Yes, I now drive a mini van. I can't believe I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but I haven't. I will do that at some point and let you see it. But that may not happen for a bit now. Anywho. We got an amazing deal for the Cavalier. We were going to ask for $2500 and hope to actually get $2000. (The world wide web told us the trade-in value was $2400.) They didn't even ask us what our thoughts were on what it was worth. But that's actually a GOOD thing because they offered $3000! Did we take it? Um, yes. Yes we did.

My favorite features of the van are: automatic side doors, an engine block heater, remote car locks/starter, built in DVD player, optional XM satellite radio and/or Onstar capabilities (which we aren't going to activate either one of, but it's still a readily available option), removable middle seats, and it is a very smooth and quiet ride. The girls LOVED it. Brie refused to get OUT of it after checking it out the first time. Luckily we were planning on going for a drive out to the Bishop's for a ward party, so we didn't have to fight her out of the vehicle. :) Chelsea was sufficiently impressed and enjoyed the ride, but was indifferent about getting out.

Next piece of news for the moment: I saved the best for last! Baby news! So tomorrow (October 3rd) is my due date. We've been expecting baby to make an early arrival for a couple of weeks now. But she's too comfy in there. But that isn't going to last for little baby. Tomorrow she is being evicted! At 8 in the morning (as long as there aren't too many other moms already in active labor) I will head over to the hospital and they will break my water. Hopefully that will get the ball rolling and start labor/contractions. If not, they will add pitocin and really get things going. I'm hoping I won't need pitocin, but I had it with Chelsea and things turned out peachy in the end. I'm not worried about it. I'm not looking forward to the labor part, but I am very excited about the baby part. I'm a little nervous if I think too hard about it, but I'm not worried otherwise. So if things go according to plan, we will likely have our baby before any of you actually read this! (It's coming up on 10:30 pm the night before I'm getting induced.) I'm hoping things go speedy-quick for labor and delivery tomorrow. I know many of you have had us in your prayers and we appreciate every prayer on our behalf! Thank you! 

Look forward to baby pictures!

Beth Had a Birthday, Shout Hoo-ray!

 Chelsea has the cutest face here, hehe. Happy Birthday to Auntie Beth!

 Beth looks pretty snazzy in her new clothes as well! 

 Here we have Grandma Kelly, working diligently on a baby blessing blanket, which she has now finished. It looks wonderful!

 Grandpa Kelly is chillin' out while watching the prezzie-opening.

 Brie was in and out of the action. She's eating a bag of fruit snacks, one of which has made it to the floor. (Surprise, surprise.) She knows she's supposed to sit at the counter to eat. Good girl.

 Jennifer and I were both playing the role of photographer.

Notice the infant car seat sitting here, ready and waiting to be useful once again. Maybe soon...

Autie Beth got some nifty Hex Bug Nano things with a habitat, among other things. Science people like that sort of thing. ;) The girls liked looking at the bugs but initially the vibrating bugs gave them the heeby-jeebies! By the end of the night they were alright touching them ever so briefly, and only if necessary to get it back in the habitat. So funny!

And here we have me at 38 weeks. This is the point that Brie decided to come all on her own. I've been waiting since Wednesday for this little one to decide she wants to enter the world. I found out on my last Dr. appointment (last Wednesday, five days ago) that I'm dilated to 3cm, 80% effaced, and -2. Progress! This was more progress than I expected. So all week since, I've been very...aware...of every little movement, pain, pressure, etc. taking note if it felt even remotely like a contraction. Nothing has. Bah. I'm not REALLY antsy for the baby to come quite yet. The only real reason I would want baby to come early is a selfish one: it is FAR easier to recover after having a smaller (aka early) baby. I'd rather have a baby that is "done" though and suffer a little bit more in the process personally than have to deal with breathing tubes or feeding problems or any such thing. 

Dr. was none too gentle with his exam last week. I'm wondering if he stripped a couple membranes (sorry if this is TMI) in the process. All that evening I felt pressure in my lower belly and baby has definitely dropped more. Well, we'll see if I've made any further progress at my next Dr. appointment. My next Dr. appointment is Wednesday afternoon, RIGHT before I go in to work for the evening. Should be interesting if Dr. prods as aggressively as he did last time...

:)

Today-Part Two

Flood Journal? Yes, please.

Be sure to read Today-Part One, which is after this post to read about the events of earlier today. It has been quite a busy day!

 The baby girls missed out on some good old fashioned fun swimming this evening. Good thing Chris, Amanda, and Wesley could come!

 My belly was dragging on the bottom of the pool if I wasn't careful, hehe. Brie hitched a ride with Daddy while Chelsea clung to the pole. She thought it was neat that she could do that. There are buckets overhead that are usually filling with water and then dumping down on folks. It didn't hurt my feelings that they were not functioning today. I don't really like getting dumped on, and the girls don't either even though they always think they will. They never do. 

 Alright, I give in. Here is a *gulp* swimsuit shot of me. Scary, I know. Enjoy it, because this is the last full body swimsuit shot you will probably ever see of me. Yes it is blurry. I am aware. ;)

 And yes, this does in fact give me some motivation to work out after having this baby. I look a bit tubby in many of the shots I'm in (thanks to Beth for taking these pics by the way!) which is why you will never see them. Bwah ha ha!

 Little kids are SO cute to watch have fun in kiddie pools. The tiny little slides are so exciting to them. The beach ball and noodles are so intriguing to them. I love it!

 Brie was really cute playing with this little fountain. She had been trying to get some in her mouth, and I was encouraging her to try it again for the picture. But then she was just having fun opening her mouth like me instead of playing in the water. What goofs we grown ups become for our little kids. And to get a good picture of them doing their funny things. 

 See what I mean about the noodles? They are so versatile and can be just about anything. Including binoculars.

Chelsea was having a blast beaning Uncle Chris on the head repeatedly with this beach ball. He played along quite nicely. He must have kids or something. ;)

Tomorrow I get to visit the doctor once again and take the Group-B Strep test or whatever it is. Pleasantness. *sure* 

In the evening there will be a family fun night at the Our Redeemer's Church with free food and games and bouncy things that is open to the community. We definitely plan to take advantage! Thursday there is a pot luck for flood victims and their families at Magic City (flood vics are not required to bring anything, but the other folks are asked to) and then on Friday there is an Applebees's-goodbye-night-out (Applebee's is a traditional girls night out for us) for a coworker of mine. I will be eating a lot this week. Good thing I'm not on that weight loss plan yet.

Today-Part One

To the Flood Journal Post I go!

 These pictures are a bit haphazard as far as their order, but oh well. I'm too lazy to try to fix it. 

This morning we had weeds that were like THIS all over the yard, as well as  lots of trash and debris laying around the yard. 

 And this little guy was smidging around in our basement the other day. We didn't see him today.

 Amanda took care of those monster weeds and trash. Yay! It's been bugging me having all that in our yard, even though every yard looks that way. Thanks, Amanda! She found some interesting things, such as a whole crayfish carcass, among other things.

 How do you feel about cleaning, boys? That good, eh? Just kidding. They did Grrrrrrrreat! Thanks, Rick and Chris!

 It was a busy day at our house. Along with cleaning, there were people picking up debris on the boulevards. There is a video of this below. I thought it was pretty interesting at least.

 The siding is now clean!

 And so is the deck!

The sinkhole that is right here in front of our house was also being worked on today. The street was blocked off, but luckily Forest Road is a handy detour, as well as a place for me to park and easily reach the house.  I have a video of them digging around in the pit as well, but it's not very interesting to watch. It was interesting to watch in person, though, which is why I took a video in the first place.

I watched for a little while and one of the guys came over asking me if I was waiting for them to get out of my way so I could leave the driveway or something. Nope. I parked out of the way. I learned that the folks doing this were all from Virginia. There was a father and two sons, and then another person who was also from Virginia on their crew. In case you were curious.

Along with all of this that is going on, we were expecting our flood insurance check to be delivered today. It was coming by way of UPS. We weren't too sure that UPS would even try to deliver it with the road being blocked off and tons of vehicles directly in front of our house. So I went to the UPS office (did you know their hours are from 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm? crazy!) and had them tell their driver to not even try and deliver it, (it needed a signature, of course)  but to bring it back to UPS and we would pick it up after he got done with his deliveries. 

Which we DID DO!

We have our $15,000 advance check in hand (that we never did anything with in case the claim didn't go through), the check for the remainder of the balance, a check for $1000 for taking our belongings out of the house, and a check for nearly $500 for putting up sandbags (even though they didn't do a lick of good in the end.) To the bank we go tomorrow! Next step: we are probably going to try to sell the house as it is, which should still give us a good start on a whole new house, in a different location outside of the flood zone. We have already had someone interested in buying it, but we couldn't work with his payment preferences. Rats. Oh well. Wish us luck! A few prayers on the matter wouldn't hurt either. ;)

Heit Pic-a-nic

 You can see just about everybody in this picture. Wesley is hiding there behind Chris, but he's featured later. Randy came also, but he didn't appear until a little later when most of us had finished eating. I didn't get a picture of him at all apparently....sorry!

 Ok here's later. These two were ready to go back to the playground instead of eating much. Neither of them cleaned their plates before heading back out to play, hehe. Brie is in the stage where she eats next to nothing and I wonder how she stays alive. But she does stay alive, and she's happy, so we go with it.

 Chris and Amanda and kiddos. It is very nice to have them here visiting. This is our first time meeting the twins. They are cute in person just like in pictures. And not to forget Wesley, he's also quite cute. :) They are related to US after all. :) :) :) hehe

 Chelsea is big enough to go on this part of the play equipment. It stumped Brie however. She had to go down and around instead of across.

 Siding! That's what Brie would say, anyway. These two can't get enough of slides.

 The little girls got to try it out also.

 Wesley was happy to "smile" for me in this shot.

 You know, they've told me which twin is Katelynn and which one is Kairi several times, but for some reason it doesn't stick in my brain. This little one was not as impressed with the slides by the time I took her pictures. She WAS happy and smiling previously.

 Two of my cuties hanging out. Awww.

I love family. What more can I say. I'm really glad our kids get to see their cousins sometimes, even though it's not very often.