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Monday, April 28, 2014

Welcome to the world, Chloe!


CHLOE ~ Blooming
ELISE ~ God is my oath

Chloe's Zodiac sign is Aries. People born specifically on April 9th are perceived to be a fine balance of fun and commonsense, have a charismatic insightful nature that is good at compromising, artistic and eloquent with a forward looking attitude and have a concern for the welfare of others. (sounds great to me!!)

Chloe Elise was born on Wednesday, April 9th at 1:05 in the morning.
She weighed in at 6 pounds and 13 ounces. She is 20 inches long.

Her due date was April 22nd, but she arrived two weeks earlier than expected. I developed high blood pressure during my last few weeks of pregnancy. I did not develop preeclampsia, but my doctor was worried that my raised BP could result in it. I was admitted to the hospital the Thursday prior to Chloe's arrival so they could monitor my BP. I was sent home and put on "light bed rest" until a follow-up appointment the following Tuesday. At the follow-up appointment my BP was still a big concern, so my doctor decided to induce labor that afternoon. Matt and I headed home from the clinic, packed our bags, gave Liam snuggles and then headed to the hospital. Both my mom and Matt's mom watched Liam while we were at the hospital.

My labor was induced around 4:00 pm on Tuesday evening. Chloe was born 9 hours later, bright and early in the morning! She was born naturally and she cried immediately. We didn't know if we were going to have a boy or a girl, so we were amazed when the doctor yelled out "it's a girl!" When they put her in my arms she opened her eyes and stared at me. We were relieved that she was born healthy and happy. Matt was there supporting me the entire time (as well as a visit from my mom) and the nurses that helped out during delivery were awesome. Overall the experience was pretty amazing (despite the pain and recovery).

We brought Chloe home on Friday the 11th. The grandmas were relieved of their babysitting duties and Matt, Liam, Chloe, the cats and I settled into our new groove at home. We had limited visitors that Saturday and Sunday. We took a few "family car rides" along the lakefront, rented some movies (the 4 of us piled on the couch together), enjoyed some meals that were dropped off by friends and neighbors (thank you Meal Train!) and pushed through some sleepless nights of nursing/diaper changes/crying that weekend.

Of course I had my crazy crying spells the first week. Oh my goodness, I was crying constantly, about everything. I'd wake up crying, cry while eating breakfast, cry while nursing Chloe, cry while hugging Liam, cry while folding laundry. I couldn't help it. I had no control over it. This worried me a lot because I dealt with postpartum depression after Liam was born. But the crying jags have mellowed out now (I cried once today and I'm only 3 weeks postpartum) and I think I'm going to be okay this time around! But I'm definitely aware of the feelings/emotions/seriousness of PPD and am trying hard to stay positive and just be the best mom I can be to Liam and Chloe :)

I've learned a lot in the last few weeks about what it is to be a mom to two kids now! I've been jotting down random thoughts and will share those with you at a later date. But until then....here are a few photos of Chloe from when she was born and shortly after we brought her home:

My friend Sarah took this photo of us at the hospital
(check out Sarah's photography at www.sarahdohertyphotography.com)

Liam meeting his sister for the first time...

Chloe's first time in the car seat, ready to go home from the hospital...

Liam welcomed us home with this sign...

Chloe relaxing in her lounger...

I love these little fingers...


This is my favorite photo thus far! Liam has been a great big brother and this photo shows the love he already has for her...

Chloe on Easter Sunday...

More "brother love" for Chloe...

Siblings...

Family and friends have been so generous, sending flowers and cookies and bringing us hot meals.  And both Chloe and Liam have received some cool gifts. I must say, it's been pretty fun opening gifts that are all pink and frilly and girlie :)

And this is what tired (and very happy) parents, a toddler and a baby look like.
Is there a way to photo shop out under-eye bags? Ha ha!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Eggs and a cute little chick

In case you didn't hear....I gave birth to a little girl on April 9th! Her name is Chloe Elise and she is the sweetest little thing ever. We're excited to call her our daughter and Liam has been a great big brother (so far).
Here she is:

I have a ton of Chloe photos to share with you from the hospital & since we brought her home, but this post is just a quickie from Easter 2014. My next blog post will be 100% Chloe, I promise :)

It's hard to find an ounce of time to sit at the computer now, with a newborn and a toddler to take care of. But I will try my best to keep up with my blogging.


Easter 2014
We stayed at home this year (instead of traveling to my mom's and Matt's parents) so my mom and Matt's parents came to visit us instead. They got to see their grand kids and it gave Matt and I a little break from the craziness, so it was nice for all of us.

 We did some Easter egg decorating. We did tie-dye-style eggs this year. It was messy, but fun.



Liam found his Easter basket.


Liam says:
1) Check out my blue bunny!
2) Okay...mom told me to sit here nicely next to Chloe.
3) I love my new baby sister.
4) I love blue Peeps.


 Chloe's first Easter!

Also, her first time wearing a dress :)

The weather was finally nice enough to play in the (brown) yard. Liam enjoyed searching for eggs....
 


....and swinging on the swings with hid dad.

We also made homemade Easter cards to send to family. Liam dunked his fingertips in yellow paint and stamped them onto some paper. We turned to stamps into little yellow chicks. The coolest part about the cards? Signing both Liam AND Chloe's names on them :)


I hope you had a blessed Easter.

Love -
Erin, Matt, Liam and Chloe

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Big boy bedroom

I thought I'd share a few quick photos of Liam's "big boy bedroom" as we call it. He absolutely loves his new room and his twin bed. He's been in this new room for almost a month now and hasn't even looked back at his old room! It really surprised us that he would adjust so well (I hope I'm not jinxing it by saying this). Soon his old room will be filled with a crying, cooing, burping baby. I wonder if he'll get jealous when the "newbie" is in his old room? I guess we'll find out shortly...

Anyways...here are a few photos of his travel/map/world themed room. There are a few things I want to get done in here yet (hang a clock, hang some canvass art, organize the closet better, etc). And I didn't have the energy to set up the room to look all spectacular for the photos. So I'm only posting the ones that I thought looked fairly cute :) 

Here's a little banner I made out of old maps and ribbon...

It took me forever to find this duvet cover online. It was sold out from Pottery Barn Kids, but I found it for half the price and brand new on EBay :) 

This little red airplane pillow was my "inspiration piece" for his bedroom...

Matt and I are a bit obsessed with VW's so we thought we'd share our love with Liam...

Liam got this cool canvass from some friends for his birthday. And the old little yellow VW -- that was mine and my brothers' from when we were little :)

A couple of shelves above his bed...


Night stand and lamp are a must...

You can never have too many books...

Trucks and globes and dinosaur banks...

One half of the room...

Little man hat...

 Liam's friends...

A touch of vintage...

Trying to be organized...

Marking on the map where he's all been...

I asked Liam to smile for the camera in his big boy room and this is what I got...a shy little boy! What a little stinker!


Source list:
Cars and trucks duvet cover - Pottery Barn Kids
Oak bed - free hand me down (it was my cousin's bed)
Red airplane pillow - Hobby Lobby
Two white floating shelves - Threshold for Target
Orange ombre curtains - Target online
Orange nightstand - Target online
Blue stick lamp - Target online (clearance)
Two white book shelves - IKEA
White cube shelf - IKEA
Red metal baskets - Hobby Lobby
Green vintage chair - found it on the side of the road for free!
Grey shag rug - Garden Ridge
Green plastic tubs - Dollar Tree
Wall map - map from Office Depot, frame made by Matt
Dresser - Overstock.com