Author: Dania

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Such an adorable itty bitty outtie…

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The first meeting of sisters. I think it was love at first sight.There were lots of naps to be had this week.Play time at the Crossings…horray for sun!The afternoon was spent napping and in the various swimmy pools

How adorable is this tutu? We have some great friends who through it all, didn’t forget Kennedy!More sleepy time…and now play time!

followed by quality sister bonding…

and being dadda’s little helper…

Week one down. You wont’ hear any complaining here. Things have been great. Not to say we all haven’t had our moments, but all in all, our family of four is adjusting very nicely. McKenna has been a doll and we couldn’t adore her more. Much like Kennedy, her fussy times tend to be in the evenings, and we apologize to the guests who have had the misfortune to listen to one of her fits. Sleeping has been a dream (all things considered). She often falls asleep in her bouncy around 9-10pm, which is wonderful since we can simply carry it upstairs without distrubing our sleeping beauty. She stays happily asleep in there until around 2am, feeds for 20 minutes, had a diaper change and immediately falls back asleep without a peep in the co-sleeper until 5am. John has been amazing and takes her after her morning feed while I get the luxury of a few more hours of sleep. Of course I realize all this can change at a moments notice, but for now, I’m enjoying a semi-normal routine.

Kennedy is adjusting nicely as well. She seems to have grown years in the past week. Her one word speech has turned to full semi-coherent sentences and she has become so incredibly helpful around the house. She appears to adore McKenna as much as the rest of us and is always concerned about making sure she has a binky nearby and is appropriately covered with her blankets…it just warms my heart to watch the girls bonding already.

I truly believe I could be the luckiest woman in the entire world at this very moment.

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Hello McKenna Lily!

And your little feet

Proud mama and papa

Lets go home loves…

Like a true Bagyi always concerned with promptness, McKenna decided to only wait three and a half hours into the day of June 23rd before working her way into our world. We didn’t wait long (mostly because I’m a wuss and paranoid about not making it in time to get my epidural) before heading to the hospital and was officially in a room by 5:15 am. Contractions were manageable, but don’t forget, I’m a wuss…so as soon as Dr. Clark gave the clear, I was rounding up my team to stick that big ol‘ needle in my spine and administer the relief I had so long awaited (all two and a half hours). I hadn’t felt that good in weeks, possibly months, and then the long wait began. Longer for poor John than for me no doubt. Despite some serious hunger pains along the way (those of you who know me also know how much I love to eat), the day passed without issue and our beautiful McKenna finally arrived with less than 15 minutes of pushing (thank God). And at that moment, our family officially became complete.

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>Since I have a feeling many posts in the coming weeks will be centered around the new little life about to bless our family, I wanted to make a few last notes about the Bean herself…

John started this “rubbing tummies” thing with her a while back and she often will interrupt whatever play she’s engrossed in to run over to me, pull up her shirt, then mine, and yell “rub the tummies!”. I swear we’ll get it on tape one of these days, but despite her constant exposure to cameras, she still gets all shy when they come out.

I’ve also been trying to put her down as much as possible at night always thinking it may be our last before I return home with her sister [insert tears here]. She now pulls up my shirt and adorably states “sister read the book too” as she sits next to me patting my belly button through the entire storytime. That kind of love has reduced many Dr. Suess books to a very shaky version as tears spill from my eyes and I reassure her that they are simply “happy water”.

Every day I think I can’t love this kid anymore than I did a moment ago, and yet every day, I love her just a little bit more. Can it possibly get better than this?

>No baby. No baby. No baby. Could I possibly be one of the most impatient people in the world? Right now, I think the answer is yes. I think we are all impatient to meet this new little one. I was very patient for a long time…soaking up every last minute with the Bean and getting in my precious sleep while I still could. However, after swinging in the backyard with Bean on my lap for no more than 10 minutes yesterday afternoon, I was cursed with pelvic pain that kept me up the better part of the night groaning with every toss and turn. Anyone who knows me also knows my tolerance for pain is about negative 10. I don’t proclaim to be a superstar and easily suck it up. Just ask my poor husband who is forced to listen to the non-stop sighs and groans every day.

So even though I am 6 days away from my actual due date, I am more than ready for this baby to make her grand entrance into our world. I don’t know whether my impatience has been rubbing off on Bean or not, but she went from hugging my belly and politely requesting:

to now pointing at my belly with a stern look demanding:

I kid you not.

>A small sneak peek of the Boo in Jen’s ultra slick glasses just days before she’ll make her grand appearance.

Bubbles!

Thanks for the visit Aunt Chick!

Mwah!

>We had a great morning at the Zoo with the “Piro’s” followed by a yummo lunch at Baileys and a quick Carousel ride in Congress Park. Perfect Saturday!

This guy, who John named Harold, followed us everywhere we went.

Quite the friendly fellow…

>After over an hour of being totally obstinate and refusing to nap despite her exhausting morning, I go in to get her and find her like this…

>I finally was able to get over to see my friend and her adorable twin girls who just turned 3 months old. Could they be any sweeter?!

Meet Shayley
And Priya
Sisterly love!

I just lust after itty bitty feetsies!

Kennedy couldn’t get enough of them. “hold baby please!”

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She learned this all by her lonesome today. I’m not surprised given her ambitious and fearless (aka, reckless) nature. I think she did it by accident at first, but was delighted when I squealed with excitement as she completed her first ever unassisted somersault. Now, she’s my first born and I’m an only child, so you’ll have to excuse me if my excitement over this is about a year too late, but it seemed like a big deal. Now if we could just get her as enthusiastic about her ABCs and numbers…

>Just a note about her amazing personality. Miss Monkey herself slices her toe on a heating vent after slipping from the window sill she shouldn’t have been climbing to begin with and begins to cry…not from the boo-boo oozing blood, but rather from us keeping her from immediately re- climbing. Fearless.

>Just when I thought I couldn’t adore her anymore…

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>As often as I have my camera slug around my neck, there are just some moments that can’t be captured but in memory.

Bean and I were just having our hourly “sister” visit on the rocker downstairs. “Sister” gets very shy and is often quiet when Bean is listening and hugging her, but this time, she must have had a burst of the funnies and decided to moon us, and the look on Bean’s face as the left side of my belly jutted out a good 3″ higher than the left was simply precious. Her eyes lit up in a way I don’t often see and a smile as wide as feasible possible spread across her whole face….she stared in amazement and then looked up at me and said “I see that!”.

Awesome.

>Enjoying a nice Vivanno (no, I did not give her coffee) before a beautiful morning at the playround…

>Nothing better than some soft serve ice cream and Bear and the Big Blue House…

>And to celebrate the kick off to such a special month, a fish kiss…just for you.

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Hello from Bailey’s Cafe!

>Perfect weather for a nice long weekend! Someone really loved their new sprinkler ball…

A water filled day isn’t complete without a little sand…

Happy Memorial Day!

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5 weeks away from another total life change. Not just for us this time, but for Kennedy. I can handle whatever a new baby throws our way, but I worry if she can as well. I have convinced myself that she’s a toughie and that she will roll with the punches the way she has with everything else she’s encountered in her short 23 months with us. I hope I am right.

With Bean, I counted down the days praying she would arrive as early as possible and still be healthy. I just couldn’t wait to meet her. This time, however, I’m much more patient. I hope that’s not a slam to the little one inside me, but I feel like I need to soak up every last second I have alone with Bean before her life is forever changed and she’s forced to share my love and affection. I agonize over every moment I have to yell at her and every tear shed from those baby blues. I don’t want any second of these last 5 weeks to be anything less than simply awesome. I’m not totally without perspective. She seems genuinely excited for a baby sister and I have no doubt that the joy of having each other as they grow up will far outweigh any negativity along the way. “The longest relationship you’ll have in your life is that of your siblings”. I’m incredibly thankful that John and I are lucky enough to be able to provide this opportunity for Kennedy. This coming from an only child who used to grill my parents to tell me the god’s honest truth about the twin sister they must have forgotten at the hospital…because it was just too cruel to let me go through my childhood all alone.But for the moment, I’m sitting at the computer thankful she’s finally asleep. Though not without tears in my eyes thinking of the ones that filled hers as she most likely passed out from the pure exhaustion of crying too hard as I left her alone in her room.

>The sight of these all set up just brought tears to my eyes. 5 weeks and counting…

>Could my life be any more fun?

>I love my pictures, but there are a few things they sadly can’t show. Over the last few weeks, Beans vocabulary has just exploded. She repeats everything (I mean everything!) and is now forming semi-coherent full sentences. Some of my favorite phrases these days are “mamma, shake your bum!” or more often than not “no Kennedy shake bum”. We read a book a while back who referred to tickling as an invasion of your child…tell that to my giggling toddler running around begging “get the hambone!!” I asked Kennedy to bring dadda his slippers the other day and her response: “no, these are my slippers”. I couldn’t stop laughing…she was just so serious.

What a little kick ass personality she has. I just adore the heck out of that kid…

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>With each passing day, she becomes more and more fearless. While I should have been behind her to keep her from cracking her head open, I was instead frantically trying to capture this side of her I so adore (and fear). Bad Mommy? Maybe, but as I should have known, she was able to climb down both times with the same ease in which she climbed up. Silly me, who was I to doubt?

>Another great Tuesday with the Shapiro girls! We went to see baby animals at Indian Ladder. While the baby animals were a bit of a dissapointment given there weren’t many of them and they were in a dark barn, I think we had a fun morning nonetheless!

I think these two beautys will be breaking some serious hearts before long…

>What a great Mothers Day! A bag full of goodies (including a picture of Miss Fifty with her beautiful F-Stop, who is on her way to me), brunch up at Prime in Saratoga (yummo) and then off to Congress Park for some fun! Bean had a blast filling her tummy and then running it off at the park. So did we…

>Bean didn’t know what to make of the circus. We got a few smiles, but she mostly just sat in Daddy’s lap in total awe…like me, she enjoyed the animal shows the best. Happy Friday!

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Before they are destroyed by Tulip Fest this weekend, I decided to brave the weather and try to get some good shots of Bean. She’s not much a smiler when the camera is out and I had to chase her around threatening the hambone tickle, but I think we did ok…

>I was laying in bed thinking about hopping on Etsy to try and find a suitable homecoming outfit for “Boo.” Should I get something with “Boo” embroidered on it? Should I get a “Little Sis” onesie? What will my little girl come home in, and frankly, why the heck is this so important that at midnight, I am stressing about this small detail?

And as I’m staring at the dark ceiling for hour #2 now, I realize that I have no real attachment to this nickname. I’m not even sure where it originated, but I’ve been holding on tight for 8 months now. Bean’s nickname was slam dunk from day one. So much so that I had it tattooed on her stocking for her first Christmas while still in the womb. I couldn’t even bring myself to do the same for “Boo” this year. So, 7 weeks before she makes her grand entrance into this world, I find myself without a natural nickname for her and this makes me a little sad…

Ps. Don’t worry Aunt Chick, we promise to still make loving use of our “Boo” blanket every day.

>A few shots of the almost complete nursery. We still are waiting on a nightstand and a few shelves, but at least I feel that if she were to come tomorrow, she’d have a room suitable for her stay…

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She’s awfully proud of herself…

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Ok, deep breath Kennedy… Bubble says “kiss your brain!” Follow me Kids…time for PE.Whew! This teaching stuff is hard work. Water break!
Lesson time…
Thank you Bubble!Zzzzzzzz…..

>A long and super enjoyable weekend! A few favorite shots to memorialize…

My absolute favorite…

>Despite some bad pelvic pain I’d been having while running, I decided to brave a 3 mile run last night anyways and came home almost in tears. While I pushed myself to run the full 3 miles, it was incredibly painful and I realized halfway through that it was likely my last run until after Boo is born. It wasn’t fun anymore and I was really risking hurting myself…and all for what? I think I had so convinced myself I could be one of those women who ran the day they went into labor that I just had a hard time giving it up…

So I bit the bullet and reluctantly climbed on the elliptical machine at the gym today. Ironically, they are positioned right behind the treadmills, so I had a taunting view of the few serious sub 8 mile runners right in front of me. Then this older man, maybe in his late 60s, climbed on the treadmill in front of me and was walking at a very brisk pace and I found myself feeling like a total schmuck. I realized while watching him struggle and try a few times to break into a slow jog that what I though I was feeling was likely his every day life. I’m complaining about losing potentially 12 weeks of running while he is struggling to at best, maintain his fitness level and more likely than not, experience it only decline for the rest of his life. And I’m upset about 12 stinkin‘ weeks. Seriously Dania?

You’ve got to love when perspective comes and slaps you right in the face at the very moment you need it the most.

>I think I love you.

>At almost 8 months, I realized how incredibly lucky I’ve been this pregnancy. All things considered, very few aches and pains, I’ve been able to keep up my running almost to my satisfaction (rounded out 3 miles yesterday and still felt great), weight is almost half of what it was this time with Bean, and haven’t had any crazy cravings or aversions. I have absolutely no cause for complaints.

However, I realized the other day that I cannot stand the smell of pretzels (John swears they don’t even smell). Unfortunately for me, they are one of Bean’s favorite snacks when we are out and about and a great deterrent to keep her from climbing out of shopping carts or pitching fits in her stroller. But with each passing day, the smells becomes more pungent and I am trying to keep telling myself that her love for them is more important than my growing propensity to yack at the mere sight of one…

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Goofball…

>I realized recently how very few pictures I have of my belly this time compared to last time, so I’ve been trying to take a few self portraits and am finally brave enough to post one. Just shy of 30 weeks. 10 to go…

>So at 7 months pregnant, I braved my favorite run of the season, the 5 mile Delmar Dash. I loved this race last year and was sickened to miss it this year. So last minute, I decided to run it anyways, with the intent to simply finish. Luckily, I had a good friend who stayed with me the whole time and kept me going. It was a great day and my previously noted (for those who read my endless Facebook statuses) third trimester blues have been at least temporarily lifted…

and my favorite running pals…And this is what the Bean got to do while waiting for me to finish.
Spoiled rotten!

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I’m psyched for 66 degree weather so we can actually play in the sun tomorrow!

>I’m feeling horrible right now. I realized this morning that Bean has been using her bottle as a substitute pacifier, so we picked out a new sleepy time sippy cup at BRU today for her to use instead. She cried for 15 minutes when I put her down for nap and just woke up after only a half hour and is whimpering. I so want to go in and give her a huge hug, but I know it’s best she work this out on her own. So why do I feel like such a neglectful mother?!

And of course, before I’m done typing this post, the Bean is fast asleep again. That kid amazes me time and time again…

>I had my first actually dream “meeting” last night with Boo. I forgot about these dreams where it’s like they make their little appearance to meet you a few weeks early. She was already tucked in her car seat just waiting for us to bring her home. I had no memory of haven given birth, so this was the first time I’d seen her. She was stunning with her big blue eyes and full head of dark hair, just like her sister. My heart instantly melted…

These last 12 weeks are going to seem like forever now. I can’t wait to finally hold my little Boo instead of just poking around in her little home waiting for a hello kick back.

>I was browsing through this months pictures trying to organize them all and came across this random one. I can’t believe what a little girl she looks like here. Thank god Boo is on her way or I’d be having serious baby fever right now…

>What in the world would I do without you? Thanks to Kristina at BouncingOffTheWalls, I have these awesome new drawer knobs and light switch cover for Boo’s nursery. I can’t wait to get them all set up. I’ll post nursery pictures as soon as a few more things are complete.

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Dadda just finished putting her down just like he always did. She made a bee-line for the crib as soon as she entered her room, but then insisted she be read to in her chair like old times. And she’s down…

just sat up and is peering over the edge…
and she’s on the move…
checked out the opening…
moved back to the top of her bed…
rearranged a few things…
crying for dadda as she peers over her little ledge…
now John’s on the move…
she’s settled…
Johns perched outside her room on the floor (I’m having flashbacks to when she was 2 months old)…
She’s turned on her aquarium and now officially passed out…

Took her 20 minutes to settle. I’m a proud mamma.

>So, on Bean’s official 21 month birthday, she’s decided it’s time to get a big girl bed and proved this to me by allowing me to find her like this after nap time today…

Fearless…

>They are just too cute to not post this…

>Every morning I go in to wake Bean up, she asks to see “Sister”, pulls up my shirt and does this…

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Bean the handy helper, slept through all the hard work. Slacker…

But did come to put her stamp (aka, kiss) of approval later on.

>When going to a bar almost 7 months pregnant, do not sit next to the serving table. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than a few red wines are missing a sip or two when they finally make it to their destination…

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Dear Shamrock Sundae,
you’ve rocked my world tonight.

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>Since we started living together, John has always left notes for me in the mornings before he goes to work. Sometimes informative, often just sweet. He’s decided that Kennedy is now old enough to receive her own notes…she was awfully excited to find one waiting for her downstairs this lovely St. Patrick’s Day morning!

Mwah!

>Good new first…

I had a milestone run yesterday. At 26 weeks pregnant, and thanks to some fabulous spring like weather (and by that, I mean 55 degrees), I had probably the best run since my half back in October. Not as proud of the average pace as I am the overall mileage (and I blame some of it on the need to wait to cross a few roads, which put me at a 70 minute mile pace for a minute or two), but still felt the need to record this accomplishment nonetheless. And for any runner, you should not live without this polar watch system. This may be my favorite Christmas present of all time.

>I am not sure who is more excited for Bean’s swingset…her or us. She had fun being daddy’s little helper yesterday measuring out exactly where it will go when it arrives in 2 weeks!