Breakthrough!

We decided to take the kids to Alta today and I'm so happy to report that everyone had a great time. It was a real breakthrough for Luke on skis. Not only did he NOT whine and flail around as we tried to put his gear on, but he actually had a good time. And he skied really well (see video at bottom). 

Anna had a good time too, riding in the backpack with me. Each time we stopped and saw someone on the run, they commented on how smiley and happy she looked. We were only there for two hours, but apparently it was enough action for Luke & Anna, as they both fell asleep on the ride home.

When we got back to Salt Lake we went to our favorite pizza place, then went home for chocolate cake to celebrate Anna's birthday. I took some priceless photos of her sinking her teeth directly into the cake, and subsequently getting covered in chocolate, but guess what... the camera setting was accidentally messed up so the photos came out black!!! I AM SO BUMMED! Plus, (and I'm not even exaggerating here) after she took a direct bite of the cake, she said "yum." Her first word; it was as clear as day.

It was 70 degrees in Salt Lake today, so we also had a chance to play in the yard, all wearing shorts and t-shirts. 

All in all, it was a wonderful way to celebrate our baby girl's first birthday. We can't believe that she's one already, and that we no longer have a baby in the house :) / :(

Here's a peek at our day on the mountain: 

Waking Up One

In the wee hours of this morning, Anna turned one year old!
Here are a few pics from the morning birthday celebration - we had cinnamon buns and opened a few gifts from family. We're off for some other adventures today and will post more photos later. I'm hoping to capture the final in her series of monthly photos, but I can't get her to keep the 12 months sticker on her onesie, never mind getting her to sit in the chair! 

Pre-school Hike

Today I chaperoned another hike with Luke's pre-school class. Of course throwing stones in the creek was the highlight. Along with snack time. And guess who led the way up every hill...?

This has been such a great class and I really enjoy co-oping in the class twice a month. It's amazing to see how much these two (and some already three) year olds have grown and matured since September!

Luke is wearing the gray Batman t-shirt with white sleeves.

For Posterity

Last April I wrote this post about Anna's arrival but for some reason I didn't post it. Maybe I forgot, since I was pretty knackered at that time. It was more about just getting it down "on paper" so I wouldn't forget anything.  Now that we're a few days away from her 1st birthday, I wanted to put it out there. So, here's the story of the night Anna Bridget Duffy arrived...

Not like you'll ever forget it, or the major points anyway, but I feel like it's important to document the day your babies were born so that they'll always know their story. I guess I got that from my Mom, since I know lots of details from the the night I arrived.

So, Wednesday, March 23rd started like a normal day. Luke and I went to the J for my spin class (yes, really), then off to his gymnastics class. That's when I started feeling less than spectacular. I was starting to have mild contractions, which continued throughout the day, though not at an alarmingly frequent pace or intensity. I was really hoping to hold out at least until 9 am on Thursday, when Pilar would arrive to watch Luke and my parents would be en route. Because even more than the anxiety about childbirth, I had been worrying about the who, what, when, where and how involved in Luke's care if the baby arrived before my parents did.

It was a lovely evening, so when Keith got home from work we went for a walk and ordered takeout pizza from our neighborhood spot. As I hobbled along through our hood, I told Keith that I thought the baby would definitely come in the next 24 hours. Starting at 8:30 pm, my contractions suddenly started coming within a few minutes and some were as painful as I remembered they could be. I realized that I wouldn't make it to the next morning and called our friends Ben & Meredith to make sure they were around and to update them on the situation.

At 9:30 pm my water broke. This was a new experience for me, as it didn't happen naturally when I had Luke. I was actually annoyed at first, because I had thoughtfully planned the outfit to wear to and from the hospital (which happened to be one of the only things that fit comfortably) and now it was trashed. Remembering how low the baby was and fearful that the process could go quickly, I told Keith that we needed to go.

I got Luke out of bed and we went right to the hospital. We arrived at 10 pm and it was like a ghost town. The empty check-in desk on the maternal services floor had a sign pointing to OB emergency services. We walked over there and a woman was directing a couple down the hall. Then she started typing on her computer as we stood there calmly. I wasn't having active contractions at that point, so, aside from having drenched pants, I was (and obviously seemed) fine. Keith finally said something to her and she responded "Oh! I thought you were with the patient," motioning to the couple she'd just helped. "No, I'm the patient," I explained. She pointed us across the hall to labor and delivery. We wandered over and found six or seven nurses and residents sitting at a desk. "Hi," I said. "I'm 39 weeks and my water just broke." I was totally calm and Keith stood there holding Luke. They looked at us like we were joking. One responded "are you sure your water broke?" I gestured down to my dripping pants and said "I'm certain." They jumped to action, ushering me into a delivery suite, while Keith got me settled and left to bring Luke to Ben & Meredith's house.

Once the residents verified that I was indeed in labor, they called for the anesthesiologist right away and I had my beloved epidural within an hour of arriving at the hospital. Around that time my contractions actually started slowing down. So, compared to my 13-hour labor experience with Luke, I experienced a very short period of painful contractions. I did, however, have terrible nausea. Even worse than I had with Luke's labor. I think they gave me the maximum dose of Zofran to get it under control, but it took a couple of hours. Since the contractions had tapered off, they started me on Pitocin to keep the things going. 


Then, at 3:17 am on Thursday, March 24th, with just two pushes, Anna Bridget made her way into the world. Unlike my experience delivering Luke (when he'd had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and grasped in his fist), they put Anna on my chest right away. It all happened so fast, but I do remember the euphoric feeling that I'd done it, she was safe, and it was over!

It was 5:17 am on the east coast when she was born and I knew that my parents would be boarding the plane for their 6 am flight to Salt Lake. Keith called and was able to let them know that their granddaughter had arrived, just as they started their journey out here to meet her. My Mom had been certain that we were having another boy, so she was very surprised.

And then we had to decide what to name our baby girl. We had a short list of girl names, but at the time I went into labor we hadn't decided on one. We were actually quite indecisive for over an hour, as we tossed around the options. It's an important choice and I was feeling a little stressed! Though I knew we were having a girl, I hadn't finalized a name in my mind. Finally it just came to me that Anna Bridget seemed right, and Keith was happy to agree. After all, my paternal grandmother's name is Anna and my late maternal grandmother Anne was born on March 26, my baby's due date. Plus, I have an Auntie Anne. It was an obvious choice, really.

Keith had a full schedule of Mohs surgery slated for Thursday the 24th, but considering that neither of us slept a wink that night, he knew he wouldn't be in the best form to operate. Since we were just two floors from the dermatology department, he was able to run around early in the morning and find a colleague to cover a few cases, while rescheduling a few. Then he went to the lobby Starbucks, got me my first full strength latte in 9 months, and excitedly informed his Starbucks friends (he's a regular there) that we had a new baby.

By 1 pm on Thursday I was in my recovery room with my parents, Keith, and Luke, all admiring Anna. And the rest is history.

A Little Bit Horrifying

Luke is newly obsessed with the Cars movies. My parents gave him the toy truck (Mack) and the star car (Lightning McQueen) from the movie, and he hasn't stopped playing with them since. He even sleeps with them--the true testament of his love for a toy.

And he has watched the movies Cars and Cars 2 a few times over the last few weeks. 

Unfortunately, I'm afraid he has picked up some bad language from the flicks. I can't recall exactly when Lightning says it in the movie (or in which one), but I vaguely recall him calling some of the other characters idiots. As in "stop doing [such and such] you idiots."

Well, what do you know, yesterday I was changing Luke's diaper and it was a little painful because he had a bad diaper rash (yes, he's still wearing diapers...ugh). Anyway, he was crying and through the tears he said "cut it out you idiots." To which I replied, "excuse me?  What did you say?" He said it a few more times until I was done changing him, and I explained that that's not a nice thing to say and he shouldn't say it anymore. I realized right away that it must be from the movie. He definitely didn't get it from me; that's not a word that I use. I'm more likely to say asshole (accidentally around my kids) than idiot. I was shocked, but I have to say, it actually sounded really funny coming from him. Even so, my first thought was "oh boy, what if he says that to someone at school...or anywhere?!" 

He said it again today when I was changing him and this time, though horrified, I had to hold myself back from laughing. When I cleared the smile from my face, I explained again that that's not a nice word and he needs to stop saying it. I think I may have threatened a time out. Unfortunately Luke is the kind of kid that senses when you really want him to do something, and finds great joy in doing the opposite.

And just now I found him sitting on top of his dresser. I asked him to get down--which he can do on his own--but instead he said "please get me down you idiot." At least he said please...?

Oh man. What am I going to do about this?! 

More Florida

The kids and I just returned from our fantastic 10-day trip to Florida. It is in the mid-60s here (beautiful for this time of year) but Luke keeps saying it feels cold :)

While in Florida, we had a visit with my great friend Carla and her daughter Abby (we went on a dolphin cruise and the kids were absolutely amazed by the dolphins jumping out of the water next to the boat), we went to the beach three times (including one on Sanibel Island), swam in the pool, visited my Auntie Anne and Uncle Lou on Marco Island (where Luke and Andie had a blast running through the water playground), hung out with Chris, Lauren & Andie for a couple of days, and had an early birthday cake for Anna. 

Most importantly, Luke and Anna spent some quality time with their Grammy and Grampa, as well as their Uncle Chris, Aunt Lauren, and cousin Andie.

Our trip home was a bit of a gong show. Since the flight from Ft. Myers to Atlanta was late, we had only 5 minutes to make our connection. After disembarking the plane and waiting for the stroller at the gate, we were down to about 5 seconds. Since Luke was still groggy from a nap, he wasn't up for running to the next gate. Which means that I had to run, carrying Luke, Anna, and 3 carry-ons (a kind woman ran with us carrying the folded up stroller) from gate A6 to A24. And I mean I RAN, darting around people and apologizing over my shoulder. We JUST made it (they were waiting for us), and were the last people on board. When Luke discovered that someone was sitting in the window seat (I thought I'd purchased the window...oops) he freaked out and refused to get into the middle seat. Mind you, I'm still carrying all the stuff and Anna, sweating, heart pounding, and everyone was looking at us, since we were holding up take off. 

I asked the young woman if she'd mind trading her window seat for the aisle seat, to which she replied "if I have to." I'm not sure if I gave her a dirty look, but hopefully I wasn't too bitchy (it was her seat after all, and she obviously doesn't have kids). Sensing the stress, the flight attendant offered her a free sandwich if she'd swap with us. Apparently she was really hungry because she was actually quite friendly in her aisle seat for the rest of the flight. 

Of course the kiddos not only didn't sleep a wink during the 4-hour trip to SLC, but they were both hyper with moments of whiny. But, as I suspected would happen, we made it... though our suitcase didn't. That was ok, because it showed up on our front step this morning. I think it was delivered around 5:30 am...the same time the kids woke up, since they're still on east coast time. Awesome.

So, another solo plane trip under my belt. And it was worth it.

Little Cord Art

As I hinted several weeks ago, we're working on something new for 2012. We'll be making custom art using the cross section of a newborn's umbilical cord. When dyed, placed on a slide, and photographed through a microscope, the cord becomes a beautiful and truly one-of-a-kind piece of art. Our website should launch in the next 4-6 weeks and then we'll officially be in business! Here's a sneak peek at our logo and a few sample works of art:

Florida

The kids and I arrived in Florida to visit my parents on Monday afternoon. Luke and Anna have enjoyed exploring/ destroying a new house, playing with lots of new toys, swimming in our old friends Leo & Mary's pool next door, visiting the Naples Zoo, lunching in Naples with fruit smoothies, and playing at the beach. And that's all in just two days. We have many more adventures to come this week.