Natural and manmade disasters

We've been busy at the hacienda with a little earthquake, a burst storm and a hurricane named Irene. The earthquake measured out to 5.8 and it's epicenter was about 30 miles to the south of us. Spenser was at school, C was in DC and I was home with Harper when the house started rumbling and shaking. At first, I thought it was a military aircraft going overhead. We are in a flight path and this happens not infrequently. When I realized that this was not just overhead noise, but the house was actually making the noise, I grabbed up Harper and ran outside. I ran further when I realized the deck I was standing under was swaying. A few seconds later, it was all over. Other than being shaky from adrenaline overload and a few pictures that fell over, everything was fine. A few days later, I left the house to pick up Spenser. I had Harper in the back and was texting back and forth with C about the evening. It was threatening to rain at the time and I had a few errands to do before I got Spenser. It had started raining and blowing when C told me to wait in town for a while because the storm was so bad at the house. About the time that I arrived at the school, the storm hit town. I ended up sitting in the hospital parking garage because it is sheltered there. We had 60 mph wind gusts and pouring rain. It knocked out the electricity and the hospital had to kick over to using the generators. It also knocked out cell service, though I could still text C. Harper and I nursed in the dark for about 20 minutes before the storm blew over and I could pick up Spenser. We had plans for that weekend to run down to Virginia Beach as a quick end of summer vacation/birthday getaway. Unfortunately, Irene put a big dent in that plan. To make up for it, we were able to visit Virginia Beach on Labor Day weekend for a nice little family vacation.

We stayed at a Marriott Courtyard on the south end of the boardwalk. We sprung for a suite so Spenser could have some running room and we ended up with two balconies. This is what we woke up to....a beautiful sunrise and a manicured beach.


Spenser was really excited about the water and the sand. He had never been to a beach before. After changing out of our jammies, we had a fabulous breakfast at Doc Taylor's , a local, hole in the wall that was just a couple of blocks away.

Sleeping Beauty in the king size bed.

We rented a cabana and lounge chairs to keep Harper out of the sun. It also gave us a nice protected place to nurse as well as keep our belongings tucked away.

Harper did the best thing one can do on a beach....snooze.

Spenser loved digging in the sand. I loved looking out at the water and seeing dolphins play just beyond the waves. They were so close in that people were swimming near them.



The sand was weirdly sticky and hard to get off the skin. We did venture down to the waves. It was pretty rough and I'm not sure how much of that was left over from Irene. Spenser and I would go in about ankle deep and get splashed by the waves. Any deeper than about mid thigh was too rough and dangerous for me to take a squirming toddler. As an example, there was enough surf that people were out surfing.


Spenser had a lot fun making us chase him around the cabana. The people behind us thought this was hilarious.
After lunch, we ventured down to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. There are two buildings of exhibits, a nature walk, IMAX theater and a boat ride. We opted to see just the first building. This place is very well done. Lots of scientific information in a kid friendly and interesting format. I got to pet a ray, a horseshoe crab and a starfish. Spenser wasn't ready to be that brave yet....

though he and C were brave enough to be swallowed up by this shark! hehe

He was pretty fascinated by this harbor seal swimming by in the tank in front of the building. The aquarium does a lot of rescue and rehab of injured wild seals and has been able to release quite a few back into the wild.

The next morning, we hit the Pocahontas Pancake Shop. If you are ever near Virginia Beach, go. Just go. It is a local institution. It is wonderful. Spenser and C loved their pancakes. I had a perfectly done stuffed french toast. Go early because it gets crowded and a line forms. The decor is not to be missed. We spent the rest of the day at the beach and exploring Virginia Beach. We had dinner at a great Cuban restaurant called Mojito Cafe. It is tiny inside, but the food and service is wonderful. Spenser ate more of my dish than he did of his. He was grabbing handfuls of rice off my plate and signing for more of my pork. After some ice cream and a walk on the boardwalk, it was time for bed and home in the morning.


Last family self portrait on the balcony before we leave.


Spenser has been fascinated by our bicycles recently. He's not quite ready to pedal his tricycle, so we thought we would try a balance bike. It showed up on the day we left for Virginia Beach, so we put the bike together upon our return. He is soooo excited about it. His legs are not quite long enough to reach the ground when he is sitting on it, but he can stand and walk with it. It even has a hand break and kickstand just like the big kids' bikes do.


This morning, he was trying to put his shoes one. A valiant first effort, but they look a bit painful to walk in. I put his socks on him and helped him straighten them out.


Now, for my man made disaster. We have been talking forever about replacing the ugly, dated sliding glass doors on the bottom patio. We finally ordered the door shortly before Harper was born. Because the size of the door is odd, it had to be custom built. They showed up today to install it so this is what my basement exercise room looks like. The giant blue tarp is up because it is POURING rain and it is expected to continue raining for the rest of the day.

It took them about 4 hours and they just left. Here is my beautiful new door. It matches the sliding glass door I have on the deck directly above it. We just need to paint the trim and remove the hardware from the vertical blinds.

Harper

Westmoreland State Park

Harper Stats

She's 11 lb 1 oz and 22 1/2 inches long.

Happy One Month Birthday!

Harper is officially four weeks old as of Monday. She is able to hold her head up, but not with much control. She is starting to vocalize, cooing at us. She is starting to smile and chuckles in her sleep. Doctor visit is tomorrow, so we will have her latest stats then.

Ten little piggies!

Sleeping angel.

This is Spenser's response to his new favorite t-shirt. Who knew the Elmo love could be so strong in one so small?

My new favorite picture of Spenser.

Preview is up!

Go here to see a preview of Harper's newborn photos.

Our weekend

Taking a short, humid hike at Caledon Natural Area. Just a 30 minute drive away with some nice trails, a great ranger station, picnic area, and bald eagle nesting site.
Hanging out with a warm, soft, cuddly baby.

Bath time and Grandma

Our chubby baby boy is getting the skinny toddler look. It was normal bathtime the other evening. C was attending to Spenser in the tub, while I had Harper. After scrubbing the sand, sun block and assorted snacks off Spenser, it was time to let Harper get in on the sudsy action.


Her umbilical stump came off more than a week ago so she's been ready for a big girl bath. The bath seat was chilly since it had already been wet down and the girl did not like it and let us know in no uncertain terms. After we warmed her up with the bath water, she was pretty happy to be soaped up and rinsed off. Spenser was a good big brother and helped by handing me the bottle of soap (Burt's Bees - Fabulous) and her wash cloth.


Here she is in her Grandma pants....not actually pants worn by a grandma, but Grandma Gail made these for her without measurements and probably not even a pattern. They are super cute on her and I particularly love the lace edging.

Too sweet not to post

A couple of weeks ago, Spenser was not feeling well. My parents got this picture....poor boy hanging out on the couch with his brand new, Grandma-made robot pillow, Cookie Monster, and a blanket while watching a little Elmo. It was just the recipe for healing he needed.

Harper weighed in at 10 lbs this morning. Our baby is growing fast!

I imagine our lovely girl is not going to get the second child syndrome of having little documentation of her life. I'm already getting calls about not posting enough pictures. Here she is last Sunday, looking stunning with a bow in her hair. The photographer sent me proofs today of her one week photo session. I'm having a hard time narrowing them down and may just buy all of them. Marta Locklear did Spenser's newborn photos and her work continues to just be amazing.

Here he is almost 20 months ago. Hard to imagine him being that tiny now. He's currently sporting a huge black bruise on his forehead from falling out of bed last night. He didn't hit the floor. Fortunately, there is a small step stool that he ran into first.

Harper's 2 week visit

Harper had her 2 week check up yesterday. She has grown 1 1/2" in the past 2 weeks and is in the 90%-ile for her age. She weighed 9 lb 3 oz. At her first follow up visit a week and a half ago, her weight had dropped to 8 lb from her birth weight of 8 lb 11 oz. so she has more than regained her birth weight. She gets more beautiful each day.

Spenser also decided it was ok to start kissing her this weekend. Next step, teach gentle kisses.

Harper's First 10 Days

Here we go with Harper's first 10 days! If you don't want to know about the medical goop, skip straight down to the pictures. Otherwise, carry on!

We checked into the hospital at 4:30 AM to start our induction. The concern was that Harper was measuring pretty big and I was showing no good signs of progressing to getting our not so wee little baby out. As is typical, we spent the first 2 hours just getting checked in, checked over and assessed by the nurses, labs drawn, an iv started and an ultrasound to check on Harper's weight as well as the status of her amniotic fluid level. (It was critically low with Spenser, which led to his induction a week early) Around 7:30 AM, my doctor came to check on me and strongly recommended proceeding with the induction. (Our other options were to go straight to C-section or wait another week and try an induction then with a greater risk of C-section.) We elected to go ahead with the induction. As with Spenser, Dr. S had to break my water with a fetal scalp monitor. We started the pitocin and settled in for things to start happening. Mild contractions started within the next 30 minutes and the pitocin was increased by 2 milliUnits every 30 minutes. I ended up topping out at 7 milliUnits, which is a miniscule amount in the scheme of pitocin use. By 11 AM, the contractions and pressure was intense enough to be making me nauseous and life in general was pretty unbearable despite all my Bradley relaxation methods and zen training. I chose an epidural at that point because percocet and zofran were doing nothing to take the edge off. Having read all the anti-epidural literature and blog rants, I have to say that I could feel the need to push and control the pushing. I could move my legs, even though I couldn't feel them. I had no post-epidural headache or back pain. The epidural this time was much better than the one I had with Spenser. I was completely comfortable once it got started. I was also making good progress on the dilation front as well. Around 5 pm, I was starting to feel more pressure, so the nurses had me do a "test push" and immediately had me quit until they could call the doctor to the room as that test push had caused Harper to start to crown. Once Dr. S was in the room, I only gave two strong pushes and Harper was in the world!

An emotional first meeting between Mom and Harper. The cord is still attached here, but not for long before Dad got to cut it.


Geting weighed! 8 lb, 11 oz and 20 inches long. Her eyes are a lighter shade of blue than Spenser's and her hair could be described as dark blond or golden brown.

Mom and Dad with their gorgeous new baby. Look how alert she is!

First bath with Dad in the nursery.





Sweet chubby pink cheeks. She's asleep in the hospital basinet and wearing a hat that was knit by a hospital volunteer.

Home at last and cuddled up to Mom. She's been a very calm baby so far.

Long toes for such tiny little feet!

Her squishy lips crack us up.

Spenser is using Daddy as a lounge chair here. C is not nearly as tired as the picture makes him look.
Spenser "talking" on Mom's cell phone.
I've tried every permutation and can't get these photos to be right side up. Spenser doesn't waste much time paying attention to his new little sister. They both happened to be asleep at the same time, so I snuggled her up next to him so we could get a picture of them together. I can't decide if he looks sooo big or she looks sooo tiny!
Peeking out to see what's going on.
First bath at home. She seemed to enjoy it and did not cry even when I washed her hair.
Clean baby that smells like honey. (Love Burt's Bees Baby Wash)
Asleep again on the couch.

Harper Lynn is here!

Harper Lynn was born on 7/11/11 at 5:13 PM. She weighed in at a healthy 8 lb 11 oz and is 20 inches long. Everyone in the family is doing great. We had a 10 hour induction (as opposed to Spenser's 4 day one) and she was delivered after only two pushes. She was bright eyed and wide awake after delivery and nursed without difficulty for an hour within the first thirty minutes of making her debut. We are hoping to be discharged home later this evening and I will start getting pictures up after we get settled in. If you can't wait that long, I do have a single picture up on my flickr account at flickr.com. If you need my user name, make sure I know who you are and how to email you.

It's Mid July Already??

Not much new to report on. I managed to finish all my shifts without going into labor or being ordered into the hospital by my doctor. My mom flew in on July 1 and has been waiting around for the new baby ever since. We had a pretty low key Fourth of July holiday. I think everyone was asleep by 9 pm when the public fireworks started. We did get two tiny little fountain style fireworks so Spenser could see what all the fuss was about. Our usual unbearably hot and humid July weather has settled in for the rest of the summer. That means I have been taking Spenser swimming quite frequently. The water has warmed up a lot since we did swimming lessons last month, so he is enjoying it much more now that when he was shivering and turning blue during lessons.

I'm still pregnant. Induction is scheduled for Monday the 11th if I don't go before then. I've been having some cramps intermittently for the past two days, so keep your fingers crossed that this is things warming up to go on their own, so I can avoid the pitocin.