1 week old

Our little "Summy" has proven to be such a sweet baby. Joe has joked that she is a "lump" because she is so lazy and just wants to sleep all day (this actually made me cry because I was so hormonal and didn't think he should call my precious newborn a lump). Although she is good natured, she is feisty as well. When she is hungry, which is almost always, she will scream if she is not fed immediately. She also hates diaper changes and clothing changes. We have also been so lucky because she only wakes up twice a night and sleeps in.

Leo is an amazing big brother. He always wants to kiss her, which can be problematic when she is sleeping or eating, but he loves her dearly. He has been acting out a bit though. He hasn't been listening to our direction and this can be frustrating. We have been making an effort to give him special attention. He has had many exciting adventures with Grandparents, Aunt Tiffy and Uncle Martin, as well as gifts given to him for becoming a big brother. All in all though, we are so lucky that he loves Somerset, which often is not the case when you bring home a new baby.

What great kids

I feel so lucky! I just had to share the first photo of my beautiful children together. Summer is 5 days old and Leo is 2 and a half. What a great big brother
leo is!

Somerset Rose

Our beautiful baby girl arrived in this world on Monday, September 20, 2010 at 8:07 am. She weighed 7 lb, 7 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She came out screaming and continued to cry for 45 minutes. My first thought was, "oh my, we're gonna have our hands full!"

She is unbelievable beautiful and is such a wonderful baby. She looks very girlish and has a full head of dark brown hair, large dark blue/gray eyes, a sweet upturned nose that is roundish at the end and pouty lips with an under bite. All who meet her say she's beautiful. I could have told you that, but it was nice hearing the array of nurses conclude that she is really adorable. As far as dispositions go, we love her personality. She is content most of the time, but when she dislikes something, or has an immediate need, she makes it known. So far, she loves eating and when she wants to eat, she will scream until it happens. She also hates to have her diaper changed or being undressed or unswaddled. Other than that, she is generally happy. She doesn't fuss much and I am still adjusting to what must be an easy baby. Leo is by all accounts an amazing little boy, and I love his personality, but he was such a challenge as a newborn. Summer goes with the flow, but she also is feisty when need be and still has a passionate side....which I LOVE.

I was concerned about how I could love another as much as Leo, but it happened. I look adoringly at her sweet face and feel so lucky and privileged to be her mom. She is an amazing little girl who is worth all the sleeplessness, and pain of c-section recovery. I feel that I have the perfect life: new home, adoring husband, and beauty, healthy children. I know this next stage of life will be a big challenge, but I am so fortunate to have these amazing children to raise.

We had an amazing stay at the hospital. The surgery went well and although scary, it was comfortable and done fairly quickly. I nursed Summer as soon as I made it to the recovery room (about 45 minutes after she was born). Apparently, she was screaming for 45 minutes straight and was trying to breastfeed Joe's bicep). She was born hungry! She has continued to have a tremendous appetite, and although she dropped 10.4% of her birth weight, she is rapidly gaining it back. She loves eating, so I am not at all worried about her.

The pain from the surgery is definitely still there, but it was fairly comparable to how I felt with Leo, so I am hoping to recover quickly. I am on quite a few medications, but take the pain pills sparingly because I don't like the way they make me feel. We moved last weekend (a whole other blog update), so I am trying to take it easy even though we have an amazing new house. Luckily, Joe Sr. and Grandma Paula helped us watch Leo and set-up house. We are so lucky to have had them around to help with this huge transition.

As for Leo, he is going through some anxiety, but is doing as well as could be expected. He loves his sister "somerset Rose," and wants to kiss her all the time. Apparently, this is an extremely mature response for a 2 and a half year old. We are so proud of him and are making a great effort to make him feel special. I do miss all the one on one time with him and am somewhat mourning the loss of our single child status. Not that I want one child, but I miss all the time and attention I am able to devote to my favorite little boy.

I will post more pics of our beautiful baby girl, her handsome brother and our new house. I will also have to update the name of the blog. Any suggestions? Perhaps "Summer makes Four." For now, I feel like the luckiest mommy/wife alive. I love my family!!!

A BIG Week

Leo's Princess Leia, complete with large hair buns

Leo LOVES making Star Wars themed Lego creations.
Above, robot holding a blaster.

Such a big week for us! We were approved for our loan and it looks like we will be moving next weekend (yes, the weekend before the c-section). Holy cow! This is a lot to handle all at once, but it sure is good news. We have revamped our packing efforts and are now really down to the bare minimum.

We are also getting super excited to meet our daughter. It is so hard to believe that in just over a week, she will be here. I can't wait to see her little face and learn all about her. I am also thrilled that we will most likely be able to bring her home to our new house! She has been such a good little girl. She continues to grow at just the right pace, has the perfect heartbeat and doesn't cause me too much discomfort (except for in the beginning of the pregnancy). I just hope and pray she decides to stay inside until September 20th!

Leo continues to amaze us. Today, he drew a very accurate drawing of Princess Leia. He 's also super imaginative. Unfortunately, his imagination has led him to believe that the shadows in his room are monsters, which may explain all the sleep issues we have had recently. We explained to him that his room is the safest in the house and that shadows are not real. That seems to have helped.

Hanging in there....barely!

If I am going to be totally honest, I will confess that things have been less than perfect. Our closing date for buying the house has been pushed back again! Mid-week, I had almost completely lost hope that we would get into the house at all (not good for a pregnant woman to deal with). This was a depressing thought considering all the money, time and energy we have put into the house we are trying to buy. Well, we are still in the game and have been told there is a 95% chance we will get financed, the problem is that our new closing date is September 25th, which is 5 days after baby girl is born. This is not the ideal scenario, but if we get the house, we will deal with the poor timing.

In the meantime, our cable and internet was shut down for almost a week, so that left me a lot of time to do nothing but clean and get ready for the move. I organized the baby's clothes, cleaned all the dust bunnies from under the bed, cleaned the refrigerator, packed for the hospital etc.

As it stands now, we will be bringing baby girl to our current location for a few days and then we will move. I know that baby doesn't care, but I really had hoped we could bring her home to our new house.

On a positive note, baby girl is doing great! We had an ultrasound at my 35/36 week appointment and she was estimated to weigh 6 pounds, which is already more than Leo weighed at birth. As a result, I am really starting to feel uncomfortable. I literally feel my pelvic bones stretching to make room....ouch! I think I am waddling too, but I have been able to maintain my workouts.

Leo continues to get cuter. He has so much personality and makes friends everywhere we go. He speaks exclusively in sentences, loves to tell stories and is still obsessed with Star Wars. Although Leo learned all his ABCs by the age of 2, he lost interest. I started playing a game with him to get him engaged with his ABCs again...."A is for At-At, B is for Boba Fett," etc. Tonight we found a Star Wars ABC book and had to buy it. Perfect!!!

Our next major event will be the scheduled c-section and the birth of our daughter! Joe's Dad and Paula will be here to help Aaron move to OSU for college and they plan to help with Leo and the move. What great timing!

Summer Time!

Leo and Daddy share a quite moment in the backyard

With all the chaos of the home buying process, we have tried to take a few moments and enjoy the pleasures of summer. We are very deep into the process of getting our first house, but we still have yet to get a final yes from the financers. We are suppose to move this weekend, so I am not sure how/if this will all play out.

In the meantime, we took a break from packing and purging to go to the beach. Leo was ecstatic, perhaps more giddy than we have ever seen him. This was his 2nd trip to the beach and he loved everything about it: the sand, the waves, looking for shells etc. Even though it was a cool 65 degrees and not sunbathing weather, he was in heaven. Joe and I were too because seeing his delight compares to nothing else.

Baby girl will be here in exactly 1 month. This is unbelievable to me. I cannot believe I will be the mom of two...crazy! We are excited to meet our little girl. I am so curious to see what her little face looks like. Will she look like Leo or resemble me more? I am also so curious to learn what her personality is like. I predict she will be much more mellow. We will all know soon enough.

33/34 Weeks Pregnant

We are getting towards the tail end of the pregnancy. Things have been crazy in the Morris household. Not only are we eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 4th member of our family, but we are 10 days away from moving day. We are hoping and praying that everything works out with the loan process and are waiting and preparing for a big fat "yes" from the bank. In the meantime, we are busy packing and also prepping for a big garage sale this Saturday.

I still appear smaller than most pregnant woman who are as far along as me. I am measuring right on track, but this is the point in my pregnancy with Leo that he stopped growing. When he was born, he measured the size of a baby that is 34 weeks gestational age, which is what our little girl is now. I have no reason to believe that things will go the same way with baby girl, but I am still anxious.

Her temperament still remains quite different than how Leo was during pregnancy. She seems more mellow and although I do feel her move a lot, it is more stretching than kicking. She also has gotten the hiccups a few times recently and often presses body parts against my abdomen.

Another difference with this pregnancy is how ill prepared we are compared to last time. Because of the move, we are still without a nursery. Also, I am in no hurry for her to come along. I am more than happy to meet her, but I think because I know how difficult the first few months are, I am happy to have her come no earlier than September 20th. Also, the sleep deprivation scares me.

Leo has been great, although he has been exhibiting some neediness that might be related to the move and his baby sister's arrival. It has become much more difficult to get him to sleep at night. He often calls for me numerous times before he will fall asleep and he almost always falls asleep at the foot of his door.

He has also picked up on some of our speech patterns. For example, he will say, "I'm totally hot," or "I'm super cold." He has picked up these words from me, so I guess I need to be super careful about what I say around him.

I am really trying to cherish these last weeks with Leo as an only child. He is so wonderful and I know after his sister arrives, he will never be an only child again. I am cuddling him as much as he will let me.