Christmas Time

So I have not blogged since Poppy's birth story but I feel like I have been doing well documenting Poppy and Oliver on instagram.  After their birthdays my goal next year is to get all caught up on their baby books.  I wanted to compile a list of Christmas traditions that we have been doing the last few years.

It started out with Cory and I dating and married
We would always go look at lights and sip on cocoa and coffee (me the cocoa him the coffee (iced) ha! We would drive around, walk around go in our neighborhood and all over town.

We also would always watch a lot of Christmas movies and do Christmas activities around the valley. Some of our favorites included Kierland, The Princess, and Mc Cormick Ranch (funny that Oliver loves trains and that we have a little princess of our own now) We would go iceskating, ,carriage rides, and shop together. It was a blast!!

Now we have 2 kids and it has gotten more fun the traditions continue and we have added more too!

It all starts after Halloween (used to be Thanksgiving) we put the decorations up, hang the lights outside and get our real tree and decorate it on Thanksgiving weekend.

*Each child's first Christmas we do a footprint pottery plate Oliver was a reindeer Poppy a tree.  They also get a big glass bulb with hospital hat and bracelet

*Each year we get one ornament for every child to add to their tree

*We send out cards

*We celebrate St. Nick Day and our stockings and shoes get filled with treats.

*This year we will leave food for the reindeer

*Every year we leave cookies and milk for santa

*Cory and I go on a Christmas date every year, watch lots of movies, and wrap Christmas gifts and shop together

*Christmas boutiques have been going on since I was a kid.

* Movie night Oliver gets to stay up late one night and we have popcorn and cocoa while we watch a movie.

*Decorating every room of the house including tree and the kids room is a must

*reading books

*christamas jammies and outfits!

*seeing santa
*sometimes we host parties

Im sure as the kids get older we will do many of these nights with everyone and with each individual child.

*Elf! Love the little Elf! His name is Griswald Griswald came to us last year!

*This year we started opening one book every night and read it before bed.
*This year we made a gingerbread house and I want to continue this tradition
*Baking cookies together is a must!

This season is filled with lots of christmas music, activities, lights, and more!

Christmas Eve we always do church and dinner
Christmas morning we relax all day have a festive breakfast play with all our new christmas toys, go for walks and then to my parents for dinner . After dinner we usually go look at lights.

The few days and week after Christmas we continue looking at lights then its time to take the decor down and get ready for their birthdays!

I love Christmas and I love Christmas with kids cant wait to continue traditions and start new ones as our family grows! Im looking forward to tea with santa and the nutcracker!

Poppys Birth Story

Poppys birth story. On January 6^th Cory stayed up decorating and blowing up balloons and hanging streamers for Olivers birthday the next day. I could not fall asleep I was so itchy which turned into me googling why I was itchy then I was worried. My legs, back, belly, arms everything itched. I finally fell asleep at 1 and then Cory came to bed at 2, cue Oliver screaming. Cory went and got him to sleep by 2:20 then I was having stomach pain. When Cory came back in I was like I think I am having contractions, he was like seriously? Are you I am tired so if you aren’t really having them I am going to bed. I really didn’t know they felt a little different then they did with Oliver but they got intense quick.  We texted Pat our family friend since my parents were at my grandamas funeral.  We said probably will have to come in the morning. Then about an hour later I was like yeah she should probably come now.  Meanwhile from about 2-4:30 Oliver was not wanting to go to bed so Cory was helping him while I contracted on my own.  We were all checked into the hospital and they checked me at 5:30am and I was a 7 and a half.  They told me they didn’t think there was time for the epidural.  They did my blood work and started giving me fluids and then I was an 8, contractions were painful I got my epidural at a 4 with Oliver so this was different.  They kept telling me second kid she is going to fly out… HAHA that did not happen.  I finally got my epidural and felt much better.  However it felt like it took forever to kick in and it never fully kicked in my right leg was dead but my right lower stomach was still in pain, but not as bad as it was with no epidural.  Basically it was 5 and a half hours of pushing (I didn’t start pushing until 8:30am because the doctors were in c sections) When I started pushing my water was broken and I was a full 10, my water broke while I was being checked.  8:30-12:30 pushing 12:30-1 break and 1-1:55 I got that little girl out.  I just remember Cory telling me you are almost there and you are going to get to hold her so soon.  I just kept thinking one more push and I can hold her / more and  more pushes.  The doctor kept on saying c section just like last time because she said I was pushing too long.  Me and baby were healthy and doing great so I was persistent and they said ok since you did this last time we will do it again if we can.  They had to use the vacuum.  Poppy was sunny side up and she was coming out a weird way so when she did come out she had a huge abrasion on her head.  The doctor also kept saying I can style her hair, which made me think she was almost out but she was not.  I used the mirror most of the time and it didn’t freak me out at all but I also don’t think it helped like they said it would.  I really do not understand how they do not know if the baby is sunny side up or not until after hours of pushing.  Sometimes I wonder if my body is weird since both babies were sunny side up had to be vacuumed and  I pushed so long but it could of just been how it was.  But when Miss Poppy came out it was the best we both cried, Cory cut the cord and she nursed pretty good right away.  I was happy I got to do lots of skin to skin right away and they only had to take her for a little to make sure her head was ok.  When they weighed her and she was almost 9 lbs I was in shock.  Stitches are a piece of cake even though I wasn’t numb anymore because I was snuggling on Poppy girl.  I didn’t think I felt as bad as last time but then I had to get a catheter because I could  not go to the bathroom which I think made things worse.  They kept straight cathetering me throughout pushing too so that was weird.  I was pretty sore and my muscles did ache from all the pushing.  But I was so ready to go home and see Mr. Oliver.  Then everything was going pretty well, Oliver meeting sister was cute he kept kissing her toes and we gave him donuts to take pics with us. HA! Then the day we were supposed to leave the nurses were psychotic and said they had to check Poppys blood sugar because she was crying they used a machine that had misleading and all over the place readings.  They said she had to have donated milk and then they said she had to have formula if I wanted her home.  I wanted to go home so bad . One of the nurses was so mean she was making poppy chug a bottle and she would spit it up it was so sad.  I was feeling so good and so confident and then when all this happened I was mad.  I was so sad my hormones went crazy I was worried about poppy mad about my milk even though it was fine I was mad we had to give her a bottle I missed Oliver the list goes on and on.  If this situation didn’t happen I think I would have not been so emotional.  I know it could have been worse but still…. My confidence in nursing finally built up we slowly took her off of the formula and then she was doing more normal poops, formula smells so bad and so does formula poop.  I was relieved when I was nursing exclusively no more bottles no more pumping no more stress.  I love little Poppy girl so much!!