Dear Aurora,

Last night, you and I were taking a bath (yes, I sometimes take a bath with you, as it keeps you calm and you enjoy playing in the tub with Momma).  You have learned to lay your head back to get your hair wet, and enjoy laying on my legs to keep your face above water.  Last night, you were using Daddy's soap to wash you legs, then you started to wash my legs; then my arm; my cheeks; my forehead; my eyes; my nose; and my shoulders.  My eyes are still raw this morning from wiping the soap out of them so many times.  I loved to watch your face as you were washing my face.  You were being such a little "mommy".  You were so focused, making sure I was clean, and then wiping the soap away with the wash cloth.  Thank you for taking care of me! :)

Last night, you snuggled close to me as we slept.  I don't think you moved away from me at all.  This morning when, I woke, I just watched you.  I love snuggling with you. 

I love you!

Mommy

She has a lot to say!

I know I always have way too much time in between posts, and they are always about what Aurora is up to now...but I'm busy enjoying what she is up to!  And sometimes remember to document!

Words/Phrases she can say:

• Is it (Where is it?)
• Sthat (What's that?)
• Mamaw (Just said this yesterday)
• Fish
• Wash
• Momma
• Dadda
• Bye Bye
• Baby
• Pumpkin (Kind of)
• Weeeeee
• Duck
• Turtle
• No
• More
• All done
• Up
• Puppy
• Book
• Ball
• Hi

That's all I can think of right now.  I feel like there's more...I'll have to add as I hear her say them!

Sounds she can make:

• Growling (Bear, dinosaur, lion)
• Hee (Horse)
• Woof Woof
• Meow
• Moo
• Honk Honk (Just started this week for a goose)
• Quack
• Bah (Just started this week)
• Tried Ribbit...working on that one :)
• Licks her lips for Giraffe
• AaaAaa (Peacock)
• Choo Choo

Once again, that's all I can think of for now!

She loves music!  Her favorite song to dance to is Pontoon by Little Big Town.  She knows it's that song from the 1st note played!

There's not a whole lot else going on with us.  Just working and playing.  We love our new house and are just enjoying life!

Learning so much!

Aurora Cecele,

I cannot believe how much you've grown, and how much you are learning!  In the last few weeks, it seems like you are learning something new every day!  On the few days I drop you off at daycare, I come back to some new "trick" or word that you've learned!  You pick up on new words that I say all of the time!

You can say the following
(These 3 sound almost the same)
Puppy
Bye Bye
Baby

Nose - and you know where your nose is, and everyone else's!

You say "Moo" and "Woof Woof"

You love to dance, and have new dance moves every few days.  It's great to watch you!

I'm almost positive you learned to say "please" yesterday at daycare. 

When I ask where something is, you hold your hands out to ask "Where is it" also.

You are starting to give hugs, and will give me the occasional smooch, if I ask for it.

Dada chasing you makes you "run" and squeal!

You are either trying to say Milk, or Me, or Mommy.  I'm not entirely sure, but I'm working really hard to understand you.

You love to play outside!

Watching you grow and learn is such an amazing thing!  I'm so happy that I am your Momma and that Dada and I get to teach you all this fun new stuff! 

I love you like crazy,

Momma

P.S. Dada loves to snuggle you and smooch you, so quit swatting at him! :)

Look at you Grow

My lovely little girl,

You are 6 and 1/2 months now.  You have learned so many new things!  Let's see what I can remember.

1. You have started rolling tummy to back, on purpose
2. You say Dadadada and HI!
3. You've learned to shake your head no
4. You brush your 2 bottom teeth, and love it!
5. You love bananas, squash, peas, cereal (it's grown on you), green beans
6. We are working on getting rid of the pacifier because you wake up mad when you've realized that it fell out of your mouth.  This is SUPER tough on Momma and Daddy!  We HATE to hear you cry like that.
7. You're starting to wave to Grandma Cindi
8. You love when Momma reads to you, although you'd rather read yourself
9. You enjoy being around people
10. People can't help but come up and talk to you

You've only been here a short time and we couldn't imagine our life without you!  We love you more than you will understand and are so proud of the big girl you are becoming!

My Dearest Aurora Cecele

Momma does not always/ever write eloquently, but I do want you to know so many things.  Things I have been thinking and feeling since you were born.  I'm sure you won't fully understand until you have children of your own, because there was no way I could have.  The easiest way for me to do this is to make it in a list.

1. I love you more than you will ever understand, and always will, no matter what!
2. I hurt when you hurt
3. Your smile melts my heart EVERY time
4. I want so much for you.  I want you to do so many wonderful things! 
5. Please know that teenage years are tough.  They are scary and hard and you won't always like them. 
• We will fight.  But always remember that I love you. 
• You may not always like what I say/do, but I am saying/doing it because I love you and only want what's best for you.  Your father will do his best to teach ME to let you try things even if I "know" a better way, but I can't promise I will learn this quickly. 
• I will punish you at some point, but it's to keep you safe.  
• Someone will ALWAYS be there for you!
• You can tell me and Daddy anything.  It won't always be easy, on either party, but we'll work through it.
• Never keep secrets from me or Daddy.  If someone tells you it's a secret and not to tell us, that is the thing that you MUST tell us. 
• Aunt Lis and Lindsey will be great resources for you!  They love you, as do many people.
• Don't be a bully!
• Don't let others bully you!  You will be a strong girl, use what I know you have already been given.  
• Stick up for others
• REMEMBER:  Teenage years will pass.  It could go into your 20's, but it gets better!  Momma survived, you will too!
6. I will not be able to stop smooching you, EVER!  Manah Manahm is tactile deprived, you'll learn! :)
7. I have never been so protective of anything in all of my life as I am of you (ask Daddy).  I won't always do it right, but I will do my best to keep you safe!   
8. I'm sorry that I will drive you crazy.  It is the circle of life :-)
9. It is amazing to watch you learn.  The faces you make are so cute!  I can tell when you are taking in something new, which is almost a constant at this point.  Your eyes light up and you are so focused.  Always keep learning! 
10. Don't forget to ask "Why?".  It will drive me crazy, but you will learn so much more.  Don't be surprised if I say, "Because I said so".  I may not have any better explanation at that point.  I will do my best though.
11. You are a very strong girl and will wind up being very independent. 
12. Be a positive influence on others
13. It is amazing to watch you grow and to be your Momma!  I love it!  It is the best job ever!

What you're up to at 5 months:

• Sitting up, almost completely on your own
• Sucking on your toes
• Eating squash, which you love!
• Not eating carrots, cereal, and sweet potatoes
• Still loving bath time
• Learning about gravity, so far in a non-painful way.  You pick up your toys and then open your hand to drop them.

REMEMBER:  Momma and Daddy love you more than you will ever know!  God loves you 100x's more than that, which is AMAZING!   

Oh the Places You'll Go...

My sweet baby is figuring things out already!  Some of them may be on accident, but not without some effort!  Today my wonderful little girl let me experience her 1st time rolling over.  I was so worried I was going to miss it.  I laid her down on her tummy, in her crib so that I could pick out an outfit for her.  I was watching her as she was pushing up, and she pushed with her left arm and rolled to her side.  I was so excited and was going to grab her to put her back on her tummy, but figured I'd wait just a little bit.  Within 15 seconds she had wiggled enough to completely roll over to her back!  I was so excited that my screaching was making her squint, as if she were saying, "Momma, it's not that big...you can calm down."  And then I started to tear up because she let me see her do that for the 1st time!

Now, tonight she did another thing that she has been working on.  This wasn't her 1st time; I guess you could call her 3rd time...that we saw anyway.  She finally got her thumb in ther mouth!  We have an ultrasound picture of her doing it, and then the Sunday after she was born she was able to get her thumb in her mouth as well.  For about the last week she has been sucking on her fist, trying really hard to get the thumb in there.  Tonight, as she laid on my lap and was fussing, she was able to finally get the thumb in her mouth without the rest of her fist!  This is bittersweet because we didn't want her to be a thumbsucker, but if she sucks the thumb then maybe it won't be as bad since she can't lose it. 

It may be a little while before she does these things again, but then again, maybe not.  We shall see!

Her daddy says she'll be doing calculus next! :)

The Details of How the Stork Brought Aurora!

So here's how the events unfolded to bring us our sweet "little" girl.

We were scheduled to go to the hospital on Thrusday evening to start the induction process.  Josh and I grabbed some food, and took our last drive as a family of 2.  We needed to kill some time because we couldn't just sit at home and wait.

We got to the hospital a little early, and sat downstairs...waiting some more.  Finally, we went upstairs to get checked in.  They asked me a bazillion questions, Josh went and got all of our stuff, and then came the IV.  I warned the nurse that I don't do so well with needles, so it was best to leave me lying down.  She had to dig a little to try to get to the vein.  After what felt to be about 5 - 10 minutes of trying she said she was going to bring the anesthesiologist in to do it because she was good, and was still having a hard time.  So the anesthesiologist came in and numbed my arm and then put the IV in.  I think that was probably the worst part of the whole thing!  Well, minus the contractions...more on that later.  By the time the whole IV thing was over, I was a little woozy, so they had to get a cold compress so bring my color back.  I tried telling them I didn't do well with that stuff :)

After the IV they gave me Cervidil, which was supposed to be the precursor to the Pitocin.  I was supposed to get the Pitocin 12 hours after the Cervidil.  Anyway, the nurse who gave it to me said that it most likely would not send me in to labor, but may give me some contractions.  It definitely gave me contractions!  I got the Cervidil at about 7:30 or 8:00pm.  I started feeling the contractions within the hour.  That nurse also told me to order something to eat because this was going to be a long process and I wouldn't be allowed to have anything to eat, except clear stuff after I went into labor. 

The nurses switched shifts, so I got a new nurse.  She told me that if I wanted she could give me some Nubane and Ambien which wouldn't completely stop the pain, but may make it manageable so that I could rest.  I told her I would try to hold out.  I didn't want to be loopy or make the baby sleepy, which I had read that stuff would do.  At about 11:30pm, after talking to Josh and him letting me know that if I was feeling this bad all night, it was going to be a long night, so we called the nurse in to give me the medicine.  She said I could have the Nubane every 2 hours.  When she gave it to me, she had to check to see how far along I was.  I was only at 1-2cm.  So she gave it to me and I was able to rest for a little while, maybe an hour, because the 2nd hour I was breathing through the contractions.  By the time the 2nd hour was up I asked her to bring me some more.  She came back in and said she needed to check me again before giving it to me.  At that time she said I was about 3cm and she could feel the bag of waters.  I told her I needed to pee before I took more medicine.  I went in to pee, got up to wash my hands and felt like I had to pee again, so I went back to the toilet.  Before I made it to the toilet I thought I had peed and though I missed the toilet.  I looked down and yelled out to the nurse that I thought my water broke.  I sat on the toilet and then started to feel really bad.  The contractions changed suddenly and I yelled to her that I thought I was going to be sick.  And I was.  So all the food I ordered before came back :)  This all happened at about 2:30am.  Also, there was a full moon at 2:39am.  Josh called both of our mom's to let them know.  Cindi came on up.  Mom stayed back because we thought there was still some time.  At about 3:30am Josh called my mom and told her she had better come up.  So she got in the shower and started coming up around 4:30am.

At that point she asked if I wanted an epidural, and I said yes.  She said I had to get a bag of IV fluid 1st because epidurals make your blood pressure drop.  It took about 45minutes to an hour for the fluid to drain.  During that time the contractions just kept getting worse.  I was doing my best to breathe through them.  She had already called the anesthesiologist, and wanted to check me again before he came in.  I asked her what her guess was on how far I was.  She said she though 6cm.  I told her I was hoping that but figured I'd only be 5cm.  She checked and I was 8cm!!  At that point, she went to check to see where the anesthesiologist was.  By the time he got there, my contractions were HORRIBLE!  The nurse asked me what my pain level was...I told her a 7.  In between contractions, I told her I didn't know what I was saying then, it is definitely a 10!  I had never felt anything like that before.  They told me to sit on the side of the bed.  The nurse was in front of me trying to keep me calm and breathing.  At one point, I told her I wasn't feeling well.  I think I then burped and Josh said she kinda jumped because she thought I was going to get sick again.  Before the anesthsiologist stuck me I told the nurse I felt like I needed to push.  She asked if I felt that every time, I told her every other.  She asked the anesthsiologist if he wanted her to check me...he must have said no because he just kept going.  I know you're not supposed to scream because that is not productive, but I was pretty much yelling, like crying without the tears.  They wanted me to sit still, but it hurt so bad that I was jumping out of the bed.  Josh was having a hard time because he could see how much pain I was in.  He just wanted them to hurry up and get the epidural going.  The anesthsiologist was finally able to get the epidural in, and I was so greatful.  I told him how wonderful he was! 

After that it was kind of a breeze! :)  The nurse told me she didn't want me to push yet because she wanted the contractions to do more of the work for me, otherwise I'd be pushing for 2-3 hours.  So we waited a little longer.  I think around 5:45am she told me I could start pushing.  She told me I had to do a good job at pushing because the doctor doesn't like to get there until I am 15 minutes from delivering.  So I was doing my best.  I could tell when I was doing a good job by the facial expression on the nurse.

Now, during the whole pregnancy Josh said he wasn't looking below the belly.  He didn't want to see any of that.  I had no problems with that, I didn't really want to see either.  Well, when I started pushing the nurse said she could see the head and there was a lot of hair.  She asked Josh if he wanted to see all the hair, and he told her no.  She said, "Really?".  So at that point, Josh decided to take a look.  She asked if I wanted to look, and I said I was good.  After that, all plans changed.  Josh was busy holding one of my legs while I pushed.  Those legs are heavy! :) 

During the pushing they had me do 3 counts of 10.  At some point it went to 4 counts.  Josh was getting a little frustrated again because when they were counting to 10 they started to slow the counting down.  Josh was concerned cause I wasn't breathing during that time, I of course, had to hold my breath.  There was only one time that I stopped pushing in the middle of their count of 10.  It was burning, so I stopped, they urged me to keep pushing and push through it.  Blah!

By 6:36am we had our little girl!  When she came out I was waiting for someone to tell me if the baby was a boy or girl.  I was looking at the doctor, the nurse, Josh...no one was saying anything!  I don't think Josh could see.  I looked down and the umbilical cord was in between her legs and I couldn't see.  The doctor finally put her on my belly and I could see that she was a little girl!  I yelled it to Josh and told her we had our Aurora! 

I got to hold her a little before they took her to check her out.  When they took her I told Josh to go talk to her because she was calm on me but when they took her, she was upset.  So I wanted Josh to go talk to her so that she would have a familiar voice.  He went over there and just stared.  I had to tell him a few times to talk to her.  He later told me that he didn't know what to do...he was kind of scared of her.  He finally snapped out of it and started talking to her. 

That's the long story of how our Aurora Cecele made her appearance!