Meeting everyone for the first time!

Here are a few of the pictures that turned out! 

Purple little Chiara with her auntie

 Meeting their little sister for the first time: the moment that I was looking forward to most of all!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the hospital, it really captures Kateri's tenderness and Sebastian's bewilderment, and off from the left side you can see Charlotte's hand gently reaching out to touch Chiara's hair.

Family of 5! Sebastian is very much unsure of the whole thing, at least he has a tiger ;) . 

Sisters :)

Meeting Mormor and Mihi, about 2 hours old! 

Asleep at last. This girl was not a fan of sleeping at ALL those first few days.

Laura came back to visit during the evening and it was such a blessing to see her! 

The second day we were in the hospital, Pat's parents came to visit us again, and as it was Cinco de Maya, Nanny brought a whole bunch of fun items to celebrate!

Chaira with Nanny

And, the following day when we finally got to go home, we asked the nurse to take a picture of us all!

So she did . . .

In fact she took 5 or 6!

However,

She cropped Chiara's head out of each and every one! Haha!

Can you guess how Kateri and Sebastian felt about the new little baby coming home?

A very full middle row :) 

Welcome, dear Chiara Hope! ~ birth story

It is hard to believe that it has already been 7 weeks since this little spitfire made her entrance, the past few weeks have all melded together and seem more of a conglomeration of days and nights, a few distinct memories but certainly not enough to fill an entire seven week span. It always amazes me how post partum can feel interminably difficult, exhausting, and mind numbing, and then, before you know it, you are (mostly) on the other side and looking back it doesn't seem possible that it was as challenging as it felt in the midst of it all!


This recovery has posed its own unique challenges (as each and every one does!) and I really needed the past few weeks to mull over the details, think about all that happened, and work through it mentally.


Going into this delivery, I was very much on the fence about getting an epidural or doing another without it. For some reason, this was constantly on my mind and I just could NOT decide what to do, despite the fact that Sebastian's birth went incredibly smoothly and immediately after delivering him I felt like I could just do it all over again! This time, I kept having flashbacks of the feeling right in the middle of transition~ knowing that it's too late for an epidural, and the only way to get this baby out is by going through the rest of labor and delivery.  I just could. not. make. up. my. mind. if I wanted to voluntarily experience that feeling again when I could just get an epidural!


So, at Pat's request, I halfheartedly wrote up a birth plan to give to the doctors a few days before the due date, and decided to just see how things went. I felt extra nervous because there was one doctor in the practice I really liked, one that was decent, and one I really hoped would NOT be on call. I was so nervous that the one I didn't like would deliver, and felt that she wouldn't be supportive of anything!


In the days leading up to the delivery, I kept having prodromal labor. Hence a night or two of waking up and wondering, could this be it? opening up the contraction app on my phone and dutifully tracking each (utterly fake) contraction for a couple hours before throwing it down in frustration that it was going nowhere, I had just been up for a couple of hours, and Kateri and Sebastian would be up in just an hour or two!


The night of Tuesday, May 3rd was no different, and I started tracking those very light contractions at about 1:30 or 2 am. They didn't seem to be going anywhere and weren't even uncomfortable, and I remember thinking how annoying it was to get my phone and unlock it every time I started or stopped the contraction timer. Finally, at 3 AM, I realized it was going nowhere yet again, put the phone down and went to sleep!


I woke up suddenly at about 5:30 to a contraction that had a little more umph. I immediately started timing it thinking maybe, just maybe this could be IT!


The contractions continued and they felt stronger, so I jumped in the shower and told Pat, "Today is the day!" At about 6 AM, I sent a text to my mom saying "This is it!" We got the last few things ready, and then I realized I had never even called the doctor. When we called him, he asked me how often the contractions were coming, and, to be honest, I hadn't timed any of them other than the first, so I just said they were 3 minutes apart because I *knew* I was in active labor!


Kateri and Sebastian both woke up, and we got to hug them and kiss them before heading off to the hospital! Thankfully, we delivered at Prince William Hospital, which is only 15 minutes away and we didn't have to deal with rush hour traffic at all. HUGE blessing during labor!


We got to the hospital at about 7:15, and walked to the front desk in L&D carrying a huge exercise ball and suitcase, where we were asked, "So what are you here for?" That question always makes me laugh! ummm To have a BABY!?!!!! She asked me if I was there for an induction, "Nope, having some contractions!"


We immediately went to triage, and God really gave me a great gift in my amazing L&D nurse. She had 6 kids herself, and had delivered all of them unmedicated. She was so easy going, positive and empowering! She told me so many unbelievable stories about her sister who is a midwife in Africa and has 8 children. Anyway, she checked my progression and I was 6 cm already~ yay! Definitely getting admitted!


By the grace of God, my favorite doctor was delivering that day! What a huge blessing! After moving to the L&D room, getting my IV set up and starting my antibiotics, Dr G came in around 8:30. He told us that he had two C-sections today, and the first was scheduled at 10. If I was ready to deliver while he was in surgery, the nurses would call the doctor over in the office and she would come over to deliver.


I immediately thought, this will be interesting. If this labor is ANYTHING like my other two, there will barely be time to call the doctor in the office, let alone have her get over here in time to deliver! So I started praying that this baby would come BEFORE ten!


The contractions started to get stronger, and at about 9:30 I told the nurse I was starting to feel a bit pushy. Sure enough, I was 9.5 cm. I asked her if she could get Dr G because it wouldn't be long! Dr G came in about 9:40 and I asked him to break my waters. Unfortunately, there was meconium~ BUMMER, and meant that Chiara would have to be evaluated for aspiration.


I was SO SURE that breaking the water would immediately transition my body to the pushing stage as it had with Sebastian, but it didn't! That contraction after my water broke was so frustrating and I felt SO GUILTY, as if it was my fault for not having that baby already! However, in the middle of that very hard contraction, it gradually switched into a pushing contraction!


I heard Dr G say, "I see a ton of dark hair!"




That was a big motivator! Everyone was cheering me on and so positive, which was so encouraging! I delivered her head and the doctor shouted with urgency, "STOP PUSHING!"


Chiara had a tight nuchal~ the umbilical chord was wrapped twice around her neck. Dr G quickly unwound it, another push and here was our little Chiara Hope!


I distinctly remember someone shouting, "What time is it?"


And another person saying, "9:59"


9:59!! I had to laugh! I felt like it was a joke that God sent just as much as a gift and blessing. My favorite doctor delivered her AND she was born before 10:00 AM.


They immediately put her in my arms, left the umbilical chord attached, and did the entire infant assessment while I was holding her! One of the nurses, without us asking her to, immediately grabbed our camera and started taking pictures. I am beyond grateful for these pictures, taken literally seconds after Chiara was born!


She was 8lbs 1 ounce of pure perfection!

She came so fast, I couldn't even get ready to do skin to skin!

She was Not.Happy. about being born. Drying her off a bit!

Pat's expression immediately after delivery. Love this man so much!

Here you can see how purple her head was, due to the quick delivery and the tight nuchal. Thanks be to God it wasn't a longer delivery!



Pat holding Chiara for the first time

The amazing Dr G

My incredible nurse, about 30 minutes after Chiara was born!

You can really see the extant of the bruising in this photo. Thankfully, it cleared up very quickly!

So thankful to be holding this little one!

All in all, it was a very blessed and quick delivery! The labor was about 4.5 hours long, which is definitely my quickest. I am so grateful for all the prayers~ I know it is thanks to those prayers that everything worked out the way that it did!

the living is easy

Yet another post done solely on my phone with only phone pictures :-D Good thing I'm not a perfectionist :)

Summer is here, and the hot weather comes with it. That means just one thing: Popsicles to cool down! 

As Pat pointed out, Sebastian is smiling just like Mater (on his shirt); they even both have green eyes! 

I have been trying a few new styles with Kateri's hair, but keep forgetting to take pictures. I did remember once though:

She is such a lovely girl!

In these lovely long days of summer, Kateri and Sebastian have turned more and more to books for entertainment, which makes me so happy to see! Whenever I ask her what books she is reading, Kateri very seriously explains, "Im not reading! I dont know how to read, I can only look at pictures."

They will go downstairs, and after a few minutes there will be complete silence, which of course makes me immediately conclude they are up to No Good. However, the past few days, the sight that has met my eyes has been the following:

Melts my heart to see this!

However, I am determined not to be lulled into a false sense of security that silence of the 2 and 3 yr Olds = book reading!









And last but not least, Kateri shoved her way in between Chiara and Sebastian, much to Bashy's great frustration, and Kateri's great delight!

Are you tired of your current wardrobe? 

Do you need a new, in style look? 

Have you struggled in deciding what to pair with what? 

I have the answer to all your problems : 

Kateri Anne and her show - stopping style, designed with great care and concentration during afternoon quiet time. 

For a nice layered look, try your younger brothers long sleeve shirt underneath his short sleeve shirt, make sure they are both almost the same color, but not quite. If you don't have a younger brother, try borrowing your husbands, or perhaps a generous friend will loan it to you!

However, make sure to leave them both unbottoned and wear a bright striped shirt underneath for a subtle pop of color. If you still need a little pizazz, your brothers vest will do just fine and should be worn between the striped shirt and the long sleeved shirt.

As you know, leggings are in, and with such an outfit, striped is perferable. However, this also must be layered with something a bit more fun. What could be better then football shorts with suspenders (suspenders not visible, but trust me when I say they are very much present?)

There you have it, folks. If you have any further questions regarding style, the best time to reach Kateri is during quiet time from 2 to 4, at which point she will be thrilled to have any sort of non-napping activity. Best of luck with your styling endeavors, but do not be too disappointed if you are unable to master the genius behind Kateris style!

this and that

Pat recently surprised me with a bird feeder, which he set up in the garden. It wasn't long before our resident backyard birds told all their friends and we started enjoying a flurry of activity! 

Some squirrels noticed it as well, and soon we were observing some impressive and daring acrobatics as the squirrels experimented with ways to get the seeds. At one point, I went out to snap a picture as the squirrel hung upside down and twisted in order to eat with his hands. However, just as I held up my phone, Wrigley sounded the alarm and ran to chase the thiefs.  And so the furry little acrobat went flying off the feeder, and his friend who had been keeping watch went flying in the other direction.

We have been getting so much lettuce, and need to harvest it before it bolts. Here is some that I picked earlier today:

A couple not so great, but the only ones I have, pics of Chiara smiling :-)

Last week, the kids and I went to the basilica to pray for Pat. There was quite a lot of construction going on inside the main church, so we also visited a couple small chapels before heading to the Mary Garden outside. Kateri was quite happy to be outside, but was particularly thrilled when she found a tree with low branches, low enough for her to climb!! She has been on the lookout for climbing trees for the past few weeks, and this was the very first one she could do!

As soon as she saw the statue, she carefully stepped around the edges and turned to smile as soon as she reached Our Lady. I quickly snapped a pic, and only later had to laugh!

It looks as if Our Lady is doing everything she can to protect little Jesus from Kateri!

Bashy looking at Mary.

It's always interesting to see the dynamic between these two, sometimes one is more daring then the other and at other times much more reticent. This time, kateri blazed ahead while Sebastian watched from a safe distance.

Water is irresistible in June, and, accordingly, we all came away a little wetter.