Turner Family Chronicles

Friday, May 18, 2012

Catching up.....

I am seriously slacking on the blog posts as of late. Let me do a little catch up on big moments for the Turner family...

Lucy is 14 weeks old now and continues to be an unbelievably easy baby. I don't know how or why, but she is so calm and rarely cries. I can count the times she's cried this week on one hand! Plus she has been sleeping through the night for the last several weeks - let's hope I don't jinx it by talking about it too much. She is growing like a weed and measured at 12 lbs 4 oz at her 2 month check up! And she started rolling over a few days ago, which I'm pretty sure is a bit earlier than normal. Amelia absolutely adores her baby sister and Lucy loves her back. Every time Amelia coos and talks to her, Lucy smiles and coos back. I know these girls are going to be great friends when they get older and that makes me so happy.

Amelia will be 3 soon and is proving she knows all about the "terrible two's". She definitely has some spunk about everything she does but most of all her personality is larger than life. We are constantly entertained by her discussions, facial expressions and imagination. Over the last few months she has started talking about her first imaginary friend named Doss. Apparently he's a little boy who she met at the restaurant at Target (this is what she told us and since Target does not have a restaurant, it must be made up). At first it freaked me out a bit because she would talk about Doss all the time and talk to him. My fear stems from watching too many horror movies and I have almost gotten over it now. Doss tends to come with us wherever we go and sits next to her at home. Just the other day she started talking about another made up friend but I didn't catch her name.

All in all, life is really good right now. Our family is growing and there is never a dull moment around the Turner household. Here are some pics to enjoy!

Enjoying the Kite Festival

2 months old

Check out these stats!

First Dentist Visit

Easter treats

Sisters

Making the house look pretty

Amelia did her fair share

It's not complete without the SF Giants flag

Martin's birthday party

Sophia, Amelia & Avery

At the Weiner Dog Races in Buda

Love!!!

3 months

Tummy Time

First boat ride on the Riverwalk

Grandpa Turner's first visit

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Please welcome our newest addition...

She's here! Our sweet bundle of joy finally arrived. Please welcome Lucy Emerson Turner! Born February 7th at 10:19am weighing in at 8lbs, 5 oz. She is a beautiful baby and such a good sleeper and eater. And her big sister absolutely adores her!

The delivery was much quicker this time but no less painful (we opted for another natural childbirth). I started having contractions the day before but they were mild and I was able to sleep through the night. Then I woke up around 4am and decided it was time to call in the reinforcements - my sister and our friend Jillian who is also Amelia's daycare teacher. Irene and her family were on standby to make the drive from Houston to Austin so they could take care of Amelia while we were in the hospital. Jillian was on call to be the caretaker until Irene arrived. On a normal weekday, Amelia would have gone to daycare during the day. But she had come home from school the day before with a high fever and thus could not go back until she was fever free for 24 hours! This threw a slight wrench into our plans. Luckily we have good friends here who really came through for us. Jillian arrived at 6:00 am and we left for the hospital. Lucy was born at 10:19 am after only 30 minutes of pushing!

Life with two kids has definitely been an adjustment for both Martin and me. Amelia is still going to daycare part of the day but she's home in the afternoon with me and Lucy. Since I'm nursing Lucy, that consumes my time and attention most of the day and night. This is the reason for the very late post on Lucy's arrival. It's been difficult to find time to do any of my personal stuff - including taking a shower:) All in all, the second child has proven to be easier than the first go 'round. We're less anxious, a little more experienced and not quite so scared of this baby. It does help that Lucy is incredibly easy right now. She sleeps very well and eats well; the only time she fusses is when she needs some attention or has gas. She is also a bigger baby than Amelia was! At birth she was almost one pound bigger (Amelia was 7lbs 9 oz) and at her one month check up she was already 10lbs!!! Her stats at 1 month: 10 lbs (75th %), 21 3/4 inches long (75th %), head circumference 31.6 cm (80th %). I do remember Amelia gaining weight very fast in her first few months so this may be a trend that only lasts a short while, but maybe not. Maybe Lucy will be the bigger sister!

I will definitely try to post more frequently now. Here are some photos to enjoy!

Our awesome L&D nurses! The one on the right was a student and it was her first labor and delivery! She cried when Lucy was born.

Sweet Lucy

First family visit

First day

With Mimi

Meeting her big sister for the first time! Amelia was so excited. She had to wait until she was fever free before we could introduce the two. It was a tough but Amelia was a champ.

Sisters

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

January 2012

The Zilker Tree

New Year's Eve isn't quite the party scene for us as it used to be. Now we spend a quiet evening at home with Amelia, make a great dinner, get a movie and plan for a relaxing New Year's Day. Too bad Amelia is not adventurous in her food choices, because we had an excellent surf 'n turf dinner with a beef tenderloin and crab legs! Then we tucked the little monkey in to bed, watched a funny movie and rang in the New Year quietly. The next morning I made an excellent challah French toast breakfast (that Amelia loved).

Yummy!

The most exciting thing happening to us right now is awaiting the birth of our second daughter, Lucy. I'm 37 weeks today and we are very ready to see our new baby girl. Even Amelia is very attuned to what is going on and is eagerly awaiting her little sisters arrival. I'm at the point in my pregnancy where I'm quite uncomfortable most of the time, can't sleep, my hips and back hurt and people are very vocal about their worry that I will have the baby any minute. It is quite possible, too. My contractions are coming more often and the baby has dropped. I was one week early with Amelia so the odds are good that Lucy will also be a little early. 37 weeks is good - technically I'm full term now. Of course, it's always best to keep them in as long as possible. I'm in full nesting phase right now getting everything ready for her arrival. We finished her room, which is just a formality since she'll sleep in our room for at least a few months. We are as ready as we'll ever be.

36 weeks pregnant!

Lucy's room

Amelia is growing up so fast. She is unbelievable smart and such a little character. She is quite the drama queen and we feel like she will do well in theatre! Even besides that, she's really starting to understand things better and has become more empathetic than she ever has been. Here are a few conversations that I wanted to put in writing so we always remember them:

The other day she was jumping on her trampoline while I sat and watched.

She told me: "I love jumping. Mommy, you made this trampoline"

me: "No baby, I didn't make it. But daddy and I put it together for you."

Amelia: "Oh. I love my trampoline. Thank you mommy and daddy for putting it together for me!"

When I picked her up from daycare recently:

Amelia: "Mommy, I was worried about you."

me: "Baby, why were you worried about me?"

Amelia: "Because I was worried. I want to take care of you."

me (almost in tears): "Baby, you don't ever have to worry about me. Ok? I am fine and I will always be there to take care of you."

Amelia: "Ok"

I think she's really in tuned to my pregnancy and is worried about how I'm feeling this days.

For a 2 and half year old, I think she's got a wonderful vocabulary and has a really good understanding of things. She is constantly telling us things that make us laugh. It would be impossible to list them all.

My two favorite people

And last but not least, check out this cute video of Amelia singing the Hamotzi (a Jewish prayer thanking God for the bread).

The next blogs will hopefully have some baby updates! I will try to get something online as soon as possible.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Amelia's Big Girl Room and the New Nursery

As we begin to prepare for our newest member of the family, it was time to organize the rooming situation. We have a 3 bedroom house and Martin and I both felt that the baby needed her own room at least until she gets old enough to sleep in a regular bed. This meant we had to move Amelia's crib and "baby" furniture into the new baby's room and upgrade Amelia's room to "Big Girl" status. I loved this! We bought her a new twin bed and some new furniture. And Martin spent a whole weekend painting her room a beautiful raspberry pink! Our goal was to make it very special for Amelia so she wouldn't feel as if we were taking something from her to give to the baby. So we moved Amelia temporarily into the baby's room while we made the upgrades. Then we did a great unveiling (I'll post to YouTube soon). She walked in and said "Wow!". She loved that it is her favorite color and she got a new "big girl" bed. I'm still in the process of decorating it and putting some finishing touches on the wall, but here is a cute photo of her in her new room.

Super Cheese!

With her Lulu

We're still working on getting her to clean up her toys

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas 2011

As expected, Christmas this year did not disappoint. I really want to enjoy these younger years with Amelia when everything is exciting and awesome. It's the teenage years I dread when there is disappoint for not getting exactly what you wanted. But we have some time before that. Amelia is almost 2 and a half now and she is so incredibly smart and funny. We didn't go overboard with gifts but we did get her a few things we knew she'd love. First, we bought her an early Christmas present in November - the trampoline. A huge hit! The rest that fit under the tree were dolls, toys, games and fun clothes. She was most excited about the Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody dolls (Toy Story movie) that Mimi and Papa got for her. But some of the other big hits included her dress up clothes - a lady bug costume and princess/cowgirl outfit. And she got some pretty awesome scary plastic bugs from Grandma and Grandpa Turner. Honestly she loved everything and that was the best part. Hearing her say "Wow!" with each opening. We spent the holiday with my family in Houston since I am now unable to travel. 35 weeks pregnant and counting!

Here are some great photos to enjoy!