December Happenings

December has come and gone and we are ready to welcome the new year!  What a wonderful month it has been.  We welcomed Miles into our family and Jeremy has been off work for the majority of the month!  It has been great having him home while the family adjusts and it will be difficult to see him off to work next week, knowing it will be a while before he's off for an extended period of time again.  However we are excited for February 1st when Jeremy starts his new job in Mossville!!!  No more driving to Decatur every day!  YAHOOO!

Here is yet another picture explosion for you to enjoy!

Mila LOVES to hold her brother

Papa and the kiddos

Just hanging out sleeping

Life is rough!

Big Sister and her Little Brother

Monkey see, monkey do

Keeping Miles company during tummy time

My babies!

Snug as a bug!

Enjoying our AWESOME gift from Aunt Serenedy and Uncle Michael..
.Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy themed!

Mila loving on Miles

Miles and Great-grandpa Darrell on Christmas Eve

Miles and Great-grandma Betty on Christmas day

Merry Christmas!

It's a BOY!

Miles Lee joined our family last Tuesday, December 6th at 2:40 in the morning.  He was 6 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches long.  Miles is perfect in every way and has been an amazingly wonderful baby!  We are so excited to see how well Mila is adjusting and she is just so in love with her little brother!  It melts my heart to hear her talk to him and be such a caring big sister already!

Now for picture OVERLOAD!

 

Brief Birth Story:
On Monday I had my 39 week appointment in the morning.  On the way there I noticed I was having a few back pains but really didn't think too much of it.  At the appointment I was 50% effaced and dilated to 2 cm.  As the day progressed I noticed I started having fairly regular contractions but they were not getting stronger, nor were they painful.  I called Jeremy at work to warn him "this could be it" and to bring home his work computer and tie up any loose ends.  I also decided to call my mom to come over and spend the night in case we needed to head to the hospital in the middle of the night.  While waiting for everyone to get home I finished up all the laundry and fixed dinner.  Once my mom got to our house we decided that I was actually in labor.  We didn't want to wait too long to go to the hospital so I took a shower and put Mila to bed.  After relaxing for a little while, the contractions started to get much stronger so we decided to head to Bloomington around 8:30 pm.  Thankfully I was dilated to a 4-5 cm once we got there so they kept me.   Things progressed pretty fast and Miles was born after pushing through 2 contractions.  He came out screaming and even bit the doctor when his mouth was suctioned!  I have been amazed how much easier this labor/delivery/recovery has been compared to Mila and I'm already feeling great!  It's almost like he's always been a part of the family!

What a month

We are coming upon the very busy season of the holidays (and a baby!) so we have tried to fit in as much FUN as possible!

Mila decided one morning while I was in the laundry room to get her stool and help herself to the pasta!  It was a mess to clean up but I had to snap a shot before we cleaned it all up.  She thought it was hilarious to drop it over her head...I'll admit, I laughed too!

This year we got Christmas decor out MUCH earlier than normal.  I wasn't sure how I would be feeling after Thanksgiving (being 38 weeks) so I got out everything but the big tree.  We also thought it would be fun to have a kids' tree in the basement, so we bought her a little 4 foot tree.  Mila had so much fun shopping for her ornaments and she is constantly taking them off and redecorating the tree!

Uncle Michael and Aunt Serenedy came for a visit all the way from Seattle!  Mila was SO EXCITED!  We were fortunate enough to have them spend an entire day with us playing and catching up on everything.  Mila keeps talking about them and can't wait for another visit...even if Uncle Michael teased her with the Jack in the Box. 

 

Once again, while I was in the laundry room, Mila helped herself to the sugar canister I have on a shelf in the kitchen.  She had out all the measuring cups, filled them, and took them into the living room coffee table where she was pouring the sugar all over the table and from cup to cup.  (Apparently I am in a zone while doing laundry)  I of course freaked (but was thankful she decided on the sugar and not the flour!) but then saw how much fun she was having.  We cleaned up all the sugar, moved the cups to the kitchen, and I gave her rice instead.  She played with this for almost 2 hours and clean-up was simple!  I have a feeling we will be doing this a lot this winter!

Halloween

Halloween was a busy day this year!  We started out the day by visiting Grandma Camille and Aunt Ali at work, then we headed over to see Grandma Theresa.  In the afternoon we headed out to trick or treat with my parents, sisters and all the cousins.  She was a little freaked out by all the costumes but Isaac wasn't dressed up so she enjoyed him taking her up to several houses!  It was pretty cold once the sun went down so we headed home early.  She is very excited about all the candy...and so am I! 

Bumble Bee...Buzz Buzz

Visiting Grandma Camille

Visiting Aunt Ali - Not so sure about the costumes!

Enjoying a sucker!

The end of last week we painted pumpkins.  Mila loves to paint anything and asked to paint the rest of the big pumpkins outside!

Painting the BIG pumpkin!

Painting her little pumpkin

It's almost time...

for Baby Vogel #2!  I will be 34 weeks on Monday and it is hard for me to believe that he/she will be here in roughly 6 more weeks!  We finished up the nursery about a week ago and now all I have left is to wash clothes, blankets, etc.  Time is flying by quickly and December will be here before we know it!

Grow baby, Grow!

August/September Randoms

Here's a slew of pics from the past two months:

Can't forget the cheese face

Cuddling with her babies under one of the baby toys we've gotten out

Playing on the TV box, making her baby "tumble"

Mila wanted to be swaddled when I was going through some of the old baby stuff

Loves her "chocolate toast"  AKA Nutella

Enjoying the water table in the beautiful weather!

And playing with the hose in her undies...good thing we have a private backyard!

Pumpkin parade with Evan

Pumpkin parade with Aunt Tina

Helping out by feeding the puppy and kitty