ITS A GIRL!!

On December 29th at 6:13 am we welcomed Claire Elizabeth to our family! She weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19.5 in long. She is just perfect and we are excited to be bringing in the new year by spending our first night home as a family of four.

So here's how it all went down...K and I were watching the Bears game in bed on Monday night when my water broke around 10pm. We called my parents and my dad came over to stay with Layna as we headed off to the hospital. We had to go to the evaluation unit to confirm that my water did infact break. Although it was very busy, they found me a room by about 11:30 pm. I was having contractions about every 5 minute and decided to get the epidural around 1:30am. Everything went well and I was glad that they didnt hit spinal fluid the way they had with Layna. At 3am the nurse confirmed that I was still at 2 cm and so they decided to start pitocin. By 5 am I was 7 cm..and 10 minutes later...yes...10 minutes..I was COMPLETE at 10 cm! The nurse quickly called the Dr. Alhering (who was the Dr on-call) and he barely made it in time. Once he arrived I push for about 10 minutes and Claire was born at 6:13 am. The nurse kept saying that the baby had lots of hair..so Karl and I were ready to see a black haired baby again...but to our surprise..she had beautiful reddish blond hair!

When Karl announced 'Its a GIRL' we were both so excited! I had a strong feeling all throughout the pregnancy that this was another girl and I was completely thrilled when my instincts were confirmed. I never had a sister growing up and I am so excited to raise two girls and experience the connection and bond between sisters.

I am feeling pretty good and Claire is doing great. She is nursing really well and is so tiny and sweet. Layna has been a wonderful big sister!! She calls her 'my baby' and wants to help in every way possible. Although we are a little overwhelmed by the idea of two kids at home now..we are blessed beyond belief to have these two beautiful girls!

Christmas!!

This Christmas was probably the most crazy/fun Christmas I have ever had! We attended church on Christmas Eve and then went back to the Zim's for some pizza. Christmas morning Layna was up at 5:30 and I think Karl was just as wired as she was so we began opening presents by 6:15. Watching Layna open her presents from Santa was a BLAST! She had been asking for a dollhouse for months and was so adorable when opening it. We then headed out to Karl's sisters house because Kurt and Bev got in town around 8:30. We enjoyed a nice breakfast (Thanks Sheri!) and then went to pick up G and G Fry. From then on we spent the day at Zim's for presents and an extended family party. We didnt get home until almost 8pm last evening. We were all exausted but had an awesome Christmas!! I thought Christmas when I was a KID was fun...but having kids of your own tops the cake! Cant wait till next year when I will have TWO to enjoy!

Micah and Mal's Baptism

We were finally able to meet the Klug twins this past week!! Layna loved playing with the babies and we had a great time visiting with Billy and Rachel. We were also honored to be asked to be Malorie's Godparents. We had a wonderful time at the baptism and cant wait to see them again soon.

36 Week Pics

So these pics were taken last week but I think you get the picture...The last pics I took with Layna were at 36 weeks so this will probably be it from here on out! I made it past Christmas as of yesterday- so Baby Nelson #2 can come ANY TIME NOW!!

Christmas with G & G Nelson

While in Chicago we were able to celebrate Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson. We had a wonderful dinner at a nice steak house and then came back home to see that Santa had come! Layna had so much fun opening presents- some of her favs were Thomas the Train, a frog drawing pad and new jammies! We will miss the fun with all of the other cousins on Christmas Eve but were glad to have our own Christmas celebration over Thanksgiving! Grandma and Grandpa Nelson will also be traveling to St Louis on Christmas morning this year so we are super excited to see them in the morning before heading to the Zimmermans!

Im still feeling well..just Big, Tired, and Uncomfortable!! I still feel like Baby Nelson #2 will wait until after the New Year to make his/her appearace..but we shall see! Im hoping the excitement of the holidays keeps me busy enough to forget that I am 9 mo preggo!!

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Thanksgiving/Black Friday!!

We had a great time this year in Chicago for Thanksgiving! It was the last time I was able to travel and we were grateful to spend 4 days with the Nelson Family. We also broke a new record for departure time on Black Friday- 3:15 am!! The craziest part is that I was awake and ready to go shortly after midnight!! I guess something about being pregnant and knowing I was waking up at 3 to go shopping caused me lack of sleep that evening. The first pic is for scrapbooking purposes only..to actually prove that YES I did still go shopping on Black Friday- even though I was as big as a HOUSE!!

32 Weeks!!

I'm just getting read to end my 32 week so I figured Id better post pictures! This also helps remind me to continue taking pictures so that I can attempt to make this baby's scrapbook as detailed and thick as Laynas. I'm sure this will be a challenge! Lately when people ask when Im due- I say January 15th and then they respond with 'Wooh...you have a ways to go..' Im convinced people dont know quite how close January is..you see this makes me feel better rather than dwelling on the fact that most people think I'm HUGE! Most times when I say- 'Well- I had Layna about 6 weeks from now..' they say.. 'Ohh ok..thats not that far off!' Anyhow...Be nice to the pregnant lady people!

Overall I feel pretty good- Just the normal complaints. We are looking forward to heading to Chicago for Thanksgiving for a wonderful family dinner and EARLY morning shopping on Friday. When I say EARLY..I mean we will be leaving the house between 3 and 3:30. We are crazy but we have a good time. Hopefully I can waddle my way through the crowds. :) Layna and Karl are wonderful as always. We have a good time trying to imagine what it will be like when the newest member of our family arrives but most days we just cant picture it until he or she actually makes an appearance! The Jury is till out on names..especially boys names so if you have any suggestions send them my way! We hope this approaching holiday season finds you and your family doing well :)

Halloween- PARTY!

Every year our Halloween neighborhood party gets bigger and bigger. We had a blast again this year because many of our friends and family joined us. We had G and G Z, Mary, Brad and Sarah, and our good friends Dave, Laura, Nick and Michael- along with Laura's parents! Layna loved Trick or Treating and really got the hang of it after a few houses. We are blessed to have such fun neighbors and had a great time again this year!

Halloween- Trunk or Treat

We had our 1st Trunk or Treat at our church this year! We had a good turn out and it was a ton of fun! Here are some pics..Including one of Great Grandparents Fry on Halloween morning! Layna was so excited to show off her Alligator costume to them. Trick or Treat!

Layna and her Daddy!

Layna and her daddy have such a cool relationship! I had to post these pictures of them reading together..and then Layna reading to her daddy. Sometimes when I walk in the door from work Layna says 'but where's my daddy?' Instead of being offended- I remind myself how thankful I am that Layna has such a great daddy. When Layna wants to roughhouse with Karl- she will say 'stay away from me Monster..' and that is his cue to chase her and act like a monster. They love running errands, playing outside, and even watch Bears football together. Ohh and the last pic is of Layna pretending to be a baby in her play babybed..Oh boy!! Thanks K for being the best daddy any little girl could ever ask for!

Pumpkin Patch!

We had a great time at the Pumpkin Patch this year! We were able to take Mary along with us which was tons of fun :) Mary is such a special part of our family that we were glad she was able have fun with Layna outside of the daily routine at our house. We are praying for good weather this weekend for the Halloween fun..More pics after Saturday!

28 Weeks!

So here is the 28 week belly!! I am still feeling pretty good beside the normal complaints! I do feel pretty big lately but Im trying to tell myself that I dont waddle *that* much yet..being that I have atleast 10 weeks left! (I had Layna at 38 weeks..so Im counting down early!) Layna is getting very excited to be a BIG SISTER and seems to understand that its hard for Mommyto play on the floor with her big belly. Karl has been wonderful..doing a lot of the cooking and getting up to tuck Layna back in if/when she wakes up at night.

One of the kiddos at my school seemed to be very intrigued by my changing body..I often found her staring at me in the hallway. Well..she informed me yesterday that she had figured it out- I was the 'round, puffy version of Mrs. Nelson'. She is in 6th grade- so I took her word for it. She then proceeded to say 'Well...good luck with all that going on in your stomach' The preschoolers think my belly button IS the baby..which is humorous..and the 1st and 2nd graders keep asking me 'does that hurt?' So needless to say..the kids at school keep me laughing when I occasionally feel like crying! Overall I am very blessed to have a healthy and uneventful pregnancy.

24 Weeks

Things are going well here at the Nelson house! I am 24 weeks now and grateful that this has been a very easy and uneventful pregnancy thus far. We are excited that my Grandparents from Michigan have moved down to STL and plan on seeing them often! Layna is doing great in her 'Big GIRL Bed' and loves sleeping there every night. My first VERY vivid baby dream was this week. Karl and I were at the hospital waiting for the baby to arrive and when it came- It was a CHUBBY baby GIRL with black hair just like her sister. She resembled Layna but it wasnt her- and the biggest difference was that she was even CHUBBIER!! Lord help me!! So I document this to see if my dream has any substance. We shall see...

BIG GIRL ROOM!!

This weekend my parents took Layna overnight on Sunday and all day Monday so that we could get her BIG GIRL ROOM ready!! Karl agreed to do wainscoting on the bottom of the walls if we didnt have to paint anything in the room PINK! I loved the idea of the wainscoting and decided to take a risk with orange walls. Paint has never scared me..so we went for it! When it first went on the wall I was a bit leary but now that the room is put together..I LOVE IT!! I found this bedroom set on Craigslist for super cheap which I love as well! The bedding, curtains and pillows are all from JCPenny's.

Layna has been talking about her big girl room for quite awhile and has even mentioned wanting to sleep in there. We may try that in the next couple of weeks and see how it goes. The very worst that can happen is that she goes back in the crib for another couple of months! The rest of our time this weekend has been spent reorganizing, decluttering, pitching and CLEANING!! Some of my favorite things..literally! I know...its a sickness! We have even reorganized are storage closet and boy does it feel GREAT!! Thanks again G and G Z for keeping Layna busy so that we could be so productive!!