4th of July

My parents hosted their annual 4th of July party again this year, and we had a great time seeing many of our extended family members, eating lots of yummy food, playing in the lake, and setting off fireworks.

It was a hot day, so after grabbing a few pictures, we all quickly changed into our swimsuits, and spent most of the evening in the water. The kids love playing in the lake.

After grabbing some dinner, we swam some more, and then ended the night by watching the firework show put on by the various daddys, uncles, cousins, etc!

Wisconsin Dells

John's cousin Beth got married on June 30th, and although we had originally planned on John just going to the wedding by himself and me staying home with the kids, we decided last minute to make it a family trip instead. Initially I wasn't sure that I would want to travel with Clara since she was only 6 1/2 weeks old, but I also really wanted to be able to go to the wedding and I didn't want to be left home again. (I say again, because this would have been John's 5th trip out of town since Clara was born! He had already been gone on 4 different trips for work, which is a lot when you have a new baby!!)

So on Wednesday June 27th, we loaded the 3 kids in the car and headed for Wisconsin. We decided to spend two nights in Wisconsin Dells, which is known as the waterpark capitol of the world, before going to the wedding. Neither of us had been to Wisconsin Dells before, but we had heard it was a really fun place. We stayed at the Wilderness Waterpark Resort, which I had actually seen featured on Travel Channel's Extreme Resorts show! It is America's largest waterpark resort, and features 4 indoor and 4 outdoor waterparks!! This place was seriously amazing! We only paid $150 a night, and that included access to all 8 waterparks. We also picked this resort over some of the others that I researched because the Wilderness Waterparks are exclusive for guests staying at the resort, so they are less crowded than some of the public waterparks.

On Wednesday night, we arrived in time to have dinner (and dessert as you can see by Hudson's chocolate-covered mouth), and then head to one of the indoor waterparks for about an hour before bedtime.

On Thursday, we spent all day visiting the different waterparks. First we spent a few hours at one of the outdoor waterparks, and then we headed for the indoor park with the wave pool before going back to our room for lunch.

After lunch John and Makenna headed to a different outdoor park while Hudson, Clara and I took naps in the room. After we woke up we headed to yet another different outdoor and indoor waterpark. It was so fun visiting all of the different areas, and letting the kids just play and play.

One of the indoor water play structures

The kids both loved the waterparks. Makenna surprised us with how adventurous she was. I think her favorite slides were the big tube slides that she could go on with either John or I. Hudson loved playing in all the kiddie areas, but also really enjoyed some of the slides too!

Clara was an angel baby, and took great naps in her stroller while John and I took turns watching over her and playing in the water with the kids. We really loved visiting Wisconsin Dells, and definitely plan on going again!

Clara at Home

I can't believe that Clara is already 7 weeks old. Time is flying by! I have LOVED having a newborn again, and have really been trying to enjoy every aspect of Clara's 'newness'... the faces, the noises, the snuggles, the 'milk coma', and even the 'sweet' smelling diapers...all of it. Clara has been such a good baby so far too, which makes it even easier to enjoy this stage. She eats and sleeps well, and is a generally happy, content baby.

Overall, the transition to having 3 kids hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. I was so blessed to receive help from so many different friends and family members, who brought meals, helped me get naps, and helped entertain the older 2 kids. I have also really tried to make sleep a priority, and that has made the biggest difference for me. Of course there was (and still is) a period of adjustment. I am still learning how to juggle the needs of 3 kids, but overall things are going really well.

Makenna and Hudson have also enjoyed having Clara in our family. Makenna especially has just fallen in love with Clara! She wants to hold her all the time, and has even mastered her own ways of making Clara happy again if she starts to get fussy. I have been quite impressed with how helpful a 4 1/2 year old can be! Hudson isn't quite as helpful, but he is cute with Clara in his own ways; I especially love hearing him talk 'baby talk' to her.

Usually the very first thing Makenna says to me in the morning is 'Can I hold Clara?'

Of course I also spend a lot of time holding Clara at home, but only have 2 photos to prove it, and they were both taken by Makenna!

Making bubbles during an especially good nap.

Tummy time!

Clara's Blessing

The day after Makenna's dance recital, we blessed Clara at church. She was exactly 3 weeks old. It was so nice to have John's parents there, as well as my parents, grandparents, and brothers. I am so grateful for the love and support of our family and friends as we have welcomed Clara into our family. It is always such a sweet experience blessing a brand new baby.

(I didn't do a very good job taking pictures, but managed to get a few.)

John's parents

Our little family. My mom made Makenna a skirt to match Clara's blessing dress.

My Grandpa.

My mom made Clara's blessing dress, and it was beautiful! I loved it! I know that Clara will love having a dress made by her grandma, that she can pass down to her daughters one day!

First Dance Recital

Makenna danced in her FIRST ever dance recital on Saturday June 2nd. It was also my first time being a 'dance mom' instead of a dancer. She has been taking a Creative Movement class this year with two of her cousins. She has loved going to dance each week, and was really excited to dance on stage, and wear her beautiful 'princess' costume.

Makenna with her 3 cousins

and a proud Grandma

On stage (Makenna is right in the middle)

Makenna was lucky enough to have her Grandma and Grandpa Bailey come watch, and also her Grandma and Grandpa Pawlowski from Colorado!!

After the show, Makenna had a LOT of fun posing on stage for the camera. When I asked her if she had been scared or nervous to perform, she told me no, and that it had been fun! I loved watching Makenna dance, and hope that we will have many more recitals in our future!

28th Birthday

Just 9 days after Clara's birth, I celebrated my own birthday, turning 28. John arranged for my mom to come watch the older 2 kids so that John and I could go on a date (with Clara in tow). We decided to go see The Avengers (which we both really enjoyed). Clara slept thru the entire 2 1/2 hr movie! After the movie, we came home and celebrated with my parents and the kids. Overall, it was a great birthday.

Clara's Birth Story

Short version: My labor was quick, only 6 hours total, but the delivery itself was long, hard, and somewhat traumatic!

Long version: My due date with Clara was Saturday May 12th. My doctor who had been gone the entire week leading up to my due date, had suggested that we schedule an induction for Monday the 14th, so that I didn't end up with a baby that was too big (ha ha). However, having never been induced before, I was hopeful that I would go into labor on my own before Monday morning. On Saturday, we spent the majority of our time in baby-prep mode, (getting the house picked up and cleaned, running last minute errands). I had been having lots of contractions, but nothing regular or painful. Saturday evening, we decided to take the kids to The Amazing Pizza Machine for dinner and games/rides. After we got home, we went on an hour long walk in hopes of helping to get my labor started. After putting the kids in bed, and getting a few last minute things done, I headed to bed without any signs of labor.

At 4:30am on Sunday morning, I woke up with some really painful contractions. I started timing them, but wasn't expecting anything to come of it, because with my other two labors, I always had a night of false labor before going into real labor the next night. Well, my contractions just kept getting more painful, and closer together. At about 6am, only an hour and a half after first waking up, they were coming every 3 to 5 minutes, and were extremely painful. I called my mom to tell her we needed to go to the hospital, and could she come be with the kids. By the time my mom arrived at about 6:45, we were packed and ready to go. I was grateful the hospital is only a few minutes from my house. We quickly got checked in and headed to our room. After some initial questions, the nurse checked me (a little after 7:00), and I was at 8 cm! She started rushing around a little bit after that, and called in another nurse to help get things going. I had tested positive for strep B, so they got an IV and an antibiotic going right away. I asked about my doctor, telling the nurse that he said if I delivered on Sunday, he would be back, but she said that he hadn't yet called to 'check-in', and that they couldn't contact him. She asked if I wanted an epidural, and since my labor was going so quickly, I almost didn't, but decided to go ahead and get one (definitely the RIGHT decision because of what came later).

Somewhere between getting my IV, and getting my epidural, my nurse said that my doctor called, and that he was on his way. My doctor arrived while I was getting my epidural, and checked to see that I was at a 10, so he went ahead and broke my water. (Side Note: my epidural was fabulous. My legs felt a little weird, but I could move them easily, which is what I wanted. I hate having no feeling in my legs. This epidural took away the pain of the contractions, but allowed me to be able to feel and move my legs...perfect!) My doctor then wanted me to 'labor down' for awhile before we began pushing. After about 1/2 hr, of waiting, we started pushing. After the first few pushes, the doctor realized that the baby was faced the wrong way. Her head was down, but she was face up instead of face down. He decided to have me 'labor down' for a little while longer in some different positions (i.e. hands and knees, and on my side) to see if Clara would flip. When I started pushing again, I tried pushing in these different positions, while the doctor tried to manually turn Clara. After pushing for over an hour, (with no success in turning Clara) I was starting to get a little discouraged. I felt like since she was my 3rd baby, the delivery should be easier! Unfortunately that was not the case. It seemed that we were making little progress pushing, and I heard the doctor mention potentially using forceps to turn the baby. We pushed for another 15 minutes or so, and then the doctor started prepping to use forceps. By this time, my epidural seemed to be starting to wear off. My contractions were starting to feel more painful, and I could feel a lot of pressure. After a quick prep, the doctor said that on the next contraction he was going to flip the baby with the forceps. I purposely didn't look at the forceps, but I definitely felt them!! They were really painful. So during my next contraction, while I was pushing the doctor used the forceps to flip Clara. He quickly removed them, and then repositioned them again to use during my next contraction to deliver Clara. Again it was quite painful, but she was out!! YAY!!

My doctor thought that Clara would be around the same size as my other two babies (8.8 and 8.10) but as soon as she came out, he guessed that she was 9 lbs 13 ozs. We were all shocked to see that she weighed 10 lbs 4 ozs, and was 21 3/4 inches long!! I really couldn't believe that she was so big! With her being so big, and being face-up instead of face-down, it was no wonder I couldn't just push her out. The nurse afterwards told me that my doctor (a male) was the best at using forceps. She said that often other doctors will call him to deliver a baby using forceps rather than having their patients have a c-section. I was SO grateful that my doctor was able to deliver Clara, because I really think that had he not been there, I would've ended up with a c-section.

Final thoughts: My labor was definitely a LOT quicker with baby #3 than it had been with my other 2, but the actual delivery was the most traumatic (for me at least). I am so grateful for having such a skilled doctor to deliver Clara, and I am especially grateful that Clara is here, and is 100% healthy!