Ethan at 2 1/2

My precious boy is growing up! Here are the highlights:


Weight - 27 lbs
Height - 35 1/2 inches
Clothes - mostly 2T now, but tops can range between 18 month and 2T. Ethan can fit into 3-6 month pants though (think bike shorts)!
Diapers - no more diapers! Ethan is working very hard on potty training and is very good at telling us when he has to go poop. We are now working on staying dry!
Sleep - he is continuing to be a good sleeper, even with a newborn in the house. He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7pm and we usually don't hear from him until 6 am'ish the next morning. Sadly, he's starting to refuse naps at home.
Eating - with how frequently he eats, Chris and I are quite surprised he's not wider than he is tall. He loves his carbs (breads and cereals), fruits and veggies (broccoli and carrots are his favorites!).
Likes - eating, the taste of plain black coffee (decaf), playing with his trucks and Thomas the Tank Engine train set (he's got quite the little imagination), helping mommy in the kitchen, and more recently, helping with Eva!
Dislikes - blowing his nose, naps, being told to focus (I've been attempting and failing to teach him how to write his letters) and chocolate
New tricks - doing chores for "monies". He will vacuum (with a real vacuum) and then demand that we give him "monies" to put in his piggy bank. Thank goodness a penny or two is adequate payment ;)


Here are pictures of some of Ethan's favorite things - 

Helping mommy make muffins

Reading to his good friend Pooh Bear

Carrots!

Molly - Ethan's first girlfriend

Shoveling when there's no snow

Shoveling when there is snow

Playing in the "house" that Grandma Barber help Ethan to decorate

Playing with play doh

Making his own peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast

Mowing the snow

Picking out his own outfits - only a 2 1/2 year old would think a blue striped sweater goes with brown corduroy overalls!

Arts and crafts at Home Depot - I got a lovingly decorated jewelry box out of the February arts and crafts!

Vacuuming with the real vacuum

Kissing mommy

Holding his baby sister

Eva's birth story!

It's been one heck of a week - one week ago, today, Eva FINALLY decided to come out and play :) The prior week was rather traumatic - 3 false alarm trips to labor and delivery for regular contractions, and going home to cry for an hour (on a good day, more so on bad ones). 


The last false alarm trip to labor and delivery was on the Saturday before Eva was born. When I was sent home, I was an emotional wreck. Chris decided to be helpful and we went on a long drive in his car in search of bumpy roads - just so you know, there is a severe shortage of bumpy roads by where we live!


Fast forward to Sunday morning...I slept pretty well, but as soon as I woke up, the contractions started. This time they felt different than they had the previous 2 weeks - they were stronger, more regular (6-10 minutes apart) and more intense. Not wanting another false alarm trip, I informed Chris that I would not call the doctor's office or want to go to the hospital unless the contractions started coming closer together.


We then went about our normal Sunday morning routine - breakfast, crappy children's dvd's, going to Target :) It was a good thing I was in charge of the cart, because I started having more intense contractions that were making me bend over in agony. We did manage to finish our shopping and went home, where I promptly collapsed on the couch and began timing my contractions. They were coming regularly (still 6-10 minutes apart) and I could feel one building (it began in my back and then migrated around to the front). After an hour or so of this, I called my parents to let them know that depending on how things went, Ethan might be paying them a visit.  


15-20 minutes later, the contractions had gotten so painful that I was in tears. When Chris found me on the couch like this, he immediately got Ethan's jacket and shoes on, and I managed to stumble my way to the car. We dropped Ethan off at my parents, which consisted of handing a crying child over to my mom, and went to the hospital. 


At the hospital, the lady who checked us in took one look at me - and took me back to labor and delivery, where I was put in the same room I was in the day before. The nurse came in a few minutes later, checked my dilation and announced that I was in active labor as I was about 7 cm dilated by this point. I hadn't dropped from the day before (still a -1), but at least this time it wasn't a false alarm! I was officially admitted to the hospital around 11:40'ish.


Things went down pretty quickly from here - they paged the OB on call, who got there, checked me out, and let me labor on my own for the next hour or so. I had dilated to 8cm by 12:30 pm and the contractions were coming 3-6 minutes apart, so there was a mad dash to get all the proper equipment in the room. I was asked if I wanted an epidural, which I turned down. I had Ethan without anything (other than pitocin), so I saw no need to have one now. Plus the thought of that needle going into my back isn't exactly a pleasant thought! About 20-30 minutes later, the OB broke my water and started me on a little bit of pitocin to make my contractions more regular. Not too much later, I was ready to push.


Two pushes later, at 1:43pm, Eva Marie Barber was born. She came into the world crying, flailing and as soon as she got on the warming table, peed all over! The neonatologist (the OB paged one because Eva was borderline premature - she was born at 37 weeks and 2 days) gave her a clean bill of health and after a half hour or so of washing and measuring, she was handed to me, where I promptly fell in love with my girl :)


Please enjoy the following pictures!

About to be weighed and measured!

Big girl - 6lb 8oz and 19inches

Princess Eva right after her first feeding

Little chunker being monitored in the nursery

Ethan sees mommy and meets Eva for the first time - poor little guy is a little scared and confused!

What a peaceful little girl...

Daddy in love with his new little princess

What a good big brother - Ethan is holding and kissing Eva!

Ready to go home, and yes, the bow is nearly bigger than her head!

Introducing Eva Marie Barber!

Today, I would've been 38 weeks pregnant with Eva, but clearly I'm not pregnant anymore!


As you may know from Facebook, the little princess has made her debut! Eva Marie Barber was born Sunday, February 19, at 1:43pm, weighing in at 6lb 8oz and measured 19 inches long. Until I get the birth story post up, please enjoy the following picture, which is my absolute favorite so far!

Ethan holding and kissing his brand new baby sister :)

37 weeks!

I made it to 37 weeks and what a hell of a week this past week has been! I think most of my blog readers are either following me on Facebook or my coworkers, so you know about my 2 lovely and highly enjoyable trips to labor and delivery this week. The first was on 2/13, when I had about 6 or 7 really strong contractions in an hour. After 3 hours of monitoring and no changes, I was sent home. The second visit was 2 days later, when I experienced a little bit of bleeding. This time I was sent home in under an hour as Eva was just fine on the monitor and I hadn't progressed since Monday (apologies for the overshare!).


Anyways, now that I've made it 37 weeks, Eva is a full term baby and is more than welcome to come out whenever. Her lungs should be fully developed (girls' lungs develop faster than boys) and she is pretty much all ready to come out! She is most likely over 6lbs now and about 19 inches long.


Here is what is hopefully the last bump picture :)

36 weeks!

36 weeks! I don't really know what else to say other than I'm almost there :)


At this point, like last week, Eva is just busy gaining weight, so if we go by the growth ultrasound I had nearly 3 weeks ago where she measured at approximately 4lb 12oz, she is now around 6lb. 


Some of you that work with me or have been following my facebook posts know about the hectic week I've had this past week. This past Thursday, Eva sent me to the doctor's office in a panic when I was having contractions about 10-30 minutes apart. It did turn out to be a false alarm, and I hadn't dilated any farther or effaced any more than I was the previous week.


It'll be interesting to see when Eva shows up - it could be today, it could be tomorrow. She could be stubborn and stay put until 3/2, when I'll be induced. Let me know your guesses :)


Until she shows up, you'll have to settle for the belly bump!

Eva's room

Can you tell I'm really looking forward to having a baby girl? :) There's no clear theme, just pink, flowery and girly!

Ethan made this picture frame months ago, and just made the picture inside for Eva. According to him, it's a picture of a heart and it says "Eva" :)

Changing table and memory board. I thought it'd be a fun way to display her cards and bows.

The half of the closet with clothes. This will be one very well dressed little girl!

The storage half of the closet with a high chair, toys, disposable diapers (I do plan on cloth diapering) and other miscellaneous baby things.

Nursery letters! The letter hooks are from Anthropologie and the pearled hangers from a  little baby boutique in town. I thought this would be a cute way to display a few of Eva's outfits.

Nightstand with nursing chair off to the side. The framed picture of the flower is from Julien and the wonderful finger painting is from everyone's favorite toddler - Ethan!

Crib - the bedding is the Scarlett collection from Pottery Barn Kids and the framed pictures above the bed are from Julien.

Closer view of the framed pictures. The one on the left is a bumblebee hovering near cherry blossoms and the purple one in the middle section of the center frame is from Iceland - the flowers are covered with a little coating of snow! 

35 weeks!

It's sad to think these posts will be come to an end in the next 4 weeks for sure, but more on that later.


This week Eva is most likely a bit over 5lbs, which would be in line with the approximate 1/2 pound per week that she is supposed to be gaining during these last few weeks. She's also been doing for shifting, wiggling and nudging, versus the kicking she did earlier, but that is because she doesn't have a whole lot of room to move!


Now for the details - I had my 35 week checkup and all was well - Eva is head down and has a healthy heartrate of 152 bpm. However, since I've been having near daily Braxton Hicks contractions (some of which have been painful), my OB did an internal exam. I've dropped a little bit and I'm already 2cm dilated. This doesn't necessarily mean birth is imminent (I could have Eva today, or in 4 weeks), but because I'm already dilated, I will definitely be induced at 39 weeks if she doesn't show up by then.


Weekly bump picture...