Willa Turns 4!

Yesterday my little Willa Bear turned 4. I've never seen a kid more excited about a birthday! And it wasn't the presents, it was just the fun fact of being just a little bit bigger. She spent the whole day naming things she could do now that she was 4. Like reaching higher books on the bookshelf, eating all her supper(yeah right!), and all sorts of digressions from there. Talking with her is sometimes like talking with Dory from Finding Nemo. Add in her recent lack of volume control and it's a fun mix! You never have to wonder what's on her mind since she's usually telling you a play-by-play of her day. She's fun!
Unfortunately, all 3 girls have colds, yes, even the baby. I've never had a newborn catch a cold before but it's pretty pathetic. She's pretty cranky(when awake, which is not all that often) and very snargly. The last few days have been a little rough around the edges. We've all had to be ready to go before 9am and each day got less and less successful at it. I am blaming it on the no-sleep factor. Adalyn has been up at least every 3 hours this week and then takes a long time to settle back down. Last night she settled easier but was up quite a lot. Today, or at least this morning, I am basking in the fact that I don't have to have anyone ready to go except Denver. Plus, Wayne is off today so there is another set of hands. There is a reason they don't stay so small forever, I'd go bonkers! But I will still try to enjoy every moment, however sleepless it may be.
Here, looking terrified, Adalyn got her first bath with help from big sister Willa. She cried the entire time but smelled great afterwards! After her Dr. visit yesterday, she is a hefty 7 lbs. 5 oz. Over a pound in a week!

Everyone's Asleep

I cannot believe it but right now, Willa and Adalyn are napping. Willa fell asleep during Rudy when I was trying to guess when the naughty words were coming and press the mute button at the appropriate moment. I wasn't entirely successful so there was a bit of, "Don't say that word." So it was better that she fell asleep. I just can't resist that movie. So here I find myself with a moment since Denver is still at school. And look, I'm spending it with you!... And now the moment is over. So I will post a few pics and that will be all I have time for.

Life With Three

If there was anything that could comment on what life with 3 is like, it would be this blog. I've been meaning to update it for almost a week now. As I type one handed(the other one is holding the newest member of the family, who does not like to sleep alone), I'm pretty sure someone needs a new diaper and why not? This one is a whole 30 minutes old! I think I have shaken my two-day headache with the help of some Ibuprofen. Really, I think it was caused by a lack of sleep but since that doesn't look to be changing anytime soon, I headed for some pharmaceutical intervention. Regardless, Wayne and I are in love with someone other than each other for the 3rd time. Each time it has been love at first sight, something that I doubted existed before kids. Adalyn is perfect. With the possible exception of her loud grunty, farty noises. Willa made them too and they were just as hard to sleep through then as they are now. It's not gas, or hunger, or poop that makes her make them, it's just her! Mostly I think we all feel kinda like this...

Names

So back a few posts ago I listed the names we had decided against. Adalyn was actually on the list of no-gos because Wayne had originally said he didn't like it. Not wanting to force Wayne into a name he didn't like, I figured that was that and it was out. He preferred Adelle, which I liked but just not as much. We wanted to do something along those lines because my Mothers' middle name is Adeline and Waynes' Mothers' middle name is May. And the sentimentality of naming her after both of those ladies won out over other names. It came as a surprise to both of us I think last Friday when he mentioned that Adalyn had grown on him and now he liked it. We kinda just sat there and he said, "Wait, did we just settle on a name?" And that was that. Now, after only a few days, it doesn't seem like she could have been named anything else.

Adalyn May and Rylie Jean

A few posts ago I mentioned that one of my best friends was also pregnant and we were actually due only a day apart. As it happens, both our girls decided to come on March 16th! Rylie Jean Bader was born 7 lbs. 7 ozs. 22 inches at 6:40 pm. Congratulations Kerrianne, Dan, Camryn, and Cody!

The Details

So for those of you who enjoy hearing how it went down, here goes.

Monday, after a nice visit to a park with Willa and Possum(trying to induce labor with nice long walks), I had a message from one of my midwives to page her and when she called back she said that it was pretty slow at the hospital and she was on call and couldn't believe I hadn't had the baby yet. Since my due date was only a couple days away, we would have been talking about having to induce anyhow so if I wanted, I could come in and she could break my water for me. She had also delivered Willa and was at the hospital for one of our false labor visits. So, after chatting with Wayne, we thought that sounded pretty good to us. So we got the kids settled with my folks and headed up. It was all pretty surreal since with the other two I had actually been in labor when I went up.

Of course once we got there, 5 other women who were in labor came in and we had to wait till around 6 when there would be nurses available for us. Helene(my midwife) broke my water and we watched Chuck and Dancing with the Stars and it all seemed kinda slow and I wondered if perhaps I should have just waited it out, letting nature decide when I should have this baby. I really didn't want any Pitocin or other crazy drugs but after 10pm it started to pick up and it was again shocking how intense that last bit of labor can be. I did not want any drugs this time around. No, not because I am so tough but because Willa came so fast, that if it went like that, I didn't want the drugs in my system for such a long time afterward. After hyperventilating in the tub, they got me out and by the time I got back to bed, Adalyn was ready to come out. The last bit seemed to go quite quickly.

In the end, I'm glad we decided to induce. Things progressed really quickly after a certain point and if I'd been at home it would have been bad for Wayne. He was very good throughout labor, as always. And I must say, we make beautiful children. I'll post more pics later today but we are all doing well.

Introducing...Adalyn May!!

Adalyn May Kelly was born 11:09pm on Monday the 16th. 6lbs. 10 oz. 20 inches!! She is also currently very hungry so only have time for a couple pics and I'll give the story later! Healthy and cute as a button!