Here are some pictures of Lila's first several days where we were able to introduce her to some of her new family and friends. Today it has been a week since Lila has entered the world. It feels like she has been here forever. It is amazing how quickly she fit into our family. We are have enjoyed getting to know her and learning about her little mannerisms and personality. It is amazing after only a week, I already can't imagine life without her. We are so blessed!
Lila Joy Vander Griend entered the world at 3:05 AM on Saturday, August 22, 2009. She weighed 6 lbs 6 0z, 22 inches long, and has a head circumference of 33 cm. I experienced a slow rupture of my water bag at around 5:00 PM on Friday the 21st. Thank goodness my mom was with me because I was totally second guessing what was going on, but she knew that this was the real deal. So Don and I arrived at the hospital at around 7:00 PM and I was 3 cm dilated. They induced me at 9:45 PM with pitocin to speed up the labor process since my water bag had ruptured. I then proceeded to get one of 2 epidurals. The same thing happened with Lucy where I had to get two epidurals before it worked. The first epidural just numbed one side of my body and I ended up going to 7 cm before the second one worked. Boy was that a relief when it did. The labor went fairly smoothly except for when my blood pressure dropped really low and I experienced the worst nausea ever and thought I was going to lose my mind. But once they were able to bring my blood pressure up I felt much better. I only had to push for 35 minutes, which was actually longer than I did with Lucy. Don, my mom, sister, and dad (who had a restricted viewing position) were all in the room and it was so incredible to share the labor experience with them. We feel so blessed to have another healthy baby girl and are fortunate that the delivery went as smoothly as it did.
Don trying out the birthing ball to kill some time.
So I am not one to ever post a picture of my bare stomach exposed for all the world to see, but I have been accused by those that will remain nameless (Marla) of strategically hiding behind people and objects in recent pictures in an attempt to mask my pregnant glory. So since today is our due date and we have no pictures of a little girl to post, I might as well bare it all.
One day Lucy and Kim came to visit me at work and they were able to see my new office. Lucy of course jumped on my chair and started playing with my computer. Special thanks to Kim for all her help with decorating my office.
One of the highlights of our move so far has been being able to connect with friends. It has been great that we moved back to a city where we already have some connections. Lucy enjoyed swimming at the pool with my friend Emily's daughter, Eleanor. They are only 6 months apart and I am sure we will continue to have lots of fun play dates with them.
I have enjoyed lunch outings with Cindy and Mary. I have been spoiled because both Cindy and Mary have the summers off since they are teachers so we have been able to hang out on occasion during the day. It will be sad when they go back to work. Although I am sure I will keep very busy this fall with two little ones.
Lucy and I baked Mary some cupcakes for her birthday. Can you believe that Mary ate all these cupcakes and didn't share any of them? (J/K)
This summer we have been doing a Girls Night/Lunch Out once per month with my friends from high school. It has been great to get out and re-connect with these ladies who I have known for YEARS! Great food and conversation with good friends is always a highlight. Thanks to Cindy for coming up with this idea!
So I haven't been that great about blogging since we moved to Oak Park, but I we are going to try and get back on track. We have finally unpacked all the boxes and feel "moved in." We are working on decorating the girls' rooms and are almost done! We only have 2 weeks left until our due date and I am definitely feeling tired and look forward to my afternoon nap :) In between decorating/unpacking boxes we have found time to do some fun activities. Here is what we have been doing...
These two pictures are from the Sunday night music in the park concerts which occur all summer long at a local park in our community. We love pulling the kids in the wagon and having a little picnic in the park while listening to music. Milo loves dancing to the music. You can see from the below picture that Lucy was pretty tuckered out after the concert.
We got a membership to the local pool and have been taking advantage of it! Lucy loves the pool and it is only a two block walk from our house. We love the location of our house and are enjoying being able to walk to the local stores and restaurants.
Several weeks ago we watched Milo for Kristin and Eric while they were in Canada. One day we took the kids downtown to Millennium Park for a family festival that was going on. We packed a picnic lunch and let Lucy splash around in the fountains.
I don't know how Milo could be any cuter-I mean really?
Everyone told us that we would love the location of Oak Park, but I had no idea how convenient it would be. We love being only 45 minutes from both my parents and my sister. The train is 2 blocks from our house and it only took us 20 minutes to get downtown. Here is Lucy on her first train ride of many to downtown Chicago.
We have been taking LOTS of wagon rides! Lucy is obsessed with opening our garage door, since we didn't have a garage in Baltimore it is a whole new experience for her. I thought the novelty would wear off, but it continues to be a real thrill for her when she gets to push the button on the garage door opener.
