Going Home

After 2 nights in the hospital, we were ready to take Brooklyn home. We got her dressed in her cute outfit from Grammy and packed up our things. The nurse was impressed with how ready we were to go.  We were the first to be discharged that day, because we just wanted to GO!

That is one tired Daddy!

 

I always forget how extremely tiny newborns are until they are in a big carseat.

When we got home, Hayden and Cole were outside swimming in their little pool with Grammy. They quickly ditched that for a chance to hold little sister. They're so proud of their baby!

Hayden and Cole picked out some pink flowers for me. My parents also got me flowers, and Ryan's work sent us a huge balloon and a fruit bouqet. We definitely felt the love :)

Brooklyn had a little jaundice. We had to take her to the lab to get her heal pricked a couple of different days after bringing her home, but then it went away and she is nice and healthy!

Brooklyn Holland

Brooklyn Holland Woodland

was born on June 13th at 2:38 pm

8lbs 10oz, 20in.

Lake Forest, IL Hospital

After much anticipation, we had our baby girl. At 37 weeks I was dilated to a 3. At 38 weeks I was dilated to a 4. Then at my last checkup, I was just over 38 weeks. I was scheduled to be induced on Thursday 14. I went to my appointment on Tuesday and was dilated to a 5. I wasn't having any contractions in my stomach, but a lot of sharp pains and pressure in my groin. My doctor couldn't send me to the hospital with no contractions. So, she told us to go walk the mall for a few hours and go back to be checked again. We did, and nothing!

She told me to call if I had any changes at all. Nothing happened that night, but the next morning I had some bleeding. I called and was told to go to the hospital, because Dr. Oh didn't want me to have a baby in the car. 

I got ready and we headed to the hospital. When we got there about 10, the nurses hadn't heard anything from Dr. Oh, and didn't really believe that she sent me. One of the nurses said, "She probably meant for you to go to her office." Like I was a complete idiot. They ended up sending us to the waiting room for a while, while they tried to check with the doctor. I was not happy. I was scheduled to be induced the next day so it wasn't a huge deal. But I was so uncomfortable, didn't want to have my baby in the car, and I was just ready to be done!!

Half an hour later, they decided to take us in and wait for the doctor to come. She came and I was dilated to a 6-7. I asked the doctor if that meant we could stay. She said, "Yes! I would be the worst doctor ever, if I sent you home again!"

 I still wasn't having any stomach contractions. I hung out for a while. Nothing happened. They were waiting for me to have my epidural before they broke my water or started the pitocin. Unfortunately, all of the anesthesiologists were busy in surgery. I had to wait over an hour for the epidural. They broke my water, gave me the epidural (which I had been DREADING, but thankfully turned out to be nothing), and my contractions started. I ended up not needing pitocin. Doctor Oh came in to check me and Brooklyn bit her finger! I love it!  I ended up pushing for about 4 minutes, through 2 contractions, and Brooklyn was born. The reason she hadn't come out much sooner, like we all thought, was because she was "sunny side up". Her face was facing up and she was wedged in. Thankfully, it didn't cause any problems.

At 8 days early, she was 8lbs 10oz. Thankfully she was early, or she could have been a 10 pounder!

 

With Dr. Oh

I look so old!

My mom was in town to watch Hayden and Cole. They were excited to come see their little sister. Everyone took a turn holding her. My friend Melissa came with them, but somehow she managed to escape without a picture!

Me and my girls :)

Our first family picture. Cole was being a stinker and had his tongue sticking out in every picture. He's a funny little stinker boy. I love our not so little family!

Here is our little chubbers on day 2. 

With my mom in town, Ryan was able to stay at the hospital both nights, which was so nice!

 We're so thankful for all of the love, support, and well wishes. We are also so thankful to our Heavenly Father for sending us this sweet angel girl. We love you Brooklyn Holland!

**We named her Brooklyn just because we loved the name. Holland is because Ryan served his mission in Holland. We would have used is as her first name, but we didn't want her nickname to be Holly. Then she would have been HollyWoodland.

37 Weeks

I was 37 weeks pregnant on Thursday, May 31st. I had an appointment on Tuesday and was dilated to a 3, 60 %, and -2. I'm scheduled to be induced a week early, on the 14th. But at my appointment, my doctor kept saying the baby might come before the 14th. She said it about 3 times in the 10 minute she was with me, and told me to be sure to go to the hospital right away with any contractions or if my water breaks. I hate it when they get your hopes up like that. I think this little girl may be stubborn and make me wait it out until the 14th ;)

Liz, Lacey, Jackie, Me, Melissa

That night of the 31st, I went with my friends to Chili's for a girls night out. They surprised and spoiled me with some fun baby gifts. Lots of cute outfits, an awesome blanket and burp rags, and some baby essentials. I love these girls!

I have been having braxton hicks and lots of pressure over the last few days, which I didn't experience with Hayden or Cole. My next appointment is on Tuesday, and I'm anxious to see if the pain is actually doing anything, besides being annoying :)

On Memorial Day, I sent Ryan to the attic to bring down all of the baby gear. We got it all washed, set up and ready to go. We are ready for baby girl to come!

**Just a funny note-

The other day Cole matter-of-factly said to me, "When the baby pops out, your belly will be broken."

Zoo Day

A couple weeks ago, my friend Melissa and I took our kids, plus a couple, to the Brookfield Zoo.

We did a lot of walking, saw a lot of animals, and had a lot of fun!

Cole loves his little friend, Harper. He talks about her a lot, hugs her when he sees her, and likes to hold her hand.

Hayden's not in this picture, because the giant hornet makes noise randomly, and it scared her a bit.

The kids were mesmerized by the dolphins.

 I didn't get a picture of the baby buffalo, but he was so cute. I've never seen one before, he seemed so little next to the other giant buffalo.

Avery, Hayden, Zoe, Aniela, Addie, Cole, Harper, Weston

We had to get the traditional picture on the lion. I included two for a reason. Seconds after snapping the top picture, Avery started screaming because she thought she was falling off. Hayden then burst into tears, because Avery screamed in her ear. Yeah, it was time to go!

Everyone was tired. We got everyone home, stopped for some KFC, then went home for an early bed time.

We are sure going to miss these fun outings with our fun friends!

Preschool Graduation

Hayden had her Preschool Graduation on May 14th. She went to preschool at Lake's High School, and she loved it! Ryan took the morning off to come support Hayden, and she was so happy to have him there. What an awesome Daddy!!

She was excited for the graduation, but was a little nervous when it first started. She has a habit of putting her fingers and hands up by her mouth when she is being shy or nervous. The graduation was held in the auditorium of the high school. My camera was having issues in the dark, obviously.

After a few minutes, Hayden relaxed, moved her fingers away from her mouth and sang along with her class. Each student was given an individualized award. Hayden got the "cutest laugh" award.

Cole was so good during the ceremony and kept busy clapping away. Being the stinker that he is, he did joke about a girl's name. They announced something about a girl named Megan. Super loud Cole starts laughing and yells, "Megan? That's a funny name!" Nice.

Afterward, we went back to the preschool classroom and had refreshments and took pictures with friends. This is Addie. Hayden and Addie worked together a lot, because they shared a main teacher.

This is the group of LDS kids in Hayden's class. It's funny that so many of them were together!

Hayden with Avery and Zoe, our great friends!

Hayden's main teacher this semester was Julia. Hayden had a lot of fun with her. On the way to the graduation, we stopped at the store and Hayden picked out some flowers for Julia. She picked a rose and some carnations. She was very excited when Julia had a carnation for her, too.

Hayden was being shy while I was talking to Julia. Julia couldn't believe it, because she calls her her wild girl. But Hayden gets really shy in these situations when Ryan and I are there.

Mrs. Schneider is the lady in charge of the whole program. We were so happy with this preschool. Hayden loved it and learned a lot.

Then we headed to Culvers with the McMillans and Middletons for a lunch celebration.

Now it's on to Kindergarten!!

To Be a Mother

I am so blessed to be a mom and I love my little ones. Mother's day was so nice this year. There were no church meetings for Ryan or me, so we actually got to spend the day together and even drive to and from church together. That rarely happens!

Hayden surprised me with a beautiful plant she picked out all by herself and Cole gave me a rose! (Cole's nursery teacher gave each of the kids a rose to give to their moms. So nice!) At our wedding, we had disposable cameras on each table for the guests to take pictures of whatever they wanted. Almost 8 years later, we still hadn't developed any of them. For Mother's Day, Ryan surprised me by getting a couple of them developed. It was fun to look back on the memories of that special day.

After church, we spent the day relaxing and just being together. It was a great day for me to remember how lucky I am to be a mom to such great kids!

Chi Town

Ryan went to China for work earlier in the month. Before he left, he had to go downtown to the Chinese Consulate to get his visa. We love downtown Chicago, so the kids and I tagged along. The kids were excited to ride the train down.

 Once we got there, Ryan headed to the consulate and we headed to Michigan Avenue. Hayden was mad that she had to walk while Cole was in the stroller, but once we got to the main part of Michigan Ave, she was excited to take pictures with the pretty flowers she found.

Then we ran into this guy. Usually the guys that do this don't move at all or they dance, and you can't get your picture with them unless you give them a donation. This guy must have been having a slow day. He called us over and made a balloon flower for Hayden and a balloon dog riding on a hat for Cole. They were beyond happy! I didn't have any cash on me smaller than $10, so poor guy got the 30 cents Cole had in his pocket.

We continued up the street, got Garrett's Popcorn, visited the Disney Store, then met up with Ryan for lunch. We ate at the Mity Nice Grill, which we love. Afterward, we went to the American Girl Doll store and to the lego store. Cole thought the lego creations were pretty awesome!

Then we picked up Ryan's visa and headed to the train. We took the train back to our car, but then we still had about an hour drive home. Cole hadn't been to the bathroom for a long time. Not wanting him to have an accident on the way home, he had his first experience peeing on a tree in the train station parking lot. We're so proud ;)

Going downtown was a lot of fun, but a lot of walking for this pregnant lady. We were all exhausted by the time we got home and headed to bed early!