One month old!

It's hard to believe little Miss Cecilia is already one month (and one week!) old! Today is her 5 week birthday (I started this post on Wednesday, but now it's actually Sunday), and aside from having her first cold she is doing very well!

She's still eating and sleeping way better than I expected, whichI definitely appreciate because it means I am sleeping pretty well too! On Tuesday (the eve of her one month birthday) she actually slept from 11 pm to 6 am, so I was amazed! I woke up about 5:30 and couldn't believe she was still asleep! She hasn't repeated the miracle, but she is consistently sleeping for at least 4 hour stretches at night. Since I go to bed late anyway, I really only have to wake up with her once in the middle of the night and once in the morning around 6:00. Thankfully, Sully has also been sleeping in lately so I can usually go back to sleep for a little bit after the 6am feeding. I'm very lucky to have such a good little girl who lets me sleep!

She had her one-month check up on Wednesday and seems to be in good health as well. She's already weights 10 pounds and 5 ounces and is 23 inches long, which puts her in the 95% for height! She was very well behaved at the appointment (surprisingly, so was big brother who came with) and only cried briefly after she got her vaccination shot.

Here's a picture of her from her one-month birthday, post-shot. I guess she didn't enjoy the shot all that much!



In addition to the typical baby activities of eating, sleeping and pooping, Cecilia has been keeping busy. She's already been to 3 graduation parties in her short life and has spent the night away from home at Grammy and Grandpa's house. We're also trying to get her out into the fresh air as much as possible so that big brother can run around and expend some of his energy! We've been walking around the neighborhood and we've already had 2 picnics! Cecilia has also made some good friends and spent some time with some other cute babies. Katie visited on Monday with Nolan and her twin girls - they are 6 months old and Sully totally loved them. I was worried he would treat them like he does most other kids - by asserting his dominance with hitting and pushing - but he did a great job with them. He didn't touch them except to gently tickle their feet and loved trying to make them laugh by running around or dancing. And since he met them he's been much better with Cecilia! He had been hitting her pretty consistently, but now he opts for tickling or smelling her hair or even just looking at her. It's been a big relief!

The other cute baby Cecilia finally got to meet was her future best friend Claire. There's only a 6 week age difference in the girls, but Claire seemed so much bigger and more developed than Cecilia. She's smiling and laughing and has the most adorable baby rolls - I can't wait until they are both interacting with others because it will be so fun to see them play together.

Here's BFFs Claire and Cecilia followed by a picture of their mommies. Can you tell which baby belongs to each mom?





Well I think Seesa Marie is getting hungry, so it's time to wrap this post up. Hopefully we'll get some pictures of her summer adventures to post in the next few weeks. I think we're starting to get back into the swing of things so I want to get her out to do more stuff. I'd like to try to go to the beach this week, and we may go visit camp at Metropolis since it's my first summer away from there in a long time! I miss it a bit, but it's nice to just have 2 kids to take care of instead of 43! Hooray for summer vacation!

We have a baby!

Cecilia Marie Willhite made her grand entrance into the world a week ago on Sunday, May 23 at 12:32 am. She weighed exactly 8 pounds and was 20 1/2 inches long. My labor and delivery went just as I hoped they would with no drugs and minimal interventions (just a bit of baby monitoring and a port for the IV, but I didn't have to have the fluid drip!). The process took a bit longer than I had hoped....but that just meant there was enough time for Grammy to get here to be with Sully before we had to go the hospital. Mark was an amazing support and all the nurses were so encouraging! It was an exhausting and difficult process, but we couldn't be happier with the result! Baby Cecilia is so sweet and easy going and I just want to spend all day cuddling with her!

Big brother Sully seems to be adjusting to the new addition fairly well. He is learning to be soft with her and is genuinely interested in her. He always asks, "What's baby Cecilia doing?" or "Where's baby Cecilia?" right before he runs over to the co-sleeper to grab at her head. Cecilia is also starting to be more alert and awake during the day, and when she is up, she likes to watch Sully and his crazy antics. (He definitely shows off for her!)

My mom was able to stay until Wednesday afternoon, but Mark and I have been flying solo for the last 5 days. Surprisingly, I feel like we have a handle on things and have already sort of fallen into a routine. However, Mark goes back to work tomorrow so I will be on my own, and I have a feeling things will be a lot more difficult when there is only one adult around to run interference. I'm not sure how I will get food on the table for the toddler while also making sure the infant gets her breast milk...we may not eat until Daddy comes home from work!

So there's the scoop on the newest Wacky Willhite! We are so grateful she has entered our lives and I can't wait to introduce her to you all! I'm sure she will steal your hearts as she has stolen ours. I apologize for taking so long to put the pictures up, but isn't a newborn baby the best excuse? She's definitely the cutest excuse I have....

Already Daddy's girl:

She had her first bath on Saturday, and didn't even cry!

Story time!

That's all for now! Hopefully we'll be able to survive our first day without Daddy tomorrow and I will be able to post more soon!

Something might be happening....

I was at the doctor yesterday and there was no change in my cervix since last week (or the last 3 weeks really), so I was a little discouraged, but now I think the end of my pregnancy may be in sight!

I have been able to move more easily in the last few days, so I actually went to Curves tonight for a workout in hopes that the baby would drop. I made it through the whole workout without much trouble, but Bodo stayed contently right in the middle of my belly. However, when I got home, I was pretty sure I felt a real contraction in my back!

They've kept up since about 7:00 tonight, so I'm thinking we may be having a baby this weekend after all! (Although Bodo is still floating up nice and high so maybe this is all just a trick...) Nothing is too consistent yet, but the contractions do seem to be increasing in intensity. They are definitely still manageable, so I am going to try to get some sleep now while I can. Hopefully we'll have some good news for you tomorrow!

Still pregnant...39 weeks and counting!

So there is no baby news yet...much to my chagrin! I'm not technically due until this Saturday, but I'm hoping this kiddo will come a little early. Tomorrow or Thursday would be ideal since that will work out best for Mark's work schedule. Plus I am really waddling like crazy and pretty much every movement hurts, so I am starting to be anxious to have a normalish body again. As my wise friend Kathy pointed out, I've never been this pregnant before, and I'm not sure I like it!

Bodo also seems to be stubborn like big brother Sully was and hasn't dropped an inch. In fact the last few days I keep feeling movement way at the top of my belly and I think this kid is trying to get as far away from engagement as possible. But hopefully maybe he or she is just waiting until after Daddy's softball game tonight to put things into motion. (Mark didn't get to play at all last week because he hurt his rib when he was at bat 2 weeks ago. Thank goodness he is healed now because we were a sorry pair when we were both gimping around trying to chase down our 2 1/2 year old. Isn't that crazy? Sully is officially 2 and a half!)

So other than playing the waiting game, things are going well. The heartbeat has sounded strong at all my appointments, and I'm a little bit dilated and about 50% effaced. I go back on Thursday for another check-up, and then if the baby doesn't come I start going twice a week on the 24th. We have a non-stress test scheduled for Monday the 24th, but I am hoping we won't make it to that appointment.

It's been hard trying not to think about the baby every second, but I've been able to find a few distractions. The boys took me out for Mother's Day dinner and ice cream:

and I got to have a fun Girl's Night Out with Katie and Rose. (A surprise Mother's Day gift for Katie from her very thoughtful husband. He planned the whole evening for us and even sprung for dinner! What a guy!) We had quite an adventure!

Other than that, we've been to the library, to Target, and had a few playdates with friends. Tomorrow we're planning on going to Metropolis for Wiggle, Giggle & Grow - I'm officially done teaching the class, but since Sully is one of the students, I thought it might be good for him to have one more class before we just stop going. Plus it will get us out of the house and be a good distraction! Hopefully I won't have to distract myself too much longer and we'll have some baby news to report this week! Keep your fingers crossed!

Here's our baby...still in utero!

So we've officially made it to 37 weeks and Bodo is still in the womb! (That's about 3 days longer than big brother Sully stayed in, so I feel good about that!) The 37 week check up on Thursday went well and all seems to be going along as it should. Bodo was snuggled up in there all nice and cozy - I think he or she may be a thumb sucker if in utero behavior is any indication! The measurements of the baby and my fluid levels were all within the normal range, although my belly was still measuring small. I'm in the 37th percentile, apparently. Bodo's estimated weight was 6 pounds 4 ounces, which I thought was weird since that's only 4 ounces less than Sully was at birth. So it looks like I will be pushing out a much bigger child this time! I go back again this Thursday where they will check my cervix to see if anything is going on down there. The weird thing is, I think I am actually hoping that they will tell me it looks like it will be soon! But that's probably just because my sciatica has been killing me since Thursday night, and I am hobbling around like a pirate with a peg leg. I've been propping up my leg, using heat, stretching every 10 minutes, and nothing seems to ease the pain. So if the only cure is going to be getting this baby out, I think I might be begging for that to happen in the next few days! (Mark is probably hoping that too because he's been having to wait on me a lot more in the last few days!) Although, this afternoon the pain does seem to be more bearable, so either I'm just used to it now or my nerve is finally deciding to give me a break. Other than the sciatica, I feel pretty good. Still sleeping ok and no other major issues, so Iguess that's good.

I will post another update after my next appointment, unless of course Bodo decides to show up before that. Either way, I am hoping my body will actually decide it's ready to go into labor on it's own this time. I'd love to deliver without pitocin! Cross your fingers for me!

It's a Girl!!!!

But she's not ours. Nope, this beauty is the lucky daughter of Julie and Gordon - the first of the many of my pregnant friends to give birth. Claire Elizabeth was born on April 6 and is totally sweet and adorable. I may perhaps be a little jealous, but at least I know that if Bodo turns out to be a boy I will still have Claire as my namesake. Claire was my French name in High School and Julie was my very first French partner, so obviously she chose the name because of me- it's especially obvious because we have the same middle name, too!

Don't you think we look good with a girl baby, though? I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'm currently at 36 1/2 weeks, and since Sully showed up one day shy of 37 weeks, I keep wondering if Bodo will be coming in the next few days. I am hoping that will not be the case, though. But I am trying to be more prepared ahead of time, just in case. My bag is mostly packed, the baby clothes are down from the attic, washed and put away, and I've been reading lots of books on natural childbirth and easing labor pain. So even though I don't really want the baby to come just yet, I think we're probably ready.

I go to the doctor for my 37 week check up tomorrow, so we'll see if they have any predictions. I was almost 1 cm dilated last week, but they said that was common in 2nd pregnancies. I'm on an iron supplement now, though, because I am anemic (I guess now I know who to blame for Sully's anemia!). I also measured a little small last week, so they are going to do an ultrasound tomorrow to check on Bodo's growth. Other than that, I am feeling pretty good - a little sluggish and ungainly, but that's sort of normal for me even when I'm not pregnant!

That's it for now! I'll keep you posted on Bodo's development and impending arrival and promise not to post anymore pictures of other people's babies until ours comes.

Some Easter Pictures

I realized recently that another month has passed since my last post. (And I thought I was being so on top of things....) Where on earth does the time go? So I thought I would do just a quick update with some cute pictures from our visit to Sherrard for Easter. Sully had his first farm egg hunt, but was more interested in looking at Grandma's hose and chasing the cat than finding the eggs. It also took about 2 hours before I could get him away from his toys to look for the eggs in the house. But he loved decorating bunny cookies with Grandma and Aunt Sue and he seemed to enjoy coloring eggs. Mostly, though, he had the most fun playing toys and screaming with Uncle Todd. It was a really nice weekend, and we enjoyed being able to spend the holiday with the Willhites and Williamsons.

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the weekend: