On
Tuesday, we were scheduled to be at the hospital at 10 am. With a
scheduled csection, everything was a little different. I knew weeks in
advance when Abigail was coming (as long as she waited) so I got out all
of my jitters ahead of time, sort of. My mom, sister, and nephew came
to the house to stay with the kids until it was closer to game time. The
whole experience was different for me compared to Natalie. With Natalie
I was in labor forever, then had an emergency csection. With Abigail, I
was able to relax in a room with Nathan beforehand while getting pumped
with fluids. I was then taken back to the operating room where I was
completely coherent for the prep work and spinal. I must say getting a spinal when you are alert and without pain is a lot scarier than when you are begging for one! After I was prepped and ready to go, Nathan was able to come in the room for the delivery.
At 12:47 pm, Abigail Marie was born. She was 7 pounds 14 ounces, 19 3/4 inches long, and beautiful! I could tell by looking at her that she was a lot smaller than Natalie even though my doctor and the nurses kept saying she was a good sized baby. I fell in love instantly! As I was getting stitched up, I knew Abigail was in good hands since Daddy follows baby. I couldn't wait to hold her for the first time and see my other sweet girl. It's hard to believe that in three years time I went from wondering if I could have children to having two perfect little girls.
Getting checked in.
Natalie playing in the waiting room.
One last picture beforehand.
Foot prints!
Getting to see Abigail for the first time.
Being weighed.
The family looking at Abigail.
Holding her for the first time.
Natalie after waking up a little grumpy from her catnap.
Gabriel holding his second sister!
Sleeping after getting all cleaned up.
Daddy and daughter
I found out the day before I delivered that my doctor, Dr. Powers, would
be retiring from OB in just a few short months. I love Dr. Powers so
this was a shock to me! He delivered Natalie too so it's sad to think if I ever have another baby I'll have to find a new doctor!
Every year Nathan and his brother Mark run in the largest 15K- the Gate River Run. It takes place here in Jacksonville and is a really big deal. This year the run took place the weekend before D Day. The D stands for delivery of course. With Abigail ready to come at any moment, we weren't sure if Nathan would be able to run. As part of the annual tradition, Mark comes into town and makes a gigantic pot of his spaghetti. That way the guys get a lot of carbs the night before the run. This year was a little different because the Kendall men were being challenged by the next generation of Kendalls. Mark's oldest, Austin, would be running with the big boys. The winner gets his name on the "Family River Run" plaque and gets the plaque to display for the next year. As it turns out being 15 and full of testosterone totally pays off! Austin ended up passing the big boys (who were seeded well in front of him) and winning! All in all, there was Nathan, Mark, and Austin running, as well as cousins Joe, Josh, and Katie. I guess we will have to wait until next year to see if the winner remains a youngin'.
The highlight of the weekend for Natalie was not the race, but the fact that her cousin Jake came to town. She loves Jake and loves to play with him. I always try to take a few videos with my phone because Natalie will watch them for weeks after. I didn't get too many pictures from the weekend, but here are a few that I managed to get.
We decided to go to the zoo one last time before Abigail's birth. It was definitely challenging being so pregnant, but with annual passes we don't feel like we have to see the entire zoo each trip. We had a great time and plan to go back again hopefully before our passes expire.
22 months was here and gone in the blink of an eye. Natalie is growing so much and becoming such a smart girl. She loves to learn and talk. She is becoming a pro at colors. She knows almost all of the colors about 99% of the time. And when I say she knows her colors, I mean the colors that you can find in a bag of M&Ms- plus purple and pink (Easter M&Ms :)! M&Ms can be such great teaching tools! Thanks to Daddy, she is also learning her shapes. Nathan has an app on his phone where Natalie matches the shapes by dragging each shape to its match. This is slowly teaching her the names of each shape.
One thing that Natalie is really enjoying these days is going on
Daddy/Daughter dates to Bruster's. There have been a couple of times
when Nathan has taken Natalie to Bruster's for ice cream after leaving
Poppa's house. Natalie loves to eat the ice cream, run around, and talk to the other kids.
Being a goof ball!
Hiding!
As Nathan trains for the Gate River Run on a hurt ankle, he comes home and ices each time. Natalie thinks this is great and joins in on the fun. I'm pretty sure she can stand the freezing cold water just as long as Nathan can! Of course, we have to watch and make sure she doesn't try to sneak and eat the ice!
The little copycat.
Our play area has exploded with more and more toys. Natalie loves to take things to the next level and be super creative when playing. An indoor slide is not good enough- she has to try to take the car down the slide! Between stunts like this and climbing on the ping pong table, we are doing some renovations in order to make our fun zone more kid friendly!
She just has to take everything to the next level!
Resting with the babies on the ping pong table.
In order to socialize Natalie with other little kids, Nathan and I have made it our mission to take her out weekly. Even though Nathan takes her daily to the park, there are rarely other little kids around. We decided to start taking her to a bigger park so she can interact with other boys and girls. At her age, interacting is more of side by side playing but she loves kids so much! Between Chick-Fil-A, the mall play area, and the park, Natalie has been able to be around little kids more and more.
For the second year in a row, we participated in the county Fun Run. This year was a little more challenging than last. Nathan decided to run with Gabriel on his newly hurt ankle. Natalie is a little more adventurous and wanted to run too. And I walked being eight months pregnant. The Fun Run is only a mile which doesn't sound bad at all. However, the run is over and back an overpass/bridge, and it wasn't properly measured so it was actually almost two miles! We met up with some good friends of mine from work, and they all helped me with Natalie while the guys ran ahead! Natalie ran at least half of the time and had a great time! We ended up leaving with a FORTY pound box of bananas! Nathan and Gabriel ate about 7 bananas a day, we made banana splits and banana bread, and Nathan took the rest to work. Our house smelled like a tropical island for a week!
As my due date quickly approaches, my mom and sister worked diligently to put together a very memorable shower. It was nice to be able to celebrate a second baby girl just like the first! I had so many friends and family come to celebrate Abigail's arrival! Natalie was nervous at first but quickly became the center of attention. My mom ordered so many personalized gifts and party favors from Etsy, and my sister did all of the cupcakes, cookies, and goodies! Between the two of them, they are a party planning business! It was all a little surreal realizing that this is really happening, and it's happening really soon!
Natalie playing with cousin Hannah.
Opening up one of the many extravagant basket gifts!
Me and Natalie
Natalie opening her new baby from Grammy.
It's hard to believe she really will be that small!
