FALL FUN... VOLLMER FARM

Every fall in North Carolina, the pumpkin farms open up and have fun activities and play areas for kids to enjoy.
This year we decided to try a different farm... Vollmer Farm in Bunn, NC!
It turned out to be a great choice. They have so much for kids to do. We didn't realise how much time we would need to do everything at the farm, so we just planned on a morning trip (Jake needed to get back home after lunch to work on his car with a friend who was coming around)... so unfortunately we didn't get to do everything, and will definitely have to go back again next year, and make a day of it :)
Luke had a blast, and I think it turned into a great morning out for all of us. The weather for once was lovely... blue skies, comfortable temperature, and not a lot of humidity, so we all enjoyed some fresh air.

Pics are in no particular order (it took me all day just to finish loading them between mommy duty as is... so I wasn't still gonna sort them. LOL)

Luke Loved the zip line.. went over and over and over again :)

Playing in the sunflower field with Gogga

The Udder Run, barrel train...

Such a tourist :p

I really wanted a family picture with the pretty blue sky, sunflower backdrop, but Luke would have nothing to do with it

So this is what our first 'family or four' picture looks like. LOL

Or there is this one. LOL...  originally I was annoyed that I couldn't get a good picture, and then I realised afterwards, that these pictures just as they are, are a very accurate depiction of our family. LOL

The Hay Ride

I think her name is 'Penny'.. she is only 2 weeks old :)

Little Miss Kate spent most of the day hanging out in my sling

THING 1 and THING 2

Growing up, I didn't always get along with my siblings. We often fought and clashed, just like any siblings do. But despite our differences, I was always really glad to not be an only child... I enjoyed the company of a play mate when I was little, and I've loved the memories and friendships that we've created with each other as we've gotten older.
Each of my siblings brings something unique to my family, and to my life, and we just wouldn't be the same family without each one of us.

I'm excited to watch over the coming years how Luke and Kate play and grow together.
Right now, Luke is still learning to adjust to life with Kate. He's needing to learn how to share our attention with her, and how to be 'gentle' with her. I'm sure at many times in the coming months and years, they'll drive each other crazy, but I hope that just like me and my siblings, they will grow up with a special bond, that makes our family stronger.

2 WEEKS OLD

Little Miss Kate is already 2 weeks old.
It feels like it was barely a few days ago that I was in the delivery room.

Today was her 2 week check up and it looks like we're going to have another little chunky monkey on our hands, lol.
Kate has already gained 14oz (396g) since birth and grown 3/4 of an inch.

Her 2 week stats are:

Weight: 7lb 4oz (3.29kg) ~ 25th percentile
Length: 19 3/4 inches (50.16cm) ~ 25th percentile

It's been a hard 2 weeks. Kate is such a GOOD baby... so easy going, and she really gives me no reason to complain, however we have had other challenges that made settling in with her difficult. I had a cold by the time I got home from the hospital only 24hrs after her birth, so I felt rotten on top of recovering from labor and delivery, and trying to adjust to life with a newborn again. I then had trouble with breastfeeding, resulting in some painful blisters. Then my mom got sick, and Kate caught a cold... a congested newborn is no fun. Poor thing didn't have a very happy welcome into the world with her instant germ attack :(
Just when it seemed that we were all getting better, I developed a case of Mastitis...I couldn't believe that something could hit so fast and so hard, and make you feel soooo ill. I went from feeling a little 'off' in the afternoon, to having a fever, full on flu like symptoms, nausea, vomiting and the most awful body aches by that night. I spent the night drenched in sweat, that my sheets were soaked, and shivering so violently that my body hurt. Fortunately a trip to my OBGYN, and a dose of antibiotics and I am feeling MUCH better already.

Little Kate is such a sweet baby. She is usually pretty calm, and she doesn't cry very often... she complains for a while when she wants to let us know she is hungry, or needs something, and only really cries for a minute or 2 if we don't see to her needs soon enough. I tried breast feeding her until about 2 days ago, and she wasn't too bad at latching on, but she was the laziest, slowest eater, and never finished a full feed before falling asleep, and becoming impossible to wake up enough to carry on. This resulted in me spending 45 minutes to an hour trying to feed her, only for her to wake up an hour later hungry again. It was making for some very long days and nights, and Luke was having quite a hard time with Kate constantly being attached to me, meaning his needs weren't always being taken care of. When the mastitis hit, it just became easier to pump and bottle feed her like I did with Luke. It was less painful for me, and allowed me to rest while I felt ill, and my mom and Jake could help feed her. She is still a fairly slow eater, but she gets a full feed, and sleeps about 3hrs between feeds, which is MUCH easier on everyone.

We're really loving our new family of four, and are enjoying getting to know sweet little Kate.
I am ready to start the new week fresh, with everyone back in good health, so we can really start to have a little fun :)

KATE LYDIA GEDDES

We are so excited to welcome Kate into our family.
She was born Friday, September 16th 2011 at 5:07pm
She weighs 6lbs 6oz (2.89kg) and is 19 inches long (48.26cm)
Such a tiny little girl :)

Her labor and delivery was so completely different from Lukes.
For various reasons, I chose to have an induction.
We arrived at the hospital Friday morning at around 7:30am.
I was checked in and taken up to labor and delivery, where they started doing blood work on me and setting up IV lines for the induction.
At 8:50am, they started me on a low dose of pitocin. For the first couple hours, I felt little more than some mild cramping. I was fairly comfortable, and spent my time between the bed and bouncing on a birthing ball. During this time, I also had my epidural catheter placed, so that it would be ready for later in the day when I felt I needed the pain relief. I do love modern medicine :)
My OB, Dr Chandler then came in and broke my waters and my nurse, Amy (what a great nurse to have for the day) increased my pitocin. It was after this that things really started to get going... contractions started to get much harder, and stronger and things were really moving along.
Eventually, I decided I was ready for the epidural to be switched on. It was only suppose to take about 15 minutes to kick in, but an hour later I was still in a large amount of pain. I also had a spot in my lower right side, that didn't take to the epidural, and I was feeling contractions really hard there. They were coming fast and lasting long. The anesthesiologist came back and gave an additional shot into my epidural to see if it would get it working. I finally started to feel my legs etc going dead. My left side went solidly dead, while my right side remained just tingly, and the spot that never took to the epidural still remained mostly unaffected until about an hour before I began pushing. (Fortunately, being a second time labor, I was able to visualise in my mind how I needed to push, so I was able to push effectively despite the still very strong numbness.)
By 1:30pm I was 7cm dilated, and by about 3:00pm I was 10cm and ready to deliver little Kate.
However, Dr Chandler had just been called away to an emergency C-section, so Amy said to just let the contractions continue to push Kate lower down. She finally came back about 2hrs later and got me to do a couple practice pushes to make sure I could do it despite the numbness and then at around 5:00pm Dr Chandler made it back to 'catch Kate'... we got ready and positioned and in not even 2 full pushes she was out. I literally could have sneezed her out. LOL... over 2hrs of being fully dilated and just waiting, definitely got her good and low and ready to be born.
I didn't break a sweat. LOL...and even better, was the 'no tears, no stitches'... sure makes for a faster recovery :)

I couldn't believe how small she is... even after she was born, I was convinced that she'd still be over 7lbs... to my complete surprise she weighed not even 6 and a half pounds... what a tiny little girl :)
She lay on my chest, and stared up at me, looking straight at my face and not making a sound.

The whole day was so much less stressful than Luke's delivery.
Jake spent a large part of the day with his nose in a book, and my mom who was able to be there too, played the role of 'labor and delivery reporter' keeping, friends and family worldwide updated with frequent Facebook reports. LOL


Unlike Lukes delivery, where they took him away almost immediately for his brief stay in the NICU, we were able to spend time with Kate in the labor and delivery room. We all had a chance to hold her, and take pics, and I was even able to try nursing her right there, while she was still alert and awake. It was a great experience.

After a nasty bout of nausea and sickness, between contractions, waiting for the epidural to kick in.

Watching her daddy with big eyes.

A happy and proud daddy :)

So alert.. taking in all of her new surroundings

Bonding time with mommy

Later that night, when she was back from the nursery and all cleaned up, my sweet friend Tricia who kept Luke for the day, came to the hospital with Luke so that he could meet his new little sister. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Aside from his early morning, napless, long day and late night the day of her birth, Luke also hadn't showed too many promising signs of adjusting well to Kate before she was born. His first meeting with her though, went GREAT... what a sweet big brother.
The first thing he did, which made us all laugh was 'sniff' her. Luke likes to sniff anything questionable, to determine if he's going to like it.. from new foods, to new objects to his little sister. LOL. Apparently she passed the sniff test.
He came and sat next to me on the bed, and we let him hold her. He was so gentle, and held her really well. He pointed to all of her features.. nose, eyes, mouth, ears etc, asking what each was... he kissed her head, and then when he'd had enough, he lifted her up, and moved her over to my lap. LOL.. and then he started investigating the hospital room full of things to get into. All in all I'd say it was a VERY successful first meeting for Luke and his little sister.
(The best of the pics of Luke with Kate I can't post because Jake forgot to change the settings on the camera so they came out horribly blurry, so unfortunately this is about all we got)

My hospital stay was less than restful, which I expected, but the staff were great. I had a wonderful labor and delivery nurse, and I was really glad to have my primary OB deliver Kate, rather than just whoever was on call. I stayed until Kate was 24hrs old, and was then discharged so that we could spend Sunday at home as a family before Jake started another work week.

Kates labor and delivery was a GREAT experience, and my only complaint was the one spot where the epidural failed to work... but I guess I can't have everything perfect. LOL

She has so far been a great baby. She's calm, and quiet and seems to be pretty easy going. Whether or not she'll stay this way, we will only know in time, but for right now at least, she is being really easy on us, and we are loving having her as a new addition to our family.

I am so grateful for my family of FOUR. Each member adds something special to our family and we wouldn't be complete without every person, with every quirk and every sweet face.