The past month or so...

Meeting the great-grandparents!

The butterflies on the deck were fun to watch this summer! I took this prior to the first frost, which was the end of the flowers on the deck :-)

Again prior to the frost. The roses looked great this fall! Yesterday we got them 'winterized' and covered up.

I love this picture! Will is smiling at Gabbie while she is playing and showing him all of her toys. These two are getting along great. Sometimes Gabbie loves him too much...her hugs are so tight we think Will might need a helmet!

A blurry picture, but a great hug :-)

All smiles after a walk to the mailbox! He loves hanging out in his front carrier while we go outside.

Race for the Cure! Gabbie was in the kids run after we did the adult walk. It didn't go very well. It was soo crowded, and she said she was "scared". She tripped on my foot when they blew the whistle to start. That was the end of that :-) Great day otherwise though!

Will in his Bumbo. I did not have one of these with baby Gabbie, but thought it would be fun to try this time. Most of the time it is occupied by one of Gabbie's dolls!

Time for pumpkin painting! Grandma found some glow in the dark paints.

Licking frosting off the mixer beaters :-)

The Lightning McQueen cake (from Cars). I tried to use the picture of him from Gabbie's coloring books. It turned out alright...taste is all that matters anyway, right? I asked Gabbie if it looked like Lightning McQueen and she said yes, so I assume she is being honest even though it was a leading question.

The birthday girl! 3 years old, geez! She has changed so much the past few months...talking in more sentences with lots of stories, some that make sense and some that don't. She's so responsible for her little brother-any little peep and she is looking for me, telling me he needs a diaper or fed. She has been so helpful with getting the garden cleaned up before the snow flies. She helps me match the socks from the laundry. She has started to dress and undress herself. I have kept her home more than I thought I would while I'm home and its been fun. Its been good to sit and do puzzles and brush up on my kickball and frisbee skills! Today we tackled a puzzle with the states and their capitals-didn't realize how much I had forgotten myself. I love her imagination...yesterday she had to take her horse outside so it could eat the grass, then it had shots at the vet, then it stuck its bottom off the edge of the deck to pee. And with all these advances...she still uses a pacifier and still has diapers ;-) Oh well.

Irma and Will having a conversation.

He is so fascinated since his hands found each other! He had his 2 month check up and weighed 13 pounds (80th percentile) and was 24.75 inches long (95th percentile). We started his immunizations then as well. We spread them out, so he'll have one every Monday for the next several weeks instead of having them all at one visit. He hardly cried at the time of the shot, but was fussy the day after with runny diapers and some vomiting.

Tow Mater out trick-or-treating with her friend Kennedy! Kennedy took her on the Spook Trail in Lake View for some treats until I got home from work, then we went to a few houses in Wall Lake. She was more than tired by the time we got home...

The day after trick or treating, coming down from the sugar high :-)

Sometime I'll have to post a picture of the progress with painting the house. My initial goal was to paint the garden shed and the house before I went back to work. Then it changed to painting the house. Then it changed to painting 2 sides of the house before winter :-) My Mom has been helping and 1 more days work and the north and east sides will be done. It looks nice and I'm happy with the colors.

I have just over 2 more weeks of maternity leave before we go back to normal. I can tell we are ready! I am ready for more of a routine, though I have definetly enjoyed the freedom of having my own schedule. Part of me just feels this energy that I need to expend somewhere, but its not the kind of energy I seem to be able to get rid of by running after Gabbie and rocking the baby. The crazy part is that I don't think a day has gone by that we haven't had something to do and somewhere to go, so it isn't like we haven't been busy! People tell me how lucky I am to have gotten 12 weeks off, and I can't dispute that. I'm also lucky to have had the chance to work 1-2 days a week throughout to keep us in a little bit of a routine. I am feeling more organized after tackling all the piles and boxes that accumlated while we worked on the house this year. Next week I will hopefully get caught up on our bookwork in preparation for taxes; after that I will certainly be ready to get back to work!

Mini-Me

The title mini-me is simply because I can not come up with a more creative name for this post...I only wish I could say I was the grown up version of an empathetic, energetic 3 year old! Anyway, Gabrielle is doing a lot more "copying" lately. For example-in the car on the way home from daycare last week I suddenly realized I had forgotten to pick up eggs after work. Without thinking I said 'sh*!', then heard a little voice in the back say 'sh*!, sh*!, sh*! sh*!'. So I had to explain that Mommy was very naughty, and I was told I should probably go to time-out. In this video she seems to be acting a little like we do when we are on the floor playing with Will. It was so cute! I was glad she stuck with it long enough for me to grab the camera.

End of September

I can not believe today is the last day of September! Fall is flying by already. September was a crazy busy month for us. Gabbie had her 2 day stay in the hospital, we had a party to celebrate the house remodeling, hog building renovation, and our 30th birthdays, Brice was in a wedding in Mt. Pleasant, and I've started some indoor projects that were on hold all year due to our house being a mess including sorting through the file cabinets, getting our books ready for tax time, and hopefully today will work on some sewing. I am enjoying being home more as I get to help Brice with more work on the farm and I get to spend more time in the garden and kitchen using up what is left of our vegetables, plus spend time with the kiddos! I've set a goal for the month of October to become better at 'non-productive' time; seems like when I am here there is always something that needs done, laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc. I'm hoping to ignore the to-do list a little more often and maybe enjoy a nap with the kids, or get myself into a brainless daytime TV soap opera :-)

Yesterday Will officially turned 1 month old. He is doing great! Yesterday was also his first full day at daycare while I went to work. He did well, and I think Gabbie enjoyed having her little brother with her! I work in Carroll 1 day a week and had been taking him with me, but now he'll go to daycare on those days-I seem to get done with work faster that way! I also returned to home health this week, so he goes to daycare for the 1-2 hours it takes me to see a client. I enjoy the time I get to go to work; it seems to help me relax to get to do something I'm used to and keeps me up to date on changes, and I love the patients. I also love that feeling when I am done with work of picking the kids up! There is nothing like the sound of Gabbie running to me and yelling "Mommy!" Will has adjusted fairly well to the bottle...he had to learn fast as 1 week after he was born we were taking Gabbie to Des Moines to the doctor and he had to be fed in the car. He likes to eat so fast though and seems to puke more when he drinks from the bottle. He usually only wakes 1-2 times a night to eat, but eats almost 4 ounces at a time now!

Here are some recent pics:

Brice and Gabbie enjoy fishing when he is home early enough to take her. Unfortunatly the days are getting shorter and their time is more limited! I need to attempt taking her by myself so she can go during the day...the problem is Brice is usually the one to bait my hook!

In the hospital. This is after they had given her the sedation medication. She did not fall or get hurt, just was acting so funny! I shouldn't have laughed, but it was a bit entertaining :-)

Still acting funny!

I have these in odd order, but this is the day before we went to the hospital. She is coloring with her friend Kennedy, who was so kind to stop by with coloring books, etc for entertainment while we were in Des Moines.

Will in the hospital. He was a trooper! The nurses were so kind also. They brought in a crib for him to sleep, and the "child life" staff would come play with Gabbie so I could feed Will.

One of the better pictures of Gabbie, when she finally started eating again. I felt funny taking pictures of her in the hospital; hopefully we never have to go again! We are so lucky though; there were children dealing with much bigger problems in the rooms next to us.

Goin' home. She wouldn't let the nurse be in the picture. Guess if someone shoved a tube up my nose I wouldn't want a picture with them either! She is doing better now. We were supposed to take her back to Blank this week for a check up, but she has been doing so well and we were ready for a week to not be running to the doctor, and I don't need another doctor bill to hear 'she's doing well'. We have to keep close tabs on her diet, and she is on 2 doses of MiraLax and a dose of mineral oil each day. How many 2 year olds get to eat All Bran for a snack? :-) She had trouble 1 night this week and spent 2 hours acting out until she finally went, but I guess its a work in progress. We are having to make her sit on the potty, she isn't volunteering, and I hate to get overly agressive with potty training and have more problems.

Greg's wedding. I was having trouble taking pictures, holding Will in one hand and the camera in the other. This is a picture of Greg's back...I found it so funny he walked out of the church without his bride!

The Bride and Groom now married! The wedding was beautiful, church was packed, and weather was perfect! Nice day with a rain shower just prior to the service-a sure sign of good luck!

The bus the wedding party took to the reception. Greg is a die hard Hawkeye fan, so I love the bus is in Cyclone colors!

Brice and his Dad spent most of the week chopping. I love in the fall when the colors are so pretty, and the sky a dark color.

Gabbie chillin' on the deck.

One month birthday!

We are seeing more faces like this one!

3/4 family picture at the wedding. Gabbie stayed with my Mom and went to my cousins wedding in Carroll. Brice always makes a nice looking groomsman :-)

The hog roaster, still sitting in the yard. For our party Brice decided to roast half a hog. It turned out great! The party was fun, around 40 people came. The weather was a disappointment, as we were hoping to sit on the deck but it was cold and wet.

The past 2 weeks....

Here are some more recent pictures of Will! He is already growing fast! Just over 10 pounds and is alert for longer periods of time. He like to be held more than Gabbie did as a baby, and tends to be more fussy in the evening. He did well at his 1 week checkup last week. He goes back to the doctor for shots at the end of October.

His favorite ways to sleep: arms over head, or on his tummy!

Big sister helped me give him his first bath :-)

We went out for a waffle breakfast 1 week after Will was born. Brice got playground duty with Gabbie. When I looked over he was going down the slide, but I didn't get the camera in time to catch him. He's so tall that he was half way down the slide before he even pushed his way down :-)

We have enjoyed our visitors! Tyler stopped on Labor Day to see Gabbie. They found some apples off the tree and enjoyed them as a snack break after playing kickball!

Will's thinking pose ;-)

Gabbie enjoys helping, especially with feeding and changing diapers.

Sleeping again!

He's a great baby. Everyone asks how he is sleeping at night, and I have to say he does well. Just seems like after his 4:30 feeding he likes to stay awake! He sleeps well on his tummy. There has been a few nights where he is up almost every 1-2 hours to eat or be changed.

This maternity leave is already flying by. We haven't stayed home for a full day since our day home from the hospital. Thursday I went back to work for part of a day and will do that every Thursday until I return full time in November. I was glad to get back to what feels 'normal' to me, and I was able to take Will along and he did great. Its so funny how carrying him the last month felt like a lot of work. Then Thursday I laughed as I carried him in his car seat carrier, his diaper bag, and my purse and lunch bag and realized that it isn't much easier than before he was born, other than now I can set him down!

Last Tuesday, 10 days ago, we took Gabbie to the GI specialist in Des Moines to try to solve her "pooping problem". When we left we felt like the main point was "you have a very stubborn child, most of the issue is in her head". We are grateful she was cleared of celiac disease, Chrone's disease, kidney problems, etc. They did not do some of the tests we had expected, which would have further assessed the possibility of a blockage or 'kink' in her colon. We were given a list of instructions to follow, mainly to triple the amount of stool softener she was on, with goal being to soften her stools to the point where she has to go and can not choose to hold it in. We had some success, including a bowel movement on the toilet. However 1 week after her appointment she was in terrible pain, even waking in the middle of the night. One night Brice went in her room and she said "Daddy it hurts really bad". One day she was so naughty for me at home, crying all day, hitting and screaming. By the time Brice came home I was sitting at the table crying, not sure how much more of her behavior I could handle. I wasn't upset at her; I just felt horrible because there was nothing I could do to make her feel better. I was pretty sure my day wouldn't get any better by calling the doctor and having him say "more MiraLax". We figured most of her pain was gas, so we made the decision to stop the stool softeners and give her a probiotic instead-going on the theory that the last year on stool softener may have washed away her 'good gut bacteria' as well. The next day she was awesome, appeared to feel well, however still hadn't pooped in 3 days. The next day (yesterday) she was in pain again. When I contacted daycare from work she said Gabbie had been crying and saying her tummy hurt. So I got home and called the GI doctor in Des Moines. He was already gone for the day, go figure. We decided to give her a childs dose of magnesium citrate (the stuff used for a colonoscopy clean out). No results this morning, so we gave her another dose. The GI doctor's nurse called us back and asked if we'd head to Blank Childrens Hospital today for an x-ray. The problem was we live 2 hours away, and they were leaving for the day at noon, and they called after 9:30 am. The other problem is that I didn't see why we'd drive 2 hours for an x-ray that can be done in Carroll. So, off to Carroll we went. The x-ray showed she was pretty backed up and that she would not likely clean out on her own. We were set up to take her to Blank Hospital on Monday for a 1-2 night stay to get her unblocked. The nurse started to describe to me what this would entail, and I started crying on the phone and didn't understand much other than something about a tube that would go through her nose and stomach?! Guess we'll find out. They said she would be partially sedated. I better get it together before Monday, as Brice isn't able to go with us and I'm probably not going to get much cooperation out of Gabbie if she's watching me cry the whole time. I need to remember how lucky we are and that we could have much more worse and serious problems than this. I will be happy when our nights aren't filled with Gabbie walking around holding her stomach and bottom and crying "owie", our outings aren't limited by her stomach pain, and when I feel comfortable again taking her out in public (today at the grocery store she was screaming during the last 3 aisles; one clerk walked up to me and asked if there was 'a problem'...not sure if they thought I was hurting her or if it was just odd that she had been crying for so long). Poor Will listens to the constant crying 'owie' and probably wonders what kind of a home he was brought in to!

Once we get back from Des Moines I'm hoping to tackle other projects that have been being neglected. I still need to finish painting the house. I have been needing to get a few things fixed on my van, especially before winter comes. We need to get Will's baptism planned, and Gypsy needs to have 2-3 tumors removed. I am glad to be busy while I am off work; I don't care much for watching television, and fall is my favorite time of year to be out and about anyway!

Meet Will David!

Wilhelm (Will) David Hundling finally arrived at 2:46 p.m. on August 29, 2011! We are so happy he is here!

We arrived at the hospital on Sunday prepared to be induced. We were told to arrive at 5:00...that's what I heard anyway. Brice heard "between 5:00 and 6:00". So I spent Sunday getting some meals ready, cleaning house, and packing. I was still waiting for him at 4:30, he wasn't answering his phone, and I was growing impatient. He came in the house soon after 4:30 and of course I was already flustered. The only thing I hadn't gotten done in the house was wash windows and I was about to say 'forget it, I'll just carry this baby around forever'! He showered and got ready, tried to get me to 'chill out', and we made it to the hospital by 5:15.

So, I should have 'chilled out'. We got to the hospital, checked in, and they said 'boy, its busy up there'! Just prior to us arriving, 1 woman had been admitted already 8 cm dialated and ready to deliver, the nurses were preparing for an emergency C-section, and a baby had just been delivered earlier that day. No nurses were going to be available to help get us started, so a nurse was called from the ER to put the IV in. We could tell it was a zoo...we saw 3 doctors in the hallway and nurses almost half jogging in the hallway. It was nearly 7:30 before the doctor arrived to start the induction. He explained to us he'd get things started, check in in 3-4 hours, and hopefully by morning we'd be getting ready to deliver.

By 8:30 p.m. I was feeling contractions. Brice was still there and was good entertainment for me during the 2 hours I was supposed to lay still. We had progressed to a whopping 2 cm by the end of the 2 hours.  Doctor thought this was progress at least and decided we'd continue through the night and start pitosin (not sure I spelled that correctly) in the morning if we needed to. Brice headed home around 11 p.m. That was good, as by 1:30 a.m. the contractions were enough that I was not able to sleep or get very comfortable so at least one of us was getting good sleep! I held off on calling him until 5:00 a.m. He did his chores and was at the hospital around 8:00. By then we were almost 3 cm, had just started the pitosin, and close to being able to have an epidural, which I was ready for. I got that around 9:00 and got a few hours of sleep after that. By around 1:00 we were fully dialated and things were progressing well! Brice was having cement poured in his hog building about that time, and I told him he could probably go home to help and come back if he wanted. He opted not to, which turned out to be an excellent decision because I started pushing just before 2:00. And by 2:46 he was here! We were both surprized it was a boy! Everything about this pregnancy seemed very different, but somehow we both were sure it was a girl. Either way, we were just happy to be blessed with a second healthy child.

Will didn't have a name for over 24 hours :-) Neither of us were in a hurry to make this decision, but eventually the hospital staff was wanting to get his paperwork done. Brice has always wanted to name a boy Wilhelm. I was never a big fan of the name, but I do like the name Will. We had purchased a baby name book and listened to some suggestions, so then we had a list which we had narrowed down to 2 or 3 names by the day after he was born. Brice really wanted a name with German roots. I started to like the name Wilhelm after reading the meaning of it is "the determined protector", and the more I looked at him I thought Wilhelm sounded good. So, Tuesday night at 9:00 pm he finally was Will and not 'the baby'! The middle name is David, which is Brice's dad's name. Gabbie thought we should name him 'grandma'!

So far everything is going well. Brice teases me for stressing during this pregnancy, as with everything going on with the house and other projects I did not read any pregnancy books, did not read a weekly online article as I had with Gabbie, had fallen down the steps, fallen multiple times outside, painted, etc. and Will seems to be just as healthy and happy. Gabbie is 'adjusting' as I call it. She's great to Will. When he starts crying she goes running to him, and first thing in the morning she wants to see the baby. However I can tell her and I are definetly out of sync. Some of that was happening before Will was born as I was pretty cranky, not as mobile, and our routine had gotten such that Gabbie's bedtime was approaching 10 pm, some nights later if we were out and about. This week we are back to 8:30 bedtime and trying to limit the TV use. I had gotten guilty of letting Gabbie watch more TV than she should so I could get things done quicker. I guess I can say her and I are both 're-adjusting' :-) I am feeling well and haven't taken any daytime naps yet since we returned home. Will and I are up together a few times during the night. Since the day he was born he seems to like being up at 4:30 and not sleeping again until after 7:00, at which time I usually ready to get up!

Today I kept Gabbie home with me. She went to daycare the day we came home as well as yesterday. I had to take Will to Carroll to have his bilirubin checked as he became quite yellow since we brought him home. I was a little nervous to take both kiddos, especially since I can not lift Gabbie yet and I knew we'd be doing a lot of walking in the hospital. She did well, Will's numbers were up a bit but not too bad, we don't have to do anything until his check-up next Wednesday, and we made it home in time for lunch. Gabbie was NOT happy that the nurses were bothering her little brother so much! She told one nurse to leave him alone. I didn't appreciate her being mouthy, but am glad she loves her brother so much! The only downside of the trip was Will had a blow-out in his car seat on the way home. I currently have it all taken apart and hosed down in our shower :-)

This coming Tuesday we take Gabbie to the GI specialist in Des Moines. I will be glad to have this done with and hope we come home with some answers. I am grateful for her health and I know we could be dealing with much bigger issues; Brice and I are both trying to keep this in mind. However I know we will appreciate when Gabbie feels well and her behavior doesn't hinge on her bowel movement frequency. I think she may like me better when I am not giving her enemas and suppositories!

Here are some pictures of Will's first week. Brice and I are so happy and grateful for our 2 blessings and family and friends to share them with!

First picture! He was 9 pounds, 4.8 ounces, and 19.5 inches long.

Hi Dad!

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Hundling

I took quite a few pictures when it was just him and I in the hospital room :-)

Grandpa with his grandkiddos!

This picture, although very unclear, was taken the 2nd night at the hospital. Brice and I had to give Gabbie an enema and it took nearly 1.5 hours to work. The instructions say to call a doctor if it hasn't worked in 10 minutes. At the time I was glad we were at the hospital as we were starting to wonder if she had a serious blockage, though the nurses were telling us not to worry. As they were getting ready to leave it finally worked. It was too funny when Brice said he would change her diaper and she pointed to him saying "no! you stay there!" She apparantly wasn't done 'going'. She kept pushing and grunting, and Brice and I had to turn our heads not to laugh! It was my first moment of realizing we had truly doubled our workload, as Gabbie had a mess to deal with and Will was hungry. Brice took the picture, trying to capture how huge the diaper was after she was done, but she wouldn't sit still and he was laughing so hard that the picture is blurry.

Good morning! The day we were going home.

We are home! Now what?!

Siblings!

So far he enjoys tummy time. Gabbie loved it also.

So wide eyed and cute!

August 29, 2011. Our family!

Nice try kiddo!

Gabbie meeting her brother