Sweet Baby C

A quick story on the name of our little girl...Russ and I are notorious for not settling on a name until the last possible moment.  We have always had a baby boy name picked out, but have never had a chance to use it :)  When you already have two girls, finding a possible third name to match but not "match" is harder than you think.  We had decided that we would like Lillian as a middle name in honor of my Grandma Ross but we were in the delivery room before deciding on a first name.  Literally asking the L&D nurse if there had been many babies named Mary, Claire, Sophie, etc.  This is how we decided on Clara :)  A classic name that has not been used often...so far it has been a wonderful fit for this beautiful baby!!

Pics of the "Big Event"

Here are some of pics we took at the hospital when C was born...lots of smiles :)

Tri-fecta!!

Introducing Clara Lillian born on October 14, 2009 - weighing in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce and 21 inches long!!! This little sweetheart was brought into the world with tons of joy and excitement (and very little pain :)) at 12:51 pm.

C's original due date was Oct. 18 but with the size of E (10 pounds even) and an ultrasound that was measuring her full term at 37 weeks we decided to go ahead and induce. Russ and I got the call from the hospital at 7:30 in the evening to head in to the hospital which, as you can only imagine, was not great timing as two little girls were in the tub, wanted their normal bedtime routine and were completely thrown off by mom and dad leaving for the night. But Grandma Sandy had come up for the night and stayed with the girls while we started our journey in meeting this little baby.

To our surprise, once we got checked in at the hospital the Dr. called with orders and didn't want to do much until the morning. A little disappointing to say the least but we knew whatever happened would be well worth it in the end! They started me on a low dose of pitocin that evening and then didn't do much the rest of the night. Russ and I tried to get some rest and at 6am we got the party started...things went smoothly and once they broke my water, administered an epidural and about 10 minutes of pushing resulted in the Cottle Tri-fecta!! Our third little girl was born!

By an interesting twist of fate, Grandpa L was our only family representation in Labor and Delivery!  It turns out he was in between job sites and stopped by to see how things were going. It was so special for us to have him at the hospital waiting to meet our new baby.  We've always had lots of family anxiously waiting at the hospital for the arrival of our sweet babies, but this time around the girls required some family help :)  Grandma and Poppy were at home with E, Grandma L was on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with J, the Barrett family was at school/work and the Schwab family (who were able to plan a special trip to STL around the time C was due) was in KC visiting some friends.  So....while most of the family was busy during the day, it was only a matter of hours until C had met almost her entire family. 

J and E have been fantastic big sisters and we can't wait to see what our new addition brings to the family :)

Locks of Love

I have been growing my hair out for almost 2 years...at first it was the last thing I could think of during the chaos of having a 1.5 year old and a baby to care for...then one day my sister and I saw the same Oprah. It was Hilary Swank cutting her hair for Pantene's Beautiful Lengths. That week we both decided to grow our hair for a good cause. Well, my sis is loving her long hair and in no rush to lose the locks. I on the other hand have lived in a messy ponytail for the past 6 months and decided the time had arrived...adios long hair. I am back to the bob!!!

Fun In The Lou

The past couple of weekends have been filled with family fun - last weekend was capped off with E's first Cardinal game ever. I guess that's the difference between the first and second - J's first game was when she was 4 months old (opening day at the new stadium, no less) whereas E had to wait 2 whole years before we managed to get the whole family there. Definitely good times to be had. We had a ton of fun, managed to see a great game and lots of fireworks thanks to 3 homeruns and the finale win.

This Labor Day weekend we enjoyed ourselves at a friend's bbq, Sunday spent at Grandma and Poppy's and on Monday we took the girls down to the Boathouse for some paddle boating. Russ definitely had his work cut out for him - paddling all of us most of the time. J helped some (in her own beautiful way :)) and I paddled when I wasn't being smothered by children. He definitely got a good workout in today!!

We wrapped up our outing with lunch at Fitz's where E got to experience her first root beer!! It was a huge hit :)

Just Hanging Out...

Days have been flying with nothing crazy to report. We have been blessed with beautiful weather for the end of August so we are trying to play outside as much as possible. Here are some pics of an afternoon spent outside with "chalk paint." My friend Sara gave me this idea from her blog. It's super easy - corn starch, water and food coloring - and I agree that it was more fun than your standard sidewalk chalk. After all, there must be a correlation between fun and mess :) While her kids are a little older than mine - you can see what E was most interested in!! Luckily it was cool enough for her to wear jeans for the next two days as her legs were dyed bright green, yellow and blue from the food coloring. Maybe we have a future scientist on our hands? J was definitely taken with the painting aspect of the activity - at least when her sister wasn't trying to destroy her precious artwork...

Other than some fun stuff around the house, we spent Tuesday and today at playgrounds around STL. . Russ was traveling Tuesday so I figured a perfect night to have a McD's picnic at Buder Park and run some energy off. Today was so pretty that we met Robyn and Mickey up at Suson Park for a couple of hours to play, picnic and see the animals.

Good Times.

J is off to Preschool!!

E's birthday week was filled with activity - it was also J's first week of true "preschool"! She went last year to a mini-preschool class but it was only 1 day a week for a couple of hours - more play than anything. This year she has officially entered 3 year old preschool class full of rules, expectations, tons of activities and new friends to meet. Overall, I would say the past week and a half of school has been a success. I was a bit concerned because she has a tendency not to want to leave mom at camp, vbs, etc. but am happy to report that it appears as though I was worried for nothing. While she is adjusting, she has been a trooper each day about getting ready for school and being a big girl. We've definitely had more smiles than tears and that is all that matters :)

Here's a before - school pic from the first day

And we still have smiles when I picked her up!!! (along with a little pink glue all over her shirt - which I was a-ok with since it shows she participated in class!)

J and her HSM Wildcats pose...what to do with a 3 year old obsessed with Troy and Gabriella?!?!

Can you tell E is ready for school herself? She is going to hate an August birthday for a bit....the girls were arguing in the car on Sunday over who's school it was. E would really like to stay with the big kids :) I keep telling her someday...

My Baby Turned Two...

Last week was momentous...my little E turned two. If you ask her, she's three like her sister, but that has been the case for the past year. We had a great party for her on Sunday at a park near home. Friends and family came for a good time filled with swinging, sliding, playing in the sand and of course birthday cake! We ran out of time to open presents (it's hard gathering 15 kids from a playground for an activity like that) so E, with much help from J, opened presents after quiet time. Here are just a few pics from the party - I need to get some from the Grandma's as they were able to do a few more clicks of the camera than I was :)

It makes me wonder what kind of mother I am, but have to admit that I did not get any pictures of her actual birthday. She got to spend the day with Grandma, Poppy, Mickey and J since Russ and I had to work. We got home early and took her to one of her favorite activities - swimming and happy meals :) Grandma L met us at the pool so the girls could show off their swimming skills. It was a great day for her. Reportedly, she barely napped - it was as if she new it was her day to party like a rockstar!!!

A Quick Shout Out to Russ

This March my dear husband happily agreed to take place in a parent/child hockey game...wait a minute, did I say parent/child?!!?? Our kids aren't old enough to play hockey, are they? Nope, Robyn and Jim were out of town so Russ filled in on the ice. Jimmy thought is was a blast and we really enjoyed a good laugh. God love the man who would do that for his nephew. It was a true test of courage for someone who is so athletically inclined to get on an ice rink with weak ankles...love you!!

Yes - this is a picture of an 8 year old skating right past the old man...he's still not sure how they go that fast on ice :)

Back to Reality

So we had our fantastic get away in January, but who are we kidding...this is real life. Here are February and March in a nutshell...

We had a great snow in February. It was just my luck that Russ was traveling so that left me with the driveway shoveling and the daunting task of introducing E to the snow. J was ready to hit the hills and hot chocolate but not our little E. Surprisingly, our always ready to go girl is petrified of snow. I made a couple attempts of sledding, walking, playing but when it gets to the point where she screams when a door to the outside world opens, well, it's time to call a truce. J and I got to have some fun during naps....let's hope next winter is a mild one!!

In February, we were busy with family activities including the much beloved Butterfly House. E still prefers more action (as shown by the pics) but it was a great time for all!

Here is my J who can be easily spooked by daddy long legs and every other creature in the animal kingdom absolutely mesmerized by the biggest beatle I have ever seen in my life. They never cease to surprise me!!

And finally, here are some pics of us just chillin' around the house. Eating Krispy Kreme, playing in E's crib, all the good stuff that fills the majority of our days :)

2009 in a quick recap...

So I'm doing everything I can to catch up to the fun of the summer without losing the memories of the year...so the excitement of January was our trip to Cabo. Tons of fun and a great get away...the office has offered incentive trips the past two years and we have been fortunate to attend both!

Even though there are no pictures to post - we managed to fill our 4 days with some killer karaoke, wave running, ziplining, Cabo Wabo dancing, relaxing and refreshing beverages :) We both feel so fortunate that Russ and I are able to work together with some of the most amazing people out there! Cheers!