Introducing Callie

On Saturday, November 16 at about 12:15 in the afternoon we welcomed our little girl Callie.

She was 7 pounds even and 20.5 inches long, with a FULL head of dark hair. Way more hair than Oaklee was born with.

 

The day didn't go exactly as planned (it's almost as if babies don't care about their mother's plans). Late Friday night my sister Lindsay arrived from Utah. Incredible timing, especially with Ryan away for work. So we got Lindsay here and then about 9:30 Saturday morning my water broke. I knew from Oaklee's birth that I was going to have this baby pretty quickly, so we got everything together and jumped in the car. After dropping Oaklee off we hurried to the hospital. When we arrived I didn't waste any time telling any nurse who would listen that I was going to transition quickly and I needed drugs right then. The next hour or two were a little stressful for me. While I'm sure all the nurses there were very competent, they didn't take my warnings seriously and needless to say it was time for me to push and they still hadn't given me any drugs. Now, I know that women have been having babies for thousands of years without drugs, and many women today chose to do it naturally. I had absolutely NO desire to be one of these women. I will probably have a bitter spot in my heart towards the Grande Prairie hospital until my dying day.

But I digress. After being at the hospital less than two hours our little Callie was born. About five minutes after she was born Ryan walked in, after rushing home from the rig. While I wish he could have been there for the birth, I am so glad he got there as soon after as he did.

 

While the delivery part of Callie's birth was more stressful than Oaklee's, the rest of the day was a breeze compared to Oaklee's. No CPR, no tubes down her throat, no IV's in her head. It was so amazing to get to hold her right away and know that she was healthy as could be.

 

 

 

Later that afternoon Oaklee came to meet her new sister. The first 20 minutes were a little rough on Oaklee, but she eventually warmed right up to her sister and now I hear her say at least 10 times every day, "Oh, cute baby Callie." Although if you ask Oaklee if Callie is cuter than her, she is very quick to tell you no.

 

 

24 hours after her birth, Callie and I were headed home.

 

 

We got to have a few great days with Ryan before he went back to work Tuesday night. Since he is gone I have been extremely grateful for Lindsay and all her help. We've had an awesome first week getting adjusted to our new little girl. Oaklee has been a champ. With a few small moments of jealousy thrown in, but for the most part she loves her sister and is very helpful. We love our little Callie and think she is adorable. Here are some pictures to convince you that she is:

 

 

 





The Last Days

As my due date draws nearer (and my level of comfort  decreases greatly) I've been thinking a lot about the fact that these are my last weeks and days with it being just me and Oaklee. For two and a half years she's been my little buddy. And with Ryan's job keeping him away from home three weeks out of the month, it really has been just me and Oaklee most of the time. Don't get me wrong, of course I'm extremely excited for this new addition to our family. I know that Oaklee will be such a good little helper and an amazing big sister. But I can't help but be a little sad too. Our whole dynamic is going to change. For the better, I have no doubt, but still a change. So, as a tribute to the last days of me and Oaklee as a duo, I thought I would do a post about some of her antics.

 

She's a crazy kid, that Oaklee. Way too much of her dad in her. Good thing I like her dad. She's always had a big personality but as she's become better and better at speaking I am just blown away by what comes out of her mouth. Some of my current favorites:

 

• She will randomly stop in the middle of playing, look up at me and say, "What are you doing here?" I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be, but apparently not in the room with her.
• Every time I go to the bathroom (which these days is constantly) she will follow me and ask, "You go potty?" And after I get out, "You went potty?"
• Same thing with the shower, at least twice during every shower she will come pull the curtain aside and ask, "You take a shower?"
• She refers to herself as 'you'. When we are looking at pictures she will name everyone and when she gets to herself say, 'you.' I've started saying, "That's Oaklee," but she's sticking with you.
• She LOVES to Skype/Facetime. Good thing her grandparents think she's cute too or they would probably stop answering. She constantly asks me to call someone. Mostly I think it's because she likes having an audience and being the good people they are, our family members are willing to sit and watch her do whatever activity she thinks is entertaining at the time.
• She has a purse that she HAS to take everywhere. If I try to get her to leave the house without it there is a major meltdown. She will lug that thing all over any store we go to. It contains all the essentials; her cell phone, her car keys, and a full set of Disney Princesses.
• She loves to dance. I get asked multiple times a day to turn on a song for her. Most of her dancing consists of her spinning in a circle, which has on more than one occasion resulted in a bruised head from falling over.

I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of now (pregnancy brain is not joke people). And of course she did pick up a few of her dad's less desirable traits as well. I could do without the night terrors and the short temper. But I'm so grateful this insane little girl is mine and I can't wait to see what excitement she brings to being a big sister. 

 

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to the last few weeks:

 Oaklee has a new found fascination with pockets. She gets so excited when an outfit has them and will walk around most of the day with her hands in her pockets.

 We had an awesome Halloween. The weather was MUCH nicer than last year and Oaklee got to go to her first trunk or treat. Ryan had to work on Halloween but a few days before we carved pumpkins with him and Uncle Tyson.

As you can see Oaklee was a kitty. Cutest one I've ever seen.

 Modeling her new elephant pajamas. She also has a new fascination with elephants. I'm not sure where it came from but she gets very excited about them.

 Oaklee and Ryan like to watch movies together. For some reason instead of watching shows on our TV they will sit together and watch them on Ryan's phone.

 We got our first real snow of the year, and unlike last year, Oaklee LOVED it. She had so much fun playing in the snow with dad. She was not happy when we made her come inside.