Ariana at 2.5

This spitfire is two and a half years old! Still so much the baby of our family, but people often comment that she seems older. I think she is permanently trying to convince everyone she is older so she doesn't miss out on anything her big sisters are doing. Tall and skinny with long hair and no "baby fat" either. She likes to fake cry and tell me, "You not a baby. I a baby!" I still need to work on potty-training with her. I keep procrastinating on that one.

We are back in a good routine with the new school year well under way. Ariana was in heaven with her big sisters out of school all summer. Now we are back to being a duo during the week and I love my time with her so much. She spends one day a week at her Bebe Jan's (grandma) house, one day a week at a babysitter friend's house and the other three days with me. We usually go to the gym in the mornings so she plays in the Kid's Club with her little friends while I workout. Then we run errands or play at home followed by lunch and nap time. Then its off to pick up the big girls. Ariana runs and gives them hugs when they walk out of school yelling, "My sisters!!"

She is always happy, silly and ready to laugh. Such a joy, our little caboose. Whenever her Daddy gets home from work she immediately orders him to go downstairs to the playroom to play. She loves to play with Barbies, Magnatiles, baby dolls and the little hard animals.

This is definitely the age of picky eaters and Ariana is no exception. Last week we had a showdown because she didn't eat any dinner and is getting into the habit of asking for a snack before bedtime. I don't mind giving my kids a healthy snack if they are still hungry, but didn't want her to think she can skip dinner and hold out for a snack. So I saved her dinner plate and when her big sisters were having a treat, she didn't get any until she ate some of her dinner. Oh, the crocodile tears and defiance came out in full force. She spent a solid two hours whining and crying for snacks. At one point, she got her arm stuck in the cabinet with the child lock on it trying to sneak a graham cracker. She is really stubborn, so I was expected to put her to bed hungry and mad. Surprisingly, right at bedtime after I caved and let her have some milk, she ran into the kitchen and gobbled up all the food on her dinner plate. On her own terms, apparently. Her favorite foods are milk, ham, goldfish crackers, plain Greek yogurt, strawberries, eggs and peanut butter.

We are all getting a huge kick out of our fun, smart little two and a half year old. She still argues that, "I eight!" if you ask her how old she is. Lexi and Zara think she is hilarious and "so cute." Now Ariana says, "its soooo cute" about everything. She loves anything pink and will only wear her pink "fancy shoes." She likes to get herself dressed and follows directions and says please and thank you better than anyone else in our house. Seriously. If I forget to do something I said, she reminds me. If someone leaves the door open, she shuts it. Love her so much I can hardly stand it.

Ariana is 2!

What? Can I please re-wind? Actually, it does feel like a full two-years since our baby Ariana was born. A lot has happened and like a little family caboose, she is always along for the ride. Now that she is getting older and wiser, she pretty much thinks she's the boss. And because she's so cute, we go along with it. Most of the time.

I feel so lucky to get to spend my days with her. We go to the gym most mornings. Ariana loves the ladies that work in the Kid's Club and usually tells me afterwards that she played with puzzles, dolls and coloring. We spend the rest of our time playing at home, going to the grocery store, walking back and forth to school to pick up Lexi and Zara and playing in the back yard. Ariana loves going to Bebe Jan's house on Fridays. She usually doesn't even want to say goodbye to me because she's so excited to play.

Her favorite things to do right now are to play Zingo!, watch Super Why and Paw Patrol, swing outside, ride her trike, color and read books. She loves her baby and bunny and makes sure they are always with her. She is a great helper and listener and loves to help her big sisters set the table for dinner and help me with the laundry. I have to hold her hand while I vacuum and hold her when the blender is on because they are "too loud!" Ariana loves the water and had a great time playing in the pool and water table outside during the heat wave we had for Spring Break. She never wants to get out of the bath tub and tells us, "I still swimming!"

Ariana was an early talker and now speaks in sentences and uses way more words than I can count. She says "my" instead of "I" and it is the cutest thing. "My do it" and "My help." When I ask her how old she is going to be she says "two candles!" She calls herself "Na-na" and we have all pretty much started calling her that too. When someone asks what her name is she says, "Ari-na-na" Her face lights up with a big smile whenever we sing her favorite songs - Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Row Your Boat and If Your Happy and You Know It. She makes sure I sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her before every nap and bedtime and I happily oblige.

I am much less structured with her meals and eating habits than I was with the twins at this age, but I guess I've learned it doesn't really matter that much in the long run or I just don't want to fight her. She drinks a lot of milk and her favorite foods are ham, eggs, cheese, steak, pulled pork, french fries, macaroni and cheese, strawberries, bananas and gummy snacks. She refuses to eat most vegetables other than carrots, but she devours my homemade zucchini muffins so I figure she will be fine. Ha.

She continues to be tall and lean weighing about 25 lbs and not sure how tall, but will update this after her next doctor visit. She wears size 2T clothes and size 6 shoes.

Edited to add 2 year old stats: 34" (50th percentile) and 25.5 lbs (24th %)

My Baby is One and a Half!

Our baby Ariana is 18 months. She seems to have grown up a lot recently so I want to write it down before I blink. In the last six months she has changed from a total baby to almost a kid. Almost. I'm holding on to the baby as much as I can!

Ariana is independent and this little girl knows what she wants. She talks a ton, adding new words all the time and repeating a lot. In the last month or so she started talking in short sentences with 2 or 3 words. The most frequently word is no. She started watching a few cartoons and grabs the remote and asks for "Memo" (Elmo), Cuppord (Clifford) and she calls Curious George "ooo ooo ah ah". She loves brushing her teeth and takes her sisters' toothbrushes out of their bathroom and follows them around the house saying "brushhhhh." She names and requests all of her favorite foods (cheese, milk, bar (Clif kids or Lara bars), nana (banana), eggs, cakes (pancakes), ham, berries. If she gets in the way or knocks something over she says, "oh soweee mama."

Her favorite toys are a hand-me-down white dog that you pull on a leash, all the books in the house, magnetic puzzle that has doors that open with pieces inside, all the ride-on toys (Rody, rocking horse, car). She can identify and say several body parts (nose, ears, mouth, teeth, neck, feet, hands, hair and eyes) and sometimes pokes me in the eye.

This girl is a climber. Much more than I remember her sisters doing at this age. There isn't a set of stairs or ladder to a slide that is too tall for her. No fear with this one. She climbs on top of our tall kitchen island stools every chance she gets. Same for the dining room table and back of the couch. She thinks its the funniest thing ever to climb up on top of me or Marcus on the couch and fall down. She says, "so funny mama."

Ariana is so in love with her big sisters and the feeling is mutual (most of the time). As soon as their door opens in the morning, she runs in and climbs on their beds with books and they love reading to her. Walking to school to pick them up is her favorite part of the day and she walks home holding both of their hands. She loves to do whatever they are doing, including playing with Legos and drawing with markers so it's a tough balance between letting her join in and keeping my stress level in check.

On a good day, she sleeps 7:30-6:30. Sometimes it's 5:30am. So early. She takes one nap in the afternoon at around 1.

We love this girl to the moon and back. We are so lucky for our rainbow baby after the storms and sadness before we were blessed with her.

Ariana's First Birthday

With a fun vacation starting very early the next morning, we just had a small birthday party for Ariana. It was great to have our dear friends celebrate with us on a super sunny Saturday. We grilled burgers and hot dogs (her fave) and the kids bounced in the bounce house.

Ariana's First Year

Ariana1YrComp from Natalie on Vimeo.

Ariana is ONE

And just like that our busy bee is ONE. We are having so much fun with our baby girl. The other day at the park, Zara told some other little girls who were talking to Ariana, "oh, that's our baby. Isn't she the best baby ever?" Ariana pretty much has the four of us wrapped around her finger.  I can't go near Lexi and Zara with a hairbrush, but Ariana pulls their hair constantly and they just laugh. Hmm.

This girl never stops moving. Unless it time to eat, then she is begging to get into her highchair. She is an early riser lately and often has breakfast before her big sisters are even awake. Then she begs to get back in her highchair to eat a second breakfast with them. She can't miss out on being part of the breakfast table chatter. She is climbing the stairs and sliding down safely feet first on her belly. Since we are moving very soon, we haven't baby proofed so she is opening all the cabinets, checking out the toilet water, unrolling the toilet paper, digging thru garbage cans and anything else she can get her chubby hands on. She has an intense focus and will not be deterred or distracted. Thankfully she isn't really into putting tiny objects in her mouth so we can trust her to play in the playroom. 

Ariana's favorite toys right now are the cat piano, play kitchen, activity garden, books and toy dogs that bark. She loves tickles, baths, being flipped over backwards, mommy "airplanes" and flying down slides. 

I am slowing weaning and we are down to nursing just first thing in the morning and at bedtime. She drinks whole cow milk out a sippy cup with meals and is great at drinking out of a straw too. Her normal breakfast is cheerios, sausage, eggs and fruit, but she likes pancakes, waffles, oatmeal and bacon too. Lunch and dinner are usually whatever the rest of us are eating, but her favorites are ham, hot dogs, avocado, sweet potatoes, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, mum mum crackers, cheese quesadilla and beans. 

She usually sleeps 7pm to 6am and naps around 10 and 2. I think she will be ready for one nap soon and hoping that might help her sleep in a little later in the morning. 6 am is too early for me!

So sad that she isn't a "baby" anymore, but I think she is always going to be the baby - youngest kid in our family and youngest cousin on both sides! We love her like crazy and think she is the cutest and sweetest thing ever.

Stats:

Birth: 6 lbs 12 oz | 18.25"
2 months: 10 lbs 10 oz | 23"
4 months: 13 lbs 10 oz | 25.25"
6 months: 14 lbs 14 oz | 26.75"
9 months: 17 lbs 11 oz | 28.5" 
1 Year:     19 lbs 9 oz (45th percentile) | 30" (75th %)

11 Months!

This post is a few days late, but I took the pictures on the right day last week. I know everyone says this, but I seriously cannot believe this little baby of ours is going to be ONE. Well I can believe it because she is babbling up a storm, cruising everywhere, into everything and keeps us all entertained. She loves playing with her big sisters and is pretty good about keeping a low profile and not acting too much like a baby so they don't kick her out of their club. The three of them sit at the kitchen table during meals and take turns being silly and making the other two laugh. Her big sisters tell me all the time, "Ariana is the cutest, best baby ever." And I have to agree!

Ten Months

Ariana has officially been out in this world longer than she was in my belly. She was born at 39 weeks, 6 days and is 40 weeks today. In the last month she has taken off crawling fast and getting into everything. She is so happy to be able to explore the house and follow us all around.

9 Month Ari

Ariana is now nine months old! I would probably be crying in the corner if she wasn't so much fun and following me everywhere these days. She does a great army crawl that looks stealth as she sneaks up on her big sisters and pounces on top of whatever game they are playing. Ha! Then they yell, "Oh No, ARI!!!" It's pretty hilarious. I keep telling her she is going to start getting the door slammed in her face if she doesn't play nice. She is a very happy, wiggly and determined nine month old and for that we are SO grateful.

She continues to be a great eater and sleeper and smiles all day long. She takes two naps a day and sleeps about twelve hours at night. Now that she can move she likes to follow us around and beg for attention. She hasn't met much food she doesn't like as long as she can feed herself. The few times I have tried to feed her a puree with a spoon, she smacks it out of my hand fast. Smart girl does realzie that she needs help to eat oatmeal and applesauce, but those are the only things she will let me feed her. Her favorite foods are any kind of meat (steak, lamb, pork, chicken, hot dog), grilled cheese sandwich, strawberries and eggs. We are constantly surprised at how much she eats and often end up offering her the leftovers off of her sisters' plates.

Her whole face lights up anytime anyone reads her a book. Lexi and Zara have some of the baby board book memorized and read those to her too. She also loves "itsy bity spider" and any other songs that we sing to her! She play with all her toys, likes to jump in the jumperoo and hangs out in the exersaucer too.

After a long journey to have this sweet baby girl along with the traumatic birth experience, we are more and more feeling like she is meant to be the baby of the family. Of course that could change, but we have started passing along our baby gear that we are done with and every day I am trying to savor these fleeting days of baby. Someone told me that "babies just don't keep" and that is so true.

Stats:

Birth: 6 lbs 12 oz | 18.25"
2 months: 10 lbs 10 oz | 23"
4 months: 13 lbs 10 oz | 25.25"
6 months: 14 lbs 14 oz | 26.75"
9 months: 17 lbs 11 oz (41st percentile) | 28.5" (82nd percentile)

8 Months

So Ariana is more like eight and a half months old by now, but I did take these pictures on her eight month birthday. Finally getting around to blogging them a couple weeks late. This girl is just so sweet we can hardly stand it!

Ariana is 6 Months

This girl, oh my, I cannot get over her. She is just the sweetest, easy going baby girl. When I pick her up she hugs my neck tight and buries her head in my shoulder.

We had a rough patch of sleep with her waking up almost every night for a few weeks last month, but now she is back to sleeping through the night. Ariana still sleeps swaddled and takes two long naps during the day. She just started trying some solid foods this week - avocado and squash so far.

I changed my work schedule so I can be home more so she is no longer going to daycare. We are hoping that will mean she gets sick a little less too. She will be home with us most of the time and going to a friend's house once a week. I know how fast these years fly by so I'm excited to be home more with the kids and grateful that my employer and husband are so flexible and accommodating.

The Morning Race

I went back to work at my part-time gig a few weeks ago. The morning race to get to work is becoming more routine, but man it still takes forever! Before KIDS I would wake up, take a shower and get dressed and get to work about an hour later. Now it is more like three hours and some days I have to laugh to keep my Type A self from crying at the inefficiency of it all. This was today:

6:00 am: I hear Ariana wake up and start to talk on the baby monitor. I lay in bed with my eyes closed for a few more precious minutes.

6:10 am: Ariana is starting to fuss so I roll out of bed and walk to her room. I get her up and nurse her in her rocking chair. My eyes are closed for a few minutes and then I read my Facebook on my Kindle while she finishes feeding.

6:30 am: Put Ariana back in her crib to go back to sleep and hop in the shower.

7:00 am: After I get dressed (happy that the first outfit I pick out works with my nursing/post-baby body), go downstairs and eat leftover fritatta, roasted beets and apple slices for breakfast. Really thankful for breakfast leftovers.

7:15 am: Pack up bottles and diapers for daycare, my work bag, pumping bag and start loading things in my car.

7:30 am: Just as I was headed upstairs to wake up the baby to leave, Lexi and Zara come out of their room and M is in the shower. The girls both whine about minor injuries they have already suffered in the 30 seconds since they woke up so I calm them down and usher them downstairs. Neither one of them is dressed, but Lexi has her clothes in hand so I help her get dressed.

7:40 am: I throw together breakfast for the girls - leftover pancakes and greek yogurt with honey and get them settled at the table.

7:45 am: I wake up Ariana, change her poopy diaper, get her dressed for the day and nurse her one more time.

8:00 am: Put Ariana in her car seat and say goodbye to M and the girls. Brush Lexi's hair because she whines that she "only want's Mommy to do it." {M will finish his own "race" to get the twins to preschool by 8:30}

8:05 am: Finally in the car leaving the house with Ariana and notice my gas light is on.

8:15 am: Drop the baby off at daycare. She gives the morning teacher big smiles, sweet girl.

8:30 am: Traffic is actually moving pretty well and I get to the gas station quickly. Sit and wait for the attendant and wish I lived in a state where I could pump my own gas.

8:40 am: Hop on the freeway and go about a mile before I'm sitting in traffic on the freeway. Awesome.

9:00 am: Pull into the office parking garage and it's full. I circle the six floors of the garage in hopes that someone is leaving. No such luck. Finally get out of the garage and park several blocks away in two-hour street parking.

9:20 am: Take the elevator up to my office, get a cup of tea and sit down to answer emails and decompress from the morning. Now I just have to plan when I'm going to pump and when I'm going to move my car in between my morning meetings.

The mornings with three kids are hectic for sure, but I'm thankful for a husband that works at home most days and helps get kids ready and take them to preschool. I'm also thankful for a baby that sleeps through the night most of the time so at least I'm somewhat rested and not totally sleep deprived. My job is pretty flexible with arrival times unless I have a meeting scheduled first thing in the morning. I know you "just do what you gotta do," but I'm not sure I could do it all on my own full-time like so many mamas do. Huge kudos to all that do.

4 months

Somehow the munchkin is 4 months old today. Not sure how that happened, but boy is she the sweetest smiley baby ever. We are all pretty much obsessed with her, especially me. She loves to lay on the playgym or sit in the jungle bouncy seat and squeal and shrill. Sometimes I catch her laughing at herself in the mirror of the playgym. Anything her big sisters are doing is the most entertaining thing ever. 

Ariana is rolling both ways, but doesn't do the back to tummy direction very often. She loves to suck on her fist or fingers or whatever else she can get into her mouth. We started having a rough time with nursing last month so I cut out dairy and that seems to have fixed things. I miss ice cream and cheese, but she is worth it for sure. 

4 month stats:
13lbs 10 oz (30th percentile)
25.25" (71st percentile)

2 months:
10 lbs 10 oz and 23"

3 Month Munchkin

Ariana is three months old today. We love this sweet little munchkin so much.

Ariana is 2 months

Oh where does the time go? With the twins it was newborn groundhog day over and over for the first three months so it felt like it lasted forever. Ariana is much more along for the ride and fitting right in with the rest of the family so it feels like she is growing so fast.

She is such a happy sweet baby. She naps well during the day, sleeps thru the night, eats well and happily plays on the playgym mat. We are getting more and more smiles from her and it is pretty much the best thing ever. Zara loves to sing her songs that go on and on so we are all glad Ariana is a captive audience.

Her 2 month stats are:
10 lbs 10 oz (35th percentile)
23" (70th percentile)

Newborn Pictures

Ariana wasfive 5 days old in these pictures. Time sure does fly (I sound like a broken record). Big thanks to Stephanie Klein for the amazing pictures. I am beyond blessed.

Ariana's Birth Story

If Ariana's start to life is any indication of her personality, this little lady likes a challenge. She was a challenge to conceive and ended up being a challenge to bring into the world, but we are so glad she is here!

I had a c-section with the twins and was hoping to have a successful VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) with this pregnancy. I was considered a great VBAC candidate and really wanted to avoid another c-section if possible. I was measuring two weeks ahead for most of my pregnancy so my doctor was a little concerned that baby girl would be large and urged me to do lots of walking in hopes of not going past my due date (May 10th). I had a back-up c-section schedule for a week after my due date if I did not go into labor on my own before then and I really didn't want to make it to that scheduled surgery date.

Two days before my due date, on Thursday May 8th, I was home on my day off with Lexi and Zara. We ended up staying home that morning doing an arts and crafts project and baking cookie bars. In the afternoon, they were doing "quiet time" in their rooms and I was laying on the couch taking a nap. A text from my friend woke me up and we texted back and forth for a bit about whether I would go into labor soon and other things I could do to start labor. At that point I wasn't feeling anything and was getting frustrated. All of a sudden I heard a pop and felt a gush of water run down my legs.

My water broke, but I wasn't feeling any contractions and wasn't sure what to do. I called Marcus and told him he should probably head home soon. I figured I would stay at home until the contractions really started. At the same time, I talked with another friend on Facebook about her watching the girls for us that afternoon and evening until the grandparents could get to Portland from Yakima. I also called my doctor's office to see what I should do. The nurse told me I needed to get to the hospital right away. I called Marcus again and told him to come home now. He called his parents and told them to head to Portland to watch Lexi and Zara while we were at the hospital.

I still wasn't feeling any contractions and wondered if I was going to be at the hospital for a long time waiting for things to start-up. Thank goodness the girls were still in their rooms so I could think straight as I ran around the house packing my hospital bag and getting the house in order. I finally got the girls out of their rooms and told them we were headed to their friend's house and Marcus and I were headed to the hospital. By the time Marcus got home (around 4:30 PM) we were ready to go. We dropped the girls off and they were excited to play with their friends. I still wasn't feeling any contractions, but I was anxious to get to the hospital because I knew we were heading into rush hour traffic and my labor could kick into high gear at any point.

We arrived at the hospital by about 6:00 PM and went to triage. Once in triage, I started to feel stronger contractions, but nothing painful yet. By the time we got into the labor and delivery room, I was feeling consistent contractions and they started coming fast and painful. At some point around 8:00 PM I was checked for dilation and was only a 3. I was frustrated because it was very painful and I was hoping to wait longer to get an epidural. The Blazers playoff game was on in the background, but I wasn't watching much of it. There was almost no break between contractions since they were "coupling." I tried standing up, sitting down and nothing gave any relief. Finally around 9:00 PM I couldn't take it any longer. I asked for the epidural.

Throughout my labor the baby was having decelerations in heart rate with the contractions. My nurse didn't seem too concerned, but kept having me switch positions, laying mostly on my left side to see if that would help the baby's heart rate. The on-call OB (Dr. Fox) and nurse manager were watching the monitors outside my room and discussing the decelerations.

By the time the anesthesiologist came to place the epidural, I was in so much pain I didn't think I could take one more contraction, but I had to. I kept telling Marcus, "I can't do this." I recognized the anesthesiologist as the same guy who had administered my spinal block for my c-section four years earlier. As he was placing the epidural, I started feeling the urge to push. How could this be when I was only a 3 or 4? After he was done, the nurse checked me again. Amazingly, I was an 8, almost there! They all assured me that it was a good thing I had asked for the epidural when I did as it would have been too late if I had waited much longer.

After a few more contractions, that sweet epidural kicked in and I could breathe and relax. It was amazing. I posted an update on Facebook and closed my eyes to rest for a while. I could still feel the contractions, but it was almost painless and more just a pressure feeling.

It was about 11:00 PM and I was fully dilated and ready to push. Dr. Fox had five patients in labor at that point so it was a bit crazy and the nurse told me to just let the contractions do the work and keep relaxing until the doctor came. Finally she was done with another delivery and came and I got to start pushing. Dr. Fox seemed more concerned with the decelerating heart rate and had my push every other contraction. After pushing through about five contractions, she placed a heart rate monitor on the baby's head to get a better read. It was still dropping during contractions and she was concerned that the baby was stuck and had the cord wrapped around her. She looked at me and said, "this just isn't working and we need to do a c-section. We don't want to risk this any longer." My heart sank that I went through this whole labor and was going to end up with the c-section after all. I was a little frustrated that Dr. Fox, who I had not met before this night, was giving up when the baby was so close to being out. I nodded and tried not to cry.

At that point Dr. Fox called for a "stat c-section" which means that she wanted to be taking the baby out in five minutes so several other nurses rushed in to prep me for surgery and everything kicked into high gear. Once we got into the operating room, I couldn't stop shaking from adrenaline and felt so claustrophic with the big blue sheet in front of my face and my arms spread out to the sides of the operating table. Time seemed to move so slow and I just wanted it all to be over with. I was having a little pity party inside my head for sure.

Once they finally started operating, it was only a minute later that Dr. Fox urgently yelled out, "uterine rupture" and the whole room fell silent and serious. I heard someone yell to call for the NICU and Marcus swore under his breath as he sat by my head. We knew what this meant. Uterine rupture is when your past c-section scar tears open during labor. It is the major risk of a VBAC. There is a potential for major neurological trauma to the baby from a lack of oxygen, blood loss and hysterectomy for the mom and even maternal and fetal death. I had signed a form acknowledging that I was aware of these risks, but the odds were so small and none of the increased risk factors applied to me so I figured I didn't need to worry about it. I knew that the risks of major abdominal cesarean surgery were different, but just as likely.

A minute later I heard my baby crying as they pulled her out and everyone told me that she looked great. She was ok. Huge sighs of relief and cheers from the nurses. I heard that she had her arm and shoulder out of my uterus, but they had gotten to her in time before she got further out which would have caused much more trauma to her. Marcus brought her to me and I kissed her head, but was still reeling from all that was happening. I still wasn't sure if I was going to be ok. Dr. Fox kept saying that there wasn't a lot of blood loss so I was ok. The anesthesiologist sitting by my head told me that she wasn't being asked to order blood transfusions so that was a good sign that I was ok. It was all just swirling in my head, but as soon as they said I would be ok, I just wanted to be out of surgery and with my baby. Marcus and Ariana headed back to the labor and delivery room to finish her vitals and give her a bath while they finished sewing me up. At that point Dr. Fox looked at me over the blue sheet and said, "you might want to think about whether you want to have any more kids after this."

Finally the surgery was over and I was taken back to my room where Marcus and Ariana were waiting with the nurses. They put Ariana on my chest and I felt a huge sense of relief and love for the newest addition to our family. She was a little peanut at 6 lbs, 14 oz, but latched on right away to nurse.

We were so lucky that we had a fortunate outcome from such an unfortunate situation. We still don't know why my uterus ruptured or exactly when it happened, but I am so grateful that Dr. Fox made the call for me to stop pushing and do a c-section at that moment that she did. A few more minutes would have meant a much different outcome. We are so lucky that we were at a large hospital equipped with the clinical expertise and facilities to take care of us so quickly and prevent any further complications from occurring.

Introducing Ariana

We are so excited to have baby girl here! I'll post more pictures soon, but here are the stats:
Ariana Marika Shirzad was born at 12:38 am Friday May 9th. She weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz and was 20 inches long. We are all in love with her!

Zara at Three

Our Z girl just turned three years old. She is smart, goofy, focused and so very sweet. Her favorite things to do are color, play "music class" (she is the teacher), read books, swing and climb on our new play structure, watch Daniel Tiger, shop with her play grocery cart with a list and help cook/bake in the kitchen.

Zara is loving preschool so much. She talks often about Teacher Denise and her friend Claire. She usually gets upset when I pick them up from school and tells me "I'm not ready to go yet." There is so much to do at school, she can't get enough of all the different Montessori jobs, playing outside and working in their garden.

Zara has a very long attention span and focus and will spend an hour coloring or doing any kind of art activity. She has a hard time stopping something before she is "finished" (she is usually not finished) and transitioning to something else.  We are working on that one. She thrives on routine, order and rules and can be unnerved if we deviate. I had to coerce her to cross our quiet neighborhood street the other day because she was so upset to be in the road when "only cars go in the road, we stay on the sidewalk!" I definitely do not need to worry about her running into the street.

Still a great eater, Zara will tell you her favorite food is eggs. Her other favorites are bananas, blueberries, mac and cheese, cheddar cheese and black beans and rice. We have a weekly produce box delivered to the house and she loves to see "what the farmer brought us" and asks "did the farmer bring us this peach? How about this plum?" The plums are a hot commodity around here lately. She is usually game to taste and try just about any food, but last month all three of us had to convince her to taste a bite of mango. She quickly proclaimed, "I LOVE mango" so we now remind her about the mango tasting whenever she doesn't want to try a new food.

The other day we had a conversation that went like this: 
Zara: Can I feed the fish? 
Me: No, they don't need to eat right now.
Zara: But they are looking for food. Me: They are always looking for food. I'm looking for food (pretend to take little nibbles from her arm)Zara: (crying) NO, I DON'T LIKE THAT. PEOPLE DON'T EAT OTHER PEOPLE. Clearly three year olds cannot take a joke.



Zara can get a little bossy - she really likes to know the rules and enforce them. It works great because her risk-taking sister can never seem to remember what the limits are :) Never one to miss a beat, Zara is really into backseat driving lately. She is either telling me "slow down, you are going too fast" on the freeway or "go faster mommy" on the side streets. I also usually get lots of advance warnings about any stop lights and what the red/green/yellow means. She also loves to ask me all the street names and whether we are turning right or left. Three is the sponge age for sure!

We love Zara so much. I couldn't imagine my life without her hugs. If I stretch my arms out, she will run into them, anytime without fail. She is so thoughtful, smart and inquisitive. I cannot wait to see who she becomes, but also wish for my little girl to never grow up.

The Last Thing

A&Z are potty-trained, drink out of an open cup, go to school and the list of "big kid" milestones goes on and on. The last hold-out was the cribs. We were proud members of the "cribs for life" club because we didn't want to mess with the great sleepers we have trained. The girls have been able to climb out for several months now, but with a few warnings and consequences, they were staying in their cribs. Still, it just felt like time so we took the sides off of the cribs this weekend.

They picked out new bedding at the store (ladybugs for Lexi and owls for Zara) and are super excited to be in beds. Tonight is the third night and they are doing great, no issues with staying in bed. I'm wondering if this good luck will last? Its so nice to be able to snuggle with them when we are giving goodnight kisses and singing bedtime songs.