just one pic today...

so, just one picture for today... but he was so cute laying on the couch with me!  so, we had our follow-up weight check today.  they said they like to see 30 grams gain per day.  (so, in the three days since we had been seen, that would be 90 grams)  james gained 300 grams!  needless to say, we don't have to go back to check his weight again!  he's now 8 lbs 5 oz.  

i had both kids for the afternoon today.  it went very well!!!  i was quite nervous, but my mom deserved an afternoon off!!  she has cleaned my house from top to bottom.  she's been up at night (the few times james has been up), and scrubbed areas that may have never been scrubbed here!  we are quite thankful to have her here.  not to mention, either paying for carry-out (doing our part to support the economy), or cooking fabulous meals for us.  thanks ma....  

we have our visit with the orthopedic surgeons on thursday.  stay tuned!  

under no illusions....

so, as the mother of a toddler, i am rarely alone during the day.  i have this sweet little shadow that loves to say "momma, hold you".  she also likes to help quite a bit.  one of her new favorite ways to help is in the bathroom...  pulling off toilet paper and handing it to me, then saying "good girl" when i am done.  

so, it was only a matter of time.  today, she asked to get on the potty.  now, i am under NO ILLUSIONS whatsoever that my daughter is going to potty train anytime soon, nor was i trying to do this the week i had james!  

we have had some moments of jealousy and needing attention.  mostly, we are doing well!  pop-pop got here today and nora was quite excited to see him!!!  that's all for now...

a second job...

nora loves to snuggle with her brother.  but, after the picture, she turned to us and said "away" (as in, put james away...)

his cute feet.....  he loves to have his legs totally stretched out!!!

when we woke up this morning, i was feeding james.  nora got onto the bed, put her had on his back and said "cheese".  we've created a monster!!  she loves pictures!!!

a man and his dog!!!

he got into the swing last night for the first time and loved it!  he stayed awake for almost a whole hour in there!  (and we all got to eat dinner together...)  and it's another view of his feet...
we took a vote and decided that this could be david's second job, if it ever came down to it.  it is, in fact, david singing to nora in the bathtub!!  we were quite amused... 

and a little bit of dancing in the kitchen with mom...  pre-baby james!  

state of the blog address...

watching uconn with daddy!!! 

i came home from the doctor to a "mamma, hold you" request!  i had to comply....

she loves to hold her brother, and about has a heart attack if he cries.  she says "sad baby, cupeez".  it's so stinking cute!  i will work on videos soon!!!

so, i have been struggling for a little while that the blog is norahaile.blogspot...  and now there is more to write about than just nora.  however, there will not also be a jameshaile blog!  so sorry, not sure i could maintain two blogs!!  and, i debated switching the name, but that's a lot of hassle...  so...  it will continue to be norahaile, but you can hear all about our whole family!!!  

today, we went to a birthday party at the park.  just david and nora were going to go, but i needed to get out!  it was 80* and sunny!!!  i just sat and let everyone wait on me and chase nora!  nora is, by the way, doing fabulously well!  she loves having her mom-mom here, and really isn't too distraught that there is another family member.  we also brought sadie home yesterday, and she couldn't be more nonplussed.  so far, so good!!!

james update...  he lost 10% of his birthweight, weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz yesterday.  the doctors were a little concerned, since that's right on the border of what's acceptable.  so, we went back today, and they said he gained the most weight overnight that they have ever seen!!!  he's now almost 7 lbs 10 oz.  we also have our first club foot appointment on thursday, so stay tuned for updates!  i will try to get a close-up of his feet, because they are about the cutest things in the world!  

james' birthday

sorry, pics are in opposite order...  not my fault!!

nora being a guardian over her brother...  

watching basketball with daddy...

snuggsing with her brother...

stretching!!

cute baby boy...

at 6pm on wednesday night... (1.5 hrs after james was born!)

leaving for the hospital...

on wednesday morning, i woke up feeling contractions.  when they were still there about an hour later, i made sure david had his phone nearby.  i called the friends who were going to take nora and sadie and made sure they were around.  an hour later, i decided that nora should, at the very least, have a playdate with jeffrey... just in case.  david came home and we took sadie for a walk.  the contractions were every 2-3 minutes at that point.  so, we went to the hospital.  we got there at 11am.  they checked me and had me walk around for a bit.  i was actually admitted at 1:30pm.  james was born at 4:35pm.  (if you are one of those who likes more details... call and i'll share!!!)  all i can say is that david and i made such a great team!!  can i brag and say i did it without the assistance of ANY medication!?!?!  in fact, i didn't have an iv, or any medication besides motrin (which i got afterwards....)  

james came out at 8lbs 3.6 oz and was 20.08 inches long.  his head is perfectly round!!  (thanks to me not pushing long...) and everything about him is perfect.  (i mean, he still has club feet, but even his feet are cute.)  we have a routine doctor's appointment today, and will get an appointment, hopefully for next week, with the pediatric orthopedic surgeons.  the doctor's were great about clarifying that they don't see any evidence of any problems they thought they may have seen on ultrasound.  pretty much what we expected.  

he's eating like a champ, and adores his cupeez, just like his big sister.  speaking of big sister...  she got to stay with jeff-jeff and chelsey (and she does call her chelsey!!).  they enjoyed having their "rah-rah" for a day.  in fact, chelsey said she got SEVERAL crazy looks, and people asked her about her twins!  i hear that the kids played so well together, walking around holding hands and dancing all day.  

nora came to visit on wednesday night.  she saw james, and got excited about "baby" for a second, then looked at me, very seriously, and said "gentle, gentle".  then, she and jeffrey had WAY more fun enjoying the (clean) tub where james was born.  we were just happy for the entertaining playpen!!  when it was time to leave, jeffrey was a little sad about getting into his stroller.  david told nora to come kiss baby james, but she instead turned to jeffrey and kissed him "all better".  i will take the almost indifference over tears and jealousy any day (that will come... i know!) 

my mom got here yesterday morning and we all came home last night!  david and i got a good, solid 5 hours of sleep while james slept with his mom-mom.  i am hoping that trend continues at night!!!  alright.... more to come!  

what a day...

so, yesterday, we made our first visit to the emergency room.  nora dislocated her wrist.  it was not a fun time, but nora was an absolute angel!  i couldn't have asked for a better baby.  funny story, however.  we were leaving the hospital, walking to the car and there was a man behind us in camis.  david's new uniform is camis and nora saw the man and kept saying "dada".  i am not sure if she actually thought he was daddy (even though he really couldn't have looked less like david except that they were both white), or just pointing out that it was daddy's uni.  i really hope it was the latter, so that she didn't think daddy was just ignoring her!  

it's still amazing to see how much she "gets"!  we love to read the book "love you forever".  sometimes, i will just hold her and quote the line where the mom rocks her baby back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  then, in the book, the mom sings a song (which i usually do), and then the baby grew and he grew and he grew... to the next stage of life... toddler, pre-teen, teenager, grown-up.  well, if i tell nora i am rocking her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, she now says "grew, grew, grew".  and sometimes, she says "sho-sho" (as in shower), because in one of the stages, the kid doesn't want to take a shower!

another new favorite is this photo album i have.  nora just sits and flips through it saying "mama/dada".  (it's mostly pics of david and me...)  it's so cute!

she also plays pretend so well.  it's so cute to watch her pretend to eat, or feed someone over the phone or put her baby/ducks/hop-hop to night-nights.  she'll even say it like that!  while we were in the waiting room yesterday, she heard a baby cry and i said, "oh that's a sad baby".  so all morning, she said "sad baby, cupeez...".  a few times, she has even asked to go to bed.  when i remind her it's not time, she will ask for her cupeez.  amazing how much she puts together!  sweet baby...

monday, tuesday, thursday.....

for those of you who don't know, this is the season of the year i may dread the most...  march madness!!  pages upon pages of brackets.  to be fair, i was warned!!  i was told it was risky to marry a guy when i hadn't seen him through a march madness season!  (although, i would still marry him, even having seen him now!  but at least i know what they were talking about!!!)  i was told last week, after discovering that there weren't tvs in the birth center rooms, that i could deliver on a monday, tuesday or wednesday.  we'll see...  i keep warning him that God may bless him with a baby born on the night of a BIG uconn game!!!

it's hard to tell in blog format, but i do say all of that with a laugh in my voice, and so much love in my heart for the sweet man i am married to!  

we set up nora's house yesterday, and she had so much fun opening those windows and saying "ka-boo" (hear peak-a-boo).  jeffrey came over the other night so chels and i could go out.  the kids were quite cute!!!

nora loves to rock her new baby doll.  the night before this picture, i took some pictures, and again nora looked at me and said "no cheese, mama".  alright.  the next morning (the morning of this pic), i found nora in her room like this.  when she saw me, she said, "cheese, mama, chesse, baby".  what a ham!!!

my parents and brother were just out here for a visit (spring break), and my parents rented a house.  there were like 12 steps leading up to the house.  nora was carrying the baby doll everywhere!  she tried so hard to carry it up the stairs.  it was cute to watch... and i hope she understands why sometimes i make her walk!!  mom-mom also took nora to the park, where she went down the slide and swung and had a grand old time!  (mom-mom may have had more fun, however!!!)

we had dinner one night with my fam, chelsey and jeffrey.  nora was giddy with joy to see jeffrey!  it was so cute.  they held hands and walked around!  bless their hearts!  i keep telling chelsey i'd sign the papers now!!

in the house, nora found this huge teddy bear, and kept giving it (and her baby doll, for that matter) butterfly and eskimo kisses!  she held uncle david hostage for awhile in her room on her little chairs!  better him than me!!!

well, stay tuned!  updates to come.... hopefully SOON!!!

tacky gifts and more heartbeats

she is smarter than i give her credit for...  last night, david and i had our hospital tour.  my mom dropped me off, and had nora in the car.  we pulled up by the front of the hospital and nora went nuts!  she started saying "heartbeat, heartbeat".  i didn't even say "doctor" or anything about baby james.  she just recognized the place!  i felt so bad that she couldn't hear the heartbeat.  poor thing also has it so engrained in her, that whenever i talk about a baby, she says "gentle"!  i guess that's a good thing!!!

some awesome girlfriends threw me a little shower this weekend.  it was so nice!!  i am overwhelmed by my good friends!  we were talking about the problem with regifting, especially gift bags.  sometimes, you can reuse just the bag, but if you forget to take the card off, or something, it can look so tacky!  maybe that was why tacky presents were on my mind yesterday...  but dvd's, seriously????  i have to be a little embarrassed!!!  a friend did tell me he thought that was part of the stimulus plan...  encourage foreigners to buy american dvd players!  (thanks dave!!!)

off of my soapbox...  our tour last night...  the birth center was completely empty!  i told david i only had to make it to midnight to be eligible (i am now 37 weeks pregnant and free to deliver anytime!!) and he told me he would be listening for a loud thump in the shower!!  ha ha... thanks, but i don't have any desire to fall in the shower again!  

the pictures... the other morning, i was getting ready, and i found nora next to daddy's bookshelf, reading one of his novels!  it was so cute.  then, the red shoes!  (she is patting to little einsteins)  and lastly, she was lounging watching some tv a few mornings ago, as i got stuff ready to go!  what a cute kid!

heartbeats and oops....

nora loves talking about baby james' heartbeat!  she loves going to the doctor and obeys so well!  it's so cute.  actually, there have been a lot of cute things recently!  she can quote some of her favorite books.  one of the first, and more common ones, to quote is "hat hat" (blue hat, green hat).  if you haven't read it, it's a book of colors, and the turkey on each page messes up where his clothes go.  so it will go "blue hat, green hat, red hat, oops" and so on with different articles of clothes.  last night, david was carrying her home from the car, and they were talking about that book.  nora always says the "oops" part.  there's a song she knows that has oops in it as well.  so they sang that.  then, nora burped.  and she said "oops"!!  david and i just laughed!!  it was too cute.

she also has this gorgeous taffeta dress (actually a few of them) from mom-mom and fits into one of them right now.  so, she wears it with these patent leather red shoes.  this morning, she woke up saying "red shoes".  so, we wore red shoes today, along with her cute little, white ralph lauren polo dress (we wore the taffeta one earlier this week for fun!).  she has talked about her shoes all day!  it's so cute!  at least she has good taste!!!

i have really been trying to enforce the pacifier at bedtimes (or salvation for mom... ie car, doctor's, grocery, etc) recently.  i figure if we are at home, playing and having fun, there is no need.  but she has been asking for it anytime she is sad.  the other day, she said "bed??".  when i said no (she had JUST gotten up from a nap 15 minutes before), she said "cuppees (her word for it)"!  at least she is making the association!

another week...

so, i have to say, i am really feeling much better!!!  thanks for all of your prayers and concern!  once my eardrum ruptured, the pain was essentially gone.  all i have had all week is the stuffiness and drainage, with an occasional sinus headache!  and, muffled sound in one ear!  but, all seems to be better.  i can hear almost normally out of my right ear again, and it is so much nicer!  hopefully i can face these last few weeks sickness-free!  

it was a busy week and a busy weekend.  david is really enjoying his new job, and working A LOT!!  i have been napping every time nora does, and that makes for a happier mom and baby.  we went to dog beach again yesterday, after david got off work.  (it was 85*, by the way...)  i was taking some pictures of nora, and she looked up at me and said "no cheese".  (cheese is what she says whenever she sees the camera)  i had to laugh!!!  she still ran away from the water, although played quite a bit in the sand.  she enjoyed seeing her reflection in the wet sand.  she would put her face down, then run to daddy to clean off her very sandy face!

today, we thought we would do the pool (again, about 80*).  our pool is "heated", year round.  except it's not really.  but, we were all dressed up and ready for it, so we enjoyed the hot tub instead (which isn't as hot as a hot tub normally is!!!)  nora had so much fun!

on tuesday, i had another midwife visit.  last time, she let nora help find james' heartbeat with the doppler.  so this time, two weeks later, i reminded nora that we could go and hear james' heartbeat.  we got there, and she kept saying "help".  she totally remembered.  and all week, when we talk about james, she says "heartbeat", and then sometimes "help"!  it's so cute!!

she is really growing up into a cute big girl.  she obeys well so much of the time, and is just a joy to be around!  i know, all parents might say that about their kids, but i thought i would add it here.