Pictures

This is what happens when Noah's cowboy hat is in close proximity to his "time out" step...let's just say he wasn't wearing the hat when he was put on time out. :)

A much happier Noah eating his first Red Velvet Cupcake (well, atleast a small bite of one :) )

I love how his bib became his cape...but more than that I love my sweet boy's smile

Sweet Elliana

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby

Big Kids

Elliana had her one month well baby check today. I can hardly believe she'll be one month tomorrow! She weighed 9 lbs. 11 oz (75th percentile) and was 22 3/4 inches (95th percentile). What a big girl! She's gained 1 lb. 3 oz since birth...like I said before, she's a pro-nurser. :) I think that she'll move up from newborn diapers to size 1 diapers tomorrow (we have just enough newborn diapers left to get us through today). I can't believe we're already saying goodbye to the newborn diapers.

Not to be outdone, Noah is moving up a diaper size too. He's been in size 4 for awhile, but I decided that the size 5 diapers are probably a better fit. I placed my first order with diapers.com and we just got it yesterday...size 5 here we come. We decided to bring out the potty chair for Noah to get used to...he actually went pee on it the first time he sat on it! I'm not ready to fully commit to potty training right now (probably this summer....?) but I did want to get him used to sitting on the potty and going pee-pee occasionally. We'll see how it goes.

How are you doing?

**WARNING: This post is a bit random**

Many people have been asking how we're doing, so I thought I'd let everyone out in blogland know! :) We are doing great! Elliana is 3 weeks and 3 days old...again, I go between feeling like she's been with us forever, and feeling like I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks....she'll be a month on Friday!

The transition from one to two has been very smooth. I definitely owe that to a wonderful husband, and great friends and family. As we've made the transition I've had friends offer to take Noah for a playdate and bring us dinner...both of those have helped tremendously. This is my second week at home with both kids (on my own for the most part). I was a bit worried about how I'd juggle everything with both kids...nursing, playing with Noah, naptimes, meals, cleaning. laundry...but everything has just kinda fallen into place. I've given myself the freedom to let the cleaning wait if need be (though I function much better in a house that's picked up, so it can only wait for so long :)) and have decided that doing laundry everyday, instead of on specific laundry days makes the load (haha) much lighter. I can manage to wash and fold one (or maybe two) load(s) of laundry much easier than 3 or 4 (or 5!) loads.

I've made some trips out and about with both kids by myself, but my biggest success has been getting both kids (and myself) ready for and to church ON TIME! I'm realizing that things like, picking out outfits and organizing the diaper bag (making sure it's stocked well with diapers, wipes, burp clothes and extra clothes) the night before reeeeeaaaly helps. I've also decided that Noah watching his Elmo dvd, while I get myself and Elliana ready is very much ok. Sometimes you have to do what works...and Noah watching some Elmo in the morning WORKS! We actually found an Elmo's World DVD at Costco and it's all Elmo. When it comes to Sesame Street all Noah really cares about is Elmo...this DVD is perfect. My sanity is definitely worth $7.95. :)

Our first trip to church:

Noah still loves his little sister to death. He wants to hold and kiss her all the time, it is really super sweet. Many times while were driving, Noah will hold on to Elliana's car seat...kind of like, this is my sister, I'm going to take good care of her. :)

Hylke will be in Mexico this weekend so the kiddos and I will be visiting my sister and parents. I'm really looking forward to family time.

Noah is growing up so fast. He talks up a storm and never stops "wowing" us with how much he understands and how well he communicates. He's been learning his ABC's thanks to the Leapfrog fridge alphabet thingy...he loves to sing them and is especially good at A-B-C-D--G--------P-----V---Z-------------ME (the blanks are filled in with "A-BA-DA-BA-DA-BA-DA". He knows several colors (yellow, blue, green, red, orange, purple...) and can count (we're working on all the way to 10...but he still follows me after 5....and he's REALLY good with 1, 2, 3---especially since most of the time "jump" follows 3. :)

He's finally down to one nap a day (noonish-3ish) and still sleeps like a champ at night. This kid loves his sleep. He likes naptime just as much as bed time and it really is never a problem putting him down, often he'll tell us that it's "mi-mi" time. We're praying his sister follows suit. :)

And...so far she has! Elliana is a super-duper sleeper. She's sleeping so well at night, I actually feel rested in the morning. During the day I feed her every three hours and stick to that schedule fairly strictly (unless of course she was hungry before that, I would absolutely feed her, but I won't really let her go much longer than 3 hours during the day w/o feeding her) However, at night, I let her sleep until she wakes up on her own...I don't wake her up at night...a couple nights ago she slept from 11pm to 4:50 am!! Typically she goes about 4 -4 1/2 hours in between feedings at night, which means I'm really only getting up once or maybe twice (depending on what time her last nighttime feeding was) to feed her. I actually sleep much better now than I did my last couple months of pregnancy. It is really nice.

This past week we all went to Sea World for the day. Noah loved it. Everyday he talks about the Big Pish, Mu-Mu (Shamu) and how Mu-Mu "Plashed" and "Jumped" and how we all "Clapped". His conversation sounds a little like this:

Noah: Mommy, Big Pish!

Me: Did we see a Big Fish last week?

Noah: Yes! Mu-Mu!

Me: What did Shamu do?

Noah: Big Pish plash! Jump!

Me: That's right, Shamu splashed and jumped.

Noah: Clap!

Me: And we all clapped.

Noah: More Mu-mu?

It's a good thing that we got season passes, I have no doubt that this fish loving little boy will enjoy trips to San Diego to see Mu-Mu.

In addition to going to Sea World last week, we found out that Noah is very allergic to Amoxicillin:

And last, but not least, here's a funny video of Noah that I took a month or so ago...he found some of my boots, and decided to put them on and walk around in them...boots, a diaper and a shirt! It was hilarious.

Fun with the chickens

A few more pics

Sneak Peek

We had some pictures taken this past weekend. I'll post more when I can, but here are a couple that I liked.

Mommy and her sweet little girl:

This is in honor of her guitar playing daddy. :)

We are doing well adjusting to life with two little ones. Hylke's been a HUGE help to me as I recover. I've really tried to follow the drs. orders in terms of what I should and shouldn't be doing. I want to make sure that I recover well with no set backs. I've been blessed by family coming to help, friends bringing meals, a husband who is taking great care of me and spending extra time with Noah, and a newborn that has a sweet, mellow personality that nurses and sleeps soooo well. Sometimes I get nervous when I think about doing it all day by myself and then I remember all of the other mommies that have gone before me...it'll be no problem at all! ;)

More pics from Elliana's first week

In her cozy jammies

So sweet with daddy

All ready to go home!

Getting ready to leave the hospital

so sweet!

She wants kisses, and I have no problems giving them!

Noah rocks his sister so gently

I love my Grandma!

Getting ready for her first home bath...she stayed this way throughout the whole bath!!

more to come..........

One week

***Warning: Picture Overload!***

I can hardly believe that one week ago today we met our sweet girl for the first time! I remember all of the emotions so well. Everything happened so quickly I remember wondering if I was really ready for this. I remember thinking about Noah, he was probably just waking up, and little did he know his life was about to change...dramatically. Would he adjust well? I remember praying and asking the Lord to give me peace as I went in for surgery, I remember wondering if I'd be able to love her like I love Noah. I remember the peace I had as Hylke held my hand and we prayed for a safe delivery and a healthy baby girl, I remember the excitement I felt when the dr. told Hylke to stand up so that he could watch as the pulled her out....and the joy and relief I felt when I heard my sweet girl cry for the first time. I remember the concern I had when she struggled to clear her lungs, but the peace I had as the NICU team worked hard to clean them out. I remember the love I felt when I saw and held her for the very first time....overwhelming! The nurse wheeled my bed to the NICU and my sweet girl was NOT happy. When they handed her to me, I whispered to her that I was her mommy and she was ok, she immediately stopped crying. What a special gift it is to be a mommy.

Waiting for surgery to begin:

Just after birth, getting a little O2:

Hylke cutting the cord:

Seeing Elliana in the NICU:
Holding her for the first time:

When she got to my room:

Noah meeting Elliana for the first time (but first, hugs for mommy):

He knew this was Elliana right away, he couldn't wait to "touch" and "kiss" her:

He is the BEST big brother:
Daddy is certainly in love with his little girl:
Grandma and Elliana
Noah and Grandma reading the new book she brought him:
Proud Grandparents:

Crazy pre-bath hair:
Kisses for Elliana:

So many emotions this past week! I can honestly say it's been a WONDERFUL week. I am so in love with my little Elliana. I feel like my love for Noah has grown too. I am watching him love on his little sister, he's my big boy now! I am blessed. I have a husband who loves and serves me, with joy. I have a son who brightens each day with his smiley face and cheerful personality, and I have a sweet baby girl who has made my heart grow!

I've run out of time for some of the home pictures, but since my mom will be back out today, I'll try to find some time to update with more pics.

Elliana Joy Hylkema

IS HERE! Elliana Joy arrived on Friday, February 27th at 6:46 am. She was 8 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long. She is absoultely perfect in every way, we're in love all over again. Big Brother Noah loves his sweet sister sooooo much. Every time he came to visit us he would say, "Hi, Mommy! Baby? Elli-nana? Kiss? Touch?" He's so very, very sweet with her.

My c/s was scheduled for yesterday, March 2nd, but I ended up going into labor late Thursday night. We stayed home for awhile making sure that this was it, and finally at about 3am, I realized yes, this was really it! We got to the hospital just after 5am and she was born an hour and 45 mins later! After the doctor hooked me up to the machines and checked me (4 cm and 90% with contractions every 5 mins) he said, "we need to get this baby delivered" (he had a feeling I would go quickly). Hylke said, "so, we'll have a c/s in a couple hours?" The doctor looked at him and said, "no...the team is getting ready now!" He was not kidding...before I knew it we were in the OR getting ready to meet our sweet girl! The c/s went so well....a very different experience than the one I had with Noah.

Elliana was born with lots of amniotic fluid in her lungs and was having a harder time breathing, she ended up going to the NICU for about 4 hours to have her O2 levels checked and her breathing observed. She bounced back right away and is perfectly healthy!

We are home now, and I'm trying to take it easy and recover from the c/s. Many more pics to follow.