Delaney Funnies
Delaney has said a few really cute and funny things lately that I just need to get in writing so I don’t forget them!
At the pool at Water World, she met a little girl named Kylie. They were playing and jumping over the waves together. Delaney brought her over to me and said “this is my friend Kylie, but she is NOT my favorite Kylie”. This was soon after Shaye and Kylie had come to visit and Delaney adores them. Delaney also named a doll Kylie recently. She loves “those sisters” alright.
Delaney has been saying a lot of totally random things lately. It seems like she just wants to get David’s or my attention and then when she gets our attention, she just makes something up to say. So, sitting on the couch she says to David – Delaney: “Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad…..DAD!”
David: “Yes, Delaney?”
Delaney: “at Mom’s house I have lots of slippers”
Totally random and hysterical. So, David started laughing and she got all giggly too, but I’m not sure if she realized why she was funny.
Similarly, I was in the kitchen and she was at the kitchen table looking out the window at the jungle gym in our yard –
Delaney: “Jil, Jil, Jil, Jil, Jil….JIL!”
Me: “Yes, Delaney?”
Delaney: “at my other mom’s house, we don’t have one of those”
OMG, I just about melted when she said “my other mom”. I wonder if Dana would mind being “the other mom” hahaha. She is so stinkin cute.
Rollie’s Arrival
Today is Rollie’s 7 week birthday and I finally have some time (thanks to Colin) to catch up on some blogging! This blog is about Rollie’s birth, and is more for me to remember it – so reader beware!
Because of my wonderful blood-clot disorder, Dr. Plotnick scheduled me to be induced on my due date, June 16. We had to check-in to the hospital the night before at 5pm. In an attempt to get things started, David and I stopped for a spicy Mexican dinner at Casa Alvarez on our way!
Once we were checked-in they started the process right away. I was given a ‘pill’ to start dilating my cervix. They said it usually takes about 2 hours for it to start working, but mild contractions started within a half-hour. I was hooked up to a monitor for the contractions and the baby’s heart-rate. It was actually a pretty fun evening. Bonnie and Jen (the doulas) stopped in to check on us and my parents came over to watch The Bachelorette since it was a Monday night! They gave me some Ambien so I’d be able to get some sleep for the night, then hopefully in the morning I’d be a little dilated and have some stronger contractions and things would move right along. The best-case-scenario is to have the dilation from the pill trigger contractions strong enough that I wouldn’t need to really be induced with Pitocin, which can be pretty brutal for labor.
Lucky me – I woke up from the contractions at 3am and was able to snooze off and on until 5am. By then the contractions were so strong that I couldn’t sleep anymore. This was just early labor, a regular person wouldn’t even be in the hospital yet, so I just tried to relax, read some magazines in the jetted tub (yes, Foothills is a badass hospital with jetted tubs and flatscreen TVs), and waited for David to wake up and for more contractions to come!
At 9am Dr. Plotnick arrived to break my water. This can sometimes trigger stronger contractions, but doesn’t usually work right away. They said if I didn’t have some stronger contractions in a few hours, they’d give me Pitocin. To break my water, they used some kind of crochet needle type thing that I didn’t want to see. Bonnie and Jen came to help me through it. I don’t remember that hurting too much, but it was just a scary thing. The L&D nurse, Cathy, had a student with her, at this point I wanted no extra people around, so she was outta there (randomly the L&D nurse had a student, Plotnick had a student, and Bonnie had Jen, her apprentice – so it was like a party in there). When my water broke, there was meconium in it, so they just needed to monitor me a little extra and make sure it didn’t hurt the bambino. And after that gush of fluids — not to worry, within 5 minutes I was in full-blown-active-labor with serious contractions. Ouch – really? This was some major pain. The Doulas stayed by my side (so did my hubby of course) and helped me breath through the contractions and helped me try different things to alleviate the pain. We tried walking laps around the hospital floor – no good, my legs wanted to buckle at each contraction. So, then we tried to soaking in the tub – no good, I made them get me out after sitting through one in the water (when I say they had to get me out of the tub, I mean it, I couldn’t move much by myself at this point, they literally lowered me in the tub and hoisted me out).
The pain was definitely more than anything I’ve ever experienced. The contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart. To make it through, I was doing some super-low-breathing-moany-sound. I felt like I was not myself, I was some weird animal-person or something. My parents came in to visit for a few minutes and I barely remember it because I was in some bizarro state-of-being. At some point they gave me Fentanyl, which is a narcotic 100 times more potent than Morphine. It was supposed to “take the edge off” but it just made me a little drunkish and have a hard time keeping my eyes open. It didn’t actually do much for the pain. Finally at about noon, I begged for an Epidural.
I was at 4cm dilated when I asked for the Epidural. They said it would take 15 minutes for the Epidural guy to get there. OMG – that was like a 3 more contractions, I honestly didn’t know how I would survive 15 more minutes of this. When he got there, the doulas had to hold me still because they contractions were coming and he couldn’t get the Epidural in if I moved at all. Once it was in, it starting working really fast. Oh sweet relief. The Epidural changed my life. I can’t imagine not having had it. Immediately I felt like myself again and could carry a conversation. I asked if I could take a nap and then basically passed out for 2 hours (while I napped David got some lunch and napped too). It was the difference between night and day when I got the Epidural. I can’t believe some people choose to endure that kind of pain, when you can take a nap instead. And YES, my teddy bear, Bernie, did come to the hospital with us!
I woke from my nap and the nurse was worried that the Epidural might have slowed down the labor because the monitor showed my contractions had gotten slower. So, they checked me and surprise, surprise – I was 9cm dilated. I had just slept through the hardest part of active labor. I went from 4cm to 9cm in 2 hours while I slept. They all said I was lucky I got the Epidural when I did because that would have been an excruciating 2 hours. Then they told me I’d be ready to push in one hour. Holy shit, one more hour and I was ready to push my baby out?!?! Scary and exciting.
During that one hour, the Epidural started to wear off on one side. I could feel my right side but not my left, so they let me ‘push the button’ and get another dose. That new dose only made my left side more numb but I could still feel my right side. They wouldn’t let me have any more and said it would be good to have some feeling so I could know when to push through the contractions. So, I went in to the push only half-numbed.
Push it, push it good. Push it, push it real good. It was time to push. It all seemed so civilized the doulas and L&D nurse were holding my legs up and helping me know when to push based on the monitor and my half-numb feelings. David was by my head – right where we both wanted him to be. Within a half-hour they saw the head and let me feel it and I was all excited that the baby would be out soon. I was pushing like crazy and they shifted me around in different positions trying to get things going faster. After about another 1.5 hours of pushing, I was starting to lose it. But again, they said they could see the head and asked if I wanted to touch it. But, WTF!?!! That meant nothing of progress to me since I already felt it 1.5 hours ago! I started getting worried that it had been 2 hours and I was still pushing with all my might, and totally exhausted, and in complete agony because the effects of the Epidural were long gone. This is when I started screaming for Dr. Plotnick and asking why wasn’t he there to check on me after 2 hours of pushing? Finally, they got him to come (I guess the doc only comes for the last 10 minutes, but I didn’t know that then!) and he suggested a new leg position and then we pushed some more. David was feeding me ice-chips in-between contractions. They were now 5-6 minutes apart which was awful because I just had to sit there in pain between them and wait for more pain to push through. Finally, they rolled in the cart. David knew this and I didn’t — he said when they roll in the cart with all the medical equipment, you know you are almost done. I was literally screaming in pain and begging them to find a way to “JUST GET THE BABY OUT” (like – don’t they have suction cups or forceps or something?). They reminded me that they couldn’t do it for me, I just had to keep pushing. I think I dropped my first F-bomb towards the end when a contraction was coming at the same time that the stupid blood-pressure monitor was squeezing my arm and I screamed at the top of my lungs “GET THIS FUCKING THING OFF ME!!!!!” and David ripped it off my arm and flung it out of the way. I think I even started hyper-ventilating a little — freaking out that it was never going to end. Bonnie had to keep telling me to stop looking at the clock. I was really at the end of my rope! It had been just too much for too long.
Finally, Dr. Plotnick offered me a way out. He said I could have an Episiotomy and probably get the baby out at the next push or push through a couple more contractions and see how it goes. HELL YES, I’ll take it. And ta-da, the next push, there he was. It was 6:32pm on Tuesday, June 16th and Robert Oliver was born. I was so exhausted. I was in active labor from 9am to 6:32pm. When he came out, they put him up on my chest but he was upside-down so the first thing I saw of my beautiful baby boy was his cute little bottom. Then they turned him around and there he was – little baby Rollie staring up at me.
David was amazing through the entire labor. He rubbed my back, my head, fed me ice chips, encouraged me, loved me, and kept me sane (well, as sane as I could be at the time). I could not have done this without him. We made a pretty awesome team. Go Team Cohen!
And he is already getting so big! Here he is at 8 days and then more recently, 6 weeks old!
Dallas visit April 2009
I just got back from visiting Julie and family in Dallas. My main reason for going was for Lulu’s first cheerleading competition at Six Flags (the Texas Cutez took 3rd place!). I was just there for 3 days, but even in that short amount of time, I really feel like I’m able to bond with the kids and get to know them better and better with each visit.
Lulu and John Davis are adorably hysterical, so before I forget, I wanted to jot down some of the sweet and funny things they say. They may not make much sense out of context to people that don’t know them, but this mostly for me to remember anyway 🙂
Right now Lulu is 4.5 and John Davis is 2.5.
*I love how they call me Aunt Chirpy – pronounced ‘Ant Kirp-y’.
*When I first got to their house, I put my stuff in the guest room and went into the bathroom. Of course Lulu was with me (she likes to be by my side when I visit, and I love that). When I shut the bathroom door, in her most dramatic voice she demanded “Aunt Chirpy, you CAN”T close the door, I NEED to see you ALWAYS!”.
*John Davis put his hands on my belly and when he felt my belly move, I told him it was the baby kicking. A little while later when the subject had totally changed, John Davis excitedly told me and Julie that “when Aunt Chirpy’s baby comes out, I’m gonna KICK HIM, I’m gonna KICK the baby”
*After the big, long day at Six Flags, we were in the car and the kids were a little hyper and saying that they wanted to play more. Lulu wanted to go to the mall and stay there forever to play. When we told her that wasn’t going to happen, Lulu starts moping and saying “I’m a poor thing, just look at the poor thing, me!” “I have a sad face, I’ll never have a happy face again, just a sad face”. Julie asked the kids if we could just relax, be quiet and just do nothing for the rest of the car ride, so then John Davis starts saying in random spurts for the rest of the 45 minute car ride in different fluctuations of voices “nothing.” “nothing!” “noooth—-iiiiing!”. I guess that is how he ‘does nothing’.
*Out of the blue, Lulu asks Julie “Does Aunt Gabby have a little brother named Dadda?” “and then so does Dadda have a big sister named Aunt Gabby?” (Gabby is John’s big sis)
*Lulu is really in to Annie, and many conversations revolve around Annie and prequels/sequels to Annie that Lulu has concocted in her mind.
Lulu “Am I luckier than Annie?”
John (jokingly) “that depends, would you rather have a indoor pool or a mama?”
Lulu seriously considers these options “can I just have both?”
*In the car, the kids are playing with their stuffed animals like there is a animal birthday party going on.
Julie “Are you kids having a pretend birthday party back there”
Lulu (in her most dramatic voice) “Noooo Mama, it is NOT pretend, it is a REAL birthday party”
Oh, and there are so many more funny things that they say and do. They constantly crack me up.
Lulu’s cheer competition was adorable, of course. It was so exciting, not only to see her perform on stage, but more importantly, to see how proud she was of herself and to see that giant smile on her face knowing that we were all so proud of her.
Unwrapping…..or um, unveiling Andrew’s new room!
With a baby on the way, we were going to have to do some room shuffling to accommodate FB. This is a delicate matter, as we did not want to make either kid feel shafted for the new baby, especially since they live here part-time and FB will be here full-time. We always want them to feel that this is as much their home as any of us full-timers. The decision was pretty obvious that FB should get Andrew’s room. It is the biggest, and with FB being a full-timer, it seems reasonable for it to get more space to house more clothes and what not – AND with Andrew being the oldest it makes the most sense for him to move down stairs while the younger kids stay on the second floor with us. So, how were we going to tell this to Andrew – yikes!
We decided to make a big event out of it. Andrew got to pick a new paint color (luckily green is his current favorite color, so it was easy to find a great green that was still in-keeping with the feel of the house) for his new room and we took him to pick out some new furniture! He thought this was all pretty cool and he’s been excited about it. All last week, I was getting the room painted, the playroom furniture moved-out, the cool new Andrew furniture moved-in, as well as moving all of his stuff from old room to new room. I wrapped the door to look like a giant present, got him all new desk accessories and reading lamps and such, got some new family pictures framed, and we set-up a TV for video games too! It was a busy week. When the kids came over last night, we had it ready to go! We hoped Andrew would like his new room as much as we did, it is really cool! Check out the pics. It is hard to tell, but under the loft, there is a giant smooshy chair (the toy plane is sitting on it) and a reading lamp – so it is kinda like a fort under there where he can read or play video games.
I think it was a successful transition. The kids played in there all night and Andrew was really excited about the move!
I love to record some of the funny things the kids say. So here are some recent funnies!
Delaney and her “chothers”
When we went out to dinner not too long ago and the kids were deciding who would sit with who, Delaney said “we’ll sit with each other and you can sit with your chother”. The “chothers” have come out a couple other times too, but that was the best one. Maybe you had to be there, but I think it is really cute.
Baby-talk — The kids’ mom just had a baby a couple of months ago, so it has sparked some funny baby conversations. A good one from each kid (at this point, I was pregnant already, but the kids didn’t know yet)…
Andrew
We were talking about how our families are connected and how he could potentially have a sibling from his mom and a sibling from his dad that would not even be related to each other – how strange, right? Well, this is how the rest of the conversation went:
Andrew: “well, at least I don’t have to worry about you and dad having a baby.”
Jil: “what would make you say that??”
Andrew: “well, because only MOMs can have babies and your just a STEP-MOM.” (said with a little “duh” kind of attitude)
Jil (trying to hold back the hysterics): “well, Andrew, what do you think your mom was before she had you? she wasn’t a mom yet and she was able to have a baby….”
Andrew: speechless with total look of bewilderment. I guess he didn’t realize that his mom had an actual life before he was born!
Delaney — Grow baby grow!
At bedtime, D and I were snuggling on the reading couch doing stories, and she mentioned something about her new baby brother, Joey. I asked her if she missed Joey, or if it was nice to be at our house and have a break from the new baby for a couple of nights. She told me that she missed the baby and wanted us to get one at our house. Here is how the conversation went:
Jil: “Delaney, how would we get a baby at our house?”
Delaney: “you just grow one in your belly!”
Jil: “how would I grow a baby in my belly?”
Delaney reaches to my belly, gives it a pat and a kiss and says “you just say ‘grow baby grow’ and then you get a baby in your belly!”
If she only knew there was already one growing in there! It was really sweet. We thought when we finally told the kids that we are having a baby, that she might think her “grow baby grow” tactic really worked!
Telling the kids about FB
On Thanksgiving weekend, we told the kids that we are having a baby, and it will be here in June. Being that they just got a new baby at their mom’s house, this announcement was no big deal to them. However, Andrew was able to muster up a reason to be excited about the new baby —
Andrew: “that means I’ll get to eat birthday cake TWICE in my birthday month from now on!!” (his bday is June 27)
I love my step-kids. They add so much to our life — and lots of laughs, that is for sure!!!
Delaney’s 3rd Bday
I know I’m soooo late on blogging about D’s bday, but better late than never, right?
May 25th was the big day. We started the day with party hats and presents, of course.
The main present was a playhouse on the patio (with a sky-light, a working door-bell – all the cool stuff) that we filled with pink balloons, she also got some other cool things like a water activity table, some books and coloring supplies, and a way-cool unicorn sleeping bag with her name embroidered on it.
In the afternoon, I took D for a special treatment at LolliLocks. She loved it there, it is a salon just for little girls. She had her hair done in an up-do with sparkles and a tiara, then she had her fingernails done, in pink, with little flower stickers stuck on each nail. She was adorable and she loved it!
Then of course, we ended the day with a home-made (well, from a mix) birthday cake!
We all had a great day and Delaney was so excited to turn 3!
Easter in Winter Park
The Brown’s invited us up to their cabin in Winter Park for Easter weekend. We had a great time with them and the kids. We started off the weekend at the tubing hill. It was super fun, but Delaney wouldn’t go down, so David and I took turns taking Andrew down. Most of the time Andrew and I went in one tube, and held on as a little cluster with Kris, David B, and their girls. We had a blast. That hill looks small from the road, but when you are on it, it is steep and fast and really fun! It was a great start to our weekend.
After tubing we went to the cabin for the Easter Cookie Decorating Extravaganza! We had icing, gumdrops, sprinkles and dots to decorate the cookies. Of course any edible project is always a hit with the kids.
The next morning, the kids woke up at 6:15am for the egg hunt, no joke. We didn’t get pictures of this, because, well, it was 6:15am and I wasn’t really functional. They had a blast though. Each of the four kids got to find 20 eggs filled with stickers, toys, and of course, CANDY!
Next we headed to Devil’s Thumb Ranch for a sleigh ride. We rode a sleigh pulled by three big, beautiful horses, and the kids got to push hay off the sleigh to feed Easter breakfast to the horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, and cows on the ranch. This was fun, but very cold. The whole ride lasted about an hour and it was around 10 degrees, I think. My toes were numb by the end…so it is a damn good thing that at the end there was a campfire waiting for us with hot cocoa and the fixins for making S’MORES!!!! Not a bad idea at 10:30 in the morning!
Any time we weren’t doing an activity, the kids all kept busy playing together. Delaney is finally big enough that she can play with the other kids and run around all silly with them. Andrew and Megan still have a blast together, which is really cute to see. They run around all hyper and screaming and make up games together. The four of them definitely had fun together, Andrew and Megan being the ring-leaders of course 🙂 At least no fingers were lost with all of the door slamming!
So, that was our Snow-Tubing, Cookie-Making, Door-Slamming, Egg-Hunting, Sleigh-Riding, S’more-Eating Family Fun Winter Park Easter Weekend! Not bad at all! Thanks for a fun Easter David & Kris B.!
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