Anyway, no big plans for Halloween, we have a pumpkin, but it's in the basement and I've had no chance to play with it today, so we might do it tomorrow, just for laughs with Daddy.

Hope you are having a fabulous trick-or-treating day!

P>

So last week, Susan sends me this Email that she is sending off Dean's gift (remember Susan is the one who sent us a GC for a personalized blanket as soon as she had birth details for Dean, who was only known as NB at the time) and she had some room, would I like anything...like chocolate chips? Then, like TWO days later, FedEx was knocking on my door!

Georgia and I happily opened it up and the first thing we saw was a little Elmo-embroidered baggy with HER name on it. She was actually interested in the contents of the bag, she just wanted to carry it around, but I convinced her to look inside, and there was a sweet little baby doll blankie with a sleepy Elmo embroidered on it. All of this, despite the fact that Georgia got her own personalized blanket and sweater when she was born...And for Dean? A sweet- as-duckies blankie, a bib and a burp cloth. Each one embroidered beautifully and packed into yet another embroidered bag - this one with Grover and Elmo on it. I really do have the bestest friends! 

Just after FedEx came, Andrea stopped by and we gave Dean a bath so that I could do a photo shoot with him later that day (I had done one the day before but only got a few shots out of it:

And I'm picky, I will not deny it. I wanted more and I wanted better - something difficult to do with just a photographer and no helping hands (Georgia's weren't quite what I'd call helping...!) So Dean got his bath (this boy needs a daily bath the way he spits up, we wake up in a puddle every morning, not to mention the fact that we go through about 4 cloth diapers - as burp cloths - a DAY) which he hates and I heated up the living room until it was nearly unbearable and of course around the time I was ready to take pictures, he was not. He wanted to nurse and cuddle and doze, NOT be stripped of his clothing and posed for photos. I tried fighting it and making him pose...but it didn't work, and Georgia kept helping...so I finally gave up and sat down with him. Well, surprise surprise, that did it. He calmed down and we got some great shots!

Those are just a few, click HERE to see the October Set at Flickr and all the photos we took on Wednesday. These are also some of the photos I used to make Dean's Birth Announcement. Actually, I made 5 birth announcements and was able to narrow it down to 4...which I then ordered. Hopefully they'll be here by next week so I can start getting them sent out. If you are curious and want to see them, let me know and maybe I'll share a few. Otherwise, be patient and you might have one popping up in your mailbox, or you might have already had one in your Inbox!

Is this post getting too long or too picture-heavy? I just went ahead and changed the Title so that I can save today's events for a future post and I will leave you instead with something my darling girlie did yesterday while her Daddy and I were distracted:

If you want to read the journaling - click on the picture or HERE (which will also give you layout credits).

I'll try and come back tomorrow with Dean's latest bath episode and pics of the kiddos with Andrea...pics you will have already seen, if you were looking at the October Set with the photo shoot pictures...

A week ago, she was in love with 'da baby'. A week later, she still loves the baby, she still wants to crawl in bed with him, pet him, touch him, kiss him and change his diaper, but she seems to have realized that he's not going away either, and that he is, without a doubt, taking her Mommy and Daddy away some of the time, that she is no longer receiving 100% of our attention. Not that we are neglecting her! Not a chance. Sven hardly has Dean at all, and when he does, she complains loudly and me? I am making sure to take time where I put Dean away and am just with her. Cuddle time, playtime, naptime...and so far I am lucky that Dean is willing to be put down and hang out on his own, something Georgia never would have done.

but today? Today Georgia is clingy, needy, whiney and can't stop crying. Every little thing turns her into a puddle of clingy tears. Even when we stop what we are doing, go to her and hug her, hold her, comfort her, she can't stop crying. She is just miserable, my poor baby. Maybe she's just having one of those days. One where you just can't stop crying and you don't really want to. One where you are unhappy with yourself and everything around you. And if that is the case, maybe tomorrow will be better. Maybe she'll be happier. Maybe she'll be calmer, play and laugh and run around. I hope so, because my little crybaby is making me want to cry right along with her and give the big 'ol world a punch in the nose for making her so miserable.

And hey? If it's just the cold, then we just need a few more days and it'll be over!

Despite the whiney, unhappiness, doesn't she look adorable today? I love these jeans (her Grandad picked them out). They are so cute, and so dark they don't appear to get dirty easily. And they match everything.

That's all for today.

***I have just had a chance to edit pictures, yay!***

So instead of pictures, I hope you'll be happy to read a bit about his birth, here is Dean's story:

On Wednesday evening, I had extreme indigestion, so bad that I could not lie down and put Georgia to bed (something I now regret as it would have been the last time, and had I known that...) so had Sven do it. Sven believes this was a blessing, because it caused him to be rested later that night. While I was waiting for the tums to kick in so that I could join Georgia in bed (I was still tired and sick), Sybille called to reassure me about some wording on Dean's ultrasound that had me worried. We ended up talking for an hour or more, while she told stories of her sweet Lotti and I said I was longing to finally meet "NB". Finally hung up and thought I should head to bed (remembered I was tired). Almost the minute I lied down, the ctx started. They were very light, and hardly noticeable, so I just listened to my HB CD and breathed through them. I'm actually not sure I finished the CD before deciding to get up and get in the bathtub. A sure sign of a false alarm, the warm water will stop any ctx that don't mean business!

I stayed in the bathtub for a while, relaxing as much as I could, but the ctx did not stop and did in fact, seem to start coming more often. I thought I should maybe get out and time them...So I got out and took a shower and got dressed. This woke up Sven and I told him I thought the 4th would be just as good as the 7th, then we'd have birthdays on the 1st, 4th and 14th...finally got out to start timing ctx and they were about 3-4 mins apart. I called Andrea, but since she didn't know that I might be calling in the middle of the night, she had turned off her phones. I called Cara and told her I was in pain and why? and cried a bit and asked her if it was time to go to the hospital yet? I didn't want to go too soon. I wanted to spend as little time there as possible!

Had Sven call the hospital just to check, although Cara was telling me to get that suitcase packed and go...and Sven sounded so uncertain on the phone, that the midwife insisted on speaking to me. She thought it was our first and that I only thought I might be having ctx. I had at least two while she was on the phone, making it hard to concentrate on breathing, and even harder to talk to her and tell her that I knew it was the 'real thing' and I just wanted to be sure of when to come in...

Got up, packed the suitcase while Sven showered (I did tell him he might want to hurry) and then slowly went about waking up my in-laws. They were both so sound asleep, they hadn't heard a thing and when I said 'it's time, we're going to the hospital' my MIL responded with: "what? I didn't understand you? WHAT?" and after i repeated myself: "oh dear god" and they were both up in a flash. FIL headed to our bed with Georgia and Sven and I were headed out the door, although I still had to get the carseat together (after reminding Sven why we needed it immediately!) and because he was still puttering about doing who-knows-what, had time to check my Email again. There was an EMail from Cara that had been sent at around 2:58am. Basically, that means we left for the hospital after 3am, and Dean was born at 4:20am...

Arrived at the hospital, had to go in at the Emergency entrance because of the late hour, were offered a wheelchair (I turned down) and slowly (due to more and more ctx) walked to the labor and delivery unit.

The midwife settled me right into a delivery room, hooked me up to a FHM and CTX machine and then Sven, thinking it was going to be a while, headed back to move the car out of the Emergency Zone. While he was gone, the ctx got steadily more intense and more painful. I was a bit depressed and worried by this, because you see, I had fully intended to use hypnobirthing and have a calm birth, but I guess I was too distracted and tense and no matter how hard I tried (and I tried!) I couldn't relax enough for it to go into effect. I managed to breathe through contractions for a long time, feeling the pain, but able to deal with it, up until the 'presswehen' started. At that point, relaxation flew out the window.

The midwife came in and asked if I was starting to feel pressure in my back (I was) and then said she hoped Sven made it back in time...a doctor appeared, the midwife examined my cervix (7-8cm) had me stay on my right side, thinking just a few more ctx and I'd be fully dilated and could start pushing. Shortly after that, my water burst, ctx were coming one after the other, it seemed without a break and the midwife stayed and checked the baby's progress through the next one. I was about 9cm at that point and wanting to push. Sven made it back just in time.

The pushing phase is probably why Dean was born at 4:20 instead of 4...my legs kept cramping up and I'd have to stop pushing because my legs were spazzing! Eventually, they turned me onto my left side and a few more pushes got my 8lb baby into the world with a loud cry (from him!).

The rest? Boring. We left the hospital 4-5 hours later and have been home since. So no, I didn't have a home birth (though it was close, and if Andrea had been reachable, it might have ended in one!!!) and I did not spend one single night in the hospital, I ran away as fast as I could. Questions?!