dancing...

So I thought I would show the blogging world what Kendall does during the morning while Alley is away...

check her out...she is looking sassy;) Awesome outfit Kendall, awesome...fairy costume not put on all the way, rocking the cloth diaper and new sneakers....sweet!

Dance girl, dance...yes this is what we do ALL day...dancing and dressing up. You can't have one without the other

our dancing queen wore herself out...

 not only do we get a dance party, but Kendall also sings along with the songs...and let me tell you, she sounds hilarious!! Here she is mid-song and dance...

go, go, go, go...(she was running in place and flapping her arms)

Yes, in our house if you say the word "music", both girls throw off their clothes and run to the play room and grab "dancing clothes"...Lord help us if they still do this in their teens;)

School and check-ups

Today marks the first day of fall for our family...yes, I know fall doesn't officially start until the end of September, but I always associate the beginning of school with it turning from summer to fall. Sooooo, today was Alley's first day of Preschool! Of course she will be attending Preschool for two years because her birthday conveniently is a month after the cut-off for starting school. Regardless of that, she thoroughly loved school today! To hype up her excitement, I made her a special outfit for her first day. I made an applique shirt with her monogram and I also made some red flowy gaucho pants. She couldn't wait to wear them:)

Here she is sporting her "first day of school" attire...she's just so cute;)

Even though it was raining, I had to take some pictures of her leaving the house. 

Oh she's such a big girl!

Of course it had to rain today, so I didn't get to take all the pictures I wanted, but it's probably for the best. I also had to leave the camera behind when we left to go to school. I could barely juggle MC and her carseat, Kendall, an umbrella and Alley let alone a camera! Sigh...so I didn't get any pictures with her teacher or her class...I guess a plus with her being in Preschool twice is that next year I can do all that stuff and just pretend that it was her first time;) hehehe...

Like I said earlier, it was raining out today. I don't mean just a little sprinkle, I mean a down pour for most of the day. Of course it would do that because I had so much I had to do today...not only did I have to take Alley to school with all the girls in the rain, but I had to take MC to her 1 month check-up. For some reason today the doctors office parking lot was jam packed as well. So we had to park all the way in Alaska and walk (in the pouring rain with 2 kids, a diaper bag and umbrella) to the office. Can I tell you how fun that was...I don't think I've dried out yet...

Anyway, MC had a great doctor's appointment! Her jaundice level has risen so she had to get some blood work done. We should find out soon whether she needs treatment or not. She is 75% in weight (10lbs) and 99% in height (23 inches)...she is one long lean machine;) So she is doing great. We are still having some issues with her not wanting to eat, but as you can tell, it's not hurting her weight;) She is sleeping pretty much through the night (I feed her at 10pm and she will wake up at 3:30 to eat and then I wake her at 7am to eat again)...she's awesome!;) She did develop baby acne pretty bad, but I still think she is as cute as cute can be. She's staying awake longer and would prefer to be held all the time (can you blame her??!!). Kendall lovingly calls her "baby" or "Mar-Cape"...and both sisters just adore her. We are doing well as a family and just enjoying every moment we have. 

normalcy...??

Normalcy...what is that? For the past four weeks I've been trying to find our family's new normal. But it's quite an elusive character that normalcy. The moment I think we've gotten a good routine, or "normal", something happens...someone gets sick, someone has a growth spurt and thinks I'm a 24hour bar, someone has a rough night and keeps getting out of bed, or everyone has one of those days that we all need to be locked in our own padded room...yes, normalcy, you are quite an elusive character in the McPherson household. 

Yet life is still good. We are coping with the best of them and learning how to survive and live one minute at a time. I can't believe Miss Mary Cate is already 4 weeks old. She has been complete joy. From the moment we brought her home from the hospital, she has been so wonderful. She's a great sleeper during the night (she sleeps for over 6 hrs straight before she wakes up to feed at night), she looooves to cuddle, really only likes to be held up on your shoulder, and is not too sure about the binkie but will take it if she is hungry. She is super long and is busting out of newborn clothes because she's long, but the 0-3 month clothes are just huge on her:) She has developed colic, which is frustrating because she is so amazing the rest of the day. When she turned 3 weeks she suddenly started having serious tummy issues and was projectile vomiting. We got a sonogram done of her tummy and she was full of gas and had lots of poop in her that she was having a hard time eliminating it. Anyway, the doc said she had colic and it should go away by 4 months...only 3 left to go;) Over all, her colic isn't extreme. It's frustrating, yes, but it's only temporary. Her cuteness and sweet disposition far out way the colic she has! 

Here are our three girls playing so nicely...it didn't last long until there was screaming and the words "mine" being yelled...but it was sweet while it lasted;)

So this isn't a good picture at all, but I had to show it because of Kendall. Andy got out the camera and she immediately started saying cheese and getting right up into the camera lens. Andy told her to go sit down and she started posing. She was hilarious! Here she is in one of her poses saying "cheese". Alley isn't impressed...

So MC has huge feet and a really really long body...just a pick to show how long her feet and toes are:)

Mimi, Papa and Uncle John came on Monday (I know, I'm running a little late on this blog entry!) because they had no power due to hurricane Irene. We found a book at our local library that we had to get for Papa to read..."Old McDonald had a Woodshop"...PERFECT! Here they are reading the story.

Uncle John relaxing with a very relaxed MC

chatting it up

Alley wanted to hold MC...I thought this was cute. It looks like MC is staring at Alley:) And so it begins...the youngest looking up to the oldest...

I am going to try and do a better job at taking pictures and posting them...now if only I could find that normalcy...

That wild and crazy night...

Since her actual due date is tomorrow, August 17th, I thought it appropriate to tell how excited Mary Cate was to arrive and what excitement she caused in the hospital.

The fun really began Tuesday afternoon the 2nd of August. I went into the hospital at 7pm because first, Mary Cate hadn't moved at all that day. Second, I thought my water might have broken (I had very little amniotic fluid so it was determined I wouldn't feel much) and third, I was having contractions. I was put in triage (the ER of the Maternity wing) and was hooked up to monitors. Of course, within 5 minutes Mary Cate started moving and I stopped having contractions...go figure! The nurse came in and checked and we found out my water had not broken...yeah, I felt like an idiot:) Anyway, the nurse said that my doctor wanted me checked again in 2 hours and then they'd determine whether to send me home or keep me for monitoring. Two hours later (9:30pm) and the only thing that had changed was that I was 5cm dilated and I was having some minor contractions that were far apart and very sporadic. The doctor decided to keep me overnight in triage for monitoring and then in the morning, when he got in, he would get my labor started. So, I called my parents and asked if they would come down and stay with the girls so I could have Andy with me in the hospital. At 10:15pm the decision was made and Andy went home around 10:30 to wait for my parents. It all went downhill after Andy left. At about 11:15 my body was rocked with a contraction that registered 91 on the monitor. So I went from the 20s straight up to the 90s. 3minutes later it registered 102...yikes! I pressed the call button to get a nurse to see what was going on...no response...I tried again...again, no response. This went on for about 30minutes until Andy got there at 11:45pm. Mind you, the maternity wing was packed. There were no rooms available and they seemed to be short staffed. Anyway, I sent Andy out to find a nurse because I was feeling the urge to push and was in serious pain (which I thought was crazy because I figured I was just 6-7cm dilated). A few minutes to midnight, my nurse finally showed up...all the while I'm barely holding my own. Poor Andy was holding my legs together because he was afraid I was going to push...looking back, it's pretty hilarious, but at the time I was not finding any of this funny!! I was then checked and the nurse was shocked to see that I was 9cm dilated because I was still in triage and earlier I had had no signs of labor or any indications I would go into labor. She left to call the doctor and the moment she walked out the room, my water broke (midnight). I finally told Andy to let go of my legs and that I had to push...luckily my nurse walked in at that moment and was able to catch Mary Cate on the next push (12:02am)...whew, that was ridiculous! I will say that it was the worst labor (imagine going through your worst contractions in a room by yourself and not being able to get anyone to help, then when it's crunch time, not having anyone around until you push the baby out...yeah, not so fun!), but it was the best recovery...I had not been admitted to the hospital at the time of delivery (due to being a triage patient), so I had no IVs, no epidural...nothing. Once I got that bowling ball out, I felt great:) The bad thing was that I delivered in a room not set up for deliveries and it was pure chaos after I delivered (I didn't see a doctor for 2 hours after I delivered and MC wasn't weighed or cleaned up/weighed/checked for 2 hours either). With all that said, All I can say is thank goodness I was kept for monitoring or I would have delivered MC in our living room! I will definitely take my triage delivery experience over my living room!

our sweet little thing who decided to come early and quickly

the sister twins

she found her thumb:)

so this is how she likes to sleep (when we don't have her swaddled)

such a thinker:)

Despite the crazy, wild delivery, it was a wonderful experience. I couldn't have had a better nurse caring for me during the delivery (even though it was only 45minutes from first contraction to delivery!!!). We are happy to have MC in our lives two weeks earlier than scheduled:)

Amateur photo shoot...yikes!

So the other day I decided I wanted some cute pictures of little Mary Cate. It's not like we had anything going on, I mean the house was totally quiet and I definitely didn't have another child trying desperately to get in on the pictures...no, not in THIS house! Anyway, In the midst of chaos, we had an impromptu photo shoot.

sleepy little one... 

too cute of a face to pass up:)

check out how long little miss thing is!

I could eat this face up...:)

chunky little cheeks...yup, she's definitely ours;)

sweet little grins

I think she is dreaming about eating...

Poor little Mary Cate had to endure her mothers wishes;) She did great and I think we got some pretty cute shots for an amateur photographer with no editing software! (I will admit, most of these pictures were taken by Andy!)

She's Here!

Mary Cate McPherson

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

at 12:02am

7lbs 3oz

21 inches 

the happy sisters...what a bunch;)

All are doing well and accounted for....I think;) I promise I will get up more pictures and also tell the very wild delivery story, as soon as I find my head. It is now zone-defense...and boy is it a wild game over here:)

Water Day

Saturday was dubbed Fun-Filled Water Day in the McPherson household. It signaled the end of summer camps for Andy, so it was a day we celebrated being a whole family once again....of course, football preseason begins in little over a week, so we are trying to take advantage of every opportunity to be with him!

The day started off with a walk to McDonald's for breakfast...could it have started off any better;)! There we discovered cinnamon rolls....what?! How did I miss that McDonald's had cinnamon rolls?! Oh they were delicious and absolutely gone in seconds...I still don't know if the girls even saw them;) Anyway, with that confession on the table, we finished up our walk and then spent some time playing a reading together. Alley had her last swim lesson on Saturday morning, so we all went out to cheer her on and see how much she has learned. This girl has LOVED swimming lessons! She has improved greatly and I look forward to her taking more lessons. This was just a beginning to swimming, where they learn just to be comfortable with the water, going under, kicking and floating. She has started learning how to breathe while swimming and it's hilarious! We need to get this girl some more lessons;)

Here she is waiting for her turn

"breathing" and "kicking"

You should have seen her face when she'd come up from the water to breathe...hilarious!

After lunch and nap time, we all ventured to Longwood's fountains to play in the water. It was incredibly hot outside and we felt the girls needed a little change in routine. They have been begging to go outside the past few weeks, but let's face it, I am not going out in this heat! I will confess, this fountain is two blocks from our house and I JUST remembered it was there! We would have been doing this all summer  if I had remembered it was there. Oh well...the girls just loved playing in the fountains!

Investigating and totally unsure

following the leader

Oh yeah, we are loving it!

 running through all the spouts of water

hmmmm, what was I doing?!!

The water got me!

Kendall's favorite thing, trying to sit on all the water spouts...she's too funny:)

checking it all out

We had a great time and all slept extremely well:) We might just have to do this again!