Alena - week 2

some gorgeous pics of little Lena last week. Look at those big beautiful eyes.

She's been a lot more alert this week, and she loves to spend time in her bouncer.

Long fingers, just like her brother.

Fun with Gramma and Grampa

The time with Gramma and Grampa is flying. Hard to believe there is only one more week left of their visit. So, here is a tribute to the last few days.

Logan and Gramma checking out the big planes flying by.

Gramma and Grampa got the family a new, awesome bbq for an early xmas present this year. And our little fix-it man was very eager to lend a helping hand.

Logan helping Grampa water the garden on our very warm, 29 degree spring day. It was lovely.



the lawn mower or "mow-mow" next door caught Logan's attention and Gramma was happy enough to show him the action.

Yesterday we went to the zoo and one of Logan's favorite animals is the peacock.

This obviously isn't one of our little ones, but this baby orangutan sure is cute.

This stone turtle sure looks real, doesn't it. Caught Logan's attention big time. He even tried to give it a hug. So adorable my little man.

Tour de France anyone?

Logan loves dressing up in dad's bike gear. Looks like he is ready for tour de France here.

Rainy Days

We have been bragging about how warm our August winter was, but September has hit us with a cold, rainy stint. So, on this particularly ugly day, what better thing to do than bake some cookies with Gramma?

Someone is sneaking some chocolate chips -- sneaky, sneaky!

Taking a time-out to check out the hail storm.

Lena on the other hand just passed the day snoozing.

And then I attempted to get a pic of these two sharing a moment together. They are so wiggly it is hard to get a clear shot. But, the idea is there.

Rub-a-dub-dub

With the introduction of digital cameras people take hundreds of photos to get "the photo". I am definitely one of those people. I will take millions just for that perfect pic. Well, Lena's first bath at home, I grab my camera and this is the first shot I took. I looked at it and knew I didn't need another. Not to toot my own horn, but this may be the cutest picture I may have ever taken. Mind you, the subject is pretty darn cute.

Big Brother Love

The first few days when I was in the hospital, Logan had more interest in the exercise ball in the room than his baby sister. We were all worried about how the transition of Lena coming home would be, but he has been really good. Asking about "baby", giving lots of hugs and kisses. He finally even tried to hold her the other day. Lena in one hand, and then trying to grab the camera with the other.

"Aw baby"

Taking peeks of Alena sleeping in the morning.

Baby Alena's birth story

Our new little girl has arrived! My entire pregnancy I was not sure if she was going to be a boy or girl, but I was certain near the end that it was going to be another boy. And as my labour progressed, almost exactly the same as Logan, I thought even more that she was going to be a he. But, what a wonderful surprise at 4:48 pm on September 2, 2011 when our little Lena entered the world.

the labour was not as long as Logan, but I had to be induced again. My water broke first and I had strep B. So, off to the hospital again. However, the big difference was that i got to have some rest for a few hours. We had our room, induction wasn't going to start until decent hours in the morning and hopefully I may start my contractions naturally. So, we just rested in the room and waited. By 8 am I did not have any contractions so the induction was inevitable. We moved from the birth centre to the hospital labour ward. We had 2 really great midwives, Kylie and Claire who were so supportive through my entire labour. I was checked at 9 am and I was only 2cm, so I had a long way to go yet, so the oxytocin started. Kylie was certain that my body would just click and I would deliver before 3 pm. They decided that I was in active labour (so, regular painful contractions) at about noon. Contractions were getting stronger and stronger, but no urge to push yet. I got checked at about 3:30 pm and I was only 3.5 cm dilated! I could hardly believe it. I for sure thought that I was farther than that. I was absolutely gutted. All my breathing, yoga birth practices had gotten me this far in a good way, and now I had hit a mental block. I was on the bed for a rest and the contractions started coming even harder and faster now. By 4:30 I got checked again because they wanted to put a heart rate monitor on the baby's head. I was only 4 cm at this point. I told Craig that I could not go on like this for 4 more hours, I was going to have to get an epidural because I was not getting any rest between body ripping contractions. The, about 5 minutes later I had a really strong contraction. All the pain was at the front and within the contraction the pain moved to my back side and I instantly wanted to push. I had dilated from 4 cm to 10 cm in literally the one contraction. I started to push because I just could not. Within 2 pushes her little head came out and then one big push and she came flying out, literally. the midwife pretty much caught her coming out. And that is it, that is how our little girl came into the world. It was a long, painful labour that ended up having a very quick ending. And the reward at the end, priceless.

Here is Alena, only a few minutes old

She loves her hands

Welcome to the world little girl.

catching some zzzzzzz

Dad snuggling with Lena

First family shot

Gramma with her 2 grand kids

Ready to finally go home.