Wordless Wednesday

EEK MICE!

When I was opening up a garbage bag filled with garage sale stuff to sort through today...I was met with a surprise. Apparently a family of mice had taken up residence. SICK! After screaming and running in to tell Dave (who replied, "Well just pick it up and get rid of it"...thinking it was dead...AS IF I would have done that anyway. He's the man for crying out loud). Once he realized that he was not going to get out of it, he came and helped me corral...yes 3 baby mice. We then found the momma with another baby. That took the longest. The vet in Dave would not let him kill the silly things (frankly I didn't want them dead either...nor did I want them in my garage). He caught them and took them out to a field and freed them. How very humane of him. I spent the rest of the day cleaning my garage because I am convinced that they infested everything (they probably didn't...but I am still going to clean it like they had...ick). That made my garage sale set up go a little slower today. Thankfully, Noah spent a good portion of the afternoon at my neighbors playing with her 2 kids. He (fortunately) slept through the mice incident. Yuck yuck yuck.

Cook-in Yenerich Style

Well, last night we hosted the set up/tear down team from church and a handful of college students who are leaving for the summer to a cookout at our house. Since it rained most of the evening, it became more of an indoor affair. We still had a lot of fun (in my opinion). Lot's of good food, games of euchre, and Noah had a blast playing with everyone. I love doing this kind of stuff...especially for the college students. Someday, when Dave and I upgrade houses, I would love to explore the possibilities in West Lafayette so we can have a home base close to campus where students can come when they need a break and a home cooked meal(Only on the nights that Dave is home...Don't expect any wonders from me).

With Noah and Callie asleep, I am going to sneak out to the garage and start pricing garage sale stuff. It will be a busy rest of the week.

Fluid Inventory

Let's take a brief look at the various fluids that are swarming our house: (Jonelly, this might be a bit much for you...fair warning)

1) The general poopy/wet diapers (biapers as Noah likes to call them) from both kids
2) Snot: From everyone. Dave and I both have runny noses. Noah's nose is runny...and yes, now poor Callie seems to be getting congested.
3) Spit up: Callie juices herself, me, and various other things multiple times a day.
4) Drool- Noah is cutting his two year molars. He sticks his hand in his mouth and drools on it, then tries to hug me or touch eyes or any other body part that he wants to label at that moment.

These all seem to come in projectile form and inevitably aimed at me. Today, I feel like I should shower every half hour. We're trying to teach Noah to cover his mouth when he coughs, but alas he usually gets a good lugie flung at me before he remembers to do it. I'm pretty used to Callie juice-ing me and have hit the point where I don't always change my shirt afterwards. Is that gross? Well, if it is, and you want to come over and do a load of my laundry, be my guest.

I feel bad for Noah. It's clear he doesn't feel the greatest (he went down for a super early nap today because he asked..."Night night???". Sure, baby...you can go night night. Who am I to argue with that?) So, everyone here is snoozing, except me. My "to do" list knows no bounds.

Noah just woke up in a much better mood...better see to getting him some lunch and continue with my "to do" list.

Peace.

Night walk

Last night, my parents were in town. After we had put Noah to bed and Callie was asleep in the swing, Dave and I snuck out for a walk by ourselves, leaving the kids in my parents care. We took the dog and just walked around the block, but it was wonderful. We hadn't walked by ourselves in the evening since before Noah was born. It was nice to hold hands and just chat without having to monitor Noah or try pushing a stroller. It was, in my opinion, pretty romantic. :-)

Garage sales

I love neighborhood garage sales. It's all the fun without all the driving. We picked up some cute clothes for the kids again this morning. The prices were still not stellar (I am SOOO cheap. I love getting things for a quarter), but I still found some fun stuff. I still haven't found the gold mine of garage sales yet. Next week, we are holding our garage sale. It will be a good time to purge a little bit before garage sale season gets too far underway!

Callie-3 weeks

Our printer is out of ink...so I don't have a cool print out of "3 weeks". These were taken this morning though. Check out her shirt...it was a gift from our friends, the Wellners. They had it special ordered with her name embroidered on it. How stinkin cool is that! What a great keepsake too. Thanks Wellners! (I have the link to the website if you are interested in ordering your own. It's a friend of Becky's who gives 10% of her profits to Young Life)
Happy 3 weeks of living in this world Callie!

Callie-Cuteness

Thanks Mindy for the super cute dress. :-)

Thank you children!

Noah slept through the night last night and slept in until 7:30 this morning. Callie slept 5.5 hours, nursed, went right back to sleep and slept again until 7:30 as well (another 4 hours). It was wonderful! I still woke up a lot in the night thinking I might have heard her, but she was sound asleep. It was truly a great gift considering Dave is not around to help me this morning.

Time...what little there is

Callie will be 3 weeks tomorrow. Somedays, I feel that she has been with us forever. Others, I feel like where has the time gone??? Wasn't she just born? Since I am short on time...Here are the highlights:

-Laundry does not do itself
-The Furminator is the best pet brush EVER...we have gotten literally small animals worth of hair out of the dog/cat. I recommend it to any pet owner. You're welcome.
-We're back to leading lifegroup after a nice month long hiatus.
-Dave is almost finished with his bookshelves, and then I am gearing up for our neighborhood garage sale on May 3. I must be crazy to do this, but I am anxious to purge.
-Noah turns 2 on May 14...again...where has the time gone?
-Dave and I are going on a date tonight (with Callie...minus Noah) thanks to Kauffman.
-It's too nice outside to clean house...I would love to hire a maid...if we had the money. :-)
-We have great friends and family who have showered us with super cute girl clothes...thanks everyone!!!
-Noah loves being outside and riding his "bike".

Well, that about sums us up.

Callie- 2 weeks

Callie- 1 week

Callie-ness

Well, we have hit some garage sales yesterday and today. I was able to start the girl wardrobe. The prices were not as low as I would have hoped, but they were still reasonable. Callie now has some sleepers for the winter and a few other outfits.

Our girl is quite the eater. She was born 7lbs, 7oz. She lost weight at the hospital, leaving at an even 7lbs. 2 weeks later at our check up she is up to 8lbs, 5oz. What a little piglet! I've definitely noticed her filling out a little more. I don't mind a healthy eater. Noah was so hard to get going, and Callie just took to it so naturally.


She's been asleep most of the day today, that might make for an interesting night. We haven't had too bad of nights. I have been able to sneak in some 4 hour stretches here and there. I even took a nap today...which was wonderful.

We just put Noah to bed and are watching Remember the Titans. Then, off to bed. :-)

Catch up

Frankly, I've been too tired to even think about blogging. However, I will do my best to provide a quick catch-up in the Yenerich household:

Dave was home the last few days so we have had a lot of fun family time. Dave took Noah swimming Tuesday/Thursday while Callie and I watched. Callie mostly slept, but I enjoyed watching them swim (and was a little envious...I'm anxious to get back into the water). Wednesday, we went with Summer and Lillie down to the Indianapolis Zoo. It was Callie's first time there (clearly), but she mostly slept through it (I know...big shocker). It was such a beautiful day that we couldn't resist. Although the kids were all exhausted on our way back (me too), it was still a really fun day.

Callie is hit and miss in terms of sleeping. Tuesday night she was awake every 1.5-2 hours while yesterday she slept 4, ate, then another 4. I'm hoping for another repeat of last night. I can handle that.

It was funny hearing about the earthquake because as parents of another newborn, we were both zonked and didn't even feel it. For me, that is quite a feat. I hear everything and 20 minutes after this alleged earthquake, Callie woke up and needed to eat. Up to that point, I must have been out cold though. I'm a little bummed that I "missed" it. Oh well...guess I'll just wait another 20 years until the next one...

My friend Melinda came down on Thursday and we had a really nice visit. She is one of those friends that sometimes we can chat about EVERYTHING, and sometimes silence is OK. This last visit, we didn't have much to chat about (or process), but it was a lovely visit none-the-less. It's nice to have a mix of both really. I'm so glad that she was able to make the trip and to meet Callie.

Right now, I have laundry going, dishwasher going, baby einstein on for Noah, Callie asleep in the swing, and a desperate desire to take a bath and fall into bed myself. Dave is at work tonight, so I will probably put the kids to bed, and follow shortly after.

Whew...update done. Mark that off my list. :-)

Flying solo

Last night was my first night flying solo with both kids. All the grandma's have gone home and Dave worked last night. Of course it would be the night that Noah woke up 3 times and decided that 6:20am was a great time to be awake. Callie did OK, but she is still obviously not sleeping through the night. The combo of the two made me a little cranky this morning. Dave took us to IHOP though and there is something about hashbrowns and chocolate chip pancakes that can do wonders for my mood. :-)

Noah went with Dave to Meijer at around 11ish. Dave came home with him asleep on his shoulder. Apparently the early morning caught up with him as he fell asleep IN the shopping cart. Dave had to carry him to the checkout..and then home to bed.

He's awake now though and eating lunch. We may go swimming this afternoon or do something to enjoy the day.

Dave is getting some work done outside (mowing the lawn and chopping down tree limbs with his chainsaw). It's so nice out. Callie is snoozing in the swing and I am doing more laundry.

Nothing too exciting...

Latest Family PIc

How many times can you go to the MD in a week?

I feel like I have fallen off the blogosphere. Here's why:

Wednesday: Grandma Y. left and Noah was pretty sad. I went to help him up on the chair with me while I was nursing Callie. I pulled him up by the arms to help him up. I thought I heard something "pop" but checked him afterwards and didn't see anything. He cried the entire day. At first I thought it was because he missed grandma. I laid him down for awhile. Meanwhile, my stepmom, Kathy, came to help us out. He just kept crying all day. Not a whiny cry, but a genuine cry. For the life of us, we couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Finally at around 3, Dave was consoling him and finally realized that he wasn't using his right arm at all. We called the doctor and they got us right in. Apparently, he got what's called "nursemaid's elbow". He probably got it that morning when I helped him up on the chair. It happens often (didn't lessen my guilt at all) to toddlers as they are hanging or pulling on things they snap a ligament out of place. The doctor fixed it in no time and he was fine. I did OK until all the nurses started comforting me, then I really started to cry. I felt like I got the bad mom award yesterday. Poor Noah and although it was an accident, it was my fault.

Afterwards, he was trying for the rest of the evening. It was a rough night. He had problems sleeping. Callie had MANY problems sleeping. Dave was at work, so I am beat today.

Thursday: I went to the doctor this morning to get antibiotics for an infection. I was just annoyed because, well...I just was at having to go to the doctor. I have been exhausted all day, but every time I tried to nap there was some other hiccup that needed to be dealt with. It was unfortunate, since I had the help, that I couldn't successfully take a nap. I am hoping to try and get some better sleep tonight. Dave is home with me as this is our first night on our own. It's been kind of nice to try out our new routine. Kelsey brought us a rockstar dinner tonight with a "Happy 1 week old" cake for Callie. It was super cute. I have so much that I want to try and get done here, but really...trying to get sleep is becoming a more pressing need. I just have to remind myself that there is grace in not getting everything done right away. My kid is only a week old. OK...on that note, I think I am going to sign off and rest (while I can).

Thank you Grandma!

Mom Y. has been here all through the last week. She watched Noah while we were in the hospital, took primary care of him as we got home and needed to adjust, kept my house clean, laundry done, and various other things to help make our lives easier in this transition. She was INVALUABLE to us during this time and we cannot thank her enough for being such a great grandma and mom. Thanks Grandma Y.!

Life at the Yenerichs...

This is my favorite picture of the kids so far. Callie had a 4 hour stretch last night...Hallelujah! It was actually not a bad night. Dave is back to work this evening so its my first night solo with her. Hopefully it will be uneventful.

We had a busy but nice day today. I got to sleep in a little bit this morning and when I woke up, Dave made me pancakes. We then all took Noah to the pool. Dave swam with him while grandma, Callie, and I watched and took pictures. Afterwards, they all played/worked outside while Callie and I rested inside.

This afternoon, Mom Y. and I got out and ran a few errands leaving Dave with a sleeping Noah and a sleeping Callie. It was pretty cute with him cuddling with her on the couch. :-) She was completely content being in daddy's arms.

Now, Callie is showing grandma her eyes, which is great. I want her to be awake for a little while before bedtime. Grandma Y. has to leave tomorrow and Nanny (my step-mom) will come to replace her until Thursday.

Day 4

So, last night was a little better. We went every 2 hours through the night, but atleast she slept in between. It's a starting point. Today, we had a chiropractor appt and Callie's first doctor's appt. We also had to make some exchanges (boy for girl clothes) at a few stores. It was a busy day and when Dave and I got home, we were pooped. Noah still loves Callie and always wants to hold her while watching his cartoons. He is getting much better at saying her name too. I have finally started her baby book (now that it's pink instead of blue). It's tedious trying to go through and write everything. I'll have to keep going back to it. I got a bit overwhelmed tonight, so I had to put it down. We're getting Callie's room put together (getting rid of the blue and making room for the pink) with many thanks to Dave's mom who has been invaluable to us this week. I'm going to feed her soon and then hopefully we will all go to bed early tonight...and stay asleep for atleast 2 hours (maybe 3...if I'm lucky!) at a time.

Overwhelmed

Since the birth of our daughter we have been overwhelmed by our family and friends who have all banned together to really welcome our little surprise into the world. We have had so many people buy outfits for Miss Callie and other cute pink things so that she didn't have to go home in boy's clothing. We went from nothing (2 outfits that I had found at a garage sale) to having a whole closet full of clothes and items for her in the course of a weekend. My sister-in-law, Laura, brought a few bags of clothes that her daughter had just outgrown so she now has sleepers to puke in. :-) We are really feeling the love of community. Thanks to the Pools and Jonell for meals the last few days.

Also thanks to Tiffany, Kelsey, and Jonell for the nods to us in their blogs. We feel so priveleged. :-)

I love being in a community of believers that really know how to care well for each other. I know that Dave and I feel completely loved and cared for as we welcome and adjust to Callie in our world.

So, a BIG BIG heartfelt thanks from us.

Team Yenerich

Parenting is stressful. However, it really has the power to draw you closer to your spouse. Last night, I pulled my first ever all nighter. Callie would not sleep...period. Dave really came along beside me taking turns with caring for her, changing her diaper, etc. He even stayed in the nursery and talked to me as I was feeding her. As we wearily crawled into bed at various intervals, we just hugged one another and drew strength from that. Dave stayed up with her for over an hour just trying to comfort her, while I did not sleep, but laid in bed listening to her cries. I finally was able to sleep around 3 hours starting at 5am. I am signing off now because Dave is really wanting me to take a nap while its quiet here. So, as I end this...I'm very thankful for my husband who supports and comes along side me as we enter this journey of two children. I can't imagine life without him and I am so glad that we are a team.

Big Brother

Noah is really taking to being a big brother. He really likes to hold Callie and asks to do so often. Life has been hectic here with lots of people in and out, but on the whole I feel that he is adjusting fairly well. We'll see how life goes once we get back to routine and it's just the 4 of us. For now though, I am very grateful that he likes his little sister.

SURPRISE!!!

Well, we were. :-) We have spent the last 5 months thinking that our baby was a boy...and we got the shock of our life when "he" came out a "she". Callie Joy Yenerich was born this afternoon at 2:07pm weighing in at 7lbs, 7oz and is 19.5 inches long. She's beautiful and we are completely in love with her. She is much more vocal than Noah was and a very good eater. I feel great. The pain meds are doing wonders so I haven't felt much in terms of pain for quite some time.

Everyone is healthy. Dave just ran down to the van for some Ibuprofen for himself and to call so that Noah can come visit this evening. He was such a great support. I know that he has been having some back problems himself, but he was so great about seeing my needs before I could voice them and really taking care of "his girls". He is thrilled to have Callie and is already concerned about the hold that she will have on him. He's bad enough with Noah. All Callie will have to say is "dad" and he'll be a goner (sp?). :-)

Callie is getting her check-up now and so I have a few minutes to type. After Noah gets here this evening, we may try to take a few pics and then Dave can post them.

A few things about visitors: We would love to see you...tomorrow. :-) I know that I will be more than ready to see people by then. Tonight we are hoping to let Noah have some time with his little sister and then lay low. We're here until Saturday sometime so come whenever.

If you are planning on visiting, I just wanted you to be aware that there was a fetal demise two rooms over from where I am. So, as you are walking in the hallways be aware of family members who might be in mourning. We really want to be respectful and not add to their sorrow. Thanks.

We'll try to upload some pictures soon.

Love,
Dave, Kim, Noah, and Callie

Notes from the underbelly

You know we've come a long way in technology when one can actually live blog their labor experiences WHILE in labor. :-) That's where we are at. We checked in this morning expecting to be here a good chunk of the day. We brought plenty of books and movies. However after breaking my water at 8am they are now hurrying around as he is expected sometime around noon. We'll see what actually happens though. So far things are fairly uneventful which is really what we like. At this point I'm feeling good and can't really complain. But, as I say this another contraction starts.

Last belly picture...

Noah's Baby

Today is Noah's last day as being an only child. We all went to the mall and got him another belt (so that he could wear pants the appropriate length). We have one, but it has disappeared. When it reappears, we'll just have 2. We then stopped by Toys-R-Us. If you have followed the doll debate at all, Dave and I have had different opinions on Noah having a doll. At first, Dave was very much opposed. I can see his reasoning considering he is a guy and I grew up in a house of 2 girls (I don't really have a frame of reference for what to do with boys). However, I still thought that since Noah is into babies anyway that having one of his own while we have our hands full with the real one, would be something constructive for him to do and teach him how to care well for his real baby brother. We finally agreed to disagree and search other options. However, after deliberating over what we wanted to get him that would be from the baby...we still couldn't come up with any ideas. Dave and I talked about it further on one of our dates. He said that he wasn't completely opposed to a doll as long as we could find one that was not so feminine. So, finally...we went back to Toys-R-Us and he and Noah picked out this baby.
Noah was thrilled and kept looking at the baby, saying "baby". I promised Dave that he wouldn't have to buy all the "extras" and that this could be Noah's only baby. We'll wrap it up and let Noah really have it tomorrow when we are at the hospital. I have a very gracious and sweet husband...for which I am very thankful for. Hopefully, our son(s) will grow up to be as well-rounded as their daddy...Able to go play with wood and fix cars, but still have a gentleness to take care of their family and love well.

My Jesus

With all the baby fuss, I have to admit that I have not been consistent with my daily quiet times...and I am feeling the brunt of that. I usually get them sent to my email account, but got behind and haven't caught up. I just need to discipline myself and get back into it. I also need to start reading some new testament to counter the old testament. You have permission if you see me to ask me if I am doing this.

I don't want to lose the spiritual ferver that I regained around the beginning of the new year. This morning I need to just spend some time with my Jesus...and reconnect again.

Since nothing happened yesterday baby wise, and is not looking like it again today...we will be induced tomorrow morning. Dave and I report to the hospital at 7:15am. I need to find some good reading material (perhaps my bible???) and settle in for awhile while we are waiting.

So, I'm ending this post, so that I can go have some quiet time with the Lord and hopefully feel a little more hope at the end of that time. I'll try to update one more time before we head to the hospital...but if not, the next time will be to announce a baby. :-)

Latest Update

We went to the MD again this morning. Still nothing. If I don't go on my own, they are planning to induce me Thursday morning. So, hopefully by the end of this week, we will get a chance to meet our little one.

I have an MD appt. in a few hours this morning. Hopefully from there, I will know a little more about what this kid's plans are. :-)

I am actually in an OK mood this morning, so don't be frightened to call if need be. I don't want to scare anyone away. :-)

Dave was super supportive yesterday and having not gotten out at all yesterday (lack of things to do besides have a baby...and the weather was icky) he told me to go on to the birthday dinner without him since Noah would be a terror the whole time. He thought that I might need to get out. He was right, and I was very thankful that he was so willing to stay home with Noah Bean. It was nice to get out for just a little bit and have a change of pace. I came home happier, but tired. I was in bed by 9pm last night.

If we find out anything new from the doctor today, I'll try to update. Until then, have a great day everyone...and those from lifegroup...we'll see you tonight!