We were so happy to have some visitors stop by for a short visit tonight. My wonderful friend, Amy came by with her daughter, Laurel. Avril came up with the name "Lo Lo" for her so this was how she referred to her. They had such a great time playing. If only they lived closer they could be best friends like their mommies are. It was nearly impossible to get a picture of the two of them together. They were running all over the place and would not sit still for a second. This was the best shot I could get of the two little cute dolls. Thanks for coming to see us Amy and Laurel!
Christmas Eve
We spent Christmas Eve at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house with our cousins/aunt & uncle (Robert and Tracine Parkinson's family). We ate a pancake dinner, opened presents, and sang Christmas songs. We had a great time being with family at this wonderful time of year. We can't forget why we celebrate Christmas, so we read the scripture about the birth of our Savior. We are so grateful for all our many many blessings. We love that McKel got to join us for the holidays this year. She was just up in heaven a short time ago and now she gets to join in our family fun :)
Here are the 3 Spencer Parkinsons. Yes, we had 3 Spencer Parkinsons there that night. They are each holding up their # sign.
Avril enjoyed reading her books...
...And of course, playing with all the dolls and Great Grandma & Grandpa's house
Everyone singing Christmas songs
Aunt Tracine and Uncle Robert. They were fighting over who got to hold the sweet, sleeping McKel angel.
How do you get this bow off Mama? "Help you." Avril says this, meaning "Help me."
Christmas Day
Our first Christmas as a family of four! How exciting. Plus, this is the first Christmas that Avril is old enough to get excited and really enjoy her presents. Mommy and Dada just couldn't wait to see the look on Avril's face when she opened her gifts. We just love making that little cute girl smile. Can you blame us?
Avril had to stop and play with each toy before moving on to unwrap the next present. This was a gift from Papa Bryan. So much fun!
Christmas morning :)
Avril had soooo much fun opening her presents! She even started opening other people's presents :)
After we finished opening the presents at our house, we headed over to Nana and Papa's house for more presents galore!
McKel's shirt from Papa Bryan says: My 1st Christmas. Check our her cool socks! So adorable :)
Uncle JJ holding his cutie pie niece
Nana and McKel
After some of the snow melted the next day, Dada took Avril out to play on her new Hello Kitty car. This was a gift that Dada picked out all by himself to surprise Avril on Christmas day. It was so cute, how excited he was to give it to her. Even mommy didn't know about it. Wow, sometimes Dada shocks me with his good taste in gifts :)
On Christmas Eve we had some newborn pics taken at our house with McKel. We love this photographer, she does such a great job. Here are some photos from her blog where she gave us a "sneak peak." Click on the link: www.jbroadhurstphotography.com/blog
This last photo I snapped with my own camera so its not very professional-looking, but cute nonetheless.
We can't quite figure out who McKel looks like. She has a very different look from Avril. My prediction is that she'll have curly blond hair and light blue eyes. So far I don't see much of Jesse or myself in her looks-wise either, but that will probably change soon. She is such a cutie pie and she has already totally stolen our hearts.
At McKel's 2-week Dr.'s appt, here were her stats: Weight: 9 lbs. 5 oz. (86% ile) Height: 22 inches (95% ile)
One thing Alicia wanted for Christmas was a blog post from someone other than her. I tried to get Avril to comply with this request, but she somehow ended up watching Elmo's World on YouTube while drinking her morning coffee. I swear that girl knows more than we give her credit for. Anyway, the point of the story is that I am the one writing the first of numerous holiday posts this December.
This year is the first year we will be celebrating Christmas as a family of four (as most of you know). Two kids, to two adults. That means that we can no longer double team, or at least tag team our hyperactive (almost) two year old. I wondered how we would handle Avril with the addition to the family and came up with no feasible solution. Lucky, God really does not give us more than we can handle, and gave us a baby that sleeps for the majority of the day.
Avril is very good with baby McKel. She can often be found kissing and patting McKel's head and face. Avril loves to show McKel the movie Monster's Inc. She also is helpful with getting diapers and wipes for McKel when mommy or daddy is changing her diaper.
i especially have been lucky to have McKel enter our family. First and foremost, I have another very pretty daughter to look forward to raising. Second, I have got to spend extra quality time with Avril and use my behavior modification skills to turn her into a daddy's girl. We have checked out all the fast-food play places in Logan since those are the prime places to play outside the house during winter.
I definitely could not have done any daddy duties without Alicia. She is a natural momma (although that does not mean we are or should have more kids any time soon). She can always calm a crying baby by singing, rocking, or feeding. Though I have done my best to transform Avril into a daddy's girl there is nothing like a mother's warmth and compassion when Avril bangs her head or scrapes her elbow. Plus, let's face it, our kids wouldn't be nearly as pretty without her genetic input. What a momma.
I just stole this pic from my parents' blog cuz I thought it was so cute! Love this girl.
On our first family outing since baby McKel came, of all places we went out to K-Mart. Mommy needed to buy some stocking stuffers before it was too late. Avril had a blast playing in these belts, and trying on hats. Thank goodness for cameras on phones so I could capture these cute pics.
Oh so happy :)
And this is one of my all time fave daddy-daughter shots. Matching hats! Since dada isn't in school right now or working his on-campus job, he gets to spend lots more time with us. What a treat! Avril is becoming such a daddy's girl. These two have a blast together.
I should've taken more McKel pics but honestly this is what she does most all day so its not too exciting. Zzzzzz....
Oh yeah, and it was my birthday (21st). We celebrated with family and delicious homemade food. Thanks Grandma Gayle!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this guy! He made my birthday AMAZING... He bought me a purse that he heard me say I thought was cute months ago... plus got me two 1-hour massages at the Sports Academy, plus a car thingy for my keychain to lock/unlock the doors since I was complaining about not having one, plus got me my favorite candy- Junior Mints, plus took me out just the two of us to Takara Sushi! What a man. Thanks love.
Jesse also gave the kids baths last night. I walked in to find Avril like this. Haha Dada just makes everything fun. Adorable! :)
I was worried that Avril would feel attention starved with a new little one around for Mommy to take care of. Luckily, I have a lot of friends and family members who have helped out to make sure that Avril gets the attention she needs. She seems to be adjusting to the changes very well.
Avril's first encounter with Santa. Santa came to Jesse's work Christmas party at the Fun Park. Avril followed Santa out of the room when he left, shouting, "Santa, Santa!" She tried to follow him in to his changing room which would've spoiled the Santa novelty at way too early of an age.
While Mommy was in labor with McKel, Avril got to hang out with her friends Porter and Mykell Rich, at their house for awhile. Looks like they were having fun!
Avril has enjoyed seeing all the new baby things in the house. Too bad she is just too big now and will break them!
Avril was recently invited to a kids Christmas Party. She came home with some new crafts that she'd made, like the necklace she's wearing and the Christmas tree below:
We put her beautiful tree up on the fridge, for all to see :)
What a fun party!! Thanks Nichole, for inviting Avril to come :)
Papa Spencer has been so nice to help out and spend time with little Av.
Even Chubbs stopped by to play. Bubble time!
Grandma Carme got this fancy tent for Avril and Papa Spencer put it together for Av to play in. She loved it :)
I know I probably shouldn't always compare... but baby McKel makes parenting seem a breeze, compared to taking care of baby Avril. We could never get Avril to sleep as a baby. I remember bouncing her and taking turns with Jesse, walking her all around the house trying to get her to doze off. She also had bad acid reflux and would spit up constantly, poor thing. Yes, we love her to pieces but she was super high maintenance. She still doesn't sleep. If Avril takes a nap during the day, that is a good day. She is just a fighter when it comes to sleep.
On the other hand... baby McKel will sleep through anything, and I seriously think she sleeps for 20 out of 24 hours in the day. I just watch as she tries to hold those little eyelids up and they must be super heavy because she just can't seem to keep those eyes open. It is so precious. Last night I was even able to change her messy diaper while she slept through the whole thing! McKel also hardly ever fusses or spits up. She lets you bathe her and change her without crying. If she cries, she can easily be soothed in a minute or two. It is amazing to me. We won the baby lottery with this one. She is just a doll. Though its only been a little over a week, we are crazy about this little cutie pie.
A few of the things we love about McKel:
She makes the cutest little grunting noises when she is eating
She pulls all kinds of hilarious faces while she sleeps. She'll go from smiling to frowny face to mad face. I can just sit and watch her cute faces forever.
She has the most pleasant disposition. She is always so mellow and content.
Her cute little double chin
Her perfect Gerber baby chubby cheeks
Her scrawny, totally disproportionate little legs. She is a big baby with tiny, cute little toothpick legs. Haha... daddy thinks this is his fault. I think its kinda both our faults.
Her little dark curls that stick straight up on top of her head.
Her ability to sleep through anything.
Here is a video I made showing McKel sleeping. I know, sounds boring but I wanted to show some of the faces she pulls in her sleep.
Everyone keeps asking me how Avril is handling having a little sister around. She is seriously the sweetest big sister. She comes up to McKel and says, "hi baby Kel" and then she will give her kisses and pet her head gently. It just makes me beam inside. I'm so lucky to have two total sweetheart girls. Here are some pics of the two of them together:
Muchas gracias to my daddy-o for posting the first McKel pics on our blog for us :)
Wow, what a whirlwind week it has been. I have lots of blogging to do. I don't want to leave anything out when I write about this very important time in our life... bringing a new little angel in to the world.
As I was looking through the pictures from McKel's birth to post on the blog, I was just in awe at the miracle of childbirth. I truly don't know how someone who has kids can not believe in miracles and not see God's love for his children by giving us these precious gifts. I am overwhelmed by how much love I feel for my little family of four now :) Wow, I can't believe that. We have two kids now! Crazy.
In case you're wondering how we finally decided on a name... I will tell the story. I told Jesse that we each had to come up with 5 names and we'd put them on flashcards. I decided that when baby girl Yarger #2 was born, we would just hold up the cards next to her and see which name fit her the best. This seemed like the only reasonable solution to our name dilemma. The problem still remained that I didn't really like any of the names he'd chosen, and Jesse likewise about mine. Actually if we're being honest to say he strongly disliked my girl names is an understatement. He was worried our girl would be tramatized by them :( but I can assure you, they were good ones. Anyway, I called Jesse in the middle of the night prior to the day she was born. I begged him to let us use one of my names. After probably the worst argument of our entire married life, we both were still unable to come to an agreement. I hung up the phone and called my mom crying, telling her that we'd never be able to come up with a name we both liked. She remembered that Jesse had previously stated that he liked the name McKel, even though it wasn't on his list. My friend Nichole has a little girl named Mykell (different spelling, same name) that Avril often plays with, which is where Jesse got the idea for a name. I told my mom that I did like it... I just wasn't sure it was "the one." I called Jesse back and we talked it over. The more we talked, the more the name grew on both of us and we both hung up the phone feeling much relief, because we'd decided on a name!!! Finally! So I did a little googling and found out that McKel is a feminine form of Michael, and it means, "Gift from God." I was sold. We found our perfect name, for our perfect little girl. She is definitely a gift from God.
Okay, now for...McKel's Birth Story
Jesse says this will be kind of boring compared to last time. In other words, a much smoother labor and delivery. Yay!
A brief synopsis of Avril's delivery, to compare: Awoken in night by gush of lots and lots of blood (determined to be rupturing of placenta), lots and lots more blood, problems with epidural... did not work!!! Ow times a million. Medicine in epidural went in my bloodstream, causing me to go completely crazy and black out. More drugs, more deliriousness. Episiotomy. Avril suctioned out with vacuum. Avril came out not breathing... meconium.aspiration (she swallowed her poop). Yikes. What a nightmare delivery!
Back to McKel's birth story:
So I made it to my due date (December 9th) with no baby. I was getting increasingly impatient every minute that passed with no baby, and no sign of baby. I had been dilated 1-2 cm since my 36 week appointment, and 70% effaced with no changes. Week 40 hit and we had a doctor's appointment on that day. I anxiously awaited to hear what the doctor had to say. I was so uncomfortable, so tired of being pregnant, and so ready to meet our little girl. When the doctor checked me and reported that I was 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced, for the 4th week in a row, I was soooo disappointed. I figured she must be wrong, that can't be. I hadn't been having contractions really, which was also disappointing.
The doctor told us that she wouldn't let me go more than a week past my due date, so we should set up an appointment for me to be induced. This was on Thursday, the 9th. Jesse had finals the following week. With much apprehension, we went ahead and scheduled for me to be induced the very next day, Friday. This was best for everyone's schedules, especially with Jesse's finals coming up. I was freaking out. So soon! I so had wanted to let McKel come when she was ready. I just thought she would be ready sooner!
The doc said that since it was my second time giving birth, and because I was being induced, this would be a much quicker process than the first time around (with Av labor lasted approx 12 hours, 5 am- 5 pm). She said on average it takes about 4-6 hours for baby to come. Since I was to come in at 7:30 am, she figured baby would be here by noon or so the next day. Wow! So fast!
Well, this wasn't the case. McKel wanted to take her time getting here. She just loved being in Mommy and didn't want to come out!
We arrived at the hospital promptly at our scheduled time of 7:30 am. I was pretty nervous that this would be an Avril delivery repeat, so I was absolutely terrified. The nurse came in to put the IV in my arm. Vein collapsed. Different vein- same problem. Hmmm, lets try a new nurse... she went to find her nurse friend. A couple more vein collapses and they decide to try my hand. Success, finally! In the meantime, all the rupturing of veins made me nauseous and pass out... I'm pretty sure. Jesse says I fainted so I guess I did. All I know is it was awful and it freakin hurt. I was sure at this point that it was starting out badly and so the whole delivery would be just as bad as the last time. The good news is... I was wrong! I can honestly say the IV ordeal was the worst part of my whole labor :)
When the contractions started getting too intense I called for the anesthesiologist. This is the part I was dreading the most. What if the epidural didn't work again? I told the anesthesiologist my horror story from my previous delivery and he promised to do his best to make sure that didn't happen again. He did an amazing job. He told me that for future reference, I should make sure to tell the anesthesiologist that my epidural space is about 3 cells deep.... microscopic. He said he had to barely put the needle in- less than half as far as he usually did, or else he would have hit the bloodstream. Wow. Good to know. Then I panicked because I figured since it was barely in, it was going to fall out! He then stated that he shouldn't have told me that, and reassured me that it would not budge because he says nobody would get their Christmas bonuses that year due to the obscene amount of tape he was using to keep that sucker in there. Phew. Too bad for Jesse, who works at that hospital- no Xmas bonus for us, and its all my fault! Well, the epidural was FANTASTIC! I couldn't even feel the contractions anymore. Now I knew what other moms were talking about when they said that epidurals make the world soooo much better. Oh yes indeed :)
Now my biggest complaint was my hunger pain. McKel was taking her sweet time to make a grand entrance in to the world. All I could think about was how famished I was. Sure, I was excited to see my new baby girl... but in close second was my excitement for finally getting to eat a meal. The dum dum suckers and popsicles just weren't able to satisfy me and I hadn't had any food since some cereal at 5 am that morning. I was beginning to worry that my stomach would eat the baby before she had a chance to make her appearance.
Progress was slow... hours and hours passed and still no sign of McKel. Finally I started to feel the urge to push all of a sudden. I was worried she was going to pop right out before the Doc got there. Again, my worries were all for naught. I believe the Doc got there around 5 pm. I pushed and I pushed and I pushed... no McKel. I was exhausted. Oh yeah, and hungry still. 5:30 rolled around... 5:45... she was still just chillin inside me. The Doc said it was like she was stuck behind my pubic bone and she suggested that we suction her our with the vacuum thingy. Ok... it worked on Avril so I guess we'd try it on McKel as well. That did it. She popped right out with the help of the vacuum thingy. What a relief! And what a huge baby!!
Just minutes before McKel arrived, the Doc was saying that she didn't think this baby would be as big as my first. That was her prediction. As soon as McKel came out, the Doc said, boy was I wrong! What a big baby! Atta girl, McKel! Way to prove everyone wrong and come out all big and healthy :)
Hooray! McKel was born at 5:52 pm on 12/10/10. She weighed 8 lb. 15 oz. and was 21 in. long. She is our bundle of joy and we love her to pieces :)
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe I shouldn't have bothered typing all that, and I just could've posted these pics:
We'll start out with the view from my room. Not bad to look at for 11 hours of labor.
This is what the men got to do while I was in labor. Jesse comes up with some pretty creative sleeping positions. He worked a grave at the hospital the night before, so I guess he has a good excuse for sleeping.
I was a wee bit cold.
Ok, ok, I think I'll take that epidural now.
They want to put WHAT in my spine?
Thank goodness for moms who make it all better.
Lots and lots of tape. Gotta keep those drugs coming.
OK, I'm ready to push that baby out!
McKel makes her entrance in to the world. Yep, her lungs are working well.
Our precious little newborn angel. We love you McKel.
McKel is an excellent sleeper. It was hard to capture a pic with her beautiful eyes open.
Look at how many people love little McKel already. She had a lot of visitors who couldn't wait to meet her.
...And while they were all falling in love with McKel, Mommy was falling in love with her food. Mmmm...that was the best hospital meal I've ever had. Maybe that's why they won't let you eat anything the whole time... so you think the hospital has the most delicious food ever!
What handsome Yarger men :)
Dada and Uncle Chubbs with little McKel :)
Now a grandpa of two precious little girls!
Once Mommy was in her own room, Avril was able to come visit. She was soooo happy to see Mommy... and Mommy missed her too. Avril was pretty confused about why Mommy had to stay in the bed though. She was concerned that her Mommy was hurt. What a sweetheart.
Avril loves giving her baby sister kisses. She can even say her name perfectly already.
I love this photo. McKel and Avril- sisters! Aren't they so adorable?
Grandma Gayle with baby McKel Gayle.
Look at those tiny little footprints! Mommy noticed a typo on this: *These footprints cannont be used as a form of identification for your baby. Just thought that was funny- they can't, really?
I had to modify this a little.
And finally... McKel gets to go home! Here she is in her very first car ride!!
Avril was excited to finally have some company in the back seat with her.
