And life goes on...

  We are settling into life as a family of four quite nicely. Beck is absolutely the best big brother anyone could ever ask or hope for...not one little complaint out of him. No requests to "send her back". He seems very able to comprehend that we can no longer just drop everything at any given time to play...I think it actually upsets me more than it does him. Beck's favorite thing to do right now is go for hikes, and what once took us 5 minutes to prepare for, now takes an hour, a feeding, a diaper change, a baby carrier, a blanket and a lot of coordination. And he takes it all like a champ.

   We are sorely missing the presence of Judy, Doug's mother, however...it was like having a live-in nanny/housekeeper. With reluctance, I have watched as the house becomes something resembling a natural disaster, and I feel as if I am constantly waiting for that tipping point at which something such as illness combined with lack of sleep sends us into meltdown mode. However, for now, things are good. And we feel so fortunate to have two amazingly healthy and happy children :)

Welcome Cora!

      
       She's finally arrived! On September 19th, after a very short labor and delivery (2.5 hours start to finish!) and about three pushes, Cora Holly Welling "shot right out" (according to the doctor). A big difference from Beck's 25 hour labor. She weighed 8lbs 8oz, and was 19 inches long. She has a full head of thick dark hair, and is extremely alert! Just like her brother, she was due on the 17th, and came two days late. According to the pediatrician, Cora is "perfect". Yes, I might be biased, but at her 4 day checkup, she'd already grown 2 inches, and they didn't even bother to schedule the two week checkup because she was doing so well. Yes, I am bragging. Here she is!!

Happy Labor Day!

        Well, we thought it would be pretty sweet to go into labor on Labor Day, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So, I'm walking around between 3 and 4 centimeters dilated, "ready to go" as the midwife puts it. I mow the lawn almost every day in hopes of getting things started, but apparently she's just not ready to come out. What's the saying? "A watched pot never boils"? Well, we're happy to at least have made it through the week Doug was gone to Canada, and I'm just selfishly hoping to be able to attend the Common Ground Fair this year. The weather has finally turned downright beautiful, after a heat wave of 90 degree + days. The nights are cool, and even though the sun is still warm, the air is dry and the breeze is even a bit chilly. Perfect!
         Assuming I don't get any more posts up before this kiddo is born, stay tuned for news of delivery and pictures. We're taking bets on her size...Beck was nearly 10 pounds, so let's hope in this case the second child is not always bigger. I'm estimating about 9 pounds right now...