Meet Our Newest Arrival...

Maya Katherine

May 26, 2009

4:30 pm

7 lbs. 11.5 oz.

19.5 inches

We are so excited that Maya finally decided to join the world! She is healthy as can be and such a joy to have in our lives. So far she has been sleeping most of the time, but during her awake hours she is eating well and very observant.

Her labor was quite the ordeal. I don't know if 41 hours breaks any records, but it should come close to a few! Yikes! I started having contractions at 11:30pm on Sunday and we decided to finally go to the hospital at 4:00am Monday when they were 3-4 minutes apart. Much to our dismay, they sent us home. I spent Monday at home in labor and we decided to finally go back Monday evening. Again, they sent us home because even though my contractions were strong, my cervix was not dilating very fast. Finally, at 2 am Tuesday morning, we made our final journey back to the hospital. So, labor continued through the morning and I was only 5 cm by noon. They decided to break my water, but that didn't even help anything except make the contractions even worse. I really wanted to have a natural labor, but when they told me it was either get pitocin or have a c-section, I chose the first option. An epideral was needed as well because I was so exhausted that I wouldn't be able to push either. So, those two things sped things along and by 3:30pm I was pushing and by 4:30pm she made every little part of labor and pregnancy worth it by joining our family!

Gabi gets to meet her new baby sister -- "BABA!!!!" My mom flew in to Denver on Monday morning to watch Gabi for the week. They had lots of fun going to the park and playing. We're so thankful she was able to be here to hold down the fort this week.

They finally released us from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. We were so excited to go home -- Maya was too -- she didn't mind her car seat at all!

Joe's parents arrived just before we got home from the hospital. My dad had arrived on Tuesday evening to join my mom in Gabi duty. It is so nice to have our families here to help us out.

I'm sure we'll be taking lots more pictures, so check back soon! Thanks to all of you for your support, prayers, and love. We have the best friends and family ever and our sweet little girls are so lucky to be surrounded by all of you.

Love to you all,

Joe, Tara, Gabi, & Maya

In the Spotlight

I figured that since Gabi will have to share the spotlight soon (or as our doctor always puts it, will be "dethroned") I wanted to have one last post all about Gabi!

Ready for Summer!

Sleeping Beauty -- I had to wake her up from her nap one day and found her like this. It's a good thing we don't have to wake her up often -- she was not a happy camper.

We went to a 3 year old's birthday party on Saturday and Gabi got her own apron and immediately fell in love with the pockets -- they can hold all of her rocks! Do you think she'll love rocks enough to follow in her mom's geology footsteps?


Happy Mother's Day!

Have a great week you all!

Tara

Little Miss Chatterbox

Hello!

I'm sorry it has been so long since the last post. I've been swamped with school work and chasing after a 19 month old when you're super pregnant is extremely tiring!

Gabi keeps expanding her vocabulary and we loveto hear her try new words. Her new word to say is "salsa". She has always loved this word and used to giggle everytime we said it when she was little. She can say most animal sounds and do lots of actions for animals. She still won't say her long "e" sounds. So, "me" sounds like "ma". She is able to identify all animals and most colors and shapes. It is so fun to watch her absorb everything in. She especially loves to go for walks in the stroller and see everything. Here is a little sampling of her talking:

Here's a few other pictures from the past few weeks:

Dressed in her cowgirl shirt, riding her pony!

Gabi gives playing outside a thumbs up -- she loves it! (Notice the scratch under her eye -- the cat finally got revenge -- enough said. She hasn't pulled his tail since.)

So, because of high demand from distant friends and family, I've gotten the courage to post a picture of my very pregnant self. Don't I look like I'm about to tip over? I feel like it anyways. Only about 2.5 weeks left (hopefully less). Baby is doing great and weighed in at 6 lbs. 4 oz. almost 2 weeks ago, so we may have a big baby if we go full term. The baby has dropped already, I've had some mild contractions, and I've already started to dilate, so the doctor thinks it may be a little early. Keep those fingers crossed! We've narrowed down our list of names (but we're being mean and not sharing) and have just about everything ready.

The next post just may well be of Gabi's new baby brother or sister. Thanks for checking in on us!

Love,

Joe, Tara, & Gabi