Rowan: 6 Months

It has been 6 (almost 7) wonderful months since our sweet Rowan came into this world! She is such a fun and easy going baby. Here are some highlights of her life lately! 

• She started rolling this month from her stomach to her back. She hasn't yet mastered rolling onto her back but she isn't far from it. I think part of it is when she gets on her back, she is really happy and doesn't want to go back the other way.

• We started putting her on her stomach this month to sleep. She is not a great sleeper at night and mommy was getting super tired of getting up multiple times a night. So we tried putting her on her belly once she was strong enough to roll and push up on her hands. It has definitely helped and she is much easier to put down at night now. 

• At her 6 month check-up, she weighed in at 21 pounds. She is in the 85% for height and is still off the charts for weight. She is wearing 12-18 month clothing and size 4 diapers! Blakely only got into size 4 diapers before she was potty trained at 2 1/2 years old! Rowan is definitely going to be my basketball star!

Kevin's mini-me!

• She loves eating solid foods and has tried pretty much everything. 

• Last week, she got her first tooth! A bottom tooth has poked through and a second one is working its way through as well. Because of that, she has been pretty fussy lately from the pain. Since she never really cries, it's heartbreaking to see her so upset but I know this won't last long. 

• She started saying "Da da" last week and once said "Nana." I told my MIL that I was going to change my name to Nana since Blakely also said Nana before Mama. 

My sweet Rowan, you are such a joy to us and I am so thankful for your life!

Our Life Lately

Getting posts and pictures up with two children is definitely more challenging than one! It's been a while since I've posted anything so this may be a bit long. But here's what's been happening with the little Stidham's lately!

Blakely Started School

We enrolled Blakely into a K3 program this year at a local church. She goes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday all day. She absolutely loves it!! She is learning a lot about letters and numbers and has made a lot of new friends.

First Day of School

A few weeks ago, I took a day off from work and went on her first field trip with her. We went to the Pumpkin Patch. It was really fun watching her interact with her school friends! We picked pumpkins, took a hay ride, and fed some goats. It was a fun mommy and Blakely day!

Rowan Lately (5 Months)

Our littlest one is growing so quickly. She had her 4 month checkup this week (even though she actually 5 months) and she is 19 pounds and 26 inches long. She is in the 80th percentile for height and is not even on the charts for weight. She is wearing 9-12 month clothing. This is quite a change from Blakely since she's always been very small for her age. She is the happiest baby ever and only cries when she's hungry or needs a diaper change. 

She hasn't rolled over yet but is started to sit up a little better. She loves sitting in her Bumbo chair and really loves jumping in her saucer. It's really strengthening her legs and is a great way for her to get a little exercise!

Halloween 

We went to a fall festival last night instead of trick-or-treating. Blakely went as a 1950's poodle girl and Rowan was a poodle. We had a great time and the girls were adorable (although Blakely was a little disappointed that I wouldn't let her dress as Elsa). 

It's been a great fall so far and we are definitely looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Happy Fall everyone!!

Rowan: 2 Month Updates

Last weekend, our little Rowan turned 2 months old! I have been so fortunate to spend these first two months with her (one of the many perks of being a teacher)! 

At her 6 week checkup, she weighed 11 pounds and measured 23 inches long. Unlike her sister, she is in the 90th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for weight. Blakely is still ranging in the 20th percentile for both. 

Kevin got Rowan's first smile at about 6 weeks. Never mind the fact that I'm the one who feeds her, bathes, her, carried her for 9 months, and gets up with her every night. Those apparently aren't important things to consider when giving someone your first smile. But I'm not bitter or anything! :) However, I did get a smile the next day so I guess I'll forgive her this time. She hasn't really started cooing yet, but every now and then we'll hear a little peep from her so I'm guessing it's coming soon. 

She is still a pretty easy going baby, but is definitely wanting to be held more. I'm not complaining or anything but it is becoming a little more difficult to get household chores done. Oh who am I kidding! Any excuse to not have to do laundry, vacuum, or clean pretty much anything is fine by me. 

She is sleeping very well at night and has started to average about 10-11 hours without waking. She usually goes down around 7:00 pm and sleeps until 5:30 or 6:00 am. This trend just started last weekend so we'll see how long it lasts. 

Blakely is definitely adjusting very well and is an awesome big sister! She always wants to hold Rowan and kiss her. It will be so much fun to see how they play together as Rowan gets older. Blakely is also a really huge help. It could be in part because she gets stickers on her chore chart for helping mommy. But she does a really good job of putting Rowan's bottles in the sink for me and putting Rowan's dirty clothes in the hamper. She also likes to help with laundry and she always reminds me that Rowan's clothes were her clothes first. Yes my dear, that is the beauty of hand-me-downs!

All in all, having two kids hasn't been as big of an adjustment as I thought it would be. But I also haven't gone back to work yet, so I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune in about 3 weeks! Life with 2 girls is so much fun and I thank God every day for my sweet blessings. 

Blakely's 3rd Birthday

Our sweet Blakely is 3 years old!! I cannot believe how fast time flies. Her birthday was June 4th but because of Rowan's birth, we waited until the end of June for her party. Therefore, she was able to celebrate all month. My family was able to be here for her actual birthday. A few days before her birthday, my family and Kevin's family celebrated with her at a local Italian restaurant. Then, on her birthday we took her to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. She had a great time and still talks about meeting Chuck E!

At the end of June, we had a joint birthday party for Blakely and my nephew Eli who turned 2 in June. We had a pool party at my in-laws house. Everyone had a great time swimming and eating cake!

My sweet Blakely, mommy and daddy are so lucky to have you in our lives! These past 3 years with you have been amazing. I love watching you grow and learn every day. We love you so much!!

Rowan: 1 Month

Today marks 5 weeks since our precious Rowan Claire entered the world! We are all adjusting to life with two kids and big sister Blakely has been such a tremendous help. She absolutely loves her new baby sister and wants to help whenever we will let her. If Rowan cries, she rushes to put her pacifier back into her mouth and if I am feeding Rowan a bottle, Blakely wants to be the one to hold it. She will also throw dirty diapers away if asked (which Mommy loves).

So far, Rowan has been a very easy baby and usually cries only when she is hungry or dirty. She averages about 4 -5 hours of sleeping between feedings during the night. However, last night she slept for 6 1/2 hours so I'm definitely hoping that trend continues.

She has a huge appetite and always seems to want just a little bit more. I weighed her the other day and she weighs about 9.7 pounds which is almost a 2 pound weight gain from her birth weight. Unlike her sister, I don't think putting on weight will be an issue for her.
She loves being held and feeling her little face snuggle into my neck is the best ever! She is waking up just a little bit more every day and I love those moments when we just gaze into each other's eyes. I'm trying to get a little smile out of her but no luck yet. Hopefully within the next two weeks I'll get one.

Life with two kids has definitely been double the work but also double the fun! I'm so thankful to be the mommy of my two precious girls!

Rowan's Birth Story

 Our little family of three grew to a family of four with the arrival of Rowan Claire on Tuesday, May 27th!

My doctor had scheduled an induction at my request. My parents live in South Dakota and my dad just happened to be visiting the southeast during the month of May in order to perform two weddings. He planned to come visit us the last week of May but had to leave to go back to work on Saturday, May 31 (my due date). I did not want him to be here for an entire week and miss meeting his granddaughter so I asked my doctor if she would consider doing an induction during that week.

She was happy to do it since I was induced with Blakely and had no problems. Once my induction date was set, my mom made her arrangements to come as well. She arrived on Sunday night and was able to spend Monday helping me get last minute things done.

Kevin, my mom, and me arrived at the hospital on Tuesday morning at 7:30. By 8:00, I was in my room and the doctor had broken my water. Being the wimp that I am, I asked for my epidural immediately. Also, I had been given an epidural before my first induction. So I had no idea what contractions felt like and I was more than happy to keep it that way. 

The doctor told me that she liked patients to wait until they were at least 5 cm dilated and were feeling contractions before getting the epidural. So I had to endure a little pain in the meantime. The pain wasn't awful but I was more than happy to get that epidural about 5 hours later when the contractions were becoming more intense and coming closer together. At 1:00 pm, I received my epidural and then continued to wait until I got to 10 cm. While we waited, my mom, dad, Kevin, and his parents kept me company. I watched some TV, played some Candy Crush, and read the latest edition of People magazine. I definitely had a very positive laboring experience, especially with the pain relief. 

At 4:45 pm the nurse checked me and I was fully dilated. However, this hospital likes for patients to wait to push until after the baby has had a chance to work its way down a little more because it cuts down on the amount of time that the mother has to push. With Blakely, I waited an hour before pushing. But with Rowan, the nurse said I probably only needed 20 minutes. I started feeling a little pressure and at 5:05, the nurse came back in the room to check me again. I told her I was feeling a weird pressure and when she looked, she said, "Oh no! We have to get the doctor immediately. There's a head." She told me that I was not to push at all until the doctor came in. As she was calling the doctor, Kevin was holding my leg and began yelling, "HEAD! HEAD!" By the time the doctor arrived about 2 minutes later, Rowan's head was almost completely out. She threw on her gloves and told me to give one tiny push. I pushed for about 10 seconds and out Rowan came!
She looked very similar to Blakely, but was quite a bit smaller. She weighed 7 lbs. 10 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

The doctor immediately put her on my chest and I was able to hold her while they cleaned her. My mom and Kevin's mom were both in the delivery room when she was born so Kevin and I and the grandmothers were able to spend a good amount of time with her before the rest of the family came back to see her.

Once she was cleaned, Kevin went and got Blakely. She was so excited to see her baby sister. When she saw Rowan, she said, "Oh mommy! That's my baby Rowan. I want to hold her." We let her hold her for a little while and all Blakely wanted to do was give her hugs and kisses. It was really precious.

Overall, I had a wonderful labor and delivery experience and my recovery has been really easy so far. My mom will be here for two weeks total so that has been a huge help, especially with an almost 3 year old to chase around. It will certainly be an adjustment keeping up with two kids, but we feel so blessed to have these two wonderful daughters to raise!