YIPPEE!!!!! Madelyn Leigh St. Charles is here!

Welcomed on December 30th at 6:39am -7 lbs 14 oz.

The waiting game....

The wait for Ms. Madelyn's arrival continues! We were thinking she would arrive before xmas, but I guess she has her own agenda and we will just have to wait to see how things unfold. We are all anxiously awaiting her arrival! Can't wait to meet you little girl.

Love, Mommy

Our Baby Girl

Carolina Grace - 2yrs

More images at http://www.chrischeever.com/

Carolina Grace 2 years...going on 15!

Jason and I were just discussing that we don't keep track of all the silly and amazing things that Carolina comes up with these days and that we really should! Mostly because she is hysterical, but also because she is the smartest 2 year old we have come across (we are completely biased, but we are okay with that!)

So I thought I would do a post with some of the Carolina quotes and happenings of the past week (that I can remember). There are so many that wish I always had my pen handy!

Carolina quotes:

"Mommy, can we buy a set of stairs for the condo? I really want an upstairs. Then we could put my playroom up there"

"Mommy, slow down (while I was driving her to daycare). There is a big truck coming and you need to be careful. Mommy, do you have your seatbelt on? Mommy, Whoa! Slow down, be careful, don't go too fast, we don't want an accident with the firetrucks and policemen"

"Daddy, you need to get your butt back here! We miss you daddy, we miss you crazy daddy"

"Mommy, my katie (babydoll) spit up 3 times today and needs to go to the doctor right away!"

"Memphis, you are making bad choices lately and I am going to put you in timeout in the bathroom"

"Mommy, can I wear my short sleeve pants today?" (i.e. shorts)

"Mommy, you better be careful or the baby is going to fall out of your belly"

There are so many more, these are just some of the ones that I can recall.

Her pretend play is also ever expanding and becoming so complex. She has full on adventures with her dolls and toys throughout the house. She will even take her play cell phone, go into her bedroom, shut the door, and ask for privacy while she calls Greyson from school [what!?! - her conversation are very cute too (i listen in of course) - she asks him what he is playing with and where he lives, haha!]. She carries around her purses all the time and goes grocery shopping with her stuffed animals, and also takes them to the doctors, etc. She is also very much into music (and always has been) and we throw crazy dance parties in the living room most nights! The girl could dance all night long I think if I let her!

We are so proud of her (and she will also tell you that if you ask her) because she is fully potty trained with the exception of bedtime! Thank goodness! Now onto getting her to stop sucking her thumb! Our next battle :) I think Jason should own that one since I solely tackled potty training! ha!

We love you Carolina and love being a part of your world! It is so much fun!

One belly shot for the record....

33 weeks - Mommy & Madelyn!

I haven't exactly been into belly shots this time around (given I have been without a camera and without Jason to shoot any good ones)- but I thought for Madelyn's sake I would post at least one!

Happy Turkey Week!

A preview of our photo shoot! Enjoy! More pictures to come soon!

Carolina Grace - 2 years, 7 months! Love that smile - makes me so happy!

The Peanut Posing for Daddy

The Peanut picked out a Christmas outfit yesterday while shopping - she fell in love with this little dress and wanted to take pictures and send them to Daddy. I only have my camera on my phone so they didn't come out so well - but you can see how excited she was to pose for Daddy in her new Christmas outfit. She is getting so big! Ahhh!

9 more weeks to go!

Can't wait to meet you Madelyn!

And your big sister is so excited too!

We may decide to induce you on January 1, 2011...hope you don't mind if I pick your birthday for you! This way both you and your sister both have holiday birthday's! How very cool!

However, feel free to come sooner! We would love a December baby!

See you soon! Love, Mom

Halloween Comparisons!

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2010

Our little ladybug with her favorite teacher, Ms. Amy. The costume only lasted about 5 minutes and then got ripped off, otherwise I would have gotten a pictures with me and her! ha! Oh well - maybe on Sunday we will have more luck.

Happy Halloween Everyone!~

Forgot to post this one! - oops!

Dear Sweet Baby M,

We are all getting so excited to meet you! You have begun to kick and punch and wiggle around inside of me and I absolutely love the feeling! We will be moving back to Indiana in just a few short days and we can not wait to start a nursery for you! We got you a beautiful crib that is a deep brown wood and just gorgeous! I will be painting my old dresser white for you to use and we got you a brand new rocking chair that is chocolate brown to match your crib! I hope to add some purple and pink to make it all girly for you just like your sister's room! Speaking of your sister, she loves to play in your crib! She also loves to pick out stuffed animals for you and to let me know which of her toys she will be sharing with you! She also picked out a cute outfit for us to put you in on your way home from the hospital. We of course already got 'little sister' and 'big sister' shirts for you both! Can't wait for the day you can wear yours!


Love, Mommy, Daddy and Carolina!

We have our name -

So you can take your thinking caps off :)

We are not sharing, at least not now..but it is pretty popular so you could probably guess what it is if you tried - and no it does not being with an "A".

Excited to meet our girl in 20 weeks or less!

Today's the Day!

I will keep everyone posted as soon as we know! I can't believe how many people have voted 'boy'! Ha!

UPDATE: Everyone was WRONG!!! It's a GIRL! More pink for the St. Charles'! Carolina is so excited to have a baby sister :)

EIGHT DAYS !!!

We can't wait! Just 8 days until we find out the sex :) Yippee!!!!

Baby Names

Picking a baby name has proven to be much more challenging this time around. I will give you all a small hint in that our top name today for both a boy and a girl start with an "A" so most likely this blog will read 'Little Miss C and Little Mr/Miss A' in the next 5-6 months, but I don't REALLY know! We are completely torn when it comes to names. Even our top names are not definite by any means - we are open to having them tossed and new ones brought in, they are just the best we have come up with so far. We are open to being swayed by others this time around so if you have any you would like to suggest, please go right ahead! We would love to hear them! 16 days until we find out the sex, so that ought to help us focus!

Beach

Being her typical goofy self.... dancing away!

Beautiful scenary

Frightened of the sand

Hanging with baby doll Emma and watching the waves

Finally adjusting to the beach and building a sandcastle with daddy

Showing Daddy her sandcastle building skills!

15 months and busy

We are still here. I have some cute pics to post from our trip to Boston, but I need Jason to downsize them as they are huge and will not upload. We are busier than ever with Jason taking 3 classes and working most nights too. I don't think either of us have ever worked this hard and it is definitely taking a toll on both of us. It is ultimately all going to take us in the right direction, but certainly challenging us daily. We are looking forward to a long weekend in August and for school to wind down a bit! Carolina and I have had lots of time to bond at the pool this summer and at the park. We found a custard place that we both love so that has become something of a ritual on Sunday's for us too! This city is definitely not one that I would recommend, adding some additional stress to our everyday and therefore we are already talking seriously about our next steps to get out! That's about it for now. Pictures to follow. - And we should know the sex of baby number 2 on August 11th at 1pm, just a few weeks away!

Silly baby, just chillin

We had a nice, long ultrasound today with 2 u/s technicians as one was being trained. It was GREAT! We got to watch the baby for about 30 minutes and he/she was so active! I think I remember Carolina being very active too during our first big u/s. This baby was so funny, just chillin in the photo above with it's legs crossed and a little smirk on it's face while giving us a little wave. We got another good pic where you can actually count the fingers which was neat. Jason was thrilled that there was 5 :) All in all, good day. HR = 153bpm and everything looked good!

Blah.

After a round of I.V. Fluids and I.V. Zofran I am feeling like myself again. This pregnancy has officially veered way off track. Weds night the nausea hit bad and I have been out of commission since then so today we decided after a 5lb weight loss I should get some fluids and anti-nausea meds rather than go into another work week having to take time off while still being unable to take care of Carolina. I am really glad I made this decision as I am feeling much better. Hoping this all subsides in a weeks time. I guess with this new symptom everyone is thinking boy, not just me! Hope everyone enjoyed the photos I shared in my previous post.

Summer Photos by Jason. Enjoy!

Another due date? Seriously?

Had another appt yesterday (took miss C with me) and we waited an hour and a half to be seen...thankfully I was well prepared with juice box, milk, books, gummies, applesauce, etc...I have learned to expect nothing but the worst in this city especially after waiting close to 2 hours for my ultrasound last week! After the long wait we got to hear the heartbeat again. All is well. Heartbeat 167bpm with the doppler. They decided I am 2 days ahead of where they originally thought? A January 6th due date. Seriously. How many times will they change my due date? Whatever. 1st week of January is about as specific as I am getting at this point as they don't have a clue! Baby healthy, mommy healthy, due date unknown :) Genetic testing up next week with more ultrasound photos!

Photos of Carolina coming too as I haven't update her photos lately and Jason has taken some gorgeous shots of her!

Ultrasound photo

So my scanner stinks and this was the best photo I could get on here. You really can't tell that it is a baby, but I would feel awful if baby number 2 didn't get the same exposure on here as baby number 1. So here you have it. My ultrasound at 9 weeks. Another ultrasound photo to follow at 12 weeks. Hoping you can at least recognize that it is a baby at that point :)

Healthy Heartbeat

Ultrasound --- CHECK!

Heartbeat - 169bpm. Baby is doing just fine. Some pictures to follow once I get the energy to scan them. I am not nearly as far as long as expected, only 9 weeks. We will have to wait on genetic testing until June 24th....We have a NEW due date of Jan 8th. Feels so much farther away than December 22 given it is a whole new year! BUT.... no complaining here, just so happy to hear a heartbeat!

Ultrasound :)

I can not wait! Tomorrow at this time I will be 1.5 hours away from my FIRST ultrasound with peanut number 2. I am sooooooooooooo excited :) Jason and Carolina are taking time away from their busy schedules to come with me! I am so glad they are both able to join me in this awesome experience! Pictures to follow!!!

Just for the record. My gut is saying boy. I have no girl names. And any that do cross my mind make me nauseous. Therefore, it must be a boy. Boy names don't make me nauseous. I am also having different symptoms. Migraines that hit at 4pm and make me run out of my office early, craving for fruit, any and all fruit, and heartburn which keeps me up at night (I definitely don't remember that until my third trimester with C). Okay, I feel better now that is it on the record. Boy.

No news....

Is good news?



I suppose?



...to quote my mother.



They are thinking I am 8 weeks, but they don't KNOW. They did not get a heartbeat, but say everything is fine and I should not worry. Here I wait. Originally until June 15th....but just got a call that it will be June 4th at 2:30pm that we will have our "dating ultrasound" so I can finally determine when our little peanut #2 is expected to be born! Oh the anxiety! - I suppose I should just be happy and content that everything seems fine thus far and soon enough I will have my answers!

I wish I knew.....

How far along I was! The unknown is driving me crazy! I am so anxious/excited/nervous for my appt on Thursday when they will hopefully ultrasound me and let me know where I am and when my due date is. My blood work was all out of wack 2 weeks ago like it was with Carolina (although is looking good right now) so I really want to know where I am at in my first trimester??? Since last Friday, the symptoms have started to kick in. I am even more tired, even more nauseous and even more irritable than I was with Carolina (I think...). I am feeling pretty crappy and hoping that I can get through this long work week. If we were still in Indy my OB would have already given me an ultrasound making this even more frustrating....

Sitting here...Really, really, hoping I will be able to share some ultrasound pictures later this week.

Carolina has turned a corner. She is behaving better and I only hope this continues. She still can throw some major tantrums, but all in all, I think she is better now, than she was in February....ahhh I can see the light at the end of the tantrum tunnel and I hope we keep heading in that direction.

Here we go again~

Baby St. Charles Number Two.......coming this Christmas!


We are super duper ridiculously excited to meet you! Just as we were with your big sister almost 3 years ago! Yep, that's right, I am about 7 weeks pregnant and already having the exact same symptoms I did with Carolina, well sort of, I am not having any food cravings at all and hardly any nausea, but, I am oh so very sleepy! I am getting myself all psyched for our first ultrasound on May 20th! Can't wait to get a sneak peek at you :)

Big Girl Bed!!

A few weeks ago Miss C turned 2 years old......and now she has upgraded, (sort of) to the big girl version of her crib! First night tonight and doing great! Awesome big girl stuff happening....if we could only master potty training....I guess I shouldn't push it!

LOTS OF Birthday Pics!!!

Carolina Grace & Caroline Rebecca

Me and Caroline

Aunt Bev & Carolina

Yum!

Callie enjoying her cake!

Carolina with her new veterinarian barbie!

Taking a break and watching the kids play in the yard.

Love this shot. She is definitely 2!

Brand new tricycle!

Happy Birthday to you....

Dear Carolina, WE LOVE YOU!!! You were such a perfect birthday girl today! You definitely KNEW today was your day! The happiness streamed from your face all day until the all the sugar set in and you crashed :) We can't believe you are 2 years old! Love you, Mommy & Daddy

7 days until 2

An early b-day gift....New crocs! Amazing how many hours of entertainment we have gotten out of purchasing her a pair of shoes she can actually put on her own feet without our help.
St. Patty's Day in the 'burgh :)
Silly late nights with all the great weather!
Peakaboo, We just love our screened in porch. A requirement for all future homes we live in! Just the perfect place to let our toddler play and "feel" like she is outside!

We are heading to Boston on Saturday. Looking forward to celebrating Birthday number 2 with the Gammy and Papa! A long drive ahead with a dog and a toddler. A perfect combination to ensure we all need lots of adult beverages upon arrival!!

Outside Mommy!!! Please!!!!

Our new neighborhood in Pittsburgh...we can finally see the grass!

Some remnants of the snow on our sidewalks.

Carolina mesmerized by all the kids on their bikes and scooters!

Our playground that we will likely be visiting every day now that the sun has arrived!

Smiles ...no more hats and gloves!