When I got these dresses from Aunt Judy, opened the box and pulled out them out, identical in every way except one big, and one tiny-I didnt think anything could be any cuter....until I out them on the girls! It was the first time I actually saw them as sisters-absolutely adorable!
Ahhh...our very first visit to see Santa and once again I was nervous of Ryans reaction...and once again she took me by surprise (I often wonder at what point I am going to stop being surprised that she is sooo cool?). We put her in her cutie Christmas dress supplied my Aunt Judy (see above blog post) and attempted to squeeze her incredibly fat feet into her brand new black shoes that grandma bought her-too small. We decided to let her choose the shoes she would wear and she settled on her red/white Nikes...not too shocking, the girls loves her kicks, but at least they matched! I imagined she chose them in case she needed a fast get away, but who knows. This was not only Ryans first visit to see Santa, but our first outing with both girls...a challenge I sincerely hope we get better at. We loaded up the house and off we went. The line wasnt long at all (first obstacle down) however the few kids that were in front of her were either freaking out on Santas lap or freaking out in line in anticipation of sitting on Santas lap...I was merely hoping Ryan didnt catch on. Ok, our turn, Jamey put Ryan in his lap and she just sat there-staring intensely at him, as if she was trying to figure out what his intentions were. They snapped the shot, and we wandered over to get her cookies-no freak out, no melt down, no smile-nothing but a 2 minute staring contest in which Ryan won!
We had many concerns when we found out we were pregnant again-financially, physically were'nt sure we could go through that again so soon (well, I was concerned) and spatially (our house isnt that big) but the #1 concern was Ryan. We were OK with the idea of having one child, one beautiful, special, miraculous child and we were going to give her everything we had. So what would having another one do to that plan-did we have enough to split? How would our darling (spoiled even) daughter handle NOT being the focus of our attention and time? It didnt seem fair to her. But someone told me that we (especially once we found out it was another girl) were giving her the greatest gift- a sister, a best friend for life. Still, even with that knowledge, I was scared how the meeting would go. We brought Leah home before Ryan got home from school, got a bit settled and nervously waited for Jamey to bring her home. I sat with Leah in my arms and Ryan came into the house, not even caring that Mommy was home (uggg-where is the love Ryan?). She saw grandma and said hi to her, then walked over to Nana who was on the couch. I said, "Hey Ryan wanna say hi to your sister?" she looked over casually, then before she could turn back to Nana, she did an immediate double take...WHA?! Then she ran over to see what mom was holding! We put her in my lap and all she wanted to do was hug and kiss Leah. It was a total and utter surprise. I rarely cry, especially years of joy, but tears came to my eyes. I was relived, over joyed, and overwhelmed by her reaction. For the rest of my life I will remember that first kiss and just how absolutely precious it was.
Leah's Birth Story: Because I was having a scheduled C-section, her story is fairly straight forward with nothing really notable with the exception of a few "Jenbug" hiccups that would have been insanely annoying if they hadn't been so predicably me. We checked in at 10 am, expecting the surgery to be at 1, and everything was going smooth...until they asked if I had anything to eat that morning. Gulp! Now, in my defense, no one told me otherwise, but honestly, I knew not to eat. But tell that to an irrational HUNGRY pregnant woman. Could I have ate something light at least, maybe, but a chicken bisquet from Chic-fil-a certainly hit the spot-AND caused the surgery to be pushed back to 6pm. Oooopppss... I bet my OB was PISSED, but there was a level of quiet satisfaction of revenge for Ryans birth. However, this did pose some problems-first I had to sit and wait in the hospital (I did get the best rest I had had in 9 months though) AND now I had to figure out what to do with picking up Ryan, and her care for the night (big thanks to Jameys parents for coming through). Now my second mistake was after they gave me the Reglan and I got all jittery, hot and had to pee. Not wanting to bother the poor nurses who had to adjust their schedule already cause of my first mistake, I took it upon myself to unhook the monitors, grab the IV pole and head down the hall to use the bathroom. Until a nurse caught me (BUSTED) and ushered me back to the room, politely telling me to call them next time I had to go. Sorry-again..with that out of the way...SHOW TIME!! I was very very scared this time around, but handled my nerves with humor and grace. Making jokes all the way (not good ones) I got my spinal-no sweat...and they laid me back, covered me with warm blankets (thank goodness, I was so afraid of the shakes I got with Ryan) and away we go. They checked to make sure the spinal worked (my biggest fear) and they had started before I even knew what was happening. Next thing, BIG pulling and tugging and then I heard her scream! YAY! They brought her around and I couldnt believe how small she was and that this time around I was way more lucid and can remember kissing her. Then Dr. Palmer asked if I was sure I wanted the tubal-I asked, "Is she breathing?". He said, "Yes" at which point I said, "Lets do this!" (or something more clever). Over and done, wheeled into recovery for a while, then into my room to nurse my new daughter! Over and done!
We thought it was very important to have a last outing with Ryan while it was just the 3 of us. So when I read there was going to be snow in Savannah the weekend before Leah comes, I thought it would be the perfect thing for us to do. Now it normally doesnt snow in Savannah, so the city did the next best thing for the winter festival-they trucked it in! Cute idea for us southerners-but in actuality it was a small pen with about an inch of shaved ice...dirty from the kids muddy shoes and melting by the minute. But all the kids seemed to be having a good time-it was cold and it was wet-therefore the closest thing to snow they may ever see. On this particular day (not that it is all that distinguishable from any other day) Ryan refused to sit in her stroller, so she ended up walking (running) all over the place in a serpentine pattern with no rhyme or reason and the two of us chasing after her. The looks on the faces of the crowd watching me (the size of the house) attempting to run after her while simultaneously trying to take her picture was sheer pity (or horror, I'm not sure). We had two agendas that day-first was to see snow, the second was to get a picture with Santa. We accomplished the first one with relative ease (not really, but that is a long story and one I would like to forget) but we found out Santa was like 7 blocks away and to a very pregnant woman chasing a 20 month old, 7 blocks might as well have been 7 miles. So no go for a Santa visit, but I was proud that I even got out of the house to get Ryan to see the "snow".
So this was the first year in many, many years that we didn't have to travel anywhere for Thanksgiving (thank you Leah). With my C-section date 5 days following, we felt it would be best to stay put and that is exactly what we did. Now, after the few (but FANTASTIC, if I say so myself) Thanksgiving dinners I have made, I am embarrassed to say we did this one ghetto style: Ready-made microwave turkey, box stuffing, canned corn and mashed potatos (not from scratch) AND I almost didnt even go that far-but I felt it was important for Ryan (as if she would remember) what Thanksgiving dinner resembled. After dinner we put up all the decorations, knowing I wouldnt have the time or energy post Leah. That was fun, for a minute, until Ryan realized what she put ON the tree could be just as easily taken OFF and started a series of, "NO Ryan" and "Just leave the tree alone Ryan" and what has become the party line in my house, "That is NOT a toy." Good times-but the house looked as pretty as could be expected seeing how I was ready to pop any minute!
