In the Making: a Copy of Us

Oh, man! Oh, my goodness! Good grief! ...The expressions that kids pick up from us... And those are the good ones :) The other day PJ climbed on top of the file cabinet, so he could reach the curtain rod to fix the blanket over it in Ophelia's room. Ophelia walked in and gasped :"Ah! Papa! What did you do? Get down RIGHT NOW!" The expressions of her face are priceless: crinkled brow, stern look in the eyes, her voice low-pitched. And then I realized that she is copying me! That is the exact thing that I would've said had she been the one who climbed on top of the filing cabinet :) so funny. I guess the expressions and the voice thing must be mine too then. We just don't realize how quickly kids pick up on things! Nowadays Ophelia understands almost every word in the conversations between PJ and me, so we are having to spell out words like i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m and c-o-o-k-i-e. Last night she overheard us at the dinner table as we were making plans to watch a movie and make cookies after she was asleep for the night...She said questioningly: "We are going to watch a movie and eat cookies?" To which PJ responded that no, only papa and mama are going to watch a movie and Ophelia was going to bed. Logically, a fit followed. We were able to compromise on having cookies together after dinner and telling her she can watch the movie the following day. Oh, the little lessons in parenthood! We have to use charades and round about words to talk about things we don't want Ophelia to know...

April started with General Conference, so here is a picture of our new family tradition: eating popcorn, while watching it on TV. We never eat food in the living room, so it is really special for Ophelia to be able to do this. So, now, whenever she wants to eat popped corn, Ophelia asks if we can watch General Conference :) Makes sense, right?

The Easter weekend we traveled down to Oatmeal for Justin and Evie's wedding. It was a crazy weekend, actually. P.J. had three job interviews that Friday (ACC, seminary and institutes, and UT), the results of which won't be known till the end of May. Saturday was the wedding in Austin. I realized why we were the only ones with two kids there - it's hard to enjoy the party when one kid is running around getting into things and the other one crying in your arms because he can't fall asleep. Note to self - get a babysitter next time :) It was nice to have grandparents there to help out and also Mark and Camille having reserved a hotel room on the premises, so we could breastfeed, rest, and let the babies sleep there. Here is Ophelia at the wedding:

Here are the cousins hanging out in the hotel room: It was Ophelia's idea to hold hands with the babies :)

Here is a Ophelia's rendition of the lollipop song:

LOVE this picture of the kids:

Curls...crazy curls! People ask me all the time if I curl Ophelia's hair. Hmm, yes, every morning we get up and I spend 30 minutes curling my two-year-old's hair :) Umm, no, actually, I struggle to find time to brush my own hair sometimes, let alone curling my toddler's hair! Nonetheless, her curls are adorable. We have no idea where she gets them from and if they will stay, but we enjoy them! Here are the curls in the morning right after she wakes up:

Here are a couple snapshots right before church. Nowadays, I can actually pull Ophelia's hair into a ponytail (curly tail).

This video is historical to our family, because this is exactly the way me and my brother were when we were little: I was dancing around and my brother would just stand by the wall and watch me, trying not to get hit. So, here is Ophelia and Emerson doing the same thing :)

And here is Emerson, our happy little fellow. We are finally arriving at the baby stage that is sweet and happy. Emerson spends a lot of his awake time smiling at us and cooing. I don't remember Ophelia being this smiley when she was a baby. Plus Emerson is only 2.5 months and already so interactive! He still wakes up every 3 hours at night, but feedings just looks at me and smiles and agoos. So sweet! Love this cuddly baby stage! Here he is just kickin' back and relaxin':

Emerson hanging out with Daddy:

Ophelia loves her little brother! She calls him "my sweet little boy" and always wants to hold him. She gives him hugs and kisses, turns the vibrating chair on for him, talks to him, and has tells me: "I am a big sister. I take care of baby Emerson." Emerson recognizes Ophelia's face too and smiles at her. He enjoys watching her in whatever she is involved in. I hope that I can keep nurturing this precious sibling bond that is developing between them, so that they grow up not only to be playmates, but also good friends.

One time Ophelia was "taking care" of her doll, which she calls "sister baby" (she has a "brother baby" too, and sleeps with both of them), by lifting up her shirt and putting the doll's face on her tummy, then singing a russian lullaby to her, reading a book, and putting it in a swing :) Another thing she learned from watching me! Someday she will make a great Mommy!

A couple of Ophelia-isms:

• Upon seeing a rather large-nosed cartoon book character: "He has a lot of nose!" 
• One time when she needed to wipe something, she went to grab a tissue and called it a "bless you napkin". Makes sense, right? Good idea for a new brand of tissues :)

Why we missed church on Sunday...

All that talk about "no baby yet" apparently worked to make the baby feel bad and want to come out! I finished the last post at about 9 pm and at 1 am my contractions started! I waited for a couple of hours before waking PJ up to make sure it was the REAL deal. They were becoming stronger and stronger and about 5-7 minutes apart. At 3 am we called Mom and told her it was time! We stayed at home until PJ's parents arrived and left for the hospital at about 6:30am. Of course, as we are getting close to the hospital, the contractions slowed down...I was really hoping not to have to go home without a baby! I was admitted and checked out - still only 1 cm dilated - I was disappointed. But the nurse told me to walk the hallways for an hour and see if we can speed things up. So, PJ and I went up and down that hallway, he kept telling me to put "some spring" into my step :) I did and, lo and behold, my water bag broke! I knew I wouldn't be going home then :)

Things were progressing well until 11 am, when for about 3 hours I was stuck at 6 cm, despite laying in the bath, walking the hallways, bouncing on the birthing ball. The contractions were wearing me out and around 2 pm I asked for the epidural. However, the doctor on call wanted to get pitocin started as well. The epidural brought the much needed relief, but the pitocin made the baby's heart rate slow way down. That was a scary moment when 3 other nurses and the doctor rushed into the room, they put on the oxygen mask on me, and the doctor said to prepare the OR room. The nurse stopped pitocin and I switched to the side-laying position. Slowly the heart rate normalized and I asked the doctor to give me more time. I am grateful that she did! Seemed like many hours later, with multiple position changes (I was on all fours even with the epidural), the nurse said that I was at a 9. With the next contraction, she asked that I give it a push, and she felt the baby's head move into the right birthing position. Immediately, the doctor came in and several nurses, and I was ready to push! YAY! I felt so greatful that a c-section was avoided and that I was about to start pushing. It didn't take long. Three contrations later, our little baby boy emerged! Here is my first look at the baby:


It was 7:08 PM. PJ and I were in tears of joy to know it was all over and that I was able to push the baby out! It was such a blessing!




Grandma came as soon as she heard the news!



First family photo:




Right before going home from the hospital:



We stayed at the hospital until Tuesday, the 21st. So, I got to go home on my birthday! At home I was greeted with a birthday balloon, Ophelia's "happy birthday, mama!", a delicious birthday dinner made by Grandma, and my favorite cheesecake! But of course the biggest present of all is my newborn son. Here is Ophelia's reaction to her baby brother:




Ophelia left for Grandma and Grandpa's house on Tuesday and has been having the time of her life! It is nice to have a quiet house. PJ and I are not used to that at all any more. I took some time to take some pictures of Emerson. The owl hat was shared with us by auntie Cami.













I love the sweet little faces he makes when he sleeps!





I forget how much time newborns take! It is exhausting to get up every 1-2 hours at night. I am anxious about Ophelia coming back home and me trying to take care of her and a newborn...but I know people do it and are still alive :) Not sure when I will have time to post next though...

We have been so blessed with such wonderful family that help us so much! Also, our friends from church have been taking care of us with so many delicious meals. Even our neighbor mowed our yard on his riding lawnmower! I feel humbled by all the service we have received and it makes me want to serve more.

Oatmeal full of Christmas

Traditionally, we spent our vacation in Oatmeal this year. We relaxed, enjoyed the beautiful Texas winter weather, got spoiled with good food, watched "The Lion King" at least twice a day...and most importantly spent time with our wonderful family! The weather this year is crazy when couple of freezing days suddenly turn into couple of t-shirt-weather days...keeps you on your toes, for sure. And you never know whether to keep those toes in sandals or tennis shoes :)

Ophelia got so spoiled with all the attention centered on her that she decided to revert back to a "baby stage" and occasionally has been using moans, groans, and pointing to tell us what she wants...it is getting much better now...She has learned the words to "the Lion King" songs and loves to belt out "oh, I just can't wait to be kinnnng" (the "n" being drawn out just like that). How fitting for this stage of her life :) She is the "king" for only several more weeks...she has no idea how things are going to change! "Hakuna Matata" is her other favorite. I love that she sings "....it's our problem freeeeeeeze, philosophieeeeeeze...." So stinking cute! Why does she never want to sing for me when I have my camera out?

Another bad thing that Ophelia discovered is that she can climb out of the port-a-crib. The battle of the wills continued even when we got home and she figured the crib wasn't a barrier any longer either. We tried for two weeks the "supernanny" method of zero interaction and putting her back in the crib every time she climbed out. The usual 5-minute bedtime routine became a half-hour to an hour ordeal. I decided now that not every parenting method works on every kid...Ophelia just thought of it as a game, even though it was a very none-interactive one. We resorted to time-outs if she climbed out, which worked for a couple of nights...but ultimately we just had to use the good old "cry-it-out" and ignore her. She hasn't figured out how to open the doornob in her room just yet, so when we would ignore her knocking, calling, and sratching at the door, eventually she climbed back in the crib and fell asleep. It took 2 times and now I am happy to say (and hopefully I am not jinxing it) we are back to our treasured 5-minute bedtime routine! She does not climb out any more!

So, here is the camera roll. Ophelia opened a couple of presents on Christmas Eve: She was excited about it! This is the Christmas when she learned what presents are and grew to love receiving and opening them :)

She got her own laptop from Grandma and Grandpa:

Camille and I belly to belly :) We termed our greeting each other "the A-hug" due to the two huge bellies lined up between us.

"The Dakota Boys" with a new, mandolin version of the North Dakota anthem:

Chillin' with auntie Cami:

Ophelia said that unkie Mark is a cowboy because he has "a cowboy hat." Here she is sporting the "cowboy hat" :

On Christmas day more presents were opened. Opelia had to wear right away the summer outfit that auntie and unkie got for her, despite it being freezing cold. She got a doctor's kit from babushka and dedushka, so everyone got thoroughly doctored for the remainder of the Christmas vacation. Here is nurse Nancy at work:

Unkie Mark's expression...priceless! Love that Ophelia doesn't even have the ear part in :) "Stethoscope" was actually one of Ophelia's newly learned words.

The new drill - Ophelia warming up the toy before the arrival of the boys.

Grandma's present to us was hanging out with Ophelia while we spent some quality couple-time. PJ and I went down to Austin and stayed for a day with Mark and Camille. I snuck out and got pampered at a pedicure place, while Mark and PJ played music and Camille was at work. We enjoyed two nights in a row of frozen yogurt at Berry Austin...love being pregnant!

After we got back, Ophelia's toes had to be pampered too with the new polishes that auntie Cami gave her. Here are three generations of pampered toes:

On one of our many walks out on the land that we took. Love this picture!

This activity kept Ophelia occupied for at least 20 minutes. She decorated Jim by putting all of the Noah's ark stickers on his hair. Doesn't he look so festive?

And yet another walk on the land. Throwing rocks into the pond:

PJ and I had our little getaway in San Antonio this year. We stayed at a luxurious hotel on the riverwalk and enjoyed it so much! Breakfast buffet, walks on the riverwalk, eating out Mexican food (green enchiladas was a surprisingly delicious discovery for me that has made me like Mexican food...we ate green enchiladas in least at three different Mexican restaurants!), happy hour snacking at the hotel, hot tub on the hotel roof, heated pool on the rooftop too, and a jacuzzi in our own room...it was heavenly!
We also did the San Antonio missions tour, which was very educational:

To conclude it all, we got to spend time with PJ's uncle Bert and his wife Cec (this was the first time I ever met Cec, Bert came down from Minnesota for our reception 8 years ago). When Ophelia met Bert and warmed up to him, she asked "But where is Ernie?" :)

What a fun vacaion it was!