Thanksgiving Feast

A couple weeks ago, Kennedy's school celebrated Thanksgiving a little early with their parade and feast. The Halloween parade was a bit of a mess with Kennedy, so I didn't have super high expectations for Thanksgiving. Granted, at Halloween, I was in the hospital and she was a little overwhelmed by all the people. Anyway, down the hall she came with her little Indian hat and vest on. I won't say she was smiling and enthusiastically waving at everyone, but she wasn't crying and didn't run to me - so, success.

Grammyflash and Big Poppa happened to be in town so they got to come join the festivities. When it was time for the feast, I asked them to keep Chloe so I could have a few minutes of Mommy/Kennedy time. Well, upon my arrival to the picnic blanket, Kennedy's first question was, "where's my baby? I want my friends to see my baby." I brought Chloe down and Kennedy was just beaming. She is a very sweet and proud big sister. She had all of her friends come say hi and walked Chloe around to meet the other teachers.

We sure do have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Sharing Clothes

I'm a bit of a Stuff Saver (hoarder is such an ugly word) and because of that, Chloe has bins (and bins) of clothes from her big sister. This dress was one of the first girly things Kennedy received and I could't wait to see it on Chloe. This is only the beginning of seeing Chloe wear some of my favorite things Kennedy wore as a baby.

In other news, Chloe had her two week check up yesterday. She is back up to her birthweight and is doing great! Two week stats: weight: 7.7lbs (30%), height: 20.5in (70%).

Kennedy (left) at 1 week. 

Chloe (right) at 2 weeks. 

Week One at Home

We have been home from the hospital a little over a week and are adjusting to life with two littles. Kennedy has embraced Chloe and absolutely loves being a big sister. She loves to hold her, sing to her and try to play with her. She had a really hard time with mommy being gone a couple nights, and because of that, is extremely mommy-attached. But we are slowly figuring out what our new normal is. I have to make sure Kennedy gets extra special, undivided attention from Mommy. I was fortunate last week to have Greg home from work, so I could go pick up Kennedy and take her on Mommy/Kennedy dates.

We are getting out and about quite a bit as a family of four and I am learning the art of nursing on the go. Parking garages, park benches, etc. The days fly by as we try to work outings and activities in between feedings and rest time.

My recovery has been shockingly easy this time around. I did take a little better care of myself leading up to delivery (exercising up until Chloe was born). I got up and started walking at the hospital and we have been going on neighborhood walks since we got home. I did get sick and thought I had strep. Turns out it was a viral infection and pink eye.  Super fun (not really) but I got over it and Chloe didn't get it. Plus, having a three year old kind of forces me to get up and moving around.

Chloe is a pretty mellow little lady (so far). Of course, she is less than two weeks old, so it is only a matter of time before she "wakes-up" a little more. She loves her sleep. At night I have a hard time waking her to eat, she would much rather snooze. And I am ok with that. As soon as she is back up to her birth weight, I no longer have to wake her to feed during the night.

We had newborn pictures done on Friday by the same photographer who took Kennedy's newborn pics. We were at her studio most of the day and Kennedy actually had a really good time hanging out and playing. The sneak peeks we have received are beautiful and I can't wait to see the rest.

We have a follow up doctor appointment to check Chloe's weight and finish her newborn screening in the morning. There are shots involved. Wish us luck.

Hanging out at home. 

Getting out of the house. 

Newborn session sneak peeks. 

The Littlest Littlest Hunter

She's here. Baby Boo is finally here and her name is Chloe Dell.

The morning of October 30, Greg and I headed to Baylor nice and early to induce labor. My doctor was there waiting and as soon as she broke my water, things moved fast. I requested an epidural as soon as possible and figured I still had some time before contractions would get intense. Boy was I wrong. They got strong quickly and by the time my nurse was done with my paper work and lab results, I was dying for some relief. The anesthesiologist was amazing and once the epidural was in, I was pretty comfortable. Before I knew it, the anesthesiologist was back in the room to give me a "delivery dose" of medicine and my nurse was calling for the doctor because it was already time to deliver! My water was broken at 8:08am and Miss Chloe was born at 12:02pm.

"Its a girl!!" was followed by "oh my God she has so much hair!!" She was so pink and chubby. And seriously had the most hair I have ever seen on a newborn.

Just like when Kennedy was born, our families were in the waiting room anxiously awaiting the news. And just like with Kennedy, Greg got to go out and share the exciting news that Chloe had arrived.

My parents picked Kennedy up from school and brought her to the hospital to meet Baby Chloe. I couldn't wait to tell her that she was right all along, Baby Boo turned out to be a baby sister. We had her come in the room by herself for a few minutes to meet Chloe and see her mommy. She also got to get a special Big Sister gift from Chloe. Kennedy absolutely loves Chloe and has embraced her Big Sister roll amazingly well.

We are truly blessed with two incredibly sweet little girls. Our hearts are full.

Chloe Dell Hunter

October 30, 2013 at 12:02pm

7lb 7oz  and 19.5in long 

Everyone was so happy to welcome Chloe to the family.  

Extremely proud Big Sister

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day. We get to meet Baby Boo and we are all beyond excited. The anticipation has been building since my dr.'s appointment last week when we found out I was already 4cm and 75% effaced. This caused everyone to believe I might have the baby soon. Like, within a few days kinda soon. But alas, it looks like Boo is going to wait until I am induced tomorrow morning before making a grand entrance.

My parents have been in town for a few days (just in case!) and the Hunters are making their way to Dallas this afternoon. Kennedy can't wait to "get her baby" tomorrow and she is still locked into the idea that Boo is a sister. We are ready to become a family of four and are enjoying these last few days of just the three of us.

Mommy and Kennedy at the Perot museum. 

Soon to be Big Sister. Soon to be Double Mommy. 

Disneyworld - AKA Princessworld

We are back from our last vacation before the Baby Boo's arrival and this was a big one. The Hunters went to Disney World (yes, again). The main reason for the trip was to celebrate Grammy Flash's 60th birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth. She got to wear a special Birthday button and got lots of Birthday attention while we were there.

Leading up to the trip I got a lot of "you're going to Disney HOW pregnant?" comments and jokes. Disney is fun, magical, and exciting, but it also takes a toll on you. September proved to be a very hot and humid time of year to visit central Floirda. Sweat Fest. We were definitely worn out by the end of the day. But I don't think I was any more tired or drained being pregnant than I would have been otherwise. If anything, I probably took way better care of myself by drinking tons of water and keeping the naughty snacks to a minimum. There were still churros and Mickey ice cream bars, this was still vacation, after all.

All in all, we had an incredible time. The clear highlight of the trip, for Kennedy, was meeting the princesses. Namely, Cinderella. Kennedy was rendered nearly speechless for a short time. And during their first meeting at the princess lunch, it brought little misties to all of our eyes. Kennedy was in awe and was so genuinely happy in the moment (those are the moments that make all the Disney craziness 100% worth it). She danced around in her Cinderella dress and enjoyed talking to Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora and Snow White at lunch. We did a princess meet and greet the next day where she got to visit with Rapunzel, as well as Aurora and Cinderella. I think meeting Minnie was another trip highlight. Last year she was pretty intimidated by the characters, and at some point believed Goofy tried to bite her. She's hung onto that for the past year and didn't want him biting her again this year (??) but kissed Minnie on the nose, and happily smiled for pictures.

We learned Kennedy does not like: 1) the dark and 2) loud noises. So any indoor ride or show was a little too much for her. She was having a great time at The Little Mermaid show...until Ursula the sea witch came on stage (she was the size of a VW Bus, so I don't blame Kennedy's freak out). After that, we stuck to the tea cups, the carousel, Dumbo and magic carpets. All friendly. No loud noises. All smiles. We also made sure she had ample time to just dance by herself in front of the castle. She loved that part.

Grammy Flash got the royal treatment for her birthday. Every meal we had, they brought her a special dessert and sang to her. And just about everyone we encountered wished her an enthusiastic Happy Birthday. We were so happy to be included in her special celebration and hope we helped make this birthday one to remember!

Princess meets the princesses

Loves: teacups and dancing in front of the castle. 

Met Mickey, Minnie and friends. 

Lots of fun in Disneyworld.