Kieran Carter

Our baby has arrived safely and is doing well! Kieran pronounced (keer-an) was born on July 30th at 9:22 am. He weighed 7 lbs and 7 ounces and was 20 inches lomg. Labor went very fast, but thankfully smooth. More details to follow after we get home! We are so in love with this little guy and thank God for our blessing!

Dancing Queen!

 Ok, so funny story!  Dan came home Friday night and started eating up some yummy cake batter cookie dip that I made for him and proceeded to share a little bit with Svea.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw her going back for seconds and then thirds.  As he proceeded to give her a fourth taste I asked how much he was giving her.

 Let's just say it was too much for this little girl as this is the humorous result about twenty minutes later.

 Yes folks this is a 21 lb. little girl on an insane sugar rush figuratively bouncing off the walls and literally dancing to some disco music uninhibited until she would fall on the floor.

If you'd like to see a video of her in action click here! It doesn't show how crazy she was in the middle of her rush as she is actually starting to "crash" here, but it is hilariously cute nonetheless.

21 Months Old

Clothes:You wear 18 and some 24 month clothes.  We did transition you out of your old jammies and into 24 month ones this month.  Some fit great and others fall off your feet because they are way too long.
Shoes: Size 4
Diapers: Size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 at night.
Sleep:You sleep from about 8:00-8:30 until 8:00-8:30 the next morning. Thank you little nighttime sleeper!  We hope you learn to sleep through your brother's crying too! You nap anywhere from 45-90 minutes once a day after lunchtime.
Teeth: Still just 12! You only need your two year old molars now.
Traveling: Nope, definitely not this month!
Talking: "Mama, come and get me" is one of your 5 word sentences you say.  You continue to repeat many of the words we tell you and seem to pick up on 1 or 2 new words a day. 

Favorite Activity: You love "new" things to explore and seem to be very creative.  You will use a certain toy in different ways.  You still love "guys (little people), cars, babies,or just plain exploring.  You usually love our nightly ritual of going for a walk around 7 pm.  Some nights you fight the straps that hold you in, but for the most part it seems to be relaxing for you.
Favorite Books: You are still a big reader as well.  Mommy read to you today for a whole 35 minutes/14 books straight through and they are not all short books! We don't have a favorite book at the moment, but you love it when we bring home new books from the library for you! You get upset when characters in the book fall down, look sad, or get hurt.  "Oh no...uh-oh he fall down," you will say.

 Favorite Foods: Breakfast favorites: Oatmeal and Fruit Bars  Lunch/Dinner Favorites: Peas or Broccoli and Mac n Cheese  Snack Favorites: String Cheese or Milkbites You are still a big water and milk drinker.  We don't give you anything else unless you are sick. 
Foods Dislike: pancakes...we tried those again and sometimes the things we think you'll just love you hate.  We think it's just a "too afraid to try" issue:)
Favorite Songs: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-Check it Out!
 Dislikes: Diaper changes and getting dressed.  You are also a typical toddler...you're sense of time isn't there so when you want something you want it now.  If you whine or scream for something we re-direct you to ask nicely and when you do then we go and get what you want.  We know this may take many many times before you understand to patiently wait:) You've had a really good month.  I can only think of two times that Mommy had to put you in time-out. 

Favorite Word: You don't really have a favorite word.....hmmm.  I'm sure I'll post this and Daddy will think of something!
Things we are learning: Shapes-you know how to identify a circle, star, heart, triangle, and sometimes a square.  You can count to three and 8,9,10.  You are very good about saying please and thank you with and without prompts.  You are really getting good at independent play as well.  You can identify pink, blue, and black, but not consistently.  You know the body parts that are and aren't always obvious like chin, cheek, knees, and elbow.  You've learned to say some new animal sounds as well such as a seal, a pig, a horse, an owl, and a rooster.  You can identify almost any animal that we read about in books..even a fox or snake. If you don't know their name you'll say their sound. You have also learned a few "opposites" such as on/off and dirty/clean. The funniest one is big/small, but to you it's big/baby. You love to "Rrrr" like a pirate, "Yee-haw" like a cowgirl, and "grrrrr" like a dinosaur. You also know fluent french....j/k!

Mommy/Daddy, come and get me!  Either it's to chase you or you want to show us something.  It was constant this month and it never gets old.  We love it and we love you!  Happy 21 months old baby girl!

39 Weeks With Baby D #2

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 39 Weeks! 

Total Weight Gain:  30 lbs. The fact that my wedding rings feels tight and my face looks like a Krispy Cream donut I'm calculating that I'm carrying a little extra water.  I sure hope so because who likes to gain 5 lbs. in two weeks! Speaking of donuts....I had a whipped cream filled chocolate donut the other day....totally stinking worth it!

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts and yoga pants! I'm running out of t-shirts....some of them are not covering me enough anymore:)
Best Moment this week: Getting a few more precious moments at home with just Svea, Dan, and me. It will be so weird going from three of us to four.

Gender: Boy!

Movement: Still the same.  I had two times in the last two weeks where he's kicked me so hard it startled me and I screamed. Dan was with me both times and I think he thought I'd just lost my mind:)   

Food Craving: Turkey burgers, cereal, and not so many veggies anymore.  I wish I was:(  When I am up in St. Cloud I am so excited to eat at Chipotle though. Sugar is still my wicked enemy the last couple of weeks!
What I miss: Not having constant back pain, sleep, and being able to breathe.  I think I'm ready now for this baby to come! I am ready!

Sleep: I probably sleep well every other night.  I've had some major insomnia.  Now that I'm walking again I hope to every night so it helps me sleep.

What we are looking forward to: We made it to the 24th so now we are just looking forward to meeting our baby boy!  We are so excited to see him!

Symptoms:Movement, discomfort, a tiny bit of cramping here and there, and some "other" more personal signs that labor may be coming soon.  But, then again, it also could mean nothing!  Ha!

 Almost there!

Can't Sleep!

I know some people say you can't sleep in late pregnancy because it's your body's way of getting you ready for a newborn, but be it hormones or your mind is racing a mile a minute, I really don't care.  I hate it!  I hate not being able to sleep.  I've been up since 4:00 am and it's now 5:45, so I gave up on the sleeping and am now writing this blog post!

 This was our day yesterday...we were just getting done with a snack.  "Bye-Ya's Snack" is what she calls it and I believe it was "sting cheese"!  I love how she hated her Bumbo as a baby, but now she can't get enough of it.  She might have a hard time sharing it with her brother.

 We tried watercolor painting too!  Notice the actual paint on the paper?  That is my handiwork as she mostly liked to dip her brush in the water and paint with just that. 

 It lasted for about fifteen minutes so I didn't think she liked it that much.  When I brought it up later in a conversation with Dan to share with him what we did she threw a fit because we couldn't "painting" again!  I guess she did like it:) 

This was the biggest hit of the day.  I bought her some puff balls and made a new toy out of an old cottage cheese container.  She absolutely loved this and played for almost a full hour with this.  We'd dump them out and then slowly push them through the holes into the container.  Then she'd gather them all up and proceed to dump them in some other part of the house.  Meeko likes this activity as well, although some of them disappear on us.  Svea is a good sport about it. We took them out later in the evening and the same thing.  She had a blast!

That was our day:)  Even though I'm tired and slow and not very motivated to get down on the floor and play I still love being home with her and getting the chance to watch her play.  She is so funny and bright!  When I picked her up from her nap yesterday she said, "Bunny heart" over and over.  I couldn't understand why until we got out in the living room and I could see that on her "bunny" are little patterned hearts.  Can I just brag a little bit....Our daughter now knows 4-5 shapes and I think she's brilliant:)

Dr. Appt. Update

We made it! I slept like a baby last night knowing that we had made it to our magic date and I get to spend more time with our baby at home during that "I can't function not working stage with a newborn, let alone function while working as well" time period! There is no change from last week.  I'm still a 2 and measuring at 36 1/2 weeks.  Again, she said my belly won't get any bigger at this point, but it doesn't mean he isn't putting on weight.  I'm so glad that his lungs are getting that much more time, he may be better at nursing, and he's got more time where he needs to be. My only concern  is each day he's in there the potential for his head to grow larger is a little unnerving....shudders!  :)  Now it's just a waiting game.  My dr. won't do inductions until after your due date and into the 41st week.  We could have a baby tonight or up to 2 1/2 more weeks. I have another appt. next Tuesday and for some reason I feel I might be going to it.  I hope not, but we'll see! I did get together last night with my co-workers and it was so much fun and relaxing!  We rented a pontoon for four hours, ate a ton of food, laughed and shared things that don't leave the pontoon.  Don't you just love having friends like that?  The only reason we had to go was because it got dark, but I could have hung out for many more hours! I remember how hard it was to transition to my current school district.  I'm so thankful that I found some really amazing people! Dan and Svea had a great time hanging out at home.  No one makes her laugh like her Daddy!

Yee-Haw

On one of the episodes of Bubble Guppies there are cowgirls!  Svea ran around the house saying "yee-haw" so we got out a cowgirl hat for her and she was in heaven.

 Checking herself out in the mirror!

Hanging out with Mommy....she's literally still saying "yee-haw" in this picture:)

Play, Play, Play!

 Whether it's in the kitchen,

 reading books,

or playing in her tunnel, the fact is this little girl stays BUSY!

These are just a few moments I caught of Svea from yesterday.   She has no idea that someday soon someone is coming to our house that might mess up and get into all of her toys.  Hopefully she will transition well and learn to love her little brother!  We know we love her!

38 Weeks With Baby D #2

 Well, I'm almost to my magical date!  I can taste it and I just keep praying we make it:)  Next Tuesday can't come fast enough.  It makes me sad though because I just want to be enjoying every last second of this pregnancy in case it's my last one and each day that I get closer I get more and more anxious that it's going to happen too soon.  I can tell you that there is quite a difference in uncomfortableness in these last two weeks.  My upper back almost constantly aches (chiropractor on Monday!) and it's almost impossible to find a position to sit in for longer than two minutes without having to switch positions.  Did I already say how thankful I am that I'm not working?  Yep, pretty sure I've said it almost every post, but I am.  Laying down on my sides on the couch is about the only relief I can get and standing for the smallest amount of time is just blah!  I function hour by hour and look forward to when Dan gets home because then I can relax a bit.  He's like my white knight in shining armour because by the evening my body is just done functioning properly.  Baby boy is still moving around.  I am now feeling more pressure and think he is slowly moving further downward.  I wonder if this will be my last picture?  Every day Dan and I talk about how could this be the day or are we in this for another 2-3 weeks?  We'll see...only God knows this little guy's birthday.  Is it weird that I have this hope that he's born on an even numbered day?  I have no idea why and I think I just have way too much on my mind and those are the types of things that come to my head?  Yes, this is what keeps me up in the middle of the night when I can't go back to sleep after waking to go to the bathroom.  I never had this "last month" pregnancy insomnia with Svea because I didn't have to go through the last month:)

 Here's what I look like front on.  It was a "puffy face" picture that I just couldn't handle right now:)  Lovely pregnancy face!

Svea "isms"

"Mommy/Daddy, come and get me!"  We hear  this phrase from Svea probably fifty times a day.  She loves to run into the other room and say this, or she says it is she just wants us to cross the room to play with her.  Dan thinks it probably started because he's always telling her he's going to come and get HER.  It's very cute and her little voice is so sweet when she says it.

Here is a video of what she does before every diaper change.  She learned how to do "bicycles" at daycare and always has to do them when I pick her up.  She just started this before diaper changes though.  I had a phone call in the middle of it, but you get the idea:)

 She can count more than we thought.  She can say 1,2,3.  Then she needs help with 4-7.  Finally, she can say 8,9, and 10 all on her own.  I'll try to capture this on video sometime soon.

Here are the instagram pictures I was talking about.  This last one is of Svea and Adeline, who is my friend Laura's little girl.  This should help put into perspective how short Svea really is.  Adeline is just one month older than Svea.  They did a really good job playing with each other when we went to visit their new baby brother. 

Dr. Appt. Update

I had another Dr. Appt. today.  First of all, baby is still doing well!  I'm not measuring any larger, but I've gained a few lbs. and the dr. said I probably won't get any bigger belly wise. Baby's heart rate was 158 bpm and I'm now dilated to 2 cm.  Six days to go to make it to the magic date!  I could go into labor at any moment, but I could also easily still be very much pregnant in six days and beyond that.  I am 37 weeks and 4 days today.  We'll see what happens!  I have another appt. next Monday and I'll update then too!  That afternoon I have a fun event planned with some co-workers and I feel by that point I can ease up a bit on my "trying to relax and keep this baby inside" and will be able to have some fun and get out in the sun!

I wanted to add a few pictures that I've taken with "instagram", but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.  I suppose most of you have seen them already anyway on facebook.  I LOVE the one of her praying at the table all by herself. She beats us to praying at almost every meal!

Baby Boy Nursery Reveal

 We now have "5 Big Trees" as Svea likes to call them and go into the little guy's room to count them!  The peacock colored inspired room is finished!  The darker wall color was supposed to be a little bit different, but when it came out an almost navy blue it still worked in the color pallet.  Dan has spent SO much time in this room.  For how tiny it is you wouldn't think it would take that much work, but I want to thank him for doing so much and so many things that I could not do to get this room ready.  Your wife is now sane again:)

 Baby's crib! It's hard to get a full shot because the room is so small!

 Homemade baby mobile...it turned out ok:)

 Toy chest and rocking chair area! I can't wait to rock our baby in his room! Pictures of our sweet little one will be added when he arrives!

 Dresser and changing table already to get very messy!  I think we are in for it and this whole "boy" thing:)

The completed closet!  Yeah.....I just need to fit the diaper pail in there and we're finished!

37 Weeks With Baby D #2

Pregnancy Highlights
How Far Along: 37 Weeks! FULL TERM!

Total Weight Gain: 25 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity shirts and yoga pants!  Wish I could wear this every day of my life!
Best Moment this week: My false labor stopping!  Woo hoo!  It's been almost a whole week of no labor signs!

Gender: Boy!

Movement: He's pretty quiet in the mornings...actually almost all day and then he gets wild at night after Svea goes to bed.  Maybe it's just because that's when I notice him more as I'm not as busy.

Food Craving: Still healthy foods, although I've been having some big sugar cravings after meals.  I'm trying to limit them, but I am indulging a little more:)
What I miss: Nothing right now....I am so thankful for every day that I am pregnant at this point.  Come the 24th though I'm sure my mind frame will flip and I'll do whatever I can to get him to come!

Sleep: Not too bad. I'm not waking up as much so that's nice. I'm still sore when I do wake up and rolling over to the other side feels like heaven....for about two hours until I need to switch again.

What we are looking forward to: Making it to the 23rd/24th.  If things stay the way they are now I know I can make it.  I just think Svea came because of that crazy barometric pressure system two years ago and who knows...maybe my body just really responds to the elements.  Did you know it was a full moon on top of the heat the night we went into the hospital?  There could be something to that all you know!

Symptoms: No more contractions the last week and no more cramping!  Yeah!  I feel normal again, except for peeing myself yesterday, but meh....it's gonna happen to all of us eventually right?  I went to the library, by myself, yesterday and got tired after having to stand for 15 minutes straight.  I'm so happy I'm not working right now.  Someone pointed out to me that taking care of a 20 month old is probably harder, but it's not.  I can lay or sit down to play with her and sometimes when she gets really into something she'll play on her own for about 30 minutes and I can just sit and watch her. I'm tired...that's my only other symptom:)

Random Happenings

 Dan has lost 14 lbs total!  He's got six more to go!  He's having to use then next notch on his belt and his pants fit so much better.  Above is Svea eating string cheese for her snack and smiling on cue!

 We built a fort yesterday under the kitchen table and Svea loved playing in it.  We brought all of her "balls" in to play with or she just wanted to roll around in the blankets and crawl in and out of it. 

I checked out a book from the library (a nice thick novel by James Patterson) and thought it could keep my mind off of the impending birth of our son.  I was done in four hours! Now what to do with my anxious thoughts? Svea saying "cheese" on cue!  Picture taking might be getting easier with this little one!

A Funny Conversation from the Dornfeld Residence

Scenario: Dan is just coming out of the bedroom from waking up this morning

Me: Don't step on the bathroom rugs.  I need to wash them.
Dan: Why?
Me: (mumbling) I peed myself
Dan: Oh, Svea peed on the rug.  What happened?
Me: No, it was me:)

We then laughed and I felt quite humbled at the reality of what happens to your bladder control at the end of a pregnancy.  The rugs are in the wash!

Nursery Sneak Peak

 Dan put up the first tree last night!  As soon as he gets up the remaining trees I'll do the full reveal of his room.  It's turning out really cute and it's been fun putting it together!

 Painting that we stole from the living room!

 Toy/Storage furniture.  Svea is looking for the baby toys!

 Changing pad cover!

Crib sheet!
Full Reveal Coming Soon!

Dr. Appt. Update

Baby is doing very well!  I am measuring right at 36 weeks and the dr. said his heartbeat sounds perfect.  It was in the 150's today.  My stomach muscles finally let go and in two and a half weeks my belly grew 4 weeks worth:)  I can tell!  The cramping and contractions have stopped, which leads me to believe that all of that action was caused by the extreme heat.  I am dilated to one centimeter now and still 50% effaced.  I'm very glad there is still not much progress!

I know I've talked about this a ton (my maternity leave) and this is the last time I'm going to bring it up.  I called the gal that works in payroll at my school district to clarify and make sure I was truly understanding how this all works.  I was wrong on my dates and here's the new low down.  It's crazy and it makes no sense, but it is what it is and I'm trying to give it to God and not worry about it since there isn't one thing I can do about it.  I can take a full 12 weeks no matter when the little guy is born, but depending on different scenarios we would have to pay through the nose for our health insurance so in those instances they are not an option.  Here's the short version.  If he comes today I would get 8 weeks with him.  Next Monday would mean 7 weeks.  If he comes the following week (22nd) I would get 6!  However, if he decides to come on the 23rd I would get about 10 weeks.  And then if he comes on the 24th I'd get 12 weeks!  It's a lot of pressure and anxiety so like I said I'm trying to just let it go since I can't do anything, but my big Mama bear energy just wants to protect my baby and do whatever I can to not have to go back to work and leave him at 6 weeks.  It's just TOO soon!  arghghg......anyway.....moving on!

Bathroom Reno

Dan has developed a new hobby since moving to Minnesota almost four years ago.....it's remodeling projects.  Not only does it help with the value of our house, but it's better than hunting! At least to me it is!  It may cost just as much, but at least he's at home and not playing with guns and gone more than he already has to be.  The most dangerous things have gotten is the time he cut himself with an exacto knife, but only needed a band-aide.  I won't incriminate him and say "where" he needed to get that band-aide from.  Ha!  Anyway, about three months ago I wrote about my Step-Dad, Ron, coming out to help with a closet for our little boy, take a shower stall out of our bathroom, and help Dan fix up our bathroom a bit.  Here are the pictures of the final project!  He may be a perfectionist and it takes him a long time to finish, but it always turns out VERY nice! 

 Tile flooring with in-floor heat!  Thank you come winter time!

 Dan tiled this shower, which used to only be a tub so we can use it exclusively now.  The old disgusting stand-up shower was removed.  You know the one that when you walked around in it you almost felt like you were going to fall through the floor?

New counter top!

We are SO close to finishing the little boy's bedroom.  As soon as we are done I will post pictures of that and how the closet turned out for him! It may be extremely small, but he's finally got his own space!

Big Girl Chair/Table

 We've transitioned Svea to the big table.  She's been fighting her highchair and she's big enough to completely feed herself, so we thought it was time. She seems to be enjoying it so far!  Here is a video of her hanging out eating some mac n cheese and Daddy trying to get her to say it.  It's quite long, but it's fun to hear her murmur a few words and literally inhale her food.

36 Weeks With Baby D #2

We've made it!  Today is the day (pregnancy wise) that I was induced into labor with Svea. I think we're going to make it a little longer!  I'm still having cramping if I do too much, but for the last two days no contractions!  I'm thinking the excessive heat (heat index in the 100's for almost a whole week) had something to do with that and maybe, just maybe we'll make it to my magical day or past it.  Watch....I'll need to be induced at 41 weeks or something! I can safely say that I don't feel spectacular.  My hips hurt and it's much more difficult to sleep.  The constant cramping, at times, makes me irritable because well, it's a little painful, but we're hanging in there!  I also noticed the slightest amount of water retention in my hands, legs, and feet this morning.  Hopefully it stays minimal. Dan has been a huge help so that I can rest during those times and Svea....all she wants to do is climb all over Mommy's tummy!  I have an appt. on Monday so I'll post then on any new changes.  I'm not sure if you can tell, but I can tell from this picture that the little guy has dropped ever so slightly.  I feel it a little bit too.

 Couldn't resist a cute picture of Svea to add in:) Thank you Gaga for the cute outfit!

Happy HOT 4th of July

Well, we almost had a baby last night!  I had another episode of six hours of cramping and contractions that kept getting worse so we headed into the hospital.  Julie, our dr. friend from church came over and stayed with Svea (she was already in bed). I'm just not used to this!  The good news is these episodes of contractions are not changing things as far as baby getting closer to coming.  He is still high and I am just barely dilated. My contractions slowly subsided while there and they sent us home.

  I did some re-calculating  and I was a little off with my dates.  If baby comes on the 16th I get exactly six weeks with him, but if he comes on the 17th I would get to stay home for a full twelve.  Don't even ask why it works out this way...it's a long story and frankly just talking about it gets me so fired up that I can't think straight. The only bad part if if he comes between the 17th and the 20th I would have to go back to work in the middle of conferences week, which would mean twelve hour days the first week back.  I think at this point I'd take that over having to start school right at the end of August as normal.  Oh, it makes me sick to think about going back when our baby is only six weeks old.  13 days....can I make it?  I am not stepping foot outside and am going to force myself to lay down as much as I can.  Plus if he waited until the 17th he'd be past the 37 week (full term) time! Ok, lots of prayers and positive thinking although Julie thinks this little guy is going to come within a week! I hope she's wrong.

On another note.....Happy 4th everyone!  Usually we are out in N.D. celebrating, but it's obvious this is where we need to be.  Here is Svea in her little outfit she got in the mail from my Dad and Lynn.  I just LOVE it! Thank you guys!  She'll never remember that on this fun holiday we spent it inside just playing with our toys instead of celebrating, but that's ok! It's been a good day!  Some ribs on the grill and a fun dessert helped spice up this crazy 4th of July!

What's Up With Us

 Oh, this girl cracks me up.  This was her the other morning hanging out on the couch reading one of her books to Daddy.  Gotta have Mama's hat and scarf on along with a paci!  

Dan came home last week from the Boundary Waters and it was a very successful trip!  They journeyed through a lot more rivers instead of lakes this time and except for a crazy portage at the beginning and end of their trip, he said that it was great.  I think it's so funny how when he comes home he gets excited about some of the freeze dried food they ate!  I guess it's pretty good!  Anyway, we're just glad he's home and safe and there were no scary incidences this year. 

We've just been taking it easy the last few days.  Dan will get Wednesday off and maybe Friday this week!  I've had a few more episodes of cramping and contractions, which brings it to a total of four different times on four different days.  Last night it took six hours for them to finally go away so I ran up to the dr. today to check for any infections that might be causing contractions and then I have my "real" appointment tomorrow.  I'm fine so it must just be the heat and doing  too much.  It's hard though because I feel like I'm already taking in easy and it's hard to not be mobile and just play and work around the house.  My personality just wants to "do stuff"! I'm also going to just stay inside as much as possible.  We have a heat advisory for almost the whole week.  Although it kills me to stay inside during any nice day in the summer, it will all be worth it in the end if we can get little guy to stay put for at least three more weeks! July 23rd.....that's my magic date that I want to make it to so that I will get more time at home with the little guy!  Will you pray that we make it until at least then?  Not only will it be better for him (I'll be a little over 38 weeks), but it should guarantee that his lungs will be just fine and a NICU experience will not be in our vocabulary!