Bursting heart

The things that make my heart swell...

Her cutting-edge fashion sense
These blue eyes
Mickey Mouse pancakes for no reason at all
Ten teeny piggies
Ten tiny pointers
Cuddling with this loving bundle
Hugs and giggles from my crazy Midget
But the thing that makes my heart swell the most....
...my family

Look out!

Ashley and Natalie have pretty good arms!
Click here and enjoy our snowball fight.

A disdter!

This morning Jake and I packed up our girls and took them to their doctors appointments: Ashley for her 2 year and Natalie for her 2 week. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot Ashley started chanting "A disdter! A distder!", For those that aren't fluent in Ashley, that means "A sticker! A sticker!". Lucky for us Ashley associates the doctor's office with a sticker stuck to a tongue depresser (which makes an awesome little flag!) instead of being poked and prodded and stuck with needles.
Ashely is still serious about being tall and she remains in the 95% for height and weight: 32 pounds and 34 1/2 inches (although she wasn't standing perfectly straight when they measured her). Her pediatrician seemed impressed with her fine motor skills and gave us some pointers on potty training (we've started although we've not gotten too far). She's growing right on schedule and continues to be the wild and energetic child she's been since the day she was born. In fact, here's a picture she had me take of her earlier; she grabbed my phone and said "READY!", held out the phone and then flashed this adorable smile. Further proof she.never.stops!

Say cheeeeese!
Next Natalie got checked out and even though she's still so tiny, she has managed to grow in her 2 weeks here on earth. She's measuring 22 inches and weighs in at 9 pounds 1.5 ounces. This puts her in the 97% for height and 93% for weight. I guess it's safe to say Jake and I make tall babies! I wonder if they'll be super models? An even better question is: I wonder if their daddy would let them be super models?
During Natalie's check her pediatrician did detect a heart murmur. He's very proactive and immediately ordered an O2 level check, an Xray of her heart and an EKG. While the O2 check was fabulous and her EKG looked good, the Xray showed that her heart is a little on the large size. While it's not 'too big' it's right on the cusp so he is sending her file and tests results to a cardiologist for further evaluation. At this point there isn't anything for us to do other than pray (join the prayer chain if you'd like). Chances are everything is fine, but getting it all checked out can't hurt either. Unless the cardiologist wants to see her before, we have a follow-up appointment with our pediatrician in 2 weeks.

Getting prepped for her EKG
She was such a good baby throughout the entire test
No one should have to see their baby girl like this, but at least she remained her happy-go-lucky little self no matter how many times they had to stick and unstick those stickers on her body
Even as we watch our girls grow and change, they'll always be our precious Midget and Elf whom we love and cherish.

Their new hangouts

Check out Ashley and Natalie's havens (click on the pictures to view larger):

Natalie's room - standing in the doorway. Thanks, Mom, for painting the sheep, cow and chicken!
Standing in the doorway, looking to the right
Standing in front of the window, looking back at the door (eventually that photo board by the door will be full of family pictures and a cute handmade farm-themed clock will hang above it (once it's completed))
Close-up of Natalie's crib - the cow stuffed animal was a present from Ashley to her new baby sister
Ashley's room - standing in the doorway (that big blank spot on the wall by the ironing board has been saved for a very special painting that isn't quite ready yet - and the physio ball on the floor in front of the lamp is one of Ashley's favorite toys)
Standing in front of the windows looking back at the door
Ashley's playground

How'd you do?

If you participated in the ExpectNet guessing game for EB2, be sure to click on the icon on the right-hand side and see how you did. The overall winner was my good friend Jill with just 92.08 points. Sure does beat my 730.25! So much for mommy's instincts, huh?
And for those that may not remember Ashley's newborn stats:
weight: 7 pounds 5 ounces
length: 20 inches
birthday: December 20, 2007 - 5:22 pm
Which means Natalie was not only 1 lb 2 oz heavier, she was also 1 inch longer. And my stomach measured 3 cm smaller which explains why I was having so much more pain this time around; more baby, less space! Not a good equation!!!

Has she been tanning?

You may think we've been taking Natalie to the tanning beds since in all of her pictures she looks like she's just come back from the Bahamas, but that isn't the case. Our little elf has late onset jaundice (also known as delayed onset or breastmilk jaundice). Basically it is guessed that there is something in the mother's milk that increases the reabsorption of bilirubin into the bloodstream or decreases the livers ability to process the bilirubin. Either way it's my milk that is causing her jaundice. While that sucks to think I'm causing her discoloration, the benefits to Natalie of getting my breastmilk far outweigh the jaundice side-effect. There are no long-term side-effects of jaundice in newborns, so even though she may look unhealthy, she is actually alright. Of the 3 different types of jaundice, the kind Natalie has only happens in about 2% of newborn babies. You could say we got the extra-special baby. As if we didn't already know, right!?
She actually didn't 'tan up' until she was over 30 hours old, and then it just kept getting a little worse day by day. Friday night I emailed back and forth with her pediatrician, whom we just L.O.V.E., and he suggested she be brought in on Saturday to have her bilirubin levels checked (and it was our pediatrician working Saturday clinic - talk about luck!). So I packed up Natalie and Ashley and off we trundled Saturday for an exciting (and tearful) trip to the pediatricians office. When the pediatrician walked in and immediately said "Oh yeah, her coloring is much worse than when I saw her on Monday", I knew bringing her in was a smart choice. He ordered a bilirubin test which resulted in Natalie screaming in my arms (it takes a good minute plus to milk enough blood out of her heel to run the test) and Ashley wrapped around my leg crying like I'd never heard her cry before. It's like they were feeding off of each other!
Ashley's crying continued as we waited for Natalie's test results, but Natalie passed out after a quick feed. All I can say is thank goodness the clinic was technically closed so the waiting area was empty. Ashley was beyond tired, not to mention hungry, so I knew where her fussiness was coming from, so when the pediatrician appeared with the test results, I was more than thrilled. Turns out Natalie's bilirubin level is a 9; not terrible but still high. At this point we just watch her and the instant we notice her coloring getting worse, then she needs to go in and have her levels checked again.
So no, Natalie hasn't been tanning. But man oh man does she make me look pale and ghostly!!!

Oscar worthy performances

Watch a video (click here) of Cowgirl Ashley and her trusting steed Riley. About 1/2 way through you'll also get a quick peek of Natalie cooing and making faces.
Here's a video (click here) of Ashley doing the Hot Dog Dance. For those that don't know, this is the latest dance craze, brought to households nationwide, by The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
And finally, an entertaining piece (click here); Ashley reading her book Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
Enjoy!