All I Want for Christmas is...

Firetruck underwear! That is what an almost three year old has asked Santa for Christmas. Drake has been very specific on what he would like this year: firetruck underwear, a Batman shirt, a blue watch, and blue presents. Based on the conversations that Eckleton, our elf, has had with Santa, it sounds like he will be able to accommodate Drake's requests this year. We have heard that he went out and bought special blue paper to wraps Drake's gifts with.

When Drake begins to tell people his wish list, I think they stop listening when they hear firetruck. A firetruck would be a common request for a two year old but firetruck underwear?

Evie's 2 Month Stats

Evie had her two month appointment last Thursday and is doing well. Her doctor was very impressed with her head control and we are progressing well in the sleep department. She continues to eat about every three hours except at night where we are able to go for a 4-5 hour stretch. Evie has had really good gain since her birth, which we were both pleased with. She continues to smile, especially when her diaper is bring changed and is beginning to coo when she is talked to. When she is awake, she loves to stand and show off her strength and also enjoys looking at herself in the mirror. She is starting to follow us more with her eyes as we move and she loves watching Drake. I think he will be her biggest form of entertainment for a while.

Weight: 11.45 pounds (35th percentile)
Length: 22.5 inches (36th percentile)
Head: 44th percentile
 

Gymnastics' Demo Days

Drake started gymnastics in August and this week was his first demo day to show all of the fans his new skills. Either David or I have helped him in each of his weekly classes this session as he was in the parent/tot program. On demo day, Drake was the youngest child and pretty much did the whole exercise on his own. I think this shows that he really is ready to move to the next class starting in January.

We have no illusions that Drake is going to be a future gymnast as he is the largest child in his group by at least a head. I do think though that gymnastics is a great foundation for a possible future in any sport or activity. He is building muscles, maintain flexibility, and learning body control. It has been a great experience for him and he loves to go each week. Some days the most exciting part is the end when he gets a stamp either on his hand or his foot but he does especially love to fly though the air and catch the bar swinging (above) and the long tramp (below).  

At the end of the demo, all children were awarded a medal for their participation. Each was called up individually and Drake was given a special shout-out because he was able to do so much of it on his own after needing our help for the majority of the semester. I am so glad that we found this sport for Drake and we are looking forward to January when we'll start back at the gym.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

This evening I am scheduled for my first work trip since Evie was born. When Drake was born, I had almost nine months at home before my travel season started but with Evie, just 9 weeks. While I am certainly looking forward to a good night of sleep, I am going to miss these two little ones. I'm also pretty bummed because I will be missing Drake's first musical production; a two year-old's rendering of the age old classic, "Christmas Time is Here" (if you don't know it, we did not either, think a Christmas tune sang to "Farmer in the Dell").   

They are in the best capable hands with David and I have prepared the majority of the bottles and the freezer is stocked with a surplus of milk, it is still hard going out of town. An added element to this trip is a bit of weather anxiety. There is still a possibility that the trip is going to be canceled due to snow, sleet, freezing rain and bitter cold temperatures in Arkansas. I am sure if we can land tonight, we will not get stuck tomorrow so I can be home with my babies before bedtime.     

  

2 Months

It is hard to believe that Evie is already two months old and that I start back to work on Wednesday of this week. Evie does not have her two month appointment until December 12th, so I will wait to post her stats then. She does appear to be growing well and is generally in 3-6 month clothes right now. She is just starting to smile some which you can somewhat see in the picture above. She is very strong and is able to hold her head up very and she likes to have us help her to stand.

Our nighttime sleep situation is still not great, but I know we will eventually get to all night but when? She sleeps well in her pack-n-play but I would like for her to sleep in her crib, so I have been trying to condition her to crib sleeping. Because of that, we are not getting the long 5 hour stretch at night. She is generally still only eating once in the middle of the night, around 3:00, but she is waking up around 12:30 and we have to put her back to sleep.

Evie took her first car ride longer than an hour two weeks ago when we went to Charleston for a basketball tournament. She was a great traveler and did well at the games. Evie has also had a lot of company, meeting all of of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her Nana and Papa will be coming back for a visit next week to help with her daytime care before she starts daycare in January. She'll also get to spend more time with her Mammy and Granddaddy this week as they are helping for my first few days back at work.

Turkey Day and Trimming the Tree

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with the whole Bishop family. It was great to see everyone and have some cousin time for play. Drake is quite a bit younger than the rest of his cousins, but he just jumped right in and played. It was a great family weekend if visiting and play. Evie was also able to finally meet her two boy cousins and her aunt and uncle.

Friday we went to get our Christmas tree at the "farm tree", as Drake calls it. We picked out a nice tree and spent this morning decorating. Drake did a great job of clumping the ornaments in the lower portion of the tree.

We have also given in and are using the Elf this year. It was given to us before Drake's first Christmas by David's sister because they never used it. I knew he would not understand it for the first two years and still this year, I'm not entirely sure he will get it. We have decided to use it to try to get rid of the beloved baa (pacifier). He was doing great without baa until Evie started using one and he decided he needed his back. Drake's elf, Eckleton, is going to report back to Santa on his usage of baa and if he does well, he will get an extra special gift from Santa. Nighttime sleep and nap one without baa are gong well...

  

One Month Old

Evie is celebrating her one month birthday today. She continues to eat, sleep, burp, and poop with regularity. To celebrate her first month, she decided to go four hours between both feedings last night, so I was able to sleep twice for three and a half hours at a time. Hopefully this trend will continue and we can get to five hours between nighttime meals soon!

Fall Festivities

Fall is officially here and the South Carolina weather is starting to actually have a fall crispiness. As Halloween approached, we took to some area events to get into the spooky spirit.

Our first stop was a local farm that has seemed to have found the recipe for successful agritourism. During the month of October, they have a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hay rides, and a number of activities for kids. It took Drake a little time to get warmed up to the place but in the end, we spent over two hours playing.

After the farm and a long nap, we went to our neighbor's house for pumpkin carving fun. The next night, we attended Boo in the Zoo. We made the mistake this year of going on the last night of the event. Last year we went the first weekend and did not have to wait at all. The 45 minute line we waited in this year was a departure from our first experience but Drake had a great time and a few of the animals were still out for viewing.

Last night for Halloween, we stuck to the neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Evie and I tagged along for a bit and then David and Drake continued on to visit more houses. Drake was dressed as Martin Kratt from the PBS show, Wild Kratts. My mom did a great job making his power vest, but Drake was disappointed that the Creature Power Discs did not work; he wanted to have creature power like on the show.



Reading Illuminated

In the last week, Drake has entered the land of the dorks. I have known that this day would come, I just did not realize that it would come at the young age of two and a half. You see, he comes from a long line of dorks; I did this, his aunts did this, and I am sure that generations before participated in the same sort of activities. Drake has started to read in bed using just the illumination of a flashlight.

Each night after we have read his two stories, we tuck him in and say goodnight. Once we have left his room, Drake gets out of bed, selects another book or two, and reads to himself. This individual reading time typically does not last long as I often hear the book hit the floor just minutes after leaving his room. Typically he turns the flashlight off before falling asleep but last night this is how we found him.

We are actually thrilled that Drake enjoys reading so much and has independently decided that he would like to read stories on his own. We would like to thank Amanda, Jeff, and Ellie for gifting Drake the flashlight that has enabled this special reading time. I think it is almost time for Ellie to receive a flashlight of her own and embark on the road to dork-hood.

Three Weeks Old

Evie is three weeks old today and is continuing to grow and thrive. Her face gets fuller everyday and I can already see that the newborn clothes are getting smaller. She is starting to stretch her nighttime feedings to about 4 hours, which is nice for me and my sleep. Hopefully we can continue to stretch those a bit longer and get to 5 hours between feedings soon. She continues to be a great baby that we are lucky to have as part of our family.  

Two Weeks Old

It is hard to believe that Evie is already two weeks old. She is doing well and seems to continue to gain weight. Last week she had a doctor's appointment on Monday and then a follow-up weight check on Thursday. In those three days, she averaged a weight gain of 1.25oz per day, which is quite impressive as the doctor was just hoping for a .5oz gain per day. Quite a testament to her willingness to eat and my body's willingness to produce. We have a follow-up weight check this Friday and I am hopeful that she'll be well above her birth weight of 7lbs.

Drake continues to be a great big brother. I think he is adjusting fairly well although he has had some tantrums, which is something he did not do prior to Evie's arrival. He has also regressed a bit in his potty training, but I know we will get back to where we were soon.

I had my two week post-op appointment yesterday and my incision is healing well. I'll go back in four weeks and hopefully be cleared for all normal activities. All-in-all, we are doing well, just a bit sleep deprived

Big Brother Drake

We had no idea how Drake would react to Evie's birth. We had talked with him about how he would be a big brother and would have a sister. He knew his sister's name would be Evie, but I think the idea of an actual person coming for a two and a half year old is pretty abstract. Some days he would seem excited about the idea but other days he would say "No want it".

When Drake met Evie for the first time, he seemed excited about looking at her and watching what she was doing. The excitement and interest was short lived and he was ready to leave after about ten minutes. He came to the hospital again the second day we were there and again was excited and actually kissed her when it was time to leave.

Since we have been home, Drake has been great. We have tried to keep him on his normal schedule as best as possible. He has been going to school and had his normal gymnastics class this Monday. He has been great with Evie and has been very interested in holding her when we let him. I'm sure throughout their lives they will have their moments but I hope they will be great friends.

Introducing Genevieve the V

Genevieve Lee

October 2 at 3:05pm

7 pounds

19.75 inches

On Wednesday, October 2, we welcomed the newest addition to our family, Genevieve. Evie was born via a scheduled, repeat c-section in Greenville, South Carolina. I was very happy that the same doctor that delivered Drake agreed to deliver Evie even though she was not the on-call doctor for the day. I felt very comfortable with Dr. Frederick when Drake was born, so when I decided that I would be having a repeat, I knew that I wanted her again.

After a short delay due to a smoke fire on the NICU wing and the whole floor being locked down, it was off to the operating room. It seems as though I am always one of the easiest patients that a doctor has ever had and without incident, the spinal was administered and I was laid on the table. Having not experienced birthing in a different way, I will say that it is a very odd experience having a c-section. I am not able to see what is going on, but my doctor is good to give me updates on what is going on. David is also very interested in what is happening, so he is allowed to move about the operating room and see everything that is happening. All I can do it listen to the updates and feel the tugging sensation. Dr. Frederick gave David the cue that Evie was about to enter the world and suddenly I heard her first cry.

David spent the remainder of the operation holding Evie and sitting next to my head so we could all three be together. It seemed like this c-section took longer than Drake's but once I was finally closed up, we headed to the recovery room. This hospital does do a great job of keeping the family together the whole time even during surgery and I was able to nurse as soon as we were in recovery.

Once we made it to the room we would call home for three days, Drake was able to meet his sister for the first time. 

  

A Post...Finally

It has been far too long since I have posted to our blog. I am sure that I could come up with a thousand excuses as to why but in the end, it has just gotten away from me. I really did a poor job taking pictures this summer as well and need to do a better job with that too. To recap on some of the things that have been going on with us:

July is a very busy month for me at work with all of our new students arriving on campus for the first time. We did find a weekend to sneak down to Jacksonville to help Ellie celebrate her first birthday. It was great spending time with our family and Drake loved being around Ellie.

Drake especially enjoyed taking all of Ellie's toys out of her toy box, getting in the toy box, and popping out.

Summer school was a blur and at the beginning of August, I embarked on a ten day trip to Italy with the basketball team. During the foreign tour, we visited Rome, Venice, Vincenz, Venice, and Lake Como and the team had the opportunity to play four games against Italian teams. Basketball wise, there really was no competition but I think culturally it was a great experience for everyone. I just wish that David had been able to join me on the trip. 



Overlooking Lake Como (33 weeks pregnant)

We returned from Italy late on a Sunday night and I had a doctor's appointment on Monday afternoon. While at the appointment, the baby's heart rate was significantly lower than normal (still in the normal range for babies, just not for her). I think to ease my mind, my doctor put me on the monitor for 20 minutes to get a clearer picture of what was going on. That's when we saw that I was experiencing contractions. We think the contractions were caused by dehydration and exhaustion from the trip. I did have to visit the hospital on Tuesday for a couple doses of a shot to stop the contractions, which worked for a week. I ended up back at the doctor after a week with more contractions and at that point, I was prescribed a daily smooth muscle relaxer for two weeks to keep the preterm contractions at bay. This all happened right at the start of school, which is a very stressful time as it is. Add being 33 weeks pregnant to the equation and, needless to say, I was quite overwhelmed. I was able to get to the point of being organized at work and projects fell together at home, which reduced my stress level quite a bit.
David's parents have also been a huge help since I left for Italy. They recently moved to a lake community about 35 minutes away from our house and have had Drake over to play quite a bit. For the past month, they have watched him one day each weekend, allowing us to concentrate on work we need to do around the house. I love that Drake is getting to spend do much time with his grandparents and we have also seen his cousins more since they moved here as well. Drake has learned the art of playing hide and seek, although he still likes to call out to tell you where he is hiding.

Drake has also started to wear underwear on a regular basis and we are now in week two at school and he has yet to have an accident. He does not always volunteer that he needs to go, but as long as we take regular trips to the potty, he is mastering this skill.

A couple weeks ago we had to run some errands in Greenville, so we started the morning with a trip to the zoo. We have been taking Drake to the zoo since before he could walk and I think this is the most attentive to the animals he has ever been. He was interested in all the animals and what they were doing.

It is hard to believe that October will be here in just a few days and on October 2nd our little family of three will become four. I'm not sure we are ready to live the sleep deprived life again, but we are ready to meet this little girl.

A Father's Day Hike

We celebrated Father's Day this year by heading to the woods for a hike. Thinking that Drake would enjoy running some of that two year old energy off, we optimistically chose a hike we have done before and remembered as not too steep. While not too difficult, I think our memories are beginning to fade; at least I can blame pregnancy brain.

As we got our of the car at the trail head, our plans of Drake running and hiking on his own were quickly dashed as he told us he would be riding in the backpack and not walking. Much to David's dismay, he acted as a Sherpa and carried Drake on his back until we got to a steep hill down to the river. Drake walked that portion, jumped over logs, and marveled at the bugs that he saw along the way. He actually did amazingly well given the terrain that we were asking him to climb.

Once at the river, Drake snacked and talked about all of the sharks and whales that he could see in the water. While David and I did not witness the marine animals that Drake was able to see, we did see a number of rafters and kayakers on the water.

If you look closely, the shirt that Drake has on says "David" on the back. This was actually David's shirt from when he was little. He thinks he wore it when he was five (hence the "5"), although David was a big kid also. I just can't imagine Drake at two is the same size as David at five.

On the hike out, Drake had no interest in riding in the backpack. He wanted us to carry him on our hip, but that was not happening for long. He walked some, I convinced him to ride in the backpack some (by bribing him with a snack), and we carried him some. The day capped off with a lobster dinner, which Drake was interested in looking at and wanted me to pet, but had no interest in touch (or eating) himself. Other than the six ticks that David found on his person, I think it was a great Father's Day.

The Timeout Tree

Drake has decided that it is important for me to have a timeout tree. The timeout tree is where Drake puts me when he wants to be allowed the freedom to explore the contents of the quanze hut shed; a place he knows he is not allowed to go.

When he decides to put me in timeout, he simply tells me "timeout Mamma" and walks me to the tree (slightly pushing me form behind). Once at the tree, he directs me where to stand and puts my back against the tree. He then places my hands in my lap and crosses then, just like we do with him when he is put in timeout. Drake then cautiously make his way back to the shed, occasionally looking back at me, pointing and saying, "no, Mamma, timeout".

My timeouts often continue for a couple cycles because, he really cannot be in the shed, so I take myself out of timeout to remove him from the shed. One interesting thing is that he has not figured out to turn my back to the shed or put me on the other side of the tree. The silly boys gives me a clean slight line to his mischief. At least we know that he is understanding that when you are in timeout, you are not allowed to do anything.

Lions and Tigers and Bears and Beetles and...

Drake has always loved animals. He enjoys looking at pictures of animals, pointing out animals, making animal noises, and looking at live animals. What two year old (any a person of any age for that matter) knows the sound that a zebra or a hippo make? Drake does...there's an app for that. We have spent a lot of our time over the last month and a half visiting various nature institutes. I have counted that, in his short life, Drake has now been to six zoos, one aquarium, one insectarium, and one animal theme park (Disney's Animal Kingdom). That is quite an extensive collection of animal based nature institutes for a 2 year old!

We are members of the Greenville Zoo, so that is a standard zoo experience for us. If we are running errands in Greenville, we will often just stop by the zoo first. It is very small and takes Drake's little legs just 45 minutes to walk through. Our zoo membership does grant us reciprocity (typically 50% off) at many zoos all around the country, which is a nice perk. The other animal homes we have visited recently are:

Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC:
Drake was going to stay with David's parents for the week andColumbia is about the halfway point for us to meet. Since I have been wanting to take him to Riverbanks for a while, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was nice going to a larger zoo that had animals different than what we see in Greenville. Drake was especially fond of the howler monkeys, penguins, and play fighting bears.

Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium in New Orleans, LA:
Our next stop on the animal train was the Insectarium while Drake and I went in New Orleans for a quick weekend visit with my parents. We love the Audubon Zoo and the Aquarium is ok, so the only portion of the institute we had remaining to visit with the Insectarium. Drake has been pretty into bugs lately, although he thinks all flying bugs are bees. He really enjoyed looking at the insects and the 4D bug film they offered was a nice surprise. The exhibits were nicely done and he was able to interact with a few insects but overall, I would not say that it was worth the price of admission.

Hollywild Animal Park, Wellford, SC:
Our most recent animal adventure came just this past weekend when we visited Hollywild. This was our second visit to Hollywild, the first being last summer. He was much more interested in the animals this visit and loved to chase the geese, chickens, and peacocks. Many of the animals that live in Hollwild are working animals, either in movies, television, or advertisements. They also have a safari where guests board a bus that takes you our to a very large area where the animals graze (and eat bread from the bus passengers). It was a good, interactive visit.

Our animal adventures will continue...this summer I hope we will visit the North Carolina Zoo, the Atlanta Zoo, and the Atlanta Aquarium.

It's A...

May 15th was our anatomy ultrasound that typically happens between 18-20 weeks in the pregnancy. The main purpose of this ultrasound is to make sure that the baby is developing well and that everything appears "normal". I think most people look forward to this ultrasound most to find out the sex of the baby.

The baby is developing nicely and I was happy to hear that I did not have placenta previa again this pregnancy. Because I had none of the risk factors when I was pregnant with Drake and because I had it once, the chances were greater that I would have previa this pregnancy. I just assumed that I would have it, so it was good to hear that the placenta is high and will only move higher.

So, the news that everyone wants to hear...it's a girl!

Again, this was a surprise to me. I have felt pretty much the same this pregnancy as I did with Drake, so I falsely just had in my mind that it was a boy. We are very excited that we're having a girl, although we would have been very excited had we been told it was a boy. Now to start the cleaning out process and making room for her to join our family and home.

These 3D images are pretty crazy (sorry it is on it's side, it is a picture of the ultrasound taken with my phone and apparently the blog did not like the format). It is amazing how many features you can see in this picture. Even though it is just a flip of the switch on the ultrasound machine, we do not have any of these images of Drake.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Forgive me for the lack of posting of late. I will try and make up for it over the next week and give as many updates as possible. Life has been busy, but not with very much excitement. It has rained here the entire weekend for the past four weeks, which has really limited our ability to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Last month, Drake experienced his first kite flying fun. He enjoys watching Kipper and, in many of the episodes, Kipper and his friends are flying a kite, typically on "big hill". Drake received a kite for his birthday from his Uncle Rusty, Aunt Patti, and cousins Anna and Mary Kate. One windy day, I decided to pull it out and try to fly it in our back yard. While we have plenty of room to fly a kite in our yard, the wind was blocked by the surrounding woods.

After the yard fail, we took Drake and the kite to the properly named, Kite Hill. This is a space on campus that is a huge hill and, apparently, offers plenty of wind to those wishing to fly a kite. Other than the string breaking and Drake letting go when he had full control, kite flying was a huge success on Kite Hill. We pass this hill everyday on our way home from daycare now and, everyday, Drake says, "Kite Hill, fly kite". I guess this experience made an impact!