Getting into the groove

Things are starting to settle in at home.... kinda...! Ha!
Actually, it's been a great couple of days at home as a family of 4! We've stayed low key and tried to overlook the mountain of housework that's piling up. My sister was able to come and meet miss Elaina on Friday and was able to play with Lila, which helps immensely since Lila is a little "needy" right now! She spent the night on Saturday with Ryan's parents so we could go to Mankato with Elaina for our friend Jason's surprise 30th Birthday! Happy Birthday Q! We love ya!
Ryan's parents (with Lila in tow), sister Kris and her family, and my Dad and friend came down yesterday to spend the afternoon and it was great! Barb... I LOVE YOU!!! Thank you so SO much for everything, could not ask for a better Mother-in-law! (Seriously, did almost ALL my laundry, made lunch for everyone, and cleaned my kitchen!!!) Yeah, she rocks!
Today we made a quick trip to the peds to check Elaina's weight (6lb 11oz) and bilirubin. She got just a touch of jaundice, but nothing they were too concerned with. She does have a broken collar bone, but we have just been a little extra careful with her left side and it doesn't seen to bother her too much!

So far, she's been a pretty awesome baby!!! Really sleeps very well, although likes to have her "grazing" time between 10pm and 1am. Once that's done though, she usually sleeps like a champ. I've actually had a 6 hour stretch of sleep already! Sweet!

Well, since the rest of my family is sleeping, I might take the hint and snag some Zzzz's too! Tata for now!

Welcome Elaina Grace!!!!

... And Elaina makes 4!

She's here! Our beautiful little blessing!

Elaina Grace Volovsek arrived April 21st, 2010 at 12:32am.
7lbs 1oz. with a full head of brown hair and a pout you can't believe!

She is here a little ahead of schedule, but I'm so happy with how everything went, it doesn't make a bit of difference!

Tuesday evening my Dr. broke my water to get labor started because I possibly had low amniotic fluid levels. I was very happy that labor kicked in on it's own and I didn't need to have any Pitocin to help things along. By 9:30pm I was pretty uncomfortable and by 11pm I am pretty sure I was one of "those" women all of us labor nurses hate. But, I had the BEST nurse (Gina, you were an angel!) and 2 great coaches!!! (Ryan and my friend Chelsie)! I got 1 dose of IV pain medication and it was enough to get me through! Soon I was able to push and less than 10 minutes later, out she came! I still can't believe it! The whole experience was amazing and I couldn't be happier!!!

She's so far been a laid back sweet girl! She sleeps well, eats well, poops REALLY well! Ha! Lila is pretty good with her, but needs reminding on the whole "gentle" concept! She's very interested in her and likes to touch, Ryan and I are going to need our eagle-eyes on her every second! It's been a fairly relaxing few days at home and we're looking forward to the weekend and having some visitors to come meet her!

I'll try to post again soon, but I'm adjusting to a life as mother of 2 and it might take a little work! Wish me luck!!! Happy weekend to everyone!

love like crazy

Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse "I love you"!





Go to work, do your best, and don't outsmart your common sense!














Never let your praying knees get lazy...




















And love like CRAZY!

Rio (mama-to-be)

I know somewhere along the line, I've mentioned that we are expecting a litter of puppies, but it's been kinda shuffled under the rug with everything else going on. I sent this picture collage to the breeder who will be listing and selling her puppies and thought I'd share here too!

We will have her x-rayed next Monday to give us an estimate on how many pups she's carrying and her official "due date" is the 26th of April. (Yeah, 4 days before mine!)

She's getting really big and fat, so we're hoping for a nice sized litter! I'm nervous about all this chaos coming to a head at once, but hey... Go Big or Go Home right?

So much in so little time

I have so many little things I want to blog about, but just can't seem to find the right time to do it. There are lots of little bits and pieces of our life I'd like to share, and I'm trying to find some cute, creative way to put it together and ultimately am drawing a blank...


So, I'm just going to write (type, whatever)... you can read my rambling if you choose, or simply go back to doing something interesting...


1) Pregnancy: Still going fairly smooth, although my complaining would lead some to believe otherwise. I did have an OB appt. last week and much to my dismay, had NO signs of ANY progression. Damn.
I'm currently a little over 37 weeks, so technically full term, but I'm confident we'll be "cooking" for a few more weeks. Baby is doing well, still active as ever, so I take comfort in that. This little one will be here to greet us before we know it!

2) Lila: Busy as ever. Goofy as ever. Dramatic as ever!! Oh heavens, can that little girl turn on the waterworks!! Ha! Who would have thought that eating one more bite of scrambled egg would cause the sky to fall and the world to end?! She is simply hilarious with some of her antics, but she can get quite frusterated when you don't understand exactly what she needs THIS MINUTE! (making it more difficult is the fact that she speaks some weird Japanese dialect, that I have yet to learn!) Seriously, her language is improving, and some days she seems very clear to me, and others, I can't understand a word... Oh well, I'm sure we'll soon be wishing she would just be quiet, so I'll be careful about what I ask for!

3) Mixed Emotions: Lila is my angel right now. She is such a bright spot in my life and through all her dramatics, she brings a smile to my face and warms my heart so deeply every day, I can't imagine life any other way. I'm so excited for this new baby to arrive; to meet this person I feel inside me, and to share that with Ryan. I'm confused. Confused as to how I'm going to take care of it all, THEM all, and still keep some pretense of sanity. I'm worried I won't have the time to give Lila what she needs, or that the baby won't get the same love and attention Lila did and will grow up feeling deprived... oh the constant worry.
I'm sure many parents go through this, but it's such a strange feeling.
I have to share a wonderful "Ryan" moment I had last week...

~Before going to bed one night last week, I went downstairs to check on Lila. Her face was so peaceful and beautiful that I was almost in tears when I climbed into my own bed. When Ryan asked me what was wrong, I shared some of these mixed emotions I was having and Bless his heart, without missing a beat he said "Ana, just think of how much we love Lila and pretty soon we are going to Double that!". My husband, the man who is not known for being eloquent when speaking of feelings, managed to say the one perfect thing I needed to hear that night! I'm so lucky!

Ok, that's enough for now. I have more random things I'd like to share at some point, but this is getting long. I still need to get some pictures up of Lila's dresser and bookshelf (SO PROUD of my husband!), and should make some comments on the other pregnant lady of the house (Rio), but that will come another day!
Have a great Sunday!

Easter weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! The weather was the nicest I can remember and I enjoyed spending time with my family over the weekend!

Lila did very well in church, (thanks largely to Grandpa Alan, who seemed to have the calming touch)!
We had a nice brunch at my mom's and even though Lila decided to pass on a nap for the day, she did EXCEPTIONALLY well and kept her darling smile and goofy laugh in place all day. (Even through MILLIONS of pictures!)

One minor mishap... ummm, the pregnant lady forgot her Easter dress on the back of the couch at home. Oops! I thought she'd be more comfortable in the car in pants, so I figured I'd change her at my mom's before church (less wrinkles too, right?). Get to mom's, oh-no... no dress, grrr... Oh well, at least I didn't have her in sweats and a stained tee-shirt! I threw an Easter picture up, just for representation of the cute dress I had INTENDED her to wear. Oh the best of intentions....
Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely day. Christ is risen. Life is good!

Welcome April!

Good-bye March, thank you for being so good to us this year!

I can't believe how mild the whole month was, seriously... it's been so amazing, I have to remind myself that I live in MINNESOTA! What? I love it!

I worked this past week and although I am totally exhausted, I was reminded again of why I love my job! I had the privledge of being present at the birth of some beautiful children to some wonderful parents and it makes me more and more excited to have my own!

Today, Ryan and I are both home and even though it's a dreary day, we've already spent a good amount of time outside, put primer on Lila's darling bookshelf (going to paint this afternoon) and are just about to sit down to lunch. A quiet one too, since Miss Lila is napping!

She's been a bit vocal today (which is why she's napping so early!), but otherwise a funny little girl as usual! She made a new discovery today and I got quite a laugh watching her waddle around with her pant pockets full of rocks!!! Hooray for pockets I guess?! Goofy kid!

I'm planning on enjoying the rest of the day, just doing little tasks around the house and more of the same tomorrow! I would like to work on a collage of pictures of Lila's dresser and bookshelf that Ryan built, but plan on waiting until the bookshelf is completed.... very soon! I'm so excited to share these photos, I'm couldn't be prouder of my husband, just you wait... you'll see why!!!
It's going to be a great weekend!