Anna Elizabeth

7lb 8oz 20 inches
9:14 am

She has a little bit of dark hair and blue eyes.

She is named after her grandmother's. Ann is Grandma Unger's middle name and Elizabeth is Grandma Saunder's middle name.

I was having some stronger contractions last night and thought we might be heading to the hospital sometime during the night. I went to bed and was up and down several times, but until about 4 in the morning I was able to sleep. I got up and was dealing with contractions and talked to the doctor, who told me to head to the hospital if they were 5 minutes apart or meet at the office at 8:20 for him to check me. I originally had a 9:10 appointment anyway, which ironically was the case with Maria too. I had her on a Friday morning and had an appt. scheduled that day too. So, anyway, I decided that at about 6:15 I better call my mom and have her start to head this way. We ended up leaving for the hospital at about 8, after dropping Maria off at the neighbor's to stay until mom could come get her. On the way to the hospital I had to remind Larry that he could go a tad faster, since I was in labor! When we got to the hospital I told Larry that he had better get a wheelchair since I didn't think I could walk the whole way to OB. Then they made up go through registration, much to our frustration as we were supposed to be preregistered. Someone from OB came to get me and when we got back and I was checked I was already at about 9 1/2...so they called my doctor and he started to make his way over. We were in the labor room settled at about 8:20 and by 9:14 I was looking at my beautiful new daughter. It's a good thing this hospital was closer than where I delivered Maria, because if I had been trying to break my labor record I did it!
She seems to be a healthy little girl, hungry and tired too. Dad is holding her now as he calls to share the good news. I think I am ready for a little nap!
We have plenty to praise God for; a second beautiful daughter!

Click play to see more pictures!

36 weeks and a soapbox

yep, I finally look pregnant, according to what most people tell me...well, heck I only have a few weeks left, I hope I look pregnant!  That must be one of the most annoying things about being pregnant, random unsolicited comments.  That is why I am so grateful I was pregnant during mostly cold weather.  No one can tell when you have a huge winter coat on that you are pregnant and so you avoid comments from total strangers.  The advice, questions, and just plain annoying comments do get really old after awhile.  

Speaking of strangers, does anyone else find it odd when complete strangers start trying to have a conversation with your 2 year old, and expectantly wait for a response.  Considering she is pretty shy even when around people she knows such as our family, I would consider it a great miracle that she would start talking openly with a stranger.  But what I find most disturbing is that I really don't want my 2 year old to feel that she should have to talk to these people.  I usually just smile and not give any information to them.  I figure if I answer for her, she might start thinking she would be okay answering them.  I know they are being harmless and just like I think 2 year olds are cute, they do too...but really people, give me a break and remember that "don't talk to strangers" is a pretty accepted thought for kids.

Okay, sorry for the rant, it just seems that lately everywhere we go, it's pregnancy comments and "oh, she's adorable, what's your name?..."  Okay, done with my soapbox now!

Maria listening to her little sister.
I'm not sure what she thought she heard, but was pretty excited about it.

We have plenty to praise God for; anticipation for new life.

"come out baby"

Maria has shown more interest in the baby lately and since the baby is bigger, the kicks and jabs can actually be seen better from the outside. She does like to lay her head on my tummy and say she can hear her. She was trying to get the baby to come out by pushing on my stomach, and thought that she would come through my belly button...uh, yeah, so glad we don't have to deal with that topic quite yet, thank goodness!

We have plenty to praise God for; an active baby and a curious toddler.

31 weeks and counting...

Seems like time is flying by and this baby girl will be here before we know it...

We have plenty to praise God for; only about 2 months till we meet our baby girl.

6 months

6 Months!

Can't believe we're getting so close to meeting our new baby girl. She obviously didn't want her picture taken with me!

Can I have a kiss?

Smooch!

Maria and I were having some fun on our bed...she loves to "fly" onto our bed and crawl around to play.

We have plenty to praise God for; no major complications to this pregnancy.

round and round

Maria has really started loving certain songs lately...here is her helping me sing one of them.

She will ask for us to sing Wheels on the Bus by doing the round and round motion sometimes. At night she requests us to sing twinkle, twinkle, Jesus(Jesus Loves Me), puppy(How Much is That Doggie in the Window), EIEI-O(Old MacDonald), sunshine(You are My Sunshine).

It's very cute how much Maria is saying these days. She communicates pretty well and even refers to herself as I in sentences. "I potty" "I want cracker"

She is doing well on the potty this week. She has had 5 days of "panties" and seems to be friends with the timer(we figured we'd let it be the bad guy). When it goes off she knows it's time to head to the bathroom.

She has fun twice a week when I watch a 4 year old girl after preschool. Ruthie and Maria especially enjoy running the circle through the house. Maria can't wait for me to pick up "Uthie" from preschool next door.

We were able to go out for dinner on Valentine's Day thanks to our sitter Sarah or "Warah" as Maria dubbed her. She could have cared less we left her for the night, Sarah was so much fun.

Since we have been back from vacation, Maria keeps asking to go on a "hike" It's funny to think about hiking here in town!

Also since vacation Maria seems to think bedtime is a negotiable time...as she screams when we leave the room. AH, tonight she went to bed with no problem...maybe it's the bathroom light we left on. The beginning of "dark is scary" stage??

Maria knows that a baby is is mommy's belly, but sometimes gets confused and thinks she has one too. Let's hope that she continues to understand that some things are for the baby and wants to share when the baby is actually here.

Maria's favorite game is "tickle, tickle" where we chase her around the house and tickle her!

She also has started figuring out hide and seek; well, sort of...sometimes she hides when she is supposed to find Daddy and sometimes she counts when she is supposed to hide! It's a work in progress.

She can sit for at least 30 minutes "reading" books from her basket. She also loves for you to read to her on the potty. It requires parent patience as she usually wants the same book every time!

We have PLENTY to praise God for; a beautiful, loving little girl to watch grow up and learn all about the world.

23 weeks and counting...

Well, Robyn said she wanted to see the baby bump...so here it is! I will be 23 weeks in about a day, so we are definitely over the halfway mark.

We have plenty to praise God for; a relatively easy pregnancy so far.

Happy Birthday (April 24)

Yes, I almost had a great birthday present, though I can't say I would want to spend my birthday in the hospital. Maria was due on my birthday, but the odds were pretty slim of that actually happening. My doctor kept telling me that this baby probably was not making an early arrival. Well, I bet he feels like a fool now, huh?

This is the last picture of me pregnant that we took (March 24), I guess when you are in labor at 1:30 in the morning and your water has just broken, the last thing you are thinking of is taking a picture.

(this is one of Larry's favorite photos of Maria)

We have plenty to praise God for; a very memorable birthday gift this year!