Thursday, September 23, 2010

Jack Walter Ritchey

I am sure you have all already been informed, but Jack is here!! He was born on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 3:55 pm. Many thanks to all of you for your prayers, thoughts, & well wishes these past few days!...

The hospital was slow getting my induction started, we were here at 9:00 am but the IV didn't start until 10:50 am. My contractions really began around 11:30 am and I was 3 cm. They broke my water at 11:50 am, and by 1:15 pm I was asking for my epidural (still only 4 cm). My exam at 2:30 pm showed great progress, 7 cm! The checked again at 3:00 pm and surprisingly I was just about 10 cm!!! We waited for Dr. Davy to arrive, for the delivery & newborn stuff to get set-up, and for Jack to "drop" a little bit more, and I started pushing at 3:35 pm. So after a short 4 hr labor and 20 min delivery Mr. Jack Walter Ritchey entered the world!!! ♥

Alexa came into see us (with Noni) within the first hour (they just waited for our first nursing session to be over). She did GREAT with her baby brother, wanting to hold him and giving him big kisses - she even asked to take him home as she was leaving!!!

We are doing great thus far! Jack was a bit sleepy the first night and most of yesterday making nursing hard, but now as he is getting more alert we are getting it. He is (so far) a relatively quiet and easy-tempered baby, we'll see if that changes once he spends more time with his sister hehe.

Now we are waiting for the pediatrician to arrive to do Jack's circumcision. Once that is over, we have to wait an hour and will hopefully have our discharge papers ready to go. We are antsy and ecstatic to get home, be reunited with Alexa, and to bond as a family of four a little bit later this morning!!

Here is an album on Facebook of pictures from the past few days - ENJOY!

Until there is time again... Ciao.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Lovin' Autumn!

Normally I'm not an Autumn (or Fall, whatever you call it) kinda person. I prefer the warm temperatures, blooming flowers, and strong new sunlight of late-Spring. I like getting out my flip flops and tank tops... But something has overtaken my body (maybe Dan's LOVE of Fall is inherently in Jack and thus truly inside of me, lol, who knows), and I have been embracing the weather change openly. Alexa and I have become regulars at Starbucks, filling my cravings for Pumpkin Spice Lattes. We've been reading books that are Autumn-themed (i.e. stuff about pumpkins, apples, leaves, and harvest) and cooking Fall things (e.g. zucchini bread and squash & apple bisque). The two of us even completed an Apple-inspired art project last week! (Hopefully we'll be able to make time for a few other art projects I've been thinking of once Jack arrives and the four of us have settled.) Oh, I've even found the perfect outfit combination for me: flip flops, shorts, and a tank top (because it gets hot late in the day) with the lone hoodie that still fits (because it is cool in the morning) :-) But most importantly with these leaves-changing-color months comes the start of football season!!

Thursday, September 2nd

Here is our lil Buckeye ready for the first game of the season (OSU v. Marshall, 45 - 7)... After seeing the cheerleader outfit I got for a steal at the consignment shop earlier this summer taunting her in the closet for months, Alexa was so excited to finally wear her "Go BUCKS dress!" (as she calls it) and loved listening to TBDBITL (The Best Damn Band In The Land) all day in the car!!












Of course, since Alexa looked cute we had to go somewhere to show her off ;-) So we went to have lunch with Daddy at work! That night we watched the game at home and took a few family photos out in front of the house.









My parents came to visit Fri - Sun of Labor Day weekend! I don't know who/what Alexa was happier about arriving - them or the Barney cup they brought with them, lol. It had been a l-o-n-g three weeks without seeing them, and we were so so so happy they made the trip to Columbus since I had been given the "no travel" decree!!!

Saturday, September 4th

Her Highness enjoyed being pampered first thing in the morning by getting her toenails and fingernails painted by Noni (it was the first time she has had her fingernails painted - I forgot to get a picture, but they looked so cute). The "spoiling" continued with some alone time coloring with Papa and lots of shopping... Besides the Mickey Mouse bathroom accessories (featured in my last post), Noni & Papa got Alexa new Dora shoes and a purse!









SURPRISE!!! I get a text first thing on Saturday morning that Auntie was coming to visit too! When she arrived, Alexa was thrilled to see her :-) It always warms my heart to see the reaction my daughter has to my family ♥ For dinner, we went to PF Chang's. It was Chinese yumminess, and Alexa was fascinated with the ginormous horse statues in front of the restaurant!









For dessert we stopped at Dairy Queen.









Sunday, September 5th
Over the past two years, Alexa has definitely learned to be a dog lover with Chloe and Dixie always around! Auntie took Alexa on a leisurely wagon ride around the neighborhood.









After nap we headed out to 'The Farm' (a piece of property that has been in Dan's extended family for decades). Every year there is a picnic on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. The highlight of going to 'The Farm' for the kids is usually the tractor ride, not so much for Alexa though. According to Auntie, she just kept saying, "Go back to Mommy!"









Posing for various family photos at 'The Farm.'









It was sad to say goodbye to my parents, who left directly from there to head back to Perry. But it was made easier by the fact that Danielle was staying Sun night to have alone time with us :-) We enjoyed a movie and snack-overload night with her!









Monday, September 6th
Chloe and Dixie are BFFs... they even eat breakfast together!









After my sister left, the three of us ran a few errands - Alexa insisted on carrying our toilet paper (that was clearly the size of her) out of Target. LOL









We went to the park in the evening. Alexa really loves this slide at the playground in our development!












Tuesday, September 7th
I've taken pictures each week at Babytime because I wasn't sure if it would be our last one or not. Clearly, Alexa did NOT want this photo with Mommy :-/









Friday, September 10th
Alexa wants to wear OSU clothes on Fridays and Saturdays. She wakes up almost every morning and says, "Mommy, it's game day!" When I tell her no she then says, "It's football season!" Daddy and I are quite proud to be raising a little girl with such Buckeye pride!!












Saturday, September 11th
We decided to brave the traffic and chaos to go to campus to tailgate on game day (OSU v. Miami, 36 - 24). We knew it would be really crazy, so we went down early and left before the game began... but we had a blast!! Alexa got her first BUCKEYE necklace and then we walked Lane Ave from High Street to our friends' tailgate on West Campus (across from The Shot). (P.S. Isn't my belly HUGE??? After I saw the photo on the right, I've been wondering how I stay upright without horrible back pain! haha)









Alexa had such a good time at the tailgate... she has Daddy and his friends wrapped around her little finger :-)









We went to another tailgate in the parking lot of St. John's arena to see Mr. Buchman (a former teacher & cheerleading coach from Perry). His wife is the Ohio State's head cheerleading coach and she brought these three cheerleaders (Ben, Ally and Ally) to meet Alexa! She has been waving anything she can around like a pom-pom since - yay, our little BUCKEYE has aspirations to be a cheerleader!!









Sunday, September 12th
Like I said, we've been reading books to Alexa this entire month of September that focus on Autumn. This got her all jazzed up about going apple picking. We took her to Lynd's Fruit Farm to pick apples for the first time, and she had a blast!









Alexa did a great job reaching for and pulling apples off the trees. We had our bag filled with Jonathon apples in no time!









Of course, she had to sample her pickings right in the middle of the orchard :-)~









Alexa and Mommy in an apple tree.









Alexa and Daddy at picking apples and climbing mini-hills.












Lynd's Fruit Farm has the orchard (where you can pick apples yourself), a tent market (to purchase already picked apples & other produce, as well as many other types of apple products), and then a corn maze. It had been my intention to go to the market, then the orchard, and finally make our way through the corn maze. However, I over-planned and we did not have enough time to go through the huge maze because it was approaching Alexa's nap time. As a consolation prize, hehe, she was able to see the entire maze from a viewing deck (plus we sat in front of it for a picture) and played in a kiddie area (that had a little straw maze).









Tuesday, September 14th
This was a bittersweet morning for me... we did what we have been doing almost every Tuesday for the past 20 months, went to Babytime at 11:00 am.

Video from Babytime - Alexa doing
The Wheels on the Bus


Video from Babytime - Alexa during
There Are Bubbles in the Air


Both the librarian and her volunteer offered to take pictures of Alexa and I because they knew it was our last Babytime just the two of us ♥ Mrs. Jenny even told me she teared up a few times throughout storytime watching Alexa and me together and thinking about/seeing the bond that we have built during our time together at the library!









Video - Alexa has been making this funny sound effect whenever she runs (she is positively hilarious!)


Video - Alexa sharing her BUCKEYE pride :-)


Wednesday, September 15th
Ready for The Great Apple Art Project!









We used a few of the apples that we had picked at Lynd's to make apple prints on Autumn greeting cards that we made on the computer for family.









We used Alexa's fingerprint to make the stem on the orange apples (the rest of the stems I painted on because we were both kinda worn out from the long arts & crafts time). Here are all the prints we made! It was a ton of fun to do a project like this with Alexa!!









After nap, we were supposed to have our last playdate before Jack's arrival... Alexa and Kyla love Library Park, and truth be told so do Bobbi and I! We are thankful for the jungle gym that is safe for them to play on without our big prego selves chasing them around too much, lol. When we got in the van, Alexa started crying and saying, "Come over my house Kyla!" So we had our real last playdate for them on Thursday - they came to our house to play for awhile :-) I know we will continue to see them loads even after Jack comes (and once Baby Boy Huston is born in Nov too), but it'll be different then the Girls' Summer Fun we've all been having together!









Friday, September 17th
This was mine and Alexa's last day alone, as it was Daddy's last day of work. It was a HARD day for me emotionally... I haven't said anything to very many people but the past few weeks (even months, honestly) have been rough for me.
I have been having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Alexa is no longer going to be my only child. She has really been my "best girl" for the past two years, and I am so worried about the unknown of what it will be like to have two children. Don't get me wrong, I am so glad that we made the decision to have another baby and feel blessed that we conceived him so easily (I keep hearing more and more stories of couples struggling with this and my heart aches for them). And I am BEYOND excited to meet and hold my newborn son in my arms :-) I am just nostalgic over the end of an era if you will; my first years as a mother. I love Alexa more than words can say (all you mothers know what I'm talking about) and am so proud of the little girl she is... I'm sure I'll look back and think how foolish I was for ever fearing our relationship or her development could be hindered by Mommy having another baby. But for now, I continuously have been praying to God that our bond and her intelligence will still thrive as another tiny human being consumes my heart too. I've also been praying that I will be just as good of a mommy to Jack even though he won't necessarily get all of the one-on-one time that Alexa has had for the past 23 months.

We spent the day doing what we do best - SHOPPING!!! We got a few last-minute things that we needed and made a pit stop at Babies R Us for Alexa to ride the Barney ride (which Dan swears we should just buy, lol). She is so independent, wanting to put the quarters in all by herself :-) And side note, don't you love the OSU hoodie?? Even though she already has the red zip-up hoodie, I had been looking for a plain gray one to match Mommy & Daddy and finally found one (along with pumpkin puree, something that is in low supply but high demand right now) at Meijer on Thursday... Alexa loves it and looks so adorable with her hands in the pockets!









We had visitors again this past weekend - my dad and gram :-) Alexa did not hesitate to convince Papa to read her one of her Barney books!









Saturday, September 18th

My dad and Dan spent the day on campus, tailgating and cheering on the BUCKS to victory (OSU v. OU, 43 - 7) while Alexa and I enjoyed a Girls' Day with Gram. Besides the cabbage rolls, chili, and coffee cake that she brought down for us, Gram also made us a homemade apple pie while she was here! I am so blessed and very thankful to have such a wonderful grandmother
I also feel very fortunate to watch my dad and husband form the same bond that I witnessed my grandfather and dad have for many years :-) Alexa told us she was "Grocery shopping at Walmart with Barney." (Talking like this is BEYOND advanced for a child not quite 2!!)









Alexa with her the two leading men in her life and with Gram. She impressed Gram all day with how smart she is... Alexa can identify many letters in the alphabet, sing lots of songs, and almost always speaks in sentences. We are really proud of her!!










And what visit would not be complete without a wagon ride?! I think Papa takes the title of Best Wagon Ride Giver, he pulled her around the neighborhood for like 45 minutes!









Sunday, September 19th

After Mass, we took Papa and Gram to Library Park so they could see how much fun Alexa has playing! Everyone had a great time!!








Monday, September 20th
Thus far we have had a wonderful day, our last as a family of 3
We started off the day with Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks (because I prefer S's Pumpkin Spice Latte to DD's same drink but had promised Her Highness donuts for breakfast). Alexa picked a chocolate donut and a sprinkle donut, and I let her "pay for it" by giving the cashier my debit card (this is something she really likes to do!). After breakfast, Daddy had to take Chloe to the vet (poor girl has an ear infection and a ruptured blood vessel, boo), while Alexa and I had some alone time going to the library. We read a few books, colored, and played with the felt board. (By the way, when I asked Alexa what she wanted to wear today she said, "My Mom's Best Girl shirt." I think she realizes that today is a special day too!)









Video - Alexa counting at the library (first she counts 1 - 6, which you can kinda hear, and then she recounts but skips 3 and 4... obviously we are still working on the counting thing. Sometimes she can count to 10 perfectly and other times not so much. She can identify written numbers except for 4.)


We then packed lunch and headed to Liberty Park.









What fun having Mommy and Daddy's undivided attention!!!









Like I said, today has been AWESOME! I've been on the verge of tears allllll day (surprise surprise) and even have let a few slip out, but I am really cherishing this time with Daddy and Alexa. We have had an unbelievable 23 months together and are anxious & excited (at the same time) for the next chapter of our family life to begin tomorrow when Jack makes his grand debut!

I'll end with the conversation Alexa and I had before nap that really got me jazzed up:
Mommy: Have we had fun today?
Alexa: Yeah!
M: What did we have for breakfast?
A: Dunkin Donuts!!
M: What kind did you have?
A: Chocolate and sprinkles. I steal Mommy's sprinkles. I taste Mommy's coconut!
M: Did you like the coconut?
A: Yeah.
M: Then we went to the...
A: Library and the park. Motorcycle! (There is a toy motorcycle there like the firetruck pictured above)
M: What about the motorcycle?
A: I want a tricycle!!
M: You want a tricycle?
A: Yeah!! A pink bicycle! (She confuses bikes and trikes)
M: Maybe one day you'll get a tricycle. I'll tell Daddy that you want a pink one.
A: Or an orange one.
M: Ok.

So to spoil the surprise for all of you, little does she know we have been hiding a pink tricycle for her 'from Jack' for over a month now :-) Daddy and I really cannot wait to give it to her when we come home from the hospital now!! So this is officially my
last post before Jack is born :-) Will post some pics of the lil man as soon as we can... Ciao.