Best Friends

I used to be Dylan's best friend. I'm not anymore, and I am ok with it, because this girl is. :) Makes a girl want to have a big family.

Hey Rae

Today you woke up at 5:22. Wide awake. This is after me choosing to start my Jillian 30 Day Shred last night, and having a party on our deck the night before and partying like we were 24 until 3 am. I am sleepy, and would prefer to go back to the days where you slept until 7. Especially now that I don't have to get up for work. Sound good? Love you.

Took a Break

My fear of blogging is that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it. Well, that happened pretty fast. I attribute it to two things. Stating on my blog that I would do something that actually took much more time than I thought it would, and Dylan's big fall. Not only did it take me forever to get started on Rae's birth story, but I haven't started on Dylan's yet. His will come...but I will not say when. Can't put that kinda pressure on myself anymore!

Reason number two is Dylan's big fall which resulted in us having a pretty traumatic Friday morning many weeks ago. I felt like it was something I should mention, since it was such a big deal, but to be honest, it was so traumatic for me, I really couldn't bring myself to write it down. And now...his tooth has come back down, no surgery needed, no infection, and I have much less anxiety now than I did four weeks ago. Better mommy.

Take a look at this guy. Two pics- one where you can see a tooth missing, and one where you can see that it has come back down! The body is really amazing.

Raegan Kathleen

Raegan Kathleen Riego
9-9-09.

Rae girl, Rae K, Raegan Kate, Rae Kate…this is your story. 

Little Raegan, we decided to try to have our second baby when your older brother was a mere 8 months old (side-note, you are 8 months now, and we will not be trying for another baby right yet). We knew we wanted you and your brother to be 2 grades apart, and because we were blessed with an “easy” first baby, we thought that we should start as soon as we could. Well, wouldn’t you know that you really wanted to be here. We found out we were pregnant in January of 2009, much to our surprise,e after only having to try for one month. Dylan delivered the news to your dad in the form of a picture of him with a sign saying, “I’m going to be a big brother!”

My pregnancy with you was different from my pregnancy with Dylan. My skin was different, I felt sick, my hair was dry, etc. Because of these differences, I thought from the beginning that you were a girl, but didn’t want to let myself get overly excited.

The day we found out you were a girl, your dad and I both cried tears of joy.

There were many times throughout my pregnancy that I thought that you were going to come early. I felt contractions early on, and actually called the doctor a few times to make sure everything was ok. Dr. Templeton decided at one of my appointments that we should schedule your C-section a week early just in case. She came in the room and said- ok, that will be September 8th, but if you like, we could try for September 9th. It took me a second, but then I got it- your birthday would be 9-9-09! I thought it was a neat coincidence, so we “decided” that would be your birthday unless you came early!

Mimi and Pop-Pop came in a few days early, and spent some time with us before you came. The day before we went to the hospital, we went to see Dr. T, and she told me to be prepared. I was a little more dialated, and was having a few sporadic contractions. However, you had been giving me “pains” for what seemed like forever- so when I started to feel them again that night, the night before your “planned” birthday, I didn’t make a big deal. I mentioned them to Mimi, mentioned them to Daddy, but ate a wonderful dinner out on the deck. We went to our room early, so that we could prepare for the next day. At that point, I secretly knew you were coming (well, 90% sure). The night before, your dad and I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning watching Cocktail on VH1. Gotta love that. We were just so excited for you to come. So, your dad was tired and I encouraged him to sleep. I slept for about two hours, and then moved to the chair to start timing the contractions. I got in the shower, took my time getting ready, and then ever so calmly called the doctor. I look back on that secret time, when only you and I knew you were coming, with huge smiles on my face. I also love knowing that whether we planned it or not, you wanted your birthday to be 9-9-09 .

Dr. Templeton told me to come in as soon as possible, and I finally woke up your dad. Contractions really hurt by then, and I squeezed your dad’s hand tightly all the way to the hospital. Your dad pressed the button to enter the delivery wing, and the nurse asked if she could help us. Your dad replied, “Umm.. we’re having a baby?”

Everything happened so quickly. We got settled, did all of the preliminary tests, and before I knew it, we were on our way. I actually walked to the delivery room this time, stopping every few steps when a contraction came. You were having a race with another baby in the wing, so the doctor gave me the epidural, and actually told me to sleep for a little bit until the other baby was delivered.

I loved watching your daddy walk in the room in his scrubs. I loved hearing you cry for the first time. I loved watching your daddy take pictures while all of the doctors did their work on you. And I loved holding and kissing you and feeling the instant connection that only a mommy and a daughter know.

Love you baby rae.

Belly Laughs

I know I said I would do birth stories, but I had to document the sweetest sound I have heard since I have had two children. On our way to the park, Dylan and Rae were playing a little game of peek a boo in the back seat. Rae is big enough now to lean up and peak around the edge of her car seat. She kept peeking at Dylan, Dylan would smile and laugh, and she would laugh back with the biggest belly laugh I have heard from her. It wasn't once or twice, it was over and over from 37 to Allisonville, to 116th, to the park (I took the longest possible way there for no good reason).

It was so sweet, and makes me so excited to see them grow as best friends!

Birthdays

My 30th birthday was last Thursday and I had a wonderful last couple of days celebrating. This included LOTS of food- including a few of my favorites- sushi, St. Elmo's shrimp cocktail, and Hot Box pizza. I am currently waiting on a ice cream delivery from my husband to round out the weekend, and Katie and I still have a date to go get our artichoke appetizer at Cheesecake Factory (we have to be the only people that go for the artichoke, not the cheesecake).

My 30th birthday has caused me to reflect on quite a bit. As Danny and I enjoyed a date night on Saturday, we had a long discussion about how we have been together for half our lives. And, this life we are so preciously building one baby at a time will surpass the 15 years we didn't know each other. I am incredibly lucky to have a best friend for a husband. We have had the opportunity to grow together, and I love the couple that we have become.

I think it is most appropriate to reflect on the two birthdays that mean the most to me. April 14th, 2008 and September 9, 2009. My next two posts will be the birth stories of my sweet babies, which I still have yet to document. Believe me, I can replay every minute of my 4 day hospital stay with each baby. Those will continue to be some of my favorite memories of my adult life. So, on my 30th birthday, I feel so lucky to say that Dylan and Rae's birthdays have been the most defining moments in my 30 years.

A post from Shutterfly...

For those of you that don't know, I post all of my pictures on a Shutterfly site- www.theriegofamily.shutterfly.com. Feel free to visit if you don't already! There I do a montly journal entry to remind myself of my kiddo's milestones. I have cut and pasted that below- as I know I have really slacked on this blog in the last few months. Let's just say blogger and I weren't on speaking terms for awhile. But I am back, and I am starting with something easy- my shutterfly post- to catch everyone up. Get ready for big changes in May, when one miss JenB will assist me with all things blogger, so I don't boycott this thing again.

Enjoy!

We had such a busy month! I have started a blog, www.theriegofamily.blogspot.com. Feel free to visit- but don't get too excited. I got in a fight with it this month when I had some trouble posting. But- tonight I will begin again!

This month...

I went on my first extended trip away from both kids (Vegas!), Easter, Mimi and Papa came to visit (Dylan has officially changed his name from Pop-Pop to Papa), Dylan turned 2, Rae was baptized, Danny's basketball season officially started, Dylan hit 30 lbs, Rae hit 15, and Rae finally got over her "cold" and is sleeping beautifully without coughing. Dylan counted to ten last night and I got it on video! He also did a summersault today and said "awesome" after he did it! He then proceeded to do it a hundred more times until he crashed into the baby seat-that I should have put away months ago... He is so cute! Rae is still pretty unhappy on her belly, but will get up on all fours, rock back and forth, and scoot backwards! She can sit up and play with her toys, and melts our hearts everytime she smiles- which is a lot. She belly laughs when I tickle her and has started eating stage two baby food!


We had Dylan's bday party at Yogi's in Bloomington, and we were so fortunate to have the whole family there. He was thrilled with his Handy Manny coloring books, his "tools", and his books! We got him a bike that luckily Papa put together before he left! We have taken it out a few times, but he still isn't quite sure about the pedals. Hard to believe that Rae is more than halfway to 1! I officially feel like she isn't quite my baby baby girl anymore...More on that later in my blog!!