9 months!

Ginny is 9 months old!  You have 4 teeth (two on the top and two on the bottom), are crawling, are pulling up (but haven't really started walking around while holding onto things), you clap (yay Ginny usually gets you going), you occasionally will say "hi!" and wave, and you are a total momma's girl.  You still only really say mom when you are hungry, but you babble about daddy frequently.  You gave us a little scare recently with pneumonia, but you seemed to have kicked its butt (with the help of lots of antibiotics!).  We love you tremendously, Ellie most of all :)

You weigh 17 pounds 10 ounces
You are 27.5 inches tall

7 months!

Don't mind that was posted after you 8 month photo :)

Let me try to remember what you were doing at 7 months...you were on all fours rocky, but not moving anywhere and getting mad that you couldn't move.  Still had just to lower teeth.  Still nursing, but SLOWED down quite a bit.  Still love your sister and daddy's tickles make you giggle uncontrollably.  You love you momma snuggles very much :)

8 months!

You have have your two bottom teeth and the two uppers are JUST starting to poke through.  You started crawling at 8.5 months, you definitely lead with your hands.  HUGE dramatic hand movements, but you drag you left leg and step with your right leg.  So you really more bear crawl, than traditionally crawl.  You are eating all kinds of foods, and LOVE to feed yourself.  Your favorite right now is to bite of little bits of peeled grapes with your little bottom teeth.  You survived your first airplane rides just shy of 8 months.  You LOVE animals of all kinds, especially when you can get your hands on then.  So far Mandi and Roo have been tolerant of this, but you definitely
use your new found mobility to terrorize them :)

8 months ago and now :)

Auntie Sarah gave Jenn and I matching Hokie outfits when we were both pregnant, this past weekend Callum and Ginny got to sport those fancy outfits :)

Ellie's First Day of Preschool

Today Ellie you started your first day of preschool at Robbinsdale Elementary.  Auntie Danielle (who works at the school) gave us the inside scoop on preschool through the school system, we put you on the wait list and in less two weeks you were placed in the 3-year old class! Your teacher is Ms. Lewis (you call her Ms. Sarah) and the teacher's aid is Ms. Mary.  You started about a week behind all the others, while we were waiting for a spot.  But you will catch on fast, I am sure of it!

You were so brave this morning, both mommy and daddy came with you drop you off on the first day.  We lined up outside and waited for the bell to ring.  A school bus drove by with kiddos and you started jumping up and down, screaming "A real live school bus, with real kids!" Just a small measure of your excitement :)

 I tried to explain the bell last night and you asked if it was like santa's bells (jingle bells)...hehehe.  But when the loud bell rang you got it! You stopped playing in the rocks and lined up behind all the other kiddos.  Ms. Mary and Ms. Sarah were there shortly to great you and you marched right out, never even looking back at mommy and daddy!  You are fearless in some regards and I love that about you.  You will do great things my little lady :)

Ginny's new trick, stinky face :)

6 months (only 5 days late)

Ginny, you are 6 months old!! How can this be? You have two teeth, you sit by yourself for 30 seconds or so before you topple over, you don't really roll (except when you are on your tummy and you don't want to be any longer), you babble constantly, you love to blow raspberries, and play peek-a-boo. Your sister is simultaneously one of your favorite people and the one who can make you scream instantly! You are such an easy going baby and I can't imagine our family without you :)

You weigh 16lbs 3 ounces (49%), you are 26.5 inches tall (75%), and you head circumference is 43.3 centimeters.  Doctor says you are still tall and skinny :)

Pop Pop's Monkey

On mommy's birthday Ginny got a very special present from Pop Pop and Grammy, a monkey that was Pop Pop's when he was a baby.  Aunt Lynn found it in Grandma Bank's things when helping Uncle Dick clean out his house for sale in Cheyenne.  Aunt Lynn sent it to Pop Pop and Grammy, and they had it restored and gifted it to Ginny.  Ginny loved her monkey and it now lives in her nursery :)

 

the monkey before

 opening the monkey while camping for mommy's birthday

5 months!

I am only a month late with this post :)  Hopefully your 6 month photo will be up soon!

Ginny and Ellie 4 months

Ginny's 4 Month Photo Shoot

You are such a big girl these days! You survived a week without Momma, as I had to travel back to Virginia for work.  Grammy was here to help Daddy and you barely even noticed I was gone.  You learned to hold your bottle all by yourself while I was gone and when I got back you suprised us all by rolling from your tummy to your back!  We had you 4 month appointment yesterday, the doctor said you are happy and healthy baby, and again described you as "tall and skinny" :)

Your 4 month stats:

Height: 25.5 inches (86.8%)
Weight: 13lbs 12oz (47.7%)
Head Circum: 41.3 cm (55.6%)

And of course Ellie couldn't resist a photo shoot, nor could grammy...

Ginny's Raspberries

I have been blowing raspberries at you for the better part of a month, today you woke up and decided you would blow them back. Heart. Melt.

Sisters in sunhats

Ginny's 3 months!

Of course Ellie had to put on her fancy dress and join the fun :)

You are one of the happiest babies I have ever met, you are super chatty and just starting to sleep in your crib (still sleeping 8-9 hours at night).  We love you!

easter

Ginny's 2 month

We survived our first trip to the ER

My sweet baby Ginny,

We have all been sick around the Calhoun house, all with varying degrees of the same cold.  Well the inevitable happened, we passed this funk onto you (only 6.5 weeks old).  It started in your eyes, creating goopy and weepy eyes that sent us to the pediatrician on Thursday for medicated drops.  We were under strict instructions to bring you back to the office or the ER if your temperature spiked over 100.2.  I had been monitoring your low grade fever all day, but wouldn't you know you spiked Friday night around 8pm.  We quickly called the pediatricians after hour line and they repeated what we already knew, we were destined to spend the better part of the night in ER.  Big sister Ellie packed her overnight bag to sleepover with Nana and Papa, and was most excited for the slumber party with cousins :) 

Daddy and I rushed you off to the ER.  By the time we got there your temp was 101 and they were most concerned, as we got to bypass the standing room only waiting room for an ER room.  The doc was in the room within 5 minutes and ordered a SUITE of tests...chest x-rays, a spinal tap, multiple blood draws, a urine sample, and last but not least a snot sample.  Needless to say you were poked and prodded for the better part of the next two hours, as it took 8 tries to get the needed blood samples.  Listening to you wail and sob was BY FAR the hardest thing I have had to endure as a momma. I sobbed, I sobbed a lot. I couldn't snuggle you, or comfort you, I couldn't take your pain away.  There were serious concerns about meningitis, RSV, or some other nasty bug.  Thankfully your virus cultures came back with the cold virus, and not something more serious. After almost 6 hours in the ER and after we were told you would likely be admitted, the doctor allowed us to take you home under strict instructions to monitor you closely.  You were exhausted, but your fever had dropped and your tears were comforted by a long nursing session following all the needle pokes. 

You managed to sleep the rest of the night and woke up in the morning with no fever, much clearer eyes, but still labored breathing.  I have barely put you down all day today, trying to snuggle you as much as possible.  We love you Ginny, sorry for the pokes, but better safe than sorry.  Don't scare us again like that :)

Love, Momma

Ginny's 1 Month

You are 21 inches, weigh 10 pounds 3 ounces, and your head is 38 cm.  You are sleeping 6-7 hours a night...WOOHOOO! You are so happy and content, even happier than Ellie was at this age.  We love you little scrunch!

Scrunch

Ginny, we call you scrunch because you love to curl yourself into a tiny ball. Now I know why my ribs hurt so much during pregnancy, you were in a tiny ball burrowed into them! You are the absolute cutest all scrunched up when naked, you look like a rotisserie chicken :)

Virginia's Arrival

Mommy is only about month late with this post, but better late than never!

Ginny you arrived at 5:08pm on February 7th, weighing 8lbs 15 ounces and measured 19 and 1/4 inches. You arrived quickly and without too much fuss, despite a room full of NICU specialists. It was only after you arrived that we learned what a miracle you were. You had a true umbilical cord knot, something of a rarity and something that is responsible for late term fatality. Yikes! But you arrived happy and healthy, and momma wept. Momma wept for mostly out of shear joy, but also out of relief. Your 9+ months on the inside were stressful and full of unexpected surprises, but we both made it happy and healthy. Your post birth renial and heart scans came back normal (you were at a high risk for developmental complications given your known umbilical cord abnormality). And we made mommy's goal of you being under 9 pounds...gestational diabetes is no joke ☺

You are a great baby, a good eater and thus a good sleeper. You have blessed us with a couple 7 hour stretches at night...I love you for that. Big sister is absolutely in love with you, so much so that we have melt downs when we can't help with EVERYTHING.

Ginny we love you and can't wait to watch you grow!

From the mouth of Ellie

Overheard in the bathroom with daddy...

Dad: Ellie now that you are done, go back into the living room with Mom because Daddy has to go pee.

Ellie: OK Daddy, are you going to pee standing up like Brody?

Dad: Yup, that's how boys pee.

Ellie: Yea you pee from your toe right there  (points to dad's crotch)

Dad: Yup from my toe

During dinner time conversation...

Daddy was telling a story about how Cole's cow had its calf, but that it had jumped a gate just before giving birth. Ellie looked straight faced at dad and said "Cows don't jump gates, they jump over the moon daddy"

Virginia comes tomorrow!

It's so different this second time around, with Ellie's birth I was so excited, but definitely terrified. No scared out of my mind. Scared about being a mom, scared I  wouldn't keep her safe, scared we weren't ready, scared about everything! Now we have a scheduled birth, everything is planned and in order. I find myself feeling like a kid on Christmas eve, I am so very excited to meet her and hold her and smell her. I truly can't wait to introduce Ellie to Virginia and see what an amazing sister she is going to be. I am just so darn excited. Can't wait to meet our sweet Virginia!

Baby Virginia's Nursery

For mommy, nesting means creating :)  Mom and Dad have been hard at work creating the perfect little nursery for our sweet Virginia.  We truly can't wait for her arrival and to bring her home to her nursery :)

Making Cinnamon Rolls With Dad

who says you need clothes to cook? just an apron will do :)

Baby Virginia's Maternity shoot

It was cold, but Mommy insisted it be outside in nature :)