The Worst Week

We have had the worst week ever. We just could not catch a break. Last Friday our power went out due to a very beautiful storm. It was quite impressive to watch the storm out our 13th floor windows. It was like a strobe light. 

Saturday morning Jason and Calder were supposed to fly to Colorado for a family reunion. Calder, Jason, Colette and I all woke up around 4:00 to get the boys to the airport. Colette hates her carseat but she did pretty well on this trip. The boys got to the airport and through security before the flight was cancelled. They were told it was due to aircraft servicing. The next flight wasn't until the next day and since they were scheduled to fly home on Sunday it didn't make any sense to do that. So, they were refunded the money for their tickets and called me to come back and get them. Did I mention Colette hates her car seat? Yep, she totally does and screams most of the time she is in it. This was not a good trip for her.

Since the power was still not on we went to spend the morning with some friends. They also were without power but they did have a basement! It was so nice to hang out and chat for a bit in the cool basement. After that we headed to a hotel at National Harbor. I had only been there once and was surprised how beautiful it was. We enjoyed some family time. My mom was staying with us at this point and got to come along for our adventures. 

The next night we moved to a hotel in Arlington so Jason could commute to work on the Metro. Checking in was a total fiasco. They didn't have our room cleaned yet and it was 5:30! So we went to the restaurant at the hotel for dinner and then finally went to our room. The only room they had available was a king suite. So my poor mom had to sleep on a roll away bed. Thankfully it was only for one night. 

The next morning my mom flew back home. As I was backing out of the parking spot in hotel garage to take her to the airport (again around 4:00 AM) I turned too soon and crashed into a cement pylon. I dented the door and totally took off the driver's side rear view mirror. I was so upset and honestly, so tired. My poor mom kept trying to chat on the way to the airport but I just stewed. Ugh. Thankfully she's pretty forgiving. Thankfully Jason is pretty forgiving too. 

The next few days we got into the routine of living in a hotel. Jason would go to work. Calder, Colette and I would hang out at the hotel and then take the shuttle to the mall. We would try to kill as much time there as possible before returning to the hotel in the afternoon. The hotel did have a pool but Calder only got in once for about 10 minutes. He decided it was too cold. 

So that brings us to today (Thursday). We got word this morning that the power was back on in our apartment. Unfortunately when it did the air conditioner blew a fuse and so we had power and running water but no air conditioning. At 10:00 this morning they were very optimistic that it would be fixed in just a few hours. I made arrangements to check out of the hotel at 2:00 and drive home, expecting to have air conditioning. We didn't. In fact, we didn't have air conditioning until around 8:45 tonight. The thermostat read 90 degrees when the air conditioner finally came on. To stay cool we had a very leisurely trip to the grocery store and spent time in the car with the air on. Colette was not in her car seat. Thank goodness.

So yeah, that's our crappy week. But, there have been some really great things this week too. 

National Harbor is a beautiful place to be. Even in the worst circumstances. 

 Colette smiles all the time now.

 Calder is a fabulous kid and is happy to make a game out of anything.

 He is also very patient while I feed Colette. Again, making up his own games to play by himself.

Although Jason and Calder didn't make it to the reunion I was so thankful to have Jason around when it was time to decide what to do about our lack of power.

We get Starwood points from our credit card and therefore only had to pay for one night at the hotel.

Although Colette hates her car seat she loves the sling. She spent much of her time in it over the last week.

It was nice to have my mom here to help out.

Since the building we live in has a generator for the elevators and emergency lights some of our outlets worked. We were able to move our fridge a bit and plug it in. Thankfully all our food wasn't lost. 

When I took the car in on Wednesday to get the mirror replaced they came in under what they estimated and were faster than estimated. I think I may start driving to the dealer in Arlington instead of Rockville because of it.

And the last great thing is I found a cute shirt at the mall. Yay me.

The Last Few Weeks

 Here's a photo dump from the last few weeks. We've been having fun for sure. Calder and Colette love each other dearly. It is so fun to see her respond to him and him protect her.

 Colette's first outing.

 Calder doing a science experiment.We've been spending a lot more time at home these days, so Pinterest has been supplying lots of fun activities for us to do.

 I love these two pictures. Colette was crying and Calder wanted to sooth her with her bunny. It worked! He is such a great brother.

 He made the Washington Monument out of playdough.

Colette prefers to be held (what baby doesn't). Thankfully she will also occasionally tolerate the bouncy seat.

More Pictures

Welcome Summer

 Since Colette was born Calder has wanted to stay home. He doesn't want to be apart from Colette and it takes a lot of convincing to get him to take her out of the house. Thankfully we've had a few outings. We went to Target (by myself with 2 kids!!!!), the park and Trader Joes. I think it's been a successful few weeks.

 The building next door had their sprinklers on and I suggested Calder run through them. It is rare that he wants to get wet spontaneously but he was all over these sprinklers. He ran for a good 10 minutes and got completely wet. We continued our walk after this and went to the park. He was one happy, wet kid.

 After taking Jason's mom to visit his office we walked over a block to the White House.

 One of my dear friends brought over cupcakes and frosting for Calder to decorate. He LOVED it. It was such a sweet gesture. The tulips in the picture are from another dear friend. I have been so incredibly spoiled. I have the best friends. They are a fabulous support system for me.

 This is one of the rare pictures of Colette with her eyes open. She sleeps a lot. And I'm not complaining.

 Calder introduced Colette to the play gym.

 And the swing.

 Grandma Kate gets to have a sleep over with Calder every night! Calder loves it. When my parents come they will get to have a sleepover with him too. He is so happy about this.

 After a bath.

Colette's Birth

 Okay, here's the birth story. If you're not interested, don't worry I have lots of other pictures of my adorable kids to share, so just skip this one. 

On Friday May 18 I went and got my haircut in the afternoon. It was wonderful and much needed. On the way back home I thought maybe I was feeling contractions but I wasn't really sure. I had never really had Braxton Hicks contractions so I didn't really know what they were like. After we got home I started timing them and realized they were 5 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds but I couldn't feel anything, my muscles were just getting tighter. This continued for a few hours and I just wrote them off. They continued through the evening and stopped around 9:30. Then I didn't feel anything until...

At 11:00 PM the real contractions started. They were every 4 minutes and lasting at least a minute and definitely felt like real contractions. After an hour of these we called the doctor and left for the hospital. Our sweet friends Matt & Laura (who live in the building next door) came over to stay with Calder so he didn't have to go to someone's house and he could just sleep.

We got to Shady Grove Hospital around 12:30. It took them a while to get all the paperwork done and ask about a million questions in the triage area. They finally checked me and I was 7cm. I have to admit I was a little bummed I wasn't fully dilated like I was with Calder, but all well. Things were moving fast. The doctor came in around 2:45. I had two contractions after he got there and felt like he should check me. And, luckily it was go time! He broke my water around 3:08 and Colette was born at 3:14. She was born on the second push.

So, if you count just the real contractions her labor was 4 hours long. It was just the right amount of time to get to the hospital I wanted to deliver at without spending too much time there. 

Colette's name is just a name we liked. Similar to Calder's. We didn't seek out names that start with C and we aren't starting a theme here. We just really love the name. Colette's middle name (Abigail) is after Abigail Adams. I love the strong influence she had over John's political opinions and I love that she was not afraid to speak her mind. She is a fabulous role model.

Calder loved playing with the moveable bed at the hospital. He had a special night with Jason the night Colette and I stayed in the hospital. They ordered pizza, got a Redbox movie and just had a great time hanging out. Calder loved it. I missed them terribly! It was rather boring in the hospital by myself and I hated being interrupted all night. Thankfully I only spent one night.

Colette

We are all so excited that Colette decided to make her appearance this morning! Here's her stats: Colette Abigail Wilcox
Born at 3:14 AM on May 19, 2012
6 lbs 6 oz
21.75 inches long

 This is Calder's first time holding Colette, and he is pretty excited. He wanted to sing "I Love To See The Temple" to her. He kept offering to sooth her and try to make her happy if she started to cry. He waved and whispered to her. He definitely takes his bib brother duties seriously.

 I love this picture because you can tell Calder loves her and is concerned for her.

 This was when she was just a few minutes old. I love seeing Jason with out kids. He is an amazing dad and seems to be a pro at every stage.

This was Colette's first bath. She didn't love it. I honestly don't blame her.

37 weeks

So, I'm full term today. I have been thinking about how much I love being pregnant. I am aware that pregnancy isn't easy for everyone and I very thankful for the blessing I have. I feel so healthy when I'm pregnant. My hair is great, my skin is glowing and my body just seems to know what to do. Now that baby girl has dropped I can even breath easier and don't have heartburn anymore. I feel like I'm still keeping up with Calder pretty well and am still capable of doing the same activities we have been doing. We take swimming lessons every Tuesday (we have two more weeks) and I am always thrilled that my swimming suit stretches that much. I refuse to buy a maternity swimming suit, so thank goodness it does. Occasionally if we've had a busy day I will be surprised to find myself exhausted. I nap sometimes. Thankfully Calder has an hour of quiet time in his room every day so I can do this.

I also love the way everyone seems so nice when you're pregnant. When Calder and I go places people almost smother us asking if we need help finding anything in the store. I think we got asked by at least 9 people while at Home Depot last week.

We are all set up and ready for this baby girl to arrive. The clothes are washed. The crib is assembled. The car seat is installed. The bags are packed. We have a plan. We have a name. There are babysitters and back up babysitters lined up for basically any hour of the day. We are so lucky to have amazing friends who are willing to watch Calder whenever we may need it.

It is expected that labor will be fast again. For this, I'm thankful, I just hope we make it to the hospital. The hospital I really want to deliver at is 20 minutes away without traffic. It could be an hour or more with traffic. So, I'm also registered at the hospital 5 minutes from our house. Either would be fine in the end, I'm sure but since I went to the effort to really weigh the decision, it would be nice to have my plan work out. My doctor delivers at both.

At my 36 week appointment I was dilated 3 cm and her head was very far down. (Sorry if that it too much info) This is basically how Calder was for the last few weeks. It's nice to see progress being made even though it means nothing about when our baby will actually come. Calder was 1 week early. Any guesses when baby girl will come?

Life as of Late

 

 Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to.

 Consuming lots of Frozen Yo.

 Reading just about every book at the library.

 Doing a "Spanish salute". According to Calder this is how they do it in Spain.

 Teaching Calder to take dorky pictures. A worthwhile skill to have.

 Riding his bike to the park.

 Hanging out at the Audubon Society.

 This is where Calder is going to preschool next year. It is a magical place where you can go and explore. We have seen frogs, woodpeckers, water skimmers and deer. I can't wait for him to be able to explore there daily with his class.

 At the College Park Aviation Museum. Calder the pilot.

 The neighborhood Easter egg hunt. A total bust. Calder got one egg and he had to fall over to get it. It came out later that he actually pushed a girl so he could get the egg. Poor guy. He was rather upset by the whole thing and cried for a few minutes after the hunt was over. A little boy and his mom saw what was going on and gave Calder 4 of their eggs. It was really sweet and it helped his spirits. I think we are going to start doing our own eggs hunts at the park from now on. None of us enjoyed the craziness of an open field with tons of kids (and parents) scrambling for eggs.

 Calder has been taking swimming lessons once a week for the last few months. We both love getting in the water and I'm impressed how good Calder is getting. He can float on his back (although he freaks out if I let go of his neck), and he loves to put his whole face in the water. When we first bought his goggles he wore them everywhere for a few days. It was pretty awesome.

 It has been warm enough to play in the fountain in Downtown Silver Spring. We love that fountain.

And last but not least, Calder is growing. A lot. He outgrew his shoes and was so excited to get some special ones with a star on the side.