Siblings...but, why?

It has happened. Our girls have had their first interactive playtime together!

Yesterday morning, I set Evie up in her "morning play station". This is a boppy pilllow (in the rare instance that she topples over) and toys galore around her. This is usually in the front room simply because the sun in that room is so wonderful in the early morning hours. Reagan was set up to play in her "play tube"...the play tubes that kids crawl and explore through (tube tents). Reagan and Evie played for a good hour with the play tube and nothing else. It was magical to me as a mother. THIS is what my first memories of Jana and Joel were. Just simply playing together. And to this day, my siblings are two of my strongest supporters. I hope and dream for Reagan and Evie to continue their fun together. Reagan has so much interest in Evie now...just wait until she starts to steal her toys. :-)

THEY DID IT!

Reagan and Evie have both hit some very significant milestones in the last few weeks. Evie is now rolling over, sitting up and sleeping through the night! Reagan is now potty trained!!! My how life has changed in the Herdrich home. Ahhhh, peace. It was a rocky period teaching Reagan how to do "Big Girl Potty" but in the end, it was Miss Reagan who had to be ready, not Mommy and Daddy. She is very proud to go potty, "Just like Mommy!" and doesn't want any assistance with her duty. We are thrilled! Occasionally, there will be an accident or an "accident" (Reagan just stubbornly refuses to go to the potty and will go right in her pants as we are talking to her about going) but that is just par for the course...she is a stubborn Johnson!

Ev-Ev just had her 6 month appointment. She weighed in at 21.11lbs (I guessed 22!), and is at the 90% for height. She is rolling over and sitting up, grabbing at toys, and enjoying playing with toys now. She hadn't been baby babbling or saying much to this point. But when the pediatrician asked if she was saying any words or consonant blends, Evie launched into a complete baby sentence...and I was ready to say NO! She is out to impress!

Fun time ahead...Mom and Dad are coming next week and we will be hitting the beach. Ev's first beach visit! Also, we have found a church!! We are meeting with Pastor next week to organize her baptism - FINALLY!

A Pool Would Help Me!

We are going to have a terribly difficult time keeping up with Reagan. For starters, she has given us a run for our money with this whole potty training gig. Ben and I are split on the position we should take - I will spare you the debate. Regardless, we continue to keep motoring ahead with it. Whether Reagan is ready and willing seems beside the point. She was doing GREAT for a few days, a couple of weeks ago. Then, she hit the skids. I sat her down for a mommy-talk yesterday and asked her why she is no longer wanting to go big-girl-potty. Her reply was, "A pool would help me!" As she graced me with a HUGE smile across her face I gently said, "excuse me?" I was totally in the dark. What on earth was she talking about? Sure enough...our neighbors are currently potty training their young son. Reagan caught wind that the neighbor boy would get a pool when he learned to use big-boy-potty. Wouldn't you know, Little Miss Smarty Pants wants to string us along until we get her a pool too. :-) That girl is much too much, that girl is much too much!

Evie had another great training day. She still is not rolling over but she is ever so close. ANY DAY NOW and it'll happen. She sure is a smiley little thing. Love her, love her, love her! I keep kissing and nibbling on her cheeks. She probably will hate me for that later, but I just cannot resist. Oh, have I mentioned that girl's lungs - - amazingly loud, astounding loud!

Toodles.

We are BACK!!

I am ashamed to admit this however, it has been about 5 months since my last posting. We just had no idea how much busier our lives would be with our second child. Common sense - two kids, two times the amount of work. This simple mathematical equation just never entered our minds. Now that things are starting to calm down, I am feeling like I can 'occasionally' add a blog post! We have been through a whirlwind of changes and events. I will attempt to update my blog accordingly. It will be impossible to get everything but I'll hit the highlights.

Reagan has taken to Ev like a dream. She thrives at being "big sister" and Evie is happy to fill the role of "little sister". Ev-Ev can be screaming up a storm and if Reagan goes to her, most of the time she will quiet down. They truly enjoy each other's company and we are so excited to see them grow into their relationship. Reagan continues to amaze us with her ever-expanding vocabulary. She is a drama queen and enjoys making us laugh. She has started to test us, more so at 2 1/2 yrs. than she did at 2 yrs. We are taking each challenge as they come. She has her mother and father's stubborn nature which makes for daily battles. We sure laugh once she has gone to bed though. Evie is doing great. She had a rough start in that she was a "real" baby. She actually cried when she needed things (gasp!) and there were many times where we just couldn't figure out what she needed. She hasn't been a "great sleeper" like some babies are BUT - she is now finally starting to sleep stretches. I am learning how to be more understanding. After all, most people fully grasp that parenting equals disrupted sleep. I was not prepared for that! Ridiculous, I know. She is so smiley and growing like a true champ. She is at the 98% for height and weight. We anticipate that our home is going to be the noisiest dwelling in all of North America shortly. Ev is a jabber box already with not one actual word in her arsenal. Just imagine if that continues and the debates that our girls will unleash upon one another - and their parents!

Within the time span from my last post, we have had many visitors. Ben and I have been well aware that not one person has come to our home to see us in over 2 1/2 years. The girls are just too blame cute! My parents, Ben's folks, Jana and Brayden all made it out this way to meet Evelyn. Nic-O and Molly met Ev in the Phoenix airport on our connection en route to Kauai. Now that was a cool note for the baby book! The rest of the Herdrich clan will meet Evie in a week and then hopefully Joel, Heidi and the boys will be able to make it out here in July. We still need to make it back to MN so my family and friends can meet Evie-Love, but I am a little travel shy to take the two by my self. Ben's schedule is CRAZY and only to get crazier in the next few weeks so I'll just have to be patient. Thank goodness for webcaming, blogging, facebook and of course, snapfish!

The past few months we have been very fortunate to travel to some fun destinations. We have hit Hawaii, Florida, Puerto Rico and will be wrapping up "travel season" to WI in a week. It has been hectic and wonderful! Hawaii was with the Herdrich clan, Florida was just our family for a friends beautiful wedding (we brought the girls!) and Puerto Rico was just Benny and I. We just arrived home 2 nights ago - perhaps my alone time and time with my husband has helped to reignite my desire to jot down memories in this blog? I am guessing that is a Yes!

While I know that I will be unable to do nightly posts, my goal continues to be the same. I will attempt to keep note of the fun and silly happenings that occur in our home. Time is flying so fast and I have found this is a great way to keep note of my girls growing up. That is only possible IF I take the time to actual take note. Cross your fingers!

Our new arrival!

It has been just over two weeks since our last blog entry. This is due to the simple fact that Evelyn Maris Herdrich arrived January 6 (10 days early!) at 1:36 pm. Mere minutes after completing my last entry, I started having contractions. We started timing them (yes, I missed the season premier of The Bachelor - but I forgive Evie!) and we were off to the hospital at 9:00 pm on Monday, January 5th. My contractions slowed to almost nothing and we feared we would be sent home for false labor. Big Guy recommended that we walk, in an attempt to get my contractions into a pattern. Sure enough, that got the baby working and we were admitted around midnight. By 4:00am, I was requesting an epidural and I was dilated to 4cm. By 9:30 am, I was at 9.5cm and we all thought that the baby would be arriving within the next hour or so. Not so much! The baby apparently was having a difficult time working her way out and I didn't start to push until a bit after 1:00pm!!! We couldn't believe it. Finally, I was given the go-ahead to push and Evelyn was out in just a short time. We were totally surprised that she was a girl - we were convinced otherwise. We were so very thrilled to have another girl - and she is beautiful! She had a really rough time in the last few hours - her heart was strong and healthy but she came out bruised. We felt so badly for her - but she has been a dream baby.

Reagan got to meet Evie around 5:00pm on Evie's birthday. Daddy went home to pick up Reagan. When she got to the hospital, she ran into my room asking where the baby was. Evie was still being cleaned up and had not yet arrived. By the time that she did, Reagan was not as interested in seeing her as she was upon arrival. On the second visit to the hospital, on the 7th of Jan., Reagan was pumped to see Evie and wanted to hold her. I'll attach video of that event - it was too cute!

The adjustment has gone really well for our family. My parents were here the first several days. That was great fun! Reagan didn't realize that the baby was taking Mommy's time because she was sufficiently distracted. Once my parents left and Daddy went back to work, Reagan had one moment where she acted out towards the baby but that was it. We are very proud of her - she is a fantastic Big Sister! Evie was jaundiced the first couple of weeks which affected her eating. It was really difficult to get her to wake up and eat. Now at 15 days old, she has it figured out. She is no longer jaundiced and she is eating every two hours and making her weight goals. On the bright side, there is some really great tv on at all hours of the night! :-)

I am off to play Barbie's with Reagan before Evie needs to eat. I am really enjoying juggling the daily events with the two girls. Thank goodness for coffee! My only complaint is that I am getting really anxious to get out and get back to working out. My doctor gave me permission to begin light workouts at 2 weeks post-partem so Ben took me to the Y on Tuesday night. Emily came over and watched the girls for an hour. We had a nice "date" on the the treadmills and we eagerly wait for the weather to warm up so we can hit the roads. Hawaii in less than 3 months!!! Our next very exciting event is that Gram Pam is coming next week! We are very excited to have her meet Evie and Reagan has missed her Gram a ton. It'll be a grand time for all!

Reagan the cheerleader!

It has been way too long since our last blog. Our one follower, Uncle Nic-O, has been VERY disappointed at our inability to keep updates on our blog. This post is dedicated to him.

Reagan is sitting in my lap, saying, "Mommy, let me do it!" So, to let her be a part of this blogging experience, her words will follow next. Reagan says:

gggggggggggggnnnnnnnjjj jjjjjjjjjjjjjj]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]tttttttttt rrrreeaggan rewaq gnyyui' r3ec ws wagfjgfj fj ggg ggggggg bvggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg 77777ooooooooppppssv vbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbnnnnnnvvvcccccccfffffff

123577chhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (Mommy just made her quit and she is one Mad little Pistol!)

Reagan has been such a wonderful little girl. It seems as though the rough terrible two adjustment has passed. Reagan has been enjoying being a Big Girl lately and she seems to be extremely excited about her baby that is arriving soon. We have had much success reasoning with her lately. Now that she can explain herself more and understand us a bit more clearly, our daily drama has decreased immensely. Reagan is just delightful - she plays with all her new toys that she received at Christmas and loves to dance and sing. She is a showman. We had a group of friends over the other evening and she played her piano and sang songs in her microphone to entertain all. It was hysterical. She is very loving and caring. I hit my knee the other day, said "Ouch!" and Reagan wanted to kiss it and make it better. After doing so, she said, "Poor little Mommy." And she made the cutest sad face ever! I haven't been carrying her much lately due to my ever-expanding waistline. She REALLY wanted to be carried up the stairs yesterday and I didn't have the energy to negotiate with her. I just did it. Upon reaching the top of the stairs she exclaimed, "Yeah, Mommy! You did it!!!!" Yep, our little cheerleader!

I am thinking the baby will arrive soon. I suppose you could say that is wishful thinking? I feel great (good energy, can still chase Reagan around (sort of)), and the house is pretty close to being "ready". Now, we just wait. And wait. And wait! We'll keep you posted! Happy New Year!!! Love, LBR

Reagan is ready for baby!

While I was tidying up the loft, Reagan announced she was going to the doctor with her baby. She went downstairs to the bedrooms and I continued to listen for her. When she is making noise while playing, she usually isn't getting into trouble. Silence tends to be a bad sign. Of course, she was silent. I went down immediately to check on her. She was in the baby room, rocking her baby (Dolly) on the rocking chair. She said, "Shhhhh, Mommy. Baby is sleeping." From the rocking chair, she got up and swayed with the baby in her arms. Just like a little mommy. She then placed (dropped actually) Dolly into the crib, shut the door behind her and said, "Baby is sleeping. Reagan and Mommy take naps too." Any bets that nap time won't be this smooth once baby actually arrives? She actually kept her hands on my belly for an extended period of time today. She didn't get to feel the baby kick - one of these days it will happen. 9 weeks to go!