What's Up Wednesday!

So I haven't participated in a What's Up Wednesday post in forever, but I thought it would be a fun (and already outlined) way for me to document some of our first week home as a family of five! Linking up HERE! 

What We're Eating This Week:

Food from others! And it has been glorious! We have been so fortunate to have our fridge and freezer stocked since coming home from the hospital. My mom made us beef stew and chicken tacos, and we have the greatest group of friends bringing us meals for the next two weeks! 

How CUTE are these??!! 

What I'm Reminiscing About:

Well this one is pretty obvious; Elias' birth! What a whirlind last week was with Liam starting Kindergarten and Elias coming two days later. This week I've been working on blog posts about Elias' birth and Liam's Kindergarten Kick-off Party before I forget too many details, and I'm also working on finishing up Elias' pregnancy and hospital photo books.  I've made the exact same books on Shutterfly for each kid and I love having them all lined up! 

What a week! 

What I'm Loving:

All this family time! While recovering from child birth is no picnic, it does have its perks like Daddy being home for two weeks! Will has been taking Liam to and from school, and tomorrow is taking Liesl to meet the teacher and having lunch with Liam at school. He's been so awesome helping me with the big kids during the day (I have rarely had to even go upstairs) and helping me with our little guy during the night. I'm pretty sure he's logged more hours in our rocking chair than I have! 

What We've Been Up To:

A lot of doctor's appointments and a lot of down time. Elias has had two well check-ups since we've been home from the hospital. He's on his way back up to his birth weight! There's also been a lot of asking Liam all about his days at Kindergarten, giving Liesl lots of extra "suggles" and attention, and staring at this cute little bundle of boy called Elias. 

What I'm Dreading:

What I'm Dreading actually happened today and now that we're on the other side, I can say we all survived...and are going to bed extra early tonight! Will had emergency dental surgery done this morning, Elias had his circumcision, and Liesl managed to fall and cut her foot. Basically the perfect storm. A HUGE thanks to my mom for swooping in and going to mine and Elias' appointment and for my friend Amanda and her hubby for dinner! It was definitely one of those "bedtime can't some soon enough" days! 

Super Yaya to the rescue! 

What I'm Working On:

Getting a decent amount of sleep each night, and taking a shower (almost) everyday.

What I'm Excited About:

Elias' newborn pictures next week! And watching more and more of this sweetness everyday! 

What I'm Watching/Reading:

OK, so where there's down time, there's Netflix. Between Liam coming home wiped from Kindergarten, and us being wiped from life with a newborn, there's been lots of extra TV time in this house. 

The kids and I discovered a new-to-us Netflix original show, Ask The Storybots. 

There are only 6 episodes so far, but they focus on a group of robots who embark on a mission to answer popular questions kids ask like, "Why Is The Sky Blue?" and "Why Does Night Happen?" My kids LOVED all, yes all, of the episodes and have watched them more than once! While they sure watch their fair share of mindless television at times, this one I do not have to feel guilty about! 

Another Netflix original show that we've been enjoying as a family is Beat Bugs! 

"With the new Netflix original series Beat Bugs, inspired by the music of the Beatles, your next family sing-along can be “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Thanks to five charming and energetic bug-like creatures (Jay, Kumi, Crick, Buzz and Walter), families have the opportunity to come together over kid-friendly storylines and the best music ever made -- recorded by today’s top artists, including Jennifer Hudson, P!nk, Sia and Eddie Vedder."

Netflix sent us an awesome box of musical instruments and t-shirts which the children have paraded around the house in -- all while Elias is snoozing away next to them. It's a good thing baby #3 doesn't seem to mind the noise level in our house because it's usually set on loud! 

Switching gears a bit, Will and I can't get enough of Stranger Things. 

I'm not usually a sci-fi fan, and even I'm finding myself wanting to watch them slowly so the season doesn't end as quickly. We only have two episodes left so we've been spacing them out! I also love the nostalgia of the show being set in the 1980's. It feels like a good old-fashioned thriller without being too realistic that I can't sleep at night. Good news is Netflix has renewed it for a second season!!!  

What I'm Listening To: 

Currently, my baby stretching and making all those yummy baby grunts and squeaks. 

What I'm Wearing:

Nursing tops and stretchy pants. Duh. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend:

We have zero plans! Liam is out of school Monday for Labor Day, so we are going to see just how long we can stretch out this 3 day weekend and with nothing but family time! 

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month:

Planning three halloween costumes!!!! Also getting settled into a good routine once Will goes back to work, celebrating Miss Liesl's third birthday (her birthday is in TWO weeks!!! but I've already decided to push a party to October) and of course ALL things fall and pumpkin and cooler weather! 

What Else Is New:

Just enjoying the view :) 

We've also had a lot of visitors this past week that I'll post separately about too! 

Bonus question of the month: Favorite Fall Transition Piece:

Well I haven't gotten to wear it yet, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be this guy from the Nordstrom sale! Wow, and it's still on awesome sale!! 

*Part of this post is done in partnership with Netflix. All thoughts and reviews are my own!*

Their First Meeting!

Because Elias was born so late at night on a school night (still getting used to saying that!), the kids were already fast asleep. So the next day we pulled Liam out early from school and he and Liesl got to meet their baby brother! 

Liesl actually came and met him early with my mom. They came to keep me company while Will ran to the dentist (long story but he's fine!). She was very curious about him, but his cries totally freaked her out and she would look at us with huge eyes and run away whenever he would cry out. 

This is as close as she would get to him and only if she sat in my lap! 

She was, however, very excited to be called a Big Sister!  

We are now one week in and she has slowly opened up to him! She loves to be my helper and bring me his diaper or paci, and she is holding him proudly! She also takes all visitors straight to him, holds her arms out Vanna White style, and exclaims, "This is my baby butter!" It's pretty much the sweetest thing ever. 

Later on in the morning we pulled Liam out of school early so he could finally meet his baby brother! We Facetimed with him that morning and he was so, so excited that Elias was here! It was hard to send him to school at all, but we wanted him to stay in the routine of getting up and going, so we settled on getting him out early. 

Of course Elias greeted them with Big Brother and Big Sister gifts just like Liesl did for Liam. They were excited but honestly didn't even notice them at first because they were so into their new baby!

 

Look at that huge smile!

 Liam is completely obsessed with Elias and went straight up to him to love on him! He kept asked me to take their picture and at one point just looked at him and said, "I love him, I love him!" We couldn't get over how quickly Liam attached to him and it hasn't let up yet! 

Elias got Liam some new legos he's been wanting, and the first thing Liam wanted to do was share them with him! 

I really think Liam's instant connection has helped Liesl overcome her apprehension so quickly. She kept her distance that first day, but you could tell she wanted to be involved, she just wasn't sure why this baby doll made so much noise, ha! 

It was such a fun and memorable morning watching them meet their baby brother! 

Elias' Birth Story!

Elias Grey Lofland was born last Wednesday night, August 24th. Labor technically took all day, but he came fast and furious that evening once active labor really started.

Let's back up to the morning. I was 38 weeks and some days and went in for my weekly appointment at 10am. I had made it past my goal of getting Liam to Kindergarten so we were ready to get the ball rolling if baby was ready! The last possible resort for this delivery was an induction because I was hoping for another successful vbac. My doctor also didn't want me to go too far past my due date and attempt to vbac a big baby, so we decided to try and naturally induce labor by stripping my membranes. It kick started labor for Liesl so I was cautiously hopeful it would work again and it did! This was around 10:30am. At that point I was already 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. My doctor told me she would be at the hospital for the rest of the day and she hoped to see me there later!

Contractions began about an hour later. They were consistent but not horrible so we went out to lunch and I told Will to come on home from work. My mom had come over for the day just in case I went into labor to stay with Liam and Liesl. I hadn't even packed my bag yet, so I showered and did that, Will picked Liam up from school, we snapped our last picture as a family of four and headed for the hospital! At this point they were both kind of forcing me out the door. My contraction timer was telling me my contractions were coming every four minutes, but they weren't agonizing, so I was sure they were just going to send us home and I didn't want to bother! And now I'm rolling my eyes at myself, ha! 

We got to the hospital around 5pm and they monitored me for the first hour. I was checked at 6pm and was 5cm and 100% effaced so we were definitely staying. After that, things moved quickly! 

I got my epidural around 7:30pm and they told me they would wait about 20 minutes to let it spread, and then my doctor would break my water. Well about 5-10 minutes later my nurse was sitting on my bed with me when I felt a pop. I asked her if Elias had kicked me really hard and she said, "nope, that was your water!" 

Over the next hour and a half we just hung out while we texted our friends and family updates. Some of our family made their way up to the hospital and my friend Tracey went and sat at our house so both my parents could come up! My mom came in to see me around 9pm when I suddenly knew it was time to push. My epidural this time around was much lighter and I could fully move my legs, feet, and hips but didn't feel any pain, just intense pressure. It was really neat and I actually preferred it! I was able to tell my doctor each time I needed to push and ended up feeling Elias being born! I pushed through 4 contractions and he was born at 9:22pm! 

As soon as he was born, they put him on my chest and his eyes were wide open! He didn't cry and was pretty blue so they ended up suctioning him out quite a bit before he let out a good cry and turned nice and pink. I was able to hold him the entire time my doctor finished up. I got curious about his size so I let them take him to weigh and measure him and then they gave him right back. He weighed 7 lbs. 8.5 oz and was 20 inches long. 

We spent about an hour just the three of us, and then I asked if our family could go ahead and come in because it was getting late. Even though it was after visiting hours, they let everyone come in and meet him! My parents came in first to see him. In between them coming in and Will's mom and sister coming in, one of the nurses checked E's body temp and it had apparently dropped two degrees. She immediately took him and put him under the warmer for the next 45 minutes. I felt so bad that Will's family didn't end up getting to hold him! But they got to touch him and watch him suck on his little fingers; it was so cute! 

Sometime around midnight I was able to walk and then we switched to our post-partum room! We ended up staying there until Friday afternoon when we were finally discharged. That part took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. but we both got clean bills of health and were home before Liam got home from school! I'm thrilled I was able to have another successful vbac and of course, we are obsessed with our newest family member! 

Now, pictures!!