first day of preschool - an elise update

A little update on Elise:

Elise had her first day of preschool!  When I asked her if she was happy she said "I'm so happy I have tears!".  Little sweetheart.  She loves it. 

These days Elise can be found playing "little legos", watching one too many Strawberry Shortcakes (mom's with new babies need to keep 4-year olds occupied somehow), and dancing to the beat of the breastpump.  Yes - that really happened.    She's doing so good with baby Charlotte, she asks to hold her multiple times daily, and is constantly kissing her little head.  This is one proud big sister.  

baby charlotte's here!

I figured y'all would probably want to see some pictures of baby Charlotte's birthday.  

I went into labor early Tuesday morning - I felt what I thought was a contraction at 5am, very shortly followed by another one...and we were on the road to the hospital within 20 minutes.  Nick's dad got here so fast after we called him - it was amazing.   Of course it was Judy's first day of school so she had to stay home.  

Long story short - actually this isn't a long story.  When they checked me at the hospital I was already at an 8, and by the time they were wheeling me into the delivery room she was ready to go.  The epidural man was called but sadly did not arrive in time.  I have now earned my mom's respect in the "childbirth without drugs" department.  Charlotte was born at 6:51 am.   

Here she is - Miss Charlotte Grace:

Elise spent the morning in kindergarten at West Side Christian and came to see her sister after lunch.  Also - giving birth is not glamorous. 

She was so excited to meet her sister.  

I cried. 

"looks she's grabbing my finger!"

  

what a week.

So the blog's been quiet for awhile.  We've had quite the week.  

Last Sunday, at 23 weeks and 3 days, my sister Lauren went into unexpected premature labor and gave birth to the twins.   Faye Marie Moberg was born on August 31 and weighed 1lb 2 oz.   Brian John Moberg was born shortly after on September 1 and weighed the same.   At 5:00 pm Monday, little Faye went to sit on Jesus' lap in heaven.  It was not so much a decision that her parents had to make as one that God made for us.   She struggled throughout the afternoon and after a collapsed lung, it proved just too much for her tiny little body.

Little Brian has since become a little rockstar in the NICU at Helen DeVos Children's hospital.   Every hour, every day is a huge deal for the little guy.   Lauren and Carl have been amazing through this entire ordeal... it is very apparent that they are going to be great parents.

Lauren and Carl even got to hold him yesterday.  

Our week was made just a little more crazy when I went into labor early Tuesday morning.  I felt the first contraction at 5am and sweet Charlotte was born less than two hours later -- I'll do another post about that.  Girlfriend was in a hurry to make it to Aubrey's wedding - which was of course still on for Saturday.  Aubrey's wedding was a beautiful perfect day.  

 It's the strangest feeling to be absolutely heartbroken and completely filled with joy at the same time.  

All of our family and friends have been completely amazing - we've never felt so loved, so thanks everyone.  Lauren and Carl are starting a CarePage which I'll share when it's ready. 

UPDATE:  Here's the CaringBridge site:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brianmoberg

yep. still pregnant.

I can barely roll over in bed.  I literally have to pee every 20 minutes.  And Lord help me if I have to sneeze around minute 15.  I've practically been reduced to an incontinent invalid.  Okay I'm kind of kidding about that last part.  

The only shoes that fit on my giant marshmallow feet are my old navy flip flops.  Oh, and the size 11 flats I bought for Aubrey's wedding next Saturday - for which I'll probably still be pregnant.  

The other day at Potbelly my belly rang the wheelchair assistance bell.  

But...but...the miracle of life!

Really - I'm doing pretty good.  Sister is just super comfy in there.  I have non-stress tests every week to check on her where we just listen to her heartbeat (it's super cute) and check for contractions.  There are absolutely no contractions.  OY.  

I also have no new pictures for you - mostly because my camera is charged and sitting next to my hospital bag - so these are all from my phone.  I have been pregnant a whole month longer now than I was with this little peanut.   She likes to make "nests" out of all the pillows and blankets and watch the ipad while I get ready.  She's just the sweetest. 

We still spend a lot of time at the lake. 

She loves frogs.  Or toads.  Yesterday she named one "Froggy Toady Froggy Toady Goote".  Safe to say it's a good thing she's not in charge of naming her sister. 

I ordered this DIY headband kit.  For $20 I got a huge pack of cute flowers, bows, elastic - all the fixings you need to make headbands.  This is just a tiny sample of what I was making - I have TONS of these things now.  Also a few blisters from my hot glue gun.  

I keep reading about things to make you go into labor.  

The other night I ate pineapple and drank red wine while bouncing on a yoga ball.  And then nothing happened.  

When I finally got off the yoga ball I found I had a super awesome table for my pineapple.  

It started pouring when we were in a store this week.  

This cutie thought it was super fun to run to the car in the rain.  The parking lot turned into gushing rapids and she lost her flip flop - which meant I had to chase it before it went down the storm drain.  We were both totally soaked. 

Since cooking is kind of the last thing I want to do these days we met some friends at the park for dinner.  Both of our dads work at Gentex so they came after work with pizza.  So fun. 

Hopefully my next update with have a picture of a cute baby.  Please Jesus, please.  

we've come a long way, baby.

Forgive the lack of posts.  I'm nine months pregnant.  I don't feel like doing much of anything.  Besides getting this tiny human out.  I totally feel like doing that.  Kind of.

This post is coming from the brain of a highly emotional and kinda weepy pregnant lady.   Like I kept tearing up during my pedicure yesterday.  I don't know why.  

Three years ago this week we got some pretty crazy news.  Now really, I almost never even think about it, but those first few days were really scary.  I remember thinking I was a goner and my sweet one year old would never remember her mom.  Horrible thoughts that crossed all our minds before we knew all the details of what exactly was happening.  All we knew was cancer.   What happened was 6 months of chemo and radiation, a couple weird haircuts, and a new perspective on life in general.    

Now, three years later I am more pregnant than I've ever been (37 weeks to be exact) and super excited to to welcome another sweetheart baby girl.  Well, combine super excited with super uncomfortable and swollen.   I was kind of hoping Sister would make her debut today on the anniversary of that day - because that would be a really cool kind of full circle moment.  I guess there's still time.  

We've come a long way, baby.

You can come out now.  We can't wait to meet you.