A Trip To The Zoo With Finley & Penelope

On the Tuesday after Penelope's birth, Greg and I decided to take the girls to the zoo just so we could get out of the house for a few hours plus it was a beautiful day outside. Holy Crap was it BUSY though! I wasn't too surprised considering the nice, warm summer days have been few and far between.

Arriving at the zoo!
Finley trying to climb in with the animals!
Finley checking out the giraffes. There was a baby giraffe who kept running in circles - it was pretty cute.
Finley checking out the "kitties". They were actually Lions but she loved them lots!
This was Penelope the entire time at the zoo! Not a sound came out and she didn't wake up once - not even when the kid steered a stroller right into ours. Gotta love the fancy netting - it's an UV bug screen or something. We never got to use with Finley so it is one of the few things that Penelope gets to use first....haha
Finley checking out the new wild boars or whatever they were called. Loved the whiskers on their ears - so cute!
In the Monkey Building. Finley loved the monkeys which was of no surprise to anybody. I am thinking that she is going to be a monkey for halloween and have a jungle themed birthday party!
Finley watching the elephant getting a bath in the Elephant Crossing. It was probably one of the coolest thing I have ever seen. If you ever get the opportunity to watch this, I highly recommend it because it was pretty awesome and Finley LOVED it.
In the Dinosaur Alive section. For those that don't know, it is in what used to be called the Prehistoric Park. I am not sure if this is a permanent exhibit and for some reason I think it isn't but I may be wrong but you should definitely check it out. Finley really enjoyed it and made dinosaur signs all the way home. She was scared at first but got over it quickly.

We only did about half of the zoo since it was getting time for Finley's nap and I was getting tired and sore. I admit, I probably shouldn't have attempted the zoo so soon after major surgery but Finley had so much fun and so the pain & suffering and the 7 hour migraine that followed was worth it to see my little girl so happy.

Can't wait to go back next week with my sister and mom!

We Survived!

So today was my first full day at home with both Finley and Penelope. Greg was able to be home since Penelope was born, but unfortunately he had to go back to work today. I am so grateful that he was able to be home with us for that long!

I didn't have much planned today for a number of reasons: it wasn't supposed to be very nice out, I am still sore where my incision is, and because I am pretty sure I won't be able to handle 2 kids by myself in any sort of public situation - at least until my incision is much better. So we stayed in.

Both Finley and Penelope slept in until about 9am so that was really great. We all got up and I fed Penelope while Finley ate her breakfast that now consists of gluten free banana muffins and a banana along with a glass of milk. No she does not have any intolerances to gluten but I made them yesterday and I thought they were pretty gross but she seemed to enjoy them. I am just happy that she is eating breakfast and that they didn't go to waste. Once breakfast was done, we all got changed into our outfits for the day and headed upstairs.

We played upstairs for awhile and once I got Penelope to sleep, Finley + I came downstairs where we made formula for Penelope, a loaf of gfree bread and cleaned up from breakfast. Finley also helped me do her laundry (my most dreaded chore) which was very much appreciated it.

After we finished this, we went downstairs where we danced to The Doodlebops (Finley's favourite tv show by far) and sang to "What's Your Favorite Color" which Finley goes crazy over. Seriously when she watches the Doodlebops, it is like she is having seizures she gets so into it! We then did the Alligator Chop with Andy Samberg and the Yo Gabba Gabba crew. I really tried to get Finley to do the Chop but she wouldn't co-operate!

After lunch, Finley & Penelope both had naps while I finished watching The Blindside (pretty good btw) and then it was time for Penelope's doctor's appointment. I was a little concerned about this as I had yet to drive our vehicle since my section and hadn't carried Penelope's car seat very far....actually I hadn't carried it at all. But somehow it all worked out and I even got a parking spot near the door to the building...SCORE! Her carseat was heavy but I managed - although I am a little sore so I may have to break out the pain killers later tonight. Finley was also very well behaved while we were there. I was actually quite surprised. Finley seriously could've been the poster child for most behaved child in a doctor's office. I was more then happy that she co-operated!

Penelope now weighs 8 lbs and 8oz. Dr. Nkemdrin was very happy with her weight gain. I asked her about Penelope's belly button as Greg was sure it was infected. It seemed fine to me until I undressed her to be weighed and there was crap oozing out of it. She said that her belly button looked very good and that this discharge was normal and told me what to look out for should it ever get infected. Was very relieved to hear this. As for bum, as I said yesterday there was no rash, it was just raw from Penelope pooping. She recommended using Desitin as it was the best on the market (which we already were) and then suggested letting her bum be uncovered a few times a day, making a paste out of water and baking soda to rub on there a few times a day or we could use an o/c hydrocortisone cream twice a day. Hopefully one of these will work! We go back to see Dr. Nkemdrin in 2 weeks.

Once home, we got ready to make supper. It was an easy meal of Spaghetti and some sauce. It was meatless since it is Meatless Monday. Finley loves spaghetti and had 3 bowls full of it. Her appetite certainly surprises me sometimes.

Greg was home by then and I was happy to have some help even though I managed to survive. Greg and Finley are now outside harvesting everything that can be harvested as there is a frost warning here tonight. I can't believe there is a frost warning!! I mean seriously, where did our summer go? Did we even have one? There are a few tomatoes not yet ready so they will have to be covered. Seriously depressing.

That leaves me with some quiet time as Penelope lays beside me napping in her bassinet.....

So I did survive day 1...hopefully day 2 will be just as easy!

Sneak Peek...

This morning was Penelope's newborn photo shoot with Virginia at www.sweetgingerphotography.ca

Here is a sneak peek she posted on her blog this afternoon a mear 2 hours after our shoot ended...she is that fabulous!

A Lil Update

Today would've been my due date had I gone full term so I thought I would just give everybody an update on how we were all doing.

Penelope is eating and growing like crazy! She still just basically sleeps, eats and poops...and poops she does, since she has been born, there have been only 2 diapers that didn't contain poop. Yes 2. It's crazy and the worst part is that her poor little bum is so raw, thankfully she has a check up tomorrow so I can show it to Dr. Nkemdrin. Also, her belly button fell off but is bleeding a little this morning. Not sure if this is normal as I don't remember if Finley's did that or not - again will check with the Dr tomorrow. She is sleeping really well - she is actually a better sleeper then Finley was which is quite astonishing. Finley took forever to finish her bottle and never wanted to burp. Penelope is fed, burped, changed and asleep in less then an hour. Finley was usually an hour at the minimum. Penelope is also going 4 hours between feedings just like Finley did.

Finley is doing really well with Penelope. She loves to help me hold her bottle and always ensures a hat and blanket are on her even if she already has both. It is quite cute. She is also wrapping up her baby just like we do with Penelope so that is really nice to see. Finley's also regaining a lot of her independence which I am happy to see. She still whines a lot more and has crazy temper tantrums but really it's mostly because of her insane temper. Which she unfortunately gets from me....so not looking forward to her teenage years....haha. She is also finally sitting on the potty which is just fabulous. No pee has been peed into it but at least we are getting somewhere. I don't think she really understands poop and pee yet which is half our battle. I try to explain it to her when I change her diaper but so far nothing.

I am doing pretty well. I am still a little sore sometimes but other than that I am feeling really good. Seeing how well I am doing with 2 goods compared to Finley makes me realize how much having pneumonia took out of me. I remember with Finley that I constantly needed to sleep and that there were days where I didn't eat, get dressed or even wash my face. So far, none of this has happened and I have been functioning very well despite late nights and 2 night time feedings. I rarely nap during the day so I am very happy with this. Of course, I have had Greg's help for the last week so tomorrow will actually be my true test. I have to get the kids in the car, drive to the dr.'s office and get the kids back in and drive home. I have not driven since the 17th so I am quite concerned of how I will be. I did put Penelope's carseat in the car last night and was ok doing it. My biggest concern is getting both kids into my dr.'s office because I can't carry the carseat that far and the office is far too small for her stroller so I think I might use my sling or warp to carry Penelope that way I have my hands free for holding Finley's hand.

I will only be on my own for 3 days as my mom and sister will be here on Wed night. I am really looking forward to them being here and of course meeting Penelope!

Another bright note is that as I was getting ready for Penelope's newborn photo shoot with Virginia at Sweet Ginger Photography (yes I plug her every chance I get because she is that fabulous!), I was able to fit into a pair of my regular jeans and t-shirt . Granted, they are low rise jeans so that makes a big difference and they are bluenotes jeans which means they fit a little big. I haven't tried my beloved True Religion, William Rast or Rock & Republic or my skinny jeans yet because I know that would be just a disaster but I am happy none the less. It took me forever to find a top because my maternity tops look awful and big and my regular tops really emphasize the little pot belly I have going on....haha but I managed to find one that looked ok and hopefully it works for the photos!

I hope everybody has a great Sunday, I know we will. After the photoshoot, I plan on vegging out with Greg and the girls and enjoying this rainy day Sunday. I love rainy day Sundays as they give you the excuse to do nothing but stay home!

Anyways, gotta get going as Virginia will be here soon (even though as you read this she will have been done and gone home for hours...)

Happy Sunday People!

Lil Betty Crocker

The other night, Greg and Finley went to pick the zucchini's that received hail damage from the insanely wicked storm we had on Sunday afternoon. We decided that we would make a chocolate zucchini cake and that Finley would help out. She had a blast to say the least but the cake turned out to be WAY to chocolatey and Finley and I didn't really like it. Greg loved it. It made a huge cake and we saved half so that Finley could share it with Grandma Toot and Aunty Kristy. Here are some photos from Finley's 1st baking experience!

This About Sums It Up....

One of my favourite things about Finley is that she is a girly dainty little princess and at the same a rough n tough tomboy. She loves necklaces, getting perfume sprayed on her and lip gloss on her lips. She loves shoes and dresses and playing with her dolls. She also loves her tools, helping daddy in the garden and yard, she's rough and falls down and gets back up. She loves playing in the dirt but hates dirt and grass actually on her.

Below is a photo of Finley that about sums the above up:

Yes this is Finley wearing her tool belt playing with a blowdryer at her new vanity. Yes, I love this girl.

Penelope Meets (Some Of) The Family

Penelope's first weekend home was quite exciting for her as she got to meet some members of her family outside of her daddy, sister and Uncle Brad.

Here are some photos:

Penelope with Grandma Gail. She drove up from Saskatoon on Friday and went back on Sunday.
Penelope meeting her Grandpa Don and Uncle Neil who just arrived back from Newfoundland.
Penelope with her Grandma Jen, who also just got back from NFLD.
Uncle Neil holding Penelope. I am pretty sure that she will love him as much as her sister Finley does!
Finley and Penelope with Grandpa and Grandma & Uncle Neil
Later that Sunday afternoon, my Aunty Leslie & Uncle Doug stopped by to meet Penelope and deliver some gifts for the girls. Here is Finley opening a present from them.
She got a Laugh & Learn Clock which she absolutely LOVES!!! She was also very excited to see her Aunt & Uncle.
Aunty Leslie meeting Penelope for the first time.
Another one of Penelope with Aunty Leslie and Uncle Doug
Penelope meeting Uncle Doug for the first time.

And finally, on Monday afternoon, Frunkl Jack came over to meet Penelope. Frunkl Jack is also favourite of Finley's and is sure to be loved just as much by Penelope.

And it's going to get even busier with my besty Kristen coming to meet Penelope on Friday and my mom & sister coming the following week for a 4 day visit to see the girls!

Finley & Penelope: A Relationship In Training

Finley's attitude towards Penelope is definitely a love hate relationship. She is obsessed when she sees that Penelope hat is missing. She will find and insist on putting it back on her (to the best of her abilities and if she can't do it, then we have to). If Penelope's bottle spills or she has spit up on her, Finley insists that it be cleaned up immediately. If Finley sees that Penelope is missing her blanket, Finley will go get it for her. If you are holding Finley or she is in her bassinet or chair, Finley will pat her head - just like she does her cats and dog. She will sit beside you when you are holding her and watch her. And if Penelope is crying, Finley will come running from wherever she is, no matter what she is doing, to see what is the matter. So from that aspect it's pretty good.

However, every once in awhile, she tells Penelope to go away. She also will hit her bassinet (never Penelope, no worries). The worst part of her relationship with Penelope is perhaps how Finley has changed personality and attitude wise. She has gotten a lot more needy then she was before Penelope came along. She likes to sit in our laps and drink her milk and the other night she made Greg feed her. She whines a lot more then she used to and instead of using her words like she can & has, she just makes whiny noises which is not pleasant. I am hoping that this is just a phase and we get through it but it certainly is frustrating to see this regression in Finley. When I mentioned this to my doctor on Monday, she said that this is perfectly normal and should pass in time.

Greg and I both spend one on one time with Finley which I think will help a lot. I will keep you updated on the saga that is Finley & Penelope....now here are a few photos of them in the past week!

Presents From One Sister To Another

So I decided that it would be a good idea to get presents from Finley to Penelope and vice versa. I thought it would be a good way to ensure Finley didn't feel left out.

This is Penelope's gift to Finley

Penelope bought for Finley the Little People Pink Motorcycle set, 2 bendable Little People doctors and a little baby bag that is full of stuff that Finley can use on her beloved baby doll.
Finley really enjoyed her Little People. We have a huge village of Little People play sets in our basement playroom mostly because Greg and I are obsessed with them. Thankfully, Finley enjoys them as well.
Finley helping Penelope open her gift.

Finley got Penelope her very own Sophie the Giraffe and.....
And she got her the Fisher Price "My Very First Bear". It rattles and is very cute. Finley really likes to play with it. She tried chewing on Penelope's Sophie and I had to hide it. Finley can chew on her own!
Here is a quick photo of Penelope with her new presents. Finley wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a photo. No need to worry, as soon as the photo op was over, the presents were removed from her bassinet as it is a definite big no no.

The Arrival of Penelope Grier Florizone

We arrived at Rockyview General Hospital at 530am on August 18th. My c-section was scheduled for 8am but we needed to be there early to go through paper work with various nurses, get some lab work done, and for them to listen to the baby's heart beat and check my vitals. We were already to go to the operating room when we were told we were bumped by one and wouldn't go in until about 9am. Greg went down to the cafeteria for some breakfast and I had a nap since I was starting to get a headache. Prior to heading to the OR, I met with a gazillion doctors and students and attendants and so on and so on. I swear I had an entire class in there with me. Soon we were on our way!

They whisked me into the OR where I was first given a local anaesthetic. Unfortunately it didn't take and was given it 2 more times before it worked and then I was given the general anaesthetic. I was awake for the whole procedure and although I couldn't feel any pain, I could certainly feel all the movements that the doctors were taking to get the baby out. It was much more difficult this time round mostly because the incision from the first baby wasn't done very good and I had a lot of scar tissue from that one as well. So they had to cut around it and the pressure needed to get the baby out was unreal. I was squeezing Greg's hand and my other hand was over my head and I was in tears for part of it because it was just so unreal. Eventually they got the baby out and were able to put me back together again. Dr. Edwards was really good and removed all of the scar tissue and redid my incision so that the scar will be much nicer and will be useful should I choose to have another child.

After my organs were put back in and I was stapled and sutured back up, I was sent to the recovery room. I arrived there at 10:15am and was moved to my maternity room at 10:45am. This was already way better then Finley's section!!

This is the first photo ever taken of Penelope Grier Florizone. She was born on August 18th at 926am and weighed in at an even 8 lbs and was 19 inches long. When they first showed her to us, we were both sure she was so much smaller then that. She ended up weighing about 10 ounces more then Finley and was an inch shorter. I am pretty sure that she is going to hate us for making the photo public.
My first photo with Penelope. I never had my first photo with Finley until we were in the post partum ward or whatever it is called. I looked awful but hey I just underwent major surgery!

Soon after this, she went with Greg to get cleaned up and whatever it is that they do once they leave here.
Here is Greg's first photo with Penelope. It was taken by a med student who was starting his first day of residency or interning or something in anaesthesiology. He graduated from high school in 2003. Ya I felt old.
She didn't like being cold and this still is an issue for her. Changing her diaper is quite the challenge. Here she was being weighed. I still can't believe she weighed in at 8 lbs

Here we were in our postpartum room in Unit 64. Normally the babies are bathed right after birth but it was a record breaking week at Rockyview with babies being born - mostly by c section too! They were WAY behind on bathes so Penelope spent most of her day dressed in ugly hospital gear full of guck. They did clean most of her off but man her hair was gross. If you have ever seen Jarome Iginla's hair, that is what hers looked like.

See what I mean ugly hospital garb! Getting fed by daddy for the first time. She eats, burps and falls asleep way better then Finley did - which is saying a lot!

Another very unattractive photo of myself with Penelope. Gotta love the blood pressure cuff and oxygen monitor on me. Happy to say all were normal readings!!!

Finley's first visit to Penelope and I at the hospital. She was pretty mad at me.

Penelope's name was decided the Friday before she was born. We each had a list of names that we wanted for consideration. There were no common names and I hated all of his and he hated all of mine. So we made the decision to throw out all of the names that were on these lists and start from scratch. So Finley was napping and Greg was on the laptop going through names. I veto'd every single one of them until we came to Penelope. We both liked it so then we went to Service Alberta and checked the popularity of it in Alberta. There were 11 in 2009 and 27 since 2000 so that met my rule that it was not remotely popular. I loved the name because of the movie Penelope which is one of the most wonderful movies ever and Greg loved it because in some cartoon he watched as a child Thundercats or Thunderbirds there was a character named Lady Penelope. Grier is Scottish and means Gregory so she was named after her daddy. I have a whole blog coming up regarding both Finley and Penelope's names. My biggest fear was the reaction that we would get from people. So far it has been pretty good!
Finley checking out Penelope for the first time. She was so not interested but she was interested in my roomy's baby for some reason.
She enjoyed watching the cranes and construction outside our room much more then she enjoyed Penelope or myself.
Uncle Brad meeting Penelope for the first time. Greg was feeding her but Finley was not happy with this. So Greg and Finley went down to the cafeteria to get Finley some milk. Brad was my "support" person so that is how he was able to come and see us. In Calgary, the only people allowed to visit the baby and me are my 2 support people which is Greg and one other, the baby's grandparents and the baby's siblings. Both my mom and Greg's mom were back in SK and Greg's dad and stepmom who actually live in Calgary were on vacation in Newfoundland so really there was nobody to visit and essentially Brad was our support person seeing as how he watched Finley on Wednesday while we were at the hospital.
Finally a clean Penelope! On the day she was born, there were 11 c sections which by the sounds of it, was a record. And on top of that, it had been a super busy week of babies born at the hospital with the majority born by c section. Although, Rockyview does do the most sections out of all 3 Calgary hospitals so it shouldn't be that surprising. Some babies were waiting more then 24 hours to be bathed. Fortunately, my night nurse on the 18th was amazing! Penelope had to be in the nursery overnight because she was really mucusy and they wanted to keep a good eye on her. So my night nurse Faye, did all of her feeding and bathed her herself. So on Thursday morning when she was brought back to me, she was nice and clean and dressed in pink!
On Thursday morning, Greg and Finley picked some peas in our garden and brought me some. They were so good and such a treat. Although the hospital food has improved since I was there with Finley, it still has leaps and bounds that it could improve by! Thank goodness for the mini kitchen in our unit that had bread, peanut butter, a toaster and the most delicious Chapman's popsicles.
This was also on Thursday. Finley was wearing her "Big Sister" shirt but she still was not happy about being a big sister although she did make an effort to touch her hand but that was about it. She was a little naughty at the hospital but was an angel compared to my roomy's little girl. I swear she was part devil she was so bad!
Finley hanging out in my bed. She loved that she could make it move!
The nurse was like don't forget to take your souvenir card home with you. Too bad they spelled our last name incorrectly.
This was taken Thursday night by my roommate. She insisted on taking it because it was just so wonderful. I had to crop it because my gown was hiked up but it was a nice photo. My roomy was a little wacky. She told me her oldest daughter looked like a beautiful princess when she was born but this one looked like a chinese monkey and hoped that she would look pretty one day. Her new babe also cried all night and slept all day. It was not pleasant. I think it was because she called her ugly and made sure everybody knew that she thought this. As wacky as she was, she was good company at times.
Finley putting Penelope's teddy bear into the carseat. Finley seemed much happier to see us both and even gave me a hug and kiss. I was happy to have my little girl back!

All ready to go! It was so awesome to leave the hospital at the same time as Penelope. This was almost an entirely new experience for me even though I had been through it once before. Most of the stuff I never got to do and if I did, I didn't really remember it. Only 55 hours in the hospital - SCORE!

The nursing staff and Dr. Edwards were amazing. I loved all of my nurses with exception to a student nurse that I had part of Thursday, mostly because I knew more then she did and I didn't really like the nurse on Friday but I didn't care because I got to go home. My only complaint was the resident paediatrician who assessed Penelope on Friday and said she could be discharged, didn't sign the discharge papers so we had to wait until we could track down the resident and his attending so that we could leave!