Happy Birthday Lilly!

Four years ago today was a very big and important day for our family. The day started out with a trip to the hospital to have our second child. We arrived at 8 am, got settled in, and they started my induction. Around 10:15 we got some great news--no, the baby wasn't born...our realtor called Andy's cell to say the offer we'd placed on a house was accepted! We were soon to be home-owners and we were so excited to have our own house to raise our kids. And what a day to get that great news!

The rest of the day was pretty basic and low-key, until Lilly's delivery. It was probably one of the scariest moments of our lives, as well as our parents' and sisters'. I had gotten an interthecal, which is like s step down from an epidural. We don't know what happened, but instead of just taking away the pain it left me completely unable to feel anything from my belly down. That wasn't such a bad thing until Lilly's heart-rate started taking dives and slowing down. I felt completely helpless because I couldn't feel what was going on to be able to contribute anything to the nurse. Long story short, I delivered her without even knowing it, that's how numb I was. We don't know how long she was out until I mentioned that I was getting feeling back and the nurse checked me. It was so terrifying to see her lying there, not breathing, and have the nurse tell Andy to go get any doctor NOW. Our doctor (loved him and miss him dearly now that he's no longer at our hospital) just happened to be coming to check on me and walked in right then. He got Lilly breathing and all checked out, and she was fine.

Lilly Irene was born at 5:36 (that's when we found her) and weighed in at 7lbs 1oz. She had the darkest blue eyes, which quickly turned brown, and dark brown hair. She was just a peanut and loved to snuggle in with whomever was holding her.

Later in the evening, once things had calmed down, our doctor came back in and apologized for the lack of attention paid to our desires (we had asked the nurse repeatedly to call him when she started having the decels in her heart rate) He explained that the decels were tell-tale signs of the baby moving into the birthing canal and that the nurse had completely dropped the ball. He also said that she was no longer employed by the hospital after this "incident."

Though she made such a fuss when she entered this world, she's been the calmest and easiest-going little person around. Sure, she is a whirlwind and full of energy, but she also is the sweetest, most loving little big girl around.

And today she turns 4. Four is the year that I can no longer pretend that she's my baby. At 3, they are still toddlers and still learning so much in the language and physical development departments. But at 4, they know how to communicate and run and jump and ride bike and do puzzles and so many other things. She's a big girl now.

We celebrated her birthday with family and friends this past Saturday, on one of the most beautiful days you could ask for in Wisconsin in October. The sun was shining and it was upper 60s, so we were able to be outside much of the day. This year was the first time that she asked for a themed party, so we did pumpkins like she requested. We had a pumpkin cake, pumpkin candles, pumpkin decorations, the whole family wore orange. For her present from us, we went as a family to see Laurie Berkner in concert. She's Lilly's favorite singer and WOW, was it a good show. It was so fun to see how excited all 3 girls were and the cool factor was only upped when we got free seat up-grades to the second row! It was a great birthday weekend.

So now that I've written a novel, I'll leave you with a picture overload...

My uncle Brian and I comparing bellies when I was 8 months

Newborn Lilly

Lilly at 11 months

Lilly's 2nd Birthday

Lilly's 3rd birthday

Cake from this year

My big 4 year old (well, almost in this picture)

Riding her new bike!

Lighting the candles

The whole congregation sang to her at church on Sunday

Lilly had volunteered a couple of weeks ago for a solo and sang it Sunday

Two anxious girls waiting for Laurie Berkner

Happy family in the new seats

Daddy & a tired Mikayla before the show started

Laurie Berkner!

Laurie & Adam Bernstein, her bassist

Lilly was so intent on the action the whole time

Suzy Lampert, Laurie, Adam

Lilly dancing

Mikayla and Alayna dancing