Amelia's baptism

Amelia's baptism was today. What a special day for all of us. Both of our families came up for the big event. Jeff and Sara, and Justin and Mandy were sponsors. Below are a few photos of the event. Grandma Lindell gave Amelia that special ring that she gives to all her great-grandchildren, and the cross necklace is from Jeff and Sara. Amelia also got so many special engraved keepsakes that she will treasure for her lifetime. Thanks to everyone who gave a gift and to those who stood up for Amelia. We love you all so much!

Good-bye, Old Friend

Some sad news: We decided to have Quincy put to sleep today. About a month ago, we noticed that his back leg wasn't working properly. After a visit to the vet and an Xray, we found out that a vertebrae was twisted and pinching a nerve in his leg, so he couldn't feel his leg anymore. Surgery might have helped, but there were no guarantees. Medicine didn't work. His leg was getting progressively worse, to the point where he couldn't go up or down the stairs without lots of effort anymore. He couldn't go on any walks because his foot dragged and started bleeding. He basically laid on his pillow in the kitchen all day and didn't do much else. His quality of life was so low. So Chris and I made the painful decision to have him put to sleep. Chris went with Quincy and stayed with him through the procedure. It was very hard to watch. But we think Quincy is now running through the grass with Paris, Jeff and Sara's dog.

We told Mira that Quincy went to live somewhere where his leg could be fixed. We think that's enough information for her at this age.

Good-bye, Quincy. You've been a wonderful pet for nearly 9 years. We'll miss you.

Michelle

More fun in the sun!

Mira's swimming pool sprung a leak last week so we got her a new one, complete with high walls and a padded floor. Yesterday was the first warm day since we put it up that she could use it. She had a blast!

And here is our newest photo of Amelia. So cute! She's five weeks old now and really growing fast. Last night she slept for a 5-hour stretch, so we are excited to see her nighttime sleeping patterns getting longer. Getting up once a night is so preferrable to 2 or 3 times! I feel like I can finally clean my house in the afternoons instead of having to take a nap every day. We are looking forward to getting our first smile from Amelia any week now!

Sunday is Amelia's baptism. We are looking forward to having family over for the big event.

Michelle

Creative outlets

I've been busy keeping Mira busy this summer. It's hard juggling a 3 year old and a 4 week old, so we've been doing crafts each day to keep us occupied.

Mira loves to paint and play dress-up. Last night she put on every piece of dress up clothing that she owns. Below is a photo of that lovely ensemble!

And Mira has recently discovered the joy of a "real" puzzle, not those wooden ones. She and I do a 50-piece Strawberry Shortcake puzzle these days. She's really catching on to how to put a puzzle together, with doing the outside first, then separating the pieces into "themes." Below are a couple photos of Mira completing one. The joy!

Michelle

Tushie at the park

It's been a good summer so far. Mira, Amelia, and I are keeping busy with daily trips to Target (a newborn mother's dream place!), Starbucks, the library, and play dates. We also take a daily walk with a neighbor of mine, so we are getting out and about. Here are just a couple of photos of the girls since I haven't posted in a few days. Hope you are all enjoying your summer. I have 7 weeks left of maternity leave left!

I took Mira to the park today. She was wearing a dress. She loves to change her clothes about 5 times a day, alternating between dresses and swimsuits. So she came down from her nap today with a dress on. We went on a walk, then to the park. It was when I put her in the swing and was pushing her when I saw her bare tushie hanging out the back of the swing! She'd neglected to put on any underwear, so her little butt was blowing in the breeze! Cute moment, but we went home before she could go down any slides!

Oh, and we saw a rabbit on our sidewalk the other night. Mira loved seeing that. I have a feeling it's the creature that ate some of my tiger lily buds before they could bloom.

Michelle

Amelia's 2nd bath / Fun in the pool!

Today, we tried Amelia's 2nd bath. She took to it quite a bit better than her first bath! I dare say she actually enjoyed it.

Mira enjoyed the morning in her swimming pool today. It's a nice way to tire her out for her afternoon nap.

Love,
Michelle

Happy birthday, Mira! / Amelia's first bath

Today is Mira's 3rd birthday! Happy birthday to my little baby girl, who isn't a little baby anymore. I can't believe I have a three-year-old child! She's a joy and a wonderful little girl. Chris and I are really blessed. Mira got a new blonde princess wig and some other things for her dress-up trunk. She loves dressing up in her costumes and twirling for us. We love her imagination!




After much waiting, Amelia's belly button cord finally fell off this week, so we gave her a bath this morning. She wasn't thrilled. (Neither was Mira on her first bath, either!) But after she was dry and in some clothes, she was a happy camper.





Hope you are all well. Things are going well here. Learning each day about our family dynamic. It's fun knowing that we have two girls and our family is complete. Now we can look forward to adventures with them both.

Michelle

Mira's birthday party

Hello! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but our camera battery keeps draining and we are waiting for a new one to arrive, so no photos this week. But I did borrow Mom and Dad's camera at Mira's birthday party, so I have a few to post from her party on Saturday. (There is something wrong with that camera, though, and it takes blurry photos. I'll have to figure that out!) So pardon the blurry photos.

We had Mira's party on Saturday, but her actual birthday is this Saturday on the 26th. We will have a 3 year old on our hands! I can't believe it. She seems so much older than that. I think she's really 2 going on 5. Have you seen that commercial for the cell phone service with the mom and the little girl who is texting too much and she says, "I D K, my BFF Jill?" That is Mira in about 5 years! A little sassy already.

Mira's party was fun. All the siblings and grandparents came. Well, except for Kelly who has yet to make an appearance at Mira's birthday parties! We'll have to remedy that next year! We miss you! So we did the traditional cake and lunch, presents and party favors. The kids all brought their swimsuits and played in the pool on the deck all afternoon. It was nice and 82 degrees that day . . . then drops to low 60s the next day, so we were grateful the party was on the warm day!

Here are some photos of the party. I'll be sure to post more when our camera is working. Amelia is doing really well and sleeps and eats like a champ! She sleeps for nice 3-4 hour stretches at night, so Chris and I are feeling pretty rested. Her alertness is increasing and she's generally a calm baby. We feel very blessed with our two little girls!

Love, Michelle




Here's a photo of Jeff and Nicholas. I couldn't believe how big he had gotten in the last two months since I've seen him. And Nicholas grew quite a bit too! :-)

Twins?

I have a photo of Mira when she was just born. We noticed right away that Amelia looks exactly like Mira did at that age! It really makes me wonder how close they will look as Amelia grows!



And below are some nice photos from the weekend. Chris and I are so enjoying this time. Amelia even slept most of last night and only made me get out of bed for 1/2 hour between 11:00 and 6:00. Needless to say, I'm well rested today, which is great since it's my first day alone with Amelia. Mira is in daycare so I think it should be an easy day. Maybe I'll even slip a nap in!

Hope you are all well and had a great Mother's Day!
Love,
Michelle

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Mom,
I wanted to wish you a very happy Mother's Day today! I wish I could spend it with you, but hope you have a wonderful day. Now that I have two children, I'm seeing all the sacrifices and time it takes to raise wonderful babies. I really appreciate all you've done for me all my life. It's been a great life and I know I'm the woman I am today because of you. I love you so much and look forward to seeing you next week.

(I was going to post this on the Adeline blog, but didn't want to pull from Kelly's racing glory, so I hope you still see this today!)

Love,
Michelle

Welcome home, Amelia!

Good news! Amelia was released today and is now sleeping peacefully in her car seat. We are thrilled to have her home 4 days earlier than expected and are ready to be parents to both of our little girls.

Mira is really doing well with her. We're trying hard to give lots of praise and patience to Mira, so I think that will be a big help. She's already helped to feed and change Amelia. Now we are off for a bath for Mira and a little one-on-one time, like she's used to. Any advice on helping the older child adjust to the baby?

But, as you can see from the photos below, Mira loves her sister!

Love,
Michelle

Amelia, Day 4!

Chris and I visited Amelia in the NICU a couple of times today. It was so nice to spend some quality time with her in peace. She's doing so well. In fact, the doctor was able to visit with us while we were there and told us that her chest X-ray had cleared up and he was going to remove her from the antibiotics. He is questioning whether she ever had pneumonia since it cleared up so quickly, so she might not have ever needed to be in the NICU in the first place. Based on the results of a test tomorrow, he believes she'll be released tomorrow instead of Monday. We are thrilled at the prospect of having our baby home a few days early! I was really hoping she'd be home for Mother's Day, so we still have our fingers crossed for a tomorrow release.

Here are a couple of photos of Amelia from today. The spitting image of Mira at that age!
Love,
Michelle

Mira feeds her sister

We went to the the hospital tonight to visit Amelia. Mira got a chance to feed her baby sister a bottle. She really enjoyed the time with Amelia . . . and then she had a complete meltdown soon after that, so that's the last time Mira will get to be in the NICU until Amelia comes home, I think. At least the last time if she doesn't take an afternoon nap.

Hope you are all well.
Michelle and Chris

Amelia Update

Amelia had a fever and some labored breathing this morning (Monday) and blood tests/x-rays indicate a minor case of pneumonia. She will be in the hospital until at least next Monday. Michelle will be coming home tomorrow.

More Amelia and Family Photos

Mira's little sister, Amelia Kaye Cook

Amelia Kaye Cook was born on May 6th at 2:32am.

She weighed 8 Ibs. 2 oz. and was 20" long.

Mom and baby are doing very well and are at North Memorial in Robbinsdale until Monday night or Tuesday.

Welcome, Betta!

Mira's 3rd birthday is 3 weeks away, and she's been asking for a fish. After some research, we decided a betta fish would be the best choice. Tonight we went to pick out the newest addition to the family and bring him home. Mira was so excited. She named him Betta Cook. We think he'll be very happy at our house for a long time!

Here's also a couple photos of Mira at the park. She loves trying new things at the park that she was previously too young for, like going down the slide headfirst. It's so fun to see her accomplishing things she wasn't able to do last year!

Hope you are all well.
Love,
Michelle