The Ritter Family

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day!

Let me start by saying, please forgive me for the lack of cards and gifts this year! I will do better next year, I promise!

This is a special Father's Day because of all the new babies in our family. Happy Father's Day to Andrew who is now a father of two. Happy Father's Day to Scotty who is celebrating his very first father's day. Happy Father's Day to our parents and the grandfathers of our girls, Grandpa, Papa, and Poppy! I couldn't ask for a better group of fathers and grandfathers! We love you!

Daddy and his girls

Saturday, June 15, 2013

The "Grammy Touch"

Thank you to my mom who stayed on our couch for 10 nights to help me when Andrew returned to work. Addison is obsessed with her Grammy and luckily Grammy has plenty of energy to wear her out! Grammy took her to the pool most mornings at 10 am while I had time to spend with Audrey or to take a much needed shower! I don't think it's possible for me to take Addison to the pool without help for a while, so I am thankful she got so much pool time this week. Grammy cooked dinner and cleaned up every day! I had to introduce her to the "good enough" way of cleaning as it is impossible to have a perfectly clean house with a toddler (and now and more so with a newborn!). Grammy and I learned to like a new tea, Mother's Milk, and I caught up on the General Hospital soap opera that mom has been watching for over 30 years! Andrew and I enjoyed the homemade cookies a little too much! Mom kept singing a song called Elvira and now I can't get it out of my head!

Audrey is seriously amazing at night. I wake her every three hours to eat and generally I can put her right back to bed without rocking her to sleep again. Naps are a little different. I'm having a hard time getting her to sleep and stay asleep after I put her down in the crib. HOWEVER, Grammy was a pro at it. We called it the "Grammy touch". I will miss the help!

Thank you, Mom, for the help. Andrew and I are very thankful and Addison is even closer to her Grammy now!

unload and load, unload and load, unload and load

at the Miami Seaquarium

the "Grammy touch"

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

A small update

A few "exciting" things in the Ritter house:

Audrey's cord stump fell off! Once her belly button is completely healed we will try a sister bath!
June 2nd was our official due date and I am so glad she came a little early!
Addison is now 27 months old and is finally getting better about nap/bedtime!
Grammy comes tonight! I am already so thankful for the help.

Addison wearing her big sister shirt (thank you Nana and Papa) and reading her big sister book

couch fort

comparing baby dolls

sisters

a walk with the girls

Thursday, May 30, 2013

One week old

Today Audrey is one week old! We took her to the pediatrician today for the first time. She has grown about half an inch in length and 10 ounces in weight!

"the girls" playing

Addison is doing a little better with things today. We are trying to find a balance between giving her the extra love and attention she needs right now while not rewarding her fits and bad behavior. She loves her sister, but doesn't quite understand why she needs to sleep and eat so much! She loves to tell us that Audrey doesn't have teeth.

I still have absolutely no idea how I will juggle all this when Andrew goes back to work!

I saw this quote on Pinterest a few months ago and I think I need to print it and read it every day:

"You will never have this day with your children again.

Tomorrow, they'll be a little older than they were today.

This day is a gift.

Breathe and notice.

Smell and touch them;

Study their faces and little feet and pay attention.

Relish the charms of the present.

Enjoy today, Mama.

It will be over before you know it."

Monday, May 27, 2013

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

On Thursday morning I started feeling more of a crampy Braxton Hicks contraction. Around 10 am I noticed that they were getting more regular and intense...I also promised Addison I'd take her on a bike ride. So we went. I told the girls (my college roommate girls) in our message thread about how I was feeling and they encouraged me to download an app and start timing them. So I did. Once I saw how long and regular they really were I told Andrew about it and he suggested I call the doctor. They told me to go straight to the hospital to triage for monitoring. I finished packing our bags just in case it was real labor and around noon we headed to the hospital. After about an hour of monitoring, the nurse decided to do an exam and found that I was about 4 cm and 80% effaced...ready to be admitted for labor! Meanwhile, Teresa was on her way and my Mom and Steve were on their way over to help watch Addison. They got here pretty quickly! Addison went home and stayed with Poppy while Teresa and Mom came to the hospital for the birth. Once the doctor broke my water, which by the way was incredibly painful and emotional for me, the contractions started getting very intense. It was time for an epidural! This epidural was so much better than my first one with Addison. I could still move and feel my legs and feel the pressure during contractions. It was perfect. Pretty soon after Mom and Teresa arrived I felt the urge to push. After examination, the doctor said I was "plus one"... ready to push and the baby's head was crowning! So we did a practice set of pushes and then he determined we were ready to prep the bed and room! Two sets of pushes later and Audrey Diane Ritter was born! It was very quick. She was born at 5:36 pm. She weighed 5 lbs 12 oz and measured 18.5 inches long. She has a full head of dark hair and light eyes (not sure what color yet).

before

after

our family is now complete

The next day we had visits from Grandpa and Grandma Barber, Grammy and Poppy, Addison, Nana and Papa, and Uncle Benjamin and Uncle Michael! We are so blessed to have the support of our family! Thank you family! Addison had a blast while we were in the hospital! Family provided us with gifts, meals, a loaded refrigerator, and a very happy toddler.

Today Addison is doing much better with the reality of her baby sister! She is still a little emotional about it, but much better than day one!