2 months old!

I'm slow in posting, sorry! We have been having so much fun with Millie! She brings soo much joy to our lives every day! Aaron continues to love on her and enjoys holding her, talking to her and playing with her. She has learned how to smile and shows us her beautiful smile all day long! She has wonderful head control, and is learning to enjoy tummy time. She is also constantly moving! Her legs do NOT stay still! Just like when she was in my tummy, only now everyone else gets to see it! She sits on the couch and just kicks and kicks, its hard to get a picture of her since she is constantly moving! She also loves to talk, she ooos and aahhs at us and likes to stick her tongue out at us. Its soo fun to have another baby and a little girl! Enjoy the beautiful pictures!

 Soo sweet, tiny girl!

 First real bath!

 He loved that she was holding his arm :)

 She loves to be all sprawled out!

 All dressed up for church!

 I love Daddy!

 super cute 1 month old!

wearing her first cloth diaper!

 Roll Tide! Supporting Alabama :)

 Admiring our baby girl!

Aaron loves his baby sister!

 1 month old!

 6 weeks old!

 Pumpkin head!

 Silly faces!

 2 months old... getting soo big!

 Silly smiles!

the best I could get of both of them looking at the camera!

Two weeks!!

I can't believe two weeks have passed since our baby girl joined our family! She fits right in and sometimes it seems crazy that she hasn't always been a part of our family! She is doing well, eating, sleeping, and pooping just like a normal baby! On Sunday the 15th her umbilical cord fell off mostly. There is still a little residue so we haven't taken a real bath quite yet. Her jaundice is mostly cleared up so now we can see her beautiful skin and not the yellow/tan hue she was before! Aaron is still just in love and has to kiss her all the time! Here are a few pictures of the last week.

Millie's birth story

This is Millie's birth story. It might be long and detailed but I really wanted to remember every part of it as it was such an amazing experience. I wish everyone could have such a wonderful experience!

We arrived a little late to the hospital on September 4^th. We went into the ER at 12:10am and went to check in for our scheduled induction. The lady in the ER did not have record of us coming in and called Labor and Delivery. They again had no record of us coming in and decided to call around to other hospitals to make sure we were at the right place. How frustrating! We sat in the waiting room while they did their research. The ER lady came back to us and said we were not scheduled and to just go home and call the doctor in the morning. I said um no way we are not going home this is ridiculous! We went outside and I called the DR’s office and told the answering service to have a Dr call me so that I would NOT have to go back home. While waiting for them to call back a nurse from Labor and Delivery called me at 12:30am and told me to come back that they found the information they needed. We went back in the ER and checked in and headed over to Labor and Delivery. We were greeted at L & D with apologies as they had wrote down my induction on my due date instead of the day we were supposed to be there. They checked us into the biggest delivery room at 12:45 and started to get things started. I was asked 100 different medical questions most of which all the answers were no, and was just frustrated that we were taking so long to get this started! I guess all the stress of the situation caused me to have contractions so they were monitoring them to see how they would progress. The IV was started after a vein was blown and some fluids were given to me to see if that would slow down the ‘braxton hicks’ contractions. Instead of them slowing down they were actually staying pretty consistent. My amazing nurse Kristy came in around 3 am and checked me and I was 2cm.  She then went to call the Dr to see if we should skip the cytotec and go straight with the pitocen. We got our answer around 4:30am and pitocen was started. Nurse Kristy was amazing in helping us with many different positions for labor. She gave us a birth ball and some essential oils to help calm me down. She was so helpful and encouraging to me to help me have a natural delivery. She encouraged Andrew to sleep so that he could be the best help possible to me. Dr Emberson came in for the morning around 7:30 and woke me up to break my water. At this point the contractions were coming semi-regularly but not very strong yet.  They increased the pitocen over the morning and at 12:30pm I asked to be checked to make sure some progress was being made. During the morning I sat on the birth ball and in the rocking chair. Daddy was right there with me encouraging me and helping me through each contraction.  Dr Emberson came in to see how things were going as he hoped she would arrive around lunch time. I was 5 cm which was some progress but not as much as we would have liked. The contractions were coming stronger now and around 2pm I was starting to feel pressure like pushing would be coming soon. I had a nurse come in and check me and I was 7cm. I asked if any pain medication could be given at this time as I was thinking it took all this time to get this far and I still have 3 more cm to go!  She said that it wasn’t advised now as the baby was too close to coming. I instead leaned over the raised bed and focused on breathing through the contractions. Andrew was amazing and was right there with me helping me get through the contractions. Mom would talk to me and try to get my focus off the pressure. At 2:30 I was really feeling the pressure to push like NOW and the nurse came back and I was 9 cm. She immediately called for Dr Emberson to come to the hospital. All the nurses were rushing around to get the bassinet warmed for Millie and the table of instruments ready for the delivery. The urge to push was too strong and even though the nurses kept warning me to stop pushing as the Dr. wasn’t there I couldn’t help but push! I was trying to breathe through the contractions and was hyperventilating a little bit too. My fingers and toes got a little tingly like they were falling asleep. I tried to slow down my breathing but it was hard to focus on breathing and pushing and keep everything together!  Dr. Emberson arrived quickly and I had already been pushing a few times. He got washed up and I continued pushing. It was painful but pushing helped to ease some of the pain. Her head came out and the Dr. cleaned out her mouth and nose and then I pushed her shoulders out. Millie was born at 2:58pm! She was perfect! Started crying right away! She scored 9 on both her 1 and 5 min APGAR tests. I had a minor tear but Dr. Emberson said it was probably from my previous delivery with Aaron. I easily delivered the placenta with no problems. I was surprised at the pain of the nurse checking my fundus after the birth. Mom said I was louder when she pushed on my stomach than I was while pushing! Haha oh well it hurt!

It was such an amazing experience to not have the pain medication. I don’t think that the contractions were painful, just a pressure and you had to breathe through it. I know it helped to stay relaxed and calm, knowing that stress would only make pain and that would not help my baby get here any quicker. As long as I stayed focused on being calm and knowing that as soon as my baby was here I wouldn’t have this pressure anymore was enough to keep me going! One song I sang in my head a lot is “Nothing is impossible”. God gave me the strength and determination to make it through this delivery.

One week later and I feel great. I am not in much pain and am soo happy with my baby girl. I am so proud that we were able to achieve this delivery. Andrew and my Mom were so helpful and understanding of my wishes and really helped me have the greatest birth experience.

Millie is slightly jaundiced, but is nursing often and sitting in the sun to help reduce this. Hopefully it clears up quickly and no further treatment is necessary. 

 Right after she was born, seeing Mommy, Daddy and Nana!

 Meeting Aaron for the first time! It is love!!

To my sweet girl

Dear Millie,
I can't wait to meet you and snuggle up to your sweet little self! I have enjoyed feeling you squirm around and give nice strong kicks, feeling your hiccups and knowing those lungs are getting strong. I pray that God blesses you with a gentle spirit and a tender heart. I pray that you remain pure, and a woman that desires to know God and do His will. Many people are anxious to meet you and watch you grow and teach you all about this beautiful world. Aaron has tried to convince you that it's time to come out! He is soo ready to be a big brother! You are blessed to have him as your brother! Daddy and I are soo excited to meet you and can't wait to kiss on you as soon as you arrive. Don't take too long to get here ok! We can't wait! It seems like these last few weeks are going by slowly but I know you are just getting stronger and cuter for when we meet you! I love you and pray you have a safe healthy arrival!
Mommy

Waiting for Millie

Aaron is waiting to become a big brother! He is soo excited to welcome his baby sister, Millie to our family! She will probably be joining our family in the beginning of September it just depends on how big she is growing! ( Mommy has gestational diabetes which could make her really big!) Here are a few pictures of Millie growing.

 Aaron's Special message for Oma and Opa

 Aaron testing out Millie's crib

 Letting everyone know what we are naming her! :)

Aaron snuggling up with Millie!

Another year to celebrate Aaron!

Aaron has celebrated his 3rd birthday! Hard to believe he is 3 years old already! He is such a wonderful boy and we really enjoy our time with him! He constantly has us laughing at either what he says or what he is doing. He is very fascinated with trains and we are always adding to his train collection. Its a good thing we live right by a city with so many train attractions! Whenever we go to Chattanooga Aaron asks about riding a train! We rode one with Nana and Papa when we celebrated Aaron's birthday a few weeks ago. Aaron asks if we can do it daily, and is always disappointed when I say no not today.
Aaron has been attending the day care that I work at. He really enjoys playing with other kids and learning new things. He just goes in the morning which is just enough time for him. He has a best friend and is constantly talking about Charlie!
Some of the funny things he has said recently:
While driving around one day he asked where we were going, I told him to go drive by a house, he said " oh that's nice."
When he woke up today he told me that "Daddy's going to share his happy birthday again with me!"
He constantly is saying " I wanna go play with them kids" usually meaning at church or day care
and so many more things I just can't even think of right now!
I did a little interview with him on his birthday here are his answers:
1. What is your favorite color? BLUE
2. What is your favorite toy? trains, tractors, cranes
3. What is your favorite fruit? Watermelon
4. What is your favorite TV show? Wonder pets
5. What is your favorite lunch food? Pizza
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Thomas shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Baseball
8. What is your favorite snack? pishies ( goldfish) and cheese
9. What is your favorite animal? Cruiser and Lilah ( kitties)
10. What is your favorite song? Change your life ( Sidewalk Prophets song)
11. What is your favorite book? THOMAS
12. Who is your best friend? Charlie
13. What is your favorite cereal? Hoot Loops ( fruit loops)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? car, baseball, bike
15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? my birthday!!
17. What do you like to take to bed with you? Monkey and Henri ( his blanket and paci)
18. What do you like to eat for breakfast? WAFFLES ( he says the 'a' as a long a)
19. What do you want to eat for dinner on your birthday? Sparklers ( sprinkles- I think because he had sprinkles on his birthday treats)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A fire truck driver

He is such a blessing to us and we can't imagine life without him! Here are a few pictures from his actual birthday!

Our life recently

Running by the trains in Chattanooga

Standing by the Happy 2nd Birthday Aaron sign!

Looking at the mountains with Opa

Pusch Family 2011 in Gatlinburg,TN

Aaron in Florida 2011

In August I was told about a job opportunity at a church daycare. I emailed the director met with her and was hired. I work 11:30-6 every day. Aaron gets to go to the daycare with me and we get to play outside together. He still is not wanting to leave Mommy but is still having fun playing with friends and learning different things. One of the teachers I used to work with and she came over and babysat Aaron last weekend so Andrew and I could enjoy a night out. It has been nice to get out of the house and enjoy the company of other people! We were blessed with an older car, but it runs great and is fun to ride around in! We have been doing all sorts of fun projects around the house such as painting, building, and rearranging. It is fun to change things up and still enjoy our house! Aaron is still loving playing outside, and digs in the sandbox, drives his cozy coup around, he is learning to ride his tricycle. One of his favorites is going down the slide. He usually wants Mommy to go down with him and laughs every time we go down.
Aaron is still enjoying going to Lowes, and the Depot, he loves to eat pizza and burgers, he loves diggers, dump trucks, trucks, trains ( choo choos!) playing football or baseball. He calls biscuits bickies, and when he says open he says opie. He is a constant source of entertainment and keeps us laughing all the time! He has had some 2 yr old behavior as well but we try to forget that and focus on the fun stuff he does!