Welcome Madelyn Faith

Introducing...Madelyn Faith

Madelyn made quite an entrance into the world!  Before we get to the drama, let me explain her middle name.  As most people know it took us 18 long months to conceive Olivia.  We decided to name her Olivia Grace because by the Grace of God we became pregnant!  Madelyn was a bit easier and we determined she need to have the middle name Faith because we have always kept our Faith that everything would work out the way it is suppose to be!  Keeping that thought in mind we awaited the arrival of our little girl and she lived up to that middle name during labor!  

Such a diva already!

Because this was my second child, my doctor offered to induce me on Thursday, the day after my due date. I was a bit nervous to be induced because my first labor was fairly "easy", and I did not know how my body would react to the procedure.  I agreed, figuring that if a spot was open, then it would be the right choice.  Plus it was a lot easier to have a plan of what to do with Olivia than the unknown!  So on Thursday August 18th we arrived at Howard County General, after dropping Olivia off at my parent's house.  I was checked in and had an IV started before Dr. Esposito checked me out.  When he entered the room I could tell something was not right.  He did an exam and determined I was 2 centimeters dilated and 60% a faced.  Then he said, "we just had about 5 women arrive at Labor and Delivery and there is not enough staff to cover everyone."   He then explained that since my procedure was an elective induction, I was probably going to be sent home.  Honestly, I was fine with that outcome.  I was nervous about this to start with, and I took it as a sign it was not the right time.  Two hours after arriving at the hospital, we left to go home and wait!  

Another thumb sucker?

Talk about everything happening for a reason, when we arrived at my parents house, Olivia felt warm to me and my mom thought so too!  After taking her temperature, I decided to call Dr. Landcaster and  ask her if we could come in for a quick check.  I was worried it was an ear infection and with the possibility of a new baby soon, I wanted her on antibiotics as soon as possible.    That afternoon it was determined she had a virus called Hand, Foot, Mouth, and it would just take time to pass.  PHEW!  At least it was not  an ear infection.  Dan and I decided we have been pretty bad about washing her hands, after we are out in public places, so we will be better about that!  That afternoon, we gave her lots of love and fluids and she seemed to be better.  

Fast forward to 8:30 pm.  We are watching "The Dilemma" downstairs and I start to feeling something. About ten to twelve minutes later I feel it again.  Before alerting Dan, I keep track of the timing and about half an hour later I tell him to start timing.  He determines I am having contractions about ten minutes apart.  At 9:30 pm we call my mom and ask her to come stay the night because this baby is most likely coming soon!  We also called Dan's mom, Jean, and tell her she should probably leave in the morning because she was going to help with Olivia.  We wait out the contractions and about 12:00 am call the doctor to let him know.  I was ready to get to the hospital and get an epidural so we could rest a little bit before the fun begins!  We then discover Dr. Esposito is still on call and he says to come in he will check me out.  

12:30 am we leave for the hospital and at 1:00 they put me in a room to determine if I was going to be checked in to stay or go back home.  As an awful nurse tries to get an IV needle in my arm, poking me about four times before she "gives up," Dr. Esposito checks me out.  He determines I was now four centimeters and 100% a faced.  I would be staying and having this baby!  YAY!   Then as he begins to ask me about pain medicine and I say I would like an epidural, the lights in the entire hospital go out!  An awful lightening storm knocked out the power.  Less than a minute later, the generator begins and we have lights again!  But what a shock!  

Proud Daddy!

The next adventure began when moving rooms.  Since they were unsure if I would be admitted, I was in a small room first.  When it was official, the nurses then had to move me down the hall to an actual Labor and Delivery room.  I had to get up and use the bathroom and while I was in there, two nurses took the bed I was in and started wheeling it down the hallway without me!  So we rushed to keep up,  I holding the back of my gown closed, and Dan carrying three bags!  As we approached the room a contraction started and I had to hold onto the doorway for support all the while a third nurse says, "there goes your ride!"  Thanks lady!  As I think back it was all pretty comical, but in the moment I was not a happy person, who was still missing an IV line!

Cuddling with mommy!

Finally,  I get to the room (minus an IV) around 2:00, and I immediately ask about an epidural.  At this point the contractions are about 2-5 minutes apart and growing with intensity!  My new nurse, who I loved, says I have to have a whole bag of IV fluid first!  She quickly put in my IV and I waited!  UG!  How long will that take?  She did not know for sure, but 30 minutes later and many painful contractions, the epidural is given!  What an instant relief!   I cannot imagine why a woman would choose to have a natural delivery anymore!  Epidruals are magical!  At this point it was about 3:00 am and Dan and I were able to catch a few hours of sleep.  Sorta...

From 3:00 am until 5:00 am, when the Doctor came to check me, the nurse kept coming in to check me and move me because Madelyn's heart rate was getting funny readings.  Nothing to panic about, but she wanted to keep moving my position.  At 5:00 I was about 7-8 centimeters dilated and Dr. Esposito decided to break my water.  Then he said he would be back to check later.  Another half an hour goes by and I am in and out of sleep, and I begin to feel the sensation to push.  Suddenly at 5:30, Dr. Espostio comes in and says, "I don't like the her heart rate.  Let's see where we are now."  At this point I am now fully dilated and he says it is time to push!  YAY!

~7 pounds and 4 ounces~

The pushing begins and Dr. Esposito disappears for a few minutes and we find out later he had to help another doctor because the baby was stuck!  When he reappears, he observes her heart rate and after two more pushes decides it is time to get her out!  He says, "we need to vacuum her out, now.  You are so close I would hate to do a C-Section."  I said, "Yes.  I do not want a C-Section"  Literally a minute later I start pushing on another contraction and suddenly she is out before Dan can count to ten!  It all happened so fast, and they wanted her to get checked out by the NICU first that Dan did not even get to cut the cord!  It was a little chaotic at first, but everything ended well with a healthy 7 pounds 4 ounces, and 20 inches long baby girl, delivered at 5:52 am!  To be honest, over all that was an amazingly easy delivery, which fits her middle name!  We kept faith she would arrive when it was time and she did! 

Puryear Family of Four

It was so strange to have this little girl in our arms by 6:15 in the morning.  Thinking back to Olivia's labor and delivery it was about 14 hours, so I figured it would be the same time frame.  Nope, Madelyn arrived 10 hours later!  We had the entire day to spend with her and she was able to meet most of our immediate family that day!   

The Puryear Sisters

The most special part of the day was when Olivia met Madelyn for the first time!  She immediately wanted to hold her and give her kisses!  It was a precious moment, and it is a memory that will always stay with me!  So our story continues as our family grows!  We are so blessed with love and support of family and friends, and two beautiful girls!  

PS- I am adding pictures of Madelyn below the matching picture of Olivia.  So scroll down the right side and see how the two girls compare at the same ages!

Washing Hurley

Today we caught Olivia giving Hurley a bath!  It was hilarious and I was able to catch a little but on my iPhone! 

"Olivia-isms" at 21 Months

 Kids say the darnedest things! The past few weeks we have really been laughing at the things coming out of Olivia's mouth!  We wanted to write down the ones that really made us laugh and share them with you!  So in no particular order, here are the ten "Olivia-isms" that have made us laugh recently:

Jumping in her crib for approval of her name on the wall!

1. While getting the new room ready for the girls' room, Dan was hanging up their names above the cribs.  He wanted me to be in the room, so I could guide him as to how I wanted them hung.  I pulled in Olivia's little table and we painted with watercolors, while he worked and I supervised!  While hanging the first letter in "Lil Sis's" name he bent the nail and cried out, "Shit."  I said Dan, "Little ears are listening" and he replied by saying, "Shoot."  Olivia, painting on the white paper, looks over at Dan and says,  "Shoot...Daddy Shoot!"  We both started cracking up of course!  For the rest of the afternoon, every nail that he put into the wall, Olivia would say, "Shoot."  Lucky for us this word has not stuck with her.  She has said it a few times, but not like that afternoon!

2. Every time Olivia sneezes we say, "Bless you" to her.  Well recently I sneezed three times and she looked at me with this half smile on her face.  I smiled back and she said, "Bless you."  It was the sweetest thing ever!  Then Dan sneezed the other day and she said it to him too!   

3. Are you kidding me?
Yesterday we went to the zoo and left around 6:30, so we brought her green "night night," which is her blanket.  When we arrived home she pushed night night down onto the seat and I said to her, "are you going to carry night night inside?"  She replied, "no."  I looked at her and said, "Are you kidding me!"  She looked at Dan and with her hands thrown into the air yelled, "are you kidding me?"  Dan and I looked at each other and laughed so hard!  This morning she said it again, when prompted, but it is so cute!

Running after that little alligator

4. At the zoo, the keepers brought out a huge python snake and an alligator.  Olivia was too young to touch the animals, so the keeper put it down on the ground and it started to run away.  The keeper encouraged Olivia to walk with them and she loved it.  Suddenly, as we watch from a close distance, she says, "hug gator."  Dan quickly caught up and made sure she was not approaching the animal!  A few minutes later while watching the python again, she started to run over to the alligator again to hug.  We decided at that point it was time to move along! 

5. Again with a zoo story, we were watching the elephants and the Zoo Keeper was right there, answering questions and feeding the elephant.  Olivia kept calling the elephant a monkey, but that is another story!  About five minutes later, the Zoo Keeper's walkie talkie went off and he announced it was time for him to go eat dinner.  He said good-bye and walked away.  As he was walking across the elephant habitat Olivia asks,  "Where he going?"  Without waiting for an answer she says, "He go potty." 

"There he is!"

6. She constantly wants to know where Dan and I are, or where Hurley is in the house.  She will ask, "Where Mommy go?" or "Where Hurley go?"  When she finds me or the dog, or the object she is looking for she exclaims, "There she is!" Her excitement makes it seem like we went away for hours.  She was also doing that in the store the other day.  It is kind of an ego boost when a person is so happy to see you!

7. We  understand and realize we have a full blown toddler, but seriously the asking questions over and over and, repeating herself is starting to wear us down!  It is funny most of the time.  For example, on our way to the zoo, she told us like seven times in a row where we were going.   "We go zoo, we go zoo, we go zoo..." or she will ask for her milk over and over, "I drink milk...I drink milk..."  It is very cute, but there are just some times when I am like I heard you Olivia!  I am sure this is payback for what I did to my parents!  

8. She has quite a large vocabulary and is picking up new words on a daily basis.  However, when she doesn't know the name of something she just says, "This...this" and points.  Most of the time we will give her the words, but other times it becomes a guessing game.  She has to repeat, "this...this" until we figure out what she is talking about! 

9. "Do again!"  You know Olivia really likes something when she laughs and says, "do again!"  Her recent favorite is smelling her shoes and then saying, "pee-u" she laughs so hard and then says, "do again!"  There are many other examples of course and she is such a happy little girl! 

10. Finally, I made the mistake of telling Olivia her diaper was HUGE and then showing her the inside of the diaper.  Now each diaper change she lays down and says, "I see huge" and I have to show her the inside of the diaper!  When it is a messy diaper, I exclaim, "oh yucky" and of course she replies, "I see yucky."  Needless to say, diaper changes have become interesting! 

Maryland Zoo Picture

There are more sayings of course and as I was writing this entry, more sayings begin to pop up into her vocabulary.  We have really enjoyed this past week with just Olivia.  Life is about to get a little more crazy, but honestly, we would not change it for the world!  Dan and I are having a blast watching Olivia grow and blossom each day! 

Our Little Toddler!

Olivia at 18 months

Once again it has been way too long since our last update, but it is amazing how quickly life happens when there is an active toddler running around. If you notice the date on the blog says July 3rd.  I have been working on this update for a month! :)

Olivia has really come into her own in terms of personality!  She loves the computer, so it makes it difficult to update this blog with her around.  If we turn on the computer she walks over and says, "up please" and when she is on our laps, she will point to the computer and say, "fish!"  We recently showed her some YouTube videos of her new interest, fish, and she loves to watch them...all the time!  In any case we have a lot to update about and I am probably missing so much more!

Helping plant Spring time flowers! Check out that ponytail! 

 There are many physical changes lately in our Livy Loo!  First she is growing much taller, and her feet are getting bigger too!  We recently noticed that her toes are starting to overhang her sandals.  Her feet are size 4 at this point and I think she finally made it into size 5.  The only problem is that the stores are not really stocked with sandals anymore!  So, unfortunately we may have to stick with flip flops for the rest of the summer!
The other big change is her hair!  Dan and I were both bald until we were about 2, so we have been pleasantly surprised lately because her hair has been growing like weeds!  We have to pull it back into a ponytail daily, and our favorite style is two pigtails.  The best part is she usually leaves the rubber bands in her hair, but while riding in the car likes to pull the hair clips out!  That is always fun in the morning when we are running late to school and we have to stop to redo the hair before we go into Miss Sharons!  Oh well!  I am looking forward to braiding her hair!

Our little helper, making the graham cracker pudding dessert

We have quite the  little nosy, but helpful daughter on our hands! She loves to help out with anything, especially with food! She is obsessed with what we are cooking and always wants to help out.  Of course her favorite part is licking the bowl and utensils!  Other favorite helping activities include sweeping, and washing...anything, including her blanket, "night-night."   She has recently begun to challenge the whole cleaning up system, so this can become a battle at times.  Just this morning we were playing with Legos and it was time to clean up.  She bought into my whole "which color can you put in the box" game, when suddenly she picked up the box and dumped them all out, yelling, "Oh no!"  A little frustrated, I said again, "okay time to put in box."  She ran away and started circling the dinning room table, laughing!  A little upset I decided to ignore and read a magazine until Dan came down the stairs and she wanted a hug from him!  UG...we did get them picked up, but it seems that she is becoming Little Miss Independent!

Miss Olivia Grace has really come into her own in terms of language development.  It was just after we got out of school we realized she was speaking in short complete sentences (about 19 months) and this summer has just blossomed as a communicator.  She certainly knows what she wants and how to communicate that to us!  Some of our favorite saying are as follows:

• "Four, five Hurley poops" she likes to count our dog's poops in the backyard and whenever we ask how many she counted out there she replies, "four, five Hurley poop."  My favorite is when she tells Dan to, "get bag, pick up." It is pretty funny!
• Early Spring/beginning of the summer everything was responded with by saying, "kay."  We would ask her to do something and she would reply with, "kay."  Recently she started saying yes and no, but I like the days of "kay" much better! 
• "Hug...fill in the blank."  She loves to hug anything and everything!  She will hug the bugs that land on her outdoor play climber, she hugs the bears in books, her baby, Hurley, and of course family members and friends!  She is a hugger, not a fighter!  
• She counts everything!  Often starts at four, five and gets to ten, but more recently has started at one and can get to ten with help from us!  We often count the steps and other objects.  She will sit in her car seat and count her shoes! 
• "Some...fill in the blank"  again it is hard to sneak a snack anymore.  As soon as she hears a package being opened in kitchen, she darts in and says, "some cracker" or "some cookie"  it is strange she always knows what we want to sneak to eat!  That should help me with my diet in the fall!  
• "Ride Jeep"  her favorite car to ride in is by far the Jeep and she is disappointed when she has to "ride mommy's car."  I think mostly because she can see out of the windows better, but she loves to ride, especially with the doors off and the back rolled up.  There is something about the wind in her hair she is just like her dad!  
• "I go potty."  During Spring Break we bought a little potty to start the introduction of the potty to Olivia.  Well she certainly has the idea and is a little obsessed with it!  If I go into the bathroom she is right there sitting on hers too!  She loves to say "I go potty" and go to sit down.  To be honest, we have had three successful pees and one poo on the potty.  To be even more honest, she is ready to start the process of potty training, but Dan and I are very hesitant to commit this close to the new baby being born.  Hope we can have success in the next few months!
• "Climb" the stairs, the couch, the bed, the dinning room chairs...she is ALL over the place and loves to climb on everything! 

There are so many more, but these are just a few of our favorites! 

Water fun in the sprinkler! 

Many of her favorite things include being outside, playing with any kind of water, including he sprinkler, the pool, and of course the ocean!  She loves this puppy she received as a present that barks, wines, and then sleeps by snoring.  She adores this toy and brings it everywhere!  She still loves her books and her recent favorites include, The Napping House, Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, Daddy Hugs, and Click Clack Moo.  I think I have all of them memorized!  She still is loving food of any kind, especially "ice cream" and "cookies!"  There are more things she loves, but I forget right now :)

Playing outside on the 4th of July

We constantly have music on in the background of house and always in the car.  The music is in her soul!  She enjoys singing so much!  She will sit in the car and just sing to herself.  She says, "I'm singing"  it is very cute!  In early July we joined Gymboree and she attends class once a week and loves the music element to the class.  She will come home and sing the songs all week.  Her new favorite song is, "The Wheels on the Bus" We have sung every verse I can think of and her favorite is the people go up and down.  She throws her self down on the ground!  Yesterday morning I was getting ready for work and I could hear her in the crib saying, up and down and then jumping down on the mattress! It was pretty funny to hear. 

Our daughter has become quite tech savvy too!  She loves our new iPhones, especially the FaceTime feature and a doodle app.  She loves to "see" the person she is talking too.  Currently, my parents and Aunt Laura are the only ones we FaceTime with and she is so much fun to watch!  She will wave into the phone and have a whole conversation! The crazy part is that she is growing up in a era where seeing people on the phone is possible!  Whoever would have thought it would be a common thing.   She also plays with a doodle app we have on the phone and a Skeeball game too!  We do not often let her play with the phones, but when she gets a hold of it she can navigate through it to the places she wants.  It is pretty crazy to see her playing with the phone! 

Last nap in her "old" room! That smile melts our heart!

To end this long and much needed update, it is important to talk about the other changes in our family.  We are about 15 days away from Lil Sis' due date of August 17th.  We have been busy working this summer on a new room for both girls to share and trying to get Olivia to understand what is about to happen.  We did switch the rooms up and both girls are in our former guest bedroom with two cribs and two dressers.  She will look at the other crib and say, "sisters," but I am not sure how much she really understands that soon a baby will be in that crib too!  She will hug my belly and say, "hi baby" and "hug baby" I think she will adjust well when Lil Sis arrives, but it will certainly be an adjustment period!  We put the pack-n-play up in the living room for naps and changing the baby when Olivia was sleeping the other day.  When she came downstairs she said, "my bed!"  She is noticing the changes in the house and she seems to be doing well.  Time will tell!  For now, we wait and wait and wait!  I know I speak for myself, I am SO OVER this pregnancy.  We are all ready to meet Lil Sis!

I am sure our next Blog update will contain the great news of Lil Sis' arrival!  Until then, keep us in your prayers!  Thanks as always for keeping up with our lil family!

Love to all,
Laura, Dan, Olivia, and Lil Sis