Siblings

I can't imagine what it must be like to be a 2 1/2 year old and all of a sudden have your life turned upside down by having a younger sibling enter into the picture.

Isabella has always been an easy child. She listens well, follows directions, etc. I know this and am reminded frequently how easy we have had it with her by my family. I think they were wishing the devil child on us so we could see how a real two year old behaves and how difficult children can really be. Maybe not the devil child but a difficult or typical one.

I am glad to say, William is not a difficult one yet. He has been pretty easy so far. He is pretty much on a 3 hour feeding schedule and goes longer through the night. Hopefully this will continue and the night will spread out even more over the next month or two.

Isabella has been more difficult since William was born. Whinny, not listening, testing the limits, you know what I mean. But still not bad. Just wearing her tired mommy down on certain days. To her defense, she has had 3 ear infections since he was born (they actually started the day he was born). I had been trying to figure out what the biggest culprit was, ear infection or new sibling. I am sure it was both, but her behavior is better now that she feels better and the ear infection is gone. She asks to hold William even though he is just about as big as she is. (10 pounds 14 ounces as of yesterday). It is very cute. She also gives him butterfly kisses and smiles at him. So , things are on the up swing with her which is a true blessing. I think she really likes her little brother now.

Loving on her little brother

We visited the ENT for our regular appointment last week and as I suspected, they recommended the permanent ear tubes. She will go in Dec 2 to have them inserted. Hopefully that will help with her ear infections and also her hearing.

Oh Christmas Tree

Wearing the tree skirt

I know it is early to be blogging about Christmas, I tell Matt and the guys that every time they mention watching Christmas Vacation before Thanksgiving. No Christmas movies prior to Thanksgiving is my rule. We have to celebrate Thanksgiving even though all the commercialism tells us it is time to think about Christmas the day after Labor Day.

Anyway, Matt was off today for Veteran's Day and able to spend the day with us. After we dropped Isabella off at school we headed over to the stores near the movie theater to look for a small white Christmas tree to put in Isabella's room this year. I saw a small white one last year and have been excited about getting one for her this year. Matt saw one at Kohl's when we were there the other day but we went to Michael's first because they had them on sale. We also got some ornaments (pink and green of course) and then I found a hot pink tree skirt at Hobby Lobby. It will be so cute! I can't wait. So, we will probably put up what we have tonight and continue to decorate it as we go. Isabella was wearing the tree skirt around her neck today like one of those shawls. Too funny.

Working hard on the tree

Isn't it cute?

Look at that cute little face

William is now 4 weeks old. Time sure flies! William enjoyed his swing for the first time today. I am hopeful I will be able to get a little more done around the house since he likes to be held a lot. We will see how it goes.

Pup-cakes

Happy Halloween!

Little Red Riding Hood

How cute it she?

We planned on heading over to Zach and Sarah's house for a low-key Halloween gathering this year since the kids are getting a little older and with the addition of William. I was very excited about it and wanted to make some cute Halloween cupcakes. I found several different ones to try but decided on a cute one from Pillsbury.com. They had gravestones made out of nutter butter cookies and mellow creme pumpkins on them. I like to bake fun things like this but don't often get the chance.

Helping Mommy cook


I love that she sticks her tongue out when she is concentrating.

I figured it would be best to split up the task so I started on Thursday with Isabella as my big helper and made the cupcakes (batter only). Isabella is still substituting the beginning sound in some words for the ending sound. (i.e. pup instead of cup). So cupcakes comes out as pupcakes. Too cute!! We got the batter made and cooked. Matt got home soon after we finished them and was talking to me in the living room. He went back into the kitchen and found Isabella eating the little bit of batter still in the bowl with the scooper. She is such a scavenger! Always wanting to eat the things you don't want her to.

Aren't these cute?

Isabella enjoyed them

On Friday I decorated the cookies for the cupcakes with icing. Isabella of course wanted to eat the cookies. Asking for, "one more cookie?" over and over again. I did give in a few times. The cupcakes turned out very cute!

We also made witches hats using fudge stripe cookies and Hershey's kisses. They were also very cute! I was pleased with the way everything turned out and glad I started on Thursday. William was not as cooperative as I had hoped he would be on Friday needing more attention than he had previously which meant less time to make our goodies.

William before bed.

Isabella dressed up like Little Red Riding Hood. She was too cute! She had her party at school on Thursday. It was a little chaotic with 9 two year olds running around, plus parents. I am assuming this improves as they get older but I could be totally wrong. I finally got to see some of her friends that she talks about and put a face with the name. She has a kid in her class named Bubba and we thought this whole time she had made it up because he wasn't on the list at the beginning of the year.

At her school party

Pictures and update

I was finally able to upload some pictures for you. Sorry it took so long. If you have kids you will understand the minute you sit down to do something, someone needs something. Anyway, here are a few.

Isabella meeting William when we came home from the hospital

Isabella beginning to warm up to William

On the way to our check up. He looks happy , right?

Look at those little toes!

Sleeping soundly


Wow, those are some cheeks!

Checking him out a little more.

William is doing great. He returned to his birth weight when we went for a weight check on this past Thursday. So he is eating well and sleeping pretty good too. He has even given me a few 3 hour stretches of real sleep at night. I guess they are his way of making up for keeping me up for 2 hours straight last night for no real reason.

Isabella also seems to be doing better too. She was definitely whinny this past week but has been great this weekend. I think she may have been missing her daddy since he returned to work this week. She is warming up to William too. Paying him some attention and giving him kisses.

This will be my first week on my own. Well, sort of. Steph is going to come over for a couple of days which will be really nice. Hopefully I will be able to get some rest when she is here so I can function by myself when she isn't.

Thank you to everyone who provided meals for us. They have been fantastic! It is so nice to not have to think about what you are going to have for dinner. You are life savers!

The Little Prince

What does it mean to be a little baby prince?


I was able to take a shower this morning while Isabella was at school and William was sleeping. I do some of my best thinking while in the shower. It may be my only alone time of the day.

Anyway, I was thinking how great it must be to be a baby. You get to sleep, eat, and poop. All your needs are taken care of. Every time you cry, you picked up and held or fed. Soothed back to sleep. How precious it is to watch a sleeping baby. Curled up against you. Breathing deeply. Seeing the occasional smile. Pure bliss!!


William is one week old today and we are loving every minute of him. Pictures will be coming soon.

It's a ...

BOY!!!

We welcomed William Berkeley Cardoza on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 2:42 pm. He weighed 8# 14 oz. and was 20 inches long. He has a head full of dark hair which I hope he keeps. He is definitely a Cardoza and looks like Matt. He is beautiful!

Matt and I arrived at the hospital early Tuesday morning so I could be induced. They began my pitocin at 9:45 and I was already at 5 centimeters. So they increased the pitocin slower then normal so I would not progress too fast. Dr. Patton began my epidural at 11:45 and when he was finished Dr. Kassam arrived to break my water. I was at 7 centimeters at that point.

We hung around for awhile and when my nurse Melissa checked me at 2:30 I was fully dilated. I pushed a few times and she called Dr. Kassam back. He arrived within a few minutes and a pushed 4 or 5 times and our little William arrived. I could not believe he was almost 9 pounds! No wonder I had difficulty rolling over in bed!

It took over 3 hours for my epidural to wear off. So, if you ever get one from Dr. Patton I can guarantee that it will be a GOOD one. William had to have his blood sugar checked since he was larger than normal but he passed each time. Praise the Lord!

Mom and William

The happy family!

Isabella came to visit but she was not very sure about me and the situation. She preferred going to look at the babies in the nursery window over staying in our room. We had a pretty good night in the hospital and slept well for the circumstances. We came home on Wednesday around 6:00. Isabella still wasn't sure about William but has warmed up to him quite well over the past 24 hours.

Isn't he beautiful! I love those cheeks.

Leaving the hosptial

More to come.

Tuesday

So, Matt accompanied me to the doctor for our weekly visit once again yesterday. Everything was about the same and I was feeling good. We scheduled our induction for Tuesday the 14th if the baby does not want to arrive earlier own his or her own. I am glad the induction is not tomorrow so we can have a little more time to relax and enjoy ourselves before our little world is turned upside down once again. It will also give me a little more time to possibly go into labor on my own.

And I do have to say I was wondering today. I have been more crampy and uncomfortable but nothing very significant. So, we will see how it goes.

On to Isabella.
We have been having difficulty with her going to sleep again, at night and for her naps. I put the baby gate back up in her doorway to encourage staying her in room once again. However, she has now discovered that she can still get out of the bed and play in her room or pull the clothes out of her dresser. Oh what fun!! I do make her put them back.
Today, I put her down and forgot that I had not locked the bathroom door. So, when I got out of the shower, I peeked out to find her coming down the stairs with her shirt on and Christmas PJ pants on. I had to laugh at that point. Needless to say, she did not take a nap today after multiple attempts to put her back in the bed. We will have to try again tomorrow.