Tahiti Sweetie

Here is a video  that I am sure the Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles will enjoy. 

Warning!! Cora has a couple bobble head moments in the video. The look worse than they are, but I wanted to clarify no babies were harmed in the making of these videos. :)

This last week, Cora has been spending time getting to know Grandma Jo. I'll be the first to say, Cora has learned more songs and heard more noises than most children do during their entire childhood. Grandma Jo has an endless number of noises that little babies just love. We may have to explain to Cora later that Grandma is not a cartoon character but a real person. :)

I couldn't help but notice how light skinned my little baby Cora and I are in this video. It made me think back to a year ago when I was visiting my niece, sister, and parents. Take a look at my skin color then.

This was right after Antarctica and Lee's and my trip to New Zealand. Isn't it amazing what a year will do? I'll close with a few pictures of our Tahiti Sweetie, Cora Bora.

Cora's Lamb/Bear suit that she wears as her winter coat. Isn't she cute??

Playing with Mommy!

P.S. Can you all believe this little stinker is already 5 weeks old? She is still a pipsqueak. I tried to put real clothes on her today and she still swims in them. We are sticking to the footed sleepers and gowns for a little while longer. She is getting some pudges. I now have a fat role on her thigh to clean when I change her diaper. Say it with me...Awwwww. :)

Porkchop or Lambchop?

Cora is 4 weeks old today. I can't believe how the time has flown by. She has definitely grown quite a bit, but I don't notice it until I look at photos from the past weeks. She is starting to smile. I have to say, she has the biggest, brightest smile. She doesn't smile often in response to me, but when she does it melts my heart. I have to admit, the first time I saw her big smile I cried my

 eyes out. She is just so sweet. 

She is quite the eater. You may be wondering what the heck the title of this post is about. Well, Cora has earned herself a new nickname courtesy of her Daddy. He calls her Porkchop because all she does when she is awake is eat and play, eat and play, eat and play. When this little girl falls asleep though, she doesn't mess around. I, however, this she is too small to be called Porkchop. I vote for Lambchop because she is so small and precious.

The video above was taken yesterday. It is a fairly long, but I had a few requests that a longer video was needed. :) I decided to record her exercises for everyone to see. The first thing on the video is what Lee and I call 'Big Girl'. She is supposed to start putting weight on her legs to build muscle strength. She is really good at it and is already responding to "1-2-3 Big Girl" by stiffening her body. The second part of the video is Tummy Time. She is doing really good at lifting her head up while she is lying on her belly. She is also starting to take interest in her toys. Every once in a while she'll reach out to them. She nearly always responds to the noise of them whether it be looking for where the noise is coming from or just quieting down.

We've been trying out carriers so we can start getting out of the house for short walks when the weather is nice (like today). Hopefully in a couple weeks, I'll be able to start walking without getting sore. It is definitely 100 times better every day. We have a sling that she likes, but I don't like it. It is too small and doesn't cradle her the way it should. I bought it on Craigslist, and I am guessing the lady screwed up making it since she wasn't selling it in a boutique (she normally does). It is also made of a satin like fabric and we were both really hot while we wore it. I took care of the problem by ordering a light weight cotton one on Etsy today. It should be here in a couple weeks! We need to start practicing in our sling as soon as possible so we are ready for the plane ride back to Nebraska in a month.

Speaking of plane rides, we decided Cora's first passport will be a Canadian one. It was too much of a pain in the bum to drive the 3.5 hours to Calgary and sit at the Embassy while we tried to register her birth abroad, get a social security number, and then apply for a passport. We might try to get some of the stuff done when we go to Calgary to catch our plane for the trip home. 

Tomorrow Grandma Jo comes for a week long visit. Cora is very excited to be able to meet her. What a lucky little girl to meet both of her Grandmas in a time span of 3 weeks!

Cora loves her swing. She doesn't sleep in it, but it is great to use to keep her happy while we eat dinner.

Mommy and Cora cuddle time. I can't get enough of her. 

Cora napping after a bath and some yummy food. What a sweetie pie!

That would be our update for now. She has a checkup scheduled in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see how much she has grown. Over and out (and to bed I go). 

Videos

I thought I'd try out some of my computer skills with these videos. They were taken using our new webcam. The first one is Cora with a good case of the hiccups. She gets them all the time. The second video is Cora with her pacifier. She loves to suck on it when she isn't hungry.

Ooooh, barracuda!

Cora (aka Barracuda) is 2 weeks old today. I can't believe she is soooo old. :) What has happened these last 2 weeks? Well, lets start with Cora. She is one hungry hungry hippo. Lee and I liked to refer to her as Our Hungry Monkey at first, but lately she has become Our Little Barracuda. As soon as she sees the milk factory she becomes a voracious little fish who can't get milk running down her throat quick enough. Why is she so hungry? Am I not feeding her enough? Well, my questions were answered yesterday at the doctor's office. This little booger has went from a starting weight of 6 lbs 15 oz to 7 lbs 4 oz!! She was supposed to be back to her birth weight by 10 days (they lose a bit of weight right at first). She was 13 days old at the doctor's visit and had gained 5 oz. Oink Oink!! Dr. Galante was impressed. He said he is happy with a weight increase of 2-3 oz. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for length. She is one long, skinny baby. No more need for me to worry that she isn't eating enough. Turns out she loves eating and loves her Mommy's milk!

Mommy and Cora. I just love her.

Our little balled up baby taking a snooze.

Is it just me, or is that one unhappy baby? I think she is done being the stocking sausage.

Rogers' family tradition. Newborn baby pics in the stocking. She is sooo sweet.

Lee has said if we could sell cute by the ounce, we'd be millionaires!

As for Lee and me, we are doing pretty good. I finally started being able to move around better on day 10. Day 14 today and I am feeling way better, but not great. I did too much yesterday and ended up getting a 100 degree temperature. Yuck! Lee is back to work, but taking it easy. He really loves his Cora time. We ventured out with Cora for the first time on last Friday. Yep, we left our warm abode. We had newborn pictures with our little bundle of joy. The plan was to get her sleeping and take bunch of cute pictures. Well, I guess all does not go according to plan. The little booger would not fall asleep. We were there for 4 hours, and she refused to take a nap. Ugh! Needless to say, we are going back tomorrow for a second try. Something tells me we will have a repeat of Friday. She has refused to take a nap during the middle of the day for since last week. She likes to be cuddled and will take cat naps, but as soon as you put her down she cries. Lee and I were looking forward to Grandma Brandis getting here to help put her to sleep for the pictures. But, low and behold, Cora loves sleeping in her arms.

Lee all dressed for work and holding his sweet baby girl.

Lee having cuddle time. His favorite moments are when she sleeps on his chest.

We saw Rosie off on New Years Eve day (Thanks, Cuz. You're the best!) And, speaking of Grandma Brandis... Mom has finally gotten here! I never in my life wanted my mom more than I have the last couple of weeks. Well, she is here (as of Saturday) and life is good. I only need to eat, drink, and feed my little girl. Since Cora likes to eat, we have plenty of Mommy/Daughter cuddle time. Lee cuddles Cora when he wants, but the rest of the time is Grandma/Cora time. Mom even has Cora sleeping in her crib! Lee and I were co-sleeping before Grandma Baby Wrangler got here. Now WE are sleeping like babies. Mom has her down to one big feeding a night and then another big feeding early in the morning (and umpteen zillion feedings during the day). Everyone in the Jeffers' household is doin' good.

Grandma Brandis bonding with little Cora for the first time. It was love at first sight.

Lee converted his shirt to a sling for cuddle time.

Cora's first night in her crib. She did incredibly well!

Cora Madison Jeffers is HERE!!

On December 23, 2008 at 6:30pm Lee and I welcomed our baby girl into the world. She weighed 6lbs 15oz and measured 19.25in in length. Giving birth to her was the most incredible experience of my life as well as the hardest. I was so lucky to have both Lee and Rosie there with me. They were an incredible support team!



I was in labor for about 18 hours...that just sounds horrendous now. I labored for about 11 hours without medication. It was the most intense back labor. I told Lee (as I was puking from pain) that it felt like I had jumped off a 2 story building and shattered my back in 20 places. After that, I decided we needed to go to the hospital where I asked for an epidural as soon as possible. Ahhhh...the relief was incredible. I labored painlessly from 10am until 2pm when the nurse checked me and said I was fully dilated and ready to go. I waited for the epidural to wear off as much as possible and started pushing at 3pm. I pushed for three hours in more positions than I can count. It was like delivery style yoga! It turned out Cora was almost sunny-side up and couldn't get her little noggin under my pelvic bone. This is probably what was causing the back labor. Dr. Wong, my delivery doctor, came in to talk about my options. He suggested using forceps for three uterine contraction cycles. If that didn't work, we would have to do a c-section. So, long story short, I quit pushing at 6pm and waited for an epidural boost and the forceps delivery entourage to arrive. In my delivery room, I had the anesthesiologist, anesthesiologist resident, delivery doc, resident doc, student doc, two NICU nurses, and my nurse. The forceps worked with great success and Cora was delivered in only a few minutes. The whole day was so worth it.

Only minutes after the epidural. I can't even explain how much better I felt.

Lee patiently (or not-so-patiently) waiting.

Houston! We have a BABY!

Cora was just handed to me and Lee is conducting the interview. I haven't watched the video yet. It should be interesting.

Doing a bit of bonding with my little girl. My eyes felt like they were going to fall out of my head. I am glad to see they looked like hell, too. :)

Cora has a full head of brown hair, big eyes, and a little birthmark on her left knee. Cora and I spent the night at the hospital while Lee and Rosie went home to get some sleep. It was so sweet to be able to bond with my little girl over night. She prefers to be held most of the time, which I love!!! We brought her home on Christmas Eve. Talk about the perfect gift from Santa! The first couple days have been long as we are all spending time to get to know the likes and dislikes of Cora. She is the most precious little pearl.

Feeling better after being moved to my overnight room. Cora had not had her bath yet, so she is looking a bit rough.

Bath time! Lee went with Cora to the nursery to watch. Cora did NOT enjoy this. Lee said she screamed her head off. She looks like a cherry tomato in this picture.

Stephanie and Cora!!!! Stephanie, Doug, and her sis, Emily were able to stop by the hospital on the way to the airport. How lucky was I to have her visit before heading home? I won't be able to see her again until February. Thanks, Steph!!

Dressing Cora to take her home. We made it home around lunch time on December 24, 2008.

The proud Daddy with his little girl in her carseat. Despite the picture (she only cried for about 30 seconds), she did incredible in the car. Not a peep!

When this little baby is tired, look out. She slept in this position for about an hour. I was burping her and she laid her head in my hand and took a snooze. She looked like a little elf in a pink candy cane sleeper. Say it with me, Awwwww!

Rosie--aka Cousin Awesome-- having some sweet Cora time.

Lee and his little Cora. She is definitely cozy in his arms.

Our internet is acting up which is why this post is so tardy. We'll hopefully be getting it up and running again soon. I am a bit tired...ok, so really tired. Check back soon for some more pictures and updates.

Single Digits!

Yep, you read the title right. We are in the single digit countdown. Only 9, NINE, 9 days to go until December 21! I will probably go past my due date, but it is still fun to be in single digits. We've been doing quite a bit the last couple days to try to hurry this labor thing up. Eating curry, long walks, and tobogganing. Ok, you're all right. I can't fool any of you. Of course we haven't been taking long walks since it is much too stressful on my body. :)

We finally put the carseat into the car. We were really thinking that was going to be a huge milestone in getting ready for the baby. It turned out to be incredibly boring and didn't live up to any of our expectations. Woo Hoo! We're driving around with an empty carseat! Maybe I should stick a stuffed animal in there for a while. Puppy? Where are you?

Now, for the big news. We had our biophysical profile ultrasound yesterday. The results are in....drum role please.... Mom and Baby are A-Okay. Of course we are. I really wasn't doubting it. I did have my hospital bag in the car just in case, but seriously I didn't expect anything to be wrong. Cora just decided to be ornery the last couple of weeks and "appear" smaller on the outside. Our little Houdini. She is measuring back to 37 weeks this week. Already a stinker.

Cora's weighing in at 6 lbs 13 oz according to ultrasound measurements (good size for 38.5 weeks). I am thanking the pregnancy fairies/gods/whomever-may-be-concerned that she is not a behemoth of a baby. Phew. In case all y'all didn't know. I was a fat, huge, butterball baby. So fat my eyes squinted shut. U-G-L-Y!. Hahaha. Of course my Mom doesn't think so. But, really, I think my sister takes the cake for ugliest baby I've ever seen. She looked like a cross between and alien and a frog. I can write this because she doesn't have internet nor a passport, so she can't kick my butt. She created an incredibly cute kid, so there is hope for me.

It was interesting to see Cora on the ultrasound this late in the game. She still appears to have some plump lips on her. Lee swears she's going to be a runner. Her thigh bones seem so long! She will be a runner if she has her dad's gazelle-like legs and her momma's coordination, agility, and grace. Sorry, Lee, but I can kick your butt to the moon and back when it comes to sports. Anyday, anywhere. :) He also never reads the blog, so he won't know of the threat. Hahaha.

I have officially started laboring! The doctor gave me a boost by "stretching" me. DAMN! Did that feel good or what! Next week should be a lot of fun with Dr. Tankel. My cousin, Rosita Posita, is coming on Tuesday. We're going Edmonton club hopping when she gets here. If Cora is here, Lee can watch her. She'll be a few days old by then hopefully. If not, maybe the liquor will be enough to send me into labor. Hahaha! No, we are planning dinner on Wednesday with some friends that are still in town and then heading to the Legislature to look at lights and listen to the community choir. Seriously, the lights are freaking awesome! And, we're decorating the tree on Tuesday night. We'll play it by ear the rest of the time. If Cora is mega late, we might head to Ft Edmonton to go on a sleigh ride. I am so pumped for her to come. I haven't seen my Red Feather cousin since my wedding! In fact, I have only been lucky enough to see 2 of my cousins (Paula and Zach) this year. Poor me. I puffy heart my cousins.

Seriously, I am going to see if the Sears guy has came yet. Hopefully the next entry is titled I'M IN LABOR!!! Bye for now.

More Birthdays!

This last weekend was my 26th birthday. Lee took me to a fabulous rotating restaurant called La Ronde Friday night. We had such a good time and ate incredibly good food. We both had wild mushroom and pheasant crepes for the starter. My entree was white-tailed deer and Lee had bison ribeye with half a lobster tail. It was a little bit interesting getting dressed for this date. I needed pantyhose because it was cold, but of course mine don't fit. Well, they weren't supposed to fit, but I made them. HOLY UNCOMFORTABLE! I thought I was going to die. Note to self: Next pregnancy, buy thigh-highs. At least my legs looked tight and sexy. Hahaha! Here are a few pictures.

As you can see, Lee can really wine and dine. He's always taken me out for really incredible birthday dinners every year since we've been together. Well, with the exception of last year when I was playing in Antarctica. The best part of my birthday dinners is I never know where we are going. I'm glad I get to celebrate so many more birthday dinners with him. I am already looking forward to a babysitter, bottle of wine, and good food next year. Bring it on 27!

Lee also gets me very sweet, thoughtful gifts for my birthday. My first birthday that we celebrated, he gave me the pearl necklace I am sporting in the pictures. It was also the same one I wore to my wedding. This year, he gave me a framed print of The Singing Butler. It is gorgeous!

We had planned to walk over to the Legislature Building on Saturday to check out the Christmas lights. Guess what? It was RAINING!! Can you believe it? December 6th and it was raining in Edmonton, Alberta! Lee made fajitas and popcorn balls and we hid inside for the rest of the weekend. There is finally snow on the ground. I was starting to get worried, our Little Winter Baby wasn't going to come home in snow. Hopefully, this snow sticks around and the flakes keep falling. I love the winter, especially since I don't drive anywhere.

This next picture had Lee and me in stitches. Lee swears my belly looks fake. I guess my belly is living up to the "watermelon" inside. It really does look like I am hiding something under that dress.

Hopefully we'll have another birthday to celebrate soon!