Visit With Great Avi

We were so excited to take little Ollie over to meet his Great Grandpa - the inspiration for his middle name!

Great Avi was nervous about holding him (just like he was with Simone!), but he did it! And he was a natural! Watch out - pretty soon he'll be offering to change diapers!!!

Four Generations!

Simone kept herself entertained by trying on Great Avi's hat. She had to find SOME way to
get the attention back on her!!!

Brother and Sister

So far Simone has been quite smitten with her little bro, Ollie (or "Oviler", as she calls him!). She helps out whenever she can and makes sure to sneak him kisses and hugs throughout the day!

Ever have one of those mornings when you forget there is one more stair before you reach the bottom? Well that is how Simone got up close and personal with the carpet and is sporting the burned cheek. Nothing a hippo robe and a snuggle with Ollie can't fix! In this picture it appears Oliver is thinking of ways to get back at whoever did this to big sister's face!

At least once a day, Simone asks to "hold her" and requires the burp pad over her shoulder, "right here"! (The carpet burn mark is slowly going away!)

Simone helps our "little man" clap to her favourite song, "Shake Senora" (you know the one from Beetlejuice?), which she calls the "Shaker Shaker":

We have set up the play mat for Ollie and Simone loves to join him on it and turn the music on for him "all by herself!". She loves to hold his hand too! So cute!

She even likes to help him hold his "soozie" in his mouth!

Mimi has told me to "enjoy this while it lasts"... I guess each of us girls reacted "differently" to the next sibling's arrival. We'll take this loving relationship for as long as we can!!!

One Week Old!

Just a few days old and I have had so many visitors! Aunty Leigh got to feed me...

Aunty Gaye got some snuggles in before heading to Mexico!

Auntie Tess teaches her nephew how to be a pirate (inspired by Simone!).

Jenny reminisces about bottle days at her house!

Face time with Brenna!

Hontz brings dinner and love!

Tiffany takes a break from covering my class to meet the boy!

Emma has never held one "so small"... Bekah was over 10lbs when she was born! Ollie has some catching up to do!

Between Christmas, her birthday and getting gifts for having a little brother, Simone is lovin' all her new stuff.

She also got to regress a bit and try out some of her old furniture.

Perfect fit as long as she doesn't lean back too far!

Introducing Oliver Stanley Dumas!

Thursday, January 9 at 7:00pm - Over at Mimi's for dinner and my water breaks! Thank goodness she is (mostly) set up for last minute sleepovers, so we left Simone there and went home to put the finishing touches on our hospital bags... oh yeah, and to try and get some sleep!

When my water broke with Simone, they sent us home and told us to wait until contractions started. Since I wasn't feeling anything (and the doctor's office was closed!), we decided to follow the same advice. Mimi took Simone to daycare in the morning and then went back to bed!

Friday, January 10 - I was on the phone to the doctor's office as soon as they opened at 9:00am, but it became clear that they had no sense of urgency and they booked us for 11:00am to get checked. Once she confirmed it had broken, the doctor said we could wait until 7:00pm that night or go to the hospital right then to be induced. We were ready to get this party started, so we chose the second option. 

12:00pm - Arrived at the hospital. Barely a nurse in sight and all birthing rooms are full! We get set up in the tiny back corner room and wait until a nurse is available to get the IV going. Our first order of business is to fill out the paperwork for a PRIVATE ROOM!

2:00pm - A lovely nurse is finally freed up to be one-on-one with us. I lay in the bed, hooked up to the monitors, the nurse increases the oxytocin every 15 minutes. We are just waiting for something to happen...

3:30pm - ... and waiting...

4:30pm - ... and waiting...

5:30pm - And we're off! And this is intense! Mimi picks Simone up from daycare (thank you for keeping her a bit later, Auntie Mick!!!) and takes her home for dinner and bed. Once she is out, our angels Aunty Leigh and Aunty Gaye go to watch over her so Mimi can be present for her grandson's arrival. Thank you SO much, Team!!!

6:30pm - Thinking back to our first experience (during which we waited an additional four hours for an epidural, AFTER the first 12 hours of contractions!), I decided that an hour was enough this time. I told Jeff (who learned how to get his shoulder in the right place this time for my wrist-breaking grip!) that I was ready for an epidural, please. The nurse was a bit reluctant because I was only 2cm dilated, but thank goodness they looked at our history and the dude walked in right then to administer it. Yay! Or so I thought...

I guess I should have known something was up when he asked me, "Does that feel like it's in the middle of your back? Or off to the side a bit?" Uh... I'm in the middle of a contraction, buddy, I think it's the middle! Can't you see where you're putting it??? Anyways, I guess it was a bit off because only my left side was numb. He came back to give me two extra doses, but I could still feel every inch of contraction on the right. This did not really help me relax!

The next plan of attack was Fentinol (a knock-me-out drug that they put in the IV) and it worked INSTANTLY. Jeff said I was totally out of it.. at first. This also required two extra doses, but eventually I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.

Like I said with Simone, I could have pushed for ten more hours. That was the easy part! The on-call doctor, who was also training a medical student, was SO calm and talked me through every breath, every big push, every little push... it was awesome. One million times less pain than with Simone. I guess this is how people get convinced to have more and more babies... other people, I mean! :)

9:40pm - After only four hours, our little prince arrived, weighing 8lbs 2oz. Of course, all of that extra epidural kept me numb for hours, so little Ollie and I cuddled in bed until I was able to get up and walk. It was so lovely! 

Mimi brought Big Sis Simone to come and meet her Baby Brother at the hospital:

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

Baka also stopped by to meet his newest grandson:

Simone "texted" Auntie Shilo to tell her about Ollie and his "tiny fingers"!

Unfortunately, there were no private rooms available, so we were stuck in the ward. Fortunately, the second time around, they figure you have some idea of what you're doing, so we were discharged the next day! We were home on Saturday by 5:30pm and spent the weekend resting comfortably

Ready to go home, Mommy? Mmmm... yep!

Ollie the monkey looking tiny in his bucket!

 Mimi and both Aunties came to visit Oliver and Simone, the pirate!

A recreation of the famous shot the Aunties took with Simone:

24 hours old!

Thank you to everyone for your warm wishes and congratulations! Please check back soon for more updates of Ollie's first few days. 

Happy Birthday To Our Terrific Two-Year-Old!

Just like last year, we had Simone's birthday party before her actual birthday while everyone was still in town. Daddy went all out with his homemade banner and #2 Rice Krispy squares! 

The gorgeous black and white print you see on the table was his Christmas present to me - bring on the waterworks! (Thanks again to Karen for taking the beautiful shot while she and Uncle Scott were visiting this summer!)

There was a photo slideshow of Simone's second year playing on the TV. She was quite excited to see herself in EVERY picture!

We are so lucky to have our dear friends, Brenna and Sebastian, share in the festivities!

Uncle and Mimi having fun!

 Sitting on Mommy's "lap" is getting harder and harder!

Thank you for the awesome rug, Mimi! It will match my new bedding perfectly! And thank you for the super cool firetruck book, Sebbie! I am getting so good at making the siren sound!

Can't wait to play in the awesome castle from Vincent! Bekah is ready to open it right now!

Neat princess blocks, Baka! Merci beaucoup! I can't wait to build a tower!

Auntie Shilo (no Auntie, just Shilo) spoiled me with a super fun pink VW bug Barbie car! I am the coolest kid on the block!

Jenny, Bailey and Koby were so generous and shared this amazing kitchen set with me! (Not to mention this adorable baker's outfit!) Now I have somewhere to cook all that food Santa brought!!! 

 Cupcake time!

 After an afternoon of partying, I took my sparkly tights off and slipped into something a little more comfortable: my new sheep "slippees" from Auntie Leigh, Keri, Chris, Jack and Cate! And we can't forget a big THANK YOU to GAGA and Uncle Ronnie for my pretty party dress!!!

The next morning, after I cooked up some coffee and waffles for Mommy and Daddy and took Barbie for a drive around the living room, I HAD to get into that castle! Here I am reading my firetruck book in it!

SURPRISE!!!

Hours of fun (well, minutes, with her short attention span!) and SUPER easy to set up and take down - even Simone can do it! Thanks again to MC, Nate and Vincent!

Simone got all dressed up in her fancy dress (thank you, Aunty Michele and Uncle Brent!) to go to Auntie Tess' restaurant for dinner (http://www.bistrofandango.com/). Delish!

Whose idea was it to give a two-year-old chocolate cake and whipped cream at 7pm??? :)

Thank you to everyone who celebrated Simone's second year with us! We love you!

In other BIG news, I am now in a BIG girl bed! Unfortunately Mommy broke the frame, so it's now just the mattress on the floor, but it's still a BIG mattress! (Thank you again to Colleen for the side rail!)

It won't be long now until my car seat gets turned around and I am on the potty! Lots of BIG changes ahead!