And then we were four

He's here! Bennett Thomas Smirle was born August 16 at 10:51pm weighing 6lbs 10oz.
Ben's original due date was August 9th - like his sister, he kept us waiting a bit and then surprised us with a very fast labour and delivery. Here's a re-cap of the birth story for those who are interested (it's a bit long, but i wanted to capture it somewhere!):

• I went to the dr the morning of the 16th for a regular appointment. Had an ultrasound and the technician said everything looked good - I still had lots of amniotic fluid, which was probably why the baby was happy to stay in my belly (not necessarily news I wanted to hear at a week past my due date!)
• Dr checked me and I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. He asked me to call him Wednesday if I still hadn't gone into labour and they would schedule to have me induced.
  
• I went home and went about my day. This was Michael's first day of vacation, so we puttered around the house together for most of the afternoon. In the late afternoon we took Mads to get a popsicle and then walked to the grocery store (I was a bit nuts about keeping the house stocked with fruits, milk etc, in case I went into labour at any point). On the way back from the store, I started to have some contractions that were stronger than Braxton Hicks contractions.
  
• We got home from the store and made Maddy some dinner. It was now around 6pm and my contractions were getting stronger. We started to time them and realized they were getting very close together and they were much stronger. The next hour or so was a bit of a blur because I was focused on my contractions....but I know that we bathed Maddy, called my Mum and Michael's Mom (who hopped in her car from Markham and flew down the 404 to get here!) and got Mads into bed.
  
• Michael's Mom arrived just after 8pm. We were going to wait it out a bit longer at home, but my contractions were so strong and I remembered how fast my labour was last time so I figured we better head to the hospital just to be sure we made it in time.
  
• I was about 4cm dilated and fully effaced when we arrived. We made it very clear that my last labour was pretty fast so they moved me to a room pretty quickly. Our room this time was about double the size of our last room - much better!
  
• By this time it was about 9pm and my contractions were about 2 minutes apart, sometimes closer. I got the epidural which kicked in around 9:30pm and then they broke my water. At this point I thought we were settling in for the night. I figured I'd have a little sleep and Michael would go get some dinner.
  
• My Mum arrived at the hospital with my brother Matt. Both Grandpa's and Michael's brother also arrived to await the arrival.
  
• Shortly after they broke my water I started to feel pressure - so they checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to push. This was just before 10:30, I think. I was shocked. I completely thought that I was going to be hanging out for another couple of hours at least.
  
• The resident and nurse scrambled to get the room ready for a birth. The dr on duty was tied up in a c-section so he wasn't going to be there.
  
• After a few minutes of pushing, Bennett was born!

• The first thing I thought when I saw him? Boy, does he ever look like his sister!!
  

Here are some pics from our first couple of days as a family of four.

Going home day!

The full body shot:

Bennett just after birth.....

Maddy just after birth....

Am I the only one that thinks they look alike?

So far we're settling in well. We're off to the dr today for Ben's first check up. Michael is still on vacation until next week. I'm getting a bit nervous about being home with both kids on my own!! I'll keep you all posted on how that goes :)

Lefty

I'm not 100% sure when kids figure out which hand they favour - anybody know? What I do know is that Madeline currently only uses her left hand for colouring. And boy does this girl like to colour!! Here she is colouring the new Princess book I got her (she also now loves princesses....although I'm intrigued by what she loves so much about them, since she's never really seen anything to do with princesses). Princesses, Dora and babies/dolls are tops in her books these days. At some point I'm going to need to introduce her to cars and lego!!
We're also now in the countdown to birthday #2!! Less than a month to go. I'm planning a family soiree at Nana's house. Can't wait!

Signs of Baby

There are signs all over our house that indicate that a new baby will be arriving shortly. Many of these signs involve Madeline putting her dolly in some sort of baby apparatus that we've brought out from storage. She's also managed to put herself in many of these items. Many people have asked me if Madeline knows what's going on. She's a smart little gal so I'm sure she senses something is up. She'll tell you that the crib is where baby will sleep and that the car seat is for baby. She'll gladly lift up my shirt to show anyone in the room where the baby is and politely remind them "shhhh, baby sleeping". But, I'm almost certain she doesn't "get" that in a couple of weeks my belly will retreat to it's (somewhat)original size and she will have a little brother in her life. She's a nurturing little soul who likes to take care of things but she's also very much a Mommy's girl, so it'll be interesting to see how those personality traits play out. I'm looking forward to it!

Late night tunes

A quick video for Nana. Sorry Nana, I tried to get her to say "hi" but this was taken at 9pm last night (after a family outing to the beaches for ice cream) and she was in a bit of a wacky mood!
But she did sing her ABC's for you and it included her trademark "big finish".

We had a great weekend - Saturday we hit up the zoo in the morning. It was insanely hot and humid but all the animals were putting on a great show despite this. We only lasted 2 hours because Michael and I had not dressed appropriately for the heat!!

Yesterday we spent most of the day cleaning and organizing to get ready for baby #2. We hung pictures and pulled out more of the baby items that we'll need. We also rearranged closets so that we can put all of his clothes away. We're getting there! Off to a meeting now.....

Back by popular demand

Sunshine Girl

I picked up some 50% off sunglasses for the little lady since she was always insisting on playing with mine.

Today we went to Dufferin Grove Park to celebrate our friend Norah's first birthday. I took my camera so I could grab some pics, but turns out the battery had no juice left :( It was a great day for a birthday at the park and Mads and I had a fabulous time. Swimming, swings, croissants & cake. I kept on saying "lets go see Norah" and she kept on saying "yeah, Dora!". Pretty sure she thought we were going to see Dora the Explorer.

oh and Dora's mommy had this awesome bubble machine set up. Maddy must have played with those bubbles for over an hour. Note to self: buy bubble machine.

It's late, I must sign off.

Hi Nana! hope you are having a nice trip - send us an email update!

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