Magnolia Mamas

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Introducing 3.0

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind of love, sleep deprivation, and laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. Now that I officially have adjusted to walking around in a semi-comatose caffeine free state I thought I would finally introduce you to 3.0!

Now 3.0's arrival was for the most part planned out. I am always given the option to induce right at the 39 week mark. If you had asked me around mid-January, 3.0 was coming any second. I had contractions constantly and had slowed waaaaaaay down, but she hung in there.

On February 1st, my OB did one final ultra sound, and asked one more time if I wanted to induce. After discussing it with Mr. Cute, the logistics just seemed to work better. I was already 3+ centimeters dilated and we both had no desire to get stuck in Atlanta traffic with me in full labor. With how traffic is in this area that limited me to hoping the baby came between 11a.m. and 1p.m. or sometime between 2a.m. and 4a.m. I did not need to be Channel 2's featured news story the next day, so planned induction we went.

To my shock, the Dr. said, "See you in a few hours." Yikes, I at least thought I had another full day!

Luckily he warned me that Northside Hospital (dutifully nicknamed The Baby Factory), had been slammed recently and that they probably wouldn't call me until closer to morning. He was correct, and around 5:30a.m. we received the call to check in at 7:30a.m. Not to say I slept much that night just out of nerves, but it was nice to be in my own bed and say good morning to The Cutes before we left.

On our way (surprise, surprise) we hit traffic, so we were approximately 15 minutes late. That was fine by me. Even though this was my third time doing this, I still was nervous. Because this was my third time doing this. I knew what I was willingly walking into. I'm in camp just put me to sleep and let me wake up to a cute sweet snuggly baby.

Even arriving fairly early, and having everything ready to go it was still quite a while before the party got officially started. Mr. Cute and the nurse were betting that sometime between 2p.m and 3p.m. 3.0 would make her arrival.

My "I'm having tons of contractions, am slightly delirious, and my husband is taking my picture" face.

Considering I had just gotten poked, prodded, and Pitocin was now flowing through my veins I was hoping for it to be much sooner. And for a hamburger (no joke - I was starving!).

Around hour three, Mr. Cute decided he was exhausted from all of the labor and HGTV watching.

Well Mr. Cute almost won the bet, because around 2p.m. my Dr. checked on us and decided it was time to do the epidural and get the welcoming party ready.

Good thing money wasn't officially exchanged. Due to hospital technical issues it was still quite awhile before anything happened. At this time I would like to give a big shout out to my anesthesiologist because that epidural was amazing! Unlike my one with Little Cute, it was a breeze and lasted well after 3.0. made her appearance. (My one with L.C. was not the best experience and it almost made me decide to go sans epidural this time around. Almost.)

At 7:09p.m. 3.0 made her official debut.

And she was positively precious! She looked so tiny! (Side note: Cute was born at only 5lbs, so both the girls look huge compared to him at over 2+ pounds heavier.)

Because it was so late by the time we arrived in a room, and we were starving, we decided to tell all family to hold off visiting until the following day. It was nice to be able to soak up those sweet first moments just the three of us.

Bright and early though the next morning, The Cutes descended on the hospital with my sister, and I am not sure the 5th floor will ever be the same. They were positively smitten with their new little sister.

Particularly L.C. who decided instantly this was "her baby", and she did not let her out of her sight.

Nor was she about to let any visitor hold her without her complete supervision.

And as CB learned the hard way, if you give her an inch to hold on to baby...she would fight you to the death before she let go.

Even my mom needed to be watched closely. Those sneaky grandmothers...you never know what they might do with your real life baby doll. Good thing the hospital has that lock down bracelet system in place.

Once visitors wrapped up for the day, we did some more snuggling and commenced our HGTV marathon.

Which led to Mr. Cute commencing his nap time.

February 2nd was such a special day, and we will always cherish this sweet special surprise gift we were granted. 3.0 has been such a great baby and barely makes a peep at home...unless she's hungry. Then she transforms in every sense of the slang term - "hangry". Our little family feels so complete now and we can't wait to see what the future holds for this little one.

May it contain some sleep?

P.S. - I feel like she needs a "Cute" name... Baby Cute? Tiny Cute? I'm at a loss...

Monday, February 22, 2016

San Francisco: Day 4 {Super Bowl 50}

To read about the other days our trip to San Francisco see Day 1 HERE, Day 2 HERE, and Day 3 HERE.

When Sunday rolled around in San Francisco, we were so excited for the real reason for our trip...Super Bowl 50!!!! When we got the invite a few months prior we knew we had to make this trip happen because it was such a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity.

We took a shuttle from our hotel in downtown San Francisco about 40 miles outside of the city to where the new stadium is. Walking up and arriving with all of the buzz about the Super Bowl was so exciting.

First up was the Super Bowl tailgate. It was set up in the largest tent I've ever seen complete with three sections and three stages. Performers like Sam Hunt and Seal were giving concerts.

There were 50 food stations set up with appetizers, desserts, and other goodies so our group snagged a table and started taste testing from all of the stations. The food was really delicious.

There was also a large bar with a Super Bowl 50 ice sculpture that was pretty neat, but it was melting quickly because it was so warm that day!

Outside of the tent, but before entering the stadium there was all kinds of entertainment and excitement. From performers to photo ops, we tried to take it all in!

Once inside the stadium we found our seats and we were right in the Bronco's end zone. The seats were great and our view inside the stadium was amazing.

Waiting on the game to start it was such a surreal feeling. We love football and of course we always watch the Super Bowl, so to actually be there was such a cool thing!

Lady Gaga sang the National Anthem and I thought she did AMAZING. I actually really like Lady Gaga and despite some of the critics I read about her outfit or whatever the next day, I thought she did fantastic and her performance was a great tribute to our country.

That followed by the fly over at the end was just awesome. Seriously it gave me chills!

The actual game was not too exciting. It was low scoring and there weren't a ton of big plays, but it was still so much fun. When it was time for half-time we got our colored signs that were in our seat when we arrived. Every seat in the stadium was assigned these cards and we were instructed to hold them up during certain times of the half-time show. They had little cutouts so we could still watch. Ha!

The show was really bright and colorful and pretty exciting to watch happening right in front of us. I know there was a lot of talk about Beyonce and her performance, but to be honest, the acoustics weren't great inside the stadium and she performed on the opposite end zone from where we were and as she started singing the jumbo screen went out so I didn't really see or hear much of her performance. As she was ending we realized there was another jumbo screen behind us that we were able to turn and see, but it wasn't until the next day that all of the negative things about her were said by viewers and critics. We thought it was a fun show to watch and be a part of.

After the game was over we saw all of the confetti start flying around and even from outside of the stadium you could see it floating in the sky.

It was such a great day and an amazing experience that we were both so happy to get to have. It's something I will definitely never forget!

Friday, February 19, 2016

San Francisco: Day 3 {Exploring the City}

If you want to read about the first two days of our trip you can check out Day 1 HERE and Day 2 HERE.

On Saturday we had no plans until later in the evening so we put on our comfortable shoes and started exploring the city. Up first was a short walk from our hotel to the cable car station. We had to wait a little while, but it was worth it to me.

Our cable car operators were hilarious. They had everyone laughing and joked around with us the entire time. I was shocked that it was all done with hand and foot brakes. I guess I assumed it would have been motorized, but those big hills when cars would pull out in front of the cable cars and they had to brake quickly made me appreciate their job and their skills.

After hopping off the cable cars we started to walk around a bit and were amazed by the hills! I have never seen such steep hills and couldn't get over the houses that were lining each one. Could you image pulling into this driveway?!?

We finally found the famous Lombard Street. It was hilarious to watch people drive down it. There were a ton of tourists and everyone was hanging out the window videoing as they went down.

We made it to the top and still couldn't believe how curvy the road was. Such a fun photo op though!

Next we walked down to the water and took in the beautiful sights of the Golden Gate Bridge from Hyde Street Pier. We were shocked at how many people were swimming out in the water. I'm sure they were freezing! That water was COLD!

We stopped in a lot of little shops by the water looking for souvenirs for the kids and then finally got to Fisherman's Wharf. It was full of energy and people. There were street performers, people singing, outdoor walk-up food vendors and more.

We decided to grab lunch here at one of the outdoor vendors and eat on a bench by the water. I opted for lobster bisque in a bread bowl (yum!!!) and the Mr. got a gigantic lobster roll. The problem with getting your food and eating outdoors are all of the seagulls!!!! They were everywhere and as we were walking to find a bench to sit on they were dive bombing us and trying to get our food. Yikes! We were OK as soon as we sat down, but just beware if you decide to dine this way. :-)

Lastly we made our way to the famous Pier 39. It was a tourist trap and there were tons of food and shopping, but it was SO crowded. It was still fun to walk around though and see the carousel and look out at the water.

We were beat after our day of exploring so we took Uber back to our hotel and took a little rest. That night we had a dinner planned and then we got to go to a One Republic concert, which was amazing! It was a wonderful day and I'm so glad we got to see so much of the city!

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

San Francisco: Day 2 {Alcatraz}

To read about day one of our trip click HERE.

When I started talking to people about our trip to San Francisco everyone told me to make time for Alcatraz. I knew I really wanted to visit this attraction and get the full experience of the tour and learning all of the history. Lucky for us on Day 2 the group we were with had planned for a night tour and party on Alcatraz.

We spent the day switching hotels, having lunch, and walking around a bit because we were scheduled to leave late afternoon from our hotel. We took the ferry over and the views were so beautiful. The sun was setting and seeing the city and the bridges all lit up was such a treat.

When we arrived on Alcatraz we were met with some of the park rangers that gave us a little history and then we were broken into groups to get our night tour.

I was fine walking around and learning about the history. Even seeing some of the cells was OK, but then they started talking about how the prisoners escaped it started to get creepy. They had their cells set up the way they looked when they passed the guard inspections each evening while they were planning their escape and that was pretty creepy. Then some of the park rangers showed us how the guards opened and closed the cell bars and that loud clanging that repeatedly happened was what put me over the edge! I got chills and was ready to get outside and get some fresh air. Yikes! It was pretty spooky, but I did love learning about the history!

Next we were guided down the other side of the island and saw more gorgeous views as we were taken to the party. They had set up the industrial building (where the prisoners worked on the island) for a dinner and concert.

There were tons of food stations set up and we loved the tacos and pasta stations best. After dinner was a real treat...Randy Houser giving an acoustic concert! We love him and love his hit song, "We Went" right now so I was so excited to see him perform. Little Boo-Boo loves that song so I videoed and sent it to him. :-)

There weren't a ton of country music fans there so we were able to get right up front for a close-up view of the concert. As soon as he sang a Garth Brooks song though, the place all broke into song! It was so fun!

Finally it was time to head back to the mainland so we boarded the ferry again. This time on our way back we saw fireworks as we were coming into the pier, which was the perfect way to end the night!