On the day you were born

September 18,  2012

Just hours before the eviction.

We were urged to induce labor with Annie because she was clearly outgrowing her dwelling.  We arrived at the hospital at 6:00am.  I was put in a room to wait for an available labor and delivery room. Little did we know that this was a very popular birthday and we would still be waiting at lunchtime.  I was given a lovely lunch of jello and broth.  Really? Once we finally were assigned to a room, things got going pretty quickly.  My labor went from "tolerable" to "random doctors would poke their heads in because it looked like I was going to slide off of the bed because of the pain" in a matter of moments.  For some reason the nurse believed that they were going to charge HER for my epidural and she wanted to wait until the last possible moment to have it administered.  That is exactly what she did.  And as the nurse anesthetist was trying to adjust everything Annie decided that it was show time.  Needless to say, he high-tailed it out of there! I was 10 cm and baby girl was in a hurry. Our midwife, Jualea Early was summoned and things really got exciting.  

Because Annie was on the hefty healthy side, she got stuck.  It gets easier to think about it now but it was a very serious situation in the moment.  Before I went to the hospital were warned that the only thing we had to worry about with a baby this size was shoulder dystocia. It rarely happens they said.  They just had to let us know to cover their butts bases.  No problem. Well, during the delivery that is exactly what happened.  We went from a room with a mama, daddy, nurse and midwife to all of these plus 4 more nurses and 2 doctors.  I was upside down when Coy was pushed out of the way.  One nurse was under me and another was on top of me.  After two agonizing minutes, unable to breathe, she was pulled free.  She had to be encouraged to breathe once her cord was cut. But in the end she was fine.  And beautiful.  At 9 lbs, 12.5 oz she was perfectly pudgy.  She had perfect skin and a head full of hair! Oh yeah, and piercing blue eyes! Stunning!  Instant love.

 

 

Annie Rose Allen

Named for her Great Grandmother Annie Pearl Allen

and her grandmother, Margaret Rose Paschal, and her great great grandmother, Rosa Lonon Hennessee.

 

 So proud to be a big sister.  I absolutely love this picture.

 

 

 

 

 Precious April Washington was Cora's stand in mom while I was in labor.  Cora got to spend the entire day with her BFF Ava.  I would be willing to bet that the birth of her sister was the second most wonderful thing that happened that day.

 

 Auntie Mist had to get some Annie time in.

 First family of four picture.  At least I don't look tired... Ha!

 Emily with Annie.  She has to be the sweetest person I know.  This picture was taken when I was exhausted, uncomfortable, swollen like crazy and generally cranky.  I looked over at Emily and saw tears rolling down her cheeks.  And no one was surprised.  She was so in love with this little one that she had known only minutes.  That is why I love this lady so much. It is impossible to explain.

 

Four Years Old!

July 2012

My sweet Cora is four.  She is such a kindhearted sweetheart.  She loves anything outside: bugs, flowers, animals.  She also loves princesses, glitter and sprinkles.  She loves gymnastics.  She is quite a swimmer.  We are so impressed with this girl who has had no swimming lessons yet.  We gave soccer a shot and well, we required her to finish the season.  I'm pretty sure it was a one season experience for her.   Her favorite person on the planet (maybe her parents are up there) is Ava Washington.  They met when they were toddlers at Master's Garden Preschool.  I had no idea 4 year olds could have such a connection.  They always want to be together.  They take gymnastics together and played on the same soccer team.   They are amazing friends and I know that this will be the hardest person for her to say goodbye to when we move.  On weekdays they spend more waking hours together than we do with her. 

I guess if she could choose to do anything right now she would choose to go swimming with Ava after she eats cupcakes with sprinkles. 

She continues to overachieve in the height department.  At her 4 year old well child appointment she was informed that she is the height of an average 5.5 year old. 

So Cora wanted a rainbow themed 4th birthday party.  We delivered! 2012 was the biggest year of her life so far (and ours).  It included a new sister, a new house, a new school, and leaving so much that she loves back in North Carolina.  We kind of felt like we owed her. I LOVE planning birthday parties!

 

 

 

 

 Happy Birthday to my Sweet Princess!

BIG BLOG UPDATE!!!

4/21/12

Please ignore the dates. I am going to try to change the dates but I am quite out of practice...

Here goes.

GUESS WHAT?!?!

We're pregnant!

 

I love this picture of Cora's hand on my belly.

  

This is the work detail for the Preggo at the beach cleanup weekend.  Not a bad gig at all.  Sure I'll wash bedspreads and pillows while y'all scrub walls and shovel sand from the patio.  I'll even pick up lunch.

 

 

This belly shot was taken at the request of Emily Myers.  I am so glad that she had me do it.  I have so few.  In this picture I am almost 5 months pregnant with our precious Annie Rose.

Christmas Card Picture

Cora is beautiful. The most beautiful girl in the world, actually. But ask her to pose for a picture... forget it! Here are my attempts at a Christmas Card picture. I posted a similar entry on Dec. 28, 2009. It has gotten worse. Even when she is not being stubborn about smiling/staying still, she has this "My Name is Earl" thing that she does where her eyes are completely or partially closed. We can't win. We finally settled on a family shot. There was quite a bit of M&M bribery to make it happen too, I assure you.

Please don't get me wrong. There are millions (yes, millions) of pictures of Cora that could win awards. But for some reason, my picture taking skills go down the drain in December. I take full responsibility as the not so wonderful photographer. And as silly as some of these pictures are, they are still some of my favorites. (I just didn't think they belonged on the refrigerators of my aunts and uncles for a whole year :)

Enjoy these pictures. They make me giggle. Oh- and she insisted on props this year... and we were battling eczema on her chin... and pacifiers... and candy corn/m&m smiles...

I love her. I love her. I love her.

prop (doll), pacifier, AND Earl eyes! Triple threat!

only to be topped by doll WITH pacifier and Earl Eyes

2 pacifiers, chin, and not sitting like a lady

Yes, she is awake. Just a complete refusal to cooperate.

Coy said that she was giving an ugly gesture to show what she thinks of all of this picture taking nonsense.


I will not smile.

Yes, she is still awake. And no, of course that's not a pretend cockroach from her toy bugs kit by the ottoman.

BIG cheese!

curtsy?

More candy corn please.

Candy corn smile

CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!

candy corn mouth

more props...

Okay, actually not too bad.

This is what we settled on. I did a little cropping and called it a day. Coy and I had no intention of being in the picture but that was fine. I had no makeup and had been awake since 3am cooking breakfast for my neighbors. I threw my apron off just in time for the automatic camera timer to flash and voila! Merry Christmas from the Allens!

Early December, seriously...

Here are a few shots from early December. We really tried to get a jump on decorating this year because we were expecting a lot of company and were hosting a neighborhood breakfast, and we were excited about seeing our new house all gussied up!

We attended our first Hillsborough Parade. It was great! For a tiny town it puts on a nice show. Cora realized that if you wave they are more likely to throw candy. WELL-- She got the idea! I thought we were going to have to ice down that girl's elbow that night.

If you ask her which part she enjoyed the most she will tell you that seeing her best friend in the firetruck was it. She also enjoyed the bands, tractors, and a SCHOOL BUS! Most people certainly thought that a bus is nothing to get excited about. But there must have been a 2.5 year old on the parade planning committee. It was a hit! You can see the excitement on her face! Cora also enjoyed the Mama-will-wait-45-minutes-in-the-coffee-shop-for-$2.50-hot chocolate, while there is $.50-hot chocolate-offered-by-the-boy scouts-right-there-on-the-sidewalk. We'll know better next year.

She had a great time and is clearly a lover of parades like her mama and Aunt Ann.

This is another benchmark picture. Last year the picture was taken just like this but before the Chapel Hill parade. Can you see the excitement on her face?!

EXCITED!!!

Coy and I joke that if all she had to rely on was pictures, she would swear that her parents are not together. All pictures are of Cora and Coy or Cora and me. None are of all three! AND the pictures she takes with Coy are great and the ones with me... not so much. Not fair. We need to hire a full-time photographer or get a tripod!

At the tree lot- I included this one because we have one standing in this same place every year. Look at our little Christmas elf grow!

November This and That

The Krispy Kreme Elf- Occasionally we will drop in at the KK on Franklin and take Coy's lab a little box of yumminess. They are always well received!
These are the goody bag for Cora's Thanksgiving party at school. I was sort of proud of how they turned out. Pretty good considering that the Santa decorations are out before Halloween. It's not easy to find turkey stuff! AND contrary to the rest of this soul food/junk food heavy post, there are oranges and goldfish crackers instead of candy in these bags.

Cora with Carson- We met Carson's parents, Stacie and Regan about 10 years ago and became very close friends instantly! For most of that time we lived very close and visited with each other what seemed like weekly! After Cora and Carson joined the picture, the visits slowed a little. We have both recently moved in opposite directions. We're now about an hour away and our visits have slowed way down. We miss them so much!

One of many pictures of Cora in her new big girl bed. She is pretty good at staying in bed. The problem is that the easiest way to get her to go to sleep is to lay in bed with her. I know that this too shall pass so I am enjoying the arm slung around my neck for now:) She has a beautiful new comforter, sheets and pillows--BUT notice the blue blanket. This is "Big". My mom made it for Coy while he was in school at UNC. Cora can't sleep at night without it. And it is indeed big! It's almost too much for her to drag from room to room. I don't know what we would do if something happened to it!

Okay, so the healthy food police (me) needs to brace for these pictures... My mom gets Cora from school on Thursdays to help me out because Coy is in class- oh, and yeah, she gets to see Cora:) We have started going to a little restaurant in Hillsborough called the Village Diner. This place is a jewel! It is set up buffet style with fried chicken, barbecue, turnip greens, hush puppies, homemade banana pudding... and fried fatback. Our girl loves crunchy fried fatback. I figure 1 time a week can't hurt, right? The organic, whole, baby food makin', no artificial anything mama in me just fainted. That's helpful because the pictures don't get much better.


This next one is of Cora showing off that she is on her second chicken leg of the evening.

Cora recently had the pleasure of roasting marshmallows. Easy to see that it was a hit. Marshmallows are totally real food right?

I can't tell if she likes them or not. Can you?