Celebrating Leah!

We've been on a kick for the past week or so celebrating the milestone of Leah turning 5! Last Saturday started things off with a party for Leah with my side of the family. Of course Leah has loved 'Frozen' forever now and she definitely wanted a Frozen party! I did what I could and tried to give Leah a special party! It was just a small little get together that was very low key. Leah really wanted to have a birthday party at our house this year too. We decided to break the parties up because our house is so small and can't fit everyone. In years past, we've always had to go a restaurant or rent out our clubhouse. (I love that Mason's birthday is in July so we can also be outside). I catered BBQ from Sharko's in Naperville and made a bunch of salads. The food was good. Leah enjoyed having her first party at home!

I can't believe this sweet girl is 5!!!! Oh my!

A few of the decorations

 I made the banner out of blue and purple glitter tool

 A little DIY Candle

 Snowflakes

 Snowflakes

 Leah and Anna

 Leah and Elsa

 Me and my #1 Girl

 Leah and her Dad

 Mason soaking up all of the Frozen stuff - he can't wait for his superhero party!

 Cousins and Best Friends

 Danielle and Brandon came to celebrate too!

 Leah and Papa

 Cousin Lauren and Baby Bella

 Mason and Papa

 Loves her new Elsa Doll!

 Leah and Baby Bella

 I tried out Mariano's for the cake this year

 Make a wish sweet girl!

A few of the girls

That same night, we also had Annabelle sleepover for the very first time! The girls had a blast. I was nervous Annabelle would want to go home, but we had no issues. It will be the first of many sleepovers to come!

Fast forward to a week later and Leah had an extra long weekend of celebrating her birthday. It all started on Valentine's Day! During the day, Leah said she really wanted to go to Ball Factory. We took the kids and boy did they have fun running around! 

Afterwards, everyone worked up an appetite, so we went out for a family Valentine's Day dinner. We were out and about with no reservations, so we weren't sure where we would be able to get in. We ended up at Buca Di Beppo and it was perfect! The food was good (huge portions) and they sang Leah a special birthday song! We ordered a MONSTER dessert and the kids were in sugar heaven!

The next day on Sunday, was Leah's kid party! This girl loves to bowl and has been asking for a bowling party for months! It couldn't be easier to have the party there - they take care of everything! the kids bowled for a little over an hour and had pizza for lunch. We had cake and then the kids got to go play games! Leah had such a great time with her friends! Her best buddy Teagan couldn't make it and Leah was pretty sad!

The Birthday Girl!

Leah and Mason!

Leah and her good friend Bethany

Cousins!

Jaime and Jack

The kids - missing a few!

The moms!

Dylan and Leah - sweet friends

Being silly!

Leah and Laney

Bethany and Leah

Bowling Ball Leah

More pizza please!

Me and Nicole

Mother and Daughter

Girlfriends

Leah loves Baby Emma!

The Boys

Frozen Cake

Leah and one of her besties

Cake time!

It was a busy morning! We went home to rest for awhile. Later that night we had plans to go meet Rob's sister and family for pizza at Aurelio's (yum)! We had pizza and cake and celebrated the birthday girl. Finally - the next day was Leah's ACTUAL birthday!! As soon as she woke up, I sang happy birthday to her!! She opened her presents when we came downstairs.

 Leah is 5!!!

Leah got the Barbie Dream House!!! She was a happy girl!

 

When asked what Leah wanted to do on her special day, of course her answer was "go to Chuck E. Cheese." We headed to her favorite place and had an afternoon of fun!

 

After playing games, we went to the Rain Forest Café for lunch! The kids love it there (although I could do without it - lol). They had a great time!



 

We came home and ended the evening with a small little cake and singing to my sweet girl! I hope your weekend of birthday festivities was fun! I love you to the moon and back!!



 

 

Leah is 5!

I honestly cannot believe I have a 5 year old!! Today, my sweet daughter came into this world exactly five years ago at 1:32 am. Leah was born way before I started this little blog, so I never documented her birth story (and it was quite an ordeal). Originally, Leah was due on February 21st, but at my 38 week appointment, my blood pressure became extremely elevated and I was retaining a TON of water. I gained 9 pounds of water weight in a week! My doctor thought it would be best to induce me. On February 13th I was admitted to the hospital and they started prepping me for the induction. I thought for sure I'd meet my baby girl soon after! The first night, the nurses got me all situated and hooked me up to the IV's. They started administering the pitocin and told me to try and get a good night sleep, because I would probably deliver the next day. I was feeling extremely anxious and excited at the same time. I was nervous to deliver, but I had been waiting a long nine months to become a mom.

When I woke up in the morning, on Valentine's Day, the labor induced medicine started to kick in. I started having contractions. They weren't consistent and they would come and go. This lasted all throughout the day. I thought for sure I'd have a Valentine's Day baby! By the late afternoon, the contractions started to get much more intense so they gave me the epideral. The doctor came in and I was only dilated to a 2. I was not making any progress and by the evening it completely stalled out (even though I was continuing to have heavy contractions). By 11:00 pm the doctor's decided to stop my Pitocin and would try to jump start it again in the morning. They gave me a sleeping pill and told me to try and get some sleep.  The 14th came and went. Early the next morning, they started up the Pitocin again, at a higher dose. I thought for sure this was the day!! Contractions were still very intense. I was getting texts and FaceBook messages all day asking about the status of Baby Held. I was starting to get emotional because I've been waiting and waiting and nothing was happening. It was emotionally draining. The morning came and went and no baby. By the mid-afternoon, I was only dilated to a 4 but still had very hard contractions. The nurses were all wonderful and definitely helped calm me down.

The afternoon came to an end and the doctors were not very happy with my progress. They decided around 6:00 pm that they were going to break my water, hoping that would help move me along. By now, I had been in "labor" for over 40 hours, so I was willing to try anything. The doctor broke my water and said she would come back and check on me to see how I was doing. During this time, she didn't want me to eat anything further for the rest of the night.Two hours later, I still wasn't progressing too much. I had now made it to a 5. My doctor told me that if I was still in the same situation by midnight, she was going to perform a c-section. She wanted me to try and get some rest, in the event I did deliver on my own, since I had been up the whole day. It was pretty difficult to sleep when you were having bad contractions all night. I think I dozed off here and there but know I didn't get any real sleep. I was so anxious and emotional. Midnight rolled around and I was barely dilated to a 6 so the doctor said we weren't going to wait any longer and go ahead and start the prep for a c-section. I had never wanted a c-section, but after a long 3 days, I just wanted to meet my daughter. I had a sudden adrenalin rush with so many feelings come over me. I was scared to have a c-section, but was beyond excited that this moment was actually here!

After a short time, I was being wheeled down to the operating room. By now, it was almost 1:00 am in the morning, and it was such a surreal time. The room was filled with a handful of nurses and doctors. I remember the anesthesiologist just kept talking to me, which now I know he was just trying to distract me from what was going on behind the curtain. I felt my stomach being cut open and a lot of tugging going on. Rob actually saw what was going on and after said he wished he hadn't looked. It wasn't a pretty sight. At exactly 1:32 am on February 16th, Leah was born and came out crying! It was one of the happiest days of my life! I was finally a mom and I had the most beautiful baby girl to call my own. Just having a c-section, I wasn't able to hold my daughter right away, since I was laid up on the operating table. They brought her around the sheet and I was able to lay eyes on my beautiful baby. I was SOOO happy and emotional.

After delivering, we were moved to the recovery area where we spent about two hours. I remember my mom and dad rushed to the hospital (even though they weren't supposed to be allowed in recovery) to come see me and meet little Leah. She was the first grandchild born and they couldn't wait to see her. Although it took Leah much longer come into this world than expected, it was worth the wait! Every day since she's been born, she's made our lives so much happier. She is an amazing little girl and I love her to the moon and back!!

Writing this post brought me back to the very day and just made me so happy to remember everything!