Her Name

Where did we come up with her name? As is typical with a new baby, we've been getting that question a lot. Here is the brief answer. 

Margaret/Maggie: Honestly, we just sort of ended up there. Kyle and I both have either a Margaret or a Marguerite in our families, but I wouldn't exactly say our Maggie was named after anyone in that sense. We just sort of liked it. Like "Owen", we felt like it was sort of old-fashioned, not too trendy (although like most of you know, there are 2 other Owen's in his pre-school class! - so we were wrong there)...Margaret is seriously traditional, Maggie is fun. Both work with Mezger. Lastly, it was important to us that the first name we picked go with the middle name we had already settled on: Laura.

Kyle's sister, Laura Lynn Mezger, passed away 10 years ago this month in a car accident. She was 23. She is the middle Mezger child - about 2 years younger than Kyle, 2 years older than Luke. I knew and looked up to her. She was a faithful servant of Christ, fun, spunky, smart, competitive, a little cantankerous...She is missed by everyone who knew her. 

Kyle and Laura.

All three kiddos.

Playing in the rain.

Pretty sure Kyle is about to squirt Laura with milk.

Zink faces on summer vacation.

Gigem' Aggies. (Incidentally - when females were first admitted to A&M they were called "Maggies".)

A pretty special namesake for our little Maggie.

Two Weeks In...

Maggie is 2 weeks and 1 day old. At her 2 week check-up (13 cays old actually) she weighted in at 8 pounds 3 ounces (50-75th %) - still not quite up to birth weight, but on the right track. She was 21 inches long (75-90th %). And everyone that meets her notices her really long fingers and toes - but that's not something the pediatrician measures - bummer. 

Here's the little bundle with Dadda. It was so great having him home for 2 weeks (1 week with Maggie after the hospital). And even though he officially went back to work on Monday, because of his call schedule, he was home some on both Monday and Tuesday. And we continue to have extra extra help from family so I have yet to have a full day with all 3 kiddos and no help. I'm soooo spoiled. But I know it and I'm thankful so I think that makes it okay. 

 Sweet girl. The dimple remains...

 I'd say we're on a pretty typical newborn schedule which means we don't have a schedule. Some nights are great - she wakes up and eats and goes right back to sleep, and other nights (like last night) she decides that 2-4 would be a great time to be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Did you just a double take??? You should have...this picture is actually of Rebecca! (Above - Maggie, Below - Rebecca). Resemblance much??? Wow.

 Then and now. Rebecca enjoying a little Bob the Builder with her trusty milk and Owen's "Mr. Kimono Dragon" head on a stick. My how they change!

 More Maggie. (It's a good thing my pictures are pretty well organized on the computer or I think we'd never be able to tell them apart!)

 How Owen gets close to give her a kiss.

 Rebecca getting close...kiss to follow.

 Little changes in the backyard = a big difference! Some new hose toys and a classic turtle sandbox and all of a sudden our backyard is THE place to be! It's awesome. Here's Owen taking a little nap? on the turtle lid?

A couple Owen and Rebecca "funnies":

-One evening not too long after we got home from the hospital, Nana came over for a little bit and ended up eating dinner with us and Owen very bluntly asked her, "Why are YOU still here?"

-Owen asked me why I was taking so many naps and I explained that I was having to be up a lot at night to take care of Maggie and he said, "But Momma, that's silly - you're not nocturnal!"

-Rebecca is now very fond of the following words and phrases: "mine" (awesome, I know), "pop-ba-ba" (popsicle - her first 3 syllable word - we're locking the fridge again because all she wants is popsicles and she knows how to get them!),  "I-dih-ih!!! (this one is used all the time, but she's especially fond of saying it while/after taking off her clothes).

-Speaking of taking off her clothes...Rebecca is now sleeping in her birthday suit. It started with her taking off her pajama pants and throwing them out of the crib. A few days later (when we had stopped putting pants on her altogether), the shirt started coming off. A few days later (when we were only putting her down in a t-shirt and diaper), the diaper started coming off. Obviously, this won't due. So, once she's asleep we sneak back in and put the diaper back on her. Any ideas??? Duct tape???

Update: Rebecca just completely undressed herself while I was nursing Maggie (and therefore somewhat unable to stop her - at least immediately). I took a break and put the diaper back on her. It came almost immediately off again. When I asked her where it was she said "threwit" (at least that's what I figured out a few minutes later when I found the perfectly dry diaper in the kitchen trash can). She ran around the house naked for about 30 minutes - with no accidents. Is this a sign of potty training readiness or just naked rebelliousness...or both?  Good grief - what am I going to do with her? I am NOT ready to potty train her, even if she IS ready! 

Update 2: In order to TRY to prevent her from taking off her diaper during her nap, I've put a pair of Owen's undies on top of it. She brought them to me. Lightning McQueen...

Project Balloon Rescue

When Cousin Bailey found out that Maggie's balloons were up in our tree she INSISTED they be rescued because Owen, Becca and Maggie NEEDED the balloons! 

Bailey (the Boss) directing Uncle Luke on how to save the balloons. 

Bailey and Rebecca celebrating the successful rescue. The Balloons are SAVED!!!

All is now well in both Mezger households.

Meet Maggie

So, we just couldn't take it any more...we had to meet this little girl! So, on Wednesday, June 1st at 7am we checked into Seton Medical Center...it would only be a matter of hours!

Checking in...

(This is one of the only pics of me preggers this time. Are you sure there's only one baby in there?)

 

And just a few hours later...meet Maggie!

Margaret Laura Mezger was born at 3:22pm.

8 lbs 8 oz, 19 inches long (Can you imagine if she had kept cooking an extra week?)

 

Many thanks to our team - our fantastic OB Dr. Yium, our awesome L&D nurses Beverly (who was our nurse with Rebecca!) and Lauren, and - my personal favorite - our anesthesiologist Dr. Gunn.

She'll hate this picture someday, but here she is. Wasn't quite sure she liked the real world at first! Perhaps it was the "big mean lights".

 Wow, we did it! And now we're a family of five. Oh my.

 Coach Bee was there the whole time - just like with Owen and Rebecca. While we waited she worked on Rebecca's Christmas stalking. She's got about 2.5 years to finish Maggie's and we'll be right on track!

 Dahdo arrived shortly after.

He brought Maggie her first birthday cake - vegan carrot cake. Every kid's favorite.

 We got settled in our mother/baby room and waited on Nana to bring Owen and Rebecca for "the big reveal". Remembering what introducing Rebecca to Owen had been like - not quite as smooth as we had hoped - we crossed our fingers that this time around would be better. (Owen had just woken up when we left for the hospital and he was SOOOO excited that today was the day we were going to the hospital to get BABY SISTER - so we were optimistic.)

And they did great. No tears. Lots of ooing and ahhing. And Owen immediately asked if he could hold her. What a great big brother.

 Look at those tiny toes!

 Kisses kisses.

 She's awesome!

 Rebecca "dee dee, dee dee"! We had been practicing "gentle" and she did really well. She liked pointing things out like her hat and nose.

 Nana patiently waited for her turn. (She had the hardest job of the day - keeping Owen & Rebecca!)

So, who does she look like? We think she's a decent mix of O & R as newborns. She's round round round (all cheeks!) like Owen was, but her profile is a little more like Rebecca. Only time will tell. Oh, and you can't see this from the pics but her eyes are that deep inky blue like a lot of babies have and she has a small amount of light brown hair.

 Uncle Alex dropped by after work. I'm pretty sure he thinks we're crazy. Smart guy.

Day 1 visitors were rounded out by Christal and Katie - for the nitty gritty girl talk which didn't merit any photos. 

 ____________________________________________________

Is that a dimple in her chin???

 LOVE those long baby fingers (and toes)!

 Kyle's pad. He was wearing like 8 layers of clothes plus the sleeping bag. Unlike our house which refuses to get as cool as I would like - I had the ability to crank the AC down in our room as low as I wanted and it actually got there! I was finally comfortable (for the first time in months) and everyone else was freezing. Seriously - the nurses would come in once, and then anytime they came back they'd be wearing a fleece.

 Day 2 visitors. Christal holding the wee one.

 Nathan holding her - after first saying he didn't want to because she'd be "too heavy".

 Later that afternoon (after a good long nap) we got to introduce Maggie to the rest of the Mezger clan.

Cousin Bailey holding another female cousin to teach and mold.

 Aunt Mel (who is expecting on Thanksgiving - woohoo!)

 Gotta love the girls.

 We learned early on that Maggie is NOT a fan of being unswaddled which makes diaper changes especially rousing.

 Nana just couldn't take it anymore - HAND ME THAT BABY!!!

 Look familiar? The "feed me" face.

 Speaking of feed me... Kyle brought me a chocolate shake after celebrating with the boys (Luke, Joel, Phil) and his free beer at Waterloo. Happy Momma.

 Why do I still look SO SLEEPY?!?

 Night 2 was a far better night than the first - we let Maggie enjoy the peace and quiet of the hospital nursery in between feedings. Everyone slept better. 

_____________________________________________

And the next morning - Wednesday, June 3rd, we were discharged and sent home! 

Bee came with her special outfit (which sort of looked like a mixture of Owen's and Rebecca's - just like Maggie).

Special tradition.

She looks so tiny!

 And I look puffy and sleepy...but she is SO worth it.

 Even though she was hungry, she slept the whole (7 minute) drive home. What a champ!

 And as if entering the world from the safety, warmth, quiet and general tranquility of the womb wasn't enough...we had to bring Maggie home...to our permanent state of noise, chaos, toys, and craziness. Fun times. 

We were greeted at the door with shrieks and pokes!

 Rebecca is both 1) SO SWEET and 2) SO not able to be left alone with Maggie.

 Dadda and his THREE kiddos!

 "I love holding Baby Sister".

 When I gently reminded Rebecca that touching Maggie's face was a No No, she assumed the drama queen pouting position.

 But she bounces back fast. Look at those toes! (Owen and Rebecca literally could not wait for us to put her in "her baby swing" - they've been fascinated with it for a while and were clearly amped to put it to use!)

 Miss Maggie, handling all the attention with style and grace (and her first scratch on her face - a love mark from all the attention).

 Weary momma. Who is ready for a nap? (I like to believe its a good sign that all FIVE of us took a nap at the same time on Wednesday.) That'll continue, right?

Wait, where are the balloons??? Sweet Aunt Mel (and crew) brought over these welcome home decorations but they had gotten loose and floated up into a tree before we got home.

Welcome home Margaret Laura Mezger! We love you Maggie!!!