Moving to Minneapolis, Need Advice!

Well it's official, Taber has been offered a new position up at General Mills headquarters in Minneapolis. They want us to move at the end of August, so looks like we'll have less than a month to get our house on the market, find a new house, pack up our little family and head north! Luckily the company will buy our house if we can't sell it in 45 days (which is probably what will happen with the way the market is out here) They will also have movers come pack our stuff up and drive it out, which is a big relief because there is no way I am up to packing right now! Still, I think it's going to be a crazy month getting everything ready for the move.

We're actually flying out there tomorrow to look for a place to live. We're bringing Brinley but we're leaving Teya behind with her best friend's family. I'm a little nervous because we've never left her with anyone besides family, and even then she was too small to remember it. Yesterday I was trying to prep her for it and told her we were going on an airplane and she was going to stay and play with her friend. She started bawling and said, "Don't leave me mommy! Mommy, I come?" It broke my heart!! I know she'll be in great hands with our friends, but I hope it doesn't devastate her too much. She's had so many adjustments recently and is already feeling insecure with the new baby. If anyone has any advice on how to make this easier on her please let me know! I've been scared to bring it up again because I don't want her to freak out. At the same time I feel like I should prep her on the fact that we'll be gone for 5 days. So I know it's last minute since we're leaving tomorrow but any advice would be great! Also if you have advice on helping kids adjust to a move that would be appreciated too. : )

Mother of 2

It's been 5 days since my mom left and other than bawling like a baby when I dropped her off at the airport, I've been coping pretty well. I'm starting to think I can handle this whole 2 kids thing : ) The weekend was great because Taber was around to help out. He got up in the middle of the night to change Brinley's diapers, and woke up early with Teya to play with her so I could get some extra sleep. He also took Teya out on a special Daddy daughter date on Saturday. He took her to Toy's R Us and bought her a new play-doh toy set, and then he took her to Steak and Shake for dinner and ice-cream. She came home chanting, "Dad-dy daughter date, dad-dy daughter date!" She had so much fun that even the next day she woke up and said, "member? (remember) I go on daddy daughter date!" And when I said, "I love you so much Teya" She said" I love DADDY so much!"

Super happy face on her daddy daughter date

Concentrating deeply on her shake

coloring at the restaurant with daddy

Today I'm on my own again, but so far it's gone really well. I even ventured out to do some light grocery shopping at Wal-mart. That was a big deal for me, since I normally dread shopping with just one kid, let alone two! Luckily Teya was in a great mood and Brinley was in a deep car induced sleep and didn't wake up the whole time. Best of all, when we came home, I finally managed to get them both down for a nap at the same time!! So I've actually been able to clean my house, catch up on email and blog! So yeah, there have definitely been adjustments going from one to two, but so far it's not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I actually think it was harder going from zero to one because I just had no idea how a kid was going to change my lifestyle and routine. Now that I'm already in kid mode, adding another one hasn't been too bad. The fact that I've showered, gotten the kids ready, gone shopping, and cleaned my house all by 2pm is saying a lot for me. Two weeks after I had Teya, if I even got a shower at all it was a miracle, and forget about housecleaning, cooking, or any of that! Thank goodness things are much easier this time around! Viva Wal-Mart!

Open eyes and G-ma Uda

I've had a few complaints that we don't have any pics of Brinley with her eyes open. This isn't really my fault since the girl sleeps like 20 hours a day! (not that I'm complaining, she is such a mellow baby!) But I did try to catch her in one of her rare awake moments and got a few pics with her eyes open.

Awake and serious

Being admired by big sister

Also, today is my mom's last day here : ( So I wanted to put up a few pics of the girls with their Grandma Uda. I'm so sad my mom is leaving! My house has been so clean with her here and we've had the best meals EVER! I'm so scared to see how quickly this place turns into a disaster area when she's gone!

Hanging with G-ma Uda

G-ma and Brinley

Finally!

Well I took everyone's advice and have been spending lots of extra time with Teya and really trying to include her in taking care of the baby. Yesterday it paid off and she finally asked to hold the baby. It was the sweetest thing watching her giggle when the baby moved in her arms. Teya is turning out to be a wonderful and very helpful big sister and I just can't wait till Brinley is big enough for them to play together. : )

Bath time!

Brinley had her first bath last week and I thought I should post some pics. I remember the first time I gave Teya a bath I was so nervous I actually called my mom and made her come over and show me what to do. With baby number two I was much more confident, although I still had Taber help me out. She did great and hardly cried at all (Teya screamed through her entire first bath) And best of all she smelled like a little angel cake when she was all done. : )

In the tub

Mom and Dad Teamwork

Final Rinse

All clean with big sister (who still hasn't' held her : )

Because you asked...

Since we live so far away, none of our family except Taber's parents has seen baby Brinley in person. As a result we've had lots of requests for more pictures and video. So here you go family, enjoy!

first gas induced smile

Tiny chicken legs

Monty likes to take naps with her

Adjusting

Teya is still not sure what to think of her little sister. Before Brinley was born I had this picture of Teya holding her in her lap and giving her loves and kisses. So far it's day 5 and Teya still refuses to hold her. She will "pet" her, and she likes to look at her from a distance, but that's about it. She has also regressed in the tantrum department and has really been testing our limits. Thank goodness her Grandma and Grandpa have been here to help out and give her extra love and attention. They've taken her to restaurants and out to a local carnival where she got to jump in a bounce house and play games and ride the kiddie rides. She's loved her special time with Grandma and Papa and also the extra attention she's been getting from her daddy. When I'm not feeding or changing Brinley (which isn't very often) I try to give her special attention too. It's been a little rough, but I'm still hoping one of these days when I ask if she wants to hold the baby she'll actually say yes. : )

Regressing to binky sucking
Brinley was screaming and Teya said, "Fix it Mommy! it's crying!"

Out on the town with Grandma Karen

At the Dave Macon Days carnival with G-ma and Papa

Teya is very attached to her Papa

Fishing with Daddy at the carnival

Bounce house, A classic Teya favorite

Speedy Delivery!

This is kind of long, but for those of you who wanted the details, here's Brinley's birth story:

A couple nights before Brinley was born I had some strong contractions that would last for a few hours and then fade away. Every time it happened we would get excited, pack our bags, and then be totally disappointed when nothing came of it. So Tuesday night when I started having contractions at 9:30 p.m. I didn’t think anything of it. I told Taber we should just keep getting ready for bed and not worry about them. Well after 5 or 6 really hard ones that seemed to come pretty close together I started to think this was the real thing. I told Taber to call the babysitter, but he was still scared about getting our hopes up so he told me to lie down and see if they started to fade. They just kept getting stronger though and at 10:40 p.m. we called the babysitter and started frantically loading up the car. At this point I was in a ton of pain and was seriously rethinking my decision to try doing this naturally.

We left for the hospital at 11:00 p.m. and it was the longest and worst car ride of my life! The contractions were only 2-3 minutes apart and in the car I just couldn’t get my mind in the right place to control the pain. We got to the hospital at 11:35 and I was already dilated to an 8 and going through transition. My Dr. was actually there on call and when they wheeled me upstairs I said, “Oh Dr. Moore! I don’t want a natural birth anymore!! Please oh please give me some drugs!” She assured me they would get me some as soon as my labs came back. Meanwhile the contractions were one on top of the other and I swear I thought I was going to die! I had Taber’s hand in one hand and the nurse’s hand in the other and was squeezing them both so hard I thought I’d break their fingers. I was shouting out all kinds of things and dramatically calling on the heavens for relief like a fired up preacher. I kept asking for my epidural but by the time my labs came back I was already complete and dilated to a 10 and ready to push. Still, I didn’t care; I was honestly at the brink of sanity and just wanted some kind of relief before I had to push. So at literally the last second possible they gave me a shot that helped numb me up (and only lasted for an hour) and 10 minutes later Brinley was born. I can’t believe she was born just 45 minutes after getting to the hospital! It was a very fast labor and delivery. From my first contraction to her birth was less than 3 hours. Next time we’re getting in the car the minute the contractions start hurting!

Looking back I probably could’ve just sucked it up and pushed through the pain for 10 more minutes and had my totally natural birth, but at the same time that shot was so glorious and the relief so heavenly, that I really can’t say I regret it. It wore off quickly too and I was up and walking in no time. My recovery this time around has been sooooo much better than it was with Teya. Not sure if that’s because the labor was so fast or because I didn’t get an epidural. Either way I’m just happy that she got her safely and just can’t wait to take her home!

Right after giving birth, tired, relieved, grateful and happy it's over!

Rigg Family of Four!

Brinley Grace Rigg is Here!

Brinley arrived early this morning at 12:17 a.m. She weighs 6 lbs 10 oz, is 19 inches long and has black hair. We're still at the hospital but everyone is doing great! We'll post more pictures and details when we get a chance!

The newest little Rigglet

Daddy's little girl

eyes open

lots of black hair!

An "exciting" Friday

Last weekend after eating Thai food with some friends, I opened my fortune cookie and it said, "This coming Friday will be an exciting time for you." I totally freaked out and got super excited and thought, "There you have it! The baby is coming on the 4th of July!!!" Why I got excited about some bogus piece of paper in a cookie is beyond me! I'm really not a superstitious person, but for some reason I thought this cookie knew something we didn't, so all week I was preparing myself for our little firecracker to arrive. On Thursday night, nothing had happened yet, so I decided to help things along and went on a major power walk. I had contractions for a few hours afterward and got so excited I made Taber pack our hospital bags.

Well the next morning, still no baby! So I went on another power walk and then we headed out to find some raspberry leaf tea. All day long I walked and walked, I swear I must've walked at least 10 miles. By 4pm my feet were swollen, my legs were exhausted, and I was still as pregnant as ever with no sign of impending labor. Finally I resigned myself to the fact that the "something exciting" wasn't going to be baby. Unfortunately I hadn't made any 4th of July plans since I thought I'd be in the hospital (hehe! I'm so silly) But luckily some friends called and invited us to go watch fireworks with them at the local college. It was Teya's first time seeing the fireworks and I was impressed that she didn't get scared since usually loud things frighten her. Instead she just sat in Taber's lap and held tightly to his arms and said, "It's okay Daddy, fireworks not loud, they're cool!" So at the end of the day the fireworks provided our something exciting, and I learned an important lesson about not putting too much stock into the words of a fortune cookie!!

Hanging out with daddy just before the fireworks started

Teya and me (still very pregnant)

Snacking on popcorn before the show

covering her ears during the grand finale (it got a little loud)

Mr. Turtle

On Saturday night we were driving home from dinner with some friends when Taber almost ran right over this little turtle who was crossing the road. Fearing someone else might hit him I made Taber turn around and plucked him off the road in an effort to save his life. I planned on releasing him back in the wild but thought we should hang on to him till we could find a good safe place to let him go. In the mean time Taber got some dirt and rocks and filled up Teya's kiddie pool to make Mr. Turtle a little home in our backyard.

That night we had a big storm and I woke up at 2am to loud thunder and pouring rain. My first thought was "Oh no! Mr. Turtle is gonna get soaked!" So I ran downstairs to "save him" from the rain. When I looked out on him though he was in little turtle heaven! He was just soaking up the rain with his neck stretched all the way out to catch every little drop. He really is the cutest thing (something I never thought I'd say about a non-furry animal) and Teya is totally in love with him. I know he needs to go back to the wild, but I think we may just have to keep him a little while longer ; )

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