Gwen Rebekah is born!

At 3:44am on November 9, 2010 Gwen Rebekah Byrne was born! After our ultrasound on Monday we were sent to the hospital for another test. We took Cara to our neighbour's house until we knew what was happening and then Nana went to get her. After the test at the hospital they wanted to induce labour and so that's what we did. Things started at 5:30pm on Nov 8 and we finally had our little girl the next morning! A Birthday present for Nanny Byrne!

Gwen weighed in at 7lb7oz and was 21 inches long! To us she seemed so tiny compared to Cara but the nurses were telling us that she was a good big baby.

She was nice and alert and we all had some good snuggles.

Daddy with his 2nd little girl :)

We got moved to our postpartum room (a private room!) and Gwen stayed nice and quiet.

Later on, Daddy brought Cara to the hospital to meet Gwen. She was very happy to be a big sister.

Gwen was pretty relaxed in hospital and let her Mummy get some rest.

She is very stylish and is wearing clothes now that are way to big but hardly fit Cara.

Love for Daddy.

All dressed up to go home!

Coming home!

Cara welcoming Gwen home.

Gwen is a great sleeper so far and lets us put her down :)

Cara sharing her toys with Gwen.

Gwen snoozin'

First bath.

Not so relaxed anymore!

All warmed up and back to calm Gwen.

Smokey is slowly realizing that there is a new person in the house.

Gwen 4 days old.

Hockey Night in our house! Daddy and his girls watching the game.

Awake time!

5 days old. Cara asked to hold the baby today! She enjoyed holding her and did a few more times.

Sister love :) no kisses yet though!

A week of waiting for Baby Byrne #2...

Cara still isn't over Halloween yet. She loves wearing her Halloween pjs from Aunt Jill and when we're out walking she keeps an eye out for "Halloween" which means pumpkins that are still out on doorsteps. She also started requesting candy for breakfast!

Since Cara's been waiting for her sister's arrival all week we went for many walks to the playground - a few with our neighbour Cassidy. Cara was sufficiently preoccupied with this activity that she's coping well with the waiting for baby!

Cara and her crocodile crawling through a tower tunnel. We've been building many many towers with Cara and we're getting pretty good at it!

Another trip to the park!

Showing Daddy her sliding skills.

Cara enjoying a muffin in one of her Bear muffin cups from Grampy :) She even helped stir the muffin mixture!

Making Banana Bread with Mummy...we've been baking to help the waiting for baby time go by faster! Cara is a good helper!

Cara showed off a new skill today - she can do a thumbs up! And not just one but both at the same time! Such a fun milestone :)

Baby Byrne #2 Update

Well, we had our final OB appointment today at 40 weeks +1 day. I am 2 cm dilated (not much change from last week when I was 1-2 cm) and the Dr did a membrane sweep to see if that moves things along. I'm scheduled for an ultrasound on Nov 8 and an induction on Nov 12 if I make it that long with no baby. The Dr doesn't think that we'll get to that point though but they schedule it all just in case.

The wait is on....the next update will announce our new bundle of joy!

Happy Halloween!

Cara tried on her costume on Tuesday and wouldn't take it off!! Here she is waiting for Daddy to come home at supper time. She made a cute kitty just like last year :)

Cara thinks that all cakes are Birthday cakes now and sings Happy Birthday every time. She even helped me blow out my candle on Wednesday!

Cara LOVES building big towers with her blocks and Daddy must help. Her favourite part comes next where she knocks it down with her hammer (fist).

Saturday we carved the pumpkin. Cara was not into the guts of the pumpkin. She thought it was gross.

She did like eating it though! She thought it was good....we thought that was gross!

A video of the pumpkin eating!

She was happy with the finished Jack 'o' Lantern though! And didn't eat anymore of it!

All dressed up for Halloween! She practiced knocking on our door a little before heading out with Daddy.

Happy Halloween, Pumpkin!

Off Trick or Treating for the first time!

The Halloween Haul :) She filled her pumpkin with treats!

Playground Videos!

Cara loves going on this swing!



She has finally figured out the rock wall and climbs it like an old pro now.




Her latest feat has been learning to climb this chain ladder followed by a trip down the slide!

A Trip to the Playgound!

Cara had a great trip to the playground with Daddy this week. He got some great pictures and great video clips of her new skills :) Videos will be put up on a new post on Monday so check back! :)

Hard to keep this happy girl still long enough for a picture!

Girl in the bubble.

Cara has made peace with the step she fell into on Thanksgiving weekend. Her bruise is gone and the step is fine too.

Cara had to deal with alot of workers in the house this week. We had our fireplace finished, new front door installed and Daddy painted the foyer. She kept herself relaxed with Pooh Bear.

On Saturday we went to Leah's birthday party. Cara had alot of fun and helped Leah open some gifts...good thing they are friends! This picture was just after they had a nice hug :) They are pretty cute together!

Cara took over Leah's mom a bit to check out Leah's new books...Cara loves being read to and hasn't figured out the social intricacies of a little girl's birthday party :)

The new, finished and working fireplace! Yay! Now we have a place to display Birthday cards!

Cara joined in with the home improvements. She helped Daddy put in new baseboards in the foyer!

On Sunday night we went to Nana & Howie's for a triple Birthday dinner for Cara, Aunt Andrea and Mummy. Cara is starting to think that Birthdays go on for weeks! Lucky girl!

Wiggles and Birthday Parties!

Cara has been fighting an ear and throat infection this last week but is getting on the mend now. We had step one of our new fireplace installed - they finish it this week including the mantel. We are excited to have it done!

Winter arrived this week too...we had a morning snow shower. Isn't it just awful looking? Good thing Cara is cute :)

On Friday we took Cara to see The Wiggles! It was an exciting evening!

Cara got her own seat. She was very proud. She was wearing the colour of her favourite Wiggle...

Jeff!

She watched the show very attentively. She clapped and danced and jumped all through the show.

Cara watching the show.

Fun Wiggly times!

The great Wiggles taking a bow.

After the show - Cara was wound up and took awhile to calm down for bed!

On Sunday we had our Baby Group`s 2nd Birthday Party! This pic has all 9 babies in it (at least a little bit). It is hard to wrangle 9 2 year olds!

Cara and her little buds.

Cara had fun at the playroom. She really liked the train table.

Sunday afternoon we had a Birthday Party for Cara. Her little friends Leah, Freya and Cassidy all came as well as their parents and Nana, Howie and her Aunt Andrea (my cousin). It was a nice afternoon and Cara had a great time!

Cara blowing out her candles!

Now she is choosing her cupcake. She licked her finger then stuck it in a cupcake....that one was hers!

YUMMY!

Then it was present time! Mummy and Daddy got her a doll house for her Little People.

She got all sorts of great gifts and loved showing them to everyone!

And playing with them!

Thanks to everyone for the great gifts!