Zoe - 2 months

Another month has gone by and Zoe is doing great! She's getting bigger and her little personality is starting to show through more. She has been smiling and cooing a lot (she used to only smile for daddy but now mommy, Jacob and even strangers get to see it). She is awake for longer periods and loves staring at the ceiling fan or at her imaginary friend who we call "Chloe". 

  

 

She also took her first road trip to visit her cousin Landon in Temecula and went to her first Giants game at Petco Park in San Diego.

She had her two month check up and she is:
11 lbs 9 oz (67th percentile)
23 inches tall (72nd percentile)

She got her first round of shots and was very mad at us for a bit but soon after almost fell asleep in my arms. That night she was a little fussy but after a little Tylenol she felt better and slept about 7 hours.

Jacob still loves being a big brother and is constantly checking on her and talking to her. He is just so sweet with her!

Jacob's first day of Pre-K

This little cutie started Pre-K at a new school today. He was very excited to start school since most of his friends had already started kindergarten and he was feeling a little left out. I'm sure he was also getting bored staying home all day with Zoe and I.

He was a little timid when he first went into his new classroom but soon warmed up and I was able to leave him. When I came back to pick him up, his teacher, Miss Linda, said he had a great day and had already started making new friends. I really like how structured this new school is and I think Jacob will really thrive there. We are excited for this next year of Pre-K and preparing for kindergarten next year.

Zoe - 1 month old

 

I can hardly believe it's already been 1 month! We are still trying to adjust to having two kids but it helps that Jacob just loves his little sister. He rarely goes 5 minutes without stopping whatever he is doing to kiss her feet, forehead, tummy, whatever he can get to.

Zoe is definitely a little firecracker. She still sleeps a majority of the day until about 7 pm hits and then if she's not eating she's crying. It makes for a fun time trying to get ready for bed. She is at least a pretty good sleeper at night and if we time her bedtime right, she only wakes up once around 3:30 am to eat. She definitely got used to being held constantly when we had family in town the first couple weeks she was home so we are trying to break her of that. She spits up a lot more than Jacob ever did so we go through quite a few burp cloths. She also has a strong neck and was starting to hold her head up a bit while we were still in the hospital.

Stats for this month (taken at her 1 month check up on 9/2)

9 lbs 8 oz (50th percentile)

21.75 in long (80th percentile)
Head circumference in the 99th percentile

We can't wait to see how she changes this next month and look forward to watching her grow. We are so thankful for her and that we were blessed with another healthy child.

Just a few pictures...

First doctor's appointment - 6 days old

First walk

First trip in the car with big brother

3 weeks old

Boy does he love her!

Zoe Daniella

On July 29, 2014 we welcomed our little girl, Zoe Daniella Kelepouris into this world. This delivery was much different than Jacob's. This time around, given all we went through with Jacob, we scheduled a c-section. I was definitely hoping I could attempt a VBAC but it wasn't meant to be for me to deliver "naturally". I feel like it was a little more nerve-wracking anticipating the surgery and knowing what I would have to look forward to as far as recovery. We checked in to the hospital at 8 am that morning and by 10:39 am Zoe entered this world. She was 7 lbs. 12 oz and 20.5 inches long.

Brand new!

Zoe with Dr. Swarup

It was nice that Peter was able to stay with her while I was being stitched up and I could see her the whole time. After we were moved to recovery I was able to start breastfeeding her and she latched pretty quickly. As soon as we were moved to our room, my mom and Jacob came to meet her. Jacob was so excited and couldn't get enough of holding and kissing his sister.

Our whole stay at the hospital is a bit of a blur. There was a lot of cluster feeding, visits from my mom and Jacob and sleeping. Jacob had a hard time leaving us to go home with my mom and it was hard for me to be away from him but at least it was very temporary.

Our first "family of four" picture

We went home Friday morning and our first visitors (Robert, Andrew, Papou and Babcia) arrived on Sunday. I was still very swollen and by a Wednesday follow up appointment we found out that my blood pressure had spiked. This started a week of ER visits, doctor's appointments and medication trying to get my blood pressure down. It was such a stress dealing with my own health issues while trying to handle a newborn and a 4 year old. Thank goodness we had my mom here to help us out, especially during the late night ER visits. At one point they thought that they would have to admit me into the hospital and that was very upsetting since Zoe was only 9 days old at the time but thankfully they sent us home.

After my brothers and Peter's parents left, my dad, my brother in-law, sister-in-law and nephew came to meet Zoe. It was nice to have family come in and visit but it was also nice when everyone left and the house was somewhat quiet again. :-)

 We are so thankful that my mom was able to come and stay with us for an entire month. She was such a big help while she was here. We are adjusting to having two kids and so happy that we were blessed with another little bundle of joy!

Sugar and Spice...

Baby girl K

This second baby has been a long road for us. The road has been filled with a lot of heartache and struggles and we are so happy that we are lucky enough to be able to even be pregnant with our second child. We had our gender-reveal ultrasound a few weeks back and we brought Jake along with us to find out. Needless to say, he was a little disappointed to find out that he was going to have a sister and not a little brother. Peter and I were also a little in shock to think we were having a daughter. I think it's finally starting to sink in. It only took a couple days for Jake to warm up to his little sister and now he has started to include her in his prayers every night. It's so cute to hear him say "bless my sister so she can grow big and strong".

This little girl has already started off causing more trouble than her big brother. I have been plagued with nausea a lot longer and it is still there. I was lucky enough to get some medication to take that helps ease the nausea around 14 weeks. I've also really started to get heartburn more and more but other than that, it has been a good experience. I feel well enough that I've been able to continue to go to the gym with I think has helped with some of the other ailments that I had with Jake early on that I don't have yet. I've also started feeling her little flutters and kicks and can't wait for that to happen more often. I still remember that was my favorite part of being pregnant with Jake.

We feel very blessed to add to our family and can't wait for July to meet this little girl!

Party in Arizona

Since we were gone for the holidays and only had a family party (where Jake asked "where are all the kids?!?"), we decided to have a party in Arizona for all his little friends. It was Hot Wheels themed and the kids had a great time in the bounce house and just running around.