A quiet (but delicious) Thanksgiving here in Durham.  Chef Tommy made an amazing meal and Kaya and Laney got to enjoy their grandparents (on the Rose/Kircher side).  I even managed to take care of the two girls at once for a whole two hours by myself in the morning, which I think ranks up there with the difficulty of cooking Thanksgiving dinner!

We even had energy left for a game of post-turkey choo choo train.

Sometimes Kaya counts 10, sometimes she only counts 6 or 7.

We made it out of the house this weekend with the whole family and went to Marbles Kids’ Museum in Raleigh. Kaya had a great time and we spent a few hours in the “Around Town” exhibit. And Laney slept the whole time, as a newborn should.  In this picture, Kaya, Laney (in a sling), Kaya’s toy horse, and I are getting thrown around in the back of a fire truck.

Wide awake this morning! And in a straight jacket swaddle.

Having two daughters inevitably leads to comparisons between them.  And staged photos.  Sisters? You be the judge.  (Laney’s on the bottom)

Because we know you want to know.

Kaya’s school has an annual fall event where they host a potluck and show off the kids’ “artwork.”  I had to work last year (thank you fellowship) and was looking forward to it this year.  So I decided I’d like labor to start after that event and a nice afternoon nap, two days before the due date (the due date being 11/17, just for clarification Mom).  And that’s pretty much how it went.

I had Tommy take this picture of me right after we put Kaya to bed Saturday night so I could compare it to my 40 week picture from 2 years ago. (2014 on the left) because I felt like we weren’t going to get another chance. I was just having mild contractions when we went to bed Saturday night.

Labor turned legit around 2am and we called Aunt Laura over around 4am to watch Kaya.  I decided I wanted to see Kaya before I left to tell her goodbye in person.  Luckily, she has been waking up early frequently since Daylight Saving (never thought I’d say that!) and she woke up by 6:30am.  This is her kissing her baby sister good luck before we left.  This picture was taken at 6:44am.

We drove the 20 minutes to the birthing center (where we had relatively last minute decided to deliver).  We arrived at 7:11am and Laney was born at 8:03am – we didn’t have time to take any pictures between those time points! We ended up having a water birth (which we did not plan but a warm bath sounded pretty good at that point).  Here’s a picture of the birthing suite (minus the bathtub):

She was also born “en caul,” meaning with her amniotic sac intact (i.e. my water never broke) which is relatively rare as many hospitals will artificially rupture the membranes these days.  A google search after we got home reveals en caul births are considered very lucky in many cultures and lore about them is rampant.  Some think people born en caul can never drown, some think they have clairvoyance.  So… psychic or sailor?

Laura and Dylan brought Kaya to visit around noon and then we all went home as a family, getting home around 1pm – only about 7 hours after we had left! And then we took a family nap!

Kaya and Laney met for the first time yesterday afternoon and it was pretty fun.  Kaya confirmed that Laney has a nose, mouth, eyes and ears.  And so far she has been very excited to help change diapers and carry her around – hopefully that sticks!

The Rose family is happy to announce the birth of our newest member: Elena Meredith Rose (we plan to call her Laney for short). She was born November 16 at 8:03am weighing in at 6 lb 10 oz and 19.5 inches – the same height and one ounce heavier than Kaya. She can’t wait to meet her big sister and Max!

Kaya has finally warmed up to wearing her Duke shirt and is all ready for the football game today – beat Virginia Tech!