Seda Jane Hrodey

Holding my baby girl for the first time.

Already a Daddy's girl!

Our baby girl, Seda (Say-duh), made her grand entrance into the world on April 18th... 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 19.5 inches! She gave us quite a scare when we checked into the hospital and not 10 minutes later, the doctor said we needed to do an emergency c-section because both mine and Seda's blood pressure and heart rates were very high. We heard her cry when she came out, but she was rushed right to the NICU because she looked so sick. I ended up having an infection in my uterus, and when the doctor opened me up, he said that it was on fire. Unfortunately, so was Seda with a temperature of 103. Her temperature came down very quickly, but they put her on antibiotics to make sure she didn't get my infection. The worst part for me was that I had to wait 24 hours to be on my antibiotics to go into the NICU to see her (I couldn't be around the other babies). Daddy got to go in right away and see her and hold her though, so he took good care of her while I was away. He took some pictures, then brought them in for me to see so we could decide on her name. We were choosing between Emily and Seda. Our thought was if she looked fair and blond, like Charlie, we would go with Emily, but if she looked Armenia and dark, we would go with Seda. She is fair, but Pete and I were both still leaning towards Seda, so that's what we picked. Seda is an Armenian name that means spirit of the forest. We decided to go with the Hrodey tradition and use a "J" middle name for her, so we thought Seda Jane sounded perfect. So, that's the story of our baby girl!! More pics and updates to come!

Seda and Mimi.

Day 2 Pictures.

My friend, Bobbi, was working in the NICU when Seda came in. We didn't have her name yet, so Bobbi made her a special sign to give her our pet names. I was SO happy that Bobby was there to take care of Seda for her first 10 hours.

Day 1 Pictures.

39 Weeks.... and Counting!!!

Well... we've made it to 39 weeks! I was really thinking this baby might come early, but it looks like she's hanging on for the long haul just like Charlie did. I've finally given up on the thought of an early appearance, and now I know she's going to stay put until next Friday... or even later. Hopefully she'll come out before we have to worry about being induced though. Charlie decided to make his presence in the world the night before we were supposed to go in for all of the fetal monitoring, so hopefully she'll do the same.
As of now, I am feeling great. The doctor said she's moved down a bit, which is good for me because I have a little relief from feeling like she was pushing up on my ribs. It's easier to bend over and carry Charlie. We go to the doctor again on Tuesday morning, so we'll hopefully see where we are at then.
We've actually narrowed down our huge list of names to two!! We'll be taking those to the hospital, see what she looks like, and then decide which one fits best. I can't believe we finally narrowed it down to two!For now, it's time to enjoy a nice weekend, maybe go for some walks, and just patiently wait for our little girl to decide she's ready to join the world!

Easter

Pretty excited to leave the Easter Bunny some carrots and Scooby bones.

 We had a nice little Easter at home this year. Charlie really enjoyed getting all of his treats and hunting for Easter eggs. It was actually a pretty lazy day, but it was nice to spend the day with my guys. Our lives are going to change pretty drastically soon, so we are enjoying our last moments of Charlie being our number 1 little guy in our life! Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Smiling in front of his Easter baskets.

Loving his new Crocs Grandpa and Grandma gave him for Easter.

Starting his egg hunt.

Chocolate eggs filled with peanut butter... Charlie's favorite!

Posing with Payton after collecting all the eggs.

Our family tradition of Egg Fighting.

Gotta love these guys!

Easter Eggs with Friends

 The Wednesday before Easter, my friend Shannon invited us over for a play-date at her house. We decided to try and color Easter eggs with the kiddos. It was an overall success! Having 6 kids coloring at the same time was a bit scary with only 3 of us moms to supervise, but they did such a great job! Joe and Claire definitely enjoyed it the most... they were so creative with their eggs. Charlie lasted for about 15 minutes, but then he got bored and wanted to play with the toys. After we colored eggs, we made pizza for the kids and had some lunch. It's so nice to have this little group of friends for Charlie to play with. He loves all his friends, and it's great for me too because Shannon and Margaret are my to good friends here in Marquette! They have been so helpful to me during this pregnancy. I always apologize to them because I feel like such a lazy mom when I'm with them because I don't do any of the heavy lifting, and they always do all the work. I promise I will be a better contributing mommy at the play-dates soon, Shannon and Margaret! You two are the best, and I don't know what I would have done without you for the past 9 months!!

Joe's creative juices flowing... what color to do next?

Charlie coloring his first egg.

Margaret and Conner working on an egg.

Shannon and Anna attempting some stripes on Anna's egg.

Claire waiting for her egg to be done. She definitely had the coolest looking eggs of the group!

Grandpa & Grandma's Stay

While Pete was in New York for a week, Grandpa and Grandma came to stay with us to give me an extra hand around the house... and to be here for emotional support in case the baby came early. No luck there. I was horrible at taking pictures while they were here; probably because I was napping or sitting on the couch most of the time. It was so nice to have them here to help me keep Charlie entertained. It's very hard to be a single parent to a very active 3-year-old when I am 9 months pregnant. Not only did they help entertain Charlie, they also helped me get a TON of projects done around the house. These included cleaning out the attic, painting, cleaning up the yard, hanging some stuff on the walls, cleaning the screens and windows, fixing the kitchen cupboard shelves, and many other little tasks. I've said it a million times, and I am sure I'll keep saying it... I have the best in-laws in the world! I don't know how I would have made it through the week without them here. All of their help, and the rest I was able to get, is going to help me get through these last two weeks of pregnancy. I will say I am glad that the baby didn't come while Pete was gone. That would have been quite the interesting experience!! So... again... a big, HUGE thank you to the best in-laws in the world! You two are the absolute best, and I can't imagine my life without you in it! We love you!

Charlie loved helping Grandpa wash the screens for the windows.

Charlie washed while Grandpa scrubbed.

Such a big helper.

Funny... I went to take a shower after this picture was taken. 10 minutes later, Charlie was brought up to me because he fell into the soap bucket!! He was cold and wet. Silly guy.

We did get to celebrate Dad's and my birthday while they were here. Our first cake from Huron Mountain was yummy!

Charlie helping Grandpa and I blow out the candles.

My Guys . . .

 Pete and Charlie were out in the yard throwing the ball for Payton the other day. They were sitting in the lawn together, and it was the cutest site. I just had to take some pictures. These show Charlie's new smile. He starts off with his pirate smile, and then we tell him to do his good smile. This is what we get! At least he has his eyes open!

This one is for you, Auntie Mary!

All smiles getting ready to jump . . . 

Well... needless to say... Charlie LOVES his bean bag that Auntie Mary made him for his birthday. His favorite thing to do though is jump off the bed into the bean bag. I know... everyone is flashing back to Charlie getting stitches from jumping off the bed, so don't worry. He's only allowed to do it when we are in the room with him, and we make sure it is VERY far from the toy chest. :) I told him one day that we needed to take pictures for Auntie Mary, and he kept bugging me every time to get the camera. So... Auntie Mary... here they are! Charlie was very excited for you to see how much fun he has jumping! Thanks for the great gift!

Free falling . . . 

... and landing in the bean bag.