Isabelle's Third Week

Isabelle Mae at 3 Weeks Old

Just Hangin' Out

The "Not Happy" Face

My cutie pie...

Chen Ayi

I love this woman!

Just in time for her to spit-up!

Isabelle is getting bigger, right?

This little angel is growing and getting bigger... she literally got plumper overnight. New developments this week... she's making the cutest coo'ing sounds, lifting her head up more and more, and having even longer periods of alertness. When she sleeps, I see her smile a little bit. Bursting with love for this baby!!!

The sleep schedule seems pretty do-able, her last feed is at 9 pm (give or take 30 minutes) and she feeds at midnight, 3 or 4 am and then at 6 or 7 am. Although on Tuesday night she was up from 12-2 am just hanging out and looking cute. I fed her off and on for an hour and tried for the other hour to put her back to bed but she wasn't having it... I was exhausted the next day and I'm crap at taking naps. I don't know why, but it's really hard for me to go to sleep in the middle of the day. 

Travis and I think she has club foot. I know it's common for babies to have their feet be turned-in but her left foot is REALLY turned in. Travis and I both had casts on our feet when we were babies because we had it... we'll see but I'm calling it now.

We also got Isabelle's passport (temporary one) and now we're waiting on the Chinese visa. I'll be going back to Washington for about a month from March 5th-April 5th and Travis and Gabby would come up a week later and be back for three weeks so we can all travel back together. So excited! Nothing is completely confirmed yet but we should be there for Beth and Josh's birthday! Holla!

Naughty and Nice

Gabby wrote all over her Barbie Dresses 

in permanent marker!

Anyone know where to get new ones?

SO ANNOYED!

Gabby came home with this picture of me...

A "thank you" for buying her a nice snow jacket.

SO SWEET!

Isabelle's Second Week

No more umbilical cord!

Isabelle Mae at 2 Weeks

Happy Birthday Papa! 

(Grammy and Papa on the computer screen)

Gabby and Bella's face cracks me up

Eskimo Kisses

Lifting her head up!

Isabelle survived her first doctor's appointment and had a good week with lots of sleeping and eating. New developments include; the loss of her umbilical cord, holding her head up more, and longer stretches of alertness. She's been sleeping well at night (knock on wood) and last night night I had to actually wake her up twice to feed her because my boobs were so full. Our biggest challenge is that she likes to suck on things... In order to deal with this, we introduced a pacifier. It's not my first choice but using our pinky isn't working. She's not a big fan but she'd be on my boob 24/7 if I let her and I really don't want to be a human pacifier. The best part is that she totally knows who mama is... we're bonding well and since Travis had this whole week off she knows who her daddy is as well... so far, so good.

Gabby has been a bit more needy lately and wanting more attention but it hasn't been a huge issue and we expected her to be wanting more attention. Needless to say,  I'm pretty good at feeding Isabelle and reading books to Gabby at the same time. I want to make sure she gets her mommy time too. :)

Gabby is Writing!

Gabby is learning to write! She busted out with these letters on her easel the other day and wrote this without any help from us... Travis and I were super impressed... It's so awesome watching your kid learn. She is also into finding words that rhyme. We overheard her in bed sayign words that rhyme and getting all excited. She called us down to her room to tell us that bike and light rhyme, so Trav had to tell her that it doesn't quite rhyme but it's very close.

She's really interested in dinosaurs right now and has picked up a couple of books about sharks from the library... I think she's inheriting Trav's naturalistic intelligence.

Isabelle's First Doctor's Appointment

Dr. Tu Checking out her Feet

Isabelle Smiling?

Mama's Girls

Gabby is trying to keep her eyes open :)

Isabelle did really well- no crying

The Tebo family took baby Bella to her first doctor's appointment at 10 days old. It's supposed to be at 2 weeks but the nurse who made the appointment for us said everything was full at that time. Baby sister did really well and didn't fuss at all, except for when she got the PKU test. In 10 days, she gained 5 ounces, which the doctor said is very good, so Isabelle is now 7 pounds 11 ounces- almost 8 pounds. Still so tiny... She's also 20.9 inches now (up from 20 inches). All in all, things are going smoothly and it's reassurance for me that the breastfeeding is going well and she's getting what she needs. Yay!

Isabelle's First Week

Isabelle Mae

5 days Old

Gabby is all giggles holding her new sister

Isabelle's First Bath

Poor thing just cried threw the whole thing...

Happy New Year of the Rabbit!

Isabelle's first week was pretty chill... she spent most of her time sleeping and eating, with small amounts of time looking around. The most eventful part of the week was when she had her first bath. She wasn't a big fan and screamed threw the whole thing but dang did she smell so sweet afterwards... awww, I love the smell of a newborn baby after a bath. She's lifting her head-up a lot more and makes this funny sniffing sound when she's about ready to feed. It cracks me up.

What I know about Isabelle so far... she likes my boobs A LOT, she hiccups about three different times during the day (she did this in the womb too), doesn't seem to mind having a dirty diaper, and is a good sleeper.

Miss Gabriella is continuing to be a great big sister. She comes home and everytime asks to hold her "new baby sister" and rarely uses her name. She talks about how beautiful Isabelle is and that she's happy that she got what she wanted (baby sister). She told a bunch of people at school that her name was Isabella so we've had to make some corrections. She told me that she just likes that name better. Gabby is begininng to write her name out and is still enjoying school. Today they celebrated Chinese New Year by watching a dragon dance and visiting some offices to collect a "humbao" or red envelope with candy in it.

This following week is Chinese New Year, which means TONS of fireworks. We're looking forward to hanging out as a family...

Isabelle Mae Tebo is Born!

Happy Birthday!

Mommy and Isabelle's First Meeting...

Look at that healthy baby girl!

Self-Portrait of mama and baby Bella

Self-Portrait

Isabelle and Mommy's First Night Together

Isabelle Mae Tebo

Mama's Girls

Big Sister, Gabriella

She's LOVIN' her sister!

First Tebo Family Picture

Mommy Heaven!

Gabby and Bellas's First Meeting

Daddy's Girls...

Awww... Trav's two baby girls...

Daddy is a lucky guy!

Leaving the Hospital

In the car... we're ready to go home!

Welcome Home Isabelle!

Travis and I are over the moon to have another healthy baby girl! As many people know already, I was not-so-secretly hoping it would be a little girl. Gabriella was so insistent that she was going to have a sister and I wanted her to have that. Plus, I always wanted a little sister myself and now I can watch them have this special and unique relationship... I get a little teary-eyed just thinking about it...

Born: January 21, 2011 (Travis is October 21st so this should be easy to remember)
Time: 6:00 pm
Weight: 7 pounds 6 ounces
Length: 20 inches
Chinese Name: Li Ming (Bright/Beautiful). Our ayi, or nanny, gave her this name.
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
Chinese Year: Tiger (Just like dad) and since she's the, "Tail of the Tiger," or towards the end of the year that means that she will be strong, according to the Chinese.

Nickname: Gabby and I like, Bella. Travis likes Izzy. We'll see how this pans out... I don't care about the "Twilight" reference that Bella has... I love it anyway. It was a name I thought about when we had Gabriella, which was about four years ago. An actress named her daughter, Sophia Bella, and I always thought that was such a lovely name. Right now, we seem to just be sticking to Isabelle…

Story about Name: Travis and I like strong, feminine names. In particular, we like long names that can be shortened so there's a variety of options for when they get older. I've liked this name for awhile and it's one of the few that hasn't been tainted by a student. Plus, all three of us really liked it. I'm also a sucker for the second or third syllable of the first name being the same as the last name... I just think it sounds nice and it flows well with her big sister's name, Gabriella. Even better, it's the Spanish version of Elizabeth, which happens to be my best friend's name. The middle name, Mae, is a family name. It's my middle name, my cousin Marie's, my second cousin Madalynne, and both of my grandmother's had this for a middle name. It made sense to carry on the name.

Labor Story: I was 41 weeks and 4 day pregnant when they induced me on the 21st. We could have waited until Monday, January 24th which was when I would have been officially 42 weeks, but let's face it... the weekend is much more convenient. They put a prostaglandin in around 9:30AM to ripen my cervix and I started feeling "something" around 11 am. Around noon they were little annoying contractions and progressively intensified. We were originally placed in the ICU because there weren't any birthing suites open. Around 2 pm, we could move rooms and when we got there I remember looking at Travis... this is it... holy crap... contractions were getting worse but do-able. Of course I'm excited but freaked-out. I've done this before but I know it's going to get worse. Dr. Afnan came by and said hello and that he'd be around tomorrow. Around 5 pm (about 5 minutes after the doctor left) was when some serious action started and the contractions were getting crazy. The midwife said I was 4cm dilated so in my head I was thinking that this was going to take awhile and the strength of the contractions made me feel like I was in hell. During the worst part, my mind went into some other world, I breathed through the contractions, and envisioned holding a baby... Shortly afterwards, I literally felt a pop in my belly and the baby drop. I told Travis to get the nurse, then a gush of water came out, which was my water breaking. Then I felt this uncontrollable impulse to push...I was clearly no longer in control of my body. I always read about the pushing impulse but didn't experience it with Gabby. At one point I screamed to cut the baby out. No amount of training can prepare you for the completely raw and primal experience of the final stage of labor. A couple of pushes later, out she came. "It's a girl!" I forgot to mention that the TV show "Modern Family" was playing in the background. An awesome show and a great distraction. Travis didn't realize I was having the baby and missed it because it happened so fast... they put her on my chest and it was instant love. Travis and I were crying like little babies because the whole thing is such an emotional journey... very surreal because I’ve been imaging this for a long time… people who know our story, know how much we wanted this... and she's here! Travis was an amazing coach, and as we like to say we "team tebo-ed" it.

After labor, I took a shower and ate some dinner. Travis stayed with me in the hospital on Friday and Saturday night, running home in the morning to pick Gabby up and bring her in to hang out with her little sister. We made it home on Sunday just in time for dinner. Everything about this pregnancy and labor has been a trillion times easier. I’m hoping this continues in the days and weeks to come.

Thanks to all the friends, family, and colleagues that have wished us well. We appreciate your support on this phase of our journey through life.