Welcome Emma Mae!

First, let me apologize for the huge blog fail! Would you believe me if I said we've been busy? The other slight problem is that we lost the usb cord to the camera so have been unable to upload photos (good timing). But a new one is in the mail, and we should be in business soon! Until then, here are a few photos taken from our phone.

And now to introduce Emma Mae VandenBos! Emma was born August 18th at 9:15am, she weighed 8lbs 2 oz and was 19.5 in. She is an incredibly healthy, beautiful and laid back baby. I am very thankful that labor and delivery went so much more smoothly then with Makena...only about 7 hrs of labor and 20 minutes of pushing before she came into the world. She came so fast we actually had to wait for the doctor, and 2 pushes after the doctor arrived she was born! I guess it helps being 4 cm dilated before labor even begins.

So far it looks like all hope of having a child that looks like me is lost. Emma looks so similar to Makena as a baby, and even has a very similar disposition so far. Ben just keeps saying it's his strong Dutch genes...no breeding them out!

Makena loves her new baby sister. She wakes up in the morning asking for "mommy, daddy, baby sister." When we ask her what baby sister's name is she answers, "emma baby." She loves to "hold" her, kiss her, and pretty much be involved in everything we do with her. The only thing she doesn't like is when daddy holds emma! In fact, the quote of the week was when Ben and Makena were sitting on the couch one morning and Ben said to Makena, "baby emma looks sad, should we go pick her up?" Makena responded "no baby up, makena up!"

Emma is not quite a week old, but she has already been on many outings! We have gone to two doctors appointments, to Target, out to lunch, out for breakfast, to the swimming pool (Ben and Makena swam while Emma and I watched), and even to a wedding! She is very easy to take out and about since she tends to sleep All the time (except for at night when she decides to get all gassy..and yes I know that's a made up word). So far having two children is an amazing and wonderful experience, and Ben and I are having lots of fun, though I have to admit, we are a little tired!