Lucy Skye is born!!!

On June 29, 2010 at 12:45 pm we welcomed our second daughter Lucy Skye Vogelzang. She was 8lbs and 20 1/4 inches. We were happy to have family and friends visit and meet her early on.

June

June was an extremely busy month, like we knew it would be. We started cleaning and painting the Whitewater place at the end of May, but we were limited to only weekends, so it took awhile. We painted Willow's room green, her bathroom a sponged yellow on yellow, the living room/dining room a grey color, and our bedroom a lavender. We managed to finish the major stuff before we officially moved in on June 12th, but there is still a lot to be done before it looks the way we want it to. Plus, we have all the unpacking and organizing that comes with moving again. Jerry was nice enough to help us with painting on the last weekend before we moved. Mandy was determined to paint and move before the baby came, but it was a bit harder. We were at least able to set up the furniture, and organize the necessary things by the end of the month. Mandy had a lot of fun on her last sub job of the year, high school physics teacher; she spent several hours correcting final exams. My cousin Tonya had her son, Javian Lee, early, born on June 4th, two weeks early and one day before his sister Jasmine. There are so many birthdays and anniversaries in June, but especially the first ten days. Andy gave me a gift certificate for a Prenatal Massage for my birthday, which was a great idea; I enjoyed being pampered a bit. I have continued to enjoy my prenatal yoga classes, but realize that I will be unable to continue after the baby is born, unfortunately. We were able to get out to Kirschbaum's and pick strawberries on the 19th, though they weren't as good this year as the last; we stopped to meet Javian as well. I was placed with a cooperating teacher in Fort Atkinson for my student teaching in the fall and was able to meet with her, on my due date, to talk and tour the school; I really enjoyed our meeting and felt like we really clicked. Early the next morning, I realized I was having contractions and was pretty sure we were in labor. We were lucky that Bob was able to take care of the piano moving, since we couldn't be there that day like we had planned. Andy called work and we finished loading stuff into the car and took Willow and Molly with us to Bob and Dorothy's. We spent a few hours there, but after calling the doctor's office, we were advised to go to the hospital asap. It was a good idea we left when we did, because Lucy Skye was born about two hours from the time we arrived at the hospital, incredibly faster than I ever imagined would happen.

May

We took Willow to a Meriter Tour this month; I'm not sure how much she really understands. She now knows that Mommy will be going to the hospital when she is going to have the baby. Willow likes to tell us that there is a baby in her tummy too, and she has even figured out how to make it move like it's kicking. She uses her stethoscope, not to listen to our heartbeat, but to listen to the baby's. I finally managed to take her to a park to play in Madison; she had so much fun, but it's always harder to get her to leave than come. Mandy's been taking a Prenatal Yoga class for two months now; it is an amazing experience. We visited Dad in Milwaukee on the 15th, before we went to Luke's graduation party. It was great to see Luke and Beth again. On the 20th, my cousin Ashley got married to Greg. I so wish we could have been there to share in such a happy time, but we were there in thought at least. We met Sue with Deagan and Shea at a park on the 21st; Willow and Deagan just loved playing together, and it is always nice to spend time with other moms. We've been buying extra diapers and stuff like that in preparation for the baby. We had to have another ultrasound to make sure the baby wasn't breech; thankfully it wasn't. I also started taking Zofran for mild morning sickness in this third trimester, something I never had to deal with in my first pregnancy. At the end of the month, we started cleaning and painting the place in Whitewater in preparation for moving. It's a lot of work, but kind of fun to decorate a home for once. Still, I expect it will take quite awhile to finish everything we want to do there. Willow spent a week up in Milwaukee with Mom and Dad, but it was really hard on her; we decided we would avoid her staying other places without us if possible for now for her sake.

April

This month Mandy definitely looked six months pregnant; it's interesting how much variance there is between pregnancies. People at work are no longer afraid to ask if I'm pregnant. Mandy also had to start wearing a si-loc belt 24/7 due to pregnancy issues. We had a great time visiting Chris and Tiffani, friends we don't see very often at all. When you have a family, it is harder to find time to visit people it seems. We took Willow to an Easter Egg hunt in McKee Farms Park; there were too many kids to really enjoy the hunt, but we discovered some great playground equipment. Willow has continued to cultivate her friendship with Brandon and Elena; it is nice to see her making friends.

March

We unfortunately started this month off with Willow's first earache. I've never felt so helpless as I did when she was screaming in agony, and I couldn't do anything. We were happy to still be able to go to Rhadei' birthday party at an indoor water park geared toward swimmers of all ages. Willow had a lot of fun, though she was a bit afraid of water falling on her face. It's a different experience when you go somewhere with your kids. Chad, Tami, Ashley, Megan, and Claire were unexpectedly able to come visit, and Willow was lucky to spend some time with them on the 14th. Unfortunately, despite having cousins that live in the same state, she still doesn't see them as often as we would like. Mandy and Willow went to an event at the library where we got to meet some baby chicks, a couple bunny rabbits, and a lamb. Seeing animals in real life is a bit different than in books. We finally found time to visit the Obrich Spring Show on the 21st. It wasn't as good as the last two years, but it is still a nice exhibit to go to and has become a bit of a tradition for our family.