Priceless

 This little girl just keeps getting cuter everyday. Bigger too. She just had her 2 month check-up and weighed in at 9 lbs 10 oz. We are officially on the growth chart in the 11th percentile.

It is a good thing she is so darn cute, because she is one expensive baby...

(who me?)

I made this post a couple of years ago about all of Aubrey's NICU and hospital bills. Again, I won't share my views on how ridiculous health care in America is, but here is the final tally for little miss Cora:

My Hospital Bills (including epidural): $24,631

High-Risk Ultrasound Appointments: $4,321

Routine OB Care and Delivery: $6,676

Routine Lab Work and Tests: $1,300

P17 Shots & Syringes: $170

Neonatologist visits during NICU Stay: $6,200

Hearing Screening & Routine Newborn care: $800

And drumroll please.....

NICU hospital stay: $185,610!

FINAL AMOUNT: $229,708

Welcome to California....

Cora had a relatively uneventful 19 day NICU stay, and it was a week shorter than Aubrey's was in Utah. California is so expensive!

However... opening all of these hospital bills didn't give me a heart attack because we have awesome insurance through Steven's job. We had to pay a $250 copay for me and a $250 copay for Cora. Everything else was covered 100%. So grateful for insurance.

So, Aubrey was my $100,000 baby and Cora is my $200,000 baby. 

Both my kids are priceless and I am so grateful for modern medicine and hospitals that allow my little girls to get the start in life they need. 

However, the price tag sure is shocking!

Beach

Steven is on paternity leave for the next two weeks. He actually could have gotten six weeks off completely paid, but we chose to just take two. More than that felt a little greedy, but it will be so nice to have him around these next couple of weeks while we move. 

Since we have a lot of work with moving coming up, we decided to take a fun day and go to the beach!   

Here are our Foote family "feet" in the sand. Aubrey of course had a hard time staying still, so hers is all smudged, and Cora's foot is so tiny it is hard to see. 

Me and my girls. I'm a lucky mom.

We brought Subway to eat at the beach, which was a bad move. Within 2 minutes, we were surrounded by Seagulls determined to steal our food. Aubrey was terrified. She kept screaming, "Birds, go away! Go away!" Steven, however, is great at getting Aubrey out of her comfort zone. He convinced her that chasing the birds was hilarious, which was way better than having her scream at them. 

I had to go feed Cora, and while I did, I just watched these two play in the ocean. It was definitely a moment I want to remember. Aubrey is so much fun and has way more energy than I know what to do with. 

Spending a hot sunny day at the beach in February? I'll take it!

Fun Hibernating

 Steven's mom has been here to visit. We have had a great time and will be sad that as of tomorrow all our visitors are officially gone. Just in time to move all by ourselves :)

Grandma has enjoyed lots of fun with Aubrey and lots of snuggles with sweet Cora.

Cora is growing fast and still sleeps a lot! She is pretty strong and also developing very well, so I'm enjoying having such a sleepy baby. Cuddling up to sleep on our chests is probably her favorite place to be.

She actually fits in her carseat now. For the first couple of months, my tiny little girls look pretty funny in their car seats... We don't go to the doctor again for another couple of weeks, but I am guessing she is up to about 8.5 pounds!

We have also been doing what I call "fun hibernating," Aubrey loves to have fun, and she has definitely been missing her friends and going out so much. She called some teenage girls we saw walking around our apartment complex "friends" so we know she is getting desperate.

Preemies have weaker lungs and much weaker immune systems than a full-term baby. A common cold could put Cora back in the hospital so fast. I don't even want to think about RSV or the flu. And, honestly, the greatest risk of Cora getting sick is catching something from Aubrey.

So, we are pretty much hibernating until March/April. I tried to take Aubrey to a couple of places, but every time I do there are sooo many sick people! So... for now.... the poor girl is not able to do much.

We have been thinking of lots of fun things to do that are not around lots of germy people. The weather has been great the past couple of days, so we have gone swimming every day. I love living in California. Aubrey is still such a little dare devil.

We have also been doing lots of packing (will it ever end?), cooking, play dough, coloring, games, etc. If anybody has any other ideas of things we can do out of the house but not around people, I would love more ideas!

And.... we move into our new place next Saturday. I'm counting down the number of times I have to negotiate Aubrey from our apartment into the car.

Due Date

Today would have been my due date with Cora. January 28th is a date that was ingrained in my head with both pregnancies, but one that was never reached!

My dad came to visit last week and we had a great time. Aubrey was SO excited to spend time with "papa." She is still asking for papa to play catch with her.

We have been very blessed with lots of help/visitors. My mom left today, but Steven's parents are coming to visit Wednesday night. I will take all the help I can get! Especially because.... we are moving in less than a month.

Yikes! Moving with a 2-year-old and newborn will be interesting, but so worth it. We managed to find an updated duplex with both an attached garage and a yard. I'm so excited to not have to drag Aubrey up two flights of stairs anymore. And a yard! This summer is going to be awesome.

Living in Silicon Valley is definitely crazy for renting though. I searched Craigslist multiple times a day for weeks. When I found this duplex, I responded instantly. We showed up at the open house (along with 50 other people) right when it started with our money and application already filled out. There were so many applications, that we ended up signing a lease for actually MORE than their original rental asking price because so many people wanted to rent it. But... we got it! We must look really nice or something :)

Cora and Aubrey are such cute little sisters. Aubrey is very sweet to her and we haven't really had too much jealousy yet. But, before I make it sound perfect, Aubrey is definitely testing my patience in lots of other ways...

I'm living proof, since I am the second sibling... but sometimes I wonder how younger siblings survive all the "love" they get:

Cora is still such a calm baby. It amazes me! Most people have trouble getting their babies to do tummy time because they scream and hate it. I have a hard time because she is just so calm and completely content to just lay there:

Cora is such a blessing to our family. And.. I won't speak too soon because we have a long way to go, but I seem to have lucked out in the sleep department again. I'm only allowed to let Cora go one 5 hour stretch at night and I seriously have to wake her up every single night. Definitely not complaining about that!

Newborn Photos

We had a few newborn photos taken of Cora the other day. She is almost 4 weeks old, but still a couple weeks from her due date. I can't believe I could (and really should) still be pregnant.

However, we are so happy that we have gotten to spend extra time with this sweet girl. Hanging out with her is way more fun than being pregnant...even though I really wish I could keep my babies cooking longer.

It is always hard to just pick a couple of pictures to show, but here are a few I loved:

Cora is an easy model. She loves her sleep. She is starting to be more awake the past couple of days, but definitely still spends almost all her time sleeping.

I love this little face! Every mom is biased, but I think she is a pretty darn cute baby.

Sometimes I think Aubrey and Cora look alike, but other times I'm not sure. Here are a few of Aubrey's newborn photos taken almost exactly 2 years ago. I think they at least look like sisters! 

Pictures

We took some pictures! Mostly just because Steven's mom needed an updated family photo of us and I wanted one where Cora was not attached to tubes and wires. There is no way to make a newborn not look awkward in a family photo type shot. It is a good thing she is so darn cute:

I bought these matching dresses for the girls. Sadly, Cora will probably have grown out of it before she gets a chance to wear it to church. Such is life when you have a preemie during flu/RSV season, so I am glad we at least got some pictures.

We even managed to get a shot with my mom and the girls. Have a mentioned how lucky I am that my mom is here to help? I'm definitely worried about managing everything by myself once she leaves. I don't know how people have 4, 5, 6 kids. I will never claim to be supermom. 2 kids scares me!

It wasn't long before picture taking turned into this...

 and this....

But, I'll take what I can get. Aubrey is definitely a 2-year-old! 

I love having this little girl finally home with us. She is such a sweet baby.

Home at Last

We brought our sweet Cora home today after 19 days in the NICU. What a great day! I am exhausted, and completely happy. Here is Cora during her final minutes in the NICU:

And... I thought it was ridiculous, but hospital policy is that the mom has to be escorted out of the hospital with the baby in a wheelchair. So, even though I gave birth over 2 weeks ago and I recover really fast, I still got the wheelchair ride :)

The backseat of our car is really full now! As soon as we strapped Aubrey into the car, she turned to Cora and said, "baby, I love you." Melted my heart. 

Then as soon as we got home, Aubrey had her first chance to hold her little sister. When she saw that Cora was wearing a bow, she insisted on wearing one herself. I'm afraid we have a new hairstyle in the making.

Cora is such a sweet baby. She just slept all day long. Preemies are quite sleepy, so I pretty much just have to wake her up to eat every 3 hours around the clock. When she is awake, she is very quiet and alert and happy. I know that the super sleepy newborn phase doesn't last forever, so I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. 

We love her so much, and love finally being together as a family. I'm so grateful and blessed that she is healthy and thriving.