Lula Rose Dahl Mulligan!

**I have NO idea what happened with the formatting! It looks so strange. Kind of difficult to read. I don't have time to fix it so...there it is.** 

Enjoying the waning days of fall, waiting for the little lady to arrive. 



Fin still doing well at violin lessons. He's nailing his Twinkles and going onto Lightly Row now.


Captive audience. 


Enjoying a day at the apple orchard. Mac ate about 5 apples walking around!


My last days of pregnancy were wonderful. Lots of cuddles with the boys, strolls around the neighborhood with Bubba, resting when I could. 



My boys.



Little Lula (Lou-la) Rose Dahl Mulligan made her entrance into this world on October 12th at 10:45pm! She weighed 8lbs 9oz (the biggest of all three kids!), 20 inches long, red/orange hair, dark blue eyes. Strong cry-the OB actually called it a "lusty" cry hahah!Early Tuesday morning, it seemed like my water might of broken  but was such a slow leak I wasn't too sure. Then, early Wednesday morning, I continued having increased leaking. I was on a "Procedure" day so hammered out a bunch of spinals and arterial lines with contractions increasing throughout the day (worked 7-1 non-stop; it was a blast!). They weren't particularly strong so I didn't really think much about them. After work, I went on a walk/run around Silver Lake Park and then went to my weekly OB appointment. I told my OB about the increased leaking and on my check she couldn't feel the amniotic sac, I had dilated quite a bit from the previous week. She sent me to triage at the hospital for the Fern Test. 


Waiting for the results of the fern test.

Alas, it was positive for amniotic fluid and  the contraction monitor showed I was having regularly timed contractions. Subsequently I was admitted to the hospital around 5:30pm for augmentation since my water had been broken for so long. This is Jeff's biggest weekend of the year-the Indian Summer Squash Tournament. I got in touch with him and he headed to Rochester from St. Paul. The OB team agreed to wait to start Pitocin until he arrived at the hospital. He got to the hospital around 7pm and I was able to get my epidural (woot woot) and the Pitocin was started around 7:30/8pm. At 1030 baby girl was ready to join us! One push later and there she was! So amazing. Jeff and I both agreed it was an incredibly "civilized" delivery compared to the most recent delivery :) Regarding her name, we knew we wanted another Irish name to match the boys. Lula means bountiful lady, prosperous. It's a very old name, last making it on a name list in the early 1900s in Ireland. We can't believe she has red hair-the cutest ginger you ever did see. She's already latching and nursing like a champ. The boys came by this on the 13th with Nanabob and were unbelievably sweet with her. Mac kept saying "baby! baby!" and was so gentle touching her face.  Fin was super excited and kept asking to hold her. We were so happy to see them. Nanbob came down last night (previously planned) and the timing couldn't have been better! So grateful they were there to help with the boys so we could focus on Lula and recovering. 

Jeff and his little lady.


Throughout this pregnancy we've wondered if she would look like: would she be white-blond like Fin or brown haired like Mac. About five minutes before she was born, I looked at Jeff and said, "What if she has red hair?" Welp! Out she came, red-headed beauty. 


The whole family together for the first time. 

The nights in the hospital went great. I had them take her down to the nursery for a couple of hours the second night so I could get a little sleep. The nursing staff was great and Jeff, Lula, and I snuggled and cuddled and loved on each other. 



It's amazing how much love we are all capable of. The addition of this little lady makes us all unbelievably happy. 



Lula was super strong from the get go! Look at that neck strength! Jeff's face says it all, wonderment and awe at this little lady. 

Jeff had to get back to work early morning of the second day. Nana came and brought us home. So excited to bring her home. 


Look at this hair!!!! I can't believe it! 


Walking Fin to the bus stop as a family! Lula is 5 days old in this pic!




Carving pumpkins. 


Wrestling with Dada!!!!


Mama and Dada snuck away with Lula for a solo lunch and realized we were wearing matching shirts! 


Naps with Lula. 

Bubba loving on Lu.

So little. Great sleeper. Fantastic eater.

Snuggles with Uncle Jason.

Playing laser-tag at RGCC for Fall Fest! 

Smiles!

 

  

Sleepy smiles!

She sure gets lots of kisses.  

 

 

Studying and nursing #residentlife

 

This pic cracks me up! Hiiiiiii-ya!

Mac yells, "Mas gotchu!" which effectively means chase me!  

Bath time always ends with the bathroom being very wet!  

Clean baby. 

 

The Mulligan Bunch-now five strong! We had a perfect night trick-or-treating! The weather was great and Fin and Mac were soo happy! Mac's little legs got pretty darn tired at the end of the night and needed to be carried by Dada. 



Went up to Duluth for a quick weekend so baby Lu could meet her great-grandmothers! It was crazy! We got up late Friday night and Lula decided to be wide awake the rest of the night...and Mac decided to join her. UFFDA! I was SO exhausted on Saturday. It was really nice seeing everyone. The weather was crazy beautiful and we took advantage of it! Fin went on a long bike ride with Nana and we went on a hike.


Hiking with my lady! 



Exploring, throwing rocks into the creek.


Great-Grandma and Lu.


Juliana and the boys


Keri came over with Shea and Keenan for a playdate. Two of us, friends for decades, with our five kids. Who would have ever seen this coming?!


Sweetie-pie.


Auntie Tarini came for a visit!!! 




The boys really love little Lu. Any time she cries they are sure to let me know and instruct me to feed her! Or they run for a pacifier. 



She is the sweetest.


THAT HAIR IN THE SUN! She took her first bottle like a champ.She sleeps pretty darn well; up 1 to 3 times per night. We can even lay her down partly awake and she'll fall asleep. It's amazing. Her brothers will be running around, screaming and she'll be sound asleep. 


Red heads Unite! Auntie Betsey so happy to see a fellow red-head!

Fin very happy to help. Such a good big brother.



Mac brushing his teeth saying, "It tickles!" He's the cutest! And he is talking so much these days. Crazy strong personality. 


Mama and Fin date day! We went to see The Trolls movie and then out for lunch and malts. It was SO MUCH FUN! It was great to have one on one time with Fin. He has been so great with Lula and Mac. We're so lucky to have such an awesome, kind kiddo.We ended up changing schools for Fin in the middle of October. Shortly after starting school in September he was the target of bullying. It started on the bus so we tried working with him to give him skills to manage the situations. Unfortunately the bullying didn't stop and he ended up being punched in the face twice. He really starting changing: he became withdrawn, his stutter was the worse it has ever been, and he actually said, "Mama, I'm starting to feel really bad about myself." Break. My. Heart. Jeff and I were beside ourselves. It was terrible and the school was not helpful in managing the situations. We toured a school and found a great fit for FIn. He was not even the slightest bit sad to leave. His stutter improved within days, his demeanor went back to normal, and he is actually LEARNING! So happy for this little guy. We love him so much. 


Smiles!


 Naty came back for a couple of months-maybe longer! The boys were a little bit excited and so were we!!


Lula waiting to for Naty to arrive-she is 5 weeks old here. She rolled over for the second time this evening. I didn't count the first time because she was young and I thought it was a fluke. Well, she continues to roll over...obviously she's ahead of the curve! 

Jam session! 


Excited for Christmas!


Look at how strong she is and that her hair is still red!

Naty and Lula snuggles.


Family night eating Vietnamese! 


First snow!


Look at these kiddos!!! 


Fin still loves reading so much. 


Winter time is so much more fun with kiddos!
 

Fun times with Grandpa.


Fin once again doting on his sister.


Bathtime. 


She is a really good-natured baby. She smiles a ton, lots of giggles, is strong, and cuddly. She doesn't cry a ton and sleeps pretty well. Love her so much. 




Christmas Eve day we all went out skiing! Jason and Bev met us at Welch Village. The snow was pretty good and the kids did wonderfully. It was such a fun way to spend the day. The first time up the chair lift, I almost dropped Mac but recovered!!!! YIKES!!!! He made it down the hill once and his little legs got so tired. Fin and Jeff have gone multiple times since and Fin has gotten so much better. 


Getting their gear. 


Tired guy. 


Wiped out. Skiing (or Skeem, as Mac calls it), is hard work!

My kiddos!! Merry Christmas! 


Look at Fin with the missing front tooth!

Lula in her Christmas tutu. So. Sweet.



New winter hats! Woot woot! 


Matching Christmas PJ's. 


Christmas Day Crew. 

 
Lu likes bath time. She LOVES bath time with her bros. 

 

Ski buddies

Fin and his buddy Miriam reading Shakespeare! These two are peas in a pod!!! 

I came upstairs one day and found these two napping like this! 

Sleeping beauty. At her 2 month check-up she was absolutely doing awesome. She is average weight, head circumference, but >80 percentile for length. Long lean baby! 

NYE at Welch--Fireworks! All five of us plus Naty went to Welch for NYE. It was a super fun way to ring in the New Year. We brought dinner (Fin made pb&j's for everyone) and took turns watching the kiddos in the chalet. 

So lucky to have Jeff by my side for this crazy life. 

Naty even tried skiing NYE! She did great! 

Happy Birthday to Mama! We spent the day skiing together. Then I got a massage in the afternoon :)

First black diamond! It was pretty steep actually, which scared him, but we took it slow and he made it down. He was pretty unhappy while doing it but when he looked back up the hill after he finished it he was definitely proud!

Happy Birthday Mama :)

Birthday dinner.

Sweetie-Lu. She really is the best. 

Fin's group violin lesson. He loves playing with the other kids.

Jeff and Fin had quite the date day/night. They went to the squash club and played squash for about 3 hours--also included was an epic game of Freeze Tag in which it was Fin and about 6 other adult men playing! Then a visit to the science museum and a costume party! The theme was the Roaring 20s and was a celebration for a Commodore member's 50th birthday. Fin and Dada had matching grey vests and didn't get to bed until MIDNIGHT! They had a great time, obviously. I was at home with Mac and Lu and we also had a great time. I think Mac really needed some one-on-one time with Mama. He was so unbelievably happy just to be together.