And Baby Girl Makes Four

Hello again!  I thought since we've now been a family of 4 for 7 months now, it would be a good time to start blogging again.  Actually, 7 months ago would've probably been a better time but, hey, it is what it is :-)  

Our sweet Callie came into the world on November 5th, 2013.  Her "full" name is Calista Kathryn.  She weighed 6lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long with big, blue eyes and red hair.  And let me tell you...she is a feisty one!!!  Here is a pic of her from a few days ago.  I love the look on her face because it is so "her".....

Since I have 7 months of pictures to catch you up on, let's get started shall we?

Callie's first picture.  She came into the world after 20 hours of labor and 2 hours of pushing.  I ended up being induced at 40 weeks, 1 day because my OB didn't want me going too far past my due date because of my age.  I really wanted to go drug-free, but once my water broke, I just couldn't hang.  The contractions after my water breaking were so intense that every single muscle in my body was shaking uncontrollably.  I kept trying to breathe through them but I just couldn't get air.  It was like trying to breathe through a straw.  So, I gave in and had the epidural.....which made me vomit repeatedly the entire time I was pushing.  Good times.  This little sweet potato was more than worth it though...

 

Here she is at 4 days old.  I have a whole series of pictures like this of her examining her hands.  I swear this kid has never been a "baby lump".  She has been very alert and very aware of everything since she was born.  Which made her newborn photo shoot a real treat...ha!  The photographer said she was the most "challenging" baby she had ever worked with.  Like I said....fiesty!!!

I love this picture.  I think she was a week old here.  This is one of the few pictures I have of her sleeping.  Her little face is so darn precious.

This one just cracks me up.  I think she was 6 weeks old here.

Two months old.

Cuteness at almost 3 months.

Four months.

Five months.  This, my friends, is when my child began to crawl.  She started with army crawling a few days before she turned 5 months and was full-on hands and knees crawling by 5.5 months!!!  Trying to keep up with Ben I suppose.

 Another picture taken between 5 and 6 months.

The day she turned 6 months, we began to introduce solids.  Here Ben is feeding her avocado.  We decided to try baby-led weaning, which is a British term that basically just means slowly giving the baby the same foods that we eat (no purees, no "baby" foods) and letting them lead the way on what they are ready for.  However, after offering multiple foods that Callie subsequently hated, we decided to switch to purees instead.  She LOVES the purees.  So, that's what we're doing for now.

Two weeks after she began crawling, she decided to start pulling up on furniture.  Yikes.

And now, at 7 months, she cruises along the furniture and can stand on her own without holding onto anything for a few seconds before she falls down.

So, there you have it.  The first 7 months of Callie's life in a nutshell.  Ben, by the way, has been a fantastic big brother.  I'll do a separate post about him.  He has a lot of big boy stuff going on :-)  Looking forward to blogging again!!  More to come!

Brooke

Is It Fall Yet???

Hey all!  Notice I said "all" and not "y'all"....Texas will not convert this midwesterner, Ha!  Anyway, greetings from hell (I mean that strictly from a weather standpoint).  Not to start on a negative note, but I am sick of this heat.  We have had 28 days of triple digits since late July!!!  Normally this area only has 18 of those on average (oh, is that all?!?) but it just won't let up.  Normal temps for this time of year are low 90's.  Sigh.  I'm sure being 32 weeks pregnant isn't helping my heat tolerance...or lack thereof.

Other than being hot and sweaty way too often, I'm still feeling really good!  Still getting in about 5 workouts a week.  Those workouts have been a life-saver.  If I go more than one day in a row without exercising, I feel like death warmed over...achy and tired.  But, as long as I stay active, I feel great!!

I feel like we still have a lot to get ready before the baby comes, but it's all very overwhelming, so I'm not really sure where to start.  We haven't done anything at all with the nursery.  It's completely bare other than the crib and dresser.  Every time I go into Buy Buy Baby, I get so overwhelmed I have to leave.  Newborns seem to require a lot of stuff.  Oh well, I'll buckle down here soon and get my act in gear.  Right now I'm really concentrating on getting the rest of the house looking like someone actually lives here and less like a furniture storage facility.  It's getting there...

Ben started Pre-K a couple of weeks ago.  He goes 3 days a week for 5.5 hours each day.  He did great his first week, but last week was rough.  I think once the newness wears off, he's kind of over it.  His teacher and room aides are so sweet though, so I know he's in good hands.  I cannot believe he'll be in kindergarten next year!!  Where does the time go??

That's really all the news I have for now.  Here is my next round of belly pics!!

26 Weeks

28 Weeks

30 Weeks

32 Weeks 

Feeling large and in charge at this point.  It's hard to believe my belly is going to keep getting bigger for 8 more weeks!!

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Brooke

You've Come A Long Way, Baby!

Hello!  As usual, it has been awhile.  Things are going great here.  We've really been enjoying the summer....even in the hot Texas sun.  Having a pool has been an absolute GODSEND.  When we first looked at homes here, we thought we'd be fine buying a place with no pool, but in a subdivision that has it's own community pool.  I am so glad we bought a home with a pool.  We use it ALL THE TIME and it's so easy to just walk right outside and get in.  No packing for the pool, no awkward trips to the community pool bathrooms and no "scene" when it's time to get out.  But, best of all, I don't have to worry about Ben getting lost in a sea of children.  

Speaking of Mr. Ben....I have to brag on him a bit.  Other than a few trips to Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds' house, Ben's experience with pools (that aren't baby pools) has been nil until we moved here.  The pool has been in use approximately 3 months now and he has pretty much taught himself to swim. He is absolutely fearless in the water (which means I have to watch him like a hawk).  He jumps off the side, swims with his face in the water (eyes open, no goggles) and has been wanting to go sans arm floaties over the past month.  Soooo, we started official swim lessons yesterday and he did GREAT!  His teacher couldn't believe how well he did.  She said to me, "Well, you know, he can swim by himself.  I'm just trying to teach him to really use his arms to full capacity".  There are 3 other kids in his class (all who have been going for awhile) and he was just as good, if not better, than all of them.  I was blown away.  So, maybe the swim team is in his future ;-)  Can you tell I'm a proud mama?  Here is a pic from a month or two ago....

 And now, some baby bump pics.  Just like in my last post, these pictures are horrible.  All but one was taken with my iPhone....so I apologize.

17 Weeks

18 Weeks--you may need to squint to see this one.  I should have cropped it, but I'm lazy.

I don't have any pics from 19 or 20 weeks, but I do have one of Ben with my 18 week ultrasound photo.  Can you tell he's excited to be a big brother?

 Speaking of my 18 week ultrasound, it was also my detailed anatomy scan where they measure everything to make sure baby is developing properly.  Turns out SHE is doing wonderfully.  I had to go in for a second anatomy scan due to her not being in the right position to get all the necessary measurements the first time around.  I went back this week (at 24 weeks) and the doc was able to get all the right measurements this time (and re-confirm she is still a girl).  She said everything measured wonderfully and looked 100% normal, so that is a big weight off my shoulders.  Her size is a "textbook perfect" 1lb 11 oz at 24 weeks, 3 days.  I went to a perinatal doc (read: high-risk doc) for the anatomy scans due to some family history and also my age :-/  (apparently being in the over 35 set makes you geriatric). But now that everything has been measured and looks great, I no longer have to back there.  I'll only see my normal OB from here on out.  I'm glad the perinatal office did my anatomy scans though, because the doc herself did the scan.... as opposed to an ultrasound tech.  She explained everything to me as she went along too, so that was nice.

Ok, enough talk, more pics.....

21 weeks---This is the week I started getting some good baby kicks!!  Now I feel them several times a day...so strong it moves my stomach and clothing :-)

22 weeks--This is the week I really started to pop!  I was at my mom and dad's house for the 4th of July here.

23 weeks--get out your glasses again to see this one...sorry!

24 weeks--well, this one is a decent size pic, but so dark.  Again....sorry!

24 weeks again---Front view...just to mix it up a bit ;-)

As far as how I'm feeling, I don't think things could be any better.  I don't know if it's just because I had such a hard time in the first trimester and I'm comparing everything to that, but my energy is through the roof.  I exercise 6 days a week, so I think that is really helping.  Nothing too strenuous, just a 45 min speed walk (I usually go approx. 3.25 miles in that time period) followed by a 20-30 min session of light strength work (I alternate arms and legs).  Unfortunately, in addition to my energy being through the roof...so is my weight gain.  I've put on a good 19lbs and I'm 2 days shy of 25 weeks.  EEEK!!!  The gain has been very steady (about 1 lb a week) which is what the doc wants to see at this point, but it sure isn't easy watching that scale creep up and up.  Oh well, it is what it is.  I eat much healthier now than I did pre-pregnancy and I'm exercising, so that's all I can do.  The recommended weight gain is 25-35lb total.  If I continue on my 1 lb a week schedule, that will put me right at 35 lb and that's fine with me.  I was on the low end of "normal" weight for my height to start with anyway, so I'm OK with that.  It's all for a good cause, right? 

Well, I think that's enough jibber-jabbering for now.  Hope you didn't fall asleep.  

Hope you all had a great 4th of July!!  

Brooke

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Wellllll, it has been awhile hasn't it?  Sooo many things have happened between the last time I posted and now that it seems absurd to try to fit it into one post, but I'm going to anyway.

So, here is the short version:  We found out in December that we would be moving to the Dallas area for Greg's job in March.  And thus began what seemed like an eternity of sheer craziness.  Greg had business trip after business trip during that time, I flew to Orlando to run my first full marathon, we had to find a house, sell a house (and deal with all the showings of the house, of course) find a new preschool for Ben and on and on it went.  I was beyond stressed out.  In fact, I think it's fair to say I have never been that stressed out for such an extended period of time in my entire life....

Which is why I didn't really think much about it when my "time of the month" was late.  Even though I've never been more than a couple of days late in my life, I figured the stress I was under was to blame.          A week before the actual move took place, Ben and I went to Illinois to stay with my mom and dad while Greg dealt with the packers and movers and then went ahead to Texas to get things squared away before Ben and I arrived.  During that week, I started to feel "off".  Again, I chalked it up to stress until I went to lunch with one of my best high school friends and had to have her pull the car over because I thought I was going to be sick.  At that point, I was a week and a half "late" and started to think that maybe there was more going on than just stress, so I mentioned it to my friend and she couldn't believe I hadn't taken a pregnancy test yet.  She knows our history of infertility and was dying for me to take a test, so I told her I would as soon as we got to Texas.

Fast forward a few days and Ben and I were on the road to Texas and I was noticing that NOTHING sounded good to eat (that NEVER happens to me...I love to eat :-)).  Normally, when we're on a road trip, we stop at McDonald's and Ben gets a happy meal and I get chicken mcnuggets, but it sounded absolutely repulsive to me all of a sudden.  Just the thought of it made me want to throw up.  So we had tacos at Taco Bell instead.  

When we finally arrived at our house in Texas, I knew I needed to take a pregnancy test ASAP (I was 2 weeks late at this point).  Greg went out and picked one up for me and the instant I peed on the stick....two blue lines.....PREGNANT!!!  WHAT THE ?!?!?

So, a few months later, here we are.....new house, new state, new job for Greg and now a new baby on the way.  Due date:  November 3rd.  Yowza!!  I will admit it took me awhile to wrap my head around it.  Greg and I had actually already started the adoption process again in Korea and I had it in my mind that child #2 was about 2 years away....not 9 months.  Aaaaand I was expecting an 18-24 month old, not a newborn!!!  Needless to say, the adoption process has been halted for now...maybe for good, but we aren't 100% sure on that yet.

I'm planning to post regular belly shots and updates.  Since I'm 16 weeks and some change now, I already have some pics to share, but there isn't a whole lot going on belly-wise yet.  As far as how I'm feeling goes, I'm not gonna lie, it was ROUGH there for awhile.  I had really bad nausea and food aversions until about week 13 and then I started having some good days here and there.  Now I have several good days, but still deal with the nausea and exhaustion to varying degrees at least a couple of days each week.  Hopefully I'll be completely done with the nausea very soon!!  Ok, on to the pics.....

9 weeks 4 days

11 weeks 3 days

13 weeks

14 weeks--I think I was extra bloated in this one

15 weeks

16 weeks--Please ignore my alien claw-hand

Sorry, most of these pictures are awful since I took them with my phone.  I'll have to get Greg to start taking them for me.  It's really hard for me to tell if I'm actually showing or if I'm just bloated because when I wake up in the morning, my stomach is pretty close to being flat.  As the day goes on, my belly gets bigger...so that leads me to believe most of this is bloat right now.  Looking forward to a legit bump so I don't just look like I ate too much :-)

I also want to take a moment to say how blessed and thankful we are.  Only our God could weave our family together the way he has.  He never ceases to amaze me with His plans.  More to come....

-Brooke