Happy 3 Months Old!

I'm way behind on Elyse's 3 Month Update.  She turned 3 months old on June 29th and rolled over for the first time that day too!  I can't believe so much time as already passed by and the changes in her week by week are so fun to watch!

The past few days have been huge milestones for E.  She went on her first plane ride to Denver on Friday morning at 6am. She was such a trooper and traveling with an infant actually wasn't that bad.  Yesterday and today have been pretty big days for her too.  Yesterday she had her first real giggle and also grabbed a toy from me when I showed it to her.  Today she really had her first full on laughing session.  It was absolutely the cutest thing I've ever seen.  I was just smiling and laughing at her and she just belted out the sweetest laughs in return.  We've had tons of fun the past few days getting out to see friends and just hanging in out in Colorado.  I've really missed it here and can't wait to move back one of these days!

So here are some of her favorite things to do these days:

- She loves her playgym.  The dangling toys and mirror fascinate her.  She's grabbing at her toys and pulling the rings off and putting them in her mouth.  Everything these days is going into her mouth with her fists being her most favorite item.

- She still loves the stroller!  I haven't been getting out for many runs lately partly because of the Texas heat and work, but the nanny takes her out in the morning on Tue/Thurs.  They go over to the water fountains and E gets to dip her toes in the water (which I hear she loves!).  She's a big fan of bath time so can't wait until she is old enough to go to Waterbabies class.

- I have to say she loves hanging out with me. Not that she really knows any better, but I can definitely say she's a fan of her momma.  We always have so much fun together and we just click.  I need to cherish these days and those to come because in about 13 years she will probably hate me. Hah!

- She loves when I read to her.  It's probably just the different sounds and the way I read the books, but she lights up and smiles during our reading time.

- She's can hold her head up really well.  She's able to do a mini-push up and hold her head up for a long time during tummy time.  She's gotten pretty good at rolling over so tummy time is a bit of a challenge since she's now in control of when it ends. :-)

- She loves our conversations.  Given they are in baby talk, but she enjoys cooing and babbling at me and gets excited when I make those same sounds back at her.  Our "talks" will last for several minutes at a time. 

- Her daytime naps have gotten so much better and I can now proudly say she is a fan of nap time!  She's learning to fall asleep on her own and has consistently been taking naps every few hours or less.  She is still an awesome nighttime sleeper and consistently sleeps anywhere from 10 to 12 hours straight.

I'm really looking forward to this next month!  It's such a blessing to watch her grow.  As cheesy as it sounds, I love spending every second of my day with her and when she goes to bed at night I find myself missing her.  Sometimes I'll just go lay in her room and listen to her breathe. :-)  Happy 3 Months Old, Elyse!

Two Months Old

I can't believe Elyse is already 2 months old today! Time sure has flown by.  It seems like just the other day I had her in those tiny newborn diapers and she's almost ready to move into a size 2.  She's growing like a weed!  So we went through pretty rough few weeks from week 3 to about 5.5 where she was pretty fussy and not much settled her during the day.  Then about the middle of week 5 she had one day where she was awake for 12 hours straight and fussing pretty much the entire time. It was terrible. I was in tears by the time night rolled around.  The next day she woke up and I swear she was a completely different baby. Totally content all day long and even witnessed her first smile that day. Since then she has been such a calm baby and smiling more and more each day.  It absolutely melts my heart when she locks her eyes with mine and gives me the biggest toothless grin.  There's hands down nothing better in the world than her smile.  Here are a few of the things she is up too these days at 8 weeks old. :-)

*  She's starting to coo on a regular basis.  Especially when I lay her in the crib to "play".  I have several of the Lamaze toys hanging in her crib.  Her favorites are the owl and peacock.  She will lay there and stare at them in amazement and then she will "talk" to them.  It's really cute.

*  I bought her an iPod Nano and small speaker so I could play the Rockabye Baby albums for her.  Her favorites it seems are Coldplay and Smashing Pumpkins.

*  I've been playing David Gray for her lately too and she seems to love when I sing the You're the World to Me song.  Especially the "baby baby you're the world to me" part.  Hah, well I like to think that is her favorite part.

*  She loves the stroller which is a great thing for me.  I've been able to run again and that's great for mommy's overall mood. ;-)

* She's already holding her head up really well.  She gets better at it everyday.

* She is not a fan of a sling or baby carrier.  I have bought 4 different kinds now and being that confined drives her crazy. 

* Stretching. Wow she loves stretching.  All the time.  I joke that she is going to be into yoga one of these days. 

* She loves her swing.  If it wasn't for that swing I wouldn't get any sleep.  She sleeps there for right now and I plan on getting her into her crib by 3 months.  She's already consistently going to bed every night between 8-10.  Then she will sleep on average about 5 hours.  Some lucky nights I will even get 7 to 9 hours straight.  Pretty impressive for a 2 month old; however, I realize things can change quickly so better not get too excited.

* She is not a fan of daytime naps. She will consistently take a one to two hour nap about an hour or so after waking but after that her naps are unpredictable.  Many days she will be wide awake for hours as in 8+ hours.  I think the record was she stayed awake for 12 hours and only napped three 30 minute catnaps.  She's not fussy really while awake just super alert and when she does fall asleep sometimes it's with one eye partially open which I joke is her way of not missing a thing.  I definitely think she inherited her father's intensity, because I'm a girl that loves an afternoon nap!

So I guess before I move on to the pictures, I should talk about our little incident that happened today since this is my digital baby book.  I unfortunately had to leave my maternity leave early and return to work.  Last Thursday was my first day back.  Fortunately it's only part time, but that is proving to be too much for me to handle.  So I had a call today for an event I manage and Elyse was hungry so I was trying to get her positioned to eat while I was on the call.  I was already dialed in and reached over to grab my computer while I was sitting in the rocker.  Well I thought Elyse was kind of tucked in under my chest when I reached over, but obviously not enough because she rolled down my legs and tumbled onto the floor.  It all happened so fast and she started screaming.  Luckily that didn't last long and despite the tumble she seemed fine.  I was shaking and crying.  Needless to say I just got off that call and was beside myself for basically dropping my child because of a "work" call.  My hat is off to all the women that work full time and have children.  I'm trying to work mostly from home and it's a challenge given my child doesn't like to nap.  I'm exhausted, she's exhausted and that doesn't make for a good combination.  However, I am thankful I have a good job, insurance and the flexibility to work part time but all I'm saying is - It's NOT easy!

Watching Justin Bieber with Grandma and I

Mesmerized by the Peacock

Smiling at Mommy

Hanging out in the stroller while Luna gets her time at the park

Staring at Owl

Happy 2 months old, Elyse!  You have quickly become my new best friend.

Two Weeks Old!

Well actually Ms. Elyse is 18 days old, but I haven't had the time to update this blog.  However, now that we have a small fortune in infant swings we finally found one that she loves!  So hence the reason I have time to write today.  

Before I completely forget I should tell her birth story so that one day she'll know all the details.  I went into labor shortly after my 39 week visit with my doctor.  I was on the way home from the appointment when I started having contractions (that was Monday, March 28 at 9am).  They came all day regularly but spaced out probably every 15 to 30 minutes until 6pm that evening.  That's when they kicked in and started coming like clockwork every 7-10 minutes.  They weren't getting more painful, but you could set your watch by them.  Every practice has their criteria of when you can head to the hospital and mine wanted you to call when they were coming by the 5-1-1 rule (every 5 minutes, lasting a minute for an hour).  Well I was there except for the 5 minute rule.  So I made it through Monday night and Tuesday was the same story.  I was pretty exhausted, because I didn't sleep the night before.  Every time one would hit I would wake up.  I called the nurses line a couple times on Tuesday to tell them what was going on and I kept getting the same nurse who said I couldn't come to the hospital until they were coming every 5 minutes.  So I somehow managed to make it to Tuesday evening and by that time they were so painful it took my breathe away.  I called the nurses line again and thankfully got the nurse practitioner on the phone.  I told her how I had been in labor for almost 36 hours and how the contractions were getting stronger but not closer together to get me to the 5 minute rule.  She preceded to tell me their policy is actually if the contractions are coming anywhere from 5-8 minutes apart that I could head to the hospital.  I burst into tears mainly from exhaustion.  I seriously could have killed the other nurse and we might have words if I see her again at my doctor's office.  That means I suffered through about 24 hours of labor that I didn't really have to endure.  So we headed to the hospital on Tuesday night around 9pm.  I was already dilated to 3cm and fully effaced so they admitted me.  Luckily it wasn't super busy that night and I was able to get an epidural within a couple hours or less.  Once I had that going I was finally able to relax.  Guess that's all my body needed because within a couple more hours I was dilated to 10cm and ready to push.  Elyse joined the world on Wednesday, March 30 at 5:36am weighing 7lb 7oz and measuring 20.75 inches long.  Looking back I don't see how I survived.  I missed two full nights of sleep and was so weak by the time I needed to push, but somehow we made it!

So Elyse is now 18 days old and she's just such a sweet baby.  We've had very few really hard days and she's not one to scream and cry ever (knock on wood).  Lack of sleep has been pretty tough since she likes to eat every 2 hours.  Proof of her love of food that is that she had already regained her birth weight by our discharge appt at the pediatrician last week and then for her two week check-up this past Wednesday she had gained a full pound in 10 days. Today was also a day of firsts - we had our first tub bath since her umbilical cord fell off a week ago and we have finally found a swing that she loves!!  She also loves our nightly walks with Luna.  She rarely fusses and we found out last night she really likes it when you jog.  She was having a mini meltdown about a mile from home so my mom and I took off jogging.  She loved it! 

On to the pictures with some of me from my glory days thrown into the mix for all the people questioning Elyse's dark hair.  

Elyse - Just joining the world!

Me and baby girl shortly after birth 

First Family Photo

One of Elyse's first meals  

(ok I know this is probably weird I posted this picture, but whatever you can't see anything)

Elyse - 2 weeks old (we were headed to the doctor)

Robin and Elyse sleeping

Me at 10 days old (all my dark hair fell out by 3 months)

Me and My Dad

Me and My Mom

 My Family (this one is kind of random but it just makes me smile)

 

People tell you that you will never know true love until you've had a child.  It's true.  I couldn't imagine loving anyone more than I love this little girl.  I spend all my time and energy making sure she is content and worrying when she isn't.  I doubt that will ever change so it's going to be a long 50+ years. 

Katherine Elyse's Nursery

So I pretty much finished E's nursery yesterday.  I had this crazy intense drive to just get it completed and cleaned. So although I have a ton going on at work right now I decided I needed a day off to just get it done! I guess my nesting is in full force these days, because at 10pm last night I was vacuuming the entire apartment.  I couldn't go to sleep until it was done.  Very strange.  Not sure if this is a sign that she'll be gracing us with her presence soon.

As you can probably tell there is a bird theme going on in her room.  I'm not sure when my obsession with all things birds started, but I love them! I have a really cute bird pillow for the chair and a monogrammed wall decal with her initials to go above the crib that haven't arrived yet.  Other than that the room is complete. I've gone to far as to wash all her clothes through 3 months, pack a diaper bag and pack a hospital bag.  I think my event planning experience is coming in handy, because considering all the things I have stocked up on I'd say I'm just about prepared for anything motherhood throws at me......well I guess I better not get too confident but I'm pretty prepared for a novice. You'd think I was stocking up on diapers in the event a nuclear war hits and I can't leave the apartment...hah!

Here are the pictures of her room.  You'll notice my goldendoodle Luna posing in a couple of the pics.  I swear the dog thinks that the room is her special place.

 Thanks to my pal, Marcie, for this sweet book!

I'll be 36 weeks on Friday so very close to being considered full term.  I start seeing my doctor weekly starting next week! I'm finally past the point of being terrified and in denial which is obviously a really good thing. I'm just ready for her to get here and get started on this journey.  Oh and I am most ready to go for a run! My Ironman stroller is here and I ready to log some miles. :-)

Miracle of Life

This video was floating around Facebook last week and it's pretty incredible. Thought I would share...

The Miracle Of Life from Catholic Media House on Vimeo.

My Dad

After losing my dad unexpectedly to a heart attack a few weeks ago, I haven't really felt the need to write on this blog anymore.  Honestly he was a big reason I even set up this thing.  I wanted him to be able to feel more connected to my life and he was just so excited about being a granddad that I thought it would be a great way for him to see pictures of the ultrasounds.  I also wanted a way for him to see pictures of E once she arrives.  The fact that my dad and I would email each other and he would visit my blog was a HUGE deal.....bless his heart but he was never really into that sort of technology.  I was so proud that he was actually visiting the blog regularly.  I was told that he was printing off the pictures and carrying them around with him.  It just makes me so sad.  You never realize how much security you feel knowing someone is there for you at the drop of a hat and that was him.  I knew no matter what if I picked up that phone and asked him for help, advice or anything at all he'd do his best to make sure I got whatever it was that I needed.  I recently really looked to him for advice in the relationship arena and it was amazing how good his advice usually was.....it was always very level headed which is what I needed.  Anyway, I picked up the phone last week to call him for some advice and that was definitely a reality check.  It's so hard to imagine that I'll never hear his voice again in my lifetime.  When I think of it like that it's just really too much to bear.

I need to scan a couple photos of him to put on here.  He was such a cutie.  Blonde hair and a handful of signature looks that you could always count on seeing.  Funny thing is I was in AR last week and looking through old photos as I packed up his house and even as a young guy he had those same funny expressions and smile.  Probably the saddest thing I ran across when packing up his place was a map of TX.  He was already planning his drive to TX for when E is born.  I really hope that in heaven you are able to look down and check on your loved ones. I hope he knows how much I already miss him and wish he was going to be there to meet E.  I'll always regret not going home for Christmas this year since he passed away 3 days later.  I thought the flight was just too expensive so I had booked a trip for Jan 6-9, but by that time it was too late.  Never take those you love in your life for granted because you never know how long you really have with them.  He was supposed to live forever or at least that's what he would tell me. :-)

So here's to a really great man - my dad.

Blessings

A good friend of mine from college who I haven't talked to in several years sent me the sweetest email tonight out of the blue. The email reminded me how important it is to not get so caught up in your daily lives and drama that you forget about those around you. It's amazing what reaching out to someone can do for their soul. The message she shared with me had such an impact on me that I had to share it with whomever might stumble upon this blog.  It spoke volumes to me and hope it does for you too. Thanks Emily and hope you don't mind me sharing this message. :-)

Children are a gift and a blessing from the Lord.

We tend to do a few things with blessings:

1. Worship it over the Creator

2. Worry about it (losing it, etc)

Instead we should:

1. Let it point us to Christ

2. Hold it loosely and trust that God is sovereign

What do our fears have in common? Many of them are in our imagination.



Our minds generate countless scenarios of “What if this happens? How will I deal with it?”

Often most of the bad things we imagine never actually come true. But there will be other trials—ones we can never anticipate. 

That’s why Elisabeth Elliot’s wise advice is invaluable in fighting fear: “There is no grace for your imagination.” God does not sprinkle grace over every path our fear takes. He does not rush in with support and encouragement for every scenario we can imagine.



Instead He warns us to stay off those paths. Psalm 37:8 explicitly tells us: “Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” 

There is no grace for our imagination. That’s why our fearful imaginings produce bad fruit: anxiety, lack of joy, futile attempts to control.



However, God does promise sufficient, abundant grace for every real moment of our lives. That’s why the Proverbs 31 woman can “laugh at the future” in contrast with being worried or fearful about it.”

Lately

I realized I haven't posted in a month so thought it was time to give an update.  I'll be 23 weeks this week which is almost 6 months! Hard to believe that I'm that far along. I went for my first doctor's visit today in Austin with my new doctor. Thankfully I loved her! It's nerve racking to change doctors mid stream much less change cities.  I wouldn't recommend moving in the middle of a pregnancy to a new city and I certainly need to find some pregnant girlfriends around here. I did try meetup.com and found a group of girls around my age that are pregnant with their first babies so we have a coffee date next Tuesday night.  I jokingly told my one of my best friends tonight that I feel like I am online dating but for girlfriends. Oh well, you do what you've gotta do!

Anyway I received a glowing report from the doctor today. Ms. Elyse is doing great. I had another ultrasound because my 20 week anatomy scan was performed a week early in Denver so it was ruled as incomplete since there were a few things that they couldn't see.  So I had another scan today and they were able to see almost everything except for the skin along her lower spine. They are looking for any signs of Spina Bifida so I have to wait 6 more weeks to get a final gold star on that scan.  I did have the blood work done months ago to scan for this defect and it was negative so they felt I didn't have much to worry about.  She was just laying in a weird position again so they couldn't get a good look. I also had been having some pains in my lower belly over the past week and at times it was scary, but luckily I learned it's just growing pains. She weighed in at 1lb 4oz which was on the higher end. That was reassuring because I haven't put on much weight which has been nice, but at the same time I've been worried about her.  I also got my belly measured for the first time and I was at 22cm which correlates perfectly to 22/23 weeks along.  That was reassuring too, because I just now have a belly that is slightly noticeable in tighter clothing. She's also super active all the time which is really neat and very bizarre at the same time.  Here's a glamour shot from today. :-)

I have really stocked up on baby gear in the past month too and my poor savings account is starting to suffer. :-)  Just thankful I've been a relatively responsible young adult and I actually having savings for times like these. She finally has a nice selection of every day clothing and even a few really cute smocked dresses for later on.  Her bedding finally arrived and it's so cute.  I'm going to have her room painted this month and the crib should be here any day now. I ended up switching the color of the crib to a venetian darker gold.  I love birds so doing a bird theme in her nursery.  I found the cutest bird mobile and painting that I added to my registry.  I also found these stuffed bird rattles at Pottery Barn kids over the weekend so HAD to get those. I'm putting a twin size bed in there too so having an upholstered headboard made that will be here soon. My nesting is out of control, but I was forewarned that it would get bad around this time.  I'll be sure to post some pictures of her room soon. I hope to have her nursery pretty much complete by the end of December or early January.

Oh and received a wake up call today from my doctor.  She mentioned that in four more weeks I will enter my third and FINAL trimester.  After one more doctor's visit at the end of Dec, I begin going every two weeks until she is here.  That stresses me out just typing that sentence...hah!

Baby Gear!

Well I finally made my first baby gear purchases on Sunday! I found an iron crib by Bratt Decor and a discount code floating around the internet so I got the crib for a really good deal compared to other sites.  I definitely could have found a cheaper crib elsewhere, but I fell in love with this one. Since it's my first baby I think I deserve to get a few really nice things for Elyse.  I also cleaned out my storage unit on Saturday and I have all this beautiful antique furniture that I can use in the room so all I needed to buy was a crib! The crib has an antique feel too so all the pieces should mesh well together.

I also bought her bedding! I ordered the Kate bedding by Serena and Lily first from www.laylagrayce.com (super cute website for women and kids - beware!), but then second guessed my choice on Monday and switched my order to a different bedding set. After some much needed help from several of my girlfriends we decided the stark white in the Kate bedding might clash a bit with the cream iron crib. 

Lastly, I ordered a diaper bag.  I originally want a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag, but I opted with a cheaper choice on this website.  It was half the price of the Petunia bag and I really liked the style of it better so see I am making some reasonable choices!  I swear baby gear is just like the wedding industry - a total rip off!  They know as women we have hard time resisting all the cute clothes, bedding and gear.  It's not fair!

I probably haven't mentioned the big move to Austin is this weekend.  We are packing up the truck on Friday and starting our adventure down to TX bright and early on Saturday.  I'm really going to miss Denver and all the great things about this city. I'm especially going to miss all my friends, but the move isn't permanent and we will be back in about 18 months.

Here are some pics of KET's gear that is on it's way to TX!

Bratt Decor Venetian Iron Crib (without 4 posters)

Annette Tatum Brocade Peony Bedding Set

Glimpse Inside the Crib

Bedding Patterns

Skip Hop Diaper Bag

So far that's all the gear I've purchased, but much more is on the list. I did get my first gift last night. My St. Jude girls surprised me last night with a going away get-together and Marianna bought me the cutest pink bunny newborn booties along with a cuddle duck for the crib. I'm really going to miss those girls while we are gone!

Time for New Things on Tuesday!

So it wasn't intentional, but yesterday I really branched out and tried a couple new things. First of all, I'm not a morning person. That doesn't mean that I'm typically in a bad mood in the mornings, but I just really require a lot of sleep especially these days.  So a friend from work talked me into meeting her for yoga at 7am at this super cute studio in the Highlands - www.vitalyoga.org. I absolutely LOVE the Highlands.  It's a neighborhood right outside of downtown Denver that has the cutest boutiques, cafes, restaurants, book stores and so much more. I especially love that area right now since all the trees have finally turned into vibrant shades of yellow, orange, lime green and red. Anyway, so this was my first ever yoga session so I had no idea what to expect. Vital was super welcoming and relaxing.  The teacher was amazing! It was only an hour, but I left so refreshed, relaxed and actually got a good workout. So good that I feel like I went to bootcamp yesterday instead of yoga. My muscles are screaming today. I loved it so much I'm going again tonight!  

My next adventure yesterday was a painting class. A friend of mine that I met through cycling when I first moved here found this cool place in Cherry Creek called Canvas and Cocktails so a group of us went last night. Talk about a fun time! Loud music, plenty of wine and shopping (minus wine for me). What more can a girl ask for on a night out and I scored two really cute hats at a discount! For those of you that don't know I have an obsession with collecting cute hats. Oh and I may have found my next calling - painting! I actually surprised myself with how my masterpiece turned out. See for yourself.

Before

Half way through class (upside down)

Finished piece!

Surprises

The time has come for the big announcement - we're having a girl! Yep, that's right I'm 16 weeks, 4 days pregnant today. Surprise! Surprise! It's been quite an eventful couple of months since we found out with its share of ups and downs that's for sure, but I suspect that's pretty normal. It's funny how one second I would be excited and the next in tears over the whole thing......gotta love pregnancy hormones. However, what I've been reminded of through this is that God really is in control of our lives and there is a reason for everything that happens.

My life changed the moment I found out a couple of months ago that I was expecting and it forever changed on Friday night when we found out it's a little girl.  I've always wanted a daughter and for a lot of selfish reasons like I think girl's clothes are so much more fun than boys....hah!  But I really am excited about this next chapter in my life.  It certainly wasn't something I was planning for anytime soon but sometimes surprises really are the best!

So far it's been a breeze. I've had one day of true morning sickness with quite a few days of constant nausea lately. Funny how the first 12 weeks are supposed to be the worst and they weren't. But when I hit 14 weeks the all day nausea really kicked in with a few tough days. I have still been running several times a week which is great since it's so mind numbing and refreshing to me. Happy to report on a 4lb weight gain so far. Now I was on the higher end of my range that I like when this whole thing happened but oh well that is pretty trivial now. 

Anyway here are some pictures of the baby girl. Katherine Elyse is my top pick right now for a name! Fun times of shopping and reading many books ahead of me.  For someone who NEVER babysat growing up and really hasn't been around that many babies this has been a pretty large shock to the system and will be a huge learning curve.
                                                                

                Profile Picture           

 Super long legs!

                          

 Foot :-)

I'm excited about starting this blog.  It will be a fun way to capture important milestones and events.  My fiance is strongly opposed to me blogging so if I don't mention him much that is why.  Anyway more to come soon!