The Wait is Over

The baby is here!

Ava Emma-Lynn was born this morning 5/29/05 at 3:55 a.m. I was blessed and honored to be allowed to be present for the birth. It was the most amazing experience. I was so amazed by the sheer strength and determination Samara had. She was awesome through the whole experience. She managed contractions like a champ before her epidural, there seemed to be no end to her willpower during pushing, and she was awarded with the most perfect baby girl.

Wow. She weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 1/2 inches long. I can't wait to get back to the hospital to vist. But for now, here is one of her first pictures with Mom.



Happy Birthday Ava!

Waiting

I've been waiting all weekend for my best friend Samara's baby to be born. I know I shouldn't talk, it's tons harder on her!

Anyway, she called around 8 a.m. on Friday morning saying she thought she was in labor. She was having contractions and lost her mucus plug. I had a short day at work anyway, so we kept in touch and she wasn't heading to the hospital yet. By mid-morning they were regular and about 10 minutes apart but not painful. In the afternoon, things slowed down and we didn't end up going to the hospital.

I checked in first thing this morning and still nothing was going on. However, apparently around noon they started up again and now have become "uncomfortable." Samara's been keeping her doctor up to date and the doctor said if they established a regular pattern again she could go into the hospital to be checked. She called me around 4:00 p.m. and said the doctor gave her the go ahead to go to the hospital and get checked out. So that's where they are now. Until she's admitted to Labor & Delivery she's in the triage area and you are only allowed one person with you, so I told her to call me if they admitted her and I would head over. I tried to call her cell a little bit ago and got no answer. It's been two hours and it's killing me!

On a good note. If they send her home tonight, she is scheduled to be induced tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., so Bean should definately be here tomorrow! I'll post pictures later this weekend!

File Storage

I'm working on upgrading for more daily usage space for my pictures. That should help with them locking out. I just need to find out how what I've already paid will be applied to the upgrade.

Milestone

Tonight we had another milestone. No, the tooth hasn't came in yet. Grace objected when I took a toy away. She has a duckie bath toy that she was chewing on during her bath. When we were done washing, I took it away so I could get her out of the tub. She protested with much crying and her face turned red. Ahhh, she's getting a temper.

In other news, Samara is still very pregnant, but now has a date and time scheduled for induction. Unless nature intervenes, Bean will be here on Sunday! I can't wait!

Pictures

Here are the pictures as promised. I think I need to purchase a larger file share account as my account is getting locked up again. Keep trying back for pictures.

Here is Grace with my brother Jeremy for the first time.



This is the 4 generation picture. My Grandma, Mom, Me, and Grace.


Here is Grace almost sitting.


Just hamming it up for the camera


Trying out the new highchair

Weekend with the Family

I had a great weekend. I've got some great pictures too, but I seem to have temporarily lost my camera. I took a picture this morning so it has to be somewhere. I'm hoping Eric decided to take it to work to show off some pictures. He's not home right now to ask.

Anyway, Friday we were very effecient and left town around 5:30 p.m. We drove for an hour and then stopped for dinner for all of us. After we got back in the car Grace fell asleep for the rest of the time. We got to Grandma and Grandpa's at about 9 Indiana time. Mom, Dad and Jeremy had went out to see friends, so they weren't home yet. We let Grace sleep in the car seat while we brought everything in and settled in. The rest of the family got in a little while later. Mom immediately got Grace out of the carseat and woke her up. She was in a great mood though. Jeremy wanted to hold her right away and I got a good picture of them together. Grace stayed up for about an hour, but then she had a bottle and we put her in the pack-n-play. She fell asleep with no crying.

Maybe it was the extra hour she was up, but she slept until 6:15 Indiana time. We got up and hung out for a little while until we left for the Bridal Shower. The shower was very nice. We got to eat Mexican (yum) and Melissa got lots of nice gifts. She looked so happy. I'm very happy for her and hope I can make it to the wedding at the end of July. We also got a very nice 4 generation picture with my Mom and Grandma. After the shower we stopped by an old friend from church's house. She wanted to see Grace in person. During this visit, I was distracted by a phone call from my friend Meg at work. She had a baby boy! After the visit, we stopped by the grocery store to get supplies for dinner. Then we went home and Grace napped while we made a couple of dishes for dinner. Later that evening we had a family dinner. My aunt, uncle and 2 cousins from Illinois came over, another uncle, another cousin, my pregnant cousin (37 weeks), her husband, and nephew. One of my other cousins had twin boys on Friday, so it was a weekend of babies (but not Samara's yet). We stuck to our bedtime routine and after a bath and story, she again went to bed with no crying. She did wake a couple times in the early morning hours though.

Jeremy seems to be doing well. He had a long slide show of pictures from Iraq. It's a little weird to see pictures of my baby brother with a big gun, but I think he's really proud of what he's doing. I don't think I've ever really accepted the fact that he's grown up too, but this weekend it struck me that he's a man now. It was strange to me that he was so interested in Grace, because I guess I thought he wasn't much of a kid person. He's an uncle though. Uncles have a special role. It will be his job to tease her and make her laugh and be the silly guy that doesn't enforce rules like eat your vegetables and no candy before dinner. I think that really means something to him. I hope they can spend more time together when he gets back.

Sunday we got up early (thanks Grace) and after a 5:30 a.m. feeding Grace and I took an hour nap. Then we got up and visited while the rest of the family got ready for church. They left for church, we fed Grace and hit the road.

Sunday afternoon, I met up with Samara at Babies R Us. She is really ready for Bean to just get here already. She walked and played with Grace and I shopped! Grace got a new high chair (I have a picture) and some new sleepers and a big girl toy giraffe. Then an exciting thing happened Grace's gums started to bleed. Now I feel bad that she was bleeding, but this means a tooth should be here anytime! I keep checking, but nothing yet.

I'll post pictures later (assuming my camera isn't permanently missing).

Awesome Day at Work

I had a great day today. This morning I had a meeting with our Office Head and discussed my concerns about not getting a promotion when officer positions were handed out this year and we discussed where I see myself on a 5 year career path. I think it's good for him to know.

Then this afternoon I made an incredible deal which will probably save my client about $200,000 over the premiums we presented to them on Monday! Yeah! They will like this revision!

Ear Infections #3 & #4

Grace wants to help with this one. Here is her contribution...

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Anyway, she went back to the doctor today because her cough from 2 weeks ago stopped getting better when her amoxicillan for her ear infection #2 ran out and is now getting worse again. Apparently she now has a double ear infection. They are trying a different medication. I'm thinking they may not wait another 6 months for tubes in her ears if this keeps up.

Well, I've pushed my luck. Grace is ready for dinner. Got to go.

Date Weekend

This weekend, Eric and I celebrated our 4th anniversary (technically it was Thursday, but we celebrated on Saturday). Friday evening Eric's mom came in from Indiana. She got in about 6:30 p.m. and got to observe our night time routine with Grace. We ordered pizza for dinner and caught up on some of the TV shows we TiVo'd this week.

Saturday morning Grace woke up at about 6:15 a.m. I didn't want to get her up until 6:30, so I turned the monitor down, and set my alarm for 6:30 a.m. When it went off, Grace had already fallen back to sleep, so I turned the monitor back up and went back to sleep until she woke up again at about 7:15 a.m. We got up and had breakfast. I showed Donna how to do her cereal and bottle, and then I let Grace play with Nana and I went back to sleep until about 9:45 a.m. (Thank you!). Eric and I both got up and Grace was taking a nap downstairs. I went to the grocery store, since we were completely out of food. When I got back, we showered, dressed, packed and left the house around 12:30 p.m.

We decided to spend the day downtown. We went to the mall first. Eric was in the mood to shop, so first we stopped by Victoria's Secret. I had a bra fitting, since I haven't been fitted after the baby. I am now a 36D. Wow! I sort of hope that stays that way even if I lose the rest of this baby weight. Then we went to Kaufmann's to look for some clothes for Eric. He purposely didn't pack any nice clothes, so he would be forced to buy something for dinner. They had a nice Men's section and were having a sale on dress clothes. Eric ended up buying 3 nice pairs of slacks, and 3 dress shirts, and a belt for about $350. I don't think he's ever spent that much on clothes. (He just got a bonus at work though, so thankfully it didn't come directly out of the budget). After all that shopping, Eric was ready to get out of the mall.

We walked back to the car (I parked at work, so we wouldn't have to pay) about 3 blocks and realized it was getting very windy and looked like rain. We picked up our suitcase and walked the block and 1/2 to the hotel. We checked in and hung out for a little while. I took a bath and shaved my legs, ironed one of Eric's new shirts and we both got dressed.

We had dinner at a new Italian place called Due Amici. It's very modern on the inside and has very yummy food. It was only about 4 or 5 blocks from the hotel, but it had started raining, so we took a cab. Dinner was very, very yummy, but didn't take us hardly any time. We had a 5:00 p.m. reservation and were out by 6:15 p.m. We got another cab and headed to the "Arena District" to a trendy bar/restaurant to pass about an hour until our evening plans began.

At about 7:30 p.m. we got another cab and headed to the Palace Theater to see Kevin James (from the King of Queens) in his stand-up act. It was very funny. Even his opener was good. The show lasted until about 10:00 p.m. and then we headed back to the hotel.

Probably the best part for me was sleeping in. Although, I woke up around 8 a.m., I kept making myself go back to sleep until we decided to get up around 9:30 a.m. We packed up and headed back to the house. We visited with Donna when we got back and she left around 11 a.m. Grace had been up since 6:30 a.m., so I put her down for a nap. She only slept about 20 minutes, so then I brought her into my room and napped with her until about 1:45 p.m. She got up had another bottle and then we got ready for the softball game.

Eric and I play on a church softball team and today was our first game. Overall it went pretty well. I started playing Shortstop and then moved to catcher (I tried not to take it personally, it has been 7 years since I've put on a glove). You have to have 5 girls on the team, so we had to recruit a girl off of another team (she took my place at shortstop) and we all got to play the whole time. I did get on base twice and scored one run. We had a great last inning (needed 2 to tie and 3 to pull ahead), we scored 5! They came back and scored 2, but we still won! Now I just thought I'd update and in 10 minutes, we'll start watching the Survivor season finale. Then back to work.

Update on Me

I'm so far behind on posting about me that I feel like I'm probably missing really important stuff. I'd really like to post about my fantastic weekend, but there have been a couple of other things happen in the recent past that I really should at least mention.

1. My brother is in the US! That's right, he has a 2 week leave and made a surprise visit and arrived in Iowa at my parents house on Tuesday last week. Yes, that's right, just two days after my little family left. Apparently he really tried to make it back before we left, but things just didn't work out. The good news, is that my parents were planning on heading to Indiana next weekend (5/21) to go to my cousins' bridal shower, so if I make it to the shower I'll get to see him and he can meet Grace. Notice I said "if I make it." That brings me to item 2.

2. My best friend is about to have her baby! I'm so excited I could pop! I've been super busy this week, so I haven't talked to her (via phone) for a while, I'll address that in number 3, but I do know that while she didn't dialate any more at her last appointment, the baby has dropped and is at 0 station. Grace didn't drop until after my water broke. I was still between -1 and -2 at my last appointment. As the plan currently stands, I will be allowed in the delivery room for the birth of little "Bean." I can't wait to see if it's a boy or girl and just meet this tiny little person. The only birth I've ever witnessed was Grace's and I can only imagine the experience from this other angle. I've promised to let Will be the one to announce the sex, and I will respect her privacy and stay in her head region. I'm so excited to get the call, although #3 better not interfere.

3. So very, very busy. Work has been killing me. I really think thanks will slow down after my June 1, renewal is wrapped up, but in the mean time I've been slammed. I've been bringing work home most nights, because Eric needs me not to work late all the time, and I did stay at the office until 9:00 p.m. one night last week. My desk is covered in items I've been neglecting and I'm so far behind I really hope I'm right and June will give me time to catch up. I'm sort of over the idea of finding a new job. While some parts of it sound attractive, I also think that where am at, may possibly be the best place right now. However, I do have another "conversation" scheduled with a different company on Thursday, so we'll see what they have to say. I also scheduled a meeting with our head of office to discuss some of my concerns regarding my position in my own company. I wasn't offered a promotion this year, which wouldn't bother me so much if one wasn't given to one of my collegues and I think I'm at least as deserving as her. I think there are alot of office politics and I want to see if there is anything I can do to get around it. Also next week, I have my big renewal presentation on Monday in front of the client CFO and President of North American operations. I have another client meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning (with a client I have never met personnally), and a couple of underwriter meetings on Tuesday and Thursday. So this schedule, plus the option of getting to see my brother this weekend, makes me really hope that baby bean will stay inside one more week. Please!

4. One of my other best friends had a very eventful week too. I'm really, really hoping that the lap cleared things up enough that very soon, she'll be expecting too. Two years is way too long to wait and I just want this to happen before she has to start trying more complicated procedures.

Well, all of this and still no weekend update. Baby is crying (she's bored) and I have to get ready for a softball game, so I'll try to update again tonight.

Five Month Milestones

This week Grace turned 5 months old. Probably the most important development this month was that she now sleeps all night. Dr. Ferber is wonderful. Grace goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. and sleeps until 6:30 a.m. It's given me my sanity back. We also started solids this month. She eats cereal in the mornings and does very well with that. In the evenings we have been trying out a variety of jar baby foods. Some she likes better than others. At this point she does very well if she eats a half of a jar of any item, usually it isn't that much. I think we're getting closer on sitting too. She loves to "sit" on your lap, but on the floor (without support) she stills falls forward. I keep catching her trying to pull herself forward to sitting in her carseat and bouncy seat though. I also think we may see a tooth this month. She hasn't been especially fussy, but she drools constantly (lots of drool) and everything goes in her mouth. She especially likes harder items which she rubs on her gums.

Here are the items the book says are 5 month milestones. I've bolded the items we've hit.

By the end of this month, your baby
...should be able to:
- hold head steady when upright
- on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms
- roll over (one way) (we can do both ways!)
- pay attention to a very small object
- squeal in delight
- reach for an object
- smile spontaneously
- grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers

...will probably be able to:
- bear some weight on legs
- keep head level with body when pulled to sitting
- say ah-goo or similar vowel-consonant combinations
- razz (make a wet razzing sound)

...may possible be able to:
- sit without support
- turn in the direction of a voice

...may even be able to:
- pull to standing position from sitting
- stand holding on to someone or something
- feed himself or herself a cracker
- object if you try to take a toy away
- work to get a toy out of reach
- pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other
- look for dropped object
- take a raisn and pick it up in fist
- babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma-ma, da-da-da-da

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

Wow, I've been a little slow on posting. Life is just going by at such an amazing speed. Anyway, I wanted to update about the weekend.

Thursday evening we took a family trip to Iowa to visit my parents. It was Grace's first plane ride. Packing was interesting, but we got everything into 2 checked bags, plus we carried on the diaper bag and gate-checked the stroller and carseat. Our flight left at 7:10 p.m. and connected in Cincinnati. On the first leg, it was time for Grace to eat, so we gave her a bottle during boarding and take off. After she ate, she just sat and looked around and was very good. When we were getting off the plane, I put her in the sling and kept her in there while we were at the airport waiting for our connection (except for the diaper change). She fell asleep before we boarded the next flight and didn't wake up until after we landed and had to put her in the carseat to drive to my parents.

Only my Mom picked us up at the airport because my Dad had class. By the time we got home and settled it was almost 11:00 p.m. Iowa time, so we put Grace to bed in a borrowed pack-and-play. She cried for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, and just as I was about to go get her to rock her to sleep, she fell asleep and slept all night. We watched the taped Survivor episode and then went to bed.

Friday morning Grace got up just after 6 a.m. We gave her breakfast and then Mom made us waffles. Grace started getting fussy around 8:30, so we took about an hour nap and then got up and had a bottle. After the second bottle we headed out for the day. First we stopped by my Mom's office to show Grace off to her co-workers, then we went to Tulip Time (a festival in Pella). Check out pictures below. We had a nice time there, but then headed home in the afternoon. Mom made us dinner, with steak, cottage fries, salad, and rolls. We did Grace's evening routine and she went to sleep with no crying. We watched National Treasure and headed to bed.


Grace and the Tulips


Grace thinks we're at Mardi Gras


Grandma and Grandpa


The Family

Saturday was a more lazy day. We got up early with Grace and Jeremy called around 6:00 a.m. It was nice because I got to talk to him for a little while. I think he missed us a little. I can't wait until he gets to come home and we can see him and let him meet Grace. Mom made a big breakfast (Biscuits and Gravy, Bacon and Eggs). Then Mom, Grace and I just hung out while the guys went fishing. After a couple of hours, we went to watch for a little while and Grace got to see Grandpa catch a big fish.



Once the fishing was done, we let Grace take another nap while the guys showered and then we went to DesMoines for the evening. We ate at Champps and then walked around the mall for a bit. Grace got a couple new outfits (surprise!) and then we headed to Best Buy and got her a CD of silly kids songs. We listened to it on the way back and got back and put Grace to bed while the adults hung out a little while longer. Grace got a real kick out of my Astro, the family dog. He kept jumping up on my Dad's lap and she would just giggle. She thought it was hilarious. He'd get down and do it again, and apparently it never got old. He did it probably 20 times.

Saturday night was not so good for Grace's sleeping. She got up 4 times and I would rock her back to sleep. I didn't feel right letting her cry at their place. Around 4 a.m. my Dad got up and volunteered to hang out with her if she got up again and let me get some sleep. I gladly accepted. Mom fed her around 7:00 a.m. and I decided we needed to get up and pack. We left for the airport around 8, got there at 9, and our flight left at 10:30. They wouldn't let us use the sling on the plane on the way back, but Grace still fell asleep on the flight and it was fairly peaceful. We were delayed for an hour in Cincinnati, but made it home by 3:30 p.m.

Grace and I took a quick nap and I fed her and then we decided to go out to eat for Mother's Day. We went to Texas Roadhouse and got in within a reasonable amount of time. After dinner, I came home and went through Grace's evening routine and Eric went to the store to get me a Mother's Day card. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and relaxing.