Lots of Stuff (long one)

So, it's been a while since I've update, and I feel like there is a lot of STUFF to share! First, Carlyn had her two month check up a couple weeks ago. I know, I should've posted sooner. She is officially in the double digits now! She was 10lbs, 7oz, and 22.5in long. She has grown out of all of her newborn sleepers (she is too long), and some of her newborn clothes. She loves to look around, and is very attentive when she's awake (which is most of the time). She is nosey and has to know EVERYTHING that is going on. She holds her head up all by herself and doesn't like when you try to help. She is going to be a "I can do it myself" kind of kid! She has rolled over a few more times, of course not in front of us or the camera. I think she knows when that thing is on. She talks all the time know too. She has started to coo and aww a lot more, and now that she knows she has a voice, she loves to use it. (I'm not sure why...her mom and dad aren't big talkers! ;-)) Every diaper change she tells me a new story! She is a happy baby, and when she isn't having a "serious" day, she smiles all the time. She is doing very well on her Zantac, and we are VERY thankful for it! She doesn't spit up as much anymore, and sleeps very well, at night anyways. She goes to bed around 8 or so, and doesn't wake up until 5. I am also very thankful for this too! During the day is another story. She doesn't want to take a nap unless she's laying on mommy or daddy. She takes cat naps of 20min, then wakes up and is ready to play again. We give her lots of floor time. She isn't too fond of her tummy time yet, but lifts her head up very well. She gets her knees under her, but then gets angry that she doesn't know what to do with them next. She scoots all around though. She is going to be my little mover and shaker! She loves to lay on her back, look at everything around her, and tell you what she sees! She is also starting to take notice of Rosco a little more. (Dude tries to stay away from her). She smiles when he comes and stands by her, and laughs when he sneaks a kiss in! Her laugh is the best sound in the world! I recently went back to work (which was SO hard), and my mom and sister-in-law get to watch her one day a week. They love it! I come home and rock her, a little bit longer on those nights, and get to watch her sleep. I look at her and think how utterly amazing she is, and that there can't be anything in this world better than being a mom. She is such a great baby, and we cannot wait to see what she will do next!

Mother's Day was great! My first one! On Saturday morning we met up with Jason's mom and sisters and my family and had breakfast at one of our favorite spots...TC Eggingtons! It was great to have everyone there! Then my sister, my mom, and I hung out all day. Jason had to work on Sunday, so Carlyn and I went over to my mom's for breakfast, hung out there in the morning, and then went to Jason's Nana's in the afternoon. Lunch was great, and Carlyn got to see her Mimi and her (Great) Nana. Carlyn (and Jason) had a ring made for me for Mother's Day. It is beautiful! It is white gold and has three stones. One is Jason's, the middle one is mine (a diamond!) and the third one is Carlyn's. I love it. He did a wonderful job for my first Mother's Day!

Back in April was my golden birthday...26! Jason and I decided we would leave Carlyn with his parents and go to a movie and dinner. Well, we didn't go to a movie, but we got to run around and go shopping without a stroller! We then went to the brand new Nando's Mexican Cantina for dinner. Little did I know Jason had planned a big surprise dinner with a bunch of our friends and family. There were about 25 people there. We sat on the patio and enjoyed Mexican food and margaritas! It was a lot of fun! Thanks baby! I think those are all the updates for now.

New Pictures

Just a quick update...we are all great! Carlyn is sleeping very well now, she is going about seven hours at night...which is just great! The first time she did it Jason rushed in to her room, worried that something was wrong because she hadn't woken up in the middle of the night (she was sleeping about four or five hours before). She was perfectly fine. She loves to scoot around in her crib and never stays where we put her at the beginning of the night! She is still refluxing, but not nearly as bad anymore! I go back to work next week, and am dreading it. We go to the doctor next week for her eight week appointment, and I will give more updates then! Here are some more pictures of her.

First visit to the firestation!

After I got my shot

My Easter dress
Rosco loves me and loves to just sit and watch me!

My hair after a bath...it's crazy!

"They grow so fast"

Everyone told me that they grow up so fast...you just don't realize how fast until you have one! I can't believe how big Carlyn is getting. She is now six weeks old, and last time we weighed her she was 9lbs, 5oz. She is also two inches longer than she was at birth! She is in the 50% for her weight, and the 90% for her height! She is going to be so tall! About three weeks ago, Carlyn started fighting sleep REALLY bad. She would get to sleep and then wake up screaming. She would do this for three or four hours...especially in the middle of the night. I felt so bad because you could tell she was in pain, and there was nothing I could do to help. We gave her mylicon and it seemed to only help some of the time. When we went to the doctor, we found she had reflux. So, we got Zantac and are also giving her gripe water. So far it has made a world of difference. She still fights sleep pretty bad, but she doesn't cry and scream, she simply just stays awake and looks around, afraid she is going to miss something! She doesn't seem to be in pain anymore. It was so hard to watch her be in pain. I never realized it would hurt so incredibly bad to watch your child cry and be in pain. It broke my heart over and over again. She still spits up and throws up often, but it doesn't seem to hurt when she does...it doesn't even phase her anymore.

She is doing new things everyday, and Jason and I love to see what she will do next or what new face she will make. She loves her tongue! She sticks it out all the time and plays with it. She did this inside too, just take a peek back at my ultrasound pictures...she was already sticking it out! She is smiling all the time, and loves it when you smile at her...she intently looks at you and finally smiles back! It's the greatest feeling in the world! Within the last week, she has also showed us her laugh! Can you believe it...she laughs out loud...not often, but it's great when she does! She loves her daddy very much, and loves to talk to him and kiss him all the time! He has no problem with this, as he is totally in love with her! We've even been to the firestation a few times! Yesterday, she rolled over from her back to her tummy...I couldn't believe it. I put her in her crib, and she cried for about five minutes. When she stopped, I figured she went to sleep. Much to my surprise, when I went in her room, she was all the way on her tummy with her head up looking around. She was very happy! I am trying very hard to get it on tape...hopefully soon I can post that, however, she seems to be a bit camera shy. I am loving being a mom and I can't imagine anything better! Here are pictures from her newborn photo shoot, I couldn't choose, so there are a lot.

Two years!

March 24th was our two year anniversary! It has been the greatest two years being with each other. We both feel so blessed that our lives intertwined and we now have a beautiful little girl. It's amazing. Since Carlyn was only three weeks old, we didn't want to leave her yet, so she came with us. She was a very good girl and she let us eat our whole dinner and dessert without waking up once! We started off the day going to our favorite breakfast place, Eggingtons. We ran some errands, came home, took a nap, and then went to dinner. We ate at The Keg. It was delicious! They had the best food, and great service. We even got a free appetizer because it was our anniversary! Two years has gone by so fast, and I can't wait for each year to come!

Finally! (It's long...sorry)

Okay, after 50 hours of labor, two epidurals, and three weeks to recover, i have finally uploaded all the pictures of our beautiful little girl! She was born March 1, 2009. 7pounds, 3ounces, and 20 inches long!

It all started on Thursday Feb. 26th. We went to the doctor, and I was very ready to have this little girl! I was dilated to a 3 and 85% effaced. Dr. Damore stripped my membranes, and said I should be in labor within 24 to 48 hours! Great, I couldn't wait! Well, Thursday night my contractions became stronger, but still not consistent...so more waiting. Friday morning I woke up with contractions ten to twelve minutes apart! Awesome...we have consistency! Jason and I walked ALL day long...everywhere. They gradually became closer and closer...ten minutes, seven minutes...just waiting for five. Five never seemed to come. The doctor told us to go in when the contractions were five minutes apart for one hour. Saturday morning at 1230 I woke up with contractions five minutes apart. I watched the clock, and at 145 Jason and I went to the hospital. We walked...some more, and when they checked me I was only 3.5cm dilated...great. So, home we went. They basically told me to come back when they were more painful. Jason and I became very frusterated and extremely tired. We didn't sleep all day (how could we?). They started to become stronger and stronger as the day past. At four that evening, my whole family was telling me, you should go back now. My contractions were strong enough that I couldn't talk through them, and they were very uncomfortable. At this point, I had been having contractions five minutes apart for 15 hours...REALLY??? They checked me and I was still only 3.5cm dilated. They were going to give me a shot of morphine and send me home...I don't think so! Luckily my water broke on it's own and I was admitted! Two hours later I was only 4cm. So, they started Pitocin at 1100 Saturday evening. I got my first epidural at about midnight...it numbed my right thigh...that's it! Well, the baby was not coming out of there, and I could still feel everything. So, they pulled it out an hour and a half later and started another one! AMAZING! I coudn't feel any pain. I finally got some sleep. Jason on the other hand never left my side and didn't sleep. He was so great the whole time I was in labor. Finally at 630 Sunday morning I was 7cm dilated! YEAH!!! Then, quickly at 730 I was a ten. They told us I was ready to push...wait...you mean I have to push! Once it was time, I realized she would be here soon! I was nervous, excited, and scared all at the same time. 45minutes later, Carlyn arrived! It was the most amazing feeling, indescribable. This little girl that Jason and I created was finally here, laying on my chest! The love you feel is like no other!

So, now three weeks later, I am feeling great! The recovery part was a lot easier for me than I thought it would be. Carlyn is a pretty good baby. She has bad nights, and when she does, they are REALLY bad. BUT, she has more good nights than bad and will go four to six hours without waking up! This is so nice! Jason is so in love with her and was able to take off three weeks of work to just be with me and her! He missed her very much on his first day back!She has a lot of hair, and I can't wait to be able to put bows and barretts in it! There are a lot of pictures below, and i still have more to upload. Enjoy!

Preggo Pictures

A couple weeks ago, we took our maternity pictures. Jason loved it! (I say this VERY sarcastically). It was fun! Cayla Rynerson took them, and she did a fabolous job. Thanks again Cayla. There is also a new post below, that some of you may not have read yet, it's pretty new, but I wanted to get these up. She took tons of picures, but here are some of my favorites...there are a lot of them! Five more weeks. I can't belive it. I will post pictures of her room very soon. Jason is doing a wonderful job on it! I am feeling pretty good these days, just starting to get uncomfortable by mid day...but well worth it! I am also just starting to swell, but not too bad if I drink plenty of water! So many thoughts are going through my head, and I can barely sleep. So many things to do and buy still...ahhh!!! But, I can't wait until she gets here, and I can just enjoy her and our new family!

It's a tear jerker

My friend e-mailed me this, and I fell in love with it. It made me cry...multiple times...although many things do that to me now! I can't wait to feel all of these things...only five weeks left! We took our maternity pictures, and I will try to post those by this weekend! It's long, but take a quiet minute and read through it...you'll be glad you did.

Being a MOM...

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of starting a family. 'We're taking a survey', she says half-joking. 'Do you think I should have a baby?' 'It will change your life' I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. 'I know,' she says, 'no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations.' But that is not what I meant at all.

I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, 'What if that had been MY child?' That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die. I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is,becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of 'Mom!' will cause her to drop her best crystal without a moments hesitation. I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right. I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there,in the midst of the scattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs. I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child.

I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic. I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts. My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. 'You'll never regret it,' I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.