random

So, you ask...how have we been spending our time at our casa? Well, let me just say that I forgot how life is with a newborn!! Sleeping in till noon, watching tv all day, eating bon bons...

So, here's a typical day at home. It starts around 7:40 when Levi wakes up. "Mom, chocolate milk and blanket." That is the first demand of the day and then the demands never seem to stop! Maggie usually wakes around 8 and is, um, starving. She's always starving! ;) I get her fed and then try to take a quick shower while Levi entertains her. We usually have some play time in the morning and then it's time for Maggie to eat again. And again. And again. I can't complain, though. Maggie is a good baby. She is sleeping well at night...usually 3-4 hours at a time. I try - TRY - to get the kids to nap together for at least an hour so that I can lay down and re-energize. The evenings are a little rougher...Maggie has a fussy period and it can totally wear me out! Luckily, Daddy is usually home to help out. :) Usually around 11, I lay Maggie down and she's out until around 3, eats and goes back to sleep from 5 to 8. Then, it starts over again. WHEW! So, that's a glimpse as to what we've been up to!

Ok, for a funny story. This is totally a new mom, emotional, hideous moment!!! Monday night, I went to a jewelry show. Jaime Mac was the jewelry lady. Jaime - I'm sorry if my night made you even more horrified of children!!! ;) So, things were going well and then one of the girls there wanted to feed Mags. I warned her that Maggie has been having some issues with throwing up. You know...burp after every ounce, don't let her eat too fast....blah, blah. Well, she finished her bottle and then almost immediately, she projectile vomited all over Cheryl. Um, lets just say I was completely horrified. So embarrassed. I felt bad for Cheryl and worse for Maggie. No one wants to see their child do that. Everyone kept going on and on about how sorry they felt for me and I lost it. I'm talking LOST IT. I started crying. If you've ever had the baby blues, you know exactly what I'm talking about!! Nothing is really "wrong" per say, but something just hits you and you lose control of your emotions. OH MY. I cried for what seemed like forever! I got home and Eric gave me the "Ok, here we go again..." look. He was very gentle with me and just let me do my thing. :) Poor guy!!! In the moment, I thought I was going to die, but now I can look back and call myself a crazy woman!!

Anyways, it seems that Maggie is having a bout with reflux. Very common from what I hear. We started a new formula yesterday and she already seems better. It's something she just needs to outgrow. So, we wait... I'm praying everything else stays normal and her little body heals itself! No pukies since yesterday morning!!! YEA!

Ok, ready for some pics? I promised myself tonight I would start taking some more. It's like I forgot how to use a camera! Have a baby and your whole life stops for a while. Oui.

Sunday afternoon nap. How precious is this? They were OUT.
Eric got the father of the year award when he found this little "weedweeter" for Levi.

We've been spending a lot of time outside. Maggie gets so excited when I say we're going out...

More time outside. Levi just opened a birthday gift...a little rocket bubble launcher thingy. He loves it!

Look close...can you see the rocket & bubbles? Cute!

Precious big brother...

And one more riding his big wheel

Ok, so I need to work on taking more pictures of Maggie!!! Right now, she's just kind of boring. :) I'll do better tho!

Oh, and one more random...I need a pedicure. Bad.

well hello there

Ok, for all the blog readers, I am still in the land of the living!! It's just taking a little while to get into a rhythm 'round this household! I promise to get all caught up reading the blogs over the next couple of days. ;)

Things are going really well here. I mean, almost too well. Like eerily well. I am kind of waiting for the bottom to drop out! Don't get me wrong. I'm SOOOO thankful!!! It's just weird that things have gone so smoothly. I feel good; my body is healing quickly. Maggie is eating and sleeping really well. Levi is totally loving being a big brother and doing a great job at it! My mom has been staying the night with us since Sunday. She takes the night shift so that I can sleep and be rested for the day. Let me tell ya...it has been awesome! I have one more night of this and then she goes back to work. Maybe I should just hire a nanny. I'm just sayin'...

Here are a few more pics.

Levi feeding Mags our first day home. He loved it!
Oh, and this was a cute one from the hospital. He did a good job holding her and making sure her neck didn't snap in half! :) His shirt says "Will trade sister for tractor" Too cute!!

And, little Maggie right before we brought her home. Of course, her Grammy picked out her "going home" outfit. ;)

And one more...Levi helping me give Maggie her first sponge bath yesterday. She loved the warm water. Look how big Levi looks next to her! Time flies...

I guess that's all for now! I'll try to update some more later. Oh, and I'll try and be a part of the blogging tomorrow on sports!! Gotta go feed the little chunky monkey! :)

My daughter

I am so excited to share our story about the birth of Maggie May!! I want to try and remember every detail of our day :)

I was admitted into the hospital on Monday night around 7pm for Cervadil. It is a procedure that is supposed to help ready your body for being induced into labor. Around 2am, I started having contractions, but nothing serious. I didn't sleep very much because I was UNCOMFORTABLE, Maggie was insanely active and I was getting more and more anxious about labor. I guess I would say that my labor actually began at 8:30am when Dr. Wright broke my water. My contractions began almost immediately and I was only dilated 2 cm. I got started on pitocin and then the real fun started! :) My contractions were pretty intense for a couple hours and they decided to go ahead and give me an epidural. I remember having low blood pressure during my delivery with Levi, but it was worse this time. Before I could have my epidural, the nurse wanted to fill me with two bags of fluid and that was supposed to help with my blood pressure. Finally, the most wonderful man on the planet - my anesthesiologist - got my epidural in. So, we waited, hoping my blood pressure would come up. After two shots in my leg and two shots directly in my IV, my blood pressure was still low, but stable. I felt like I could sleep for a while, so I encouraged Eric and Gretchen to go ahead and eat lunch. They left to go to Dairy Queen and I slept for about 30 minutes, I think. When I woke up, the nurse checked me and said, "Ok, you are 8 cm. I'm going to start setting up the table for Dr. Wright." I looked at my mom and said "Um, I guess you should call Eric and tell him to hurry back." :) I remember them putting me on oxygen, which can be normal with an epidural because the baby's heart rate can drop. When Eric got back, my nurse, Renee, wanted me to try pushing...just to see where we were. I pushed twice and she said "Don't push any more. I'm calling Dr. Wright in." A few minutes later, in walked my wonderful doctor and he got all garbed up! He told me to push once and then Maggie was here!!!! I cannot believe it was so easy this time around!! He laid her on my chest and she seemed HUGE!!! Eric cut her umbilical cord and the baby nurses whisked her away to check her vitals. She was perfect - 10 little fingers, 10 little toes, dark hair and a set of lungs that made you twitch. She was 21 inches long and weighed 8 lbs and 10 ounces. I cannot believe my labor was right at 5 hours. It seemed like 5 minutes! Eric carried her back over to me and it was such a perfect moment. :) Maggie May, I am so glad you are finally here! Your daddy and I have been waiting to meet you for so long now. I cannot imagine my life without you...



The proud big brother holding her for the first time
When my parents brought Levi to the hospital, he walked in, saw me holding a bundle of blankets and said "What's that?" I said "This is your sister, Maggie." He immediately lit up and wanted to "pet her". He fell in love from the get go. Levi loves to hold her, kiss her, feed her and yes, pet her. :)

Levi calling Ms. Louise, his teacher, to tell her of her sister's arrival

Daddy changing the first dirty diaper - Hi-larious!

While Eric was changing her, she screamed. Here was Levi's face...

I think he was afraid Eric was hurting her. He kept saying "Don't pinch her!"

Little miss Maggie May - we love you so much!!!

I have a TON more pictures, and will upload some when I can. I just wanted to post some details about Maggie's birth and also wanted to say thank you for so many prayers that were sent our way! Today was Levi's last day at school and my first day home and I'm looking forward to spending some time with my kiddos!

Pictures from a wonderful day :)

I've decided not to share the details of the day, I'm going to let Tracey tell the story on her own. I'll just share that Tracey did wonderful, and Maggie May, is a very pretty baby. After a day like today, my ovaries cry out......



Check out the jaws on this baby girl ;)

A very proud Grammy!!
Of course, Maggie May's most favorite person in the whole wide world.

I think she looks like Levi!!

Proud daddy. Can you believe this guy has a daughter!!!

Melanie dropped by for a visit (I'll always be the favorite Melanie, so don't get any ideas ;))

CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE JUST GAVE BIRTH?????? Seriously, how can she look that good??




What a cutie pie ;)

Yep, 8 lbs., 10 oz!!!!

Congratulations guys!!! Love you.

Now a family of four :)

I don't have much time to update right now, I have to go get my kids!! However, I just wanted to say that Maggie is here, and beautiful. Just take a look at this family of four now. I will update one more time later with lots more pictures and details on how the day went.

She's on her way!!!

Okay, this is Gretchen, and I am hijacking Tracey's blog....oh the things I could say!!!!!!

Alas, I will be nice (for now anyways)

She went in last night and they gave her a cervadil. Sounds yummy.

As of 10:00 am, they have broken her water, started the pitocin and she 2 cm dilated.

She's been texting me, and says she now knows why she hasn't gone the way of "The Duggars" HAHA, it's huuurts ;)

I'll keep you all posted, and post pics of Maggie later....

G

celebrate

Ok, so I blogged about Eric's birthday dinner at Kansai. YUM YUM! Friday was Eric's birthday. I made a strawberry on strawberry cake for him while he was at work on Friday. We had dinner with the neighbors...pizza from Mazarella's and then Eric set off the fire alarm...um, I mean, blew out his candles! :)
Saturday morning, I made breakfast. Even tho I'm not a good breakfast maker, it still turned out pretty good!! Made eggs, bacon and biscuits. You may be saying to yourself "well that's not that hard!" But, you are talking to the girl that can actually burn boiling water.

Mom, Levi and I ran some errands and then Eric picked Levi up from us so that Mom and I could spend a little time together. It was nice just to visit. We ate lunch out and did a little shopping.

Saturday evening, we all went to a friend's surprise birthday party! Happy Birthday, B!!!!! Eric made the cake for the party - a Butterfinger cake. I will post the recipe sometime. It's a-w-e-s-o-m-e!! I could have eaten half the pan, but settled for one piece! :) After we got back home, Eric and Bob went to see Ironman 2. It's all he wanted to do for his birthday - see that movie. So, I'm glad he got the chance to go!!!

Then, we move into Mother's Day. (Sorry if you are BORED to death! I wanted to remember details about the weekend before Maggie's arrival! And, it's MY blog! ;) )

Levi woke me up with a big hug and a smile. I asked him if I could finally open my gift (it had been sitting on the counter all day Saturday taunting me...) and he said "Oh sure Mom!" Levi told me it was a Bible. So cute because it was actually a book on disciplining children that Eric and I want to read. After church, we headed to my aunt's for lunch. It was wonderful...fried chicken, baked potatoes, salad, mac n cheese, green beans and lots of dessert. After lunch with my family, we headed out to Eric's parent's house and visited with his family. Levi played outside with his cousins while the adults visited inside. It was such a nice evening! We met Bob & Jill for dinner at Taco Bell - the moms didn't want to cook!! - and headed home for bedtime.

Eric and I watched a movie and just chillaxed on the couch. Maggie was very active and was cracking us up!!! I had my cell phone laying on my belly and I think she was seriously trying to kick it off! Eric was dying laughing at how much my belly was jumping.

I sit here this morning, soaking in the last few hours before Maggie's arrival. I am so excited to meet her. I am nervous about our lives changing, but ready to start this next phase. Tomorrow, we will be a family of four. Levi will have a sibling and I will have a daughter. How exciting!! In a couple of weeks, we won't be able to imagine our lives without her. That's crazy to me!!! :)

Oh, here are two pics from yesterday.

I love my little family. :) God has blessed us.

So, the next post will be from Gretchen. She will be updating facebook and my blog with Maggie's arrival. Please pray for us as you think about it throughout the day!!!

cinco de mayo not a holiday? really??

This was a good day.

A really good day.

Today was my last day to work before my maternity leave starts. You know those days when you have extra pep in your step? That was me. Well, I don't know about extra pep...maybe we'll say less of a waddle... ;) As I was driving into work, I felt like I was in a Mary Poppins movie. You know, smiling at everyone that I pass, sharing a friendly wave, sliding down the handrail while holding my umbrella...ok, you get my drift.

Anyways, my morning was spent getting a few last minute things done. People stopped by my desk to chat and wish me well with Maggie. I have to be honest and say it was hard to concentrate. I really just wanted to kick my feet up, read some People Magazines and sip on a diet Mt. Dew. But, alas (dramatic hand placed over forehead), I stayed focus and finished everything on my "to do" list.

Several of my co-workers took me out to lunch - Mexican, of course - and I was informed that Cinco de Mayo really isn't a holiday that is celebrated in Mexico! Huh....who would've thunk that? (Yes, I realize that today is not May 5th, but I asked our waiter if they were busy yesterday...) They celebrate their Independence day on September 16th. May 5th is just a war that they won in the 1800's against France. (At least I think that's what the waiter said...I was kind of busy trying to decide on a chicken fajita quesadilla or a taco salad...the quesadilla won out. And, I'm so glad it did. YUM.) I said, "So basically, Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that has been "Americanized" to make more money??" His answer: "Uh, yes." Unbelievable!

Ok, back to work. The afternoon was spent chatting with more people and handing off some projects to my co-workers. I didn't shed any tears giving away my work. Whoop!!! :) Then, when the clock struck 4:30, I got in (ran to) my vehicle and let out a loud "Yippie!!"

On the way home, I called Eric to see what he wanted for dinner and he suggested Kansai. BE STILL MY HEART. My dad picks Levi up on Thursdays for "male bonding time", so I called to see if they could watch him long enough for us to go to dinner together. Tomorrow (Friday) is Eric's birthday (Happy Birthday, Sweetie!), so we decided to go ahead and celebrate by eating out tonight! We got to Kansai and I think I was giggling when she brought the salad. I wanted to clap my hands, bounce up and down in the seat, and grab the bowl from her, but I politely just said "thank you" and ate like a civilized person. We saw some friends there and told them we were there to celebrate and towards the end of dinner, they started to walk over to us, along with some waitresses and a big ol' honkin' piece of cheesecake drizzled in chocolate and whipped cream. All of them sang to Eric and he acted all embarrassed. I don't really know that he gets embarrassed, but I guess this was pretty close to it.

After dinner, we picked up Levi, ran a couple errands and then headed home to watch Survivor. Ahhhhh, the perfect ending to a fun day! As I sit here typing, I can feel my feet all the way to my earlobes swelling up from all the salt I've had today. Tonight, deer will be attracted to our home...I'm like a huge salt block.

So, I'm off to bed now. I'm looking forward to a little time of relaxing before my world forever changes. :)

because I'm cool like that

Ok, I'm going to brag on myself. Levi wanted a back pack blower just like his Daddy has, so I rigged together this little contraption. It is quite nifty if I do say so myself!! Grabbed his back pack, two empty toilet paper rolls, some packing tape and this tubey thingy from the garage (not sure what it goes to) and VOILA! A back pack blower. Oh yeah...this mom rocks!!

Two things

Last night, in the aftermath of the blood, fluffing of the pillow and me totally babying Levi (see previous post!), I forgot to blog about two things!! BAD BLOGGER!!

Thing #1…I had my 39 week check up yesterday. Everything still looks great and there is still no progress. So, we are still on for an induction on Tuesday unless I go into labor on my own before that. Exciting!!

And, thing #2…I have this thing called a drivers license. Some of you may know what I’m talking about. You are supposed to renew it every 4 years, right? 4 years…a lot can happen in 4 years. One might forget to renew it. I mean, come’on…I’m not the only person in the world who might forget and let it expire, right? Don’t judge…it could happen to you. So, mine expired (ahem, cough, cough) 5/18/09. Yes. A year ago. Half of my family is in law enforcement and I am the responsible child who has been driving on an expired license for a year. Awesome. Anyways, we started Saturday morning as a family day to the license branch! Eric also needed to get his renewed with our new address. The lady who was checking me out says “Um, Ma’am, this has been expired a year.” “Yes, tee hee, it has,” I say sweetly. “Since it has been expired over 6 months, you’ll have to take the written test.” I think I almost passed out. A TEST? Really? I’m a HORRIBLE test taker. Eric, my nice, sensitive husband chokes back his laughs and says for everyone in the room to hear “Gosh, Tra, I hope you pass. I’m not driving you around everywhere!” He’s awesome. So, for the next 15 minutes, I sat and studied the drivers license manual. HOW HORRIBLE. The road signs were all running together. I couldn’t remember anything! Finally, I just took the test so I could get it over with!! I had to sit and wait 5 minutes while she graded it. I started getting hot flashes worrying what I would do if I didn’t pass! Well, praise the Lord, I passed. I wanted to hug the little BMV worker. They snapped my picture – OH, did you know you can’t smile anymore? Hideous. My picture totally looks like a bad mug shot!! Anyways, I got my temporary license (they mail them to you these days…who knew?!) and was on my way. I’ve never been so glad to walk out of a place as I was to leave the BMV on Saturday!!

mommy vs daddy

Tonight, we were out chatting with the neighbors and we hear a blood curdling scream. Eric and I look up to see Levi, having a slight heart attack because he tripped and fell on the concrete. So, we calmly did the "paper-rock-scissors" look to each other to see who would handle this one. ;) (Just kidding!) My motherly instinct is to run, pushing people out of the way, jumping over any obstacle that is in the driveway just to get to my hurt baby. But, then you have Eric who says "Calm down. Don't freak out or he will be worse." Humpf!

Anyways, back to the story. There was blood...which to a 4 year old means more tears. It's funny to me how different Eric and I handle these situations!! Eric sits him down and has the "chicks dig scars" conversation with him. Blood is cool. You get to show all your friends your boo-boo tomorrow. Just be glad we don't have to amputate it. You know...all those cool things!

Here's what Mommy does: Fluffs his pillow extra fluffy, gets a cool wash cloth, gets an ice pack that he can sleep with, lets him keep the Neosporin tube in bed with him and even props his hurt leg up on the pillow. YES, he is still my baby and as much as his daddy hates it, I will keep fluffing his pillows and propping up his boo-boo's. ;)

keep 'em coming people....I may go postal! ;)

It’s funny to see people’s expressions and hear their remarks as I walk around work this week. I’m keeping track of some of my favorite sayings:

~You’re waddling! How cute.

~Wow, you’re ankles are really swollen…

~You’re still here?

~Is that baby still in there?

~You look even more pregnant today (that isn’t someone from work – GRETCHEN)

And, my favorite saying for today:
~Woah, you’re looking tired…kind of rough today. How are you feeling? (That makes you feel good, especially when you walk out the door in the morning feeling like you look halfway cute even though you are almost 10 months pregnant!!)

birthday party fun!!

We had a birthday party at SIGS Saturday night!! (Disclaimer: Yes - I know it was Derby, but it was the only weekend night we could do it before my due date...) We had a lot of fun and I got about a gazillion pictures, so I'll just share some of the highlights!

Matt climbing a rope because of a "Betcha ten bucks you can't make it to the top!" bet!! He made it! I think he needed some Ibuprofen afterwards, tho!!Eric took on a similar bet with the rings. Note all the blood rushing to his face. Once he got up there, I'm not sure he knew how to get down!!

And, I believe this was another bet...something about "I'll beat you to the other side..." Paul & Steve racing thru the bouncer-jumper-blow-up-thingy obstacle course

Travis trying to see how high he can get on the trampoline...I don't think this was a bet, tho.

This just kind of looks like trouble waiting to happen.... Matt, Eric and Paul getting ready to take on the trampoline.

OH WAIT.....did I mention this was LEVI'S birthday party???

Yeah, despite all the grown men bets, there were kids there, too!! :) Levi turns 4 years old on May 17...I can't believe how big he's getting!! I tried to get a picture of each kid there, but couldn't upload them all. So, here's the whole gang!!!!

Levi, you are such a joy to your Daddy and me! You are full of life and such a fun little boy. I love you more than you can ever know and my prayer is that you will always seek God's will for your life and know that I will support you the best way that I can.

Trying out the rope swing for the first time!! I love how adventurous you are!

My dad helping Emily on the rope

Dad and Griffin in the foam pit...I can't remember if he went in of his own accord or if my brother pushed him in!!

And, finally, it was cake time! Levi wanted a basketball cake. We actually ordered cupcakes instead and they made it into a big cake.

Blowing out the candles...notice how sweaty his head is? I don't think he stopped running the whole time we were there!

And, the opening of the gifts. I do have to brag a little...on the way home, Levi said "Mom, I remembered to say thank you to every person, I think." He was so appreciative that everyone came to play at his party and have cake with him. :)

Levi says he had a great birthday party and he is glad that his friends came to play with him. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and help us celebrate!!!