Happy Halloween

First Week as a Family of Four

We have been enjoying our week as a family of 4! We spent all day one day at my parents house visiting with them, Ashley, Lauren, and the boys. And what better to do on an October afternoon besides swim? My dad heated the pool and everyone except my mom and I went swimming. 

We had a check up for Lainey when she was 3 days old to check her bilirubin levels. Thankfully they were not too high so no more checks. She had a slight risk for jaundice because of the combination of our blood types. At her check up she weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. (52%), was still 21 in. (98%), and head was 71%. Cambry got her flu shot while we were there. I was filling out tons of paperwork for Lainey so Greg had his arms full.

Saturday morning we went out on our first walk. It was nice to put them both in the double stroller. They ended up both falling asleep. Cambry woke up super early that morning so she was tired. I think I was a little too ambitious on the walk because on the way back I started to really regret going so far. And we didn't even really go too far or too fast, but things were hurting. Greg was sweet and jogged back to get the truck so I didn't have to walk all the way home. Baby steps.

Greg's parents stayed with us this weekend. We mostly hung out and watched football, spent some time outdoors, then went to lunch today. Cambry of course loved having lots of attention from Nana and Pops. If either one of them stepped out of the room she would immediately ask about them. 

Other than that Lainey has been doing a lot of sleeping. She has been doing great at night so far. The first couple nights I think she ate every 2 hours, but now it has been more like every 3 and sometimes a little longer. She has not cried much at night so that makes things a lot easier. And she has been nursing super fast. Maybe it will start to get longer as her tummy can hold more but for now she only takes about 10 minutes. With Cambry I thought it was more like 30-40 but maybe that was when she was a little bit older.

Cambry has been a good big sister and seems to be adjusting pretty well. She likes to pat Lainey (we have to remind her to do it gently), and will ask to hold her and kiss her. She likes bringing her the paci. She also likes making Lainey's hands do the motions to wheels on the bus. Sometimes she will put the blanket on her head/face, poor Lainey's hair gets pulled, or Cambry will ask us to put her down so we can hold her. But for the most part she is being sweet.

We took newborn pictures so I will try to post those soon. I am also working on typing up Lainey's birth story before I forget all the details. We are so glad to have our Lainey bug here. She is such a sweetheart!

Introducing...

Lainey Reese

7 lbs. 10 oz.

21 in.

born Monday, October 21 3:12AM

Our precious little one is here! We are so in love with her. She has a full head of dark brown hair, dark blueish/gray eyes, and long lashes. She is so sweet. We are home and enjoying lots of family time. Big sister is doing great too!

Four Days Over-Cooked

Still pregnant.

Each weekend we say - I wonder if this will be our last weekend as a family of 3. Well, they just keep coming folks. But I am thankful for a fun family weekend again. The weather has been gorgeous. Exactly why I love October.

We went to the Bellaire Fall Festival on Saturday. We all had a good time. Cambry went in the bounce house and did several carnival type games. Then she even rode her first ride with Greg. We thought she might get scared but she was begging to do it so we let her. She ended up really liking it.

I took a nap later that day while Cambry took hers. Then I was feeling energized and motivated. I decided I was going to get Lainey to come out. So I walked 3.5 miles around the neighborhood. Well Lainey seems to be completely unphased by my efforts. 

Tomorrow my sister and nephews get here and I am so excited! We all thought I would be out of the hospital and with baby by now but not so. Let's just hope Lainey makes her arrival before they have to fly back!

Two Days Over-Cooked

Well, just another Friday over here. Went to music class in the morning. Cambry seemed to be more outgoing and enjoy it more than usual today. She was dancing around so cute and silly.

Then a late afternoon family trip to Target to get a few random things.

It is kind of fun when people ask when I am due, because now I can say - oh it was Wednesday. That always gets a surprised response from people.

Maybe this weekend Lainey will decide to come out...

One Day Over-Cooked

I had an appointment today and once again have made no progress. Boo. Still 2cm/50% effaced like I have been since week 38. With Cambry I was also at 2cm until the very end. These 2 pregnancies are so similar, so maybe I should just expect Lainey to come 9 days late as well.  

My next appointment is scheduled for Wednesday (41 weeks) and I will get an ultrasound. We may schedule an induction date at that appointment for around 42 weeks. Praying she just comes on her own! 

We went on a family walk today (Gigi, Pa, Ashley, Cambry) but so far it has not convinced Lainey to come out. Oh well, on the bright side Parenthood is coming on tonight and the weather today has been beautiful. Maybe I should splurge on a pumpkin spice latte today, haven't had one yet this season!

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 40 Weeks

Well hello due date. So we meet again. This feels very familiar. I feel like a ticking time bomb. I keep attending my normal events and everyone is like "you are STILL here?". Yep. No signs of Lainey. I am hoping this is my last pregnancy update but there very well could be a 41 week update like last time! My doctor appointment is tomorrow so I will post an update with any progress.

How Far Along:  40 Weeks. WHOA. It is a weird feeling to finally make it to the day you have been counting down to for the past 9 months...but not have a baby. Hopefully soon!

Baby's Size:  A small pumpkin. Hmm another website already said that a couple weeks ago. Who knows. Let's just go with size HUGE.

Maternity Clothes: Very few left that fit!

Movement: Still moving like crazy. She must be so squished in there though.

Sleep: Good overall.

Symptoms: Braxton hicks mostly. And my back is just really starting to be so tired of carrying the weight of my belly. And pretty much everything wears me out. Grocery shopping. Oh grocery shopping. Each Monday I hope it will be my last time to grocery shop pregnant. It is so exhausting pushing around that gigantic car-cart that Cambry LOVES. Then loading/unloading the car. I am looking forward to having this baby so grocery shopping will be easy. With an infant and toddler. Hahahahaha. Other than that I haven't noticed any new symptoms or signs of labor.

Food Aversions/Cravings:  Loving anything pumpkin, honeycrisps, and cookie dough ice cream.

Best Moment this Week: My mom got us a new vacuum cleaner! That was exciting because our old one was terrible.

What I miss: Feeling normal/comfortable and having energy.

What I am Looking Forward to: Having a baby!! Also my doctor appointment tomorrow. Maybe she will say something like, OMG you are already 5cm dilated and in labor and you didn't even know it. Let's have this baby! Although I fear she will say something like, I'm sorry, you have made no progress once again and will likely be pregnant forever.

Goals: Have a baby! 

Cambry 22 Months

Well I didn't think I would be updating this because I thought I would be busy having a baby. But we are still waiting on Lainey so here is Cambry's 22 month update. I am putting it up a day early since tomorrow I will put up my 40 week pregnancy update.

Skills: Talking constantly still, pointing out objects and colors or just repeating things we say. Not only do you ask "What's that?" in the car, but pretty much throughout the whole day. Everyone knows that kids go through the "Why?" stage, but no one tells you about the predecessor "What's that?" stage. It could be the tiniest piece of fuzz on your blanket or the freckle on your arm, but you are constantly saying "What's that what's that what's that?". Such a curious little one. It also amazes me how you remember and associate things so well. We went back to Jos A Bank to pick up pants for Daddy and you remembered that you watched the mickey mouse video there a couple weeks ago. 

Likes: Your latest thing you like to do is have picnics. We spread your blankets out on the floor and you get your tea set and pretend snacks and all your babies. You have to have all your babies sitting up and you try to get them to hold hands. You call them sisters. You also have a preference for pink and purple. You get upset in music class when they pass out items if you do not get a pink scarf and purple egg shaker. And each week at Sunday School your craft is in your backpack and you have scribbled in purple. Only purple. You still love the Wheels on the Bus song but you actually have not watched the tv show at all this month! You have been watching Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street (Elmo). You of course still love all your girly things - putting on your dress up shoes, carrying around your purse, wearing your sunglasses, bracelets. etc. When we go somewhere you bring SO MUCH stuff. And you make me hold it when we go out to the car because you need one hand free to help you get down the garage step. You love to load up your purse with so many things. I joke that you need a bigger purse - better yet a diaper bag. I have no idea how we are going to get you, all your stuff, and Lainey in her infant seat out the door to go anywhere. I am going to need about 6 more hands. You tried pumpkin bread this month and LOVE it. You start dancing all around crazy when we give it to you. And of course you never go anywhere without your baby and blanket. You love your grandparents too. We haven't seen the Matterns in the past month but whenever my parents come over you start running laps around the house squealing. Oh and you also ask to see videos of Hollyn or the baby (Anderson) all the time.

Struggles:  Well vegetables are a struggle but you will usually try one bite of something if we bargain for something else. Meat is a struggle too a lot of times if it is by itself. You do better when it is something mixed like a soup, or speghetti, casserole, etc. Sharing is still a struggle too.

Schedule: You usually wake up around 7:00 am. Nap time is somewhere around 12 or 1pm and it lasts 1-2 hours. You are pretty good about putting yourself to sleep for naps now that we have moved the glider into Lainey's room. We sit and read a book then sing a song and by then you are very sleepy so you fall asleep in your crib pretty quickly. Bedtime is 7:30pm as usual.

We love you little one! You are going to be such a good big sister! In fact one of your Sunday school teachers asked if we had another little one at home already and said you were very maternal, ha! They said every week you take care of all the baby dolls in class. Yep, that's our girl! Such a little mommy.

Prophesy

On Friday night we looked at the monitor and this is how we found Cambry. It is sort of hard to tell but Cambry is laying on her baby doll and the baby's head is coming out between her legs. Looks like she is giving birth to her baby, ha! Greg and I thought it might be prophesy, but here I am on Sunday and still pregnant...

On another note, I posted my hospital bag packing list on Houston Moms Blog today. Go check it out and let me know what I am forgetting!

Come on Baby

At my appointment today I had made NO PROGRESS. Boo. Still at 2 cm and still "thick" according to my doctor.

We are waiting on you Lainey...

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 39 Weeks

How Far Along:  39 Weeks! I cannot believe my due date is NEXT week! Will I go into labor in the next week? Will she come late? It is getting so close. My weekly appointment is tomorrow so I'll update then with a progress report. Greg and I have made our guesses as to her due date: I am guessing October 18th and Greg is guessing October 20th. I hope we are both wrong and she comes earlier!

Baby's Size:  A mini watermelon. Are you sure? Mine feels like more like a full size watermelon.

Maternity Clothes: Very few left that fit!

Movement: Still moving a ton. It feels like I have a 6 month old in there. Her limbs are always poking out every which direction.

Sleep: Good overall. The past week or so I have been waking up some at night with uncomfortable braxton hicks. I keep hoping it might be a real contraction but then I wake up feeling fine in the morning.

Symptoms: Braxton hicks, the random shooting pains, waddling, leg cramps and restless legs at night. Several people have told me that it looks like she has dropped a little. I can't really tell but I hope so!

Food Aversions/Cravings:  I made pumpkin bread this week and I cannot stop eating it. It is so good. Cambry loves it too and asks for it constantly.

Best Moment this Week: Getting a pedicure! At least my toes will look good while I'm in labor :) Also I am loving the cooler weather!!

What I miss: Feeling normal/comfortable and having energy.

What I am Looking Forward to: Having a baby!! I can't wait to see what she looks like.

Goals: Keep the house clean. My mom is here today helping me clean. We have gotten a lot done so far and are now taking a little break. It feels great to have a clean house! Also I want to go on daily walks. Maybe this will help Lainey come out. Although I walked a lot at the end with Cambry and she still came 9 days late. I think babies just come when they are ready. I guess walking couldn't hurt though. It is just SO HARD. I seriously don't know why my body can hardly walk. I am pretty much the same size/weight as I was last pregnancy, and I exercised throughout a lot of this pregnancy. But this time around I feel like I can barely move. 

Fall Weather, Pumpkins, and Pedicures

We had a great weekend! I love October so much. Friday night we went to dinner with friends at Black Walnut Cafe. Cambry did really well. She loved the noodles that came with my chicken parmesan. I think she got more noodles than I did. Oh well, she was occupied, which makes for a nice dinner!

Saturday we ran a bunch of errands. We took some pumpkin patch pictures at St. Lukes. I wanted to get those done before Lainey makes her debut and we may not get another chance. Plus Jill let me borrow this shirt and I had to get a picture in it while I'm still pregnant. It was a very hot morning and I think we were all sweating by the end but we did manage to get some good shots thanks to Greg.

Even though we got a few cute ones, it did not come easy. This picture pretty much sums up Cambry's attitude during a lot of the photo shoot.

Then one of the pumpkins was leaking a little goo and it got on Cambry's pants so she was preoccupied with that for the rest of the time. She asked "Zat?" (what's that?) about 500 times.

When I started throwing her around we got a few more smiles out of her.

Just for comparison, here is Cambry last year in the pumpkin patch. She wore the same thing. Last year it fit her as a dress, this year as a shirt. But at least we got 2 years wear out of it, and maybe 2 more for Lainey!

Today the weather was beautiful!! After church Cambry took a nap and I got a pedicure and my nails painted. Such a nice treat! Then we walked to the park and let Cambry play. I have to really just shuffle along so slow because my belly feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. I wanted to make some pumpkin bread tonight but don't have the ingredients so it will have to wait until I go to the store tomorrow. Yay for October fun!

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 38 Weeks

We are in October, yay!! Not only is this my favorite month but it will be Lainey's birth month too. I am so excited. At my appointment today I was 2 cm / 50% effaced. My doctor said she did not think the baby would come this week.

How Far Along:  38 Weeks!

Baby's Size:  A leek. Really? I saw another site that said pumpkin. I like that better.

Maternity Clothes: Very few left that fit!

Movement: Constant body rolls. Lots of hiccups. I can tell she has run out of room. She is trying to stretch out in there and it looks so funny from the outside.

Sleep: Good, just hard to flip from one side to the other. Sometimes it takes me a while to fall asleep after a bathroom break, but mostly sleeping good.

Symptoms: Braxton hicks, the random shooting pains, waddling, leg cramps and restless legs at night. I am done with stairs. Elevators are my friend. Grocery shopping feels like P90X. By the end of the day I am exhausted and uncomfortable.

Food Aversions/Cravings:  Honeycrisps! Cambry is loving them too.

Best Moment this Week: Getting my hair highlighted! It had been way too long. Plus it is relaxing and nice to have a little me time.

What I miss: Being able to move or bend down and pick something up easily. I also miss being able to go shopping for a cute new outfit. I guess I still CAN do that, but who wants to buy a new cute fall maternity outfit at 38 weeks??

What I am Looking Forward to: We are going to try and take some pumpkin patch pictures this weekend. Hopefully we get some good ones.

Goals: I don't really know. Most things are done. I could get super ambitious and make a bunch of freezer meals...but no. I am too tired for that :)