And this is why I say that I think Emma looks more like Grace did than Kyler!
Most people say Kyler but I think this shows a striking resemblance between the girls!
annie | six months
5 years ago
Emma is 4 months!
Sweet baby Emma is ALREADY four months old! It's just going way, way, way, way, way too fast! It makes me sad!
She had her appointment yesterday and she's definitely my chunky monkey, which is what I already knew! She's by far my biggest baby at this age, which again, no shock to me!
Height: 25.5 inches--87th percentile
Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz--97th percentile
Head: 17.5 inches--off the charts--above 97th percentile
She's also meeting all the requirements the doctor checks at this age, including holding head at 90 degrees when on tummy, having stable head control while sitting up, rolling over tummy to back (which she's been doing consistently since 3 weeks old), laughing, smiling, cooing, verbalizing, and reaching for things.
Emma also is able to roll back to tummy but has yet to roll around the house. I'm sure it won't be too long before that happens though and we have a nice, new baby gate read to go for her!
Emma, my dear, you are growing up so fast! You've been reaching out and grabbing at things for awhile now and you now only want your mama! I kind of love it since I know I'm the only one you want to hold you anymore and it's kind of nice but breaks are also good. You love your siblings so, so much and they love you too! I think Kyler is your favorite though, simply because he is home with you all day but you definitely think your sister is pretty great too! You just seem so much older than 4 months, partly because of what a big girl you are and partly because you can do so much that most 4 month old babies just can't do yet! You've loved sitting up in the bumbo for quite some time and have been in the rainforest jumparoo for several weeks already too! You've started sitting at the dinner table with us at meals in your high chair and I think you like being included and sitting up with us. I am holding off on solids, mainly because you don't need them yet. The doctor agreed and said there is really no need yet since you are growing like a weed with just mommy's milk. I love you so infinitely much and you are just the sweetest thing I have ever laid eyes on! Now if you would sleep through the night....and in your crib or pack and play.....:)
My big chunk!
Sisters!!!
Love these three!
The funny things we say...
Sometimes I say things I never thought I would ever say. For instance, today I said to Kyler, "I love you enough to give you the last piece of bacon." Not that strange, but about ten minutes later I had to say, "Please don't dip your bacon in your milk." Yup, much weirder. :)
This morning as we were getting ready to leave to drop Grace off at school I told her to make sure she washes her hands well at school. I told her we want to go see a new baby and we have to wash our hands so we don't get sick. Grace looked at me and said, "Oh, is she a germaphobe too?" Yikes...
And then today, after Kyler went poop on the toilet, he told me that his body has to find the right puzzle pieces to poop out and he found a lot so he was able to poop a lot. How those minds work...
Just Kid Pictures
We had family/kid pictures taken at JCPenney on Monday, September 1st, 2014. And I was so incredibly disappointed with them. They put little to no effort into posing and didn't take the time to try to get good pictures of my kids. What a waste. :(
So that afternoon I took some of my own with the kids wearing their sibling shirts. I liked mine so much better!
Here are the posed/serious ones:
This last one is probably my favorite.
And then we decided to just have some fun and play around, jump, goofy, and just kid stuff:
Love my little babies!
Emma's Dedication
We were so blessed to be able to dedicate Emma at church on Sunday, September 14, 2014.
We are so thankful for a church, church family, and family and friends who were able to be a part of something so special for our sweet daughter.
We fixed a meal for our family after and spent the afternoon hanging out and talking. It was a great day!
And Miss Emma finally got to meet her great grandparents!!! :)
Emma's birth announcement!
While I wish we could afford to send a birth announcement to everyone we know.....it's just not possible! So here she is!
Emma Lily is born!!!!
So excited to be able to post about Miss Emma Lily's birth!
On Wednesday, July 9, 2014, I was 40 weeks, 5 days pregnant. I woke up feeling kind of nauseous but that's not completely abnormal for me at that point. I got the kids ready and we went to the women's summer book study/club at 9am. I was feeling a little better then and was able to eat breakfast there with no problems. I left just after 11am and went to my weekly OB appointment. My blood pressure was up a bit but it was still safe. Baby's heartbeat was 135, which was pretty normal throughout the pregnancy. Dr. Cada checked my cervix and I was excited (and slightly bummed) to find out I was dilated to a 2. The night before I had done some walking which triggered lots of contractions so figured that was why I FINALLY was starting to dilate.
I had an induction scheduled for Friday morning at 5am and since my cervix was starting to dilate on its own, I didn't have to go in Thursday night for the cytotec tablets, which I hated having done with Grace. I went home after the appointment and we had lunch. As had been typical for the past week or two, I laid down on the couch in the early afternoon while the kids did their quiet time. I just wasn't feeling good, still fairly nauseated. I dozed a bit and woke up around 2 or 2:30. I walked down to get the mail and move the van into the driveway from the street (had gutters replaced that morning) and just felt gross and yucky. Then the diarrhea hit. Seriously thought I had the stomach flu for about the next hour as it just kept hitting over and over and over.
And then the contractions began, probably around 3pm. They were much more painful than what I had been experiencing up to that point, with a lot of it in my back. I started timing them and they were very powerful and only 3-5 minutes apart. After debating a bit and thinking I should just wait until Dustin got off work at 5, I realized that this was probably the real deal. I called my mom at 3:30 and told her to come because I thought I was in labor. This was probably surprising as I had just talked with her at noon telling her about my OB appointment and how I was only dilated to a 2 and wasn't expecting anything to happen until the induction on Friday. :)
I then called Dustin and told him I thought I was in labor. He said he would get back to the store (he was on the road) and then come home to get me. In the mean time, I had the kids pick up their room so it was taken care of before we left. The contractions kept coming and were very painful. The kids just looked at me weird as I went through each one. After yet another bathroom trip, I saw that I had bloody show which just convinced me more that I wasn't being fooled and that this was probably real labor. I would then have a contraction space about 7 minutes apart and would start second guessing but then they would be 3-5 minutes apart again and the intensity was there.
Dustin got home at about 4:15. My mom had gotten to a spot of stopped traffic on the interstate and was running late. I knew I couldn't wait much longer and luckily the neighbor kids across the street were out. We asked the almost 16 year old, Maddie, if she could come watch the kids for about 10-15 minutes until my mom got there. So thankful she did!
We left for the hospital and the ride wasn't overly terrible. Pot holes and speed bumps were definitely not my friends but we made it. I am thankful for the "oh crap" handle as it helped me through many of my contractions in the car! I told Dustin to just park in the garage and I walked the tunnel in with him. I figured it would just help my labor go instead of him dropping me off in front. We went up to the labor and delivery floor in the Bryan tower and told them I thought I was in labor. It was about 5pm at this point. I was expecting to go to a triage room but I must have looked like I was in enough pain and they admitted me to a room immediately. After changing, they checked my cervix (which I screamed through, like normal) and they said I was dilated to a 4. I told them at my appointment a few hours ago I was a 2. So we knew things were really going. They got my IV in and I did all the questions and paperwork and everything necessary with getting set up. At 5:30 Dustin left and went back home. We forgot to leave keys for my mom to have access to our van and the car seats to be able to transport our kids. Whoops!!!
While Dustin was gone, the anesthesiologist finally came in at 6pm and got my epidural in. I am thankful for that. While a lot of the labor was in my back, it took away the front cramping pain. Looking back, I didn't have the epidural in that long and had I known how quickly it was going to go I probably could have done it without since I did almost all my laboring without it! Dustin got back right before 6:30 and they checked me at 6:40. I was a 9 by that point. They called the on call doctor, Dr. Mahoney, and she said she would be there as soon as she could. She had her kids at swim lessons so would come from there. Had the doctor been there, I'm pretty sure I could have delivered Emma before 7pm as she was right there but I just had to wait.
At that point, they decided there was no use putting in a catheter because it was going so fast and they have given me UTI's in the past. And they were going to have my lay on my side and switch sides but at that point they said I was not allowed to move AT ALL as they were worried the baby would literally slip out if they did that.
Dr. Mahoney finally showed up a little before 7:30 and got her scrubs and everything on. Once she was ready she checked me and then I started pushing. It took 10 pushes, a total of four minutes, and Emma was born! I was the one who got to look down and see if she was a boy or a girl! I was shocked as I announced to Dustin that it was a girl! I was totally expecting a boy, even though Dustin thought it was a girl! I got to have Emma lay on me right away and they let me do skin to skin with her for awhile before taking her to the warmer. It was fantastic!
After they delivered the placenta they were a little worried as I was bleeding a lot and passing large clots and my uterus wasn't clamping down the way it was supposed to. Then they realized they never drained my bladder! After they did that (and they were shocked by how much they had to drain) everything did as it was supposed to and resolved very quickly. Phew!
I told them to take Emma and get her weighed so I could know her measurements. She looked much smaller than Kyler did when he was born so I was expecting her to weigh less than his 8lbs, 13 oz. She didn't have arm or leg fat rolls. While her cheeks were super chubby, the rest of her looked skinny. I was surprised again when it came up that she was 9 lbs, 0 oz! And she was 21 inches long, a quarter inch longer than Kyler was. Her head and chest measured 14 inches each, which was similar to Kyler as well.
So that is the majority of the birth story. They thought I may need a blood transfusion the next day as I lost more blood than a typical person does during delivery but my labs were good the next morning and I didn't need anything like that--so thankful!
And now here we are, a week later, and I am just loving this perfect, sweet little baby girl! She is healthy, above her birth weight already, and never even had an indication of jaundice. She is so perfect and I am wrapped around her tiny, skinny, long little fingers already!
Grace and Kyler are doing great with her! No signs of jealousy have been shown (yet) and they think she is just cute and wonderful!
On Wednesday, July 9, 2014, I was 40 weeks, 5 days pregnant. I woke up feeling kind of nauseous but that's not completely abnormal for me at that point. I got the kids ready and we went to the women's summer book study/club at 9am. I was feeling a little better then and was able to eat breakfast there with no problems. I left just after 11am and went to my weekly OB appointment. My blood pressure was up a bit but it was still safe. Baby's heartbeat was 135, which was pretty normal throughout the pregnancy. Dr. Cada checked my cervix and I was excited (and slightly bummed) to find out I was dilated to a 2. The night before I had done some walking which triggered lots of contractions so figured that was why I FINALLY was starting to dilate.
I had an induction scheduled for Friday morning at 5am and since my cervix was starting to dilate on its own, I didn't have to go in Thursday night for the cytotec tablets, which I hated having done with Grace. I went home after the appointment and we had lunch. As had been typical for the past week or two, I laid down on the couch in the early afternoon while the kids did their quiet time. I just wasn't feeling good, still fairly nauseated. I dozed a bit and woke up around 2 or 2:30. I walked down to get the mail and move the van into the driveway from the street (had gutters replaced that morning) and just felt gross and yucky. Then the diarrhea hit. Seriously thought I had the stomach flu for about the next hour as it just kept hitting over and over and over.
And then the contractions began, probably around 3pm. They were much more painful than what I had been experiencing up to that point, with a lot of it in my back. I started timing them and they were very powerful and only 3-5 minutes apart. After debating a bit and thinking I should just wait until Dustin got off work at 5, I realized that this was probably the real deal. I called my mom at 3:30 and told her to come because I thought I was in labor. This was probably surprising as I had just talked with her at noon telling her about my OB appointment and how I was only dilated to a 2 and wasn't expecting anything to happen until the induction on Friday. :)
I then called Dustin and told him I thought I was in labor. He said he would get back to the store (he was on the road) and then come home to get me. In the mean time, I had the kids pick up their room so it was taken care of before we left. The contractions kept coming and were very painful. The kids just looked at me weird as I went through each one. After yet another bathroom trip, I saw that I had bloody show which just convinced me more that I wasn't being fooled and that this was probably real labor. I would then have a contraction space about 7 minutes apart and would start second guessing but then they would be 3-5 minutes apart again and the intensity was there.
Dustin got home at about 4:15. My mom had gotten to a spot of stopped traffic on the interstate and was running late. I knew I couldn't wait much longer and luckily the neighbor kids across the street were out. We asked the almost 16 year old, Maddie, if she could come watch the kids for about 10-15 minutes until my mom got there. So thankful she did!
We left for the hospital and the ride wasn't overly terrible. Pot holes and speed bumps were definitely not my friends but we made it. I am thankful for the "oh crap" handle as it helped me through many of my contractions in the car! I told Dustin to just park in the garage and I walked the tunnel in with him. I figured it would just help my labor go instead of him dropping me off in front. We went up to the labor and delivery floor in the Bryan tower and told them I thought I was in labor. It was about 5pm at this point. I was expecting to go to a triage room but I must have looked like I was in enough pain and they admitted me to a room immediately. After changing, they checked my cervix (which I screamed through, like normal) and they said I was dilated to a 4. I told them at my appointment a few hours ago I was a 2. So we knew things were really going. They got my IV in and I did all the questions and paperwork and everything necessary with getting set up. At 5:30 Dustin left and went back home. We forgot to leave keys for my mom to have access to our van and the car seats to be able to transport our kids. Whoops!!!
While Dustin was gone, the anesthesiologist finally came in at 6pm and got my epidural in. I am thankful for that. While a lot of the labor was in my back, it took away the front cramping pain. Looking back, I didn't have the epidural in that long and had I known how quickly it was going to go I probably could have done it without since I did almost all my laboring without it! Dustin got back right before 6:30 and they checked me at 6:40. I was a 9 by that point. They called the on call doctor, Dr. Mahoney, and she said she would be there as soon as she could. She had her kids at swim lessons so would come from there. Had the doctor been there, I'm pretty sure I could have delivered Emma before 7pm as she was right there but I just had to wait.
At that point, they decided there was no use putting in a catheter because it was going so fast and they have given me UTI's in the past. And they were going to have my lay on my side and switch sides but at that point they said I was not allowed to move AT ALL as they were worried the baby would literally slip out if they did that.
Dr. Mahoney finally showed up a little before 7:30 and got her scrubs and everything on. Once she was ready she checked me and then I started pushing. It took 10 pushes, a total of four minutes, and Emma was born! I was the one who got to look down and see if she was a boy or a girl! I was shocked as I announced to Dustin that it was a girl! I was totally expecting a boy, even though Dustin thought it was a girl! I got to have Emma lay on me right away and they let me do skin to skin with her for awhile before taking her to the warmer. It was fantastic!
After they delivered the placenta they were a little worried as I was bleeding a lot and passing large clots and my uterus wasn't clamping down the way it was supposed to. Then they realized they never drained my bladder! After they did that (and they were shocked by how much they had to drain) everything did as it was supposed to and resolved very quickly. Phew!
I told them to take Emma and get her weighed so I could know her measurements. She looked much smaller than Kyler did when he was born so I was expecting her to weigh less than his 8lbs, 13 oz. She didn't have arm or leg fat rolls. While her cheeks were super chubby, the rest of her looked skinny. I was surprised again when it came up that she was 9 lbs, 0 oz! And she was 21 inches long, a quarter inch longer than Kyler was. Her head and chest measured 14 inches each, which was similar to Kyler as well.
So that is the majority of the birth story. They thought I may need a blood transfusion the next day as I lost more blood than a typical person does during delivery but my labs were good the next morning and I didn't need anything like that--so thankful!
And now here we are, a week later, and I am just loving this perfect, sweet little baby girl! She is healthy, above her birth weight already, and never even had an indication of jaundice. She is so perfect and I am wrapped around her tiny, skinny, long little fingers already!
Grace and Kyler are doing great with her! No signs of jealousy have been shown (yet) and they think she is just cute and wonderful!
39.3
I made it 39 weeks, 3 days with Kyler. It was on that day at 1:18 pm that he was born (induced).
Today, I am 39 weeks, 3 days. :)
After 1:18 pm today, I will officially be more pregnant than I ever have been before! Getting anxious and ready to meet this little baby!
Maternity Pictures {35 weeks}
Last pregnancy! Almost to the end!
I have never done maternity pictures before. I was so overweight and sick at the end with Grace that it didn't seem to make sense.
And I gained so much weight while pregnant with Kyler that I don't think it would have looked good.
This was my last chance to capture the beauty of a child being carried inside me. Also, this is my thinnest pregnancy so you can actually see that I have a baby belly bump instead of just looking fat!!!
We went down to Sunken Gardens this morning and I just had Dustin snap a few pictures with our nice DSLR camera. I'm not really into paying people a bunch of money for something we can do ourselves. :)
Here are my favorites. I'm glad we did it!
And this last one we did at home, more of a silhouette so I can see and remember down the road just how big my belly has gotten! I'm sure it will grow a little more in the next couple weeks but don't want to risk missing it in case I go into labor before my due date! *fingers crossed*
Grace 6 year checkup
We had Grace's 6 year doctor appointment this morning. It's really more of a formality at this point since there aren't shots for awhile and they are just looking at her height/weight, growth, and making sure nothing is wrong.
Here are Grace's 6 year stats:
Height: 48.2 inches--88th percentile
Weight: 48.2 pounds--69th percentile
BMI: 14.93--50th percentile
BP: 82/58
Pulse: 82
No concerns and she is getting even taller on the growth charts. Glad to see she is getting some height! I hope it sticks and she doesn't just stop and stay short! Doctor was impressed with her and everything is great!
Here are Grace's 6 year stats:
Height: 48.2 inches--88th percentile
Weight: 48.2 pounds--69th percentile
BMI: 14.93--50th percentile
BP: 82/58
Pulse: 82
No concerns and she is getting even taller on the growth charts. Glad to see she is getting some height! I hope it sticks and she doesn't just stop and stay short! Doctor was impressed with her and everything is great!
Grace's 6th birthday
Someone turned 6!!!!
Grace wanted her party at Lost in Fun again this year and I happily obliged since that meant I had to do very little prep work. Being 8 months pregnant, I didn't want to have to do too much!
Grace also wanted a basketball cake which again, easy peasy!
Most all of our family was able to be there to help this little girl celebrate turning six! We had her party on Sunday, May 18th.
Kids having fun! I wish I had gotten a picture with all of the cousins who all came to party!
33 1/2
Today marks 33 weeks, 4 days in this pregnancy. I've had lots of people comment on how I have all of a sudden popped! I agree.....these last couple weeks have really grown me! And I definitely feel it. I feel so stretched and sore and can't believe I have another 3 1/2 to 7 1/2 weeks to go!
If you look back a couple of posts there is a picture of me 3 weeks ago. Can't believe the change!
Bike Rider!!!!
We have a bike rider!!!!
What an amazing thing, how quickly this little girl learned! She got a bike last year for her birthday but has had training wheels on it all last summer. She didn't seem to be getting the balancing thing down so Dustin took her training wheels off a few weeks ago and started working with her.
Then last night, all of a sudden, she seriously just GOT IT. Like all of a sudden. I'm shocked, as scared as she is of everything. It's amazing how it just picked up for her. She's still shaky but man, I'm really impressed!!!!
Kyler is rocking the tricycle and she's doing great on the bike!
30 weeks!
We're at 30 weeks!!!
This is the farthest I've been with no complications!
Yesterday I went in for my routine appointment and also had an ultrasound to see if my placenta was still lying over my cervix. And no it was not!!!! It needed to be at least 2-3 centimeters away to try a vaginal birth and mine was 7cm!!!! Talk about some major growth in the last 11 weeks since my last ultrasound! At that time it was completely covering the cervix and would have required an automatic C-section to get this baby out.
How amazing to see how quickly God works! At this point I have a totally normal, healthy pregnancy! Praying it continues!
This is the farthest I've been with no complications!
Yesterday I went in for my routine appointment and also had an ultrasound to see if my placenta was still lying over my cervix. And no it was not!!!! It needed to be at least 2-3 centimeters away to try a vaginal birth and mine was 7cm!!!! Talk about some major growth in the last 11 weeks since my last ultrasound! At that time it was completely covering the cervix and would have required an automatic C-section to get this baby out.
How amazing to see how quickly God works! At this point I have a totally normal, healthy pregnancy! Praying it continues!
Our funny kids...
My kids are dweebs. They make me smile. They have such personalities!
Yesterday while playing outside I asked Grace what kind of birthday cake she wanted. We talked for a bit and I think she settled on a basketball theme. She has really been into basketball lately, mainly because of March Madness going on and they play a lot in school. But really, we're not huge basketball nuts and don't really get into it.
So talking more about what she wanted her birthday party to be like, she added in, "I want to make sure it's a Lebron James cake." What??????
First off, can't stand Lebron James. Second, can't stand NBA basketball. What we do watch is college, NOT pro. So where on earth was this girl coming from? Oh, Kindergarten and the boys' influence. :) Apparently one of her classmates is a big Lebron James fan. :)
And then this morning I needed to get a plastic Easter egg out as Grace's show and tell for tomorrow needs to be something inside an Easter egg for the class to guess. Kyler wanted to play with it so I gave it to him. This is what he proceeded to do with it. :)
He told me I needed to feel the baby in his tummy kick! :)
Love my little weirdos!
Kyler is 3 stats/update
I've got a three year old! How did that happen????
I had to reschedule Kyler's 3 year doctor checkup since I was sick when we were supposed to go! So we finally got in there to see what a big, growing, and healthy boy he is!
He was 39 pounds (96th percentile) and was 39 1/2 inches tall (90th percentile). So his BMI is good! And he got his blood pressure taken for the first time and they said it was good!
And the best news for Kyler from appointment was that he was up to date on all his vaccines and didn't need a shot! That made him happy as he was pretty nervous about that part! :)
Kyler has really grown and come out of his shell this past year. He is much more talkative and much more smiley than he used to be. I think a big part of his growth stems from Grace being in school and him being forced to come into his own instead of hiding behind his sister's big personality.
Kyler is such a sweet, amazing little boy. He has started to love reading and has finally learned his colors! NOW the big thing will be potty training. He is ADAMANT about not wanting to do it so I hope he changes his mind soon so we can be done with his diapers!
