Father's Day

Happy Father's day to all of you Fathers out there. Jonathan and I went down to Austin to spend Father's day with our dads. Kylee got to go swimming for the first time with Papa. Here are some pictures!




She really loved the water. She was so laid back and relaxed. I thought she might cry b/c the water was cold, but I think she was in there for like 45 minutes. Don't worry she had a had and I bathed her in sunscreen. He had seemed very big and kept covering up her face, but that made it cute.

For girls eyes only

So I know this might be a little weird to blog about, but here goes. My legs are cramping and I know that it is about to be that time of the month. I have lived without that time for over a year now so I am dreading its return. I just shared this with Jonathan and told him that he might need to run out and get me some tampons. To his credit, he has bought them before. In fact he would rather buy those than shaving gel for some reason. But anyhoo back to this story. So he said that he really doesn't feel like going to the store b/c it is so late and all.

He is madly going through the house from top to bottom to see if there are any tampons anywhere. He started in the bathroom, logical right. Then he looked through all of my purses. He moved on to my backpack and other various bags that he found. Now I just heard him go into the garage to have a look. Why would I keep tampons out there? So he has spent about fifteen minutes searching the house, about the same time that it would have taken him to just run up to Walgreens.....men.

She came out of the closet!

Last night we decided to let Kylee come out of the closet :) Since I have been working, we have been letting her sleep in our closet. It is very convenient since she has still been eating in the middle of the night. Now that I am not working, we decided to put her all the way across the house (remember that we have a huge house-1250 whole sq. feet). So we did our night routine with her: bath, eat, 2 stories and laid her down about 7:40. She cried for about 30 minutes and was still not asleep. So I picked her up and held her for a minute and then was ready to lay her back down. We realized that she was looking all around the room and it seemed to be keeping her up. So we hung a blanket over her windows and she laid her head down and went right to sleep! She was used to sleeping in the very dark closet.

After she had fallen asleep we heard her cd acting weird. The music was going really fast like someone was pushing the fast forward button. It was very strange. This morning we figured out what happened. Kylee scooted all the way across the bed and was pushing the buttons on the cd player with her head (Daddy had placed it in the crib with her). What a silly girl!!!

She slept all the way from 8:30-5:45! I actually got 7 hours of sleep in a row. It was great. Then I fed her and laid her back down at 6:20 and she slept until 9:00! It was a good night. Now I need to find some blackout curtains for her room.

Pictures

Here are some cute pics that Karen took while we visiting them a couple of weekends ago :)

It's official

Well today was my last day at Timber Ridge! I will definitely miss my job and the people that I worked with, but I will also love being home with Kylee. I am planning to teach music at our church's preschool this fall. So that will give me some adult interaction :)

I am looking forward to doing some organizing, but I know that Kylee might not allow that to happen as much as I'd hoped.

Bryan is here!

We went to pick up Bryan last night. We also got his sister to come home for the weekend. When we got there he ran out to the car and gave us a big hug and said that he missed us so much!! It was so good to see him again.

On our way home we passed the drive-in in Gatesville and decided to stop. We got to see Indiana Jones. Bryan thought it was really neat that the sound comes in your radio. We had a great time and it was perfect weather. We got home around 11:30. When he got here he had to run all over the house and make sure that everything was the same. He asked if Kylee was walking yet (she was asleep when we got home). We said no but that she could yell and make razoos.

Bryan gets to stay until Tuesday. I didn't realize how much I missed him until I saw him again. Now he gets to start coming home once a month and since it is summer he can stay for a week next time. I'm not looking forward to Tuesday when he has to go back, but I know that is the right thing to do.

I will try to post some pictures next week!

God provides!

As most of you know Kylee had a nine day stay in the NICU when she was born. We were sweating the medical bills, but we had more important things on our mind. I quickly added her to my insurance so I knew that she would be covered no matter what happened. We got her bill in the mail. Ten pages later we found the total, over $37,000! It said everything was still pending with insurance. We got a bill this month for $1,000. I called S&W and asked them if that was the total that we owed. They said that it was our copay. I thought not bad for such a big bill. Then today we got a refund check from our tax appraisal that will cover a third of it. God always provides!

Way to go Daddy!

Jonathan works at John Deere and they have to be open year round. When there is a holiday, half the staff gets the holiday off and the other half gets the day before off. So Jonathan had today off and I have Monday off. So my mom left last night and Jonathan kept Kylee all day by himself. I was worried that he might be nervous, but he seemed fine. He called while I was still at school to ask when I would be home. I asked what was wrong and he said that he was ready to take a nap. Ha! Shouldn't I get to be the one who takes the nap?

He said that Kylee had only slept for 30 minutes at a time and he never got to take a nap. I understood that. I asked how many bottles she had and he said 4. 4! That's a lot since she usually only has 3. But at least she was well taken care of. Besides, she's got to keep her rolls up.

Jonathan is still looking for a job so please keep us in your prayers. He has gotten a few calls back, but they are either paying too little or they want someone with more experience. He might just have to continue in the parts department for a while longer. He is really liking his new shift, 6:30-4:00. He gets home at the same time I do and we actually get to spend some time together with Kylee.

Not much else is going on with us. We are still trying to find a weekend that Bryan can come home. They are going to a lot of camps so it is hard to find a free weekend. I am hoping that maybe next weekend will work out. We sure do miss him.

School is winding down. I took a few things off my wall yesterday. It is kind of sad that I am leaving b/c I really do like my job. But I am looking forward to staying home with my sweet Kylee. I've heard it is the greatest job in the world and I can't wait to start.

I hope all of you are doing well :)

Lots of Stuff

Sorry it has been so long since I updated, here are some snippets of what has been going on....

• We are in Dallas with Karen and Scott this weekend and we are having a blast. If we do have to move for a job, I hope it is here!
• Kylee got her shots on Friday and did very well. Daddy got there right before she was about to get them so that was nice to not have to do it by myself again. Kylee is up to 15 lbs! No wonder my back hurts :)
  
• Kylee also went to the doctor on Tuesday and was diagnosed with acid reflux. They started her on Zantac and she has been a new baby. She was a very fussy baby before (because she was in pain) and now she smiles a lot more and spits up a lot less. We actually enjoy our evenings with her more
• My friend Kristi kept Kylee the past two weeks (bless her). We found out that Kylee is pretty sensitive and lets just say it...picky! I had to take one of my sheets and one of my shirts to help her sleep. Kristi was an angel and took great care of her. It was also nice to have her across the street from work. Thanks so much Kristi!! My mom is coming back this week to keep her.
  
• I have to officially turn in my resignation this week. I have mixed feelings, but it is a little scary to think about the lack of income. I know somehow it will all work out and at least Kylee and I still have ins. through KISD until the end of the summer. Then we will have to switch to J's
• Because of my resignation and the fact that I will no longer have a computer, we went to the Apple store yesterday and got me my own laptop. I love it!! The switch over was amazing. As soon as I turned it on it asked me if I had an old mac to transfer, I said yes and it did it for me! It only took two hours and everything looked exactly like my old mac; right down to the stickies!
• Bryan is doing better. I talked to his house mom yesterday and she said that he is having the same issues he had with us. The main one is social. He has no problem making friends, but always seems to sabitoge them. She said that he will have to learn those skills this summer b/c he will be in such close quarters. She said to be prepared that this summer will be hard for him. Kids can be cruel, but in this situation they are the best teachers!
• Well I know lots of other stuff has happened, but that's all I can think of for now. I hope all of you are doing well.
  

Bryan

We have really been missing Bryan this week. Last night Jonathan and I were watching a TV show and we were missing Bryan "flying" through the house like he always does. It used to get on our nerves, but now we miss it. I was doing laundry today and I felt like I didn't have enough to do.

We have talked to him twice. He does miss us a lot which honestly surprised me. So that reassures us that he did bond with us on some level. We can bring him home with us in six weeks and I can't wait!! Here is a conversation from the other night (abbreviated of course)

Becca: "Hi Bryan are looking forward to your weekend?"
Bryan: "Yes and Becca I don't have to go to school on Monday!"
Becca: "That's great!"
Bryan: "Its a bad weather day and I think its coming your way so you better stay in doors that day."
Becca: "That is sweet of you to think about us we will be sure to stay safe."
Becca: "Are you looking forward to your camping trip this weekend?"
Bryan: "Yes but they said that you couldn't come. I asked them if you could and they said no."
Becca: "I'm sorry that we can't come maybe we can camp out on the trampoline when you come home."
Bryan: "I have to go the bell is ringing" (I think this signifies its time for a devo)
Becca: "Okay I love you and miss you a lot!"
Bryan: "I love you so much, I love you more than the world."

Crying it out

For those of you who have met her, you know that Kylee is a strong willed child. I always thought that I would have a cuddly baby, but I soon realized that she would only be cuddly until she was strong enough to fight it. Now she always wants to be sitting up and looking around. Which is great, I'm glad that she is actively curious. But sometimes I just wish I could snuggle with her like I did when she was tiny. I secretly look forward to the feedings in the early morning because it is dark and she is sleepy so I actually get to snuggle with her.

Kylee has been a typical baby in every way. The downside was that we didn't know what typical was :) She had been staying up late at night and going to sleep somewhere around 10:30. Well that was better than midnight, but it left no time for Jonathan and I to even have a conversation. So Monday night we started letting her cry it out. It was very painful and I cried too, but after 30 minutes she was asleep. And not only was she asleep, but she slept for 10 hours!! I woke up at 4:00 panicked b/c she hadn't gotten up all night.

We do go in after 15 minutes and if she isn't asleep one of us picks her up and tells her that we love her. She holds on so tightly that I have a hard time putting her down. My sister RA told me that tip to reassure her that we were still around. Last night was one of the hardest nights because after the second cycle of 15 minutes she was still not asleep. Jonathan went in the first time and I went in the second time. But after about 35 minutes she was out. It seems to only take her 10-15 during the day for her naps, but the night time is the hardest. I think that she knows it is time to sleep and she is afraid she will miss something.

Thanks to everyone's advice that has really helped me. I knew that I would eventually have to let her cry it out, but I just wasn't ready yet. I think we waited the right amount of time and I am going to write it in her baby book so I can remember for the next baby.

Update on Bryan

Thank you for all of your prayers we could really feel them on Friday. Jonathan and I decided to take Thursday off and spend a "fun day" with Bryan before we took him to Stephenville on Friday. We got up and had donuts for breakfast. Then we went to Killeen to go bowling and have lunch. We ended the day by playing at the arcade at the mall and watching "Nim's Island." We did have a lot of fun.

When we got home we spent most of the evening packing and we had lots of hugs and we explained to him again how much we love him. Friday morning we got up and packed a few more things and headed out to Stephenville. He seemed like he was in good spirits and when we got there he was very excited to show off his toys. We talked to the houseparents about some of the concerns that we had and they seemed to be very familiar with all of them. When it was time for us to go we wanted to take him on a walk and talk to him one more time, but he didn't want to. He wanted to say a quick good-bye and go back to playing the x-box. I'm glad that he wasn't sad, but Jonathan and I were very upset. I hid it until I got to the car so that he wouldn't see.

We both miss him a lot and the house it quiet without him. I can't wait to see him again. But I know that the home will a place where he can learn some of the social skills that he desperately needs. Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers.

Just for a Little While

January 30, 2006:
We have been blessed with a guest in our home. Our seven year old nephew is going to stay with us for a little while. We are excited about him coming. We have started our prepartions: new room decor that does not have pink flowers, new bathroom toiletries that won't burn the eyes, an evening schedule that might be more for us than him, but most of all prayer that this will be the best place for him even if it is just for a little while.

April 25, 2008:
Our prayers have been answered, Bryan has been a huge blessing in our household. He has brought us so much joy and taught us many lessons that only kids can teach. I am watching him play lego starwars right now and I am thinking back to the weekend when we first got him. Jonathan and I were sitting on our couch biting our nails, not sure what we were going to do with a seven year old. Would he like us, could we help him, were we too young, were we ready to be parents?

I know now that we did make the right decision. He has come a long way. He smiles and has learned how to give great big hugs. He says "I love you" for no reason and sometimes he just can't stop talking. He is very different from 2 years ago. I am crying now thinking about tomorrow. Bryan is going to Foster's Children's Home in Stephenville tomorrow. I have been dreading this day since the day that I decided that I couldn't handle it all anymore. I have to turn it over to God. We are only two people and we can't do everything.

Jonathan and I were willingly thrown into the world of parenting, but we had no idea what lay ahead of us. Bryan has some emotional problems that we were not prepared to deal with. We hope that in time we will get to an emotional place where we can give Bryan everything that he needs, but we are unable to at this time. Please pray for him as he is anxious about tomorrow and I am dreading 4:00 when we will have to leave him in the hands of other parents, knowing that no one will love him like we do.

First week back

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers on my first day back. I only had a two day week and Friday was a half day because Fort Hood had some sort of celebration. I made a dvd of Kylee for my kids to watch because I knew that they would all want to see her.Tthat made for a really easy way to get back into teaching.

My kids were all very excited to see me, I got lots of hugs. The principal acted like he didn't recognize me :)

It was very hard to leave Kylee :( But luckily Jonathan's sister came down to watch her, so I knew she was in good hands (Thanks Shara). The first morning she cried for 30 minutes when she realized that Shara wasn't me. When I got home she nursed pretty much all evening (I think it was a lot of just sucking). Today she wouldn't take her bottle, but gladly nursed when I got home. I don't want her to miserable, but it felt good that she missed me.

Next week is only a four day week. It was hard to leave her, but it was great to see her when I got home!

Work

I'm back at work and pumping. I already miss her. Pray that this day will go by quickly!

She does sleep....sometimes

Kylee likes to sleep when she wants to. I am really trying to get her on a schedule since I have to go to work next week, but she doesn't necessarily want to conform to my schedule. She is going about 2 1/2 hours between feedings so that is better! Please say a prayer for me next Thursday I know it will be one of the hardest days of my life. Luckily a girlfriend is keeping her that day and she lives right across the street so I will sneak over there during lunch to see her :)

I let her sleep on her belly during the day because she sleeps so much better. Don't worry, I
check on her a lot to make sure that she is still breathing. She still sleeps in the closet, its perfect: she is close, but I can turn down the monitor and only hear her cries. Please notice how she loves to put her face into the chair. Oh and she is up to 15 lbs, I can't believe it.

Kylee was very fussy on Sunday after church. She had eaten and wanted to go to sleep, but wouldn't give up. So I bounced her on my knees for about 5 minutes saying a rhyme and she fell asleep, isn't she cute?

Easter

I hope that everyone had a great Easter! Sorry I'm just now getting around to sharing about ours. We all ended up in Austin which of course thrilled the Grandmothers. Brittney was down from the home in Stephenville and everyone really enjoyed seeing her! We have quite a large family and we have basically outgrown everyone's houses so we ended up having our Easter lunch at the church building and then we hid the eggs in the auditorium. It turns out that there are lots of really great places to hide eggs in there, it took the kids about 20 minutes to find all of them-the longest egg hunt ever!

Here are some pictures from that day.

Here are all of the egg hunters, the tall one on the right did not get to participate on account of exhaustion

Emily was a great hunter, she even bent down and looked under all of the pews, good thinking!

Here is Marj dashing to find an egg.

Here is how Kylee feels about all of it!

Eating

Kylee is definitely eating better! I took her for her 2 month check-up and she is up to 11 pounds. She has a buda belly and thick legs, she is precious. She had to get her shots and taht was not fun to watch. She slept all day afterwards and cried in her sleep. I felt so bad for her.

She has been eating every 2 hours for the past couple of days. She is going 5 hours in the night so I think she is making up for it during the day. Right before she goes to bed she eats at 6, 7:30, 8:30 and sometimes even 9. Jonathan and I usually stay home at night, we haven't had much of a social life. It is just too hard when she eats so much. But we don't mind spending extra time with her when we can.

Bryan finished basketball and had a lot of fun. I would highly recommend Upward Basketball to anyone with kids. It is a Christian program, only practices one night and week, and all of the games are on Saturday.



She was about 6 weeks here.

It was stinky!

Breast feeding has proved very challenging. Kylee doesn't seem to eat efficiently. I think she is still kind of weak. I am going back to the lactation consultants tomorrow to weigh her and I will see if they can give me some advice. It has been taking her close to an hour to eat. Needless to say I have been exhausted. Sometimes I pump and feed her a bottle to give myself a break.

Well anyway back to the stinky. Last night I fed her at 11:30 and she didn't really finish until 1:00! She was very fussy. So when she wanted to eat again at 2:30 I decided to give her a bottle of formula. I felt incredibly guilty for doing it, but I was too tired to feed her again. I have been surprised how emotionally exhausting breast feeding can be. I feel like I don't have what she needs, etc. So when I changed her diaper this morning, it was so stinky. Now I remember one of the reasons that really like breast feeding.

To all of you moms out there: did your babies want to be held to fall asleep and then wake up an hour or two later and want to be held while he/she slept? I was watching Bringing Home Baby today and they just put their newborns in the bed and they fell alseep. How unfair! Of course I didn't have Kylee during her first week. Maybe when they are newborns they do sleep that much? Kylee was on drugs to keep her from pulling out her IV's and oxygen during the first couple of days so she was always sleeping.

Updates

• We went to the lactation office and Kylee is back up to her birth weight, yea! I no longer have to supplement, which means that I can just feed her and not have to pump at the same time! They think that she is lactose intolerant so I have to cut out all dairy products from my diet. It has been really hard since I couldn't have milk for so long and I have been enjoying it since I got pregnant. But hopefully that will clear up her stomach troubles (she has been throwing up :(
• Kylee can totally turn her head over, she is getting so big! She is also sleeping in her chair sometimes so she is not in Mom and Dad's bed every night. I think she is finally feeling more secure.
• Bryan is playing Upward Basketball. It is a great program based on Christian principles. They have a devo at every practice and game, they don't keep score, and the referees explain what the kids do wrong when they do it. What an awesome program. He seems to be enjoying it. Big plus: they have practice one night a week and games on Saturday mornings.
  
• Jonathan is still looking for another job, so please keep us in your prayers. He has filled out applications all over and the only offer has been from Alaska. We didn't take it!
• Karen and Scott are coming up to see Kylee (they haven't gotten to hold her yet). I hope she is in a good mood and sleeps well since they will be sleeping in our living room. I hope she doesn't keep them up.
• My mom has been coming up to help me a lot. It just feels good to have my mom around. I wish that she lived here! Thanks for all of your help mom.
• We hope that all of you are doing well!
  

A good scare

Kylee and I are still adjusting to each other. She doesn't really like to sleep anywhere except in our arms. It is sweet, but poses a problem when I want to get something done or get some sleep myself. So she doesn't really like to ride in the car unless we are going about 50 mph. I was reading some websites about babies sleeping and someone was talking about the swaddle and how they had used it in the car seat. So I tried it this morning when we went to see the lactation consultant. She was so quiet that I actually pulled over to check and make sure she was alright.

It turns out that my daughter has been starving. I had an appt. with the lactation consultants today to make sure that Kylee is gaining weight. Well she only gained 6oz. in a week and a half. She is still not back to her birth weight, and they were very concerned about the color of her stools. So I have to continue to feed her on one side for 25-30 minutes and then pump the other side and feed it to her in a bottle.

She is a different baby! She is not fussy after I feed her. She takes better naps, and they said this should help with the gas problem. Apparently the watery milk can cause gas. They said that she is probably weak and doesn't suck hard enough. We will go back next week and they will weigh her again. I'm so thankful for those wonderful ladies!

Entertainment

So i thought I should finally write about something other than the baby :) Jonathan and I watched all of the past seasons of Lost over the last year so that we would be ready for the newest season that just started. We watched the first episode, but I was a little disappointed. They sure are milking the information as much as they can. I guess I'm just ready for more answers, and this show is definitely not for the impatient.

Grandma Pam (or Nonny, we're not sure what she wants to be called) kept Kylee for us on Sunday afternoon and we took Bryan out for some one-on-one time with us. We went to see the new National Treasure movie. I really liked it, even better than the first one. I think it was because I was more invested in the characters this time. Bryan enjoyed the movie and the popcorn. I cried when it was time to feed Kylee while we were in the movie. It was weird, like my body was ready and my hormones let me know. As soon as I got back I had to hold her! I guess I'm still not quite ready to leave her.

Kylee

Well Kylee is almost 3 weeks old! I can't believe it has already been 3 weeks. Jonathan and I are still adjusting, but she seems to have made herself at home :) My mom has been here the last two nights and she takes the night shift and Jonathan and I have slept 5 hours in a row each night. Kylee seems to really like to be on a schedule. She actually sleeps better during the day though. We usually have to hold her at night. But hopefully eventually we can put her in her bed at night.

Daddy is holding her right now and singing to her. She is really fascinated by him. I love to watch them together. She looks just like him. Sometimes I can see her when I look at him now.

The doctors told me to not take her anywhere for the first month or so. It is RSV season and since she was so sick, they don't want to take any chances. So I haven't gotten to show her off yet! I can't wait to show her to people.

We went for her two week check-up on Tuesday and she has gained an oz. since she came home from the NICU. She started at 8.8 and now she is 7.12. The doctor didn't seem worried that she wasn't back at her birth weight, he was pleased that she was maintaining her weight. He said that she is very healthy. He did hear the heart murmur just a little bit, but said he was not concerned. We have an appt. with a cardiologist in March to make sure it is still okay as she grows.

Here are a few more pictures!

She's finally here!

Kylee Michelle was born on Saturday, January 12th at 2:48 PM. She weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and is 19 inches long. I ended up needing a cesarean because she was so big and I had an infection. It turns out that I had a uterus infection and that is what was causing those horrible pains in my right side. I stayed in the hospital for 3 days to recover, but Kylee had to stay for a total of 9 days. As soon as she was born they took her to the NICU to check her out.

The infection planted itself in Kylee's lungs and she had pneumonia. She was also having trouble breathing normally, had a bubble on the back of her head from being in the birthing canal too long, and had a low blood cell count. It was pretty scary to see her hooked up to all of those machines when she was so little. I was very thankful that she ended up being big so she had some to loose.

Jonathan and I had about 20 minutes with her before they discovered something was wrong and took her to the NICU for good. We each got to hold her for a few minutes and those minutes were very precious. We didn't get to hold her again for 4 days. I must say that was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do. I'm crying right now just thinking about it.

We have been flooded with prayers and love and to all of you, we want to say thank you. Our class at church has provided meals for us every night since we got home from the hospital. It is so nice to feel taken care of. My school gave me a shower the day before she was born. I wasn't able to go because I was at home with contractions. It was perfect, I got to come home to all of the presents and didn't have to be the center of attention. When we came home from the hospital without Kylee, it was nice to have a distraction to look at in her nursery.


She was released on Monday and I was so excited!! I went up there to feed her and stayed for a while just holding her. When the doctor came by to check on her she asked if I thought she was ready to go home. Of course I replied, "Yes!" The discharge process started and we got to bring her home that afternoon.

She is doing really well. She is breastfeeding nicely despite the fact that I had to pump for the first week and she was on the bottle. I am very thankful for that. Jonathan took off all of last week to take care of me and he is home this week to be with Kylee. I'm really going to miss him when he has to go back to work on Friday.



Bryan did not get to see her until we brought her home on Monday. He had the sniffles and he was not allowed in the NICU. He was so excited to finally get to meet her. He seems to be really fascinated by her. He doesn't even seem to mind her crying :) He is going to be a great big brother!

Getting ready

I started having sharp pains while I was at school yesterday. I made it through the day somehow and then I had to take Bryan to the doctor. It turns out that he has strep. He said that his throat was hurting, but he didn't have any fever over 99 and he was not acting sick at all. I know that strep knocks me down. But he does have it so we are at home today and I am trying not to let his germs get me.

So anyway, the pains. I could time them for a while and then they kind of subsided. About 10:30 last night I tried to lay down and go to sleep and they got really intense, so Jonathan took me to the hospital about 10:30. They checked me and said that I was only 1 cm, but my cervix was thinning nicely. Luckily my mom had come up so she was at home with Bryan. I decided to stay home today because I am still having some of the pains, they just aren't consistent.

When we went to the hospital last night, my mom told Bryan that he might have a sister in the morning, so this morning when he got up he noticed that Kylee's door was closed. He asked why it was closed and if she was asleep in there. He wanted to go and see her. How sweet.

Happy Birthday Karen!

Today is Karen's birthday! I hope you have a great birthday Karen, I wish I was there to celebrate with you :)

From our family to yours

(picture courtesy of Images of His)
Well its a little late, but we wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We had all of the family up to our house for Christmas. We ended up having three Christmases in all! Christmas Eve Jonathan's family came up and we had dinner and opened presents. Kylee got quite the lute and she's not even here yet. Jonathan's Grandmother got to come up too and it was really good to see her. We really enjoyed our time with them!

Christmas morning was just the three of us. We have never had Christmas morning at our house with just our nucleus so that was fun. We found Bryan sleeping by the Christmas tree. He said that he saw Santa and talked to him. I think he knows there is no Santa, but he still wants to believe. He found the special paper that I wrap Santa's presents in. He said, I guess Santa has the same paper as us :)

We all helped make breakfast: waffles, eggs and bacon and then got to open presents. Bryan got me some cards for playing nerts (I think he had a little help from dad). Jonathan got me a straightener for my hair, a birthing ball, a pedometer and lots of little goodies in my stocking. Bryan and Kylee got me a Crockpot. Jonathan was so sweet, he got a card from Kylee and wrote in it for me, isn't he thoughtful?

Jonathan got all of the Bourne series and a Star wars book, and money for ram and a graphics card. Bryan got him a hammer because he said he didn't have enough! Our big present to each other was our camcorder. We have enjoyed learning how to use it.

Then Christmas afternoon we had 20 people from my family here! I can't believe we all fit, but somehow we did and we all had a good time. Jonathan helped me get the house ready so now it is really clean. I'm hoping we can keep it that way until Kylee comes.

I hope all of you had a good holiday.

I need advice

So I have packed the bag, but I'm not sure if I have everything I will need for the hospital. My pregnancy journal says that I need to take diapers, wipes, cotton balls and diaper ointment. I always assumed they would provide that stuff. Any advice is welcome!!

34 weeks

I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that everything looks good. We discussed my anemia a little, but he said as long as I take my vitamins I should be okay. He said this is the waiting game part. If I do go into labor early they won't stop it and so it could happen anytime. He didn't give any guestimations, but he did say that I was having a braxton hicks contraction when he looked at my belly. I didn't know that I was. I thought they would hurt, but they are just tightening. I have been having them for a while now, but I just thought that Kylee was rolling up in a ball and putting pressure on my belly. I guess I should enjoy it while they don't hurt!

Tuesday was our anniversary. My mom came up and kept Bryan on Sunday so that we could go and celebrate. We went and saw "I am Legend" with Will Smith and then we went to eat at the Olive Garden. It was really good!! We enjoyed having some time to ourselves. Then when it was actually our anniversary I gave Bryan some pizza and put a movie on in his room so we could have a quiet dinner together. Jonathan got me a purple duffle bag to use for my hospital stay. For those of you who know how much I like purple, it is stapler purple!

When I showed Bryan my present, he asked if he could open one of his Christmas presents. We explained that it was our anniversary, but I don't think he really got it. Wow can you believe we have been married 7 years?

Feeling better!

I am feeling better. I have been falling asleep on the couch around 7:30 every night! I guess I am storing up rest for when the baby comes. Last night I actually made it through a one hour show after I got home.

Karen took our pictures over the Thanksgiving holidays. Didn't she do a great job? Here is my favorite belly shot. I think I was about 29 weeks here.


Here is a picture from the other day. I am 33 weeks, only 7 more to go!


On another note, it is concert week. Last night I played my flute with one of the MS choirs in Killeen. It was fun to actually get to play again. Our choir concert is in the morning for the school and Thursday night for the parents. I guess I better try and get some sleep. My alarm will go off in about 2 hours! Have a good night.

Feeling very pregnant

I have been feeling very pregnant lately....tired, big and emotional. Thursday I got up, worked out, got ready for work and was about to walk out the door when Jonathan asked me what was wrong. Well that turned the tears on, he is the only one that I cry around, poor guy. He insisted that I stay home and take the day off. I fought him, but he insisted, so I did. I called for a sub in tears, but luckily it is automated. I took it easy for the rest of the day. I took a morning nap, called and setup for a guy to come and put up our garage door opener, called and setup a time for the salvation army to come and get our broken car, had lunch with Jonathan, took an afternoon nap and read some of my baby book. It was a very good day. I really don't have an explanation for why I was crying-it was just one of those days.

Friday I did go to work and that night we went to order a rocker for Kylee's room. I have Jonathan's grandmother's rocker in there now, but it is not comfortable. I tried putting pillows in it, but it didn't help. So we found a reclinver/rocker at lacks that we really liked. I didn't want to spend that much, but I thought we could eventually put it in our room after we are done with babies. We have a nice recliner in our living room, but I don't want to always have to be covered up while I am breastfeeding b/c of Bryan so I will probably be in Kylee's room a lot. I came home and we started a movie, I fell asleep in the recliner at 7:30.

Saturday Jonathan had to work so Bryan and I cleaned the house a little and went to the grocery store. That afternoon we took a nap and some friends came over for dinner. We went with them to Salado for the "Salado stroll." Unfortunately it was about 75 degrees and kind of took away from the Christmas spirit, but we had a good time anyway.

I think I overdid it though, when I got home my hips and legs were killing me. I woke up this morning with a little bit of fever and a very sore body. I have stayed on the couch/bed all day. Jonathan has taken good care of me. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow because this is the week of our choir concert and I can't afford to miss any work. I was going to get a belly shot today, but I haven't changed out of my gown. I will take one soon. I hope all of you are doing well!

Its the little things

When Bryan came to live with us he brought all of his clothes and toys. He had a nice winter coat which he has worn for almost 2 years. He recently lost it at school or daycare and can't find it. Yesterday while I was at Kohls I looked at the coats and I found one that was on sale so I got it for him. When I brought it home he was so excited!! He said "Thank you SO MUCH Becca!!" He had never had a brand new coat before. He wore it through dinner, he wanted to leave the tag on, and he even slept with it.

We are so blessed!

I had my baby shower two Sundays ago and I felt very blessed. We got almost almost everything that we need. It was so sweet of everyone to come. My family came up from Austin and some dear friends came with them. I have an awesome church family and I can't wait for Kylee to meet everyone. Here are some pictures from the shower.

Well I tried to upload some pictures, but its not working!

We also had Bryan's b-day party that weekend while the whole fam was in town. He had a great time. We got him a trampoline and he really enjoyed that. We had cupcakes and hot dogs so the food was pretty easy.

We have Kylee's room all set up except for the nightstand. Hopefully Jonathan and I will have time to put that together this weekend. He is busy putting together his new computer. He got an end of the year bonus at work so we had Christmas early. Karen and I got up early and went shopping. We found a great deal on a camcorder so now we are ready for Kylee to come!

Bryan is spending the weekend at Grandma's so we have had the house to ourselves. We slept in late, went out to lunch, did a little shopping and watched a movie in front of the fire. I love having a fire place. We always go through a lot of firewood in the winter time.

We are hoping to fix up Bryan's room a little. He loves to go and sit in Kylee's room because all of her stuff is new. We got the faux blinds for her room and he said that we were rich. I think Jonathan and I are going to get him a dresser and some new blinds. He really wants to paint his room too, but I think we might just put up some border.

I hope all of you had wonderful Turkey days!

Busy weekend.

So I'm up at 5 AM on a Saturday morning, how annoying. I guess my body is getting me ready for when the baby comes. Jonathan finished painting her room and it is very purple. At first it kind of overwhelmed me, but I think that it will look very nice once the whole room is done.

Last night we had dinner with a couple and then they came over and helped us get all the painting tape up in Kylee's room. After that we watched Ratatouille. It was very cute. I only slept through the middle 30 minutes, so I can definitely say that the beginning and end are excellent.

Karen and Scott are coming up today around lunch time....I am so excited! We haven't gotten to spend any quality time together in a long time. They are going to help us put the furniture together and then we are going to go out for an adult dinner. We got a babysitter for Bryan!

Then Sunday afternoon is my shower and I am excited. Then Sunday night the whole fam will be here so we are having a birthday party for Bryan. Jonathan and I are going to get him a trampoline and I can't wait to see the look on his face. We are just inviting family because our family is so big, they totally make the party!!

I went to the doctor on Wednesday and he says that everything looks good. When he measured my belly I asked him if it was unusually large. People at work have been making comments about how big I am and that I look like I'm about to pop! He said, "Well you just tell those people to mind their own business. Your belly is measuring right on target." He is such a great doctor. I needed some encouragement after getting on the scale. That is the part of the visit that I hate. The first five months I had almost no weight gain and now I have had a lot. I told him I am exercising everyday and watching what I eat. He said not to worry and if I am doing those two things, there's nothing else that he can ask.

28 Weeks

Here I am at 28 weeks. She is really growing!

Kylee

My sister-in-law recently got a job at one of those 3-d ultrasound offices. So we went down yesterday and got our very own 3-d ultrasound! It was so fun. They projected it on a huge screen and the whole family could see everything. It took me a while to get used to the images, but I finally caught on. The first time that I saw her, I just wanted to hold her. She is so cute. She definitely has the Gondola nose from my dad's side! Isn't that cool that I can already see that?

Here is a picture of her being sweet. Isn't she cute?

Here is a picture of her with her mouth open.

Here is a picture of her sucking on her umbilical chord. On the video you can actually see her sucking! I know there is probably a way to post the video, but I haven't figured out how yet.

Shara also confirmed that she is in fact a Kylee and not a Kyle!

Shara said that overall she was a very cooperative baby.

Halloween

I hope all of you had a nice halloween. We had a party at church with our class and all of the kids dressed up. Here is a picture.

Bryan was a ninja! He was really cute. We all went to the funival at church. It was in lieu of Wednesday evening services. They had 20 booths set up and 2 of those blow up bouncy things. Bryan had a lot of fun and brought home a lot of candy. It was great because we didn't have to walk around for hours trick-or-treating. I think we definitely do that again.

Long Time

So it has been forever since I posted, I'm very sorry. My internal clock woke me up at 6 AM so I decided to finally update my blog. We have been crazy busy trying to get the house ready for the baby. We have been cleaning out the office and trying to find a place for all of the junk that we have accumulated in there over the years. Of course we have gotten rid of some of it, but some stuff we still need. For instance I have all of my formal dresses from college hanging in that closet and I'm not sure where I'm going to put them. Our house has no coat closet so all of our coats are hanging in our closet in our bedroom. Needless to say, it is pretty full. But I guess we'll figure it out.

We bought an armoire desk and put it in the entryway. It is no ideal, but it doesn't look too bad. That is one reason that I haven't posted in a while. Jonathan had to run the cable for the internet up through the wall in the attic and back down to the entryway. For some reason entryways are not equipped for internet, weird? LOL


We have made a lot of progress as far as Kylee's room goes. Jonathan put the crib together a couple of weeks ago and I had to put the bedding on it as soon as I could. Here is a picture. Bryan says that he is in jail.

We bought the paint for her room, it is a light shade of purple. Kim and Marj (my nieces) are coming up tonight to help Jonathan paint. I can't paint because of the fumes. Some people say that you can some people say that you can't, I am going with the people that say that you can't. I'd rather be safe than sorry. I will post a picture of the finished product on Sunday. Kylee is getting very big and so is my belly. She has been kicking a lot and she really likes to roll over. Last night our family entertainment was watching her roll over and seeing my belly contort to her motion. Even Bryan got into it!

We started our childbirth classes two weeks ago. They have been interesting. I have learned about dialating, efacement and that I can get my epidural at 4cm! That is the most important thing that I have learned so far. The nurse that is teaching the classes goes to our church and is very sweet. Hopefully she will be on duty when I deliver. We are going for a 3-d ultrasound this afternoon, I am so excited. We get to see what she looks like!!! And confirm one more time that she is a girl before we paint her room purple. I will post pictures from that as soon as I have them. I hope everyone is doing well!

Something is wrong with the blogger site and it won't let me put the picture of the crib when it is finished so I will have to do that later.

Fundraiser

Last week Bryan came home with a fund raiser. He showed it to Jonathan and informed him that he was planning on selling 100 items so that he could get the dvd player. Jonathan told him "Good luck!"

Then Bryan started bringing Jonathan toys from his room and putting them in a big pile. When Jonathan asked him what he was doing, Bryan said, "These are all of the things I want to sell." Jonathan chuckled a little and told him that he had to sell things that were in the magazine. Bryan said, "Oh I think I get it." Then he brought Jonathan a gold necklace (they have necklaces in the magazine). Jonathan set him straight and even practiced his selling bit with him. Bryan was ready when I came home. He went through the magazine and showed me everything that he thought I would like to buy.

On Sunday Bryan was showing the brochure to Pam (my mother-in-law). Pam found a candle that she wanted and Bryan told her that she couldn't order that one because Grandma had already picked it. I guess he thought there was one of each thing and that was it. Kids :)

My very handyman!

Saturday I noticed that the house seemed kind of hot. I have been a little hot natured lately, but I decided to check the thermostat. It said that it was 80 degrees when it was supposed to be 78 degrees! The air conditioner had been running continuously so I knew that something was wrong. Jonathan opened the a/c closet to investigate and found that ice had formed on the a/c. That wasn't good.

We let it thaw every time that we left the house and we made it through the weekend. Monday we left the a/c off for more thawing. The repair man came out to look at the system Monday afternoon. He said that the coil was dirty and it would cost about $400. Jonathan asked if there was any way that he could fix it. The man said to go and buy some cleaner from Home Depot and it should do the trick.

When I got home from work it was 87 degrees in here! I turned the a/c on and it did not get any cooler than 86! I was very worried about how we were going to sleep. After dinner Jonathan used the spray and thawed out the sheet of ice. We slept very well thanks to my very own handyman!

Up again

So I'm up at 4 AM. There is an infomercial on for a new battery powered duster. The lady is dancing around while she dusts. Who does that??

Our a/c is not working properly. It seems to be freezing up. We first noticed that it wasn't cooling down to the right temperature and running continuously. Jonathan looked at the inside unit and it had ice on it! So every time we left the house yesterday we turned it off so that it would unfreeze. It is still under warranty so hopefully they will be able to fix it soon.

We are teaching the 3rd grade Sunday school class and I still haven't even looked at the lesson so I guess now is as good a time as any. I hope that all of you are sleeping well.

I'm about to pop!

My belly button has gotten very wide! It hasn't popped out yet, but I know it will any day. Here is a picture of me at 21 weeks, sorry it has been so long.



So I have begun to love my crockpot. I remember how excited all of the ladies were at our shower when we got it, but I honestly didn't think that I would use it very often. Well now that I am a full-time working mom, I have grown to love it. I made pot roast and chicken in it last week and I am going to make King Ranch Casserole in it tomorrow. It is so nice to come home and have dinner made!

Tonight when I was putting the King Ranch together it smelled so good. It was hard to not eat it. We had scrambled eggs and pancakes for dinner tonight. When Bryan got finished he said, "That was a great breakfast!" I guess there is nothing wrong with having breakfast for dinner.

Expressions

Bryan never ceases to make us laugh. Once when Karen was visiting she asked if we just laughed all of the time. I said yes and that it was God's way of helping us deal with the hard times. So Jonathan and I were talking the other day about something that happened at school. He said, "Well you were chewing her out." Bryan piped in and said, "What? Did you eat her?" I just laughed again thinking about it!!!!

Bryan is doing well in 2nd grade so far. He is switching classes and it seems to be going okay. One teacher does science and math and the other teacher does language arts and social studies. He has been in a good mood almost every day this year when we pick him up from day care. I think the kids are nicer to him now that his birthmark is gone. I'm so thankful that we got that done and that Medicaid took care of it for us.

I had another doctor's appt. on Wednesday. It was just a belly check. I asked him a couple of questions and we listened to the heartbeat. It was a lot slower than last time, but he didn't seem concerned. She is starting to get big enough to be uncomfortable now. Yesterday I felt full at work all day. It wasn't a feeling like I had eaten too much, but that my insides are smushed (is that a word?) She has been kicking a lot and I have been feeling her during the day rather than just at night when I lay down. I know I need to post a belly shot and I will as soon as Jonathan gets around to taking one.

Jonathan hurt his back at work the other day. He lifted a box wrong that was too heavy. He went to the doctor and they said that he must have sprained something and to take it easy. Then it was hurting so bad that he had to go back again. They gave him a shot of steroids and so now he feels fine. I just hope the relief lasts until after they wear off.

Are You Getting Pregnant?

I have told all of my kids that I am pregnant except for PK and K. I didn't figure that they would understand so I didn't see the need to tell them. Yesterday one of my kindergarters asked me, "Mrs. Tome are you getting pregnant?" I was wearing a dress that accentuated the fact so that was the first time that she had noticed. I said yes I am pregnant. Another boy asked, "Why do you want to be pregnant?" I said "My husband and I want to have a little baby." He said, "Oh!" I don't think he knew that pregnant meant that you are having a baby.

Today the same little kindergarten girl came in and asked, "Are you getting not pregnant?" I pulled my shirt tight and showed her that I was still pregnant.:) I also had a 5th grader who saw me in the hallway and said, "Mrs. Tome I see your baby, its coming out."

Bryan gave me a hug tonight and said that he loved me. Then he patted my belly and said, "I love you baby!" That is progress since he keeps telling me to just go to the doctor and tell him to take the baby out so that I can go skating, eat cookie dough and pick him up.

Good first week

I must say that this was probably my best first week ever. I know the majority of my kids because this is my 3rd year at the same school. I even have some kiddos in 1st grade that I had in PK. It is really cool to see how they have grown, but that their name still pops in my head when I see them. I have been very exhausted this week. I am teaching an extra grade level this year and it has made a big difference in my afternoons. I think it is going to be a good year, but I will be exhausted :)

Jonathan got to feel Kylee kick two times yesterday! He was very excited. I have caught him talking to my belly at night while I am asleep. It is very sweet.

Jonathan got the garage cleaned out yesterday and put the utility shelf together so that we can organize our junk. We bought a garage door opener two weeks ago so hopefully he will get that installed today and my dream of parking my car in the garage will come true. I think we are going to give our dead car to the salvation army this week so that Jonathan can park in the driveway again. I hope all of you are having a good Labor Day!

Baby Update!

We went for our ultrasound on Tuesday morning. The radiologist said that everything looks good and the tech said that she is pretty sure we are having a girl :) Jonathan still thinks that it still might be a boy. I guess only time will tell. But we have started calling her Kylee so she feels more real.

She has been kicking me more lately. But she only kicks once and then not again. Tonight Bryan actually put his hand on my belly after she kicked, but she did not kick again so he didn't get to feel her. That was the most excited that I have seen him about the baby. He was a little disappointed when he found out that he would have a little sister instead of a little brother, but I think he'll come around. I told him that maybe God will give us a boy next time.

I find myself rubbing my belly at school without even thinking. The whole school knows that I am having a girl and the kids have been requesting that I name her after them. Even the boys have made this request. They are so cute and so excited! The little ones don't understand and think that I have already had the baby. They ask me where the baby is and I tell them that it is in my belly. They then tell me that they can't see it.

I did get another picture from the ultrasound, but she was in the exact position as the first one. One hand was by her face and you couldn't see the other one. At least she is consistent :)

Update

Yeah for benadryl!!! One of my coworkers reminded me that I am allowed to take benadryl while I am pregnant. I took some last night and it knocked me out by 9:30 and I slept until 6! It was awesome and I went to work with a clear head and no headache.

First Day Back

Today was our first staff day back at school. I usually take a tylenol pm or something similar for the first day back because I usually have trouble sleeping...what will my schedule be, how many kids will I have, etc. But since I am pregnant I could not take such a pill. I went to sleep around 10:30 and there began the longest night ever. I hadn't had much to drink yesterday, so I was hoping my constant restroom breaks might be less frequent, but boy was I wrong. I think I went every hour until 12 and then every 30 minutes. Needless to say I was not getting any deep sleep. I woke up at 3:30 to eat and visit the facilities and I never went back to sleep. It was a very long day. I'm hoping that tonight will be better!

I decided not to take a nap in hopes that I will sleep through the night. We'll see.

Pictures

Since I haven't been able to load my pictures in a while, I thought I would take this opportunity to show you some pictures.

The first one is a picture of Bryan after his awards ceremony at school. Jonathan and I were not able to make it because of work so we took pictures when we got home. I think he looks so cute!


Next is another awards ceremony that we missed...baseball. The coach left a message on Jonathan's phone about the time and date. It was a Saturday and Jonathan's voicemail was messed up and he didn't get the message until Monday. Bryan took it very well, but I felt bad for him



Here is a picture of Jonathan and his sister at her graduation last weekend. Shara graduated from Virginia College at Austin with a degree in Sonography.



And last, but not least. Jonathan had his friends up from Austin one night for a James Bond-a-thon. They attempted to make martinis and took some staged pictures to be like the great James Bond. Notice that I am the sexy female holding the gun (Jonathan spray painted one of Bryan's water guns).

He found it!

Jonathan found the camera cord last weekend. As most of you know I cannot find anything even if it is right in front of me. He found it in about 5 minutes. So here is a picture of me at 14 weeks. I put on the maternity clothes b/c they made me look a little more pregnant. As you can see I was very sunburned. I took Bryan swimming and completely forgot to put sunscreen on my face. At least he had it on his face and I wasn't a bad mom!

I had my 16 week appt. Wednesday and we got to hear the heartbeat again, it was cool. He said everything looks good. He reviewed my blood work and said that somehow I missed my rubella/measles vaccination, weird. I don't know how I got to go to school. He said he would give it to me as soon as I deliver so that I don't have to worry about it. I hope all is well with all of you!

A Little Disturbing

Sunday night Jonathan went out with some guy friends. They went to their favorite restaurant, Bush's and then went to see Transformers. They had a great time and I fell asleep before he got home that night. I woke up to him saying, "Wow you sleep hard!" I was a little confused and asked him what he was talking about. He said that he rang the doorbell about 10 times and knocked on the bedroom window so that I would let him in (he didn't have his keys with him). But I didn't budge. He had to call Tim to bring over his spare key to our house so that he could get in. Crazy huh? Usually I am not a very sound sleeper, but I guess I have been extra tired lately. I'm glad he wasn't a burler or something, I probably would have woken up after it was too late.

Rewards

As a teacher I have always hated using big reward systems with my kids. The few times that I have, I feel very tied to them and I just can't escape. So when Bryan's therapist suggested that we use rewards to help correct his behavior, I was very against it. She listened to me and let me have my side, but every time she suggests it.

So I absolutely lost it with Bryan the other day. He gets distracted very easily while he is doing his morning routine. We have found him in the bathroom staring at himself in the mirror quite a few times. It sounds kind of funny, but its not when you are trying to get ready to go somewhere. I have been pretty lax with him this summer, but now I am trying to get him back in the school mode.

Jonathan and I have tried everything that we can possibly think of with him and nothing has worked. So the other day when he had been in the bathroom for 20 minutes and hadn't even brushed his teeth, I was very upset (He was supposed to be using a timer and done with the whole routine in 15 minutes). Like I said, I lost it. I had so much anger and frustration that I didn't know what to do.

So that's when I decided to try the reward system. I made a chart with boxes and bought him some car stickers. Every time he does his night or morning routines without needing to be reminded about a step, he gets to put a sticker on the wall. Let me say that his routines are hanging on the wall, he is not expected to have them memorized.

So far is has worked out very well. Now when he gets off task, I have a consequence. Instead of turning red and loosing it, I simply say, "Oh that's too bad I guess you won't get your sticker today." He filled up his first chart the other day and got to draw a coupon from the envelope. He was so excited because it said that we would have his favorite for dinner, pizza! I just popped the Red Barron's in the oven and he was happy as a lark. He got a reward that he could feel proud of and I didn't have to spend any money on.

On a funny note. Yesterday Jonathan was helping him get ready for church and Bryan told him that he couldn't find any brown socks to wear with his loafers. This was really stressing him out. Jonathan told him to go look in the laundry room. He was looking through the socks and looking very stressed. Jonathan said, "What's wrong?" He said, "I'm almost out of time, I've got to hurry." So I guess its working. It all goes to show you, I guess I should have listened to the therapist in the first place!

I'm tired, no I'm tired

I called Jonathan while he was on his way home from work tonight and told him that I needed him to be in charge of dinner. I started having night sickness again and couldn't bare the thought of cooking. He said no problem. When he got here he told me that he didn't feel very well either and had a really long day, so we had cereal. It was very good btw.

I fell asleep on the bed after eating and about an hour later Jonathan came in and said that he was going to bed too. Well that would have been no problem if we didn't have an 8 year old, but someone has to get him to bed. So Jonathan and I were arguing about who was more tired and needed to go to bed the most. Of course he said that I should since I am pregnant, but I am stubborn and made him go to bed since he had been at work all day. Man we are old!

We did take my first belly shot tonight, but I still can't find our camera cord. As soon as I do, I will post it.