Bailey Katherine Tome

Bailey Katherine arrived Friday, March 12th at 11:33 AM. My doctor stripped my membranes on Wednesday at my appt. and I started having contractions on Thursday about 5:30 PM. We went to labor and delivery about midnight and they admitted me. I got to 5 cm (all back labor) before my epidural and I was proud of that. Thanks to Nate my favorite anesthesiologist. Here is a picture of me with my epidural!

The delivery was going great until I reached +2 station and I had a tear that wouldn't stop bleeding so they tried to stitch it up before Bailey was out. That didn't work and they got worried that they couldn't stop the bleeding and wanted to get Bailey out so they used forceps. Needless to say I am still on pain meds, but I am very thankful that I got to have a v-bac instead of another c-section!

I had meconium (sp?) in my water so they warned me that the NICU would be examining Bailey when she was born. They came and told me that they would have to take her back to the NICU b/c she was having trouble breathing and needed some oxygen. I did get to see her and hold her hand before she left and she is beautiful. I started crying b/c this is the same think that happened with Kylee. I knew they would take good care of her and I was thankful for that.

By the time that they moved me over to my regular room, Bailey was doing better and they brought her to see me. She latched on right away and wanted to eat! Our Moms brought the kids up to see Bailey and Kylee was absolutely fascinated and wanted to hold her and do everything with her. She finally had her very own live baby doll! At one point my mom asked if she could hold Bailey and Kylee said, "No I hold her!"





We had a good first night, except for the fact that she did not want to nurse for more than 5 minutes at a time. She would scream until I would put her on my shoulder and let her go back to sleep. I just thought that maybe she wasn't very hungry or something. Saturday night my sister noticed that her lips were a little blue. The nurse came in and noticed that she was breathing pretty fast so she measure her pulse ox on her foot. Next thing I knew they were taking her to the NICU again. We went to see her late that night and I started the process of pumping.

I had to go home on Sunday morning and leave our sweet little girl there. We made it through the week visiting her in the morning and then in the evening when Jonathan got off. I tried to nurse her in the NICU, but she really like her bottle.

This was the Threads of Love outfit that Kylee wore while she was in the NICU

I was very nervous to bring her home and nurse her full-time. I so want to nurse her, but I wasn't sure that she would agree. So far she has done great. I have to use a little formula in a syringe to get her to latch on, but once she does she actually stays on. She has been nursing since we got home, but doesn't seem satisfied. So Jonathan gave her a bottle and she is out. I think she is just trying to build up my milk supply, so I know it will be a long process,but will get better.

Kylee was so excited to see her again. Our friend Jennifer met us up at the hospital and stayed in the waiting room with Kylee while we got Bailey. Someone told me that it is good to go home as a family so we wanted her to ride home in the car with Bailey. We bought balloons and a cake to make it a party, but Kylee didn't seem to want the cake. I guess we will eat it another time!!

Kylee looking at her new sister!

Bailey's first ride in the car. She didn't cry at all

Here is a video of Kylee talking to Bailey on the way home. When we got home she said, "Home, come on Bailey, let's watch Movers (Imagination Movers)." When we got in the house she held Bailey on the couch and they watched Movers together. It was adorable!!

Kylee and Bailey watching their first episode of Movers together

Bailey is eating better now. At first she didn't want to nurse b/c the bottle was so much easier. But she is learning and I know it will get better and better each day. Jonathan is off tomorrow and Tuesday Kylee will go to preschool, so Wednesday is my first day by myself with both of them. I hope we make it!!

Kylee was pumping her belly button for milk to get milk Bailey

Kylee on her way to see sister!!

Yay! Bailey was discharged.

Still Waiting

So I am 39 weeks tomorrow and Bailey is still completely comfortable I guess. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and we'll see if I have made any progress. I had a stomach bug yesterday, not fun with a huge belly. My back was killing me b/c I laid around all day. Tylenol did the trick once I felt like I could keep it down.

Bryan stole from us and lied so we have stripped him of all of his privileges. I mean everything, even his bed. He will have to work really hard to earn his things back. We felt a little harsh, but something has got to get through to him! And its amazing how clean his room stays when he has nothing in there.

Kylee is at school today and I stayed home to rest. I am feeling much better, but I don't have a lot of energy since I didn't eat yesterday. Its nice to be home without my toddler. I can really rest. I am just going to have to keep myself from doing chores.

Jonathan turns 31 tomorrow! I am going to have to go and get him a gift sometime today. I think I am going to take him out to a quick dinner before church tomorrow night. Wouldn't it be cool if Bailey would come on his birthday?

Here are some pictures of the kids and our snow day!

Great weekend!

We had a great weekend! Karen and Scott (my sister and brother-in-law) came to visit Friday night and we had fun catching up. Then Saturday morning Karen and I headed to my shower that my friends from church threw me. I am so blessed to have such a sweet group of friends!!

Me and the Grandmothers!

All the yummy food :)

All of the sweet gifts

All of the hostesses

My sisters, my mom and I

When I was about to leave the shower I felt two gushes down my legs. I thought that my water had broken, but I wasn't sure if I might have just peed on myself. So Jonathan and I waited around a while to see what would happen. I was worried and couldn't tell so we went to labor and deliver. They hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. They said that the litmus paper should turn blue if my water broke and yellow if not. She said that it was yellow and blue. There were a few other factors, but she gave me an ultrasound to be sure. She said that my fluid looked great and she was pretty sure that it hadn't broken. They had me stay on the monitor for quite a while and they said that I was contracting every 2-3 minutes. I wasn't in pain, but she checked to make sure that I wasn't dilating. I was at a 2. I have another doctor's appt. in the morning so we'll see what he says.

Karen helped me go through all of the fun shower gifts and get them put away. Thanks sis! Then tonight we had life group at our house and we had a great time with some great friends. We feel so blessed.

Here are some pictures and a video from Kylee playing the other day. Notice how she pauses to say cheese b/c she thinks I am taking her picture.

36 weeks

I went for my 36 week appt. yesterday. The doc said that I am 1 1/2 cm dilated and 50 percent effaced. He said that Bailey is going to be big like Kylee (she was 8.8 lbs). He said because of her size he would love for me to deliver at 37 weeks, but we'll have to see what she has in mind. He cannot induce me because I am doing a v-bac. So we have to wait for me to go into labor on my own. He also said that my eyesight will go back to normal (where I can wear contacts again) about two weeks after I deliver. I have so missed my contacts!!

Kylee really wanted me to read her books yesterday. So she kept going and getting books and then trying to climb in my lap on the couch. I usually have her sit on one of my legs, but yesterday she really wanted to sit in the middle of my lap. She would push on my belly with her whole body trying to make room for herself. She did not understand that I had a huge belly there blocking her! I'm sure she will be glad to have my lap back, but probably not so glad that she will have to share it with sister.

I need to post another belly shot. I will try to get Jonathan to take one tonight!

Why God Made Moms

Answers given by 2^nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of ?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time..
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Almost 34 weeks

I will be 34 weeks on Wednesday and I started my two week appointments today. The doctor said that I was measuring right on target. I asked him if he could guess how big she is. He felt my belly and told me that she was head down (she has a hard butt) and that she felt a little on the big side, but not too huge. I just hope that she is not much bigger than Kylee since I am going to try to have a vaginal delivery! He said that my titers are still at zero so that is great news.

Kylee was great at the appointment today. She stayed in her stroller until we got back to the room and then she pointed to the bed and said, "My bed!" I let her get on the bed and she laid down for a while with her blanket. Then she discovered the little changing area with the curtain that moves like a shower curtain. We played peek-a-boo for a while and she was very excited. Then while the doctor was examining me she sat in her seat and ate her raisins. Then she wanted to walk to the car so I told her she had to hold my hand. She did all the way to the car. Such a big girl!

I think that I have started nesting. We put Bailey's bed in Kylee's room, I ordered Kylee new bedding, I bought storage bins for the girls toys and I have been tidying up our room. Jonathan and Quinton put a vent in our closet over the weekend. Bailey will be spending her first couple of months in there until she is sleeping longer and won't wake sister up as much. Now she has a vent so she won't be cold/hot like Kylee was.

I decided to let Kylee help me make dinner tonight. I was making breakfast burritos (yes we have breakfast for dinner a lot!) I put the eggs and sausage in the tortillas and then I let her put the cheese on top. I poured the cheese in a bowl and she had a ball. I think she ate more cheese than she put in the burritos, but that's okay. Some of the eggs and sausage fell out of a burrito and said, "Uh oh!" I told her it was okay and that we could just eat what fell out. She liked that idea! I think I am going to try and find more ways to let her help me cook, she seemed to really enjoy it.

Here is a picture from a couple of weeks ago. Then there are some random ones of Kylee!

Farm Party

We had Kylee's birthday party on Saturday. For her first birthday we just had the family come to the house so we decided to go all out for this one. We had it at our church and it turned out great! We had a farm theme which proved to be more difficult than I thought. I assumed that the party stores would have farm stuff, but boy was I wrong. I looked at our small store here and all they had was zoo stuff. So I ran down to Round Rock and they said they only sold it online. So I had to be creative. I went to the teacher store and bought a bulletin board set to decorate and found some pictures online to make the cupcake toppers. I think it turned out pretty cute!











Kylee loved the bounce house. Thanks to my friend Brooke for letting me borrow it. Now every time we drive by the church Kylee says, "Bouncy House!" I was so proud of sweet Kylee. She blew out the candle all by herself. My how she has grown in a year. Kylee was blessed with a lot of gifts, thank you to everyone for being so generous. She had lots of helpers with opening them so we finished in record time! One our friends had her birthday that night and Kylee thought that she should open all of her gifts too. I guess she was on a role.

Blue Hat, Green Hat

As I mentioned in my previous post, Kylee got a new book for her birthday and she was super excited about it. Here is a video of her reading it!

My baby girl turned two yesterday! I can't believe it. She is really turning into a little girl even though I still call her my baby. She is talking up a storm, learning how to walk with Mommy instead of being carried, interact with her friends and naming almost anything. She can count to three, but likes to stop on two. She is still working on her colors, right now she can repeat the colors, but when you ask her what color something is, she replies, "Red," almost every time :)

She still likes to snuggle when she is sleepy, gets hurt or gets in trouble. She makes messes all the time, but is learning to help clean them up. Thank you to all of my friends for giving me pointers and encouragement as we encounter new challenges everyday. I absolutely love being your Mommy, Kylee, and I can't wait for birthday number 3! Daddy and I love you very much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

The day started out with a family birthday breakfast of oatmeal. When I got Kylee up I told her "Happy Birthday!" She walked around the kitchen looking for her birthday (I think she was looking for a cake). We gave her the two candle and she decided that was her birthday. She even blew out the candle after we sang to her at breakfast.

She is trying to hold up two fingers

After breakfast I picked her up and we were about to head out the door to go to school. Then I noticed that she had a whole bunch of blood in her ear. We found some on the pillow too. I thought for sure that she had burst her eardrum. I called the doctor and got her an appointment. We ran Bubba to school and then headed to the doctor's office. She was such a big girl at the doctor's office. She pulled out the step at the bottom of the table and decided to read her magazine.

b bnl [''''//ll

The doctor said that her eardrum had not burst, but she did have an ear infection. He said she probably stuck her finger in there because it was hurting and scratched herself and made it bleed. Poor baby, I guess I need to trim her fingernails twice a week!

My mom dropped Kylee and I off at school and she headed to Walgreens to pick up Kylee's medicine. Kylee had only been at school for about an hour when she fell and busted her lip. Her teacher brought her to me with blood on her shirt. My mom was still there so i asked her take take Kylee home with her. I thought she had enough excitement for one day and we should let her rest at home.

We planned to take the kids to Chick-fil-A and let them play for her birthday dinner, but I came down with a bad cold and did not feel like going anywhere. So Daddy picked up food on his way home and we had Chick-fil-a at home. My mom got her a giant muffin to use as her cake and she very much enjoyed being the center of attention. She asked us to sing to her a second time and also had to repeat the blowing out of her candles.

After cake/muffin we opened presents. Bubba got her a book that she been asking for since Christmas. It is a Sandra Boynton book that her teacher has a school called, "Blue Hat, Green Hat." She was so excited when she got it. Mommy and Daddy got her a little table with folding chairs. Her and Bubba enjoyed reading together at it. That table is really cool b/c you can use dry erase markers on it and they erase! We did not show Kylee this cool trick. We were afraid she would think that everything was erasable, the walls, the table, etc.

Yummy Soup!

We had some friends over last night and I tried a new recipe for Mexican Bean Soup. It was so good so I thought I would share it. Our class at church gets together once a year and we all share our favorite recipes and put them in a book. This recipe was entered by my good friend, Becky!

1 lb Hamburger Meat
1 pkg. Pork Breakfast Sausage
2 Cans Pinto Beans
1 Can Mex-Corn
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning
2 Cans Rotel Tomatoes (I only used one)
2-3 Cups of Water
1 pkg. Dry Ranch Dressing Mix

Brown and drain beef and pork in large tew pot. Ad remaining ingredients an cook on med/low heat for 25 minutes. Garnish soup with chopped green onions, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and Tortilla Chips.

It was so yummy and perfect for these cold days. I hope you enjoy it with your family!

Christmas 2009!

So I know this is a little late, but oh well.

Jonathan's Mom, Dad and Sister came up to our house for Christmas Eve. Shara and the boys went to see Avatar while Pam, Kylee and I wrapped some last minute gifts. We then had snacks and opened presents. We tried to take turns opening presents. We started at 6:45 and at 7:15 Kylee was done and ready for bed. So we tried to hurry up and have her open all of her presents and then we put her in bed. We had a great night!!

Kylee feeding her new baby from Nonny and Mawmaw. (I haven't showed her that it poops and pees yet).

Bryan got new shoes from Papo!

Bryan got a really cool laso rope from Uncle Herschel and Aunt Pattie

Jonathan got new work gloves.

I got a new gps!! Thank you Chris and Pam. Chris set it up for me and he named it "Saving Becca." I think that is a very appropriate title.

Christmas morning we stayed at home and opened presents with just the four of us. We always enjoy spending Christmas morning at our house. We let the kids open their stockings and see their presents from Santa when they get up, then we eat a big breakfast and open the rest of the presents. Kylee woke us up at 6:30 and when we went into the living room Bryan had already sorted all of the presents and was waiting for us to get up!

Kylee got a new rocking chair from "Santa"
Bryan got a new tractor from John Deere.

This is one of my favorite pictures! Kylee is giving Bryan a hug and thanking him for the set of tools that he gave her.


Here's Bryan with all of the presents. We tried really hard to get Kylee to sit still for this picture, but we did not succeed.

We headed up to my sister's house in Allen (north of Dallas) about 1:00 on Christmas day. I got to use my new gps and I didn't get lost. We had 16 people at Karen and Scott's house, thanks for putting up with us!! We had a great time just being together, cooking and looking at Christmas lights. Karen and Scott took us to the Galleria Mall and we got to see the huge Christmas tree. That is a huge mall. I must say that is my first time to be there. Maybe the next time I go back I can actually do some shopping :)

This is a video of Kylee doing the Cha Cha Slide!

Kylee hanging out with Aunt Karen and Wallace!

Kylee helping Mommy make scrambled eggs.

Mom making breakfast!

I hope that all of you and yours had a very Merry Christmas.