trying to be creative

Audrey was down taking a nap so I went outside to enjoy the sunshine. As I was sitting there I thought that I would just go around taking random pictures of the flowers in our yard. These are just a few of my favorites...

This is one of my favorite verses. Just thought it would look kinda cool putting it with a flower picture...

audrey splashing in the pool

this is audrey splashing in the pool when we went to montavilla park on 4th of july.

4th of july fun

on 4th of july, the fam went to montavilla park to go swimming. jen, bryan and gabe got there before the rest of us and were already in the pool having fun. i fed audrey half her bottle on the way there and mom finished giving her bottle after we all got settled in, then they came in the pool to join the fun. gabe just got done with swimming lessons and was just having a ball. he should all the things that he learned. he also wanted to go sown the slide about a million times and almost karate-chopped bryan in the head, catching him! lol jaden went down a couple of times too, but wasn't that thrilled with it. audrey had an absolute blast being in the pool. you could say that she was definitely in her element...being outside and in a pool to keep her cool. my baby is so hot-blooded. i have no idea where she go that. she will sweat when it is like 60 degrees outside.

after the pool, we went home and had a bbq and then later to jen and bryan's to watch fireworks. i was afraid that audrey might not like the fireworks because of the loud noises but she was completely intrigued by them. gabe did better this year too. last year, he wouldn't be outside to watch the fireworks cause he was too scared of them. not this year though, he was right in on the action. jaden did a couple of sparklers and had fun watching the fireworks. at one point, he was standing at the edge of the sidewalk to trying to blow one of them out. lol too funny. all in all, it was a good day. completely wiped audrey out for the night.


happy first 4th of july, audrey!

audrey eats cereal for the first time

july 4th, 2009
audrey ate rice cereal for the first time. she did such a good job. she knew how to open her mouth and chew her food. she didn't have any reactions to it at all which is good. i've been feeding it to her at least once a day so that she can get used to it. i can't believe how fast she is growing!

audrey rolling over

audrey rolled over all by herself tonight. i was so excited that she has finally learned to roll over by herself. she rolled from her tummy to her back about 3-4 times! yay! way to go audrey! i am a bit excited about this cause i've been waiting and waiting for her to finally roll over!

airport!

audrey went to the airport for the first time on wednesday. we thought that it would be fun to go eat dinner there, and let the boys play at the little play structure that they have there and watch planes come in and take off. while we ate dinner, we sat by the window so we could watch the planes. the boys had a blast watching them. whenever we go to ikea, at the end, we usually sit outside for a bit to watch the planes since it goes directly over ikea. jaden and gabe met a new friend at the play structure. a plane started to take off so the boys and their new friend ran to the window to watch. it was cute. audrey was a good girl too. i took her down the slide and held her by the window so that she could see the planes too. though if she actually saw them, i don't know. lol

audrey scootin'...

i got home from work tonight and my mom was giving audrey a bath. afterwards, we brought her down and got her in her pj's and all that jazz. well, we thought that we would put her on her tummy for a little while and yo my great surprise, audrey sort of went up on her knees and scooted forward a little bit. i guess we are just going to bypass the whole rolling over thing and go straight on to scootin/crawling. :)

fun in the park...

Julie, Jaden, Jenny, Gabe, Audrey and myself went to fairview park today. It was a lot of fun to hang out and watch the boys climb all over the play structure. This was the first time that Audrey has been to the park. She watched the trees blow in the wind, her cousins play, and see the neighborhood cat. She also went down the slide a few times as well. She completely zonked out at the end right before we went on a walk on a little trail they have there. Overall, it was a fun little playdate!


Audrey excited to go to the park...






Jenny going down the slide...


Gabe's turn...


Audrey and I





I also wanted to make sure that I put down that Audrey rolled over for the first time by herself yesterday! We've been working really hard on that and she finally did it! yay!!

Happy Father's Day

My dad with his three girls...




Happy Father's day, Dad! Love ya

enchanted forest

Audrey had her 1st little trip to Enchanted forest for my uncle's birthday on May 27th. She did such an awesome job on the drive there, slept the whole way! We got there around 10:30 in the morning and there was absolutely no one there! It was fantastic. I hate crowds especially in places like that. All of us girls brought out huge strollers and wished that we didn't. That place is all STEEP uphills and downhills. It was hard to control them. Here are some of my fav. pics from the day...

All Smiles!!

Mommy's and Audrey's Shower

On saturday, my mom put together this little shower for Audrey and I since I never officially got a baby shower and when we planned to do it, everybody had pretty much given me gifts anyway. So, she had my sisters and I go out and get pedicures and then we met up with her, Audrey, my friend Thao and my mom's friend nancy for lunch at Olive Garden. It was a lot of fun to hang out with family and friends. I thank my mom for thinking of me and Audrey by putting something like this together when a baby shower fell through.

Saturday's Child: Week 3

Week 3:

Mon.- tummy time for about 10-15 mins. really enjoyed it.
Tues.- sweet tomatoes and babies r us
Wed.- got her first cold
thrus.- daddy came home from spokane
fri.- aunt jenny and gabe came over. gabe played with my bouncer while i was in it

ok...obviously I'm not doing to good at this...

Saturday's Child

My mom's friend gave me a really cool gift for Audrey. She gave me a photo album and what I am supposed to do with it is every Sat., of the first year, I take a picture of Audrey and put it in the album. Also, on an index card, I write down all the little milestones that she does for that week and put it behind the picture. It is called 'Saturday's Child'. I decided that I would do that on the blog every Sat. as well. There is a poem that goes with this. It goes:


Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Today, it has been two weeks since Audrey's been born. And here is what she has done for the week:
Sat.- first 'real' outing. went to fx for dinner
Tues.- mom gave me a sponge bath all by herself. aunt jenny lost her job at mulvanny g2 and came over with gabe to hang out. betty came over to visit me. first 'family night' outing,went to arby's and target
wed.- grabbed mom's hair and pulled. actually pulled out a strand of her hair. increased formula to 2.5oz and changed to every four hours instead of three.
fri.- increased formula to 3oz. first tub bath.

The Story of Audrey's Birth

Friday, February 13th:

I had my last OB appt. at 1:30 over at Rockwood. I decided to wear the same outfit that I wore for my other appt. at St. Vincent when I last got admitted to the hospital. I thought it would be funny if I were to get admitted again wearing that same outfit. Anyway, we got to my appt. and the nurse took me back and took my bp and weight. My blood pressure was high this time, a lot higher than it ever has been through out my entire pregnancy. I also had lost one pound since my last appt. which put me at gaining a total of 25 pounds. My OB measured and felt the baby and listened to her heartbeat which is always good and strong. She asked me if I wanted her to check my cervix and I said yes. I wanted to see if I have had any change since the last time. She felt me at being 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced and I was also having some contractions. She wanted to send me to Sunnyside to be under observation to see how far apart my contractions were since I still couldn't feel them. On my way there, my mom asked me if there was anything I wanted to do before we went to the hospital and possibly having Audrey that day. I said I wanted to go to Babies r' Us and look for something for Audrey to give to her when she was born. I really wanted to go eat something because I hadn't eaten all day. I finally found a stuffed elephant/blanket thing that says 'Mommy loves me' on it. Of course, my mom had to get some things as well. When we arrived they put me into a triage room (2) and hooked me up to the contraction and baby's heartbeat monitors. The midwife came in and checked my cervix again and felt me to be 5cm as well and saw that I was continually having contractions so they decided to admit me. I was taken to room 3 in labor and delivery and was hooked up to the monitors again. I was wanting to watch tv but my tv didn't have cable only the generic channels which totally sucked! I was looking forward to watching What Not To Wear and other TLC programs. So, later on that night the midwife that was on duty that night came in and introduced herself. She checked my cervix and said that I was only 4cm dilated and because I wasn't feeling my contractions, I wasn't in active labor and decided to discharge me. She didn't want to keep me there because it was very busy that night. I felt that she just didn't want to deal with me so she sent me home. So, at 12:30am they sent me home. I was not very happy. I was tired, uncomfortable, cold, and hungry. My mom stopped by McDonald's on the way home to get me something to eat. When we got home, Julie was still up so we all went into the family room and talked while I ate. We all finally went to bed around 1:30-2. I pretty much just threw my clothes on the floor after changing into my pj's and tossed my hospital bag aside because I was too tired to redo my bag and hang up my clothes.

At my last OB appt:



On our way to the Hospital:


Saturday, February 14th:

My mom still had to get things for Jenny's birthday on the 16th so her and my dad got up early to do that and run some other errands. They were also going out for breakfast for their Valentine's day thing since they had to babysit Jaden that night. I woke up and wasn't feeling too good. I didn't really know why but I wanted to go upstairs and lay on bed with my mom and talk to her. Well, as I was going upstairs, my parents were coming downstairs to leave. My mom asked me if there was something wrong but I just told her that I wanted to lay on her bed and talk to her. So, my parents left and I went back downstairs and got back into my bed. Probably not even 10-15 later, at about 10:30am, I had a very sharp pain in my stomach. I walked it off and decided that that was all of it. But I kept having those pains. I can't even describe what kind of pain that I was in. I remember reading to drink water and walk around if you think you are in labor, so I did that. But that wasn't doing anything. I was screaming at the top of my lungs every time I had a contraction. It seemed like after I had just finished having one, another one would come. I think that I woke Jaden up because Julie came down about 15 minutes after I started having contractions. She asked me if I was in labor and I told her I think that I was. I said I've been trying to call my parents but couldn't get them to answer. I asked her why she hadn't heard me screaming and she said that the fan in her room drowns out everything. Julie then basically dropped Jaden out of her hands and ran upstairs to try and call my parents again. Jaden was such a big boy and tried to make me smile and laugh. He followed me everywhere that I went to make sure that I was ok. Julie finally got a hold of my dad and was yelling that they needed to come home right away, that I was in labor. He thought it was a joke and Julie told him that she wasn't kidding and that they needed to come now. My parents were at 202nd and Glisean. My mom called me and tried to get me to calm down and to breathe. When they got home, Jaden was at the bottom of the stairs yelling 'grandma grandma' and pointing at my room telling her to come down and help me. My mom called 911, when somebody finally arrived, my contractions were very strong and close together. While my mom was talking to the operator, I walked to my bathroom and trew up all the water that I had drank earlier. I guess that is why it says not to eat or drink when you are in labor. My mom got me to go back to my room and lay down. At that time, the ambulance and firemen came. I guess I had like 6-7 firemen in my room and my mom told me that they were all very cute. I didn't notice or care because hello, I'm in labor and screaming at the top of my lungs. The ambulance guy came and I told him that I was at the hospital yesterday but they sent me home. He asked me if they checked my cervix yesterday and I said yes, they measured it to be 4-5cm. He was asking me what I wanted to do, if I wanted them to drive me to the Hospital or if I could just have my mom drive me. At that point, I really didn't care. I just got up off of my bed and said 'I don't care how I get there, somebody just get me there!' So, the ambulance guy helped me up the stairs and out of the house. I finally got to the hospital and they put me in a triage room and the nurse checked my cervix and measured me to be 9 cm dilated and they rushed me to a delivery room. The midwife came in and I think that she checked my cervix as well, and all I was saying was that I wanted some kind of pain relief now. She told me that I wasn't able to get any because I was too far along and it would harm the baby. My mom said that she thought that I would lose it after she told me that but said that as soon as I realized that I had to do it all 'natural', I calmed down and did what I had to do. I really don't remember much after this. They transfered me to the delivery bed and got me all set up to deliver. As soon as I got on to the bed, all I remember doing from that point on was pushing. All I was focused on was getting this baby OUT! I pushed for 2 1/2 hours and out popped Audrey at 2:38pm.

Audrey Kay

Audrey Kay
Born February 14, 2009
at 2:38 p.m.
6 lbs & 4 oz
18 1/2 inches long

38 weeks...and still going

Week 38: Feb. 2 - Feb. 8

Today I had an appointment in the morning. I think that the nurse and my midwife were surprised that I was still coming considering I had stopped taking my pills the week beforehand. The nurse did her normal things of taking my blood pressure and weight. I still have good blood pressure unlike my two sisters and I have gained 26 pounds so far. I am finally in the range of needing to gain 25-35 pounds during the pregnancy. The midwife came in and checked the baby's heart rate and measured my stomach. She told me that I am going to have a good size baby. She went to put her hands on my stomach to feel the baby's position and told me that I was having a contraction right then. I couldn't feel it until she started moving my stomach around and then I felt some pain. I don't know why I have a hard time realizing when I am having a contraction. Afterwards, she checked my cervix and as it turns out I am 100% thinned and 4cm dilated. She asked me if I wanted her to sweep the membranes and stretch the cervix, because she started to do it but I was having a hard time because it was so painful when she started to do it that she stopped and asked me if I wanted her to continue on. She said that what that would do would most likely put me into labor. I wasn't sure about it but before I could give her an answer she took her hand out. It is hard for me to make decisions fast about certain things that she asks me what I want to do because for so long I've just had to do whatever the high-risk doctor told me...it was never an option. At my next appointment next week, she is going to go ahead and sweep the membranes and stretch the cervix so I need to prepare myself for that. She also told me that she has been in contact with a doctor over at Sunnyside about me getting induced and that doctor wants me to wait until I am at 40 weeks, if I even last that long. My midwife said I can make an appointment on my due date, Feb. 16th, to get induced but I asked if it could be after since Feb. 16th is Jenny's birthday. She told me that she would contact the doctor there and call and talk to me about it later.

I was so out of it when I got home afterwards that I pretty much slept all day. I was laying on the couch at one point watching Julie do photobooth with Jaden and Gabe and Julie decided that it would be fun to have me be in the picture too. Well, if any of you know what photobooth is, you can make your face look completely distorted and funny looking, so Julie thought it would be funny to do that to me. It was funny and we do it all the time but it was different because every time she would make me laugh, my stomach hurt. I don't know exactly what that means because it has never hurt before when I've laughed. I wondered if it was because of the exam that I had earlier.

Later that night, Julie, Jaden, my dad, Nathan went to the hockey game and it was just my mom and me hanging out. We went to the outlet mall, to look at some baby clothes. We went to Osh Kosh and they had some cute stuff but I didn't want to spend that much money on clothes when I will soon have to be spending it on diapers and such. We went to Carter's afterwards and they were having such a good sale that I bought four shirts and a cozy outfit for just $17. A pretty good deal. We went to Quizno's when we were done and took it home to eat to watch Mamma Mia!. I would have to say such a weird movie. I usually like musicals but I wasn't too fond of this one. Anyway, I am going to get some pictures of my stomach tomorrow or sometime before I turn 39 weeks and post them.

37 Weeks

Week 37: January 26- February 1

I had a doctors appointment on thursday and my doctor just checked the baby's heartbeat, measured across my stomach and checked my cervix. I am still 2 cm dilated and 95% effaced. She told me that she had talked to the physicians over at Sunnyside about having me be induced a week before my due date. I wasn't sure when she first told me about it so I didn't give her an answer if I wanted to or not. I talked to my mom about it afterwards and she thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and do that, that way I know when to expect Audrey to come. I thought about it and I think that that would be a good idea as well so I am going to talk to my dr. at the next appointment about having me induced a week beforehand. If I was to be induced at exactly a week before she would be born on Feb. 9th.

Here are some pictures of me at 37 weeks along:

32 weeks

12/22/08: 32 Weeks along