Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

We would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and remind you to count all of your blessings. It has been a tough year for many, but by realizing the love you have in family you will be able to make it through anything!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Emma is Growing Up


Emma is just over 1 year 4 months old now, and she seems to be changing every day. At her 16 month checkup she was 32 1/2 inches tall (88th percentile) and 30 pounds (97th percentile.) Her hair is getting longer and starting to curl in the back. She runs after Reggie around the house and can communicate to us what she wants. She can say out or outside when she wants to go in the backyard, bye bye when she wants to leave, and baba when she is thirsty. OF course she knows mama and dada, and also said nana a few days ago. She knows who her dog is and how to call him, she knows a duck says "quack quack," and is always quick to flash a smile at everyone and tell them hi. She seems to be picking up new words daily, and now she pats Brandie's belly and says "baby."

Saturday, November 20, 2010

13 Weeks Pregnant




Tuesday, November 16, 2010. I am 13 weeks pregnant! We are so excited and can not believe that time is moving so quickly. I am still taking it easy and following doctors orders. I can feel the baby move and have been able to now for about a month. I love the little flutters and being able to experience those sweet movements. Ray has rented another Doppler and we are able to hear the baby's heartbeat at home whenever we wish.

At this point you can really tell that I am pregnant! I have already had to break out my maternity clothing that I saved from my first pregnancy with Emma. I do not mind showing, I love experiencing it and showing off my baby bump, just don't touch! Emma is now looking at my belly and saying baby and patting it gently.

Thursday, November 18, 2010 we had our appointment with our OB to make sure all was still going well after our scare in October. The doctor did another ultrasound and we got to see the baby and hear the strong heartbeat. We have a wiggle worm! Every ultrasound the baby has been moving, waving high, looked to be crawling, and tapping its left foot! Today the baby measured 14 weeks! The baby has been averaging 5 days ahead in growth from the very start. Even when we had our first ultrasound done in September, the baby was ahead in growth.

The doctor has now taken me off of the medication I was placed on in October. He says that everything is going great. We now get to go back to regular visits instead of meeting every two weeks. He still wants me to try not to overdo it, so we have someone to help with the house once a month now. It is just hard not to be at 100% to fulfill any of my roles in life, especially being a Mom to Emma, but we are doing great and look forward to more posts each week about how we are doing.

Night and Day

Then


Now

By now the majority of the people who read this website know that Ray and I our expecting our second child in May. We are overjoyed and feel extremely blessed to be in this stage of our life. We look forward to Emma being a big sister and being able to bond with her sibling and have someone in life to call friend, sibling, and to share all of her hopes, dreams, and secrets with.

What many do not know who read this is what it has been like since we found out about our blessing on September 9, 2010. Our first pregnancy with Emma was wonderful! I was so healthy, never got sick, never had morning sickness, and I was so relaxed and just had that Mommy Glow Bliss throughout my 9 months.

This pregnancy has been the complete opposite of my experience with Emma. Starting in September shortly after we found out we were expecting on the 9th my morning sickness kicked it. All who really know me understand how much I can not stand to be sick. Well, all through September this was the only aliment I experienced.

With October it was a hurricane of sickness hitting hard and leaving lasting impacts on my body. The first week of October I got the wonderful stomach bug that everyone was passing around, on top of my morning sickness. Not being able to eat for three days took a toll. Ray was so wonderful taking care of me and making sure I was keeping hydrated.

The second week of October came with a severe sinus infection and I had to be placed on a Z pack. I lost my voice for a while and it made teaching a challenge. So, for two full weeks now I have been sick and only functioning at about 50%. Needless to say I was annoyed because I couldn't meet my own high standards to do anything at all due to my sickness.

The third week of October I developed an upper respiratory infection and was placed on another Z pack, inhaler, and two other medications. At this point I was so tired and really did not have the energy to do much at all. But as this week ended and the last week of October began I was starting to feel normal except for being pregnant with morning sickness.

The last week of October was a roller coaster of emotions and experiences, starting on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. I had a wonderful day at work. I felt like super teacher and my kids really enjoyed their lesson. I left work at 4:10, picked Emma up next door from her day care, and went and ran an errand. We got home and some complications started with our baby. I had to call Ray at work and tell him to come home because I needed to go to the ER. Ray hurried home and I had arranged for a sitter to be with Emma and we left for the emergency room. Once there they admitted me and ran 4 different test and confirmed that I was experiencing a "Threatened Miscarriage." At this point my worst fears were starting to come to life. I was immediately put on bed rest for the next 5 days, placed on medication to help sustain my pregnancy, and scheduled for a check up with my wonderful OB on that Monday, November 1st. The check up went well and we are cautiously optimistic that our baby will continue to be healthy.

At this point we are currently 13 weeks 4 days along with our pregnancy. We take each day one at a time and are extremely thankful that we were able to be blessed with an OB who took action and made the right decisions to help us. I am taking it easy, not trying to be too active, and I have been advised not to exercise, move around more than necessary, not to stand for long periods of time. No lifting or bending over a bunch, and making sure to stay hydrated. This means not being me and my fast-paced self for a while. I hope to get back to being able to function at full cylinders for a pregnant woman by the end of the year.

We are thankful for our friends who helped us out on this crazy day. We want to thank Mary for coming and staying with Emma, she has such a wonderful relationship with our little girl it eased our minds while we were in the emergency room for 4 hours that she was here for Emma. We want to thank Buck for coming to our rescue and sending his roommate to bring us gas since we ran out of it and were stranded on the road trying to get home from the emergency room. We believe this was God's way of giving us some much need laughter after experiencing our scare. We also want to thank Nana and Poppa for coming up and helping out for that weekend, they were a blessing.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

November Birthday Celebrations

William Housley - November 4
Christian Maxey - November 20
LeeAnn Maxey - November 21
Angie Lawney - November 21
Julius Maxey - November 25
Shelbily Bibby - November 25

No matter where you are, know that we are thinking of you on your very special day. We wish you all a Happy Birthday. May your year be filled with love, laughter, and fun times.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

An Exciting Announcement

We are EXTREMELY happy to announce Emma will have a brother or sister in May!!! The baby is a few days ahead in growth, and is measuring 12 weeks today!

Happy Birthday Dad


Today is my Dad's birthday, he would have been 66 years old. We know you are watching over us, and you are in our thoughts every day. We love you and miss you very much and hope you are dancing at a big birthday party in Heaven today!

Trick or Treat







We took Emma Trick or Treating last year, but this year she was actually able to walk on her own and hold her bucket, as well as pick what candy she wanted. We originally had decided she would be a ballerina for Halloween, but we were shopping with her for clothes at the Carter's outlet and she found this dress and would not let go of it, so we bought it and changed her costume to be a fairy princess! We had lots of fun and she had a ball!

Pumpkin Patch

The church by our house had a pumpkin patch outside, so we decided to visit and get some pictures of Emma choosing a pumpkin.

We let her loose, and she decided she liked the tiny pumpkins because they were easier to pick up.

Once she found the one she wanted she pick it up...

rested for a bit and saw how it tasted...

Then showed it to Nana and Poppa so it could be purchased!