Were still here, just very busy

Today Curtis and I (& Kalyn too) celebrated our 2 year anniversary! Happy Anniversary babe, I look forward to many, many more!!

Moving on...
It's been a busy month or so. Just over a month ago Kalyn started walking... yikes! This has opened our eyes to a whole new world of scary!! She now insists on walking anywhere and everywhere, the only good thing about that is maybe I'll drop a couple pounds following her around all day! She is such a smart, sassy and funny little girl and I we are so blessed to have her in our lives! She is of course talking up a storm - like mother, like daughter...
"mama"
"daddy"
"shoe"
"sock"
"kitty"
"watch"
"no"
"ball"
"doggy"
"see"
"uh-oh"
"ta-ta" (I'm guilty for that one, sometimes we take baths together and she may have pinched me in a naughty place, so I told her "no" and explained to her what it was. oops, how was I supposed to know she would remember that word)
"ducky"
"baby"
I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting, but you get the idea!
Anyway, September 25th we celebrated her 1st birthday (even though her birthday is actually the 26th) I was hoping for great weather, but didn't get it. Even still we had a wonderful party at the park. We had tons of fun with all our friends and family and Kalyn had a great time eating pizza, cake and opening presents. (Being the horrible mother I am, I didn't get many pictures, thank goodness for friends with cameras!) Here are a few pictures I did get.

Daddy giving Kalyn the cake!

A shot of a couple party-goers. Look how nicely those kids are lined up eating!
After food and gifts Kalyn conned someone into pushing her on the swing. She loves to swing!!

Kalyn and her friend Lennon cruising.

Kalyn's first birthday cake.

Even though the day was cold and windy, we had fun! What more could we ask for.

Since we have 2 birthdays so close together in September we celebrated Marlee's birthday the next day. After church we all took a much needed nap (from the day before) and headed out to a farm so Marlee and Lexi could go horseback riding for the first time. Papa wanted to buy Mar a pony for her birthday but didn't have a place to keep it, so this was the next best thing.

Kalyn riding with Marlee (Papa and the trainer helped)

Kalyn and Mar taking a break while Lexi rode

Although it wasn't as cold as Saturday, it was still chilly so Kalyn and Grandpa hung out where it was warmer and watched (that's my new van she's driving)

Lexi and Marlee had a blast riding Fierra - and we all loved watching them have fun.

The next day Kalyn and I went to her 1 yr appt. She got 5 shots (boo) but the doctor said she is a genius (maybe those were my words) & she got a sucker (yay)...
She is 19 lbs 8 oz and 28" long, so she's kinda small, but nothing they are concerned with. They asked all the normal questions about growth and development, did a quick exam and we went about our day.
Curtis' Aunts were here for a visit from Colorado and we wanted to do some sightseeing before they left Tuesday. So we went to breakfast after the appt. and then headed to Old Mission Lighthouse. The weather was great and we had so much fun. We walked along the beach and then went for a quick swing and ride down the slide before heading into the lighthouse. Before I get much further allow me to point out that I've lived in Traverse City for most of my childhood and my entire adult life and have never been to the lighthouse that is a mere 22 miles from my house. Sad, I know.
Anyway we all (except Aunt Marlena) climbed to the top to enjoy the view. (FYI - It's a very small lighthouse, so it wasn't much work) (also, I don't have any pictures of the view from the top, oops)

Kalyn and Mama swinging

Kalyn and daddy strolling along the beach

Little Miss heading to the top

All of us in front of the lighthouse

We left the lighthouse and headed to our next destination.

To Be Continued...

Yummy

Kalyn had spaghetti last night for the first time.

She loved it!

We loved watching her love it!

This meal was quickly followed by a dunk in the tub!

Mackinaw Island

So I live 2 hours from the bridge, but I've never been to Mackinaw Island.

Sad huh?

Well since I had family in town (some from Cali & some from AZ) a group of us decided to head to the island. Curtis took the day off work so he could come too. We had so much fun!!

The boys decided to rent bikes and race around the island... Kevin and Bryant went tandem and won!

The fam in front of the fort.

And another shot with the water behind us. (Notice that Kalyn and Mick are looking at each other in both pictures)
Curtis and Kalyn took a stroll along the water while the girls went shopping.

After a long uphill hike Kalyn was tired, so she took a quick snooze. Really we were the ones that needed a break, but she took a power nap for all of us.
The view from halfway up our uphill hike.
Kalyn and Daddy on the boat ride home.
Kalyn and Mommy. (it's a horrible picture of both of us, but it's the only one I have)
All in all it was an amazing day. The weather was great, the shopping was good and the company was AWESOME!

Curtis and I both decided that we didn't have enough time there and are planning on going back before the end of summer. There was so much we wanted to see, but didn't.

9 Months Later...

Sheesh it's been a fast 9 months!
I was thinking about everything that Kalyn has learned in only nine months.
She learned how to roll over,
to sit up,
to eat baby food and now some big people food,
how to talk (she says dada, nana, and ball (which comes out dall, close enough) and makes all kinds of babbling sounds,
she understands words we say (no, kitty, ball)
she points and claps,
plays peek-a-boo,
she can crawl,
get up and down the one step into our living room,
pull herself up on anything,
walk behind a walker toy,
This list could go on and on, but I wont bore you... it's just so amazing to watch her grow and learn. She is such a little person now, with a wonderful personality. There are a lot of times when I feel like the worlds worst mother, but when I see how happy, healthy, and smart she is, I realize Curtis and I must be doing something right!
Anywho, Tuesday was her 9 month check-up. They pricked her toe to test her iron... I thought for sure there was going to be a melt down, but she didn't even notice!
She weighed in at 18 lbs and is 27" tall!
I havent uploaded any current pictures, but I will soon and when I do I'll post them.

Hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend!! We'll be spending it with family and friends!

FIRST!

Holy cow it has been a busy week... nothing really time consuming, just a lot of firsts for my teeny tiny tot and being the great mother I am, I'm pretty sure I have each documented in photos. We'll see...


Tuesday the weather was amazing... and by amazing I mean HOT! So grandpa Clark and I took Kalyn to meet Marlee and Aunt Kelly for Kalyn's first trip to the beach. Kalyn got to put her feet in the bay for the first time and felt (& ate) sand for the first time.

Marlee, Kalyn and Aunt Kelly

The water was super cold, but she didn't seem to mind it on her feet

I'm calling Friday first official crawl. For a month and half or so Kalyn has been scooting in circles and going backwards on all fours and getting into a push-up position, but Friday we actually got forward movement on all fours!! She is still getting the hang of it, but between crawling and scooting she is getting some good distance. Time to baby proof!

Okay, I'm out of the running for mother of the year, this isn't actually her first crawl, but it still counts for something, right?

Friday night we went to Kalyn's first baseball game. (the beach bums won!) She was so good throughout the game, entertaining the people behind us, grabbing the people in front of us, and paying no attention at all to what was happening on the field, PLUS Marlee stayed awake the whole time which was a small miracle, so we decided to stay so Kalyn could see her first fireworks. The first one went off and she kind of jumped but once she saw the lights she was in total awe. She was such a trooper, staying up way past her bedtime, but still being her charming self the entire night!

Kalyn entertaining the crowd (see Mema laughing in the background)

On the dugout after the game

Kalyn watching the fireworks

Kalyn also went swimming in a pool for the first time (I just don't have pictures to post cause they're on my moms camera, but I did get at least one) It wasn't a big pool, just Marlee's little girl pool, but she still had lots of fun kicking and splashing and chewing on beach buckets! The water was pretty high so her balance was a little off.... the good news is I only dunked her once! Oops. When I first set her in I wasn't holding on to her and her little bum started to float up and over she went. I caught her before her entire face went under, but not in time to keep her face totally dry. She quickly got over it and I quickly realized that I was going to have to hold on to her the entire time.

Oh and another first that I almost forgot about, Kalyn started pulling herself up this weekend! She's getting so big, so fast and I'm totally not ready for it. Oh well, I guess I can't stop it or slow it down... ready or not here she comes!

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day!!

Almost 7 months old

Having an almost 7 month old is...

Tiring but Wonderful.

The End.

Kalyn

I wrote this (or started writing this) about 5 months ago. I wanted Kalyn to know all the details of her birth without me forgetting anything.

Lucky you... you get to read it too.



I woke up at 4:30 am on Saturday September 26th to go tinkle. I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and started walking back to bed... all of a sudden I felt leaking. My first thought was that I had peed my pants (this happens sometimes when you're pregnant) I went back to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. There was more... and more... and more. Suddenly it clicked, my water broke!

I called out to daddy,

"Curtis" no answer,

"Curtis" (a little louder) still no answer,

"Curtis" (really loud this time)

"What?" he yelled back

"My water broke"

He came running to the bathroom door.

"Really?"

"Uh, yeah"

"What do we do"

"We should probably go to the hospital"

We had taken a childbirth prep class and they told us what to do when the time comes, but shock, fear and excitement must have taken over and he had no clue what to do in that moment. I wasn't feeling any contractions if I was having them, so we decided to call the doctor and see what they wanted us to do. She told us to get up and around and start heading to the hospital, that she would call and let them know we were coming in.

Daddy started running around the house like a mad man, getting dressed, getting a bag packed for himself, and collecting yours and my bags that I had already packed in preparation for the big day.

He went out to take the bags to car and unbeknownst to me to start the car while I was in the shower. When he came in he rushed into the bathroom to see what was taking me so long. He couldn't figure out why I was taking a shower at a time like this. I wasn't feeling any contractions and felt pretty good, so I got in the shower to clean up and shave my... ahem Girl Parts. The whole world was about to see it and I wanted to make sure it was presentable. He paced the house while I finished getting ready and we headed to the hospital.

I had the brilliant idea to stop and get breakfast at McDonalds, I was thinking that I was going to be in labor for 16+ hours and I knew they wouldn't feed me, so by golly... I was going to eat. I had 2 pancakes and an orange juice, it was delicious.

We called Mema and Grandma Trish and told them that you were coming, but that it would probably take awhile so to come up around 10 or 11. We arrived to the hospital around 6 am, got into our room, I got changed into a gown, and they hooked me up to the monitor. I was dilated to one and having contractions, but wasn't feeling them. Phil Demmas mom, Jodi who is an RN in the maternity ward was just getting off her shift at 7 am and asked if she could stay with us for a little while... of course we said yes, it's always great to have a familiar face when you're going through something you've never done before.

About 30 minutes later I started feeling some cramping every now and then, nothing bad. In the next hour things got much worse, I was starting to hurt pretty bad, my back, my stomach, I couldn't lay down because it was uncomfortable. So I walked around the room, took a shower, sat on the toilet, squatted, walked some more and of course... threw up my pancakes. Yuk. Apparently it's not a good idea to eat on your way to deliver a baby.

From the beginning I had decided I didn't want an epidural... I wanted to have a natural birth. Well by 7:30 am I had changed my mind. I was in excruciating pain and I asked for the epidural. They brought the waiver in and I signed it, next step was to check me and see where we were at. A little before 8:00 they checked and me and told me it was too late for the epidural, I was dilated to 9 and they said I would be pushing soon. Yikes! It all happened so fast, 2 hours ago I didn't feel anything, now they're telling me you're coming soon. Daddy and I hurried and called everyone, we thought they could take their time coming to the hospital, but you were coming fast and if they didn't hurry, they might miss it.

Mema and Grandma Trish came into the room when they got to the hospital, and although I was skeptical about having anyone there other than daddy, I changed my mind. I told them all (Jodi, Mema and Grandma) that they could stay, but I wanted them to sit behind me where I couldn't see them during the delivery... I didn't want any stage fright if I was trying to push and they were looking.

By 9:00 it was almost go time. I couldn't sit, I just kept walking around and during every contraction, the only comfortable position was squatting. Jan (the midwife that delivered you) tried to check me while I was having a contraction, but couldn't get a good look. So they laid me on the bed and she checked me, I was almost ready to push. What they told me to do and what my body told me to do were 2 different stories. They didn't want me pushing until I was totally effaced, but I had to. During my contractions, I did small pushes, I couldn't stop myself, I had to. When the time came to really push it was about 9:30, Jan put a bar across the bottom of the bed for me to put legs and they tried to "teach" me how to push without pushing my legs into the bar, it was just there for support. I couldn't do it. So a plan was made, I was going to squat at the bottom of bed and deliver that way. It was the most comfortable position for me. The mattress was taken off the bottom half of the bed exposing a metal platform. I was able to hold on to the bar and stay in a squatting position while I pushed. After a few big contractions I realized that no one was behind me, everyone was standing at the bottom of the bed, but I didn't care who saw what, I was ready for you to be born. I pushed a couple times while squatting, but my legs were getting very tired. Jan brought in a birthing stool for me to sit on. The bed was raised up about 2 1/2 feet, I sat on the stool, held on to the bar and we were ready to rock.

When I felt a contraction coming, I took a deep breath and pushed with all my might. It wasn't like in the movies where everyone counted to ten, took a break and then counted again. No one counted, when I felt a contraction I pushed as hard as I could, for as long as I could throughout. In between I rested and even found some time to crack some jokes. I told daddy at some point, that was never having sex again! Of course everyone thought it was funny, but in that moment, I was being dead serious. After another contraction my nurse (you had a nurse and I had one too) asked me if there was anything she could do for me... my response "yeah, you give birth to this baby and I'll sit and watch" Seriously, what could she do for me at that point? About 10 minutes before you born I asked for a piece of gum. I realized that every time I exhaled after pushing, that I was blowing in Jans face... what if I had bad breath? Jan and both of the nurses said that they had never had anyone ask for gum during delivery... I guess most people don't care if their breath stinks, I do. I pushed for about 45 minutes and Jan told me you were close. She told me when I felt burning that it was you coming out... I felt it, and I when I did I pushed harder and harder until I felt your head come out and they told me to stop pushing, on my next contraction I was to give a small push until they told me to stop, I did... next thing I knew there you were here. 10:22 am. My beautiful baby girl, 10 fingers, 10 toes and completely perfect. Jan immediately handed you to me and daddy and I both cried as we looked at you. I wish I didn't have to feel the pain, but it was amazing to feel you leave my body and to enter the world!

The rest is pretty much history, daddy cut your umbilical cord while I held you, I delivered the placenta, they gave me a couple stitches and we quickly settled in to our new roles as mommy and daddy. It was hard work, but all worth it. I got the most amazing gift I could ever dream of... you!!

On a completely different note - HAPPY EASTER!

4 months old

We celebrated Kalyn's 4 month birthday with a trip to the doctor for immunizations and her well baby check up.

Kalyn weighs 15.0 lbs

Shes 25 inches long

and has a head that measures 40.2 cm.

So to sum it up... She's perfect... at least we think so.

Anywhoo, while the doctor was checking her over I was shaking a paci over her head to entertain her while she laid there. Kalyn reached up a grabbed it from my hands and started playing with it. Passed it to her other hand, stuck it in her mouth, pulled it out, passed it back and forth again, before finally throwing it. I didn't think anything of it, she does it all the time. The doctor however was very impressed with her hand-eye coordination and the fact that she could pass it from one hand to the other. I guess I am raising a genius :)

So the appointment went well, Kalyn cried, I almost cried and we went on with our day.

In other news... I made a pot roast today. This may seem like nothing to write about to most of you, but for me, this is AMAZING news! I am not a cook, never claimed to be, and never will be. It turned out pretty tasty and Curtis was impressed, so I was happy with it.

Of course I'll end the post with a picture of my little BG-Wee-G. (I started calling her baby girl and then shortened it to BG, and then lengthened it to BG-Wee-G.)

(look how big she's getting... sitting in a little people chair all by herself!)

Until next time...