Belated Update!!!

It has been a while since I blogged last. We moved into our new house the weekend before Christmas and unfortunately the cable company is being difficult and have not moved our service. The lastest estimate is that we will have cable, internet,and phone any where between January 5-7. So to update this blog, we had to travel to my mom's house (I know the whole half a mile). I know Grandma Lewis has been waiting patiently (and probably impatiently as well) for new pictures of Abigail. So here they are:

I don't know why, but she likes to put her hands in front of her face when she is sleeping. Sometimes, she likes to just put at least one hand by her face. That is something she got from me. I always have a hand up near my face or head when I'm sleeping.


Abigail having supervised "tummy time" with Daddy. She doesn't always like being on her tummy, but she has to do it to build up those muscles. No lazyness allowed!!! :)

Opening presents on Christmas morning!

As you can tell, Abigail was thrilled...

But, then she gave us a little smile...

Lately, she has been choking a half hour to an hour after we finish feeding her. We were told by the doctor to prop her up either by holding her or placing her in her chair when she is finished eating. Here she is chilling in her chair (she loves that thing!):

Aren't her feet adorable?

Mommy and Abigail sleeping while watching a movie (we don't get through movies anymore without falling asleep):

Wondering why Mommy is taking yet another picture of her.

A series of pictures of her playing:



Hanging out with her cousin Elena

OOOOOOOO!

This is one of our favorite faces that Abigail makes. Alex used to make the same face when he was a baby.

Hello Grandma!!!

Need I say more? Notice how her right eye (her left one when you are looking at her) is kind of squinty. That is from her blocked tear duct. Don't worry, it is healing and not causing many problems any more.

Quite the Day!

Today has been very eventful! We began the day preparing to attend Elena's Preschool Christmas program. I needed to stop by the house to get a different shirt to wear, but since I had to feed Abigail, Jeromy ran to get one. While there he picked up the stroller for the shopping expedition we were going on after the program. When he returned, he tried to place the stroller in my van. Well, that is when trouble began...

The driver side sliding door would not latch. No matter what Jeromy did, he would not close. We sent my mom on to the program so she wouldn't be late and I went inside to be with Abigail and call the dealership. When I looked outside, Jeromy was sitting in the back of the van waving for me to come outside. I went out and discovered he was now trapped in the backseat. Somehow he had managed to shut the door and lock it, but now it wouldn't unlock. He climbed out and told me to load Abigail. So, off we headed. It is still not fixed, but we are taking it to the dealership tomorrow morning to be fixed.

We made it to the program three songs in and were able to enjoy the rest of the program. Afterwards, we headed off to lunch at Wendy's and stops at Toys R Us, Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Family Christian Bookstore. My mom was Christmas shopping and we were along for the ride. We bought pillows for our couch (I have a slipcover for it and the old pillows do not match), a down comforter, a picture frame, a cookie plate and mug. We arrived back at Kelly's around 3:50 (Alex's bus came at 3:40, but luckily she called her neighbor whose daughter is in Alex's class to get him off the bus) and then headed home.

We stopped by the new house to check progress. They were installing the carpet and the shelving inside the closets and pantry. We are supposed to be able to begin moving in on Friday. Most likely most of the moving will take place on Saturday. We then stopped to grab a pizza and then headed back to Mom's house. As you can see from this picture, it was an exhausting day:


Of course the excitement does not stop there. As Jeromy left for work, I took Abigail in to change her diaper before feeding her. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had pooed (She has not been pooing. The doctor is not concerned at this time, but her gas is horrendous!). I began changing her diaper and she began screaming. Then, as I was removing the one diaper to put the clean diaper in place she began peeing. All over her clothes and the comforter on the bed. Since I was planning on giving her a bath anyways, I preceded to strip her down and prepare to give her a bath. Here is Abigail not appreciating the fact that she is about to be bathed:


After the bath, I fed her and with a full stomach she fell asleep. This was shortly after 6:00. At around 9:00, this picture was taken:

I'm afraid I might not get much sleep tonight. Oh well. At least she is awake now.

In other Abigail news, she has been having issues with her right eye. It is having a build-up issue. One of the doctors that Jeromy works with thinks that something may be clogged. We have been putting warm compresses on it yesterday and today and it is beginning to look much better. I feel so bad for her.

More Pictures of Abigail

I know that many people are waiting to see more pictures of Abigail (I know Grandma Lewis is). Here they are:

Abigail's First Outings!!!

Yes, another first for little Abigail. On Friday night we went to Jeromy's work party. We took Abigail because he did not think he would be allowed in by the nurses if he didn't have her. Everyone thought she was adorable and a little peanut. Many people held her and took pictures of her. There are a lot of random nurses and other ER personnel with Abigail's picture on their camera.

On Sunday, Abigail had her second outing. We took her for church for the first time. She once again was cuddled and cooed over for the entire morning. Everyone thought she was adorable and we heard the ever popular "she's a peanut" once again. She looked adorable in her little outfit that was actually overwhelmingly big on her (she didn't wear the hat to church).

Cookie Craze!!!

Tonight, Mom and I made about a zillion cookie candies (aka no bake cookies). We each make two double recipes each year for Christmas. Mom decided that we should go ahead and make our cookies together. So, we did. Even Abigail helped out!

Abigail's First Bath!

Last night was Abigail's first bath (at least the first we gave her). Luckily, since we are living with my mom for the next two weeks, we had all of her knowledge to guide us. Here are some pictures from the momentous occasion (as you can tell, she didn't enjoy it very much):

Abigail has Arrived!!!

Daddy holding Abigail, moments after she was born.

On December 5, 2008 at 10:17 a.m. we welcomed Abigail Grace into the world. She weighed 6 pounds and 2 ounces and was 19 inches in length.

Here is a brief version of the story (I say brief but it may be longer than expected):

On Thursday morning I woke up at 7:00 to Jeromy getting home from work and getting ready for bed. I decided to get up and go to the bathroom. Well, within moments we decided that either I was leaking water or Abigail was sitting on my bladder. We decided since we were going to the doctor at 11:15 we would wait until then to speak to her about it. When we arrived we first had a non-stress test and an ultrasound. Both tests were fine, but I was having noticeable contractions. Then, we met with the doctor. I told her my suspicians and she ran the test and excitedly told us that she was sending us to the hospital. The test revealed that I was leaking amniotic fluid. We were SO EXCITED!!! As we entered the elevator Jeromy said that he was scared. When I asked him why, he said he was nervous for me because he had seen women in labor and "it is scary." I thought it was funny that he was mentioning this now.

So, Jeromy and I headed home to pack our bag and eat lunch. We loaded the car with our stuff and stuff for Abigail. Then, we opened the box the carseat was in and installed it in the van. We finally arrived at the hosptial around 3:00 (pretty impressive, since we didn't arrive home from the doctors until after 1:00. By 5:00, they had begun to give me Petocin (I'm not sure if that is how it is spelled) to induce labor. By 9:00, I had received my epidural.

In regards to the labor, it was not too bad. I was having back contractions so the pain was getting pretty bad before they gave me my epidural. But, I have decided epidurals are wonderful!!!! Before I received my epidural I was in a lot of pain, but after I got it the pain was gone! I even was able to sleep throughout the night (at least part of the night). I was very happy when I saw the readout for my contractions. The nurse said that they are happy when people have contractions that are over 50. My contractions were off the chart (the chart topped off at 100).

There are negative effects of having an epidural (not horrible). I couldn't move, I had nausea whenever I was laying flat, and I had a headache (of course, that could have been because I was dehydrated). I'm sure that not everyone has these complications, this is just my experience. I also could not feed myself. This was only because I had to lay on my side and could not use both hands because of this. So, Jeromy fed me jello (this was the only thing I could eat and I had to eat something because everyone could hear my stomach growling on the heart monitor).


Anyways, around 9:25 Friday morning they had me begin pushing. Almost a hour later at 10:15 a.m. Abigail finally arrived! I have to say that she is adorable!!!!

There is probably more I can share, but I'm tired and we have visitors so I have to go!

The House is Actually Progressing

After weeks of very little progress, today we went over to discover a lot had been accomplished. Yesterday, Mom and I had stopped by and found that the painters were there. So, we talked to them about the weird orange color in the great room. Orange is my favorite color, but trust me, I did not pick it out. They asked if we could bring over the paint sample today, so I sent Jeromy over. He said there were so many trucks and vans when he arrived that his truck was almost hanging out in the street. He said the painters, electrician, and plumber were all there. He talked to the painters. They said they would fix the paint. He informed the electrician about the plug we want added to the hallway. Then, he talked to the plumber. He had him switch how he had installed the shower heads in the master shower, asked about hooking the refrigerator in the garage to water, and discovered that he needed to locate the pedestal sink (which Jeromy did. It is now waiting to be installed in the half bath tomorrow). There should be a lot done tomorrow! I can't wait to stop by!

Here are some pictures I took today:

My shower head (Jeromy said the plumber commented on how much he liked it):

Jeromy's shower head. He calls it his rain cloud. Honestly, this picture does not do it justice.

I'm sure you can tell this is a toilet. I was just excited to see a piece of actual plumbing. I teased Jeromy that I would label this as "Jeromy's throne."

In the kitchen we discovered that they had installed the kitchen sink and it looks like the dishwasher is going to be installed first thing tomorrow.


In the laundry room we discovered that they had installed the utility sink.

Finally, in the upstairs bathroom, we discovered that fixtures had been put in as well.


In one final picture, Jeromy decided to take a picture of how Abigail was progressing.