Kylie Rose is here!

Well...at 8:25 this AM (July 17th), Kylie Rose joined our family. She is 7lbs, 5oz...and 20 1/4 in long. 10 fingers, 10 toes...all looks good. Kylie is now at nursery getting all cleaned up, while mom is in the recovery room. All went well and both Julie & Kylie are doing well. Here's the first few shots...obviously, better ones (when she's not all purple & stuff) will come later. :)

The countdown

Well being that we are only three days away, I think we are on the final countdown. Tomorrow we have the final doctor's appointment and pre-op appointment with the hospital. We will find out if I have made any progress- there were not too many signs last week, though I understand that can all change quickly. Sleeping is not going all that well, so I am getting tired as the week goes on. Last week I managed to lock my keys in the car and thought I had accidentally thrown away my credit card away (only to be found a couple days later by Steve, after I called it in as lost)- all signs I am tired. The sad part is that with a c-section I know the discomfort will not be going away for a while, and the lack of sleep won't be either for at least the next month. But my mom is coming to stay for a while, so maybe there will be a little relief on that.

I think I have decided that with your second one you worry a lot more about all the things that could go wrong. I am not sure if you are just so much more excited the first time around or just naive. I just don't remember being this nervous the last time around. On the other hand I should be more comforted because I should know a little bit what to expect. I remember asking myself a lot the first time, if what I was feeling/experiencing was "normal". Somehow this is not comforting.

Unfortunately Jace's molars have decided to show up, so the drooling and runny nose have been around for the last week. Not the best timing, but if we give him a little Tylenol through the day he is not too grumpy, though we have reverted back to having to watch him at all times since everything goes into his mouth to chew on.

Well this is my last post for a while. Steve plans on posting pictures pretty quickly after Kylie is born, so keep an eye out. The c-section is scheduled to start at 7AM Friday, and I know if everything goes well he plans on coming home to upload some pics that evening (Steve's mom will be here to stay with Jace).

Happy 4th

Well, just like every other weekend lately we tried to minimize activity. Friday I ran some errands and after I got home decided that was the last of that- I am getting just too tired, too fast. The 17th is not that far away and even though I am mentally probably not ready, I am physically getting there. Steve reminded me today, this will be my last full week of work for a while- it sounds great but then I remember I won't be sleeping normally for the next month, at least.

To recap quickly the weekend before, the bulk of it was attending to Jace's first case of stomach flu. Luckily it only lasted 24 hours, but we still washed sheets three times, and we had to purchase our first Pedialyte. What an experience. I think Steve caught it during the week and stayed home a day, while I luckily did not get it. So not much fun for us.

So for this weekend, Saturday we went to dinner club (well brunch in this case) at some friends house. We had plans to go to a parade that morning, but I voted it down the night before since we both had a late night working on miscellaneous tasks and the idea of getting up early AND having to pack everything up and then bear the heat did not sound appealing (sorry Jace). We had some good food, companionship and then to top it off they have a great pool. We had to leave around Jace's nap time, and he did fall asleep on the car drive home, but only after repeating "bye-bye sophie" 20 times (his little girlfriend).

That night we just grilled at home, and had plans to make homemade ice cream. But alas I forgot to put the bucket in the freezer, and when Jace kept saying "cupcake" (man the things they learn at school), I decided to make some. As is evident by the picture I think he liked them. We had the ice cream tonight, but still heard about the cupcakes all day, at every meal. Jace was well asleep by the time fireworks really picked up (930), and I was shocked he slept through it all especially since some people across the street did their fair share, even though it is illegal in our area. So while we did not have to worry about Jace, Kayla was a whole other story. She is 85lbs of shaking dog when it comes to fireworks. Even when we went to bed around 11 she still would not settle down, so Steve slept on the floor with her in the living room until she calmed down, so one of us could at least sleep. Ellie could have cared less.

Steve was shocked this weekend because as he flipped to The Matrix on TV I did not know what it was. I just never had any desire to see it. So that is what we watched Saturday night. I have to say it was pretty good, good enough to keep my attention (the 2 hour nap that day helped as well), but I still say it is a guy flick.

Happy Father's Day

Well, again not much again going on around here. Saturday I ran errands for several hours. This is normally exhausting, but have I mentioned how hot it is? A lot of the counties are banning the sale of fireworks because we have some pretty bad drought conditions going on. Well regardless of the heat it had to be done, well two major things anyways.

Jace loves to sit in his chair in his room and read. Well, we really did not want to buy another glider for the baby room (what do you do with one glider, let alone two later on), so we wanted to move it back downstairs when the baby was born. But then what would we do for Jace. So we searched and amazingly even at Walmart we would pay a couple hundred for a chair, so when we found a smaller recliner at Lazy-Boy we thought that would work, and because of a sale it was not that much more. Well nothing is ever easy. When I went back to the store to buy it, I wanted the unprotected one because they wanted to charge $70 for the protectant and I thought Scotchguard would suffice. Oh and then they did not even have that model in all of Houston even treated, except for the floor model which had a tear in it. So not only was I looking at having to pay more for the treatment but also a more expensive model. Luckily the salesman had quoted and wrote down prices two weeks before, so I was at least able to convince them to not charge me for the more expensive model. Jace likes his new chair. Item one done.

The second item was booking a place for Jace's birthday. Last year we had it at the house- mostly adults, but some kids who had to be entertained inside because a birthday in August does not work well with being outside unless you have a pool, and we don't. So after last year I decided we were going somewhere. Jace does not turn 2 until August 18th, but considering if I did not do this now I would be trying to do it with a newborn, I decided now was better than later. So we debated a jump place (Jace still seems scared of them), Chik-Fil-A (no party room) or a paint place (will he get it?)- I was trying to keep it in Pearland. We had gone to a friend's birthday party last year at a Gymboree and Jace loved it and it was before he could walk, so I was pleasantly surprised they had one only about 15 miles away in Missouri City. So I walked in, told them when I wanted it, paid my deposit and was done. Gotta love it.

The most important part of the weekend was Father's Day. Steve is pretty low key on his wants (well most of the time- don't get me started about his car obsession), so we kept it easy. He wanted catfish so we went to Sudie's for lunch, and his gift consisted of various Mississippi State garb, including some stuff for the kids. I was going to go big and get him a new grill since he seems to dislike the one he has now, but he decided to stick it out one more year. And then in the afternoon we went to the pool. Jace probably goes between the big pool and the splash pad 10 times in an hour but he likes it a lot.

Not nearly enough thanks to someone who does so much and is so good to his son- we love you Steve! (even Kayla- she forgot to sign the card).

Signs of Summer

Well this will be a pretty boring post (warning) as our weekend was pretty slow. But with me in the 8th month of pregnancy and the feel-like temperature above 100F, there was not too much I felt like doing.

I went to a friend's shower on Saturday- I know at least eight people who are having babies in July or August. The news keeps talking about the Hurricane Ike baby boom- I think they are right. I went to get a pedicure last weekend and met a girl who was scheduled for delivery on Friday and they called her Thursday and asked she wait until Monday to come in because they were full. I am hoping it tapers off soon- I am not very excited about maybe having to share a room with someone (private rooms are first come, first serve).

This weekend we did two things that definitely point to the fact that it is summer. This morning we finally made it over to the neighborhood pool. Jace was unsure of the fountains and big pool at first but was mad at the end to be leaving. And then tonight as a special treat we had ice-pops. I thought it might be less messy than a regular Popsicle, which it was, but he did not like holding the cold packet. So Steve ended up feeding it to him- he really liked it.

We were bad about pics this weekend- we will get some posted next weekend.

Grandparents Galore

Well, by the time this weekend was over we had two different grandparents come through so it was one crazy weekend. Steve's mom came in Friday and they all headed to Discovery Green Park and then the Children's Museum. Jace is getting to the age where he is really starting to enjoy things like that, especially the water games. Friday night we had a night out with some friends while Grandma gladly babysat. Then Saturday morning we went shopping at Babies R'Us. We got most of the essentials bought for baby#2. It has not been that long, but you forget how expensive bottles are- I even internet shopped hoping to find a better deal, but no luck.

Sunday afternoon Steve's mom headed back to Mississippi and my dad flew in. Sadly it was not a happy occasion as we had a dear family friend pass away, Christine Guebard. She was only a couple years older than me, and it was very unexpected. She was a great chef, and a wonderful person. Dad had flown in to Houston to drive with me, since a 3 hour car trip to San Antonio by myself is not a good idea considering how far a long I am. Plus we got lots of talking in- I am not sure my dad and I talk 6 hours in a year (well maybe) let a lone a day. Their whole family has always done so much for us, even taking us all in after Hurricane Ike (even the dogs)- we will miss her.

Jace loved having the grandparents here. It was funny to watch because they shared a bathroom with him now that he is upstairs, so in the mornings when he saw a light go on he would get out of the bed and peer under the door looking for someone (advantage of a video cam- we could see it). My dad said one morning he heard this little voice saying "hi" from under the door. So he decided to peek in and be a good grandad and change his wet diaper. It did not occur to him that there could be something more in there, so luckily I happened to come in the room when he discovered it was more than wet, and did not have a wipe within arms length. Otherwise Jace would have been carried around the room by his feet while dad found the wipes. Even the dogs loved having company- someone more for Kayla to lick- she ran to the stairs this morning looking for someone.

Summer Fun

Well, summer it definitely upon us to the point where we dread going outside because it is just so hot!! But Jace loves it so we have been trying to find ways to make it a little more enjoyable. Starting last weekend the blow-up pool made it's first appearance. It is big enough for dad to sit in with him (while sipping a Corona), so it it not too hard to talk either of them into it. Jace probably spends more time out of it than in, but he loves it nonetheless.

I have been missing in blog land lately because 99% of my free time has been going towards getting Kylie's room put together. Our hand was forced because the furniture was ready for delivery and I really wanted to have the room painted before it got here. Last weekend I helped Steve cut-in and tape for painting her room. It was the first time Steve had ever painted anything, except for charity reasons where taping and cutting-in did not happen. I had to reassure him twenty times during the cutting-in that that step took the longest- though he was definitely skeptical and it was wearing on what little patience he had. He was much happier with the roller. The color is Honeydew- a light green. Then this weekend was details- putting together some craft projects and painting a name mural above he crib. It was a long weekend but it is done, and we are happy. Next weekend Steve's mom is going to be here, so she can watch Jace and we can go get all those things you still need for baby#2 like another mattress, changing pad, etc. So we are getting close.....