A Few Firsts

This weekend brought a few 'firsts' for Miss Lydia!

With Saturday being the warmest day of the weekend, we decided to head over to Stony Creek Farm and pick out our Christmas tree for the year. Now, usually we would take a hayride to the field full of trees, spend a good 45 minutes wondering around picking out the perfect tree, cut the thing down ourselves, haul it back to the wagon, have someone tie it to the car, and head back home. That was not the case this year. I was not about to haul an infant into a wagon full of hay in the snow. David was a little dissapointed that we were skipping out on the whole experience, but understood.

We picked out a pre-cut tree and high-tailed it inside the cute little store while they processed it. They armed us with 1 small rope and we attempted to secure the tree onto the car and we started to head home. Without going into details....It was a disaster. We had to stop on the way and pick up more rope to make it home. Let's not forget we also had a hungry baby in the car. Not. Fun. But a great memory for Lydia's first Christmas tree experience. :)

Lydia also had solid food for the first time this weekend! It was pretty hilarious to watch her. She was super hungry at the time, so it probably wasn't the best time to feed her solids, but she did seem to like it! She had brown rice cereal and a lttle bit of avacado.

Lydia at 2 weeks

Happy Birthday Lydia!

We welcomed Lydia Harper today at 11:46 a.m.!!

She weighs 6 lbs 2 oz and is 19 inches long!

She's absolutely perfect and we couldn't be any happier or more in love!

38 Week Update

We are officially counting down the days until we get to meet this little one and find out if we have a Lydia or a Caleb! 7 days! As of today, the baby is still in the same breech position. We won't be expecting any changes in that respect by the 28th and will be hoping for the best possible outcomes with this c-section! Marissa is still feeling well and measuring on target.
We are pretty sure we have everything ready to go. We meet with the pediatrician this week and have everything set up at home to accommodate this little one's every possible need. Marissa's mom came up last weekend and helped out with picking up all of the last minute baby stuff. The car seat has been installed and we just need to get it inspected. The stroller came in last week and Marissa is loving it! We even added a new piece of artwork to the nursery (see above)! This piece was created by Justin Vining, an old college/climbing friend of Marissa's. He's a great artist and if you get a chance you should check out his work at www.justinvining.com.
The only this left for us to do is pack our bags for the hospital. We do have the baby's bag packed. At least one of us is ready to go...
We are trying to get in some last minute dinners out, movies, and ice cream runs over the next few days as we have realized that things will be changing very soon! David's been able to get in a few MLB games over the last few weeks, which he has enjoyed. Summer Advantage ends Friday for us! We are looking forward to relaxing and getting outside (more David than Marissa) for a few days in between Friday and Wednesday.
Our next update will probably be after the baby comes!

36 weeks

We've made it to 36 weeks and it's looking like we only have 3 weeks to go. Our doctor has decided that this baby has a very bony tush as she has been mistaking it for the head for the last few visits. Needless to say, this baby is not head down like we thought and is in a 'frank breech' position (which basically means that his/her head is up and the legs are in a pike position). At this point we have 3 options: 1) hope the baby turns 2) schedule a c-section during week 39 or 3) try an external version (where they try to turn the baby by pushing on the stomach).
We're hoping the baby turns, but if not we're opting for the c-section. The external version deal sounds a little risky with the fact that the placenta isn't in an optimal position, the amniotic fluid is low (not too low, just not great for this kind of procedure), the success rate in general is only 50%, and if something goes wrong then we have to have an emergency c-section at 37 weeks. Sounds promising, huh?!
Marissa is not very happy about this (to put it mildly), however, the baby is healthy and that's the ultimate goal here! We go back to the Dr. next Thursday and hopefully will know more at that point. Until then, let's hope this baby navigates his/her way to a better position.

On a positive note, we did get an unexpected ultrasound out of this AND learned that the baby is about 5 lbs 10 oz! :)

Nursery

The baby's furniture arrived today! We've been working on getting the crib bedding on, the drawers filled, and some decor on the walls. It's all starting to come together!

32 weeks

Big week this week! Not only is the belly getting bigger but this week brings with it some big changes in our house! David's track season officially ended this week with an awards night/pitch-in yesterday. He really enjoyed coaching this year and is already looking forward to next year! Yesterday we spent some time cleaning out the garage. It looks so much better! We even managed to make more room for the cars so that things aren't so tight! Thursday the nursery will be transformed into something that actually looks like a nursery as the furniture will arrive and be assembled that day. We can't wait! Marissa is really excited to get everything organized and decorated! We'll post pictures as soon as we can.
We spent the day today in Angola, Indiana touring the school we will be working at and securing housing for the 5 1/2 weeks we will be there. It looks like we will be residing in a hotel. The amenities are great. They have a pool, fitness center and breakfast every morning. The only drawback is the lack of a kitchen. They are putting a microwave and fridge in the room though. We'll have to be creative with dinner!
We go to the Dr. tomorrow morning. Things are going really well with the pregnancy and tomorrow's appointment should prove to be pretty routine and uneventful. The baby moves a lot! Marissa has been getting kicked in the ribs more often and has noticed that the baby has been pressing against her diaphragm causing shortness of breath every now and then. According to the weekly updates we get the baby should be around 3 to 3.5 pounds and between 17 and 19 inches long.

30 Weeks!

We've hit 30 weeks! Only 10 more to go....as David would say 'we're in the final quarter!' We're still in the process of picking out names. We've narrowed it down, but final decisions still haven't been made. We're waiting on the furniture to be delivered, which should be here in the next 3-5 weeks. Marissa spent some time today updating registries so that there is more to choose from at Babies R Us. Apparently our registries didn't provide enough choices. What can we say, we're new at this! Marissa passed the 3 hour glucose test with flying colors! She is seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. So far everything is looking good! We're really looking forward to the arrival of this little one, but hoping it doesn't happen anytime before July 24 as we've been placed 2 hours north for our 'summer jobs' for 6 weeks. David worked for this program last year and we've both jumped on board this summer. We're excited for the opportunity and think it'll be a very adventurous summer! No worries though, we've got emergency baby plans in place 'just in case'!

We forgot to take the 28 week picture, but the good news is -- we're now taking pics every 2 weeks!

Paint and Curtains!

Before

After

NEW CURTAINS!

The nursery has been painted a light blue color (It's hard to see in the pictures) and the curtains have been hung! We can't wait to get the furniture in so that we can really start putting this room together. A BIG Thank you goes out to Marissa's parents for all of the labor involved in this project! We are so grateful to have such a wonderful family.

New belly pictures will be posted soon as we come up on week 28. As an update on how the pregnancy is going, we can sum it up in one word -- great! We will start to see the Dr. every 2 weeks starting this week. Marissa is feeling well and has only experienced minor discomfort with heartburn. It's starting to get a little more difficult to get up from laying down. The belly is definitely feeling heavier! She did, unfortunately fail the glucose screen and has to go back for another (and longer) test to make sure she doesn't have gestational diabetes. We are pretty positive we will get a passing grade on this next test!

Our school years are quickly coming to an end and we are looking forward to a rather interesting summer! More on our summer adventures to come soon! :)

Furniture Fun...

We've ordered the baby's furniture!

While very exciting, this event was not without a little bit of drama. On our way home from Bloomington yesterday we met Marissa's parents in Greenwood to make the final purchase. We meet with the sales associate and she assists us in placing the order. Now, keep in mind we've previously been into the store and had picked out the furniture, gotten all of the pricing, and had even gotten an estimate on the time frame for delivery (8-12 weeks). After this nice lady spends a decent amount of time to find all 3 of the products on a not-so user friendly ordering system and places the order she lets us know that the estimated delivery dates are 14-16 weeks from now (the baby will be here in about 15 weeks)! Due to a long weekend, we really just wanted to get the stuff ordered and get home. We blew off the time frame thinking "Oh, the baby won't be in the bedroom at first anyway."
What were we thinking?!?! Needless to say, a few hours later the anxiety sets in. I (Marissa) go into a slight panic about not having the nursery done in time. We read the fine print and find out we have 3 days to cancel the order. A little relief sets in and we plan on calling or going back down to Greenwood to sort things out and order a different brand that can be delivered sooner.
SO...I call as soon as my lunch break begins today...little did I know this would be the 1st of many conversations! The same sales lady assures me that I can easily cancel and pick out different furniture. We go over a few different options and then she decides to call the manufacturer and get a direct quote on the time frame for the original furniture order just in case. I wait for her to call back. She was very quick and I soon find out that the time frame is actually 8-10 weeks! YES!! I was ecstatic and told her to just keep the order in place and we will hope they stick to their word. You'd think that would be the end of it...but no.
I went about my day feeling very relieved. Then my phone rings again and it's the store. She informs me that she heard back from the manufacturer and they realized that she placed the order for the hutch, but no dresser (I wanted the dresser, no hutch). The cost of the hutch is significantly less than the dresser and she needed to let me know that we would need to make an adjustment in the sales price. I mull this info over and decide that I was not about to call my parents and tell them that the extremely large purchase they made yesterday was going to increase in price. I told the lady to cancel the order and I would be down tomorrow to pick out new furniture. She feels bad. I'm bummed.
But we're not done yet, because after school I check my voice mail and she had called yet again. She informs me that since it was their mistake that they wouldn't make any price adjustments and would change the order to the dresser instead of the hutch! I call her back. We have a lovely conversation and I thank her profusely for all of her assistance. She's still apologizing for all of the drama and headaches. I hope I was able to convey to her my utter relief and excitement that this furniture saga had finally come to an end! We have the furniture we want, when we want it to arrive, and it's even coming at an unexpected discounted price. Who could be upset about that?!?! :)

We ordered the crib, the double dresser, and a nightstand (not shown)

24 weeks

24 week belly!
(still unclear as to why this belly looks smaller than the 20 week belly)

A Bigger Belly!

20 week belly picture

We are approaching week 22! We're so excited to be past the half way point! We don't have too much news at this point. Marissa is feeling the baby move a lot more now. David was even able to feel the baby move for the first time the other day! We are looking at baby gear and picking out items for the registry. Marissa has become a huge fan of kid's consignment sales that have been put on by different groups in the area. She's scored a bunch of "new" baby stuff and spent very little! There's nothing like a good deal!

We are looking forward to a much needed vacation in Florida this week! We can't wait to spend time with some of our favorite people and introduce our skin to the sun again! Let's just hope no one gets burnt this year.

18 week Update -- Almost 1/2 way there!

We are at 18 weeks and everything is going well! I'm starting to feel the baby move which is...different. :) Today we went in for the "big" ultrasound and it was amazing! The baby is 7oz. and the heart rate was at 143 bpm. We were able to see all of the baby's parts--except the parts that tell the gender (we're saving that for August. We were able to see the 4 chambers of the heart, kidneys, spine, arms, legs, etc. I could have stayed on that table all day watching our baby on the screen.

Here are a few pictures (including the 16 week belly picture):

Week 14

OK, to start this blog off I wanted to share something that I have been laughing about for a few days. It's not even remotely close to being PC, but out of the mouth of a 6 year old I guess it doesn't have to be. I didn't get the privilege of witnessing this myself, but my co-worker filled me in....So, one of the darling children in my class came upstairs after indoor recess (which is dreadful, in case you were wondering) -- all hot and sweaty from running around like a maniac and says quietly and very nonchalant, "I wish this was a trailer park so I could take my shirt off." What do you say to that?!?! I'm just glad I didn't have to respond to that one, because I don't think I could have without laughing. I need to start writing this stuff down, because comments like these happen quite often in my little world.


Now a little update on the pregnancy....


We are at 14 weeks and our next appointment is on the 10th! I'm excited to get in and hear the heartbeat. I'll also be meeting a new Dr. that will be seeing me for the next 2 appointments while mine is out on maternity leave. Cross your fingers that she decides to come back, because I really really like her.


My appetite is even better than it was 2 weeks ago and David will say that I'm eating like a human now. The cravings are starting to pick up a bit and I have to say that on 2 consecutive days last week I stopped at Qdoba and picked up tacos.....and they were SO good! I am now attempting to maintain a more healthy diet, key word being attempting.


Last week took me down to Greenwood to meet up with my lovely mother and fabulous mother-in-law for a nice lunch and some shopping. After this trip I had to rearrange my closet to create a new section for all of the maternity clothes. Most of these clothes will be hanging around in there for a while, but when the time comes I will be well dressed. I'm very grateful to have such amazing support from my family...they are the best!


We had our new TV installed last week and it is awesome!! We are looking forward to watching the Super Bowl on it next Sunday!

We're Expecting!

Due August 3rd 2010!

We're excited to share this with our friends and family. Check back often for updates and photos!

We really enjoyed breaking our news over Christmas with our families. Every one's reaction to the news was priceless and we were able to get some on camera. We hope these don't embarrass any of you!
We are currently 12 weeks along and everything is going well! We are happy to see that first trimester coming to an end. Marissa has experienced some nausea (mostly in the evenings) and fatigue, but that seems to be coming to an end. We are finally starting to eat dinner together again now that Marissa is feeling better in the evenings. Her eating habits have been rather bizarre. Let's just say that dinner the other night consisted of coleslaw and a Totinos pizza because they 'sounded good' while she was shopping. David gets A- for making this first trimester a pleasant one for all of us. He only gets an A- because he decided that fish was a great idea for dinner the other night....that was not a great idea!

The baby has a strong heartbeat and the doctor says everything looks good! We had the chance to see the little bean at 10 weeks on an ultrasound. It was really neat seeing the baby move around, hear and see the heartbeat, and just know that everything was progressing as it should. We can't wait until we can see how much the baby has grown at our next ultrasound around 18 weeks!

We seem to be making no progress what-so-ever on names for this baby. Our list changes daily and every time we take one off the list we find another one to add to it. Hopefully by August we will have it narrowed down a little bit more! We have been making progress on the nursery decor though! We've picked out the colors and several other components. This baby may not have a name, but at least the nursery will be cute!!

Here are the latest belly pics (not that there is much to show outside of a little chubbiness). The first was taken at 8 weeks and the 2nd at 12 weeks. Hoping for more of a belly next time we attempt to document some growth! :)