Happy 1 month Abby! (correction)

I started my previous blog posting on Nov 3rd so it was dated Nov 3rd instead of today when I actually posted it. Abby is 1 month old today - Nov 15th.

Happy 1 month Abby!

Happy 1 month, Abby!!!

To catch up on everything...

We welcomed Abigail Jane Blackwood to the world on Wed. October 15th at 3:34am!

The birth story...

We were watching tv on Tuesday evening and I felt a funny "pop" in my stomach. Sure enough, my water had broken. Our neighbors took Katie for the night and we headed to the hospital. We got to the hospital at about 10:30pm and I was having very light contractions that were not too painful. They admitted me and the contractions eventually got more painful. After about 3-4 very painful contractions, I called for an epidural. The doctor was awesome! He gave me the epidural and I was able to feel/move my legs the whole time (the idea of feeling paralyzed freaks me out) but I felt none of the contractions. Our labor and delivery nurse was awesome too. She was great at explaining what was going on and I felt much more clued in than with Katie. The nurse left us once I got the epidural and told us to get some rest b/c it would be awhile before we'd push. Abby had different plans. Ric went to sleep for about 10 min before I woke him and asked him to get the nurse. Abby was born about 30 min later. Abby had a lot of fluid in her lungs when she came out so they took her pretty quickly to the nursery to clear it all out. She was 8 lb 3 oz and 20 3/4 in long. She spent an hour or two in the nursery and then got to come up to my room where we stayed for a day and a half.

At home...

While I thought Abby was eating well, we found out at the doctor that she was losing too much weight. Babies are supposed to lose up to 10% of their birthweight and then start gaining but Abby lost about 20%. I actually mixed up the day that I was supposed to take her to the pediatrician and took her two days earlier than our appointment. I think it was divine intervention because, from everything I've heard/read, it could have been really dangerous to her to go much longer without getting nourished. The doc recommended that we feed her often via bottles so we started feeding her every 2 hours. It was pretty exhausting. After 5 days of those feedings, we went back to the doc and she had gained a lot of weight. So, the doc told us we can slow down on her feedings which has given us much more sleep! Abby has been a very sweet baby. She only cries when she's hungry or needs a diaper change. I think she's going to have a wonderful disposition. Katie has taken to Abby very well. At first, she didn't have much to do with her but wasn't too upset by her either. However, recently she's shown more love towards Abby and wants to help burp her, feed her, etc. I think they'll be good friends as Abby gets bigger.

Updates on Abby being at home...

I started the above blog 2 weeks ago and never got it posted. Since then, Abby has started smiling! It's early for a baby to smile but if you coo at her she gets a little grin. She's so precious. She has been a little more awake the past few days which makes for a tired Mommy and Daddy. Feedings are continuing to go well and we go back to the doc on Monday so we'll see what she weighs. The poor little girl has to get her first shots too :-( Abby also had her first real bath at 3 weeks old (see pic).

Halloween...

Katie was a Texas Longhorn cheerleader for Halloween and Abby just dressed in a Halloween onesie. Abby, of course, didn't go out trick or treating. Katie was really into Halloween this year and is still talking about it weeks later. She did the funniest thing that night - she would knock on the door and then set her pail down and make a face at whoever answered the door. Then, she'd say trick or treat. She did it at every house, like she thought that was just part of the trick or treating (see pic below). Here are some pics from trick or treating and the little party we attended right before. Her friend Steven didn't want to keep his Pablo/Backyardigans costume on.

Well, that's about the best "catch up" I can do for the past month. More blogs to come...

What's new

I have not been finding time for blogging so I'll do a quick recap of our week and be better about more frequent blogging in the future...

Wed

On Wed of last week I went to the OB - no changes. However, I have been feeling a little "different" the past few days. I don't think labor is going to happen immediately but I can tell that I'm getting ready for it.

Thur

We went to Gymboree and Katie learned about houses - they washed pretend windows, cleaned up the pretend playroom, and went to sleep in pretend bunk beds. She had a really good time. They sing the same songs every week and now she knows them and sings really loud. It's very cute!

Fri

Went to Farmer's Market at Trilogy (nearby neighborhood). Ric's car didn't start so he took mine and Shelbi gave us a lift. Thanks, Shelbi, if you read this. It was very, very hot at the FM so we bought some strawberries and took off. Katie was so confused - as we walked up she kept asking where the cows were. She thought we were going to a Farm and didn't understand. Bless her heart. By the way, what a memory she has! All week, whenever I fed her those strawberries she'd always tell me they came from the Farmer's Market.

Sat

Busy morning. We went first thing to the car dealership and they replaced Ric's battery. Apparently they had given us a bad one about a month or so ago. Katie and I went on to Cracker Barrel for breakfast while Ric waited. Their pancakes rock! He met us there later and then we all went to the library. After that, Katie and Daddy went to Gymboree. Same thing as Thur - they learned about houses. Anyway, all this was before noon. Can't remember what we did the rest of the day.

Sun

Went to church. Later that afternoon the neighbors threw Shelbi and I a baby shower. It was fun - I really enjoy getting together with the ladies in the neighborhood. It was very sweet of them to throw us a shower. Getting diapers and little clothes and such really makes baby #2's arrival seem close! Ric mowed later and Katie always wants to follow him around the yard when he mows. It is adorable! Here are some pics...

Mon

Katie's buddy Grace came over to play while her mommy had a sonogram. They had fun together and shared very well. Katie went thru a little period of terrible 2's this summer but I'm really seeing a difference lately, particulary when it comes to sharing toys and stuff. I'm very proud of how well-behaved she's been lately. Oh, the one funny thing this week that isn't so appreciated is saying "Not" all the time. I guess it's her word of the week. It's funny to hear, but she is saying "Katie/I NOT go to bed", "I NOT eat dinner", "Katie NOT get dressed". I guess she picked it up from Ric or me.

Tue

Went to Bible Study. Everytime we go, Katie has so much fun and tells me so afterwards. I'm really enjoying it too - we're studying Genesis. We've gone over God creating the earth/man, Adam & Eve eating the fruit in Eden and Cain killing Abel. All those stories are so well-known, but yet I've still managed to learn something new each week. It's cool. Anyway, afterwards we went to the grocery store and had another "big girl" event. (Katie has done a lot of "big girl" things lately) The store has a play area where you can drop off your kid while you shop. I think I blogged about this before, but Katie has always been too scared to go in. She went in this time and had a great time!!! I had a great time too b/c I was able to grocery shop without having to keep her occupied the whole time. It was very peaceful.

Wed

We stayed home all day for the first time in a while. I did yardwork (don't tell my doctor) and Katie played on the slip-n-slide. Yep, it's still hot enough to do water activities. Here is a pic...

Catching Up

It looks like I'm only going to get to blog about once a week so here's what has been going on the last week with us starting with last weekend...

Friday
On Friday, Katie and I went to our neighborhood gymnasium to play with some other kids from our Mom's Club. She had a great time playing and her pull-along dog was the hit toy of the day. Katie did a GREAT job letting the other kids have turns pulling it around. I think she might be starting to get the hang of sharing toys. Katie was super-excited all day b/c she and Daddy were going to have a date at Chuck E. Cheese that night. She told everyone about it. All day she'd say - "Go to Chuh Cheese, Katie and Dadddy, no Mommy" By the time Ric got home she was so antsy to go. They had a great time together!


Saturday

We had a big day on Saturday. We went to Scottsdale to the Train Park. Katie was a little scared of the horses (carousel) so we just rode the train and played on the playground. She really enjoyed it but we forgot to bring a camera! After that we went shopping at the mall in Scottsdale. We headed home about 3pm and decided to go straight to church. Katie was exhausted by the end of all that but it was a good day.

Sunday
We hung out most of the day but had a neighborhood ice cream social at our pool that evening. Ric and I had a nice time visiting with the neighbors and Katie had fun running around in the grass with all the kids. As I looked around, I reflected on what a great neighborhood we're in - there are so many young kids and families. These are Katie's buddies Grace & Taylor. (PS: Thanks, Rachael, for the pic from your blog...I can't seem to remember my own camera)





Mon/Tue
Not much to add. Katie loves Bible Study on Tuesday mornings. Her teachers told me they want to take her home b/c they love her so much. She has to memorize a verse "I am with you always" and she's actually starting to learn it! I have to say "I am with you" and then she adds "always". I'm very proud of her! Oh, her latest thing that she's saying all the time - she'll list off something (people, food, books, etc.) and then add "And that's all". For instance, I'll say "What do you want for lunch?" and she'll say "Turkey, cheese, banana...and that's all". She's saying it all the time! She has really been chatty this week. It's so cute to hear what she comes up with.

#5

Hi everyone!

Just a few things to catch up on since my last blog...

We spent Labor Day weekend working around the house although we tried really hard to get to San Diego. From what we've heard, it's a terrible weekend to visit San Diego due to big crowds. Looks like any more trips are out until next winter/spring.

After Labor Day, our friends Chris and Mary Beth came to visit. They were nearing the end of a 55 day vacation thru Asia and the South Pacific. It was great to see them! Katie ended up getting a fever while they were here so that put a little damper on our visit but we got lots of good chatting in. They did this vacation in between a move from Paris to NYC and should be back in NYC by now.

Katie and I have spent a lot of time around the house between her fever last week for a couple of days and work being done at the house this week (repairing one of our walls). She has become really fond of tea parties so here are some pics from our tea parties...

We set up Katie's Big Girl Bed last weekend and she looks so tiny in it. She seems to be sleeping really well in it and doesn't seem scared. I'll post pics of her new Big Girl room once her room is all put together. The rest of her furniture doesn't come in for a few weeks so it looks a little hodge-podge right now.

Not much else to add. One cute thing that Katie is saying is "What are ya doin'?" She looked over at me one day last week and said "Mom, What are you doing?". Ric and I cracked up at her b/c it just sounded so grown up coming from a 2 yr old. She also has been very interested in the wall repairs this week and when the guys have walked out the door or left the room she says "Where'd everybody go?" She's very in to saying "Everybody" and "People" right now even if it's just one person. I'm not sure where she picked up on those words but she's definitely using them ALL the time.

On the baby front...5 weeks to go! Still no name. I think we're really going to try to pick one out this weekend.

#4

Long time, no blog....
It has been awhile since my last blog. I usually try to get on the computer during Katie's naps but my little munchkin has decided she doesn't want to nap for the past 2 weeks or so. She's so tired without her naps so hopefully this is temporary. Today was a little better nap-wise.

We've had a fair amount of activities and such since my last blog but rather than catch up on all that, I think I'll just try to blog more often going forward. A couple cute "Katie-isms" though...we were talking about Daddy going to Las Vegas last weekend and I said something about football (since he and his buddies were doing their Fantasy Football Draft) and Katie responded with "Go Horns". We haven't mentioned football and the Longhorns so somehow she connected the 2 all on her own. I definitely think we have a Future Longhorn! She's talking so much lately that she's got a lot of cute new sayings and words but one thing that I think is really cute is that she now says "Good Morning" to me everyday. Today she heard dogs barking as she woke up and she said "Good Morning, Doggies".

Today was eventful...we only had a trip to the Library Program planned this morning but for some reason she always gets hurt at the library. Last time we went, she fell in the gravel lot and skinned her knees. All was going well this morning - we listened to the stories, sang the songs, did the craft, and we were just about to do some puzzles and look for some books to check out when she fell and hit her head against a table leg. I was scooting her chair back to let her out and she was trying to get out at the same time and she plopped forward. She got a HUGE goose-egg on her head and a bad bruise. I was a little concerned since it looked so bad so we went on to the Urgent Care Clinic. They said they could evaluate her for a head injury if I chose to do that but kind of indicated that I just needed to ice it. It definitely looks better now, but I think she'll have the bruise there for a good week or two. It didn't seem to bother her much though. I've been watching her closely all day to be sure she's ok. I realize my last blog also ended with me having to watch Katie closely to be sure she's ok, but generally we don't have a lot of hurts or sickness around here.

We almost decided to go to San Diego this weekend but weren't able to get a good hotel deal. It would have been a lot of fun. I got excited about going so we may have to try again in the next week or two. After that, I really shouldn't be leaving town in case #2 comes early. We don't have a lot planned for the long weekend - probably some housecleaning and getting ready for our guests, Chris and Mary Beth, next week.

One last thing before I wrap up - I go in tomorrow for a sono to make sure #2 is growing properly. The doc doesn't seem to worried but they want to be sure. Results of the sono to follow....

#3 - Wed Aug 13th

Hi! Yesterday Katie and I went to Gymboree and she participated pretty well. We were still on the Firetruck theme so we once again washed the "firetruck" and also pretended to put out fires. Katie was big on spraying the waterhose (jumprope) to put out the fire. Here are some pics of her washing the "truck" and popping bubbles on the parachute at the end of Gymboree.








Today, I went to an OB appointment while Katie went over to play with a 2yr old neighbor, Piper. She seemed to have a lot of fun playing there. Even though she always behaves well at my appointments, it was nice to be able to go by myself. At the appointment, the OB nurse said everything is going well. She was a little concerned about my lack of weight gain so they may do a sonogram in the next month to make sure the baby is growing. My belly is growing and I'm measuring on schedule so I think the baby is growing just fine.

Well, I was just about to wrap up the blog when I got a phone call. While on that phone call, I heard Katie moving around upstairs. We just changed her bed back to the toddler bed and we're already having trouble getting her to stay in it. Anyway, I went upstairs and found that she had gotten into my prenatal vitamins. I called poison control and will be watching her to make sure it doesn't make her sick. Unfortunately, I usually keep the vitamins in a place she can't reach and I don't know why the cap was loose or off but she got into them. I've been a worried mommy this afternoon! I thought there was a chance that she didn't have any of them based on the amount that was left but she just said to me "I have Mommy's vitamins" so I'm pretty sure she tried one or two. She seems to be ok so far.

#2 - Monday, Aug 11th

Hope everyone had a good weekend! We didn't do all that much this weekend. We went to the pool 2x. Katie and Daddy went to Gymboree on Sat. morning. They learned about firetrucks and pretended to wash firetrucks and feed the fire dogs. Ric said she didn't participate as much as some of the other kids. I think she gets a little intimidated in large groups (there were 9 other kids there). We watched the opening ceremonies and Katie was enthralled with the "Mickey Colors" (fireworks). She's been somewhat into watching the "Lim-pics" but of course would prefer a Barney or Elmo show.

The only new things that we noticed Katie did this weekend were (1) she climbed out of her crib for the 1st time and (2) she rode the little motorcycle thing at the park all by herself. On her crib, it sits pretty low so she's never been able to climb out until now. I think it's time to try a big girl bed again. On the motorcycle, it's one of those coil things where they sit on it and rock back and forth. She's always needed help rocking until this weekend. Katie's swimming is continuing to get better and better too. With floaties on, she no longer needs to hang on to us and will go all around the pool. Once in a while she wants to be reassured we're nearby but for the most part she's pretty comfortable in the water.

We went to Tot Town this morning. A nearby church sets out a bunch of different toy stations in their gym and the kids go all over the place and play. It's really a great idea and it's free! Katie really seemed to enjoy the puzzles and the Little People toys the most. We then went grocery shopping at a store where you can check your kids into a play area while you shop. Katie has been really hesitant to go into the room even though there are all kinds of toys to play with. Today she stepped one foot in and decided not to go in, which is progress. I can't wait til she decides it would be more fun to go into the play area rather than sit in the grocery cart. Grocery shopping is one of my hardest errands to do with her. Tomorrow we head to Gymboree again. She's already been asking about it. She seems to love Gymboree.

That's about it. Ric is busy with a national sales meeting all week and work should slow down for him a little after this week. I've been really tired and I don't know if it's pregnancy or just regular tiredness. I can't complain - I feel great otherwise. Only 9 1/2 weeks to go....

#1 - Friday, Aug 8th

Hi family and friends!
It's my first time to blog so bear with me. I plan to use this blog to keep you up to date on Katie and Baby #2 and sometimes Ric and me. We don't lead a particularly exciting life so the blogs might be a little dull at times, but I thought you might want to know what goes on with us daily. I'm going to try to blog every other day or so.

Today Katie did something new that showed her blossoming independence. For the first time, she told me what she wanted to wear rather than me asking her or just picking something out. She told me she wanted to wear a sundress and then told me the one with the stars (her 4th of July dress). That one was dirty so I started to pick another dress and she said "NO" (her fave word of course) and picked out the one she wanted to wear. She has good taste - she picked out one of her cutest dresses. My girl is getting so big!

We went to the kids program at our nearest Christian bookstore this morning. Taylor, Baby Landon, and Brayden joined us there. Katie enjoyed singing Hokey Pokey, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Father Abraham. She didn't want to listen to the lady reading a story so she went off and read books on her own. After the program, we went to Rubio's for lunch with Rachael, Taylor & Baby Landon. We then hit Katie's new favorite spot on the way home...the library. She loves it there. She goes right for the puzzles and then the videos. We got about 10 new books and 3 videos so we're set for the next few weeks. After naptime, Daddy will join us at Gymboree for open playtime. Katie has been asking all week to go to Gymboree.

Well, that's about it for today. TTFN (Ta-Ta For Now)!