A New Generation

It was a great day today. Alycia, Rose, Karissa, and myself were finally able to get together and see each others babies : ). We all met at (great) Grandpa Schaeffer's house and it was neat. Of course every baby took their turn at being fussy, that is except for Hunter. He is such a good little boy. I wish that Navie would have been a little more sociable though. She was really tired and mostly watched what was going on. She slept the whole way home and was full of fun and energy when we got there. But what can you do, babies will be babies : ).

Left to right: Alycia w/ Hunter, Rose w/ Adrienne, Me w/ Navie, and Karissa w/ Hailey

Left to right: Hunter age 7 months, Adrienne age 5 months, Navie age 4 months, Hailey age 1 month

Today was a wonderful day for our good friends Audrey and Joseph. They were sealed in the Washington D.C. Temple this morning. We are so happy for them. Doesn't she look so beautiful?! What bride doesn't look great on their wedding day : ). Her dress was so pretty! The weather was decent for picture considering it is December. I'm just glad that it wasn't too cold. This way they were able to be outside without jackets on for their pictures : ). Congratulations Audrey and Joe! We love you.

And here is a picture of the town house that we are going to be moving into. When we finally get the keys, I will be sure to take lots of pictures of the inside too. I can't wait to get my hands on the flower beds to add a little color to it in the spring and summer : ) It will feel so nice to be out of this apartment. I'm really getting tired of caring Navie up all the stairs to get into the apartment.

Christmas

Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We had a nice Christmas morning at home. I made a very nice dinner consisting of Cornish Hens, mashed potatoes and gravy, and asparagus. Well, Cris made the gravy. He is so good at making home made gravy... yum, yum : ). I was quite proud of how well my hens turned out! It was my first time and boy were they tasty.


After that we went over to Cris' parents house for a gift exchange and desserts. It was a lot of fun. I got a very pretty dragon fly bird feeder which will look great at the new town house. Our back yard is right up against the park and there are a lot of birds there so I'm sure we will have lots of visitors to the feeder.

And for Grandma Schaeffer, here is a video of Navie playing with her play gym that she got for Christmas. She loves it, which means I love it! It keeps her entertained : )

Christmas at the Schaeffer's

Christmas came early for our family this year. Today we went up to visit my parents and go to the Schaeffer family Christmas party. We definitely made out like bandits : ). Navie of course was more interested in the fireplace channel on the TV and all the bows then what was actually in the boxes : ). Next year will be a really interesting year for sure. We won't be able to keep her away from the gifts : )

We were surprised this year with a gift card to Sears portrait studio. We were planning on getting a family portrait done this month but decided to wait a little and save up since we are going to be moving. Now we can go out and have a picture taken and not have to wait : ) Thanks Mom and Dad!

Mommy bouncing Navie, trying to keep her happy at the Schaeffer Family Christmas party. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone again. The house was packed like all the years in the past but that's what makes it fun, having everyone together mingling in the same room : ). It's sad that we don't get to see everyone more often but life takes you in all different directions : )

Navie and Adrienne together : )

After taking pictures all night, Uncle Bill needed a little down time : )

Adam and little 3 week old Hailey taking a little nap.

Over all, it was a great day. I love this time of year and spending it with family. I love you all. I couldn't ask for more at Christmas time : )

Weight Loss

I'm finally losing weight. I'm so excited! I can wear my wedding rings again. I only have 10 more pounds to lose until I'm back to what I was before I got pregnant so I have lost a total of 30 pounds : ) I don't think that I will ever have a small belly though because 1. I always had a little pouch and 2. my skin hasn't completely "shrunk" back to what it was before. That's ok though, after being stretched out I wouldn't expect it to : )



Navie is doing great! She loves to talk and now she is starting to roll over in the other direction. She still won't sleep through the night. She gets me up about 4 times a night but that is better then the 6 times she used to get me up. Hopefully solid food will help with that. She is 12 lbs now and growing : ) She has had a lot of dry, red skin on her face lately. I'm using baby oil and Aveeno Baby lotion and it seems to be helping. I have a feeling that she is just going to have dry skin (especially in winter) because i have dry skin on my face all year long and Cris gets dry patches too. I think we have it under control now. Other then that everything is going great!

The best and worst night

Last night was a new experience for us. Navie slept in her crib for the first time. She handled it really well. It was a little bitter sweet though. While I was glad that she handle the transition without any problems, I really missed having her in our room. She has been sleeping in her bassinet for the last 3 months but she is getting a little a too big for it. Her arms would always hit the sides when she moved. I think that might have also been a reason why she woke up every two hours because last night she was only up two times. It was nice to get some more sleep. I could get used to this : ).

I'm a Steamroller Baby

Today Navie had her 3 month check up. I don't know why doctor's offices have to be so cold, but I felt bad for poor little Navie. As soon as we took her clothes off she started screaming and then the doctor had cold hands. She was a pretty good trooper through the hole thing. She is now 23 1/2 inches long and weighs 11 lbs. 13oz.! I knew she was getting big but I had no idea she was that big : ) Wow, they grow up fast! The doctor said that we can start giving her solid foods at 4 months. By then she will have doubled her birth weight and her stomach will be able to digest and absorb the nutrients in rice cereal. I'm looking forward to that so hopefully if I give it to her before bed she will sleep through the night. On top of all that, Navie is starting to roll over!!!! We like to call her a little steamroller. She will lay on her back and swing her legs over to the side and then get her upper half to follow. I was so shocked because she did it all on her own when we weren't expecting it. Tummy time is getting better too. She won't do it for too long but since we do it a couple of time a day, it adds up : ) I'm just so proud of her and how much she is learning and developing.

Christmas Tree

Finally I have my Christmas tree. I love having a real tree. There is just something about it I cant quite explain. Yes I will have to keep it watered but thats not hard to do. We found it today out side a little grocery store for only $25! You can't find a Concolor Fir for that much. It is 7 feet high and that would usually go for $55! We were so excited to find it. We love the Concolor trees because the needles smell like oranges : ). It was fun tying it down to the car and trying to carry it up 3 flights of stairs to get it into the apartment : ). Its a lot bigger than it looked when it was at the store. I guess since it has been up the branches have been able the fluff out and wow is it wide!!!! I still love it though. Navie doesn't really know what to think about it. We used colored lights this year so she would have plenty of stimulation. We were going to make them blink but that was just too much. Next year will be the year for fun. We will be running all over the place try to keep Navie away from it.

Sorry the picture is blurry. My camera makes everything yellow and blurry when there is low light. You can still see how big it is though : )

Chatter Box

Everything is going really well for us right now. The waiting that Cris has done for a day route has finally paid off. He starts a new route on January 3rd! I'm so excited because now he can be home in the evenings. It will be so nice to have dinner at a normal time. Plus with winter on its way, I don't have to worry about him driving in the dark. His route should be getting done around the time it gets dark and then all he has to do is come home.
Its hard to do but I got a video of Navie talking. I'm sorry it is at a weird angle but I can't have her see the camera. As soon as she sees it, she goes quite and just stares : ) We also video taped her talking to the tv this morning : ) She was watching "Sid the Science Kid". It amazes me how much she has grown and changed over the last 2 almost 3 months. It will be really strange when she actually starts talking!

Snow!!!!!!!!!!

It's snowing!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. I know it's not even Thanksgiving but now I'm really ready for Christmas!

Little Hands

Navie is really making some new and exciting developments. She has now learned that her hands are attached! It is so cute to see her stare at them : ) Here is a little video of Navie grabbing one of her toys and yes, I love to baby talk : )

The Best Christmas Present EVER!!!!!!!!

Ok, so I figured out what my Christmas present is this year and I feel horrible! Last night I got onto Cris' email to download a picture of Navie and me at the hospital that his parents took and I saw another email confirming a studio appointment at Sears. The cat was out of the bag. Cris was so disappointed that I figured it out. It was supposed to be a surprise but I ruined it. What a surprise it would have been. He keeps saying the same line over and over again from the movie "A Christmas Story" that we were watching last night....."I'm sure the guilt you feel is more than any punishment that you could receive" and boy is he right! I feel so bad that I ruined the surprise but I love the pictures!!! He knows me so well. I love him so much. Here are a few of the pictures that he had taken. He got me a really big portrait size of the first picture in black and white. That one I won't open until Christmas : )

I know.... I know

Yes, I know its not Christmas yet but I had to put up a new Christmas background and no I did not put up the tree. This is the tree from last year. We are getting a real tree this year and using colored lights so I have to wait longer to put it up and decorate it. The more I think about Christmas the more excited I get. It doesn't help that Cris keeps telling me that he has a really good present for me this year and he won't give me any hints. He knows how much I love to guess presents and how much it drives me crazy when I can't figure them out : ) That's ok though because I have a good one for him too.
Cris has been working a lot of overtime the past few weeks. I miss having him at home but after getting the medical bills from having Navie we could really use the extra money. Cris is trying to get a day route at work and it looks like he might get one. He has to bid on the routes and it goes by seniority. Hopefully there aren't too many people bidding. It would be so nice to have him home at a decent hour instead of 9:00 pm.
Navie is doing great. She is full of smiles and loves to talk : ) Her next appointment is Dec. 4th. I think that she is at least 9 lbs. now. she is growing so fast.

Five Generations

Top: Great Grandma Young, Grandma Schaeffer, Mommy
Bottom: Great Great Grandma Gauss, baby Navie
November 2, 2008

Yesterday was a very busy for us. Of course we went to church but on top of that we had three different parties to go to.... a baby shower for our really good friend, Kamryn's birthday party, and Will's birthday party. It was a long day for little Navie (who is now 2 months old). We were so tired even with the extra hour of sleep from day light savings time. It was a good day though. The baby shower was so cute! I really wish that we could have stayed longer but Kamryn's birthday party overlapped with it. I had to make sure that we got to Kamryn's party because Navie was able to meet her Great Grandma Young and her Great Great Grandma Gauss. Its not that often that you are able to get 5 generations together. It was even more special because it was 5 generations of all women. It was nice to see everyone on my mom's side of the Family again. Most of them I haven't seen since our wedding!
Will's party was cute. He just turned 1 year old and had his first taste at cake. Sharla made him a little cake and put it in front of him on his highchair. He wasn't really sure what to do with it but he got the idea and I'm sure you can imagine the mess he made : )

Happy Anniversary

Today is our two year anniversary! I can't believe that it has been two years. Looking back it is amazing everything that we have done in that time.........church callings, new jobs, having a baby.......wow so much has changed! I would do it all over again : ) I love my family with all my heart and am eternally grateful for the temple and that we are sealed for all time and eternity. There is nothing better : )

New Video Clips

Hey everyone, here are two new video clips of Navie. I hope you like them : )


Hiccups





Sawing Logs

Happy Halloween

Today we got Navie's Halloween costume made. Tomorrow is our ward's Trunk or Treat and we are finally going to go, well at least I am. Cris has to work. We thought that he was going to be able to go because he has next week off for vacation (which is nice because it is also our 2 year anniversary next week) but they moved the ward activity to the week before. Why they chose to do it the week before Halloween I have no idea but they did. So anyways, today I went over to Grandma Chick's and she made Navie her costume. It was all Cris' idea so I have to give him all the credit. He is really creative and so Navie is going to be a FedEx package : ) She is daddy's special delivery. This is why we really wanted Cris to be able to go so he could wear his uniform and carry her around. I will have to wear a FedEx hoodie to represent daddy : ). Next year she will be a bag of groceries, hehehe!!! : )

We just put it over her head like a onsie and put her head through the neck hole. This way she can stay nice and warm out side since it is made out of fleece. It then Velcros shuts at the bottom : )

Good News at the Doc's Office

Today I had my 6 week check up. The doctor said that for the most part I'm completely healed. He said that things may still be sensitive and hurt every now and then but that should all go away after a few months. I'm aloud to start exercising too. I hope I can get the weight off. Usually I diet to lose weight but since I'm breast feeding that isn't an option. I'm no longer limited in what I can do. Run, jump, sit ups, baths, you name it I can do it : ). He even told me that I could have a v-bac next pregnancy! How cool is that!?! I asked if i could deliver vaginally since I had a vertical incision on the inside and he told me that he didn't make a vertical incision, he made another bikini cut (which is not what he told me in the hospital. When I asked at the hospital he said he made a vertical incision on my uterus). Either way I made sure to be clear and he said yes! That makes me so happy : ). Most people have another c-section after having one before just because its easier to plan around but I think that I want to try a vaginal delivery. Only time will tell. And of course I can't make a post without putting on a picture of Navie so I hope you all enjoy this one....

Big Smile

Here by popular demand......... a video of Navie smiling!!! It took a little encouraging and of course a lot of baby talk but I did get her to smile for the camera. She is still learning and her smile gets better every day. The best smile is at the end of the clip. I hope you all enjoy : )

Apple Harvest Festival

Today we went to the Apple Harvest Festival. It was so much fun. They had lots of things to do and see. They had so many craft stands! I wish that we had time to look at them all : ). I'm as stiff as can be from all the walking. I'm not used to it any more now that I stay at home : ) (I still have a lot of weight to lose. The doctor hasn't given me the ok to start excerising yet). The weather was so nice too. It was a little hot but come 6 o'clock it was pretty chilly.

Here is a charicature of our family that we had done at the festival. Doesn't it match our family perfectly!?!

This is Navie and me checking out the goat at the petting zoo. I think the goat was checking us out more then we were checking him out : )

Navie is doing so well. She has been doing really well with breast feeding. She has always eaten well but I had to use a nipple shield. Today she fed several time without it and didn't have any problems latching on. It was out of the clear blue!!! She just took to it. Hopefully she has completely grown out of it.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Yesterday Navie turned 1 month old!!! Wow is she growing up fast. Next thing you know she will be 1 year old, then 2, then getting married! : ). Well maybe not that fast but you get the idea : ). Today she had her doctor's appointment and everything is going great. She is definitely eating well because she now weighs 7 pounds 15 ounces!!! She has gained 1 lbs. 10 oz in a month!!! I can't believe how big she is getting compared to when she was born. She also grew an inch and now is 20 1/2 in. long. Her next appointment is in 2 months. I don't even want to think about how big she will be then. My little girl is growing up : ) hehehe!

Walk Around the Park

Yesterday was Navie's first trip to the park. The weather was wonderful! Fall is my favorite time of the year. I can't wait for the weather to get cooler so I can wear a sweat shirt : ) Walking around the park gave me a chance to get out and get some exercise. It probably didn't do much considering I stopped at the grocery store and bought some ice cream on the way home : ) Navie handled it pretty well. We even had time to take some pictures. She did get a little fussy but I think that she was trying to go to the bathroom : ). I really enjoy doing things with her. She is starting to react to us now. She still doesn't smile on her own yet but you can tell that she is trying. Hopefully in the next week or two she will be able to. I can't wait to have her look up at me and smile. She melts my heart already : )

Good Night

I just wanted to share a little something with everyone really quick. I think that you might like this one Uncle Sam : ) Its 5:18 am and I just got Navie back to sleep after being up for just over an hour. The trick was playing the Lullaby version of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. How cute is that!?! That with a little bit of rocking put her right back to sleep. Rocking helps but not all the time. The key was Zeppelin : ). Well, I'm going back to bed now. I just thought that was cute and wanted to share it with everyone.

Big Blessings

Today was a special day for our family; Cris blessed Navie at church. Of course as a mom I was all teary eyed during the blessing. I can't even begin to describe the joy and comfort it is knowing that our family is forever and that I have a wonderful husband who holds the priesthood. There is nothing else in this world that can compare.

We had a lot of family there and took up two full pews at church! We only stayed for sacrament meeting and then we all went back to our apartment for a small lunch. It was fun having everyone here : ). Navie looked so cute in her dress too. Grandma Chick made it for her and it was perfect! I don't think that I could have found a prettier dress in the stores anywhere if I tried. Navie is so small that the smallest size in the pattern was too big and Susie had to make her own pattern and had to sew several parts by hand because it was too small even for the machine : ).

Navie has her next doctors appointment on the 3rd. I have a felling that she is now at least 7 lbs. I stepped on the scale in the bathroom holding her after I weighed myself and there was a 7 1/2 lbs. difference. We will see how everything goes and keep everyone informed after the appointment.

Swinging Good Time!!!

Today was Navie's first time in her swing. I'm so happy that she will take to it! Her personality is so much like me when I was a baby...... she has to be held all the time! After holding her all day my back really starts to hurt and she doesn't even weigh much. This swing is saving me! When I turned it off she started fussing again so I turned it back on and she fell right to sleep : ). I still have to keep and eye on her though because she is so small, the swing picks up speed and starts to go a little fast. I hope that she continues to like it that way I can get a lot of things done around the house. Navie is getting blessed this Sunday and our apartment is a wreck (I'm still learning time management with a little one in the house, plus holding her all the time makes doing things one handed a little hard). We will have roughly 15 people in our little living room so this will be interesting : ). I can't wait though. Family is everything to us so this really means a lot that there are so many people who want to be there for us and Navie.

Num Nums

Cris just keeps blowing me away. Not only does he do great at work, is a great father, but now he is showing another side of himself...... a great cook! I always knew that he could cook but wow, was this turkey good!!! He cooked everything and made homemade gravy from the drippings and everything. Usually we just use the mix gravy because its fast and easy. It took about 3 hours to cook the 13 lbs turkey but boy was it worth it. If he keeps this up I just might make him cook more often : ).


Of course I couldn't make a post without putting on a picture of Navie. Isn't she so cute.....then again I'm a little biased : ).

Kool Chick

This has to be one of the coolest things that I have ever seen! It is a blanket that attaches to the car seat. This way in the winter Navie can stay covered and the blanket will never fall off. It has slits cut in it where the straps and buckle slip through. Then the extra fabric folds over and keeps her warm! Navie is modeling where she would go if it was in the car seat. It makes her look so small. I would go ahead and but it on the car seat but I don't exactly know how to remove and readjust the straps yet. At least this give the general idea of what it looks like. It is so cute. It has these little chicks on it wearing sun glasses and has "kool chick" written in the background. I love it and can't wait to use it for real.

By the way......... I have lost a total of 24 pounds! 20 lbs of that was from delivering Navie and the other 4 lbs. I lost on my own! Yes, I still have a lot of weight to lose but you have to start somewhere and celebrate the little achievements : ).

New Navie Pictures

I don't know how to get all the new pictures we took on the photo link that Cris has set up so for now I'll post a few of the cute ones. I'll Cris add all the pictures later and put the link on the right hand side of the blog so it will be easy to find all the time.

Snug as a bug in a rug......well at least a soft fleece blankey : )

Out like a light.......Down for the count.......whatever you want to call it she's not waking up : ).

Last night was a lot of fun. Craig, Sharla, and their two kids Heather and Will came over to see Navie for the first time. Craig is Cris' older brother for those who don't know : ). Cris' parents and little brother Corey also came over and we made it a family get together. Craig and Sharla brought ice cream and a very delicious chocolate sauce that Craig made. Boy was it good!!!!


This is Heather and Navie. Heather was so good with her. She was very gentle. Will was to busy having fun playing with the box that our new printer came in : ).

Cute Little Belly Button

Navie is growing up so fast.....today her umbilical cord fell off! We opened up her diaper and there it was, a cute little belly button. We still have to wait a little to see if she will have an inny or an outty : ).

I'm doing pretty good too. I haven't had to take any pain medication for last 3 days but today Cris was mean......he was making me laugh so hard that it hurt : ). I did take some ibuprofen today to help with that. Other than that all is going well. I have removed all the tape off my incision. Boy was that a chore! It really wasn't too bad but the idea of what I was doing made me sick to my stomach so it took longer than it should have. I have my 2 week follow up appointment on Tuesday (wow! Its been 2 weeks already) and the doctor will tell me how my incision is healing. I think its healing well but I do have pain every now and then along it and some areas are still red. I let everyone know how it goes on Tuesday : )

Navie's First Doctor's Appointment

Navie had her first doctors appointment today. It went perfectly. She has grown 1/4 of an inch and is now 19 3/4 inches long. She is nursing well because she is now back to her birth weight. She even weighs and an once more at 6 lbs. 6 oz. : ) She has another appointment in 3 weeks (the 1 month old check up). They want to make sure that she continues to gain weight the way she has.

Boy is she a sleeper!!!! She literally sleeps all day! I even have to wake her up to nurse which isn't as easy as it sounds. She sleeps like a rock : ) She is up several times in the middle of the night but it isn't too bad. I have to do most of it because I want Cris to get as much sleep as he can. Since he drives for FedEx I don't want him to be drowsy. He keeps insisting on helping but since I seem to wake up before Navie starts to cry I kinda get there first : ). My mother's intuition gets me up so Cris most of the time doesn't know : ). Cris has been such a great help. I couldn't have asked for a better husband. It was hard at first getting out of bed because of my C-Section and Cris was right there to get Navie and comfort her until I could get up. Its still hard to do things around the house but I'm getting a lot better. I can even sleep on my side now (with a pillow under my side to help support my leftover belly : ) ). I have lost 20 lbs since before Navie was born. Most of that was from the birth. I can't really do to much right to loose more weight because of my C-Section but as soon as I can I want to get the weight off. Wish me luck : )

All the Pictures you could ever eat...i mean look at!!!!!

Here you go everyone! Since it would be too difficult and time-consuming to put all the Navie pix on the blog you may go see them for yourself

HERE

enjoy and feel free to check it as we will update all new pix here.

thanks!

Navie is here!!!!

Well everyone, i'll apologize in advance if this isn't grammatically correct. I'm in a little hurry. We went in yesterday at 7:00 am for a biophysical profile sonogram. they said everything was normal, but navie had flipped into a breech position. this worried us a little bit, but not too, much thinking they were going to just have her wait a little to see if she would turn. so at 8:45 we head to mcdonalds to get brooke something to eat, when lo and behold, the doctor's office calls saying that we need to come in immediately and brooke's not to eat anything because she will have an urgent c-section. needless to say this upset us greatly. brooke was totally frightened and worried. we get to the office and they say that she wasn't dilated at all, and the cervix didn't drop and since she was breech they needed to go in right away. we get to the hospital at around 10:15, get prepped and shuffled off to the OR. Navie was born at 11:15 am. She was 6 lbs. 5 oz. 191/2 inches long. she's doing great, having a little trouble feeding, but what do you expect? she was forcefully extracted from her cozy warm house. :) she's cute as a button too, the little pumpkinhead. thank you for all your prayers and support. we very much appreciate it. more updates to follow, but for now, i have to run back to the hospital. ~~~Cris

Due Date

Well her due date has come and past and still no little Navie Bean. I hope that she will come soon. It has been a fun ride and I have enjoyed every minute of it but I'm ready to get our family life started. Plus, I really want to get rid of my rash. I can't remember if I posted how my stretch marks are itchy but now it has turned into a rash called PUPPP. (click puppp for a link) It's not harmful to mom or baby but it does drive me crazy! It's like having a gigantic bug bite that never stops itching. Any little brush or nudge makes it start to itch and don't get me started about clothes rubbing : )! It's now spread to 2/3 of my belly and has started down my thighs, hands, and feet. It should go away in 1-2 weeks after delivery. Until then I can only use creams and aloe to sooth it : ) Well, keep checking our blog for updates on how the pregnancy is going. We will let everyone know when she is born (sooner than later I hope) : )


THIS IS NOT MY BELLY but it is an example of what PUPPP looks like. My stomach looks just like this one though! It looks like stretch marks but they have little bumps all over them and it looks like chicken pox or acne on the legs. If anyone was grossed out by the picture I'm sorry. Thats why I didn't put my belly on here : )

Today is an interesting day. We went in for a Non-Stress Test and everything is fine. They hooked me up to the monitor just like they will in the hospital and gave me a button to push every time I felt Navie move. The point of the test is to make sure that her heart rate increases properly when she moves. It was neat to hear Navie's heart beat for 30 minutes straight : ). They gave us a little piece of the paper that showed her heart rate so we could add it to her baby book. That was really nice of them. The top line is her heart rate and the bottom line would measure my contractions if I was having any. After the test was over we met with the doctor for a normal exam. I still haven't dilated, which is fine, but there was a little protein in my urine so she sent me to have more blood work done. We also have to go in on Tuesday for another sonogram and doctor's appointment. They will be taking more measurements and rating her movements. I'm not really sure what exactly they are looking for or will find out by this sonogram but at least we get to see our little girl again : ). We won't get to tape it this time though because its at a different health center : (. Hopefully all will go well which I'm sure it will because the doctor didn't say there was anything to worry about. Tomorrow is my due date so we'll see what happens in the next few days. Hopefully there will be a new chick on the block : )!!!

Yippe!

I am so happy today! We had our doctor's appointment and got the results back from my test. Everything is completely normal. I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!! : ) I knew everything was fine despite what other people were saying. There is nothing to be worried about. Now everyone knows that I do know what I'm talking about : ). I still haven't dilated yet but first time women don't usually dilate until they are ready to deliver the baby. If I go to far past my due date then they would have to induce me but other than that there is no reason to do so. I'm floating on cloud nine : ). It's just a nice bit of news to start the week off with.

We had a pretty nice weekend. Cris didn't have to work overtime so we were able to go out and have some fun : ). He has been working a lot of overtime lately, which is good especially with Navie coming soon, but I do miss spending time with him. Yesterday, we went to our niece Heather's birthday party. She turned 4 on Aug. 12th but they decided to have the party later. She is growing up so fast and so is her little brother Will.

Unhappy Mommy!

Today I had my doctor's appointment. We finally got to meet the male doctor. We've been going there for 9 months and every time we are supposed to meet him he has to go to the hospital on call. Now here is what makes me unhappy... my blood pressure was up a little again this week. I asked the doctor if it could possibly be the machine that they use and he said that it does tend to read higher then your blood pressure actually is but "just in case" I have to go in for a blood test on Wednesday. I also have to collect all my urine for the next 24 hours and turn that into them when I go in for the blood work. It makes me mad because he said this is to see if I have Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. Well lets think about this for a minute.... my blood pressure is up a little and I'm pregnant..... What do you think?!?!?!?! I just think that it is so stupid that I have to go in for blood work when its not going to tell us anything that a normal doctor's visit won't. Everything this test is supposed to look for they test every time I go in for a visit. It's just unnecessary! Its not hard to collect my urine but still it makes me mad. I'm not a real fan of this doctor. At the birthing class we found out that he gives every woman an episiotomy whether they need one or not so this tells me that he's just sending me off for this test for the heck of it. But oh well, there's nothing I can do about it so I guess I'll have to do it.

On a lighter note, my Strep B test came back negative so at least that's one thing that we don't have to worry about : ). Navie is doing great. I love to hear her heart beat at every visit. It's strong and healthy which would make any parent happy : ) I can't wait to finally have her home with us.

What A Weekend

Boy was it a busy a weekend so far! Last night we attended our Newborn Prep class. We learned all about how to perform CPR on an infant. It was a lot like CPR on an adult. I thought that it would be different but it really isn't. We also learned what to do if your child is choking. I'm glad they went over that because how many times do you hear about kids choking on hot dogs and things like that. Now we know what to do and can be prepared. It was a little uncomfortable for me though because we were using our hands a lot and my hands were swelling really bad! I have never had them swell up that bad before. They were really tight and itched a lot. Even Cris was shocked at how bad they were. It took a little while but after running them under cold water in the bathroom, I was able to get the swelling to go down a little.

I learned a lot of little interesting facts too, like normal vaseline is better to use on a baby's bum instead of Desitin. You shouldn't use baby powder either. I already knew that you shouldn't use baby powder but it was nice to hear it from the professionals.

Today we had our Child Birthing class. Between the two classes, today's was definitely the best. We went over the different stages of labor and what I'll have to go through. I really enjoyed practicing the breathing and relaxation techniques. But I would have to say that my favorite part of today was when we were practicing different labor positions with breathing techniques and Cris was massaging my back! It felt so good : ). Cris is going to be such a great labor partner! I'm so lucky to have him. It is nice to know that he will be there for me during everything and really cares. There were some fathers at the class that didn't want to be there and you could tell. It was a good thing we took this class and I would recommend to any first time parent to take one like it. It was well worth it!

Stretch Marks!!!!

Oh no!!!!! I found some stretch marks on my stomach!!! I didn't know that they were because they're just below my belly button. I couldn't see them over my baby bump : ). I realized they were there when my stomach started itching like crazy. I stood on my tippy toes to see in the mirror and there they were!!!! I'm using Cocoa butter so I hope it will help a little but if not, oh well, its all apart of being pregnant : )

Yesterday my parents decided to come down from Hershey and they took me out for lunch. It was kinda nice to get out of the house and have someone to do something with. I'm enjoying being home now but some days seem to drag on when I have nothing to do. That's another reason I'm excited for Navie to be born; she will keep me busy : ).

Well tomorrow will be a fun a day. I'm excited because we have our couple's birthing class! Because of our work schedules we were never able to go to any classes. Friday we have the baby preparedness class where we will learn all about what we have to do when we get Navie home (bathing, SIDS, CPR, etc). Most of it seems to be commonsense but I thought that it would still be good to take. Then on Saturday we have the Lamaze class. I know I'm going to learn a lot and that it will be worth it.

3 weeks left!!!!!

Only 3 weeks left until my due date and everything is going great! I'm 37 weeks along in my pregnancy and both Navie and I are doing fine. Last week we were watching my blood pressure because it was a little high but with a week of good old fashioned rest we were able to get it back to normal. Navie has a strong heart beat and an even stronger kick! While I do enjoy feeling her move around and making her presence known, I am looking forward to delivery. I have gained a total of 30 pounds during this pregnancy! Even though I look small for being 9 months pregnant I feel like a blimp!!!!

9 Months and Counting!

Well everyone, we've reached 9 months. Her official due date is August 30. Of course everyone will be informed as soon as the happy moment arrives. Pictures and video clips will soon follow. We are very excited to introduce her to the world. Updates to come!!