Survey

Alright, Mom said she couldn't do it without pictures of the old backgrounds. Here ya go. But it means that once again, votes are at zero and everyone must vote again. Leave your name as a comment on this post after you vote so I know who has already voted.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Bathroom Update

Two contractors FINALLY came today and tore out the rest of the tile. They cut out the moldy bottom part of the drywall and replaced it. Then they put new tile up. And its white, not pink. We don't have a towel bar/shelf or soap dish now though. But it looks much better now. And the last photo shows the bathroom after we re-inhabited it.

Surveys, surveys, surveys

Three things that I'm loving lately:
Contractors tearing out my shower
The pool
brownie batter

Three things that are just down right crazy:
The heat
Kylie's blowout yesterday
The cost of gas! Its insane! Maybe they should make "forever gas" that we could prepay today!

Three things that I'm working on right now:
This list
An "I wanna" list
Framing a new print I got

Three things I love to hear:
The sound of pink, moldy tiles leaving my house FOREVER
Lilly making one sole squeak as she tries to laugh
Silence during naptime

COUNTDOWN
TWELVE things that I purchased this week:
Capris for me
Bermudas for me
Sippy Cup for Lillian
Water bottle for Richard
Twizzlers for Richard
Brown skirt for me
Supplies for banana bread
ARMY WIVES SEASON 1 DVD
Richard's Father's Day present
A book on Windows Vista for Richard
Mary Tyler Moore Season 1 for Gma Shipp who's having surgery tomorrow
A steering wheel cover so I don't burn my paws any more

ELEVEN things that I'm loving these days:
NEW TILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (I'm just a little excited, can ya tell)
Talking to Grandma Shipp on the phone yesterday
The pool!!
Helping a friend out by bringing dessert to bible study
That I'm going home next week!!
TiVo
Army Wives season 2
Begining of Design Star again
Facebook
Lillian
That Kylie is a good baby

TEN things that annoy me:
Moldy tile
Blowout diapers
That we don't have our replacement double stroller yet
That its 105 here and its only the begining of June
The elephants that live upstairs
Blankets that shed fuzz balls in the washer
Making bottles
That I can only take one suitcase home
That I haven't talked to Heather in FOREVER

NINE words that would describe me:

1. Concerned ~ Gma Shipp has hip replacement surgery tomorrow
   
2. Annoyed ~ I WANT MY NEW STROLLER so we can go for walks.
   
3. Pleased ~ The girls are such good babies
   
4. Grateful ~ i've finally made good friends here.
   
5. Overwhelmed ~ I really need to get crackin again on Lilly's week by week memory book
6. Sad ~ R isn't coming home to MI with us
   
7. Full ~ the strawberry cheesecake muffin was amazing
   
8. Excited ~ two days in a row at the pool!
   
9. Entertained ~ Army Wives is back on
   

EIGHT great old movies to rewatch about this summer:
Big
You've Got Mail
Follow that Bird
Cinderella- Rogers & Hammerstein
Gerbert or McGee & Me
Aladdin
The Rocketeer
Twister

SEVEN things that I've accomplished:
Folding 4 loads of laundry
Starting my "I wanna" journal
Losing 45+ pounds
Finding a great swimsuit
Watching two babies and even doing errands
Playing R's game with him
Walking 150+ miles
Getting Lil to sleep while they're taking down tile

SIX quick tips to simplify life:
1. When you're putting leftovers in the fridge, write what it is with a dry erase marker, then it comes right off when the dish gets washed.
2. Keep a sharpee and scissors in the kitchen.
3. Twice a year (or once a month if you're OCD like me) go through the entire house making three piles: trash, craigslist/ebay/consignment, goodwill. You will be amazed at how much you gather.
4. Put foil in the pan before you use it so you don't have to wash the pan.
5. Peel potatoes, shred cheese, etc on waxed paper then just pick up the paper and throw it away so you don't have to wash the countertop.
6. When clothes come out of the dryer, dump them on your bed, so you have to fold and put them away before you go to bed.

FIVE absolutely wonderful quotes worth remembering:
Life's not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon or tasted as good as brownies.
Childhood is that wonderful time of life when all you need to do to lose weight is take a bath.
How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on.
When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.

FOUR things I said yesterday more than once:
It's hot.
When will my shower be fixed?!?
I got Army Wives Season 1 on DVD.
She's awake.

THREE things that made me laugh this week:
Lilly talking
The little girl at the pool, "she's pukin"
Lilly laying on my stomach and puking all over my shirt, cheast, neck, face, hair and carpet...yet not a single drop on her

TWO Books on my want list right now:
The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky
Change of Heart by Jodi Piccoult

ONE thing R's completely embarrassed about:
Falling through the step at a Friends' and breaking it

Monday

Yesterday, when Kylie left, Lil and I headed straight for the pool. (Since it was a mere 105 here yesterday.) We spent two hours down there and had such a good time. When we first got down there we were the only ones there and it was WONDERFUL. We just sat on the edge and talked to the Lifeguard. She is Sweedish or something and I imagine her name is Helga, although I'm sure its not. But that's what I like to call her in my head. Its funny when the pool is full and she blows her whistle and yells at some kid, she has to yell it three or four times for anyone to figure out what she's saying.

We played in the kiddie pool, then I read a book for awhile while Miss Lil took a nap, then we got back in again. This time, in the kiddie pool, we met a 3 or 4 year old girl and she was so cute. She loved to hold Lillian's hand and dance with her. She was talking to Lilly and Lilly was cracking up. She was so funny, she kept saying "she's pukin". I tried to tell her that's all she does all day, but she continued to keep sayin "she's pukin". It was too funny.

I just got an email from Lindsey at work that she has four tickets to the Saturday night Tides (baseball) game and asked if we wanted to go. Of course! So the six of us (Brandon, Lindsey, us, and the girls) will be going there Saturday night. The forecast is calling for 95% and 30% chance of thunderstorms though, so hopefully that changes before then.

Sunday I have a day planned for Richard's first Father's Day. Its all surprises to him, so he can't wait to find out what we're doing. He knows part of it involves lunch out at a restaurant, but doesn't know which one.

This morning, after I was woken by Brandon's knock on the door to drop Kylie off and I went back to bed (she was sleeping and so was Lil), THEN we got another knock at our door. Guess who?!?? Two contractors, not maintenance men, but real contractors, here to fix our shower, not just fix it, but rip it all out, tiles, mold, drywall, and even plumbing and re-do it all. I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!! They are in the middle of it now but said they would be here most of the day. I was hoping to go to the pool again today so I'm hoping they're gone by 3, but if not, its worth it to skip a day at the pool for a NEW SHOWER!!!! I made them muffins and gave them pop cuz I was so thrilled to see them.

Lillian telling you about her weekend

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday morning we went shopping and got some clothes for me for Michigan. I actually have clothes that fit now! Unfortunately, its still not the closet full of clothes I already own, but we're getting closer...SLOWLY. We had lunch at Applebee's and finally used the gift card mom and dad gave us for Christmas. Then we went home and just hung out, played a game and watched some TV. Saturday night, Lena and Landon came over and we went to oldetown Portsmouth and watched the fireworks at Harbor Fest. It was still about 100 degrees and very, very muggy, but the show was AWESOME. It was more than a half hour and had a great variety of fireworks. Lilly loved looking at them and the sounds didn't bother her at all. She loves seeing Aunt Lena and Uncle Landon too. And we loved the break, we didn't hold her all night long! Landon tried to help R figure out how to fix the broken double stroller but no luck.

Sunday we went to church and took snack: banana bread and cinnamon bread. They were huge hits. We came home and hit the pool right away for almost two hours. The pool was almost warm this time and I actually got in. Lillian loved it, actually being able to get in now that its warmer. We spent some time in the big pool, then Lilly took a nap and I laid out while R swam. Then we all got in the kiddie pool. I sat on the bottom and just let Lilly stand in front of me. She had so much fun. We attracted a crowd of small children and Lillian was putting on a show for them, smiling and talking. We had to run to Target quick but then came back for a quiet evening at home, playing games. Army Wives season 2 started but I tivo'd it and will watch it later today...I can't wait.

Today brings:
watching Army Wives
calling Gma Shipp
Folding laundry
Making something for dinner
Writing in Lillian's memory book
Updating the checkbook
Putting away all the stuff from this weekend
Calling girls to set up lunch tomorrow.

To Do's and Goals

Things to accomplish this weekend:
Pool
Exercise one day
Take snacks to Sunday School
Pick up new Pac-N-Play
Harbor Fest fireworks with Landon & Lena
Shopping for clothes for Stacey for MI
Start MI packing list
Play a game together
Vacuum Pacifica
Fix wheels on stroller
Call Grandma
Call Kristen
Buy teething tablets for Lil



Goals for this summer:
Lose weight
Consistent workouts
Family photos & Lillian's 6 month photos taken in July
Stace and Lillian be in Brian and Steph's Wedding
A whole family visit to Iowa in August!
Go to the Virginia Zoo
Encourage Kylie and Lilly's friendship daily
Read at least one book a day to the girls
Have houseguests
Tithe regularly
Have a child-less date once a month
Pool at least once a week
Have Lillian get on the weight chart
R get off work for bible study on Wednesdays
Not take money out of the house fund
Make a house video for insurance purposes
Update wills, life insurance, medical info
Pray everyday about orders for next July

Leave comments please

In the interest of changing up the blog a little and making it more useful...is there anything anyone would like to see added to the blog? Leave your comments below and let us know what you would like to see here.

We have also deleted the chatterbox feature that was in the right hand column, any time you want to comment, you can leave it under any post, where it says "comments" and it is automatically emailed to us.

Over the next week or so we will be changing the background a lot. When we are done, I will post a poll of which one you like best, so remember. And when the poll goes up, please post.

Shower damage

This was our problem.



















This was their solution.


Hmmmmmmm....

The girls

On Monday, we started watching Kylie during the days while her parents are at work. It gets crazy at times with two babies, 4 months and 3 months, but for the most part its really fun. And with R's schedule, as much as I hate it, he is home for most of the time that Kylie is here, so if things do get crazy, he's great about stepping in and taking either of them. Then between 2-3 Lindsey picks her up and Lillian and I start the long process of passing the time til R gets home at midnight.

Tonight though, he's supposed to be able to get off at 5 so that he can go to bible study with us. I'm still not believing it until I see it, but if it happens I will be super excited.

We're doing a "cleanse" that is also supposed to help you lose some weight. The main goal though is to clean you all out, decrease your appetite and decrease any cravings. We started Monday and we're supposed to go for ten days. Although R quit last night and had a meal of three double cheeseburgers and a large fry. QUITTER!!!!! I'm still doing it though. You're only allowed to have one glass of tea a day and as much water and the lemonade mix you want. The lemonade mix is water, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. It's delicious - let me tell you.

Prunes

"Prunes, Prunes, the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you poop!" This is what we sang all night while looking at that adorable, brown covered face. And everytime the word "poop" was uttered Lillian smiled and once she made a sound when she smiled. We keep waiting for a giggle, but not yet, soon hopefully.

She got a hold of the spoon (when we were done eating and I handed it to her) and she was so intent on feeding herself that I didn't have the heart to tell her the business end of the spoon was the other end.







Hi mom, aren't I cute?














She's not to sure about this new form of bath.










But it ends up okay.

Brill Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Bottle Making Machine

Every other day we do the following:

I gather all the bottles and put them in the sink.
I take the tops of each bottle.
I take the nipples out of each top.
I put soapy water in the sink for them to soak in.
Richard (usually) washes the bottles.
Then he (or I) puts them on the racks to dry.

When they are dry...
I put all 24 of the bottles back in the sink.
I fill each bottle with either 4 or 6 oz of warm water.
I put one scoop of formula in each bottle.
I put another scoop of formula in each bottle.
I put a third scoop of formula in the 6oz bottles.
I put a nipple in each top.
I put a top on each bottle.
I shake each bottle, setting it on a towel after its shaken.
When all the shaking is done, I check each bottle for chunks.
I shake all chunky bottles again.
I take a second towel and dry each bottle.
I put all bottles in the fridge.

I do this every other day. Three or four times a week.

All of this to say: I would gladly pay for a paint shaker machine if it had a bottle sized adapter. Or even pay an energetic 5 year old. Too bad all my friends kids are 2 or under.

Has anyone but me noticed in this new picture of Lillian how much she looks like the baby in the ticker at the top of the page?!? A little freaky- all she needs is a little dress.

Double Stroller Woes

The double stroller came via UPS today. Box looked fine, no problems. However, after pulling out the stroller there is part of the metal frame that is dented, and because of that, paint is scraped, parts are rusted and the paint is cracking. There is another two spots where the paint is scraped.

Nice.

I emailed the store we bought it from and they are supposedly checking into what they can do. I'd be really interested to see what they can do BEFORE MONDAY which is when I need it by. I told them this and that I was counting on them to come up with a reasonable solution by Monday so that the integrity of the stroller would not be at all compromised when I put two infants in it.

I guess that is the reason R always makes me talk to people/companies who screwed up. My vast vocabulary. I have to say, so far, with other things, its worked miracles.

EDIT: The company is sending out a new stroller as soon as they can (2-3 weeks because ours was the last one in stock) and said we can use ours in the meantime and keep it when the new one comes. However, when R put it all together, the posts that hold the front two wheels in are also broken. I emailed asking if they can replace that part. We were looking forward to being able to sell this one on craigslist and make a small profit. Either way, they've gotta figure something out for us to have a stroller sooner than 3 weeks from now.

Richard got home from work early tonight and was home by six pm!!!!!!! We ran a couple errands, all had dinner together, and fed Lilly peas. She actually did great with them and ate a whole jar. Up next is prunes. We'll see how those go. She got a bath, we read Peter Rabbit and she's in bed at 10:17 pm!! Hopefully she will still sleep til 8 but I doubt it.

Tomorrow R is taking his truck in to get a once over to check everything out and to have them replace the antenna that the guy who replaced his windshield broke off. Thankfully the windshield people are paying for the antenna.

We got Lillian a new toy at Target tonight, its a giggle & jiggle cow. Its pretty hilarious. It's a round plastic ball, that looks like a cow with red pants on and his feet, hands, ears, tail and nose stick out from the ball. When you push its nose, it "giggles and jiggles". We were cracking up at it. She is not quite as thrilled, but it did garner a couple smiles, jiggling on her belly.

As a side note, Cyndi and I have been having facebook communication like crazy. Today was culminated with a funny comment from a family member who will remain un-named.

On the other hand, she ABSOLUTELY LOVES the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I am constantly trying to think of new things to sing to her as we seem to do the same ones over and over and today I came up with Fresh Prince (who knows from where). She smiled over and over and pouted her lip when I stopped until I started again. I would say her second favorite is "the song that doesn't end" but that can get a little repetitive if you know what I mean.

Richard's Father's Day present came in the mail today. Thankfully, it was while he was at work. I wrapped it up and put it on the table. He is going to be so excited!!!!!!!!!!! he saw it and wanted to open it of course, but nope, gotta wait.

We got Lillian two new pairs of shoes: black patent mary janes for Bri and Steph's wedding (and other things) and white sandles that match Daddy's brown ones for everyday. Now that she's standing so much more, she seems to be standing better if she has shoes on. She's growing so fast.

4 month update

She had her four month appointment today and got more shots of course.

She is now a whopping 10 pounds and 9 ounces, but is still at the zero percentile mark.

She is 23.5 inches tall and her head is 39.5 cm around.

The doc was pleased with her growth and all of her milestones. Said he expects her to be on the chart, at least in the 5th percentile by her 6 month appointment.

She is standing excellently now, on her own even, if she is against a wall or in front of a toy. She is growing up so fast. She likes everything we've fed her so far except for green vegetables.

We just put 300 new pictures on the web site. If you need the address, send me an email or leave a comment here.

Checking to see what kind of an audience we have. Not sure how long we'll keep this up. Comment below please.

Lillian got her ears pierced on Wednesday and has done great with them. No pain since then at all as far as we can tell. She doesn't even really mind when we clean them. They look adorable.

Richard has gotten a little break from work as he got to come home before ten three days this week. The week of the 19th he is taking some classes, so he will be on a day check schedule so we know we'll have time together that week.

Richard planned lots of special events for Mother's Day and Lilly was great all day, it was perfect!

Richard's mom is coming down next weekend to visit us (his dad's Mother's Day present for her). We can't wait to see her.

Lillian started sleeping in her crib this week and is doing great. We bought her a mobile and she loves laying in the crib and staring up at the moving animals.

My mother has been NON STOP nagging me to do another post.

The thing is, NOTHING spectacular is going on around here. Richard has been working approximately 70 hours a week, which leaves him home 1-2 hours a day while we are awake. It's been great..........

Little Lillian has been extremely clingy the last few weeks so that's been a fun addition to already feeling like a single parent.

Lilly and I were almost involved in a deadly car accident, but narrowly missed it, thankfully. You might have heard that a week ago we had ten tornados in our area, several touching down and doing major damage. Lillian spent several hours in her carseat under a crib mattress in the bathtub, but we got no damage. The base where Richard works had some cosmetic damage in a couple spots, but that's as close as they came to personally affecting us, thankfully.

Lillian is now eating cereal and food. She has so far tried bananas and sweet potatoes and loves them both. On to carrots and squash next. Then the green veggies. I am home making her baby food but its super easy and I love it. She is holding her head more steady every day. We got her a jumperoo and she generally loves to be in it. We think she is starting to teeth because of this clinginess, and the fact that she is starting to drool and chew on her hands constantly.

That's it. There's your update Mom.

an update on everything

Lillian had cereal for the first time on Tuesday night. It is supposed to help with the gassiness and her gaining weight. It is really early, but they said it will really help the weight. She was a complete and total mess, not knowing at all what to do with it, but she really liked it and cried for more.

She loves sleeping on her tummy and I'm wishing she could sleep that way at night, because I think we would get a full night's sleep. However, I'm not going to complain because 5 out of the last 6 nights she has slept from 12-7. But from 7 on its up every half hour or so.

I have been trying to attack the chaos Lillian left behind. We bought a treadmill. Yes, its right in the middle of everything in our house, but it's been worth it. Since last Tuesday I have walked 69,000 steps or 28 miles and lost 7+ pounds. Slowwwwwwwwwwwly, but we're making progress at least.

We're in the process of looking for a used Jumperoo, in other words a cheap Jumperoo, for Lilly. She isn't ready quite yet, still has a bit of the bobble head going on, but it won't be but a week or two and she'll be roarin to go. Yet another thing to move every time you want to walk through the house. Yay!

We actually had to put her first two outfits away because they don't fit. One was the preemie sleeper she came home from the hospital in and the other were a pack of Gerber onesies for newborns 5-8 pounds. But, we got a whole bag of stuff from Lilly's (younger) friend Kylie, who outgrew all her newborn stuff already so we're stylin now. She has more than a complete dresser full of newborn and 0-3 month clothes that she is wearing or will wear soon.

Her hair is not growing back in on the top yet but the back hasn't fallen out yet either. It's lookin like when that top hair does start to grow in we'll have the makings of a perfect mullet. Whee!

Richard's Grandma and Grandpa Abrams and his Aunt Penny and Uncle Mike are coming down for a short visit this weekend. It will be their first time meeting Lilly.

Richard earned his CDI Stamp which he's been trying for a while now. It means that he is signing off on the gear that it is safe to fly. You have to have one of these on each shift and before he had his there was only one guy on nights who was qualified. Now that they both have them, they're trying to work out getting short days every other day. We'll see if it really works or not.

We just looked at the calendar and realized Monday is our year and a half anniversary. It sure doesn't seem like that long, but it also seems longer. But it SURE doesn't seem like we should have a 3 month old!

We (Lillian and Stacey) just got back from Florida and we had a great trip seeing everyone.

Lillian had her "2 month" checkup this morning and she now weighs 8 pounds!!!! She is 21 inches long also. What a great grower she is. She has been a little piggy this last week and now its paying off.

Ashley's too short visit

A summary of quotes from our time together:

I should call the cops.

That's hot!

The tattoos I get take hours.

What did you do? Sleep with the boss?

That's time out of my life I'll never get back.

I will not let you take the baby in there.

Are you punking me man?

I have stuff I haven't even told you.

Wow, a full subscription to BET!

Another free subscription to BET.

Nothing like calling attention to ourselves.

Wow, I don't fit in and its a grocery store.

She looks hot doesn't she?

Parking garages scare me.

Firemen...hi! Ooh, there's a copper too!

Now that's gonna shoot right out of her butt.

I will if you pull over... NOT HERE!!!

Exotic boutique - we should go there.

I'm gonna do the butt out the front window thing.

That was the worst night of her entire life.

Key word: lopping!

When a girl my size gets hungry, its not pretty.

It's only cuz it doesn't have a dirty connotation.

All the people at work think I'm doing drugs.

You know I'm mad when I say flippin' and freakin' that many times.

Oh, we're gonna die!

I've been thru more tunnels today than in the whole past year.

Low fuel...WHAT?!?!

Stacey tried to kill me in the tunnel.

I want a cookie...and some more pie. Only one cookie?!?!

Effingham

Do you have spiders in your bathroom?

And after that he was no longer living as far as I was concerned.

He was just like "I have to rescue my Cinderella".

My stomach just went WHOP.

I just about peed my pants.

I just want to get on my suitcase and ride it.

It was a pleasure serving you.

I wouldn't want to be strapped in like I'm going to space either.

I wonder how many people heard you say you wanted to date your cousin?

ONONDAGA

He was really mad at you!

Pretty sure it was a shehe.

He was adjusting his tummy.

AND NUMERO UNO....

AAUUGGGHHH!! I thought you were a rat!!!!!

PS-Full details provided upon request.

We read Lillian her first book and she was completely unfazed.

We have continued to take her in the shower and she continues to love it. Water streaming down her face doesn't even make her cry. We're doing our best to create a waterbaby out of her. So far so good. We'll see how she does in a pool.

She got her first manicure and pedicure, much to her father's ridicule, but it looks so adorable.

Tomorrow night is her first sunday school party and Sunday night brings another dinner with Landon and Lena. Monday brings.....

ASHLEYYYYYYYYYYY

We're just a little excited.

I'm going to update her accomplishment list tonight, I promise. I wonder how long they'll let me get the list before they start cutting it off?

We took Lilly to the pedi again yesterday. He's quickly becoming her most frequent visitor :-(

She has just been overly fussy all weekend and that's not her at all. Turns out she has a reflux problem and so we're trying Zantac to see how that will help with the gas from both ends.

However, she has only gained 5 ounces in two weeks and is now only up to 6 lbs 11 ozs, which sounded good to me at first, until I realized that she still, at 7 weeks, has not gained a full pound form her birth weight. Hmmm.... So, we're back to the every two hour force feedings. Not fun. For me or her. She always looks at us like, "you're not seriously going to shove that thing in my face again ALREADY are you?!?"

I'm still having serious supply issues and we're working with the lactation consultants to try all our options to increase it. Nothing we've tried has worked so far.

Lillian Rolled Over!!!

March Mayhem

I can't even believe it's March already. Time has FLOWN by. We've just been hanging out in wonderment of Little Miss Lillian and somehow its March. This month not only will bring her 2 month marker, my 26th birthday (OH MY WORD!), and a vacation to Florida for Grandma Harris' 75th birthday, but it brings the arrival of ASHLEY!!!!!!! Other than the wedding and the birth, this ranks right up there with top most awaited moments of my life. I cannot wait. It will be three days PACKED full of fabulous fun.

Lilly is doing magnificently although she has perfected her banshee scream and I'm sure the neighbors debate calling child protective services daily, thinking we must be neglecting her. She has been eating up a storm, which is great for her weight issues, which we are hoping are a thing of the past. She has a bit of a cold still and she absolutely hates the saline spray we've been told to use. She has been sleeping in the swing to be upright and seems to be doing better.

The other most exciting thing ever...we actually found some pants that fit her-kind of. They are "skinny leggings" from Gap, meant to be skin tight like tights but at least they mostly fit her. They only had two colors, but we bought both of them. She finally has something to cover her little legs! And we got her a swimsuit and a sun hat too, both are big, but will work for vacation in Florida.

PS-Birthday lists available upon request :-P

At her pedi appt today, Lillian weighed 6lbs and 6ozs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seven ounces in seven days.

The pedi said "that's almost a record!"

Unless she gets sick we don't have to go back until March 31st for her two month well baby checkup and her first immunizations.

Edited to add: And finally, "Failure to thrive" was not written on her billing record.

I called the pedi's office to ask what I should do for her congestion being that the two nose bulb suckers I have don't fit in her nose because she's so tiny. The nurse actually said to me "No ma'am, you put the SMALL end in her nose."

Gee thanks honey, I'm glad to let you care for my daughter.

At the follow up appointment on Monday, Lillian measured at 5lbs 15ozs, which isn't tons better, but is a gain and she is now above her birthweight!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doc said just continue what we're doing (Feeding fortified breastmilk and formula every other time every two hours) and come back next Monday for another check up. If she is still gaining, we don't have to go back until her regularly scheduled well baby two month checkup.

"Failure to thrive"

Little Miss Lillian was admitted to the Children's Hospital for three days because of "failure to thrive". In other words, she was not gaining weight like the pedi wanted her to. Actually, she was not gaining weight at all for over a week. So not only did they tell us we had to take her straight to the hospital to admit her, they tell us that she has "failure to thrive". Then we get to the hospital and they ask "Reason for admittance?" and I have to say "failure to thrive". One would think they could come up with better phrasing for parents already in a stressful situation.

Anywho, Lillian had to have an IV put in, and had three veins blown in the process. She had to have a catheter put in, it actually worked on the 7th try. She had to have cheast ex rays done and have a heart monitor on continuously. Every half hour they took her blood pressure and temperature. It was awful. But every test they did for really bad things came back negative. The only thing they found was slightly elevated liver enzymes, but could not find a reason for that.

She had previously had some jaundice and thrush. We believe the thrush is what was causing her not to want to eat, although she still should have gained some weight. She gained 5 ounces while she was in the hospital, although their scales are different than the doctors office. According to the doctors office, she was 5 lbs 9 ozs when he had her admitted and according to the hospital she was 5 lbs 2 ozs when she was admitted and 5 lbs 7 ozs when she was discharged.

We have changed her feeding to every two hours during the day but only when she wakes up during the night. We have also started fortifying her breast milk bottles with extra calories to help fatten her up. And it looks like we are going to have to start doing some formula soon, as she is eating more than I can give her.

We have a follow up appointment on Monday at the doctor's office. Pray everything goes well. I never want to have to go through having her in the hospital again, it was horrible.

First photos

Richard

Stacey

Lillian

Its time for a poll. These are the first photos of all three of us. What attributes of Lillian do you think look like either of us. So far both of us just think she looks like Lilly. Thoughts?

Friday excitement

The excitement started VERY early when I discovered that Miss Lil cannot wear one of those dress thingys to bed. She needs a onesie on to help hold the diaper on. Because if she does wear a dress, like she tried last night, she wakes up with the diaper completely off, poop and pee on her dress, the blanket wrapped around her, the blanket wrapped around that, the sheet saver and the sheet. Its a nice surprise at 2am let me tell you.

The excitement continued when after I cleaned her up she slept for 5 hours straight!!!!!! That almost made up for the middle of the night laundry and bath session. We hope this continues but don't expect it to.

It further continued when I had to go to the dr and get my staples out. Thankfully, that was rather uneventful and didn't hurt as bad as it could have (although it did hurt more than they promised it would). They said everything looks good and I don't go back for a month. And I lost 21 pounds since last Wednesday. Let me know if anyone else can beat my record for 1 week weight loss :-). It just tells you how nasty puffy I was with water last week.

Then, poor Lilly had to go BACK to the pedi because we thought she looked a little yellow. The pedi said he didn't think it was bad but he did send us to the hospital for lab work. That hurt more than the staples even, poor thing, it took FOREVER. But she was excellent, and really didn't even cry that much. The doc called later to say that her level was 17, worse than he thought but not horrible. He said just to see if its worse tomorrow and if so to bring her back in, if not, we're okay. Here's hopin'.....

Lillian Ashleigh

Lillian joined us on 1-23-08 at 8:56 p.m. via c-section. She weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was perfectly healthy and had an apgar score of 8 at birth. We both left the hospital on Saturday. Lilly weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces when we left the hospital.

She had her first pedi visit on Monday and she was up to 5 pounds, 6 ounces and he said everything looked great. She has to go back in two weeks.

Lilly loves to sleep.........if someone is holding her. She is getting used to a pacifier and is starting to get the hint that when she puts her thumb in her mouth someone takes it out. She loves to be curled all up but is stretching more and more and starting to gain some strength to push people away or pull them closer. She loves to wear hats and hates to be nekkid.

She is so much fun and we're all enjoying her immensly. I will put some pictures on here, but more are on our picasa web site. I am updating the picasa site regularly but this blog will probably be pretty sparce for awhile---we're kinda busy with other stuff :-)

A state of emergency

The half hour show I was watching on tv has had a constant icon in the upper left corner of the screen, a constant ticker at the bottom of the screen and the show has been interrupted twice now (22 minutes in) with warnings of this breaking news.....

We are in a state of "winter storm warning".

Even if one thought this was overkill, one might think the message was justified, IF....

It were not followed by the words "1-2 inches of snow are expected within the next 48 hours, no accumulation is expected."

Yes, I would definintly call that a winter storm warning worthy of constant announcement....

only in Virginia.


UPDATE AS OF SUNDAY MORNING: We received MAYBE 5 flakes of snow total yesterday, mixed in with the constant rain. This morning is bright and sunshiney, no sign of the "state of emergency" this state was expecting. Big surprise! I wonder what everyone will do with all those extra gallons of water and logs they stocked up on on Friday??

It's looking very much like Lillian will be a January baby.

The doc released me from the hospital this afternoon with strict orders for complete bedrest and going either to his office or the hospital every other day for testing. He said he wishes me to hold out to 36 weeks (next Friday, the 25th) and then he will induce. However he said if I gain any weight or my swelling increases at all between now and then we will deliver immediately.

This is all almost over, and our Lilly will be here. THANK GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the hospital...

I saw the doc this morning. As of Friday I had gained 11 pounds in two weeks and he was freaked out about my swelling (as I have been for awhile). As of this morning, I have gained three additional pounds of water since Friday.

Lillian's heartbeat is fine, I'm only having the same minor contractions, I'm only dialated to one (same for a month now), my bloodpressure, blood and urine are all fine. The only issue is the huge water retention/weight gain.

So he's decided to admit me to the hospital, not to induce labor, just to poke me incessently for a while. He said he's thinking three days right now and we'll see after that.

He does not want to take her until 36 weeks now, although he told me 34 before. I'm 34 weeks and 4 days now.

I'm fine, just very very annoyed to have to go in just to be poked rather than have a baby. R is working his normal schedule 2pm-11pm so he can take time when she actually arrives. I will have my cell phone with me-no email access though.

Thats all for now.Stace

We Made It!

We had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad trip. Not due to any pregnancy or health concerns though thankfully. We were supposed to leave Norfolk at 5:40pm and arrive in Chicago at 7:00pm. Instead we left Norfolk at 4:00pm and arrived in Chicago (via Dulles in DC, two cancelled flights and three airplanes) at 4:00am. Needless to say, we WILL NOT EVER AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON be flying United again. And United will be hearing from me.

However, we did eventually arrive in Chicago, and amazingly, so did all three pieces of our luggage. Mom and Dad Shipp were there to pick us up and drive us to the hotel we were staying at (over 2 hours away from the airport) and we were able to get two or three hours of sleep before spending a fantastic day and a half with Dad Shipp's side of the family.

On Sunday, we drove back from Chicago and had Christmas at Mom and Dad Shipp's house with them and Kyle and Kristen. We got lots of baby stuff and an AMAZING rug from my Aunt Bettie that my Great Aunt Mae made.

On New Years Eve we had lunch at Rugerro's (YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY) and ran some quick errands. Richard went with his parents to see I am Ledgend and I went with mom to see PS I Love You (not nearly as good as the book). Then we all met up at Richard's grandparents house for a New Year's Eve party.

This morning, we started out 2008 with a good 9 inches of snow outside and Richard is estatic. I'm just wondering how that's going to work out with the flip flops I have that are the only shoes that fit my feet.....we'll see.

I saw the doctor yesterday and he said everything looked good, no change from the last good report he gave me two weeks ago. He gave me final clearance to go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We leave this afternoon for Chicago and then Michigan after that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No new posting for two weeks......not that that will surprise you, not much posting at all these days -- oops.

Merry Christmas!!

We posted pictures of our decorations and gifts at our Picasa web site.

We CAN'T WAIT for Friday when we start home!!!!!

Lillian's still hanging in there, we have a dr. appt on Thursday and will post a quick update after that.

I saw the dr. today and he said I am not dialated any more than before, between the three nurses that checked me at the hospital and him; two said I was at zero, one said I was at 1, and he was kind of inbetween. He said today that he would consider me 3/4 to 1. He said had Sunday not happened, he would not even mention today that I was "dialated", just marking it in my chart, but that number is so small its inconsequential if nothing else is happening.

I have not had any contractions since I left the hospital. He said she is measuring right at 30 weeks (which I will be on Friday) and that her heartbeat was great. He said her movement is great, she is moving around a lot and that if I were close to labor, she would be slowing down and settling down to prepare for birth.

He said there is currently no infection present, the prescription he gave me, might have kicked a bladder infection or sinus infection that was just starting and causing all this ruckus, but that nothing was present now so that was good.

He said he wants me on modified bedrest for now, which means no work (easy since I'm not working), no exercise and no lifting. Also, just doing what feels okay and resting when I feel tired. He did tell me that I can pull the "bedrest" card whenever I want. :-)

I asked about the shot being good for only one dose, and best within 7 days of delivery. He said yes, that is true and on Sunday he was thinking that was possible. But as of today he would say there is no way I will deliver within the next two weeks and he would be "extremely surprised" if I delivered in two or three weeks. He said if he hadn't been there himself Sunday/Monday he would not know anything unusual had happened, everything today looked excellent and apparently the happenings in the hospital were something strange that was stopped with the medication and has no indications of appearing again.

I asked about the travel to MI and Chicago and he asked if it would be more stress to go or not go as that was really the deciding factor at this point. He said he would go and if it was his daughter he would tell her to go, but as his patient he has to tell me "You're crazy."
He said to make sure and know where hospitals are in each location and how to get there. And of course, there is always a possibility I will have her while I am gone, but no more chance of that than he told me two weeks ago at my appointment!!!

He said that he wants to see me on the 28th (the day we fly out) to give me a "hopefully great" report, so I will know as I get on the plane, that everything was perfect a few hours before. Of course, there is always the possibility that I would be dialated at that point (although he finds that highly unlikely) and not be able to go, but at least we would have seen him right before we're scheduled to leave.

I am soooooooooooooooooo thrilled at all of this good news! It is definintly the result of all the people out there thinking about and praying for us, and we appreciate it SO much.

Now, I just ask that everyone pray that we do not have her while on vacation, and she waits until we are back here in Virginia.

Pray for LIlly (and us)

We spent the last 20 hours admitted to Labor and Delivery due to losing my "plug" and having slight contractions.

When we went in they said I was having regular contractions and was dialated to 1. They admitted me overnight and ran lots of tests. They took bloodwork and gave me lots of IV liquids. They gave me a round of three shots of Terbutaline to try to stop the contractions, and for the most part it seems to have worked so far. They gave me a shot of Betamethasone to develop her lungs faster in case she is born early.

I was realeased about lunch time to come back tomorrow morning and get another round of testing, a "non stress test" and another Betamethasone shot (you have to have two, 24 hours apart). I was also given a prescription to kill any infection that may or may not have a part in causing all of this.
We (R and I) are most concerned about the Betamethasone, as everything we can find online (from trusted sources) say the drug is given once in pregnancy (in two doses, 24 hours apart) when the doctor feels delivery is "expected" within 0-7 days, being most effective 24 hours from the first dose to 7 days from the last dose. It is not able to be repeated in a second (or third, or fourth) course as it used to be, because of undeterminded health effects to the mother and baby, so doctors are instructed to use it when they think birth is "expected" within 1 week.
I called my OB before going in and the L&D were in constant contact with him by phone. He came to see me at the hospital this morning, but we will not really know anything more defininte until I see him in his office on Wednesday afternoon. I am on bedrest until Wednesday at least.

I am 29 weeks and 2 days now and the earliest doc feels "comfortable" with is 34, but we're not sure we're going to make it that long. Just pray please.

Another (seemingly smaller) thing to pray about is that because of my bad veins (increased difficulty to find with pregnancy) and between taking blood, giving me shots and inserting IVs (and repeated attempts at all of these) they have "used up" my veins in all the normal and a little wierd places. Once you get a stick in one area the hospital won't do it in that same area for more than 72 hours, so if something comes up within the next three days, I get an IV in my foot and shots and bloodwork done in some other seemingly awful place.

Thanks, Stacey and Richard

The Elves are hard at work!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1156050039

The latest drama

Just to keep everyone up to date on my oh so normal pregnancy......here is the latest.

I have been having some lovely pregancy complications for the last week or two. Namely,
Contractions
Repeated Temporary Blindness with white twinkling lights
Numbness and Tingling in both hands

So...I've been in close contact with my ob this week, talking to him multiple times on the phone and in his office on Wednesday and again today. He did ten thousand (at least it felt like that) tests including blood and urine tests, blood pressure checks, baby fetal monitoring, baby measurements, neurological exams and of course more bloodwork.

He said the contractions would happen from here on out and were nothing to worry about. Just to call him if I "have more than 4 an hour, cuz then you're having a baby".

On Wednesday he told me he was going to set me up with an opthamologist and a neurologist to check on the "blackouts" and the hand numbness. I saw the ob this morning at 9am for a shot and follow up tests from Wednesday. Then at 1, I went to the neurologist and at 3:15 I went to the opthamologist.

The neurologist did a thourough neurological exam and used needles and electrodes up and down both arms to test for carpel tunnel. He said I do indeed have "severe carpel tunnel" in both wrists, so much so that he was surprised my hands, the right one especially, are still functioning. He prescribed a wrist splint for the right arm and gave me cortizone shots (NOT FUN AT ALL) in both wrists.

Yes, for the ones who are keeping track, this is over 50 needles now that I have had in my body TODAY ALONE.

He said I have a good, but not guarranteed chance of it going away after delivery. Most pregnancy carpel tunnel goes away within 1-2 weeks of delivery but because mine is so severe and hereditary (thanks Mom), he is not going to tell me that will happen for me.

My sight has been going completely going black, both eyes, and seeing white twinkling lights, lasting for 3-5 seconds each time, but no headaches or dizziness. He said this was "troublesome" to him because if it was accompanied by headaches or dizziness or lasted for 5-15 minutes, it would just be associated with migranes and he would prescribe me a pill, but since mine did not fit that description that would not do.

The only other time he has seen this type of thing is when the person has a hole in their heart. So, he is setting me up for testing at the hospital, a total of three tests, for now. And bloodwork, of course. He said it might not be a hole in the heart, but obviously we want to rule that out first. He said if something alarming comes back or if he wants more testing done right away, he will call me. In the meantime, call him if they start to happen more frequently.

The good news is the opthamologist said he found no problems with my vision, both my glasses and contacts are the correct perscription and he (through MANY tests) found no eyesight problems.

Barring anything unusual (I know, I know, but I can hope)...
I see the ob again December 14.
I see the neurologist again January 14.
I see the opthamologist again December 21.

Our First Christmas Card

Grandma and Grandpa Abrams get the honor of being the first Christmas card to grace the kitchen window this year. Thanks Gma & Gpa, way to be early !!

Thanks Joe & Shannon

Cousins Joe and Shannon got us this adorable bright pink and orange baby gown. It even has the fold over hands. I was just telling Mom Brill this weekend that we needed more of these. Thanks guys, we love it!

Mom and Dad left today and we are so sad.

96 days........................................

I just got finished reading Heather & Christopher's blog. I had to read all the entries, as before today I didn't know they had a blog. I had heard vague rumblings they were starting one but that was it. I had to hear from mom who heard from a letter to grandma...and so on.

Anywho, while I was reading their blog I was thinking of the need to update our blog. So I click the necessary buttons to open our blog and am immediately confronted with "only 96 days to go!" Like I am supposed to be joyful about this rather than be filled with a sense of dread and fear that I have 96 days left of this.

This being the facts below:
-If I go more than 12 minutes without admiring my bathroom walls it is a good 12 minutes.
-Our daughter seems to have inherited the restless side of Richard
-And she is obviously taking up wrestling at such a young age, what a prodigy
-Little Miss seems to never sleep, which might actually be the exclamation point to that 96 days left, unless you realize that means that
-I never sleep more than 20 minutes at a time...If I am lucky, and make it past the normal 12 minute bathroom break
-I have now outgrown several maternity tops. This is just thrilling.
-I am in constant fear that my water will break on the plane somewhere over Kansas and 150 angry passengers will not only throw their pretzels at me but it will be months and months after that before I can say "we're not in Kansas anymore".
-I know in my mind that everyone who has two legs and two feet has two ankles, but somewhere along this process, mine have left the premesis. I was told the other day that this process left me with "cankles" only to have that person be corrected by someone else to say "no, this is beyond cankles, those are thighs".
-I constantly have an awful taste in my mouth and feel something stuck in my throat, about which there is nothing the doctor can do and water, ironically, seems to only make it worse.
-I can no longer bend over. This has been true for awhile but was not as much of an issue when I could use my go go gadget toes to pick up whatever I needed.
-Today I had to have Richard paint my toenails. They are, we'll say, a work of art. He also enjoyed painting my foot and my leg...giving me "a friend" for when I get lonely. (Have no fear, I cannot reach my toes, but I can reach his upper arm. And he now has a friend also).

However, despite how the above lists may sound, we're estatic to be having a child. Well, not the one time act of having, I could do without that, but the lifelong process. And we can't wait til February 22, although it seems like its more than 96 days away, but should be so much less.

We have our first "birthing/parenting" class at the hospital on Monday. The first of about 12, seems like a little overkill, but who knows. We are supposed to take a doll or stuffed animal. I hope a 10 inch pig made with love by Gund will suffice in preparing Richard for diapering our daughter. I'm not buying the $50 version that is "lifelike" (yes, including the bodily secretions) when we will have our own version soon.

Richard's parents are coming on Wednesday, and possibly his aunt and uncle. I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am. Not being at work since last Monday, I am more than ready for some entertainment. And I'm thinking they will be roped in to Christmas decorating also. Nothing better than that.

October

We did go to Great Wolf Lodge for our anniversary and we had a great time. I would definintly recommend it, especially in groups of more than one couple to split the cost of a room, or with a family with kids. It was awesome.

Richard is working all nights now. He leaves around 2 pm (sometimes earlier) and generally gets home about 10, sometimes as early as 8 or as late as 12. He likes the fact that they are generally more relaxed on the night shift and he gets along with most of the people there.

I have seen the doctor a couple of times. He has done lots of tests. I will find out on Thursday the results of last weeks bloodwork to determine the cause of lots of foot swelling. I also take the test for Gestational Diabetes this week. Hopefully I will pass that with flying colors. There was a (very slim) chance that I might have TB but thankfully the test for that came back negative. For now I'm supposed to keep doing as I have been: not doing much, staying off my feet and not wearing any shoes that 1)are heels, 2) are dress shoes or 3) lace up. Yes, I am as lost as you about what this leaves other than flip flops in the winter.

We ended up trading in my car. (The stratus that I bought brand new four years ago and the only new car I've ever bought.) But it wasn't actually as sad as I thought. We had been planning to trade it in sometime soon for a vehicle that had more room for a stroller and baby stuff, but not quite this soon. But when Mom and Dad were here, he noticed that the tires had another week left on them, if we were lucky. So we went ahead and switched out. We traded for a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica, technically it is a "crossover SUV". I love it. It drives really nice, no different than the car really, and it has all the same features: power seats, six disc cd changer, auto stick, etc. Plus some new ones: memory seats, dual temperature controlls, an automatic (opening and closing) hatch, and my favorite of all, moveable foot pedals. The only thing I really miss is the automatic starter, but I've asked for that for Christmas. It has six bucket seats that all fold down seperately to be flat. Its great.

We have been working on Lillian's room a lot, changing it from just a guest room with a Red and Tan motif to a guest room/Lilly's room with a hot pink and orange motif. Richard has changed lots of the art on the walls and put up a set of fantastic mirrors. I just finished making some new curtains for the windows.

We are excited to have Richard's parents come down for Thanksgiving. It will be nice to entertain again, let alone at a holiday.

I got told on Wednesday that I am being let go from my job because they have decided after four months of working part time that they really don't want someone working part time. So its back to mac n cheese every night. lol. Not that that bothers me really. It was just a surprise at this time that we wern't really planning on. Oh well, it will all work out somehow.

I have put pictures of LIlly's room and the new car and even Great Wolf I think on our picture site, at http://picasaweb.google.com/StaceyBrill.