3.5 Months!

 
I can't believe Grace is nearing four months already; it's gone so quick! And I realized it's been way too long since I've posted here. Somehow the days just seem to fly by between diaper changings and nursing and laundry and napping and grocery shopping and everything else. Grace and I'll be heading out in a few minutes to pick up Caleb (Daddy!) to go to our Community Group tonight, but I wanted to make a quick catch up post before I forget her newest milestones.

Two weeks ago, Grace finally started sleeping in her crib. Always before she'd wake up as soon as I lay her down anywhere, so she'd been sleeping with us. I think Nov 16 was the first evening we left her in her crib, and I when I went in to check on her she'd fallen asleep. Mommy cried. Her little baby was growing up! And then her baby woke up an hour later. But from then on, Grace has been napping in her crib semi-regularly as well as the swing and carseat.

And then two days before Thanksgiving, I broke out with hives again and had to take Benadryl around the clock which made Mommy really drowsy, so we had to make a sudden transition to the crib. Fortunately, the next day we got a package with a new mobile for her crib from the Rays, and from then on she's been sleeping (mostly!) in her crib. It was amazing how good it felt to be able to toss and turn any time I wanted to all night long. :-)

And just two days ago, Grace slept a straight 9 and a half hours. Unfortunately, I was so blown away by this development, that I still got up every two hours all night long to make sure she was alright. Moms can be rather foolish when it comes to their babies. :)

Sunday Afternoon Quotes

L: "I want to play with Quicken"
C: "Hm, that sounds like work..."
L: "Ooh, but I love organizing finances!"
C: "And I love you"
L: "I get so excited about the idea of reconciling our bank statements! It just feels so good to have them all neat and tidy!"

Jenny's Wedding

So within the past three weeks, Grace and I've made two separate trips down to Dallas and back. The first was a last minute decision to make it to my sister's bridal shower (how could I miss that!). And for the second, Caleb joined us a couple days after we got there for her and Brodrick's wedding. Perhaps not too unexpected, but Grace got the first greetings at the airport! :-) We had a wonderful time seeing our families, and Grace got to meet her Aunt Jenny, Aunt Sarah Jean, and Uncle Joel for the first time. She did really well with the flying too - slept in her baby sling nearly the entire way there and back, excepting a rather fussy period getting through security.
 

Can You Find Gracie?

Hint: she's one of the pumpkins!

Baby's First Halloween

 
Our Snugglers group we've been going to for the past month or so had its Halloween Party today, and Grace was looking quite adorable in her little pumpkin outfit.

Heads Up!

Taken on October 3rd (almost 7 weeks old).

Full Body Wiggles

So just these past two weeks, Grace has really begun enjoying her little baby gym. Which has been really nice for Mommy, as it's much easier to get the laundry done when she's happily batting away at a bright orange dog on a green trapeze. It's the cutest thing too - she'll lay there wiggles pulling her legs up and kicking 'em out while swinging her arms. And she'll keep going at it for a good 20 minutes. Quite the workout for such a little girl!

1 Month Checkup!

So a little belated, but it's hard to find time to write as much as I'd like. But last Friday I took Grace in for her one month checkup, and her doctor said she's looking great! She was up to 9 lb 14 oz, and 21.5 inches; she's gained a little over an ounce a day, which she said is right on target. That's our Gracie! :-) She has seemed to develop a strong preference for turning her head to the right though, so we're working on teaching her that the left side is just as entertaining. She also got her second Hep B shot, and screamed briefly, but quieted down quickly with a little nursing.

Long Nights

It's nearly two in the morning, and somebody is wide awake. (Note: It's not me or Caleb!)

First Real Smile!

We've been seeing the little baby grins since she was born, but last night we saw our first true smile! Caleb was holding her on the couch, and she just looked at us and her whole face lit up. We were both too entranced to go looking for the camera, so that'll have to wait for another day. :-)

Baby Grins

Her little baby smiles are so fleeting they're hard to catch with the camera. But thanks to Picasa's new ability to take a snapshot from a movie clip, we caught one!

Our Little Peanut

Grace and I went to our first Mommy-Baby class at Evergreen today. It's kind of a cross between informational lectures and a baby play group, and the hospital offers it free for the first three months. Today they had a marriage counselor talking about the transition to parenthood. It was interesting, but my favorite part was just being in a room filled with other new moms and lots of little babies making all their cute baby sounds. And there's something relaxing about knowing nobody's going to care if I'm changing her diaper on the floor.

Speaking of which - she just had (what I'm fairly certain) is her "fullest" poopy diaper yet! Which Daddy is lovingly changing while I'm blogging about it. It's fun being a mom! ;-)

-Laura

P.S. That picture was taken a week ago, I just thought it was so cute I had to post it anyways.

Clean Baby (and a not so clean kitchen...)

So while Caleb was at work today, I decided it'd be fun to try to give Grace a bath on my own. It'd been a somewhat stressful morning as her diaper had leaked while she was on our bed and left a large wet spot and then her mommy had another adventure trying to vacuum up a large bug. Anyways, always before we've had at least three hands available (the fourth being the one holding the camera), but I figured I'd have to try it sooner or later.

Lesson number 1 - let sleeping babies lie. She was really fussy while I was getting everything ready, but when I went to pick her up, she was sound asleep. I briefly considered letting her sleep and enjoying a little rest myself, but foolishly decided to wake up the slumbering babe to stick her in a tub of water. Unfortunately, she still doesn't like being stuck in a tub of water.

Lesson number 2 - babies without diapers = wet kitchens. So I got her all undressed and ready to go, but just before putting her in the water she decided to go herself - all over Mom and the kitchen cabinet and floor.

Lesson number 3 - clean babies don't stay clean long. As soon as I got everything (and everyone!) all cleaned up, our poor darling spit up all down her front. I sponged her off and got her all nicely dressed. And she spit up again.

Fortunately, after lots of cuddling, Mom and baby are alive and happy. But next time I'm waiting for Dad. :-)

Grace's First Road Trip

Since last week was his last out on paternity leave, we decided to take Grace on a mini road trip last Thursday. We drove out along the Duvall-Woodinville Road down through Carnation, where we took a baby-feeding break and got ice cream cones for ourselves. We drove on down to North Bend and stopped at the outlet mall there to look at some nursing clothes, and had a second baby-feeding break in the fitting rooms (fortunately, maternity/nursing clothing stores are most encouraging about breastfeeding in their stalls.) Afterwards, we headed out I-90 across the mountain pass and stopped for pizza at a small little town called Roslyn. And more baby-feeding. We also successfully completed our first diaper change on the front seat of the Civic, with no major disasters!

Mom was right though, road trips aren't quite as much fun with a crying baby in the back seat! For the most part she slept, but every so often she'd wake up and cry awhile and we'd sing her back to sleep. Overall, it was a great time though, and refreshing to know it can be done! :-)

Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down

Grace just discovered her thumb and began sucking on it! :)
And then she just poked herself in the eye with her other fingers. :(

Fussy Baby Today

:(

Grace's First Day

Some shots from Grace's first day in the hospital:

Reasons for praise!

I woke up around 5:30 this morning to take care of Grace after Mommy finished feeding her because she was fussy and had a wet diaper. After Laura got out of the bathroom, she noticed some red welts on the inside of her wrists and arms, which were quickly spreading. We called the 24-hour healthline, and the nurse suggested taking Benadryl and a cool shower or oatmeal bath, which helped with the itching, but the rash continued to spread, eventually affecting her neck, lips, and throat. Mom and Dad Cherry came over to help us and go with us to the hospital, but by the time that we were able to speak with the OB's office, the rash was going down and the redness had subsided. Thank you, Jesus!

In other good news, Grace has been sleeping pretty soundly and has started opening her eyes more and making happy squeals now and then. Feeding has been going really well, and she only lost 4 oz (not quite 6%) in the first 24 hours. Mom and Dad Bell are getting into town this evening, and Mom and Dad Cherry will be able to stay and help for another few days. It's been such a blessing to have had so much health and so much help and prayer from friends and family. From both of us, thank you to everyone!

Photos!

Not much longer!

This will probably be our last post -- things are moving quickly now, and we'll (hopefully) head to the hospital soon!

TMI

It's been a busy twelve sixteen hours! We went for a long walk last night (2.8 miles!), and Laura started having some intense contractions around 11:00 PM, so we stayed up for a while to see if they were going anywhere before we went to bed. Up again and walking for a bit at around 2:00 AM, trying to sleep until they were too painful, and then up for a while more. We "got up" around 7:30 and timed things, took a walk, timed some more, called the nurse, timed some more, ate some breakfast, gave up on timing the contractions, took a nap, and then headed to the hospital, where we were supposed to have a foley catheter insertion to begin preparation for labor. When we got there, Dr. Wells told us that we're fully effaced and a few centimeters, so we didn't need it, and she thought that there was a good chance that we might deliver tonight or tomorrow without needing any induction measures! Praise the Lord! Keep on praying for Laura and Grace, and pray that we'd be able to nap a bit this afternoon to rest up for whatever's ahead!

Some quotes:

• "I can't believe that we're going for a walk at four in the morning."
• "Man, my mom got off easy!" (both of her labors were verging on precipitate and relatively painless)
• "Just think -- I waited so long to have painful contractions!"
  

Flowers! (and a microwave!)

Last week, my mom got these beautiful, sunshiny daisies and roses from my in-laws wishing her a happy almost grandmother day, and the next day I received a gorgeous vase of lilies with a balloon and little teddy bear from Baby Grace, though I suspect she had a little help from the same source. :) Anyways, I've been meaning to post pictures of these all week, and just now getting to it! And even after a week, they look just as colorful and cheery as ever! Thank you, Mom & Dad Bell!




And thanks to Lindsey, we've also got a working microwave once more! :-)

Real contractions at last!

Last night I finally started getting some "real" contractions (or at least, as far as I can tell!), but they've just been coming and going ever since. Caleb and I just got back from an hour's walk - walking really seems to help get the contractions started, and I figure that at least if we don't go into labor soon, I'll be in much better shape after the last few days! :-)

-Laura

Just a few days more

We've decided to wait a few more days to induce -- if Grace doesn't come sooner, we'll have a preparatory visit on Saturday and begin the induction on Sunday. Pray for wisdom, patience, and for Grace to come soon if it's God's will!

- Caleb

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Rejoicing in the Lord

It's been a bit of a rough evening (well, after a really fun time of watching Ella Enchanted with my parents, that is!) , just as Caleb and I've been talking over the induction and really praying for wisdom in knowing whether to go ahead with it on Friday or wait a few more days. Sometimes it just gets really frustrating wondering why God won't bring our baby now. I was feeling kind of depressed, and felt like He brought this passage from Habakkuk on my mind that I'd read recently so I went back and re-read it again. Even knowing that his county is going to be taken over by invaders soon, he still rejoices in the Lord:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.

It strikes me that that would be a much harder thing to wait for than a few days for our Baby Grace!

And thank you all for the encouraging comments and emails and phone calls; I know we've been really slow in responding right now, but we really appreciate them! :-)

-Laura

Still No Baby (and no microwave either!)

It's been really nice having the time with my parents here to just sit around and talk though; I haven't had much chance to do that since I moved up here three years ago. Tomorrow Caleb starts his parental leave from Microsoft, and we go in for more tests and fun stuff to prepare for being induced. I think she dropped a bit yesterday though, so I'm still hopeful she might come in the next 24 hours!

It's been hard waiting, but God has really been teaching us to wait on Him, and for me at least, it's been a hard lesson in learning to trust Him and realize that I'm really not in control, but He is, and He is good. And from what I hear from more experienced parents, that's a lesson that's never-ending when it comes to raising kids.

Kind of funny though - for as long as we've been using it, the 7 button on our microwave hasn't worked. Yesterday, I discovered the 7 had suddenly started working, however the start button decided to quit. We can still get the microwave to work, but only by using the defrost and reheat options, which I've never really studied all that much. Kind of makes it a game figuring out how to use the thing! :)

-Laura

Still waiting!

We had another doctor's visit today, but no changes really yet. Yesterday was Mom Cherry's birthday, and she was really rooting for a birthday baby, but now we're thinking an 8-8-08 little girl would be fun. :-D Ok, actually we're just anxious to meet her as soon as she's ready to show herself. :-) It's funny - we're only three days past our due date, but it seems like much, much longer!

We really appreciate all the encouraging comments and emails, and your prayers! If you think about it, we're really praying she'll come in the next week as the doctor would like to induce if she's not here by next Friday.

-Laura

No Baby Yet

In the mean-time, however, here are some of her older ultrasound photos!

Here's the first shot from 20 weeks:
She actually looks like a baby and not a blurry peanut!

And here's a 3D scan from 30 weeks:
Aww...

I hope that she comes soon, because I don't know how much longer we can come up with variations on "No Baby Yet"!

- Caleb

Baby Weight Predictions

We were Skyping with Mom and Dad Bell about three weeks ago and guessed what Grace's birth weight would be. Mom and Dad Cherry decided to get in on the action tonight:

• Mom Bell: 6lbs 8oz
• Dad Bell: 7lbs 2oz
• Caleb: 6lbs 6oz
• Laura: 7lbs 0oz
  
• Mom Cherry: 7lbs 6oz
• Dad Cherry: 7lbs 3oz

To be fair, the Cherry's have a bit of an advantage, since the most recent ultrasound at the time said only 6lbs. What's your guess? If you're the closest, you get... the honor of being the closest!

Due Date!

Today's the due date, but baby Grace hasn't arrived yet!

We had a non-stress test (NST) and Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) screen this morning. Both of them looked good, but she was either shy or sleeping while they were trying to measure her movements. They gave Momma some apple juice to drink, so I got my first practice at opening a juice box for my daughter. Laura's slightly dilated, but not too much yet, so the doctor scheduled us for the NST/AFI again if she's not here by Thursday.

Laura is still feeling well, our OB is back from vacation, and we're having fun with Mom and Dad, so we're just trying to be patient now! If you're able, pray that we'd have patience, that we'd entrust our daughter to the Lord even now, that we'd long for His will to be done in all of it, and that if it's His will, for her to come soon!

One day 'til due day

Quick status:

• Our due date is tomorrow. Tomorrow!
• We have a non-stress test, an AFI screen, and an OB appointment tomorrow morning
• Mom and Dad Cherry (Laura's parents) got into town last night, and we've been having fun hanging out, talking, and walking with them a lot (to try speeding things along)
  
• Laura is still feeling well; she's been having contractions off-and-on since Thursday evening, but they're occasional and non-progressing
  

It's our First Post!

You wouldn't believe how long it took us to decide on a blog name!