Little Miss Sunshine (:

This little bundle of sunshine brings more joy to Blake and I than I can put into to words! The moments like this make all the late nights, tantrums and blowouts totally worth it. How can we resist that little face? I love seeing her and Blake smile at eachother, you can tell she already loves her daddy very much! Sometimes I think she only loves me because I have the food, lol. But every morning she sees me she greets me with a smile. ooo I love this girl!!!
Silly girl, chunky monkey, peanut.

Out for our weekly fro yo and hot tub with Blakes parents, I cant wait for her to be able to hot tub with us! Ive already put her legs in and she LOVED it.

I think she has blowouts on purpose just so she can be naked...

So excited you are 2 months old! You can stop growing now, just be my baby forever (:

Sugar and Spice, and everything nice

Here's my little peanut, 6 Weeks old! And what an amazing 6 weeks it has been. I have tried to savor and enjoy every minute since i know if i dont time will be mean and start flyin by. What fun we've had with our baby girl! Here's what we've been up to:Dressin up cute everyday, even when we dont go anywhere (:

Baby had her first pool party! Still too little for the water, daddy cant wait for a swimmin buddy!

Baby had her first bath and LOVED it. Even though shes awake she just closes her eyes and relaxes, and occassionally tries to taste the water.

She loves tummy time, perching herself up so she can look at her blankies.

Had her baby blessing, but this is the only pic I got before my camera malfunctioned. Will have to steal pics from grandma.

I secretly hope shes a mamas girl. So far she is because mama has the food, but daddy rules play time.

and reading time. She loves to hear blake talk.

He taught her all she knows (:

I love you peanut!

Note to self: I need more pictures that im actually in...

One week Portraits

I Love my girl (:

Baby Rachel Lynne

So where to begin? My dr appt on tuesday I found out I was dilated to a 3 and -2 station. My dr was worried because she was speaking at a conference and would be out of town from thursday to sunday so she said I better have this baby soon or cross my legs until after sunday, lol. Even though I really tried to take it easy, I still went in to work and sure enough thursday morning at 3 am my water broke! Blake, my mom and I went to the hospital and for 2 hours i still wasnt having contractions so on came the Pit. A few hours later I was dilated to a 6 1/2 when I got the epidural (amazing!). Took a nap and before I knew it, it was time to push and it was 1 in the afternoon. THREE hours later I had no progress. But we were all in good spirits and I was still energized and excited. I didnt look at the clock and I didnt ask how long I had been pushing for. I was determined to have a good attitude and I think it paid off. Our nurse started preparing us for a possible c section but Dr. Rice came in for the rescue. She whipped out the vacuum (which is really just a small hand pump) and started having me push again. Baby Rachel was so stuck that the vacuum popped off her head. Then out came the scissors for an episiotomy but i had to tear the rest of the way before we were finally able to get her out! whew. And right away we realized she was worth it, and that she was a good pound and a half bigger than we were told to expect!!! No contractions yet...

Napping after the epidural, ahh....

shes finally here!!!

what a chunk! 7 lbs 10 oz, not 6lbs... 2 1/2 weeks early, mommy and daddy are in love with her! BTW, besides her actual birth, the best part of labor was when the nurse said I was 10 centimeters and Blakes eyes went as wide as dinner plates and he says "I just got butterflies in my stomach, im so excited!"

Just glad shes here and healthy!

My chunky monkey. She had some jaundice when we left the hospital, she hadto be on the bili blanket or in the suitcase 24/7... not fun. but she loved being naked all the time!

stupid bili bed. both of us bawled all day the first day, it was so sad. my mom came over and helped blake calm me and the baby down even though it was her birthday. Thanks mom (:

Jaundice gone. yay for wearing cute outfits!!!

one night her jaundice was so bad she wouldnt nurse, so blake had to feed her with a syringe.

Fell asleep during first sponge bath. LOVES having her hair washed, combed, etc, like a little lady.

Besides a few minor setbacks we are so lucky to have Rachel Lynne. She is our little miracle baby. She is the best nurser and she only cries when shes hungry. She is so happy and mellow, and she already sleeps 4 hours at a time at night! woohoo! Her daddy is in love with her. shes my little angel and we love her so much(:

Baby Shower

Just had to post a few baby shower pics... Gerbera daisy theme (same as her nursery)
Classic diaper cake (thanks mom and sisters)

a few silly shower games...

another shower with blakes mom and sisters. Man we are spoiled.

sneak preview of nursery. I was going to post baby pictures and birth details tonight but Im tired and I'd rather hold my baby(: Will have to wait another day.

34 Weeks and Counting!!!

Wow. Despite the discomforts, I love being pregnant. I love feeling my baby girl move. I love rubbing my belly, and i even love other people rubbing my belly! So far everything is going well. I am still having low blood pressure but we've slowly but surely figured out how to adust to them so it doesnt bother me near as much as it did before and I am able to drive again. Still cant even slightly recline though so I am missing that! We started and have finished our childbirth prep class, it was a lot of fun and great bonding time with Blake, though after seeing the forceps he threatened to choke our Dr with them if she tries to use it on our little one (: I feel like she is getting so close now! Only 6 weeks left! Shes almost here!

30 weeks

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

34 Weeks

PS_ No one mentioned anything about how you will grow out of your maternity clothes! sheesh have i really gotten that big?

How To Freak Out a Pregnant Woman

Step 1: Schedule her for a regular 24 week appointment. Step 2: Call her into the office and ask her if she has any concerns. Step 3: When she says shes been having shortness of breath, widen your eyes and say, "I wish you had told me sooner, how long has this been going on?" Step 4: Proceed to take her vitals. Allow her to lie on her back and check babys heart rate. When she sits back up and says she feels extremely ill, add to her anxiety by telling her that her pulse is rapid and climbing. Step 5: When she is about to vomit everywhere, frantically look for the emesis basin, resorting to a urine basin. Step 6: While shes vomiting her guts out, have 3 different people come running in the room, and tell them she has no blood pressure. Step 7: Tell her shes going to Labor and Delivery. Step 9: Tell her shes having contractions. Ta da! Well folks thats how to freak out a pregant woman, and that just happens to be exactly how my 24 week appointment went. (So glad Blake was with me). Fortunatly my contractions fizzled out and it turns out i just bottomed out on my blood pressure (which has always been low) when I layed on my back to get measured. I stayed in triage for a few hours and then was sent home. at least im all registered now! lol. Now theres a really good way to help the pregnant woman recover from a freak out like this: Step 1: Give her a gift card for maternity clothes. (: Thanks Blakie.

17 weeks

18 weeks 22 weeks