Like Father, Like Daughter

Last night I was doing a few things around the house so Chase was holding a sleeping Emory. Chase has had a VERY long week at work and so within minutes, he too was asleep with Emory at his side. I walked around the corner and found the two of them snoozing away. I promise I did not position Emory's arms like this, she did it on her own!

They sleep the exact same way. What can I say, she is her daddy's girl, in more ways than one!

Hiccups!

Emory gets the hiccups more than any baby I know. It seems that the poor thing gets them every time she eats. When I was pregnant with her I swore every time she would get them she would hit her head on my hip bone. At least that's what it felt like! The other afternoon, my mom and I had her in just her diaper and were taking pictures...I can't seem to take enough...and I caught her in the middle of a hiccup. She use to get very frustrated with them, now I think she has resigned to the fact that they are part of her everyday life!!

"What is this thing?"

Chase and I were a little worried about how the dogs would react to Emory's arrival to our house. When we arrived home from the hospital Chase took the dogs outside to try and get some of their energy out (we weren't too successful) before we brought Emory in. We set her in her swing and let the dogs in. Harley found her first and gave her a big smack in the face with his wet nose, this didn't even phase Emory! Bell found her next and jump on the swing so hard I thought they were both going to go flying across the room! Again, Emory wasn't phased!

All the barking when they hear a noise startles her, but I guess she heard it so much while I was pregnant with her that she's use to it by now. Harley is very protective of her. He doesn't like it when she cries. Sometimes I will try and let her self-soothe herself when she gets fussy and apparently Harley thinks that is cruel and insists that I pick her up! He has even nudged me out of bed a few times to make me get up and get her!!

Belle is very curious and will come up and sniff her, realize that she is in fact still here, and goes about her business. No aggressive behavior from either of them right now. I have to admit that I thought they would have this "what the heck have you brought into this house!?" attitude, but so far so good! Things may change when Emory is doing more than sleeping, eating, and pooping!! They do take advantage of the moments that I am not holding her to get some attention for themselves, but otherwise, their world seems undisturbed. They are still the same lazy animals!!

First Family Walk

Sunday afternoon Chase and I decided to take a family walk. We thought it would be good to get out and get some exercise and get out of the house. I got Emory ready to go and he got the stroller and car seat out into the driveway. We buckled her in and off we went. Well, this how it ended up...

An empty stroller...great for carrying my water bottle...

And unhappy Emory being carried by daddy!
Needless to say that we had a VERY short walk! Oh well, maybe next time!

Laundry

We arrived home late Wednesday afternoon from the hospital and have now been home from the hospital for two nights and three days. To me that doesn't seem like a long time. However, in that time we have managed to go through a pack and a half of diapers and generated more laundry then I thought possible. The first night home we managed to dirty both changing pad covers while changing her diaper. Now it wasn't from us getting something on it, it was Emory. Little boys aren't the only ones that tee tee when the diaper is off...yes she did it twice!!

Ok, here is the run down on the stuff we have managed to dirty since being home:

3 receiving blankets
2 changing pad covers
9 outfits/onesies
4 burp cloths
1 Boppy cover

We had a little spit up and she's a messy eater, plus we've already had two blow out poops!! Who would have thought that something so small could dirty that much in a matter of three days?!

Anyway things are going well. We went to the doctor today to see where she was on her weight. She was born 8lbs 8ozs, lost down to 7lbs 12ozs, and today she weighed 8lbs 5ozs! Apparently they give two weeks for a baby to come back to birth weight, but Emory only needed a few days!

Then Comes the Baby...

She's here, she's here, she's here!!!! Emory Elizabeth graced us with her sweet presence on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 6:51pm. She weighed 8lbs, 8 1/4ozs and was 20in long.

Chase laughed at me when I told him that the microwave had to be mounted before Emory would come. Less than 12 hours after it was mounted, I went into labor.

Ok here is the short version of the story...
I had be working around the house ALL day Saturday trying to check things off of my check list. Chase slept REALLY late that day because he had had a VERY long week at work and was lacking in sleep. At around midnight I told Chase that I wasn't tired at all and that I didn't think I could go to sleep if I tried. Since he had slept until 2:30 that afternoon, he wasn't tired either. We were finally ready to go to bed around 4am and I had done everything on my list that I could do. The rest could wait. But God and Emory had other plans.

Around 4:30a I started having contractions. They didn't feel any different from the ones I had had before. However, it appeared that these were coming every four to five minutes. I decided to get up and get in the bath and see if that helped relieve them...nope, and to top it off, my water broke. At least I thought it had. I went and told Chase and of course he got VERY excited. Me, I was trying not to get my hopes up. I had this fear of going to the hospital and thinking I was in labor and then be sent home! I got in the shower and Chase packed everything else that we needed that wasn't packed already. We called the doctor and told him that we were going to go to the hospital and he said he would see us there. We checked in at 7am, placed in a VERY small and hot triage room, and they confirmed that my water had broken. The nurse said "Well, it looks like today is going to be Emory's birthday." That is when the excitement started! I was going to be a mommy!

The contractions started to get very intense but they weren't as intense or as close together as the doctor wanted so they decided to start pitocin and I decided to get an epidural. Chase was happy about that because I think his hand was being to hurt from being squeezed so hard. I got the epidural at 2pm and fell asleep (one of the best discoveries in modern medicine, ever!!). I slept until 5pm. Now when I fell asleep I was only 2cm dilated and 80% effaced, when I woke up at 5pm, I was complete. I had slept through the hardest part of labor. Now came the pushing.

That didn't go so well. Even though I was fully dilated, Emory was still at station -2. (for those of you who don't know, that means she was still way too high). At that time it meant I was going to be pushing for at least an hour maybe longer. Emory didn't like that very much so she started to pitch a fit. Every time I pushed, no matter which position, Emory's heart rate would drop into the 80s. Not good. I pushed about 5 times with the same reaction. That is when the doctor decided to do a C-Section. I didn't care at that point I just wanted her to be healthy. 20 minutes later Chase and I were parents!! Turns out Emory's shoulders wouldn't go past my hips, the doctor said that a C-section was the only way she was going to come out. It is the most amazing thing that I have EVER experience. She is perfect and we could not ask for more. I thank God for her every second!!

Minutes old, kinda swollen, and she looks a little pissed off!!

Our first family photo. I don't remember much after that. I was given a very high dose of morphine and the rest of the evening is a little blurry!

The very proud daddy. She already has him wrapped around her little finger. She loves her daddy!

Getting ready to go home on Wednesday, April 16. That is the same dress that I wore home from the hospital when I was born.

Ready to go home!

Love from Mommy!!

Ready to go on her first car ride. Which by the way, went VERY well!!

The Microwave is Mounted...Finally!!

For those of you who have had the pleasure of listening to me rant over the last two months, can now rest assured that the microwave is now mounted!!! Almost two and a half months after it arrived at our house!!

A little background...

We purchased an over-the-range space saver microwave when we moved into our new house in Mt. Juliet. It arrived the weekend of the Super Bowl, Feb 3. For a month it sat on my dining room floor, completely useless and then was finally moved to the kitchen counter were it sat for another month. Now obviously being on the counter was NOT saving me any space because the microwave it HUGE to say the least but at least I could use it if I needed it! Chase had good intentions to get it mounted but had difficulty getting a friend over to help him plus we had an issue with the venting system. But today the microwave finally made it above my stove and it looks wonderful!! It was definitely more of a hassle then I thought it was going to be. So thanks you Chase and Brad! Now Emory is free to come whenever...hopefully soon!!

Then Comes Marriage...

We were engaged for 8 1/2 months and have now been married for almost three years. We married May 28, 2005 at The Church in the Pines in Alexander City, on Lake Martin. The ceremony was beautiful and personal, exactly what we wanted. The reception was at my grandparents lake house, which sadly they have sold! :( And then it was off to Jamaica!

We lived in a townhouse in Cahaba Heights, then bought a house in McCalla the following December. We lived there for a year and then things changed with Chase's job situation and we decided to try something different. In January 2007 we moved to Nashville, TN and have loved it so far.

Nashville has been great to us. We both started new jobs, Chase works for Shelter Distribution...it might be called Best Distributing now. Anyway, he is in the management trainee program there. They sell roofing and siding...I don't know all the details, I just know he works A LOT. I took a job at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and love it, except for the nights part, but that is about to change.

Though it was hard at first to move away from family and friends. We are having a great time and actually get back to Birmingham more than we thought. We can't miss UAB football!! :)

Here are a few photos from the past few years...just a few!

First Comes Love...

We only have a few days left until our due date. Things are progressing, slowly, but progressing none-the-less. So while I'm still playing "the waiting game" I thought I would put up a few more posts.

Chase and I met when I was a sophomore and he was a freshman at UAB. He has always been a very flirty guy and use to tell me that we would make such a cute couple! I would tell him he was crazy! A year and a half later...roughly...we were dating and shortly thereafter we were engaged! It seems like forever ago! Here are a few photos from our "courtship" days!

Lazy Animals

Many of you know my dogs, Belle and Harley. I must say they are two of the best dogs ever. Belle can be kind of a brat sometimes but she's cute and that is about the only thing that has kept her alive sometimes!! :) Nevertheless, she is a great dog. Harley has been wonderful from day one. He was house trained when we adopted him, he is loving, and he hates to make us mad. Harley is a typical first child. Belle sometimes reminds me of my cousin Claire, she does what makes her happy, but she's cute so she gets away with it!!

I couldn't help but notice lately how lazy my dogs really are. I work nights so they both sleep all night with Chase and then when I get home, they greet me at the door and then run to the bedroom, jump on the bed, curl up in a ball, and go back to sleep for another 8 hours or so! Even on my days off, they seem annoyed when I get up and walk to another room, disturbing their precious sleep!

They really have no idea what is to come. Their little world of uninterrupted sleep for 18+ hours a day, is about to be turned upside down!

Sleeping in the car after a long hard weekend with the dog cousins!

This bed was recently purchased by my parents to go in our bonus room, for when they visit. Belle and Harley, I believe, think that we have just given them the best dog bed ever!!

The Waiting Game

I am not completely to the point where I don't want to be pregnant anymore, but I'm getting there. Generally speaking, on a normal day that I don't work a 12 hour shift, I feel great! I love being pregnant and I am enjoying preparing the house for whats to come. But tonight, as I sit here, barely half way through my shift, I think, "OK, I'm ready, any day now would be FINE by me." However, Emory seems to be happy where she is. She hasn't "dropped" and for the last three doctor's visits I have had no changes!! But with the due date just 10 days away, she really could come any day now, so begins the waiting game.

I told myself that I was going to do laps tonight around the floor and maybe take the stairs, but my legs feel like they are full of lead!! Maybe next week! Other mothers have been giving me tips about what could induce labor. I'm not that desperate...yet! But I'm SOOO ready to meet her!! I seem to dream about her every night!

It's funny because every time I call any of my family members these days the first thing out of their mouths is "Are you in labor?!" I guess calling "just to talk" is out of the question. Now I'm not the important one, they just want to know if their niece or granddaughter is on her way! Chase is the same way, I call and he asks if I'm in labor. This of course is followed by a "no" and then he seems to get a little disapointed! :) I hate to tell them but she isn't going anywhere anytime soon! At least not until the microwave is mounted above my stove!! :)