Living in the Moment: February 2008

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Gowens Look-alike Meter

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

10 Things We've Learned About Kate in Just 3 Weeks

1. Will not go to sleep unless her stomach is absolutely full
2. Loves to be sung to sleep. Especially by old Hymns (Sweet Bye and Bye, My Jesus I Love Thee, God is So Good) and Beatles :)
3. She smiles and laughs in her sleep
4. She sneezes and has a case of the hiccups after every feeding
5. She loves to sit up and look around
6. She loves to cuddle
7. She is very hot natured and loves to just be in her diaper
8. Can be lulled to sleep by riding around in the car
9. When she falls asleep on our chests she has to reach one of her hands up to touch our skin
10. Loves to give the sweetest open mouth kisses

See below for Pictures from Kate's 3rd Week of Life.......

Kate Turns 3 Weeks Old!!!!

Here are some of my favorite shots from this week.............We're all 3 weeks older and Jared and I are just a wee bit wiser. :)

Me and My Girl

Kissy Kate

Can't Stop................

Kissing Her!!!!

Laughing Girl

Don't know what happened here, but I thought it was a cool picture.

Family self portrait

Do you want to know a secret??? I'm still hungry!!!!

Sunshine on my Shoulder makes me happy......

Kate says, " No Sportscenter for you until my bottle is done."

Me and my napping buddy....she's so cuddly!

Oh bother! It always makes me laugh some of the positions she falls asleep in.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Double Dare Accepted!!!

Dear cousin Pierce

So I heard that you dared me to a mohawk challenge. I think you'll see by the above pictures that I am equal to the challenge.Please check out my other various hairstyles. I am very excited to see you guys very soon. Please see your Mom's blog comments for instructions for your big brothers. I love you guys!!!

Cousin Kate

Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Amazing Mimi

My Mom came to stay with us from the Saturday after Kate was born until that Tuesday. Then she came back again from this past Saturday until Thursday morning. It was awsome to have her here. She cooked homemade meals for us every night she was here. Delicious casseroles made with love and not an ounce of fat free or "health food" in them. ;) She also gave us a welcome break watching and holding Kate so that we could sneak a couple hours of sleep here and there. Any new parent will tell you that is like the gift of pure gold. My Mom lives in DC and works in the Senate and is very into politics. So naturally Kate stayed up with her and watched the primary on Tuesday night. By the way Kate thinks she will vote for Barack Obama because he believes in change. She to believes in change (changing diapers, changing clothes, changing bottles etc.) Maybe I should explain to her the kind of change Obama is talking about. Did I also mention that my Mom did all of these things for us while wearing a "boot" on her foot? She is still recovering from surgery on her achilles tendon. She also took me out to get my hair cut yesterday and out to lunch at Mi Cocina. (Jared's Mom came to watch Kate so that we could make this outing possible. Thanks Nana!) Thanks so much for being there for all 3 of us this week Mom. Kate enjoyed being with you and already misses her Mimi's comfortable shoulder to sleep on. We can't wait to see you in March! We love you!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

This Just In.........

We thought it was hilarious that Kate fell asleep like this. It's as if she is saying, "No please! No more pictures!"

Kate on her real "due date", February 19th

Monday, February 18, 2008

Celebrating 5 Years

5 years of marriage and 1 week after Kate's birth. If we look like we are trying to hold each other up, well that's because we are!

Friday, February 15th was our fifth anniversary. We celebrated by going to Salt Grass Steak house while Jared's parents and sister took care of Kate for a couple of hours. It was wonderful to get out of the house for a while and just share a couple of hours with Jared. We surprisingly found a lot to talk about other than baby things. This was a very different anniversary in wonderful ways. Very low key but a day to celebrate. I never take for granted that our marriage would not exist with out the leading of God. I told Jared in our vows 5 years ago that it was such a great gift to know that you are loved. I did not even know the meaning of the word love the day I got married. Through different experiences over our 5 years of marriage I have just started to discover the meaning of love. Not fairy tale love (as I thought of it the day we were married) but real love. The love that comes from commitment through the nitty and gritty of life. The love that comes from just wanting to sit next to someone and not having to say anything. Just being there with them. God has given me the precious gift of being loved, truly loved.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Story of Kate

This is the story of the day our Kate was born. I woke up at about 3:30 am on February 8th with what I thought might be a contraction but I wasn't really sure. I was sure I had never had a full fledged contraction yet so I was doubtful. I fell back asleep pretty quick. Then 30 minutes later the same feeling. Well, I thought those are Braxton Hicks. I mean 30 minutes apart can't be serious. Then I had one that really got my attention. Hmmmmm.....I thought this could be it. I drifted back to sleep and didn't have anymore. That was it I thought. Just practice contractions. Jared got up around 5:45 to meet the guys for his Friday morning bible study. I didn't mention anything about the contractions, considering they weren't the real thing. I remember he took an especially long time to kiss me and tell me good bye that day. Looking back I think we both knew deep down that this would be a special day for us, the last day for us as just two. At around 6:45 I had another "braxton hicks" contraction. I decided to take a shower and get ready for work, figuring they would go away. By the time I got out of the shower I had had another one. I decided to call my boss and tell her I would be a little late and would be in around 10:30 am. I was very general. I didn't want to be one of those women who said she was in labor and then ended up not being in labor and showing up at work sheepish. I really wanted the time until 10:30 to time these pains I was feeling to see if maybe just maybe this was the real thing. By the time I called Jared at around 8 am I was really feeling some contractions about 14-17 minutes apart. I told him I was having contractions and how far apart they were. He was still meeting with the guys so he was trying to be very general with his questions so that they wouldn't catch on. But when he hung up the guys said "So are we going to have a baby today?" I told him that because they were still pretty far apart that it would probably be a little while. I told him to go work out like he had planned and if it started getting serious I would call him. By the time he texted me from the gym 30 minutes later they were coming about 7-10 minutes apart. "Are you still feeling contractions?" his text read. "Yep!" I managed to text back. He texted back "I'm coming home." By the time he got home my contractions were more in the 5-6 minute range and had been for about 1 hour. That was the advice my Dr had given me on my office visit just the day before. If they are 5-6 minutes apart for an hour call him. So I took a leap of faith and called his office. The nurse said she would call me back after she talked to my Dr. She called me back and said he wanted to see me in his office. Jared and I gathered some things together. We were not very prepared (Kate was 11 days early and I thought I had all of the time in the world!) By the time we got in the truck my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart and very intense all in one place lower abdomen smack dab in the middle. I pretty sure it scared Jared because he turned on his hazard lights and started driving faster than I've ever seen him drive. I was on the phone with my Mom and she got to hear what my contractions sounded like as I huffed and puffed and tried not to scream in her ear (sorry Mom!) I also remember having Jared's hand in a death grip. A trip that usually takes us about 35-45 minutes took 20 minutes. By this time I was thinking if my contractions are 2-3 minutes apart then I must be at least dilated to 8 maybe 9. I was going to join those legions of lucky women who have their babies in under an hour. Not so fast. Jared let me out at the entrance and I walked into the elevator. Of course I was waiting with about 6 other people and of course the elevator was at the top of a 6 story building just stalled up there. And then it stopped on 5 for awhile and then...well you get the picture. I was trying to hide the contractions but I just couldn't so I was just walking around trying to breathe deeply. I must have scared everyone because by the time our elevator came only one person out of 6 got on the elevator with me. This person just stared at me. Didn't say anything. Very uncomfortable. Of course we stopped on every floor with me muttering under my breath "You've got to be kidding me." I finally get off at my Dr's floor and make my way into his office and there is Jared sitting in the waiting room. Apparently, he was able to park the car and ride the elevator all the way up express style with out stopping. I start to sign in and the receptionist looks at me with the sweetest smile and says, "Did you take the stairs?" What?!?!? I said "No my Dr is checking me because I think I am in labor. " This is the same receptionist who when a lady told her that her water broke in the hallway she replied, "Your water bottle?" Apparently some one forgot to tell her she works for an OB. Ok so I go back there to get checked expecting huge progress and my Dr. said "Ok you are a 3 on your way to 4." I couldn't believe it. "That's it?" My Dr said "Betsy you know that's really good considering you were not dilated at all yesterday." I guess!! Before I knew it he was walking us next door to labor and delivery. While my Dr was checking us in I heard one of the nurses say "John, which room do you want to put her in?" Did she just say John? As in a male nurse? I was skeptical. Let me just say that John was an awesome nurse and fit Jared and my personalities perfectly. I should not have worried. I was breathing through some pretty hard contractions and they were getting my IV in so that I could receive that wonderful epidural. Jared was amazing during the whole thing. reminding me to breathe slowly, holding my hand, stroking my hair. Very comforting. I received my epidural around 1 PM. Sweet relief! After that it was great. Jared would look at the monitor and say oh you're having a long contraction. I couldn't feel it. Wonderful things those epidurals! My Dr. checked me and I was a 5-6. The afternoon passed quickly. We watched golf, that 70s show, law and order and other things just waiting for me to dilate. The next time I was checked I was an 8. Then the next time he checked me around 7 pm I was a 10. The nurses left the room and it was just Jared and I. Jared said a prayer for all of us, a beautiful sweet prayer of protection. When the nurses came back in I started to do practice pushes. The one down side of having an epidural is that you can't feel where to push. But Jared and John both encouraged me that I was doing great. Kate's head was having trouble slipping underneath my pubic bone so they decided to do a tug of war tactic to bring her down more. Jared held a towel at one end and pulled as hard as he could while I pulled against him at the opposite end. It must have worked because before I knew it my Dr was getting all gowned up and 2 nurses were in there to tend to Kate when she was born. After another push, some pressure, and just a little help from the vacuum out her head came. I just remember people saying "oh she has a lot of hair!" I looked down to see her and touch her head. I started crying. One more push and out her shoulders came and then the rest of her. Our girl was born!!! I looked up at Jared thinking that I wanted to remember what his face looked like the moment his daughter was born. I'll never forget it. He had tears in his eyes. Jared cut the cord and they immediately took her to the warmer. I didn't get to see her because she had some junk in her lungs that they needed to suction out first. But I heard her sweet cries even with all of the stuff in her lungs. Finally they brought her to me and we all had some sweet family moments. There she was, beautiful and perfect. And that's the story of Kate.