TheMaines

Whats in a Name?

2012-01-24T14:59:00.000-06:00

As people have been asking me how we cane up with the name “Eden”, I decided to write about it…then I realized that I haven’t written about how we came up with Tatum’s name- so I will do both!

When we named our girls, we didn’t know anyone else with their names, and I like that. I know of some people who have Tatum as a last name, but not first. Since Tatum has been born I know of someone else with a baby named Tatum, but he is a boy. And someone else we know has named their daughter Tatum. I like the uniqueness of their names. With both girls when we were picking out names I would look up the popularity of that name to make sure it wasn’t too common. Brian didn’t really care about that and made fun of me a bit. But the meaning of the name we chose was important to both of us.

TATUM RAE MAINES

People didn’t ever ask much how we came up with “Tatum” ( I guess it’s a little bit more of a common name), so I don’t get to explain it much even though I really like to. As some of you know, my older brother died about 4 ½ years ago and his name was Nathan Tate Wilson. So, that’s where Tatum comes from. And the name means ‘bringer of joy’. Which is so fitting for our sweet girl. Not only does Tatum bring joy to the lives of those whom she meets, but she also has brought so much joy back to my parents. Especially my mom; Tatum brought joy back into my mom’s life where it had been absent for two years. And, of course, Tatum continually brings joy into my heart. She is so precious.

Rae is my middle name. And my uncle’s and my cousin’s etc. all the way back to where it was originally a last name on my mom’s side.

Rae is also a family name on Brian’s dad’s side! So it was really cool for us to get to use a name that honors both of our families.

EDEN ANNE MAINES

I have had a huge list of both girl and boy names picked out ever since we first got pregnant with Tatum. So when we found out we were having another girl, I just assumed that we would choose a name from that list. I really liked the name Harlow. Brian liked it too, but he liked Autum more. I liked Autum, but I liked Harlow more… We couldn’t agree and I was pretty sure I was going to ‘win’.. after all the little nugget was inside of me- surely that meant I was more capable of picking her name. Not to mention, who wants to argue with a pregnant woman :) ?

Then one night I was reading through a bible study online that was talking about Eden. As I was reading, I began to think about what Eden represents. So, naturally, I look it up online as a name and find that (duh) it is very rare. Then I look up the meaning: of course it was the name of God’s garden where Adam and Eve first lived; also a delightful place, a paradise; also a state of innocence, bliss, ultimate happiness. Perfect. So I walked out of the office and casually informed Brian what our daughters name was :). It caught him off guard, but once he had time to process my rapid departure from our Harlow/Autum conversation, he loved it too!

I frequently pray those definitions over our own Eden- that she would remain innocent, that her beauty would bring God pleasure, happiness.

Anne is Brian’s mom’s middle name. And also his great Aunt’s name.

I also have an aunt Anne. And it was my Dad’s grandmother’s name. So cool to have another name to honor both families!

I love our girls so much and I love what their names represent.

“You were in Eden, the garden of God…your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.” Genesis 28:13

Eden's Birth Story

2012-01-16T17:21:00.000-06:00

The day before sweet Eden joined our family was a Sunday, and a pretty typical one. Church, lunch at home, hanging out as a family, dinner at my parents etc. Except I didn’t go to church because I was having some pretty strong contractions. But they stopped before Brian and Tatum even got home from church. After Tatum went to bed Brian and I painted my belly as a pumpkin just like we did when Tater was inside it. (**side note- We had tried to paint the belly about a week before with Tatum. She just took over the job and painted Mommy’s tummy all up, then moved on to painting hers. It was the most precious ting ever!) This time we decided to make it a jack-o-lantern face instead of just a pumpkin… not knowing at the time how appropriate that would be- Eden was born on Halloween day! After belly painting (and subsequent belly washing), Brian and I watched Sleepy Hollow since it was the day before Halloween (I wanted to watch a scary movie…Brian is not a huge scary movie fan…but we are both Johnny Depp fans…so we settled on a not-very-scary Depp movie).

About an hour into the movie- around 10ish- I started having contractions. I didn’t say anything to Brian because of the false alarm earlier that morning. We got in bed around midnightish and by that time my contractions were pretty intense. I told Brian and he rubbed my back while I timed contractions (there are some pretty convenient iPhone apps for this!) Abut thirty minutes later I gave up and got out of bed. I played in the computer (pinterest!) and showered then paced the house for a while. I was in pretty excruciating pain by this time. So I work Brian up and said “Two questions: how long will it take you to get ready and how soon can your dad be here?” He got up and called Kenny (to come stay at the house with Tatum- Thanks Kenny!) and we left the house about thirty minutes later (again, Thanks Papaw for waking up and rushing to our house in the middle of the night so Miss Taum could stay asleep!)

We had to pull over on the way to the hospital during contractions so I could walk around because I think I might have imploded if I had to stay sitting. The hospital is only about 10 minutes from our house and I had three contractions on the way there… good thing Papaw gets ready quick!

Once we got to the hospital they immediately put us in a room- I guess they could tell by looking at me this was the real thing, because they didn’t check me first. After we got in the room and the nurse checked me I was already 7cm! I was pretty excited- Eden will be here SOON! But then the nurse poops all over my party by telling me I should get an epidural because they want me to wait at least three hours because of group B strep!! Youre kidding, right? No. Really? Yes. I stayed at home as long as I possibly could and now I realize I should have come in much earlier. Guess I didn’t think that one all the way through. But I as hoping for a natural (as possible at least) birth and wanted to do most of my labor at home.

The anesthesiologist got there lickidy spit so they could slow labor down. Unfortunately, the first epidural attempt was no good because it didn’t hit the epidural space. Youre kidding, right? No. Really? Yes. Okay, lets start all over again. The whole thing took about 20 minutes, which is a reeeeally long time when you are having almost constant contractions and having to ‘relax’ and sit super still.

Right after the epidural was finished my parents got there and the poor anesthesiologist was trying to explain to my mom why he had to re-do the epidural (my mom is an anesthesiologist and both my parents showed up in scrubs…they made people nervous :)).

The epidural worked to dull the pain of the contractions….but that’s it. About 30 minutes after it was finished I started feeling an intense need to push. And I would continue feeling that urge for the next three hours until the entire dose of antibiotics was in me.

Meanwhile, poor Brian is not feeling well- he was not handling me in pain very well and hadn’t slept much. By the time it was finally time to push, he was literally green and felt faint…and not because of the gore (he was totally fine for Tatum’s birth and cut the cord both times). So my mom stayed in the room with me to help. Brian was there too, but had to sit in a chair by my head.

I could feel EVERYTHING below my waist despite the epidural. Thankfully, I only had to push for about 10 minutes!

Eden Anne Maines was born 10/31/2011 at 7:25 am 6lbs 15oz. 20 ½ in

Then they laid my b-e-a-utiful baby girl on my chest and it almost made the pain of the stitching bearable :). She was beautiful, and healthy, and strong. They let me hold her the whole time Dr. Devine was working on me and as long after as I wanted. They also did all of her newborn care in the room with me, which their policy did not allow for with Tatum (Tatum was perfectly healthy also, it was a policy change). It was so wonderful that she never had to leave my side at all!!

It was pretty immediately apparent that sweet Eden got her Daddy’s lungs, because this baby could get VOLUME when she cried (still true today at 2 ½ months). Its funny how, as a Mommy, you will be proud of every single trait your baby has. Loud scream? Yeeeah! That’s my girl!

Painted Tatum belly:

Tatum painting belly:

Night before Tatum was born:

Night before Eden was born:

Eden painted belly: (our art skills seem to have retarded)

Headed to the hospital...feeling the pain!

My 'team!'

Tatum is holding Eden's hand...so sweet!

Kenny and Sharon brought Tatum up to meet her baby sister later that day, and she was UNBELIEVEABLE! I was worried about what she would think of her Mommy holding someone besides her, but she was so natural about it! I was not holding Eden when Tatum came in the room so she got to come sit on Mommy’s lap first. Then Brian brought Eden over to us and put her in my arms. Tatum looked at her for a minute then said “I need to kiss my baby”. She has loved her every moment since! (though she has not always loved having to share Mommy and Daddy’s attention)

Tatum- 2 years, 2 months

2012-01-15T16:07:00.002-06:00

Two Years and Two Months- Tatum

I haven’t updates on the Tiny Princess in a (long) while, and she has changed SO much. Here are a few of the things she is up to these days:

-LOVES watching shows. And Mommy always has to be the bad guy who limits them, while Daddy and grandparents get to be the fun ones who always let her watch ‘shows’. (Favorite shows: King George and the Duckie, Lord of the Bean, Drummer Boy, any other Veggie Tales, Dora the Explorer, Charlie Brown, Blues Clues)

-Loves kissing and loving on ‘her’ baby.

-Is incredibly sweet and gentle with her baby. We mostly just have to worry about her smothering Eden when she kisses her.

- Likes playing with her dollhouse or doing drum solos on her new drum set.

-Likes having me or Daddy sing ‘old macdonald’ to her- she will tell us what animal when it comes to that part in the song.

-Other favorite songs include: Twinkle Twinkle, Rock a By Baby, Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves Me, Joy Joy Joy, any song from Dora, any Veggie Tales song.

-Likes to cuddle in Mommy and Daddys bed…alone :(

-Loves wearing ‘her’ bracelets. When we tell her we are going bye-bye she will run to my closet and start loading her arm up with my bracelets saying “I’m not ready yet”.

-LOOOOVES to play at the park, and doesn’t understand why she cant play at the park when its cold.

-Reading books. With me (or anyone else..) or by herself.

She cracks me up daily. She brings so much joy to my heart. She is hilarious and a mess and so sweet.

Most days she sleeps to 9am, then I have to wake her up!

She goes to bed between 8:00-9:00, but often stays up talking (to herself) for sometimes more than an hour. She is never upset, just talking away. She also does not like to get out of bed right when she wakes up…yep shes Mama’s girl!

Tatum is still sleeping in her crib. I am in no rush to move to a big girl bed for several reasons: she is a crazy sleeper and is all over the bed and would fall out… a lot. She is usually awake a while before falling asleep…cant imagine how much longer she would be awake if she had free rein of her whole room. She is content in her crib and that means more sleep for everyone.

Common Phrases-

-I need to watch my shows.

-I just cant stand it (used to be I don’t cant stand it)- courtesy of Charley Brown

-Money money money- curtesy of Charlie Brown (the second she starts calling everything ‘stupid’ I think I am going to have to break her Charlie Brown habit).

-I’m coconuts.

- Stop. Stop it. (not my favorite)

- I would like to listen to King George (we have King George and the Duckie Veggie Tales audio that she likes to listen to in the car)

-I need to ________.

-I luf yooou, Momma (yep, my favorite :) )

- keeeeess, kiss, kiss (while kissing Eden)

-I need to kiss my baby.

-whas wrong baby?

-She need to eat, Mommy.

-She need to go to sleep, Mommy.

-My baby is crrryin. She needa kiss.

*side note- Tatum is often spot-on regarding what Eden is needing.

-She’s weeedle (about Eden)

Favorite Foods:

Chicken

Grapes

Apples

Tomatoes

Peas

Chick Fil A

McCalister’s

Chocolate

Fruit snacks

Milkshakes

Coloring together:

Bracelets, necklace, jammies, and Daddy's shoes; she pulls it off:

She was trying to suck Eden's boogies (note Boogie sucker in her hand) and when She saw me looking at her she said "Dont do it. Dont I do it."

At Ben and Jordan's Wedding...Little Miss Thing:

Eden- Two Months

2012-01-15T14:42:00.002-06:00

Two Months- Eden

(How in the world is she already two months?!)

Weight: 12 lbs

Sleeping- most nights between 6-8 hours, but she slept 10 hours last night!!

She still sleeps in her bouncy seat in our room at night, but is taking naps in her crib in her room during the day now.

She had been eating about every 3 hours at 1 month, but lately is more like2-2 ½ hours most of the time. She is having a hard time with daytime naps, which is making her want to eat more.

She smiles a lot and warms my heart with each one.

She has always done well in the car- except at stop lights, etc.

She has struggled with blocked tear ducts since she was born, but they seem to FINALLY be open and not infected now (fingers crossed- they have gotten better in the past only to get goopy again).

LIKES:

-Cuddling with Mommy or Daddy. Such a snuggler.

-Holding her head up and looking around.

-She LOVES watching her big sister play and especially loves it when Tatum Talks to her and gives her kisses- which sweet Tatum does a LOT.

-When Mommy sings to her (there are now two people in the world who like me singing… and I birthed them both J) and her favorite is ‘row row row your boat’.

-Talking and ‘telling us all about it’. Sometimes she even tries to talk while she is nursing…she just has lots to say.

-Bath time, but not having her hair washed…and is not usually happy when I get her out of the tub. But I cant blame her; getting out is obviously the worst part of any bath!

-Her Poppy. She (of course) loves all her grandparents, but she seems to have a special connection with her Pop. She has taken over his arm and claimed it as her spot these days J

-Diaper change. She loves the freedom of no diaper and just kicks her rolly little legs and grins the whole time.

My eyes are red from allergies and the camera flash, but Eden is sweet nonetheless.

Pretty typical morning at our house; Tatum always wants to see her baby as soon as she wakes up (as soon as Tatum wakes up...Eden is up before Tatum, hence why Eden is dressed and Tatum is still in her jammies sucking her thumb :)):

Poop

2011-08-05T11:24:00.000-05:00

That post was like 15x longer than what published. Not sure what happened.

Random/ Sugar High

2011-08-05T10:04:00.002-05:00

Well, I am sitting here at Covenant- not to worry, not in labor- for my 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I brought my laptop intending to spend these three hours working... but I did not realize that I cant since I am signed into an unsecured network. Bummer. Sooo, this will be a pretty random post with no pictures, since I dont have any on my work computer.

Random thought #1- I am REEEEAAALLY hoping to see a woman come in in labor, and even strategically positioned myself near the elevator and help desk to maximize my chances. I am hoping for broken water. I think that would be most exciting.

Random thought #2- It has been a really long time since the last time I blogged because I have been trying to catch up on scrapbooking (I am over a year behind! Yikes.) before sweet girl number 2 arrives. Also, we just moved to a new home on July 11!! It is only about a mile away from our old house, but is much bigger to accomodate our growing family. Needless to say, between taking care of the worlds sweetest almost 2 year old, getting moved in and keeping two houses clean (our old house isnt sold yet), being pregnant in the hottest summer on earth (okay, so maybe thats not exaclty accurate, but it IS Lubbocks hottest summer on record), and using any free time to scrapbook... blogging hasnt been happening.

By the way, baby girls name is Eden Ann Maines (still debate as to weather or not there will be an 'e' on Ann).

There is so much pregnancy stuff to update on I'm not positive where to start. I guess I will start with what I am doing right now. As I mentioned, I am at Covenant for a 3 hour GTT. Getting to this point has been quite an emotional roller coaster. As most of you know, I did have gestational diabetes when pregant with Tiny Princess. so there was a pretty strong chance that I would have it with this baby also. So my amazing OB, Susan Devine, did the glucose screening (1 hour test) early at 24 weeks. Since I was diabetic last time around I have a glucometer and some left over test strips that are over a year expired. But I didnt figure the expiration should matter too much and

Funny Story

2011-06-12T12:26:00.002-05:00

With Tatum's refrigerator letters I spelled out the word 'uncopywritable'. When Brian came home I told him to look at the fridge to see what a genius his daughter was. He looks at it for a minute then starts to sound out "un-copy- writ-ab-lee" like it is a different language. After laughing hysterically at him I told him the word is uncopywritable- the longest word in the English dictionary that does not repeat any letters...thus the longest word 'Tatum' could have possibly written with her refrigerator letters seeing as she only has one of each letter.

So, my daughter is a genius. And, well, my husband.... :)

Guess this laundry basket looked like a comfy place for a rest? I mean, after all of that spelling and all...

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY JUDO!!!

2011-06-12T11:59:00.004-05:00

In February, our sweet friend, Jude Wootten, turned TWO! It seems like just the other day that Laney's water broke while Pearl Merchant was playing a DNow in Dallas... cant believe that little guy is already 2 (almost 2 and a half now actually..)!

Miss Tatum being sooo good not touching the table!

''Hey Mom, why do I get some?"

Still being good (and adorable) peeking over the table!

The birthday boy and his pretty mama.

Opening gifts...the fun part!

Enjoying some cake.

Poor Brian is not in a single picture from this day because he was playing photographer (and did a great job!)

Valentines Day 2011

2011-06-12T11:42:00.002-05:00

On Valentine's Day last year, Brian had a tummy bug. Needless to say it was not the most romantic February 14 we have ever spent together! Though we managed not to get any pictures of our Valentine's date this year, we had lots of fun.

This is Daddy and Princess about to head out for their very first Valentine's date together! He took her to Abuelos for lunch. He even came home from work and got dressed up for her (he was making t-shirts at this time, so his work clothes werent the nicest).

The precious headband has already bit the dust...not even in the car yet!

Daddy ordered her favorite- TOMATOES!

Unrelated to Valentines Day perse, but later that night we ate dinner with Uncle Joshie. And this picture is way to adorable not to share!

Mischievousness in her Valentines outfit!

Heartmelter!

I realize that there is not a single picture of Brian and I together in this post, but I promise we did have a very special date just the two of us...we just didnt have anyone to take pictures!

First Things First

2011-06-12T11:32:00.002-05:00

Can we please talk about how quickly babies become toddlers?

This is Tatum last summer. She was just learning to crawl.

Looking at her now, I am so proud of her for all of the things she has learned and accomplished. It is amazing to watch her development. These days she is running all over the place, learning to obey, and talking up a storm. She is incredible and I love her so much.

More than any Toy

2011-04-19T15:55:00.003-05:00

At Paradigm last week Nate was praying about how God wants/accepts us just as we are and how we don’t need to do anything ‘first’ before we can run into His arms. There is nothing we can do to ‘prepare’ or make ourselves more acceptable for Him; He is always there waiting. This brought a really cool analogy to my mind that I thought I would share.

Tatum knows the sound of the garage door opening and she knows that sound means that Daddy is home. And this little princess loooves her Daddy- she gets so excited when he gets home from work. (Side note, on really windy days a big gust can occasionally blow against the door just right to make it sound like its opening, and Tatum gets really excited about seeing Daddy. And I have to be the bad guy and tell her he isn’t home yet. Breaks my heart each time.) SO, back to the point. We are usually playing together in the living room when Brian gets home in the afternoons, and no matter what we are doing Tatum stops immediately to prepare for seeing daddy. This involves running to her toys and digging through them to pick out just the right one that will make Daddy happy. Sometimes it takes her a minute to find the right toy (different each time) so Brian is already inside the door and waiting for her when she digs it out and runs to him. Of course, Daddy always acts really happy about the toy and thanks her. But, honestly, Brian is not interested in the toy…he is excited to see his baby girl and to love on her. Nothing she could possibly bring him could make him any more excited about picking her up and kissing on her. But in Tatum’s sweet mind, she wants to bring Daddy a gift to make him happy. And often, her preparations delay her getting into his arms since he is standing there waiting as she excitedly digs for a toy.

What a simple picture of how our Heavenly Father loves us and longs to hold us. He is patient as we attempt to do things that we think will please Him. But, more than anything, He wants us to run into his arms. Nothing we can do could make us worthy of His love; but how much time to we waste trying? Instead of just running into his arms.

So, what things in your life are you waiting to accomplish or obtain before you can truly reach out to your Father?

Super Bowl 2011 and a Cuddly Morning

2011-04-19T14:50:00.004-05:00

We didnt do anything crazy for the super-bowl this year (not that we normally do..). We just stayed home and watched it as a family.

Getting everything set up for the game. I promise I am not normally on my phone like that. In fact, this picture irritates me because I'm messing around on my phone instead of paying attention to life. Nonetheless, Brian had just brought Tatum's chair out of her room for her and she felt pretty special about it.

See?

Sitting in her chair like a big girl! This did NOT last the whole game....or much more than a few minutes actually.

She liked this seat better :)

One of the super cold mornings we had this year... (seems like we had a lot of those). Me and Tatybear were hanging out at the house in our jammies and I decided to bust out the camera.

Hey Mama, I emptied my toy box, what do you want me to do now?

Still a little sleepy

These next two pictures are of her giving me air kisses. She is so sweet.

Mommy attempting to take a picture of us both. She was so cute though, wanting to put her face right next to mine :)

Love Love LOVE this!!

BRRRRR!!

2011-04-05T13:52:00.005-05:00

So, as many of you may recall, there was quite a cold spell complete with snow back in early February. And many of you even blogged about said winter activity…back in February. Well, consider this a blast from the past (as all my blogs are beginning to be). Drumroll please… bumbumbumbum… Tatum’s Snow Extravaganza!!

This first set of pictures is from the day that it was a record cold in Lubbock. Tatum and I spent probably about 20 minutes bundling up in several layers. And then about 5 minutes outside! It was dang cold! Well worth it though, in my book. I was really excited to get Tatum out in the snow since this was the first snow since she had been walking and “really able to play in it” (aka squat down and touch it/ walk around in it) :). I am super grateful that Daddy happened to come home right before we ventured out so that he could document the adventure!

Suiting up! I love her expression!

She totally looks like Ralphy's little brother in Christmas Story!

Talking about the snow

I let Daddy in on the fun too!

These next pictures were taken the next day…when it was like 30 degrees warmer and way more fun to play in the snow. Princess really enjoyed walking around in the snow and stopping to squat down and scoop up handfuls. She did not like it as much when Mommy decided that it was time to go in and warm up :)

I was trying to take a picture with her... next to me that is.

The last pictures are unrelated to the snow but adorable and happened to be taken the same day. This is the head to her little drum... smushed on her face. These pictures still make me laugh!

Building Suspense

2011-04-01T17:23:00.006-05:00

Its been nearly a month since part two…but here is part three! Our house was sickville for a few weeks and it has taken some catching up to get back in our routine around here, but I think I’m finally here. As soon as we got back from Ruidoso at the end of February I had the worse case of strep throat I have ever had. My entire tonsil was white. Yuck. Then I caught a pretty yucky cold which turned into a sinus infection and seemed to hang around forever. Then my poor husband came down with strep. Then poor little girl ended up with both my cold and strep. Then Brian caught the cold. Haha. Yeah, like I said, a rough few weeks in the Maines house! But we are all healed now and very grateful for health!

On LA day 4 we went to Ventura, CA to visit Sharon’s Uncle Gary and Aunt Pat and her cousins Wendy and Dana. Uncle Gary is Sharon’s dad’s brother and apparently his look-a-like also! It was a lot of fun meeting the family, whom I had never met prior. We had a fun day of hanging out and a delicious lunch also! They also borrowed lots of toys to have there for Tatum to play with- such sweet people!

Sharon and Uncle Gary

The fam damily

From mischievous....

....to sweet in 1 second flat! Thats my girl!

After the Ventura visit we drove to Santa Barbra to visit the pier and have dinner. It was pretty stinking cold that evening so we bundled the princess up and I carried her in the ergo (which, btw, she does not mind at all because she still likes to be carried…especially by Mommy J)

I will just sum this picture up by saying that Sharon and I are the coolest people you will ever meet. And a gorgeous background. And a rainbow.

Trying on hats in a gift shop. They look a lot alike here. Not just because of the hair either..

Cheesin' at dinner.

Ignore Tatum's finger... she didnt mean it

My pickle lover. She ate the entire spear. She calls them 'ickles'

On day 5 (I think I have my days right) we went to visit cousin Natalie. Tatum was asleep when we got there and woke up in Natalies arms (who she had never met before) and was totally unconcerned with this. She loved the dogs and Beckett’s toys and was perfectly comfortable in a strange place and in a stranger’s arms. I guess she knows family J.

Taytay still has her sleeping/just-woke-up face. Sweet girl.

After Natalie’s house we went to the roof of a hotel that Kiki represents to watch the sunset. B-e-a-utiful! Unfortunately, Kiki had to work and wasnt with us. Considering that Tatum had only had a very short nap in the car and Natalie’s arms, she was in pretty good spirits. As long as she was allowed to walk around and explore she was okay.

Not the best picture of us, but shows the amazing view.

Late night shenanigans.

Sweet girl did great on the flights home! Mommy did okay…on our first flight the man behind us threw up. AHHH! I didn’t have a panic attack though; but I did panic a bit. Thankfully Tatum was sleeping in Daddy’s arms so I could just focus on not having a panic attack. I didn’t put my feet down for the rest of the flight though…just in case.

Big girl! Ready to go.

Watching Dora on the Ipad with Daddy.

And a special treat during landing to keep her ears clear!

We had such a wonderful time in LA! Huge Thanks to Muncle and Kiki for hosting us and showing us so much fun!

LA- continued

2011-03-08T16:43:00.012-06:00

Okay, so I posted more pictures than I had planned because I couldn’t pick my favorites…so here’s part 2!

After the beach on the first day, we walked through a little shopping center (actually…it wasn’t very little) and ate at PF Changs. YUMM my favorite!

On to day 2… Papaw brought us all doughnuts (which he did every following morning as well) and we spent the morning at J & K’s apartment while Katie and Jeremy worked. I think Brian and Kenny went running…over achievers. I showered… so I accomplished something that morning too J . After Tatum woke up from an early nap we went with Muncle to visit Kiki at work, eat lunch, visit his work, and walk around some pretty neighborhoods. Then we dropped Muncle off at a meeting (Beverly Hillbilly Style- with Sharon sitting in the trunk of her Rav….as she did every time we drove somewhere.) and went back to previously mentioned large shopping center to walk around and wait for Muncle and Kiki to meet us for dinner.

OH! How could I forget! After dinner we went to get some scrumptious cupcakes!

Sweet little TatyBear was worn out! Muncle was so sweet letting her borrow his jacket..Tatum was grateful to so she thanked him by hiding some cheerioes in it.

The following day, I believe was Saturday, so J & K both had the day off of work! Yay! Papaw started our day off with doughy goodness. Then, while Princess was taking an early nap Brian took me walking to some of the places he and Kenny had seen while running. It was fun having some hubby time to myself. After Tatum woke up we walked to lunch and then back to the shopping area to walk around some more. Afterwards, we got ready and headed down to the beach to play and watch the sun set. Have I mentioned how much Tater looooves the beach? She had so much fun getting her feet wet in the waves, even though the water was frrrreezing cold. She would squeal with excitement and then shiver from the cold. She also enjoyed walking around in the sand and chasing the birds. She kept calling them ducks and saying “cack cack”, though in her defense, they were really large seagulls.

Queen of the Muncle

This picture cracks me up. Apparently Tatum is high maintenance- Kenny pushing, Sharon and Jeremy fixing!

Playing catch on the beach.... Im sure Brian was the one who ended up with the catch :) Sorry Jerms.

Newly weds :)

While at the beach, Sharon decided that she wanted to torture Tatum...aka- take a picture with her. (and make her stop exploring)

I think the picture turned out great!

Tatum meeting Andrew...

Clearly unsure of him....might have been the hot pink shorts.

However, after doing a thorough background check via his wallet, she decided he was okay.

BIG thanks to Andrew for letting a sleepy and fussy little girl go through your wallet and keeping her smiley!

Los Angeles

2011-03-07T16:19:00.006-06:00

A little while back (as in the end of January), Brian, Tatum and I made a trip to LA with Nana and Papaw to visit Jeremy and Katie aka Muncle and Keke (…or kiki?). We had flown with Tatum once before when she was around 9 months old and she had done very well on that trip. Still, I was a little leery of how she would do cooped up on planes and in the airport all day. Like usual, she blew me away with how all-around amazing she is. Actually, she pretty much floored me with her good behavior the entire trip. It was defiantly a ‘grown up’ trip in that we were often out and about during nap time and long past bed time, and most/all of the places we went were not places she could run around and play. Despite that, we did not have a single major melt-down. I know, impressive right? This girl just loves being around people and spending time being loved on by her family (and their was lots of that J).

Some pictures from the flights to LA:

I am obsessed with this cute and ever so cheesy grin. Apparently she was too, which is why she is doing it in every picture. Adorable!

....We woke up early.

Being a big girl in her own seat :)

We left early in the morning, plus gained two hours due to the time difference (yes, sounds like a looong day for baby; but like I said- she did WONDERFUL!) so when we got to LA it was only about 11am. Muncle had to work the first day we were there and Kiki (I like this way better) was sick so we spent the day wandering around on our own and had a great time. We walked to a yummy Mexican restaurant for lunch then went back to Muncle’s apartment for a mini-nap time before heading down to the beach. Side note- did anyone know that in LA waiters bring out kids meals first? Like, as soon as they’re ready. I have never had this happen anywhere else we’ve been, but every restaurant we went to in LA. I think that’s pretty cool.

Beach pictures-

The water was really cold! But Tatum loved getting her feet wet. She would squeal with excitement when a wave was coming. This is me running away because the wave was bigger than I anticipated and was getting my pants wet.

A day in the life

2011-02-13T15:44:00.005-06:00

Time for some adorable Tatum stories and other random life events of the Maines.

One significant new thing in Tatum’s life as of late is that she has gone to childcare for her first time ever!! That’s right. She is 15 months and last week was her first time in childcare anywhere. She stays with Brian or my parents quite often, but never anyone else yet. I have been going to Studio 57 three times a week for zumba classes and until last week Brian had been staying home with Princess. But, I got to thinking about it and decided that she would probably really enjoy getting to play with other kiddos for a little while and also it would be nice for her to get out of the house more often. Poor thing; she spends most of her day and home with me and Im sure a little more adventure would be nice for her. I wasn’t too worried about how she would do because she has the most amazing temperament and ability to adapt to most circumstances, plus she just loves people. However, I was blow away by how great she did! When we walked into the kids room I set her down and she just casually walked over to a bucket of blocks. I told her I was leaving and that I’d be back soon. She just turned around and waved “bye bye” to me and blew me kisses. When I came back an hour later she looked a little sad, but I quickly realized that it was because her new boyfriends were leaving her. She was blowing more kisses to them and saying “buh buh” (bye bye). When she saw me she smiled and gave me a big hug. She is so amazing.

When I tell her to smile now (i.e. for pictures) she squints her eyes and crinkles her nose while showing her teeth. Precious fake smiler.

When I ask if she wants her milk (chocolate; the only kind she will have anything to do with) and she does not want it she will look at me with big doe eyes and shake her head ‘no’ and say ‘no’ in the cutest voice while also signing ‘all done.’ She does not want there to be any confusion about the subject. I also really appreciate this because she used to take the sippy cup and throw it on the floor when I tried to give it to her and she didn’t want it.

Her current favorite foods: BLUEBERRIES (aka buh boos), tomatoes, green beans, yellow squash and zucchini, pizza, grapes, and crackers.

The other morning I was feeding her breakfast but she was just kind of slowly picking at her food and nibbling more than eating. And she kept reaching/pointing towards the refrigerator while saying something that sounded a lot like ‘baby’ and signing ‘more’. I was really confused since there are no babies kept in our fridge. Finally I got it- she was saying blueberry and asking for them! Haha! Once I got out the ‘buh boos’ she chowed down!

On a related note- I have been sp amazed lately at how quickly she picks up words. When in the right mood she can repeat most words I ask her to. And she constantly learns new words that I didn’t even know she knew (case in point- blueberry).

She can make the noises for: dog, cat, fish, cow, duck, horse, and sometimes rooster and sheep.

She loves reading books that have animal noises in them and when I say the animal’s name she will make the noise and smile soo big looking so pleased with herself. Precious.

When I am sitting on the floor and she wants me to read her a book she will pick one out and bring it to me. Once she hands it to me she will crawl into my lap and scoot right down into the nook of my legs (I’m sitting Indian style). Such an amazing feeling to have oyur child crawl into your lap.

Words she says regularly and knows the meaning-

Dog ‘doohg’

Cat ‘caa’(and can tell the diffence in pictures and real life)

Duck

Cow

Turtle ‘tuudle’

Woof woof (usually whispered these days…not sure why)

Meow ‘mow’ (like ow with an m…not like mow your yard)

Quack quack ‘kack kack’

Mooooo

Dada

Daddy

Mama

Amen ‘menmen’

Signs all done

Signs more

Blueberry ‘buhboo’

Baby ‘buhbii’

Banana ‘na nana’

Josh ‘jshhh’

Muncle ‘guncle’ J hehe

Poppy ‘popo’

Grams ‘gaga’

Nana

Papaw ‘popaw’

Tatum ‘taytay’

Bye bye

Hi (with a thick Texas accent)

Pattycake ‘paa yyy’

Diaper

Poo poo

Thank you ‘tan too’

Cup ‘cuu’

Chocolate ‘kaka’ (this is what she calls her milk)

Water ‘wa wa’

Bath 'baaa'

Cracker 'caker'

cookie 'cuotie'

At the end of a prayer she smiles and says ‘menmen’ she has also said this at bedtime when we are praying and she thinks the prayer is getting a little lengthy.

Before nap time I always sing Jesus Loves Me with her before I lay her down. She will smile and cuddle up with me and sing along. And she sings the right sounds to the right part of the song. For instance she says bible (bibil) when I sing the word

She looooves playing pattycake and will walk arounf the house clapping her hands and saying ‘paaa yyy paa yyy’.

being silly. She makes this face often.

Eating barbeque beans. The best part of this picture is that Brian thought he was in it too. HA! Sorry honey.

Sitting in her chair (after eating a blue dum dum...she wasnt freezing, I promise)

Playing with her sweet friend Avery.

LOOVE this one

My life:

With Daddy at the Gumbo event at the Venables house

Getting some autographs

Waiting in line for said autographs. Tatum did really good being patient!

Tatum with Leah and Lincoln Dooley. Whats better than Lincoln and graham crackers?

reading books. :)

Happy 2011!

2011-02-08T14:13:00.001-06:00

That’s right!! New Years!! Hey, give me a break… New Years was just over a month ago, so I’m not THAT late on this post. Im catching up. At this rate, Valentines Day will only be like a week late! :)

Our New Years was lots of fun. Brian and I usually spend the occasion with family; sometimes in Florida, sometimes here in Lubbock. This year we were here. But my mom and Josh (still crippled Josh at this point) were in Florida (Dad was still on call…which meant he got to spend New Years with us!) We went over the Nana and Papaw’s house where they had an amazing spread of all kinds of yumminess including chili and lots of dips…and sushi. I made a cheese ball….yeah, I left about as lame as that sounds when I saw all the work Kenny and Sharon had put into making food and all I brought was a cheese ball. A few other family members stopped by throughout the evening, but for most of the time it was just Poppy, Papaw, Nana, Brian, Tatum and I.

After we had all stuffed our gullets, we just hung out and watched the NYE shows on TV. We let Tiny Princess stay up a little later than usual to celebrate. At 9pm we had a mini-New Years with Tatum- hats, pictures, blowy-horn noises, etc. Then we put her to bed in a pack n’ play upstairs in Nana and Papaw’s room. Whenever we lay Tatum down at their house, we always make sure to close the door to keep the cats out of the room she’s sleeping in. So, with her door closed tight, we were sure that Layla (cat) could not sneak in. However, it would seem that we forgot to make sure that Layla was not already IN the room when we laid Tater down. About an hour after we laid her down we started to hear meowing. It took us a while to realize that it was coming from the baby monitor. Oops. So Nana snuck in the room and hunted Layla down and Tatum was neither smothered by the cat nor woken up. Happy ending.

At midnight we all toasted the new year (Brian, Dad and I had sparking cider since Dad was on call and Brian and I think sparkling cider tastes 21247 times better than the real stuff- In fact, we like to sip sparkling cider and watch movies for at home date nights. I know, you never knew how cool we really are and now you have to take a minute to wrap your mind around this. Its okay; take your time). Around 1am we loaded our sweet girl up in the car and headed home. PICTURES!

I realize that I look like a goof, but I didnt have a picture of the table besides this one.

YUM!

Miss Priss enjoying her dinner (chili beans, ham, grapes, and crackers...whats not to love?)

I love this picture! Sweet snuggle time.

Tiny Princess- always the life of the party!

Christmas 2K10, The Final Installment

2011-02-04T16:30:00.001-06:00

Like I said… lots of ‘Christmases’ this year. Our final Christmas was December 28 at Nana and Papaw’s (who Tatum now calls po-pa) house. Nonnie (Sharon’s mom) came in town for the occasion and Mamaw (Kenny’s mom) also came over. Sharon and Nonnie cooked a delicious meal and then we opened gifts. And if you couldn't tell, Tiny Princess defiantly got spoiled this year at ALL of her Christmases.

Nana and Papaw got Tatum a precious princess-size chair

Hmm...Whats this?

I think I would fit in there rather nicely...

Is this how a chair works?

Oh! Like this! Perfect fit!

As you can see, it did not take Tatum long at all to warm up to her new seat. And now, she loves sitting in it to read her books. Adorableness.

More adorable stocking digging

Checking out a book from her stocking

Opening gifts

My precious family! I am SO BLESSED!

Who doesnt need a mid-gift-opening-snack? All that opening is hard work!

Us with Nana and Nonnie (Brian's mom and her mom)

Us with Papaw and Mamaw (Brian's dad and his mom)

Christmas jammies and a sweet face

Christmas 2K10 pt.2

2011-02-03T13:04:00.000-06:00

So, after all the Christmas excitement here in Lubbock, we (Brian, Tatum, Josh, Grams and I- Poppy had to stay in Lubbock since he was on call that weekend) headed to Great Grams house in Las Cruces, NM. Time at my grandma’s house is usually pretty laid back and relaxing- there just isn’t a whole lot to do in Las Cruces. We always stop in Ruidoso to eat at Casa Blanca, and this year we ran into some pretty crazy snow leaving Ruidoso. Good thing Brian is amazing in so many ways and was able to uneventfully drive us the rest of the way to Grams house. The next morning during Princess’s nap time, Brian and I braved the grocery store (in was Christmas Eve) to get some chocolate milk and other assorted necessities. Unfortunately, Mommy grabbed low-fat milk and didn’t notice until we got back home, while led to a multi-store excursion to obtain the proper milk and some new necessities that my mom discovered she needed (she decided to make home-made cinnamon rolls-YUM!). Walmart on Christmas Eve is not my ideal day; but it actually ended up being a pretty fun adventure. Of course, there is always lots of yummy Mexican food eating while in Cruces, and this year was no exception.

Poor crippled Joshie. He watched and entire season of 24 while we were here. And we were only here 3 days....

Sweet Tatum was worried about her Uncle Joshie. She also didnt like that he wasnt paying attention to her (because he was either watching 24 or sleeping the entire time!). And she also really liked his crutches and loved crawling on them.

Last minute gift wrapping on Christmas Eve

Awesome Christmas PJs from Nana

Mom, Tater Tot and I on Christmas

Lots of sitting around Gram's table talking went on

Cousin Tyler enjoying an ice cream bar

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Yes, she is gorgeous! Love her so much!

Christmas 2K10

2011-02-02T18:15:00.001-06:00

As promised, our Christmas blog!

Brian and I had been doing a few different advent calendars with Tatum to help build the anticipation of the season. One was just a fun advent that I inherited from my parents this year. I loved watching her get so excited to put a new ornament on the Velcro tree each morning because I remember the same excitement with the same advent calendar when I was growing up! So fun. The other advent we did we got from Tatum’s Sunday School teachers (no, Tatum has never been to Sunday School, but that’s a story for another time) and it talked about Mary, Joseph, and the birth of Christ. I really enjoyed reading the scriptures over her at the breakfast table each morning and adding new stickers to the picture.

Doing her advent with Daddy

Looking at all the lights and ornaments at Holland Gardens

Brian and I decorated my parents house as a gift to them. This was the night we put up the tree and decorated it while watching Elf.

We had lots of different ‘Christmases’ this year. It began at our home on the morning of the 18^th. Brian, Princess, and I had a quiet Christmas at our house together. We opened gifts and just spent some time loving on one another. We decided to do some gifts at our house with just us so we could slow down and really enjoy the occasion and each other. And I am SO glad that we did. Watching Tatum open her stocking was so sweet! She would cock her little head to the side and pick things out one at a time and look the item over before getting another one. Her favorite gift of the morning? A toothbrush from her stocking. She LOVED the toothbrush and kept it in her mouth for the remainder of the morning. It was fun watching her really experience Christmas for the first time this year.

Going through her stocking. SO precious.

Our Christmas tree. We didnt put up any ornaments because ornaments would have been a little too fun for tiny hands to pull off the tree. :)

Tater Tot and Daddy got some awesome plaid jackets. (ps- MAN, my hubby is hot!)

Mommy and Tatum got some awesome hats!

Tatum loves bubbles. She will pick up the bottle and say bo buubuu (blow bubbles). So, of course, when she asks in the middle of opening gifts, we stop and blow bubbles...who could say no to that face?

Checking out her new tool box.

Still loving the toothbrush!

That same afternoon, we all went over to my mom and dad’s for Christmas at their house. My mom and I had killer matching aprons and we (and Jean) made Christmas dinner- turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, green beans and corn. Well, I actually didn’t do much cooking because I was wrapping presents and playing with Princesses most of the time. :)

Matching aprons and Tatum's adorable Christmas outfit (also courtesy of Nana)

Poor Joshie didnt really do much, since he had just torn his ACL and MCL. He basically sat here all day. :(

Beautiful girl opening gifts. She really liked this tissue...it made better noise when she crinkled it.

Brian showing off his new tools

Poppy opening a gift to himself from himself...he was really excited about it too apparently.

Poppy's super awesome gift from Grams! My dad is an Ironman and this is an Ironman statue! ( Please ignore the TV scene in the background- crippled Josh and Brian and Poppy were watching a movie while Mom, Jean, and I cleaned up the kitchen. And I made them pause the movie (much to their chagrin) since we were already pushing Tatum's bedtime.) I love my dad's face here!

Me sitting in the box Dad's Ironman thing came in. What? This isnt normal behavior at your house?

Thanksgiving 2K10

2011-01-19T17:47:00.000-06:00

Yes, yes..I realize that it is over halfway through January and Thanksgiving is long over and no one cares about it anymore. But I am going to post about our Thanksgiving anyhow. I feel like one of those people who still have pumpkins out on their porch (we don’t have pumpkins on our porch fyi… and it really bugs me to see houses that do- that’s really cool that your pumpkins haven’t rotted yet and all…but its January; loose the gourds already!!). But, I really want to have something to look back on next Thanksgiving and years after to remember the details of THIS Thanksgiving. So, don’t feel obligated to read…but here goes-

At the beginningish of November, Tiny Princess got sick sick. It was pitiful and seemed to last forever. She had pink eye in both of her eyes, an ear infection, and croup. Yes, pitiful

She was starting to get better when Brian got sick. He was sick for about a week before I started to get sick too. After another week we decided we better go see the doc, since we would be traveling to Dallas for Thanksgiving and would be around a lot of family who would not want our illnesses. Brian’s diagnosis was severe strep throat and I had early strep and bronchitis. I know, we were pretty yucky. But we got some meds from the doc and were told we would be un-contagious in a few days! Yay! (Anyone who knows me well knows that I hate when people spread their germs by being inconsiderate, and thus I make every attempt to keep my germs to myself. I don’t like being contagious anymore than I like being around you when you are!) It was two days before we left for Dallas so I thought everything was great. We both started feeling better pretty quickly. On Wednesday morning (the day we left for Dallas) I woke up and couldn’t open my eyes. Ugh. Pink eye. Today? Not cool. So we squeezed in a trip to the eye doctor before heading out. All this to say, between our coughs, runny noses, and gooey eyes (just me at this point) we were not the best Thanksgiving guests! I even “blew” out my birthday candles with a napkin so I didn’t blow sickies all over the cake!

Despite the sickies, we all had a wonderful time in Dallas! And to my knowledge, we did not spread said sickies to anyone else! :)

Tatum had lots of fun playing with her Muncle Jerms and Aunt Katie (who brought her toy replicas of themselves!)

She also spent a good deal of time on Nonnie's stairs

Adorable Thanksgiving outfit courtesy of Nana

We all usually 'run' the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I put run in quotations because Brian and Kenny run the 8 mile (yes, I agree, insane) and the rest of us walk the 3 mile. However, this year was super cold and rather wet, plus most of us were sick ( I forgot to mention that Sharon and Kenny also caught the sickies at some point in Lubbock pre-Dallas), so we decided to opt out and participate in the First Annual Allen Turkey Trot instead. Tatum won the race and I was a close second (I was pushing her stroller...) Jeremy lost by like 45 minutes. Just sayin..

The day after Thanksgiving, Brian took me on an AMAZING birthday date to a fancy-shmancy movie theater (they called it a cinema). We sat in recliners and had blankets and pillows and some scrumptious food. And saw one of the most awesome movies in the world- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-pt 1. Unfortunately, we have no pictures of that because we left the camera at Nonnies. While we were on our date, Nana and Papaw watched sweet Tatum. They took her to the park down the street and had lots of fun. Nana told me that Tatum kept pressing the side of the duck rocky-thing trying to make it play music like her ride-on toys at home do. Papaw ended up singing while she rode the duck. haha!

That evening, we all (Me, Brian, Tater Tot, Nonnie, Nana, Papaw, Rod, Caroline, and Mia- Jeremy and Katie were with her parents) went to a shopping center to look at their tree and lights. Tatum also sat on Santa's lap for the first time. She really enjoyed the lights. And I really enjoyed her enjoying the lights! My favorite way to see them was through the reflection in her eyes :) Her reactions to exciting things has become the best part of exciting things for me!

The next day, the Harris family (Katie's mom and dad) and Jeremy and Katie came over to Nonnie's for an amazing barbeque lunch.

Muncle and Katie also gave Princess her birthday gifts since they would not get to see her again before the big day.

Like I said- LOTS of fun. I enjoy spending Thanksgiving in Dallas so much! I love all of Brian's family's traditions and fun. Plus, the fam is alright too :) Thanks for putting up with our germs and sharing a wonderful Thanksgiving full of memories with us Nonnie, Aunt Anne, Rod, Caroline, Mia, Muncle, Katie,, Nana, and Papaw! We love you all!

And yes, a Christmas post is next! HA!

These are a few of my favorite things

2010-12-16T15:47:00.000-06:00

Some of my current favorites of the adorable things Tatum does:

When she stands on her tip toes to peek into something.

When she points with her little pointer finger. Her other fingers are not quite bent, but are lower than her pointer finger. So cute.

When she bends down to look at something. She cocks her little head to the side and squats a little.

When she grabs my cheeks and pulls me in for kiss!! LOVE this! All of her kisses are sweet, but these are some of my favorite.

When she waves bye-bye at the door after Daddy leaves and keeps saying “bah bah”. The she will crawl over to the door and pull up because she knows Daddy went through the door.

When Daddy is telling her bye before he leaves and she will stop what she is doing and sit up really straight with her “kiss me” face so that he will come give her a kiss.

When I am holding her Daddy asks for a kiss. Sometimes she will think about it then act like she is going to kiss him, but then lunge and my face and give me a huge kiss instead. HA! She knows this is really funny and will laugh about it with us.

When people in the room (i.e. a restaurant or store) laugh and she hears them, she will start laughing with them really loudly so they know she is laughing too.

When we are having a conversation and she starts talking with us. Usually normal voice at first but she will start talking louder and louder until she is the center of attention.

How she always ‘makes friends’ in public. She picks out certain people and just waves and smiles ands says “hiiii” over and over. This happens at restaurants, in stores, etc.

When she says “mo mo” and signs ‘more’ with her sweet hands. It is absolutely precious. I would pretty much give her ‘more’ of whatever she wants because it melts my heart every time she does this.

When she sees anything Christmas related she says “ho ho ho” with a big O mouth. I will try to post a video. I don’t know if I know how to do that…

In other Tatumness, here are the words she currently says or has said on a somewhat regular basis:

Ho ho ho

Danta (santa)

Mama

Dada

Daddy

Gu- guu (good girl)

Mo ..mo (more) and signs this also

Signs all done

Shakes her head no

Bay..ba (baby)

Bah bah (bye bye)

Boo (bubbles)

Baah (bath)

She said jssshh once for Uncle Josh

Pa pa (Poppy and/or Papaw)

Tatum's Birth-Story

2010-11-15T16:14:00.000-06:00

Our new family!!

My first time to hold her! (if you look close you can see poop)

The night before Tatum was born. 10/26/09

Looking at her sonogram pictures and praying over her while in the delivery room.

Tatum is over a year old now, and I realize that I never posted her birth-day story. In (belated) celebration of her birthday, I will do that now. I know this will be very boring to some of you, and very gross to others of you. Feel no pressure to read it… it is mostly for me to remember and (hopefully) compare it to the births of our other children someday.

So, as most of you know I had gestational diabetes while I was pregnant with Tater-tot. This means that 2x a week I had to go to Dr. Atkinson’s office for non-stress tests- basically, they put monitors on your belly (the same ones they use during labor) and give you a clicky button. You are supposed to push the clicky button every time your baby moves. When you click the button, it marks the spot on the heartbeat print-out thing (again, the same type thing as when you’re in labor). They check all the places where you clicked (i.e. the baby moved) and make sure her heartbeat did not drop with the movement, which would indicate distress. Thankfully, sweet Tatum always performed wonderfully at these NSTs (if your baby wasn’t being very active they would poke at her with a vibrator buzzy thing to wake her up- always seemed a little mean to me) and only had to be buzzed a few times. Her heartbeat was always strong and would increase with movement. However, the nurses and aides at Dr. Atkinson’s office were pressuring me to set an induction date as my actual; due date drew near. I did NOT want to schedule an induction unless medically necessary (yes diabetes is a possible medical reason, but she always did so well on the NSTs I figured she was healthy). Plus, I had been 2 cm dilated (not much) but 90% effaced (a lot) for like 3 weeks, I figured my water would break eventually…hopefully before an induction was necessary. When I explained this to the nurses they brought Dr. Atkinson in to talk to me about it. He agreed with me that it would be okay to wait as long as Tatum kept looking good. And to be sure of this, he wanted to do a high-risk sonogram on me right then. Never one to pass up an opportunity to see that sweet face, I excitedly agreed. Mostly, he was concerned with my fluid level and my placenta (which had been a grade 3 for some time…he said this meant it looked too mature… basically it wasn’t ideal). All of this looked normal. Then they did the measurements of the baby. This did not look so good. Her little belly had not grown enough from this last time they measured and this was concerning. Dr. Atkinson said he would call Dr. Devine and explain his findings to her. Dr. Devine was in surgery on this day so wasn’t able to look at the information. When I called her office in the afternoon, her wonderful nurse said she had relayed the information to Dr. Devine over the phone and that she wasn’t immediately too concerned. Phew. Then about 7 o’clock that evening Dr. Devine called me. She had just gotten back to her office after a full day in surgery and was looking through the information from Dr. Atkinson (side note- how wonderful is Dr. Devine? She went back to her office to take a closer look at that stuff after a long day and then called me to discuss it when she was technically ‘off the clock’). Dr. Devine was more concerned after looking more closely. She told me she trusted Dr. Atkinson’s opinion (not that I didn’t; I just wanted her opinion too) and felt induction the next morning would be the wisest move. Because Dr. Devine is wonderful and amazing and always respected my opinion and never once tried to force her views on me or pressure me to do something I didn’t feel right about, I took her advice. All of this process took over an hour (talking with Dr. Devine, discussing it with Brian, then talking to Dr. Devine again, then her scheduling the induction), so it was about 8:30pm when we knew we would be holding Tatum the next day.

Once we knew this wonderful news we called our parents to tell them. Then I did what any rational pregnant woman would do- I cleaned the house, did the laundry, and changed our sheets. Hello? When we came home from the hospital a BABY would be with us… things needed to be clean. Right? Once we (Brian was wonderfully understanding and helped me J) were finished with this, Brian and I went out to eat at my favorite restaurant- Olive Garden. Our parents (minus Kenny) came over to our house for a bit. They all had excuses as to why they came, but really they were just excited and wanted to see the belly one last time. After lots of pictures everyone left (including our dogs, whom Sharon took home to keep for us while we were in the hospital). Brian and I went to bed and actually slept really well. But then we had to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to get to the hospital. Of course I had to shower and shave before we left… which had grown increasingly difficult to do on account of the now quite large (and fantastic, I might add) belly.

Yes, you have read this far and we are not even at the hospital yet J

So, we get to the hospital, get checked in and get an enema. This was my first enema. It was not fun. Not that I expected it to be...but it really was not fun. I do not think I will opt for an enema next time around. Then I get hooked up to 2948734 lines and machines. Right after I got hooked up to the fetal monitors, I had my first real (not Braxton-Hicks) contraction. This was really exciting to me because they had not started the pitocin yet.

They started the pitocin really slowly- again because Dr. Devine is awesome and she knew that I didn’t want an epidural right away. So things moved fairly slowly at first. The contractions were strong but bearable. Oh, I forgot to say that we got to the hospital about 6am and things got started about 7am. At about 12pm Dr. Devine came in and we decided to go ahead and break my water (I had hoped this wouldn’t be necessary, but I didn’t want to face a c-section if things went too slowly.). It felt like a balloon popping and then like I peed my pants. Immediately after that, like 5 visitors came all at once. Also, immediately after that the pain got incrementally worse and I was in serious pain and had still not gotten an epidural. Bad timing for the visitors because I was too distracted by them to remember any other the techniques from birth class. However, one of said visitors was my dad (another side note- Dad was in surgery that morning in the same hospital and would come up and check on us between each case-super sweet). He was against holding off on the epidural for the past 9 months, and once we told him we were inducing he was REALLY against it (my dad can not handle seeing his baby in pain). When he saw me then he could tell things had gotten a lot worse since the last time he had seen me (not more than an hour) so he informed me that he was going to just go put my name on the epidural list, since there might be a wait, but I could always change my mind if I didn’t want it. Well, I did not change my mind. And Dr. Brown (awesome anesthesiologist) did not get there a second too soon. Brian was amazing (as always) during all of this and was right there for whatever I needed him for. My mom, who is an anesthesiologist herself, was in the room with me and Brian when Dr. Brown came in. She asked me if it would make me uncomfortable for her to be there during the epidural. I laughed and told her it did not make me uncomfortable, but she might need to ask Dr. Brown. Fortunately, Dr. Brown was not too intimidated by an anesthesiologist-mother watching because she did a wonderful job and I could not feel/move my feet for about 8 hours. I had several very strong contractions while she was doing the epidural, which was nerve racking for me. But sweet hubby held my hands really tight and helped me stay very still.

After the epidural a few more visitors came in, but I mostly tried to sleep. I don’t remember what time it was when Dr. Devine came in to check me and said I was 10cm and ready to push. But I did not feel the ‘urge’ to push, so she allowed me to wait. (I know, amazing doctor right. She could have just had me push so she could deliver and go home, but she allowed me to wait. Which meant she had to wait to.) At some point I started getting low blood sugar, a problem I had pre-pregnancy (yes it is strange that a hypoglycemic became hyperglycemic during pregnancy… no that is not common) but I was scared to eat a popsicle because I thought the spike in sugar might make Tatum’s insulin spike and then she would have low blood sugar when she was born and then they might not let me nurse her because they would want to giver her a sugar-water bottle. I tend to worry sometimes. I ended up eating the popsicle though because I was worried that if I didnt I would be too weak to push and I might have to get a c-section. I tend to worry sometimes. The popsicle made me feel 100x better though.

When Dr. Devine came back in around 2:25ish to check me I was still not having a huge urge to push but she checked me any way. When she lifted up the sheet she could see Tatum’s head poking out. Opps. That epidural was really working. Andi- nurse extraordinaire moved the mirror (which she had already placed in the room per my request- I wanted to see Tatum being born and I don’t have a giraffe neck.) into place and got things all set up while another nurse put my hair in a ponytail -because Brian didn’t know how and I could not lean forward without the use of my arms, thus having no free hand with which to ponytail.

Then it was time to push!! The first push I could not remember if I was supposed to hold my breath or breathe out.. so I did both for half the time. Then Andi suggested I pick one or the other and hold my breath. So the next contraction I held my breath and pushed. And that was it. Tatum was out. 2 pushes. 2 minutes. Bam.

As soon as Princess was born they placed her on my chest (at which time she pooped on me. The first of many J) I don’t remember much except looking into her eyes and talking to her. I don’t remember what I told her. I remember how my voice soothed her and how long her skinny little fingers were. She held onto my fingers. She was beautiful and perfect. Brian cut the cord during our moment. They took her to the little table thing in the room to check her out , check her sugar (which was good, the popsicle did not do as a I worried it might) and clean her up and poke her with things. Then Brian put on her first diaper. While this was happening, Dr. Devine was sewing me up from a stage 2 tear and I was asking to see the placenta (my parents are doctors, gross things interest me). Then they brought her back to me and I got to hold her again. Lots of people came in to see her at after that. Im pretty positive we broke lots of rules regarding how many people were supposed to be in that room. Millions of pictures were taken.

I had still not gotten to nurse Tatum and the lactation consultant was on her way (which I highly recommend, she was there the first time I nursed which was such a confidence booster) so I threatened everyone that my you-know-whats were coming out so they better leave if they didn’t want to see. Brian and my mom stayed. Tatum latched on perfectly the very first time (shes an over-achiever, what can I say). Nursing her that first time was such a sweet moment.

After nursing, they took Tatum to the nursery for more poking and prodding (standard procedure, not my preference) and moved us to the post-partum room. This is past lengthy so I will summarize the rest of the hospital stay- nursing hurt really bad and there was blood. Not much sleep. Lots of wonderful friends. It was sleeting when we took her home. Oh. And, Andi had to lift me from bed to wheelchair and then wheelchair to bed because my feet and legs were still totally numb. I didn’t walk or even stand until after 8pm.

Clean Up on Aisle 6

2010-10-21T20:43:00.000-05:00

It seems like every mom I know has experienced one of her kiddos getting sick at a grocery store… not sure why it always seems to hit at the grocery store. Regardless, I am officially in the my-kid-threw-up-at-the-grocery-store club. Thankfully Brian was with us!

We were outside looking at the pumpkins and I was holding her when all of a sudden she and I were both covered in purple puke (blueberry yogurt for lunch…) A nice Market Street employee ran to get us some paper towels and Brian followed her. While he was gone Tatum re-drenched us and I decided it was time to head to the car. In the car on the way home she seemed completely fine. She wasn’t smiling but she never fussed or acted sick. This morning she wouldn’t nurse much at all, but ate her breakfast well. At lunch she would have nothing at all to do with nursing (I just thought she was letting me know she was ready to wean) but ate all her food. She wasn’t fussy this morning, but also wasn’t quite as perky as her usual self. Once we got home after the incident (and had a bath) she took a long nap and when she woke up she was totally herself. So… I don’t know if she had a minor tummy bug or what. But I do know that we are VERY grateful that she did not seem terribly uncomfortable or for an extended period.

After we had gotten home and she was asleep, I started to feel really bad about having left the mess at the grocery store and feeling like I should have cleaned it up before we left. Looking back, there really was no way I could have done that while taking care of her. But nonetheless, I felt guilty. Maybe because I know it can really ick me out when I see a yuck puddle somewhere in public. I consoled myself with the fact that an employee had seen it so it wouldn’t be left there for long. But it made me wonder- Other mothers, what do you do when your child gets sick in public? Is there some kind of protocol? Bear in mind that there were no warning gags to indicate this was coming to minimize damage with a bag or anything.

Just in case she was contagious for whatever made her puke coupled with the weather tonight, Tiny Princess and I decided to forgo Paradigm. We were sad to miss it, but we ended up having a lot of fun just the two of us at home playing and watching the rain. I love spending time with that little angel. She is so much fun and such a joy. She has a very silly little (well, actually BIG) personality and laughs a lot. I feel so blessed to be her Mommy.

PS- some of you reading this may be aware of my phobic tendencies regarding throw up, but rest assured, Tatum’s throw up does not count as throw up and therefore do not elicit my panic.J

Picture time!!

Tatum's first time at the Fair!

We got to go to another Rangers series- the last one before the playoffs

Have you ever seen a bigger HAM??

Beauty. This was at the corn maize

Cutest.bedhead.ever.

Pictures

2010-09-10T15:02:00.001-05:00

...One day I will remember to attach the pictures to the blog.. but until then...

Tatum likes to cuddle the dog bed...and loves an audience when she does it

This is her 'concentrating' face!

She loves the outdoors

Our little Ranger! Daddy is proud!

Wispering

2010-09-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a very random post comprised of sweet Tatum stories that I do not want to forget…

A few weeks ago Tiny Princess was sick with a little tummy bug and a sore throat and couldn’t sleep at all one night. After trying rocking her in her chair, laying with her on the couch, her swing (yes, she is 10 months and we JUST now stopped using her swing…what can I say- my girl loved her swing J) I decided to bring her into my and Brian’s bed at about 5 am. Brian woke up when we crawled in bed and I was whispering with him about how I had tried everything to comfort her to sleep but she was still awake. Sweet Tatum crawls up to where her head is even with ours and starts whispering with us! Brian and I just thought it was the most adorable thing ever! Tatum will often ‘talk’ with us when we are having a conversation by babbling and looking back and fourth between us. If we don’t pay her enough attention during these ‘conversations’ she raises her voice or growls until we look at her. Hilarious. On a related note- this precious little girl felt bad enough that she couldn’t sleep at all, but was not even fussing as long as I held her. It is so hard for me when I know she’s hurting. But I know she is in God’s loving hands. And we are so grateful that she is so rarely sick!!

Tatum loooves to be chased around the house- she crawls away from us while one of us follows her on our hands and knees humming the Jaws theme song. The other day she crawled around a corner while I was chasing her and when I reached the corner and poked my head around she was sitting up looking back at the doorway excitedly waiting for me. When she saw me her little face lit up and she yelled “Hiiiii” and turned to crawl away.

This one isn’t necessarily a story, because it is something she does often, but it cracks me up every time. Tatum is really ready to be able to stand up without assistance, but is not quite there balance-wise. So when she is playing with a toy on the floor she pushes her legs up to a standing position but her hands stay on the ground with her head looking down at the toy. She often does this with toys that play music so when her little tooshie is in the air she starts ‘dancing’- bouncing her booty up and down.

Hope these images brought a smile to someone elses face today too J I intend to keep posting little stories like this so I can remember them forever!

A few pictures

2010-09-03T15:45:00.000-05:00

From our trip to Destin, Fl.

cutest bikini ever

the face that melts my heart!

All Things Tatum

2010-09-03T15:43:00.000-05:00

Before I attempt to do any catch-up from the last 10 months of our lives, I guess I will start with a current update on Tiny Princess. She just hit 10 months!! Golly… I cant believe shes in the double-digit months already!! Someone asked me yesterday if she would be one next month, to which I intelligently replied “No, not until October”. Waaaaait…THAT’S NEXT MONTH!! Holy cow! Tatum will be one year old next month!! Still wrapping my mind around that… and yes, October is next month.

She is currently sleeping like an angel in her crib. I am watching her on the video monitor- she is flat on her back with her arms and legs sprawled out. CUTE.

She is crawling like crazy and getting really fast too. When she really moves her little tooshie wiggles and it cracks me up. She is a champ at pulling up on anything and everything. She can even do it one handed now. And against a wall…so theres not really anything to pull on, just the balance. She has stood without holding on to anything after pulling up a few times.

She talks up a storm, but only when she has something to say. Sometimes she will go a full hour without making a sound, just giggling. But sometimes she is non-stop babbling. She looooves other people, especially kids and babies. She is not at all shy around other kids- she will crawl right up to them and start playing with them. Sometimes even when the other kid is a little frightened or uninterested. J And she smiles and waves at everyone who will look at her at restaurants or in stores.

I still nurse her four times a day. And she is of course eating all kinds of other foods too. I have made all of her baby food, and she still eats lots of her foods puréed even though she is getting really good at feeding herself finger foods. She eats: carrots, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, sweet potatoes, peas, cauliflower, winter squash, black eyed peas, bananas, grapes, apples, peaches, prunes, watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines, strawberries, kiwi, mangos, pears, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, asparagus, and yogurt. Prunes and yogurt are favorites. She also loves mangos and any kind of berries. She does NOT like avocado or potatoes.

Tatum loves loves loves the water and anything water-related. She loves swimming, baths, washing her hands, hoses… anything. She also enjoys having her little teeth brushed, which is adorable. Speaking of teeth, she has her bottom two and is working really hard on getting some top ones in… it looks like it might be four top ones at once. Poor Taytay. On that note, she also recently started biting me while she nurses.. no fun! If any mommies have any advice of how to get her to stop- PLEASE help! J

Tatum is a very very sweet and affectionate little girl. She likes to share- toys, food, drink, anything. And she gives TONS of sweet kisses (especially when shes sleepy). She loves her Daddy!! It melts my heart to see the two of them together. When he gets home from work, she crawls to him and puts her arms up to be picked up. When he picks her up she wraps her little arms over his shoulders and cuddles her head on him. All the while she has the sweetest little grin on her face. Like I said, this little girl loves her Daddy.

Whenever Tatum wakes up from a nap or in the morning she wants to be cuddled for a minute, then she will look toward her window and start waving; which means she is ready for you to walk to the window and open the blinds so she can “say hello” to the world. Then its milky time.

There are so many more things I could say about my tiny princess, but this is a good start. I have loved the last 10 months so much. Being a Mommy is the greatest experience of my life. Having my wonderful husband and raising my sweet baby girl is unbeatable. God has richly blessed our little family.

Grand Re-Entrance

2010-09-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

In celebration of my re-entrance to the blogging world, I thought it would be appropriate to post this blog that I started writing on 10/26/2009 (the day before my sweet Tiny Princess was born), and never finished.

So, as our sweet little Tatum could arrive any day now, I think its appropriate to do one (maybe the last) pregnancy update blog! With just 3 days left until our due date, I am still loving pregnancy (so suck on that haters)! I have found that throughout this entire pregnancy, people have always been ‘warning’ me about how sick of it I am going to get or how much I am going to hate _________ part- at first it was “just wait until it gets hot, you are going to be so miserable!”. Well, this was one of the hottest summers we have had in a while… and while it certainly was hot, I never hated being pregnant. Then, “oh, just wait until your belly gets so big you can hardly move”. Ha! In my opinion, the bigger the belly, the better!! Bring it on! Perhaps it does take a lot of grunting and a considerable amount of time to roll over in bed (poor Brian.. this happens several times a night due to discomfort and numerous potty trips), but its kinda fun. And perhaps I do get stuck in my car door or bump into everything in sight with my belly… still fun. Then it seemed that all they had left was “wait until the very end when you feel like you’re about to pop”. Pretty sure I’m about as close to the end as possible, but I am not anxious to ‘get this baby outta here’. As excited as I am to see what Tatum looks like and cuddle her in my arms, I am going to miss carrying her inside of my womb. I will miss feeling all of her movements (yes even the painful colon/bladder kicks and when she rolls her head around on my bladder). I really will miss being pregnant.

On that note, since there is really nothing left to “warn” me about regarding which aspects of pregnancy I am going to hate the most, people have switched to warning me about how much I am going to hate labor. However, I anticipate enjoying labor just as much as I have enjoyed this pregnancy. I am eagerly anticipating the experience.

I think that the only part of pregnancy that I have disliked has been all of the unwelcome advice I have gotten. Particularly regarding labor/delivery. The most common being that I absolutely must get an epidural and that I should get it as soon as I can upon arriving at the hospital. I am praying not to require an epidural, and to at least go as long as I possibly can without one. People just assume that because they or their wife had one, that epidurals are the only way to go and delivery simply cannot be accomplished without one. What is right for one person is not necessarily right for the next. I am happy that all of those women enjoyed their birth experience with an epidural, but that does not mean that is how I want my delivery to go.

Mmmm, fall!

2009-10-20T12:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Fall!!!!

Tree in Tatum's room

Tatum's crib and decorations

Brian and his parents at the Race for the Cure

Me and B at Race for the Cure... I walked, he ran

I love fall. I love everything about fall. Seriously, there is something wrong with how much I love fall.

I reeeeeally love fall decorations! I got some awesome new decorations at a 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby in August. It was all I could do to wait until September to put my fall decorations up. But you better know that September 1, our house was adorning fall decorations! I go walking just about every morning, and my favorite day to walk is Monday, because more people have time to put decorations out over the weekend, so there is a better chance of ‘discovering’ new decorations on a Monday morning. As I mentioned, in my world fall decorations go up beginning of September and then Halloween stuff gets added first of October… but I still ‘discover’ new fall decorations on walks even now… mid-end October! People… geeze, you’re killing me Smalls! Not that I am not grateful that you decorated… because it really does make my day. :)

As a side note though… I am not a fan of the really creepy Halloween decorations. I like the cute stuff… corpses and tombstones just freak me out a little.

More reasons I love fall- Brian’s birthday is in the fall; October 11 (Happy birthday plus 9 days Bri!!!). Our anniversary is in the fall; October 6. My birthday is in the fall; November 25.

Another thing I love about fall is looking forward to the Holidays. Even though we are blessed enough to have both of our parents here in Lubbock, I love getting to spend time just hanging out with them that seems to only happen around the Holidays. I also love traditions. In the last 2 years since Nathan died, my family has not really had traditions. I guess old traditions were just too painful and brought back too many memories for everybody. However, now Brian and I are starting to establish our own Holiday traditions, which has been incredibly fun. Plus, from now on we will be more than just a couple for the holidays; we will be a FAMILY complete with a daughter!!! Whoa. So now as I look forward to the family time coming up this holiday season, I have so much more to anticipate!

I even love the ‘back to school’ aspect of fall. This is my first year since, well…pretty much ever not to go ‘back to school’ in the fall. From high school I went straight in to college and from college straight to grad school. The only summer I ever had off was the one between college and grad school. So, needless to say, it feels very strange for me not to be in school right now. Good timing though.. :) It is super-lame to say that I was sad when everyone else got to go back to school in August and I didn’t? Because I was… I think the thing I missed most about not going back to school was not getting to go school supply shopping (I know… I keep getting lamer and lamer!). But, as a consolation, I did need a new planner even though I wouldn’t be in school anymore (heck, with 3-5 Drs appointments a week who can blame me). Also, I am just oddly obsessed with planners. It doesn’t make sense; don’t try to understand it. I just love planners. So I took an afternoon to go to Office Max (best selection, I can tell you from years of experience) to pick out a new planner. It is disgusting how much fun I had on this little outing. I was there for close to two hours… just walking around looking at all the new school supplies! Then the best part- time to pick out my new planner! This part alone took at least 30 minutes (which is the reason I did not force Brian to tag along… as understanding as he is, he just does not share my passion for day planners). And it was glorious. I love my new planner. Looking at it makes me happy. Bringing it home and filling it in with all of my appointments and dates was a blast for me! There were 2 months overlapping between my old planner and my new planner, that is 2 months that existed in my new planner that I hadn’t had it for since I had still been using my old planner. And you better believe that I still transferred over all the info for those 2 months, despite the fact that they had already past. So, for those of you wondering what I do with my free time- there you go :)

But my favorite thing about fall is new this year- we are having a baby this fall!!!!! How amazing is that!

Hoping everyone is enjoying their fall season as much as I am!

New Blog Site

2009-10-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

After many unsuccessful attempts at figuring out how to add pictures to the old blog, I gave up. However, as you can see, I am already way ahead at this new blog- I already have pictures up!! YAY me! I feel confident that we will both derive greater joy from our blogging experience together if I have the ability/knowledge to post pictures. :) Because, lets face it, I am about to have a baby at which point no one will want to read anything I write, just see pictures of the baby. And I understand this, because I would feel the same way. So now we are all happy!

And to prove how good I am at this picture thing- A picture of me and Brian from the TTU vs. UNM game!

August 14, 2009- Pregnancy and BABY UPDATES!

2009-10-12T15:06:00.000-05:00

I am still absolutely LOVING pregnancy! Part of me is so thrilled that Tatum will be here in 11 weeks, but the other part is really sad because that means I only have 11 weeks left of being pregnant. My body has defiantly undergone some changes over the last 7 months, some changes more enjoyable than others.

Here is a list of recent-ish developments:

- I am extremely hot about 88% of the time. This is very uncommon for me, as I am usually cold if it isn’t above 75 (inside or out). However, pregnancy mixed with 100 + degree Texas summer is defiantly beginning to have an impact. I know that pregnant ladies are always supposed to be hot, but I didn’t really started experiencing this until a few weeks ago. Maybe its because August tends to be the hottest month, or maybe it’s a third trimester thing. Either way, I am now a stereotypical preggo in this regard.

- Stretch marks… yeah. Not on my belly (yet…hopefully not ever, but at least not yet). Im not going to specify the location… but I will admit to some stretch marks. This has been my least favorite pregnancy development. I cried when I saw them. And then again when I told Brian about them. But, of course, he was as sweet as ever and promised he still loved me.

- I pee constantly. This is not a recent development, its been here the whole time, but I wanted to mention it anyway. I have read that there should have been some relief from this in the second trimester, but I didn’t get that. Might have been due to the gestational diabetes.

- Tatum has started kicking and/or punching my bladder. This is fun and yet not fun. Fun because I adore feeling her move in any way. Not fun because it hurts and I’m scared that one of these times it is going to make me wet myself.

- Baby Tatum gets the hiccups! Just about everyday, usually twice a day. When she first started I thought she was just really rhythmic with her punches and I got really excited thinking she would be a drummer like her daddy. Then it dawned on me that they were hiccups. Still exciting though. I think its so cute to feel and see her little hiccups.

- My belly button is neither and innie nor an outie. It’s a flattie. It keeps looking like it might pop out, but it hasn’t yet. I keep thinking that I am going to laugh really hard and it will just pop out.

- Speaking of laugh really hard, I do that a lot. Ever since I have been preggo, I find the silliest things to be absolutely hysterical! And I laugh extremely hard. I started laughing at a movie the other day and Brian was worried that I was going to hyperventilate. It was probably a legitimate concern.

- This is one of my favorites: I can usually find some part of Tatum when I poke around at my belly. It is so amazing to feel something hard and realize its her foot or leg! And it is especially breath taking when the hard thing I feel moves across my tummy. I can also feel her head down low in my tummy, but I am scared to push that too much… even though the sonogramist didn’t seem to think it was harmful when she was jabbing at it

- I get killer leg cramps in the morning if I don’t stretch before I go to bed. My calf turns into a rock and it feels like my leg is about to burst open and an evil mutant alien parasite will pop out and attack me.

Now for an update on the gestational diabetes front:

I test my urine (I know, gross… but handling pee has basically become a staple in my life) for keytones twice a day. Basically, if there are keytones it means I have not eaten enough carbs and that my body has begun burning fat for energy. In a non-pregnant person who is not underweight this is not a problem. Actually, for most people it would be a good thing because your body is burning fat. However, while fat is an acceptable energy source for my body, Tatum can not get any nutrition/energy from this process- she needs carbs. So I have to be very careful not so eat to many carbs and get high blood glucose, and not to eat to little carbs that Tatum is not getting enough nutrition. I have only had high keytones once. Occasionally I have small keytones, and more often than I would like I have trace keytones. It is difficult to find the balance between acceptable blood sugar and no keytones.

I test my blood glucose 4-6 times a day ( I got the number reduced due to good levels yay me!). I do this via my handy finger pricking kit. I also keep track of the numbers via my handy glucose chart. Although the pricker usually hurts me (I am not much of a bleeder, so I have to set it pretty high to get enough blood; if it doesn’t hurt it probably wont bleed for me), I am kind of addicted to it. Every time I eat something I cant wait for two hours to go by so I can make sure it was okay. It is a nice reassurance to KNOW what was okay and what wasn’t. Basically, if Dr. Bakdash (amazing endocrinologist) told me I didn’t have to prick anymore, I would anyway. Also, I really want to keep the pricker after I give birth… I hope the let me!

I am extremely happy/relieved/blessed to report that my sugar is good about 95% of the time! Both Dr. Bakdash and Dr. Devine were please with my levels. This is such wonderful news because if my sugar stays under control, chances are slim that Tatum will suffer any consequences. Please keep praying that she does not grow so large that they need to induce early or perform a c-section. I am praying for a natural vaginal delivery with no induction.

The final thing that I have to check daily (twice a day actually) is fetal movement. I watch the clock to see how long it takes her to make 10 distinct movements. 0-15 minutes is an A, 16-30 minutes is a B, and so on. So far she has been all As and Bs.

So, for those of you keeping score at home, that is 8-10 things I have to check and or monitor daily!! Good thing I have OCD tendencies which keep me extremely organized (or anal as Brian so fondly puts it )

We had another sonogram on Tuesday – everything looks great! She is a normal and healthy size for this point. She also has big pouty lips and long toes! She is also still a she!

We also found out that because gestational diabetes puts me and Tatum at higher risk, it is routine to perform twice a week non-stress tests from here on out. So this means that twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) I will go to Dr. Atkinson’s office and get strapped in with some super sweet belts with monitors on them so they can monitor her movements. Though a slight inconvience because this will take about an hour each time, I also kind of like it because that’s reassurance that shes doing okay twice a week! The scariest side-effect of gestational diabetes is increased incidence of stillbirth in the last trimester… something that makes my heart sink to even think about… yet I cant help it sometimes. So having them check her movements twice a week is comforting.

Well, this has become a very long post… so to encourage people to actually read what I write, I will stop here!

August 14, 2009- Home from Glorieta

2009-10-12T15:05:00.000-05:00

t has been almost a week since we have been home from the b-e-a-utiful Glorieta, NM. Brian’s super amazing band, Pearl Merchant, was blessed to play worship there for collegiate week again this year. And I was blessed to get to tag along again! Last year I was just the merch girl, but this year- I was the merch girl/baby nanny!! I got to watch Matt and Sarah’s sweet (then) 6 week old daughter Kendi most nights and mornings during worship. I also got to spend some quality time with my boyfriend- 6 month old Jude, son of Laney and Jon. Spending so much sweet time with babies made me even more excited for the arrival of our own little bundle of joy! Just 11 weeks left!

While in Glorieta, the Lord led me to a few realizations.

1.) Over the past several months I have just been so humbled by the experience of being pregnant. It continues to amaze me that God allows us to participate in His creation in such a special way. He is allowing me to grow and develop one of His precious children inside my unworthy body! He, of course, does not need my assistance in creation by any means; yet he allows me a role- I get to participate. I get to carry this sweet child for nine months, and then I get to raise her. This humbling thought has brought tears to my eyes multiple times in recent months. However, during the week in Glorieta a new twist on this thought brought tears to my eyes. Both the morning and evening speakers spent some time focusing on our call to help others; whether that comes in the form of adopting orphans to just spending time doing something to care for another in need. Then this thought hit me: just as God allows and entrusts us to grow and raise His children, He also allows and entrusts us to care for his children all around us. Upon making this connection, I felt guilty for never before looking at the opportunity to serve others in the same light that I have looked at having children in. The homeless, the orphans, the widows…these are all God’s children just as much as my sweet Tatum is. Playing a role in caring for God’s children is by no means a new honor that has come about in my life since being pregnant, He has always allowed and desired for me to do this. But HIS children have never before been MY children… I am praying for a heart as open and loving toward ALL of His children as my heart is toward my own children.

2.) I am a very compassionate and loving person, but very few people actually see this side of me. For some reason, I am hesitant or maybe embarrassed to show people how much I care about and love them. This is particularly relevant in the context of strangers- I often feel so much compassion for someone sitting alone, or just looking sad in general but I am unable to muster the courage to show my care for this person. This also applies to the clients I have seen in the past. For some reason, it makes me uncomfortable to let clients know how much I truly care for them. I also realized that this is not okay. I am praying for the courage to show God’s love and compassion openly.

Well, that’s all for now… I will post again soon with some BABY UPDATES!!

July 17, 2009- Gestational Diabetes

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A lot has happened since the last time I wrote anything on here… but what’s on my mind right now is gestational diabetes. That’s pretty much what’s been on my mind most of the time since I found out I had it.

When Dr. Devine’s office called me last week to tell me that my glucose test came back high, I honestly thought they must have mixed my results up with someone elses. I have always had low blood sugar…how could mine come back high? But, of course, I went the next day for more testing; thinking it would all come back normal. Well, after four hours of sitting in the hospital and four blood draws, my blood glucose was indeed very high. When the sweet nurse, Karen, called me with the results I was shocked. As soon as I got off the phone with her I called Brian and started crying. There are so many things that could happen to Tatum now. I was so scared.

I saw an endocrinologist on Thursday who made me feel a little better. He said my weight gain is normal and on track and I am otherwise very healthy. Because of those things, he thinks I have a good shot of being able to control the GD with just diet and exercise. If I am able to keep my blood glucose under control, Tatum should be fine. However, I left his office feeling VERY overwhelmed with all that I will have to do to keep an eye on my blood glucose.

Unfortunate things that will happen:I found out that no matter what, since I have GD, they will take Tatum away for at least a couple hours right after delivery to monitor her blood glucose. This is a bummer. I am going to barely get to see her, and then she will be taken away for hours. I know that is going to be hard. Also, she will have to have extra needles poked into her to test her blood. This is also a bummer.

Unfortunate things that are likely to happen:

Tatum may be too big to have a natural delivery or I may even have to be induced several weeks early. I really am hoping not to have a C-section. I also don’t want to be induced. Please pray that these things are not necessary. Tatum may also have low blood sugar when she is born and would have to have a sugar water IV.

There are also tons of other possible side effects of GD, that should be able to be avoided if I keep my glucose levels normal. I am really trying not to think about these other things.

Lots of people have been telling me that GD is “no big deal” or “nothing to worry about”, but I just cant buy into that. I know those people are just trying to comfort me, but it is annoying me a little. I feel like they are minimizing what I am going through and the fears I have. If it was nothing to worry about, then why would they even bother testing for it? And as far as it being no big deal… ha! I now have to test my blood glucose by finger prick at least six times a day. I have to test my urine for keytones twice a day. I have to keep logs of all those results. And I am on a very restrictive diet. I cant put anything in my mouth without questioning it first, and that is very stressful. And, because I know how harmful me stressing can be to Tatum, I stress out about the fact that I am stressed (yes I realize this is extremely counterproductive, but I cant help it).

Yesterday I ate what I thought would be a healthy, smart dinner and then when I tested my glucose afterwards, it was really high. I just felt so helpless. I was trying so hard to be conscious of what I was eating and pick something good, but my sugar was still so high! So, at lunch today I was standing in the kitchen trying to think of what I should eat for lunch. I felt so overwhelmed by everything that I didn’t even know what I should eat. I have never been good at knowing the ‘categories’ of what I eat. For instance, how many fats, sugars, and proteins something is (which is probably why I have never been on any legitimate diet before). I was so scared that I would eat something that would make my glucose too high that I couldn’t pick something to eat. I know that not eating is bad for Tatum, but I am scared that anything I put I my mouth is going to hurt her too. So I just started balling and Brian had to come help me decide what to eat.

I am praying that this will just be something that I need to get used to, and it will then come more naturally. In the meantime, I am so grateful to have Brian by my side to support me. I am not at all trying to complain about anything, because I know there is worse news to get during a pregnancy. I am just expressing what I have been feeling.

June 12, 2009- ITS A GIRL!!!

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We found out on June 3 that we are going to be having a sweet baby girl!! The most exciting news is that they said everything looks healthy! We got to see her heart and her brain! It is so insane to me that they have the technology to see those things using just sound frequencies! And she is a wiggler too! She was moving around all over the place during the sonogram. The technician actually had a hard time getting a good shot of her heart at first because she was moving so much. So cute! Other than hearing that she looks healthy, the most amazing part of the experience for me was seeing her profile- we got a great shot of her face! I can not even begin to explain the emotions that shot through my body when I saw her face on the screen. My heart was overflowing with love for our sweet baby who I haven’t even met yet. Such wonderful feelings.

Also, I feel her move a lot now! Mostly at night, but also sometimes when I sit still throughout the day. It is the coolest feeling I have ever experienced! I wish that Brian was able to feel her too, but he cant quite yet. On the other hand, being the only one who can feel that life inside me is so special. I am so grateful that I am a woman! I was asking Brian the other day of he is jealous that he will never get to be pregnant. He laughed at me and I think he thought I was kidding. But really, if I was a boy, I would be jealous. Boys never get to know what it feels like to have a life inside of them… Brian will have to wait until our daughter is born before he can hold her…I have already been holding her for five and half months. I just think that being pregnant is such a special blessing. We are so blessed that God allows us to play such an integral part in His creation. I am so unworthy, yet He chose to use my body to care for one of His children. And He allows us to raise and love His children. It is incredible and mind blowing and extremely humbling to think about.

On a similar note, I have felt especially close to God the past several months. There is just something about knowing that His hand is at work inside me, creating life, the life of my daughter.

Other cool baby related things right now:

- We know her name! But I cant say it on here yet… because I haven’t told my parents yet. And they might get territorial if you knew before they did. Hehe! We know her name and you don’t, na-na-no-boo-boo!

- I have been having so much fun picking out baby bedding. We haven’t decided on anything yet, but I have literally spent hours online looking at stuff. If anyone ones to weigh in with their vote, the finalists are:

From www.babybeddingmarket.com:
- Delilah, Sassy, Selinda, Serene (just go to the website and search the names to see the pictures)
From www.babysupermall.com
- Harlow, Love Bird
From www.bellablumaternity.com
- Dwell Garden Blossom

Also, if anyone knows anything about the websites above and their quality, etc. please share!

May 10, 2009- A Relaxing Saturday

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Well, I have officially finished my first week at my new internship! I have really enjoyed it so far. I am working in the methadone clinic at Sunrise Canyon MHMR. I have to be there at 6:00am… gross, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I am really tired in the afternoons, but make it through the morning okay. And since I get off around 12:30ish its works out well. I think I need to get in the habit of afternoon naps… J My supervisor, Steve, is a really great guy to work with. This past week I basically just followed him around like a shadow, so I have gotten to know him fairly well already. I haven’t gotten to see any clients on my own yet, but I’m grateful for that because I don’t feel comfortable with my substance abuse counseling skills just yet. I have never counseled anyone for substance abuse before….probably a (very) good idea to take advantage of supervision!

Also, I take urine samples. That’s correct. I watch people (females only) pee in a cup. Awkward. Probably more so for the pee-er than for me, but still.

I have found myself thinking about Nathan more than usual lately. At first I thought it was because it was getting close to May (I know its already May now…but this started before May) and his birthday is May 31. It is also starting to get close to the 2 year anniversary of his death, which will be September 4. But a few weeks ago the real reason dawned on me. And by dawned on me, I mean fell on me like a ton of bricks. It is because I am going to have a baby soon. I know, that doesn’t make immediate sense to most people, so let me explain. Nathan LOVED babies. And babies loved him. To be honest, a lot of grown ups didn’t necessarily love Nathan because he had a tendency to be a bit self-centered and often arrogant. Thus, he is not the type of person I would have described as a ‘people person’. But for some reason, he was great with babies. He had such a soft-spot for them and was so good with them. So it is really difficult for me to know that my son/daughter will not have Nathan in his/her life. Having a wedding without Nathan there was not easy…but no where near this though. I know that if Nathan was at my wedding he would have been jealous that it was not all about him, and I know he would have done something to try to change that. But if he were still here, I know he would be so excited for me and Brian (I know that he is even more excited where he is now…but I don’t get to see his face or experience the joy of his excitement). And I know he would have looooved being an uncle. And he would have loved spoiling his niece/nephew. So, to make a long story short, realizing that I will not get to see my big brother love on my baby in this life is a tough pill to swallow.

Now, on to more cheerful pregnancy news:

At work on Wednesday TWO people asked me if I was pregnant!!!! J One was a co-worker and one was a client. The co-worker looked at me funny, poked me in the stomach, and then asked. This would have been THE PERFECT opportunity to look confused and say no. It would have been totally awesome! Yet, I was so dang excited I got a goofy grin and said “Oh, can you tell?!”. Well, duh she could tell or she wouldn’t have asked. Nonetheless, I was thrilled. Then about 30 minutes later a client asked. Awesome day! J

Oh sick, Jia just tooted and it is rank!

Our baby is the size of an apple this week! Not including the legs. And on June 3 we get to find out if it’s a she or a he!!! June sounds forever away, but it is less than a month now! Also, the thought of bacon-ranch is horrid. I like bacon (okay, reeeeally like bacon) and I like ranch, I even like bacon in ranch dressing…but the thought of bacon-ranch is yuck. Before I got pregnant I used to really like chicken and bacon-ranch pitas, but not anymore. I saw bacon-ranch at Wal-Mart this morning…. I guess that’s why I felt the need to share that. Needless to say, I did not purchase the bacon-ranch. And I also avoided the Vienna sausage aisle so I wouldn’t be temped.

I have promised myself never again to go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart on a Saturday. It is so busy…people leave their carts in the middle of the aisle, kids running all over, general mayhem. It left me feeling frazzled. To make it up to myself, I bought chocolate covered doughnuts from the bakery. And I have to confess, I opened the box and ate one before I had even left the parking lot. Before I had even put the car in drive actually.

I still haven’t figured pictures out… stay tuned!

April 23, 2009- Thats MRS. Ziggy to you!

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12 weeks and 6 days!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooooo….

This post is dedicated to my poor baby puppy, Ziggy, who became a woman yesterday. She is in heat. And it is pitiful. First of all, she LOVES to play outside with her big sister (black lab) Jia. But not she has to stay inside except when I go out with her to potty (I don’t pee with her…just stand outside with her. To be clear.) She thinks this is torture. And to add to the cruelty, I have to keep Jia outside and away from Ziggy because Jia has been really aggressive with her since she has been in heat. Those two dogs are best friends, so they both hate that. And, the icing on the cake: Ziggy has to wear a diaper. And she haaaates it! She has stopped trying to take it off, but she won’t walk and just stares up at me with pitiful sweet eyes begging me to take it off. L My poor baby!

In other, more cheerful news, I just found out I got the internship I have been really hoping for at Sunrise Canyon! YAY!! I just got off the phone with my new supervisor and he seemed like a really great guy (phew!). We are meeting next Tuesday to go over details, and I am thrilled! Stay tuned for updates on that.

Now for what you’ve all been waiting for…drum roll please (Brian, can you hook me up?)…. Pregnancy news!!!

Unfortunately, I don’t have a really cool update or anything. Our next appointment is next week, and I can’t wait to pee in a cup and hear the heartbeat again! Well, actually, peeing in a cup I can wait on. But I am so excited to be able to hear our baby’s tiny heart beating again! It was 168 bpm last visit.

OOOOO, I do have cool news: Just one week and one day left of my first trimester!!!! I am really hoping I get my energy back. The nausea has been better on average for the past few weeks already, which I have been very grateful for. But I feel like this first trimester has been trying to go out with a bang because the past several days I have felt pretty crummy again. Brian and I were talking last night, and we both admitted that if I feel good for too many days in a row we start getting a little nervous and then when I have a sicky day, we are both a little relieved! Hehe!

Brian and our parents have been able to notice my belly for several weeks already, but most other people haven’t been able to tell. I think I am still in the “I look like I have just had a few too many brownies” phase. No one has noticed my tummy and asked yet. I am so excited for the first time that happens! I am tempted to get a really hurt look on my face and say that I have just been under a lot of stress or something. But that would probably be really mean. But funny… However, I have noticed several people I know who don’t know yet (mostly clients or people I don’t see often, because I have already told everyone else!) looking suspiciously at my stomach though. And when I have told people I have gotten a lot of “I was wondering!” or “I had a hunch you might be!” type of responses. I just want someone to be brave and ask! J Of course, if it was me I wouldn’t ask either. But I just want to feel like my belly is finally legit.

On a side note, I LOVE maternity jeans!!! Some of them may be mom-butt or funky looking, but they are dang comfy!! I really think I want to keep wearing maternity pants even after the baby and I lose the weight… is that weird? I wish I would have discovered maternity pants years ago. Its like wearing sweats, but really wearing jeans. For those of you females who have never been pregnant, go try on some maternity pants. They will change your life.

I still haven’t had any crazy cravings. I have been crazing Gatorade and PowerAde lately. Dad would probably say that’s because my body needs salt or something. But no strange or gross cravings. When I was grocery shopping a few weeks ago, I really wanted to buy some Vienna sausages. Which would normally totally gross me out and I would not normally eat. I didn’t buy any because I don’t think they are exactly very nutritious. And probably the real reason was that I thought I would chow them down and then think about what I just ate and then get sick. I ate a burger last week too! And it didn’t make me sick! Most of the time burgers still don’t sound very appetizing, but the thought no longer makes me sick. Patty melts are another story…nasty.

And, as always, I continue to be spoiled by sweet Brian! He is so encouraging to me when I am frustrated with something at school or Hospice or when I just don’t feel good. His hugs can turn my whole day around in a matter of seconds. I think he has some sort of sixth sense for knowing when I have had a rough day. For instance, I was not feeling very good all day on Monday. But I didn’t want to tell Brian because I feel like I am always saying I’m not feeling good these days, so I decided to spare him on Monday. I was also pouting silently to myself because I wouldn’t get home from Hospice until about 6:30 and he had to leave our house for rehearsal about 6:10 and wouldn’t be home for over an hour. All I wanted to do was lay in his lap, but I was going to just miss seeing him! Boo! But when I walked in the door, sweet sweet Brian has left me a surprise!! Hanging right inside the garage door was a Texas Rangers jersey and hat!!! He had bought them for me earlier that day and not told me. It was such a sweet surprise and it made my whole day seem like it had been wonderful! And the best part: I never even told him I was having a rough day! Isn’t he amazing? I love you Brian James Maines!

** I really want to learn to put pictures on here so I can show you Ziggy in her diaper!

April 7, 2009- We're PREGNANT!!

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HA! I started this blog in July and this will be my first ‘real’ post. Nice. But I promise to be better from now on. I have wanted to start a blog for a long time (which is why I made this one in July…), but I always seem to be too busy between school and keeping up with the house. But I will make time from now on!

Hmmm… lets see..

Of course, I am married to the most wonderful and amazing man of all times, Brian James! He really is such a great husband. I admire and respect him beyond words. He is such a hard worker. And he never complains about his sometimes very busy schedule. He is also the world’s best drummer… but I think everyone already knows that! I love knowing how much he loves me and how he would literally do anything for me. He spoils me.. a lot! And he is always so patient and kind with me. God really blessed me with Brian. And he is a blessing to me every single day.

I am about to finish up my masters in counseling. I will be finished with class at the end of this semester, then I just have one more internship to finish up over the summer before I can officially say “I’m done!”. I don’t know what I’m going to do with out school. It’s weird to think about. But I have been in school full time including summers since I started college 5 years ago. I have never been a wife without being in school (Yes, Brian is a very patient husband! J). So really, I have never not been a student since the time I started kindergarten. However, I’m sure that becoming a mom will take up the extra time I have after finishing up school!

On that note, for those of you who don’t yet know, Brian and I are about 10 and a half weeks pregnant! YAY!!! Sweet Baby Maines is due October 30! We are excited beyond words at this new chapter of our lives.

Pregnancy has been really fun (at least for me… I can’t speak for Brian, since he’s the one who’s had to put up with me!). I think the best part so far has been getting to tell everyone. Telling Brian was so much fun! I was so excited that I had to tell him right after I found out. Then we waited a couple weeks to make sure it was real before telling our families. Both of our parents were so excited for us…and them J. Jeremy’s reaction was pretty priceless (I told him we were six weeks and he said “Okay…you just told me that you and Brian had sex six weeks ago, and that is more that I needed to know!”). Hehe! Josh didn’t exactly pick up on the hints we were giving him and finally said “Are you trying to tell me something?” Brothers are so silly. It has just been so wonderful to watch the faces of the ones we love light up with excitement for us when we tell them our news.

Pregnancy has also had some other fun side effects. Most people don’t think these are that fun, but they have been exciting for me. I am referring, of course, to morning sickness and its fun symptoms. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily like feeling sick, but its fun knowing that I feel like crap because my son or daughter is developing inside of me! My first “pregnancy throw up” happened a week after we found out. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty awesome! I came out of the bathroom with a huuuge grin on my face, which Brian found humorous. And I really wanted to text my mom about it, since I was so excited. Unfortunately, it happened before my parents knew, so I couldn’t share my cool story yet. Other fun things include how incredibly difficult it has become to brush my teeth. It gags me to brush my tongue, but my mouth feels way to grody if I don’t (when I was younger my mom would always tell us that not brushing your teeth good in the morning is like ‘sucking on a turd’), so its usually a pretty interesting balance. Sometimes I start gagging even before I get to my tongue, because I know its coming. Also, I am very sensitive to smells. Considering that Jia, our black lab, is infamous for her gas, this also gets interesting.

I have also been extremely fatigued the past 6ish weeks. But sweet Brian has really been awesome to me. He is always willing to help out around the house. He even usually ends up making me dinner (he makes his dinner too, but usually not the same thing as me…my food repertoire has become limited due to nausea). And he has never once complained about it. I feel so useless and lazy on those days, but he is always encouraging and sweet to me. I really would be a mess without him. I LOVE YOU B!

Well, I guess I have written enough for now. But I will keep posting about all of the excitement of being a mother-to-be!!