Look Alikes!!

Brandy just texted me this picture of Maisy.... tell me she doesn't look JUST LIKE her Momma!! :)

And oh that hair!! Brandy,  you better watch out...we're coming with the hair bows!! :) :)

Happy Birthday Maisy! *6-24-2011*

For those of you who missed the last update, Maisy has made her arrival into this world, welcomed by mommy & daddy at 8:22am! She weighs 8lbs 8 ounces and is 21 inches long with a head full of hair! :)

Happy Birthday Maisy! Aside from your wonderful family, you've had many 'blogger moms' and friends of your momma & daddy anxiously, and I mean ANXIOUSLY awaiting your grand entrance! We are so glad you are here & are healthy!

Here's the sweet girl, herself!

Waiting for Maisy! Update!

Updated 06/24/2011 @ 9:30am : MAISY IS HERE! She was born this morning at 8:22am, weighing 8lbs and 8 ounces, 21.5 inches long with a head full of hair!! Brandy & Maisy are doing great. Brandy is now in recovery and she is about to breastfeed Maisy for the first time, so hopefully she will send a picture very soon for everyone to see (to see a picture of Maisy not of her breastfeeding - just to clarify!!! :)

(Hey everyone, it's Nicki here. I'll be posting details this morning as we're all anxiously awaiting the arrival of little Maisy!  Brandy and Alan had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am to get things started.  All the details will be below...

6:24 ~ Got a text from Brandy that they just got the IV in and baby heart monitor on.  Now they just wait...Maisy's birth is set to begin at 7:30! :)

7:21 ~ Brandy is headed back to the OR for her spinal block and surgery. Next update should be a pic of baby girl!!!  Keep everyone in your prayers as Brandy goes through her surgery!

Wrapping This Thing Up

This pregnancy, that is! 

Yesterday was my last day of work and I am officially on maternity leave now!!  They had a huge breakfast for me at work which was so sweet…and so yummy!  It really was the perfect start to the day and I appreciate them doing that.  We had every breakfast food you could imagine, and even a freezer full of smoothie’s (my pregnancy craving!).

After that I went to all of my final Doctor Appointments and it felt good knowing those weekly trips have come to an end!  Ryder was so funny at my Dr. Appt telling everyone how he was having a baby sister and right now she lives in Mommy’s Tummy, but Friday we’re going to get her from the hospital!  He really has this whole thing all figured out!  Even in the room he sat there eating his chips, ordering me around as if he was the Dr. telling me what I needed to do!

The appointments went great, Maisy is fabulous…and very content right where she is.  I am still not dilated or showing any signs of going into labor on my own!  No weight gain this week, blood pressure was normal, and my stomach is measuring at 40 weeks, so just a little big.  And we ended the appointment with “see you friday morning!”  I can’t even believe the time is here so fast!

Today Aunt B came over and helped me clean my house…like clean, clean!  It feels so good to have everything scrubbed and looking and smelling fresh. 

Maisy’s bag is packed, my bag is packed, and Ryder is all packed up too!  We have to be at the hospital at 5:30am Friday morning and the surgery is scheduled for 7:30am.  I’m definitely feeling nervous and anxious, mostly about the surgery and the recovery from it…but I’m definitely excited that we’re finally going to get to meet our baby girl.

Ryder’s nose started running a few days ago and hasn’t stopped.  I’m thinking (and hoping) it’s just allergies because it’s not turning into anything besides just a runny nose.  BUT now today Alan came home from work not feeling well, like he’s coming down with something.  Worst possible timing for any of us to get sick, so please pray that by Friday we are all 100% and everything goes smoothly.

Time to wrap up this post AND this pregnancy!! 

Happy Father’s Day

To the one who makes our world go round!

Some of my favorite Father & Son moments:

Bear hugs – Ryder asks Alan “Daddy do you want a bear hug” probably 10 times a day.  The answer never changes “I ALWAYS want a bear hug buddy”.

“Daddy, we missed you!” Ryder used to say “Daddy, Ryder missed you” but now he has changed it to “we”.  Alan says “who’s we?? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?” which always makes me & Ryder laugh.

Ted Nugent – This would be who Daddy & Ryder listen to in the car.  Ryder bops his head, plays the air guitar and yells “I got you in da strangle hold bay-bayyyyyyy!”

Cuddling – Ryder knows that Daddy is the softy so whenever he wants a little extra time before bedtime he’ll say “Daddy, do you want to cuddle??” obviously Alan can’t turn that down.

Things he would only learn from Daddy:  “Loud Pipes Save Lives!”, “Shake it more than twice you’re playing with it!”, and how to save your money for really IMPORTANT things.  Ryder has 3 piggy banks and Alan told him that as soon as they are all full he will take him to buy a 4-wheeler.  So every time Ryder puts money in a piggy bank he says “Momma, you can’t WAIT to see my 4-wheeler!”

The relationship these two have melts my heart, I can’t even imagine how much more it will turn to mush when there’s a Daddy’s girl in the picture!

38 Weeks!

My final week of pregnancy!!  I can barely believe it…but here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is officially a little chunkin, at well over six pounds and 19 1/2 inches long.
• Is also officially considered “full term.” In other words, he or she is STRAIGHT UP FREELOADING from here on out.
• Is practicing making fists and fetal breathing in anticipation of life outside the womb.

You:

• Have probably had enough of this magical special time, thank you very much.
• Backaches, joint aches, heartburn, indigestion, constipation, Braxton-Hicks contractions, painful kicks, bladder pressure, stretch marks, itchy skin, swollen ankles, fatigue, dry mouth, mood swings, did I miss anything else in this cavalcade of late-pregnancy hilarity?
• Are alternating between crazy excitement about finally meeting your baby and crazy panic about oh my God, you’re finally going to meet your baby and they’re going to expect that you take it home and like, keep it alive and stuff.

She totally just laid out any complaint I could possibly have, so I’ll just say DITTO!  I finally packed a little hospital bag for Maisy and I plan to pack mine this weekend.  I know, I can’t believe I’ve waited until the last minute, but I guess having a planned c-section date gave me this mental block that I’ll be good as long as I have it done by then! 

I had a sonogram on Wednesday and everything is still looking great with Maisy.  They mentioned her abdomen being large again but brushed it off that she’s just a big baby, so I’m hoping it’s nothing to be concerned about.  They estimated her weight this week at 7 pounds 8 ounces and said that based on that she’d probably be just over 8 pounds at birth.  I can’t wait to see how accurate that is! 

At my weekly check-up my blood pressure was good, her heartrate was good, and I gained 2 pounds bringing me to a total of 24 pounds.  We went over all the details of the surgery and I’m starting to get a little nervous.  I had absolutely no complaints about my c-section with Ryder, so I’m just trying to think about how smooth that went and pray for the same this time around. 

Ryder went to my appointment with me and got very protective when the Doctor checked Maisy’s heartbeat.  I told him to listen because the doctor was going to find Maisy and he would be able to hear her in Mommy’s tummy.  As soon as he heard the heartbeat sound, he came over to the doctor with a very concerned and serious look on his face and said “dat’s enough….DAT’S ENOUGH!!!!”  I don’t know if he thought maybe the wand was hurting me or hurting Maisy but whatever his issue was he was going to put a stop to it! 

ONE MORE WEEK!!!!  (sorry no picture today! I’ll make sure to take one more before I have her.)

Good-Bye’s

I don’t like good-bye’s at all!  It’s so sad to say good-bye to someone knowing that you’ll never see them again, especially when they have played such a huge part in your life.  But, today we had to say good-bye to Miss Erin.  Of course it was emotional for me, I just can’t think of how thankful I am for her and everything she has done for Ryder without tearing up, so I knew that our last therapy session with her would be hard.  She has been working on teaching Ryder how to jump with both feet at one time which he proceeded to do about 20 times today!  Even that made me emotional because she was so proud of him and it was just another example of how many milestones she has helped him accomplish.  I know that he would not have come as far as he has in his recovery without her, so I’m thankful that God put her in our lives when Ryder could benefit the most. 

She had a special present for Ryder that she gave him before we left.  She made him a green (his favorite color!) box with the sweetest poem on the outside, a personal note from her on the inside, and filled it with lollipops (his favorite, of course!). 

 

Listen to the Musn’ts child,

Listen to the Don’ts,

Listen to the Shouldn’ts,

The Impossibles, the Wont’s

Listen to the Never Haves

Then Listen close to me -

Anything can happen child, anything can be!

We have our first session with Ryder’s new therapist on Tuesday and then the next Thursday he will get to see Miss Erin one last time with Daddy.  We introduced him to Miss Stacey today and she told him how excited she was that he was going to come play with her next week.  I finally broke the news to him that Miss Erin was moving and that he would be seeing Miss Stacey now.  He didn’t have much to say, until about an hour later he said “Mom, lets talk about dat”.  I said “talk about what Ryder?” he said “Miss Erin moving”.  So we talked about it again, and tonight we prayed for her and her move. So we’re easing our way into the transition.  I’m sure he’ll handle it like a champ (better than his Momma for sure!). 

Onto another goodbye…we came home to find that H2 lives no more…we thought about getting an H3 and still telling Ryder it was the original Hummer, BUT then we figured we’d better spare the poor fish it’s life.  Obviously we are not cut out to be fish owners.  Daddy is working on a plan to get rid of H2 (who is currently “sleeping”) and figure out just what to tell Ryder about the empty tank when it’s all said and done.