Happy Birthday Grandma

Grandma Richards

We'll see you in 4 more sleeps! Are you getting excited yet?

Doctor's appointments

Austin's 3 year physical:

Austin proved just how big he was at the doctor's office today. He was excellent during his exam. He allowed the doctor to look in his ears, his eyes and nose without a fight but required a little wrestling when it came to looking at his throat! The nurse even commented that he did really well with his vision test, cooperating better than most three year olds. We still can't get him over the 30 lb mark but we're almost there. He weighed in at 29 lbs 5 oz and was a little over 35 inches tall! His tubes are still in place which we kind of figured by the amount of drainage coming out of his right ear the last couple of weeks. He has some fluid in his right ear so we'll be doing ear drops twice a day for the next seven days. Hopefully this will all clear up by the time he has to see Dr. R, his Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist, on March 7th. We also received some advice on how to get him to stay in his bed when he wakes up at night. It seems that he is spoiled by having Mommy or Daddy sit with him when he falls asleep at night. He associates us with falling asleep therefore can not soothe himself back to sleep when he wakes up during the night. We will be implementing the advice over the next couple of months in hopes that he will be able to stay asleep all night or in his room when he wakes up during the night.

Abigail's 2 week follow-up:

Our baby girl is eating well and gaining weight! She weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz this morning meaning she's gained 9-10 oz in the last two weeks. They measured her at 20 1/2 inches long, but the doctor thought this measurement might have been a little off. It's a little unusual that she would grow over an inch in two weeks. She has to go back to the doctor at 2 months for her next check-up and immunizations! After her appointment I had to run her over to the lab at the hospital to have a follow-up PKU test done. Once again she had to have her little heal poked!

2 Weeks old

Wow, Abigail is 2 weeks old today! She has proven to be a great baby so far. She is quite the eater and boy does she fill those diapers on a regular basis! We're headed to the doctor's office this morning for her 2 week follow up along with Austin's 3 year physical! Look for an update later in the afternoon! Here are some new pictures!

One of many diaper changes!

Once again, petting his sisters head!

Where is Abigail?

Oh, there she is! She was getting kissed yet again by her big brother! Isn't he the sweetest! He likes to pet her head also. He says, "Abigail's hair is beautiful" except his Abigail sounds like Agigail, it's so cute! He's doing a wonderful job at being a big brother, I'm so proud of him. Now having Abigail makes me see how big he's actually getting! Just by the way he's talking makes him sound all grown up! Where has the time gone?

A few new pictures

Here are some new pictures of our cute baby girl and her big brother! Austin and Grandma Great have been spending a lot of time outside lately. It's been absolutely gorgeous outside so the sand box and tractor have been getting a lot of use!

Cheese!

Comparison

I've been looking for pictures of my kids (it's weird to say that!) to compare their looks when they were little. The picture of Austin is from the day he was born and Abigail was 5 days old in her picture. Do you think they look alike?

Austin

Abigail

I must mention that the photo of Abigail is courtesy of my very own photographer, Austin Ringman. Doesn't he do a great job!

The last week

I can't believe Abigail is almost a week old already! We've all been doing some adjusting this last week and I must admit that it has been nice to have things go by at a slower pace. It's been nice to stay at home, but it was also nice to get out of the house this morning. Austin and I ran up to the gas station this morning to grab a newspaper thinking that Abigail's name might be listed under the recent births. The births were only listed up until February 10th so we'll have to remember to grab the paper next Sunday.

Abigail has been doing the typical newborn routine in sleeping, eating and pooping! She is doing a wonderful job sleeping at night. She is sleeping on an average of 3-4 hours at a time, waking to eat, then going right back to sleep again. Her brother on the other hand is waking at opposite times making it difficult to get more than a couple hours of sleep at a time for myself. I probably just jinxed myself, but hopefully Abigail will keep up her same routine!

It has been nice outside the last couple of days so Austin and Grandma Great have been able to get outside. Austin has been playing in the sandbox, riding in the wagon and riding his tractor. He continues to kiss on his sister when he has the chance. I knew he would make a great Big Brother!

Here are some new pictures!

Don't I look sleep deprived!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Riley!

Adjusting

Austin is getting used to the idea of his baby sister! When we first brought her home from the hospital on Tuesday he would not even acknowledge her. In fact he was not paying attention to Mommy or Daddy either. He has finally come around to the fact that she is going to stay and is doing a wonderful job at being a big brother. He finally got up the nerve to hold her yesterday and he can't quite get enough of her now. He is continuously asking to hold her, and keeps planting kisses on her. He's doing a wonderful job at getting things ready when she needs her diaper changed and tells her that everything is ok when she's crying. "It's ok Abigail" he says!

He is also getting spoiled by Grandma Grape! They made heart shaped sugar cookies today. He had so much fun with the cookie cutter and even more fun eating the end result!

More pictures

I'm Daddy's Michigan Girl

I'm ready to go home

I'm home

Aren't I cute!

How my Big Brother greeted me

Me & my Big Brother

Meet Abigail Hope

We welcomed our daughter into this world this morning. Here are her “stats” and of course pictures!

Born 2/12/07 at 7:45 a.m.
Weighing in at 7 lbs. 2.9 oz.
19 ¼ inches long.

I knew she wasn’t going to be as big as Austin but I didn’t think she would be this little either! We’re all doing great, even the Big Brother. He keeps telling us that her name is not Abigail, it’s “Baby Sister” and we can take her home with us. He wants Mommy and Abigail to come home today, but we reassured him that we would be home tomorrow (hopefully). Look for more updates after we get home!

I'm ready...

I've discovered that the link to the online nursery does not work! When the baby finally decides to come we'll post pictures here.

We brought the swing and bouncy seat out to the living room so we could set up the air mattress for Grandma Great yesterday. Austin kept turning the bouncy seat on to make sure it would still vibrate. When asked who it was for he proudly responded with "Our Baby Sister!" He's getting just as excited as Mommy is! Oh, remember how I said I hope he doesn't think his Baby Sister is going to get off the airplane with Grandma Great? Yesterday after picking her up at the airport, we got in the car and out of nowhere Austin says from the backseat, "Now our Baby Sister can come!" How smart is he? (Sometimes too smart for his own good!)

We're off to the grocery store this morning. Hopefully some walking will help move things along! She's not listening to me when I tell her to get out! We'll keep you updated!

It's almost time

I had my weekly doctor's appointment with Dr. L this afternoon. I have dilated another centimeter putting me at 3 cm dilated! Dr. L said that once I hit 4 cm things should really get going! My Dad is still sticking to his prediction of the 11th in the wee hours of the morning. At this rate he might be right on target! We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm loving all of the comments, keep them coming! Oh, I forgot to mention that I lost a pound! No weight gain this week!

For those who might be interested in seeing the baby when she's born, the hospital where I'll be delivering at has a website you can visit to see the babies after they are born. They seem to keep up with it on a daily basis but it might take a couple days if she arrives on a weekend. I'm also hoping to post some pictures on our website while we're still in the hospital via Michael's laptop. The hospital offers wireless Internet for their patients. We have the ability to take the memory card from our camera and put it in the laptop to retrieve the pictures. Of course it's a nice thought at this point. Who knows how it will all play out when everything actually happens! Where would we be without wireless Internet?

We'll keep everyone updated as the time gets closer!

The "Dunlap"

My husband has informed me that I have developed the "Dunlap" syndrome. My belly has "done lapped" over my pants! Ha, funny I know. I told him I can't help it and it will all be worth it in the end!



38 weeks! Yippee! Two or less weeks to go! At this point I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore and can't wait to meet my daughter. I have decided that Friday will be my last day at work. It's becoming way too exhausting to work everyday. I still have a few things I'd like to do around the house before going into labor and find myself too exhausted when I get home from work to do anything. My Grandma (or Grandma Grape as Austin calls her) will be here on Saturday to stay for three weeks. It will be nice to spend some time with her before all the chaos begins. She is going to stay with Austin when the baby finally decides she would like to join us. Austin also knows that when Grandma Great comes his baby sister is going to join us too. I just hope he doesn't expect her to get off the plane with Grandma Great!

This was the closest we could get of Austin kissing his baby sister. Daddy couldn't get the camera snapped fast enough! Also, if it seems as if I'm larger than life it's because Daddy was laying on the couch while taking the pictures.

Name Game

Ok, it's time for a little fun! We're curious to see what everyone thinks we should name the baby. We are not going to name the baby based on the poll results, we'd just like to see what everyone likes. We've agreed on the middle name of Elizabeth but can't decide on a first name. Place your vote before she makes her arrival!

What name do you like?

Abigail
Faith
Hope
Kaitlyn

View Results

What do you think?

What do you think of the new look of the website? I've been trying to think of a way to incorporate other colors besides blue as Austin will not be the only one featured on here soon.

I don't think everyone saw that predictions are being taken for the date and stats on the little girl in my belly. I've only gotten two predictions so far! Don't be shy, let’s have a little fun! Leave a comment to let us know what you think, I'm curious to see who is going to guess the closest!

Here are the two predictions we have so far:

Grandma Richards:
February 14th, 4:20pm 7lbs. 11 3/4lbs. 20 1/2 in and have lots of hair.

Grandpa Richards:
I say Sunday, 2/11/07 in the wee hours of the morning. Say around 3:00 or 4:00 A.M. I'll say 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 19.5" long. Just a Dad's intuition.

For my sister?

We received a package from my Grandma yesterday with some things she made for the baby. In the package she sent some beautiful quilts, blankets, burp clothes and an absolutely gorgeous sweater with matching booties and hat. She also sent a couple of knitted hats for Austin. Needless to say...Austin took it upon himself to try the hats on. And when I say hats, he tried ALL the hats on. I turned around, saw him wearing his sisters hat and couldn't stop laughing! Of course he thought it was really funny after that so I grabbed the camera and took his picture! If it wasn't going to fit her head before it's going to fit now, Austin stretched it out with his big noggin for her!

Oh baby

So my doctor's appointment with Dr. L was actually exciting today! When he checked for dilation he informed me that I was 2 cm dilated! I'm only dilated and not effaced so he doesn't think that I'll go into labor in the next week but it could be soon. While he was listening to the baby's heartbeat he also informed me that I was having a small contraction. I couldn't feel it but it's nice to know that things are happening and it might not be much longer before this little girl makes her arrival. Dr. L still discussed the idea of inducing at 39 weeks if something hasn't happened as I delivered "a big one" (yes he really said that) with my first pregnancy. I'm starting to think that she is not going to be as big as Austin was as I'm about 15 lbs lighter than when I delivered him. We'll just have to wait and see. I gained 3 lbs in the last week so by the time she does decide to come I could only be about 10 lbs lighter then when I delivered Austin. I guess that means I better get some last minute things around in the next week as I may not have much more time to get things situated. I think it's finally time to get some diapers and get my bag packed for the hospital. I go back to see Dr. L next Thursday. Maybe it will be my last appointment before I see him in the delivery room...

The turtle

Here are some fun pictures of Austin playing in his new sandbox. He had so much fun playing on his birthday he didn't want to come inside. It finally got too dark to see what he was doing! I think he will really have fun when it starts to warm up outside.

Of course I couldn't decide on what pictures to post so I posted them all! Isn't he the cutest! He always sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating on something!

37 Weeks

37 weeks down, 3 to go! I can't believe my due date is just around the corner. I go for my weekly check up with Dr. L tomorrow morning. He will be checking for dilation so we'll see if anything is going to happen any time soon! I'm a little curious as to when she's going to make her arrival. Is she going to be early like Austin? Is she going to be late because she's stubborn and wants to keep us all in suspense? I guess we'll have to wait and see! If you would like to make a prediction, this should be the post to do so. Leave a comment with the date you think she'll make her arrival. If you really want to get creative, you can leave weight and length stats too. Here is some information about what's going on with the baby and a scary picture of my belly! Not the best picture, but Austin and I were laid back relaxing!

Congratulations! Your pregnancy is now considered full term -- meaning your baby is developmentally ready to handle life outside the womb. (Babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 weeks are post-term.) Your baby probably weighs a little over 6 pounds at this point and measures between 19 and 20 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children are born blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Scary isn't it!

Finally, pictures of our house!

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Appointments

Austin was supposed to have his three year check-up yesterday but when we got to the doctor's office it was discovered that he had a "physical" on February 21st of last year. Since our insurance will not pay for another "physical" if they are less than a year apart, we did not see the doctor as planned. I thought it would have been nice if they would have looked at his chart and mentioned this when we were there a month ago and I scheduled the appointment! The receptionist asked me if I wanted to schedule his appointment and I had to kindly tell her that my due date was February 20th so no, I don't think so! Who knows what will be going on around that time! Hopefully we'll have a baby by then but you never know! She has proven to be a little stubborn already!

After Austin's appointment we headed about two buildings over for my weekly appointment with Dr. L. I am proud to announce that I did not gain any weight in the last week! Maybe I'll get lucky and this girl won't be as big as Austin was! Austin was really fascinated when Dr. L raised the table and listened to the baby's heart beat. Dr L. did not check for dilation this week but stated that he would next Thursday. Hopefully I'll have some more exciting news to share after my next appointment as the pressure seems to be increasing each day! I now feel like I have the pregnancy waddle down to a perfection! Not to mention having to pee every hour on the hour and getting heartburn after drinking water! I'll be very surprised if she comes out without any hair!

Austin has been talking about his baby sister a lot lately so I think he's starting to feel my anxiousness! Tonight he gave his baby some milk and we changed his clothes three times! His baby sister now has clean clothes to wear and her diaper bag is packed with an outfit to come home in! Now we'll just have to wait for her to decide when she wants to come. The next couple of weeks should prove to be exciting for us all! Here's a picture of her laundry before Austin and I removed all the tags to stick them in the washer! So much for my nightmare of her being born and not having any clothes to wear...