bacon and eggs

Wow, what a blur the past 8 weeks have been. I go back to work in a week (boo.) so hopefully I’ll have more time to blog then. What? Did I say that outloud?

Anyway, Kaylee’s October was full of adventures. She cried her way through the pumpkin patch:

 

She hung out with her grandma/mimi for a week while I had gallbladder surgery and recovered. That week was full of adventures. Like massive spit up face.

She smiles and coos at us regularly now. She’s found her hands and tries to eat her fist when she’s hungry. Which is ALL THE TIME. This girl can EAT! Poor baby also got her first stomach virus and was sick for her entire 6th week of life. That week was really rough on me, so I went to Iowa Park for some support from Nana and PawPaw and some SLEEP. We ended up spending Halloween weekend there, which really couldn’t have been more perfect.

Kaylee was Bacon and Eggs for her first Halloween. Remember way back when I was pregnant and sick and Kris and Geoff named the baby Bacon? We just couldn’t resist the opportunity to dress her up as such for Halloween. She can be a cute angel next year.

It was fun for her to meet her cousins. Next year is going to be a very busy Halloween with all these little ones running around!

This Tuesday Kris and I will celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary! We’re going to stay at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine the following weekend while Kaylee parties with Nana and PawPaw. We can’t wait! Uninterrupted sleep! And Kaylee will get to meet Santa. Hard to believe the holiday season is upon us.

 

5 weeks of kaylee

Where has the time gone? I’m still writing September in the date line on checks because in my mind, it’s still the middle of September, not nearing the end of October.

I can’t believe Kaylee is 5 weeks old already. She smiles and coos a little and is starting to giggle at us. She loves bath time and hates having to get dressed. Her favorite place in the house is chilling out on her changing table. She’s not really fussy, but still has her nights and days totally mixed up. She’s outgrowing newborn clothes and newborn diapers. She weighed 8lbs 10oz at her 4 week doctor’s appointment. She’s got a tight belly now and her little legs and arms have rolls that weren’t there when she was born. Her hair is getting darker and her eyes are still dark blue. She’s the love of my life … the person I’ve been waiting to love all my life and just didn’t know it yet.

I love watching her sleep because she makes the best faces. I love her little cry and know I could pick it out of a crowd of crying babies. I love watching Kris interact with her. He carries on the sweetest conversations with her. Plotting about only taking a bath once a month and telling her how pretty she is. He’s a natural at fatherhood and I’m so glad I could give him that gift.

It’s hard to remember our lives without Kaylee. She completes our little family in ways I never dreamed possible.

in the motherhood

Things I’ve done so far that I never thought I’d do:

• get peed on at 11p.m. and realize there is nothing to do but laugh
• right after getting peed on, experience my first blow out diaper. again, nothing to do but laugh
• learn to function on 2 hours of sleep or less for multiple days in a row
• be thrilled at the sight of 2oz of milk that was just pumped out of me
• embrace feeling a little bit like a cow who gets milked every 3 hours
• learn how to send dangerous glares at strangers who even appear to look interested in coming to peer into my carseat and breathe on my baby
• learn now to insert a screaming baby into a carseat and get the carseat into the car. this requires much patience and lots of sweat.
• learn how to use a baby sling
• actually looking forward to a good night of marathon TV on Nick at Night
• bond with my husband over endless seasons of The Office and learning to laugh until you cry at 3 a.m. when the baby still hasn’t fallen asleep
• realize that it really is true that you don’t mind changing diapers when it’s YOUR baby. most of the time.
• learn how to send withering looks to neighbors who dare to look at me twice when I’m outside in my nightgown, with my hair a hot mess, pacing up and down the sidewalk with my baby in a sling, praying for her to go to sleep
• realize that I haven’t been outside in 2 or 3 days
• try for 3 days straight just to leave the house to go to the post office
• learn how to mostly function in a constant haze of exhaustion
• try to fall asleep with the hairdryer blowing because the noise keeps the baby asleep … but not being able to fall asleep because you keep worrying the hairdryer is going to catch on fire.

And most importantly:

I’ve learned what it means when people say they have never loved someone as much as they do their child. I want to feel her pain for her. I want her childhood to be full of fun, learning and all things magical and fantastic … because it is true, she only gets ONE childhood.

I want to remember these days when she is small enough to fit in a sling around my neck and her hands and feet are still so impossibly tiny.

I never knew this would be so hard. I never knew I could cry so much. But I know without a doubt that it’s all worth it.

day 9

Kaylee is having more periods of alertness every day. Too bad they are mostly in the middle of the night. We are so sleep deprived and I’m beginning to wonder if my days will ever consist of anything other than staying up all night, getting her to sleep around daybreak, napping until 10 or 1, feeding her, feeding me, feeding her again, trying to sleep but realizing I can’t, then looking at the clock and being shocked that it’s 5 p.m. already. Then we start the process over again.

Here’s a video we took last night of her wide awake and happy. She’s such a cutie.

kaylee lynn

Friday, September 11 was a rainy day in Dallas. The first cool front of the season was set to push through. I worked a regular day and came home to hang out with Kris. We decided to brave the storms that were about to hit and eat at Applebee’s. As we were eating the rain started. It was raining so hard when we left that the streets were already flooding. We joked that if I went into labor that night we might have to call the rescue boat to come take me to the hospital.

I went to bed around 8:30 or 9 and watched some TV. By the time Kris came to bed at 11:30 I was feeling sort of crampy. I didn’t think too much of it since I had been feeling like that off and on for a few weeks. By 2 a.m. I realized that I was having regular contractions. They weren’t terrible, but they were coming rather steadily. I woke Kris up at 2:30 and told him he probably wasn’t going to work Saturday duty that day. We started timing my contractions using contractionmaster.com and after about an hour realized there was a definite pattern. I got up and double checked my hospital bag and fixed my hair because I wasn’t going to the hospital with crazy bed hair! I was having to stop what I was doing and breath through the contractions when they hit at that point. They were coming anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes apart then.

I called my mom at 4 a.m. and she agreed that I was really in labor and should call the doctor. I think it’s funny now that she told me to take a hot shower and I said, “I can’t mom. I just fixed my hair!” I called the doctor at 4:26 a.m.

Kris packed all of my bags in the car and I wouldn’t leave until we took some pictures. You can tell I was still feeling pretty good at this point.

We drove through the rain and as we went my contractions started becoming less fun and more painful. I had a stress ball that I was squeezing with each one. We got checked in at Labor and Delivery and thought, ok, I’m admitted, right? Wrong. The nurse, a less than friendly lady named Ify, came in and checked me. I was only 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. She told us they would watch me for a couple of hours and that Dr. Umholtz would be coming in around 8.

I suffered through more and more intense contractions for another hour and finally had to ask for something to take the edge off. I got a shot of something magical that made me a little loopy, but a lot more comfortable.

At 7 a.m. a wonderful nurse named Vickie walked in. It was shift change and she was going to be my nurse for the duration of the delivery. Thank God. But immediately after she walked in Kaylee’s heart rate started to drop with a contraction. Vickie rotated me from my right to my left side and Kaylee’s heart rate picked back up. Vickie told me that I would be admitted for sure now, because they don’t mess around with decelerations in fetal heart rates.

Vickie was really a gift from God. She kept us informed of every single thing that was going on, what drugs I was getting, why things were happening and the possibility that I might have to have a Csection to get Kaylee out fast if her heart rate kept acting up. By that time I was dilated to a 5 and she put in the orders for an epidural.

I know lots of people are scared of the epidural, but my experience was fantastic. The anesthesiologist, Larry, was a friendly, chatty guy. He told me everything he was doing as he did it, but I didn’t care. I was having a contraction and just wanted the pain to stop. And stop it did. Kris and Vickie were having to tell me when I was contracting. The only other way I could tell was by listening to Kaylee’s heart monitor.

Finally Dr. Umholtz came to check on me and I think I was about an 8 at that point. She told Vickie to get me started pushing once I got to 10, but warned me again that I might have to have an emergency Csection if Kaylee didn’t handle the contractions any better.

I was getting pitocin by then, so I dilated fast. Everything is sort of a blur from that point. Before I knew it, I was feeling a little pain with each contraction again and Vickie told me it was time to start pushing. After a few pushes, they called Dr. Umholtz back in to vacuum Kaylee out. I think I only had to push twice once she got there and she didn’t have to use the vacuum.

Kaylee was born at 12:51p.m. on September 12. I was so relieved to have her out safely. It was so scary to hear her heart rate drop with each contraction and watch multiple nurses rush in the room each time.

It turns out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. I’m so thankful that there were no further complications and she’s here with us now, safe and sound.

Once she was out, I was so excited, relieved, tired and drugged that my first question to Kris was “Does she have a head?!” I think I meant “Is the head out?” or “Does she have hair?” but that’s not what came out of my mouth.

She weighed 5lbs 10ozs and was 20.25″ long. She’s a tiny little peanut and we are head over heels in love. Her personality is priceless. She makes the best faces.

Gibson. Party of 3.

A week from today Kris and I will morph from being Kris and Tammy … married couple who enjoy sleeping late, watching movies, laughing at each other’s dumb jokes and pretty much doing as we please to Kris and Tammy … parents of Kaylee. Mom and Dad. A parental unit. We’ll be responsible for taking this little life that we created with some major help from God and molding it into something spectacular. This little person who will look like us will be ours to keep. We’ll be a “family.” A party of 3.

Personally, I believe we became a family the moment we said our wedding vows. We are the Gibson family, established November 10, 2007. Kaylee will just enhance our little family unit.

I think I’m in a state of denial right now. Sure, I realize that the squirmy wiggle worm who currently resides in my belly has to come out eventually. But I know I won’t actually realize how much my life is about to change until it actually happens. I was wrapping Christmas presents last Friday (nesting, if you will) and found it odd to sign the tag From: Kris, Tammy and Kaylee. Who is that second K? I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life figuring that out.

We’ll see you soon Kaylee Lynn. Let the adventure begin.

everything is bigger in Texas

Our adventure to see the new Cowboys stadium began with picking up our tickets. They were supposed to be ready by 4 p.m. at the Sheraton hotel. Well, parking at the Sheraton was an adventure because little did we know, it serves as one of the $40 game day parking lots. After circling around a few times, and much confusion, we parked by the front door with a swarm of other fans who were walking in with StubHub papers that looked like mine.

Actual ticket pick up was a breeze. Give them your printed confirmation, show some photo ID, sign, and voila, you have tickets.

Then we made our way to the Hilton to check in. We discovered that the only shuttle left to the game left at 6:15. We weren’t sure if that would allow us enough time before the game to see the sights, so we decided to eat at Boston’s and then catch a cab.

Here’s Kris in our fancy hotel room.

We waited and waited for our pizza buzzer to go off at Boston’s … we took pictures:

We talked about the bar tender who was wearing a pair of pants that showed her butt crack. Kris wonders if she did that on purpose. I’m quite sure she did. Better tips from drunk fans. Finally we went to check on our buzzer. Yeah, it wasn’t working. We were seated immediately and I ordered a whole wheat Florentine pizza that was guaranteed to have 15 grams of fat or less. I ate half and got wicked bad acid reflux. But it tasted good in the moment.

Then we caught a cab that took us to Jerry’s World. Every business surrounding the stadium offered a parking space for an outrageous price. We were glad to pay $12 for the cab that dropped us off as close to the front door as you could get.

Forgive the face. Kris was whining about staring into the sun.

Everyone was stopping to take photos like these … I guess this place really is a tourist destination. When we walked in the front door, some crazy fan LITERALLY fell to his knees in awe. I wonder how many $8 beers he had already consumed.

It is a sight to see. The big screen is just that … BIG.

After wandering around on the first level for awhile we found the escalators that took us up and up and up some more to the 400 section. Here was our view of the field. Not bad really.

Then we found out we were in the wrong seats. So our view got a little less obstructed by the stair well and the beer guy who wasn’t selling his $8 beer.

The cheerleaders are very larger than life on the big screen. I bet that big screen is a self esteem nightmare for them. Not only are they in HD, so every little flaw shows … but they are 72 feet tall. I wondered how many of them have hair extensions and how bad their hair is tangled after the game with so much tossing about of the head that goes on down there. It was also entertaining to watch fans react when they saw themselves 72 feet tall.

After the third quarter, when the starters weren’t playing anymore Kris decided he wanted to walk around. So we did. We walked and walked until we got to this view of the big screen:

Yep, I walked that far and only got a picture of a 49er’s rear end. A larger than life picture. That could be because we got kicked out of the section we were loitering in. But not after Kris tried to stand his ground. The little old lady section attendant let us stand there for a few minutes, but then she finally turned to Kris and said, “You can’t stand here if you don’t have a ticket.” Kris said, “What, a ticket to stand?” Ahh, my smart ass husband. I started pulling on his arm, not wanting to get arrested at 9 months pregnant.

So we kept walking and found ramps that would take us down to the ground level. No problem, I thought. Ramps, just like at Kyle Field. Well … it felt like about 20 levels of ramps and by the time we got outside I was exhausted. Only to realize we were now at the WRONG END of this monstrous stadium, and our cab pick up location (yes, there’s only one place the cabs can pick you up) was at the other end. I wanted to cry. My feet hurt. My belly was hard. My baby was protesting. But I walked. And walked. And walked some more. Finally after about an hour (ok, maybe only 20 minutes) we found the taxi pick up line. Yes, there was a line. Just like Disney. Hurry up and wait.

So we waited. And this old geezer who managed to flag down a golf cart to give him and his old geezer friend a ride to the front of the taxi line tried to CUT IN LINE in front of us. Um, NO. Sorry gramps. Lose weight and lay off the alcohol. I’m 9 months pregnant and just waddled a million miles to get here … back of the line you go.

We finally made it back to the hotel where I took a hot shower and collapsed in the nice king size bed. Overall, it was a really fun night, made just a little more challenging with me hauling a bowling ball around under my shirt.

I’ll leave you with a little pricing info about Jerry’s World. We left with a bag of cotton candy and a souvenir Cowboys soda cup. That set us back $11.50.

But here’s what we learned thanks to a little video about the gigantic coolers at the stadium that they showed on the big screen:

Price of bottle of beer: $8

Number of bottles of beer sold on game day: 150,000

A little cell phone calculator math told us that means SOMEONE is taking in: $1,200,000 in beer sales every game day.

What recession?

things are heading south

Well, Kaylee is anyway. Over the past two days there are no longer little feet smushed up against the top of my ribs. At my appointment last Monday I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. I go again next Monday and I expect more progress because she’s been super squirmy and I’ve been all crampy feeling and just a little “different.”

What do you think? Is she heading south for the winter?

I’m rocking a pre-pregnancy stretchy shirt to really emphasize the bump today. I think I look pretty cute for 9 months pregnant! I wish someone would ask me how far along I am … I want to say, “O, ya know. NINE months!”

I also think I’m going a little insane trying to fit fun things in before she arrives. Kris and I have planned an impromptu “babymoon” for this weekend. We’re going to Arlington to stay at the Hilton:

Because they’ve assured me there is a shuttle that will take us to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium for Saturday night’s preseason game against the 49ers! We get to see Jerry’s World up close and personal from the nosebleed section! I can’t wait to waddle all around that place and take in the sights.

I’ll be back to give a full report on Sunday … with tons of pictures! I think I’ll pack my hospital bag in the car, just in case the excitement of seeing Tony Romo is too much for Kaylee and she decides to come this weekend. I kid, I kid. It would be the excitement of seeing Jason Whitten. Or Miles Austin.

Go Cowboys!

losing a grandpa

The death of a loved one is something that you never want to think about. But you know you do. When you awake suddenly from a terrible dream where someone close to you has died, you think about it and wonder how you’d really react. When you hear about a tragic accident on the news, you think of the poor family. The people left behind to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives. You wonder what normal will look like for them now. You know you think about it. At least I know I do.

See, I’ve been extremely blessed in my 29 years. The only death I’ve experienced was that of my Grandma Barrow. I was only 5 years old then. I have exactly 3 memories of the entire experience: sitting on the toy box in my darkened bedroom getting dressed … the only light that illuminated my room was that from the kitchen, where my parents and sister were eating breakfast … we were up early that morning, getting read for the long drive from Beaumont to Pittsburgh … I remember my cousin Deborah crying at the funeral … I didn’t understand why she was so sad … I remember peering over the edge of the casket at my grandma and commenting (probably loudly) that she didn’t look normal. Too much makeup.

That’s it. Other than the death of some fish and 2 beloved family dogs, I’ve been spared the late night phone calls that everyone dreads. The ones that start out with “I have some sad news.” I’ve been spared the sadness that rolls in like a dense fog. Until today.

My Grandpa Jake lost his struggle with Alzheimer’s last night. Really, it’s a blessing. He had been slipping mentally for many years and I know that he didn’t remember me anymore and didn’t know that I’m pregnant with his 7th great grandchild. I hope he’s with my Grandma Barrow right now and that he remembers everything about his 95 years.

Carlton W. Barrow was such a kindhearted grandpa. My sister and I only saw him a couple of times a year because we always lived in Texas and he always lived in Pittsburgh, so I don’t have tons and tons of memories with him, but the ones I do have are sweet. I knew he loved us and delighted in us. He would call every Sunday afternoon and if one of us answered the phone he would do his best to find out what was going on in our young lives, even though the generational gap was wide. When he visited, he’d always slip a $20 bill into our hands and tell us to go have some fun. He always sent holiday and birthday cards and my favorite memory of those will be the way he always put an exclamation point after your name. Tammy! Have a happy birthday! Love, Grandpa Jake

He loved a good home cooked meal and I think dessert was his favorite course. My dad and I both probably got our love of sweets from the Barrow side of the family. He enjoyed golf and nice dinners at the country club. He always drove a Lincoln Town Car. Usually a white one. And he always tucked in his shirt.

Perhaps the best thing about my grandpa was his never-ending generosity. You see, he and my grandma paid to put me through college. When my grandma died, money was set aside for each of us to go to college. By the time I was 18, there was enough in my fund to allow me four years at Texas A&M. I am eternally grateful that I was given the gift of higher education with no debt attached. I think that’s a legacy he can be proud of.

So, Grandpa Jake, I’m sorry that I can’t make it to your funeral because I can’t travel at 35 weeks pregnant, but I thank you for being the grandpa that you were to me.

Tonight I’ll hug Kris a little tighter, pat my squirming belly a little more often and begin to push through the dense fog of sadness knowing that you lived a wonderful life, full of love and happiness. I’ll think of you when I make Grandma Barrow’s cherry pie and when I see my dad hold Kaylee for the first time. Give Grandma Barrow a hug for me. I’ll take comfort in knowing that now Kaylee has one more guardian angel looking out for her from above.

a day in the life of 29

Happy birthday to me! I’m off work today and here’s how I’ve spent my day:

I got up around 8 and opened my cards and presents after making a wish at this exact time:

Kris got me the Betty Crocker Low Fat, Low Cholesterol cookbook (don’t worry, I asked for it!). Jill got me some new perfume and a refill of some of my makeup. Look at all my pretty cards from the parents and grandparents!

Then I got ready to go to the cardiologist. Thank goodness for hair-blowing air conditioning!

My first stop was a long-awaited trip to Sonic for a vanilla Diet Coke. I haven’t had one in months because I’m not drinking caffeine and I heard that carbonation is bad for the gallbladder.

It was worth the wait.

After my appointment, I met Kris at Chili’s for a low-fat lunch of a black bean burger. YUM.

Kris was excited about his yummy hamburger too.

I even got a birthday card from my sweet Kaylee-bear. Right now, daddy signs them for her.

After that I decided to do a little shopping. I went to Bath and Body Works and got some awesome new lemon lip balm and a whole bag full of other goodies. All for $28! I love sales combined with coupons!!

Then I visited Hallmark and found a pretty baby book for Kaylee for 40% off and I went ahead and got her first Halloween card. I couldn’t resist. Plus, I’ll be busy around that time you know.

After that I did a little banking. Where the teller made a mistake and input that I deposited $80 MORE than I did. I caught his mistake and went and told him. He didn’t let me keep the $80. Boo. Perhaps it’s reasons such as this that Citibank is having a few financial troubles?

On my way home, I stopped for a vanilla snow cone since it’s 96 here today. It hit the spot and was almost as good as a big bowl of high fat ice cream!

When I got home I was cruising the Internet and found this awesome looking recipe for homemade blueberry muffins with struessel topping. I had some fresh blueberries, so I made these:

Boy are they tasty and worth all that effort! I was afraid I was going to go into labor from standing in the kitchen for so long.

So my low fat cake wasn’t all that great. I think I put too much glaze on it and it got soggy. O well. I’ll have double chocolate fudge goodness next year.

We ended the day with 2.5 hours of infant safety and CPR training. Meet Mini Baby. We got to bring Mini Baby and the instructional DVD home with us. Now anyone who cares for Kaylee will be subjected to the DVD. Always be prepared!

Now I’m off to bed. It’s back to work tomorrow … but at least it’s Wednesday!