2 Months Old

I can't believe my baby girl is two months old! (2 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days at the time I'm writing this post to be exact!) Leah is getting so active and interactive. On December 4th, she had her first laugh out loud. It was more of a giggle actually, but WOW!!! Jason and I both were here to hear it and it was music to our ears.

Some of her favorite things include:

Baths

Bouncy Seat animals

Whoozit Toy (Thanks Rebecca!!)

Outside

Meal Time (haha)

Lights and ceiling fans

Leah LOVES to sit and stand up. She needs a little help balancing, but is totally strong enough to stand for over 10 mins! It's so cute when she lays on her stomach, because she tries to crawl already! She doesn't get anywhere, but those legs are just going like crazy!

I took her to the doctor when she was 7 weeks old and she weighed 10 lbs 12 oz and was 23 inches long. She was in the 70th percentile for her length, weight and head circumference. I weighed her in her 10th week on our home scales and she weighed 12.4 lbs!!

I can't believe how fast she is growing up!! I won't be buying anymore size 1 diapers; I have had to move her bathtub into the "grown-up" tub because she splashes so much she soaks my kitchen floor when she is in the sink; and she has all but outgrown her 0-3 months clothes. In fact the dress she wore to church today was a 3-6 months and was NOT too big!!

Ok, I could go on and on about all the things that fill our days, but I'll stop rambling now. Here are a few pictures since the last post!

At her first wedding! Congrats Kirby!

Loving on Daddy with her eyes!

Going to the mall

Napping with Daddy on the couch

One Month Old

I am 5 weeks old!!

My mommy TRIED to weigh and measure me and she says I weigh 10.2 lbs and am 23 inches long! That's right....I'm a big girl!! (I go to the doctor in 2 weeks, when I'm almost 2 months old and they will tell me how big I really am.)

Well, this first month has really flown by! I guess when you sleep all the time.....well, you know. Anyway, my parents seem pretty cool. They let me sleep when and where ever I want, my mommy feeds me (I've really got this booby thing down!), and my daddy snuggles me so good that I can't help but fall asleep. I have to admit, Mommy and Daddy are pretty weird sometimes though. For example, one time, I was trying to sleep and m

y Daddy put his finger on my chin and made my mouth move and everyone was laughing. I don't know what that was all about...here...just see for yourself. Click Laughing Attack

Oh, and my mom sings ALL the time! She makes my arms and legs move and makes her laugh so hard....it IS pretty funny. Sometimes, I'll even smile too...but it isn't funny enough to make me laugh, I mean, come one Mommy! Geez!

Now that I think about it, my whole family is kinda strange! EVERYONE talks to me in the same voice. Mommy, Daddy, grandparents, uncles, cousins...they all talk really high and their eyes get really big and they smile a LOT! I wonder if I will talk like this one day?

Other stuff that has been happening:

I really, really like baths! (While I am actually IN the bath....getting out is COLD!)

I take naps in my "Big Girl" crib in my room now.

I got to meet family from Virginia and New York!

I got to meet my Great Gran (He's the OLDEST! Mommy says he's 85 years older than me....that's a LOT!)

Everyone says I look like my mommy. Here is a picture of her when she was a baby like me.

I think that's about all of the stuff I can remember about this first month. Oh and I forgot to mention that I've had so many visitor that I can't even name them all. I've met all of my Grandparents, 3 of my uncles, 5 of my great grandparents, 2 great uncles, 2 great aunt, lots of my 2nd cousins, and 3 of my 3rd cousins (one of them is 3 weeks younger than me!) Mom says that there are probably more that I'm forgetting, but you get the picture! I've had lots of visitors and I loved it!!

Ok, time for a nap!

See you soon,

Leah Love (that's what mom calls me!)

And then there were 3...

I guess since my baby girl will be a 5 weeks old tomorrow, I should probably update my blog, huh?

Leah Rose Street has made her appearance into our world! She was born on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010 at 7:23 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and was 20 inches long. PERFECT!

The labor and delivery, while unexpected, went very well. Jason and I went to the scheduled doctor appointment at 9:45 that Wednesday morning for our 38 1/2 weeks visit. The doctor didn't seem to be expecting much, but when he "checked" me, I was dilated to 4 cm and was 95% effaced! "Let's go break your water," were the next words we heard. We were checked into the hospital around 11 am, and about 8 hrs later, Leah was here!

I'm not going to bore everyone with all the details, but honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, I started having contractions at home about 40 hrs before Leah was born, got an epidural 6 hrs before she was born, didn't feel anything, pushed for like 10 mins, and she was here. Ok...ok...the 36 hrs of contractions before the epidural weren't THAT pleasant, but bearable, and the almost passing out and shaking for the next 2 hrs after the epidural weren't great.....but all in all...labor and delivery are doable! We had a healthy, happy, beautiful little girl. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

1 hr after delivery

When Leah was 10 days old (on her actual due date) we had some newborn pictures made. Our friend Summer, from Birmingham, came to our house and took some beautiful shots. (If anyone is interested, her website is www.summersimpson.com.) These just melt our hearts! Enjoy!

Jason and I are so blessed to have such a good baby and also to have such wonderful friends and family that have helped out during this first month. Thank you to everyone!

Mini-update

I will do a better update after our doctors appointment Tuesday, July 13th. But for now.....

We have all been doing great! We are mostly moved in to our house in Meridian, even though by looking at our garage, you couldn't tell. It is storage right now for "things we don't need on a daily basis". Hope to get it down to "stuff we don't need until the next time we move" before Leah gets here, but we'll see.

So, as of today, I am 27 weeks and 4 days pregnant. If anyone is counting (like me!!) that means we only have 12 weeks and 3 days to go! Give or take. As far as symptoms go, not much has changed. If you remember from my last post, I'm not working anymore, so my back pain is actually better as of right now. I'm sure it will probably pick up as my belly grows, but other than a little hip pain, it's not too bad. However...the groin pain is terrible! It doesn't hurt if I've been up and moving around, but if I've been sitting for a while, or when I sleep at night it's REALLY bad. Doctor says this is normal "round ligament pain".

I'm still having contractions - Braxton Hicks, that is. It started at about 1 or 2 a day, but now it has picked up to 6 or 7 a day and more than that at night. I've found that if I lay on my back at night, they get worse. Still, though, no pain with them....just a hard, contorted belly!

Also, Leah is a little wiggle worm. She still isn't making my belly look like an alien, but she is definitely squirmy! She has really gotten busy over the last week all of a sudden...must be packing on some pounds. I know I am!!! At my 24 week check-up, I had gained a total of 5 or 6 lbs...but that was all in 4 weeks!! The doctor didn't say it was too much, but I have a feeling that if I gain that much this time, he will tell me to "Slow Down!!" I haven't changed my eating habits, but I have quit work, and that may have something to do with it. Keeping my fingers crossed for 5 lbs gained or less at this next visit on Tuesday. Here is a picture of the belly from today. Sorry it's blurry...Jason took it with an iPhone.

In my last post I had promised pictures of Leah's "stuff". I didn't take many pictures of individual items, but just enough to give you an idea. Most of these things are from my baby shower that the girls at work threw me during my last week before we moved. Other than that, my mom sent me some things that were mine when I was little that she had saved and she also sent just a couple outfits that she had purchased a while ago (even before I was pregnant) to give as gifts. Well, they are Leah's now!!! We still have two baby showers to go......blessed or what???!!

Clothes: Newborn - 18 months

Laundry basket, diapers, wipes, lotion, blanket and other random items.

Cabinet holding blankets, shoes, socks, rattles, onesies, towels and washcloths!

One of my dresses when I was a baby.

Little Alabama booties from my Mom.

And finally, this is just a little preview of what the theme will be in Leah's room. We can't paint in our condo so we found a cheap bedding set that we are gonna use to decorate with. We decided on something neutral so that we could use it for the next baby...boy or girl!

WHEW!!

A lot has happened since my last post. First, we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out we're having a BABY GIRL!!! We've picked a name, Leah Rose, and cant wait to meet her! Everything went great at the ultrasound/Dr. appointment. The ultrasound was at 8:30 in the am, so we didn't have to wait very long to find out. (This is great since pregnancy has not brought on a great amount of patience for me.) The ultrasound tech checked her heart (rate and 4 chambers of the heart) and the heart rate was 149 bmp and healthy. She also checked her kidneys, brain, spine, bladder, weight and took a peek at the girly parts. She said everything looked wonderful and healthy. The average weight for a baby at 20 weeks is around 11 oz (so said the tech) and Leah weighed 13 oz. PERFECT! "Thank you, Lord!" That is exactly the kind of news you want to hear.

This was also our last Dr. visit in Hattiesburg. We loved our doctor, Dr. Bailey, but as most of you know we moved back to Meridian (just this past weekend actually) so that Jason and I can be closer during the second half of the pregnancy. Also, it's just less stressful to be close to Jason's work (now a 10 min drive compared to a 1.5 hr drive!!). I digress....back to the topic at hand (oh and "pregnancy brain" is definitely a real thing). Dr. Bailey said everything was well with me and the baby. My uterus was just above my naval and I was still 1 lb shy of what I was at the first Dr. visit. However, I don't think that will be the case at the 24 weeks visit!!

Since my last post, I have also been feeling a LOT of movement. And now, Jason has felt her move too! Actually, as of two nights ago, we have been able to see her little wiggles from the outside! She's finally big enough to make my ever-growing belly move! So sweet. Another new observation is that she seems (as of right now) to sleep until 10 or 11 am everyday! WOW! (Any shot of this happening when she pops out?!) My tummy is definitely growing, but while my mom says it's ( and I quote) "BIG!!", I haven't seen much change since about 19 weeks (I'm now 22 weeks 4 days). I've also started to have Braxton Hicks contractions, usually less than one a day. They're not painful, just strange. AND, GROSS, I've started swelling a little bit, YIKES!!! I still have 17 HOT, SWEATY, FAT, PREGNANT weeks to go!! Granted, the worst days were the weekend that we moved, probably due to the cleaning, packing, driving, and unpacking....but still!!! I'm to the point that I have an audible conversation with myself every morning, "Randi, please remember to take off your wedding ring, when the swelling from the previous night goes down!!" I never remember because it's usually 12 or 1 pm before that time comes. Oh, I almost forgot, before I left my job in Hattiesburg, the whole Radiology department threw us a baby shower! We got lots of super cute clothes and tons of other stuff. I can't even begin to name it all right now, but I'll try to take some pictures before my next post! Now, if I could finish unpacking, I could start getting Leah's room together! Anyway, here's a pictures of the belly as of today.

Since I'm officially unemployed now, I'll try to stay on top of this better. Until next time!!

Update Central!

I'm gonna just throw this out there...."I'm a terrible blogger already!" I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner, but we've just been so busy! I will attempt to make some sense out of the mess and update on 3 topics in one blog. Bear with me.

On May the 20th, Jason and I were able to go to Texas to visit Jason's brother and family. (I would like to insert a special thanks to Oliver, Rebecca, Kate and Cole for putting us up for a few days.) We hadn't seen the family in FOREVER. Kate and Cole are 5 and 2.5 yrs respectively and they are growing up so fast! They both have such adorable personalities and are so loving! It definitely made me and Jason wish that we lived closer to them.

Also!!!! Rebecca gave me almost all of her maternity clothes! I was so excited! Almost every single piece fits perfectly or will fit perfectly when my belly gets bigger! What a great sister-in-law! Not to mention that she sent us home with her rocker/glider that she used for Kate and Cole. The only thing wrong with it was it had a little squeak.....but Jason got the squeak out in about 5 mins with WD40!! Good as new. Lastly, Rebecca and Oliver said we could have their changing table and convertible crib! Of course we took them up on it as long as we can figure out a way to get it to Mississippi (we live 11 hrs apart). All of that makes me want to set up a baby nursery!!

After returning from Texas we had a Dr. appointment; 17 weeks 3 days pregnant! Everything looked really good. The baby's heart rate had dropped to 154 beats per minute, but Dr. Bailey said that was completely normal. Still down 4 lbs from the beginning of the pregnancy, but the way my appetite has kicked up, I don't think that will last too much longer. She scheduled us for our 20 week ultrasound on May 18! We will find out (with the cooperation of the baby, of course) if we are having a little Girl Peanut or Boy Peanut! Can't wait!

Finally, I celebrated my first "Mother's Day" (or "Expecting Mother's Day") depending on how you want to look at it. Unfortunately, Mother's Day weekend at Jason's work is one of the busiest weekends of the year, so I didn't get to spend it with him (but he did send a Gift with me....really beautiful hoop earrings! "I love them, Jason!") However, that did give me an opportunity to go spend Mother's Day with my own mother. Also, it allowed me to see, in person, the gorgeous cradle my Dad and late uncle had built for my brother, Adam, before he was born. It is "signed and dated" under the bottom. So special to me! My mother had cleaned, sanded, varnished and re-varnished the cradle so it looks brand new, not 20 years old (actual age). She worked so hard and it REALLY shows!! It is so beautiful and our baby will get to spend it's first few months sleeping in it by our bedside. Her new project is cleaning, sanding and varnishing mine and my brother's old wooden crib. It's in really good condition, just needs some elbow grease, and now our baby will have a bed when we visit my Mom and Dad. ( They haven't picked Grandparent names yet.) So excited!! Thanks, Mom! I love you!

iMac: Reese Vs. Turtle

My birthday was January 3rd and my husbands birthday was February 22nd. Since we are expecting a baby, we thought we would purchase a video camera with our birthday money. We bought a SONY Handycam and we think it's great.

Until today, we really haven't had a reason to use it. But today......oh today.....my husband spotted a turtle on the way home. We wrapped it in a pink towel and took it home to our back yard. We took Reese (miniature dachshund) to the back yard as well. The following video is a cute montage of what happened.

I'd like to add that I actually had over 5 mins of video that I cut down to a little 52 sec clip with our iMac. (We had used our Christmas money to buy the iMac.) Oh and I want to say to Mary, "I know that you love your Mac, too!!" I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did.

It's a Baby!!

I'm a little delayed with this post out of pure tiredness! All I want to do is nap here and nap there...oh well. So, last week (wednesday) we went for a baby check-up. We were 11 weeks and 4 days along. {Time is passing so quickly!} I did the whole, pee in a cup, weight and blood pressure thing and everything looks great. I've actually lost 4 lbs, so I guess that's good. My doctor wasn't worried so I'm not worried.

We go in for the doctor visit part, which, by the way, only lasted about 5 mins or less, and we asked her a couple of questions. She also said she wanted to listen to the heartbeat to make sure everything is sounding okay. (Apparently this is something they will do from now on, I gather.) So after about 1 min of listening and looking for the heart thumpity-thump, she said, "I'm not worried, you're probably just a little early to hear anything on the hand-held doppler and I hate to send anyone home without hearing their baby's heartbeat, so lets just jump in and take a quick peak on ultrasound."

YYYYAAAAAYYYYYY!!!! We were so excited! Jason and I had been kinda bummed because we thought it would be a few months before we would get to see the baby again, at the 20 week "big" ultrasound visit. So she slipped us in there and as soon as she put the ultrasound probe on the baby, we KNEW everything was ok! Baby Street was moving and shaking everywhere! Long arms and legs kicking and stretching....it was amazing! In fact, "Awesome" was the word Jason said about 35 times! haha

Baby Street's heart rate was 184 beats/min! Really fast! So of course as I told my family, everyone's guess was instantly "GIRL!!!"

Only time will tell. We go back to the doc on April 27th and we will be 17+ weeks. We will probably set up our "big" ultrasound on that day. That thought makes my heart beat a little faster. Until next time, here are a few pictures from our ultrasound last week.

Pickles and what?

Well, for anyone who has been keeping up with my very few posts, I'm pregnant!! I know the last post was short, but, if I say so myself, powerful. Jason and I are so excited to be having a little baby Street sometime in the vicinity of October 2nd.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions. Excited, anxious, elated and worried to name a few. Of course when we first found out, excitement was at the top of the emotions list. But before I could even go to the Dr., we had a little scare. So at the doctor's visit, we told her our worries and she felt that we should do an ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok. I was only (by what I thought) 6 1/2 weeks, so we knew it would be a really early ultrasound. Oh and "your gonna put the ultrasound probe where????!!!"

Because of that, we couldn't believe it when were able to see the heart beating when the baby was only measuring 5 weeks 6 days!! God is truly amazing! So, the HR looked like it was about 90 beats/min, which seemed kinda slow to me, but I decided not to worry until the Dr. Bailey told us to worry. The worrying came a few days later. The following Monday, Dr. Bailey's nurse called me at work to set up another ultrasound......*my heart flip-flopped in my chest*.......to "make sure the baby is developing ok". So my second ultrasound was set up for the following monday.....10 days after the first one!

Now, in my gut, I knew this wasn't "normal" if everything looked good on the first ultrasound. Between the two of us, Jason and I had come up with various abnormalities, dangers, and miscarriage opportunities. All in all, we were still being optimistic, and understood that God was, and is, totally in control! So at the 2nd ultrasound, which was through my belly (so cool), they just focused in on Baby Street and checked out the heart rate. It was 143 beats/minute. Over 50 beats faster in only 10 days!! Not to mention, Baby Street was like 20 times bigger!

Jason and I were amazed at how fast the baby was growing! We were able to hear the heartbeat and it was so loud, fast and strong! It was the most amazing sound we had ever heard.

We don't go back to the Dr. until March 17th. I will be almost 12 weeks preggo! As of now my only symptoms are a little tiredness, queasiness (without vomiting, yay!), and a full feeling quickly after I eat. All in all, I can't imagine a much easier pregnancy so far. Unfortunately, some have told me that means a terrible labor. I'm not buying that yet, still keeping my fingers crossed.

Until next time, carry on Bloggers!

To Be Continued......

Reflecting

I can, without a doubt, say that 2009 was a busy year. It started off with a bang by me starting a new job in January. Jason and I, at the time lived in Meridian, but my new job was in Hattiesburg. So.....new job begins 90 miles from our apartment in Meridian, and I start driving back and forth, 5 times a week. That lasts for almost a month, but by the end of January we had moved to Hattiesburg. Unfortunately, since it is Feb. 3rd, this means that now Jason has been driving "to and fro" for over a year. ( I have a really, really great husband, by the way.)

One 1st for us as a couple....we moved into our first actual "house" together, even though it's a rental. We both detest apartments, but, hey, ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.

So within 5 months, I get promoted! Yay! I'm now the supervisor of my department....kinda weird, but I like it.

Now, the reason for this blog post becomes clear: The coolest thing we did, during the very busy 2009 year was go to AFRICA!!!

Yep, you heard it, Jason and I went to AFRICA! As a side note, I want to once again thank any and everyone for there financial and spiritual support, we couldn't have done it without you.

We went to Rwanda, Africa with e3 Partners. Jason's parents, Mike and Mary Wagner are team leaders for e3, so we had family with us. It was the most amazing thing we have ever done; single or married. I suggest that everyone who is physically able plan on making a trip. I'm sure that anywhere would be great, but from personal experience, let me say that God is doing a great work in Rwanda, and it is wonderful to be a part of it.

This trip was, simply put, a church planting mission. We didn't build, or provide food. We shared the message of Christ with anyone who would listen. We partnered with at least 20 Rwandan Mission Partners (also were translators) and went in small teams to the villages. Jason and I were not on a team together, so we have very different stories and experiences that we were able to share with each other.

Once we got to the villages, there were many Rwanda nationals, most of which were brand new believers, who joined with us to share the Gospel. Of course, Jason and I had no idea what we were doing!! We were so nervous, completely unprepared and unworthy!! But after the first day, everyone made us feel so comfortable that even though we stumbled around, we knew it was ok.

These villages that we went to were beautiful, but desolate. These people have hardly anything. I can't even begin to describe what we saw. But to put it into perspective, most homeless people in the US have more than the people we met in Rwanda, and the people in the US who can't support themselves and depend on government assistance, look RICH compared to the rural Rwandan people.

I am posting a few pictures from our trip. They do not show how beautiful and different Rwanda is, but they will give you a glimpse.

I will say that after going, I can understand why Mary (Jason's mom) considers Rwanda her second home. The people are amazing. Loving and happy regardless of the circumstance; so unlike us here. It is a complete culture shock.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures. God is so GOOD!!!

Jason and Nelson (his ministry partner)

Me, Jack (left) and Turambe (ministry partners)

An EVENTFUL Boring Night

Unfortunately my husband is out of town. He is having a "guy" weekend in Atlanta; I am not upset, for the most part, because this is also my weekend to work and be on call ALL wonderful weekend. (Can I get a "What, What" from all those Weekend Warriors?) For anyone who is reading this blog that possibly doesn't know me very well; my husband and I have no kids and live in a town where ZERO of our family members live; soo....No Husband = No Life = Boring! Of course I can find things to do to take up part of the time; clean (boring), tv (boring), fetch (boring), wii (awesome, but more fun with Hubster), and reading, mainly my Bible, (awesome, but I do better with small pieces to chew on). Taking all of this into account, I was going to call it an early evening at 9:00 pm and get some much needed R&R.

Switching gears for a moment: Meet Reese, my miniature Dachshund.

Reese is an inside "city" dog, and like any inside "city dog, he goes out at night before bed to "do his business". The nightly question at our house is, "Reese? You wanna go OUTSIDE!?" *note: this is always in a very excited voice, cause he's just so cute running to the door!* So, after the question, I open the doors (we have a storm door) to let him out, turn to go brush my teeth and 5 seconds later I hear the most horrible sound:

BRRRAAAAAKKKKK!!!

BRRRAAAKKKKKKK!!!

BRRRAAAKKKKKKK!!!

BRRRAAAKKKKKKK!!!

Even now it gives me the willies! It was so loud and scary and ...and...HUMAN sounding! I thought...Oh My Goodness!! A pack of wild mountain Gorillas have attacked my dog in our (fenced in) yard! He better run away fast, cause I definitely AIN'T going out there!

I run the glass storm door and strain my eyes to see him over by the fence and as soon as I look, I realize that it isn't Reese that is screaming; he dragging something out from under our little storage shed and it is BIGGER than he is. My second deadly animal guess was a badger. Now, I'm not even sure if badgers live in Hattiesburg, MS, or if I would even know what one looked like if I saw it....but it was DEFINITELY a badger....or a raccoon (do raccoon's SCREAM like that?)...or a .......and then I see it........

Lets say it collectively "AWWWWW!!!!".

That's right a bunny! Well, technically it was a rabbit. I was right about one thing; it was at least as big if not bigger than my little dog! He had it by the back leg dragging it out from under the storage shed!!! I flipped out!! What if it bit him? What if it had disease? Then my thoughts turned to, What if he KILLED a bunny??!! I just knew I could never look at him the same way again; Reese: Pet by day; Bunny Killer by night.

So then I proceeded to chase Reese ALL over the yard in my sock feet, at night, in the wet grass, where he goes POOPY, while he is dragging (running backwards away from me) what had to be 7 or 8 lb rabbit. It took me more than 5 mins to get him to let the rabbit go!

Moral of this story? #1. Never assume a night is going to be boring. #2. Clean up your doggy poop, even if you no one can see into your yard!!

I am glad Jason will be back tomorrow!!!

Goodnight!