Lucy's First Thanksgiving!

On Thursday, November 24th, we celebrated our first Thanksgiving with Lucy. We held our first Turkey day gathering at our home in Colorado, where Bryan's family (Gramma and Papa, Uncle Brad and Aunt Mandy, and Aunt Blair) joined us. Since we were in charge of the meal, and I had the week off, Lucy spent a lot of time with me at the grocery store before they came! She absolutely loved it though; getting to ride in the cart and see the sights, grin at people walking by, and trying to pull unwanted objects into the cart. She was a pro by our 4th trip to Whole Foods on Wednesday!

Our guests arrived on Wednesday and we spent the afternoon doing what Bryan and I do best--stare and ooh and ahh over Lucy and how cute she is. Lucy was a bit timid at first, and stayed near by us, but finally ventured out throughout the week. She got to go for a run in her stroller Thanksgiving morning with Papa and Aunt Blair, while we got the turkey in, pies made, and everything else cooking. The meal turned out wonderful, but Lucy's outfit stole the show. Yes, I made her a Fall colored tutu with matching massive headband bow thingy. Absolutely adorable. Since it was an amazing 65 degrees outside, not only did Lucy get an outdoor photo shoot, but we got to eat our meal outside! The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with the fam: taking Lucy and Bailey to the park, karaoke at Armida's Friday night, going tubing in Frisco Saturday (Lucy got to stay home with Gramma), and of course a trip to Sweet Action ice cream.

Lucy made her best raspberry noises for her Uncle Brad, got to swing with Aunt Mandy, read with Papa, cuddle with Gramma, and have a crawling race with Aunt Blair. She is one lucky girl to have such great people in her life! That said, we also got to skype with my family on Thanksgiving so Lucy could show off her tutu cuteness. It was hard not being able to be in St. Louis with them too, and we missed them all dearly. We are so thankful for skype and are counting down the days until Lucy gets to play with her Nana and Poppe, Aunts and Uncles, and all of her cousins!

We have so much to be thankful for, especially with this new spunky, chubby cheeked bundle of joy in our lives. She is the life of every party (until 6:30) and makes us smile from ear to ear. It was so fun being able to share all her little cute moments and characteristics with our family. It was a great Thanksgiving! Hope you enjoyed yours as well!

Love, The Fingland's

9 Months

The past month has been great around here. Lucy went to the doctor (first time since 6 months) and her new stats are:
Height: 27.5 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 17lb 13 oz. (30th percentile)
Everything looks good! Lucy took her first "quiz" all about how she is developing and she is doing great. We have some activities to work on with her based on that, like putting a cheerio in a clear jar and seeing if she tries to get it out (seriously, who does this with their child?)

Favorite Games to Play: Lucy loves playing at daycare with her friends (2 two year olds and a 5 month old). She chases them around and tries to act older than she really is. At home, she loves playing peek a boo, dancing, reading books and turning the pages, and her keys! One of my favorite things she does is crawl towards the kitchen, wait at the wall, and then poke her head around with raised eyebrows as if to say "Surprise!" It's adorable. She also loves her Bailey dog, and playing in our storage ottoman (aka "Lucy's Toy Box"). Oh, and she thinks that Bailey's water dish, cords, laptop, and outlets are her favorite toys, but we've been teaching her otherwise.

Firsts:
Lucy's firsts this month included: sitting up from tummy position, taking steps while holding on to the upside down laundry basket, learning (and loving) how to eat her puff cereal, standing up in her crib, and making lots of new sounds. Not to mention her first Thanksgiving (read all about that here). She also received her first big "ouchie" when she tried to climb on a plug, then fell on the prongs of the plug when it came out of the wall. Poor thing.

We can't wait to celebrate her first Christmas! I am attempting to make her first Christmas dress and stocking, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to share if they turn out!

Love,
The Fingland's

8 Months!

The past month has been marked with fun, milestones, and memories! Lucy is at such a fun age right now, although I think we now say that every month :) Trying to keep it all straight, so of course I made a list, enjoy!

*Lucy's First Halloween: Click here to read all about how we celebrated (or scroll down after this post to see it)

*Lucky Lucy: This month we got to watch our hometown Redbirds bring home a World Series title (the 2nd since we've been in CO). I used my barely there sewing skills to create an adorable skirted Cardinals onesie for Lucy to wear during the series. Not too shabby for the 2nd thing I had ever sewn. And although Lucy was sleeping through most of the games, she still brought us good luck! I think one of the best parts was watching that memorable Game 6, and trying to make snorts/grunts/whisper cheers/kicking legs as to not wake our sleeping good luck charm.

*Foodie in training: Lucy absolutely loves her solid foods. So much so that she is starting to push away her milk as to say "give me the real stuff!". Her faves include: peaches, bananas, any type of squash (I've kind of been obsessed with carrying home all the different types that I've never heard of/tried), peas, pears (now she likes them!) oatmeal, and of course her staples: sweet potatoes and avocados. We are looking forward to trying a bunch more this month, and start testing out her grasping skills with some finger foods. We also started giving her a cup a couple weeks ago for water, which she loves. Even if she is trying to get the water from the bottom of it...

*Strong Girl: We have an inkling that Lucy is going to skip the "real" crawling all together and go into walking. Who knows, but we like to dream big for her. She has been army crawling for a little over a month now. On Friday, October 28th though, we all witnessed (including the video camera) her crawl over to our ottoman, pull up to her knees, and then miraculously stand and take 2 steps forward! Since then, she is testing out every piece of furniture/toy/etc. to hold her up. She spent the past few days at daycare ignoring toys and kids, just pulling up on stuff. She is also taking after her daddy and Aunt Blair, and LOVES climbing. It's fun to make obstacles with pillows and ourselves and she climbs away!

*Sleeping Beauty: Well, we finally bit the bullet and tried to stop our "dream feed" (feed Lucy at 10:30pm before we went to sleep while she is still half asleep) that had been going on since she was about 4 months old. November 2nd we geared up for it, trying to feed her a little more at dinner, putting her giant Rump a Rooz overnight cloth diaper on her before putting her down, and having a bottle ready to go in case she woke up hungry. We crossed our fingers, went to bed, and woke up at 5:30am to the sound of--my alarm. Lucy got to sleep until 6:20, making it her first full night of sleep with no night feedings--6:30pm-6:20am. Such a sweet present for her 8 month birthday today :) Can't believe she is that old already...

*Learning Lucy: Lucy is starting to use those motor skills (preparing for a lifetime of crafts with Mommy) especially in the past two weeks. Her new favorite toy--a set of play keys--have buttons which she now points and presses, rather than accidentally rolling on top of them with her belly. She loves using that little index finger now to point out necklaces, buttons, and anything else that looks interesting, like Bailey's paws. We also started consistently using some baby sign language with her, and she is fascinated at our hands moving around. She just cracks up when we sign, "more, milk, water, food, mom, dad, dog" and so on. She also discovered on accident that she could whistle. It happened one day at daycare and for the past week, she makes an "o" with her lips and I can feel air going in/out. She's trying really hard to make that noise again!

*Talk Show Host: Lucy loves talking. Well, babbling LOUDLY. If you are in our house at 6:30am, be prepared for a wake up call full of babbling, gurgly, shrieking, sounds. I hear her in the shower while she is hanging out with Bryan each morning and it makes me crack up.

*Mommy's model: I finally decided to buy a sewing machine and just start teaching myself/learning as I go, with the help of some way advanced sewing friends! So far I've made 2 hats, her Cards outfit, her Halloween costume, and am now adding some jazz to her plain gray hoodie with a needle and embroidery thread. Let's hope she lets me make/bedazzle her clothes for a while. She's the best model because no matter how much I messed up on it, she still pulls it off with that extra adorable cuteness she has.

Whew. There you have it. A month of amazingness with a little girl who is the biggest blessing and joy ever. Sorry for the long post, we just don't want to forget a moment of her. She lights up the room and our lives, and gives out smiles that melt your heart. We are looking forward to creating some new memories and traditions as we head into the holiday season! Click on the new picture in the top right for this month's many photos and videos!

Love,
The Gushing Proud Parents

Lucy's First Halloween

We celebrated Lucy's first Halloween all weekend long! Bryan and I made Lucy her first Halloween costume--a pink octopus!

She was cute as can be and got to wear it 3 different times since she had a full spooky agenda. On October 28th, she got to come to my school for the Halloween parties. She came and we paraded her around to various classrooms, students, and staff so she could show off her smile and costume. She loved being at school and loved discovering that this costume makes a good chew toy! On Saturday we were going to attend a Halloween festival at church, but Lucy slept through the majority of it. By the time we left, we scrapped that idea and went to the park to have a costume photo shoot instead since she was all ready. Those pictures and more in her album this month! Finally, Lucy attended her first birthday party for her friends Carter and Davis (ages 4 and 2). She got to wear her costume, and play with her mermaid friend Annabelle, who's only about 2 months older than her.

Although I got very sick the weekend we were supposed to go to the pumpkin patch, we still attended a close by "roadside" version to pick up some pumpkins. Lucy and I then decorated her first pumpkin with her foot print. We turned them into ghosts after they dried, and it turned out great! The process itself was way fun too. She loved it (which is a good sign seeing as though I already have thousands of art projects planned for her!).

Overall, we had a great time celebrating with our little eight(ten?) legged sea creature all weekend long. Despite a gorgeous near 70 degree Halloween, Lucy had her dinner, and went to bed around 6:30, before the trick or treating festivities began. After all, her mom and dad don't need any candy laying around the house! Next year...

7 Months

Wow. Being back at school has really made these months start to fly by! I was just getting used to Lucy being 6 months. Since we don't go to the doctor until she is 9 months, no stats to report this time around. However, the past month involved Lucy's first trip to the mountains, 4th trip to Sweet Action (best ice cream place ever), a very special visit from Aunt Melrose, and the start of "crawling".

Lucy got to spend time with her Aunt Melrose (Melissa) the weekend of September 23rd, where we drove up to the mountains for some fall Aspen viewing. She really enjoyed having company in the back seat, being entertained by Melissa and Marissa (a family friend and new roommate at our casa). It was wonderful having Melrose out here, even if she did try to talk Lucy into moving back to St. Louis multiple times, and think of ways to take her back on the plane with her.

About a week ago, before she officially turned 7 months, Lucy began her "crawling", and we use that term very loosely. It is more of an army crawl, except both arms move at the same time while the rest of the body is dragging along. We captured it on video and have that posted with this month's pictures. She will move around in whatever way possible and rock on her knees for long stretches. The fastest/most coordinated I've ever seen her move was on 10/3 when she zoomed over towards the laptop while skyping with Nana. If it were up to Lucy, she would have the following toys available to her at all times: a cell phone, a breast pump, and a laptop. Those beat out all her cute, appropriate toys any day. She was quite grumpy once I picked the laptop off the floor and her hands couldn't "type" on the keys anymore.

As far as foods, she has been a really great eater, with the exception of pears. She wouldn't even open her mouth after the first bite. Bananas, carrots, avocados, sweet potatoes are all on the yummy list though.

Click on the new photo of Carrot Face Lucy in the top right to enjoy the new photos, and this time, new videos(hopefully they work)! We are loving seeing all these firsts with Lucy, and sharing the change of seasons with our little girl. She is such a happy go lucky, curious, and beautiful girl, and we can't get over how much we love having her in our lives. Happy October!
Love, The Fingland's

UPDATE: A day or 2 after I wrote this, Lucy started another new "trick". She has taken after her daddy and is climbing all over. On our legs, trying to pull up on chairs even...she better crawl before she walks!

6 months!

Wow, it is crazy that Lucy is already 6 months! I was looking back at our previous web albums we posted, and she has changed so much! Her 6 months stats from the doctor's appointment are:
Height: 26 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 15lb 5oz (40th percentile--her highest yet!)
Everything looked great and they were happy she was already sitting up without support! Since she is much more aware of everything, the 3 shots were followed by a little more crying--she mostly seemed mad that we let them do that to her. She was good to go after some toe kisses, one of her favorite things.

This past month she has been a busy little bee. She mastered rolling after our last blog at 5 months, and now is a certified stomach sleeper. She flips over as soon as you put her in the crib and is down for the count. She still mostly rolls to the left though, so we'll have to work on the other side! We got a new rug for her to be able to hang out on the hardwood floors now. Her new moves include a plank that she will repeatedly do in order to turn around on the floor. Our little yoga baby will also stick her butt up in the air while doing a plank--a little downward dog move! She also loves scooting backwards. Every day she makes it all the way across the room--one way or another. The past week she has started putting her knees down and rocking on her toes in the plank position--someone is trying desperately to crawl! She also started sitting up with help when around 5.5months. After a week of practicing, she did it all on her own August 29th! We still keep some pillows nearby, but she is pretty darn good at sitting up, minus the occasional face plant.

This past month has been so fun watching her grow. Our new favorite thing is "New Food Saturday". She started "solids" with rice cereal on August 27th, sweet potatoes the following Saturday on September 3rd, and this weekend September 10th was avocados. She's getting better at it each time, and so far the avocado has been the favorite! I've had a lot of fun making her food from our garden goods and the grocery store. I've made zucchini, pears, peaches, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and avocado. This weekend we'll be pureeing some acorn squash since we have about 10 from our garden! She better like it because there will be a lot! :) I'm also going to start making her cereal as well, called "super porridge".

Other than that, we've loved just playing with her. She is super fun, loves her toys, her dog, and giggling. She giggles uncontrollably when you kiss her toes, make funny noises, or have Bailey run towards you. (We have videos this month in the photo albums to prove it.) I have been organizing her drawers lately as the weather is getting cooler, and put away all her 0-6 month clothes that don't fit anymore. Kind of sad/fun going through her first outfits! However, we are looking forward to showing her all about Fall in Colorado, and now her dresser is organized with her cute Fall fashion items :) (yes, this does include orange skinny jeans and an orange jacket for those chilly days--not to mention the orange hoodie she has on above).

We can't wait to see how she grows this month. She has a very special visitor coming this Fall--Aunt Melrose--and I can hardly wait to get photos of her in the aspen leaves as well. Fall should be even more lovely this year with Lucy around to share it with!

Disclaimer--we bought a new camera, so there are a wee bit more pictures this month than usual. And now some video since it does that as well :) Click on the upper right picture of her 6 month album to see them all if you'd like!

Lots of love,
The Fingland's

5 months

Our little girl is getting big! Well, big for her anyways! A lot of her "baby friends", most younger than her, have surpassed our little light weight in the pounds category. But she's growing and healthy, just a little pipsqueak :)

The past month has had some milestones in it. Lucy rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time while Nana and Poppe were visiting on July 26th. Poppe was Lucy-sitting and she was playing on her playmat, went into the kitchen, and when he came back she was on her stomach! So no one really saw the mystery roll, but it happened. She confirmed her new trick later that afternoon for the video camera though, and now wakes up from her naps and flips over. She has even started scooting backwards off her playmat--time to get a rug for our living room! The 4 foot square isn't cutting it. She is also desperately trying to sit up but she's not quite there. She gets a little frustrated when she is on her back because she wants to see what everyone is doing!

Lucy also has a new favorite toy--Bailey! The past couple weeks have been full of staring down Bailey and even resorting to fussing when she leaves the room. Today we were outside and Bailey was running back and forth from the yard to us on the porch, and Lucy was cracking up. Bailey is still a little unsure when I try to put Lucy closer to her, although she thinks her fingers and feet taste pretty good!

We don't think we've had any teething signs yet, although I've wondered about it the past couple days. She loves putting her blanket in her mouth. I bought her one with all sorts of fabric tags around the edges and she loves that. Unless she starts eating more, we will probably hold off solids until 6 months. We have a dr. appt. then that discusses all of it, but we are able to start oatmeal or rice cereal now if we want/need to. The garden is growing well so I can't wait to start mushing it all up for her!

Other than that, we have just been enjoying the last bit of summer. I go back to school the 11th, it will be hard to be gone from our little chica. This summer seems to have flown by. Enjoy the pictures and videos and have a happy August!

Love,
The Fingland's

First Travel Adventures!

The month of June was a busy one for our family, and filled with a bunch of firsts for Lucy. She was baptized on June 12th, and had lots of family in town to celebrate the special day with her. Friends and family gathered after church and continued the celebration while Lucy took some naps :)

After that we did our first road trip to St. Louis with Nana and Poppe. Although the ending got a little rough, Lucy was quite a trooper on a 14 hour car ride. She started her first night in St. Louis with a new trick: spinning! Although I was extremely exhausted after that car ride, I know which way I had put her in the crib. The next morning she had done a 180 and kept her swaddle in tact, completely confusing me! When she kept doing it though I realized what she was up to.

She loved hanging out and meeting all new people--family and friends. She was great at being passed around from lap to lap and giving her cutest smiles. I don't think I fed her but 3 times the 2 weeks we were there! Lucy also got to attend some very special events: her Uncle Brad's wedding and her Poppe's 65th Birthday party. She posed just right for all the photos at each event and we can't wait to see them! Bryan and I danced the night away at Brad and Mandy's reception while Lucy had her first sleepover at Nana and Poppe's. It was our first night away from her but we had a lot of fun!

Lucy loved meeting new dogs too, Tiger and Finn. They entertained her just like her sister Bailey does. After 2 weeks of fun, we headed back to Colorado, this time by plane. The first part started off a little bleh as she was awakened from her nap through security...after that though we discovered rocking chairs at the Lambert Airport! More nap time! She did wonderfully on the plane and it worked out that she was eating for the take off and sleeping for the landing. With lots of smiles and squealing in between time! They gave her a certificate for her first flight and a set of airplane wings :). I added some photos and a video from the travels to the "Traveling Lucy" album. The rest of the photos will be in her 4 month album.

It was sad to say good bye but it was so great seeing friends and family, and sharing Lucy with everyone. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and now Lucy's life.

Don't forget to check out her 4 month update below and new pictures in the album (click on the photo on the top right to get there).

4 Months

Lucy is growing and growing! We went to her 4 month Doctor's appointment Thursday, July 7th and her new stats are:
24 inches long
12 lbs 3 oz.
(45th percentile for height and 25th for weight). The Doctor said she was trending just great and by 24 months they will be able to project who's height she will take on, mine or Bryan's. She showed of her smiles and babbling to the Dr., as well as her strong muscles! She said that she would have thought I was a PE teacher not an art teacher by the way she was holding her head, supporting herself, etc. Lucy's such a good performer :) She received her second round of vaccines, 2 shots and a dropper in the mouth, and did even better this time. Cried for all of 5 seconds, sucked on my finger, then I picked her up and she was smiling/laughing. We may start some solids with her if she seems ready at 5 months, otherwise we will wait and talk with them about it all at our 6 month appointment. Our garden is finally starting to pick up so I am hopeful to get some goodies to make some food for her soon!

This month was also filled with traveling, and has been one of the months with the most noticeable changes in Lucy. Some notable firsts: spinning around in her crib, rolling to her side (almost onto that belly!), doing "ab workouts" aka crunching while laying down in preparation for sitting up, giggling, babbling then turned squealing, extended tummy time, extreme interest in books, "sleeping through the night", shoving everything in her mouth and drooling, slowly noticing her feet but not grabbing them yet,starting to try and hold her bottle, and getting good control of her head and grasping stuff and putting it to her mouth. Whoosh--wears me out just thinking about it but this month was full of new stuff!

Bryan and I have been enjoying all these firsts with Lucy, and she is more adorable each day. Her naps are slowly starting to get better, and she usually sleeps from 6-7pm to 6am with one feeding. (The 6-7pm time though usually includes some frustration since she talks loudly to lure us into playing with her instead of sleeping. We usually try to at least sit through dinner and ignore her without cracking up.)

She loves hanging out in the hammock, reading on her tummy, swinging, babbling to her owl mobile, standing/sitting up(with help of course), and working out with Mommy. I have been using this book that has workouts to do with your baby and she has been enjoying it the past week!

This has been a fun and exciting summer watching her grow. Hard to believe she will start eating solid food soon and there is so much more to come! We can't wait to see how much she grows and develops as time goes on. God has blessed us with such a loveable, funny, and happy baby girl!

3 Months

June 3rd, 2011 and Lucy is 3 months old!

She has been busy growing and getting cuter by the minute. Her smiles are adorable, even at 3 in the morning when she should be going to sleep. It's hard to bounce her back to sleep and make eye contact with her, because she'll start smiling and forget about sleeping for a second! Yes, I did say bounce her. Lucy's ritual before sleeping is getting bounced on the exercise ball that now permanently resides in her room. Sometimes all it takes is 4 bounces and voila...no more fussing! Who knew we would need a color coordinated exercise ball for the nursery, it wasn't on our list!

Lately she also notices if you leave/enter the room, and can hear/follow the sounds of our voices pretty well. Getting her out of her crib in the morning is fun since she'll greet you with a big smile. She is also starting to laugh more, especially when Bryan picks up the bouncer and moves it up and down. She received an exercise mat/activity gym from a friend of ours who had an extra, and she loves having stuff to look at, touch, and kick! Gives mommy and daddy's arms a break from having to hold all the toys above her. :)

She has been lifting her head more and more for tummy time and getting stronger. She has taken to sucking on her fingers (her pointer and middle) and has been sleeping with her arms out of the swaddle now. She'll spit the pacifier out and suck on her fingers for the most part. Sometimes you can hear her sucking on them from all over the house--she must have a strong grip! And, the day before she turned 3 months (June 2nd), she rolled over on her own from tummy to back! I even caught it on video :)

Cloth diapering is going well. It is way easier than I ever imagined, and has saved us a ton on diapers! We still need to get some more once she grows out of one of the kinds we have (the other half of our stash is all one-size that grows with her). I'm also extremely amazed by the wonders of the sun. Poop stains be gone with one day hanging out in the sunroom! Diapers are brand spanking new looking! Luckily we don't have too many of those though since Lucy has started to become fairly "regular" and poops every morning :) And, thanks to our awesome RumpARooz pocket diapers, we are able to stuff 2 inserts and a hemp insert in there for night time, which keeps her sleeping. She does get quite the bubble butt from this, but a good night's sleep is worth it!

Summer is here for me so Lucy and I will be hanging out, with some play dates with friends during the week. We also have a bajillion people that want to babysit her, so I might take an afternoon off every now and then to recharge :).

We are looking forward to spending the majority of June with visitors and Lucy's first trip to St. Louis! To see pictures and 2 videos (sorry for the low quality) of our 3 month old chica, click on the photo album in the top right. Enjoy!

Love,
The Fingland's

2 Months

We made it to 2 months! I decided to revamp this blog and will try and write each month about her happenings. Not only to let you all know, but so I can easily have information remembered for her baby book and photo books that I will making each year! We even found a way to print of the blog nicely so we might do that for her as well.

Lucy had her 2 month checkup on Tuesday, May 10th, and all is well. Her stats are:

Weight: 9lb13oz (30th percentile)

Height: 22.5 inches (55th percentile)

She received 3 shots and was called a "tough chick". She let out one 3 second wail and then was back to relaxing and ready for a nap. Such a strong little chica!

She has been on a pretty firm schedule around here once I started back at school. She eats about 7 times a day and has a bit of a sleep schedule at night at least...goes to bed between 6-7, sleeps until we do a "dream feed" at 9:30, then sleeps until 2ish and eats, then sleeps till we get her up at 5:45 to eat so I can get to school on time. Not too shabby.

The latest and greatest thing she does is SMILE! Her babysitter even called her the "happiest baby ever". She loves looking at faces, especially the ridiculous ones Bryan and I bombard her with daily. She'll follow toys and objects around (like her big sister Bailey when she licks her feet and hands), and follows your voice as well. She's still loving her music! Her dancing tunes playlist gets used almost daily and she especially likes Jack Johnson just like her mommy. She'll laugh and coo and kick, kick, KICK while playing and listening to her tunes! She has also found her fist and will gnaw on it and drool, especially if she breaks out of her straight jacket--I mean swaddle. :)

She started losing a little bit of hair before she turned 2 months, and it looks like some is coming back in on top. She has a "reverse friar tuck" as Bryan called it...a bald strip missing in the back, but still a lot on the top and bottom. Her eyes are still very very blue and her hair still has a bit a reddish/blondish still in it.

Things have been going well with us, still trying to adjust to this new way of living. We are pretty excited to finally test drive our BOB and go on a run with her once it stops raining here! We have her baptism all set up for June 12th, with family coming in town. It will be fun to show her off and for her to meet some new family members. Thanks for all the well wishes, gifts, and enthusiasm about the bombardment of baby photos :). We love sharing Lucy with you all and can't wait until you get to meet this cute little peanut if you haven't already!

Check out her 2 month photos by clicking on the album in the upper right (used to be my belly photos!)

Hope all is well. Love,

The Fingland's

Lucy Kathleen Fingland

Well we have survived 2 weeks...barely! At times we might look a little dazed, like "what in the world are we doing?" Kind of like this...


Just wanted to send a quick update now that I've had 2 nights of a (little) bit longer of sleep and a new feeding plan in place. I have some new 1-2 week old photos here too
https://picasaweb.google.com/kfingland/201103Lucy12Weeks?feat=directlink

We've been struggling with breastfeeding and her latching on properly. Basically she doesn't latch on properly and therefore gets barely any milk from me. I've been having to pump and give her a bottle after nursing at every feeding for the past week. Then when she only gained 4 oz in a week we had to start amping up the amount of breastmilk in the bottle, and we go back on Monday to see where she is at. We also made a new schedule of Bryan giving her a bottle for some of the night feedings, so I can just pump for 10 minutes in bed and get some more rest/sleep. We have to feed her every 3 hours until she gains her weight back. She was at 6.14oz Wednesday at the lactation place, and then gained 2 oz as of Thursday at the pediatrician and is now back in the 7.0oz territory. No turning back!!

When we haven't been occupied with feedings/weight gain/pumping/washing bottles we've been enjoying all of her quirky little faces and noises. She's such a cutie and we can't stop talking about how pretty/adorable/loud farter she is! Ok, so you think I joke at the last one, but she is the biggest pooper and tooter ever. In the most lady like of ways though of course. Gotta go rest/watch some basketball. We are having some visitors this weekend so it will be nice to catch up with some people in the "living world"!

Love,
The Fingland's

Week 39: Twas the ____ Before the baby was born...

Twas the _____ before Baby Fingland was born, when all through the house
Katie was barely able to sleep, which meant neither was her spouse.
The clothes were all washed and folded with care,
In hopes that Baby Fingland soon would be there.

The nursery was clean, new sheets on her bed,
While visions of rocking and reading to her danced through our head.
With Katie in her maternity clothes still, and Bryan putting together baby gear,
We waited and waited for Baby Fingland to get here....

Well that pretty much describes all we are doing now...WAITING! We had a great week here of wonderful weather which made me so happy for Spring and now even spending Summer with our new little one in tow. I had a couple contractions (I think) throughout the week, but not much else exciting. Our midwife appointment on Tuesday went really well, Jules is very reassuring and once again made us excited for the whole process. We got the copy of the on-call schedule, since there is always a doctor/midwife on call, and we will be with whoever is on call that time. Baby Fingland was (and hopefully even still) head down, heartbeat was good, and all was well. Our next appointment is this Friday, the day before her "scheduled" arrival date. We'll see how timely she wants to be.

Other than that, just requesting a few prayers/thoughts this week as we head into the final stretch. My eye is still not 100%, and I still get congested at night. My regular doc suggested taking another round of antibiotics this time in the form of ointment, but I kept asking if there is anyway to tell whether or not it is viral or bacterial (the pink eye that is), and they said no. It is fine during the day and just gets watery during the night, along with my dry nose/throat. According to WebMd (I know, but sometimes going to all these doc appointments is annoying!) my symptoms sound like the viral form, which antibiotics will do nothing for. And, since I already took 7 days worth of antibiotics, I really don't want to do a whole other round of them. So at the moment, I am just praying and keeping it clean, and seeing if I am allergic to anything in our bedroom! I figure once she comes into the world, I can try the ointment if it still isn't better and go from there. My biggest concern is that I don't want to give it to her as a welcome to the world present! Thanks for the thoughts ahead of time, and for letting me vent...I get frustrated when I don't know how to get rid of these things! Also, if you could send some positive thoughts our way that all goes well with labor, that would be much appreciated :). I think I've finally come to peace with it all and am ready for whatever happens now, rather than being ultra terrified. A good feeling!

We'll see if this is the last blog post without pictures of her! For now, enjoy some pictures of our new lighting we got for the nursery. We're off to keep the house tidy just in case. Who wants to come home from the hospital to a dirty casa? Not us! ;)
Our oxo portable night lights arrived this week...
removed from the stand and it is a portable night light
Our cute lantern/lamp find at Target today gives a warm and cozy light off for bedtime stories :)


Thanks for reading all these weeks and for sharing in our excitement. Not too much longer hopefully!

Love,
The anxiously awaiting Fingland's

Week 38: Soo sleepy......zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well last week wrapped up what could possibly be my last "5 day" work week, since the next 2 weeks we have some four day weeks. I can tell you one thing, it wore me out! Pregnancy has caught up with me and naps aren't even an option anymore, they are standard daily protocol! I have 2 weeks worth of emergency sub plans starting today, so I am just teaching off my sub plans now :). Technically my maternity leave doesn't start until Feb. 28th, so those plans are all ready too. Kind of nice not to have to think about what to do with the kids, one thing less off my mind these days.

We had a great day Saturday and got to just do some fun things, rather than things on our "to do list". We ate at a new place for lunch downtown, then noticed a small bakery next door afterward and stopped by for dessert--my favorite as always! After getting home and taking my much needed nap, we made some homemade "cheese-its" from Bryan's whole grain baking book. I was the hole puncher, and even though they aren't as crispy as we'd like, it was still fun to make and pretty good tasting. Sunday I think I had some contractions when we took a walk around the neighborhood in this beautiful weather. After laying down though they stopped. We had a big Valentine dinner this night (steak, artichokes, and a yummy apple/raspberry crisp made by the baker in the family--Bryan.)

On the baby front Bryan cleaned out his car and got the back seat all spiffed up for her first ride home. He also got a hair cut since I was worried that we'd have the baby and he'd have a big mop on his head for all the pictures...I know, I am thinking of lots of random things to pass the time. However, if I'm going to look out of it and not having my best hair day, he's got to make up for it :). We also bought some of that plastic wrap stuff to go on her windows, since the nursery is a bit on the chilly side. My coworkers threw a shower for me Wednesday and we got some cute items and a wonderful gift card that lots of people contributed to, which was very sweet.

I had an appointment on Thursday and everything still looked good. My pink eye is better, finished the antibiotics, and my cold is less obtrusive--still have really dry sinuses. Baby Fingland was head down still and heart beat going strong. I haven't really had any braxton hicks contractions yet (or I might but just not have noticed while teaching), but they said that's fine. Our next appointment is tomorrow and I am going to ask them about the tiredness, just to make sure nothing's up with my iron levels. I will write again after if they have any enlightening news. Oh, which reminds me that my Group B Strep test was negative! Yay! Thanks for the positive thoughts and prayers, I'm glad to have one less thing to worry about.

Happy Valentine's Day! We'll be watching some KU basketball to celebrate :)
Fingland's

Week 37: Hey Colorado, where's the sun!?

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Well, we have made it to the month of February. Kind of crazy thinking that her due date is in this month! This week has been a rough one health wise. Not only did we get below freezing temps (-30 windchill got us 2 "cold" days off school), but I got stuck with my cold again. After going back to school on Thursday, I also got the "gift" of pink eye as a welcome back. This meant I had to take off Friday, thus working only 2 days this week...weird! I went to 2 doctors appointments Friday (our OB office and my internal med doc) to get 2 opinions on my eye. My internal med doc had more time for me and talked me through that the pink eye could have been viral from my cold, or bacterial from a student or someone else who had it. Since they couldn't determine which, and the swelling was pretty bad, they put me on some antibiotics. It is less swollen now, and the white is beginning to return today, so I'm extremely thankful for that healing. I was a little nervous about taking antibiotics, seeing as though I haven't taken anything medicine wise during my pregnancy, but they reassured me that it would be fine. Now if the cold would just finish it's course too, I'd be ready to focus on this upcoming labor!

Speaking of the labor, we had our 36.5 (we are off on the days with our weekly appointments) week midwife appointment on Wednesday. Baby Fingland's heart beat is still good, my blood pressure is still good (with all my appointments I got it checked like 5 times this week!), and she was head down still. I took my Group B Strep test, but won't see the results until this week. Our next appointment is this Thursday, at 37.5/38 weeks!

Even though this week was rough, there were a couple highlights. One, I got some more cloth diapers, different types, colors, patterns--so fun! They are finished being washed and ready for her little bum.

We also got our Target and Babies R Us shipment from fulfilling some things off our registry--lots of cute blankets, grooming kit, etc. I ordered my baby sling I finally chose--the Baby K'tan--off amazon, which I can't wait to try out and use. And finally, we went to Real Baby yesterday and got our Ergo carrier (which I'm so excited for) and her baby book! We filled out 2 pages last night and are going to keep filling some out each day. I think we are finally at a point where we don't have to buy any more baby items until after she comes and are like "whoops, we completely forgot about ______".

Hope everyone has a great week and I hope next week when I post I will be in much better health! I'm off to nap and blow my nose :)

Love,
The Fingland's and the WATERMELON (HOLY MOLY) on the way

Here are some pics of Bailey enjoying the new snow of this weekend...

Week 36: Ain't no stoppin us now...

Happy 36 weeks! Our title this week refers to our 35.5/36 midwife appointment we had on Wednesday. Basically, they said if she comes from here on out, they're not stopping it! Kind of crazy to think that we're at this point already!

We are at weekly midwife appointments, and have one this Wednesday as well. We were told last week that she is head down (hoping she stays that way!), her heart beat was strong (~145bpm), and my blood pressure is still really good (110/62). I've been trying to eat well, drink lots of water, and keep walking or doing weights as much as possible to keep my blood pressure in check, since I've known a lot of people who have had issues with it. We also got to ask some more questions about the birth, which led to her asking Bryan if he wants to help "catch". Bryan is just getting comfortable with cutting the cord, so we shall see what happens in the heat of the moment and what his decision is. :) We have our next appointment Wednesday, and the Group B strep test then. Requesting prayers for a negative result, so I don't have to take antibiotics during labor! I will post again this week if anything exciting happens at that appointment that I can't wait to tell.

Other than that, we had our last Bradley class Wednesday as well, and it was a bit sad. We loved the class so much and learned so much from it. We are thankful for finding it and having such a great teacher. I have typed up our birth plan and she is going to look it over, and I also made a "cheat sheet" for Bryan as the coach of things to remember, and it references which page number things are on in our workbook. Our hospital bags are all packed, except for last minute items! We also started fulfilling some of our registry items that we still needed, leaving some for after she comes. We are both ready to be done buying stuff for a while, and can't wait to get our shipments in these next 2 weeks! The BOB stroller has the infant car seat adapter all set up on it, and we purchased our car seat and bases this weekend too. Getting excited! I keep telling my elementary kids at school that her "birthday" might be February 26th, unless she decides to come early or late. Hopefully right on time, I like that option :) We keep thinking about different scenarios of what she'll be like, and what we'll share with her once she gets here. For instance, this morning I was already getting excited about dressing her for her first March Madness tournament with her KU (and MU) gear. Important life moments!!!

Trying to stay warm here as I gear up for a "cold" day tomorrow, no school!
Love,
The Fingland's

Week 35: Nursery Reveal!

Sorry this is late! It has been a busy week already around here, and our weekend was even busier. We celebrated Bryan's birthday Saturday by going out to dinner and buying him a suit! Sunday some wonderful teacher friends threw us a shower. It was fun to get to celebrate with friends and get some cute baby gear :). We are starting to use all our gift cards to finish up some necessities on our registry, and I can't wait to have it all ready for her! Bryan put together her pack n play tonight, her bouncy seat, and started charging our baby monitors. Checking it all out and getting it ready is exciting! I've also started packing my hospital bag, and have a checklist made so I know what to pack last minute.

Speaking of getting ready, her room is finally ready for her to come home to! We have a few things here and there (like hang the mobile from a hook, not painter's tape), but overall it is ready for her. We really like it and it's so fun to see it all put together finally. I put all the pictures in the album with our belly pics, so you can click the photo link in the top right corner, or click here to see belly pics AND the final nursery.(belly pics are in order, and the nursery pics are all the way at the bottom after the ultrasound pics and hospital tour pics) Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/kfingland/201009BabyAndBellyPics#

Other than that, just starting to feel a little slower these days. Flipping over is a chore in itself. I've been trying to walk or do some weights/squat exercises as much as I can, but since I walk around so much at work, it is usually nap time first when I get home! The elementary kids have been super fun and funny to be around, and their comments are too hilarious! I'm lucky that this next 6 weeks at school I have an EA (Educational Assistant), because she is great and having extra hands and legs is so nice right now! Not to mention that I have to leave the room more often now to take lots of potty breaks! We have our midwife appointment tomorrow and I will write about that this weekend. Hope you all are enjoying your week.

Love,
The Fingland's

Week 34: Getting closer...

First, I wish every weekend was 3 days long. Just think of how much more we'd be able to do and get done and rest...one can dream.

This week I came down with my first sickness since being pregnant, a wonderful winter cold. Bleh. Thankfully it came towards the end of the week so I've been taking lots of naps, using lots of kleenex, and have finally mastered the neti pot since it relieves my stuffy head headache without having to put any meds through to Baby Fingland. I am hoping to knock this out soon and be able to talk normally and breath easy again.

Better news this week, our friends James and Kelly had their baby girl, Annabelle on Monday! We dog sat their lab while they were at the hospital, and Bryan luckily got to go see them and hold her on Thursday (I was under the covers trying to not be sick anymore--boo). I can't wait to meet her and am excited for baby Fingland to already have friends around :).

Other than that we have been diligently working on the nursery and house. I am going to go out on a limb and say that by the time I post next week, the nursery will be DONE. Finito! Terminado! I was organizing it tonight and am in love with it. It came together so well and the finishing touches will be easy to put on these next few days. Big big props to the daddy to be, he has worked his butt of getting everything ready for his little girl. Between refinishing the dresser, putting together the crib, hanging the curtains, putting together the shelf organizer, painting the storage cube, hanging the artwork, hanging the mobile, painting and putting up the chair rail, and of course, installing new tamper proof outlets and a better light switch, he has been amazing! Wow, writing it all out just wears me out, we are lucky to have him around! We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday next Saturday, and I have already told him it is going to be a "baby free" day.

I am also looking forward to our baby shower next Sunday, with some great Colorado friends. It is going to be at our house, so I'm really excited about not having to pack a car full of baby stuff again :). After that we just are going to pick up any items on our registry still, and then RELAX and enjoy some (hopefully) down time before the little one arrives. Who knows though, if she comes early that "RELAX" statement might become completely irrelevant! My next midwife appointment is at 35 weeks, January 26th, so I will keep you updated on any news or progress.

Just getting excited that we see the light at the end of the nursery tunnel, and a day or two of relaxing is in the forecast. It's been a little harder to sleep as I feel like a rotisserie chicken at times flip flopping so much. A good night's sleep these days means 1 trip to the bathroom and only 4 times flipping! How things have changed...

Hope you all are well.
Love,
The Fingland's

Week 33: It's beginning to look a lot like a Nursery...

...or it's also beginning to look a lot like "there must be a baby coming soon" around our house. Thankfully, we have a door on our nursery so I can just close it after putting all the piles of stuff in there to control my nervous organization tick for the time being. This weekend was a nesting extravaganza, as we finally had time to catch up on all the stuff looming over last week.

Let's see we now have: pulls on the dresser, a brand new chair rail around the nursery courtesy of my handyman Bryan, curtain rods and hung blackout curtains courtesy of Grandma Fingland, a laundry basket full of clothes to be washed with tags/etc. removed, an 18x18in finalized canvas with that quote I posted a few weeks back, a cleaned out/organized bathroom closet with 2 open shelves and under the sink storage space ready for baby stuff, our birth wishes/plan written for the hospital and midwife, and baby shower thank yous done and ready to send! WHOOSH, and that was just baby stuff! I can't tell you how good it feels to have the Christmas decos down and the place vacuumed too!

I had a midwife appointment this Friday, and it went wonderfully. We brought in 2 pages of questions and asked her some (figured since we're going so often now we didn't want to jeopardize ALL her time). We felt so reassured with all of her answers, and feel really blessed to have this team of certified midwives, and the hospital, to help us with our wish to have a natural birth. After talking with them, and taking our hospital tour on Saturday to pre-register, our philosophies and priorities seem to align really well with both the midwives and hospital. It kind of all fell into place, and we couldn't be more excited now! Also, she showed us where our baby girl is located (back, feet, head, etc.) and as of now she is head down. Her heartbeat was strong, and when she moved her heartbeat increased--a good sign and something they look for! I am measuring at 32cm for 33 weeks, so about a week "behind". She said it has been consistently that way though, so no worries about growth. My favorite part was when she asked if I had any swelling, and lifted my pant leg and was like "oh look, you still have ankles!" Haha, I check for them every day just to make sure too! :)

After such a great appointment, I am really looking forward to the whole birthing experience, while still being nervous too. It's so much better though because before, I was just nervous! Also, after cutting tags and prepping laundry for all her adorable clothes, I've decided that one of my favorite things will most likely be picking out what Baby Fingland gets to wear each day. I can't wait!

We will post a finalized nursery pic (crossed fingers) in a couple weeks! Here are some close up of finished details though, and our sweet stroller!
Mattress!
Chair Rail and Curtains!

Dresser with Pulls!

Bryan taking the BOB for test drives in the basement.

Lots of love from snowy Colorado,
Bryan, Katie, and the Honeydew (love this one!) Oh, and lots of scrunches from the big sis to be--Bailey. She's been so good and is keeping Daddy to be company in the nursery, and naps with Mommy to be on the couch!

Week 32: New Year, New Life!

Happy New Year! 2011 is gearing up to be a a "game changer" as we prepare for baby Fingland to get here SOON! In fact, the past 2 weeks, I've had some slight freak out moments thinking about all the things that are upcoming: finishing all the preparations in the nursery and house, going to the hospital, giving birth, if I will know what to do with the baby once we get her home, what if they are wrong and she's a boy, not a girl...you know, really rational things, well most of them! It helped that on the long drive back to Colorado, Bryan scribed an excel to do list while I drove.

I am feeling pretty good, excited to get back into a routine this week. As the belly is getting bigger, my back has been hurting a bit, and by the night time it is uncomfortable to sit up and find a comfy position anymore. But so far so good.

We are going to start creating our birth plan this week in Bradley class, and are still on track to try our darndest to have a natural birth. Regardless, we've really enjoyed our classes so far, and feel like we know so much more than we ever thought possible about the whole process! We've gone over so far: at least 7 different relaxation techniques, numerous positions to alleviate pain during contractions and to give birth in, the details--pros and cons--of all medical and hospital interventions (my favorite and most interesting class!), and the various stages of labor and how I will be feeling and acting during them. We have also started saying our due date is March 8th, a week from our given due date, since we learned that the average gestational period is actually 41 weeks, not 40. That way, if she's early, it will be a pleasant surprise! Overall, I think each Wednesday it brings Bryan and I closer together, and reinforces that we are a team and can do this. I just have to remind myself of that every other day after Wednesday! :)

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's, and got to see our family and friends. It was weird saying goodbye knowing that the next time we see them, I won't be pregnant anymore! Looking forward to the weekend so we can organize...the nesting has kicked in FULL swing and I don't even want to be at school during the day; just at home organizing! New belly pics this week, and next week we will post some pics of our new baby gear we've been testing out. Our BOB stroller is already getting tested in the basement!

Lots of love,
The Fingland's