He's here!! Welcome Baby Jack Christopher!

Baby Jack Christoper was born Friday at 3:30 PM. He's doing great! He sleeps ALL the time! What a difference from his big sister! Well today is our first day at home so we'll see if he sleeps all night too!!


He was 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long.
My labor story is pretty simple. I was induced on Friday at 7:30 am. My doctor scheduled the induction on Wednesday at my appointment. I was dialated 3 cm and I told the dr I was ready to have the baby by the weekend so she said she'd induce me. She broke my water at 7:30 and started Pitocin at 8. Nothing really happened for a few hours. I got an epidural at 10:30 even though I wasn't in any pain yet. I didn't want to miss my opportunity!! The nurse said I might as well not wait for pain so I didn't! I was really bored after that! I didn't bring anything to do because I thought being induced meant a lot of pain really fast. At 2:10 I started to feel some pressure and pain. It intensified extremely fast. I was dialated 8 cm. From then till 3:15 I had really incredible pain and lots and lots of pressure. I was fully dialated and needed to push at 3:15. I did and he was born at 3:30!
So I guess I'm grateful I only felt pain from 2:10-3:30 but it was some SERIOUS pain!!

He's doing great and is healthy. We just came home today so we'll see how life at home goes!!

39 1/2 weeks! Last pregnant belly pic!

So here is the last picture you'll see of me with this big belly!

Bassinet

Okay baby boy, we're ready!! Look at this cute new bassinet we got! Dustin set it up for me while I was grocery shopping last night.

It's gonna be a little crowded in our bedroom but its all good. We are still trying to get things situated from the move but once we do I think we'll have a little more room.

However with Kate sleeping on our bedroom floor (the only way this girl will sleep these days ) and the baby in our room, too, it will just be one big happy family room!

By the way...did I mention how dang hot it is here? And how tough that is on a very pregnant lady? :)

Boating with friends

We went out on our friends' boat last weekend. Kate loved jumping off the boat. It was super hot that day so it felt great to be on the water. It's been entirely too hot lately! I can't even take it!

37 weeks

(We think our camera is broken. The flash isn't working at all. I accidently didn't take it off of Kate the other day and I think she may have dropped it.)

37 weeks with kate


I had an ultrasound this week to check the growth of the baby. One of my doctor's thought I was measuring too small. The baby is looking good though and growing just right. He wouldn't give us a good face shot since his head is down so low but it was still really fun to see the ultrasound.

I'm definitely in baby mode. I think about him pretty much all the time now! I hit up some yard sales this weekend and scored big with baby clothes. It was lots of fun!!

3 more weeks to go! It won't be long now!

Kate's learning how to ride her "motorcycle" her Pap bought her for her birthday. We were outside our apartment practicing one day!


We went to a picnic with our church today. They played softball then had a picnic lunch. Dustin was teaching Kate how to hit the ball! She loved it!




I told Kate she couldn't have a cupcake until she finished her dinner...well when I get back from the bathroom this is what I found! She knows she can just ask daddy instead!

We've moved...again!

Well, once again (the 7th time in 5 years) we've moved. The family of the house we were house sitting for is coming home by the end of the month. She felt bad about kicking a 9 month pregnant lady out of her home but what can ya do?!? We still live in Slippery Rock but just moved into an apartment in town.

So now I've had to say good-bye to a few things and hello to some others:
Goodbye 3 bedroom house, hello 2 bedroom apartment
Goodbye garage, hello gravel parking lot
goodbye laundry room, hello laundry mat
goodbye dishwasher, hello jennifer
goodbye 3 bathrooms, hello 1 bathroom...not to mention the bathroom is upstairs making my million trips to the bathroom a day a little workout too!

Okay you get the point! We've really enjoyed living in this house and are very grateful for the opportunity to do so. We just only wish we could have stayed until Dustin graduated in April!

I did make a new friend out of this though! I'm becoming friends with the wife of the owner. She
has an almost 3 year-old boy and a 9 month-old baby girl and they live across the street.

I'll have to take some pictures soon. On the bright side, I figure a smaller place means less to clean!

Pregnancy update

35 weeks

And in case you like a comparison:
34 weeks with Kate

Well I've gotten a bit bigger since the last picture I took! I was surprised to see the growth! Although I shouldn't be because that must be why I feel like I'm falling apart quickly!! I feel guilty complaining because I've had a pretty easy pregnancy but I'm definitely getting to the end. My back hurts every day from morning till night and I have carpal tunnel in my right hand and can't sleep or do any daily activity without it going completely numb in 10 seconds. Other than that...I guess everything is still going well!

That's right...she's asleep!

This is what happens when Pap comes for a lunch date right in the middle of what should be naptime!

If you know Kate you know this behavior is unheard of! Come to find out she has a fever of 100.8. That explains it!

So, yes, I did hold her like this while eating my food and already having limited space between my belly and the table!!

Family vacation to Erie

This weekend we took our first family camping vacation! We went to Erie, Pa which is about an hour or so from where we live now. We had lots of fun. Kate loves to go camping. By the end I was ready to get home and back to normal...especially with Kate but it was fun.
Weekend recap:
Friday: got to the campground around 7:30, set up our tent, played at the playground, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire.

Kate and Dustin setting up the tent. Kate loved playing in the big tent!

Sitting around the fire roasting marshmallows

Saturday: played at the playground more, got showers...got out of the shower to find a gigantic downpour and thunderstorm that lasted for over 2 hours straight. It was really pouring! We made the best of it by sitting in our tent and watching a movie while watching the rain flood into our tent!! We finally decided to call Dustin's uncle who lives in Erie and went to visit for a few hours while Kate napped and the rain stopped. Then it cleared up and the sun tried to come out so we went to the beach for a few hours. We made a fire again that night and sat around the fire for a little while.

Our campsite in the middle of the rain!

Watching Toy Story

SO excited to be at the beach for the first time!

Dustin taking Kate into Lake Erie

All ready for Daddy to take her in even further!!

Sunday: We enjoyed a delicious free pancake breakfast the campground provided, packed up our stuff to check out then went to Waldemeer water and amusement park. We just planned on going to the water park but after being there for just 2 hours Kate couldn't stand looking at all the rides without going on them. So we headed over to the amusement park and spent the rest of the day there. Although very far from relaxing for me like I had initially expected, it was fun. Kate had a blast. She loves to ride rides.

The lazy river and the yellow slide were her favorites!

So now my body is screaming at me to relax today. Even though I'm still surrounded by lots of unpacking, cleaning and laundry I'm getting ready to lay down on the couch for a while! Kate has (knock on wood) been an angel so far today. We went to the library for story time from 10-11 and she's been playing non-stop BY HERSELF since we got back almost 2 hours ago!! She needed to get back to normal at her own home too!

OKAY and now call me crazy but I thought I'd include a lovely and beautiful picture of me at the water park!! Yes...I may be looking bigger and please don't take too close of a look at my chin (I'm looking down creating an illusion of a fat chin!!) And I didn't know Dustin was taking my picture so I couldn't even pose!! :)

Pittsburgh Zoo

Last weekend we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo. This was Kate's first trip to the zoo. It was just alright. It was really hot and crowded. Next time I think I'll go on a weekday or not in the middle of the summer. Thank goodness for my brother, Justin and his wife Melissa for coming with us! It made it SO much easier and more fun!

Kate sitting with Aunt Melissa looking at the monkeys.

Kate LOVED the polar bears! The one would swim right across the window then jump up right in her face. She loved it!

And of course we had to end the day with a ride on the merry-go-round!