Leah Claire

Our second little bundle of joy arrived Tuesday, July 14th at 4:23 pm. She weighs 7 lb, 6 oz (amazingly the exact same birth weight as Kendall) and is 19 inches long. Her entry into this world was a little different than her big sis...I had my 39 week check up last Monday and was expecting an uneventful visit. My doctor generally won't induce until between the 40th and 41st week, so I was thinking I would go in for the usual checks and come out with an appointment for the following Monday. Well, much to my surprise, my doctor suddenly says "I'll be out of town next week, let's see what we have open this week" and with me still in shock, she left the room. Five minutes later I was being told that tomorrow was going to be the big day and to be at the hospital at 7am to have the baby! So you can fully appreciate what a shock that truly was - I have always thought my due date was too early and was getting constant confirmation of that every time they would tell me Leah was measuring a week or two behind. I was thinking that surely I would be past due and then maybe induced the week of the 20th. Then add the fact that I wasn't really quite ready for the 20th either and now maybe you see how scary the 14th of July was starting to sound.

Still shocked, I head back to the office to finish my last day of work for 3 months...I share the details with my friends and start noticing a weird glance beginning to pass between them. As it turns out, they'd had plans for WEDNESDAY, thus my news that MONDAY would be my last day was really throwing them off. But they still pulled it all together very nicely - cake, balloons, and a Nordstroms gift card...can't get much better than that :) Plus they didn't have the chance to ransack my desk, so bonus points there.

Monday was a bittersweet night...of course we were excited, but I was a little sad for a number of reasons...it would be Kendall's last night as our only baby and I didn't know how well she was going to take it all in. And it was my last night ever to be pregnant - although in many ways that would be a relief (no acid reflux - yay!) there would be so many that I missed: feeling Leah's strong kicks, seeing the bottom of my black hole belly button, and all the special things that go along with having a baby. With all the thoughts circling my mind and also the beginnings of contractions I was feeling, I did not get much sleep that night.

Early Tuesday morning, we loaded up and took Kendall to her day care before heading to the hospital. Due to a large number of births the previous day and evening, we actually had to wait two hours before being escorted to our labor/delivery room. This process was slightly new to me because my water broke with Kendall and we rushed to the hospital at 1am on a Sunday. This seemed much more scheduled...and that was slightly odd. The doctor said I was almost at 3cm that morning, so likely Leah would have been born soon anyway, and that made me feel a little better. The rest of the process went without a hitch...they broke my water and began giving me pitocin...I was able to rough the contractions for about 3 hours until they said I was only at 4.5cm so I asked for an epidural. Again, they missed the 'right' place the first time and had to do it again. I think that hurt worse than some of the contractions! I was at 7cm around 3pm when I started to feel pain and pressure. In fact, they were going to give me more medication when they flipped me on my side and I was almost instantly at a 10. That happened so quickly that they had to page my doctor twice so that she understood she needed to get there RIGHT THEN. Soon there after, sweet Leah was born :)

Kendall has been the best big sister - she is very gentle with Leah. She loves to call her 'baby' and pat her on the head. In fact, I think she is doing better with it than I am! I still have pangs of almost guilt when I look at Kendall and wonder whether she'll feel short changed by another baby in the house. At the moment, she seems completely fine, so I guess I'm the one that needs to get over it!

I am currently struggling to be 'everywhere all the time.' I have missed Kendall very much the past few days because I've been so busy with feeding and caring for her new sister. Although Trenton did help out before, I was the primary care person for Kendall so it's hard when he's taking care of all the little moments that I shared before. I'm sure in time things will calm down and I'll get to regain some of this time again - in fact, I can't wait for things to start feeling normal.

Overall, we are doing great. Thanks for everyone's well wishes this past week!

The Calm Before The Storm?

I had my 38 week checkup last Monday and the doctor said I was 2 cm dilated, but I'm not sure if that's really a big deal or not. With Kendall, I was not at all dilated at my 39 week checkup and suddenly went into labor 3 days later, although I have heard from several others about being dilated so far along for weeks with no labor in the horizon.

Last night was a rough night though. I have had periodic 'cramping' that makes me think my body is continuing to progress and yesterday I think I may have pushed myself too far. We decided to catch up on a few errands in Lewisville - unfortunately it was 100+ degrees outside! The good news - I got a pair of new sunglasses for my birthday that I have wanted for ages. I also had the opportunity to buy a new nightgown and a couple other items for my looming hospital stay. The bad news - while we were wrapping up the evening my lower stomach started to cramp pretty badly although by the time reached home, I really was feeling much better. That is - until I woke up around 1am with horrible stomach pains. If I remember correctly, that's how it all started with Kendall - a general stomachache before the real contractions began. I think I was heading that way when the vomiting started. So now I'm not sure if I had a bug or if I'm beginning the process of labor...I suppose we shall see! I still feel crampy today, but not like contractions where there is a definitive start and stop, so maybe it's just residual from my issues last night. My body does NOT like to labor in the day, so I have at least a few more hours of peace, even if tonight is the night.

Kendall's New Table!

I have been meaning to get Kendall a 'big girl' table for the past few months, but just haven't gotten around to it. Yesterday, Ma and Pa brought over a new 'Noah's Ark' table for her and she loves it already. It was the first thing she went to this morning for her cereal and juice breakfast!

Thanks so much Ma and Pa!

It's getting hot!

I hate to complain, because I really do think I've gotten off lucky for the most part - I have roughly a month left and it just started getting hot. But it's hot. And my belly isn't HUGE but the baby is definitely like a portable heater - not necessary this time of year! This pregnancy has been different and I'm not sure whether it's because I have the seasons swapped (Kendall was born in January) or if it was just the luck of the pregnancy draw. At any rate, this time isn't quite so easy. I have horrific acid reflux - to where my body has begun to laugh at the Nexium pills. I've been having these random pains, almost like a shooting pain and then a muscle spasm, right where my legs join my abdomen. The worst though has been the odd lower back pain, kind of where I would guess my left kidney lives, when I "sleep" (or when I should say I try to sleep).

Enough of the whining though - Kendall has been a little handful these days. We finally decided to wean from the bottle. She wasn't getting them much - only with milk during sleep times - but I figured it wouldn't get any easier once her sister arrived and she saw her sipping on one. Today was day three and has been by far the best day. The first two days she would cry for at least 30 to 45 minutes when nap or bedtime rolled around. Our saving grace has really been day care - they don't give milk in bottles, only sippy cups - so that concept was not totally foreign to her. Although she of course prefers the bottle, after about 30 minutes and she realized it was either sippy cup of milk or no milk, she got over the inconvenience. Today was a great day for naps and bedtime - we went for a walk, probably a little too late (H-O-T), and then for a dip in the neighborhood pool. By the time we got back it was already almost 3 and she normally naps from 12-2, so she was EXHAUSTED. Tonight we went to Pappadeux's for early Father's Day...an experience, but it was a late dinner so she fell asleep pretty quickly tonight too.

The room is coming along...butterflies and curtains have arrived (love the Land of Nod!)...I bought a black mirror (as seen in the above picture) from Hobby Lobby and a curtain rod from Target. And deal of all deals, I found another precious butterfly at Kroger for just $4. I'll take pictures of everything once it all comes together. Trenton has a few more things left on his list before baby arrives!

p.s. I finally just took a picture of myself...I have next to none for this pregnancy, whereas with Kendall we documented every month. Oh well...

44 days to go - what?!?!

I know...so I shouldn't be shocked, but that baby count down is really starting to freak me out...only 44 days until the next bean arrives?! I had my 32 week appointment last Friday (I'm now almost 34 weeks!) and everything was healthy healthy. Baby's heart beat was 152 bpm and they said she was measuring a little small, but I always thought the due date was off anyway. I am slightly anemic, but I was extremely anemic with the first pregnancy and came out okay. I am on another iron supplement and maybe it's all in my head, but I do feel like I have more energy!

In other developments relating to baby...we bought a mini-van (gasp or yay, depending on who you are) It's a fully loaded '06 Honda Oddessy and it has been GREAT so far. Kendall adores the DVD and we actually have peaceful car rides now. The downside...yes I'm driving a mini-van and poor Trenton had to trade his truck in for it. But the truck and my Jetta really are too small for two kids, so alas we have joined the group of mini-van owners.

The furniture arrived! Oops - we sold that truck just a couple weeks to quickly! Oh well...we'll figure out the details on that one later...

Other exciting news...we have a new nephew! Nash Trace Brockett was born early yesterday morning and we just can't wait to meet him :)

Pictures from the Trip

I couldn't get the pictures to post correctly with the rest of the update, so they are separately...

Kendall at the hotel

Kendall at the MSC Fountain

Trenton and Kendall under the Century Tree

Kristi and Kendall under the Century Tree

Trenton and Kendall in front of Kyle Field

Trenton and Kendall at the start of the Bonfire Memorial

This was a quote from one of the fallen 12

that I thought was particularly poignant.

Trenton viewing the Center Pole Marker

This is located at the start of the memorial

Kendall loving Daddy at Research Park

College Station Vacation

So you may be wondering if you read the title correctly - College Station and vacation?!? It was actually a very peaceful and fun extended weekend - which is exactly what we had hoped for and definitely needed. A few weeks ago we were discussing the need for a break. We knew that a summer vacation would likely be impossible because of baby #2's arrival mid-July, but we also didn't want our first 'time off' to be with a newborn. We thought about camping, but there were too many unknowns due to Kendall's young age and my rapidly growing belly. We thought about visiting Austin or maybe San Antonio but didn't know how much fun Kendall would really have at this age and neither of us knew too many details about those areas. Then I started thinking 'what about College Station?' Neither of us had been back since Trenton's graduation in August 2003. It was sure to be a quiet weekend on campus - perfect for wheeling a toddler around without looking completely odd and out of place. And for months we had been remembering all the restaurants we wanted to eat at the next time we returned.

So College Station it was. We arrived at an extremely nice Hampton Inn on Thursday and stayed until this morning. As soon as the reservations had been finalized, old memories came flooding back. Suddenly as I lay awake at night, unable to sleep because of acid reflux, I began remembering those first experiences away from home - how horrible and yet exciting it was living in that tiny dorm room with a roommate I hardly knew. I thought back on running for Student Council Secretary - how completely out of my comfort zone that whole experience had been, but how great it was as well. I remembered driving down to College Station that very first time alone to go to Fish Camp and staying - all alone - at the MSC Hotel. All of these moments I wouldn't necessarily want to relive, but what great, bittersweet memories.

And then the memories around Bonfire - what a fun experience it had been my freshman year to have a bonfire buddy and to experience the build up before the big game...and then when it fell my sophomore year. I remembered seeing it from the parking lot of the Barnes and Noble the night before it happened - thinking about what a HUGE structure it was in the dark night. Then the phone call I got in the middle of the night from a close friend in the Corps - stifling back tears as he told me it had fallen. I don't think I'll ever forget how completely quiet the campus was the following week.

So with all these memories swimming in my head, we began the drive Thursday afternoon. Just seeing some of the old speed traps along the way brought back memories - although not all fond ones! The weather couldn't have any better - not too hot and not too humid. The first evening we went to Longhorn Tavern - a restaurant we didn't find until after I'd graduated - but Trenton was dying for one of their chicken fried steaks. Friday we decided to go on campus because the MSC would be closed over the weekend for the holiday. Aside from a couple new student tours, a handful of graduate students, and some professors, we were really the only people wandering around campus. This actually made me feel a lot better - I can't fully describe how weird it was being 7 months pregnant and rolling a 16 month old in a stroller around my old college campus. For lunch we had a delicious meal at Cafe Eccel (the strawberry tart is still THE BEST!) and had a lighter dinner at Blue Baker before walking around Wolfe Pen Creek Park. The following day we went to the Bonfire Memorial and then to play at Research Park. That evening I got to visit with a good friend Renee and then met another awesome friend Justin for dinner at Wings 'n More.

It was a great trip! It's hard to imagine the next time we might go back - the kids may be attending by then!