Baby Celebration

I haven't mentioned this on the blog in a while, so I will do so now.  I LOVE my Baby Mama friends.  It's such a simple name for us, but it means a lot.  It's unfathomable that I didn't know these women 2 years ago.  They are such a vital part of my world!  Our little group started when Isaac (and Cash) were less than a month old.  A few of the mamas who joined later weren't even official mamas yet!  One of the mamas has had her second child since the group started and THREE of us are pregnant!  It's a little wild how quickly the little group is growing!


Mamas, I love you.  From the very bottom of my heart, I love you.  Thank you for being in my life.  Each of you brings something special and is an irreplaceable part of my life.  Most of you have seen me at some of my worst and you have loved me, anyway.


We had a baby celebration on Sunday for brunch.  We went to Kerbey Lane Cafe to celebrate the 3 anticipated arrivals.  Isaac's sister is due in March (one month from today!), Henry's brother is due July 4, and Christopher's sibling is due in August.


Expectant mommies:  Marielk (Christopher's mom), me, and Candy (Henry's mom)

Baby bumps!

The mamas:  Karen, Allison, Stephanie, Bethany, Marielk, me, Candy (Julia & Valeria were with us in spirit)

Last year, for Isaac's first birthday, there was a joint celebration for 4 of the boys of Baby Mamas (they were all born within 2 weeks of each other).  This year, we are going to have another joint party!  It's so great to be able to do this instead of going to 4 of the same party...  We have started planning and are all getting excited.  Except for the part where the boys actually have to turn 2.  I think there are 4 mamas in denial about that part!


We had another OB appointment this morning.  My blood pressure is still behaving itself, so everyone is happy about that.  Andrea (Dr. C) let Isaac hold the speaker for the fetal heart monitor, so he and Daddy got to listen to Baby Girl's heartbeat.  I wish I'd had a camera to capture the sweet moment...  I will be back next week for my next appointment.  At that point, I will be 37 weeks, which is technically FULL TERM!!!  I am so eager to meet our daughter that I can hardly stand it.  I know I am boring the pants off everyone I know because it is about my only topic of conversation these days.  Her crib bedding arrived last week, so we are ready to start setting up the nursery.  How wonderful to be prepared a whole month in advance!  We certainly didn't have that luxury the last time.  We will be reusing Isaac's crib and moving the changing table into the new nursery.  I am sure Isaac is going to wonder why his furniture is moving down the hall.  Nestle and Jackson are going to be a little more savvy this time, though, I think!


Todd's parents are RVing up to Kerrville this week.  They are planning to be there for about 2 weeks before joining us here in Austin (unless we call them sooner).  They have been down in the valley since January.  Kerrville is about 3 hours from Austin, so it will be easier for them to pick up and head to Austin should the need arise.  I don't think we're going to meet our little angel before March 15, though, so we'll let them enjoy a couple more weeks of vacation.  :-)

Pregnancy Update

Great news at the OB's office today. After 3-4 weeks of acupuncture, my blood pressure was 120/66. This means we are no longer looking at induction for hypertension. Woohoo!!! For those of you who haven't been in the loop on this, at my 28-week appointment, my midwife, Liane, told us that because my BP was continuously getting higher, we may need to "invite" the baby to come at about 39 weeks if she wasn't here already. High BP causes a placenta to wear out a little sooner, so the baby would not be getting the supplies she needs...

All of this is significant because it was the cause of Isaac's induction. At our 39-week appointment with Isaac, I had been seeing a rise in my BP for a few months. An ultrasound showed that there was no amniotic fluid, so we were sent to the hospital to deliver Isaac that day. Seeing my BP go up again in this pregnancy brought back more than a few unpleasant memories. Todd and I have been talking to our doula, Shelley, about ways we could try to encourage baby on her own and what I could do about the BP. She was the one who recommended acupuncture. When I told Dr. Campaigne that I was going to try it, she encouraged me to do so. It's so nice to have everyone on the same page...

Todd's parents called yesterday morning to see how things were going here in Austin.  Todd is in Europe for the week and they wanted to remind me that they can be here in a matter of hours if anything exciting happens. They are still down in the valley this week. I am glad they are so close. I don't anticipate an early arrival, but it's good to know that I'm not on my own.

Last night, things were a little more interesting than usual.  I began having Braxton Hicks (false labor) contractions for the first time. I never had them with Isaac. They are more common with second pregnancies, so I was wondering if I'd have them this time. It would have been nice if they'd waited until, I don't know, NEXT WEEK? to start.  I got a little freaked out, but since they didn't hurt, I decided it wasn't the real deal. Then I texted my girlfriend, Candy, who assured me that she would be right over if I needed anything. It's good to know I have a support network in place should I need it! The contractions lasted about an hour and had subsided by the time I finished Isaac's bath & bed time routines.

I talked to Andrea (Dr. C) about them this morning. She assured me that this was great news and that my body is "doing everything exactly right. Keep doing exactly what you're doing."  Awesome!!! She told me that she hopes to see everything continuing just this way for another 5 weeks or so (which would bring me to 40 weeks). I left the office walking on air.

Next week, we have an appointment on Monday morning. Todd and our doula, Shelley, are both planning to come. I am hoping to get a picture of our whole "birth team" so you can see who all of the key players are.

Meanwhile, Isaac and I had a great time playing in the yard this afternoon. For once, he didn't play around on the lawn tractor. He was on it the day after his accident, though. At least he's not scared...

Back at the "scene of the attack" Thursday:

Playing with his crayons Thursday afternoon:

This afternoon's activities:

School of Hard Knocks

Yesterday we had quite an adventure. Isaac had been in the yard playing for a few hours and we were having a good time. He was, as he often is, playing on and around the lawn tractor. He loves to sit on the seat and then climb down. He does it over and over again. He had gotten down off the mower and was chasing Jackson. He then ran back to the mower, tripped, and banged himself up on the front, steel bumper. It's a plain metal pipe about 1.5 inches around. He started screaming before I could even pick him up, although I was less than 2 steps away when it happened. He gave both of us a pretty good scare. He buried his head in my shoulder, so I wasn't initially able to see the damage. When I finally could see it, it had been bleeding for a few minutes and he had gotten it on his hands. I was afraid he would need stitches, but it appears to be pretty shallow.  Unfortunately, he never seems to get completely over the scratches he gets, so hopefully this won't leave a permanent mark.  I can still see where he had a severe diaper rash 2 months ago and where the back of his hand was scratched weeks ago...  :-(  Fair skin...


This is how he looked once I got him cleaned up yesterday afternoon.

First thing this morning:

Later this afternoon...

It doesn't seem to be bothering him too much:

The black eye has gotten darker and darker as the day has worn on, but the swelling seems to be subsiding.  Poor kid.  I took him to HEB and was worried that someone was going to call Child Protective Services, but a couple of parents ended up telling me their "black eye" stories, instead.  LOL  I guess I am not the first parent to have done this!

Nursery Paint

How to drive your husband crazy, in just a few easy steps...


1.  Choose to paint stripes on textured walls
2.  Ask for suggestions on how best to make sure the stripes are straight (we snapped chalk lines).
3.  Ask for suggestions on how to make the lines as crisp as possible (he Googled and got a great answer for this one).
4.  Repeatedly ask him to check to see if you've missed any touch-ups.


LOTS of tape:

A little less tape:

The finished product:

Grandma, you are off the hook! :-) I finished all of the touch-up this week.

Be My Valentine

The Walters had a terrific Valentine's Day!  Isaac got to play in the yard, naturally, and he loved it.  We try to maximize our outdoor time these days.  Here are a few photos from yesterday:

"No, I'm not eating sand.  Why do you ask?"

"I'm standing on the picnic table and you can't catch me!"

A demonstration of the photo above:

Snuggling boy:

Mmmmilk...

What's that camera doing over there?

Standing on the swing

Playing on the swing:

We also baked some little surprises for Daddy.  Hershey Kiss Pies:

Isaac got an awesome gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  They sent a photo book with pages of all of his family members.  He really loved it and has asked to "read" it several times today.  This was a GREAT idea!!!

Finding his favorite page in his new book:

Big blue eyes!!!

Chatterbox

Isaac is using all sorts of words to communicate now.  Here are a few we hear often:
Dad
Mom
Milk (along with the ASL sign)
More (along with the ASL sign) - this does not necessarily mean "more" of something he currently has, however.
Shoes (along with the ASL sign) - this is by far his favorite word.  It's the first thing he says every morning.
Socks
Go - said as "Go go GO!!!"
No (of course)
Yeah (thank goodness) - usually accompanied by a vigorous nod
Cat
Dog
Woof Woof - whenever he sees a dog, including Jackson
Meow - not used nearly as often as "Woof Woof"
Choo Choo - relates to anything with trains, whether they are in a book or at the train table (Dave and Judy, this is what he says when he wants to read Dog Train)
Cheers - complete with toasting with his milk, something that I STILL haven't been able to capture on camera
Uh Oh - whenever he drops something
Car - multiple cars warrant a "Car Car"
Cark - this either means Truck or Honk (the sound a truck makes).  We aren't sure which.
Bath - he tries to say this one, but he absolutely knows what it means.
'Na (along with the ASL sign) - this means banana
He signs "Eat", but he still doesn't say the word


He clearly understands more than this.  If I mention "Daddy" and "home" in the same sentence before Todd arrives home from work, Isaac will immediately go to the front door and begin pounding on it.  He understands the word "outside" and MOST days he understands "walk."  Sometimes he just wants to go outside and selectively forgets the word walk...  He is saying something that sounds like "swing," which is one of his favorite things outside, along with the sandbox, which he also understands.  At night, we will say either "Do you want a bath?" or "Ready to go to bed?", both of which means he heads to the bottom of the stairs and starts climbing.  He gets a bath at least every other night, but he tries to get one every night.  Tonight, for example, however, he was WAY too tired to bathe him...


He is getting better with "gentle touches" and he recognizes the phrase, but still gets a bit carried away sometimes.  The biggest challenge with this is keeping him from hitting/throwing things at Jackson when he gets excited.  He just *loves* the dog and wants to play with him ALL of the time.  Jackson, not so much.  :-)  He's a very patient pet.


There are probably another 50+ words he understands, but I can't think of them just now.  Meanwhile, here's a short clip of Daddy coming home in the evening.  I was too late grabbing the camera to capture all of the squealing that preceded Isaac looking out the window, but I think you'll get the general idea.  :-)

No Update

Hey kids,


No time to post an update just now...  I just realized there hasn't been one since December!  I will try to post this weekend if I can.  Meanwhile, a quick pic of the star of our blog: