AnnaLynn's First Christmas Tree

Picture Update

Merry Christmas!

AnnaLynn and Daddy at a rest stop during our trip to Nashville.

Too Cute!

AnnaLynn and Papaw on Thanksgiving.

On our way to the Christmas tree farm.

AnnaLynn and Daddy

Hat made by YaYa

Beautiful girl

The tree we chose at the Christmas tree farm. It's a cedar!

More changes

Of course, it's been forever since I have updated this blog. However, much has happened. Let's see...

Nov. 6th - AnnaLynn's first night to sleep the entire night, without waking up once! Since then, she has a several more all night sleeps, but usually wakes up 1-2 times a night. I can definitely handle this.

Nov. 11th - My Granny's 80th birthday! AnnaLynn's present to Granny was to roll over for the first time ever! We were at Granny's so Tony, Granny, and I all got to witness it. She has now mastered rolling from her back to her tummy and from her tummy to her back in one direction. Maybe she will practice the other direction before too long. She is also starting to try to figure out how to scoot along to get to places. She hasn't made it anywhere yet (except in circles or by rolling around) but you can see her wheels a turnin'.

AnnaLynn readily smiles at familiar faces as well as strangers. She is also learning to laugh, but it usually takes some work to get her going.

Last week the three of us went to Nashville for National Youth Worker's Convention. We had a great time, got lots of resources, saw David Crowder Band, Jars of Clay, the Skit Guys, Jeremy Camp, and other great performers. But one of the best parts of the weekend was meeting up with some of our great friends from Kentucky. Cody, Jaron, and Paul all drove the 3.5 or so hours from Lexington, KY to visit with us. We also met up with Chris and Amber. Thanks for coming to see us guys, it really meant a lot!!

We had a really good time during Thanksgiving visiting with our families. We love sharing AnnaLynn with everyone. It was a nice low-key, relaxing time.

Yesterday, AnnaLynn and Tony and I went to a Christmas tree farm and cut down a cute little cedar tree for our house. We then decorated and Tony put lights on the house. Exciting time of the year!

P.S. I would have pictures if Google Blogger was so STUPID!! I'll try to add some later.

Google Blogger Is Stupid!

I have been trying for a while now to upload some pictures so I can start my blog post...which hasn't been done in forever due to the fact that Google blogger is a piece of crap. In the past I have written my post and then added pictures and have had a horrible time trying to do so. So, I decided to try to do pictures first... no help there. If only there was a better way to blog. Maybe I'll just go back to old fashion diary keeping, at least I don't have to worry with my entries spontaneously deleting themselves! I have had no problem with anything else Google does, infact, I prefer gmail and google search engine to anything else... but they really need to vamp up their blogspots.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Rachel was gracious enough to take some family pictures of us at the pumpkin patch. AnnaLynn only tolerated all the attention for a little while. More pictures can be found on my facebook page. Thanks, Rachel! It was good seeing you and Tim.

Quick Update

I know I need to post more pictures; she is growing and changing so much. I plan to do that soon. For now, just a quick update from her 2 month check up that she had at 9 weeks old, a week and a half ago... try to figure that one out. :)

At her check up she was 23.5 inches long (grown 3 inches since birth!! crazy!), 11 pounds 10 ounces (just one ounce shy of gaining four pounds since birth!), and her head was 15.5 inches around. Too bad they don't measure her cute little chubby, chunky legs... they are getting rounder and rounder. She is definitely growing and doing well.

She had four vaccinations at her two month visit also, one oral (which she actually liked) and three shots (which she hated!). She started crying and then took a breath and was crying so hard no sound was coming out. It was really sad, but Daddy was able to comfort her pretty quickly. Poor thing.

She has also started sleeping longer at night! For a week now, she has been sleeping any where from 5.5-7 hours in a row before she wakes up to eat! Then she eats until she falls asleep and usually sleeps the rest of the night until around 7-8 in the morning. Night time feedings are MUCH more enjoyable when you aren't doing them every 2-3 hours!

AnnaLynn is so precious and we just love her so much! She is learning all the time, constantly looking around trying to take everything in. She has learned that she can grab different objects and hang on to them. Her favorite things to grab are two little toys (one is a bunny rabbit her YaYa knitted for her) and her car seat blanket which YaYa knitted also. She occasionally will grab a hold of my hair and hang on, but that's only happened a few time so far; usually when I'm changing her and I get really close to her face to talk to her. She likes it and shows her excitement with a little hair tugging.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can them off of Tony's camera.

Growing Up and Moving Out

Up until this week AnnaLynn has been sleeping in a bassinette in our room beside our bed. This made for quick nighttime feedings and easy check-ups, plus it was nice to be able to gaze upon her beauty at any given time. A few nights ago Tony and I decided it was time to allow AnnaLynn to sleep in her own crib. Well, me being the new mother I am didn't want her to be all alone her first few nights in that big ole scary room. So, I blew up the air mattress and some how convinced my loving husband to sleep on it with me in her room even though we have a very comfortable Tempurpedic bed just a few feet away. He graciously obliged for two nights in a row. The morning after the second night, however, he began to disassemble the mattress and that was my clue that we would not need to sleep in her room any more. So, last night was her first night in her crib, in her room all by herself, and she did surprisingly well. She woke up three times, but that seems to be the norm at the present time, and after eating went back to sleep easily. So, she is now resting in her bed, peacefully.

So much has happened in the last month since I have posted. I know there are many things I can't remember. AnnaLynn is smiling often now and it seems she smiles more and more each day . She is small little dimples that make her smile even cuter!! About 3-4 weeks ago she discovered her feet and they have been the most entertaining toys she has (although I'm sure they will be even more so once she learns how to put them in her mouth). She started sucking and chewing on her hands a while back and is getting better and better at that. She doesn't suck her thumb yet, but she chews on it and then tries to stick her entire fist in her mouth, sometimes both at once! Just this past weekend and today I have noticed she is trying to reach out and grab objects. Last night she took a braclet from my hand and today she got a hold of a knitted bunny made by her YaYa. As soon as she grabs things they go to her mouth, though I'm not sure she even knows what she is doing. She is more beautiful everyday, and her hair is already starting to grow back... lots pretty blonde to me, but occasionally brown in some lighting.

Tomorrow is her two month check up (but she will actually be 9 weeks and 1 day). She will have to get some vaccinations which means shots! Hopefully she will do well, but I don't look forward to her being in pain. I am excited to see how much she has grown and what she weighs now. Hard to believe it has been nine weeks since we first met! It doesn't seem that long ago we were in the hospital, yet it feels like I have loved her all my life!

Well, I'm off to bed... but I think I check on the little one just one more time before I hit the sack! :)

Lots of tears, lots of sleep, loss of hair

Last night AnnaLynn had a long episode of crying. I think it was about 3-4 hours or more of on again, off again (mostly on) crying. She had gas, was hungry and exhausted, and was too worked up to eat or sleep. We gave her some gas medicine and tried the tummy rubbing method to pass the gas along. Those efforts seemed to work pretty well, but she was still upset. Finally, we decided to try to bottle feed her a little. I pumped 3 ounces and gave it to Tony. He got to feed his daughter for the first time! She very slowly drank the whole bottle. She was then full and dry with most of the gas passed. It didn't take long after that to get her to sleep. It was 10:30 when she finally went down and she hadn't had a decent nap since around 2 pm!! Well, much to our joy, she slept until 4:30 am! Six hours... it was so nice! Hopefully she doesn't feel so bad tonight, but maybe we can keep the 6 hour stretch? yeah right.

Oh, and a few days ago I noticed her hairline looked to be receeding. Yes, infact, she is loosing her hair. She is mainly loosing the hair above either eye, so she looks like she either has a very dramatic widow's peak or a mohauk. But this can easily be disgised with a bow or cut knitted hat from her YaYa.

Labor, Delivery and everything after

On August 8th at 1:49 am my first contraction started. Twelve hours later, we were off to the hospital. I was 3 cm dialated when we arrived. Ten hours after arriving, AnnaLynn was born. She was 7 pounds, 11 ounces, 20.5 inches long and born at 12:12 am on 8-9-10.

The labor was long and challenging, but with the help of Tony and our midwife and nurse staff at Ochsner, we were able to have a natural child birth. It was the hardest thing we have ever done, but well worth it. Just as AnnaLynn was getting ready to make her debute, the midwife asked Tony if he wanted to help. I was thinking she just meant cutting the cord, but he actually got to deliver her! Once her head was out, the midwife told him what to do, and she was born. I cannot say enough about how wonderful Tony did during the entire labor and delivery process. I know without his help and encouragement there is no way I could have had a natural child birth, which is something I really wanted to do. Praise the Lord!

Right after birth AnnaLynn had a hard time getting rid of all of the amniotic fluid that was in her lungs. This caused her to have rapid shallow breathing. So, they took her to the neonatal ICU so she could be monitored. She was there for 15 hours and had improved enough that she could be moved to our room. The second night after she was born, she slept 5 hours through the night! This has only happened once since, but we are looking forward to when it becomes a regular occurance. Come to find out, the reason she slept so well was because they had done a heel stick for a bilirubin test (which I'm sure the screaming and crying she did wore her out), and when she was returned to us she was swaddled very tightly and had her pacifier in her mouth. She was in her happy place.

She did develop a little jaundice that eventually cleared up on its own, but she was quite yellow for a while. Granny and Mom were here for the delivery. They patiently waited 12 hours in the waiting room. The following day, Ms. Linda came down and spent some time getting to know her newest grandbaby. Then Laura stopped by for the weekend on her way home from Florida. And just this past weekend, my dad came and visited. We have had a great time with all the family.

Today was AnnaLynn's two week doctor's appointment. She weighs 8 pounds 6 ounces (she weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces two weeks ago) and is 21.5 inches long (an inch longer than at birth!). She is doing so well: eating well, napping well, etc. She is beautiful and perfect!! Enjoy the pictures.

AnnaLynn's NICU room

Napping with Daddy

Visiting with Granny

AnnaLynn and Grammy

Four Generations

Angell family

Family picture

Aunt Laura AKA Diaper Changing Pro

Daddy admiring his little girl

Paw Paw loving AnnaLynn

The cute dress she wore to her two week dr apt

Update

Tony and I saw the midwife yesterday morning. She said that the 2 cm dialation estimate that I was given last week was generous. :) But at least I'm still a little dialated. She had us go in for an ultrasound to check up on AnnaLynn. Basically to make sure she was doing well, moving, and that the fluid level was high enough for us to continue to let her stay put while she wanted. The ultrasound tech said everything looked good. The fluid is at 13 and she said anywhere from 5-20 is good. So, as far as I know, we will continue as things are going.

The midwife told us that we could ultimately go as long as we wanted without being induced, but that they recommend doing it before 42 weeks because statistically the babies are healthier than if you wait longer. We spoke with her about this for a while and Tony and I were both comfortable when we decided to schedule a date after this coming weekend. So, if AnnaLynn hasn't come on her own by Monday night (I will be 41 weeks and 5 days then) we will check into the hospital (around 10 pm) and they will start me slowly on Pitocin (the devil) to start contractions. The midwife said once they have the contractions and dialation where they want it they will turn off the Pitocin and let me go on my own from there. This is all in theory since she may decide to come before then, which is what we are praying for. If we do go in Monday night, then she will be born sometime Tuesday. So, that's the latest that we will have to wait for AnnaLynn. I guess if she still wants a say in when her birthday will be, she needs to make that decision between now and then. :)

The midwife helped answer our many questions. She was very reassuring and we both felt comfortable with what we decided on. Let's just see what happens!!

Due Date, come and gone

AnnaLynn was officially, by medical means, due yesterday. Well, she must have another thing in mind. Not only has she choosen not to come yet, it feels like my body is less ready to give birth today than the previous few days. I know she will come when she is ready, and thankfully, the hospital and midwives we are seeing will allow things to happen as naturally as possible. That means they will let me go as far as 41 weeks and a few days before they induce. Studies show it is not good to wait more than 42 weeks before inducing labor, so I'm good with this.

I have told AnnaLynn that she can come whenever she is ready, hopefully it wont be too much longer. Sorry, I know the wait is hard on all of you, especially grandparents and family wanting to come down for the big event... however, just be glad you aren't the one carrying and waiting, though, it's really not bad at all. I have been very blessed to have had such a smooth pregnancy and even now there is just occasional, mild discomfort. Thank the Lord! We (Tony and I) are very excited to meet the little girl God is giving us to raise!! Praise Him.

Cloth Diapers

Last weekend when Mom was here, we attempted to make cloth diapers. However, the first diaper (and first ~7 hours of work) was a learn as you go, trouble-shooting experience. The diaper that resulted was non-functioning, but we learned a lot. The next day, I tried again and was successful. My goal was to replicate the Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper as closely as I could. I think I pretty much got it... though we will have to wait a while to know if they work for sure. I am not planning to use these at first, maybe after 6 months, or just when they start to fit AnnaLynn. I figured there would be too much going on the first few months to worry with washing and cleaning cloth diapers. Even with waiting a while these diapers should be cost efficient and hopefully more environmental than disposables. Altogether, I spent about $100 and made 13 diapers with enough fabric left to make seven more (I will wait and see what other size I may need). So, let's say I never get around to making the last seven, they will have cost ~$7.70 each (Fuzzi Bunz retail for about $18 each). If a box of approximately 50 diapers of this size is $15 then I will need to use each diaper 25 times to make up the cost. This can easily be done in two months or less. If I do make the other seven diapers, they will have only cost $5 each and I will need to use each diaper 16 times to make up the cost. If they don't work, then I have spent a good chunk of change and a lot of time for nothing, but hey, it's worth a try to me.

Actual Fuzzi Bunz diaper, which I based my diaper pattern off of.

My diaper - waterproof outside so no diaper cover is needed.

Open diaper

Pocket where soaker pad goes in to do the absorption.

38 Week Check-up

No significant changes noticed during the 38 week check up. The midwife doesn't expect AnnaLynn to come this weekend. We still have two weeks until she is "due." Hopefully, she wont be too long after that; I really don't want to be induced! Either way, I'll let her and God decide which day will be her birthday.

Everything else is going well. I'm still feeling well, except a little discomfort when I sleep if I stay too long on one side. That's not much to complain about, I've really had it pretty easy so far. Mom is coming in town tomorrow and we are going to attempt to make some cloth diapers for AnnaLynn. If they work out, I'll post pictures of them.

Our house is a very, very, very fine house...

Finally, pictures of our house in Louisiana. Enjoy!

Guest bath

This is the guest room/Tony's office. It is where you will stay when you come to visit. :) We still need to get a few things for it, such as a new bed spread and head board, but the bed itself is brand new.

This dresser was given to us both a couple in the church who own an antique store. It is beautiful and very spacious. I love it!

Our bedroom has a large window that looks out into the backyard (to see backyard, see previous post).

AnnaLynn's closet is already full of clothes not including the ones in her dresser or the ones that are 12 months or greater, which are in storage bins. She also has a shelf in the bottom of her closet to hold all her shoes and a basket (temporary until Tony makes her a toy chest) to hold her toys. Thanks to all our generous friends and family, this girl is lacking nothing, I assure you! :)

Tony putting up the wall art in AnnaLynn's room. It says "Every good and perfect gift comes from above. James 1:17" I love it!! Found it at Hobby Lobby (half off)!

727 Lynn Dr!

Tony, being domesticated... picking up after his dog in the backyard. He bought this shovel specifically for this purpose, and I'm sure it will get plenty of use.

Backyard

Well, I still haven't taken pictures of the whole house, but I plan to do that soon. Until then, enjoy these pictures of the back yard.

Tony mowing in the hot Louisiana heat.

Backyard

Chaucer is growing to like his backyard. I think he really likes that he can go and sit outside without us having to go with him, which means he can do that a lot more. In the back ground is the storage shed with electricity that Tony is really excited about - I think he plans to do manly things in there like build stuff and fix stuff with lots of tools. :)

Moving...

Well, things have been so busy lately. I am finally getting around to updating this blog. I plan to keep it updated more often so friends in KY and family around the country can know what's going on with us.

On June 3rd, Tony and I moved down to Denham Springs, LA (just east of Baton Rouge). Tony was offered the position of Youth Director for First United Methodist Church Denham Springs. So, here we are. We are both very excited about the move, the new job, etc, etc. Of course we are very sad to leave our loving church family and friends in Kentucky. That was the hardest part of all of this.

We are renting a great three bedroom, two bath house here in DS. We actually found this house two days before we moved down here and were being approved to rent it while we were on the road. Thankfully, the Lord allowed all things to go smoothly and we were able to move in right away (at 7:30 pm on the day we got here, after a 13 hour car ride - me with Chaucer and Eastwood in my car, and Tony with his truck and a 12 foot trailor loaded down - to be exact). We are still getting things put away and pictures hung, etc. But once it's all complete I will load lots of pictures. I did mention that there are 3 bedrooms, which means we have a guest room (plus two couches) so vistors are very welcomed and encouraged! :)

Four days after we moved down here, Tony and I took a little trip (4.5 hours) to Florida to spend a little time on the beach and see his dad and family. We were down there for four days. It was a nice time with all. We were able to celebrate our three year wedding anniversary by being on the beach all day and then ended with a great seafood dinner (shrimp and snow crab for me, shrimp and steak for Tony...yum!). The next day was Tony's birthday and so we spent that with his dad and family. It was good too. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home, so I don't have any pictures of that. :( But Tony's step-mom, Ily, has enough pictures for us all. :)

So, now we are just adjusting to being back in DS and are finishing up things around the place. Tony mowed the yard today, so everything is looking nice. Look for pictures soon.

Maternity Pictures

A few weeks ago, on May 23, our good friends, Jen and Tom Morton, took maternity pictures for us. We are so blessed to have these and a thankful for their time and work. We love y'all!

I was 30 weeks pregnant when they were taken. These are my favorites.