1st Time Fishing

I've been asking Mommy if we can go fishing since last summer when we went to the lake. Well, Mommy, Adelyn, and I went and stayed at Gramsie and Paw Paw's house in April while Daddy was on a work trip and Paw Paw took me fishing!

I was a little bit afraid when the fish would bite my line, but Paw Paw showed me how to hook them and reel them in. Actually he helped me a lot. It was a lot of fun though and I've been asking to go again! I have a new pole that I got for my birthday and I can't wait to use it.

Adelyn's First bath at Home

Since I don't play in the dirt yet and I'm always hidden in the sling that Mommy wears, I didn't have a bath for a couple of weeks. I think Mommy was waiting for that cord to come off too. Gramsie and Mommy gave me a bath while Zachary had his own bath. I didn't like getting my tummy washed but I was happy to have the comfy outfit afterward. Zachary really wanted me to go in the big bathtub but I'm definitely not ready for that one yet!

Learning a Language

While stopping at Babies R Us in Katy on our way to The Woodlands, we looked at the toy section. Zachary stopped at every other toy and said,

"Oh How cute is this!". Even at the large refil pack of bubbles.

When arriving at Gramsie and Pawpaw's house and seeing his new room...

"Oh what a nice new room" (with drama in his voice) and seeing a toy bus he remembered...

"Oh a bus, how wonderful" (still with drama).

And while visiting Gramsie's classroom (otherwise known as Mrs. Sylvester's classroom) of boys and girls in second grade who were not following directions very well...

"Guys, wisten to Gwamsie", but upon no response marches to the front of the room and says again, "wisten to Gwamsie!!".

And while staying in the house found a point to blame a toy mess or something broken on his friends about 200 miles away back at home in San Antonio.

"Did you take this out?"
"No, Meredif (Meredith) did that".
"Here's your snack"
"Um, Awelwia (Aurelia) is not going to take it?"

Chanting 5 Little Monkeys

5 Little Monkeys jumpin on de bed. He fell off and bumped his head. Zachary called the doctor and the doctor said, "no more monkeys jumpin on de bed". And 5 Little Monkeys jumpin on de bed...

And singing "Splish Splash"

"Spwish spwash I was takin a baff. All on a Sa day night! Rub dub wewaxing in de tub. Finking evewyfing was awwight. Well I stepped a de tub and put my feet on de floor. Wapped towl na na na na na opened de door. And spwish spwash. I fogot about my baff. I went and put my dancin soes on!"

Firsts for Adelyn

I didn't do the best job of remembering "firsts" for Zachary for the first two months...sorry Buddy. I'm sure you win with pictures though...so I'm trying to keep up with Adelyn's.

On Sunday March 28th (day before the actual due date :), Adelyn went to the Olive Garden for her first outing at a restaurant. She rode in the zolo sling but didn't stay in the whole time. It was easier for Mommy to eat while Pop2 and Granna held her.

After the meal we went and had pictures taken in the bluebonnets next to autozone! The amount of rain in the fall sure paid off! San Antonio has beautiful wildflowers this year!

She had her second restaurant trip to the same restaurant for Gramsie's birthday on April 2 which also happened to be Good Friday and the weekend she came to visit for Easter.

Adelyn's first trip to church happened to be Easter Sunday on April 4 in La Coste at Fr. Paul's church. Gramsie and Marilyn also accompanied and it sure was nice to have all of those loving hands to help entertain our beautiful children :)

Her first trip to The Woodlands happened yesterday, April 12! Scott is in New York all week doing testing on software for his work trip. I was not intrigued with the idea of staying by myself all week so I made the trip with the two kids. I never would have even dreamed of traveling by myself when Zachary was born. We didn't make the trip without Scott until he was 7 months....ah, first born. I thought about also bringing Sandy, but then decided against it for a few reasons, one of them being I would have been crazy to think that I could do my first trip with two kids also with a dog sticking his nose in my face in the front seat. We stopped in the nice rest area with a playground just outside of Seguin and then again in Katy at the Babies R Us. Adelyn slept almost the whole time. Zachary listened and danced to music with me and read books for the first half of the trip. The second half he was playing restaurant with himself, his toys, and the imaginary animals and friends back there. Apparently his two close friends Aurelia and Meredith were with him back there as well. I love kids' imaginations.

More "firsts" to come :)

2 Week Update for Adelyn

Adelyn was two weeks on Tuesday the 30.

For the first week she pretty much slept. I had to wake her to eat and try to get her to eat for at least 10 minutes during a feeding.

She saw the pediatrician exactly at 1 week. She weighed 5 lb 9 oz which was one oz over her birth weight. We did find out through a second biliruben test that she had mild jaundice but the Dr. said the best thing was to feed her often to get the breast milk flowing through her system.

We took her in over the weekend b/c she had been stuffy sounding for a few days. No RSV or ear infection. Wasn't much we could do except give her the Little Noses saline. 6 lbs 2 oz!

We were back for her 2 week check up on Tuesday. 6 lbs 6 oz! Good growing! The Dr. thinks that since I'm not able to get any mucus out of her nose with the syringe and with a few other symptoms showing he thinks she has reflux. I've thought that too. She spits up on her back if we don't burp her. He wanted to try a few things before giving medicine. One I was already doing which is inclining her bed. We'll see... She goes back in 3 weeks. Other than reflux she's doing great!

Baby Adelyn's Arrival

Adelyn Sophia Miller
5 lbs 8 oz 19 in
March 16, 2010

Adelyn has finally arrived! We have a new sweetheart (or sweet pea as Zachary says) to love and enjoy.

The Labor Story
Labor did not go as expected and was actually kindof abnormal. I had been 2.5 cm since I was 25 weeks. I stayed at that for many more weeks. I know for sure up to 31. As I progressed through the later part of the 3rd trimester I noticed a lot more soreness. As it turned out, I was 5 cm dialated at 37 weeks. I remembered contracting on walks just a little bit, but it had not been anything to put me into active progressing labor. I knew from my good friend that there are some women who walk around for a couple of weeks like this so I was only half way concerned about getting to the hospital on time when I did actually go into labor. The Dr. and I decided I should go into the hospital, but on the way I did some thinking (like a 2 minute drive) and decided it wasn't the right day for this and I wanted her to grow another week. Dr. was fine with this. Scott and I talked before my appointment the following week. If I was at a 7 or 8 we would go ahead and have the baby that day. I didn't think I had dialated any more although looking back I should have thought otherwise because I did experience more soreness especially after walking on the riverwalk that Saturday. So when I got to my appointment at 10:30 AM on March 16th, 2010 I found out I was almost 8 cm. I called Scott and drove myself to the hospital. Dr. has time to deliver babies in between morning and afternoon patients.

My mom was with Zachary which worked out nicely. She was on her spring break. Dad had driven in on his way home from Laredo the previous week but had taken off the day before to get some things done at his house which was quite understandable after not being home for 3 weeks.

At the hospital I had to park on the roof of the parking garage. Busy day in labor and delivery. That gave me time to start contracting some more. Dr.'s exam and the walking was enough to stimulate the contractions to put me into that active labor (finally). I buzzed into labor and delivery and they opened the doors for me to come in. I was assigned a nurse and immediately taken into a room. There were 2 nurses and one student nurse. One seemed to be in a hurry. I guess being nervous that I was almost to a 10?? I was given my hospital clothes. Afterward the hurried nurse anxiously tried to get me to sit down in the bed. I first, feeling a bit anxious myself, asked her if I could just walk around to progress a little more. She kept telling me no and that the best thing to do was sit down so they could get the IV going. When I finally got through to her that I didn't know what exactly the procedure was and that I would be a lot more comfortable knowing, she stopped and explained to me. So I grabbed my IPOD and while I was getting hooked up I started to feel frustrated because labor had not gone how I expected it thus far. My Dr. came in to check on me as I was tearing up. She rubbed my shoulders and told me it would be okay and thankfully the baby was 38 weeks. I've always been thankful for her encouraging words when I do need them. She stepped out to go next door to deliver another baby while I progressed. I knew it would be fine. I think I was getting more nervous about the pain getting suddenly bad after not experiencing any. The nurse told me to ask questions for anything.

Scott wasn't long before he arrived. I was very glad he was there to listen to me vent feelings. He was also encouraging with words and held my hand as the contractions progressed. He was also very excited because there was a monitor with data for the contractions! A computer with data. His second language. So he enjoyed himself saying, "that one was a 6! or that one was a 9!". It was also nice for me to have numbers to compare to pain. So good teamwork there. He and my IPOD were the best comforters. And the ice chips were nice to avoid that dry mouth which was definitely there.

The nurse asked if I wanted any drugs or epidural and let me know that it was the final offer. I was hoping to avoid a catheter. That was the main motivation for going natural however ridiculous some people may think that is. Last time I had the epidural and of course a catheter. Unfortunately I couldn't urinate for 6 hours afterward b/c of muscles spasms. That was extremely annoying. And I had three close friends who went natural and had very good experiences which was also another motivation. "So just so you know, if you're screaming at me later to give you something I can't" the nurse said. Yes yes...

Getting to a 9 was not so awful. Contractions to me feel like extreme gas pains X 10 that almost seem never ending but soon subside. I was able to bear it but going from that 9 to a 10 is the real questioner of why I thought natural might be a good idea. Pains change to jabbing sharp feelings that are almost constant. So I ask what I'm suppose to do as I move my head from side to side. It's at that point that you're like, "oh wait....how do those breathing techniques go? I think I'm suppose to be breathing". Next time I will request a reminder ahead of time. The deep breaths actually help. I guess they relax your muscle tension. I wish I would have remembered that when I first arrived. The nurse said I could push at a 9 1/2. "Do you want to push?" Did I want to? I didn't want to do much of anything at that point. "Am I suppose to?" "Tell me when you want to". "I don't know when I want to". "When you have a contraction" Well everything just hurt."Was that one?" "No" "Okay tell me when I have one". And none of my words were calm at this point so you can picture them more angry or frustrated. So the nurse gave me instructions. Over time pushing helped the pain slightly subside for a few seconds. I guess Adelyn was coming faster than she though b/c then at one point she said, "English don't push" which makes you want to kick them in the face. I'm sorry but at some point after you progress with pushing your muscles feel the contraction and automatically go. So the second time she told me not to push (b/c the doctor was not there yet!) I yelled "I can't help it!". And in my head thinking, I'm in a labor and deliver room in a hospital. Someone here has to be able to catch the baby. From what I understand my Dr. was finishing up and was running down the hall to come deliver Adelyn. She gave very good instructions to Scott and the nurse to help me push and also to me. When she was out the pain completely left and I could hear her beautiful little cry. And Proud Daddy Scott cut the cord this time. I was impressed. We had signed up for cord blood donation. There wasn't a lot but it hopefully will still be used for research.

The whole thing started at 12:00 and she was here at 1:52 PM.

We got to enjoy her for an hour before the nurse had to take her to the nursery. Scott asked to hold her before she had to go. He comforted Adelyn by singing to her and carrying her around the room. Mom and Zachary missed seeing her by about a minute. They looked through the nursery window. I got to spend time with Zachary briefly in the delivery room and then in our recover room upstairs. On our way upstairs the nurse grabbed my tray for lunch. It was pizza! "Oh yeah, it's pizza Tuesday isn't it?" I said. She laughed remembering that I had been here for 3 weeks in December.

Zachary had his new "Big Brother" shirt on. He was very anxious to see Adelyn. He also was very excited about his new "Big Brother present" he got. Harold the helicopter to add to his Thomas the train collection. I knew he wouldn't make it in my hospital room for 3-4 hours while Adelyn was in the nursery. Zachary shared my pizza lunch with me. Scott took him home in the evening and later the plan was when my mom got home he would come back for a bit.

I had 3 great nurses for recovery the whole time I was there. Kristan, Rachel, and Jennifer. It's especially necessary to have a good night shift nurse. Mom took lots of pictures while she was there after they brought Adelyn back. They had given her the first bath in the nursery. She looked very comfy swaddled in her hat. I thought she looked like Scott. My very good friends Mollie and Sally came by after their own children were in bed. It was great to have good company during recovery. It was especially helpful to ask all of those questions I had forgotten since I had Zachary. Scott came back while they were still there, but they left shortly afterward. It was nice for the three of us to have some quiet bonding time. Part of me wanted him to stay but part of me wanted him to go home and get a good nights sleep to help me the next day. Who can sleep well in a hospital bed let alone the fabulous pull out couch for the husbands/family?

That was the first day of Adelyn's life. We've begun our new journey as a new family.

Sling Practice

Words from Zachary's World

My friend Meredith came over to my house in January. Her mommy, Ms. Mowee (Mollie) brought over a sling for us to practice holding babies and amiales. I'm practicing for when Baby Adelyn comes out. What do you think? Am I doing a good job?

Scooter Practice

Words from Zachary's World

Watch my scooter riding. It's really fun! I'll tell you how I felt about it.

Come Back Bear!

Words from Zachary's World

In January my Mommy, my Granna, my two friends Aurelia and Meredith and their mommies came to the zoo with us. One of the first amiales we decided to see was the bear. He didn't seem very social that morning so we tried to coax him into coming back.




Come Back Bear!

37 Weeks

Looks like I haven't updated the pregnancy in a while!

We are 37 weeks! Great job little baby! Good growing!

As of 37 weeks and 1 day Adelyn weighed on average, 5 lbs 11 oz. Which means she gained one oz more than a lb in two weeks! Better than she had been. She's still moving and pushing on my hips to make herself more comfortable in there. I also found out at the doctor that I'm dialated to 5 cm now. I'm not contracting so there is no telling when the rest of the active labor process will begin. My round ligaments are definitely sore, especially in the morning.

It's all very exciting! I'm looking forward to meeting her face to face.

Zachary's Memory

Toddlers sure remember more than we would ever think. I have a couple of updated stories.

About a week and two days ago we were driving on Loop 1604 to someone's house for playgroup and we rarely ever go that far up the loop. I missed my exit for Bitters and had to make a U-turn. Zachary was asking if we were almost there so I told him that I had made a mistake and missed my exit. We got there though.

Two days later we coincidentally happened to be driving up that part of the loop again on our way to New Braunfels. Scott was with us this time. "You missed your exit" Zachary said when we passed the Bitters exit. I was impressed. Scott didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"He's right" I told Scott. "We were driving up here Friday and I missed the exit and had to make a U-turn. "Great job Zachary" I told my son. I was proud and impressed that they can remember landmarks so well. Little ones are so observant.


Tonight Zachary was playing with two whales in the bathtub. One was a Shamu style whale that we got at Sea World. The other was a beluga whale.

"Where did we get this?" Zachary asked me holding up the beluga whale.
"We got that at a toy store in Austin" I told him. That was about a year ago.
"With Brian and Kevin?" (Scott's brothers)
"Yes" I told him. Well, actually Kevin wasn't there but now we always see them together so it's assumed.
"And then we got ice cream afterward?"
"Oh....yeah....yeah we did" I told him remembering.

He was two or barely two....yeah, I'm impressed. I'm learning a lot about little kids.

Isn't this the Cutest Thing?

Well since we're preparing to have a baby and all, I put a lot of emphasis on how Zachary was once my baby and was inside my tummy and had "Mommy Milk" and all of that so he knows that I once did all of these things for him too. And then I always say, "and now you're a big boy so you can help and do big boy things like play with trains, ride scooters, etc".

Zachary found a picture of him from when he was about 1 or 2 weeks old. He's sleeping in the bassinet in a sleeper and a blanket pulled up half way with his arms above his head. He very excitedly said, "Look Mommy! I was a baby once! I slept in that bed! And I drank Mommy milk! And now I'm a big boy!". He said it all with so much enthusiasm.

And to conclude his sweet acknowledgment he then pointed to his picture and said, "Isn't this the cutest thing?"

Rockwall You're Making a Mess!

Maybe we should consider writing all of the Rockwall stories down to compile into a children's book :) I'm continuing to enjoy Zachary's imagination with his brown kitty.

Yesterday morning Zachary got up and came into our room. We asked him what Rockwall was doing this morning. He said, "Um, he's in the kitchen". He then sprung to his feet and said, "And he's making a mess!". Zachary ran out of our room and shouted, "Rockwall, stop that! You are making a mess! Oh no!". When he returned to our room a few moments later he explained to us the kitchen dilemma. Rockwall made a mess and was throwing food from the cabinets.

He also seems to be an outdoorsy kitty. We are often told that he is outside in the backyard. Sometimes even playing with Sandy. I'm glad. Everyone knows how I feel about animals shedding around the house :)

Stay tuned in for more adventures with Rockwall and Zachary.

34 Weeks!

My bedrest has been lifted to a new level. I'm allowed to get out a lot more and do some walking around. My legs and ligaments have been very sore from all of the lack of exercise. So I'm walking around the block a few times a week starting this week of course. I feel so much better. I've been stretching every day throughout the pregnancy and I would probably have felt awful if I had not been. The walking is really helping a lot. And it's not making me contract either :)

Adelyn will be weighed again next week. If you ask me, she's had her own exercise routines down for a while.

3 weeks till full term! 3 more weeks after that till the due date! If we make it to the due date :)

Zachary's Kitty

My 2 1/2 year old now has his own kitty. No, it's not a living one and no it's not stuffed either. One day out of the blue he told Scott and I that he has a kitty. We didn't see one. We knew he didn't have a stuffed one either. We then realized after looking at his empty yet opened hand, that his kitty was imaginary.

So I asked him what it's name was. "Rockwall", he said as if he'd known for ages. Very creative name. You would expect him to say "Kitty" or something. My only guess as to where he came up with that name is from gymnastics. They have a mini rock wall that they climb there.

I've also learned that Rockwall is brown, very soft and likes to play with our real dog Sandy in the backyard. He also prefers to sleep on the couch as opposed to Zachary's bed. Some nights I am even asked if I can put Rockwall on the couch with me after I tuck Zachary in bed.

Zachary also allows me to pet his little kitty which I am delighted to do because as many know, I'm highly allergic to cats. I'm one of those people who can walk into someone's house and know they have a cat without seeing it. I start to itch all over, get a stuffy nose, sometimes a headache, and itchy throat and sometimes sneezing also. Depends on how hairy and how much dander is hanging out in the house. So perhaps Zachary, knowing that we will never own a real kitty, has come up with his own way to enjoy cats.

I'm not sure about all of Zachary's imaginary origins but I sure enjoy hearing about them and participating in them. :) I would post a picture, but well, yeah don't have one of this kitty.

Who Dat!?????

I've been waiting to see the Saints make it/win the super bowl since I was about 4 years old. I remember Dad watching on TV and saying, "they lost again". Nice job boys. We're proud and glad for the city of New Orleans. It just makes gumbo taste so much better. Hope to see you there again next year.

33 Weeks!

We are now 33 weeks and 7 weeks left till the due date!

Today the appointment went great. I ate all morning long and Adelyn kicked and turned during her non stress test so they could get good readings while I relaxed in the recliner with the monitors strapped to my stomach.

I next got to relax and watch her on the sonogram with the technician who herself was quite amused at Adelyn's constant movements which included her waving her hands in front of her face. It actually looked like she was trying to get them in her mouth.

I'm getting a lot of sono pictures since we are doing these things once a week! Zachary is getting more excited by the day. He says, "I miss Adelyn. I love her". We put the infant seat in my car and he's thrilled that she gets to sit next to him :)

Mommy You Leaved!!

Saturday night, Scott and I went to a friend's wedding here in town. It worked out well that my mother was still here b/c Zachary wasn't feeling that great. He preferred to play with her anyhow.
So I ask him if it's okay if we go to a wedding while he stays to play with Gramsie. He says "yes".

We leave at 4:00 PM, attend the wedding and a good chunk of the reception, and arrive home again at 9:00. It was a nice date for us.

Zachary was still awake when we got home. He was sitting with my mom. When we got him settled into bed, sang a song, and was about to do prayers he said, "Mommy I was mad at you. You leaved".

As content as he had been with my mom I guess he still missed me. And that makes my heart melt. I'm so glad he is learning to verbally express his feelings. He told me another time. We discussed me leaving after I told him I was leaving. We also talked about how I always came back. Just like at Mom's Day Out and after I used to work. He was eventually satisfied and went to sleep.

Getting the Most out of Winter

Mommy found this cap in a box of my old baby clothes. My Uncle Brian and my Paran (Uncle Berchman) wear caps like this too sometimes so I thought it would be good to wear it. Especially now because it's still cold in San Antonio. We usually don't have much winter but this year we are having a lot of rainy and cold days. Cold being relative...all of those people that live north of the Panhandle seem to think we've never seen winter here.

Don't I look good?

I Think I Can!

If you are turned off my stories about nostril mucous and such, this blog entry is not for you.

The other day Zachary wanted to read "The Little Engine that Could". We've had this book since he was about two months old, but he's never picked it up much to read which is surprising considering his love of trains.

This past week while my mother in law and I were sitting with him in the game room he decided that it was time to read the story. We have a regular sized copy, but my mother gave us one of those large books that are half our size. Zachary sat through the whole story and we emphasized the line "I think I can, I think I can" as a good lesson in self-esteem.

After we were finished Zachary was playing on the floor and decided that he needed to remove a few things from his nose. He also decided to relocate them in his mouth.

I looked at him, made a face and said, "Zachary that's not healthy and it's not polite. It's yucky to do that. Please don't put boogers in your mouth".

He looked at me and said, "I think I can I think I can".

I guess it's nice to have children with confidence.