Lately...

Lately...I've realized that I'm a much better Facebooker than blogger.

Lately...I've decided that I need a new approach to blogging. I have had the mindset that I need to have a cute theme for each post, write detailed descriptions of everything, and include lots of pictures. Obviously, that's not working. ;) I think I'll try doing little short posts instead because big posts just aren't happening!

Lately...I've become a stay at home mom, and I'm really enjoying it. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm sure it will when all of the teachers go back to school in August without me.

Lately...I've found it easier to enjoy Miss Camryn. I mean, I have always enjoyed her, but I don't feel like I'm worrying so much. She is getting much more interactive (smiling, playing, making noises) and that is fun. Feeding her is much easier than it was when she was a newborn. Baby/Mommy life is good. :)

And here's a few pictures of what we've been up to ...lately...

Camryn turned 4 months old on June 15th.

She loves to hold toys and put them straight in her mouth.

We went to our first baseball game as a family...Astros @ Rangers. We all wore our Astros gear! Camryn didn't so much like the heat or the cheering after a Rangers home run, but she did pretty good. :)

Tyson celebrated his first Fathers Day. Camryn and I love him so much!!

2nd 6 Weeks

(First of all, geesh! It's been 6 weeks since I blogged...shame on me!)

Going back and reading that previous post, I realize how much Camryn has grown and changed in such a short amount of time. I guess she is TWICE as old now as she was then, but still! She is growing so fast, and is getting sweeter, cuter, and more fun all the time! :) This will probably be the last "report card" that Camryn gets for a while...since I won't be a teacher any more after this year, I'm going to take a hiatus from giving grades!

BABY REPORT CARD

Student: Camryn Kirksey
Grading Period: 2nd 6 Weeks

Being Cute: A+
Tummy Time: B+
Smiling: A+
Here's a picture of her completing an "assignment" that counts for all 3 of these classes:
Sleeping: A-
The day she turned 9 weeks old, Camryn turned in her "Sleeping Through the Night" assignment for the first time! She has woken up just a few times since then to eat in the middle of the night, but mostly she sleeps from 9:30 or 10:00 until 6:30 or 7:00. Yay! Here's a pic of how we usually find her in the morning...for some reason she likes to turn her head around like this and wiggle her arms and legs out of the blanket. Hey, whatever works! :)
Dirtying Diapers - A++
I don't really need to go into detail on this one, do I?? ;)

Eating - A +
I don't have a picture of this class, but Camryn is a really good eater. We have never had problems with her nursing, and she even takes a bottle really well. That was something I was worried about because I will be going back to school on May 19th (so sad!), but she eats from a bottle like a champ! Also, I know she's eating well because she's doing a good job of growing and gaining weight. We went to the doctor for a 2 month check-up on April 15th. She weighed 11 pounds, and was 22 1/4 inches long...50th percentile for both!

New Classes this 6 Weeks:
Car Trips: A+
Since the last report card, Camryn has been on several trips out of town. Our first trip was over Easter weekend, and we went to Tyler to visit a whole bunch of grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Since then we have been back to Tyler once (for Kevan and Katie's shower!) and to Abilene (for Kevan's graduation...yay Kev!). She slept basically the entire time we were in the car, coming and going, for all of those trips! Granted, none of them were over 3 hours long, but still, she did great!

Talking: B-
Also since last 6 weeks, Miss Camryn has really started talking! OK, talking might be a bit strong of a word...really she can only say vowels at this point (you know, "eeeeh" or "aaaaah")! She and I even had a little conversation the other night! She would make her cooing sound, and I would make one back. She would watch me, then make another sound right after I finished...so cute! :)

Teacher's Comments: Camryn is a wonderful student! She is showing improvement in all categories, and I love having her in my class!

1st 6 Weeks Report Card

Camryn will be 6 weeks old on Sunday...whoa! In teacherly fashion, I am going to give her a report card on how she has been doing.

• I gave her a B in Sleeping because she has some missing assignments. ;) One assignment that hasn't been turned in yet is Sleeping Through the Night. Hopefully she will get this turned in during the next few weeks!
• She received a B- in Smiling because it is still very inconsistent. Sometimes it seems like she is doing it on purpose, other times not.
• Camryn still needs improvement for her grade in Tummy Time. She earned a C for this class because of her behavior. She does not enjoy this class, so she is not putting forth her best effort. ;)
• Lastly, her B in Going Out is due to the fact that she left early from the assignment titled "Walking the Mall with Mom and Gigi" that took place on March 19th because she was crying. She did make up this assignment by completing "Walking the Mall with Mom and Dad" on March 21st, but it is still affecting her grade.

And Camryn received a A+ in being cute because...well...a picture says 1,000 words!

One Month!

Wow! This past Sunday, Camryn was officially one month old! We have had a long, fun month of learning, growing, lack of sleep, and falling in love with her! :)

Camryn at one month old...with a couple of special friends! :)
Here's what has been going on with us during her first month:

1. We are working on getting Camryn on a schedule. Right now, she's eating about every 3 hours and taking 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps between each feeding...that's a lot of sleeping! We're trying to go by the book Babywise...seems to be working well so far.

2. She still wears newborn sized diapers and clothes. Some of the 0 - 3 month things fit, too. I can tell, though, that she is growing little by little...she's starting to get the cute, baby rolls on her legs!

3. She gets the hiccups about once a day. (Check out this video)

4. She sleeps really well when she's swaddled (aka burrito baby!)...but she also loves to wiggle her arms free.
5. Her favorite place is snuggled up next to my chest.
6. We think her eyes will be blue...they started out very dark, but are lightening up.
7. We have had several visits from family...we are so blessed with how much Camryn is loved!
8. Camryn can hold her head up for a short period of time...we're working on that a little every day! (Watch this!)

9. She is getting much better at making eye contact...she loves to look at our faces. :)
10. I try to take Camryn out somewhere every day. So far, that has included church, small group, the grocery store, Target, the mall, and on walks through our neighborhood.
Thank you, Lord, for the sweet blessing of a child! We're looking forward to what month 2 has to offer!

Our Little Bundle of (Camryn) Joy!

I think it's a little ironic that I'm just now getting around to posting about Camryn, and today was supposed to be the day she was born! Ha! She certainly had other plans! I have been enjoying the last 2 weeks, but it has definitely not been easy. There have been several tears and moments of frustration, but all in all, it has been wonderful. :) So here's how the whole thing went down...

Saturday 2/14/09 @ 11:59p.m. - I get up out of bed to go to the bathroom...not at all an unusual occurrence at this point in the pregnancy.

Sunday 2/15/09 @ 12:00a.m. - My water breaks! I hadn't had any contractions, so there was no warning at all. It was an especially big surprise since it was 12 days before my due date! I run back into our bedroom and wake up Tyson. I say, "Honey, I think my water just broke." Poor guy was so groggy, surprised, and confused! He got up, and while both of us are crying and shaking, he prayed over me and the birth of our baby...sweet memory for me. :)

12:10 - 12:45a.m. - We rush around the house getting last-minute things together for the hospital. Oddly enough, that day we had set up the pack-n-play and packed Camryn's bag of things for the hospital...but we were expecting to have 2 more weeks to get everything else packed up! During this time I start to have some minor contractions. They're definitely noticeable, but not too painful. They basically started right after my water broke!

1:00a.m. - We arrive at the hospital and get taken up to labor and delivery. I had the best nurse for most of my labor! Her name was Lisa, and she was very positive, kind, and funny! I was very sad that her shift ended before Miss Camryn arrived!

1:00 - 4:30a.m. - Contractions. That's about all that was happening at this point. They got longer, closer together, and more intense...and that's probably all you want to know. :) Tyson was very sweet and helpful throughout my labor...I just love him so much! He kept telling me what a great job I was doing, and was very sweet to help me and get things for me...Thanks, honey!

4:30a.m. - I realize that my pain level has increased to the point where I'm ready for some meds. I told this to the nurse, and I was thinking she would give me some demerol or something because I was still a long way from needing the epidural. Well, she checked me and said that it was epidural time! Whoa, this was much sooner than I was expecting! Actually, about an hour earlier, Tyson and I made a short video (between contractions!) where we talked to Camryn. I said in the video, "It's very early in the morning, and we're looking forward to meeting you sometime this afternoon." Ha! :) So, things are progressing faster than we or the nurse were expecting...this is a good thing for me!

5:00a.m. - Epidural time! It really wasn't too bad getting the epidural except that I was having contractions while the anesthesiologist was working on me...that made it tough to be still and stay in the right position. I did tell him, "I just don't want to see the needle!" and I didn't...I think that helped. :) It was around this time that we called our families to tell them that we were having the baby. We decided to wait until 5:00 thinking that would let them get some sleep and give them PLENTY of time to make the drive from Tyler...things just moved more quickly than we anticipated.

5:00 - 7:00a.m. - Labor continues to progress, but I'm not feeling the pain from the contractions...yay! I am, however, feeling quite a bit of pressure during the contractions. That pressure increases throughout this time, to the point where I feel like I need to push. I tell this to the nurse (Ashley now, instead of Lisa because her shift ended), and she calls the doctor on call to let him know it's time!

about 7:30a.m. - Nurse Ashley calls the doctor again to make sure that he's on his way. I'm really feeling the need to push, so the nurse lets me push a little during the contractions. She eventually has to tell me NOT to push because the doctor's not there yet!

sometime between 7:30 and 8:00a.m. - The doctor arrives...whew! He has just enough time to get all set up before I really start pushing. Later I find out that it's a good thing the nurse called him a second time...he was on his way to Starbucks to get some coffee before coming to the hospital! He thought he had lots of time since it's my first baby and I had an epidural...usually two signs that the labor will take a while!

about 8:00a.m. - Our families arrive just in the nick of time! I promise I didn't know the labor would go so quickly!

8:16a.m. - After just over 8 hours of labor, Camryn Joy arrives! She is crying and pink and perfect!

She's Here!

Well, much to our surprise, Camryn Joy Kirksey has arrived 12 days early! I'll do a quick post and picture for now, then follow up later with more details.

Camryn Joy Kirksey
Sunday, February 15, 2009
8:16 a.m.
7 pounds
19.5 inches
Mom, Dad, and baby are doing well. :)

We're in the Red Zone!

That's what Tyson is calling it now...the red zone. :) My due date is 18 days away, which basically means that I could go into labor any time now. Wow, that's a sobering thought! It didn't really sink in until my doctor's appointment last Monday when I found out that I am 1 - 2 centimeters dilated already. I freaked out just a little (OK, maybe more than a little), but then later found out that many expectant moms stay there for even a month! Regardless, it was a reality check! (At today's appointment, I found out that I haven't progressed any in the last week...thanfully!)

We have been spending the past couple of weeks making some "final" preparations, realizing that our time before Camryn arrives is getting shorter and shorter. We've installed the car seat in my car, finished the nursery, and we're in the middle of a 3 week childbirth education class.

So here are some pictures of what we've been up to. You can see that the belly is definitely getting bigger, and boy, am I feeling it! I'm not in pain or anything, I just feel like she's pushing on everything inside me when she moves! Also, here's the latest progress on the nursery:

This weekend, we went on a shopping trip, and used gift cards to pick up some things that we still needed for her room. We got a diaper pail and a changing pad/covers, plus we have put a little shelf on the wall for wipes, etc.

Last weekend, my parents stopped by on their way out of the country (on a trip to Israel!...they'll be back this week), and they dropped off the crib skirt and bumper. Oh, wow, they turned out so good! I was thrilled with the result, and I think they look great in the room! Here's the whole crib put together...

And here is a better view of the inside of the bumper...I love how the fabrics all look together. Girly, but not baby-ish...just what I wanted!

So we're in the home stretch! I am so thankful for how I have felt throughout this pregnancy...the nurse today even commented about what a great pregnancy I've had...and she sees LOTS of pregnant ladies! We are prayerful for a healthy baby and mommy, and for Camryn to wait until at least her due date to make her arrival (the longer she waits, the less I have to go back to school at the very end of the year!). We'll keep you posted...