HAPPY NEW YEAR !

WHEN BRE EATS IT GIVES ME A CHANCE TO CATCH UP ON THE COMPUTER STUFF. (SORRY EVERYTHING IS TYPED 1 HANDED WHILE MY CHIN HOLDS THE BOTTLE AND THE OTHER ARM HOLDS HER)IT'S JUST BRE AND I BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR TOGETHER. MARK'S AT WORK TONIGHT AND IT WILL BE THE FIRST TIME IN 12 YEARS WE HAVE NOT BEEN TOGETHER ON NEW YEARS. IF I CAN'T HAVE MARK AT LEAST I HAVE A PART OF HIM HERE WITH ME BRING IN THE NEW YEAR.

WHILE SITTING HERE I WAS REFLECTING ON THE WHOLE NEW YEARS THING AND I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF RESOLUTIONS. I AM A STRONG BELIEVER IN GOALS AND NOT THAT BRE IS HERE I HAVE REACHED ALL MY GOALS.

*GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL (DONE MAY 1999)
*GRADUATE BEAUTY SCHOOL (DONE AUG 1999)
*BUY A HOUSE ON MY OWN BEFORE AGE 25 (DONE MAY 2001 AT AGE 20)
*BUY A BRAND NEW CAR (DONE JAN 2004 WITH GRAND AM)
*A JOB THAT ALLOWS ME TO PUT FAMILY FIRST,BE MYSELF AND TO BE A PART OF A SUCCESSFUL GROWING COMPANY (DONE IN MAY 2006)
*GET MARRIED BEFORE 25(SEPT 8 2007 AGE 26)
*QUIT SMOKING TO START TRYING TO HAVE A BABY (DEC 2007)
*HAVE A FAMILY BEFORE 25(DEC 11TH 2008 AGE 27)

SOME GOALS I DIDN'T DO WITH IN MY TIME LINE BUT I STILL DID THEM.
NOW IT'S TIME TO MAKE NEW GOALS.

*I WANT TO BE THE BEST MOM I CAN BE.

*TO BE HEALTHIER. GOD KNOWS IF I SAY I WANT TO BE SKINNIER IT DOESN'T WORK FOR ME SO HEALTHIER IS MY GOAL.

*A GOOD WIFE FOR MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND THAT OVER THE LAST YEAR HAS SHOWN ME WHAT AN AMAZING MAN HE IS.

*BE AS GOOD OF A FRIEND AS OTHERS AS THEY ARE TO ME.(SOME PEOPLE I REALLY NEED TO BE BETTER FRIENDS TO)

THAT'S ALL MY GOALS FOR NOW. WE WILL SEE WHAT I CAN ADD TO IT. I KNOW IT WILL TAKE ME THE REST OF MY LIFE TO BE THE BEST MOM, FRIEND AND WIFE I CAN BE.

Christmas Picture

Bre was so little that we didnt' take he out to see Santa this year he came to her for picture's.


These Booties were a gift from Mrs. Coon Mark's 6th grade teacher. She has always been a special person to him and she gave these to Bre along with this ornament



Bre's first Baby doll

Kuddo's to all the parent's

This process has been amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am asstonished on how all the great mom's in this world do it. I know anyone can be a parent but being a wonderful one is alot of work.

Mom's need more then 1 day a year. Dad' s too. I think if you childern have a roof over there heads, food in there stomach and love in there hearts you need to stop and pat yourself on the back. If they have good morals and respect for others you need thank god for giving you the wisdow to be a good parent.

Let's just hope I have been blessed with that wisdom.

BRE'S FAVORITE HANG OUT SPOT'S

SHE HAS 3 FAVORITE SPOT'S

ONE IS ON MY CHEST. WHEN I SIT AT THE COMPUTER I RECLINE LITTLE WHICH GIVES ME ONE HAND TO TYPE AND ONE ON HER. I HAVE BEEN DOING A LITTLE WORK FROM HOME AND IT WORKS PERFECT I GET TO SNUGGLE HER AND FEEL LIKE MY OLD SELF AGAIN.

EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED SO MUCH IN MY LIFE I LIKE THAT WORK IS THE SAME. MY NEW ROLE AS A MOTHER HAS CHANGED MY ROLE AS A WIFE. MARK ALREADY IS TALKING ABOUT WANTING MORE KIDS. I WAS ALWAYS THE ONE THAT SAID 3-4 KIDS AND HE SAID 1 NOW COMPLETE ROLE REVERSAL AFTER YOU SEE BRE'S 2ND FAVORITE SPOT YOU WILL SEE WHY HE WANTS MORE.




EVERY TIME SHE SNUGGLES WITH DADDY THEY BOTH FALL A SLEEP


3RD FAVORITE SPOT



IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE TIGGERS EARS HE IS STILL NOT SURE ABOUT HER. HE'S NOT AS SCARED AS HE WAS AT FIRST. TIPPY DOESN'T MIND HER ACTUALLY SHE WILL COME GET ME WHEN BREANNA STARTS CRYING AS FOR DEANO WE DON'T SEE HER MUCH UNLESS SHE''S COMING TO SMELL THE BABY FURNITURE

Getting ready for Santa !!!

We are supposed to be getting ready for Santa this weekend, but with all the snow we haven't been to town yet.I haven't bought anything yet. Mark stopped on his way home to pick up a few things I needed to try some new recipes out. I was feeling good the other day and so I made some Chocolate Chip and some sugar cookies. I figure I would make up some platters/ I also attempted to make a peanut butter cake but I t didn't turn out so good. That same day I slipped on something on the floor and every since then I haven't been feeling well. I just Jarred myself. Needless to say we will see if I get any more of my baked goods done.

As for Miss Breanna, she is good. I thinking I'm somewhat figuring things out. Slowly but surly. I do have to admit that the 2 things I couldn't live with out is the Boppy pillow and the bouncer. She didn't seem to be a big fan of the swing yet. The Boppy pillow is the only thing that allows me to get sleep. At night the only way I could get her to sleep was if I was holding her. Which meant I didn't get any sleep after 2 days of that I decided to put her next to me in the Boppy pillow. She is still laying on her back and she is secure. It works great. I'm afraid of her suffocating so I only sleep with a sheet and make sure there is nothing on the bed with us. Great idea until the weekend rolls around and we add Mark in the bed. We have been working on putting her in her Crib every time she falls asleep..instead of leaving her in the bouncer or holding her we carry her in and put her in the Crib. Hopefully by the time Mark is home with us again he can sleep in bed With me and she can sleep by herself.

Breanna's 1 week old !!!!

Where has the time went ??? You would think that if you don't sleep much time would seem to drag on, but that's not true. I thought I would Blog for a minute while she was sleeping. We had her first Dr's appointment yesterday. Angie drove us in and Carried Breanna for me. Mark was going to catch some sleep and MOm has been at the Hospital with Grandpa this week. I called Angie and she was more then willing to help me out. (Thank you)

Everythign went good at our appointments. I am now staple free and everyday I feel better and better. At Breanna's appointment they said that she is in the 75 percentile. Which is nice. The girl has grown 1/4 of an inch in 6 days. Now she weighs 8lbs 120z.

When we came home from the hospital Bre was on formula and we were bottle feeding her to help get her tongue down in place. Working with the pacifiers and the bottle she was finally able to actually suck.(thank god) I really didn't like the idea of shoving a tube down her throut to feed her. Well when we got home are main concern has been to make sure she was continuing to eating. With the c-section I only have one chair that is comfortable to sit in and it's hard to get Bre in a good position to breast feed so needless to say that is not going good. Tuesday night we transitioned her to just my milk. Mark like's being able to feed her too so the pumping is working out. Hopefully we will get the nursing thing down and I will only pump when he is going to feed her. On thing that I noticed is that Breanna's not as gassy and smelly with my milk. Thank God for that. She takes afer Mark with the gas thing and it should be illegel to give those genes to such a beautful baby girl.

I am still trying to get my life in order. I feel like there is so much to do and so little time. Granted there are ALOT of things I can't do, but I'm trying to get all the things done that I can. In one day our house turned into Baby World that doesn't bother me but Christmas is a week away and all these things that we want to do with her for her first Christmas we are running out of time and energy to do it.
After Bre the main focus for me is Christmas.

I did want to THANK EVERYONE for your calls and concerns for us and the extra Help!

A few Pictures

Ok I have already gotten yelled at for not putting up pictures so now that Grandpa and jackie Wolfe have been enertaining and Mark and I have had a few minutes to do some things I can quickly add some pictures


.
Mark took this Picture minutes after she was born via c-section. That was after the Dr said "Congratulations you have a little Giant"
When they rushed her off with her breathing problems this was the only sight I had of her.



Great Grandma Edna




Grandma Sandy




Breanna and her pinky accessory ( She has had him wrapped around his finger since before birth)






Uncle Steve Aunt Janae and Nick came for a visit and it appeared that Nick liked his new baby cousin



Grandma Sue



Grandpa Wolfe and Jackie



Uncle Eric



Aunt Jess



The girls


Andrea

She's HERE !!!!!

I Promise to put pictures up but we just got home so I will put pictures up tomorrow or the next day or the next day but in case you didn't know the info here it is.




BREANNA PAIGE HELT
BORN 10:08P.M.ON DEC 11TH
9LBS 20 3/4 INCHES LONG


I will put pictures and her story up later take care

First day off

As you know if you have been reading my blog yesterday was my first day off. It was pretty unadventurous. I got up in the mornging when Mark got home and after being up for a couple of hours I decided it was nap time already. Once I got up from my nap I got our laundry caught up. I had been trying everynight to do a load but last week I was just to tierd and our laundry was really slacking. I had some Christmas onsies that needed washed along with her Christmas dress so Yesteray I got the all done. By the time I made dinner and loaded the dish washer I was unable to muster up the energy to take care of the mountains of clothes on the Dinning room table. So to keep my sainity I decided it would be a good idea to leave it for today. I told Mark I didn't want to get it all done in one day because I would be going crazy for sure with nothing to do.

Speaking of Mark he stayed home last night. He went to work and on the way he slide through the stop sign. When we have bad weather wwe always TRY to make it to 27 and if it is bad or if it has been more then 20 minutes it's time to come back home. (usuallly it's a 5 minute drive) Needless to say he came back home due to all the ice. It wouldn't be so bad if we knew when this baby would get here. He would risk the drive in more if he didn't have to worry about me going into Labor.

I thought I would blog this mornign because I'm not sure what our day will bring. My freind Ashley had her baby on Sunday and they are going to be home today. She has a little boy and I can't wait to see him. I told Mark maybe our baby will be jealous of me Holding MOnte and she will decide to coem out. (Wishful Thinking)

take care and I will talk to you tomorrow

Tippy's New Bed

Tippy and Dee are lounging on this new Pillow that MOM made for Tippy. Tigger was laying in the middle until I gabbed the camera. We never got around to Carpet and every winter Tippy lays on rugs that I put in different area's for her. Mom brought her over a Dog bed last night as a present. Tippy wasn't sure if she was supposed to lay on it and looked at me funny when I told her it was o.k. She has a tendency lately to pull dirty clothes out of the hamper or steal pillows of the bed to lay on so needless to say she had a new dog bed coming anyways.

My Last Day

Today I decided was my last Day of work. I am so tierd and my Brain is not into focusing on anything. I was ready for a nap at 11:00 this morning. It's just time to stay home. I told them I would be going crazy by tomorrow afternoon and they would see me back on Wednesday. Ha Ha!
Today as we were working and looked out our windows we seen 3 deer in the woods behind our building. They were about 45 yards when we first seen them and a yearling came up to my window at work. It was so nice to see. Surprising in Lansing. I work right on Lake Lansing rd so it was really amazing. It reminded me of how much I like to sit out in the woods in the blind and watch the deer. Growing up I went in the woods almost every year. I have never been with someone that has shot one. The last time I sat in a Blind was with my little Brother Cory. I sat with him a few times. We always had a good time watching the wild life and chit chatting. I have really been missing him lately.(attitude and all)
I called the Dr.'s office today and found out that the absolute latest that I will have this baby is the 17th. She was supposed to be a Thanksgiving baby not a Christmas Baby. I told them that I need a worse case scenario and she said the 17th. I would go in on the 16th and by the 17th I would have her. We talked for about 10 minutes and I said that my sainity needs to know. I can't take it anymore. She said depending on the cercumstance on Thursday we might be going in this Thursday.I had a dream the other night that the Dr said she was 10 lbs and her twin was 5 lbs. The Dr said that we had to wait until Jan 2nd before they would let the babies be born so the 5lb cold gain some weight. (see what I mean about my sanity needing a max date) CRAZY PREGNANCY DREAMS I might look and feel like I'm carring twins but come on.

We are holdin out hope that Little MISS STUBBORN comes on her own and we don't have to force her out. She get's her stubbornness honestly from both sides So we can use ANY EXTRA PRAYERS that we can get.

Everything looks better with a bow !!!

Well... maybe not everything. She's still being stubborn so we thought we might as well work with it.

6 days over and counting

Ok I have faced the fact. Or should I say the UGLY truth. They are going to have to take her. She is not coming on her own. She's stubborn and doesn't like change. There is nothing I can do to make her get here. Now that she has missed the Dec 5th date we definitly know that bribery doesn't work. I'm going to call the Dr's office on Monday and see if they can move the ultrasound testing up. The way that I see it is They won't have the results until Friday and then we are talking not doing anything until at least thte 14-15 when I am 14 days late. She's not moving so let's just get this moving along. We don't need a 10lb newborn.

I think Mark is really getting anxious for her to get here too. It is torture. I don't have patence at all and so this really sucks. I have gotten so many calls and e-mails everyone waiting to hear the news. It's wonderful that everyone is so caring it JUST sucks waiting. I'm going to TRY to not think about it for the rest of the day/weekend,but I will still keep everyone updated every day or to even if it's just a NO NOT YET. Then if you haven't heard from me in 3 days somethings up (I doubt it)

Christmas is 3 weeks away

I can't believe that it's almost here. I was talking to Mark this morning and I don't know if I'm going to get Christmas Cards out like I wanted too this year. I have been thinking of idea's for Pictures to put in cards to hand out for Christmas. Mark has even come up with some good ideas, but with the way things are looking if I don't have this baby soon we won' have time to do what we are planning. You'll have to wait and see I guess.

Mark is trying to Bribe the baby. He knows that I think they are plotting against me so he told her if she comes out on the 5th (tomorrow) that he will buy her that Battery operated Red Mustang.He has been talking all along about getting her one to drive around when she's older, but now he's telling her it will be her reward. I don't think she is going to budge. The last couple of days he has been telling her to come out. When he leaves for work and gives me a kiss goodbye he usually rubs my stomach well tonight he started tickling her feet and told her to start heading out. We will see how well she listens. I personally don't think she's ever coming out. She's content where she is and she's not budging.

I just picture her with her arms and legs out saying "nope I'm not leaving"

Today a new change took effect for me. I can no longer reach to put my socks on. Laugh all you want but the past month it has been increasingly more difficult then I could imagine but usually if I sit down and have something to put my foot on I can do it just fine. Well today after 5 minutes of trying and falling My wonderful husband gave me a hand. I told him it as good practice for dressing the baby.

Tomorrow I booked myself for a pedicure. I'm going to see if Chelsey can rub my feet into labor. My overly pregnant Pedicure customers all went into labor with in 24 hrs after there pedicure so we shall see if it works. Worst case scenario my feet will feel good.

Control is an illusion

The Dr's office called me yesterday after I left and of course I didn't have my phone so I didn't talk to them until today. They set me up for some testing next week along with my next appointment. The nurse assured me that this baby should be here no later then the 15th. (Maybe she will hit her uncle's birthday)
I did find out that my Ob will be gone from 6th-13th. The nurse says that is when I will go into labor when I have one of the other partners as a DR. I don't care It would be nice to have Dr. Maney because I have a relationship with her,but I told the nurse that I want to be done and she assured me I should be by the 15th. There is no harm to the baby to be a late. I just like things to be punctial.
I should have learned by now that control is in illusion, but it doesn't mean that I don't try.

PICK A DAY ANY DAY

Just pick a day already. I swear this baby is never going to pick a day. Mark told her to hold out for the Dec birthstone and she did. Everyone has told her she can come out now but the only one she seems to listen to is Mark telling her to stay in there for a while. I know it is common to go 2 weeks over with your first one, but I swear these to are ganging up on me before she is even out of the womb. I thought I would at least have until she was older for that to happen.

Sunday Night with are lovely Snow storm Mark decided to stay home from work with me "Just in case" All though I thought it was thoughtful and Protective of us when morning rolled around and he missed a night of work for nothing I felt bad. I went to work yesterday (which I wasn't planning because I was certain she was going to be here Thanksgiving weekend.) While I was at work Mark called to let me know we didn't have any power. It turns out due to the weather Sunday night most of the town lost power at 9:30 in the morning. We lost it at the house around 11:00. Finally at 12:00a.m. this morning I woke up to lights. I don't know what time they came on I went to bed at 10:30 because I have been so tired.

This morning I had a Dr's appointment and found out that I have not dilated at all. Nothing has changed since my false alarm on the 11th. Talk about a BAD morning. I left my phone at home to boot. At least I wasn't real worried about going into labor or anything now. SO, my solution to my disturbing news was to Cry. Cry I did all the way to work and back home. I slipped in the back door when I got to work. I wanted to wash my face and throw so eyeliner back on,but it was a wasted effort because as soon as I got to mine and Wendy's office and she asked how the Dr's went I lost it again. Real Professional I know. I was glad that we have our own private office away from the other employies because she was the only one that heard my melt down. She has gotten it several times. I always see her first thing after my appointments. With us working together and being friends for the last 7 yrs she makes it really easy to vent to. She calms me down and makes me feel like I'm not crazy. Which is really nice it just sucks for her because she always gets me in my full blown emotional state. This one was the mother of all. I thought that my melt down about having to take the gestational diabetes test was bad this topped it. I'm ready to be done. I want to see her. I want to not be pregnant any more and just move on to the next phase. I guess the keyword is I want. I just feel like my sanity needs it.

I should know that not being dilated really doesn't mean anything since my mom was the same way with me and with in 24 hrs I was here. I'm not getting up my hopes any more. I can't take the disappointment anymore. I'm just trying to force myself into thinking she will come when it's time and Everything happens for a reason, God has a plan all that jazz. I would just like to be clued in.

Nov 30th is here

Today is my due date ! We have 7 hrs left before this little one gets a blue birthstone. (Blue is my favorite color) I think she is hunkering down and going to stay in there for a while. I wish I just knew but that would take the suspense out of it.

We set up our tree today. Normally we wait until about 2 weeks before Christmas but we have both been in the Christmas mood lately and we don't know how much time we are going to have so we thought it would be best to just do it.

Happy Holidays!

NO Turkey

Another Turkey day has came and went and our little butterball has decided it's NOT time yet. I was really hoping that I would have her and even told her she could come out any time. She did put on a show for everyone yesterday. She was moving and rolling so much that everyone was watching as my stomach was moving.


I told Mark months ago that if she is born in Nov he doesn't have to worry about buying me a mothers ring because I dislike the birthstone. Now he thinks she is waiting for Dec so I can some day get a mother's ring. I'm getting so anxious we went to Meijer to get some groceries and we picked up a Christmas dress for her and Christmas Stockings . Grandma Wicke bought her a beautiful dress, but I wanted to make sure that she had at least 2 because we go to different places on Christmas eve and Christmas Day.

Well I need to get back to work. I didn't go into the office today so I'm doing some of my work this evening from home. Take care

Where's the Magic Wand ????

Well I had an appointment this morning. It was my last appointment that I had set up before my due date. I asked the Dr if she had a Magic Wand that she could wave to be done and she told me sorry she left it at home this morning. When she was feeling my stomach and taking the Heartbeat She did tell the baby it's ok to come out now it's time. We are ready to see her.
I guess Aunt Donna and Jessica aren't the only ones that talk to the baby. I have been telling her all week that she can come out anytime. I'm as ready as I will ever be. I hope she will just decide to come on a night that Mark is home. NO offense to my mom taking me, but I would really like Mark to drive me in.After my false alarm I would feel guilty waking Mom and Christy up for a false alarm. The Dr did say that the baby will come on Thanksgiving just in time for the Holiday. I said that I would have no problem with that. Mark's last night this week is Wensday night so we shall see. I really don't want to lug this stomach around any longer. I'm sick of looking like I'm having twins.
I told Mark that I never realized how much work Pregnancy is. It can take a toll on you Physically (not including the labor) but I think most of all emotionally. That has been the hardest part. When something happens and you want to complain you can't because then you feel guilty. So you suck it up and move on. Then the next day you realize that you can't see your toes and you want to cry but yet again you suck it up. When ever I want to complain I think of the millions of people that can't experience this and would love to and then I feel guilty for even wanting to complain. A very terrible cycle. I guess at least my guilt keeps me from driving everyone around me nuts with my complants. Ha Ha !

If anyone knows of where I can get a Magic Wand to make sure this baby get's here this weekend on time PLEASE LET ME KNOW

Still Hanging in there

I had a couple of days this weekend with no braxton hicks and then today they decided to come back a little. I feel like the baby has dropped down some more, but that could be wishful thinking. We are ready for her to get here. Everything is here that we are going to need.(except the breast pump that I keep forgetting) I feel like I have been pregnant forever.

We have things that we still need to get figured out before the first of the year. Mark's and My Work schedule. Mine depends on his of course and just when he thinks it's figured somewhat out it changed. We both decided a long time ago that we want to be the one's that raise our children not someone else. SO we are trying to get it set up so she is with one of us the majority of the time and only have Mom have her a few hours a week.

Well I could go on for hours but I will spare all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in case I don't Post an entry before then.

My pregnancy in a Nut shell

As the end of my pregnancy is near I keep thinking back to the journey of the last 9 months.

I remember thinking it was going to take at least 6 months or so to get pregnant and how surprised I was to find out that I was. I remember saying how it couldn't have happened already. I was sick after lunch and On the way to Meijer to get the test I became Nauseated. Mark thought it was from my nerves. Until we walked into the bathroom together to read the result and seen that bright blue plus sign. I don't think I will ever forget the wave of emotion that came over me. I have never been so terrified, excited, happy and just out right shocked in my life. I just stood there frozen and crying. Mark kept saying "It will be ok" A phrase I have heard over and over through this pregnancy.

I have never felt as close to death as the first several weeks of my pregnancy. I know that sounds a bit much but when even water was making me sick I kept thinking I have 9 months of this crap. Mark kept telling me "it will be ok" as he was grabbing a cold washcloth or a new shirt for me. (Easy for him to say I thought) Finally, after I started the med's it got better. I felt like I kept graduating. One week it was ginger ale and crackers, then the next potatoes were ok to add in then chicken, and so on. It wasn't until the 4th-5th month that I could eat normal. By then I had already felt the flutters in my stomach and it was becoming all worth it.

Once we had the ultrasound and seen the baby move, I didn't care what it was I was just mesmerized by the whole process. I thought women that said that they enjoyed being pregnant were nuts. Now that I'm down to the last 11 days I understand why they say it. I don't love being pregnant by all means BUT it is an amazing experience. Knowing that I have a human being in my stomach that we made and have grown is just the most empowering feeling.I will miss the fact that she is safe (for the most part) inside my stomach. I don't have to stress about her getting a scratch, being to cold or the millions of other things that can happen in this crazy world.

I have really been trying the last few days to just enjoy the last stretch of this. I have heard that every pregnancy is unique and these are the last few days I can enjoy this experience. The emotions I felt when I first found out have now returned. I'm trying to focus and just go day by day. I want her here so bad and I wish that I didn't have to go through labor and that stuff. Just open my eyes one day and surprise the stork dropped her off. Nice dream...I know

Still cooking the turkey...

Well, Thanksgiving is getting closer and I can't believe where the time has went. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love getting together with family and not having the stress of buying presents. We have been talking about thanksgiving and all the different ways you can cook a turkey. Roasting pans,turkey bags, paper bag,or deep fried. So many different ways to cook one but I don't think that it really matters as long as you get a day off have great food and great company.

Our little TURKEY is still cooking away. I'm waiting for the timer to go off so I can finally see her. Right now it looks like I have a 20lb turkey under my shirt. So we shall see if my stomach matches the main dish on the 27th or if it matches the Jello Desert. LOL.....

I have a dress picked out for her 1st Thanksgiving if she is here for it. My bag has been packed and in the car. The car seat is strapped in and ready to go and I am finally have everything ready at work. (after my false alarm I wasn't as organized at work as I thought, but now it's in place)
Mom and Dad are on call and ready for the big day. My mom, sister, dad and step mom are all planning on being in the waiting room on the big day. Mark is going to make some calls I'm sure. He says he doesn't like to talk on the phone, but knowing how he likes to brag I'm sure he will be burning up the phone's, but between a massive e-mail he told me he would send and MOM and Dad calling everyone I'm sure everyone will get the update pretty fast. Or at least I hope. We are going to be at Sparrow and they have a website so you can log on to for a peek at the baby picture. I could blab on and on about the baby so to another holiday...

As for Christmas, this year we are not going to buy presents for Christmas. We have been trying not to the last few years. I would like to get back to the true meaning on the holidays. It's nice to give don't get me wrong. I just think it's about spending time with loved ones, not spending time buying people crap that they don't need. I'm excited for it this year because of the baby. I can't wait to decorate and start family traditions. I want to go back to the days of my childhood when we didn't buy a bunch of gifts I just remember taking snacks to people and visiting and having a great time. I don't think anyone should work all month just to pay for there Christmas Spending. I do believe in helping others that are less fortunate. Let's face it who can afford it to continue to spend all this crazy money on Christmas. (Jesus was born in a manger not the Ritz Carlton.)

SO, if anyone is wondering what to get us this year DON't get us anything. Just spending time with family is gift enough. Everyone is so busy these days and nobody has time to get together anymore.I am going to probably do some baking for the holidays. I have been looking up recipe's and trying to get some ideas. My cake mix cookies have been going over really well and are really easy so I think I will make some of those.

We shall see how much time the little butterball gives me for baking. I have a feeling that when Mark is home my hands will be free until it's time to change the diapers or for her to eat of course. He would gladly feed her but he's not really equipped with the proper tools.

Well once again,it's past my bed time. I will talk to you soon. IN the morning we will be at 12 more days !!!!

17 days and counting

Well I had my appointment this morning and I talked to them about my false alarm. My doctor wasn't on duty when I went in so we just reviewed over the situation. I asked when they were going to start checking me to see if I'm dilating and they said that they don't like to do that anymore. She said you can go from 0 to a baby in 24 hours or you can walk around dilated to a 4 for 2 weeks so until my due date get's here they won't be checking. I have no problem with that I just want to know when she is going to get here. It is driving me crazy when I think about the fact that if I was really in labor the other night I would have came home today with my little girl !

Every thing is still going good. No changes ! As for my Braxton Hicks I have had a few more, but nothing like the other night. I had a really strong one last night and I just layed down and rubbed my stomach as Mark rubbed my lower back. With in 5 minutes it had stopped and I felt fine the rest of the night.

Today Wendy surprised me with a much needed Hair appointment. Which was so nice my roots were terrible and I needed a trim like you wouldn't believe. We were going to just do each others like normal, but she was thinking ahead and my stomach would get in the way when you aren't using the salon sink. So she was nice enough to book me an appointment with Chelsey. I feel so much better now I called Mark on the way home and told him I almost feel pretty now. When I walked in the door I realized that Mark had shaved and trimmed all his facial hair. (which was much over do) Now we are ready for our first family picture if the baby would just be.

FALSE ALARM

Well you heard about the Braxton Hicks and I have been having them for a couple of weeks and last night I was woke up with strong stomach pains. I went to the bathroom and came back to bed and a couple of minutes later I had another one by the 3 time in 19 minutes I got up and stated to write the times down. My back started aching and the cramps continued at 1:00 I called MOM and told her I thought it was time.

We meet Mark at the hospital and I was really uncomfortable. They checked me and plugged me into a monitor. I had Mark get MOM so she could hear the baby's heart beat. She stayed in the room for a few minutes and then went to the waiting room to wait it out. When the Dr. came in they told me it was a BAD case of BRAXTON HICKS. They gave me a prescription for vicodin.(I don't know if I will fill it) Mark and I both questioned the Dr. about it and he assured us it was better then MOTRIN for the baby. I was definitely in pain and my back was aching but Vicodin seems a bit much for the baby.

5 hours after this all started we finally made it home. We got on-line and researched vicodin and pregnancy and found it's actually a common thing that pregnant women are prescribed but it's still not for me. I rarely take pills for anything and just can't bring myself to putting something in the baby's stomach that makes me loopy.I took a long shower and some Tylenol and finally my pain was relived. I feel like an idiot for the hospital run, but when my pains felt like BAD period cramps and were 6 minutes apart for an hour I thought it was definitely time. I apologized to Mark and Mom for the false alarm and they both were fine with it. They said that they would rather run to the hospital then take the chance that the baby we born on the kitchen floor.

They said that the baby is not dropped down enough and I'm not dilated yet. I ave an appointment on Thursday morning so we shall see if anything changes. I guess we just had a dress rehearsal last night. Well I'm going to head back to bed I just wanted to make sure everyone new about my FALSE ALARM.

Are we there yet ????

21 more days and I am ready. I can't wait for the baby to finally get here. I wish I could go back a month and freeze time or fast forward a month to finally be done being pregnant. I have heard and read that the last month is truly for the mom's benifit. By the time your at 40 weeks you don't care what you have to go through just get this baby out of me and let's be done with it. I'm starting to understand that as my woddle get's worse and the Braxton Hicks get stronger and closer together. Rolling over a night actually requires a lot of work and you just know that you might as well pee while your awake because in 5 minutes after you finally get comfortable your bladder is going to say ok...it's time to go again. I'm getting the hang out it (as much as you can I guess) but I want to baby to hurry up and get here. I feel I have waited long enough. 12 years is a long time to be with someone and not have a baby and I'm ready for her to get here.
Friday night we had Cheyenne spend the night she has always loved staying we even used it as a rewad when she was having problems in school but the last couple of months we couldn't get her to stay for nothing. Well Friday night I stopped in and told her that we had some baby furniture all put together and we didn't have a baby to test it out on yet. She decided she would come with her baby doll and test out the carseat, changing table, bouncer and bathtub to make sure it was all safe for her baby cousin. It gave us a chance to put batteries in everything and check it out our self. Her baby was a water baby so it actually pees in it's diaper. She tried to get Uncle Mark to change her dolly but he wasn't having it. She had a blast and so did we. Having a 6yr old girl running around gave us a definit view into the future.
We had a family get together yesterday and my cousin Kevin has a baby girl that is around 6 months old ( I can't remeber when she was born for sure ) my mom had the baby for a while and I asked Mark if he would grab her for me from mom. There must of been some confussion because 1/2 an hour later I still didn't have the baby in my arms. She was sitting on Marks lap beatting him with a rattle.
When we left Jazmine rode home with us and she decided she would like to stay the night with us. She wanted to have a slumber party so We all climbed into our bed to watch movies and I was so tierd that I fell asleep in 10 minutes. Each time I woke up they were snacking on something diferent I was surprised this morning that I didn't find any cookie crumbs or popcorn in bed. Jazmine did have to inform me that I was snoring so after the movie's were over she went out to the couch to sleep. ( I told her that it wasn't my fault it was because of the baby but she didn't believe me) She picked the new design for the blog. She wanted me to put turkey's for thanksgiving. I wanted to change it up but I couldn't decide so she took the guess work out of it for me.
I updated my poll at the top of the page for those of you that would like to weigh in on a new date of the babies arrival since we are finally almost to the finish line.

Baby Blanket

One of the reasons I have been busy is this blanket. I finally finished it this week. I have been working on it a couple nights a week then I took a week off after the baby shower and then the next week I took a week off to do all the Thank you notes. So finishing this has been my main focus. I'm glad to finally have it done. The next time I do a blanket I'm going to do my own pattern. Then I don't have to concentrate alot and let's face it with a new baby at home It will probably be next year before I pick up another hook. Well I'm off to straighten up this house.

25 days and counting

Well we have 25 days left until our due date. We shall see if she is stubborn and wants to wait or if she is just as eager to meet her Mommy and Daddy as we are to finally see her. I was reading my last blog and realized it has been a couple of weeks since I have updated this. So let me see if I can catch everyone up to speed.
The last couple of weeks I have been able to feel the Braxton Hicks more and more. The first strong one came on at work and I thought I was going into labor for sure. I jumped on-line and found out that I wasn't of course. My stomach has really been dropping this last week. Yesterday was a ruff day when I was walking I felt like I had was caring a bowling ball between my legs.I went home and layed on the couch for 45 min and then I felt so much better the rest of the night. This last week every time I stand up I have to waddle to the Bathroom from the pressure that the baby puts on my bladder. I can't complain though it's just part of the pregnancy. Alot of women have said of you look so miserable how much longer do you have to go ? I simply tell them it's really not bad. Honestly I have nothing to compare it to besides not being pregnant. Of course you are going to feel discomfort when you are caring a baby around.
I'm going to the Dr. every week now and on the 27th we had another ultrasound. It was our 3rd. I didn't realize we would have so many. The first one was at 19weeks and when she wouldn't sit still long enough for them to get the 4 chamber heart picture we went back a few weeks later. When I went in on the 24th for my appointment she listened to her heart beat and she couldn't narrow down what position that the baby was in so she ordered an ultrasound for the 27th. I was so thankful she is big enough that I didn't have to Drink water this time. We had the tech from the first ultrasound and I really like her. As soon as she stuck it on my stomach we could see the head. She is in position and ready to roll. Her head is 9cm across. That is the only measurement I remember. Then she measured the fluid which was another thing the Dr wanted to look at. It was over fast and it was just looked like a big blob of baby. You couldn't really tell her leg from her arm. I think the whole ultrasound took 15 min. She told us that the Baby weighs about 6lbs give or take a pound. I was freaking out thinking that I'm going to have this huge baby. I have been hoping that she would be like Me and Mark he was 6lb 3oz and I was 6lbs 4 oz. Mark talked to his Brother Steve on the way home from the ultrasound and he said that she sounded like a normal size. When I got home I had to jump on-line and look it up and sure enough he was right. One website said that she was supposed to be 5 1/2lbs and the other said 6lbs. Whewww....
When I went to the Dr the following week she said that everything looks good to go. I have extra fluid and there doesn't seem to be any worry about it. I had a bit of a melt down on my Dr. telling her that I don't want the baby to get any bigger then she is now. She assured me that everything will be fine. Giving birth just freaks me out. I hope I take after the Wicke women and how they can just shoot out babies like nothing.
I have got through most of my reading on labor and delivery and basically just waiting for her to get here. I keep finding out more and more info. I'm planning on Breast feeding (almost everyone I know has done it and it's so good for the baby, who knows maybe I can shed the baby weight faster too) anyways I read in many articles that you are not to give the baby pacifiers or bottles for the first 4 weeks. We are going to do everything we can so hopefully she will take to nursing well and we won't have to go buy formula.
I'm sure most of you have heard that they have found out that adults and even babies are Vitamin D deficent. Breast feed babies even more so. I have already talked to the Dr and started suplementing with more vitamin D and calcuim in my diet so we don't have to worry about it. Also, if baby sleeps with a fan circulating the air there is a 70% likelyness that they won't have SIDS. I'm telling you knowledge is power so thank you Darcie and Jessica for e-mailing all those baby article's to me.
Today I got everything at work ready for my leave. I have worked since I was 16 and it will be hard NOT working. I hope I can work until she is born but I want to make sure that everything is in place when it happens. I would feel guilty if I didn't have everthing in place so I got it done and out of the way. I hope I'm going to go into labor at home and Mark hopes I go into Labor at work. He's friends with my boss and thinks it would be funny if it happened at the office. We started to get things ready at home just in case. We put a water proof pad on our bed under where I sleep because I have heard stories about women's water breaking in bed and we didn't want to take any chances .
Mark is wanting to go to second shift soon because he doesn't want me to go into labor while I'm home alone at night. I don't think it's a big deal being alone because I can call someone to come get me, but I can't complain. He's been so great to me. I couldn't ask for more. (Unless he was rich Ha Ha) I always new he would be a great dad but never realized how good of a husband he would be. I think back to the rollercoaster our realationship was years ago and can't believe that it was even us. It's amazing how much life can change.My Grandma Wicke says all the time how proud of Mark she is and how good of a husband he is and that he's going to be such a good dad. She tells me that she is glad I have such a good man. Grandma has high standards and it's nice to have her blessing and have her come out and say that he's a good man. Those are words I didn't think I would ever hear her say and makes me proud that she feels that way. Well that is enough jabbering for now!!!!

From Chili to Cider

Saturday night we went to the chili cook off at a friends house. This year was the 2ND annual and I actually took a thing of chili this year. Last spring a co- worker of mine brought into work a bowl of chili that smelled so good I got his recipe to use for the cook off. Mark LOVES the chili. Most of you know Mark is the main cook in our house. I cook but he is so much better then me and doesn't let me forget it.Anyways he loves my chili and has been talking it up saying how great it is and how I was going to win the chili cook off this year. We made the chili and when we got there we were the 9Th ones to get there with a pot. They had 12 pots this year which was great. Mark tried a few different chilli's and I manly stuck to the homemade fries. The food is always so good there. When they announced the winner I found out that.....I'm a loser. I didn't win. I didn't even place. Wendy went home with the plunger trophy this year and a basket full of goodies. (She is a great cook) My chili didn't even make the top 3 and someone actually bought 10 Large Wendy's chili's and put them in a pot to pass off as there own and they only placed 4Th. The competition is much stiffer then I thought.

I guess for now I have to settle with being #1 at home.

Maybe next year I will place in the cook off.

Sunday we picked up Mark's mom and took her to meet Mark's brother Steve and his family at Uncle Johns Cider Mill. Mark and I haven't been yet this year and we try to make it an annual tradition. With the Baby on the way we are trying even harder to start and keep up on these family Traditions. It was so busy there. I have been going there for years and never seen it so packed. We got in line for the cider then several of us decided to go check out the gift shop. They always have really great smelling candles and that is usually were we head to first. After 10 minutes in there I felt like a sardine. So we went up stairs to enjoy some cider and donuts and watch the cider being made. We had such a nice visit with everyone and it was so nice to have a weekend of fall activities. After cider and donuts we went to fling some fruit. We did this a few years ago and everyone had a good time with it. This year the aims were improving and they were all able to hit at least one target. I of course forgot to bring my camera (it is packed in the hospital bag.) So I don't have any pictures to share.
Fall is my favorite time of year and this weekend with the chili cook off and the cider mill it definitely feels like fall. NOW if we could keep it like this and not have a long Michigan winter it would be perfect. At least being pregnant keeps me warm.

WOW do I have alot to talk about this time...

We had a busy weekend planned with lots of fun stuff to do. Saturday morning I was up at 4:00 a.m. climbing the walls in excitement for the weekend to start. We ran to Meijer's at 6:00 to get some food so I could keep myself occupied until my 9:30 pedicure and manicure appointment.

I went to the salon and got a little pampering (thanks again to my Dad and Step mom) Then the rest of Saturday dragged on. I couldn't wait for Sunday to get here. I have been waiting for months for the baby shower to get here so I can finally get a little organization to this baby stuff. We decided to go to my brothers and so I could lend Jessica a hand with some of the food for the party and we tried to get Cheyenne to spend the night but no dice. I thought for sure if we had one of the girls spend the night I would get so busy with them I would quit watching the clock. I guess Uncle Mark and Aunt Melissa are no fun any more.

Sunday finally got here and I was so sick to my stomach with excitement I could hardly eat. I was ready early and decided to go surprise Grandma Wicke. I went down to the Nursing home and got her hair ready for the shower. Since she has been in the Nursing home she hasn't looked like her normal self. (Grandma always has her nails done, make-up on and her hair done.) When you see her with out those things you can tell she isn't feeling well. I shot down to mom's to help her with her hair and then I got a call from my dad...they had a delivery for the baby that they needed to made before the baby shower. Mark and I both ended up getting to the house and Dad and Jackie showed up with THE WHOLE bedroom set. The changing table, dresser and Crib.

I think someone is going to be SPOILED !

Finally it was time for the Baby Shower. My sister in law Jessica and one of my best friends Wendy threw the shower. When I arrived everyone was working away on the decorations. Amber and Ashley made this beautiful diaper cake with little cupcakes on ALL tables. Everything was so nice. At 12:50 nobody was there yet. I started to think that nobody was going to be there for the 1:00 start and then people started flowing in. It is like they all came at once. We had such a good turn out that they had to set up 2 more tables. I couldn't believe it. I had a client from the salon come to the shower. She is such a nice woman and it made me feel so good that after 2 years she still stays in contact with me and has come to both the wedding and the baby shower. Another one of my clients that I still do hair for her and her son stopped in after running a marathon. She ran in real quick drop of a gift and ran out. It is amazing how generous and thoughtful people are. You might think that you are important to someone but when they go out of their way for you on your special day it makes you realize really how great people are and it makes me value them more.

Mark ended up staying at the shower. He was waiting to visit with his family so in the mean time he was the butler and the runner. He didn't seem to mind being the only man with around 55 females (including the little girls.)

We got some wonderful presents and I had such a great time. I hope everyone else did too. My feet were turning into puff balls when I got home so I sat down and waited for Mark to get home to unload all her stuff. By the time he got done unloading,the living room was full and he had furniture strung all around the dinning room. We were up last night until 11:00 just trying to get organized.

Tonight I am washing her clothes and going to fold them and get them in her dresser. Now I can freely buy what we need to fill in the gaps and I don't have to worry about getting in trouble for buying too much before the shower. I have been freaking out about all the stuff that we need for a baby.

Thank you to everyone who bought us shower gifts I really appreciate it.

Hopefully after I find a place for all her things it will be time for her to get here. Well I could babble on for a couple more hours but the laundry doesn't fold it's self. So you have to wait for until next time for me to babble on.

Where has the time went ???

Looking at the blog I realized it has been a while since I updated this. I really don't know where the time has went.

I couldn't wait to get the Internet and lately in the evenings by the time Mark gets off to work, I get some dishes and laundry done I'm either in bed or working on the baby blanket. I wish I would have started the blanket weeks ago. Whoops. I should have it done before she gets here. Or at least I hope.

Grandma Wicke is moving into an apartment in town next week and She as been trying to get rid of her couch and chair for a while. I completely forgot and Mom mentioned that in the new apartment she really doesn't have the room for it. So Mark and I got her chair and couch. (Crappy Couch problem solved.) I am so thankful of that. Another benefit to the couch is it is a sofa sleeper. When ever the kids come over we can just pull the bed out.

I finally started to act more like a Helt (or SHOULD I SAY LIKE MARK HELT)I made an impulse buy for myself. I NEVER made a impulse purchase for myself I always feel too guilty. I came home Thursday with a Portable Dishwasher in the back of my Durango. I asked Mark if he would help me unload the back of the Durango and surprise there was a dishwasher. Finally I don't have to stand at the sink and wash dishes for 2-3 hours a week. I have been wanting one for a while and I told Mark a couple of weeks ago that I would rather spend that time with the baby instead of at the sink. So he wasn't too surprised that I had bought it. Between his dislike to do dishes and with his past purchases (cars, dirt bikes, snowmobiles ect.) that he has bought on a whim I knew it was safe. Besides You Gotta love second hand stores I picked it up really cheap.

Well next time I will have all sorts of good stuff to write about. I will see you or most of you at the Shower Sunday.

30 weeks !!

Well we are at the 30 week mark. I can't believe how fast it has went by. Yet some days I feel like I have been pregnant forever. We got the belly pictures taken last week for the baby book. Angie was nice enough to come over and take them for me. (Thank you) I decided to share out favorite's. You will definitly not see any side profile shots in here. Ewww !!!! My #1 favorite picture is the one with Mark's hands on my Belly. Mark's #1 favorite is the Pink shoes and Head band. We both thought the Black shoes were are 2nd choices.

I'm getting anxious for the baby to get here. Right now I am really looking forward to the Baby Shower. It will be nice to get together with everyone. It sounds like Wendy and Jessica are planning a really nice shower. I know the food will be excellent and I can't wait to have some of the delicous cake that Linda makes. (she made our wedding cake)
Mark will be stopping in to score some food and to drop off and pick up his mom. So you will get a chance to say HI to him too. I don't know what he is going to do during the shower, but I'm sure he will find something.

Take care !

Our weekend

We went yesterday to the V.A. Hospital and spent sometime with my grandpa Wicke. While we were there we ran into Uncle Ron and Aunt Theresa. We had a nice visit and afterwards we all went to dinner. We have never done that before and it was really nice.
On our way home Mark seen a Babies R Us so we decided to stop in and check it out. I found a new favorite store. They had so many things that were adorable. It was not easy but we didn't buy anything. I have not bought anything lately because my friends have told me to wait until after the shower. I have been trying to listen. Last night when we got home we still got online to check out more fun stuff for her.
Today I have finally got Mark away from the computer so I figured out how to do something on this Blog. It was an all afternoon project but I'm finally getting the hang of this. I have more pictures that I would like to add to the slide show but until recently we haven't been big picture fans. We finally got a digital camera about 1 year ago so most of are pictures are in an album.
Enjoy the slide show!!!!!

Slide Show

2 more days !!

I can't wait to finally get the Internet at home. I only have to wait 2 more days.
In the meantime I have been working crocheting the Baby Blanket I picked out months ago. I finally found the peach yarn I have been searching for or shall I say Aunt Donna found it for me. ( Thank you again)

My birthday and our anniversary went by really fast. I can't believe how old I am getting and that we have only been married for 1 year. I guess that is what happens when you date for 11 years before you get married. Mark took me to the Olive Garden Friday (yummy) and then we went out again with my Dad's side of the family on Saturday. My Dad and his wife gave me a gift certificate for a Pedicure and a Manicure. I am so excited to use it!!! I know that sounds crazy because I have received many manicure's a pedicure's in my life but usually it has been given to me by a co-worker or a friend. Not that they were not nice but I have never experienced a real salon experience the pampering experience. I realized that when you are a real customer it is harder to book an appointment when it's not with a friend. I have to wait until Oct.11th to get in but I guess that weekend I will have a fun weekend with the Pedi/Mani and the Baby Shower.

I keep getting more and more anxious for her to get her. Mark has been saying since the last ultrasound " I wish she would hurry up and get here" I have been wanting her to just slow down and take her time on getting here. Until recently... now I can't wait for her to get here. The wait is torturous and I'm only 28 1/2 weeks. Untill next time......

The internet is on it's way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, The Internet is on it's way to our house. We have both been wanting to get the net for some time it is another one of those things that are on our to- do list before the baby gets here. The it's not that the list is long it just feels like it is never ending and expensive.

• Paint the living room ( have the paint do you think we have done it yet ??)
• Get carpet for the living room
• a new couch
• pack a bag for the hospital
• get the Internet
• plastic the windows
• wash all the baby clothes

Some of the things on the list you are probably wondering about but if you have ever been to our old house you will totally understand. Our couch is the most uncomfortable thing and trying to get off of it after laying down is hilarious well at least Mark laughs at me.

Mark has been asking me for a couple of weeks what I want to do for my birthday and our anniversary weekend. He jsut recently started to ask me about what I want for Christmas. I'm having a baby and that is my only concern right now. How romantic am I ?? Needless to say I talked Mark into just getting the Internet for our anniversary present and my birthday. (Not that I needed to Twist his arm or any thing) What a win win situation. Now I'm trying to convince him that the only thing I need for Christmas is a Healthy Baby and maybe some extra sleep.

Anyways before I trail off even more into baby mode... We will have the internet at home next weekend so look forward to updates more often !!!!

Well let's see how this goes !!!

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while. 2 of my sister in laws and even my neice has one and I thought with the new baby on the way it was time to get with it.
I have been e-mailing baby updates to everyone and I figured this would make life a little nicer. Also, this will help to keep everyone updated on the Baby's pictures while I'm home on Maternity leave.