What's in a name?

A lot of people have asked us how we came up with Lexie's name. Alexandra is just a name that we both like. Doug threw it out one evening as we were discussing names, and it stuck. Suzanne is for her grandmothers. Nana's middle name is Susan, and Grandma's middle name is Ann. If you say them together really fast, you kinda get Suzanne.

And can you believe that Lexie is 9 weeks old?? My goodness! You always hear about how fast they grow up, but it never hits you how fast until you have one, I guess. She's growing leaps and bounds. Our last doctor visit was when she was 6 weeks old, and she was 12 pounds 1 ounce (2 pounds 11 ounces bigger than birth) and 22 1/2 inches long (2 1/2 inches longer). She got her first set of shots at that visit, and she did great. It was Mommy who needed all the help!

She's learning lots of new skills - she's talking a lot, she's holding her head up really well, she's smiling all the time now, she has even tried to roll onto her side. She's discovered that her hands belong to her, and she's trying to figure out how to fit them both in her mouth at the same time.

She starts at "school" on December 1st. We went to meet her teachers and tour the facility, and it's really nice. We can visit anytime we want (it's part of my hospital), and everyone who has their kids there raves about how nice it is. So, it really couldn't be better. Except I'm still a nervous wreck about it! I know she'll be fine........

And now, for the important stuff...pictures!!! I've got LOTS of them to share, but I'll spare you too many of them. :)

Mama's busy bee for her first Halloween. She is not amused.....


Our first time trying to wear a headband. Again, not thrilled...

Sporting her cheese eating grin....

Hold your head up high! (Excuse the voice...I'm sick...)

Chatting with Mom...




We also had some professional pics done on Lexie's one-month birthday. Here are some of my favorites...

Bath time!


Sammiches!


Daddy's girl


Hanging with Mom


Beautiful blue eyes! (My favorite!)


OK...so apparently I lied about not posting too many pictures!


We hope you all are well.
Lots of love to you all.

Grins and Almost Giggles

Hi, everyone! It's hard to believe that Lexie is 5 weeks old! She's already changed so much in the short time she's been here.

We haven't been back to the pediatrician since my last post, so we're not exactly sure what she weighs, but she's gone through at least two growth spurts since then, so I'm sure she's put on a few ounces... :) She's definitely got a healthy appetite. At some feedings, she's taking five ounces! Of course, other times she'll take two, so the kid's a little finicky (like her mom?).

She's starting to smile socially, and it just lights up the room when she does it. Her grin is infectious, and you just can't help but smile back when she smiles at you.

We've been going on lots of field trips. She's a good traveler, and almost always falls asleep in the car. We haven't had to take her on a car ride to get her to go to sleep at night yet, but we've got it in reserve... We've visited Daddy at work several times.

It's not all smiles and sunshine, though....

Overall, she's got a pretty laid back personality (at least for now...I'm told that kids can turn on you in the blink of an eye! :). A lot of the day, we just hang out and talk to each other. Other times, she likes to be on her own for awhile. And her Soothie is her best friend...

She's starting to find her voice and is beginning to coo and almost giggle. (Daddy can't wait for that to happen.) Enjoy the following video, but please ignore the Mommy voice... It just comes out without my thinking about it...not very flattering...but she sure is cute!

Lots of love to you all!!

Three weeks goes by so fast...

Hi, everyone! Sorry it's taken awhile for an update, but sleep deprivation will do that to a girl :)

So, Lexie will be three weeks old tomorrow. How time flies! We had a pediatrician appointment today. Lexie weighs 10 pounds 9.7 ounces (she's gained 1 pound 3 ounces) and is 20 3/4 inches long (she's grown 3/4 of an inch). She's dealing with a little bit of reflux, so we're starting her on some baby Zantac. The doctor said that the other option was to add rice cereal to her formula, but since she's gaining weight so well, she didn't want to add those empty calories. So she got her first dose tonight, and we're hoping to see a difference in a few days.

Doug and I are learning to deal with little-to-no sleep. She wakes up 2-3 times a night to eat, and that takes awhile. I think that's because of her reflux, so - fingers crossed - when the Zantac kicks in I'm hoping it won't take as long to eat.

I'm attaching a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. She's a sweet, sweet girl - the light of our life and our pride and joy. We are so thrilled to have her home. Now if we can get a little sleep..... :)


Lexie and Daddy at the hospital - less than 24 hours old.


Mommy and Lexie on discharge day - 3 days old.


Baby smiles - 1 week old.



BIG yawn (with a milky tongue) - 1 week old


Sleeping Beauty - how cute is this baby?? - 20 days old

She sleeps so much (during the day!) that it's hard to get a picture of her eyes. As for now, they're a very pretty deep blue. And when her hair is wet, it has red highlights in it. I can't see who she looks like...I've had people tell me she looks just like Doug and others tell me she looks just like me. ???

Hope you all are well. Lexie sends her love!

Alexandra Suzanne

Yes, it has been a long time since I posted, but exciting stuff has happened since then!

Alexandra Suzanne was born on September 11, 2008 at 10:35 pm after 18 hours of labor. She weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 6 ounces and is 22 inches long. So THAT'S why I was looking like a whale towards the end.

I was actually able to go into labor on my own, on the morning of my scheduled induction. It was an awesome experience, of which I will spare you the nitty gritty details. I ended up getting an epidural, and the Nurse Anesthetist is now on my Christmas Card list forever.

Doug and Cynthia were the most amazing labor support team in the world and all of my nurses and doctors were awesome. There's something to be said about delivering a baby in the hospital where you work!

We were supposed to be discharged yesterday, but Lexie had a touch of jaundice that was bad enough that they wanted to treat her under the bili lights overnight last night. We're currently still in the hospital, waiting for the final results from bloodwork to see whether or not she can go home.

Doug and I are amazed that we have this beautiful baby. So far, she seems to be a trooper. We're looking forward to geting to know her.

And now, the most important part - Lexie! The picture was taken on my phone, and isn't the greatest, but you can definitely see that she is, quite possibly, the most beautiful baby ever born...

Lookee!

I know...two posts in two days... what's going on? :)

But I had to share some of the pictures that my good friend Nissa took for us. As you can see, she is a wonderful photographer. (If you click on the picture, it should open up larger. I think all the pictures I've posted so far should do that.... )

Me in our back yard.

In the nursery.

Then and now.

Our first family portrait :)

I think this one is my favorite.

Thank you, Nissa! You are, as the kids say these days, the bomb!

It's been awhile, but, yup, still (VERY) pregnant!

Hi, everyone! Sorry it's been so long. Things have been c-r-a-z-y as we've been getting ready for Sprout's arrival. The playroom is done (woot!), the nursery is getting there, our guest bathroom is almost completely retiled and it looks awesome, we're refinishing a dresser... Lots going on.

For those of you who are squeamish, and/or don't want to know about cervixes (cervixii??), skip to the next part :) At my last visit (37 weeks), I was one centimeter dilated, which was a distinct change from the NOTHING that was happening the week before that. I have another visit on Friday, when I'll be 38 weeks 1 day.

My doctor said that I could go "anytime" which is frightening. We've got so much to do that I'm half afraid she'll decide to make an appearance before we're done with the major stuff. The other half is afraid that she'll decide it's so cozy in there she'll NEVER come out!

At any rate, here are a few pictures...

Me at 35 weeks exactly.

This was taken the very next day, because someone at work told me I had dropped a little, but I don't think so...

This was taken at 37 weeks and 1 day (yep - same dress, but my options are very limited now...) Still don't think I've dropped any.

Getting very close now. Getting very nervous. But VERY excited.

Love to you all from our soon-to-be family of three!

There really is only one in there...

Hi, everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. We've been working like crazy to get our to-do list done! See how many things we've crossed off???...

It's coming along nicely... Take a look!

We're still working on the stairs, but the floors are done!

The dining room!

We even managed to get a kitchen island (thanks to our good friends Jon and Liza who put it together!!!)

We had our first baby shower this past Friday, and it was so much fun! Susan did a great job putting everything together. The rain didn't even slow things down. Doug's office and some of our friends were super generous and bought the breast pump off of our registry! (And, our dear friend Josh, always the thinker, made me a back-up breast pump, just in case....he should patent it, quickly!)

The Breast Milker 3.27.... I don't see why this shouldn't work!

Yes....it says what you think it does.....

Sprout received lots of lovely gifts. Just goes to show how many friends she has already!

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and all is well. Right now, Sprout is head-down, and we're hoping she stays that way!! In another month, she should be in the position she's going to stay in, so I'm doing everything I can to get her to stay put for the next few weeks. I had two doctors tell me today that they don't think I'll make it all the way to 40 weeks. Which sends me into a little bit of a panic, so I'm not going to think about it :)

So here are the belly shots for this post. 31 weeks and 5 days...quite a change. But, no, there are not twins or triplets hanging out in there!! I am starting to get more uncomfortable, and the heat is definitely bothering me more than I had anticipated. For once, I'm the person in the room complaining about how hot it is instead of getting a sweater! But all in all, we're doing well. It's getting more and more real that we'll have a little person hanging around in another couple of months!

Love to you all!

Another doctor appointment, another update

How time flies! I had my 27 week appointment yesterday and all is well. Weight good, blood pressure good, baby measuring just right, her heart rate is perfect. Yay! I also took my test for gestational diabetes yesterday, which I passed, so that's some more good news! I go back in three weeks, and then it's every two weeks for awhile. We're coming down to crunch time in getting everything done now....


We've gotten all of the furniture ready for Sprout's room. Now we just need to decorate. I've been going through all of the baby clothes that we've got and getting them sorted and ready.

The floors are this close to being finished. One more room to go. I'll put up pictures when everything is done. They really are going to be great. Doug and Joe are doing a fantastic job.


I've managed to take a couple more pictures of myself as I progress. And speaking of progression, I've learned that a pregnant woman's weight is fair game for discussion or comment, even from complete strangers. I had a woman come up behind me yesterday and say, "No offense, but I could totally tell you were pregnant from behind." I really had no idea how to respond to that, but I have a new rule: if the first words out of your mouth are "No offense" then you should really rethink whether it's worth saying the rest! :)

At any rate, here's me last week at 26 weeks:















And then this was taken yesterday, at 27 weeks exactly. The first day of my third trimester!






So, all is well with us. We're plodding along and getting ready for Sprout to make her grand entrance. She sends her love to you all :)

Doctor appointment update

I had my 23 week visit on Thursday. All is well. My belly is measuring about the size of a 24 weeker, which is just fine. Maybe she'll be tall!! My weight wasn't as bad as I thought it was, and my doctor was completely unconcerned. So, I guess I'm OK :) I go back in 4 weeks at 27 weeks, and then I do my glucola test to check for Gestational Diabetes. And then, it's visits every two weeks. Seems like time is flying by and going slowly at the same time.

Doug and Joe are working on the floors today - very exciting! I'll post pictures as things progress.

And that's about it! Sprouty-Girl sends you all big hugs and kisses!

What a difference a few of weeks makes!

Hi, everyone. Haven't updated in awhile...not much exciting going on. It seems we're to the part of pregnancy where we settle in to wait. There's still lots to do, but none of it is too exciting to write about. But I will anyway....


We finally got the nursery cleaned out, and the crib and changing table set up. I ordered a couple of new pieces of furniture to go in there. My big splurge will be a glider and ottoman - I imagine I'll be in it quite a bit! Here's what we've got to work with. It's a lot of pictures, because the room is pretty oddly shaped. But you get a good idea. I'm still toying with where to put all the furniture, but I guess I'll get it figured out when everything gets here....








Doug and our friend, Joe, have gotten a good start on the floors downstairs. We're putting in hardwood in the hallway, and (hopefully) the dining room, too. I can't wait. Here's what we're living with until they're done....

We're not replacing the stairs; we're going to stain them to match. (Notice the tubs of stuff behind the ShopVac - that's ALL baby stuff from my fabulous sisters-in-law!!!)


We are lucky enough to have wonderful friends and family who want to welcome Sprout. To that end, we're having three (3!) baby showers. Sprout is loved already! She's moving around a lot these days. Doug is feeling it more and more often, but lots of times she plays tricks on her daddy and stops moving whenever he tries to feel it.


And for those of you who care to take a peek, I took more belly shots this week (also in my dreary office, just in a different dreary spot). Exactly 20 days after the last ones...quite a change!! I'm dreading getting on the scale at my doctor appointment this Thursday..... I've had more than one person ask me if I'm sure there's only one in there....



Hope you all are well. I'll try to update after my visit on Thursday.

Pictures, as requested

My sister-in-law, Carleen, asked for belly shots. So here they are. And, wow, is it weird to look at yourself from an outside angle as your body changes. I have a hard time believing it's really me... But, here you go. 19 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Pardon the goofy expressions and the messy office (which is as gray and dreary as it looks....)

From the front - just looking kinda pudgy. Sadly, the double chin was there before....

I think Nicole said something funny right before she snapped this shot.

Sigh....20 weeks to go!!

And for comparison purposes...here I am 11 weeks ago. Terrible shot, but it was a long day at a new job with lots of nausea. And I did not have THAT big of a pooch before I got pregnant :)

In other fun news...Doug felt Sprout kick for the first time last night. It was really fun. He's sure she's going to be the best martial artist ever! If she takes after her dad, I have no doubts.