Wednesday, December 30, 2009

More Christmas Fun

Being out of commission leading up to Christmas presented quite the challenge to all the things I had planned, but R took over and did a fantastic job making sure that Tink's second Christmas was full of fun memories.

The Wednesday after Thanksgiving, we had our first snow! We were really excited to take the girls outside to take pictures. They humored us, but weren't as thrilled as we hoped :)




The night before the fun began, our church hosted a Christmas petting zoo called Journey to the Manger. Tink got to pet and brush farm animals and say hello to Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, and an angel! She was a lot less timid than her first petting zoo experience, and cried when it was time to go home!



Christmas cookies are one of R's favorite traditions, and he was even more excited this year now that I have so many decorating supplies :) Tink had a blast "helping", and I even pitched in just a little when it was time to decorate. It was a HUGE mess, but they were pretty cute!





Getting all dressed up for Christmas Sunday has always been so much fun for me! I had Tink's dress before Thanksgiving, but it was a little tricky getting the rest of it. Thanks to a little outing to the consignment store, she was all set :)


A Little More Than We Bargained For

If you've been staying in touch or keeping up on Facebook, this is old news to you by now (feel free to skip it). But, just in case you missed it, and for the sake of having it recorded somewhere, here's the story:
The week after Thanksgiving was pretty normal - we made plans for parties and shopping was well under way. I was really excited about all of the things I had planned for Tink - cookies, mailing her letter to Santa, Angel Tree, and shopping for our friends and family. Unfortunately, Baby J had something completely different in mind!
I woke up at about 1am on the morning of the 7th having contractions. I was sure it was a false alarm, and tried walking it off and getting some water. At about 2:30, I decided I should wake R up and call the doctor. By 3:30, my sister was here to stay with Tink, and we were headed to the hospital. K asked if she should take Tink home with her when she woke up, and I assured her that we would be back by then (yeah right).
By the time I was checked in at the hospital and hooked up to a monitor, my contractions were 8 minutes apart. They started with a steriod shot for J's lungs, and found that I had dialated to a 1. Things slowed down a bit after a shot of Terbutaline, but they started up about 3 hours later. Then, the real fun began. They hooked me to an IV and started Magnesium, which slowed my contractions, but made me feel like I was just waking up from fainting. I also had to have my vitals checked every hour and my blood drawn every six hours, which makes rest pretty difficult! After a pretty uneventful day, we decided that R should go home and get some rest and let Tink sleep in her own bed as I settled in to an antepartum room.
I did well throughout the night, and the doctor decided to try an oral medication - things remained calm, and a sonogram showed that my labor hadn't progressed! We were all excited, and the doctor talked about sending me home on Thursday.
Unfortunately, I woke up contracting about about 1am the next morning. They tried Terbutaline again, but for some reason, this round sent me straight for a close encounter with the porcelain god - if you know me at all, you know that this is my LEAST favorite thing! Getting sick bought me another round of Magnesium, this time without any food. Luckily, all of the excitement didn't phase J in the least. His heart rate was steady, he continued to move and kick as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on, and I still had no labor progression.
Because things continued to look good through all of the excitement, they decided that I would probably rest better at home. On Thursday morning, the doctor took me off of the IV and checked me over one more time before releasing me to go home. I never imagined that I would leave the hospital so quickly (and still pregnant)!
The next month brought a LOT of time on the couch, movies and magazines, and help from wonderful family and friends. I was bummed to be missing out on all of the Christmas fun, but SO thankful for the extra weeks for J to grow and that Tink is too little to remember this entire ordeal. I am officially 36 weeks today, the doctor expects J to be in great health whenever he decides to come, and I'm slowly re-entering the world. Don't expect anything too exciting, though - contrary to what you would expect from spending four weeks on the couch, I'm exhausted! We know we couldn't have made it without all of your prayers and help, and we are truly greatful - we promise to keep everyone updated, especially when J decides to make his grand appearance!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

We have a family tradition of putting up the tree before we leave for Thanksgiving. It's really fun to come home to the house all decorated! This year brought a new level of excitement because Tink was all about helping with the ornaments. We also met some friends for the tree lighting in Southlake Town Square, which just might become another tradition!

Getting out the ornaments

Choosing just the right spot
Let's put this one here

The final touch
Lighted Southlake fountain

Oh, Christmas tree!

It wouldn't be Christmas without a cookie!

Playing Catch-up - Thanksgiving

So, in case you've been out of touch lately, I've been a little preoccupied to post to the blog (more about that later). For now, here are the posts that you would have seen if all had been "normal":

We had a wonderful week-long Thanksgiving with our families! Because travel isn't an option for Christmas this year, Ryan took a few extra days and we headed to Oklahoma. We spent the first half of the week with my family, and the second half with Ryan's. Tink is starting to warm up a little more quickly than before with our families -especially her cousins! She couldn't wait to get in on all of the action. It was a great week away, and we came home feeling overwhelmed with thankfulness for our family and friends, Ryan's job, my time at home, and our growing family.

I found these shirts online, and Papa took care of the rest :)

Chowing down with Daddy

Giggly girls :)

My Mom's family

Linders cousins

Drum lessons with Pa Pa

Football with the boys

Playing a new game

Always ready to dress up!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Remember these?
I decided to roast and puree the pie pumpkins this year, and I'm so excited with the way they turned out! I've been trying lots of pumpkin recipes, and thought I would share a few:
Pumpkin Pancakes Martha Stewart
Pumpkin Cookies The Good Apple
I also hope to try these soon:
Frosted Pumpkin Cake Cooking Light
Yeah, I'm a little out of control. Think this is a pregnancy craving? :)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Halloween Fun

We had a great Halloween! We started the day at a birthday party for my cousin's kids, complete with a petting zoo! Tink wasn't so excited about the "petting" part, but she loved making noises at the animals and playing with her cousins. The plan was to go home and wait for trick-or-treaters, but as soon as R saw all of the kids on our street, he talked me into taking Tink to a few houses. It didn't take her long to catch on, and she had a blast! We made it home in time to answer the door for awhile, and she had a great time handing out candy and seeing all of the costumes (after I looked through the peep hole to make sure the grim reaper wasn't standing there, of course) :) Enjoy the pics!

My Aunt D showing Tink a baby pig

little chick

You do it, Mommy

petting a bunny with a little help

I'm not going to touch it, if that's what you're waiting for . . .

Now, this is more my speed!

Such cute animal cupcakes!

Digging in :)

Tink and her cousin - such cuties!

Cousin picture!

Ready to trick-or-treat
Getting started
Trick or Treat!

The favorite of the night - a sucker!

Are there more in here?

Trick or Treat booty

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Pumpkin Patch

We barely squeezed in a trip to the pumpkin patch this year! We met Ryan yesterday after work at Hall Pumpkin Farm. The ground was really muddy, but Tink loved it and we got some fun pictures. I left with wet feet and ruined shoes, but Ryan bought me kettle corn, so I think I'll get over it :)

family picture

Tink's favorite part of the pumpkin patch
(I see a play house in this girl's future)

cowgirl tink

corn maze

cheese!

Seriously, can I get down?

Dad, I want this one!

mini hay maze
(Daddy's worst nightmare)

How many pictures are you going to take?

If I look really cute, can we be finished?