3 Months Old

Well, our little girl is already three months old.  It just doesn't seem possible (I'm guessing I'll say that every month)!

She has changed so much in the last month - it's hard to even begin listing the changes.  The biggest thing we've noticed is her neck strength.  She is no longer content to lie down and look around.  She has to have her head up and moving!  She won't relax anymore because she's constantly trying to sit up and look around. 

Sitting in the corner of the couch is one of her favorite spots.  She can lean forward and see everything.  This is her favorite Patton-watching spot.  Patton isn't too sure about sharing the couch with her but he does take care to sit at the opposite end from where she is sitting!

She has also discovered her hands.  She realizes she can touch anything near her and, better yet, can get her hands directly into her mouth!  We have a thumb sucker on our hands now!  You'll constantly hear lip smacking sounds as she's trying to get her thumb in her mouth!  It's super cute.  She also has what we call "worry hands".  She's constantly wringing her hands like a little old lady.  It's so funny to watch.

                                           

Bath time has also become a blast for her.  She loves the water being poured on her and she loves to make a mess by splashing!  She gets so upset when bath time is done.

We've also been trying to record all of her mannerisms so I'll try and post some of the videos soon!

State Fair and Grandmas

What a busy weekend we had.  We spent the weekend in Grand Island to attend the State Fair.  We had a blast!

First we stopped at my mom and dad's and picked up Allie and my mom.  Allie and Amelia had to play first.  Allie kept trying to give Amelia "kisses".  Not sure if they were really kisses as her two bottom teeth were prominently displayed.



Allie kept trying to play with Amelia by grabbing her face.  Amelia wasn't too sure about this and ended up with a couple of scratches but once she's older, I know they'll love playing together.

After some play time we headed to the fair.  Our first stop was the petting zoo.  We had a blast!  They had a crazy variety of animals to pet - zebra, camel, goats, buffalo, water bison.  The list goes on. 

Allie loved watching the goats and kept trying to pull the tag out of this one's year.

This camel really wanted to sniff Allie but she wasn't too sure.

Allie was pretty worn out after riding around for a while, but she was pretty comfy in her stroller.

We stopped at the birthing pavilion to see the piglets and lamb.  They were adorable.  There were also 2 cows in labor but Dave didn't want to hang around to see how that progressed.

Of course, Amelia was hungry about the time we arrived at the birthing pavilion.  I thought it was fitting that she was getting her bottle there.

We also were able to visit both of my grandparents.  They hadn't seen Amelia since she was a couple of weeks old.  She thoroughly enjoyed sleeping with her Great-Grandmas.



Amelia even got to pick corn with Great Grandpa Schlueter! 

All in all, it was a great weekend.  We only wish Grand Island was closer so we could visit more often!

The Whiffle Thumb*

You think he'd learn....

Nine years after he broke his hand sliding into second base during a softball game, he did it again. Yep, last Monday, Dave dove into second base and broke his thumb.

Luckily, he doesn't have to have surgery this time. His thumb is only broken in one place and the break didn't displace the bone. He gets to wear this lovely brace around for the next few weeks while it heals.



He hasn't let this slow him down though. He's still changing diapers and getting Amelia dressed every morning.

Maybe at 30 years old, he'll learn his lesson this time!

*Title courtesy of Rick Stava

2 Months Old!

Our Amelia is already 2 months old! These two months have flown by!

She's been an incredibly happy baby. It really doesn't take much to get a big 'ol smile from her!

We've been working on our tummy time. As you can tell, it takes lots of concentration.

We spent the weekend at state softball. Amelia was practicing.

I head back to work tomorrow and Amelia starts daycare. I'm looking forward to getting back to my job but it will be hard to not get to spend all day with her! She'll be in good hands and will have lots of fun playing with the other babies. These 2 months have gone way too fast!

Quick Trip & More

We took a super quick trip to Grand Island yesterday. One of my good friends from high school was in town visiting and we had to go see her. Andrea doesn't make it back from Vegas that often so when she does, we are there. Plus, she had to meet Amelia!

Patton made the trip with us so he could hang out with Bentley and Winston. Apparently, Amelia makes a good pillow for the ride.

After visiting with Andrea we got to spend some time at my mom and dad's with Allie. Michael and Andrea closed on their new house on Friday (congratulations to them!) so they were over there cleaning while Allie hung out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Amelia also got her first ride in the mustang. No worries, the top was only down for pictures!

We also got to spend a quick evening with Grandma and Grandpa Pool!

We were so glad we were able to make the quick trip to see Andrea! She definitely needs to come home more often!

Now, here are some more recent photos of Amelia...

One Month Old

Our little girl is one month old today! It just doesn't seem possible. I know both Dave and I spent weeks feeling like we were babysitting and someone was going to come and pick her up! I think it's just now sinking in that she's staying.

She's doing really well. Gaining weight as you can tell by her cheeks! She isn't sleeping through the night but she is sleeping for pretty long periods of time so we aren't sleep deprived. Well, I'm not sleep deprived. Dave can sleep through all of it!

She's picking up her head frequently. She loves watching Patton. She's full of smiles; likes to hum and make all sorts of faces, especially when she's sleeping. Generally, she's pretty relaxed which makes life easier for us!

It's been quite a month, but one we wouldn't change for anything!

Amelia

I thought I had better get moving since our little girl is 4 weeks old and hasn't shown up once on this blog. So here's Amelia’s birth story...

When I woke up Tuesday morning, I noticed right away something was amiss. Up until this point, my pregnancy had been progressing wonderfully. I hadn’t been having any contractions and baby was still moving around like crazy. But when I woke up, I knew something this was going to be an interesting day. My water had broken.

Dave had already gotten up to get Patton up and fed. He was quite surprised to find me up when he returned to our room. I told him that I didn’t think he’d be going to work today and that we should probably head to the hospital. He was more than a little surprised as I had not had any contractions and we both were more than certain this baby was not arriving early!

We arrived at the hospital around 7am. There was no question by then that my water had broken so we were admitted. At this point, I still wasn’t having any contractions but because my water had broken, I couldn’t go home. By 10am, I was hooked up to an IV, was started on Pitocin, and was stuck in bed for constant monitoring. It was not pleasant.

Once the Pitocin kicked in, my contractions started coming hard and fast. I was expecting them to be tough, but nothing like they were. Apparently the Pitocin makes them faster and stronger and they were not fun. By 4pm, I was dilated to 4 centimeters and was ready for the epidural. Going into this experience, I was torn as to whether I’d have an epidural or not. I was open to the idea but I was going to try and get through her birth without one. Let me tell you, those contractions were not nice and the epidural was a huge relief.

I was finally able to relax (at least a bit) as the epidural kicked in. What I didn’t know was that this was not going to last long. I believe it was only half an hour or so after the epidural was administered that my nurse became concerned with Spud’s heartbeat. One minute, I was laying in bed astonished that I couldn’t feel my legs and the next minute an oxygen mask is being put on me and the nurse is paging for help. Nothing was specifically said to Dave or I about what was happening, but I think both of us knew. Dave could see the monitors and had noticed that Spud’s heartbeat had dropped, but I had no idea what had occurred.

Within minutes, our room was filled with nurses, the doctor had been called, an internal monitor was put on Spud, and Dave was handed scrubs. I was being flipped from side to side and all eyes were on the fetal monitor. I later found out that they thought Spud was lying on her umbilical cord and this was causing her heartbeat to drop. Flipping me from side to side was supposed to help relieve the pressure on the cord. Unfortunately, this was not helping. Before I had time to think about what was happening, I was being prepped for a c-section.

Out the door we went to surgery. By this point Dave and I were in shock. We had no real idea on why a c-section was necessary. We just knew it was happening. I was concerned for the baby, but I trusted my nurse and doctor and knew everything was under control. My immediate concern actually rested with Dave. He couldn’t even talk about a c-section during baby class without getting queasy and now we were rushing to the operating room. I thought for sure I’d be seeing him in his own hospital bed with head trauma before the day was over.

Before we knew it, the doctors had me prepped and ready to go. Dave was by my side, firmly behind the curtain and the action was beginning. Within minutes, the anesthesiologist noted that he was looking at the prettiest little girl face. Dave and I were in shock. We didn’t expect a girl and the anesthesiologist must have noticed that because he then asked the doctor if it was a girl! And it was! She was taken over to the warming table and was checked over. Dave was immediately by her side.

All I could hear was lots of crying (which was a relief) and all I could see were the nurses hovering around the warming table. I was told she looked great. That was all I needed to know. The nurses worked on cleaning her up while I was being sewn up. Dave even got involved by cutting the umbilical cord. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he would do that!

So, Amelia Ann Pool was born at 5:20 pm on June 7, 2011. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 inches long.

Never once during this pregnancy did we think we’d end up with a c-section. My mom has since informed me that I am the only person in her family to have had a c-section! Dave and I definitely had a plan in our minds on how labor was going to go and this was not it. We were fully aware that labor never goes as planned and we were ready for deviations from this plan, but we never, in our wildest dreams, anticipated the day would go like this. It worked out perfectly in the end though and we have a beautiful little girl!