He is awesome!

The title reveals Karissa's thoughts about Caleb Whitaker Haley born on November 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pm after 2 days of prelabor and one push.

a princess for a sister

Yesterday, Karissa transformed into Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty. She decided to be Sleeping Beauty after we had a conversation about how sad it is that all the Disney princess's mommies are dead. We were naming all of them and then when we got to Sleeping Beauty Karissa remembered that Aurora's mommy was still alive. As a result she decided to be Aurora even though she likes some of the other princesses better. She also decided that Caleb could either be a prince or a puppy next year.

Caleb's Room!

Finally, the completed room! A lot of love went into this room. Grandddaddy Haley bought most of the furniture from Ikea. Daddy and Karissa built the furniture. Karissa made many beautiful pieces of art to hang on the wall. Grandma Haley made all the bedding. Grandma Haley and Karissa painted. Mama and Papa Whit brought the glider. I just directed where it all should go. I hope Caleb enjoys his room!

The Pumpkin Patch

Last Monday, Karissa and I went to Washington Farms to visit the pumpkin patch with her preschool class. We had a lot of fun! It was a beautiful day! Caleb was pretty laid back most of the time except for the hayride. He did not like being jostled around so much! Needless to say I was exhausted by the end but it was well worth seeing my daughter have so much fun. I am sure we will return to Washington Farms for some strawberry picking and at that time it will be fun to have Caleb with us outside the belly.

Big Kids and Babies

Last Monday, Karisssa took a class on being a big sister at Athens Regional, the hospital I will be delivering at. She of course took it very seriously. They talked about what a baby is like and things they can do to help and how they can interact with the baby. She had a lot to say, mostly due to being around her cousin Paul. It was most definitely another step to helping Karissa become more excited for the arrival of her brother. We also had a tour of the Mother and Baby Unit. It is very well arranged and set up. I think I will like being there. My favorite part of it is that it is very self contained. Needless to say after all this she feels like an expert.

Attempt Number Two

One of the most frustrating things about leaving St. Louis (for me a least) was having to leave right after we got Caleb's room all finished. Thanks to the great blessing of John's parents Caleb will have his own room here at their house. So this past weekend Karissa and Dorinda worked hard to paint the room the same colors that he would have had in St. Louis. Also Aunt Melissa was very kind to come down with Paul and help organize things. So once again Caleb will have a beautiful room thanks to the wonderful love of family!

U2!

This past Tuesday, John and I went to an U2 concert and of course Caleb came along too. It was an excellent concert and very entertaining! Caleb enjoyed it a lot too. He was rockin' and rollin'. I guess we can always tell Caleb he did one of the coolest things in his life before he was even born.

the big cousin

This past weekend Uncle Micah and Aunt Melissa came to visit and of course 6 month old Paul came too! Karissa was very excited to see Paul. Every time Paul was awake Karissa was right there wanting to play with him or help take care of him. Paul also did everything he could to keep up with her. She was such a great big cousin I can't wait to see her be a big sister. We got some sweet pictures of the two of them together.

the big move

As of September 15 we are again residents of Watkinsville, GA. About 3 weeks before our move we gave notice that John would be leaving his ministry position at Harvest. After a lot of prayer and God revealing a lot of unexpected truths we began to realize that our time in St. Louis had ended. Even though it is not a choice we liked making - having to leave a place we loved, we are confident in the Lord's leading. We are again living with John's parents. We are so incrediably thankful for them! I am actually looking forward to all the additional help that wil be avaible when the little guy arrives. I am also thankful for the medical care I have been able to find here. I am going to a Midwife practice associated with the hospital. I have gone to the practice twice now and have felt well cared for. I have also found a chiropractor that provides prenatal message. So we are well on the way to preparing for the arrival of Caleb Whitaker Haley. (Probably due to no coincidence my migraines have ceased, another praise!)

All is Well!

I had an ultrasound this past Tuesday and found all to be well. God is so good and it is truly a tremendous blessing knowing our little one is growing. He is definitely a strong little guy. I can't even count how many times his kicks and punches have taken my breath away. I can't wait to meet him. I am already making some guesses about his personality. I am thinking he will be a little more laid back than our highly active Karissa, but probably just as stubborn. I am also thinking he will be more of a cuddler. Most of all I know he will just make our family all the better.

low weight

Last Thursday, I had an appointment to see if Caleb is no longer breech. Thank the Lord, he has turned! He had been feeling like he was positioned different for about a month or so now. All the prominent movement started taking place at the top of my belly rather than more towards the bottom. I am very thankful my hopes have been fulfilled. There is a concern though. He is not gaining weight as he should. I have another appointment in a couple of weeks to check his weight again and if it hasn't improved I will have to limit my activity. They are thinking this is due to me not resting as I should, which is probably true since I haven't been resting much. Needless to say we are praying that all will be well at the next ultrasound.

mommy is in trouble

I went to the doctor yesterday for one of the routine appointments. John didn't need to go into work till after lunch so he watched Karissa. The appointment went well. Caleb is as strong as ever and they are still happy with how I am doing. The only hiccup is that I am getting migraines. I have never had them before and it got real scary there for a moment. The doctor gave me a prescription which I am very thankful for because I was afraid they would not allow me to take anything but Tylenol. Needless to say I don't feel in as much dread of them now. Anyway I came home and Karissa asked me where I went and I told her I went to to the doctor so they could check on Caleb. She frowns at me and puts her hands on her hips and says in an angry tone, "You are not supposed to go without me, I am the big sister!" I promised to make sure to take her next time. That smoothed things over. Whew!

A Song by Karissa

"the pregnant girl in the house, she is my mom and the boy who loves her is over here, he is my dad, i love him very much, he gives me a lot of things" sang to accompaniment of the ukulele

a four-year-old's sympathy

Today I was talking to my mom and telling her that I am beginning to have a hard time sleeping at night. My hips get real sore. Karissa must have been listening in because she says, "That's because she's pregnant!" in a real goofy voice. She then starts laughing and explains that this is her baby joke. I guess if I think about it pregnancy must be pretty funny to a four-year-old. After all, I look weird, act weird and people treat me differently.

The Ninth Inning

That's what my doctor called it when I had a routine appointment this morning. I will start to go to appointments every two weeks now. It is amazing when you start the two week appointments how much faster things seem to move along Before we know it Caleb will be here. Wow! The appointment went very well. All is as it should be. My glucose levels are great. So no gestational diabetes. My blood pressure is exactly where it should be. I gaining weight perfectly. Not too much. Not too little. This surprises me because I feel like I eat constantly, but I have been pretty active thanks to Karissa. God has blessed us greatly. I keep thinking about the time when I thought I couldn't have anymore children. Then thinking also of all the possible complications that come not only with just being pregnant but even more so (namely miscarriage) when you are pregnant with a thyroid condition and poly-cystic ovary syndrome. Thanks to everyone for all the prayers. Please continue to pray. One more trimester to go!

Quote from Karissa

"Mommy I love you, but you're too big for this bathroom."

Aunt Melanie

Late Friday, Aunt Melanie came to town for a short visit. She and Karissa had a lot of fun spending time together. Saturday, John, Melanie and Karissa spent most of the day playing music. I am sure with all this musical talent floating around Caleb will find a way to join in too. Sunday, Melanie helped John lead worship. They did a great job! Sunday also began a long running game of Rock, Paper, Scissors played by Melanie and Karissa. Monday, we took Melanie to St. Charles and even found a sign with Rock, Paper, Scissors on it. Of course, Aunt Melanie and Karissa had to have their picture taken in front of it. Monday ended with Aunt Melanie and Karissa going a date to Smoothie King. Melanie has been a wonderful Aunt and I am sure she will make a wonderful Aunt for Caleb too!

Karissa, the Builder

Yesterday was a work day in the Haley house. John built the Ikea furniture for Caleb's room to provide extra storage. Dorinda finished sewing the bumper pad. I started making some pillows. One is a giraffe and the other is an alligator. Karissa was a great helper as usual. She mostly hung out with Daddy building the furniture. She also created some artwork to hang in Caleb's room above the crib. The room is beginning to look more and more like a baby's room especially after hanging the curtians.

belly, belly

I was looking through past posts and realized I haven't posted preggo pictures in awhile. I completely neglected my plan to posted monthly pictures. Opps! Anyway the other day Dorinda took a picture of Karissa and Caleb. He is growing fast! This past month I have been feeling the best I have yet to feel. I am thinking he may have shifted to more of a transverse position which may explain why I feel more at ease. Also my energy has been pretty good or maybe I am just caught in the excitement of getting things ready for Caleb. Overall, I am feeling much less sore than I have been feeling. I am very thankful because with Karissa I remember things getting more uncomfortable as time went on. I had been worried because I started off so uncomfortable and could envision getting worse and worse. Caleb seems to be doing really well. Those movement are continuing to impress me with their strength and the predictability (kick, kick, punch, punch, turn, stop) of them has continued. Although last night, he changed up his routine for Daddy. John got close to my belly and started calling out his name. Caleb got all excited and started either punching or kicking in the exact spot John was talking. So precious!

the Zoo!

Yesterday, John took a day off of work using our anniversary as the excuse so we headed out to the Zoo knowing the weather would make it extra pleasant. Dorinda was a little hesitant about going because apparently her last zoo experience wasn't so pleasant. There are two things besides all the beautiful animals that make this zoo so nice to go to, all the trees (therefore a ton of shade) and the fact that it is free.


We began our adventure by visiting the monkey house. Karissa took it upon herself to talk to the monkeys. We then continued on to eat lunch. Karissa said she really wanted to see the lions so we headed over in that direction.





On the way we got distracted by the giraffes. As it would happen we ended up spending most of our time here. They had a baby and it was very cute. Karissa was very impressed by how tall they were. Then we headed toward the big cats. They were all napping so not too exciting, but Karissa thought it was funny that they took naps like her.



We then decided to ride the train to the other side of the zoo to see the elephants. John was very excited about this because we went through several tunnels. They also had a baby elephant. Somehow Karissa was most impressed by the size of their poo. We ended our time by going and seeing the butterflies. We all had a lot of fun taking pictures. I wanted to get some pictures of animals to put in Caleb's room. Dorinda didn't have much luck with her picture taking though, she ended up getting a lot of backsides of the animals. It turned out to be a fun albeit tiring day!

Getting ready for Caleb

We have been spending the last week and a half getting things ready for Caleb's room. Dorinda has been a tremendous help and Karissa has been very patient. I have dragged them all over St. Louis gathering up various items such as drapes to complete the room. The room for Caleb is quite small so I wanted to make it as bright as possible to keep it from looking crowded. Fortunately, I already had a lot of modern bright colored fabric. Also I found some very cute framed bright colored animal prints from Ikea. So the nursery will consist of bright color with a few cute little animals scattered around. No particular theme just trying to make it cheery. Dorinda has been working hard to paint as well as to sew a bumper pad and a couple of blankets. Of course, she has had the cutest little helper ever - Karissa. Looking forward to seeing it all completed! But most of all looking forward to meeting the future occupant!

St. Charles, MO!

Yesterday we went to St Charles, MO. St Charles is near the Missouri River and has a beautiful historic downtown area filled with unique shops and delicious restaurants. The first store we went to was a neat little bookstore which is where we ended up spending most of our time. Karissa loved dragging Grandma around and making her read different books. She even met a fairy there because an author who wrote a Young Adult Fantasy Novel, Eleganta, about fairies was there signing copies of his book. (I purchased one and look forward to reading it!)




We then wandered in and out of stores until we grew hungry and then ate outside at a nice little cafe. Caleb received some of his first gifts from Grandma (his very first were pacifiers from Karissa!). We ended our time there by going to a local coffee shop where Karissa met some superheroes, they were on a scavenger hunt to prove who was the most powerful. They were very kind to Karissa and gave her some little wooden trinkets.



Caleb seemed to enjoy the day too. He seems to like it a lot when I am up walking. I think he is going to be one of those babies when upset like to be walked around. We highly enjoyed our day in St. Charles and the gorgeous weather made it even more pleasant!

Magic House!

Last Wednesday, Karissa and Grandma enjoyed a trip to the Magic House. The Magic House is the St. Louis children museum. While they had their adventures I went to Lowe's and picked out paint colors for Caleb's room. Apparently it was quite an adventure because Grandma lost her camera, but thankfully it was found the next day! When I picked them up I not only heard about this but about slides, sand, the water room and Cinderella's coach and slipper and more. Wow! Thanks Grandma for the wonderful time!

Slide!Sand!Water Room!
Cinderella's Slipper!

Grandma's in town

This week and next week we will have the pleasure of John's mom's company. She has graciously agreed to help get Caleb's room ready. She arrived with Ikea furniture to add much needed storage. She will also sew some beautiful bedding for the crib as well as paint. I am so thankful for all her wonderful help. Her time here will not be all work and no play. We have already had a lot of fun and have many more fun activities planned. Last Saturday, we went to the City Museum and not only was Grandma with us but so was Aunt Melanie. The City Museum is full of things to see, climb, and make. It is by no means a typical museum. We all had so much fun exploring!

Aunt Melanie and Karissa striking a pose

Climbing with Aunt Melanie

Being an artist

This week Karissa and Dorinda will be making a trip to the Magic House. We will also go to the Botanical Gradens. We are also hoping to make it to historical St. Charles. Next week, Karissa and Dorinda will go to the Buttrefly House. Also Aunt Melanie will return. Yeah! Looking forward to a couple of weeks of great memories.

so strong

I just am amazed at how strong Caleb is. Even though I have felt Caleb moving for quite awhile now, but each time the movements are stronger and stronger. So strong they sometimes startle me. Which amazes me considering he is only a pound and 12 inches long. As before nothing gets him moving more than hearing his sister's voice. I have also noticed that his movements are a lot more predictable and often follow a pattern where as Karissa's were pure random.

Chi-town

We just returned from spending a couple of days in Chicago. We left early yesterday morning and arrived in downtown Chicago at about 2:30 pm. We stayed in a Fairfield right off the Magnificent Mile. Right after we arrived and checked in we made a beeline for the American Girl Store because part of our hotel stay package included a $50 gift certificate. Karissa carefully picked out a highchair for her baby.

We then walked around the Water Tower area checking out several stores and taking pictures and videos of Karissa. Afterwords we headed back to the hotel to catch a taxi to the Publican. The Publican is a restaurant we heard about from Food Network. We meet some great friends there and enjoyed a fabulous meal. Some of the best food we have ever had. We returned to the Magnificent Mile for dessert at Ghirardelli's. After this Karissa was pretty tired and asking to go to our room. Once in our room we all enjoyed a great night's sleep. We woke the next morning to have breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, somehow we can never go to Chicago without eating there. Then we headed to Macy's because I found I brought the totally wrong kind of shoes for all this walking and we weren't done walking yet.

After taking advantage of the great Independence Day sale we checked out of the hotel in order to find our way to the Taste of Chicago. The Taste of Chicago is where some 60 or so locally owned food vendors gather at Grant Park to serve amazing food. We highly enjoyed everything we ate as well as the setting. Grant park is beautiful being surrounded by the lake as well as those impressive high-rise buildings. After all this we were more than ready to make our drive home which turned out to have a nice added bonus. We managed to time our approach to St. Louis just as all the fireworks were going off. Our drive to the house was accompanied to the sounds of Karissa exclaiming "Oh, there is one!"; "That was a big one!"; "That's my favorite color!" Our trip was wonderful and full of great experiences!

the fine art of censoring

Karissa and John have been having a lot of fun talking to Caleb. A couple of days ago Karissa wanted John to tell Caleb about Star Wars. John started to tell Caleb the plot when Karissa quickly interrupts and tells John he can't tell him about the bad robots, or the bad ships, or the bad people, or the ..... because he would get scared. So sweet, already looking after her little brother!

life in the world of breech

Having a baby that is breech is definitely different. Mostly the movements feel more evident in my pelvic region because of course us pregos feel the arm and leg movement more than the head movements. Finding out he was breech explained a lot before I thought we were going to have a head banging rock star on our hands. Also this explains why I feel so uncomfortable. Apperaantly women carrying their babies breech have shorter breath and a harder time bending over. I just thought I was having a harder time tolerating this pregnancy sooner than with Karissa. There are a couple of non-evasive things I can do to encourage turning. One includes John and Karissa talking to him at my pelvic region with hopes that Caleb will follow the sound. I can also play music. Another is swimming because the boyancy is supposed to make it easier for him to turn. Thankfully I have free access to a pool due to a very gracious friend. Karissa has taken her "job" seriously to turn Caleb. Of course, she finds the swimming no inconvenience at all!

Caleb Whitaker Haley

Last Friday, we found out we are having a boy! One boy and one girl! Wow! John and I found it quite funny that we plus Karissa were all excited to go look for that little part that gives the gender away. We thought it strange that not only were we searching for it, but that it would be displayed on a big screen as well as have pictures taken of it. Then later we would be showing it to other people. I can guarantee that this will be the only time that this phenomenon will be happening. Thanks to God's blessing we also found that Caleb is healthy! The only slight concern is that he is breech. Only 4% of babies are born breech so there is a huge possibility he will turn. So we left the doctor's office with exciting news and two souvenirs - pictures and a black eye. That is right a black eye! Karissa decided to do some acrobats on the waiting room chairs and hit her eye the edge of the wooden arm of one of them. She did it so fast! One moment she was being the picture of patient calmness and the next she did this massive, quick move that ended in looking like she got in a fight. Thankfully we were already at a doctor's office and had plenty of help.

the cutiest ballerina

Sunday, June 14th, I received an absolutely precious birthday gift - watching Karissa perform her graduation performance for ballet. She was beyond cute in her pink tutu and curly, curly hair. She did very, very well. She did all her steps along with that little attitude that makes Karissa who she is. I thought I was being a little biased, but even her ballet teacher said she and her class did the best out of their age group. Karissa absolutely loved it. Nothing like being on a big stage! She had the hugest grin on her face the entire time.

A busy summer

Our summer is already planned away. Wow! This week has and will be full of play dates. This Sunday, Karissa has her ballet recital with the rehearsal Saturday. Next week is VBS each morning with Friday being the ultrasound that will reveal the gender of our little one. The following two weeks are swimming lesson each morning. Then another week of play dates. The middle two weeks of July will be busy with Grandma and Aunt Melanie visiting. Then most likely on August 9th or there abouts we will be headed to Georgia for a week. Karissa then starts school August 26th. Whew!

Karissa, the teacher cont'd.

Karissa will also be more than happy to teach the new little one how to tell a joke. And I quote: "Mommy and Daddy I have a joke for you. A squirrel was in the street and a truck came and squished it and I took a picture of it." What?! Where does she get this stuff? John and I were definitely taken off guard and laughed till we cried.

Training Ground

I have not been felling well with a sinus infection or would have posted this sooner. Well, here we go...

A little over a week ago Karissa and I returned from Augusta, Georgia after spending two weeks taking care my 2 month old nephew and Karissa's cousin, Paul. His mommy and daddy are in dental school and they needed someone to watch Paul till Grandma could come and take over. He is a very sweet, happy little guy. He hardly cried and instead was quick to smile and make the cutest little grunting, gurly noises. His mommy and daddy are doing a wonderful job. He is a very blessed little man to have such great parents.

As for Karissa, this time in Georgia proved to be a great training ground for getting ready to take on the role of being a big sister. Several things were proven by the training ground:

1) She made a great big cousin (hopefully this will also prove true for sisterhood). She was very helpful and willing to go get whatever was needed. She was also very willing to entertain Paul and sing to him if he ever got fussy.
2) She does not like the baby to cry. She gets very agitated and anxious to help and calm the baby.
3) She will not sacrifice what she feels is her right to be the center of attention. If Paul was getting more attention, she would quickly ask to hold him so now she was part of the attention.
4) Her previous bad habit of saying "I don't want to" returned. She was so willing to help with Paul and that was where the willingness ended.
5) She was very curious about how everything worked. How to give Paul a bath. How to change Paul. How to feed Paul. How to dress Paul. She walked around with a stool so she could get the best view possible.
6) If the baby poops or toots while she is holding it, she is no longer willing to hold it.
7) She is very concerned about what a baby wears - the clothes have to match.

Hanging out with Paul!

Giving her new cousin a kiss!

TV at work!

a big butterfly

I have felt little, light flutters for a couple of weeks now. This week the movements have become more pronounced like a big butterfly moving around. The best part is that the movements are more noticeable when Karissa talks! They do say that this week the little one can hear external noises and so far it's favorite must be Karissa.

No pictures :-(

I haven't posted pictures in awhile because our camera was going on the fritz and now it is just well not a pretty picture (no pun intended). We tried using it to take pictures of Karissa's musical on her last day of school. John will be ordering a new one so hopefully we can start picture taking again!

loving your ...... brother?

The other night I was reading Karissa her nightly devotional before bed. She has a one year devotional geared toward kids that has a verse and summary for each day. This particular day it was talking about loving your brother or sister and how important that is. When we finished reading I asked Karissa if she wanted to pray and ask Jesus to help her to love her brother or sister. She looks at me matter of factly and says, "But mom I already love my brother. I am going to marry him." This is news to me considering she usually insists I am having a sister. Oh, not to mention the whole I am going to marry him thing!

Karissa the teacher

A few of the things that baby number two will learn from his or her older sister ....
1) The fine art of being a Jedi knight, a princess, a fairy, and a dog all at once.
2) The difference between toots and stinkies, primarily that you can see one and not the other.
3) The best way to defend yourself when your mom says your being too loud is to tell her you are rock starring.
4) The best uses for paper are tearing it up into bits to make snow or twisting it to make caterpillars.
5) The best diet revolves around cheese, PB and Js, chocolate and oranges.
6) The best songs to sing are the ones you have made up yourself particularly ones about how Jesus gave us booties.
7) The only color worth wearing, having in your room, and using to color is purple.

swoooop swoooop

Today I had a routine doctor's appointment, they want to see me every 4 weeks. Anyway, everything is great and as it should be. Karissa was a great big sister. Supportive and a great listener. They were able to use the doppler to hear the heart beat. I love that! It is all so awesome! Karissa was so cute and held my hand while we listened to the heart beat. She was sad that daddy couldn't be there today so she took upon herself to learn how to make the swooop swooop sound that you hear so she could recreate it for daddy later. Needless to say she was quite proud of herself.

boy and girl

A quote from Karissa .... "If mommy has a girl she has to have a boy because if she just has one, it wouldn't make any sense, she has to have both, it just wouldn't make any sense."

.... at home

So, I see I haven't posted in quite awhile. Like I told my mom yesterday when I talked her and she stated that it has been nearly two weeks since I last talked to her, I have lost all since of time. My days seem to be consumed with resting as much as possible. Also eating. I can't seem to eat enough! I am hungry nearly all the time. It was not like that with Karissa. Speaking of Karissa, she thinks I should have the baby at home. Well, I have news for her! Anyway, yesterday we got the birth announcement for Paul, Karissa's cousin. I showed it to her and asked if she remembers being there when he was born. She said yes and commented on Aunt Mo being in the hospital for a long, long time (of course, she was there the normal amount of time but I guess to Karissa it seemed like a long time). I then told her that I will have to be at the hospital too when the baby is born. She then just stares at me wide-eyed with a disbelieving expression on her face for a few seconds. When I ask what is wrong she says mommy you could stay home and have the baby. No, thank you!

I don't like your doctor

Tuesday, I finally had my first pregnancy visit with the OB/GYN I usually see. The past two appointments I have had were with whoever was available due to the semi-emergency nature of them. There are five doctors and three nurse practitioners at the practice I go to. I had to take Karissa with me because John was super busy with work - Easter week and all. I was a little worried about bringing Karissa because I would be having an exam. Oh course, that is nothing Karissa needs to see. While we were waiting in the exam room I told Karissa that the doctor would be looking at the baby and mommy will have to lay down for her to do so. There were of course pictures in the office so I used those to show Karissa where the baby was and I told her that Dr. Collins will have to work very hard to see the baby. I told Karissa that her job was to stay out of the doctor's way and stand by mommy's head when I lay down. Karissa started off doing very well. But as time went on I could tell curiousity was getting the better of her so I had to start getting very sturn with her. Dr. Collins took the cue to finnished up and told me she found everything to be great and that there were no concerns. Then she addressed Karissa. She said to Karissa that she was very glad to meet her and wants to be great friends with her, but that she needs to remember that Mommy is the boss and do what I say. We finished up, I made an another appointment, and we went to the car. Karissa was unusally quite until we got on the road. After what must of be a lot on thinking, she states what was on her mind, "I don't like your doctor." This surprised me because Dr. Collins was very kind to her and paid her a lot of attention. Karissa usually quickly warms up to anyone who pays her the attention she thinks she is due. Of course I ask, "Why?" She says,"She said you were the boss." And I say, "She is right, I am the boss." Then Karissa says, "No, your not." And before I could repremind her she explains "Jesus is the boss!" What could I say to that, of course she was right!

a loooong week

I see that I haven't posted in awhile. This past week has been .... I guess you could say, unusual. It started out with jury duty. I ended up being the foreperson for a criminal case. We came to a verdict right before lunch on Wednesday. It was quite the memorable experience. I learned a lot and even though I remain thankful for our judicial system I can honestly say I would prefer not to serve again. Wednesday I began to develop a cold. Thursday I experienced more spotting. We went to the doctor on Friday and found everything to be just as it should. The little one has definitely grown. We could see little arms and legs. It's little leg even moved! The heart was strong and of course beating fast. Needless to say, my cold was full force by then and I was feeling miserable. Karissa and John were great, letting me rest and getting me whatever I needed. Most of all they were very patient. Saturday I began to feel better but still pretty week. Today, I am nearly back to my regular self. Needless to say this week, I am looking forward to returning to a normal routine and having the added blessing of spending time with church family celebrating the Easter season. As you can see even though our little one is only the size of a blueberry it has had quite a week! Karissa too has had quite a week (she even had an ear infection) but ahe has been such a blessing. She and Daddy had a lot of bonding time, which both were very thankful for. Looking forward to what this week will bring!

8 weeks

Here is our eight week picture! We will take another at twelve, sixteen, etc. I am doing pretty good, but definitely feel pregnant. Karissa is adjusting to hearing "Mommy, needs to rest because she is pregnant" and similar statements. While I am resting she will cuddle with me or "read"me a book. She sometimes cuddles with the baby by placing her arm around my belly. She is also liking the "big girl" jobs I give her like helping sort laundry or putting toilet paper under the cabinets or helping sweep. I am having a lot of round ligament pain so find it uncomfortable to bend over much. Karissa is such a blessing and I am very thankful for her willingness to help.

Birthday Girl

Saturday was Karissa's birthday! She is now four years old and if I thought she was a diva before I was wrong! I often hear "I am four, so ......." The party was wonderful. We were able to celebrate it with family. Grandma, Granddaddy, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Micah, baby cousin Paul, Aunt Melanie, Uncle Matt and of course mommy and daddy were there. Grandma made a gorgeous pink castle cake. Every little girl's dream. She of course received the exact presents she wanted which included a new princess dress, Pixos, Barbie movies and of course a baby cousin. We are very thankful to everyone for working hard to make Karissa's special day even more special. It was a very wonderful beginning to her fourth year. She has many wonderful beginnings to look forward to this year including being a big sister!

Guinea Pig

A big thanks to Paul Gideon Shaw who graciously served as a guinea pig for Karissa to practice being a big sister on. Karissa's first cousin Paul was born last Wednesday. We were very blessed to be in Georgia for the wonderful event! We got to the hospital just a couple of hours after he was born. Of course, Karissa was wide eyed and very curious about everything that was going on. She loved meeting Paul. She would often sit on the bed with her Aunt Melissa (the mommy) and Paul to be as close as possible. For the most part she was very sweet to Paul stroking his hair or trying to hold his hand. The only hiccup is that every once in awhile she would wave something in his face. I think she had a hard time understanding why he was asleep so often. Of course, as time went on she did begin to struggle with sharing the attention. She did say once we returned home that she was glad to be back in St. Louis. She usually expresses sadness about leaving Georgia, perhaps this time she is excited to be the center of attention again! Uh-oh! Come the beginning of November or so that will change!

Ninja baby

This past weekend we had a little scare. I had some spotting and some pain. I called the doctor and she told me to rest until I could get in and have an ultrasound done. John and Karissa did a very good job of making sure I stay rested. On Tuesday, we went in for the ultrasound. We found everything to be very OK. The doctor said the ultrasound showed everything to be as it should at this stage! We did find that we are only having one. Karissa refuses to except this. She says one is hiding and will jump out and scare the other one when they are born. She was a very good big sister waiting patiently at the doctors. Encouraging mommy even when I had to pee in a cup. Karissa was so proud that I did this she announced it to the whole office. Thanks to all for all the prayers!

The sponsors are...

Well, the official sponsors of this pregnancy are Sprite, Special K wheat crackers, Sunkist fruit snacks and freeze dried ginger chips. I am being to be a bit nauseous but I have found if I munch on something about every 2 hours and eat a couple ginger chip I do very well. The new Speical K wheat crackers are awesome! Somehow I find the Sunkist fruit snacks have the best taste and texture. Sprite is my special treat! In the late afternoon when I am feeling the most off, I drink some Sprite and it seems to give me that little kick I need. The ginger chips are a little trick I learned when pregnant with Karissa, ginger is great for settling the stomach. The only draw back is that Karissa has decided she loves the crackers and fruit snacks so I have to share. Some of you now how unwilling I am to share, maybe it is an only child thing. Of course, she is too cute to resist!

So stylish!

This picture doesn't really have much to do with the blog emphasis, but it is too cute that I could not resist. She of course created the ensemble herself. It is made from fabric scrapes leftover from making a blanket for her cousin Paul and the skirt from her Cinderella dress up outfit. She asked her daddy, "Don't I look cool?!" When I told her I wanted to take a picture she began to dance. Anyone seeking fashion advice contact Karissa.

Storytime

This morning we were spending a relaxing time in bed and Karissa decided she wanted to tell Elmo and Paula a story. She ran into her room and got a book. I was laying on my back so she scooched down close to my belly and opened her book and began her story. "Jesus rode a special boat. He died on the cross. He became alive again. He says go to heaven. The end." Perfect! So simply stated and so true! I think the boat part came from the story of Jesus calming the storm that she learned about on Sunday and during our family devotional time on Wednesday. I have a feeling the baby will learn a lot from his or her big sister!

First pregnancy pic

So I guess this wouldn't be a pregnancy blog without pregnancy pics. Here is the first. Karissa will make an appearance in each of them since this blog is mostly about her. Also I will wear the same shirt each time. The shirt was a gift from a dear friend. She blessed me greatly by giving me all her pregnancy clothes. They are mostly warm weather clothes. Awesome considering the ones I saved from my pregnancy with Karissa are mostly cold weather clothes. In this pic, I am 6 weeks. We will take another at 8 weeks and start posting monthly pictures.

I have a great husband!

John is wonderful! Of course, I don't have to be pregnant to remember that. He is always doing, saying and acting in ways that make me feel very loved. I don't know if it is being extra emotional during pregnancy or perhaps because I feel I am more demanding but somehow I can't help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude for him while I am pregnant. Tonight he made reservations to go to the Melting Pot, a wonderfully delicious restaurant! (If you have one close by and never eaten at it, go now, you will not regret it!) Some dear friends of ours are watching Karissa for us. I guess we are establishing a kinda tradition because when we found out about Karissa we went to the Melting Pot in Kansas City. Yes, John had already made reservations to celebrate our 2 year anniversary but we quickly added celebrating being pregnant with the little one who will now soon be four and not so little. I guess John couldn't resist the excuse to return to the Melting Pot. When I told him thank you he replied thanks for being pregnant to which I said if I had knowing I would get to eat at the Melting Pot I would have gotten pregnant sooner!

Babies don't toot!

OK, I guess I can't avoid sharing this any longer. Another pregnancy not so joyous I am experiencing is gas. Lots of gas. The average human passes gas about 12 to 16 times a day and well I guess pregnancy has given me a super power. The power to pass gas at least 30 times a day. Anyway, this morning we had Karissa in bed with us. Some mornings when we are not in a hurry we go get Karissa and bring her in bed with us so we can cuddle and talk about our dreams. Of course my worse time to pass gas is in the morning. Inevitably, I passed some gas. Karissa says "Mommy, you tooted!" To which I replied "No, I didn't! Elmo and Paula did!" Karissa replies, "No, babies don't toot!" I then said, "Well, actually Elmo and Paula have made Mommy's gastrointestinal tract very relaxed." Karissa then laughs and laughs and laughs. This was so funny to us because we know she had no idea what I said.

Dinner for two, three or four

Tonight Karissa and I were eating dinner together (John was at worship practice). Karissa got up during the middle of dinner and ran over to me and gave me a big hug. She then says "Mom, you are feeding the babies too!" This was after she blessed our meal. Her prayer was precious too. She thanked God for our food. She thanked God for her Aunt Mo because she is predganant (spelled based on pronunciation). Then she thanked God for Elmo and Paula. And last she says "Oh and thank you for mommy because she is predganant too."

I like that one ... the Barbie one.

I had originally picked a different background for the blog. A much more neutral one. But I was informed by Karissa she didn't like it. So I showed her all the other template choices and she liked this one. The reason why can be found in the title. So the background was switched based on Karissa's liking. After all her name is in the title. Maybe she will be OK with switching it up once we find out the sex of the baby, but I think we will be looking at magenta for awhile.

Funny thing!

So I was on a baby website today looking at pregnancy calculators and based on the date I entered for the date of my last period I would have conceived at a time when it would not have been possible. John was really sick and I wasn't feeling too great myself. Well, come to find out I was already pregnant probably explaining why I wasn't feeling well. I looked at my calender again and found I was looking at the wrong month when I was looking for the date of my last period. I am actually now 6 weeks pregers. So maybe my hope of not having much morning sickness is coming true!

Practice makes perfect!

Karissa has taken to practicing with her baby doll. It goes everywhere with her. She feeds it. Sings to it. Keeps it warm and clean. Takes it for walks. And my favorite, dances with it. I most definitely think with all this preparation Elmo or Paula or both will be well cared for. Oh and of course she does it all while wearing a princess dress!

Memories

It is amazing how you forget all the joyous and not so joyous of pregnancy after you have that amazing little one in your arms. BUT it is also amazing how quickly the memories return once you start the adventure again. It seems I am feeling everything more intensely this time or maybe I am just more aware to attribute it to pregnancy. I am more sore, much more sore. Hungrier. More groggy. More forgetful. I don't how many times I have started to say something and then forget it. I do this anyway, but this ridiculous. So far no sickness hopefully the fact I am feeling everything more intensely doesn't mean I will feel the sickness more intensely too. With Karissa I just had queasiness no actual sickness. 5 weeks tomorrow so I guess I will be finding out next week, 6 weeks is the typical time for the sickness to set in.

How we told daddy ...

I just finished chatting with my mother-in-law on Facebook and she commented on how cute the way we told daddy was so I decided to write a post about it. After that fun little test that all moms-to-be are familiar with, in this case after two. I told Karissa she is now a big sister because I am pregnant. Thanks to her Aunt Mo's pregnancy she knew that meant a baby was coming. She responded with a big smile, a hug and the words -"thanks mom!" She then drew a picture of herself holding hands with her new little bother or sister. We took that picture to daddy's work and gave it to him. I also brought the two tests for a little extra proof! Ha!

TWO!

Karissa is already loving the big sister role. She has decided there will be two babies. She has also named them. The girl is Paula, a tribute to her cousin Paul. The boy is Elmo. Believe me when I say John and I are most definitely lobbying for name changes! She gives "them" hugs and tells "them" she loves "them." She is already praying for the baby (opps! i mean babies) as we hope all of you are. We are most definitely looking forward to what other things she comes up with thus the name of the blog. I am sure most of this blog will center around Karissa as she begins to fill her role as the BIG sister!

Blessed!

Hello Everyone!
On March 9th, it was discovered that Karissa will be a BIG sister. A huge and unexpected blessing! Some of you may know that about three months ago we were told by doctors that the possibility of getting pregnant was very low if not at all. We knew then as we know now that no matter what doctors say God is in control! If He wants to bless us with another child He will and He has. Thank you, Lord!