December 27, 2007 (Venily 2 months, 2 weeks, 1 day old)


Got all the Christmas pics up!! I also put all of Venily's videos up here if you are interested:

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g30/jennifer_reyer/Venily%20Videos/





Venily's first Christmas has been awesome! We've been really busy the last few days trying to see everyone and going to Chrismas parties. Thank you to everyone who has made this Christmas special for our little baby girl. She really does have some of the best family around! I didn't really get a chance to take a ton of pictures because I was so busy with Venily, but I do have some I'll have to put up later. Venily got so much stuff, I don't even know what to do with it all, lol! Mommy and Daddy got her books, toys, a baby's first Christmas ornament, a frame, and a spoon with her name and birthdate engraved on it (I'm going to get her something with her name on it every birthday and Xmas b/c her name is so unique- I thought that would be cute, I've already gotten her a couple of things!). And her family got her tons more! She has a whole new wardrobe now (and some of the cutest clothes I've ever seen!), TONS and TONS of toys, hair stuff, books, collector's dolls (from her birth year and some that over 60 years old), coin collections (3 different ones actually, from 3 different sides of our families), hat and gloves, ornaments, blankets, money, a floor activity center, a walking/riding toy, an exersaucer, and even her very own star that we get to name after her (it'll be the prettiest named star in the sky!), plus a bunch more! All this for a little girl who'd be happy with a smile and a kiss!! She's so spoiled already, but who can help it? I just look at her and I want to buy her the whole world and every thing she ever wanted, lol.

On Christmas eve we were eating at Subway and a guy came up to us and was looking and talking about Venily and how fast children grow up and it really hit me! :( He was saying how next Xmas she'll be walking and talking! I can't believe it, she's going to be running all over the place and getting in to stuff! LOL! I can't believe how fast she has already grown and how much she has already learned and she's only 2 1/2 months old! Over the past 2 weeks she's learned now how to bat at her toys with her hands, it's so cute! At first I thought she might be doing it on accident, but I can tell now how she uses all of her concentration to steer her hand where she wants it and move it around. The other morning I came into the living room and Jason was taking her hand and hitting a toy with it and then putting it back down and she was bringing it back up and hitting the toy and laughing. It was the CUTEST THING EVER, lol! And the look on Jason's face was EVEN cuter, he was so proud of her!!! I loved it!

Venily is still sleeping awesome during the night! She's still a little difficult to get down at first (it takes me about 5 attempts in 30 minutes). But, once she's asleep, she sleeps for 6-7 hours straight EVERY SINGLE night! It's so great. Then she wakes up and I change her and feed her and she instantly goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours! I still get tired sometimes because I can't get back to sleep right away, but at least it's not her fault. I just get too many things running through my mind.

Only 5 more days until 2008! I can't wait, it seems like every year just keeps getting better and better!

December 23, 2007 (Venily 2 months, 1 week, 4 days old)

We're so excited for Christmas!!! Merry Christmas EVERYONE!!! Venily just turned 10 weeks old yesterday! She's the best present anyone could ever ask for! She truely is a doll and just the sweetest, prettiest little girl in the world. She's asleep on my lap right now and it's all I can do to not kiss her beautiful lips right now and wake her up, LOL! I'm sure she'll have tons more pictures from Christmas that I can add to her pictures. Mommy has a HUGE picture-taking problem! :)

December 17, 2007 (Venily 2 months, 5 days old)



Guess what?! Venily beat her record, she slept for 7 straight hours last night (her former record was 6 hours)!! Yay! Is that considered sleeping through the night? I'm not sure... she went to bed at 11:00pm and woke up at 6:00am. Then I changed her and fed her and she slept for another 2 1/2 hours, so I got a much needed 9 1/2 hours of sleep! I hope she keeps that up.

We also got her 2 month pictures taken today! She looked really cute in them! She is wearing a little Christmas outfit and smiling!! I'm so proud of her, all of the other babies must be so jealous of her because she is so gorgeous, lol! We don't go to pick them up though until January 9th. I might just get her 3 month pics taken then so we don't have to make 2 trips.

December 14, 2007 (Venily 2 months, 1 day old)

Venily's doctor's appointment yesterday went really well. The doctor says she's very active and looks to be a healthy, healthy girl! She was 23 inches long and 12 pounds, 7 ounces! Her shots went as well as they could. She cried and it was very sad, but she doesn't appear to be in any pain today and isn't running a fevor or anything, so that's great! Luckily Jason was next to her when she got her shots, I don't know if I could have done it without crying. I updated her weight/height chart on the front page! She's getting so big! She has her next well baby visit/ round of shots when she's 4 months.

She'll be 9 weeks old tomorrow! Time is going so fast. She talks more and more everyday! She's talking up a storm right now, lol. Sometimes it sounds like she's actually saying real words like "mom," "dad," ect. Haha, Jason said that she said "Jason" the other day! It's really cute, she's laughing more now too! We weren't going to get her 2 month pictures professionally done, b/c we're tight on money right now and Jason thought I could just do them myself, but I think we might get them anyway. I'm waiting for a call back to schedule an appointment, so hopefully we'll be able to get them done next week sometime.

Venily is also getting more control over her hands now! She puts her knuckles in her mouth all the time. Her grandma taught her that so she'd be just like her Daddy! It's so cute, she uses all of her attention to bring her hand up to her mouth, suck on it a little bit and then alternate hands, lol! Sometimes she tries to get them both in her mouth at the same time, I want to take a video of her doing it next time, it's really cute! She can also hold toys in her hand if you put them in there.

December 13, 2007 (Venily 2 months old)






Venily is 2 months old today, happy birthday baby girl!!!

December 11, 2007 (1 month, 4 weeks old)

So, I've come to find out that people LOOOVVVEEE babies!!! LOL, it's not just me! We can't go anywhere without a dozen people coming up to us asking to see Venily and asking how old she is, what her name is, and telling us how beautiful she is! I thought a lot of people came up to me when I was pregnant (actually, I got a lot more smiles than anything), but WAY more people come up to see Venily now. It's a lot of women, but even some guys too, lol!

Oh, and Venily laughed for me a couple of days ago! She's such a cutie, I love her so much! She's still not taking a bottle, lol, she knows what she likes, and that's Mommy! We've tried a couple more times and she just chews on the end a bit and gags sometimes... same thing with the pacifier... what a dork! We'll keep trying, but we may have to just go straight to a sippy cup. 2 more days until she's 2 months and has her 2 month appointment! I can't wait to see where she is at with her height and weight, but am soooo not looking forward to her shots!

We're done with almost all of our X-mas shopping... I just need to get Jason something still. I bought Venily a bunch of stuff and it's all wrapped up sitting under our tree for me to open again on X-mas, lol. I'm such a dork too!! I can't wait until she gets all excited and she can open her own presents, that will be even more fun! I can't wait until she can write Santa letters, bake cookies with me, help decorate the tree, and all that fun stuff!! I feel so in the Christmas Spirit right now....





everyone!!!!!!!!! :)

December 8, 2007 (Venily 1 month, 3 weeks, 4 days old)



Venily is 8 weeks old! This past week she has been baby talking more and more. Especially in the mornings, she's definitely a little morning girl, which is hard b/c I am SO not, lol! She talks and laughs and smiles like crazy in the mornings. She says "aah, ooh, ooo, glue, mah,...(etc)." Plus all of her animal voices and monster voice. Jason has also gotten her to laugh on two seperate occasions this week, but I missed it both times. :( I've heard her laugh in her sleep before, but I really want to see her do it awake! I think she gets bored of me though because I'm with her all day. As I type this, Jason is trying to teach her how to sit up, lol.

Venily's eczema looks A LOT better now, but it's still on her neck and some on her cheeks. The lotion is working really good though with that, I'm really glad. I can't wait until the winter is over and it's not so dry! I also CAN'T WAIT to be able to go for walks again, staying inside is starting to drive me crazy! Venily keeps asking if she can go to the park, but I have to keep telling her no b/c it's too cold out! :)

We tried to give her a bottle again the other day, but she wouldn't take it! We're going to try again today in a bit, but I think I have to not be in the room. We'll see...

Well, I think Jason might need my help so I'd better go see what they are up to!

December 5, 2007 (1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day old)

The doctor says it's just infant eczema and there is nothing we can really do about it! That's what we figured, but I'm glad we went just to be sure. He says that it might get worse before it gets better, but if it gets too bad, we'd have to see a dermatologist. We just have to keep lotioning her up, so that's what I'm doing! Her forehead is already looking a little better. Also, they weighed her and she was 12 POUNDS!! She's going to be a big girl! Next week she has her 2 month appointment and she'll get weighed and measured again and he'll show us where she is on the growth chart.

December 2, 2007 (Venily 1 month, 2 weeks, 5 days old)

Venily is 7 weeks old! Her sicknesses seem to be getting better. She is still congested, but she is finally sleeping better again at night. She's back to only getting up 1 to a few times a night to eat and then falling right back to sleep, but some nights she is still fussy at first and has a hard time getting to bed. Her rash on her face, neck, scalp, and shoulders is getting worse though! :( And after researching it for a while, I'm pretty sure she has baby eczema. There is no real treatment for it, but I'm going to schedule her an appointment with the doctor tomorrow anyway and see if there is anything he can give her to make it better. I've also found some other things that you can do like give them daily baths, moisturize their skin at least twice a day, only use certain soaps and detergents and stuff like that. I hope that helps! I'm also going to try not drinking milk or dairy products, which is going to be soooo hard for me, but I'm willing to do anything to make her better. It's really common in babies and is hereditary so I'm sure she got it from me! My skin breaks out in a rash over almost anything (and I can only use certain soaps and things on my skin) and I still get it on my arms every winter. My poor baby, I hope she gets better soon!

This last week she also had her first bottle of pumped breast milk! I've read that you need to introduce it at week 6 or she might not take it later on. I didn't think that she was going to like it b/c she won't even take a pacifier (not that I really wanted her to have one anyway). But after a little bit of being confused and not really wanting it, Jason got her to drink the whole thing. It made me so sad, lol, my little baby girl doesn't even need me any more! We're not going to give her a bottle very often, but if we need to be somewhere for a long period of time and it will be hard for me to nurse, then it's good to know that we can still feed her!

Some of Venily's newest favorite things are taking naps with Mommy (she's such a good cuddly baby- I hope she stays that way!) and grabbing on to Mommy's hair with all of her might, lol!

My 6 week postpartum visit last Monday went really well. Everything looks good and I've lost all of the baby weight, plus 2 pounds. I actually didn't want to lose that much and it's going to be hard to gain it back (especially while breastfeeding which burns 500 calories a day), but I won't complain about it! As long as I don't lose any more I will be happy.

Venily is very excited about Christmas. We got our Christmas tree up yesterday and she just LOVES to look at all of the pretty lights!

November 24, 2007 (Venily 1 month, 1 week, 4 days old)

Venily is 6 weeks old today! And I am tired, lol! We have had a couple of difficult nights this week because Venily has a cold! :( It is really sad, I think she caught it from Chase because I brought her up to see him earlier in the week and he had a really bad cold- I kept them apart, but apparently not far enough...I guess I learned my lesson! Running our Vick's vaporizer has helped her along with sucking out her nose a couple times during the night. I'm not feeling very well either... and winter hasn't even started yet!




Venily had her first Thanksgiving and she did great! She went to her Grandma Lauren's and Grandpa Don's and then to her Great Grandma and Grandpa Reyer's and slept most of the day while being held. She had on her little Thanksgiving dress and looked adorable! That night though was the worst! LOL! I can tell this story now because it's been a couple of days, but it was definitely not funny at the time. She wasn't feeling that well during the night and you could tell that something was bothering her. She was fussy and wanted to be held and as soon as she'd fall asleep and I'd put her down, she'd wake back up and be sad. So, I kept feeding her b/c that made her happy and I didn't know what else to do. When she was done, she fell asleep on my chest and I decided to lay her next to me on the bed b/c she sleeps better like that and I was REALLY tired. Well, we were sleeping face-to-face, only a couple inches apart and she projectile threw up ALL over! Oh my gosh! It went in my mouth, all over my face and in my eyes and all in my hair, it was disgusting! My eyes were burning. It was 1:30 in the morning and I just started bawling, lol, because I was soooo tired. Jason had to get up at 5:30 but he woke up and cleaned her all up (she threw up a couple more times after that) and took off the sheets and pillow cases and everything else that she threw up all over while I went in the shower. After that she felt a lot better and was finally able to get some sleep. Looking back at it now it just seems like such a classic new baby moment that you hear about all the time, lol. Hopefully it's a while before anything like that happens again!

During the days Venily has been very happy though!! Her new favorite thing is her mirror toy. She LOVES looking at her gorgeous little face in the mirror and she swings her arms around and can actually play with some of the toys on it (though I don't know if it's intentual or not :), it's still really cute). She likes to talk to things too with her baby voice. The other day it was so cute too! We put her mobile above her changing table because she doesn't go in her crib yet and it gives her something to look at while getting changed. Well, I put her on there and I forgot to start it up and she was just looking up at it with the most concerned look on her face. I saw her and started it up. As soon as the music started playing she started smiling so big and it just made her so happy to have her friends singing to her- it was so precious! I still haven't caught her adorable smile on camera yet, it's so hard! I have one of her sleep smiling, but it's not the same. Hopefully I'll be able to get one soon!

I go for my 6 week postpartum visit on Monday and my pregnancy adventure will officially be over- that feels so weird to me! But... our family has a lot more pregnancy and babies to go!!! Venily is getting ANOTHER new baby cousin!!! CONGRATS Uncle Jim and Aunt Kayla! We are all so excited!



All three new babies will be so close in age and in the same grade level is school, it's so ideal! They are going to be the best of friends! Uncle Jason is already planning family trips with all of the little ones, it's going to be so fun!

Keep the babies coming, I can't get enough of them, lol!

November 18, 2007 (Venily 1 month, 5 days old)

Venily is 5 weeks old as of yesterday! We got her pictures taken on Friday and she did so good and was soooo beautiful in them! She slept the whole way there and as soon as we took her out of her car seat when we got there, she woke up and was ready for pictures and posing! She honestly could be a model. It was hard just picking one pose, I wanted them all! We get to pick them up on December 7th, I can't wait.

Venily has been smiling a lot more lately now too, it's so cute!! She looks like a little Japanimatian cartoon when she smiles, her eyes get so happy, they look like little sideways moons. Daddy is definitely her favorite person to smile at too, she really loves him! She also loves smiling at me when she wakes up in the middle of the night/ early morning. I know you're supposed to limit the amount of interaction you have with your baby during the night so that she learns that nighttime is for sleeping, but when she gets all smiley at 3:00am, I can't help but play and talk with her, lol, I think she knows that too and that's why she does it! I seriously get so overwhelmed when I see her adorable little baby smile! :)

November 13, 2007 (Venily 1 month old)





Venily is 1 month old today!!! Since she doesn't have a 1 month check up, I weighed and measured her myself (though probably not quite as accurately as they would at the doctor's office). She weighed 11 pounds (in the 77th percentile) and was 22.5 inches long (also in the 77th percentile!)!

We made an appointment to get her one month pictures taken on Friday.

November 12, 2007 (Venily 4 weeks, 2 days old)

We were bored today so we had a photo shoot, hahaha! Come see in "Pictures"! Venily is going to be a little model! :)

November 10, 2007 (Venily 4 weeks old)

Well, my pasghettio is 4 weeks old today!! I can't even believe it, but I feel like she's been with us forever. I've never been happier though! All of my clothes have spit up on them, I don't have 5 minutes to myself anymore, and I haven't had 8 hours of sleep in 4 weeks, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Things just feel right now, I love her so much and she is just what I always wanted in my life. I'm a little sad though that she's getting so old so quickly, but I'm really looking forward to seeing her little personality emerge and watching her do new things!

Last Sunday she had her first bath and she actually did really well with it. She needed Jason to continuously pour water on her though or she'd get unhappy. I don't know if I'd be able to do it on my own though! On Monday she gave me her first real smile and I was just overcome with happiness! :) She smiles all the time when she's content and falling asleep, but this was the first time that she was wide awake and I was smiling and talking to her and she smiled back and her eyes were so happy too, it was the cutest thing in the whole world!

She's still eating really good and I'm so proud of myself for still nursing. It can be a little inconvenient at times, but I know it's what is best for her and I've set my goals for at least 6 months and then we'll see what happens. At 6 weeks I can start pumping too, but I'm a little scared that she'll only want a bottle after that.

She's still sleeping pretty good too. We only had one night where she was up almost all night and I'm pretty sure I know what the problem was. Every night since we brought her home, I've always put her to bed at night in her swaddle blanket. Well, it's starting to get a little small so I decided to put her in a sleeping sack blanket one night, which leaves her arms open and not swaddled in with her. I didn't realize that that could be the problem though until the next day, lol. Now she's back to sleeping good and I need to buy the next biggest size swaddle blanket as soon as she outgrows the one she has!

I'm going to get her one month pictures taken sometime next week and I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Well, Venily just spit up ALL over me, lol, so we both are going to get changed! :)

November 3, 2007 (Venily 3 weeks old)

Venily is 3 weeks old today and gets cuter and sweeter by the day! She is already getting so big, I wish I could slow down time so she'd stay this little for longer!! She is sleeping for one 5 hour stretch at night most nights which is awesome! Then she wakes up and eats and sleeps for another 2-3 hours, so I can't complain at all! Her most wakeful time is in the morning. She just loves to eat and be held all morning long! Then she sleeps pretty good in the afternoon and I try to get stuff done around the house. But sometimes she just wants me to hold her all the time so I'm getting good at doing things one-handed, lol. Right now she is on her Boppy pillow around my waist, eating while I type this!

On November 1st Venily and I woke up and turned on the radio to find that they are already playing Christmas music!! Now, while I am usually annoyed by Christmas music before Thanksgiving, it actually made me really excited. I can't believe that she is going to have her first Christmas soon. I can cry just thinking about it... and she already has 2 really cute Christmas outfits that I can't wait to see her in. So, on that morning we listened to Christmas music all morning long! I can't wait to celebrate all the upcoming holidays with our beautiful little girl.

Some day I'll update this site and make it pretty again, I promise, lol! I just have too much going on right now! :)

October 31, 2007 (Venily 2 weeks, 4 days old)



I'm so bad at updating this now, Venily and I are so busy during the day- she's asleep on my lap right now so I thought I'd update before I tried to take a shower, lol!

Venily had so much fun trick-or-treating on Sunday and seeing all of her family at her Grandma and Grandpa's house! She just slept the WHOLE time, lol! On Monday she had her doctor's appointment and she is doing really well! She was 8 pounds and 9 ounces and 22 inches long!!! She's already starting to outgrow some of her clothes even though she couldn't fit into anything when we brought her home from the hospital. So, she has definitely gotten back to her birth weight and then some, so we know she is getting enough to eat, which is hard to tell when you're nursing. I'm still charting when I feed her and for how long and stuff like a neurotic mother, but it makes me feel better to do it! Her next appointment is her 2 month appointment in 6 weeks and she has to get shots! :( I'm not looking forward to that part.

Other than that, she is hitting all of her other milestones on time or ahead of schedule. LOL, I'm reading through all of my books and making sure she can do everything that she is supposed to be able to do! Having a teacher for a mom is probably going to get old for her after a while though.

October 27, 2007 (Venily 2 weeks old)

Venily is already 2 WEEKS OLD TODAY, I can't even believe how fast the time has gone!!! Her cord has completely fallen off and I'm really excited that I can finally give her a real bath now! I might do it tonight or maybe tomorrow when Jason is home and can help me. I have a feeling that she is going to hate it because she HATES even getting her diaper or clothes changed. She likes to be covered up at all times! I think I'm going to run the hot water in the bathroom for a while to get it all steamy and warm in there before I give her a bath so hopefully she'll like it more.

She's also getting good at holding up her head for short bits at a time. When she's awake, she LOVES to lay on my shoulder and look around at everything with her big, beautiful eyes. She looks so cute and curious, lol! Jason is convinced that she looks just like him, but I'm not too sure. I want to see newborn pics of Jason to compare her! She looks nothing like I did as a newborn though.

Tomorrow Venily is going trick-or-treating with Matthew and Kaitlyn and she's really excited about it! Cathy and her family got her a really cute pumpkin Halloween costume! I can't wait to see what she looks like in it!

Venily is still sleeping really good at night. She just moves around a little and makes little noises when she's hungry, which wakes me up. Then I usually change her (which she hates and usually cries the whole time) but as soon as I button her clothes back up she is happy, then I feed her and burp her and she falls right back to sleep for another 3 hours or so! Today we went grocery shopping for the first time together and that went well too. It's a bit more stressful, but she was only fussy for a little bit and slept the majority of the time. I definitely won't be shopping on a Saturday again if I can help it though.

Monday is Venily's 2 week doctor follow up visit! I can't wait to see how much she's grown!! I still haven't put up my pictures, but I will soon! Oh, and I got her announcements done. I'm not really impressed with them. Walmart screwed them up like they usually do with all of my pictures. I ordered 50 and the first 50 they did too light and so they did another 50 that are too dark. So, they gave me all of them. Oh well! I made an online announcement too that you can look at if you are interested:

http://www.birthvillage.com/?bID=1536&p=1020381021

I also submitted her info to the Kenosha News and The Journal Times so please keep a look out for her birth announcement in those two papers and let me know if you find them (I'm not sure if I get either of those papers)!


I wanted to get newborn pictures of Venily done, but seeing as she is already 2 weeks I don't think I'm going to. :( But, I will be getting her 1 month pictures taken in 2 weeks!

October 24, 2007 (Venily 1 week, 4 days old)

Venily is doing great! She is only 11 days old today, but she already looks so big and grown up! She's eating a lot- about every 2-3 hours and sleeps a lot too, I still have to wake her up sometimes during the day to eat. She's starting to stay awake for longer periods of time too and looks around at everything. We've been busy the last couple of days going places! She's already been to Target, Walgreens, Walmart, Yorkville school, Wheatland school, and all around Burlington. She's so good in her car seat and driving in the van- she just sleeps the whole time! Her eyes are starting to look darker gray and her umbilical cord is starting to fall off today too.

I'm good and trying to get sleep. Some nights I get more sleep than others. I think I try to get too much done during the day though and I really need to start taking naps during the day, but sometimes I'm so busy I completely forget to even eat too, which also doesn't help. But, I wouldn't trade it all for ANYTHING!!! Venily is sooooo precious! Her little face just melts my heart. Especially her little expressions- like when she doesn't want to eat and clamps her lips together and sticks out her bottom one, it's so fricken cute... or when she is looking up at you and concentrating and wrinkles up her forehead and slants her eyebrows, lol!! I love her so much! And Jason said that no matter what's gone wrong during his day, all he has to do is look at her little face and it makes him feel better! :)

I have more pictures to put up, but I don't know when I'll ever get to them, lol! I have more errands to run today around Burlington, I still need to eat lunch, and I have a lot to do around the house, plus I really should take a nap!

October 19, 2007 (Venily 6 days old)

Okay, I guess it's about time I updated this!


LABOR STORY:

So, I called Jason on Saturday the 13th and told him very calmly that I thought I was in labor, but I wasn't sure and that first time babies take like an average of 14 hours to get here so I told him not to rush home. I packed our bags and cleaned up around the house in case today was the day. I vaccuumed, did laundry, did the dishes and picked things up, lol, all while timing my contractions which were about 3-4 minutes apart. They were like menstral cramps though, nothing like the pain I see women in on most shows so I wasn't even sure I was really in labor! When Jason got home and saw the bags by the door and that I had already brought Xoey to my mom's, he was upset because he didn't realize how serious I was or he would have rushed home. I told him that we needed to go to the hospital right away because even if I wasn't in labor I was having a lot of bleeding and needed to go anyway. So.... off we went. I was timing the contractions in the car and they were 2-3 minutes apart and Jason started going faster and faster! I told him to slow down, lol, b/c I thought we'd get there and I'd be like 1 cm dilated and look like an idiot. All the while though the contractions were getting a bit stronger. I'd close my eyes through them and not talk and they'd last about 45 seconds and then I'd be fine and talking and laughing again. When we got to Labor and Delivery one of the first people we saw was Cathy! We were so happy that we came in on a day that she was working (she only works weekends) and she was really excited and we got to have her as our nurse!! I got put into a room right away and Cathy checked me and said "Wow, you are not going to believe this but you're 8 cm dilated already!" It was so crazy! I've seen enough Baby Stories and Birth Days to know that it was WAY too easy for me to already be at 8 cm. All of the other nurses couldn't believe it either. Then Cathy asked me if I wanted an epidural b/c if I didn't get it right then, it would be too late. I said yes and they gave me an I.V. (this one didn't hurt at all) and got the guy in there right away. The whole atmosphere in the room was so nice! The nurses were all talking and laughing and excited and I felt so at ease. The epidural wasn't too bad and about 20 minutes later my contractions had gotten a lot better, though I could still feel when I was having them. Cathy said that b/c I had gone so quickly the last two cm might take a while but when she checked me again a little bit later she said I was 9, almost 10cm and she broke my water by putting a heartrate monitor on the baby's head. A lot of people showed up to visit then. My mom, Rick, Lisa, Jacki, Jake & Kaitlyn, and Lauren. I started feeling uncomfortable during my contractions so Cathy checked me again and I was complete and she had me do a practice push to see if I needed my epidural turned off. I pushed and she said that the baby was coming quickly and that I was really good at pushing so she called my doctor and had me start pushing. Jacki said that she would videotape the birth for us- I was so excited but still in shock. I felt like I was in a dream b/c everything was moving so fast and nothing was as bad as I imagined it was going to be. The doctor came and after only 18 minutes of pushing (I don't know how some women push for hours, oh my gosh!), Venily was born! I didn't scream or anything I was just really focused and had my eyes closed the whole time, lol, though I did have to have a small episiotomy (which didn't hurt at the time and I was actually really thankful that it made it go faster, but it did make the next several days quite uncomfortable especially since I don't take pain medication). So, after being at the hospital for less than 2 hours, Venily was born at 4:28 p.m. and they put her on my chest as soon as she came out! I was overwhelmed with happiness and still in a dream-like state, not thinking that this could be real because it was so easy and I couldn't believe how gorgeous she was or that she had so much dark hair- I wasn't expecting that. All of the nurses kept telling me that I must have been meant to have children because of how easy it was for me! (But it runs in my family a lot of the women in my family have fast births, my dad was actually born in the car in the parking lot outside of the hospital!). Jason cut the cord- which he told me about later b/c I wasn't even paying attention- I think I had actually forgotten that he was in the room, lol, even though he never left my side the whole time. Then the nurses took her to the warming table to clean her up and weigh her and stuff while I got stitched up by my doctor. I watched the videotape right away b/c I was so interested and wanted to see what happened. It was crazy- I couldn't believe how big she was coming out, lol, but I was SOOO glad I had it taped b/c I would have completely missed it otherwise since I had my eyes closed. When the nurses were done with her, they wrapped her up and I got to hold her and then everyone else who had been waiting in the doorway and in the hallway came in and saw her.

The rest of the afternoon and night went really well. I was able to breastfeed then pretty quickly after she was born which I had been looking forward to for a while and she latched on good. Jason was so happy that everything went so well and called a bunch of people to tell them I had the baby. He was so good with her and so excited and in awe of her, I can't even believe it. He has surprised me so much and I just love him so much more than I could have imagined. He has never shown ANY interest in babies before but he loves his little girl so much! He holds her and stares at her for long periods of time and talks about how beautiful she is and everything. And a couple of times I went to the bathroom while I was at the hospital and I'd come back out to the room and he'd be holding her in his arms, walking around with her and singing made up songs to her- it was just SOOO cute!!

The first night at the hospital she slept ALL night long too! I slept for a total of 45 minutes and that was only because the nurses took her away to take her blood and stuff. Otherwise I just stared at her and I wasn't even tired in the least bit. I tried waking her up every 30 minutes to eat and I would change her diaper and play with her and talk to her and stuff, but she just kept on sleeping, lol. I definitely regretted not sleeping the next day though! I was so tired and every time I'd be close to falling asleep, some one would come to visit us. The next night then was AWFUL! I was REALLY tired and Venily wouldn't eat any more. I could tell she was hungry, but she hadn't gotten the swing of breastfeeding yet. She stayed awake all night and cried a lot. :( Because I had gotten less than 2 hours of sleep in 48 hours it was really hard on me. Jason kept wanting me to call the nurse to take her to the nursery or supplement her with formula but I didn't want to seem like a failure. Eventually I spoke with a nurse though and she really helped me out. She helped me get her to eat and then took her for about 2 hours so I could sleep and things have been all uphill from there!!!


THE FIRST FEW DAYS HOME

Oh my gosh, Venily has been such a little angel ever since we have been home. She sleeps really well, has been nursing great (almost every hour the first day and now about every 2-4 hours and I usually have to wake her up to eat or she would just keep on sleeping), and hardly ever cries (only if she's cold while I'm changing her or if she needs something, though I usually figure out what she needs before she gets to the point of crying)! Jason stayed home with me for the first couple of days and I basically took care of Venily and he took care of me! The only bad thing was being sore from the episiotomy but that has almost completely gone away now- and I'm not even tired like I thought I would be. I sleep for a couple of hours every time I'm tired and that is working out really well.

We went for Venily's follow up appointment on Wednesday and she was at 7lbs which was a 6.5% weight loss so that is really good (there is only a problem if there is an over 10% decrease)- and with her eating so well, I'm sure she'll be putting on a lot of weight now. They also said she has really good coloring and isn't jaundice at all- she completely takes after her father on the skin color- I was really pale. She has another follow up appointment on October 29th and I can't wait to see how much she's changed until then.

Other than that Venily and I basically just hang out, sleep, and eat! And yesterday we went on our first family walk! If I'm feeling brave I might trying going to the store with her later today, but I'm not really sure about that yet!

Yesterday was also Venily's due date! I'm really glad I'm not still pregnant! And I'm so happy that I had such an easy pregnancy, labor and delivery, and now an easy baby! My final count for my pregnancy was a weight gain of 23 pounds and as of yesterday I've lost it all except for 4 pounds- and to be fair, I'm pretty sure my boobs weigh at least that much more now, lol! And no stretch marks- I was really worried about that for a while! Overall I could not have asked for anything better- we're been so blessed that everything has worked out just perfectly!!

Thanks again to everyone who has congratulated us, stopped by, and/or given us cards and gifts (and food!!)- we really appreciate it! I put up some of the pictures on here, but we have so many it's hard to put them all up on all the different sites that I try to keep updated, so I put all of her pictures up on photobucket. You can see them here:

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g30/jennifer_reyer/Venily%20Just%20Born/

October 15, 2007 (2 days old)

We're back from the hospital and everyone is doing great!! Venily is the sweetest, prettiest little baby girl you ever saw and the delivery couldn't have gone more perfect if we had planned it!! I will write the details and labor story and put up our pictures as soon as I get some time. Right now we are relaxing, catching up on sleep, and enjoying being a family! Thanks to everyone who visited us at the hospital and/or called and congratulated us! We are just so incredibly happy right now!

Monday, October 15, 2007 5:30 PM

We’re home! Current mood: accomplished Venily is finally here and she is just perfect! She was born on Saturday, October 13th at 4:28 p.m. and weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 in long! And her labor was like a dream come true! I wasn't even sure that I was in labor when we finally decided to go to the hospital. I was bleeding and having contractions about 3-4 min apart, but nothing too bad like they make it seem on the movies. We went to the hospital and when I was checked, I was already 8 centimeters!!! Crazy! I had an epidural immediately b/c otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get one. Then less than 2 hours after we got to the hospital, she was born! Only 18 minutes of pushing and I never screamed or yelled or anything, it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be! And now Venily is here and she is so sweet and so pretty. I haven't gotten much sleep and I did have to have an episiotomy, but other than that I don't even feel like I've given birth! I'm breastfeeding and that's going well, though a little painful at times. We're just so happy to have her and be home and start our family- it's an absolute dream come true! I will probably write a more detailed story on her baby home page site when I get some more time, but it's a lot of work taking care of a newborn, as you can imagine! I've also put up some of the pics we have of her, but we have tons and tons more and I'll try to put them up somewhere when I get the time!

October 13, 2007 (39 weeks, 2 days pregnant/ The day Venily is born!)

Well, this might be it!! I've been having really strong braxton hicks contractions the last two days but they didn't hurt at all. Now today I'm having regular painful contractions 3-4 minutes apart and have had lots of bleeding this morning. I'm going to try to stay at home as absolutely long as I can just to be sure, but all of our bags are packed and right next to the door in case we need to go! If anything we might just go to Kenosha and walk around so we're close to the hospital. My sister brought my laptop home so I might bring that with me and update while I'm there, but it doesn't always work, so we'll see! Wish us luck and a safe and happy, uncomplicated delivery and baby!!! I can't wait to finally see her!!!!!!

October 11, 2007 (39 weeks pregnant)

I'm 39 weeks today!!!! Wow, I'm really hoping I don't make it to 40, even though I'm still feeling pretty good and still doing almost everything I normally do!! I was born 5 days early and Jason was born on his due date, so there is really no telling when little miss Venily is going to make her appearance! I've been asking her to come this weekend so hopefully she listens. I hate not knowing exactly when she's going to come, it's driving me crazy. Every night before I go to bed I walk around my house and clean and put things away and get everything ready in case I go into labor during the night, lol. Last night I spent an hour doing dishes, straightening up my kitchen, and cleaning the bathroom while Jason was in bed! I just want to be ready and I know the one time I'm not is probably the time she's going to come.

So, keep your cell phones on you because we really are close now. Wow, 39 WEEKS, the time has flown by. But it also seems like I've been pregnant forever seeing as we conceived in January- that seems like so long ago!

October 9, 2007 (38 weeks, 5 days pregnant w/ Venily)

I'm STILL pregnant, lol, but there are only 9 days left now until Venily's due date, so the end is finally in sight. I'm getting so excited, but I don't think the reality has set in yet that I'm finally going to be getting the baby that I've wanted for so long! I still can't believe it!! I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and when I was done the doctor said "See you next Monday if I don't see you sooner" so that was really exciting to hear! Other than that, everything is still looking good. I'm not dilated :( but I'm thinned out even more and my cervix is getting soft. It's just a matter of waiting now.

Oh, and isn't this picture so cool?? It's a woman at 36 weeks pregnant and as of today I'm 38 weeks, 5 days, so she's even bigger- it's so CRAZY!

October 3, 2007 (37 weeks, 6 days pregnant w/Venily)

We're FINALLY in October with only 15 days left until Venily's due date!!! My appointment on Monday went well. I'm negative for Group B and even though I'm not dialated yet like I had hoped, I'm thinned out and her head is down low, so that is good. My doctor thinks that she's a good size, but won't be too big. He's thinking like 7 1/2 pounds at birth. I think I can handle that! He also said that most women deliver 3-4 days before or after their due date, but we'll probably have a better idea after my next appt. I wanted to have her this weekend, lol, but maybe next? Jason's got a lot of work going on now, so I guess that's for the best, but I want her out soon! Some nights I can hardly sleep at all. The doctor said he'd consider inducing me a couple of days after my due date, but I'm really hoping not to have to be induced.

Also, I got a new van!! I'm really happy with it too- it's perfect for us! We've been looking at getting a new van but last week I blew both of the brake lines out of my other van while backing out of my driveway and hit the neighbor's garbage cans! Jason fixed it, but decided I needed a newer, safer vehicle ASAP. My new van drives so nice and will be really easy to get Venily in and out of. Jason already wants to get her car seat installed and ready for her just in case!

September 28, 2007 (37 weeks, 1 day pregnant w/ Venily)


Picture: 37w, 1d





Well, I'm full term now as of yesterday and I only have 20 days left until my due date!! I want her out by next Friday, lol, but we'll see! It's getting harder and harder to sleep and/or walk b/c my back really hurts and it feels like my hips are splitting in half! Plus now I'm getting bad leg cramps again, so I'm back to stetching for an hour each night and I'm hoping that will help. I'm really hoping that the doctor will tell me on Monday that she is really close to being born! I had such bad contractions the other night that I dreamt that I was in labor and had to go to the hospital. But I'm sure she'll take her precious little time and not come early! It's so funny b/c Jason jumps at any thing I say and thinks I'm about to have the baby all the time! LOL! Last night I yelled for him to come see something and he thought my water broke!!

September 24, 2007 (36 weeks, 4 days pregnant w/ Venily)



I had the first of my weekly appointments today (hopefully only a few left). It went really well. Everything still looks great. According to their scale though I've gained 4.5 pounds in 2 weeks! My scale says differently though, so who knows. If the doctor's office is right that puts me at a total of 22 pounds so far this pregnancy, which is awesome! But I can feel EVERY pound of it- she's SOOO heavy!!! The doctor checked me and said that her head is really far down which is going to make for an easier delivery, but that it probably feels like I'm walking around w/ a bowling ball between my legs, lol, it sure does! He also thinks that she's about 7 pounds right now!!! I have a feeling that she's going to be BIG! I was talking to my mom and all of her children were over 8 pounds except for my sister (but that was only b/c she was born 4 weeks early at almost 6 pounds anyway). Hopefully she comes in like a week before she can get too gigantic, lol! And, WOW, is she active right now!! All the stuff I read says that she should be slowing down as she runs out of room, but she is really moving all around in there! I had a dream one night that she had bruised the whole inside of my stomach and you could see it from the outside, lol. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised.

Other than being HUGE and having to deal with all of the things that that entails, I don't have any new symptoms, so that's good. Just some lower back pain still and getting tired easily. Jason and I went for a 2 mile hike yesterday at Kettle Moraine and that was really nice. While we were walking Jason told me that he thought I was going to be a great mom and I almost lost it- I don't think I can love him any more than I do right now. Except maybe when I see him with his daughter b/c I already know how much he loves her. About a week ago we went to the Whitewater Aquatic Center and swam, which felt great. I really want to go again. I'm hoping staying active will help this baby come sooner! In 3 days, when I'm officially full term, you can bet that I'm going to be doing everything that I can to get this baby out!!!

September 18, 2007!!!! (35 weeks, 5 days pregnant w/ Venily)


Picture: 35w, 2d



It's the 18th today, which means that there is exactly one month until my due date!!! Which is awesome because I think I'm officially ready to not be pregnant any more, lol! Jason says not to say that b/c he still needs a few weeks to get everything together like getting our roof finished up and stuff! But I am so ready! Venily is ready too- she wants OUT, ha ha! She's been kicking so hard lately that I'm surprised she hasn't broken free! Her foot sometimes literaly sticks out like 3 inches, then she'll pull it back in and I'll push on it and she'll stick it out again! It's so cute, but I thought Jason was going to be sick when I was showing him! LOL, he's funny- I can't wait to see him when I'm delivering her!!

I'm really hoping that when they check me next Monday that I've started dialating or showing some signs that labor will start soon- I can't even imagine going to my due date (or later- oh my gosh!)! I'm not sure if she's dropped yet, but I'd like to think so- I'm not very good at judging stuff like that! I want to see her and hold her so badly!!! Hopefully I only have a few short weeks left!

September 13, 2007 (35 weeks pregnant w/ Venily)



I'm 35 WEEKS TODAY!!!!!
Only 35 days left until Venily's due date and only 14 days until she's full term!!! I've been having a lot of braxton hicks contractions (I believe- I've been having them since I was about 20 weeks) and had them pretty bad last night, making it really hard to sleep! It's so exciting- I've been dreaming about being this pregnant for a long time and now I finally am!!!!

Here's what she looks like this week:

September 10, 2007 (34 weeks, 4 days pregnant w/Venily)



Another great appointment today. I gained another 1.5 pounds in 2 weeks and her heartbeat was 145bpm. My doctor said that she appears to be a very healthy little girl. My next appointment is in 2 weeks again and then I start going to my appointments WEEKLY! We're so close now! At my next appointment I get an internal exam and I'll be tested for the Strep B virus.

We're getting so excited and Jason is being so cute about the baby! He just told me today he was thinking about getting a tattoo with her name on him! LOL, I don't really like tatoos, but I think that would be adorable!

I survived my 4 days without Jason, lol, and got a lot of stuff done. It was actually nice to be able to sleep in the bed all by myself with all 6 pillows, ha ha! I even painted some pictures to go up in Venily's room. I'm happy with how they turned out and am glad I did them myself so that they match perfectly with her room. I need to find a place to hang them up now. I painted a bunch of little butterflies too and put them around her room. I also started a workout routine. I haven't been able to walk much lately b/c of how badly it hurts my back- plus all of the stupid mosquitoes around here! I don't work out crazy or anything- just a lot of stretching and light weights (no more than 10 pounds), but I feel better already. My muscles (especially in my legs and back) are so tight and I'm going to need my arm strength for carrying around my sure-to-be large baby!

Here is a picture of the paintings I made (I even painted the frames)!

September 6, 2007 (34 weeks pregnant w/ Venily)




Picture: 33w, 2d

I'm so excited to be in September already (and I'm 34 weeks today!)- any time after September 27th, she's welcome to come!!

Jason is gone this weekend to Pennsylvania and made me promise not to have her, lol, and he made her promise too! :) Next weekend he's going to Michigan and wants me to come with, but I'm not sure. Then the weekend after that he might be going down south to watch Jake Kotrba's graduation, but he doesn't want to go because he's afraid I might have the baby! He told me that once I hit 36 weeks, he's locking me in the house and I'm not able to go anywhere, lol. We'll see about that, I'm not nervous about it!

Actually, I'm surprisingly not very nervous at all about having her! I'm really looking forward to it! I think I have a very good idea about how things are going to go and I think it's going to be an easy labor (I'm optimistic!)! Plus I look forward to being in such a nice hospital and feel confident that they are going to take good care of Venily and me! I'm 100% set on having an epidural and despite all of the labor horror stories, I think it's going to be an AMAZING experience! I've been watching a lot of Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby and so many people that I follow their pregnancies online are all having their babies and they all handled it fine and now get to be at home with them... I guess I'm just looking forward to that too much to be nervous or worried!

Jason and I have been talking a lot lately about what it's going to be like having her here with us and we're both really excited- he thinks it's going to be a lot of fun!!! Jason is looking forward to getting her a Halloween costume (we haven't found the perfect one yet though!) and wants to take a family trip with her in the Spring. Right after I have her, Jason is going to take a week off of work so we can be together as a family and he can help me out in any way that he can. It's funny- he's pretty clueless about babies and I'm a little scared of newborns until they're around 2 months old and thier necks are sturdier- so we're going to have a lot of learning to do! But I can't wait- we love her so much!!!

As far as how I'm doing, I think I'm doing pretty well for being 34 weeks pregnant! My lower back just absolutely kills me, but other than that- no real problems! I take a nap every afternoon and wake up a couple times a night to go to the bathroom, eat, and rearrange my pillows. But, I'm extremely lucky not to have to work right now, so all of my energy can go to taking care of myself and the baby! The ticker thing on here last week said I probably have cankles, lol, I DON'T!! I don't have any swelling at all (and my rings are still falling off of my fingers). Also, I don't have ANY heartburn (I still don't even know what it feels like!) and no stretch marks (pray that it stays that way- I don't know how much bigger I can get though!). Now that I wrote that though, I'm sure all of those things will come my way- oh well, she'll still be worth it! :)

I started packing for the hospital already!! I think most of all Venily's stuff is ready to go! My next appointment is already on Monday- they come a lot faster when they're only 2 weeks apart!

Saturday, September 01, 2007 9:13 PM

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Current mood: happy 10 Random things about me * I'm one of the luckiest girls in the entire world- and I'm very aware of how lucky I am! * I can't drive well- I have no sense of direction and I can't park my huge van * I love the smell of bug spray, tomatoe plants, and campfires * I want a million kids- have them, adopt them, and be a foster parent * I'm very opinionated, but often don't express my opinions to other people * I'm convinced I could make the world a better place if I was in charge * I've been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old and I love animals * I have to eat chocolate every day * My dream job is to be a stay-at-home mom, I could never be happy working full time, no matter what the job was * I am OBSESSED with all things to do with babies! 9 Ways to win my heart- (yeah, I lucked out w/ my perfect guy!) * Love children * Love animals * Be dorky * Do everything you can to make me happy * Spend a lot of time with me * Tell me how much you love me... often! * Make me laugh * Be an amazing father * Work hard to make the life we want 8 Things I want to do before I die * Watch my children grow up * Travel around the world * Own a small farm * See something incredible happen * Win the lottery, lol, just kidding * Umm.... I'm really happy with my life the way it is, I just want to continue living it for a very long time and continue doing everything we're doing!! * * 7 Ways to annoy me * Be loud and obnoxious * Talk down to me * Try to push your religion and/or beliefs on me or make fun of my own * Be overly sarcastic * Complain about the same things over and over again but never do anything to fix the problem! * Talk bad about people behind their backs but act nice to them to their face. * Treat others badly. 6 Turn offs * Self-centeredness * Aggressiveness * Ignorance! (and pretending you know what you're talking about) * Apathy * Huge muscles- yuck! * Rednecks 5 Things I'm afraid of * Anything bad happening to our baby * Having something happen to Jason * Centipedes!! (and other bugs) * Praying mantises- I HATE them- I can't even look at a picture of them * Angler fish that live deep in the ocean- the ones w/ pointy teeth and lanterns (I know I'm never going to actually see one, but the thought of them scares me to death!) 4 Favorite items in my room * All our baby stuff!!!! * Our comforter * Xoey Marie * My good luck items 3 Things I do every day * Think about my baby one million times and look at her in the mirror! * Clean * Eat 2 Things I want to do right now * Eat something * Finish doing the dishes 1 Person I want to see right now * Venily!! -but she still has some more baking to do... soon enough I'll see you my baby girl!!

August 29, 2007 (32 weeks, 6 days pregnant)

Only 50 days left until my due date!!!! And only 29 days until she's full-term!!!! I can't wait to see her!!!!!

August 27, 2007 (32 weeks, 4 days pregnant)

My doctor appointment today went great! I was in and out in only like 5 minutes and now my appointments are every 2 weeks! My next appointment is September 10th- she's going to be here before we know it!! Oh, and I gained 3 pounds this month- I'm really proud of myself! I've been eating as much as I can as often as I can and Jason has been making me drink a protein drink every night, lol- I guess our hard work is paying off, I'm up to 142 now. Her heartbeat was at 142bpm as well. Everything else looks good too. The doctor says that Venily is probably about 4-4 1/2 pounds right now! We got to meet our doctor's actual nurse today too and I really like her. It turns out the nurse we saw the last 2 times we went to him was just temporary because his nurse was on maternity leave for 12 weeks, but now she's back. I'm glad b/c I didn't really like the other nurse. We also got all the paperwork to pre-register for Labor and Delivery- soon enough we'll be able to have her in our arms!!!

August 25, 2007 (32 weeks, 2 days pregnant w/ Venily)

I just put up a bunch of pictures of Venily's room and things! Her room is still not quite done, but it's what I have done so far. I'm still working on her dresser- I'm putting a darker border around the outside of the door and a border around the top. I'm also STILL looking for pictures to put up on her walls and I've looked everywhere- I think I might just paint my own. Also, I just decided that I want a large dark brown shelf with hooks to hang things on, so I'll be looking for that now too, lol! So, take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think!!

August 23, 2007 (32 weeks pregnant)

Here is what our little princess looks like at 32 weeks!! I can't believe how big she is (though she feels much, much bigger!)! It's so crazy how a year ago today I would have done anything to have a baby and now she is almost here! I have a lot of online pregnancies that I follow through babyhomepages and myspace and now so many of them are having their babies- it's getting me so excited b/c I know my turn is coming soon!!!! From starting out wanting a baby for years and years, then finally getting pregnant, and then 9 whole months of being pregnant, to actually being able to bring a baby home with us soon is so absolutely sureal. It's almost like I'll believe it when it happens- right now I still feel like I'm dreaming! :)


Aww, those little feet love to kick my ribs and that little but loves to push my stomach out as absolutely far as it can and those little elbows and hands like to flail all over the place and make me laugh (like they are right now)! :)

August 20, 2007 (31 weeks, 4 days pregnant w/ Venily)

Uhhhh, I just got done writing a whole long story and I accidentally closed the whole thing down! I'll try again!

Only 59 days left until my due date (I'm thinking I'm going to deliver early, but maybe that's only wishful thinking!). Hopefully not too early though (I'm thinking like early October) because Jason is going to be gone for 3 weekends in September! Yikes, you just know something is going to happen during one of those weekends! But, I'm way too pregnant now to go anywhere with him, lol! I think it's really starting to catch up to me. My back hurts all the time and I'm soooo tired all day and I toss and turn trying to get comfortable all night! But I'm definitely not complaining because I know a lot of women who are as far along as I am that have WAY more things wrong and my symptoms aren't that bad (at least yet anyway) and I know that she is going to be more than worth it in the end! :) I just can't wait to have her and finally be able to see her and hold her in my arms, it's going to be the best thing in the whole world!

Venily's room is looking soooo cute now! Everything is so pretty- I go in her room all the time and just look around and Jason makes fun of me for it, lol! I already want another little girl!! Her room is really starting to come along- all we really need now is her. We put her shelves, curtains, and the letters for her name up and all of her drawers and most of her closet is all organized (with all of her clothes grouped together by size: newborn, 0-3m, 3-6m, 6-9m, 12m, and up!). I'm going to take some pictures soon of her room and put them up on here as well as pictures of some of her cute things too! The only thing I really am still looking for is some pictures to put up on her wall and possibly a wall border but I'm really picky and doubt that I'll ever find one that I like enough to buy! Venily's car seat and stroller came in the other day and I put that together and it's so cute, I'm so glad I went with that one, I just LOVE it! Well, I think I'm going to go now and try painting her dresser. I decided that I'm only going to paint the main door on it in dark brown and then I might go back later and paint some pink butterflies on it or something. I'm really not sure how it's going to turn out! :)

I go to my next dr. appointment one week from today!

August 15, 2007 (30 weeks, 6 days pregnant)






We're proud to announce that our family is growing by one more!!!!! Venily is getting a new baby cousin in April and has been so excited about it! :) She's been kicking more and more ever since she found out! The baby is only going to be 6 months younger than her and they are going to be in the same grade level in school!!!! It's going to be so much fun! Venily kind of wants another girl cousin but big sister Kaitlyn kind of wants a baby brother so we are going to be thrilled no matter what! OR- maybe one of each? LOL, just kidding Jacki! We love all of our kids so much and can't wait for a new niece or nephew!!! The next year (and on!) is surely going to be filled with tons of excitement!!

August 9, 2007 (30 weeks pregnant w/ Venily)

WE'RE 30 WEEKS TODAY (75% DONE)!!!!!! Only 70 more days left until Venily's due date!! We've been very busy getting things ready for her too! Her crib and bedding are all set up and her room definitely looks like a little girl's room now! Jason made the shelves for her bookshelf and put them in and we've been steadily getting everything put away. We ordered her travel system and should be getting it in about a week! I'm so happy right now, I just can't wait until we finally have our little girl!

August 6, 2007 (29 weeks, 4 days pregnant w/ Venily)



Our baby shower yesterday was AWESOME!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came and helped celebrate our new daughter! I couldn't even get to sleep last night because I was so overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and well wishes for our daughter! It's truly amazing how much this little girl is already loved, I'm almost crying again just writing this! Thanks especially to Lauren and Jacki for throwing the shower for us. It was just perfect (although a trillion degrees and humid- but great nonetheless)! I can't even believe how much stuff Venily got either! I spent all day yesterday from the moment I got home from the shower until I went to bed, opening and putting things away and I didn't even get done! And after shopping today for some of the little stuff that she still needed, she has about 99% of EVERYTHING that she needs! She now has a crib and mattress, her entire bed set and everything that goes with it, lots of packages of diapers and wipes, bottles, baby monitors, umbrella stroller, diaper bag, lots of clothes and blankets, stuff for nursing, socks, bath stuff and lotion, calendar and baby book, robes, lots of cute toys, boppy pillow, hamper and laundry basket, travel bed, shopping cart cover, hair stuff, pacifiers, wipewarmer, medicines, bowls and spoons, frames, etc., etc. etc. I can't even write everything that she got b/c it goes on forever! I'm just in LOVE with all of the stuff too! I washed all of her bedding and clothes and things today in baby detergent and it just melts my heart how cute and little everything is! Especially the socks, oh my gosh, I don't think I could ever have enough tiny baby socks, I LOVE them! And her room smells like baby stuff too now, lol, I'm getting SOOO excited for her to come!!!! Jason is moving Lisa's bed out of her room sometime this week and then I'm going to get the crib all set up and start putting her room more together, I can't wait! I have a few pictures up from the shower, but I'll hopefully be getting more later- keep in mind that I was really hot and sweaty. :) Thanks again to everyone, I can't even express how much it is appreciated!!!

August 4, 2007 (29 weeks, 2 days pregnant w/ Venily)


Picture: 29w, 2d

We are SOOO excited for our baby shower tomorrow! There are supposed to be a "few showers" (lol) tomorrow with a 30% chance of rain, but it is going to be fun no matter what and there's a covered pavillion too, so it doesn't really matter! I can't wait until Monday either because Venily and I are going SHOPPING for everything that she still needs! Lol, not that I've been able to keep myself from going anyways! Almost every time I'm out now I pick her up something (mostly on sale of course!). Even Jason has gotten into the habit, lol! Yesterday he stopped at a garage sale and bought her this really nice three-wheeled jogging stroller that looks like it's brand new. He said it's so we can take her for walks in the woods like at Bong or when we go camping and stuff. LOL! I LOVE IT and I love him for getting it!

Yesterday and today I painted the letters for her room, so they are ready to go now. We also got a dresser that I've been fixing up. It's been in my family for a long time and it's really cute, it just needs some work. I cleaned it all up today, bought and put on new knobs, and bought wood to make shelves (it's got a bookshelf too, which is what I really wanted!). I need to decide though if I'm going to paint it, restain it, or leave it like it is and just maybe put a few coats of polyurethane on it or something. Now I just need Lisa to go back to college so I can get her bed out of Venily's room and put everything in place!! :)

Also, I just took another belly pic today and it's SO FUNNY! I can't even believe I'm that big! It's so crazy! What's going to happen in the next 10 weeks!? I'm kind of scared about that!

July 31, 2007 (28 weeks, 5 days pregnant w/Venily)

Venily keeps getting the hiccups all morning today! Lol, the poor dear! This is the first time that I've actually felt them and KNOWN that that's what was going on. There's been a few times when I thought that she had them, but it didn't last very long or anything, but as soon as I woke up this morning she had them for like 20 minutes straight and now she keeps getting them off and on all day! I don't know if there is anything cuter than imagining her with tiny baby hiccups, lol, that's about as cute as it gets! :)

July 30, 2007 (28 weeks, 4 days pregnant w/Venily)

Today marks 200 days of being pregnant with only 80 more to go!!!! I'm so excited!! And can you believe that it's almost August already?! It seems like we just found out that we were pregnant and I was so excited when she was only an inch big and now she's gigantic and almost ready to come out!! AND only 6 more days until our baby shower, I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun!! I really hope the weather is nice! :)

July 28, 2007 (28 weeks, 2 days pregnant w/ Venily)

My appointment with my new doctor yesterday went good. We definitely like him more than our last doctor. He's really down to earth and nice and actually has some sort of personality and he's not really creepy, so that's good! Everything is looking great too, so I'm relieved! My glucose test came back good, I was only at 112 so no problems there and my iron levels and stuff came back even better than the last time I had my blood tested, so I'm not anemic! The baby's heartbeat was at 144bpm and she's measuring good too, even though I've only gained 1 pound in the last 5 weeks. I've been so worried about that, but the doctor said that it was fine as long as it doesn't continue happening too often. He said that the baby gets everything that she needs first, so she'll be fine no matter what, but I only get what's left over so my health might suffer if I'm not eating enough. That's probably why I was getting really tired and dizzy those few days, I was expending more energy than I was consuming, but I'm doing good with that now. He also said that there is now a big change by doctors to have women gain the minimum number of pounds required rather than going too far over because it's better for the baby and mom, leads to fewer complications, and the mom can bounce back faster after birth, so that's good! My last doctor told me something similar and said that I should gain 20-30 pounds and I've gained 13 so far, so I'm right on track. My next appointment will be in a month, on August 27th and after that I start going for my appointments every 2 weeks!

July 26, 2007 (28 weeks pregnant w/ Venily)


Picture: 27w, 3d

Well, I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow (hopefully for real this time!)! I decided to go back to the Family Care doctor that I saw and liked. I also scheduled an appointment w/ another OB, but he couldn't get me in until August 9th and there was a possibility that I wouldn't be able to deliver at Aurora (he has his own practice and delivers at Aurora and Kenosha Medical) so I'll be cancelling that appointment unless I change my mind about the doctor I'm seeing tomorrow! It's been such a hassle switching, I'll know better next time around to start off at a good hospital w/ a doctor I like!

On another exciting note, my MIL just gave us a TON of great stuff for our baby that she had in storage! We got a swing, a smaller travel swing, a baby bath tub, and lots of toys, blankets, crib sheets and things!! It's so exciting, I love having all of this baby stuff in my house! I went to buy our travel system the other day, though, and it's being discontinued and is really hard to find so I'm probably going to have to order it on line unless I want to go with a different one. Same with the Amy Coe collection that I want for the nursery at Target. I sure know how to pick stuff, lol! It's alright though. I'm confident that I'll get everything I need in time and that it's going to be adorable no matter what!

Oh and I'm 28 weeks today and this is what my baby looks like! She's getting so big and is so strong now!

July 20, 2007 (27 weeks, 1 day pregnant w/ Venily)

I'M IN MY THIRD TRIMESTER!!!!! I can't believe it! My baby could be born now with great chances of survival, but hopefully she decides to stay in there until October! My second semester has been so great, I'm a little sad that it's over. I haven't even felt very pregnant except for my big belly and all of the moving around in there (which is the best part anyway)!

So, I had some disappointment yesterday. About 5 minutes before I was going to leave for my doctor's appointment, I get a call saying that my appointment is cancelled and that the doctor isn't accepting any new patients at this time! Thanks for the advanced notice! Gosh I hate doctors and hospitals! I knew she wasn't accepting new patients, but I thought that we had gotten around it and had everything worked out. I think we're just going to have an at-home birth and Jason will deliver the baby! LOL! Just kidding, though I'd prefer that rather than going back to Burlington! Instead we're just going to find another doctor at Kenosha. Possibly the one I saw last week (he was really nice, but not an OB, though he does OB stuff too) or another guy that Cathy recommended. We'll see, I really wanted to have a woman, but I'll get over it- as long as I deliver in Kenosha, I don't care any more!

All of this doctor stuff has me a little stressed out though. I could hardly sleep at all last night and had several terrible dreams about bad things happening to the baby. I weighed myself at home yesterday and I haven't gained ANY weight since my last appointment a month ago! It doesn't make a lot of sense b/c I eat all of the time. I really want to get in and have my stomach measured to make sure she's still growing on schedule in there. I'm sure she is, b/c I look bigger and she has been kicking and moving around more and more all the time, but it doesn't help that everyone I see tells me how small I look or when they can't believe that I'm over 6 months now. Plus over the last week I've been so tired and keep getting dizzy all of the time. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we've been so busy around here! Jason has had the last 2 1/2 weeks off of work so we're always doing something and now with Jacki and Jake back, we spend a lot of our time with them! Hopefully I can get in to see a doctor sometime next week and see what he says! In the meantime I'll just keep eating all day long and taking naps whenever I get tired- it's a rough time being pregnant, huh? LOL! :)

I think some of my stress also comes from the fact that I don't have everything ready yet for when the baby gets here! I'm really big into planning beforehand and being prepared! I'm working on it though! Yesterday we went to some garage sales and I got a rocking chair and ottoman and a floor toy that babies play with while laying on their backs. And we already have a changing table, bassinet, toys, blankets, lots of pretty little girl clothes, etc. Most of which we've had before we were even pregnant! So, I'm not behind on getting things or anything, but if it was up to me I'd have the whole baby's room all set up with everything ready to go by now if I could! I'll probably have that ready within a month and then I'll feel much better!