It's Baaaaack!

Morning sickness, that is. I remember commenting the other day that I was surprised I hadn't been sick yet with this pregnancy. With Keira, I was sick constantly until about 4 1/2 months along. Up until this week I had been a bit queasy and HUNGRY all the time, but not terribly sick. Then, I woke up Sunday morning, and before I even got out of bed, I knew it was back. Since Sunday morning, I've been fighting the urge to throw up. I almost wish I would throw up, just to make the nausea go away for a brief time. I just want to lie on the couch in the evenings and rest because I feel so tired and sick, but Keira keeps me pretty busy. I think I had "pregnancy amnesia" because I'd forgotten how yucky (for lack of a better word) morning (or ALL DAY) sickness can be. I can't believe I had actually been looking forward to it...but at least I know that there are plenty of hormones circulating through my body. Hopefully it'll only last until the end of this first trimester. We'll see...

"#1"

For some reason, this picture wouldn't show on the previous post. There's a link to it, but here is the actual picture. OH YEAH, Shawn also had Keira's ears pierced yesterday. I wasn't really all that excited about it, but it turned out pretty good. He held her while the ladies pierced both ears at once. She cried for a couple of minutes and then was fine. She doesn't even seem to realize they're there, plus they look ADORABLE!

Keira's 1 year photos...

We took Keira to have her pictures made for her first birthday (a bit late, I know). They haven't come in yet, but here's a preview. What a cutie!

KEIRA is going to be a BIG SISTER!

Ok, so, here's the scoop. Shawn has been saying since before Keira was born that he wanted our kids to be close together in age. We had talked about waiting until this summer to start "trying" for the next one. He'd wanted to start sooner (like when Keira was 5 or 6 months old, but I persuaded him to wait). So, we finally decided that this would be the month when we'd stop NOT trying...and just let nature take its' course....you know, in God's time and all of that. Apparently God's time is NOW! I'd been "feeling" pregnant for about a week or so and finally decided to take a home pregnancy test last Thursday...and it was POSITIVE immediately. We were shocked and elated. I feel good...my morning sickness has been pretty minimal up to this point (of course, I am only 5w5d), but I have been extremely moody and sensitive. We're going to the doctor on April 14 for our first appointment and (hopefully) our first look at our new addition. I have talked to my doctor's nurse, and Dr. McB increased my Folguard dosage and told me to keep taking baby aspirin for the clotting. We're praying all goes well, and we're expecting a precious new baby in November. If this new baby is half as amazing as our Keira, we'll be blessed.

KEIRA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

Keira's first birthday was Saturday, March 11. We had her party at Mom and Dad's church (in the fellowship hall). So many family members and friends came. It was really nice. Here are some of the pictures.



She was so funny when we gave her her little cake. She wasn't sure quite what to do with it. She stuck her fingers into the icing and then tried to wipe them clean on the highchair tray. In the end she got pretty messy. She even ended up with icing in her hair. Thank goodness we took her birthday dress off before giving her the cake. Luckily there was a sink there, so we just ran it full of water and gave her a bath.
I still can't believe my baby girl is one year old.

Today Shawn took her to the pediatrician. She weighed 19lbs, 3oz, and was 27 1/4" long. She's come a long way from 3lbs, 14oz! She isn't walking yet, but she does talk all the time!! She says some words that are recognizable (Mama, Dada, bottle, e-i-e-i-o, babygirl, get down, hi, bye-bye, and uh-oh). Some other things aren't completely clear, but we know what she's saying because she consistently says the same things. She also gives kisses. What a big girl!

Sara's Birthday Pictures

Here are some recent pictures of Keira and Sara. They were taken at Sara's 3rd birthday party on January 29. Uncle Tim got to spend some time with his girls.

Crying it Out..Some Peace at Last!

Ok, so I finally got tired of being tired all the time. Neither Shawn nor I were getting a full night of sleep because Keira had gotten back into the habit of waking up twice a night. One of us would feed her, snuggle her and put her back to bed. It's so hard to resist picking her up when she's crying...and she's still sleeping in our room (which is a topic for another day...). Anyway, Saturday night we got home late from visiting Holly, Jeff, and Tyler (after doing some birthday shopping for my *almost 1 year old girl*). We went to bed, and after a couple of hours, Keira started crying again. I lay in bed for about 10 minutes listening to her and hoping she'd fall back to sleep. She didn't, so I got up and went to her. She was standing up and reaching for me, but I somehow managed to resist picking her up and lay her back down instead. I patted her back and talked to her for a couple of minutes then got back into my bed. She cried (and screamed) for about 30 more (LONG and TORTUROUS) minutes, then was calm and quiet. I got up to check on her and she was sound asleep. She didn't wake up until 6:00 Sunday morning.

Sunday night she cried for about 30 minutes total and fell back to sleep. Since then, she hasn't woken up and cried at all. I am pretty excited about this development. At first I felt like I deserved the "World's MEANEST Mom Award" for letting her cry. But, she wasn't wet, dirty or hungry, so I knew that she was just tired. And after getting TWO FULL NIGHTS OF SLEEP, I'm feeling like a pretty good Mom after all.