First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Lily in a baby carriage!

11/19/09- I didn't get a chance to update yesterday with the pictures because I was holding Lily and it is very difficult typing with one hand! She is doing so good! Getting more fun each day. At her last doctor's appointment she was 12 lbs and 24 3/4" (I think that was the length), so she is getting big, although she is still long and lean "looking"...which I hope never goes away!

We gave her some rice cereal and mixed in some 1st stage squash baby food and she LOVED IT! Be sure to check out the video of it on the home page. Danny was feeding her and she got the hang of it soo quick. She is definitely going to be a "foody" like her mom and dad. I wanted to hold out till at least 5 months before starting it, but she was ready so I gave in. She gets one "meal" before bed and the rest of the day she nurses when I'm with her and has a bottle I pumped otherwise. That seems to be working good. We have also tried carrots and she loved them too! She is just getting too big...

We think she wants to start walking, bypassing the whole crawling stage..hehe She straightens her legs and stands on our laps constantly, and now is arching her back to slide down your lap, so we stand her on the floor and she gets all excited! We laugh because she isn't even sitting yet...she's so advanced ;o)

Well, we look forward to coming down south next summer so we can all spend time together! Hopefully the winter will be short!

10/15/09- Lily is getting so smart! Her little personality is really starting to develop. She knaws on her hands now nonstop and even chews on her fingers. The doctor said that she isn't teething, but she is starting the "behaviors" and that includes major drool. She also has been having a crying spell at night before she goes to sleep, almost like she's fighting it. But she usually passes out around 8:30 and will sleep until 4-5 a.m. to eat and will sleep a little longer.

9/22/09- I guess its fall time...relunctantly I'm going with it. Lily is now 11 1/2 weeks. She is talking up a storm now and has started chuckling, it is adorable. She is sleeping really well, around 10 to 11 hours at night. She already loves t.v. poor thing. She does really well with Julie while I'm at work, me on the other hand is having a hard time being without her. She has her first circuit assembly this weekend! I'm typing one handed right now, so I'll update more later!

8/26/09- Danny and I had professional pictures taken of Lily and they came out sooo cute. They have to be added, but you can go to www.windmillphotography.com click on online proofing and enter "hull" as the username and "7788" as the password and you can see the best of the best shots. If you want to order you can!

We have been doing really good, not much to report, just continuing to enjoy the summer and our time together. Lily is just growing like a weed! She has discovered her hands and likes to try to eat them...hehe She looks at you and coos and smiles which is adorable.

8/7/09- Today Lily is 5 weeks old! And she is getting BIG! At her one month appt. she weighed 9 lbs. 10 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long! So she gained 2 lbs and half an inch in her first month of life...not bad!! She is very healthy and doing really well. I can still say that she is a great baby, after having her in our lives for five weeks, she is just a doll. We love her more everyday! We are adjusting and have her on somewhat of a schedule, she does have her nights where she is on a wacky clock but they are rare. She goes down for the night around midnight and will sleep until 4 am, eat and go back to sleep by 5 am and she stays asleep until 8:30-9 am. So from midnight until around 9ish I only lose about one hour of sleep! Occasionally she wants to eat at 7 am, but then she'll sleep a little later that morning.

We are really enjoying the summer, this "way of life" of not working and chillin and having Danny home by lunch is spoiling us!! I don't know what I'm gonna do when we have to go back to work this fall.

Lily does really good at the meetings and she has been out in service and was great! I haven't gottin the feedings timed right, so on Tuesday nights I usually end up having to feed her in the middle of the meeting. So I will have to work that out. I have started pumping and storing for work and that is going really well.

Danny and I have been married for 8 years! I really appreciate Danny more now than ever, he is a great hubbie and a great Dad! Its very special seeing him with Lily, its really amazing the intense joy you feel, and I know it will get even better as the years go by. He is my love.

Be sure and see the video on the home page of Lily playing in her crib for the first time! You can really see how big she has gotten!

7/10/09- Aww! I can't believe my little girl is a week old today! Time is just flying by already and its hard to accept! She is such a good baby, we are just totally in love with her. She is so calm and relaxed, she only gets upset to let you know about something, but she is very easily consolible. We are really getting the breastfeeding down, its been a learning experience for both of us, but we are getting the hang of it now. Last night she slept most of the night, I fed her twice and the rest she slept, so Danny and I were able to get some sleep and mom too! She had been staying up with her all night in the beginning so we could sleep. But now we are getting the hang of it.

Danny is soo cute with her, she already is in full control...lol We all just sit around staring at her because she is so adorable, grabbing the camera whenever she does something sweet. We just love her!

Well, I am doing great, I was really surprised how quickly I healed. I felt really great on day three and now I feel totally back to normal. I have lost 22 lbs in less than a week!

We have Erin here! We picked her up yesterday and are really enjoying it. We went to the pool today and I actually got some color, and so did Danny in a really weird pattern on his chest..lol

We have a doc appt. on Thursday and hopefully they will schedule me to be induced this weekend! Mom flies in on Wednesday, so anyday after that is game!

Hopefully we will have news soon! I can't believe I have made it to 39 weeks, I can officially say I'm a survivor...hehe

6/21/09- I have great news! On Thursday at our appointment we got to see the little booger! She was 7lbs 11oz, and they are expecting her to be around 8lbs at delivery! She is head down, face down and I was 2cm dialated! So hopefully we'll have a baby soon!! I haven't had any "timable" contractions, just some mentstral like cramping low in my uterus. Danny and I have been walking to keep things moving, I don't want to sit at 2cm for long. I go back to the doc next Thursday and hopefully we'll see more progress!

The nursery is getting back to normal, the carpet was put in on Friday and it looks really nice. We moved the furniture back in and tomorrow I am going to work on the rest of her stuff. It feels sooooo good to be out of work, the doctor said that it was good because he would've taken me out if I wasn't already, due to my swelling. He was a little concerned that I could develop preeclampsia, but my blood pressure has been great the entire pregnancy and there has been no protein in my urine, so I think I can just thank my genes for the swelling!

Well, the countdown is on! Only 14 more days!! But hopefully, it will be a little sooner than that!!

6/14/09- Adventures! Adventures!! This past week we had a little "situation" in the nursery. There is a water spicket on the other side of one of the walls and apparently during the horrible horrible winter we had the copper pipe just inside the wall burst. Then this spring when we wanted to water our flowers, it was gushing water inside the wall! So we ended up with a huge hole in our floor weeks before my due date!! ARGH!

So the nursery was 98% completed and now we had to move everything out and into my living room and bedroom. Which if you only knew how frustrating this is to undo all of the work we put into it!! Plus there was a casualty, my pretty chenille rug got ruined!! I'm really sad about it too! It really added alot to her room, and now its just adding a weird smell to our kitchen...hehe

This week is my last week of work!! So I only have to get through the first three days and I'm done until after Labor Day! I got some really cute nursing pj's and they are super comfy, I took some pics in my bathroom...hehe

6/7/09- Well I totally skipped over my 35th week...sorry! I have been a little busy and I never got a chance to update!

But now we are 36 weeks into this adventure and have only 28 days until my due date!! The reactions I am getting from people are very funny. Some people see me and they are very happy and some look at me and are sympathetic to my condition...hehe They're like, "Awww..you poor thing, you're probably ready any day now!" My workmates tease me for how slow I walk these days, or I should say waddle. On Saturday I stood up to shake the hand of a customer who approached my desk and he put his arms in the air and said, "Whoa! You are VERY pregnant!" He was embarrassed by his reaction, but we all laughed because it was pretty funny.

Danny put together the pack-n-play which has a "close and cozy" bassinet attachment that she will sleep in. It goes right up against our bed and puts her at arms length. It is sooo cute, and it will be so sweet when she's sleeping in it! He also put together the highchair, so its all coming together.

We had our District Convention over the weekend and it was SOOO GOOD! I know we always say that every year that this one was the best, but it was! Its always exactly what we need when we need it! Of course I was a ball of hormones, I cried at every interview, experience, release, the drama! Look out for the drama it is a tear jerker! Danny was the First Aid overseer again, which worked out nicely because I could put my feet up. Sitting for that long my legs were horrible! There is a private little room with some chairs and a t.v. so I could hang out there with my feet up and get a great view of the speaker. Of course, when Danny had a "customer" it was inconvenient...hehe But no major accidents or incidents, so Danny was happy about that. We got a hotel room in Queens this time, because..hello..I'm almost nine months pregnant and driving an hour and a half each way and getting there early and leaving late just wasn't gonna happen! Thankfully, Danny's assistant volunteered to stay and keep FA open for the drama rehearsal so we could leave or we would've had to stay until they were done. We had been up that morning since 4am and I was shot, so we were really grateful.

Well, I am defenitely reaching that stage where I am pretty uncomfortable! I feel like she is so big and I don't know how much bigger my stomach can get!! We are coming down to the wire, my final weeks are approaching so now on our list of chores is washing all of her clothes and crib sheets and receiving blankets, finishing up organizing her room and of course packing our hospital bag!! We are really starting to get excited about having our little baby home!

5/17/09- Last Tuesday I had my monthly check up and I am really proud of myself! In 32 weeks I have gained only 28 lbs!! I had gained only 3 lbs since my last monthly check up, so I am doing really good. ALOT of people I've talked to have gained rediculous amounts of weight, like 70-80 lbs! So I am sooo happy I haven't done that. Plus, I passed the glucose test, my blood pressure has been consistantly good and besides all of the nonpregnancy related illnesses I'm pretty darn healthy! Which shocks me a bit, because I could see it going the other way just as easily...hehe

Danny put together her stoller and made us practice putting the infant carrier in and out of it, and collapsing it and putting it together over and over until we could do it no problem...he's so cute. He also put the base in the car and the car seat looks soooo sureal in our car! Is this for real?? A car seat in our car??..weird.

5/10/09- Our baby shower was a great success! We had a really nice time and got some really great presents! We are so grateful of everyone's love and support! She got sooooo many clothes its unbelievable!! We also got a super cool camcorder and all of the essentials she will need. Alot of our friends came back to our house afterwards to review the gifts and have some cake. Then the girls got busy and organized all of her clothes by size and consolidated all of the bags and cards, hours of work if I was to do it by myself! So Thanks!!

As you can see by the pics that I am ready to explode! Nobody can believe that I still have most of two months left! Right now Danny and I both are sick...yes again! So we are taking it easy. We are really looking forward to this summer when we will have our baby here!!

5/6/09- I am updating the site late this week, but I haven't had a chance yet. I turned 29 on Friday...tear...I have to relish in these next 12 months as I say goodbye to my 20's...sniffle...

Yay! Our shower is this weekend! We are really looking forward to it. I will take lots of pictures and I hope maybe somebody will have a video camera so that we will have a video of it. I wish everyone could be here for the shower, it won't be the same without all of you!!We've already gottin alot of nice stuff, our travel system, crib mattress, swing, changing pad, monitor, the small diaper bag and a ton of clothes! My job is giving me a shower on the 20th, there is a teller that is also preggers so we will have it together. I thought that was really sweet of them to do.

I've been really stressed out about qualifying for FMLA. I plan to leave work the week of June 28th (if she doesn't come early), that's a week before my due date and go back two weeks after Labor Day. Well, for part timers you have to work 1250 hours the twelve months before your leave date. I will just make it by the skin of my teeth!! I really really hope that she stays on plan and doesn't come early! At this point the bank has a hire freeze in the north and they are starting to consolidate positions. So not having FMLA I would have no choice but to go back to work after my PTO ends or I will not be guaranteed my job, and I don't want to give them a reason to "let me go"!!...scary!! I'm trying to be positive about the whole thing.

My next dr.'s appt. is on May 12th, and my next sono isn't until 37 weeks! We are dying to see her again, I wish they would schedule one earlier too!

4/28/09- We are back from our little getaway. We had a really nice time. The weather was great, it was in the 90's!! The area was really cute and hopefully we can get back there one of these days.

I can't believe that I am 30 weeks already!! Time is just flying by so fast! Our shower is in two weeks and we have our District Convention at the end of May, so I'm expecting next month to fly by, and then...oh boy...I'll be nine months pregnant!!

Lately, she loves my right side. You can tell her little bottom is up high and her back just curves down my right side. I'm getting used to my lungs being squished, its a really weird sensation and she is getting so big now that I know its only gonna get crazier.

4/23/09- I posted pics of her almost complete nursery! I just LOVE it!! I think it turned out sooo cute. I am still shopping for curtains, and pictures, and a few accessories to pull it all together, but we're getting there! This is so exciting!

Danny and I wanted to have a little "babymoon" getaway, but we were having a hard time finding something in our budget. So we decided to see what was in driving distance and we have decided to go to Williamsburg and Virginia Beach, VA this weekend! Its a quick drive, its southern..i.e. warmer..and a very cute town. We got a really nice hotel on hotwire for super duper cheap too which made it very affordable. So we are leaving around 4-5 a.m on Saturday and will drive back on Monday. We are really looking forward to it!

4/19/09- Yay!! We finally got the nursery painted!! Its sooo pretty. We chose a really nice minty/sagey green color that is an exact match to her crib set. I can't wait to get it all put together. We found a really cute chenille rug at the Pottery Barn Kids outlet for a steal, its different shades of pink and white and cream. It goes perfectly. I have finally gotten things under control here as far as projects goes. I feel like I'm heading towards organization and having everything in a place. I don't know if its nesting or just a sense of urgency....hehe, but we've really been working at getting our place ready for this little person that comes with a LOT of stuff!!

We found a fantastic deal on Craigslist for her furniture! I just can't believe we were able to find a large armoir, changing table/dresser with a hutch that makes a really nice bookcase that attaches to it, and the crib all for a fantastic price!! Thanks MOM!! Can't wait for you to see it! I will post pics hopefully this week, Danny and Jesse are moving the furniture into the room today!

Well, last Monday I had my monthly check up. I had to do the glucose test...yuck! I didn't have any proteins or sugars in my urine, so that's a good sign, but I haven't heard the final resutls yet. The doc told me that the baby is measuring big for my due date!! So either she's gonna be a big baby, or she's comin early! I guess we'll have to see!

4/12/09- We had our Memorial and Special Assembly Day this week. Donnie gave the Memorial talk and he did a really good job. We had lousy weather the day of our SAD, it was really cold and rainy, but the program was really nice. Everyone was excited to see me pregnant, said really nice things and can't wait to see the baby!!

Today we went to Home Depot and picked some paint colors for her room. We got two green, two pink, and two yellow samples to see which one we like best. We have her furniture and her bedding so now we just need to put it all together and finish up! I will post pics of her room as soon as we get it ready!

4/4/09- Well, today I am starting my 7th month and 3rd trimester!! I just can't believe how time is flying by! She is getting so big! Did you see on my home page how huge she is?? I remember when she was only the size of a blueberry...and now she's the weight of a cauliflower...hehe

I was so sick with that virus through my second trimester that it was pretty miserable. So I think I'm going to enjoy this one more. I feel her all the time, and it is just so cool. I think she will be a good sleeper at night, because I feel her way more during the day than at night when we are in bed. At night when we're going to sleep is when Danny really tries to feel her and she is so still. I toss and turn alot at night, I sleep on three pillows and I have a wedge under my stomach and a throw pillow behind my back. So when I want to change positions, its like a circus act, fumbling with all of my props! She kicks and squirms right when I put the wedge under my side, but she gets over it quick, she has too because that's the only way I can be comfortable!

I got a really cute dress for the Memorial and SAD which are both this week. I will post pics of that next Sunday. Hope everybody has a good turn out at their Memorial, I love Memorial season because there is so much to look forward to once the Memorial gets here!