Precious Planet Jungle Jumperoo Fun!!

Happy Happy Girl!



Bouncy Laughing with Mommy

Peekaboo with Lakyn

What a gift from God...

We haven't posted in a while now. Life seems to have caught up with us. Lakyn is now 3 months, 1 week and a day old. Wow, how time has flown by. Seems like yesterday when we were sitting in small group thinking she was never going to make her grand entrance. Now... she graces me with her beautiful face every morning when she decides it is time to eat after sleeping through the night. Yes!! We are sleeping through the night!! Has been that way for a little while now. I have been blessed with a child that did it all on her own. I didn't realize how blessed we were until a Chili's waitress (whose child is about a week older than Lakyn and on formula) said her daughter was still waking up at 2:00 in the morning to eat.
Lakyn has learned to do many things since we last posted. I think smiling is probably my favorite. She can make me melt like butter. Which brings up another thing she has learned to do... yelling, not crying or screaming, but flat out yelling when she is not being paid enough attention. She loves to yell and yell and yell when I am trying to accomplish something in the other room... making me come tend to her and then as soon as she looks at me she throws a huge smile on her face. Like "Haha Mommy! Made you look!" She now is grabbing at things, holding onto her feet and blowing spit (or rather drool) bubbles. We were so excited when she started blowing bubbles because we had been doing it for a while to make her laugh. Now she does it ALL the time. It seems to be pressurized when she is mad.. hehe. So, needless to say she drools like crazy. Her laugh is adorable. She isn't doing it very often and it is only one expiration long at this point, but it is great! She coos (though it sounds like she is gurgling the saliva in the back of her throat).At this point.. she looks like me (Kassie), but she is looooong like her daddy. She is in the 95th percentile for height. She is healthy.. besides the recent blocked tear ducts. She is pretty much the happiest, most chill baby I have ever been around. She is growing and changing so fast! It blows my mind. I have so much to talk about, but here are some more recent photos of our beautiful little Lakyn....Our little Red Raider trying to get her guns up..

Lakyn and LucyLakyn at 2 months held by her grandfather (Jac's dad) and Jac's mom holding one of Lakyn's third cousins who is exactly a month older than her. She totally towered over her. Below is a picture comparing their feet.
Lakyn batting her eyelashes at her daddy... she is a daddy's girl for sure (moreso.. she knows how to work it hehe)



My friend Amy gave Lakyn a ladybug swaddler blanket and it came with the cap. Haha.. it is adorable! Antennas and all..


Jacob's mom wanted a picture of all the grandkids with seashells to go in her sea themed bathroom. Yes.. her cousin Jaci thought it would be cute if she had a shell on her head..

Poops

First a few pictures from today then a rendition of our first encounter with open air poopy.

I promise that is not cocaine. Kass and I were enjoying some strawberries and powdered sugar for a mid morning snack and some happened to drop on an unsuspecting Lakyn. :)

So relaxed her mouth is hanging open.
Little Miss Priss.
Hanging out in the boppy pillow.

**********

Yesterday we had our first run in with open air poops. We were all hanging out in the living room and noticed that is was time for a diaper change. I went to the bedroom and grabbed a diaper and wipe while Kass started to get Lakyn ready. Kass had the dirty diaper open and was ready for the wipe I was handing her. Naturally she noted that it was pretty dry (we have a wipe warmer and the top wipe tends to be dry if you don't leave it pushed down in the warmer) so I went to grab another, wetter one. As soon as I turned around kass let out a squeal and I turned to see what was going on. Lakyn felt the need to add a little bonus to the diaper changing experience. She had pooped and immediately peed also. Luckily Kass was on top of things enough to catch the stream with the dry wipe. So I hustled back to the bedroom to grab another diaper and wipe as the initial clean diaper had become a casualty of open air poops. Right as I got back she had even more of a surprise for momma. Luckily the second diaper was still under her and there was really minimal mess in the whole situation. I'm sure there are many more exciting encounters to be had, but I figured this one was worth a post since she is all of 5 days old and already entertaining us.

As Per Request

As per request, here are some more pictures.

My personal Fav.

Happy Family.

Already got the hang of the pacifier :)
You love blankets?
Me too! Can I get in yours with you?

Home Sweet Home... really this time.

Well, we got discharged earlier today and are at home trying to catch up on some rest. Kass is back in our room taking a well deserved nap. Lakyn is doing great. She has gotten past her epidural drowsiness and is wide eyed and beautiful!

We'd like to have the evening to get settled in little miss Lakyn's new home, but from tomorrow on we'd love to see you guys.

Congrats

I should say congratulations to the 2 ppl that voted for Thursday on the Revised^2 poll. So:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! whoever you are :)

Just a note, the post below this one has pictures for those of you who haven't been by since 1 o'clock last night :)

Also, thanks SOOOOOOOOO much for all the prayers!!!!

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lakyn Faith Day is now amongst the land of the living! She was born at 6:15 PM at UMC. She was 8 lb 4 oz and 20 1/4 inches tall. Her little feetsies are not so little (I'm pretty sure the technical term for feet like hers are claud hoppers) and her fingers are super long and she is already more than happy to grab any thumb or finger in reach. She has also found her fingers with her mouth already, it's pretty cute as she sits and sucks on them.

Now the question lingering in all of your minds... "WHEN do we get to come visit?!?!?!" Kassie is feeling well and Lakyn is in GREAT health... so we have decided that we are welcoming guests starting tomorrow (FRIDAY 4/3) at pretty much any time. Please do shoot me a text before you come. My number is 325-660-5469. If you are not a texter you will need to call Kassie's phone as mine is not currently accepting calls for some reason... great timing AT&T! Her number is 325-660-0631. The main reason we want you to text/call is so we don't end up with a crowd in our rather small room.

DRUMROOOOOOLLLLLL PLEASE!!!!


Fresh out of the oven.

Mom and baby.

Flaunting those long fingers.

Update

Just a quick update for everyone. We are starting to feel a little pressure... and by we I mean Kass. They came and checked and she is at 8cm. So hopefully it won't be long now!! She has worked real hard to get to this point, let me tell you!! (Insert heavy dose of sarcasm into that last sentence.) She is sitting right next to me eating a red Blue Bell popsicle. In her defense, she did do some work to get to 6cm before the epidural came.

I'll do my best to update this again once the real fun starts, but it will likely be several hours after our little bundle of joy arrives that I get around to it.

Thanks for the continued prayers!

No Turning Back

We are in labor and delivery... again... this time there is no turning back though. Kass' water broke this morning around 9am so we came in. She has progressed to a 6 from a 4-5 on Wednesday. The doctor came in and finished breaking her water (it was kinda only a leak before) and ordered some pit to move this thing along. She got her epidural and so she is pretty much just living it up watching some tv while her body is having some pretty large contractions. The baby is OP, which means she is facing forward instead of toward Kass' spine. This isn't a huge deal, it just means the pushing part might take a bit longer than the other way. Your prayers are greatly appreciated for that specifically and just us in general. We are super excited as I'm sure you all can imagine.

By the way, this is the truth, not some late April Fools joke haha.

Exhaustion

Well, after another long week it looks like I am going to have to revise the poll on the right yet again. While I get ready to do that, let me ask for your prayers. We are pretty much just exhausted at this point. Things have been very atypical since Friday the 13th when we first went to the hospital. First time moms just don't walk around at 4cm. Every time we see a doctor they say, 'oh, you are 4cm... I wouldn't be surprised to see you back in L&D tonight or tomorrow'. We've been hearing that every few days for 2 weeks now. All that has served to do is fill us with hope and then nothing ends up coming of it. At 3 o'clock Thursday night/Friday morning Kass had high blood pressure and our OB had told her to go into the hospital if it got to a certain point... it was above that point so we went in. They kept us till 4:45am and sent us home. That doctor was kind enough to throw in that he'd never seen a first time mom stay at 4cm for 2 weeks, wasn't that thoughtful (note the sarcasm here). Friday night(the 27th) Kass started having some pretty painful contractions. They even got to 10-20 minutes apart for a while... but then they spread back out. We are tired of pointless trips to the hospital so we've decided we aren't going back until her contractions are 5 minutes apart for over 1 hour (as per advice of every doctor/nurse/nursing instructor we have asked) and they are bad enough that she is giving me evil stares and blaming me for doing this to her (the technical advice was that they be strong enough that she couldn't walk or talk through them). So now, after some 'progress' last night we have had a quite uneventful day. We are just anxious and flat out exhausted. Last night I went to bed around 12 and slept solid until 10:45 this morning. I know that doesn't seem like a stretch to a lot of people... but my normal sleep habits are to go to bed between 1 & 3am and waking up no later than 9:30 (naturally, not setting my alarm for that time). Kass sleeps about 12 hours/day lately it seems like and still seems pretty tired.

That said, for those of you in our Sunday School class please pass this information along tomorrow morning and put in a prayer request for us. Also, we do plan to come to the pot luck lunch as we are in desperate need of some face time with you guys.

Go Go Friday!

Well, we had another visit with the doctor today. It was good in that the baby is doing well and so is Kass. But the subject of inducing came up and it was less that stellar news. She said if things didn't happen naturally we would have to wait until 42 weeks to induce! That would be April 12th!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, 2 1/2 more weeks?!?!? She's already been walking around at 4cm for 1 1/2 weeks, which is pretty much unheard of for first time moms anyway. She was kind enough to say that if she had a private practice she'd induce her now, but as it is her hands are tied. This afternoon during nap time at our house our doctor called with great news, well, better news. She talked to her attending about us and got permission to induce us next Friday which would be April 3rd, a few days short of 41 weeks. Still not quite 'ideal' for when we'd like to induce, but WAY better than after 42 weeks.

The real reason for the title of this post has nothing to do with that stuff though. I'm not sure how many of you watch the weather or keep up with the forecast, but the high for Friday is the high 30s. Which means a shift in barometric pressure! Thursday night while this cold front is blowing in is also a new moon. I know it is a common wives tale, but there is some scientific merit to it (see this link) ... and I am more inclined to rely on moon phases because of my fishing habits etc. I'm not into astrology, but you can't deny that God had something very complex in mind when he created the moon... it changes the tide and changes barometric pressure here on earth, etc.

So God is working great things for us with favor from our doctors and her supervisors. Keep us in your prayers, especially Thursday night and Friday :)

No Baby Yet

Sorry to have not updated everyone in a little while. Unfortunately it's not because we rushed off to the hospital in labor and have been wrapped up in babyness ever since.

There is still no change in Kass' progression as of Wednesday's Dr.'s appointment. We go back again this Wednesday for another regularly scheduled appointment. Her actual due date is this next Sunday, so we should be getting closer now.

So please be in prayer for us... especially Kassie. I'm doing pretty good with the patience because let's face it, I don't have to carry around a full term baby in my belly at this point. Kass has gotten a little cabin fever over Spring Break without the distraction of school and what not. (If any of you happen to be free anytime this week let us know, I've been trying to get her out of the house to go hang out with friends to no avail... but if one of you asks maybe she'll go for it :)

Overruled

First off, for those of you who notice I'm posting this right in the middle of Sunday School... we love you all, but didn't really feel like answering the same questions over and over... and she is supposed to rest as much as possible and sitting in a chair for 3 hours is probably not a great idea. She hasn't be ordered to strict bedrest, thank the Lord, but she was told to just take it easy.

Second, I am going to try to post a poll in the right column... Right now we are leaning heavily toward Lakyn Faith... but if we make it till Tuesday and have her then I think it is only right that we change Faith to Patricia. It only makes sense... St. Patrick's Day... she should totally have Patricia Day in her name!! We'll see how it goes if I can get the poll working.

There's No Place Like Home...

So this morning we got sent home. She is still at 4cm and having some contractions, but they are weak and don't seem to be progressing her dilations. So now it is back to the 'comfort' of home to wait this thing out. The nurse that did the discharge what somewhat less than optimistic. She was sure to mention that she wouldn't be surprised at all to see us back this evening or tomorrow... but she also told us to be sure and plan to attend our next scheduled Dr.'s appt which is Wednesday.

Thank you all soooooo much for your prayers for the physical aspect. They have worked I am confident! We are doing what her body wants and not forcing anything along or anything like that. So as much as it stinks to have to come home when we were 'in progress' at the hospital it is where we should be.

I now move my request for prayers to the psychological and spiritual sides of things. As you can imagine it's not the greatest thing to be sent home from the hospital once you'd gotten your hopes up. We are comforted by you guys' prayers and thoughts and appreciate all of those continued on our behalf!

The Update I Promised Not To Give

So it has been a very long day. Well, my body (and kass's) is telling me it has been a long day. It seemed to fly by in about 3 hours. Once Kass reached 4 and they admitted us the contractions continued for a little while then kind of tapered off. So we hopped out of bed and went roaming the halls. Once we got back from that the contractions came back with a vengeance as far as frequency goes. They were piggybacking (just as one starts to go down another would come back up) every 4-6 minutes for most of the afternoon. They were strong enough to be of significant discomfort to my angel, but not strong enough to warrant grunts, moans, and glares of hate.

Right before shift change (6:30pm) they came and checked her and she had not progressed :(. At this point they had already warned that if she didn't progress they might send her home. Luckily her OB professor (Dr. Brice, who is now my favorite faculty member of all time) had come and spent several hours with us, coaching her through her contractions and answering all our (mainly mine) ignorant questions. She had them give her a sandwich so her body would have some source of energy to do its thing since she hadn't eaten since last night at dinner.

AND THEN... SHIFT CHANGE. Dr. Brice was still here when it came time to change nurse/Dr. shifts. Try to tell me THIS isn't a GOD thing: our new nurse comes walking in and immediately is like, "Oh, Dr. Brice... How are you doing?!?!" and gives her a big hug. This particular nurse also went through nursing school and had bonded with Dr. Brice. And get this, she had a baby in January of her last semester of nursing school! So not only do we have an in through their common like for Dr. Brice, but she is totally empathetic to Kass's situation. And to top it all off she is one of the nicest people I have ever met. To top it off, the new attending Dr. is also totally awesome. He came by to visit and was quite jovial and just a great guy in general. Our Dr. had expressed her interest in being here for our birth and she comes on tomorrow. So instead of more threats to be sent home he said, and I quote, "We're just goin' to let you simmer tonight and see where we are in the morning." What kind of Dr. says "simmer"?!?!?! An awesome one apparently.

So after a few trying hours today God has provided an awesome set of care takers and a brighter outlook on having this sweet little girl!

By all means we still need all the prayers we can get. If we are not going to end up getting sent home Kass needs to progress some over the night. They don't want to induce since she is only 37 wks just in case the lungs aren't fully formed, they want to do what her body wants to do. Which is totally understandable, just kind of grating on the ole nerves. From what I hear with first time moms the 4cm to 5cm barrier is the toughest, so if we are indeed meant to get past it pray that it goes well... I'm just kind of throwing stuff out there... you mothers know much better than I do so I'll leave it in your hands.

Love you all. Thanks for all the comments on the last post. The hospital is UMC by the way Ash :)

God is Great

God truly works in mysterious ways. This morning I (Jac) was supposed to substitute out at Frenship. I had gotten up and about and was getting ready to head to the school. As usual I had woken Kass up (as she is quite a light sleeper) but this morning I noticed she had a concerned look on her face. She had been trying for about 20 minutes to get the baby to move but wasn't having any luck. (For those of you who aren't walking calendars, we are 37 weeks 5 days today.) So naturally I called in and we headed to triage. They hooked her to the monitor and found a strong, normal heartbeat.

They decided to hold on to her for a little while just to do some blood work and all that jazz that is normal for when you come to triage. Along with the baby heart monitor there is another one they strap to the mom that keeps track of contractions. Come to find out Kass was having contractions so they checked her progress and she was at 2-3cm, 75% effaced... up from 1cm and 50% on Wednesday. They decided to keep her around for another hour and at that point checked her again and she was 5cm outside, 3cm inside and 75% effaced. So the doctor sent us for a walk around the hospital and an hour later we were at 4cm! That means admission to L&D. So here we are laboring away... obviously I'm not doing much... but Kass is. She has done super so far and is handling the pain and everything very well.

I don't really plan on taking time out to post any more until after our little one gets here. So please keep us in your prayers and I'll let you all know more later on.

6th Post!

Recently a close friend posted her 100th post. So I thought I'd update y'all on our number of posts... SIX!! I know, it seems like only last November since we got started. She also had a celebratory tone to said post, so I thought I'd follow suit. For those of you who were around, you'll remember we were asking for prayer in our pursuit of a home in the metroplex. Well, God through an absolutely amazing deal right in our laps! So here it is as you see it from the street:

And here is the view from the front porch... note the awesome playground in the next lot over, literally.

Game Night!

So most of you have played the game where you get a stack of papers and sit in a circle. Each person writes a common phrase or adage on their first paper. Then you pass it to the person next to you and they move the paper to the back and do their best to draw your phrase, pictionary style. After 1 minute everyone passes their current stack along in the same direction and now everyone has 1 minute to guess what the picture represents. You pass the papers all the way around the circle alternating between drawing and guessing the phrase until your original stack gets back to you. It gets pretty amusing to go through the different stacks.

With that said, I present to you all a paper that I was passed and told to guess the common phrase that goes with it. So keep in mind that the artist (Amber) was given a paper with a common saying on it and she drew it to the best of her ability in 1 minute. Be a sport and look at it for a bit before scrolling down and see if you can guess what the saying is.


Do you have a guess? Before I explain it, let me just say that we batted 1000 during the game including a picture that had three ->, a 2, a campfire, and an upside down acorn. But I digress... did you guess that the saying for the picture above is "Smooth as a baby's butt"? Cause I DID!! Unfortunately this one went WAY downhill shortly after I passed it off... haha.

I must admit I thought the game was going to be really lame, but was happy to be proven VERY wrong.