I'll get around to updating the pic galleries, but in the meantime, here are links to the recent pics of Marinne (5 month studio session) and Kameron (swimming lessons & the playground)...
www.buddybartels.com/marinne5
www.buddybartels.com/kameron-swimming
www.buddybartels.com/kameron-meadowbrook
Buddy is still working hard getting the basement going, yet we know we can't continue once it gets to a certain extent since we still haven't sold our house in TN! So, we'll need to wait for all the big stuff until we get that done. Speaking of, we have had more showings now that the weather is nicer, but the "sold" sign is still not up!
My latest dilemma has been figuring out Kameron's preschool schedule for summer & for fall, but I think I'm finally to a decision! The educator in me really takes a lot into consideration, yet money is always an issue as well, plus I want to have him home with me, too. One of the preschools he is currently at is honestly amazing with what all they do, yet it's really expensive so it's not going to be something we can continue forever, but I aim to keep it while I can without feeling like I'm wasting money when there are other good ones a lot cheaper. So, I think I've found a happy balance to give us both our time away to "work" (me working PC & taking care of Marinne & him with his social time & learning w/ friends) so we appreciate one another, yet still be home w/ me while he can before he goes to big school!
He is getting ready to be quite the busy little boy with activities he's enrolled in. He is already in swimming lessons and he really enjoys that (see the pics), and starting this weekend, he starts little sports (soccer, basketball, t-ball, floor hockey). Then this summer he'll do little league soccer & t-ball, and continue swimming lessons.
He has actually had a couple bad weeks & then now a couple really good ones. I think he's experimenting with what he can do & seeing that we are following through with things after one warning. Plus, he's seeing how great it is when he does good things & gets rewards.
Marinne is such the happy baby! I think I had an error in my last entry, but she sleeps 12 hours each night. Now she either doesn't wake at all, or if she does, it's just because her pacifier fell out around an hour or so before she'd be waking up normally. She has started her veggies & so far absolutely loves them! We've done carrots, sweet peas, and now today squash. She has just been so happy almost all the time. She wakes up smiling, even though she's starving, and she is consitantly enjoying being around us & smiling/laughing. She is continuing the crying episodes that seem to be related to being tired/time for nap, but crying until she gets herself to sleep...even if she's being held. I really need to do more experimenting with this since this isn't working for either of us right now. But once she's asleep (only sleeps for about 30 min. each nap), she's good & wakes up happy.
On the medical side, Kameron has finally had a normal range platelet count blood test this past week! It was 165,000, so needless to say, we were excited. He also had a check up w/ his specialist & all is good so far, but we'll continue monitoring & getting bloodwork to stay on top of it.
Our newest thing actually has to do w/ Marinne. She has had two episodes of spitting up fresh blood over the past few weeks. We took her to the ER after the first episode of this (on a Sat. night). The ER Dr. pretty much acted like it was no big deal & likely do to nursing. However, two weeks after that, it happened again (last week), so we followed up w/ her Pediatrician about it. She did blood work (which I wasn't looking forward to, but ended up going pretty smoothly once they found a nurse to find her vein) & that came back find. However, she was concerned & referred us to a Gastro. Dr. the following day that worked us in to be sure we'd be on top of it if it was serious. He decided to do an endoscopy for the following day at the hospital. Even though we were nervous, it really went well. He didn't find anything he'd think to be the cause, but did do biopsies we are waiting to hear on. In the meantime, he's referred us to a Pediatric ENT to probably get a nasal scope to see if that's the cause. Keep her in your prayers & hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
4.5 months
Well, here I am again just now updating this site, but I really hope to change that this time!
I finally got around to having Buddy help me upload pics of both kids, as well as "my snapshots". You will see the main page has the photos link & then links to almost all of Marinne's professional sessions, as well as to Kameron's. They include the newest pics of Marinne (3 & 4 month), as well as of Kameron from this past week. Then there is the snapshots section that is a good chunk of random photos I take, starting back from when Marinne was born. I'll continue to update that as I can and add little captions throughout. We have Halloween & Christmas pics posted on there, too, and I'll get the Jan./Feb. ones on soon.
We are officially all unpacked in the main parts of the house & even all my office boxes are finally gone! Buddy has started work on finishing our basement, which is over twice the size of our last one, so we are really looking forward to that finished product. It will again house his photo studio, a full bathroom (with a urninal, I might add since that's the latest disagreement I lost on) & a playroom, but will also include a kitchen & bar, movie room & storage. He hopes to be done in May. We are looking forward to the fun we are planning for it, to include a "Japanese Steakhouse" type grill set up!
Christmas was wonderful & we were happy to host the day of festivities here at our new house after being back home the days before to celebrate there as well. The kids had a great time, but especially Kameron as he enjoyed ripping open presents (I love to use paper & not bags somewhat for that reason) and still had a chance to remember and comment on how it was Jesus' birthday. I was proud he remembered! Marinne got her fair share of fun things, but of course just impressed with the lights & colors of the season mainly.
Kameron is enjoying both his preschool programs that are both part-time so I still have him, too & I'm always amazed at how much he knows! Of course as a parent you always want your children to be smart, but he has really exceeded that to me at times. However, there are things he just isn't all that in to either, like coloring! Oh well... He has different themes he's always excited to share w/ us from each school & we are enjoying incorporating them at home. His favorite thing lately is his Tag Reading System Santa brought him & he is earning new books for his good behavior. We started a "sticker chart" that is actually magnetic & really neat for him to visually track his behavior daily & know what reward he's working towards by the end of the week. He is quite the wild boy at times, but I remind myself that he is 4 and all boy! He's a lot of fun; just needs to be reminded of when to settle down sometimes. He can be so sweet as well, like the other night when he put his arm around me laying in bed & kissed my forward, just like I would do to him & say I love you! He has an amazing memory, too. He knows where we are & remembers little things like what our friends' neighbor had in her yard for Halloween that we only saw one time!
Marinne continues to be such a sweet baby. She is still sleeping without waking for around 10 hours per night. She has moved up to her crib now & that transition has gone fairly well. We started it the week she turned 4 months (2 weeks ago) & other than running up once to three times a night to put her pacifier in for her, she did well & we aren't going up to do that anymore really. She also started rice cereal that week & did really well the first day, taking a few spoonfuls, then not as good the second day. But by the third day, she was back on track & finished the bowl! Now we can't give it to her fast enough! I realized the first day I didn't heat it, so may be why she wasn't too great w/ it that day. Plus I mixed it w/ nursery water but switched to milk by day 4 or 5. She now gets two bowls a day and loves it! She is getting much better at her arm strength lifting up on her belly, but still isn't fond to be that way very long. She has been introduced to two new things lately - Johnny Jump-Up & the Exersaucer. She seems to enjoy both, but Johnny Jump-Up is still a little out of her league yet. Her Bumbo seat has proved to be helpful for feeding but she isn't a big fan of just hanging out in it for much longer than about 5 minutes so far. I love her little giggle that she does when you act crazy or show her a mirror; so cute! Her 4 month appt. went well & she went down is % for weight (now 82%), so things are going well. She is a pound over what Kameron was at this age, and 1/4" taller. She's kind of been crabby about 30 minutes after she eats & will sometimes scream so much to where you think she is hurt, but it always seems to go back to her being tired & just isn't able to help herself fall asleep totally is seems!
My PC business is doing well but after I earn this next incentive I'm working towards by the end of Feb. (at least I hope to earn), I'm going to cut back a little on how much I do since I want to enjoy the baby years as much as I can without too much work but still keep it part-time like I have been. I do have a really big event coming up next month at the Taste of Home Cooking School, so that should be neat!
Our latest obstacle has been Kameron's recent dianosis of ITP, which is a platelet disorder where his blood doesn't clot as it should & his body basically attacks & destroys healthy platelets, thinking that they are foreign. We found all this out on Jan. 23 from taking him to the doctor since the day before we noticed he had some odd symptoms. His preschool teacher said he had 2 or 3 nosebleeds, and then the rest of the day when I had him home after preschool, he had another 2 or 3 until bed. Then I noticed dark red/black spots on the inside of his cheeks when brushing his teeth for bed. After he started to change into his PJ's, we noticed excessive bruising & little pinpoint dots randomly on him that looked almost like hickeys. So, we took him in on the 23rd & the doctor was a little concerned so she ordered a bunch of bloodwork & a clotting test (that took over 11 minutes & still didn't officially clot). She did kind of have me a little scared when she suggested we stick around to see what the results were & did give us a couple of things she thought it could be. She called later that afternoon & said it was ITP, which is one of the things she thought it may be. Bascially a normal platelet level in a person should be anywhere betweeen 150,000 and 400,000. Kameron's was at 4,000. So, she told me to get him to the ER immediately & even though she knew we'd end up being admitted to the hospital for at least one night, she didn't want me to take the time to pack bags so I could just get him there quickly. Needless to say, I was a bit freaked at that point! By the time they admitted him into the hospital for treatment, his count was down to 2,000. If not taken care of when it's that low, it could lead to internal bleeding in the abdomen &/or head, hence the need for us to take him to the ER when they got the results in. So, they gave him a treatment through an IV & had to monitor it overnight. We really weren't supposed to go home the following day since the Pediatric Hemotologist specialist wanted it to be at least 12,000 and it was only 8,000, but the progress made him happy enough to let us go & monitor at home. Since then, he's been in for weekly bloodwork at least to monitor his levels. He went from 8,000 to 13,000 & then to 40,000 & 82,000. However, this past week he went down to 22,000 and 18,000. But, he climbed back up in a few days to 135,000; the highest it's ever been. They didn't rush to do another treatment to see if his body would make it's own platelets, and looks like it came through. We just have to continue to monitor this & watch for the warning signs. So, no rough housing or contact sports for now, but most kids are rid of this completely within 6 months, so we'll hope he's the same way. There is no cause & it does just spring up out of nowhere. So, keep him in your prayers & we'll keep you posted!
I finally got around to having Buddy help me upload pics of both kids, as well as "my snapshots". You will see the main page has the photos link & then links to almost all of Marinne's professional sessions, as well as to Kameron's. They include the newest pics of Marinne (3 & 4 month), as well as of Kameron from this past week. Then there is the snapshots section that is a good chunk of random photos I take, starting back from when Marinne was born. I'll continue to update that as I can and add little captions throughout. We have Halloween & Christmas pics posted on there, too, and I'll get the Jan./Feb. ones on soon.
We are officially all unpacked in the main parts of the house & even all my office boxes are finally gone! Buddy has started work on finishing our basement, which is over twice the size of our last one, so we are really looking forward to that finished product. It will again house his photo studio, a full bathroom (with a urninal, I might add since that's the latest disagreement I lost on) & a playroom, but will also include a kitchen & bar, movie room & storage. He hopes to be done in May. We are looking forward to the fun we are planning for it, to include a "Japanese Steakhouse" type grill set up!
Christmas was wonderful & we were happy to host the day of festivities here at our new house after being back home the days before to celebrate there as well. The kids had a great time, but especially Kameron as he enjoyed ripping open presents (I love to use paper & not bags somewhat for that reason) and still had a chance to remember and comment on how it was Jesus' birthday. I was proud he remembered! Marinne got her fair share of fun things, but of course just impressed with the lights & colors of the season mainly.
Kameron is enjoying both his preschool programs that are both part-time so I still have him, too & I'm always amazed at how much he knows! Of course as a parent you always want your children to be smart, but he has really exceeded that to me at times. However, there are things he just isn't all that in to either, like coloring! Oh well... He has different themes he's always excited to share w/ us from each school & we are enjoying incorporating them at home. His favorite thing lately is his Tag Reading System Santa brought him & he is earning new books for his good behavior. We started a "sticker chart" that is actually magnetic & really neat for him to visually track his behavior daily & know what reward he's working towards by the end of the week. He is quite the wild boy at times, but I remind myself that he is 4 and all boy! He's a lot of fun; just needs to be reminded of when to settle down sometimes. He can be so sweet as well, like the other night when he put his arm around me laying in bed & kissed my forward, just like I would do to him & say I love you! He has an amazing memory, too. He knows where we are & remembers little things like what our friends' neighbor had in her yard for Halloween that we only saw one time!
Marinne continues to be such a sweet baby. She is still sleeping without waking for around 10 hours per night. She has moved up to her crib now & that transition has gone fairly well. We started it the week she turned 4 months (2 weeks ago) & other than running up once to three times a night to put her pacifier in for her, she did well & we aren't going up to do that anymore really. She also started rice cereal that week & did really well the first day, taking a few spoonfuls, then not as good the second day. But by the third day, she was back on track & finished the bowl! Now we can't give it to her fast enough! I realized the first day I didn't heat it, so may be why she wasn't too great w/ it that day. Plus I mixed it w/ nursery water but switched to milk by day 4 or 5. She now gets two bowls a day and loves it! She is getting much better at her arm strength lifting up on her belly, but still isn't fond to be that way very long. She has been introduced to two new things lately - Johnny Jump-Up & the Exersaucer. She seems to enjoy both, but Johnny Jump-Up is still a little out of her league yet. Her Bumbo seat has proved to be helpful for feeding but she isn't a big fan of just hanging out in it for much longer than about 5 minutes so far. I love her little giggle that she does when you act crazy or show her a mirror; so cute! Her 4 month appt. went well & she went down is % for weight (now 82%), so things are going well. She is a pound over what Kameron was at this age, and 1/4" taller. She's kind of been crabby about 30 minutes after she eats & will sometimes scream so much to where you think she is hurt, but it always seems to go back to her being tired & just isn't able to help herself fall asleep totally is seems!
My PC business is doing well but after I earn this next incentive I'm working towards by the end of Feb. (at least I hope to earn), I'm going to cut back a little on how much I do since I want to enjoy the baby years as much as I can without too much work but still keep it part-time like I have been. I do have a really big event coming up next month at the Taste of Home Cooking School, so that should be neat!
Our latest obstacle has been Kameron's recent dianosis of ITP, which is a platelet disorder where his blood doesn't clot as it should & his body basically attacks & destroys healthy platelets, thinking that they are foreign. We found all this out on Jan. 23 from taking him to the doctor since the day before we noticed he had some odd symptoms. His preschool teacher said he had 2 or 3 nosebleeds, and then the rest of the day when I had him home after preschool, he had another 2 or 3 until bed. Then I noticed dark red/black spots on the inside of his cheeks when brushing his teeth for bed. After he started to change into his PJ's, we noticed excessive bruising & little pinpoint dots randomly on him that looked almost like hickeys. So, we took him in on the 23rd & the doctor was a little concerned so she ordered a bunch of bloodwork & a clotting test (that took over 11 minutes & still didn't officially clot). She did kind of have me a little scared when she suggested we stick around to see what the results were & did give us a couple of things she thought it could be. She called later that afternoon & said it was ITP, which is one of the things she thought it may be. Bascially a normal platelet level in a person should be anywhere betweeen 150,000 and 400,000. Kameron's was at 4,000. So, she told me to get him to the ER immediately & even though she knew we'd end up being admitted to the hospital for at least one night, she didn't want me to take the time to pack bags so I could just get him there quickly. Needless to say, I was a bit freaked at that point! By the time they admitted him into the hospital for treatment, his count was down to 2,000. If not taken care of when it's that low, it could lead to internal bleeding in the abdomen &/or head, hence the need for us to take him to the ER when they got the results in. So, they gave him a treatment through an IV & had to monitor it overnight. We really weren't supposed to go home the following day since the Pediatric Hemotologist specialist wanted it to be at least 12,000 and it was only 8,000, but the progress made him happy enough to let us go & monitor at home. Since then, he's been in for weekly bloodwork at least to monitor his levels. He went from 8,000 to 13,000 & then to 40,000 & 82,000. However, this past week he went down to 22,000 and 18,000. But, he climbed back up in a few days to 135,000; the highest it's ever been. They didn't rush to do another treatment to see if his body would make it's own platelets, and looks like it came through. We just have to continue to monitor this & watch for the warning signs. So, no rough housing or contact sports for now, but most kids are rid of this completely within 6 months, so we'll hope he's the same way. There is no cause & it does just spring up out of nowhere. So, keep him in your prayers & we'll keep you posted!
Monday, December 29, 2008
12 weeks...Where have I been?
Wow, I can't believe how much I have neglected to stay up-to-date with this! Ever since we moved into our new house, it's been totally crazy & I never seem to remember to set aside time to type on here. I know it doesn't take very long either, which is why I'm a bit ashamed. However, I know there were times I aimed to type but waited since I wanted to add new pics of Marinne & Kameron for the entries, so I waited to do that at the same time. But, that always got put aside & still isn't ready so I figured I better not use that as my waiting excuse any longer. Well, not much I can do about it now, so I'll just try my best to pick up where I left off, and get pics posted as soon as I can since I have to have Buddy help me with this website upload.
Anyway, I have tons of pics to share from each week Marinne has been with us since the only ones on this website right now are from her newborn session. Hallween was a lot of fun for Kameron, and Marinne looked cute, even though she didn't have a clue what was going on & slept for all the trick-or-treating.
So yes, we have moved into our new house & out of our temp housing (two level hotel room), which has been a big blessing. We moved in Nov. 8 & as I said, it's just been crazy since then, plus with getting ready for Thanksgiving & Christmas. Our new house is beautiful, but we are still not completely unpacked. Although I will say we've made a lot of progress in just the short time we've been here, plus with the kids & holidays, but we still have things to hang/decorate & unpack. It will get there! Our new address is:
2016 E. John Dr.
Mahomet, IL 61853
November was filled with juggling both kids & moving in, holding two Huge PC parties, decorating for Christmas and then a trip back to our hometown (which is now only 2 hours away for us) for Thanksgiving. We didn't stay very long though since we all came down w/ strep throat (except for Marinne)! Fun! Luckily we enjoyed the eating festivities first! :)
So far in December we have had a little less of that overwhelming feeling since we have had help from family & time to just relax without worrying about getting everything done all at once! Buddy had a work Christmas party & then we had a neighborhood ladies Christmas party, followed by our own subdivision/work Christmas party. It proved to be a success & really helped us get to know people here. There are lots of kids in our area for Kameron to play with, so we are looking forward to that, especially the ones he'll go to school with.
Kameron started at a different preschool since we weren't completely happy with the one he started at once we first got here in late Oct. He goes three mornings a week. He will also start a full day program for two days a week next week. He has been having a lot of fun w/ Marinne & the new house, but is still reminded to be gentle!
As I mentioned, I've had two very big PC parties & now more to come from that, and from meeting people in our neighborhood & through Buddy's job, so looking forward to those starting back up in Jan. I'm not going to do quite as much as before, but still want to keep a good pace going & aim to earn the next incentive trip to Disney! We will go to FL in May for this year's trip (I didn't go for the big one this past year w/ all the fertility things & Marinne's arrival).
Marinne...where to I begin on here updates?! I bragged at how wonderful she did at sleeping at night on my last entry, and that has proven to be even better now that she's a little older. She is now sleeping 8-9 hours at night without waking up to be fed! Just amazing! She's been doing 7 or so hours since 6 weeks or so. She likes baths, loves her hair washed, but hates to be dried off & dressed! Kind of funny. We are out of newborn diapers & clothes but she is actually still fitting into some 0-3 month clothes, which is good I guess since she's a bit bigger than Kameron was! Her 2 month appt. (which was actually done at 2.5 months) showed her to be 90% for weight & 83% for height. The Dr. wasn't concerned at all though - I was mainly I guess since I was used to Kameron being so little (he was 10-25% almost every visit). She likes her cradle swing a lot more now & is really enjoying her crib mobile. She just loves to smile at that thing! Her activity mat is still a favorite & the bouncy seat has proven to be fun at times.
Well, I have lots more to say, but I need to run so I'll aim to pick up where I left off again soon & hopefully have pics to post, too!
Anyway, I have tons of pics to share from each week Marinne has been with us since the only ones on this website right now are from her newborn session. Hallween was a lot of fun for Kameron, and Marinne looked cute, even though she didn't have a clue what was going on & slept for all the trick-or-treating.
So yes, we have moved into our new house & out of our temp housing (two level hotel room), which has been a big blessing. We moved in Nov. 8 & as I said, it's just been crazy since then, plus with getting ready for Thanksgiving & Christmas. Our new house is beautiful, but we are still not completely unpacked. Although I will say we've made a lot of progress in just the short time we've been here, plus with the kids & holidays, but we still have things to hang/decorate & unpack. It will get there! Our new address is:
2016 E. John Dr.
Mahomet, IL 61853
November was filled with juggling both kids & moving in, holding two Huge PC parties, decorating for Christmas and then a trip back to our hometown (which is now only 2 hours away for us) for Thanksgiving. We didn't stay very long though since we all came down w/ strep throat (except for Marinne)! Fun! Luckily we enjoyed the eating festivities first! :)
So far in December we have had a little less of that overwhelming feeling since we have had help from family & time to just relax without worrying about getting everything done all at once! Buddy had a work Christmas party & then we had a neighborhood ladies Christmas party, followed by our own subdivision/work Christmas party. It proved to be a success & really helped us get to know people here. There are lots of kids in our area for Kameron to play with, so we are looking forward to that, especially the ones he'll go to school with.
Kameron started at a different preschool since we weren't completely happy with the one he started at once we first got here in late Oct. He goes three mornings a week. He will also start a full day program for two days a week next week. He has been having a lot of fun w/ Marinne & the new house, but is still reminded to be gentle!
As I mentioned, I've had two very big PC parties & now more to come from that, and from meeting people in our neighborhood & through Buddy's job, so looking forward to those starting back up in Jan. I'm not going to do quite as much as before, but still want to keep a good pace going & aim to earn the next incentive trip to Disney! We will go to FL in May for this year's trip (I didn't go for the big one this past year w/ all the fertility things & Marinne's arrival).
Marinne...where to I begin on here updates?! I bragged at how wonderful she did at sleeping at night on my last entry, and that has proven to be even better now that she's a little older. She is now sleeping 8-9 hours at night without waking up to be fed! Just amazing! She's been doing 7 or so hours since 6 weeks or so. She likes baths, loves her hair washed, but hates to be dried off & dressed! Kind of funny. We are out of newborn diapers & clothes but she is actually still fitting into some 0-3 month clothes, which is good I guess since she's a bit bigger than Kameron was! Her 2 month appt. (which was actually done at 2.5 months) showed her to be 90% for weight & 83% for height. The Dr. wasn't concerned at all though - I was mainly I guess since I was used to Kameron being so little (he was 10-25% almost every visit). She likes her cradle swing a lot more now & is really enjoying her crib mobile. She just loves to smile at that thing! Her activity mat is still a favorite & the bouncy seat has proven to be fun at times.
Well, I have lots more to say, but I need to run so I'll aim to pick up where I left off again soon & hopefully have pics to post, too!
Friday, October 31, 2008
4 weeks old
Already 4 weeks old, but not quite a month yet...that's kind of weird how that works out. Anyway, Happy Halloween! We plan to post some pics of the kids from tonight at some point to share the first Halloween with brother & sister. We will be heading to Normal for the evening to go trick-or-treating w/ our friends that we now only live 45 minutes away from!
So, updates since the last entry...we have moved out of our house & into temporary housing here in IL while we wait for our TN house to sell! It's been a crazy past couple of weeks, with just moving here last weekend, but we made it! LOTS of craziness as movers came & packed up our entire house & we found out we had a LOT more stuff than they anticipated (they filled up an entire semi & then had to call in another moving truck!). But, we also have two businesses packed up along with everything else. Moving out of our house was a bit bittersweet. That was the house we built from square one & picked out every detail for, but it's also the house that we have made so many memories in, mainly Kameron's past few years. However, this move is such a great thing for us in so many ways, that we have to look at that part as well. We'll have many more memories here, both in our temp housing & once we finally get into our new house! Our temp housing isn't bad, it's just very crammed for space & we are still having to live out of boxes to some degree. We've already ventured out to the apple orchard for their pumpkin festival & went to the mall's Halloween kids night w/ games, etc. so Kameron really enjoyed both.
Buddy is enjoying his new research engineering job here & Kameron jumped right in to loving his new preschool. I already have a couple PC parties booked & am in the process of trying to meet new people for that & to have some new friends here! I think not having a house yet has been the hardest for my job since it's hard to make contacts living in an extended stay hotel! But, I'm trying my best when I'm out and about.
As for Marinne, she is such a wonderful baby! She's been great & we're enjoying each day w/ her. She's awake a bit more now & started to grin back this past week! Her nights have been amazing for her age really...she'll have a good 4 to 5 plus hours at least once a night where she won't wake up; well, most nights anyway! Then it's about 3 to 4 hours...except for the other night she wanted to stay awake just to be up for 3 hours! At least she wasn't screaming during those hours. She's still sporting her newborn clothes, which I'm enjoying while I can. She has started enjoying her play activity mat & gazing at all the colors & hearing the sounds everything makes. She still enjoys her cradle swing for the most part, but if she's tired, she'd rather sleep in someone's arms; go figure. That's hard to not take part in everytime though! We have her sleeping in a snuggle nest at night, just like we did w/ Kameron & that has been just fine.
Kameron is still really enjoying being around Marinne & is getting better knowing that he must be gentle when he touches her. He's really wanted to help with things as well, so that's been good for him since he wants to be part of everything. He's adjusted pretty good to the housing arrangement, and it's been a bonus for him since he has his own king bed here & didn't have that at home!
So, updates since the last entry...we have moved out of our house & into temporary housing here in IL while we wait for our TN house to sell! It's been a crazy past couple of weeks, with just moving here last weekend, but we made it! LOTS of craziness as movers came & packed up our entire house & we found out we had a LOT more stuff than they anticipated (they filled up an entire semi & then had to call in another moving truck!). But, we also have two businesses packed up along with everything else. Moving out of our house was a bit bittersweet. That was the house we built from square one & picked out every detail for, but it's also the house that we have made so many memories in, mainly Kameron's past few years. However, this move is such a great thing for us in so many ways, that we have to look at that part as well. We'll have many more memories here, both in our temp housing & once we finally get into our new house! Our temp housing isn't bad, it's just very crammed for space & we are still having to live out of boxes to some degree. We've already ventured out to the apple orchard for their pumpkin festival & went to the mall's Halloween kids night w/ games, etc. so Kameron really enjoyed both.
Buddy is enjoying his new research engineering job here & Kameron jumped right in to loving his new preschool. I already have a couple PC parties booked & am in the process of trying to meet new people for that & to have some new friends here! I think not having a house yet has been the hardest for my job since it's hard to make contacts living in an extended stay hotel! But, I'm trying my best when I'm out and about.
As for Marinne, she is such a wonderful baby! She's been great & we're enjoying each day w/ her. She's awake a bit more now & started to grin back this past week! Her nights have been amazing for her age really...she'll have a good 4 to 5 plus hours at least once a night where she won't wake up; well, most nights anyway! Then it's about 3 to 4 hours...except for the other night she wanted to stay awake just to be up for 3 hours! At least she wasn't screaming during those hours. She's still sporting her newborn clothes, which I'm enjoying while I can. She has started enjoying her play activity mat & gazing at all the colors & hearing the sounds everything makes. She still enjoys her cradle swing for the most part, but if she's tired, she'd rather sleep in someone's arms; go figure. That's hard to not take part in everytime though! We have her sleeping in a snuggle nest at night, just like we did w/ Kameron & that has been just fine.
Kameron is still really enjoying being around Marinne & is getting better knowing that he must be gentle when he touches her. He's really wanted to help with things as well, so that's been good for him since he wants to be part of everything. He's adjusted pretty good to the housing arrangement, and it's been a bonus for him since he has his own king bed here & didn't have that at home!
Friday, October 17, 2008
2 weeks old
I didn't mean to wait this long to update my blog, but as you can likely imagine, extra time has been pretty hard to come by!
Marinne (which, by the way, I have found out some aren't sure how to pronounce...see last posting for that) is two weeks old as of yesterday, and we are loving every minute of it (well, lets be honest...not really loving the missing sleep, but oh well). She has been just the sweetest baby. The first week was pretty much just sleep a lot & up just long enough to eat & back asleep she went! I know that's typical, but we rarely saw her eyes open that first week. This past week has been a bit better. She's still sleeping a lot of course as a newborn, but we are seeing her eyes open & she's awake a bit more now during the day. She's had some pretty good nights really for a newborn. A few nights ago she went 5 hours without waking to eat! Most other nights she'll go 2-4 hours for each segment. During the day it's 2-3 hours. There have been some times she's hungry after about an hour and a half, but not a lot.
We've had fun w/ Kameron & her photo session, and some pics from that session are posted under the photo galleries on the main page. Kameron is really enjoying his new baby sister...he just needs to work a little more on remembering not to use his outside voice while inside, and that Marinne is a baby so we must be gentle!
At her appt. yesterday she weighed 7 pounds 15 oz. & is 20.25 inches long. Everything is just perfect & we're thinking her cord will be off soon. She goes back at 2 months for her next appt. & more shots - I'm not looking forward to that appt.!
In other news, we move out in less than a week! Wow! The movers start on Mon. & finish on Thurs. In the meantime, we have to go room by room to pack up on our own what we will be taking w/ us since the movers will take everything we won't be using in temp housing (which could be anywhere from weeks up to four months & we don't know how long). Buddy has his big Professional Engineering test on Friday that he's been studying for months now for & while he's doing that all day, the kids & I will be finishing up Dr. appt.'s & then heading to IL. We "move in" to our temporary housing on Sunday. I'm not really looking forward to it, but honestly, I don't think it will be too bad...at least for a while. We will be at a suite in an extended stay hotel, but luckily it's a really nice one w/ two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and upstairs, loft, full kitchen, etc. So, pretty much like a townhouse. Plus, the hotel ammenties include an indoor pool, fitness center, free breakfast daily & a cocktail each evening! So, I guess it will have it's perks, but I'm sure we'll be ready for our house after a while. We have a contract in on a brand new house, but still have to sell our current one first to get the other. So, here's to hoping a seller finds us soon!
Marinne (which, by the way, I have found out some aren't sure how to pronounce...see last posting for that) is two weeks old as of yesterday, and we are loving every minute of it (well, lets be honest...not really loving the missing sleep, but oh well). She has been just the sweetest baby. The first week was pretty much just sleep a lot & up just long enough to eat & back asleep she went! I know that's typical, but we rarely saw her eyes open that first week. This past week has been a bit better. She's still sleeping a lot of course as a newborn, but we are seeing her eyes open & she's awake a bit more now during the day. She's had some pretty good nights really for a newborn. A few nights ago she went 5 hours without waking to eat! Most other nights she'll go 2-4 hours for each segment. During the day it's 2-3 hours. There have been some times she's hungry after about an hour and a half, but not a lot.
We've had fun w/ Kameron & her photo session, and some pics from that session are posted under the photo galleries on the main page. Kameron is really enjoying his new baby sister...he just needs to work a little more on remembering not to use his outside voice while inside, and that Marinne is a baby so we must be gentle!
At her appt. yesterday she weighed 7 pounds 15 oz. & is 20.25 inches long. Everything is just perfect & we're thinking her cord will be off soon. She goes back at 2 months for her next appt. & more shots - I'm not looking forward to that appt.!
In other news, we move out in less than a week! Wow! The movers start on Mon. & finish on Thurs. In the meantime, we have to go room by room to pack up on our own what we will be taking w/ us since the movers will take everything we won't be using in temp housing (which could be anywhere from weeks up to four months & we don't know how long). Buddy has his big Professional Engineering test on Friday that he's been studying for months now for & while he's doing that all day, the kids & I will be finishing up Dr. appt.'s & then heading to IL. We "move in" to our temporary housing on Sunday. I'm not really looking forward to it, but honestly, I don't think it will be too bad...at least for a while. We will be at a suite in an extended stay hotel, but luckily it's a really nice one w/ two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and upstairs, loft, full kitchen, etc. So, pretty much like a townhouse. Plus, the hotel ammenties include an indoor pool, fitness center, free breakfast daily & a cocktail each evening! So, I guess it will have it's perks, but I'm sure we'll be ready for our house after a while. We have a contract in on a brand new house, but still have to sell our current one first to get the other. So, here's to hoping a seller finds us soon!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
We are home now!
Welcome home our sweet little Marinne Grace! We named her after two things - Marinne(pronounced Muh rin)is my sister's (that was killed in the car accident) middle name & Grace came from our church, Grace Community.
We are pretty tired & in need of some much deserved rest, but are home! Everything was pretty much perfect. I thought my labor experience w/ Kameron was really lucky, and then Marinne's was even better. My last post around 8 a.m. on Thurs. was right after the Dr. broke my water. Then I just continued to move along, but they did take me off Pitocin a bit after that since I was moving along so quickly & by keeping me on it, the baby's heart rate was decreasing more with contractions. So, I just continued quickly on my own & a little after 11 a.m., I started pushing. Amazingly, I only pushed through three contractions for a little less than 10 minutes worth, and there she was! I actually decided to watch this time & it was pretty incredible. My Dr. did find a small cyst after I had Marinne, but was able to easily take care of it so it's no longer an issue. Even my epidural was even less pressure/pain than w/ Kameron - not that it was even much w/ him.
I was so looking forward to my parents bringing Kameron up to meet his sister for the first time. It was pretty exciting & caught it all on camera & video, of course! He was soooo excited to meet her & just so cute w/ his little comments about how he loved her & wanted to be her big brother & hold her. Then, he made a point to tell me, "Mommy, your belly isn't big anymore - baby is out. And, now your toes & feet aren't puffy anymore!" I thought that was pretty funny that he picked up on how I had mentioned my feet being so puffy these last few weeks!
Now it's just recovery & enjoy time! I'm having quite a bit of cramping, as to be expected, but the drugs aren't really helping as much as they did yesterday. And, I'm having some side effects. Hoping for a better day tomorrow & some rest tonight!
Until next time, here are the pics from the hospital & more to come from the studio soon:
http://www.buddybartels.com/marinne-hospital/
You are welcome to come visit us!
We are pretty tired & in need of some much deserved rest, but are home! Everything was pretty much perfect. I thought my labor experience w/ Kameron was really lucky, and then Marinne's was even better. My last post around 8 a.m. on Thurs. was right after the Dr. broke my water. Then I just continued to move along, but they did take me off Pitocin a bit after that since I was moving along so quickly & by keeping me on it, the baby's heart rate was decreasing more with contractions. So, I just continued quickly on my own & a little after 11 a.m., I started pushing. Amazingly, I only pushed through three contractions for a little less than 10 minutes worth, and there she was! I actually decided to watch this time & it was pretty incredible. My Dr. did find a small cyst after I had Marinne, but was able to easily take care of it so it's no longer an issue. Even my epidural was even less pressure/pain than w/ Kameron - not that it was even much w/ him.
I was so looking forward to my parents bringing Kameron up to meet his sister for the first time. It was pretty exciting & caught it all on camera & video, of course! He was soooo excited to meet her & just so cute w/ his little comments about how he loved her & wanted to be her big brother & hold her. Then, he made a point to tell me, "Mommy, your belly isn't big anymore - baby is out. And, now your toes & feet aren't puffy anymore!" I thought that was pretty funny that he picked up on how I had mentioned my feet being so puffy these last few weeks!
Now it's just recovery & enjoy time! I'm having quite a bit of cramping, as to be expected, but the drugs aren't really helping as much as they did yesterday. And, I'm having some side effects. Hoping for a better day tomorrow & some rest tonight!
Until next time, here are the pics from the hospital & more to come from the studio soon:
http://www.buddybartels.com/marinne-hospital/
You are welcome to come visit us!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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