Welcome Back!

Wow! I haven't posted anything in a year and a half. Incredibly, that also means I have a 17 month old daughter! I still can't believe it. So much has happened in the past year and a half. A few highlights:

• Our daughter was born, on her due date, March 29, 2012 at 12:23pm. After 14 1/2 hours of labor I did end up having a C-Section.
• I received a promotion at work as of January 14, 2013. I went from Administrative Support to Community Relations.
• Neil received a promotion at Progressive as of May 27, 2013. He went from a file owner in the Sioux Falls office to a MRR in northwestern Minnesota.

There have been many more events happen along the way, but those are the 3 big highlights we've had!

Now back to the most important change, being a mom. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for motherhood. Our baby girl has been the most amazing baby we could ask for. She has been a good sleeper and eater since day one. She was not a fussy baby at all. She is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. She gives kisses and snuggles. She is now becoming a very good helper and listens when we ask her to do something. She does try to push the boundaries when we say no, but who doesn't? I never get tired of walking into daycare at the end of the day to pick her up and seeing her face light up and come running over as fast as her little legs can go. I love her so much it's impossible to explain and it is such a different love than any I've ever experienced. It has also changed my relationship with Neil. I didn't think it was possible to love him more, but seeing him as a father (he is an amazing father) has made me love him that much more! I could go on and on but this post is intended to just welcome you all back to my blog! It's been a long time and I plan to try harder to post and update. I know I have so much family and so many friends that live far away and if this was a way you kept up with us then I'm sorry for taking so much time away! Life is busy and it's all about finding balance...I'm still working on that!

Pregnancy Complaining

I’ve tried very hard throughout my entire pregnancy not to complain. Whenever I get down or ‘tired of being pregnant’ I remind myself that God created my body for this purpose and a baby will be so worth it all! It helps that I have also had an ‘easy’ pregnancy. I didn’t have to deal with a moment of morning sickness, although there were times I wish I did just as proof in those early weeks I really was pregnant! I’ve had the normal back pain and some extreme hip pain and heartburn, but nothing intolerable, I’ve managed to go through my whole pregnancy without a single drop of medication of any sort! The one complaint I do have is also one thing that’s completely out of my control; formerly pregnant women.

Hopefully I don’t offend anyone and maybe you do this without realizing how it comes across to the currently pregnant woman, but is it necessary to share all the horror stories and tell me what I ‘must’ be feeling? I know I’m not the only pregnant woman who gets this, I have friends who are pregnant or recently had babies and they received the same stories, sometimes from complete strangers! I really hope after my pregnancy I remember what it felt like so I won’t do it to someone else. I’ve heard stories about how much the baby cries, how sleep deprived I’ll be, how much labor hurts (which by the way, does anyone expect it not to?), and on and on. I understand this is all reality, but I also know I’ll be able to deal with it just like everyone else does. I promise I haven’t been sleeping under a rock for years. I know babies are work, I know there will be times that I’ll just sit on the floor crying with her because there’s nothing else I can do. I also know that no matter how difficult of a baby we may or may not have, my husband and I will get through it and won’t have a second of regret.  Now that I’m less than a month away from my due date I constantly have people telling me how I must be tired of being pregnant and it will be the longest weeks of my life. Yesterday I heard it from our dog groomer! Of course I want to meet our little baby more than anything in the world, but I’m surprisingly not impatient. I want her to have the time she needs to grow and develop and honestly I’m praying she doesn’t come early. This is my busiest month at work and if I have to leave early it will just make my leave stressful because I’ll be worried about all the things I didn’t get done that someone else has to do. It’s all in God’s timing and when He says Baby B is ready to come she will, who am I to question that?

Overall I’ve enjoyed being pregnant, sure there are days I have felt like complaining and I'm sure there will be many more in the future. For right now, I’m simply tired of others thinking they know how I feel, every pregnancy is different. Some women love being pregnant, some are indifferent, and some absolutely hate it. If we decide to have another baby in the future maybe I’ll hate that pregnancy, but for now just let me enjoy this one. Let me enjoy knowing that my body is keeping my precious baby safe and healthy, my body is miraculously growing a person, I am the one carrying this tiny human wherever I go, and I am the only one that gets to feel every tiny movement she makes. 

A Little Scare

This week baby decided to give me a little scare. I started noticing Tuesday afternoon that I hadn’t felt baby move much all day, but thought maybe since I was at work I just wasn’t paying close enough attention. After work, I met my friend Kate at Starbucks. Kate is also pregnant, about 4 weeks ahead of me, and kept talking about how much she was feeling the baby move and I just kept noticing that I still wasn’t feeling much from baby that day. I called my mom and sister, Steph, to ask their opinion and they both said that only I could know if it wasn’t normal and had to decide on my own what to do. I decided to go home and lay down for a bit in the hopes that relaxing would make the movements more noticeable. Neil and I sat for a while and were able to feel baby move, but I still felt like it wasn’t as strong as normal.

Wednesday morning I woke up still worried. Ever since I started feeling baby move it was pretty much guaranteed I would feel her when I laid down to go to sleep, if I woke in the middle of the night, and right away in the morning while I was still laying in bed. I hadn’t felt her at all the previous night or that morning. I told Neil I was still worried and we agreed I would call my doctor’s office just to see what they thought. My doctor’s nurse asked me a few questions on the phone, said she’d talk to Dr. Kemper, and call me right back. When she called back she said Dr. Kemper wanted me to come in to have an ultrasound and meet with her that morning. I called and let Neil know and asked him to come pick me up from work because I had asked my supervisor for the day off, I simply couldn’t concentrate on work. While I was waiting for him, I called my mom to try and stay calm. She told me that it was reassuring I was at least feeling faint movements and that I was doing the right thing going in. I couldn’t get in to the ultrasound until 10:45 so I took Neil back to work and went home for a little while. On the way home, I called Steph to let her know I was going to see my doctor. She, of course, told me she was sure everything would be fine and to let her know what I found out. I spent the rest of the drive home praying that everything was fine and asking God for the reassurance I was looking for.

I was terrified when they started the ultrasound, but within seconds we saw the small movements that I was so desperate for. The ultrasound showed everything was just fine. She had good movements, heartbeat was strong, and we were even able to see her ‘breathing’ already. Best of all we were able to get some amazing pictures of her little face, which she had hid from us during the previous ultrasounds. We met with my doctor and she reassured us everything looked as good as it could. She said her guess was that baby’s movements had lessened because I had a cold the last couple days, but said to never count on that and always call so that they can check.

My mom was, of course, very worried when I called to let her know, but relieved the instant she knew everything was fine. She told me I should call Steph right away because she was so worried about me she was about ready to drive down to Sioux Falls just in case. I called her to let her know everything was fine and she was still in tears, though they quickly turned to happy tears. I think she was almost as much of a wreck as I was.

Since the appointment baby has been moving like crazy and her kicks are much stronger than they were! She definitely gave me a scare, but I am so thankful we were able to see her face and be reassured that everything is progressing as it should.

Our Baby at 28 Weeks!

Baby Ready

Now that Christmas is past and all the cleaning and preparing for company is done we can finally start getting ready for baby! We started getting the nursery ready before Christmas by moving all the furniture and boxes that were in there so that it was a nice, clean, empty room. I now have all of the clothes hung that we have bought or been given, most still with tags and receipts attached just in case though! And we received our first big item from my parents. They were in Watertown shopping and saw a stroller and car seat set that was on an awesome sale so they bought it for us!
 
Last week we were able to go get our crib and order the changing table. Neil’s siblings and parents gave us a gift card to help pay for part of our crib and we were anxious to buy it and have it put together. We went into Target Thursday afternoon and while we were waiting for someone to help us with the crib we had originally registered for we noticed another crib that hadn’t been there before. We went to look at it and after talking it over decided we actually liked that one more than the originally one and it even cost a little less! When we found a sales associate we asked about the crib we just found and she said they actually didn’t have any more in-store and wouldn’t be getting more because the company had stopped making that exact design. I asked her to check at Target East and see if they had the crib. They had one listed as in stock, but she was sure it was their display model. We left and decided to check other stores and see if they had a similar design, but ended up back at home looking online. I finally asked Neil to call Target East and check on the crib and make sure the only one they had was the display. When he called he found out that they did actually have one in stock and since they weren’t getting anymore it was on clearance! This was great, except that since it was on clearance they couldn’t hold the item or sell it over the phone and we were told another lady had just called about the same crib moments before and said she was on her way to get it. The associate explained it would be sold to whoever got there first so we could either drive across town and take our chances or just get a different crib. Neil decided we should drive across town and at least try, if nothing else we could get the crib we originally registered for! Neil drove like crazy across town and stopped right at the curb outside Target and ran in the store while I parked the car. When he got in there the crib was still there so they loaded it up on a cart for us. Just a minute later, before I was even able to make it in the store and back to the baby section, the other lady who had wanted the crib showed up. Neil said she asked him if someone was purchasing the crib already like she thought he worked there. He told her that he was and apparently she did not look very pleased with him so he quickly walked away with the crib! I never knew my husband was such a serious shopper, he said it felt like Black Friday shopping! I guess next year I’ll have to take him Black Friday shopping since he isn’t afraid to run through a store for what he wants!
Of course, after we bought the crib we went home and ordered the matching changing table which was only available online. Now a week later we have both set up and ready for baby to use!

Baby's Closet

Glider and Changing Table

Crib

Stroller and Car Seat

McGraw Christmas Letter

(Written by my mom)

Happy Holidays!!

                I hope this letter finds each and everyone happy and healthy this holiday season! It’s hard to believe another year has gone by, but that’s what the calendar tells me. Actually two years since I’ve written a Christmas letter. Not bad since the first one took about 26 years!

                It’s been another wonderful year in the McGraw household. We are so blessed to have our children and grandchildren close. Reed and I continue to keep busy with work and the kids.  

                Jeff is a senior in high school. He keeps us busy with his activities. He’s involved in football, basketball, baseball and plans on running track this year. He had a great season in football this fall. He was named to the all-conference team, all-academic, and was named the special teams player for the all-state 9AA football team. He plans on attending  SDSU next year and majoring in pre-physical therapy.  His dad and I are very proud of all of his accomplishments. Other than sports, he spends most of his time at the gym with friends or with his girlfriend.

                Samantha is in Sioux Falls and works at the American Cancer Society. Her husband (Neil) works at Progressive Insurance. They bought their first house last November and have been busy finishing the lower levels and getting a yard going this year. They are expecting their first child (a girl) in March 2012. So grandma and grandpa will have more of an excuse to visit.

                Stephanie is a nurse in the CCU in Watertown. Her husband (James) farms and they live about 5 miles from Clark. They have one little girl, Kayla, and are expecting another little girl in May, 2012. Kayla is 21 months and lots of fun to have around. I’m lucky enough to get to spend quite a bit of time with her since her mom & dad have crazy schedules.

                Melissa is a 4^th grade teacher in Clark. Her husband (Casey) decided to quit trucking last year and now works in Watertown. They have 2 boys, Waylan 5 & Westen 23 months. The boys love having their dad home all the time now. Waylan is in preschool this year and absolutely loves it. He has also become quite the fisherman. He and dad actually went ice fishing a couple weeks ago and he told me he caught 10 fish. Westen is a character. His parents call him Tank. He kind of just plows thru anything in his way.

                As you can tell we can keep as busy as we want with the kids and grandkids. We are so blessed to have them all so close.

                We wish each and everyone a Blessed Christmas and New Year! May this next year continue to bring health and happiness to all!

Getting Ready

There’s so much to be done and so much going on around our house right now! I feel like sleep is a waste of time and, although I know I need my rest, I feel like any moment resting is a moment that should be spent accomplishing something! I guess you could say ‘nesting’ is settling in at our house.

We have so much we’re trying to get ready for; the list seems to go on and on. First is Christmas. We’re hosting Neil’s family for Christmas this year which we’re very excited for, but the preparation is also overwhelming. We honestly started about eight months ago by taking the first steps to finish our lower levels. We knew there was no way everyone could comfortably come to our house without that extra space and it was a good excuse to get started. We’re now almost finished, almost, but not quite. Neil has been busy staining doors and I’ve been busy finding the little things we need that are easily overlooked. Thankfully, I have an amazing and handy father who is going to come down this weekend to install doors and lights, help move furniture, etc.  I’m excited for that all to be done, but then comes the top-to-bottom cleaning that our house desperately needs. The past couple months I have been excessively tired at all times which means the simple chores of vacuuming, dusting, organizing, and such have gone unfinished and now that I have some energy back that really needs to change. My husband is amazing and has done more than his share while I’ve been exhausted, but there was only so much I would let him do alone. Now I have only four weeks to get caught up and then some so that our house is ready for company!

The other thing we’re preparing for, of course, is Baby B’s arrival! Since we found out the gender and have had quite a few people asking what they can get Baby/us as Christmas gifts we decided to get a registry done at Target. We spent a few hours going up and down the four little aisles of baby items at Target on Saturday and hopefully have everything listed that we need. We decided we weren’t going to register for any clothes because people like to pick out cute baby clothes on their own anyway and I have no doubt we’ll get a lot! I tried to stay neutral with most items, just in case we have another child in the future and it’s not a girl, I don’t want to have to buy everything new. My husband was insistent that the bedding be pink and girly though, and yes it was honestly him, I really liked one of the neutral bedding sets but wasn’t going to fight with getting pink! Of course if Baby surprises us as a boy, this just means Neil will have a lot of returns to make and shopping to do in the few days Baby and I are still in the hospital, but don’t worry my mom has already volunteered to help with any shopping that would need to be done then!

I know the next four weeks are going to be a blur of cleaning, gift wrapping, meal planning, and grocery shopping and the next four months will rush by in a haze of pink; I simply cannot wait!

Halfway there!

It’s official, we’re having a baby girl! Neil and I are thrilled and so relieved to finally be able to tell anyone and everyone. We were very cautious telling people prior to 20 weeks because of my miscarriage, or I was very cautious and Neil understood and went along with it. He even jokingly said to me one night, “I bet if you had it your way we wouldn’t put anything on Facebook or Twitter until the baby is born.” I laughed, but in actuality he had a point. At 20 weeks though I figured I couldn’t wait any longer, I officially look pregnant. I’ve ran into a few people I know and have seen them glance at my belly and can just see the thoughts in their head ‘I think she’s pregnant, but I can’t ask because what if she’s not…’

My pregnancy has been going great. There were literally days where I would almost forget I was pregnant or worry that something was wrong because I had no symptoms. I haven’t had a single moment of morning sickness, I’ve gained maybe 2-3 pounds, and although I could tell my stomach was getting firmer it was hard for me to look in a mirror and say I looked pregnant. We had our 20 week ultrasound on Wednesday and since then I have felt pregnant. Seeing Baby B move, kick, and squirm around made everything so much more real. We’ve been able to listen to the heartbeat at prior appointments, but listening to it while you can see it beating on the screen is amazing. Right now baby is measuring right with my due date of March 29, 2012! She is in the 45% for size and weight and absolutely every measurement and image they looked at was normal! She is already a stubborn little girl, but if you know Neil and I that’s to be expected. She was curled up pretty well in there and the ultrasound tech had to try a few different techniques to get her to move enough to see boy or girl. We weren’t one bit surprised by this since at our last ultrasound she was all curled up and wouldn’t even roll over so they could get a measurement from a different angle; she just kept kicking and hitting at where the tech would push on my stomach. Hopefully that means she’ll be a snuggly baby!

My doctor is absolutely amazing! I always worried about choosing the right doctor because I was afraid I would never feel that comfortable with them, but she is perfect! She has a fun, goofy personality you would never associate with a doctor and always makes Neil and I feel like any question we have is a good question. To make it even better she’s actually expecting for the first time as well and at just six weeks ahead of me can fully understand everything I’m going through. She’s expecting twin boys so she hopes to be back in time for my delivery, but if not she is getting me in to see one of her partners that is the most like her.

So now comes the fun part: names, clothes, nursery things, and everything baby! I already went out Wednesday night and just had to buy a few little pink outfits, but I’m keeping all the receipts just in case our stubborn little girl turns out to be an even more stubborn little boy!