MIA - Update on Carly...

Carly turned 4mths on the 16th and had her appointment that afternoon. She weighed in at 12lbs 9oz and was a little longer than 22inches (she started at 5lbs 11oz and 17inches). She is a shorty like her mommy right now, hopefully she will take after daddy later. Her doctor said everything looked great and that contrary to what I see online, she is actually in the 40th percentile for her weight but still below the 5th percentile for her height. Her shots went great, she actually didn't even cry for the first one, but the second one made her, but only for a second. We discussed delaying vaccinations but decided we will continue on the schedule they suggest. We also rediscussed her tongue-tie (you can see it good in this picture), seeing how we never went to the first appointment to have it clipped, we are waiting to see if we can still get an appointment at Children's and have our insurance cover it. We want to have her tongue clipped before we start her on solid foods in 2 months.

We are back in California after going to my moms (my mom realllllly misses Carly and Carly realllllly misses her NaNa) in Texas for 2months and my husband comes home from deployment in a week (I can hardly wait!!!). He is going to be shocked seeing Lil Miss Carly!!! When he left she was 7wks old and weighed 6lbs 12oz. She has doubled in size, is rolling over, "talking", eating twice as much formula, and as of this week sleeping in her crib, in her room!!!

It is amazing how fast they grow, I would like her to stop but at the same time, I can not wait until she is older and bigger and I can see what her hair will look like, what her personality will be, and see the little girl she will become.

So Carly turned a whole 1/2 a year old on May 16th!!! We celebrated with green beans (her first try) with a candle in them (of course), it was very exciting!!! It was a magic candle and apparently mommy didn't put it out well enough and put it down on the carpet starting a small fire, leaving a small hole!! yay!!! :)

At 6mths she is...

•16lbs 1oz... 24 and 3/4inches...

•She is now on solids 1x a day... has tried green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peaches, apricots, strawberries, avacadoes... a lick of cantelope and pineapple.. and her godmother was evil and gave her a lick of homemade whipped cream
•Trying desperately to crawl... but instead rolls around everywhere like a rolli-polli
•LOVES her jumper, but too short for her walker...
•Swimming with me... going under water with me..
•Waking up talking to the entire world...
•Blows raspberries and motorboats..
•Loves pulling mine and sisters hair..
•Can growl back when someone growls at her...
•Has drank out of a sippy cup...
•She won't be crying and will be happy as can be, but the minute she sees you have the bottle will let out a wail, which is the only time she is a crier, when she is hungry...
•She knows exactly what a camera is... she will be doing the cutest thing ever, when you pull out the camera to try to catch it, if she turns and sees it, she will get this blank, almost evil stare on her face and stop whatever it is she is doing... (i have it on video, several times to prove it)
•She is her sisters BIGGEST fan... I don't think she loves anyone more than her sister...
•She has now been to 6 states; WA, OR, CA, AZ, NM, and TX
•And, my favorite, I ask for kisses, and she takes my face in her hands, open her mouth wide and pulls my face in for me to go, *MWAHS*
•She has her first boyfriend... the cutest boy there is, Seppe, no offense to you other moms...
That is all I can think for now... I love my sweet Lil Miss.... had I known my babies were going to be this special, wonderful, beautiful, great, terrific, sweet, fantastic....(I could go on for days)... I would've started popping them out years ago, haha... Can't wait for the next little one, but we will be waiting at least for another 2 years...


Carly will be 1 in 13 days!!

She...

* is walking 100% of the time... we had to invest in 2 more gates. sometimes she takes off in an almost run, normally when I am trying to get her for something
* weighs 21lbs 4oz and is 28inches long
* says a lot of jibber jabber, hey, huh, yeah...
* has 4 teeth, all on bottom
* claps, likes to stack blocks, full-mouth kisses, obsessed with shoes and her polar bear
* sleeps in her crib for bedtime and naps, goes down without a fuss and sleeps
* gets 6oz of milk every day before bedtime with her formula..
* oooh and she has placed in 2 online pageants... in the first she got princess and the second she got princess as well as best hair/bow






Carly Alyse is now 14mths, at her last appt she was 20lbs and 29inches...

* she has had 4bottom teeth for FOREVER, she now over the last month or so has popped 4 on top as well...
* her hair is starting to curl at the bottom... (i am still hoping it will turn red)
* she has now been on a plane 2 times
* she has been to 8 different states with our travels, 6 of those were just over the Christmas vacation (it was busy!!!)
* during our big vacation she had her first visit to Disneyland!!! (it was mine and my oldests first time too)
* at disney she rode her first amusement park ride, the teacups, and many more after that!!! and she LOVED them...
* we finally dedicated her over the thanksgiving break after her 1st birthday party!! it was a busy busy 4 days... people came from WA, TX, and CA...
* she still loves food and has begun to tell us she is done eating by throwing food on the floor off her tray...
* her fav foods are peach yogurt (she will share a greek yogurt with me too), crackers, chicken, and all veggies...
* she wont let you feed her anything except the yogurt...
* she has been off a bottle for about 3-4mths...
* we are starting potty training!!! i know it is early but she is showing signs... went to check on her during naptime and she had taken off her diaper and was laying there talking, in the buff!!
* she loves her singing potty!!!
* her sister is the sunshine in her life, anytime Taylor walks in a room Carly will light up and run over to her...
* she jibber-jabbers ALL the time.... only really says mama and hihihihi and ... starting to sound like she is saying tay or sis, she walks around saying siiiiii, siiii, but she will talk your ear off if you let her...
* she is also picking up on sign language... she knows the signs for milk, more, and juice... we are working on eat and please now... you ask her if she wants milk and she will do the sign for more milk...
* she loves her doggy and kitty, loves to torture them!!
* she adores polar bears still... sleeps with a polar bear about as big as her and her polar bear pillow pet...
* she hit 1 year old and turned into a TOTALLLLLLL mommies girl!! wouldnt even go to daddy for a while, would just cry anytime he tried to hold or talk to her...
*she gives the best hugs....wraps her arms around your neck and squeezes...

Carly is a quarter of the way...

...to her 1st birthday!!!

On Tuesday Carly turned 3mths old!




The first three months have seem to have flown by. Daddy has been gone for the last, almost 7 weeks and will be gone for another 5. He has missed some great stuff and we can't wait until he comes home.


this is the day daddy left, Carly was 7 weeks. She was 6lbs 15oz and 19inches long




this was a week ago, Carly was 13 weeks. She is now over 10lbs and over 21inches long. (not sure of exact numbers since we haven't been to the doctor in a month)

In the last 3mths...

* Carly has celebrated lots of firsts...
- Thanksgiving
- A&M vs t.u game (wearing maroon of course)
- photo shoot
- urgent room visit
- Christmas
- New Year's
- Daddy Deployments
- cross country drives
- has met every single one of her cousins
- Birthday Party
- Valentine's

- tried Sonic (NaNa introduced her to a strawberry slush via binkie)
- met her BFF
- wore hairbows in her hair
- saw snow/sleet

- phone call (put daddy on the phone, she started talking, telling him all about it)
- cold

* Smiled at 6 weeks
* She rolled over at 10 weeks
* Laughed, although it's mostly in her sleep, it is super cute!
* Is cooing on a daily basis, started really noticing it more around 8weeks.
* Holds onto things.
* Loves tummy time and is great at holding her head up, but loves napping during tummy time more.
* Loves her evening ritual of talking to her NaNa.
* Loves her bath, but only if you keep the faucet running on her, we finally had to upgrade from the sink to the tub, she was 12weeks when we finally made the move.


* We finally moved from NB diapers to size 1 at 10 weeks.
* Finally at 12 weeks she started wearing 0-3mth clothes, even though most of her NB still fit, mommy had too many cute clothes she wanted her to wear.
* Thankfully has been sleeping through the night (8-10hrs) since she was born, but not a big napper.
* Still poo'ing and pee'ing on mommy, we have now added vomitting.
* Loves her giraffe on her carseat and her lion on her bouncer, she will sit there and have an entire conversation with them.
* She will lay there and stair up at the ceiling or the fan and just start smiling and cooing.
* Loves watching the colors and movement on the t.v or computer screen.
* Loves to be grrr'd at.
* Loves her sister to kiss her on her head.
* Loves to be wrapped or held tight to sleep, but is a Houdini if wrapped tight, by morning her arms will be loose.
* Found her hands and LOVES sucking on them.
* Can put herself to sleep, with or without binkie.
* Loves morning naps, cuddling with her mommy.


I am so in love with my Lil Miss. It is amazing to be able to be at home with her everyday where I can see her grow. I am truly blessed. I can't wait to see what the next 3 months has in store and am thankful daddy will be home to see most of it too.

1mth...

Can you believe it? The Lil Miss is a month old today! It has already been an entire month! It is weird to think that I should still be pregnant, she isn't due until Friday... I don't think I could have waited that long to meet her. I miss being preggo but ooooh how I love having her in my arms!!!

At birth...
Weight 5lbs 11oz
Length 19inches (what we were told, actually only 17inches)

and then we went to the doctor on Monday...
Weight 6lbs 9oz - below the 5%
Length 18.5 inches (she was measured wrong at birth!!!) - below the 5%
She is still pretty tiny... But like I said, she isn't even due until Friday, so I think she is perfect! She is definately growing.

She is seeming to be a very alert little girl, looking every which way, especially when she hears a voice she knows... And she is turning into a huge mommy's girl, I can be in the other room, talking at her through the doorway and she turns to look for me.

* she loves sleeping on her tummy, but I am terrified to let her unless I am within an arms reach or she is laid out over my legs






* she and I haven't gotten down the diaper changing thing... I have a knack for opening the diaper while she is still going. I have been peed on 2 times, peed in front of 3 times, and poo'ed in front of 3 times...




* she cries when she poo's, it is so cute, but breaks my heart seeing her in pain...


* she is still a titty baby, although we have had to supplement formula this week to try to get her weight up... she went 2 weeks without gaining an ounce. I started taking Reglan so hopefully my milk supply will increase and she can continue being a titty baby.





So I can not wait for her to get a little older and start smiling, laughing, sitting up, etc, BUT I am not ready for the next 17 years and 11 months to go by. I am absolutely in awe of my Lil Miss. I am so in love!

Time flies when you're having fun...

Garrett has been on leave since Oct 22nd, that is over a month and I have been in complete bliss... having him around has been absolutely wonderful, especially since we had a surprise guest come, Lil Carly. Now the inevitable has come, he goes back to work tomorrow for schooling and then could possibly meet up with his squadron which is currently deployed with the USS Nimitz until the end of March. Talk about break a girls heart. This isn't my first deployment, but this is my first with a newborn. It is not that I don't know how to take care of my two girls (both whom are absolutely gorgeous, not that I am biased) it is that he will miss what could be the next 3-4mths of our Lil Miss' life and that is what breaks my heart, but welcome to the military I guess. I should feel lucky that he was here for the birth, a lot of dads don't get that. We should be finding out after the 11th if he will deploy, fingers and toes crossed, praying hard. We should also find out if he made 1st class this week! Again, fingers and toes crossed, praying hard.

Taylor is finally back in school, she started last week, after being out for a month. She is head over heels excited, she loves school, we are lucky. The teacher was worried about her being behind, apparently they teach reading in Kindergarten here, where as in WA they didn't really, but Taylor is picking things up great and making her teacher proud.

Carly had her 2 week check up today, she was 6lbs 5oz and about 18in long. Up 10oz from her birth weight!!! And they apparently measured her wrong at birth, her 2 day appt she was 17 and 1/4 inches, NOT the almost 19in they quoted at birth. So she is a shorty, for now, hopefully she will get her daddy's height. The doctor gave me permission to let her sleep through the night if she will, which she would if I didn't wake her every 3 hours for feedings. The doctor's don't like you to let them sleep through the night especially when they are jaundiced, but she is up from her birth weight, so tonight we will try, hopefully she will continue to want to, like before. *crosses fingers*

And me... I am healing still, I would say almost 100%, I have lost 35lbs of the too many lbs I gained! Hopefully it will continue to just fall off. I guess I am now officially a stay-at-home mommy... which I am loving so far, we will see if I am still liking it after I don't have Garrett to talk to anymore. I am hoping to start school again really soon (online), seeing as I don't really want to pay back student loans just yet. Other than that I am in heaven!

Guess that updates pretty much everything... family starts coming in a few days and the rest in 2 weeks, (for Carly's original due date and Christmas) I can't wait. Will blog about it later.

I am in Love...

How can you not love this face?

No one ever tells you what to expect with motherhood. Even already being a mom to Taylor, the feelings I have now are oh so incredible... I never knew someone so tiny and itty bitty could make me heart feel so much love and joy... I am overflowing with emotion. I honestly can't stop staring at her or put her down. And the love she put in my heart for my husband is a completely new love too... How amazing it is, never thought I could love another person so much...

Friday the 13th... Let the excitement begin!!!

Oh goodness, where do I start...

This morning I dropped off Garrett and Taylor at the house to wait for the cable guy and movers to show up and I head to the hospital to get registered at Lemoore, turn in my medical record and hopefully get checked out by the doctor because it has been 3 weeks since I have been seen. (I am now 35wks). The OB/GYN said I can't be seen until the FOLLOWING Thursday and it would just be a consult with a nurse to go over my record, I say I am not ok with that, I am high risk, need to be checked, they tell me I can go up to their labor & delivery and have them check me if I feel it necessary. So I go upstairs...

Oooooh, had I known it was going to be the ride of my life, I would've packed a bag.

They check me for dialation, amniotic fluid, lil' miss' size... check, check, check, things look good... I was not dialated. I was hooked up to monitors and kept until 2:30, they found trace protein in my urine, so the doctor requested I come back later that night for a 24-48 hour observation(I had the car, Garrett was stranded, no food, no cable, bored). After about 3 hours of freedom, I checked back in at 5:45 and started the tests and learned all about insulin. My first night in what I thought would be MY bed, ended up being a night in the hospital. The next afternoon the doctor said I would most likely get to go home the next day, after I learned how to give myself insulin, I was sad, but at least there was an end in sight, or so I thought. My protein results came back around 7-8ish pm... thankfully Garrett had just shown up to see me, because we found out I was going to be leaving the hospital, but not to go home, I was being transferred to Fresno (they had a NICU), my lil miss would be coming a lot sooner than we had thought, within the next couple of days. An ambulance came to transfer me, then Garrett and Taylor followed behind, but the hospital in Fresno would NOT let Taylor on the Labor & Delivery floor, everyone was crying, they left, and I was left alone. Thankfully Garrett's brother drove up, got Taylor, and Garrett was back with me in a few hours. Things were already progressing...

12am - Already on Magnesium Sulfate to help with my hbp, I was given cervadel to prepare my body for lil miss to make her appearance, it was a 12 hour medication. During this time I got ahold of my mom, and she was going to be in Cali the next day by noon, that helped calm me some.

4am - Garrett gets back to the hospital to be with me. We try to get some rest and sleep. I am not allowed food or drinks because of the labor process, didn't make me a happy camper.

12pm - Mom shows up, Dr checks to see if I have progressed at all, 2-3cm... contractions start coming although I don't feel most of them, I was more focused on the killer headache I had.

4pm - Pitocin is started to see if we can get me to progress further... at 3-4cm they will break my water... I opt for the epidural, not because of the pain I was having, but the unknown of what was to come... Totally NOT what I expected, I was terrified I would be numb from the waist down, but I could actually still move my feet, legs, and feel them being touched. My body or mind did NOT like the epidural process for whatever reason and my blood pressure dropped pretty low, scared everyone pretty good, but slowly I came around.

7pm - no further progression, they break my water... honestly, totally cool feeling! LOL

12pm - they check to see how much more I have dialated, NOTHING! and lil miss' heartrate was dropping with every contraction, here comes the big news, the OR is ready, we have to take you in for a c-section for the safety of your lil girl... I didn't feel so hot, but it was time...

1:14am - she had to wait for an even date? she couldn't humor her mommy and come an hour and 15 min earlier to make her OCD mommy happy? Carly Alyse Thompson made her debut, 5 weeks early, but she came out screaming! Thank God. Lungs were powerful! I was so doped and out of it, they asked me if I wanted to kiss her, I said, "no thanks, that's alright"... but I came around and gave my lil miss her first kiss. She was 5lbs 11oz, 19in long, and a head full of brown hair...

We go back to the room and Nana gets to hold her first grandchild (by birth). She beamed! I was still out of it, thankfully we got transferred to another room with a much more comfortable bed so that I could recover. Still on meds, I wasn't allowed to eat, and I had to stay in bed for another 24 hours. The first time I got up to walk I thought I was going to pass out... It was all worth it... Just looking at her made me smile and cry... I didn't realize love could be so amazing!!!

Wednesday I finally got to go home!!! I was elated...

Hubby, Mom, and 2 gorgeous girls, what more could I be thankful for?

Our Trip...

(FLASHBACK)

We got to New Mexico on Tuesday the 27th... late, but oh thank the Lord we were done driving for a day, well 2... We ended up staying 2 days because we got snow the first full day we were there, SNOW!!! Probably the last time we will see snow for a while, so I didn't complain. Taylor was in heaven,grandparents and snow, frozen fingers, toes, and all. I stayed inside with my feet up. My lungs HATED the altitude, thankfully I had the inhaler that my dr. gave me before I left.

Altitude + Stairs + Preggo Belly = BREATHLESS! (I minimized trips up and down the stairs)

We only stayed a couple of days on the way to Texas and headed for my mom's house on Thursday the 29th, another long trip, but thankful we would be in Texas for a week.

Taylor was so excited to see her Nana and PawPaw and of course her bff and uncle monkey, Garrett was excited to get Chickfila for the firs time in years, and I was just thankful my hiney was out of a car and my feet were up (33wks pregnant is NOT a time to do a long car ride)...

We had a lot planned for our Texas visit, Halloween, Gar and Taylors first a&m game, I was able to get the h1n1 vaccine, baby shower, fishing for the boys and mani/pedi's for the girls. The trip was an incredible one, got to eat every type of food on my list while I was there and I have to say that I got sick and tired of SONIC, shocking, I know.

33wks preggo - started having what I found out were contractions! craaaazy! thought my lil miss was going to make her debut on Halloween but she decided that she needed a few more weeks of cooking before she came, thankfully!!!

After my parents we headed to San Antonio first to see my grandparents and then to Iowa Park to spend a few days with Garrett's sister and her husband. Great couple of days! I haven't seen my grandparents in a couple of years, and this being the first great grandchild, I wanted to make sure they got to see me preggo before they met the lil miss. It was only a couple of short hours, but a nice visit. Once in Iowa Park I got to meet a few friends from Garrett's "childhood" which ended up being a great visit. Nothing too terribly exciting about our trip just yet, just more time to relax, out of a car.

Then we left Iowa Park and the excitement began. Early foggy morning, the 9th, driving down the road, I nod off, then all of a sudden, *garrett screams, my heart stops*, I look up, and there is a deer, *SMACK* It was terrifying, I was shaking, got out to try to catch my breath and get my heart beating again. Thankfully there was no real damage to the tahoe, we got in and started on our way again. Next we stop for gas, go to get the credit card, MISSING!!! yay!!! still haven't found it, think we might have thrown it away after the deer accident because it flew into the trash bag, but guess we will never known. My ring I have had since I was 15 went missing about the same time. *sigh* Hopefully the luck would start looking up.

Our final part of the trip was a couple more days with his parents again. More relaxation!!! yay!!! I am puffing up more and more by the day. Thankfully there was no snow this time, just gorgeous sunny weather. We went to Taos for the day and enjoyed more time with his mom and dad.

34 weeks preggo - nothing to terribly different, although she has become an active little kicker and hitter... she likes to hide up near my ribs causing pain and making it hard to breathe...

Thursday, November 12th... California at last!!! Hotel for the night, get to sleep in MY bed the next night... I was so excited, as was Garrett.

Total miles traveled - 5000!!!