Archer Baseball Banquet

Jeff has finished his first season of coaching baseball at Archer High! He is the head JV baseball coach. The baseball department had their annual banquet to celebrate and all the coach's wives were invited! It was really well put together and I very much enjoyed it! It was nice to see so many of the parents of the players who we know from either church or old friends, etc! The menu was great (steak or chicken, salad and a baked potato, sweet tea/water/lemonade, cake!) and all of the coaches did a great job on congratulating the teams for a season well played. Archer is a young school with YOUNG teams (not one senior is on the varsity team!) but they are growing and we expect great things from them!

I only captured a couple of pics. It was hard to get good ones since I was sitting with all of the important people at the head table (plus, jeff gets annoyed when i want to take pics).


Great 2011 season, guys! Looking forward to next year!!!

37 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 28lbs
My BP: 100/70
Baby Heart Rate: 145
Fundal Height: 40cm (3cm "big")
Estimated Baby Weight: 7.5lbs

1st off, I didnt have anything "checked" today. I forgot that Dr Pohl skips this week. According to him, if you havent had cervical changes on week 36, its unlikely to have any at week 37 if all else remains the same (bp, no protein in urine, etc...). So yay for not being violated!

He also said to keep in mind in regards to the baby's weight that the guesstimates can be off by up to a pound in either direction, but that they are usually pretty close. He's thinking about an 8.5lb baby will be delivered for us at week 39 due to induction. He doesnt really expect me to go into labor on my own. This, of course, makes Jeff happy since he's all about his "perfect attendance" at school this year and apparently refuses to miss a day, even for the birth of his child. GOOBER!

Ok, the 37 week pic. I know its a miracle to carry life and I really am grateful, but oh my... i will be so glad to be able to stand up straight again w/o a humongo belly. That junk hurts my back!
The only ?'s i had this week were:

1. Should I pre-register at the hospital?
- It wouldnt hurt! So I got the papers and sent them in today :-)

2. What are the rules for siblings visiting?
- Siblings are always allowed. The restrictions they have put on kids visiting in the past were more of a result of flu season, which we're not in right now, and specifically related to the H1N1 flu issues. They do still restrict kids who visit to being over 12 years old (with the exception of siblings) but honestly, i dont think that rule is strictly enforced. He just said that kids who visit (and really ANYONE who visits) needs to wash their hands before coming in the room since the baby's immune system is non-existent. Pretty much knew that, already :-)

I signed my consent forms at this visit. Basically, I may end up incontinent or die as a result of delivery. I told him i'm pretty sure i'm already on my way to incontinence and that i'm quite positive I'll die if i DONT get the baby out :-) So I signed the form and made 2 requests

1. Dont let me or the baby die :-) haha...
2. Keep me out of pain :-)

He said he'd do his best! hehe!

That was about it! Easy checkup! The baby continues to move ALOT! Jeff actually sat and kept his hand on my belly while he rolled and moved for a couple of minutes tonight. Mack was VERY active (a leg or arm, i think... on my left side... i think he's turned over. Still head down but i think the back/appendages are switching sides from time to time... makes me hopeful he wont have torticollis since he seems to have room to move!?!). That was pretty cool b/c he usually feels him for a second, responds with "Gross" and wont touch my belly again :-) Again, GOOBER!

I'd like to take a poll. What name do you prefer? Mckinnon or Mack? I find myself unsure of what to call him. I tend to like "Mckinnon" for an adult b/c it feels like a grown up name and "Mack" or "baby Mack" for him while he's a baby. But i dont want him to never be called Mckinnon, either?!

What do you think? (if you made it to the end of my long post and will take time to give your 2 cents, thats awesome! thanks!) OH, unless you dont like either name, in which you can NOT leave your 2 cents. :-P

Can you tell from the tone of this post that I'm getting EXCITED to meet this baby?! Giddy!

Baby Shower #4: Family Shower

Hosted By: Mama and Mommie
Held At: Mommie's Home
When: Saturday, May 14th
Time: 2pm
In Attendance: Brooks Family Women, My Family ladies, Ronni and Dorothy

How very sweet of our family to throw a shower for baby Mack?! It was so great to see some of the family who live far away (in state, but not "close"). My Mom and Mommie worked so hard to put the shower together and did a GREAT job!

How cute is this cake?!
It says "Hello Mommy, Goodbye Tummy. Welcome, Mack!"

Shlaine and Marsha (w/o the flash so Shlaine wouldnt blink! haha)

Playing games! Baby Bingo with beans was a fun one!

And Oh, Lorddy... the "how much toilet paper does it take to go around Kelly's humongo belly" game! :-) (it took 11 squares and it was QUITE offensive that some chose 15-16! haha)

The winner! I always knew she was my favorite for a reason! lol

Cant wait to see Mckinnon in these cute outfits!

Jeff brought Rhyan when she got up from nap... she was LOVING the cake! (smart girl!)

We had a great time and got some great things to help get Ready for Mack!

Baby Shower #3: Church Shower

Hosted By: Oak Hill Ladies
Held At: Beverly Martin's Home (um, mansion)
When: Sunday, May 1st
Time: 1pm (or was it 12:30... it was pretty much right after church)
In Attendance: Oak Hill Ladies, Mommie and Mama

What a sweet, sweet blessing our church ladies are to me! I've known Beverly Martin (the whole Martin Family, actually) since I graduated high school. Thats been 12ish years, people! The Martins have always been a huge blessing to Jeff and I and this shower was no exception!

Unfortunately, i have NO pics of my own and had to copy these from my friend's facebook page, which was a super weird process now that the pics show up in a different format. So some are big and some are small. SORRY!

Jeff's Garden!

Farmer Jeff is at it again :-)

He planted Rye grass in the winter to fertilize the soil and then it just dies off when you plow up the ground. We'll see how well that works for the plants this year. My uncle, Bobby, is the one who Jeff takes his P's and Q's from in regards to gardening and this was one of his suggestions. Bobby has a FABULOUS (yummy and beautiful) garden each year so we trust him :-)

This year Jeff planted yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, okra and tomato's.
I dont know what this is :-) But whatever it is, its growing!

I think this is a tomato plant? I just know that we are OUT of the tomato's that I canned last season and w/o them we cant have veggie soup or chili! So i'm hoping we get a GOOD crop this year! I put up 16 quarts last year and plan to try for 25 this year.

Things are growing nicely! Of course, Jeff planted all of this and then BOOM, no rain. Luckily, our sprinkler system comes in quite handy for his garden :-)

Have any of you planted anything this year?!

Random Rhyan

I have some random pics of Rhyan that dont really fit a themed post, so I thought I'd just put them up to share :-) This 1st pic was taken the day after her 2nd bday party... she fell in a fire ant bed and got 16 bites! She cried for LESS than a minute. I got ONE bite while rescuing her which i worried over all night long :-) haha.

That night before bed. Dont they look painful? But they never seemed to bother her. I put cortisone cream on them right when it happened and she never once touched them!

Her favorite places to put her cup's of milk/water. I mean, of course they go in the OVEN?!

Or does it go better in the microwave? :-)

Wearing her very favorite p.j.'s ever... "minnie!"

Her best "smile"

And having a tea party with her pig on her favorite play spot: the stairs!

She's a doll! And we are soaking up every moment with her before baby Mack arrives. I'm wondering how his arrival will affect her disposition/attitude (at least while she transitions). But for now, I"m enjoying her cuddly, affectionate, SWEET self!

34/36 week checkup's

I'm having to combine into one post both of my appointments because I've just been too busy to post! Life has been so full of so many good things that have kept us on the go, go, go!

So, at my 34 week checkup, I had a pretty long appointment that I found to be pretty helpful. Stats first!
Weight gain total: 26lbs
My BP: ? Cant remember, but it was normal
Baby Heart Rate: 145
Fundal Height: 37cm (should be equal to the # of weeks preggo, so i'm measuring "big" by 3cm)
Estimated Baby Weight: 6lbs

I asked Dr Pohl at this appointment about the link to Rhyan's torticollis to my being made to wait to push for over an hour after reaching 10cm. I think I offended him :-(

Basically, this is what he said:
1. Whatever Dr ever suggested that this part of the labor could have caused Rhyan's torticollis didnt know what he was talking about (it was Rhyan's surgeon who suggested labor can be related to torticollis, not her pediatrician). Torticollis, according to Dr. Pohl, is caused largely by the positioning of the baby in the last trimester. It takes a couple of months for a muscle to form and it is in this time frame that the baby's head/neck is "stuck" in one position causing the muscle to form short (which is torticollis, or "twisted neck"). Makes total sense and I agree with Dr Pohl.

2. According to Dr P, Vaginal birth babies vs C-section babies experience similar occurrence rates of torticollis, therefore confirming that the labor process has very little if anything to do with it.

3. The reason I did not start pushing w/ Rhyan at 10 cm is because reaching 10cm is only part of the equation. The baby must also be in the correct "station" (far enough down in the pelvic bones) to come out before you push. The wait time between reaching 10cm and starting to push is called "laboring down". This is something that they allow so that it gives your uterus a chance to do the majority of the work for you, getting the baby into proper station before pushing, therefore allowing for the shortest pushing time (hopefully). I pushed with Rhyan for less than an hour which is considered very good for 1st time moms so I guess it was an effective method. Basically, you can let your uterus do the work for you or you can push a couple extra hours. Again, this makes total sense. I just wish someone would have said that while I was sitting there wanting to push (of course, i could have asked what the holdup was...).

4. "Laboring Down" doesnt happen the second go round so it is a non-issue. Babies come much faster (generally speaking) and Dr Pohl estimated that after I reach 10cm this go round, the baby will be born within about 20-30min. YAY! You know i'm hoping that estimate is accurate!

I'm a girl who likes information so while for a lot of women who are in labor hold to the idea that "less is more" in regards to info, I'm just the opposite. I like to know the "why" to each decision being made. This conversation with Dr Pohl was VERY helpful in reminding me that i have a very good dr who is always aware of his patients situations :-)

I felt, however, that I had made him feel like I thought he had done something to cause Rhyan's issue so at this past visit, I cleared it up by letting him know that I thought the nurses were not keeping him informed and that I know he's always taken good care of all of his patients (which is why all of us continue to refer friends!) including Me! So i feel better. (and yes, i'm aware that he probably hadnt thought another thing about it, but i'm hormonal and a girl and i worry!).

Ok, so that was week 34. At week 36 my stats:
Total Weight Gain: 27lbs
My BP: 85/55
Baby's Heart Rate: 145
Fundal Height: 39 (3 weeks "big)
Estimated Baby Weight: 7lbs
Cervical Changes: NONE! :-(

Dr Pohl was running behind so I didnt want to hold him up with any questions but I have a few I want to keep in mind for this coming Monday's appointment:

1. What kind of circumcision do you do? I've been told "plastibell" is the best and requires the least maintenance? I'm sure this is what he does b/c he's told us the only thing we'll have to do is keep vaseline on it to keep the diaper from sticking to it until it heals. No cleaning necessary. But I'd still like to check to see the technical term for what he does.

2. Do I need to Pre-Register at the hospital?

3. Can Rhyan come to the hospital? Who do I contact to get the rules?

4. IF I go into labor, what symptoms do I need to have in order to call him and go to the hospital? (I'll be more concerned w/ knowing this if I show cervical changes next visit, which I dont really anticipate... I think we'll be looking at a 39 week induction labor...)

So, the baby is growing and we're looking forward to meeting him! Although, Jeff has given me strict instructions that I cant have the baby before the end of his school year. HA! He clearly doesnt understand how uncomfortable the last few weeks of pregnancy are or he wouldnt DARE suggest that I stay pregnant one second longer than I have to be! MEN! :-)

I've got some posts to catch up on, so stay tuned! I'll try to get them done this week!

Mothers Day Weekend

I love being a Mom! I mean, sure, some days i want to pull my hair out....but I wouldnt trade it for the world. And having a day where I get to be a little spoiled makes me love motherhood even more :-). Plus, it gives me a chance to let my two Mom's and Mother in law know how much I appreciate all they do for us. Seriously, our Mom's are soooo good to us. Someone is always feeding us or watching Rhyan for us or doing something to make life a little easier. We're spoiled by our Moms so its a great time to let them know that all of their sweetness doesnt go unnoticed!

Saturday evening, Jeff and I treated Mommie and Mama to dinner. Their pick! So they chose longhorns. It was yummy. Rhyan wasnt in a very sweet mood which made me sad, but I guess she's just a moody girl who's entitled to not be nice sometimes just like we as adults do. But I still wish she would have been nicer. In her defense, she was/is teething (2 year molars are the DEVIL!) and had run a low grade fever all day. But overall, we enjoyed some yummmm food!





Then, Sunday morning I got up to find this sweet gift and card from Jeff! I dont really like to get flowers for special occasions b/c they're so expensive (especially on holidays!) and i'm cheap! hehe. So Jeff was brilliant in getting me this rose bush. I have one rosebush now that i ADORE and was so excited to get another one. Knockout roses are the BEST! The card was super sweet, too! He also made some cinnamon muffins which were delish!
That evening, we met up with his side of the family to celebrate. Last year, Jason and Liz invited all of us to the Kani House by the Mall of Ga and treated us to Japanese, hibachi style. That place is ridiculously good. So they invited us again this year, but Andy treated instead :-). All I know is that the food is insane (especially the pink sauce which i could basically take a bath in) so I'm just glad someone invited us! HA! It was really nice of Andy to treat us all, though. We had a great time and Rhyan did MUCH better this year than last. She was teething last year (does that EVER end?!) too and the fire scared her. So this year we asked for no big fire and she was much happier! Again, a little bit of a booger at dinner, but then I think some of that is just her age and the fact that she is testing every boundary we've ever given her. Sigh. But this too shall pass! Anyways, we had a fabulous time and it was nice to be taken out!



Rhyan is killing me with her "Smile" lately! HA! Like Shlaine says, its a good thing i'm a dental hygienist so I can make sure Rhyan's teeth always look good since EVERY tooth in her head shows when she smiles! hahah... but i love it!

So grateful for the Lord allowing me to be a mom to Rhyan and soon to Mack. And very grateful indeed for our Moms who give so much to make our lives so good. We love you, Moms!

Rhyan's New 'Do

My friend/patient/hairstylist is the BEST. Not that you'd know it by looking at my hair, but in all fairness, I dont give her much to work with and she does the best she can. Oh, and I dont fix it like she tells me to :-) But my own hair tragedies are not her fault! I'm cursed with thin/fine/wavy hair that only looks "thick" when I'm preggo. So my "good hair days" are coming to an end.
Anyhoo, Alex told me when I was seeing her for my appointment recently that I could bring Rhyan by sometime and she'd cut her hair for me (for free?! WOW!). Seeing as how i trust Alex completely, I couldnt think of anywhere I'd rather take her.
Rhyan, unfortunately, has inherited my hair. Poor kid. Here are some "before" shots of the stringy-ness:

As you can see, her hair is wavy, as well. Slightly un-manageable.
This was Rhyan's 2nd professional haircut. Her first was at "Snip-it's" in Snellville and was not a good experience. She cried. A lot. This time I was able to tell her what we were doing and that she'd sit in a big girl chair and that Mrs Alex was super sweet and was going to do her hair. MUCH BETTER experience :-) Age helps a ton!

So, Rhyan didnt really smile during the process, but she was VERY good! Alex, on the other hand, smiled the whole time! How sweet is she?!

And Voila! The trimmed up "do". Its hard to tell in these pics but Alex layered it up a little bit. Her bangs are wavy and Alex said I need to let them grow out b/c they're just a little crazy to be short. So we'll work on that. :-)

Alex put her hair in little pig tails which were adorable! But true to Rhyan fashion, they were out before I even got in the car! The girl will NOT leave hair clips in! :-(

STOP! DO NOT LOOK AT THE NEXT PIC UNTIL YOU READ THIS!!!: When Jeff got home that afternoon, Rhyan was napping. I told him all about the haircut and how cute it was and how it brought out her curls and how its still a little "crazy" but a cute crazy. I also told him how Alex did it free of charge and how great she is for doing that. He wanted to be the one to get her up from nap so he could see her first (fine by me) so he went in and apparently found her like this. His first comment: "yeah, i sure am glad you didnt pay for that haircut!" HA! Check it out!

She slept pretty hard, apparently! HA! So tonight we took a few pics after her bath. Its kind of hard to see all the little curls (her hair was still damp and i didnt turn on the overhead light) but you get the idea that it's much better than the "post nap" pic :-)

So anyways, I think its just a fact of life that little Rhyan is going to have some crazy hair. So i'm grateful for Alex who I know will take good care of her. And how spoiled is Rhyan to be getting her hair cut at Salon 124 at two years old?!