Carlie's 13th bday

On Carlie's actual birthday, August 8th, we had family come over to celebrate the big day. At her request, we had chinese food for dinner and a yummy ice cream cake for dessert. The next day, was her party with her friends (this year Carlie wanted family and friends on a different day). She wanted to go to the beach and have pizza and smores. We surprised Carlie and had the Vestal bus pick everyone up! She was stoked! Mark went to the beach earlier in the day to try and reserve some pits, but unfortunately, all the pits at the beach were taken, so we had to do the smores at home. But the kids all went in the water..CRAZY...and has pizza on the beach. They ended up back in the bus, just because it was super cool!

Josh's first day of 5th grade!

On July 23rd, Josh officially became a 5th grader. He has a male teacher this year, Mr. McNatt. We are looking forward to a great year.

Brooke's and Mommy's six week check up

On August 14th, Brooke and I had our six week check up. Brooke's was first. Poor baby had her shots...5 of them! She let out a silent scream and turned beat red. She never got a fever, thank goodness, and ended up sleeping most of the day. She weighed 11 lbs 4 oz and was 22 1/4 inches long. She was 90% in weight and 75% in height. My checkup went well also. Everything is back where it should be, except my belly of course. :-( The doctor said to start walking 3-4 miles a day, 3-4 times a week. Pfft! I think he forgot who he was talking to.

First NASCAR Sunday with daddy...

Brooke's first of many NASCAR sundays with daddy. She even has her own driver picked already. It is Kyle Bush. Daddy said it is the perfect driver for her because he drives the M&M car and it is very colorful for her to see!

Brooke's first trip to the beach

For Carlie's bday, I intended on getting a babysitter for Brooke since we were going to the beach, however, at the last minute, we decided to take her with us. After all, the beach is one of daddy's favorite places. It got really cold and quick, but luckily, we had the Baby Bjorn, so I kept her in it and she stayed nice and snuggly and warm.

Brooke's first REAL bath

Finally, Brooke got her real bath. Again, it took her a few times to get used to it, but now she loves it. She just realized that she can splash with her feet and gets excited when she does. She did pee in her bath once and we had to drain it and start over. Well, I should say, once that I know of. I also had the pleasure of getting pee'd on while waiting for daddy to finish getting the tub ready, but I am sure that was the first of many.

Mark's first diaper change!

Here is Mark's first diaper change. He was a little nervous at first....lucky for him, there is always grandmas, aunts or friends around that wanted to change her diaper. So, he got off lucky for a while...but not for long. However, now, he is an absolute PRO!

Brooke's first mini bath

Next we have Brooke's first mini-bath. I say mini because Auntie Stacie let us borrow a cute little bath tub to use while they still have their umbilical scab. It is very shallow, but its a lot better than a sponge bath. It took her a couple of times to get used to it.

Brooke's first walk!

Next we have Brookes first walk. She did so-so. She didn't quite make it as far as Lucy, so I had to turn around and take her back. But that's okay...she is just trying to get used to her new world.

Catching up!!

Okay, so sorry it's been a while, but I have had a little one attached to me 24/7 lately...not that I am complaining! :-)

So, here we go....
Here is Brooke's first doctors appointment. It was one week after she was born. She left the hospital weighing 7 lbs 9oz and one week later, at this appointment, she was back up to 7 lbs 13 oz. Only 2 oz shy of her birth weight.

Brooke has arrived - our birth story!

I can finally say that I am no longer pregnant! YAY! We went into the hospital on Thursday, July 3rd at 7:20 am. We got there, checked in and they showed us to our room. There was a cute little incubater in our room where Brooke would soon be lying. They started the dreaded Pitocin at 8:40am. I was pretty worried about this because it usually puts you into immediate hard labor, however, apparently, things have come a long way in the last 10 years. They were able to start it at a very low dosage to gradually get things going....key word....gradually. I began feeling some contractions, but not any worse than the ones I had been feeling at home for the last month. They tried to check to see if I had dialted more, but because of my "tilted uterus", they were unable to tell. So, about 9:15, they asked if I wanted the epidural. I felt wierd saying yes because I hadn't had any pain yet, but they recommended getting it before they broke my water, so of course, I said YES! The anesthesiologist was in my room by 9:30. She was a very funny, older lady from Boston. I had to roll over on my side and they had Mark face me to get my through the pain. She began getting to work. As she was doing her thing, she was telling me about the other aneshesiologist who is 7 feet tall, so this whole time, I am thinking that she is some kind of "prep" person and he will come in and insert the 10 inch needle I hear so much about. Meanwhile, she is administering the local anesthetic into my back. All of a sudden, I feel this liquid spray everywhere, turns out, some of the anesthetic squirted out of a loose cap or something and I only got some of it. Needless to say, everything else she did, hurt like no other. She said that "some patients" feel cracking, well, I felt it. "Some patients" feel burning and pulling...I felt that too. Unfortunately because she was all steril, she couldn't give me more of the local and just had to go for it, so I felt EVERYTHING and boy did it hurt. Poor Mark was holding my hand and probably felt just as much pain as I did because of the metal oxygen thing that was on my finger....it was digging into his finger with every squeeze. FINALLY, a few minutes later, she gets up and said she was all done. Now, I am expecting the 7 foot guy to come in and still do his thing, so naturally, I was 110% excited to find out I was all done. They were just simply telling me what the other anesthesiologist looked like...PHEW! They called my doctor to let him know that I was all ready for him to come and break my water. Dr. Clayton showed up around 10:30 and 5 minutes later, my water was broken. They were all anticipating that I would give birth around dinner time. By this time, my mom and dad had arrived at the hospital. JoAnn was on her way and was expecting to be there around 1ish. April and Lisa were coming on their lunch...around noonish. We were holding off on sending for the kids until we knew we were closer. So we just sat and relaxed a little. Mark grubbed on the Carls Jr. that my parents brought him while I grubbed on my delicious breakfast and lunch....popsicles. YUM! The contractions started getting closer and stronger, but I couldn't really feel a thing. The nursed kepts saying..give it a little longer and we will see if we can check you for progress. Finally, around 12:30 we decided to send my dad out to get the kids from Junior Lifeguards. So Mark walked my dad out so he can give him the beach pass. Right around when they left, the nurses came in to check me and I couldn't believe it, but I was dilated to 10 already. I text messaged April and told her to hurry because I was at 10 already. The nursed waited for Mark to get back so they could call over Dr. Clayton so I could start pushing. Mark arrived on the 5th floor and they were telling him to hurry up and get in the room because it was time to push. He was as shoked as I was. April and Lisa finally showed up and hung out in the room for a few minutes. I was able to feel the urge to push with every contraction, but it still didn't hurt...just alot of pressure. Finally, around 12:55, Dr. Clayton showed up and kicked everyone out, except Mark. They got him all ready and I gave my first big push at 1:00pm. He was immediately able to see the head and commented on her hair. The next contraction/push, they head was out. He then commented on her big cheeks...after her mom of course. Finally, the next push at 1:10pm, she was out. Everything was perfect...10 fingers, 10 toes - 7lbs, 15oz and 20 1/2 inches long! ...and even better yet, there was litterally NO PAIN! I couldn't believe it! I was able to hold her pretty quickly and then they took her over to her bed to clean her up. It was one of the best moments ever. Mark, me and Brooke spent about an hour alone in the room getting to know each other. It was a very special hour for us. She was beautiful! Finally, everyone else came in and got to meet Brooke for the first time. By this time, JoAnn and Stacie arrived at the hospital. My dad was also back with the kids. We stayed in the room for a while then they moved us up to the 7th floor where the mother and baby unit was. This is were we spent the next two days. We had lots of vistors, so we were all pretty tired by the next day. On day 2, we had only a few vistors, grandma and grandpa Alvarez, April and Camryn and big brother and sister, carlie and Josh. Our room over looked all of Newport and costa mesa, so the second night, fourth of july, Mark and I were able to sit on our bed and watch the most beautiful display of fireworks. We were able to see about 10 or so different firework shows all going off at once. All while our beautiful little girl layed beside us.

Can we say.....STUBBORN!

Yes, I am blogging today. Yes, I am still pregnant. Yes, I seriously thought Brooke would be here by now. Yes, I was VERY wrong!

I had my doctors appointment today and the doctor was as surprised as I was to see me there in his office. He was pretty sure she would be here by now. As a recap, on June 3rd, I was dilated to 2cm. On June 10th, I was dilated to 3cm. On June 18th and 23rd, I was STILL dilated to 3cm. However, today...I am at about 4cm. ***please note*** if I were to be in the hospital, 4cm is the minimum of when they will allow the epidural. :-) So, this is actually a good thing in disguise. Anywho...no more waiting around for little miss Brooke...we have decided to get induced on Thursday morning. We have an appointment at 7am. We have to start calling in at 5am to make sure that other women haven't flooded the maternity ward. We could end up going in at noon, but either way...I will NOT be pregnant by this weekend and we will finally be able to meet our little love. :-) I will do my best to push her out before the 4th of July. Not that it will be a bad thing, but it would be nice to not have her bday on a holiday.

False alarm!

So, Friday night was a great "progression" night. I started getting contractions around 9:30pm. They were coming every 10-15 minutes. By about 10:30pm, they were getting a little stronger and I was really feeling it in my back. I had been sitting in the recliner the whole time, so I figured I would change positions and try to lye down. Well, they kept coming and they weren't getting any easier. I waited another hour or so. Around 12:15ish, I decided to take a shower. I figured, either the warm water would relax me and the "false labor" contractions would stop, or I would be nice and clean for birth. I took a nice warm shower and had one more contraction in the shower. I got out and told Mark to start writing these down. 10 - 15 minutes apart wasn't close enough for me to call the doctor or even consider going to the hospital. So, I figured I would lye down and try and get some rest. Afterall, if this was real labor, then the pain would eventually wake me up. Next thing I knew, I woke up around 3am and nothing...nada....ZIP. No contractions...they stopped! BOOOOOOOO All this better had dilated me or something!

Junior Lifeguards

The kids started Junior Lifeguards today. They got picked up at 8:15 this morning and got dropped back off around 3:45. What a long day! You would think they would be tired after all that, but not our kids. They wanted to go outside and play afterwards. Josh remains in the C group, which is all the kids his age and the group he was in last year. Carlie had a choice of remaning in the B group, which she was in last year, or moving up to the A group, which are all the Junior Lifeguard Aids. She chose to move up and said it is a LOT harder, but worth it. They do a lot more running than she ever did in the B group. Carlie got to go body boarding today too and said the waves were super big. I am hoping I can make it out there to watch them soon, but that all depends on little Miss Brooke.

Okay...so maybe it will be the 28th!

We went to our 39 week and 3 day doctor visit today. I was hoping for at LEAST another centimeter dilated. Well, no such luck. We are still at 3 centimeters dilated, 80% efaced and Brooke is at the -1 station. BOOOOOO!!! The doctor did scratch my membranes, which pretty much meant "tried to losen the plug" a bit. He said that will sometimes push a woman into labor within 24 hours. However, here I sit, at our computer desk almost 7 hours later and I seem to have less contractions than before he did that. He did say that at our next appointment he will be more agressive...whatever that means! I really hope I don't make it til my next appointment, but I suppose that is up to Brooke and my uterus. I keep telling myself, the more time she takes to come out, the more time I have off work, so that is a plus.

Let the walking begin!

I have tried to keep busy while I am off and have neglected to do my walking. So, today Josh and I took a nice walk with Lucy to the lake. We gathered up old bread and took that with us to feed the ducks. I probably had about 3 good contractions along the way, but that is a good thing. It was very very very hot outside, but very very pretty. :-) Lucy tried to eat the ducks, but luckily I had a death grip on her leash and she didn't get very far.

38 week 5 day appointment

We went to the doctor today (I was secretly hoping we wouldn't have made it this far). Anyways, I am 3CM dilated, 80% effaced and Brooke has dropped to the -1 station. WOO HOO! All these contractions are actually doing some good. We contemplated getting induced this weekend, however, we are making progress and the doctor said to come in on Monday and he will strip my membranes. OUCH! That basically means he is going to pull the plug that is keeping Brooke in. Once he does that, things should really get going. If I can go into labor on my own, it will be much less painful than getting induced, so we will keep our fingers crossed.

JOSH = Lively Imagination

This past Monday, Josh received a surprise award from the principal and his teacher. I was very excited I was able to go and see him receive it. (the joy's of being off work). Anyways, Josh received the award for Lively Imagination. I think it is pretty fitting for Josh. :-) WAY TO GO BUD!

Dad's Vanagon is all grown up!!!!

Today my mom and dad drove up to the Pismo Beach area to get some plastic surgery done on the vanagon. This van has become apart of the family considering it has been around for 18 years. I was in high school when my dad bought this! Anyways, being the Virgo that my dad is, he has taken very good care of his 3rd baby and now makes occasional trips all the way up north to get special parts for it. Today the van received new legs (new tires). They will camp in it tonight and then return home tomorrow. Here is a pic of Dad's pride and joy.

Car Seat Check - DONE!

Today I had an appointment with the Irvine Police Department to check out our car seat and make sure it was safe and that we installed it correctly. I was a little hesitant to go thinking I pretty much knew what I was doing. However, since it's been 10 years since I have had to deal with a car seat, I figured it wouldn't hurt. I arrived at noon and actually didn't leave until 12:40. I am pleased to say that Mark installed the car seat correctly, with the exception of tightening it up a little bit more. The police officers were SO informative and told me some tips on how to make the car seat safer...things I would have never even thought of! They even moved the van seats around for me. I must admit that I am VERY happy I went and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone expecting a new born....even if this isn't your first. With the way technology and cars are changing, you will be surprised on all the new rules.

....another eventful weekend!

As most of you know, I was unable to go to my work outing in Palm Springs....doctor said it was too close. Besides, I don't know that I really had a desire to squeeze my puffy body into a bathing suit and sit in 105 degree weather. Carlie did end up going to Palm Springs and enjoyed herself with some friends. I decided to steam clean the stairs and the up stairs. It feels so good to have the carpets clean (well, as clean as "rental" carpet can get). Mark and I also hit up Baby's R Us for some last minute things and I went to target for some nursing items. Our bags are pretty much packed. :-) We also put the car seat in the van to see if we could do it. It took a while, but I think we got it. I am just going to leave it in there until Wednesday. That is when I have my appointment at the Irvine Police Department. They have a free service where you can take your car seat in and they will make sure you installed it correctly. These things have changed so much these last 10 years, so I am glad they offer this. They say 9 out of 10 parents put the car seat in wrong....SCARY!!! Other than that, this is my last week of work (woo hoo) and then I will be at home, probably blogging every day out of pure boredom. I will be blogging in between naps and Oprah of cours. :-)

June 28th??? YAH RIGHT!!!

Mark and I had our doctors visit today. We are at 36 weeks and 4 days preggo. Well, come to find out, I am already about 2 centimeters dialated and her head is ALL THE WAY DOWN. No WONDER why I have been peeing every 20 minutes. My blood pressure has gone up just a tad...nothing to worry about. Also, my ankles are so swollen now, when you push on them, they stay dented for a bit. Josh seemed to think it was pretty cool....me....not so much. I guess I can laugh at the temporary situation, but it's kinda creepy. The doctor also said a huge NO to us going to Palm Springs this weekend. I am sad because I really wanted the kids to go and have a good time. There is always our pool, obviously not the same though. We have another doctors appointment next Tuesday...we'll see if we make it that long.

CRIB IS UP!

I swear..this is the final post about our busy weekend...promise!

Mark got to work this weekend, in between all the other chaos going on, and managed to put together Brooke's crib. It matches our furniture PERFECTLY! I also washed all her clothes, bedding, blankets, burb cloths and washcloths. Her "corner" is somewhat put together. We are waiting for the changing table to be delivered and then I can finish putting stuff away and she will be all set! To Mark's joy and despite what he has been told, the crib was pretty easy to set up. With everything coming together, it is beggining to seem all too real that Brooke will be gracing us with her presence in four weeks or less! I, personally, am shooting for 2 weeks. All this moving around and buying and setting up new things, only to move in a few months or so. The house hunt is a whole other blog, but I won't bore you with that right now...

How do people survive....

....without DVR or TIVO? In the midst of our very busy weekend, we also upgraded our DVR/Cable box to a HD DVR/CABLE box. We decided to keep the old box for upstairs. Now, we can record 4 shows at once instead of 2. Unfortunately, all the shows just had their finales, so we probably won't put both of them into good use until the fall....but hey...we are SO ready!

Welcome to 2008!

So Mark and I finally caught with the times and purchased a new TV this past weekend. It is a Samsung 50inch HD plasma 720. Now I know it isn't a 1080 Blue Ray blah blah blah, but this was a pretty huge step for us in the technology world. The guy at Best Buy TRIED to sell us on Blue Ray (even though he doesn't work on commissions) and TRIED to tell us that Blue Ray is all that will be available in a couple years, but whatever...we'll take our chances. We also bought a cool TV stand and surround sound with wireless speakers! Oh, and I can't forget about my new vaccuum. It's bagless, with a hepa filter and some kind of super duper dog hair picker upper thingy. We also steamed cleaned our carpets, re-arranged the furniture and then used our new vaccuum. After cleaning out the steam cleaner bin and seeing the filter on the vaccuum, you would think Lucy lost a whole dog's worth of hair. GROSS! Some say this was my nesting weekend, but considering I have a lot more to clean and do, I am hoping that wasn't the only spurt of energy I will be getting before Brooke makes her debut!

Josh's last game

Last night Josh had his last baseball game. They played the Phillie's. The game started out great...we scored 4 in the first inning, they scored 1. In the second, we scored 4 again, they scored 1. However, by the end of the 4th inning, the game was tied 9-9. Thankfully in the 5th inning, we got enought runs in to clinch the win. Final Score 15-10. Afterwards, we all celebrated with pizza, brownies, salad and cake. Josh received the award for Most Improved Catcher. He was very exctied. Next stop....Junior Lifeguards.

LUCY = Mark's guinea pig

So Mark decided to make his first attempt at a diaper. One would think he would use a doll, but no...not Mark. Poor Lucy was caught in the line of fire. When Mark called her over, I am sure she thought it was for something fun like a walk or a treat, little did she know what she was in for. So, being the good dog that she is, Mark laid her on her back and she just sat there wondering what in the world he was doing. He proceeded to put the diaper on her, and correctly I might add. Of course we got a picture before she squirmed her way out of it....

34 weeks 4 days

We had another Dr. appointment today and the doctor is guessing Brooke weighs about 5lbs. Her head is still down...good girl! Nothing major going on....just the typical swelling of the ankles (not quite cankles). I am also still getting Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the day, but the doctor said it's nothing to be concerned about. He even said that if I wanted, I can be induced 7 days before my due date. However, I know how hard Pitocin kicks in, so I think I'll pass and let her just come when she's ready. Since this very well may be my last child, maybe something cool will happen, like my water will break at work or in the grocery store!!! Either way, we plan to be ready for the newest addition! I'll be sure to post pics after we get everything set up this weekend!

Third Baby Shower!!!

This past Saturday we had our third baby shower. April, Nicky, Courtney, Stacie and JoAnn all helped out with the planning. It was held at Papa Ken and Grandma JoAnn's house. We had yummy sandwiches, pasta salad, champagne, cake and home made ice cream. We got so many nice gifts....Brooke is set! We (Mark) will be putting the crib up this weekend. I am going to start washing blankets, bedding and her clothes. We are also going to re-arrange our living room to make some space for the swing and pack N play. I know what you are thinking.....and NO, I am not nesting. :-) That will probably happen in the next few weeks.

Lucy is SO cute!

Last night we called up Lucy into our bed to watch some TV before putting her in her own bed. She must have been VERY comfortable last night because of the way she was laying. I ususally don't take pictures of her becasue she HATES pictures...to the point where she will run away from you with her tail tucked between her legs (kind of like what I do right now). However, last night, I couldn't refrain...just too cute! ...and yes...she took off right after the picture and I even used my phone! Here is the pic!

Moss Adams Baby Shower

Today my work threw me a surprise baby shower! How cool is that! April and Lisa, with the help of my boss, Linda, planned the whole thing. LOVE THEM! It was actually a double shower with me and a co-worker...she is three weeks ahead of me. We got to open presents together and eat yummy cake. We got a TON of cute clothes, robe and slippers, first aid kit, pacifiers, infant medicine, diaper stacker, mobile, pack n play and Mark got his race car walker....that he registered for. Now Brooke can wear her race car jacket, sit in her race car walker and watch the race wtih daddy on Sundays. Also, a very sweet lady at work, Olivia, knitted a beautiful afghan for Brooke. I know that is something Brooke will be able to cherish forever! Here are some pics...

Brooke's in the "ready" position!

We had our 32 week check-up today. All is going right on schedule. :-) Brooke is the right size and I have gained 27lbs. UGH! Our doctor said that is right where I should be, but it still seems like alot. Oh well, this is the only time I will be able to not completely freak out about gaining that much weight. Dr. Clayton was able to feel that Brooke's head is down. What a good girl...she is already cooperating! :-) Let's just hope she stays this way.

Wedding Video!!!

WE'RE FAMOUS!

Well, not really, but a few seconds of our wedding video made it on our videographers website. Check it out!

http://www.thevideoman.com/viewvideo.shtml

Go to the bottom of the page and click on the Balboa Pier video!!!

....one of the best days EVER!

Carlie's Water Polo!!

About a month ago...Carlie started playing on the Kahuna Club Water Polo team in Irvine. It looks like the hardest sport around. She practices on Tuesday and Thursday nights for two hours a night. The whole practice is in 15 feet deep water, so basically, they are treading water the whole practice. The first practice I went to, Carlie was barely able to keep her head out of the water, however, I went to practice last night and she had her head out of the water the whole time and they were scrimagging against each other. they will eventually have scrimmages against other cities, but it's just pracices for now. I only had my phone last night, so the pictures aren't the best. Carlie was one of the only ones wearing a purple swim cap...