The Quattlebaum Family

Happy Ten Month Birthday, Little Graham!

2010-10-21T11:50:00.000-05:00

Ok... Ok... so yes, he is now 10 months 3 weeks, so this post is way overdue but we have a good reason.. HE IS WALKING EVERYWHERE!!! (So any free moments we have are spent reserving every bit of energy we have.)

His first trip to the ZOO & on a Train!

But, I was good at keeping a running list of g's changes during his 9th month of life! Here they are:

Graham has moved on from the "lobster claw" of refined hand-eye coordination to, what I like to affectionately call, "shovel-method". He just uses the majority of his hand and will shovel in everything and anything he can get his hands on (even if it's not food).
He puts two words together to follow instructions... i.e. Brush Cooper (the dog), Brush Hair, Brush Teeth (so... mainly just brush instructions).
Graham really gets words meanings now... it's amazing the non-verbal vocabulary he has!
When g is really, really excited he flails his arms up and down... much crazier than ever before. Once again, I love that this is his way of expressing his over-excitement and happiness.
Graham actually communicates via pointing with his index finger at everything! If he wants something, he points... if he's showing us something, he points, if he wants to go somewhere... he points! It's great.
What a social butterfly we have on our hands... I actually wish he was a little less social. He'll go up to everyone and give them a kiss. This is actually really fun to watch how awkward this makes most adults. So yes... Graham is giving the best open mouth kisses, upon request, that any baby has ever given!!
We took a little hiatus from waving... he used to do the "queens wave" which I read was much more complex and required higher hand-eye coordination than just a regular wave... but then one day he just stopped waving! This month he picked it up again but it's the usual baby wave and not the queens wave any more. The unique thing is that he has a separate wave for Hello (up and down) and another one for Bye-Bye (side-to-side).
He is pretty much eating what we eat, with a few exclusions. His favorite foods are: Peas, Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob and Bananas. But he has been exploring interesting flavors such as Kiwi, Mango, Pear, Peaches, Grapes, Green Beans, Squash, Zucchini, Broccoli.
His favorite game is Peek-a-boo. He is really good at it too... he uses both hands to hold up the blanket (he's been doing this game for a while but he really enjoys it right now).
He's learned to kick in the bath tub and stomp... clearly a difference! haha...
Little Graham has the best facial expressions and it's actually where some people see that he looks a little like me. We spend so much time together, he has the same eye brow raise and he can even move his ears like me!
He mimics our movements such as head-shake and voice changes too!
Wow -- our little guy also likes to throw fits... so I just let him... he can throw a fit on the floor and get over it and then rejoin me in the other room!
And finally... our sweet little guy started biting us (mainly me) on the shoulder! (He's actually stopped since this post but more about this in the next blog post).

His schedule has said the same since last month...

At Graham's Promotion to Senior Corporal!

Look forward to writing his 11 month blog in a few weeks (I can't believe it).

Dad's Randomness

2010-09-21T21:49:00.000-05:00

So this post is ridiculously over due and I am sorry for the delay! Normally I try to be funny during these posts but this one is gonna be borderline serious.
Being a parent is exhilarating but exhausting! I remember people constantly telling me before Graham was born that as soon as I saw him, a switch would click inside of me and I would never be the same. Little did I know how powerful and life changing the little guy would be. I just put him to bed for the night and I already miss him! He slipped in the bath(because for some reason he HAS to stand up in the tub) and he busted his lip and I wanted nothing more than to take that pain from him. I feel truly blessed to have him, Sara, and our families in my life. He is growing up around such wonderful people and I just wanted y'all to know I appreciate you all.

Sara is such a wonderful mother. She has a way with Graham and you can see that he just melts in her arms. She is so patient and loving. She even shares with him(which is a major feat). He is so lucky to her as a mom. I still feel so lucky that she chose me to be her husband and the father of her child. Thank you Sara for being so wonderful to both of your boys. We both love you so
much.

Family...no words can describe how much we appreciate y'all. I am actually overloaded right now with everything I want to say...so its gonna come out all lumped together. Thank y'all for being excellent role models, amazing grandparents, our best friends, and most of all great examples for Graham. I could type a novel about how much Sara,Graham, and I love each one of you. I am so excited for the years to come and how much he will learn from each of you.

So I guess it finally happened. Sara and I finally grew up(well...I kinda did!). No more hangovers that last all day. No more staying out till 4 am, stopping at waffle house on our way home, and hanging w/ some cross dressers. No more Jagermeister and red bull shots or Irish car bombs. No more puking out the car window because of all the bumps on the way home(Sara!!). No more naked Stan phenomenon (don't ask) or late night secret missions with Shannon in the new neighborhood. No more convincing Steven to noodle in the stump below my parents dock... And you know what...I am 154% fine with that. I had a blast and I survived with the help of all of y'all. I love the direction of our lives and just being with my little family.
Love
G

Happy Nine Month Birthday, Little Graham!

2010-09-13T11:27:00.000-05:00

Wow... we've gotten really bad about writing ON the day-of his birthday. This month was stalled because we had his wellness check-up the week after and I like including his weight/height change... but I've made a list throughout this month so we don't forget anything (last month's post was horrible because we didn't keep track of his progress). Without further adieu...

He weighs 21lbs (50th percentile) and is 29 inches long (75th percentile). He is now long and lean, just like his Grandpa and Uncle Matt!
He can clap without us showing him how -- we can just say "clap Graham"!
He will also clap if you sing "If you're happy and you know it..." {Thanks Grammy}
Dance - he will start shaking it if we sing "Bad To The Bone" {Thanks Nana}
Graham can now say, "Mama", "BaBa" (although we don't use this term), and "Do-Do" (Dog)
Biting - he loves to bite everything... people and his crib are his favorites (he's made a little bite ring around his beautiful crib with teeth marks)
One of his favorite pastimes is reading and he loves to turn the pages! He is so serious while reading and his favorites are the touch-and-feel books {Thanks Aunt Cheri}
He can pull himself up without touching anything! This is amazing to watch and such a huge accomplishment.
Graham can pick things up with his index finger and thumb... food, small particles... whatever it is it always ends up in his mouth.
He can climb over and on to anything... it's amazing how clingy his little hands and feet are. He loves to climb over blankets, into baskets/boxes and on to the fireplace (where he likes to play with the chainmail).
We are truly amazed at how many words g knows. We've counted over 20 words... this is a fun game at night to "find" all of the objects we ask him about (some of his favorites are fan, outside, bath, hungry, cup... etc).
One of our favorite games to play together is we'll grab an old blanket my mom gave us and toss it over our heads to make a tent (while holding our hands up to form "walls"). He loves this SO much that when we get hot and take the blanket off, little g get's upset!
He loves crawling in to the other room and sitting there until we say "Where's Graham?" Then he peeks his little head around the corner with a huge smile!
Graham loves to look at pictures... in the scrapbook I'm making or in frames. His favorite is the sonogram picture we have on the fireplace that says "Love At First Sight".
We bought his Halloween Costume last month - we're going as the three bears! He loved it so much that it's the first item he wouldn't give to the sales associate to scan. He can also open his closet and pull it down from the hanger. It's become a permanent fixture in his room (it's going to look so tattered by Halloween).
He switched his favorite toy from his puppy to his white bear (we call "Dottie" because it's made with the white fabric that's super soft and has dots all over it).
BIG NEWS: He's now no longer in his baby Britax seat... he's graduated to a bigger carseat that he'll grow with!
Oh... and little g's bump on his forehead has disappeared! Apparently it was actually a water cyst and we could have been massaging it this whole time to get it to go away. Who knew (the doctors that told us from birth and we didn't believe them)?!
And... our FAVORITE accomplishment this month (although they're all pretty great, huh?!)... he can KISS us now... and we melt every time.

Little g's schedule is about the same as it was last month:
3:00am - Nurse
7:30am - Wakeup, Nurse, Play, Breakfast, Play
10:00am - Nurse, Nap
12:00pm - Wakeup, Nurse, Play, Lunch, Play (Errands run, if any)
3:00pm - Nurse, Nap
5:00pm - Wakeup, Nurse, Play, Dinner, Play
8:00pm - Rice Cereal, Bath, Dry-off time with Big G, Goodnight to everything
8:30pm - Nurse, Goodnight

Wow... I can't believe we'll have a one year old soon... time does go by pretty quickly, luckily we're enjoying every second of being g's parents!

Big G's edition numero uno

2010-08-19T12:23:00.000-05:00

My first bout with Aunt Sybil!!!

So it has been quite some time since I have written a blog but the little g (a.k.a wild man/crazy boy). He has been keeping me super busy and worn out at times!!! I can not believe it has been 8 months (8 3/4's months really) already.... since we missed out on last month here are new things he can do for the month of seven. I always heard that time will fly by but never believed it until now. We were pregnant, I blinked and slept once and he is now a big boy. Here are some of his accomplishments so far

1) "da da"...absolutely melts my heart. He'll just be laying in his crib or playing with a random toy saying da da over and over and over...I love it. The hardest thing though is when we lay him down for a nap and he cries and says it...so hard not to go grab him!

2) Climbing the stairs...I guess the 1st place he started doing this was at Uncle Matt's and Aunt Cheri's house. He is really great at it but we have to crawl up behind him because he tries to sit down sometimes and doesn't realize how far he will actually fall down them. We have a gate at the top and the bottom of our stairs to keep him from going up them too far without our help but of course he likes to grab a hold of the gate...stand up..shake the gate..and SCREAM!!!

{{{BLOG CHANGE TO MOMMY}}....

3) Speaking of screaming... our little guy likes to be heard. He is the most talkative and yelling baby I've ever met (I love it when people call him "vivacious"). He is absolutely the loudest in our playgroup!

4) He helps us with the bath. He will crawl in there and grab on and stand up while we are starting the bath process. Once again, he we yell as to say "hurry, hurry, start the water" or "can you make it go faster". He loves bathtime.

5) We bought him a cheap, plastic swimming pool for under our pergola... he loves the water. {AND it wears him out}.

6) He has a passion for learning about how things work and cause and effect... it's SO neat. He almost wants to take things a part to see how they work. I'm like most mothers and think he's a genius.

7) He prefers to play with older kids than babies his own age.

8) Little g is such a happy baby. I think this is because we don't pressure him to "learn" right now, we're simply enjoying him being a baby; we never have the t.v. on; we're always crawling around and playing with him. We build forts and tunnels and he loves it. Sometimes he enjoys quiet time and we let him play by himself but overall we know how precious this time is. We're always on the ground with him... we love having an excuse to be little again. Plus, it gives us time to talk and play together too! He loves it when we say "I'm gonna get you...." and then chase after him... then he'll do it right back. He's learning from playing with us and he has the rest of his life to learn something. I think this should be 101 Parenting... PLAY WITH YOUR CHILDREN AND TURN OFF THE TV.

We don't know his weight as this is the only month our little guy get's "off the hook" for our alternative-vaccines. We'll post soon though. He's getting longer and skinner as the days go by... less like an oompa loompa.

His schedule is now, and has been:

4:00am - Nurse then back to sleep.
7:30am - Wakeup, Nurse, Play in Bed
8:00am - Make Breakfast while he plays in the living room - then eat outside on our NEW pergola
8:45am - Play in living room or upstairs play room
9:45am - Nap Routine: Change diaper, close window, nurse
10:00am - Nap
12:00pm - Nurse, then he'll play as I get lunch ready
12:30pm - Lunch
1:00pm - Play around the house until afternoon nap
3:00pm - Nurse then Nap
5:00pm - Wake up and play with Daddy (he get's home about 3:30pm)
6:30pm - Dinner then play
8:00pm - Bedtime Routine: Rice cereal, help with bath, play in guest room as we get dried off {a.k.a "dangerous-no-diaper-time"}, say goodnight around the house to random objects and things, diaper, kisses, nurse, bed.
8:30pm - Asleep

So, now you only have to wait a week or so for how much he's changed this past month and his weight and height... we can't wait!

Happy Seven Month Birthday, Little Graham!

2010-07-07T15:29:00.000-05:00

I know I say this every single month... but c'mon, SEVEN months already?! Doesn't it seem like just yesterday you were reading our birth story or even following along with out pregnancy?

He has been doing so great this month. Here is the newest exciting things little g can accomplish:

He is CRAWLING everywhere!!! He will even follow us from room to room -- this is the most excitement we've had in a while. We are so proud little g.
He can now pull himself up. I had no idea this happened right after crawling, otherwise we would have stalled the crawling. It's scary sometimes but he's tough and doesn't even cry when he falls.
Because he can pull himself up… we had to move his crib down to the lowest level (sound of my heart breaking). I can’t believe he is growing up so quick.
Sitting up from crawling or tummy time is NO problem now.
He had his first bath alone and in a big bath tub… this was at the beginning of this month and he has been doing great all month long.

His first bath!!!

"Happy As A Clam" - as my Dad "Grandpa" says.
He can squeal louder than ever and does this to get people’s attention
Once he has someone’s attention he can now WAVE! It’s a one hand up in the air type of way (more like he’s saying “HOW” like an Indian).
He is feeding himself now… he loves the fruit stars and the veggie sticks. We also love to give him long pieces of celery and he chomps forever.
His two front teeth are now actually visible when he smiles.
We went on his first big trip to California (more on that later). He rode on a airplane for the first time.

Helping us pack for our trip...
He is effectively switching things from hand to hand and is a pro about picking things up with one hand.
Graham is learning to combine toys to make louder noises. He loves to bang his remote on other toys… he will bang on the piano, then on the pin ball machine, then crawl to the ball and bang it on that… this is so FUN! Sometimes he bangs himself in the head (only about 50% of the time does he cry though!).
Graham knows his name now and will answer to it!! This is especially helpful with crawling while he's getting in to something.
We are just amazed at how he can already communicate with us. He can lean when he wants us to go some where and hold out his hand if he wants to touch something. He body language is coming in loud and clear as well... we love that he's starting to 'talk' to us.
And finally, he weighs 20 pounds and is 29 inches long. He's absolutely the size of a one-year-old!

His schedule is a little messed up from California but from what I can remember before we went it was a little something like this:

5:00 or 6:00am - Eat and then back to sleep
7:30 or 8:00am - Wake up, Eat, Play in our big bed
8:30am - Eat in high chair while Mommy eats breakfast
9:00am - Playtime
9:30am - Morning Nap
10:30am - Eat and Play
12:00pm - Eat in high chair while Mommy eats lunch
12:30pm - Early-Afternoon Nap
1:30pm - Eat and Play
4:00pm - Late-Afternoon Nap
5:00pm - Eat and Play
8:00pm - Bedtime Ritual

**Little g still likes taking 3 naps... it has been helpful to keep him awake for a long period in the evening before bed... this helps all of us get some rest!

What does the seventh month have in store for us?!

Dogs "helping" with first bath...

A First: Teeth!

2010-06-20T12:44:00.000-05:00

While on the below mentioned vacation... we noticed little g was cutting a tooth! We actually noticed on Wednesday, June 9th while we were at the Mid-America Science Museum. He was playing with some leaves outside and while we were shopping in the gift shop waiting for the rest of our party, big G noticed little g was chewing on something. We thought it was a leaf but upon further research... we noticed he had a big white area on his lower gum. The rest of the days he was a little fussier than usual and the next day, Thursday, it broke through.

The whole time I thought that it felt a little long to be just one tooth and I was right... he was actually cutting TWO front teeth at the same time... what a challenge.

So, fast forward to today and he's doing great. I think they have completely broken through and now they are just pushing the rest of the way up. It's so cute to see little buds of teeth when he smiles.

Stay tuned for our trip to CALIFORNIA in 10 days... little g's first flight and his first time seeing fireworks... we are so excited!

A First: Vacation!

2010-06-20T10:24:00.000-05:00

Little Graham had so much fun on his very first vacation! We took a drive up to our summer timeshare in Hot Springs with all of G's family.

We left on Monday, June 7th at 4:15am. Since we are new parents we tried to think of ways that would maximize our time in the car while g slept. He always wakes up to eat at this time anyways, so we loaded up the car and then he woke up right on schedule to eat. Instead of laying him back down in his crib we put him in his carseat and drove off in to the sunrise!

He woke up about 7am, as normal, and wanted to get out and play. We stopped for a little while at a rest stop and let him stretch and move around. We loaded back in the car 30 minutes later and g took another nap until we found a Cracker Barrel in Texarkana. Little g enjoyed a little of our buttered biscuit and blueberry pancakes!

After having an awesome breakfast we hit the road again and made it to Hot Springs by noon. We were exhausted but so happy to be on vacation. Little g did great on the way there...

The rest of the week was full of lots of sun... little g doesn't like his life jacket. We took him out on the tube for the first time and I was a little apprehensive about it. Graham told me that it would be ok and we wouldn't fall off because Pop's would go so slow. We fell off... UGH... little g was a trooper though and was only shocked at the instant water but was fine!

First time on the boat!

We also spent some time in the pool and took a break from the sun by touring downtown Hot Springs, visiting an aquarium, and taking a short trip to the Mid-America Science Museum. The aquarium was a waste... we would have been the same off if we would have went to a pet store and looked at the fish. But, they did have an awesome large, friendly turtle and little g loved looking at the bubbles in the fish tanks. They also had a 'Dori' fish that was shy and a baby alligator! The Science Museum was SO fun... little g loved to touch and explore everything. He really loved the hot air balloon since that's what his mobile is at home! We had a great time and will do the science museum every year.

We decided to stay an extra day and we left on Friday night after bath time. Instead of laying him down for the night we packed everything up and he fell asleep in his car seat about 8:30pm. We arrived home about 2am (he slept the entire way) and tried to quietly transfer little g from his car seat to nursing to crib but he was AMAZED that our house was still here... I guess he thought that it had disappeared or something. He was so excited to be home and wanted to touch and explore everything. Luckily this only lasted for about 30 minutes and we were all able to get some needed rest.

We had such a great trip and we already are looking forward to how different things will be next year.

Happy Half Birthday Little Graham!

2010-06-04T14:28:00.000-05:00

Wow... about sums it up this month. I can't believe how much little g has accomplished and done this month. It's tough being a baby when you're five months... here are little g's latest achievements!

He's learned to LICK... everything, you, me, the carpet, the dogs (ugh), everything!
He can hold his sippy cup and bottle.
He can bounce and this gives mommy some great summer arms!
He can gesture towards us when he wants to be picked up and he leans up when we're picking him up from laying down.
He throws a fit if you take something away from him
He can slap both of his knees now when he's excited or laughing
He loves to blow raspberries on us, mainly our face but also our shoulders.
He still loves tummy time and rolls around to get places (as well as still pivoting)
Little g loves to do 'plank' and can get up on his hands and knees but isn't quite moving his hands yet. The knees want to go but the hands don't quite get it yet. He rocks when he's on all fours and face-plants in the carpet.
He can lean in and kiss his wide-open mouth kiss! He's such a lover... he even kissed his girl friend Lailynn on Memorial Day!
He went on his first jet-skiing ride a few days before Memorial Day. We didn't go far we just wanted to test out his life jacket (which he hated).
We've been swimming a lot this month. He loves, loves, loves the water and even does great when we count to three and plop him under water. He hasn't ever cried when going under water. He loves swimming with his Tia and Uncle Matt!
He leans over and points with his head when he wants to go somewhere. He is quite convincing and almost leaps out of our arms.
He doesn't mind the dogs playing but I think he is going to be very bossy (a.k.a "affirmative")... he yells 'eh' when the dogs play... like hes saying BE NICE!
He can now sit up on his own. He still struggles with flinging himself back sometimes but overall he is much more controlled than ever.
He loves to rock when we sing to him (side-to-side).
He also gets excited about food and we're now on "2nd" Gerber foods.
He twists around to see himself
The mirrors are his favorite and he's very animated!
And finally... he WEIGHS 19 pounds (76th percentile), his LENGTH is 29 inches (98th percentile... WOWOW... our pedi thinks he's going to be very tall) and his head circumference is 17 1/2 inches. He's the size of a 1 year old now and the tallest 6 month old our pediatrician has ever seen! We don't know any difference, since this is our first, but he said that he is going to be a big grown up.

Our current schedule is:
5:00am - Nursing
8:00am - Wake up, Nurse, Playtime in bed
9:00am - Have breakfast together (little g eats baby food) then play time
11:00am - 1:00pm - Nurse then Nap time
1:00-3:30 or 4:00pm - Play time (2:00pm Nurse)
3:30-5:00pm - Nap
5:00-8:00pm - Nurse then Play time
8:00pm - Start bed time ritual (play in bed, bath, good night around the house)
8:30pm - Nurse
8:45pm - Asleep in crib

This has been the first month that we have little g on two long naps a day and it's really be working well! He seems happier and it's nice having a set schedule.

Until next month! We can't wait to see what the sixth month has in store for us.

Happy Five Month Birthday Little Graham!

2010-05-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

This month has been SO fun! We actually love our five month old MORE than our newborn baby that we brought home from the birthing center (even though we couldn't imagine ever loving him more that that moment).

Little g is growing so much... I swear he's a big as a toddler. On Thursday, we have another doctor's appointment for shots only... so they'll update us on length and weight.

We've also created some pretty bad habits with our little one and luckily realized it. One bad habit was that he was napping when and where he wanted... mainly the bouncy chair and the swing OR by some family members holding him. BAD HABIT... he needed to be able to lay down at certain intervals during the day in a bed or crib. Right now he is sleeping peacefully in a bed next to me and I actually think he likes it more than sleeping sitting up.

We have started more of an earlier routine with him at night. Starting everything around 7:45-8pm... this get's him in bed by 9pm and gives us some much needed alone time.

For more updates, as well as our schedule, see below:

Little g has been quite sick this month with a horrible cough and ear infection... after waiting 10 days we went back to the pedi to get on antibiotics... so sad. I hated them BUT no more cough and he is back to his old self.
He found his feet about 5 days ago and it's adorable. It's one of those moments that reminds me how little he actually is.

Graham loves tummy time and can actually spin around on his tummy. He can do a complete 360 and move to better see things... it's really neat.
He's grabbing everything he can find and he can also bend over to pick up items that are on the ground, if he's standing with us holding his arms.
He can roll from his front to back and from his back to his front.
We've tried various foods this month including squash (loved), peas (didn't love), apples and carrots; oh, and rice cereal, of course.
We also switched to.... dum-da-dum-dum DISPOSABLE DIAPERS... ahhhh. They are the Earth's Best brand and they don't have as many chemicals. It was a tough decision but its much better.
For more horrible news, Graham had his first bottle of formula. We ran out of breast milk and I had to go to work. We are not switching him over yet but will have to in a few short months because I am going on a girls retreat.
He sounds like a little-girl sometimes when he gets excited and lets out a squeal.

Our Schedule:
7:00-8:00am - Wake-up - get Graham from crib
8:00-8:20am - Eat in our bed
8:20-9:30am - Play-time in bed
9:30-11:00am - Nap time
11:00-11:20am - Eat
11:20-2:00pm - Get ready for the day and play around the house - Try some baby food
2:00-2:20pm - Eat
2:20-4:30pm - Nap time
4:30-5:00pm - Play-time
5:00-5:20pm - Eat
5:20-8:00pm - Playtime, maybe a small nap in between - if needed
8:00pm - Rice Cereal then Nurse (Eat) before bath
8:15-8:40pm - Bath time
8:40-9:00pm - Eat again
9:00-1:30am - Sleep
1:30-1:45am - EAT... ugh...
1:45-4:00am - Sleep
4:00 - 4:15am - Eat (Daddy has started helping with this one and I am so thankful)
4:15-8:00am - Sleep

We've been told time and time again that as soon as we get used to a schedule, it'll change. WE KNOW, WE KNOW... haha... so, that is why we are documenting this for our little guy and to remember forever!

Last thought: It's amazing that every love song applies to our love for our son!

Update on 4th Month

2010-04-14T14:39:00.000-05:00

This month has already been a little rough on us... little g was sick for the first time! Graham and I decided to go out for sushi for my birthday with a few friends, while we were getting ready little graham became cranky but nothing out of the ordinary. We also took a hike this day, so we assumed that he was exhausted and needed to sleep. We brought him over to his Uncle Matt & Aunt Cheri's house and went on our way. When we returned to pick him up they told us about a cough and that he hadn't slept much... thinking it was no big deal we headed home. I nursed as soon as we got home and we swaddled our little guy... while he was eating he stopped and coughed this horrible sounding cough and SCREAMED! It was horrible... this went on throughout the entire feeding so we gave him our doctor recommended dosage of Maloxx and baby Benedryl. Eventually he finally stopped coughing and fell asleep. He woke up every 3 hours that night and I realized he had a slight fever. We called his doctor in the morning and they requested we come in for a sick-visit. The doctor saw him and heard some wheezing in his lungs and said that we would try a round of breathing treatment in his office to see if that would fix the sound. After 10 minutes of the nebulizer, the doc came back in a said that helped tremendously. I was happy... the doctor was concerned. He said that he would send us home with a breathing machine and we would have to do it 3 times a day for four days. He said that this is important because babies can actually die from suffocation from their airways being inflamed.

So, for the past four days we've been on the treatment and using the cough concoction at night. He's JUST starting to feel better... the mucus is loosening and he can cough it up now... it's still horrible though. At least he's getting back to his old self again.

At the same time little g was sick, Big G got sick too... and stayed home one day. No fun at the Quattlebaum house!

Before both of my guys were sick, we went to the pedi on the 8th for his four-month checkup. He received two more vaccines... the Rotavirus and DTAP. Not too bad again since he was able to drink one. His NEW statistics are:

Weight: 16 lbs.
Height: 26 1/2in... WOWOW
Head Circumference: 42.5cm

He's actually in the 90th percentile now for his weight and height and his head is still perfectly the 50% percentile. He really looks longer than ever and we can't believe how big he's gotten.

Oh, and I forgot to post a new schedule. This is what our day's look like now:

7:15am - Eat
7:30am - Play
8:30am - Morning Nap
9:30am - Eat
9:45am - Play -- 2 hours
11:30am - Nap
12:30pm - Eat
12:45pm - Play -- 2-3 hours
2:45pm - Nap
3:30pm - Eat
3:45pm - Daddy Comes Home & Little g eats vegetables (we're working on squash)!
4:00pm -Nap
5:00pm - Play
6:30pm - Eat & Play
8:00pm - Rice Cereal Time, Bath, Massage, Eat
9:00pm - Bed
3:00am - Eat & Back to Bed (YES, YES... little g wakes up once a night now!)

Happy Four Month Birthday Little Graham (and Mommy)!

2010-04-05T17:01:00.000-05:00

The third month of little graham's life has come and gone... a little too quickly. Our little guy is now making some major changes and is becoming mobile... wow! For more updates on little g keep reading....

At night, he can turn around from back to front in his crib... but we haven't seen him do this during the day... it's so weird. Not so good for us because now we worry even more about him.
Little g is babbling and goo'ing more than ever. He actually waits for us to finish our statement before he starts his again.
He is awake for an hour and half at a time now.
He's starting to scoot on his back by pushing his hips up in the air.
One of the most awesome notes about this month is that he is sitting up with a little assistance! He can do a 'sit-up' when lounging on our bent legs.
He caught a yucky virus this month. It made his cheeks rosy but gave him a horrible sore throat and cough. We had to give him a mixture of mallox and benedryl... so sad! We were suppose to give it to him for 3 days but we could only do 1 full day of it. It took the pep right out of our little guy and made him drowsy.
On a more positive note... WE GAVE HIM RICE CEREAL... yay! Easter was his 4 month birthday and the Easter bunny brought him a basket full of rice cereal, bowls, spoons, puppets and a book. He actually really enjoyed the cereal... we're going to ask his pedi on Thursday when we can start more interesting foods that aren't so bland. More shots on Thursday too... booooooo
Speaking of Easter... we took some pictures with a few bunnies this month. The first one was with the suited Easter Bunny in the mall... kinda fun, kinda creepy. The second set was taken at Studio One in Grapevine Mills Mall because they had real Easter Bunnies! But, we DO NOT recommend them... we had a 50% off coupon and for SIX sheets it was over $250.00 ... yuck. Plus, they couldn't get little g to smile and we were hurried along because another family was waiting. They charged us $60.00 for photo correction... hello, it's baby-skin, what type of correction does he need, REALLY?! Plus they pressured us in to buying some photos by showing us them on this tiny computer in the back... not the huge screen in the front. Do not waste your time... photos were cute but I could have done what they did by going to my local PetCo and purchased some damn bunnies... (little g don't say that bad word)... everytime I look at them I have a bad taste in my mouth because it was so expensive... I fully recommend Natali Young (our family photographer)!
This Easter was super-duper special because 1. Little g turned 4 months 2. It was my birthday AND 3. It was Easter... so fun!

Great month... a little busy but wouldn't do anything differently!

Happy Three Month Birthday, Little Graham!!!

2010-03-06T18:52:00.000-06:00

Our little g has been so busy this month... changing and GROWING! We are still having a blast being parents but this month was more difficult than past months because he is finding his vocal cords... some other interesting notes this month were....

He is no longer an 'infant', or so we read.... ::Heartbreaking::
His all-time favorite song is "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and the close runner up is "On Top Of Spaghetti". He laughs, smiles, gigles, coos and they calm him down when he's protesting something.
Graham smiles and even cries in his sleep... the smiling/laughing thing he has been doing since he was born and the crying thing just recently started.
We've been having a problem with his bowel movements... he has gone 5 days without going #2 but we called our pedi and learned that we could give him 1/2 ounce of water and a 1/2 ounce of prune juice... we tried it this morning and it worked like a charm! We have to continue this until he's 'regular'. His face was hilarious as the whole family tried to offer it to him!
Our second round of immunizations was on Thursday. He didn't like these as much mainly because there were two shots... one in each thigh. At this appointment we learned our healthy boy is now 16 pounds... WAY TO GO!!!
We were quite surprised this month when we went in to little g's room and realized that he scooted completely out of his triangles and in to the bottom of his crib... he was super happy about it and we were a little freaked out.
He has also turned in to a Houdini and can fanagle his way out of his swaddle blanket (a.k.a. straight jacket). When we go in to his room in the morning we not only find him in the bottom of the crib but also with his arms flailing around like a helicopter!
We love to play with our little one... he is just starting to grab at distant items such as a rattle if we hold it in front of him. I read that this was going to happen and I was a little disgruntled when I never saw him doing it. When I visited my mom I told her of my concerns and he held something in front of him. Sure enough he started moving him uncoordinated arms toward the bottle of lotion. I was amazed... I figured they meant he would be able to look and grab at anything but they meant that he would start making progress towards doing just that.
Some nicknames we have for our little one are: snack-pack, tootie-mc-fruity, buddy and cranky-pants!!!

For more changes... just check out this picture...

This photo was taken by our super talented and creative friend, Natali. We are taking this picture every three months (1, 3, 6, 9, 12) and then I will get these pictures custom framed together to see his growth... I can't wait to see the finished product. Isn't it amazing?!

A First: We GIGLED!

2010-02-22T11:29:00.000-06:00

Ok, so oops... there's been an error... I titled one post, "A First: We LAUGHED" but I meant "A First: We SMILED."

Little g has been smiling for a while now but now he will let out a huge rolling laugh! He even laughs when you tickle him... before he would just squirm and now it's like he get's what being tickled is all about. He may have even chuckled in the past... but NOW he absolutely, positively, throws his head back and lets out a huge laugh.

It's pretty cutey-pa-tootie!

2.11.10 - SNOW ((again))!

2010-02-17T10:58:00.000-06:00

This last snow set a new record for North Texas; I only wish our little guy would appreciate it. I'm so over the snow this year and I am ready for little g to feel the soft, green grass under his feet for the first time! We had a great time playing in the snow over at Uncle Matt & Aunt Cheri's. Little g holds his breath when the cold air hits his face... but he's adorable in his snow suit. The next day we went over to Grammy & Pop's and Mommy & Daddy got to play in it together. We hooked the boogie board up to the riding lawn mower and pulled each other though snow, mush and mud! So fun!!!!

Our little snow angel... he didn't like the snow falling in his face!

1.21.10 - Our First Hike!

2010-02-17T10:37:00.001-06:00

Snug as a Bug!

On January 21st temps got up to the upper 60's so we took the day off together and went for our first hike at Eagle Mountain Park & Reserve. We got the stroller ready and packed a picnic and were on our way! We picked a trail that was a loop, easy right?! NO... it ended up being 6 miles of hills and drop-offs. Shouldn't trails be marked with a difficulty level?

We set our camera up on a rock!

A First: We SLEPT through the night!

2010-02-13T21:02:00.000-06:00

Yes, yes... you read correctly! Little Graham slept through the night for the first time last night. We were amazed. He officially slept from 10:30pm (after his last nursing) to 8:00am!!!

I woke up a few times and carefully listened to the monitor (Graham has been sleeping in his own room since Monday, 02.08)... I could still hear him breathing so I went back to sleep. When I woke up and realized the sun was up I kinda freaked out and went in his room to find him starting to stir. Man Oh Man was he a happy, restful baby and I was a FULL mommy!

He had a full day yesterday at Grammy & Pop's and the whole family came over. Big Graham and I played in the snow until we were exhausted and Little Graham stayed inside and was nice and warm with Grammy! We had dinner with everyone, came home, nursed some more, played, took a LONG bath, got a baby-massage and then got swaddled and ready for bed. I don't know what we did but I think the bath-time helped to relax him!

We know that we are SO blessed to have such an amazing baby. I don't officially call anything a "routine" until it lasts for a week straight... so we'll see if this was a one-time occurrence or if it lasts.

Happy Two Month Birthday, Little Graham!

2010-02-04T17:06:00.000-06:00

Just some updates from our last month together....

Graham is growing by leaps and bounds... he's officially 23 inches long and 13.8 pounds, as we found out today from his pediatrician appointment. He's in the 90th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for height. We all have a laugh when the pediatrician said that he's bigger around than he is tall (he was joking of course) but it made me think of my little one as a ball... or an umpa lompa. (Percentiles mean that out of 100 babies... only 10 would be bigger than little g and 90 would be smaller than little g.) His head is 16 inches... which is normal as the 50th percentile. We're not worried about his size... BOTH Big G and I were chunks too... and as soon as we started crawling we worked all of it off. The pediatrician is not worried either, of course.
He had his first round of immunizations today. We are so lucky to have found Dr. McGehee who believes in an alternative-vaccine schedule. Graham got the Biphtheria, Tetanus & Pertusis (DTaP) and Rotavirus vaccines. He got the Rotavirus first which was a simple-syrup that he could drink. The second was a spring loaded shot that was given to him in his thigh. I think the shot just shocked him.. he let out a small scream but didn't cry or anything... we all were impressed by how tough he is.
He can now turn over both ways by either leaning to the left or the right and with or without putting a rolled up blanket under him.
We bought him a play mat and he loves laying on his back looking at all the fun patterns.
Tummy-time has always been a favorite and he's holding his head up for longer than ever now... he's even starting to sit up by himself. We're a little cautious about this though... it's a long way to fall over for a little guy.
TMI: The poopy diapers have, luckily, slowed way down. Now, he only has one HUGE blowout every two/three days. I seem to be getting the majority of these and Big G doesn't.
Big G and I got to enjoy a night out this month and Aunt Cheri & Uncle Matt got to enjoy him for a little while. We went over to a friends house for a potluck dinner... unfortunately for Cheri & Matt this was a blowout night!
He's stayed with a stranger twice now when I do my mommy yoga. My yoga teacher offers yoga in her home while her nanny watches all the little ones. We've only done this twice. The first time I was SO worried and he didn't even make a sound. The second time I was able to relax much more and enjoy it knowing that since he was ok the first time he would more than likely be ok the second time.
Morning time is our FAVORITE time of the day (at least for me)... We wake up about 8/8:30am and he's ready to eat. After he eats then it's time to PLAY! We have been having conversations with each other for weeks now... we laugh, talk, babble, coo and sing together. Then little g goes back to sleep at 9:30/10am. I love, love, love the full laughs where I can see his gums and his whole belly rolls like jelly.
Our schedule is now...

8/8:30am: Wake-up/Eat/Playtime

9:30/10am: Naptime

11:30am: Wake-up

12pm: Eat

12:30pm: Sleep

3pm: Eat

3:30pm: Sleep

5:00pm: Wake-up/Playtime

6:00pm:Eat

6:30pm: Playtime

8:00pm: Sleep

9/9:30pm: Bathtime/Eat/Night-nite Time

3:30am/4am: Eat (That's right... 6+ hours!!)

8/8:30am: Wake-up/Eat/Playtime

We simply can't wait to see what this month holds for our little one...

A First: We LAUGHED!

2010-01-20T15:25:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening I left Daddy and Little Graham at home while I attended an AACWP meeting. My heart is always broken anytime I am away from my guys. When I got back home we brought Graham in to our room and were just hanging out at a family. We took his feet out side of his onesie and were tickling him when he let out a huge laugh! It was a total open mouth, belly roll, see-all-of-my-gums type of chuckle! So adorable...

Then when I woke up this morning Little Graham was already awake and was grunting to let me know it. When I got up and he focused on me... he gave me the largest, "there you are mommy" face... like he was so excited that I was up and that it was play-time.

For more updates, our schedule is starting to settle in at night. He is awake from about 4-6ish and then eats again at 9pm. Then he sleeps for about 5 hours straight, nurses at 2am, sleeps until 6am, nurses again, then wakes up at 9am. When he wakes up at 9am, he's normally not hungry until 10am... so we get to PLAY. This is my favorite part of the day. I wake up ... I pick up Little Graham from his bassinet and he's so happy and energized. We sing, tickle and babble at each other. It's so much fun!

A First: We ROLLED around!

2010-01-08T21:43:00.000-06:00

I was just sitting here posting about our Materna-Tea and Daddy and Little Graham were spending some time doing tummy time together! Little Graham is doing SO great holding his head up and all of a sudden he rolled over!!!!! YEA to our awesome little guy... so neat.

Materna-Tea

2010-01-08T21:31:00.000-06:00

Today Little Graham and I took a trip to our Birthing Center to attend at Materna-Tea (an afternoon tea). The attendees were all of the women that had given labor in the month of December. The women one by one went around the room sharing their own birth story. It was so neat hearing everyone's unique and different birth experience. It's kinda like weddings... no two is ever the same and that's what's so fun about it (not that labor is as fun!).

At the end of everyone's birth stories we undressed our babies and put them on the floor in a circle of babies. It is so neat seeing the difference in all of the babies and I will treasure these pictures forever! No matter how painful it was... it's neat being a part of something like this. All of the women who were like-minded and the result of their hard work!

The bed little Graham was born in (with his little friend)!

One of our friends and her son from our Bradley classes!

Baby Language

2010-01-05T15:26:00.000-06:00

Our Little Christmas Moose!

We have interpreted the following baby talk/cries to mean the following:

Oua: Sleepy

Gee: Hungry

Okay: Somethings wrong/gassy/uncomfortable

Can't wait to hear more of him trying to communicate with us! It's so awesome.

Happy One Month Birthday, Little Graham!

2010-01-04T17:30:00.000-06:00

Photo Credit: Nat's Photography

We are so loving being Little g's parents! Everyday he truly changes and we are trying to just stop and enjoy this precious time with him. It is absolutely amazing that he is already one month old. Here are some fascinating facts about his progress (yes, we are NEW parents and think everyone is as fascinated about our son as we are).

1. He currently weighs in at 10.6lbs according to Baby Stats in our Wii Fit Plus.. haha.

2. He is holding his head up for quite a long period of time now... he enjoys about 10 minutes of tummy-time a day.

3. He is starting to be awake longer - after each feeding - for about an hour. We love this play time with him and he enjoys songs such as "I'm a Little Teapot," "Patty-Cakes" and "Itsy-Bitsy Spider".

4. He is nursing about every three hours but for 25 minutes at a time (instead of the 40+ as a new-newborn) and we are a happy-nursing couple together! I love spending this time with him.

5. We gave in and introduced an infant pacifier at 2 weeks -- we have had no problems with nipple-confusion - it helps with soothing during sleepy-time. Although sometimes it's falls out and re-wakes him back up... overall it's awesome not being his soothing tool all of the time.

6. We introduced his very-first bottle the other day (of mommy-milk). After instruction from our lactation-consultant we decided the best time to do this was 3 1/2 weeks. After pumping once, I had enough milk (5oz.) for his first bottle with Daddy! At first he was confused as to why Daddy had the milk but he quickly got it and they enjoy this time every morning at 7am (and I get to sleep in)!

7. He smiles when he finishes nursing and in his sleep. We can't get him to smile, so I guess he's still doing it uncontrollably -- but we think it's overly sweet.

8. He has some congestion (I can't wait until this cold weather is gone) so we're doing the nose aspirator, saline drops, humidifier and he's sleeping in his bouncy chair in his bassinet. What a pain...

9. He is all BOY! He grunts and makes noise all of the time (even in his sleep). We heard this is because he is a boy and that girls are much quieter.

10. He is now super-grabby on everything. He grabs a hold of diapers when we change him (what a mess), our shirts, necklaces, hair, etc. It's so neat how much he has changed in such a short period of time!

11. His eyes follow us when we walk in front of him. This is really neat... he's also starting to move his head to see us when we talk to him.

Month one... CHECK! We think being parents isn't as hard as everyone says. But, since Graham and I are both the babies of our families... it's hard making our own decisions and not having some one tell us what we should do. Luckly, we told Little g that we're both new at this... so he takes it a little easier on us.

Our Birth Story!

2009-12-27T21:29:00.000-06:00

Our Birth Story:

DISCLAIMER: Before reading our birth story, please note that this is a very honest depiction of OUR labor. While we understand that some women may be blessed by the labor gods and be great laborers…this simply was not the case for us. We encountered the following problems:

1. We were induced

2. We stalled at 4cm and at 6cm

3. We had an occiput posterior position facing baby… which means we had horrible back labor

At 3:15pm on Wednesday, December 2nd we went to our normal weekly checkup at the birthing center – we were 38 weeks. We were a little concerned because I had been having problems with my blood pressure and I had been having a super-rapid heart rate and my face would blush during Braxton-Hicks contractions. My blood pressure turned out to be high – 120/90 in one arm after taking it several different times. Our midwife, Carol, had said that we need to start talking about an induction because for a few weeks my blood pressure hadn’t been getting any better and we were over the full-term mark.

We discussed our options and decided to start the induction by being given 1/4 of a pill called Cytotek vaginally at the office that day. After the insertion we were hooked up to a monitor for an hour to track our heart rates/contractions. The Cytotek worked very quickly and increased my contractions but they were still very mild. We were sent home that evening and were told to call the birthing center at 6am to make sure that no one else was in labor and then to take a half of Cytotek orally to increase contractions again. On the way home we filled up our car and called in a to-go order to Zio’s to pick up some Strawberry Chicken Field Salad and Chicken Alfredo. We also stopped by Braum’s for some pumpkin ice cream… but they were out so we settled for egg nog and peanut butter cup. Graham was so funny… as I waited in the car he ran in and told everyone he could that we were starting our labor. We got some great service.

I was so excited that our son’s birthday would most likely be the next day. My heart was a little broken that he couldn’t choose his own birthday but I fully understood and trusted my care providers advice and judgment. Graham and I decided early on, and took many people’s great advice, to fully put our birth in to our midwives hands… that they are fully prepared and knowledgeable about what we needed to progress our labor and to bring our son in to this world healthy and happy.

The next morning came without more than one hours rest for me but Graham seemed to sleep at full eight hours. I knew that he would need it for our big day! At 6am my contractions were only lasting about 45 seconds and were 4 minutes apart. We were so excited and thought that this meant that our labor was moving along quite quickly. We called the birthing center… no answer… good sign that no one else was in labor and we would be the main focus! We called Carol and told her of our progress and she said that we could head to the birthing center to be there by 9am and not to take the half of Cytotek they sent us home with because we were already progressing so well, or so we thought.

I took a shower and we loaded up the car. It was amazing to look at the car seat in the back and knowing that it would soon be filled with the most important thing in the entire world! We stopped at Starbucks to get a Hot Chocolate and some coffee for Graham (not that he needed it).

We arrived at the birthing center on Thursday, December 3rd and were greeted by our other midwife, Cherie. She checked us and said that we weren’t dilated and our cervix was still hard and not ripened.She suggested inserting a Foley catheter (not in my bladder) and to fill up a balloon that would be attached to a weigh. She said that this is a way that would tell my body to relax and release and could send messages to my brain to release and dilate to 3cm. We decided to move ahead with this measure. Side note; I think throughout the birth the vaginal exams were one of the most painful parts… I did not like them at all… this procedure was the start of many, many horrible exams.

After being fixed up with the balloon we rested in a side room for one hour. It wasn’t painful at all just uncomfortable. After one hour with the weight on Cherie removed the weight and instructed us to walk for one hour with the full balloon still intact. We started walking in the 40 degree weather and my contractions picked up. We were once again excited that this meant that labor was progressing. On our walk once a contraction hit we would stop and sway together… this helped because I couldn’t walk though them! Side note again; my contractions felt like low menstrual cramps that wrapped around to my back and were about 1000x stronger than what I normally feel when that time of the month rolls around – I couldn’t breathe, move or talk when I got a contraction – they also felt like diarrhea cramps.

After an hour we went back in to the birthing center and were rechecked by Cherie. We were about 2 cm and our contractions were still random; at this time Cherie suggested breaking our water. We discussed this and decided to trust her and went ahead. It is AMAZING how much water was around our son… I think she said it’s about 1 full gallon. The breaking of my water didn’t hurt and it wasn’t painful but we knew this would put us on a time restraint. Upon breaking my water we progressed to 4cm.

We ate a little lunch of soup and crackers and continued walking. Cherie said “keep walking through those contractions” and Graham and I realized that we weren’t supposed to stop and rock when I got a contraction… oops.

After we returned from walking we were able to bring in our bags from home and were officially ‘checked-in’ to the beautiful birthing room downstairs.Cherie checked me again and said that I was still at 4cm; this was about 4:00pm.

I don’t remember much after this point. I know that we were instructed to walk many, many more times and I tried various things such as a shower (loved it), bath (hated it), squatting (hated it) and using the birthing ball (eh). At around 6pm we were 6cm and stayed there until 10pm.

At 10pm Cherie walked in and told us that she was starting to be concerned about my progress, or lack thereof, and said that if we hadn’t made any progress by midnight we would need to discuss the possibility of being transferred to Baylor Hospital. By this point I was so exhausted and frustrated, I wanted to just give up and go to Baylor. Cherie was very patient with me and said that we could try a few more things before being transferred. She instructed me to lie down on my left side and wouldn’t let me get up. She said this could help me relax and help him engage in to my pelvis and turn so I wouldn’t experience so much back pain.

We tried this and during a contraction I was in so much more pain that I ever imagined. I was frustrated because at each pause in our progress our birth assistant would tell us that the pain we were feeling during contractions was as bad as it was going to get… which was incorrect. I just kept feeling more pain and more pain.

I started watching the clock and my contractions were every 3 minutes, lasting for 1 minute. I remember crying during each contraction and telling Graham “I’m SO serious!” That’s all I could get out… but I was so seriously over this labor… I just wanted the pain to go away and I just wanted to give up. (We knew from our labor classes that this meant that I was in transition.)

Midnight rolled around and Graham leaned over and whispered “our son has a new birthday”… I just wanted to SCREAM at him… “I DON’T CARE!” … I didn’t though.Not a few minutes later I had this horrible pain that felt like I needed to pass a huge bone… I decided to get up to use the restroom. This was a bad idea because of course I had a contraction while urinating and I couldn’t get up and off the toilet. After about 10 minutes I knew that I was getting close to pushing and I didn’t want to be one of those people that had their baby on the toilet. I got up and our birth assistant instructed me to squat using the four-poster bed… I told her I hated this and she said, “Well this is the way we’re going to get your baby out.” She checked me while I was squatting and his head was visible!

Graham and I were originally the type of people that didn’t want to see his head crowing… but after all we had been through we were so excited that it was finally time to start pushing and our birthing assistant put a mirror under me so we could see.

At this point I could finally muster out the entire sentence I had been working on and I said… “I’m SO serious… I want to go to the hospital… I can’t do this anymore.” Our birth assistant said, “we won’t make it… it’s time to push”. I pushed while squatting and they quickly instructed me to get in the bed. Our birth assistant ran upstairs to get Cherie and it felt like she was gone forever… while I had this horrible urge to push that I couldn’t control.

The pain truly felt like a bone had dislodged in my body and people were telling me to push it out… there was also the “ring of fire” pain that I had heard so much about but it lasted a lot longer than 45-60 seconds like we’re told.

Graham says at this point I was in a trance-like stage where I just did was I was told but I wasn’t all there. After I climbed up on to the bed I tried to push again but his head moved back up my birthing canal. They instructed me to squat on the bed and they checked his heart rate. It was seriously low and Graham says this was the first time he wished we were in the hospital. I don’t remember this part but I expected our son to have the cord wrapped around his neck, I forgot to prepare Graham for this fact so he freaked out. They were preparing to do an episiotomy to get him out but Cherie told me to push harder than ever and so I did… after the first push his head came out and Cherie unwrapped the cord from around his neck then Graham grabbed our son and I pushed him the rest of the way out. I thought that I would feel the distinction of head, shoulders, rest of body… but I didn’t… it just all HURT. After catching our son Graham put him in my arms and I think I just said… “wow”. I was amazed that we were parents and there was actually a human being inside of me, that was our son, and that I did it! Once he was born I delivered the placenta and we learned the reason he was able to move around so much… my placenta was heart-shaped, not oval shaped like normal.

Unfortunately, I feel that because I was so exhausted from the natural labor, I didn’t appreciate my newborn son immediately, like everyone said I would.Our birth assistant and midwife eventually took our son from us to check him out. They were initially concerned about a few things but after checking with a few pediatricians, we found out everything was fine. He weighed in at 7lbs. 2oz. and was 21 inches.

Our handsome, wonderful son was born at 1:00am on Friday, December 4^th. We were allowed to stay at the birthing center longer than normal because he came so early in the morning.

After labor and trying to breast feed him, I got up to take a shower and it was amazing how light I felt. After the shower and trying to nurse him again we fell asleep, together for the first time as a family, about 6:00am. We woke back up about 8:00am and I finally felt the amazement I expected to feel when our son was first born… he was here and I was so proud to be his mother… he was amazing to look and coo at!! I thought he really looked like his daddy but has my body-type and my long neck. We then discussed postpartum instructions with our birth assistant and then Graham gave him his first bath... just them two together... so sweet! After the bath we ordered breakfast and Graham left to pick it up. We finished breakfast and headed home about 11am.

Our labor was very difficult and much more painful than anticipated. We knew that there would be pain and we were told to expect this and we did… but you can’t prepare yourself for the pain that you will encounter… it’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt. I was actually quite surprised when our birth assistant visited us the next day at our house and made the comment “if everyone knew how painful it would actually be, no one would do it!” This made me feel like I’ve been lied to by everything we’ve read, watched and by what all of our educators and friends have told us; they weren’t honest about HOW painful it actual is. So, this is our honest birth story… I know each labor is unique and different… but this is my opinion on my labor. For our next labor we will enjoy the comfort of a hospital with all of the perks and relaxation techniques that a hospital can offer.

On a more positive note, our son is awesome and we are very blessed to have a great, easy-going baby. We are enjoying every second of parenthood and he’s already changed so much.

From now on we will update the blog about family progresses and milestones. Thank you for joining us on our journey and for all of the support and love we’ve received. We are blessed to have so many great friends and family following us on our expedition.

HE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-05T14:45:00.000-06:00

Our son, Graham Alden Quattlebaum, arrived Friday, 12.4.09, at 1:00am exactly! We had a very long and difficult natural birth but are enjoying every second of parenthood. He was born at 38 weeks, weighing 7lbs 2oz, 21 inches. He has a head full of red hair.
We will post the birth story soon!
Love you all and thank you for supporting us
S&G

DUM...DUM...DUM...Induction

2009-12-02T18:51:00.000-06:00

Today at 3:15pm we had an appointment with our midwife, Carol. I had a few concerns going in to this appointment because lately I've been having some problems like blushing when I have a Braxton-Hicks contraction, trouble breathing (more than normal) and a racing heart. So, I notified Carol of this upon starting our appointment and she checked my blood pressure.... it is really high. She took it about 10 different times in both arms and in one arm she got a reading of 130/80 and in the other arm she got 120/90 (120/80 is normal for a healthy MAN... they like pregnant women to be in the 70's). She then said, 'we need to start discussing an induction'.

So, the converstation consisted us of asking tons of questions. She said that they start off the induction with giving me a medicine, inserted, that will ripen my cervix. They sent us home, to get some rest and at 6am tomorrow we are to call the birthing center to make sure that there aren't any other people in labor and then we can take another dose of this medicine, orally this time. Then we get to head up to the birthing center at 10am! Once there they will check me again for dialation/riping/etc and we'll go from there.

Right now I am feeling a LOT of contractions. It's so different than I imagined. It actually feels like a Braxton-Hicks combined with low menstrual cramping/diarrhea cramping (sorry TMI... just FYI) . I would say they are about 20 minutes apart for about 30 seconds. If our contractions get to 6 minutes apart (from the start to the start of another) lasting for one minute each for one hour then we get to head up to the birthing center tonight and we are in full-swing of labor (this is called the 6-1-1 rule because we live far away from the birthing center... normally it's 5-1-1).

We are SO excited right now but we're also nervous. I'm a little upset that Little Graham doesn't get to pick his own birthday and I feel like we're pressuring him... but Carol explained to me how hard it is for him to stay inside of me with high blood pressure. She said he is ready... so we fully trust their opinion.

We plan on updating facebook every hour tomorrow. Please don't call us as we will need to keep communications open with our families. We will post something (hopefully a picture), even if its small, as soon as he joins us!

Made-Ahead Dinners

2009-12-01T14:17:00.000-06:00

As the previous post suggests, I have been a crazy-soup-making lady lately! Here are the soups I've been making. I've also been given a great tip to make these soups and freeze them in ice cube trays. Then pop them out in to a zip lock bag and freeze for up to three months. Three or four ice cubes are a serving size. I made one soup and froze it in ice cube trays, which worked well, but it was a bit messy. The other three soups I put in individual ziplock bags with about one cup for single serving sizes.

NOTE: I increased the two cups of water to four cups and added a little extra pasta.

Enjoy!

Super Soups

Prep Time: 10 min

Total Time: 30 min

Makes: 8 servings

What You Need

Take 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil,
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) Velveeta Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product,
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth,
1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix and
1 cup uncooked bite-sized pasta and
Mix & match your recipes from these options...

meat options	vegetable choices	soup base possibilities
1 lb. boneless chicken pieces (1 in.)	3 sliced carrots, 1/2 cup sliced celery, 1 small chopped onion	1 additional can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth
1 lb. ground beef	1 cup corn, 1 chopped bell pepper	1 jar (16 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa
1/4 lb. Oscar Mayer Pepperoni, coarsely chopped (add with the chicken broth)	1 cup sliced mushrooms, 1 small chopped onion, 1 chopped bell pepper	1 can (15 oz.) pizza sauce
meatless	3 sliced carrots, 1 chopped bell pepper, 1 chopped zucchini	1 can (14-1/2 oz.) undrained diced tomatoes, 1 can (15-1/2 oz.) drained and rinsed kidney beans

Then follow our 3 simple steps...

COOK and stir meat in hot oil in large saucepan until cooked through; drain. Add vegetables; cook 3 to 5 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.
ADD chicken broth, soup base, 2 cups water and dressing mix. Bring to a boil.
ADD pasta; cover. Simmer 10 to 12 min. or until pasta is tender. Add Velveeta; cook until melted, stirring occasionally.

TACO BELL® and HOME ORIGINALS® are trademarks owned and licensed by Taco Bell Corp.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Freeze It

Allow soup to cool, then portion into smaller containers. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or in the freezer for 2 to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator as needed. Reheat small portions (about 2 servings of frozen soup) in the microwave on HIGH for about 5 min. or until heated through, stirring after 3 min.

Family Fun

For a change of pace, cut vegetables into interesting shapes and use fun shapes of pasta, such as stars or alphabets. Because smaller pastas may cook in a shorter time, follow package directions for suggested cook times.

Substitute

Prepare as directed, substituting 1 cup uncooked Minute Brown or White Rice for the uncooked pasta.

False Alarm -- Did I Miss Something?!

2009-11-27T12:40:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday, November 25th I was on a soup-making kick. I woke up and ate breakfast, checked my email... worked for a little while and then started my soup-making about 1pm. I had to finish making two different soups because the fresh vegetables were starting to go bad. At about 3pm Graham called to say that he was on his way home... when I finished talking to him I bent over in a pain I hadn't felt before during my pregnancy. It was a menstrual cramping on my front right side... I breathed through it and quickly grabbed my computer to do research on this weird feeling. These cramps were coming on about every 10 minutes for about 30-45 seconds. The March of Dimes website says that cramping could be the on-set of labor... so, I called Graham. I told him what was going on and he said, "Sounds like we're in labor..." I told him he didn't know what he was talking about because I wasn't having the 'Braxton-Hicks' contractions (which I THOUGHT was the only thing I was going to have to deal with during labor). He said, "Where were you when we went over the fact that labor was going to feel like menstrual cramps?!" I quickly got off the phone with Negative-Nancy Graham and just laid on the floor in pain. I was exhausted from cooking all day, so I got in to bed and feel asleep right after Graham got home. When I woke up... the cramps were gone! Whew...

So, apparantly I thought that labor was going to consist of harder Braxton-Hicks contractions that wrap all the way around to my back. I truly don't remember in all of my education, Bradley classes, and in researching... anyone ever saying anything about MENSTRUAL CRAMPING... ughhhh... sounds terrible!!! Haha...

Hopefully we won't have anymore false alarms... but it was kinda exciting knowing that we are getting close... it was nice having a little test run though.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-25T12:20:00.000-06:00

Graham and I wanted to share with each of you what we are thankful for during this Thanksgiving.

5. Our health - although we may get bumps and bruises every now and then... we are thankful that we are able to show our love for each other in making a child and that we are healthy and happy.

4. Our “jobs” - we are both so thankful that we wake up each morning and truly love what we do. We don’t even consider them jobs, more like hobbies.

3. Our friends - we have the best friends that are so thoughtful and caring. I'm so happy to be married to someone who showed me the meaning of keeping your true friends close. Although we may not always get to see our friends -- I hope they know how important they are to us.

2. Our soon-to-be son - we can’t wait for the opportunity to be your parents and to love you unconditionally.

1. Most of all – we are thankful for our families. Without them we would not be who we are or where we are today. Thank you for your support and love.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Thank you for following us during this journey and truly caring about our family.

FULL TERM -- 37 WEEKS

2009-11-24T13:35:00.000-06:00

Lowercase g is the length of a stalk of Swiss chard

We had another baby appointment yesterday! We say 'another' because it's amazing how often we feel we have to go to these now. Here are the details:

I am negative for Group B Strep -- Whew.

My weight is currently 163 (33 pounds gained total).

My blood pressure is in the lower range again - 112/80.

Lowercase g's heartrate was 138 -- the lowest it has been, meaning he is turning in to a normal human being and not just a fetus!

Fundus Height - 36 centimeters.

Approximate Weight - 6.5 lbs.

We are so thrilled to announce that he is still head down and I got to feel his head this time. Graham was right, in that it DOES feel like a softball.

The CNM gave me an exam and said that although we are not dilated she can totally feel the cervix now and it is softening and ripening (all very technical terms.. haha). This website (link) says:

"One of the final signals that labor is near is the ripening of the cervix. Ripening of the cervix refers the process by which the cervix thins, softens, becomes relaxed, and opens in response to uterine contractions. Once the cervix ripens and then dilates, this allows the fetus to pass through the cervical opening."

Last appointment she couldn't even feel the cervix and suggested that we do some backwards-leaning squats everyday for 30 minutes, use Evening Primrose Oil and another very private suggestion! It must have worked! I hope next appointment we'll be slightly dilated.

Other than our appointment I think that I feel completely ready for him to be here. Although, on second thought, we dropped the ball on finding a pediatrician until NOW. We have our interview with him next Thursday - so hopefully he won't come before then.

And -- I happen to have the worst heartburn EVER right now but only at night. So, I sleep a lot during the day because it's the only time I really can sleep. Also, lowercase g is getting very, very strong. When I'm trying to get to sleep he thinks it's time to party... not so fun for me though. I can't decide if I should get up and walk around or watch TV or just lay there, miserable, hoping he'll go back to sleep so I can sleep. Oh... the wonderful days ahead!

Prediction: I'm thinking that he's going to join us the second week of December and be in the high 7's to low 8's (pound-wise). We'll see...

"Must Haves" Party

2009-11-20T12:38:00.000-06:00

Last night I attended another Metroplex Baby & Kids party (like the "Best & Hottest" where we got our awesome car seat). This party was called "Must Haves - Products from Pregnancy to Infancy."

The cost for attending the party was $30.00 but unlike the Best & Hottest, we didn't get to preview the products that were available for us to win until we were already at the party. But, once we got there - Dena & I went together - we found out that they had tons of different items like a breast pump, highchair, booster seat, bouncer, play yard (larger items) and smaller items such as changing pads, wraps, journals, belly casts, baby food kits, clothes, etc.

We all got to go and pick our gift bags - which were filled with items such as night time diapers, leg socks, soaps and inside of the soaps was a number that predetermined which order you would get to choose your prize. Out of 53 mom's I was number 40 -- not too bad, considering I had such a great number last time.

They served us dinner - which wasn't that great - and then it was my turn to choose! There were two mom's in front of me still choosing but the three products I had my eyes on were - a baby food maker kit, a journal with timer for feedings/changing/etc, and a starter kit of flush able/reusable diapers! The two people in front of me choose two of my top choices.... leaving me with:

The GDiapers (Flush able/Reusable)!!!!

I looked online today and this starter kit usually retails for $26.99... so I got my money's worth. We haven't purchased any reusable diapers yet but we really wanted some -- so I'll give these a try. The starter kit comes with 2 cloth pants and 10 flushable refills. The colors of the cloth pants are orange and off white and they have lowercase "g"s on the butt -- personalized for my little g!! Haha... it certainly seems that way.

The cloth pants are super soft, so we're really hoping they work out. I think we are going to try out the 10 refills and then decide to purchase more or not. Their website says that in all parents will need about 4-6 pairs of each size (S,M,L) of cloth diapers to get them through to potty training and about 6,000 flush able refills. WOW -- but they are priced about the same as disposable diapers, so why not?! We'll let you know how they work out.

Here are more photos from last night:

Head Down!

2009-11-17T20:57:00.003-06:00

23 Weeks

34 weeks

Today we had our 36 week check up at The Birth & Women's Center with Cherie, our midwife. We were initially concerned about this appointment because we didn't want to hear anymore bad news about little Graham being Transverse Lie. Luckily, we got some good news that he is head down and on my right side. Upon pushing on my belly she called Graham over and let him feel our son's head. She pushed Graham's hands in to my belly and Graham quickly pulled his hands away and said "that's too hard"... our midwife laughed and said that it won't hurt him. Graham later said that it felt like a softball and was a cool thing to feel.

During this appointment we were also examined for Group B Strep and my midwife checked to see if I was dilated. I'm not dilated and my cervix was still really high and she couldn't find it. She suggested that I do low squats but to lean back while doing the squat... she said to not do the squats that we do in yoga that are forward leaning... she really wants me to focus on getting him to slide down. She said to do leaning-back squats with my elbows on the couch for 30 minutes a day. She also said to do leaning-back squats while holding on to the door (about 20 per day). Another suggestion was that I continue to lay on my left side while sleeping, which is getting painful because I will wake up and my hip will be asleep and throbbing.

I've also had slightly-high blood pressure at the last two appointments. She said that I need to spend 2 hours in bed each day and to not workout or walk anymore. I asked if I could go ahead and walk in the Turkey Trot (a tradition) and she just looked up and rolled her eyes and laughed... I'm guessing this means NO! Not working out is going to be difficult because I think that I've had such a great pregnancy because of Prenatal Yoga but I also think that it could be the assisting reason that he was Transverse Lie. But, I guess I can take the next few weeks off.

Because of how our pregnancy is going now... we're back on our original due date of December 16th. We're hoping it's sooner but all of the signs are pointing closer to the 16th. We'll see....

Also, we had our mandatory Saturday class this past weekend and learned more about what to do when we think we are in labor, the things that will happen during and after labor too. It was a great, very informative Saturday. After class Sybil and I went to Babies R' Us to finish purchasing the 'essential items' we needed, which was fun but babies are EXPENSIVE!

We are almost ready and glad that things have taken a turn for the best with positioning. Positive thoughts really, really do work!

A Room With A View...

2009-11-15T14:35:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures, promised a while ago, of his room and the guest restroom (his bathroom, as well). Enjoy! We are really impressed on how well it actually turned out. Thank you to everyone who assisted us in making our dreams for his room a reality! We originally didn't want/or have a theme for his room but as soon as we found the cloud light we were hooked. From there we found the beautiful, retro-looking, hot air balloon mobile and wall decal.

Little Graham's crib and custom, organic bedding with hot air balloon

mobile and Uppercase Living wording that says "You are our dream come true"

His bookshelf... we ordered too much furniture so this had to fit in the corner.

Still organizing the items on the shelf.

His changing table/dresser with white letters that spell his name...

I loved these at Restoration Hardware because the letters have hooks on them,

which seem less 'girly' to me, but they were $15.00 per letter. We found these at Hobby

Lobby for $3.00 per letter! WOW!

One of my favorite aspects of his room... his cloud light on the ceiling from Ikea.

We paired this with a dimmer and I painted four clouds on the ceiling... completing the

"dream/sky" theme.

A great view of the wording/bedding/mobile.

His Bathroom:

Our wishes for his restroom were that guests could also use it without feeling like they were in a baby's bathroom. I know this bathroom is fun and will grow with Little Graham and Hollis (our second child... haha).

We found the cloth shower curtain, towels and rugs at Ikea (total maybe $25.00).

We then took these items in to Home Depot and bought the 2.5 oz. $2.00 paint in four matching colors. Once we got back home we used our nesting bowls (glass kitchen bowls)

and traced random groupings of circles on the walls.

We also added the Uppercase Living wording "Rub-a-Dub-Dub".

We love the way it turned out!

An Interesting Day....

2009-11-13T20:44:00.000-06:00

So, we check in to Baylor Hospital at 4pm today. The super-friendly nurse brings us in to our very spacious room and asks me to change in to a gown. She then starts the 1000 questions to finish checking us in. She also hooks us up to a heart rate monitor to listen to the baby's heartbeat. The first position she finds the heart at is right under my right lung; then all of a sudden we loose his heartbeat and she finds it in my lower left abdomen. As soon as she finishes finding the heartrate again and the questions, about 5pm, the sonogram-technician arrives to talk to us about seeing our little guy. He states that he will be assisting Dr. Lawson in turning the baby and they will be monitoring him throughout the process. He pushes around on my stomach and says that he can still feel that our little guy is transverse lie (his hiney was under my left lung and his head was in my right side).

He lays down my bed and turns down the lights to start the sonogram. Little Graham was very active during this time because when my midwife called at 1pm (earlier in the day) she said that I would not be able to eat anything -- just incase of the sonogram prediciment.

Once he spreads the cold gel on my baby bump he is surprised to find our Little Graham moving as much as he was... and sure enough he moves on down to the correct position... head down, hiney up. Dr. Lawson arrives about the same time, with our midwife, and everyone can't believe what they are seeing! They state that I have a lot of fluid around our son (which is a good thing) and that he is still able to move around as much as he wants.

We all breathe a sigh of relief and get ready to head home. During checking out he is still head down -- upon walking out to the car I can tell that he flips back to transverse lie... however, we have decided that we are not going to worry about this until at least 38 weeks and he can't move around as much.

I think I'm going to have a semi-difficult child on my hands... just like Graham! We are so thrilled that we don't get to meet him today and are prepared to accept him in to our lives when ever and where ever that may be.

External Aversion

2009-11-13T11:05:00.000-06:00

Update from yesterday...

I heard from my midwife this morning and she stated that she would get us in to Labor & Delivery as soon as possible with Dr. Yolanda Lawson in Baylor Hospital. It is not a super emergency but she wants to get us in and do an external aversion (where they physically turn little Graham). This has to be done in L&D because I will be hooked up to heart rate monitors and a sonogram machine to make sure that he is ok during this process. If things take a turn for the worst, then we will be exactly where we need to be to do a C-Section.

They said most likely the aversion will be done tomorrow. My midwife stated that she will be there with us, which makes me feel much better, and all of the Transverse Lie cases where they have done an aversion have been successful and she has never had to go in to an emergency C-Section.

My mom is here with me today so we are going to get packed and ready to go -- just so we have everything with us tomorrow. We will be updating the blog with more information as we get a definate time and date.

And The Problem Is....

2009-11-12T15:41:00.001-06:00

So, we were recently referred to a sonogram technician at a local doctors office because our little guy hadn't grown in two weeks (fundal height 31 two weeks ago... fundal height 31 now).

Today we went to the office to get a sonogram and learned that the problem is that Little Graham is Transverse Lie. You can read all about it here, at spinningbabies.com.

The good news is that he is fine, growing leaps and bounds. Our midwife was measuring us vertically and he's growing horizontally, like the photo above. He has all of his body parts -- kidneys, great looking heart, lungs, liver... etc. His head is shaped like Grahams -- big and round, instead of like mine, long and slender. In a third trimester sonogram some items can be measured and be a big off but the measurements we were given are:

He's measuring at 37 weeks (+/- 2 weeks because 3rd trimester)
His weight is 6.5 lbs (+/- 1 lbs. because 3rd trimester)

So... all of that is good news.

The bad news is that the above website states that it is easier to turn a breech baby than a transverse lie baby in the third trimester. This is because the uterus can actually turn and make it harder for him to turn head down.

So, what does all of this mean? Although there are plenty of things we are going to try to do to get him to turn head down... all in all if he is still transverse lie he will not be able to be born vaginally, as originally hoped. Also, since he is transverse lie he isn't putting pressure on my placenta, which should begin to soften and which makes us go in to labor, so we may need to be induced.

However, as long as we have a happy, healthy baby we truly don't care how he comes!

Family Shower

2009-11-12T11:25:00.000-06:00

I had a GREAT shower on Saturday, November 7th that my gracious sister-in-law held in my honor. (Graham was away with his second-wife/best friend Patrick and they were hunting with my Dad). Although I say above that this was a 'family-shower' there were also some really close friends that attended as well.

My adorable shower cake that said "Do Not Open Until December. Love, God"

This was one of the best showers I've ever attended. We started by socializing together and then moved on to some super-fun but NOT corny shower games. The first game was Baby Taboo and every person got three cards. The cards had one word on it that their "team" was suppose to guess and a few words on it that they could not say. This was a great ice-breaker... everyone got to know each other.

Grandmom Playing Baby Taboo! Good Job Grandmom!!

The second game was in honor of little Grahams daddy... we took a quiz on infants/children's laws in Texas. It was about a 10 question game and our cousin Amanda won -- and she DOESN'T even live in Texas (she lives in FLORIDA)!!

Amanda, Aunt Betty and Rivers who surprised me and

came in town from Virginia and Florida!!

The third game was where everyone got to guess the cost of items that my sister-in-law bought. The items were placed in a basket and included things such as shampoo, baby wash, lotion, oil, wipes, diapers, etc. The total cost of the basket was $56.00, I believe.

The final game was the ribbon around the belly game -- which I requested to do. I want to put the ribbon in our baby book and remember the size I was now. My best friend, Sybil, won by using her boobs as a guide... GOOD IDEA SYBIL!

Finally, the shower had an emotional aspect to it... as I should have known. My sister-in-law passed around two crystal containers that had blue beads and silver beads inside of them. She explained that each person should take one bead from each container and the blue bead represented their wish for little Graham and the silver bead represented their wish for me in labor/motherhood. Each person went around the room and placed one blue bead and one silver bead on a strand that eventually made a bracelet for me to wear during labor and to use as a focus tool. What everyone said means the world to me and I hope to pass the bracelet on to my son's wife someday when they are expecting their first baby. The best comment was that several people hoped that little Graham was exactly like his Daddy... with courage, strength, dedication and values. This meant so much to me because I know how lucky little Graham has it.... with such a great father! I hope he knows that his father is a hero to many people! I love it that this bracelet was made by all of the people that mean the most to me -- we are so blessed to have such support and love from our family and friends.

My sister sharing her wish for me and little g.

I handing the full bracelet back to Cheri.

Thank you Cheri for an awesome shower! We feel so loved and appreciate everything you do for us.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-05T11:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great time this Halloween at our friends Jinna & Dougs house. Halloween every year is a HUGE deal for us... and those that know me, know that I plan for this holiday before the current Halloween is even finished.

This year we handed out candy to all of the adorable trick-or-treaters at our new home and it was actually the first year for Graham and I to do this together! Afterwards, Sybil & Tim came over and we headed to see our adorable niece and nephew all dressed up. Then we headed out to The Danser's house and had a great time mingling and playing games all night. I tried to take a nap during the day, so that Graham could truly enjoy the last Halloween that will be like this... but when midnight rolled around I was exhausted already. We stayed out until 1am and didn't even make it to a Waffle House (which is a tradition every Halloween). But overall, we had a great time and we can't wait for a completly different Halloween experience next year.

Here are our photos:

Grahams Thoughts: Issue 5

2009-10-30T00:12:00.000-05:00

I can not beleive how fast this year has gone by. I remember in April, when we found out that we were expecting, thinking that December was going to feel like it was light years away. I've never quite understood when I heard "older" people talking about how time flies until now. I blinked and it is almost time for him to be here. I am so glad we decided to do the 4d sonogram lastweek. To see him move and pucker his "Sara" lips makes me smile. It is amazing that he already has me wrapped around his little finger. I HAVENT EVEN MET HIM YET!!!! To see him open his eyes and bite on his funny little arm is just such a miracle. He even has hair...HAIR!!!!
This time of year has always been Sara and I's favorite time. We absolutely love halloween and getting into our awesome costumes(Always saras ideas!) and spending time with our friends. When he gets here things are going to change but I think this process has made both of us better. I am going to miss staying out till 5 am on halloween and hanging out with a bunch of cross-dressers at the Waffle House. But knowing that he is almost here I can only think about the years of him getting to wear silly costumes and taking him out to Trick or Treat. I dont know when I changed but I have. I guess my thoughts are more just rambling this time but I am so excited...most of y'all already know that. I love little g. I love that Sara is willing to through this for and with me. Its going to be life changing...but..I am totally ready for that. Is it Decemeber yet??!!

Bride-Associates Baby Shower

2009-10-29T12:37:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, the girls I work with threw me a "Pamper The Prego" baby shower! It was so much fun. We had fun playing dress up, drinking tea, eating tons of sweets and I received some great spa gift items (for Mommy-time after Little Graham arrives).

Thanks girls for a great Sunday afternoon. I love you guys.

Gretchen, Sarabeth, Chelsey, Caroline & Suzann

All Dolled Up!

Beautiful Tablescape

We had fun making door hangers as one of the games we played!

Delicious Treats! Cheesecakes, Brownies, Cookies, Creme Brulee, Espresso Creme Cups!

Tea-Time! Look at how cute the table is!!!

Thank you also to PattyCakes and A Twist of Tea for your great hospitality!

Sono-Graham

2009-10-27T16:40:00.000-05:00

YAY... we had our 4D "sono-graham" today!! We loved seeing our little guy and we think that Little Graham has a lot of both of us in his face.

Like his mommy, Little Graham's face is perfectly split in half....
From half of his nose up to his forehead: Graham (Daddy)
From half of his nose down to his chin: Sara (Mommy)

It's amazing to me because this is exactly how I am with my parents. From my nose up, I look like my Dad. From my nose down, I look exactly like my Mom.

I love how Little Graham has Graham's beady eyes, cro-magnon and forehead.
I love how he has my detailed upper lip and round chin AND chubby cheeks.

It was so nice to see him -- it's been since 18 weeks!!! We can't wait to meet him in person.

To watch the videos, simply click on these links:

Sono-Graham
You can see his face -- the cord is in front of it.

Sono-Graham Part II
Face again

Sono-Graham Part III
Face with lots of movement -- he opens his hand and you can see his whole arm.

Sono-Graham Part IV
Face with him sucking on his arm... I don't know if he's found his hand yet.

Sono-Graham Part V
Little Grahams foot -- who's toes does he have? We think he has a slightly longer second toe than his big toe... but NOT as long as his mommy's.

Enjoy! We can't wait for him to meet all of you.

My AWESOME Win!!

2009-10-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

So, last night I attended the Metroplex Baby Best & Hottest Products Event. This event is for DFW mom's to go and check out products before they are released to the general product (some product have already been released). The cost to attend is $65.00 for VIP in which you get more items in your gift-bag, you get in earlier (to check out the items) and you get the choose your numbers first.

So, they let us in at 6pm (on the dot -- the doors were literally locked until then). We (Dena and me) check in and get a VIP name tag. Then we go and check out the goods. They have some really great things, but we were already pretty familiar with the products because you can view them on their website here. Then, we wait for about 45 minutes, until the other mom's are let in to the event.

At about 6:45pm they let us know how we will be picking our order. OH, in order to go and pick a featured item, you get a number from 1-105 and that is your choosing order. So, they say that they will release us by table to go and pick a ballon. Once we pick a ballon we have to WAIT to open it... we go and get dinner that was provided. Once everyone is through the food lines we get to open the package that is holding down the balloons. Inside there is 4 different mini candy bars with numbers on them. They spin a wheel and what ever picture the wheel lands on is your number. The wheel stopped on a Special Dark Candy Bar and I was number 22 -- WHICH IS AWESOME (because it's out of 105).

So, then they take mom's up to pick their items in fives. I had previously made a list of the items we'd wanted but I was sure because I was number 22, my number one item, a Britax Infant Car Seat would be taken. Sooner than I know it, it's my turn!!! I go up with 5 other women and the woman in front of me is pregnant too and the car seat is still there, so I'm pretty convinced that she's going to snag it... but NO... she goes for the baby monitor!?!?!? My number is up... I walk over to the Britax Infant Car Seat and ask if it's been taken and....

IT WASN'T!!! YAY...

We officially have a car seat now... and can stop worrying about it. I also got some great things in my grab bag, so over all it was totally worth $65.00. Our car seat is the Britax Infant Chaperone Carrier and normally retails for $229.99. It is one of the best car seats in the market (the only reason we didn't register for it to begin with was the price). We are SO excited... now we just have to figure out how to install it but Graham is going to take it up to the station one day because they have an officer reserved for checking these things out.

Here are some additional photos from the evening:

My friends - Dena & Stephanie at the event with what they choose!

Our Co-ed Baby Shower

2009-10-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was our co-ed baby shower, that was graciously hosted by my best friend Sybil and her mom, Mrs. Moore! It was SO much fun... the food was amazing, the game was on (for the guys) and Sybil even made Graham participate by putting on a baby outfit (see photo below).

It meant more to us that everyone was there to celebrate with us! We got some adorable outfits for our little guy and some other great gifts as well.

We have two more to go... one is being given on Sunday to us by the girls I work with and then my girls-only, family shower will be on November 7th and is hosted by my sister-in-law, Cheri. I can't wait!!! These are so fun but also exhausting.

The "preggo" girls!

My husband never ceases to amaze me! I would have never thought he would have done this... he is so fun and adorable!

Maternity Photos Password

2009-10-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

So, Natali has posted MOST of our maternity photos from mine and Graham's State Fair Day and some fun ones from our private in-studio shoot too!! I think the only one that is missing is the "cravings" photo that I did... it is adorable but she didn't include it (so it may not have turned out very well).

Here's how to log in and check them out:

****NOTE: If you are at work... turn down the volume as the website has music****
Step 1: Enter www.natsphotography.com to the search bar above.
Step 2: Click on the "Enter Site" link on the far left of the main page
Step 3: Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Clients"
Step 4: Enter the password "babyq" in the box and then hit submit.

There are 68 photos on now.... so you can sit though them, or scroll through them by waiving your mouse over the main photo and a scroll list will be on the right.

My favorites are:
8, 11, 22, 26, 32, 35, 41, 48, 52, 54, 58, 60, 64, & 65 -- although I love all of them! These are especially special!

What are your favorites... please reply to this post by hitting "comment" and let us know?!

Sneek Peak of Maternity Photos!

2009-10-15T13:29:00.000-05:00

So, Natali was gracious enough to send me a few maternity photos from the State Fair... as a sneek peak for all of you! I've seen a few more than what I'm posting but they will all be uploaded on Friday and I will post the link with the password then. We're doing two seperate galleries, one will be for the public to view (which I'll post on Friday) and one will be for my girls-only crowd - which I'll share privately with everyone at my girls-only shower.

We have had such a great week and I love being pregnant this week... what a change from 20 weeks ago... when I couldn't stand it!!

His furniture is here and Sybil and I put together his crib and were very successful!! Graham and I are putting together the rest of his room tonight and will post finished pictures soon.

32 Week Update!

2009-10-13T12:18:00.000-05:00

Wow... we are almost at 50 day's left. I remember when we were excited about 100 days left. I can't believe he'll be here in almost 2 months. Wondering what vegetable our baby is most-closely weighted towards (pictured above)? It's a Large Jicama... what ever that is?!

Today we had another appointment with our midwife, Cherie. Everything sounds great and he is a big guy. I have officially gained 20 pounds for a total of 150, as of today. It's amazing how exhausted I get carrying around this extra weight. Today I talked to Cherie about going in to labor at 37 weeks (which is technically "full-term" and would not be an emergency). Our concern is that the birthing center is going off our originally due date of December 16th -- but we are going off our first-trimester screening measurement of December 8th. This means that if we go in to labor at OUR 37 weeks (from the Dec 8th due date) we could be considered "early" since by the birthing centers date we would only be 36 weeks. But, our midwife assured me that they would have me come in and they have some tests that they could do to determine if it is actually "pre-term" labor or if he is just a little early, but still full term at 37 weeks. This makes me feel much better knowing that if this happens they won't just automatically send us to the hospital.

We had our together maternity photos at the Texas State Fair yesterday. We really had a great time with Natali and the ONE PHOTO she did show us we loved. I can't wait to see more of them... but Natali wants to make sure they are perfect. If you are coming to Graham's shower this weekend, then we will have them to show you then.

Everyone keeps asking me why I would want to take our maternity photos at the State Fair and the main reason is that I have such special memories of attending ALMOST every year of my life with my mom. I loved waking up early, getting breakfast together, getting there before the park opens, walking around all of the exhibits, having a picnic lunch and riding the Scrambler with my mom. I can't wait to share these special memories with Little Graham! But, other reasons include that it is typical "Dallas" -- the city we love so much and that they were so fun and different than boring 'in-studio together' maternity photos.

We've almost finished his room! The walls are painted, the ceiling is complete with painted clouds and an awesome cloud light from Ikea, the dimmer switch is installed. His furniture comes in tomorrow but we'll pick it up on Thursday. My dad is sewing our curtains from our perfect-green matching fabric we found for a steal at Ikea. We just steamed cleaned his carpet yesterday. So, everything is ready to set up when we get his furniture on Thursday! I will post pictures PRONTO... I promise because I am so excited to show you.

I'm losing sleep because this weekend is Graham's co-ed shower and Nina is coming in town all the way from California to celebrate with us. We can't wait to see everyone!!

There's An Interactive Doll Inside of Me!

2009-10-08T15:02:00.001-05:00

Recently Graham and I visited www.spinningbabies.com which is the coolest website to Belly Map and find out where you baby is located (like our midwife does). Once again, we have to do this because we don't get to see our little guy each appointment via sonogram. So, we found out that he is Left Occiput Anterior... which is exactly where he is suppose to be right now. Granted that he could turn and move more because I am told that he won't move in to his permanent position until about 33-34 weeks. Let's cross our fingers and hope that he stays where he is!!

Now that we know where lowercase g is located, I know that when I feel a huge buldge coming from my left side near my lungs, it's his hiney!! Graham taps on the emerging bulge and says "I'm spanking your butt"... haha; such a goof. The biggest surprise is when I rub on the left side of my belly this now wakes him up and he starts kicking on the right side near my lungs. It kinda makes him cranky but it's SO neat knowing that he reacts to my rubbing and is interactive now!!!

We have been working hard on getting his room finished before company comes to see it next weekend for our post co-ed shower party (and for Nina coming in town). We have it painted and the furniture comes in next Wednesday and we have to go get it in Flower Mound. We still have to paint the clouds on his ceiling, which I'm a little nervous to do, and get in the cloud light that I ordered off Ebay. The playroom is coming along nicely too... I'll post photos soon... I promise!

Finally, I took my private in-studio photos yesterday with Natali! They were SO much fun and I will post these the link once I receive it from her. I know I'm doing them a little early BUT I didn't want to risk getting stretch marks or being tired (which hasn't caught back up to me yet) or take the risk of feeling any less beautiful because I'm gaining so much weight. Graham and I take our maternity photos together at the State Fair on Monday. Let's cross our fingers that it doesn't rain.

29 Weeks -- 11 More To Go!!!

2009-09-23T17:49:00.000-05:00

Graham Alden is now the weight of a Butternut Squash... pick one up at your local Grocery Store and check it out.

We had another appointment with our midwife, Monday. Everything looks great; normal strong heartbeat, good blood pressure, perfect fundal height, etc. You may not believe me when I say I'm gaining weight but you can believe it's true when the midwife asks how much I weigh this month and the next comment out of her mouth is that I've had a "growth spurt". HAHA... I've gained 8 pounds this month ALONE... wow... total weight gained during pregnancy 18 pounds. I'm hoping to stick with my initial goal of only gaining 25 pounds but its not like I'm counting the calories or anything.

DUM...DUM...DUM... also at this check up they took my blood for the Glucose Challenge Test. It turns out that my blood sugar level was 150 and they said that they want pregnant women in the 120's. I had to go back today, Wednesday, for a clearer test. Last night, after midnight I couldn't eat or drink ANYTHING, which is really hard because I get so thirsty at night. Last night I actually had a horrible heartburn breakout and ended up sleeping upright. Anyways, so I had to be at the birthing center at 9am and then drew my blood and I had to drink a Lemon-Lime 100% Gluclose Drink and then I had to wait around for my blood to be drawn each hour for 4 hours. Yes, I have 4 needle sticks in my arms... ouchie. Luckily, my sister was there to keep my company for those four hours... the time really went by quickly. The drink isn't all that bad... it tastes like a melted popsicle and makes you really thirsty -- but no water! So, I'll repost tomorrow the results... if I have Gestational Diabetes or not. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Also, on Monday, Graham and I picked up our custom bedding at Ooh Baby in Allen. It is adorable and so much better than I anticipated. I just love Ooh Baby and the staff is always so friendly. I'll post some photos of it soon.

A lot is coming up... my mom and sister are coming over to stencil the play loft area and tape off his room. Then my dad and Lynda are coming to paint both rooms. Then Little Graham's furniture will come in and then our co-ed shower is in less than one month. Wow -- time is flying by.

Happy Fall Everyone!

No One Asked Our Opinions!

2009-09-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

Hi there, Cooper here, Graham & Sara's oldest son! Baylee, my little sister, and I were just talking about how weird things have been lately. Recently, they've been accruing all of this stuff in the front bedroom and the closet is almost full. Baylees' not too happy about it either, since that's HER room. Also, they've been cleaning like crazy. I finally get the carpet just the way I like it... nice and dog-smelling... and they mess everything up with something called a steam cleaner (thanks Uncle Matt for bringing that over). My mom sleeps a lot more lately, but we have been going on a lot more walks than normal, which is nice. Oh, don't tell mom, but she's gaining some weight! Dad has been pointing at mom's stomach and saying "Baylee" -- it's the weirdest thing... I swear they are saying "Baby" but Baylee doesn't want to believe me.... and they call me chubby!

But... if this 'baby' thing is true... why didn't anyone ask us?! I personally liked being an only child and then about 4 years ago they had to go and bring Baylee home... so I don't think there's anymore room left for another puppy or baby!

I guess it wouldn't be so bad, upon second thought. Maybe the new puppy (or baby) will be kinda funny and want to play with me all the time?! Maybe I can help him walk for the first time (but, I may get my hair pulled... so nevermind).

Oh... mom's coming back... I'd better go... I'll keep you posted on any other weird details!

Let Me Count The Ways....

2009-09-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

In my last post I think I mentioned that I'm getting used to (and settled in) to being pregnant. But, I wanted to give everyone a realistic glance, if you will, of the actual pregnancy symptoms I'm currently experiencing. Enjoy the following list:

1. I can't breathe. Our little guy is so large I physically have to push him down to breathe sometimes - then it feels like my sides are going to explode.

2. I'm hungry all the time. I can't eat very much because everything is pushing my stomach up, so I get fuller faster but hungrier right after I feel full.

3. I'm not sleeping well at night. I think that I get my full 8 hours but if you know me... I need a lot more. I think this is actually a good side-effect though because, like I've been told, "it's preparing you for motherhood!"

4. I have heartburn, but only at night, right before bed.

5. I feel like I always have to pee. I swear that lowercase g has moved in a treadmill and is running laps on my bladder.

6. My stomach is getting ichy because my skin is stretching.

7. I feel like a BOAT.

8. The skin on my face is a little out-of-whack. Mainly just near my chin but I'm used to it only happening about once a month and now out of no where there will be an attack.

9. I have sinus pressure now when it rains (or when it's sunny for that matter).

10. My boobs are huge, although not sore anymore - this just adds to the BOAT feeling.

11. New feelings of doubt, anxiety and fear are arising as our due date approaches.

12. Happiness, excitement and weird spurts of energy set in when I'm not feeling anxiety. (90% #12 + 10% #11).

13. My bellybutton has officially popped and I don't think it can get any larger, although my MOM seems to think otherwise. It's so gross!

14. Tendon's in my stomach hurt when I sleep, try to get dressed or put on my shoes (which is becoming more and more difficult -- don't even get me started on shaving). My hips also hurt as he is pushing them outward for preparation of labor (sarcastic: yay!).

15. And finally, I actually had to ROCK twice to get off the couch yesterday.

Alot's Been Going On Lately...

2009-09-12T12:36:00.000-05:00

I have entered the THIRD TRIMESTER and our little guy is now shares the weight of a Chinese Cabbage at 2 1/4 POUNDS! It's amazing to think I am carrying around something that doesn't weight ounces anymore... this time is going by fast now, just like everyone says.

I attended my first La Leche League meeting the other day. It was actually a little weird for me. I say this because the group is so new and I expected to learn something, but I felt I could have taught the class. I think the root of the problem (not that it's a problem) is that my mom purchased "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" for me BEFORE we were even pregnant and I've read it now twice. I am SO committed to Breastfeeding, I refuse to be conquered because of my lack-of-knowledge. Also, I thought the classes were for newborns and younger children but the instructor had her 4-year-old son in attendance and he was very disruptive. Luckily, there's another LLL class in my area, so I'm going to attend this one also so that I can decide what the best option for lowercase g and me is.
Graham and I attended our first Bradley Class with Natural Beginnings in Richardson. I was actually nervous about attending this class but also excited to be educated about the process of labor. The Bradley Method is also called the "Husband Coached Childbirth" so the class is really for Graham because I'm pretty sure I'm going to forget anything I've learned while in the thick of labor. Bradley is also the opposite of Lamaze; Lamaze teaches you to focus on quick repetitive breathing and Bradley teaches you to use deep-breathing and relaxing techniques to get you through contractions. So, the class is six-weeks and we didn't get to attend the first class but we can make it up. But, we really enjoyed it! Right now we are trying to work on relaxing together. Graham and I DO love on each other (such as hugging and cuddling) but Bradley suggests that the husband constantly stay in contact with their wives and feel out any tension during labor. This was hard for us to do because Graham and I wrestle and play together so much... in relaxation, I thought he was going to hurt me by using a pressure point or sticking his fingers in my ribs. He didn't, so it will take us a little while to get where I can relax WHILE Graham is touching me.

I also had to go see my midwife yesterday, unexpectedly. I came down with a UTI and they are concerned that I am going to in pre-term labor (I guess some women can't tell the difference between labor and a bladder infection?!). It's scary thinking that pre-term labor is a distinct possibility for us now (because of how many weeks we are) but it's also reassuring to know that little g will be with us whenever he is ready. I'm also a little comforted in knowing that if our little one was to join us early he most likely will be O.K. The hardest part would be leaving him in the NICU. But, on to some positive thoughts!

Our first shower is coming up very quickly and we're SO excited. We can't wait to see everyone and celebrate with them!!!

26 Weeks | 98 Days!

2009-09-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

Graham Alden is now the length of an English Cucumber! Wow -- he's really growing now.

Recently, our friend Sybil gave us her stethascope to better hear our little one but, it's so quite we don't typically hear him as well as we'd hoped. He's starting to move a lot more now when I get hungry (I think it's because he can hear my tummy growling).

We've also recently found out that our two friends, Pat & Veronica (which are due on ALMOST the same date) and Nina & Jason are BOTH having stinky-inky girls. Congratulations guys! Our little one will have his hands full with both Gabriella and Kaily.

I thought it was interesting to find out that this week Graham's ears are so sensitive that he can hear conversations between other people and myself. Thank Goodness -- I'm sure for a while there he thought I was crazy! Haha...

Finally, upon receiving the 26 week e-newsletter, I thought this comic was hilarious for how I am feeling right now.

Grahams Thoughts: Issue 4

2009-08-31T20:45:00.000-05:00

So after several equations, bar graphs, and long division problems I have precisely calculated our little boy being here in less than 100 days! How FREAKING exciting!! I know I know...to some of you 100 days probably still seems like a long time but I don't wanna hear it. I am gonna tell you..I am pretty scared about bringing him home the first day/night. I will probably not sleep at all...for the 1st week...or 2! Anyways...I still get so excited about feeling and now SEEING him kick through her shirt. Racheal Zoe project coming on now..IM OUT

My Inspiring Friend Dena

2009-08-26T23:21:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to post a quick blog about how great my friend Dena is! She is so inspiring because she is such a savvy mom and we can all learn to be a little more savvy (especially when having a baby). She is also so giving with advice and hand-me-downs. She invited Graham and I over for dinner and we left with a car full of great items that we are so happy she choose to share with us.

She has also tuned me in to giveaways, Metroplex Baby and consignment sales like:
www.divineconsign.net
www.rhealana.com
http://nrichlandhills.jbfsale.com/

Thanks Dena for being so helpful through this whole pregnancy! I am so lucky to have a friend like you.

Our 4th Midwife Appointment

2009-08-25T17:05:00.001-05:00

Little Graham is the size of a Rutabega this week! WOW -- he's getting big.

Today we had our fourth appointment at The Birth & Woman's Center. This time we were able to meet with Cherie, which was a great opportunity. At the BWC there is, luckly, two midwives. Throughout our pregnancy, at our appointments, we will have either met with Cherie or Carol and we normally meet with Carol, so today was a treat. We would be happy with either Midwife during labor though, as they are both patient and as excited about our pregnancy as we are (and I'm sure it gets exhausting acting excited to EACH pregnant couple that comes in).

During the appointment they measured our little guy and determined he is exactly where he needs to be. They took the normal blood pressure test and we got to hear his strong heartbeat with the Doppler. The heartbeat part is always mine and Graham's favorite because it is the equal to us seeing him on a sonogram (we don't get to see him again until he has arrived, unless there is a problem). Then we sat and talked with Cherie. I asked questions about ticks (since I got one during camping) and she made a note but advised us not to worry because Lyme disease can only be transmitted if the tick is attached to your skin for over a week!! WHO KNEW?! Then we asked her about another recommendation for a Bradley class that was in Fort Worth because the one they advise is all the way in Dallas. Finally we chatted with her about using a Doula (or Birth Assistant) and she calmed our fears that if Graham and I are knowledgeable about birth and labor that Graham will make a great labor coach for me! Plus, I will be surrounded by my mom, my sister, Graham's mom, my sister-in-law and my best friend Sybil --- which four out of five have already been through this process... so they are sure to be experts!

Finally, we discovered that the next appointment is in one month and then after that we will need to go back to see the Midwife twice a month... where did the time go?! It seems like just yesterday we were setting up all of the appointment dates and I was thinking, "It's going to take forever until we have to come up here twice a month." Before the next appointment I have to drink this horrible looking orange glucose drink. I'll let you know how that goes... it's never good if the Midwife says, "I've heard it's better if you refrigerate it."

Official Name Change

2009-08-21T10:15:00.000-05:00

Ok my Dad has finally come around and has given us his blessing to use our family name. He originally didn't want us to use it because no one that has been given this name has liked it.... but WE love it and think it is a great way to pay homage to my side of the family.

Our little one's name with officially be:

Graham Alden Quattlebaum

We *LOVE* it... and hope that little G does too!

Jitter-Bug Me :-(

2009-08-21T10:02:00.000-05:00

Something weird happened last night... I've somehow started a routine of getting a good nights rest every other night. So, I just figured that last night was going to be one of the good nights. However, I was awaken, as I am every night, to use the restroom. Normally when I return to bed I quickly go back to sleep. Last night it was horrible, I was tossing and turning, my mind was racing and I couldn't sit still. It was literally like I drank two grande mocha's. My breathing was super fast too so I first tried to slow this down. Didn't work... then I tried to calm my racing mind... Didn't work. After about an hour, I told myself that I wasn't going to toss and turn so I made myself lay in the same place for as long as it took me to go back to sleep. It worked -- although it made me cranky. It was like someone was telling me how uncomfortable I was and I was trying to argue that if I didn't lay still that I would never be able to go back to sleep. Finally, I did fall back to sleep.

I don't know if this is normal every once in a while -- but enough with the weird symptoms of pregnancy. I don't think I can take any more surprise symptoms with someone else telling me it's 'normal'. I'm finally settling in to being little G's incubator but PLEASE DON'T TAKE THE FEW GOOD NIGHTS OF SLEEP I HAVE LEFT IN MY LIFE!!!

Retro Baby Registry

2009-08-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

I simply couldn't resist registering at The Retro Baby once I found the site... once you go, you'll know why too. Who wouldn't want their baby sporting these vintage-looking onesies and tees?!

I know I promised that we were only going to register at Babies R'Us but Graham and I couldn't stop ourselves... but this is the last place... I promise! Haha...

The weblink direct to our registry is:
View My Registry

Or, as always, you can search for us by name!

Enjoy the adorable-ness!

I'm a WINNER ... finally!

2009-08-14T12:04:00.000-05:00

YAY! So, one of my favorite blogs, that pulls on my heart strings (obviously because of the name), is Go Graham Go. You can view the website by clicking on my 'fan' button below, or you can see it here too:

http://www.gograhamgo.com/2009/07/sweets-n-treats-for-your-kids-ears.html

Anyways, my friends Teresha and Brandy have been winning things like crazy on a few blogs so I decide to give it a go... what do we have to lose? I was checking my email and we've won a Sweets-n-Treats for Your Kids Ears CD! I'm so excited to get this CD in and start listening. It looks so adorable and actually has good, positive messages for children of all ages.

I will re-post when I've received the CD and give a better review of it then.

What an awesome day and an awesome prize. Thanks Sweets-n-Treats!

Sybil + Baby Movement

2009-08-08T19:32:00.000-05:00

So, Graham and I have been feeling our little one move for a while now (See "Baby Movement" post below) but I can't ever get him to move around other people. It seems as though he mostly moves after 8pm; but before that its just random movement though out the day. We've even waited at Graham's parents house for over an hour trying to get him to move (by Graham talking to him and thumping him) but NO MOVEMENT. But as soon as Graham and I are at home on the couch he is flipping and kicking so hard!! HOWEVER, on Thursday we watched my BFF Sybil graduate from Nursing School and after wards we went out to Dave & Busters. At 9pm he really started moving around but his movements were still a little random. I told Sybil he was moving and she came over to me to try to feel him. After about a minute he kicked her hand. I felt relieved that someone else (other than Graham and I) finally got to experience the abuse I've been feeling for weeks now!!! HAHA. Sybil was amazed at the feeling and we're so excited that he's finally introduced himself to someone new.

This is a picture of me at Dave & Busters trying to show off my bump. It's a lot bigger than it looks in this picture:

Also, some stranger in public finally noticed my bump too! I've been waiting and waiting and I've been in this stage where people can't tell if I just have some chub around my mid-section or if it's a baby. Nevertheless, I was ordering food at Panera Bread, getting ready for a meeting with my friend Natali, and the server asked me if I was expecting! I was so shocked... I almost shouted YES. Ever since then people have been asking all the time; I must have grown a lot over night?!

Sickly Me?!

2009-07-29T11:27:00.000-05:00

So... for the past three days I've been feeling not so great. I've got the sniffles followed by the "runny-one-second...plugged-up-another", scratchy/sore throat, head congestion, no fever but I just don't like feeling this way! I know I SHOULD go to the doctor but what can he give me that won't affect Little Graham?! I was hoping that yesterday was the peak of this and that I would start feeling better today but no progress... I'm so sad because I never get sick.

On a more humorous note -- Little Graham was really moving and kicking up a storm yesterday after we had dinner. Big Graham went over to talk to my belly and he laid his head down and Little G kicked him so hard -- in the face! It was so funny and Graham was amazed at the feeling of our baby swish-swoshin' in there.

Lastly, we had another Midwife appointment on Monday and things are looking great. He's growing exactly where he should be and his heart is very strong. I can't believe that we only have 1 month and 1 week until we're in our 3rd trimester. Graham and I can't wait to meet him!

Product Review: "Waiting for Baby: A Pregnancy Memory Album"

2009-07-18T17:20:00.000-05:00

As soon as I found out we were pregnant (the next day... with Sybil) I went to my closest Barnes and Noble and bought two books. The first one was, of course, "What to Expect When Expecting" the second was "Waiting for Baby, A Pregnancy Memory Album". I really wanted to purchase an album that was beautiful, would stand the test of time and that would have preemptive questions that we could answer about different things. At Barnes & Noble I stood there contemplating my decision on which Memory Album to buy. The other ones looked flimsy but the Waiting for Baby Album was beautiful and a little expensive at $19.99. I was, however, a little unsure of the questions it would as me because it had wrapping around it, so I couldn't look though it before purchasing. Never the less, I took my two books home with me that day!

The Waiting for Baby Album is actually really beautiful. I am very happy with the cover however I did expect the paper area around the yellow cloth to be removable but it's not. Also, the bind on the book will stand the test of time.

While I think that the book and the longevity are great I do have a few issues. First, the preemptive questions are pretty great the contents are seperated in to:
1. Mother-to-be
2. Important matters
3. Body and mind
4. Preparations
5. Journal
6. Sentiments
7. Celebrations
8. Birth Story
9. The first days

However... the space to reply to the suggested topics is very small. Four lines on each topic isn't much, at least not for me. Second, in the first chapter it asks questions on family and provides a tree but I wish they would have provided a "Father-to-be" section as well; there is no room for my husbands family or for my husband to fill out any of the questions. I wanted the book to be about our pregnancy and it isn't... it's about my pregnancy and my family, how I'm feeling, what I'm nervous about. I'm trying to include Graham and his family in as much as possible but with only four lines, its difficult.

Overall Product Rating: B+
I would still suggest it to a friend, if she wasn't a large writer or one that would write a lot; one that would want the Album to be just about herself during this time.

Baby Movement & Other General Ramblings...

2009-07-15T15:35:00.001-05:00

Oh my dearest Graham... I'm glad that everyone else finds his stories so amusing (generally at my expense). But yes, we have officially felt our little guy move! My midwife said that it would be something that got my attention and make me sit up a little straighter, but it wasn't quite like that for me. It was more of... "I think that WASN'T gas". Haha... it was right under my belly button and it just felt like bubbles bursting or a flutter. That was about two weeks ago (time flies lately) and since them I can totally tell when the little guy moves now. Some times it feels like he's purposely punching or kicking me. But, I treasure it each time. It mainly happens at about 9am, 1:30pm, 4:00pm and then a lot in the evening. I can't wait to feel him have the hiccups... when does that happen?!

Other than that things have been good. I'm totally not sleepy anymore and I'm getting tons accomplished. My back and the back of my hips used to kill me but with great stretching techniques from my Prenatal Yoga instructor, those have passed. I'm having trouble sleeping now (which makes me want to cry) because I'm not used to sleeping on my sides and so I'll wake up in the middle of the night with either my hips or ears throbbing. It's horrible... and now there's this awesomeness of feeling like I can't breathe. Just walking upstairs I get out of breath. It's kinda scary but it helps to drink ice-cold water and to take deep breaths.

I can't wait for this evening because Graham's Grandmom is flying in from Arkansas and she hasn't see us in a while! I wonder if she'll think we're huge or too little. I love those people that think we're SO huge we're having twins (I wish) and then there's the other people who say "I look more pregnant than you do and I'm not even pregnant". To those people, I just smile and say "You shouldn't talk about your self that way." It has been a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE blessing to take Prenatal Yoga classes because I can compare myself to the other women who are my exact size and my exact weeks along... (note to self: you are normal! Whew).

Then tomorrow Grandmom, Graham's mom and I are going to order the custom baby bedding shown on the blog below. We may change a few things because Graham would like to incorporate dots or circles in the fabric, as well.

Then next Tuesday we get to see my sister and niece and nephews and we haven't seen them since we told them we're expecting! I can't wait for everyone to see how big we've gotten (even though I know we still have a long way to go).

Until next time...

Grahams Thoughts: Issue 3

2009-07-14T22:44:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have written anything so I thought I would write a about a few more experiences. Sara has been saying she can feel him moving and she gets so excited. The other day day when he was awake and practicing his UFC moves on her uterus I put my hand on her tummy and ZZAAAPPPP!!! I swear it felt like someone shocked my finger. I think it was actually my excitement radiating into the tip of my finger as he pushed right on my finger. I yelled....I scared Sara...and then I ran around in circles. I guess it really helped bring it into reality. We laughed very hard about me scaring her and I tried to explain what I felt but she was still startled. I have felt him move a couple times since then and it is so freakin cool. Sometimes I get excited about feeling movement...and come to find out...its GAS...WHO KNEW???!! and WHY doesn't the freaking book I am reading tell me anything about the Butt Trumpet...hehe its not that bad!
I just can not wait till he is here. I know I know...everyone says enjoy these last couple of quiet months but I am ready for him to get here.

Babies "R" Us -- Our Registry

2009-06-30T18:13:00.000-05:00

So, Graham and I had an exhausting day today registering at Babies R Us. I think this is the only place we'll register because its so hard keeping track of two registries. Graham had a great time with the gun and I had fun checking things off my organized list! The registering lady at the store was amazed at how many items we registered for and she said couples normally come back 3 or 4 times before their registry is complete. Well... I just was so organized, I don't want to have to go back and register again. We mainly tried to register for everything we need/want now and as we purchase the NEED items we'll take them off our list. We also tried to have many different price points for everyone for our shower (I hate it when you print off someones registry and there's only expensive items left). We registered for many blankets and sheets and I'm sure we need all we can get of those.

We were so exhausted afterward we came home and took a long nap! We had a great day preparing for (or trying to) everything that little Graham will need.

If interested, here is our registry information:
Registrant: Sarabeth Quattlebaum -- you can also find it under Kirkman, as well
Co-Registrant: Graham Quattlebaum
Due Date: 12.08.09
Registry Number: 92532623

It's a BOY!!!

2009-06-29T15:10:00.000-05:00

Profile View (his hand is near his face)

See the Arrow?!

Look at the Arrow again!

We just got back from the doctors office and we found out we're having a BOY!! We initially went to the office for the second-part of our first-trimester screening... and everything looks great.

We got to see his brain and both hemispheres, his heart and all four areas, his face and lips, his fingers, toes, rail-road looking spine and long legs and arms! Graham and I had a great time looking all around our baby. Once she (the doctor) got around to below the waist our baby bean wasn't shy at all and opened his legs to reveal his boy parts. It was great.

We are so excited that we are having a boy. It was really what we wanted but we were still practicing our "finding out it's a girl-face" haha!! I knew the entire time it was a boy but I started listening to the few people that told us it was a girl and actually starting believing it. But, it's nice knowing how instinctful my body is.

I can't wait to meet him and I already love him that much more because we got to see him today.

His name will either be:
Graham Alden Quattlebaum (Graham is Graham (my husbands) mothers maiden name and Alden is my Dads middle name and his fathers first name.)
or...
Graham Aiden Quattlebaum

Furniture & Bedding Choices

2009-06-26T11:50:00.000-05:00

We wanted to share with you the crib, furniture and custom bedding we’ve chosen.

Girl Furniture:

Isabella – Young America Company
We LOVE how girly this furniture is and how it grows with the little one. We will also purchase the bookcase and the dresser with changing station.

Boy Furniture:

MyHaven – Young America Company
I love how masculine this crib is. This crib also grows well with our son. We will also purchase the bookcase and the dresser with the changing station.

Custom Bedding:

Pine Creek – Over The Moon Bedding

We are so excited about our bedding. This is a wonderful gift we’ve received and this the “look” we are going for. We will change certain fabrics to make anything a little softer.

OUCH!

2009-06-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

So, I just discovered one less-glamorous pregnancy effect... horrible morning back aches. Its just bad... its like right around my spine and really does hurt! I'm going to have to figure out how to relieve this pain.

2nd Midwife Appointment

2009-06-23T12:50:00.000-05:00

16 weeks now: So, this was a pretty ‘normal’ appointment, as much as checkups are concerned. We came in and talked with our midwife, Carol. I was concerned about taking a prescription they prescribed me… so we discussed the pros and cons and it really made me feel better. She is so amazing and objective. Next, we discussed why I’m not gaining any weight. She asked for my meal calendar and we got in big trouble! The first thing she said was “where are your eggs?” We’re supposed to eat at least two eggs a day for the protein. Then we learned that just because I’m making “healthy” choices they may not be the “best” choices. I’m not getting enough protein, so I need to eat more things like… eggs, peanut butter (on anything and everything), Kashi cereal, cheeses. So, I’ll update you next appointment if there’s any change on the weight!

Then we listened to the baby’s heartbeat… it is such a beautiful sound. The first time we heard the heartbeat it was so fast and this time it was much slower and a little more ‘baby-like’. We recorded it on our phones for a good 30 seconds and I can’t stop listening to it. We heard some “wooshing” noises and the midwife said that’s the baby kicking. It was great.

Before the next appointment we should get to feel our baby move. I’m waiting and sometimes I think I may feel it but then I try to be realistic and think it may just be a muscle spasm or gas. I’ll let you know when I know!

On Monday we’re hoping to find out if it’s a boy or girl at our second first-trimester screening!!!!!

Grahams Thoughts: Issue 2

2009-06-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

So last night we got home pretty late after hanging out at the lake with my family and Sara and I noticed for the first time that she is REALLY starting to show. It is pretty amazing. She wasn't wearing a loose shirt so I think we would have noticed. It's like it just formed! Anyways, I am no longer freaked out about the belly button popping out thing. I actually did not know that happened until my sister-in-laws did it. Sara has the shallowest belly button in the western hemisphere so ITS COMING!!! I already joked with her that a can will sit perfectly on her big baby bump...I think the belly button poking out will keep it from sliding off!!! Just a thought...

Wait... did we miss something?!

2009-06-21T18:50:00.000-05:00

Ok… ok… so, I’m already out of my first trimester and I thought that I would let everyone know what it was really like. No, it hasn’t been all smiles, glowy-ness and tons of energy; I was very, very nauseous ALL the time. I only actually got sick once, when I didn’t eat after taking my prenatals. But, overall if I kept eating… and eating… and eating, I didn’t feel sick. It’s a wonder the power of food. And the fact that I didn’t gain ANY weight during these infamous 3 months.

I was also tired 24/7. It was like narcolepsy. I thought that people were going to start to hate me because they’d be in mid-story and I’d just daze off (C’mon people, have shorter stories). If I didn’t get a nap each day I would be like crazy-psycho pregnant woman… not even knowing what I was truly saying. And that would be with 10 hours of sleep each night.

Lastly, I was a LITTLE emotional at times (Note: this is an opinion and if you ask Graham about my emotionalness and/or crazy-psycho-ness you may get a different answer). After moving in to our house, Graham was so exhausted after doing all of the heavy (and light) lifting and then he had to go back to work and I was left to decorate… ALL BY MYSELF. One day he came home from work and I was just sitting in the middle of the living room covered with decorations surrounding me and as he walked in I said, “You don’t even want this house!?”. He was like… “WHAT???”… I said, crying at this point, “I have to decorate and put together this entire house, by myself and if you wanted it you would decorate too.” He just stood there not quite knowing if I was kidding or serious… but he quickly gathered that since I was sobbing I wasn’t kidding. He consoled me and after about 15 minutes I snapped out of it and we laughed about how crazy I just was.

Now that all of this is behind us… we can forget all of this and move back to seeing me as glowing and energy-filled.

Save The Date!

2009-06-19T13:23:00.000-05:00

Baby Shower Dates:

We are so blessed to have so many close friends and family! Keep your eye out for one of the two invites!

Cheri's Shower: Saturday, November 7th at 10am -- It will be a beautiful brunch!

Sybil's Co-Ed Shower: Sunday, October 18th in the afternoon -- It was be a super-fun co-ed shower!

Grahams Thoughts: Issue 1

2009-06-17T21:50:00.000-05:00

Graham: I am so excited about Sara and I being pregnant. I have known for a long time that she would be a great mom and I think I’ll be a pretty good Dad. I am worried about things like what their curfew should be, how to keep them away from drugs, sex and the real devil…rock’n’roll. Those are silly things to worry about I know because they are many years away but I am not so worried about having an infant or toddler. I say this now but I really don’t like sleeping. At this moment I am excited about waking up and getting to hold or cuddle our little boy/girl. I am also super excited about having all those cool toys and another person to play soccer with me Matt and Reid..oh and Maggie.

I am also excited about seeing our dogs reactions. I think it will be very funny to watch how they are when we first come home. I think we made a very good decision on waiting this long to get pregnant. It allowed both of us to grow up a lot and experience more in order to be better parents. I really wish we didn’t have to wait another 25 WEEKS!!!

Another thing is that the prego brain is a REAL phenomenon. WoW. Some friends told me about it and I have read about it in several books but it is so weird to experience in real life! I will not use specific examples because I know that would only lead to more trouble for me so maybe after all this is over I will fill y'all in!

Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent

2009-06-17T17:50:00.001-05:00

So, I journeyed out to our local library today to find new information about babies, pregnancy and anything (and everything) else. (I actually went there for something else but I can’t stop thinking about the wonderful process my body is going though).

After spending a few hours in the pregnancy section I came across a book titled “Baby Catcher” by Peggy Vincent. The subtitle stating “Chronicles of a Modern Midwife”. I was instantly hooked and couldn’t wait to get home to begin reading. On a side note, I also rented “The Complete Organic Pregnancy,” “1000 Questions about your Pregnancy,” “Better Food for Pregnancy,” and “The Birth Partner” for Graham; more on those in another post.

After two hours I’m about 1/3 of the way through and I’m amazed at all of the birth stories from the 60’s and 70’s. The reason for this post is that I wanted to share with you a very interesting quote from the book:

Page 58 (Peggy, a RN, having a conversation with her attending physician about the new ‘fad’ of birthing centers):

“Normal birth is a retrospective diagnosis,” he [the doctor] said. “No birth is normal until after the fact. All births are complicated until proven otherwise.” Straightening his shoulders, he walked into the room.
Dumbfounded, I [Peggy] stood in the corridor staring at his back. I realized that he had just provided me with the definition of the difference between doctors and midwives. Midwives believe birth is normal till proven otherwise. Doctors don’t.

This part of the book really spoke to me and I think this a great time to share that Graham and I have decided that our birth is one that will not be had in a hospital. We will be giving birth at a birthing center called “The Birth & Womens Center” (birthcenter.net) here in Dallas, TX. There are many reasons that we have personally chosen this route; however, we simply ask all of our family and friends to surround us with positive reinforcement and birth stories. We are not interested in hearing about that ‘one friend that’s a friend of a friend’ horrible birth story. We would really like to have a positive pregnancy and positive birthing experience. We know that there will be times of pain in both, but we will experience those in our own terms. Thank you for sharing in this journey with us!

More to come when I finish the book in the next few days…

Telling Our Lovies (aka Family)

2009-06-14T17:48:00.000-05:00

We waited to tell our family until after the first trimester. I heard this was the safest method, just in case of miscarriage. Luckily we didn’t have any problems but I truly pray for everyone that has. I have broken down exactly how we told each of our family members. I hope it may be helpful for anyone who doesn’t quite know how to say “We’re Expecting”.

My Dad & His Wife: Two years ago Graham and I were out at an Estate Sale and found a beautiful antique book with an old looking paper cover… the title of the book, “To Young To Be A Grandfather.” It was a bargain at $2. I would have paid more for it because my Dad always says this and it was a perfect way to tell him. We’ve moved twice with it now and when it was time to tell him I taped the sonogram picture inside and wrote a special note to my Dad. I wrapped it in paper and we gave it to him. When he unwrapped it he simply stated “Oh, how funny… I always say this”… to our amazement he didn’t quite get what we were trying to say! I told him to open the book and he was in awe of the picture he saw. It was great!!

Graham’s Family: We found out after the Pre-Easter celebration that we have each year. However, we were pregnant during the family photo we took at the Pre-Easter celebration. So, we made a Shutterfly Photo Album ($40) of all of the photos that were taken during the Easter party. The last page in the album we titled “The Fabulous 10 Quattlebaum’s” but there were only 9 of us in the photo. Under the photo we named everyone with things like “Uncle & Aunt, Great-Grandmom” and then it said “Graham, Sara & Baby Bean”. The next photo, on the next page, was the sonogram picture. The first morning we were at our summer home in Hot Springs we gave the album to Graham’s mom. She read the names at the bottom and said… “Baby Bean?”… we then instructed her to turn the page and then she saw the sonogram picture!! Everyone was so excited and cried A LOT.

My Mom & Sister: We bought a sonogram photo frame ($15) at Babies R’Us that said “Love At First Sight”. After Hot Springs we decided to stay at my sister’s house for my nephews’ 6th birthday party the next day. When we woke up the next morning, my mom came over early to help set up and we had my nephew open his birthday gifts. We gave him the fun one first… and then he opened up the gift bag with a picture frame in it. He said “Oh WOW… I picture frame” I said, “Show it to everyone”. He did and everyone’s jaw hit the floor. Priceless!

Graham and Sarabeth are PROUD to introduce....

2009-06-14T09:55:00.000-05:00

So… the cats out of the bag and all of our family and friends have been notified! We are EXPECTING and want to scream it from the roof tops. My goal for this blog is to keep everyone updated on the choices we’ve made (and will be making) to progress in our process. I’ve met two wonderful women (Teresha and Brandy) and will be borrowing ideas from their blogs as well as serving as an information-seeker of other products and ideas. Graham will post his opinion in some of the blogs, as well. We are so excited and elated about this new journey!!!

Welcome to our Blog!

2009-06-02T12:42:00.000-05:00

Graham and I are very excited about our new blog... stay tuned for updates from us about our family!