It's almost Christmas!

It's hard to believe that it's that time of year again! And let me tell you, it's a good thing Santa takes care of everything, because I have no idea where I would find the time to take care of anything right now with this new baby! Can you say, "Got your hands full?"...You bet I do! But despite the hard work, I am loving every minute of it!
McKenna is now 9 weeks old, a whopping 11 pounds 13 ounces (60%-tile) and 24.5 inches long (95%-tile)! She is getting very strong, holding her head and cooing up a storm! It boggles my mind how quickly babies grow. She got her 2 month shots on monday and we survived, though neither one of is looking forward to getting the next round!
McKenna had a blast with her aunties who were here for Thanksgiving! We all enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner (thank you, Brian) and spent the following morning hiking it off at Torry Pines Reserve. Grandma Nancy was here over this past weekend for a short visit, and Grandma Harper is arriving tomorrow for a holiday visit, then she will travel with McKenna, Izzie and I to Sacramento where we will spend the holidays. Daddy will be joining us on the 23rd since he has to work.
Izzie is healing nicely from her surgery, getting harder each day to keep her calm. She's getting a little stir crazy being cooped up all day long, but she will live. Hope all is well for you, our friends and family...have a safe holiday season and we send our love to you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here we are, Thanksgiving Day, in San Diego. Brian is hard at work in the kitchen, cookin' up some of his famous turkey day grub, Leslie is taking a nap, Greg is watching Home Alone ('tis the season!) and I have handed over baby to Auntie Heather so I can catch up on some email & blogging. I am thankful that our family is here (abd not JUST so that I have someone to hold the baby and give me time to do something else for a few minutes!). Although we are missing the big extended-family hoorah up north, we are enjoying our intimate day together! McKenna got to wear her special Thanksgiving day outfit (that lasted all of about an hour) and is loving her aunties love and attention! Izzie is recovering from her surgery and waiting patiently for her piece of the Thanksgiving Day dinner! Here are a few pics from today and the past few weeks:

Finally, an update!

OK, so it's been a little hecktic around our house for say, oh, the past 5 weeks...but here I am, finally, with an update! McKenna is thriving, getting bigger and bigger everyday. We have had lots of visitors, including Grandma Harper, Aunt Leslie and Aunt Heather, Grandpa and Gigi Rasmussen, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Sarah and lots of mommies friends from work! We are thrilled that McKenna has so many people who love her and want to know her. It really makes mom feel better knowing that although it takes a little effort to see eachother, McKenna will be able to really know her family members, despite the distance.

Other news: We've mastered the feat of breastfeeding, we've taken our first walk at Mission Bay, after which we attempted to go out to breakfast (we made it ALMOST all the way thru the meal without a meltdown!), mom and dad got both of their flu shots in an effort to protect thier baby, dad painted the master bedroom (cause he has SO much spare time these days- ya right!), and Izzie is doing a great job as big sister (although she is scheduled for surgery on her knee next week which will leave her lame for about 2 months- just what we really need right now, huh? Gotta take care of our "first baby" though).

We are very excited that Aunt Leslie, Aunt Heather and Greg will be visiting us for Thanksgiving!! It will be a full house, but it will be nice to have a quiet Thanksgiving here in San Diego. It will give McKenna a chance to bond with her two favorite aunties! Shortly after their visit, Grandma Wachtman will be here from Arizona and then the following week, Grandma Harper will visit from Washington! Wow, such a busy holiday season! Let's not forget our travels to Sacramento- we will be visiting for Christmas, I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Thank you again for all of your love, support and prayers for our family!! We love you!

Here are some random pictures from over the past month:

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our beautiful baby girl, McKenna Alexis Lowe, arrived early, born October 5, 2009, weighing in a 7 pounds, 9 ounces and about 21 inches long. We are thrilled to have her here! Mom, dad and baby are all doing well and look forward to having you all meet her soon! Be sure to get your flu shots!!!

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our beautiful baby girl, McKenna Alexis Lowe, arrived early, born October 5, 2009, weighing in a 7 pounds, 9 ounces and about 21 inches long. We are thrilled to have her here! Mom, dad and baby are all doing well and look forward to having you all meet her soon! Be sure to get your flu shots!!!

One last hoorah!

So this past weekend, Brian planned a weekend getaway for us to beautiful (and hot!) Palm Springs for our "babymoon". We started the day by dropping Izzie off at her friends house, which was very nice- no responsibility this weekend! We headed off to the desert and by the time we got there...I think it was somewhere around 107 degrees out! We took a tram ride up to the top of Mount San Jacinto where the temperature dropped a good 25 degrees up at the top...so that was nice! By the time we got off the mountain, it was 112 degrees outside. Surprisingly, it was not so bad, probably because it was dry heat. So we went and cooled off over burgers and milkshakes at Ruby's Diner....OMG, SO GOOD! After lunch, we headed to the hotel where Brian treated us to a massage at the day spa...much needed! Once we settled in our hotel room, we rested, and later that night had a nice dinner and actually headed to bed early. The following morning we had a little breakfast and then guess what!?!? We went back to sleep! I haven't done that in forever- nor will I likely do that again for a very long time! I loved it! All-in-all, it was a very restful and relaxing weekend and I appreciate all of the planning my dear hubby did for us! Thanks, baby!!

The expecting couple

31 weeks and 4 days

So this weekend, we took a Childbirth Preparation class...what it should have been called is "Come one, come all, and let us scare the shit out of you!" class. Actually, it wasn't ALL bad, but man, it sure was a lot to take in in 2 days time. I think we will be ok, though. Can it really be that much more difficult that raising a puppy?!?! hahaha...just kidding! But seriously, neither one of us are really too freaked out (yet)...just gonna roll with the punches and take it all in stride. In the meantime, we will enjoy the next 8 weeks and sleep as much as possible!!!

Here is baby...31 weeks and 4 days today!

10 weeks to go!

Saturday Brian and I headed to Long Beach for the day. Isn't he handsome!?!?!

Do I look fat in this shirt?!?!

Here is the latest pic...can't wait to show everyone the belly in person. See you all in September!!! Miss you guys!!!

4-D Ultrasound at 27 weeks!!!

So today as an early birthday present from my step-dad Greg (thanks, Greg!), we went to get one of those 4-D ultrasounds done while my sister Leslie is in town. Today is 27 weeks and 1 day, and our little girl appears to be growing right on schedule! The only measurement that wasn't right on with her gestational age was, I'll give you one guess...her legs!! They are little long! Imagine that! So long, in fact, that they we up at her ears (again)! She's got the whole "forward fold" move down pat, girls! She'll be joining our yoga classes in no time! She also appears to have one beautiful set of kissers, too! I can't wait to lay a big kiss on them!!!

After a long day at work....

Brian made it home from his trip last night, and for those of you who have not heard yet, they had a great time~! He had a blast with his best friend Chuck as they expored Montreal and Toronto, ate great food and had lots of wonderful, mouth watering adult beverages, too, I'm sure. While out and about one night, my dear hubby lost his cell phone, so of course the first thing he did this morning was go to the store and replace it. So here is the first baby belly shot with the new iphone, 26 weeks and 2days...

She's all legs!!!

Well, we had another check up this morning, and everything looks great!!! Dr. Cantu couldn't resist printing this picture for us, she was totally stretched out, check out these long ole legs!!!

100 days to go!!!

As Izzie and I were out walking in this sweltering heat today (ok, it was a whopping upper eighty-something today, but man, you could have fooled me!), I realized "OMG, 100 days to go!". That is, in about 14 weeks, we will have a baby in this house! Me, a mother!?!? Now I'm freakin' out. OK, not really freakin' out, but maybe a little concerned that time seems to be flying by right now!! It IS getting pretty exciting though...just lots to get done still!

25 weeks and counting!

So yesterday was 25 weeks and Big Daddy Brian was off to Canada for a week! So before he left, I asked him to take a quick pic, and here is what you get from a 4:30 am photo shoot before going to work! More to come soon...

Picture Day!!!

So, last thursday was 24 weeks and our little one had a photo shoot at the doctor's office! Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a gymnast on our hands, check out her feet up by her face!!! We met with Dr. Cantu and she states that everything is coming along perfectly, including my weight and sugars! Yeah! She did say that I need to eat more red meat as my iron is on the low end of normal, but that is very common in pregnancy! So, I'm thinkin' Filet Mignon, anyone???


And here is her close up:


x

Another beauty...

Here I am at 23 weeks and 3 days prego with baby girl...getting a little bigger. Just thought I would post another picture for fun. We are off to the beach with the Wachtman Family!! Happy Sunday!

Wake up, it's time to take your picture!!

So today is 22 weeks, and I have been reminding Brian that I wanted to take a picture this week...so before I was even able to finish my cup of coffee (1/2 caff, of course) or let me puffy morning face disappear, Brian had me posing for this beauty...

And the results are in!!!

The Ultrasound!

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting a HEALTHY baby GIRL!!!! The ultrasound this morning was amazing! Brian and I got to see some pretty awesome stuff! A normal brain, healthy heart, two kidneys, 10 fingers n' toes and although I think there was a split second of "oh..." when we realized there was no penis in site, we quickly smiled with excitement for our amazing little girl!!! We celebrated the wonderful news (and our 3rd anniversary) by enjoying brunch at the Hash House in Hillcrest, then spent the rest of day "shopping" for baby stuff. I say "shopping" because we didn't buy anything, just spent time browsing at all this stuff we are going to have to aquire over the next few months...very exciting!!! Take a look at our little bun in the oven...





Baby girl giving us a "Thumbs Up" that everything is A-OK in there!

19 weeks 5 days...Big US day!!!

So here I am...wish I could say "I'm stickin it out", but I'm not! We're off to the ultrasound!!! Wish us luck!!!

Just for fun...

I decided to wait to post another picture of my baby bump until I'm a little further along...so for fun I thought I would post this hillarious cartoon I found the other day...I must say, however, I have been pretty lucky in this department, so far...

Just for Gretchen!!! heheeheee! More to come soon!

Wow! What an amazing experience!! I just love technology! No ultrasound today but I got to hear a nice, strong heartbeat and lots of movement on the doppler today! I believe the midwife's word were "better start thinking about child proofing your house!"...sounds like an active child already~!!! Still can't believe there's a baby in there! Yeah!!!

So...in case you are wondering, here is a little "before" shot! Well, ok, not exactly before, but it's a "now" shot! That is, 14 1/2 weeks pregnant...and honestly, most of that belly is probably all of the food I ate while in Seattle visiting my best friend for the past 3 days! Tomorrow is my next doctor's appointment, so hopefully I will get a new US picture to post! Wish me luck that all goes well at the appointment!!!