Emily's directing debut!

Okay so I was looking through my pictures and stumbled across this video that Emily had taken of Katie, it made me laugh for several reasons. The first reason is because apparently I was oblivious to the fact that Emily was taping us and the second is when Em smacked Katie Bella in the face with the camera...too funny!
Hope you all enjoy!

Katie Bella's blessing day!

Well she actually managed to sit through an hour of church without getting completely cranky~

Halloween

Katie Bella and the big girls had an awesome time trick or treating. Katie only went to a couple of houses though but did get her first real taste of sugar! A lollipop, and she loved it!

Quick update

YAY!!! Katie is sleeping through the night in her own bed. She has been for the last week, I'm not sure, nor do I care, why, I'm just happy she is. She is also up to 13lbs now (so big). She spent her 1st night away from me with her grandmom and grandad and she did great, I was so proud of her. Thats really all for now, we have a busy weekend ahead...fri-trick-or-treating, sat-Kryssys birthday party, and sun-Katie is getting blessed at church so I am sure we will have plenty of new pictures of her soon.

Love you all!

A SPECIAL BOND

For all the UT fans!

A quick update!

Ok Ok, so you have been asking for an update...here it is! Monday the little bundle of joy turned 7 weeks old. She is growing like a little weed, or so I think, everyone else tells me she is tiny. Her sleeping habits are pretty crappy if you ask me! She is up at night until at least 1 am and then goes to sleep until 3:45 and up for a feeding and then up again at 6:15 for another feeding, all because she is too lazy to finish more than an ounce per feeding during the night. But then the magic happens we take the big girls to school and come home, she gets in the bed with me and we sleep and sleep and sleep from about 8am until at least 1pm. I know what you are all thinking, YOU SLEEP UNTIL 1PM! Hello, I don't sleep at night so yes I do! I have to get sleep somewhere during the day and for now this will work! She is beginning to smile at everyone that will pay her even a little bit of attention, she doesn't care who you are she will smile at you. Its pretty cute if I may say so myself. That big toothless grin - AH there is nothing better! She is also beginning to coo at those who talk to her. Its hilarious because she has to work her way up to a voice coming out of her mouth. It takes the better part of 3 or 4 minutes talking to her and her trying to muster up that all elusive "agoo". But once she gets started there is no stopping her. She is also holding her head up pretty well. Don't get me wrong, this baby hates tummy time with a passion, if you even try to lay her on a blanket on the floor she gets wild. She cries until she makes herself gag (its pretty ridiculous if you ask me). But she loves to sit up and stand up. This little one will be just like her big sisters and be walking before she is 10 months old. She is sooo strong when she stands and she kicks her little feet up and down almost like she is already walking...it makes us giggle! I would say that she is weighing about 9 or 10 lbs now. The newborn clothes are no longer fitting mostly because she is getting taller and she in now up to 0-3 month clothes. She still has her big blue eyes so I am pretty sure that is the color she has chosen to stick with. Her hair still has those precious little blond highlights but now she also has an auburn highlight. She just might be one of those lucky ones that never has to get highlights and low lights from the salon for a whopping $200.00. Funny thing is she has NO eyebrows. The are so light that you just cant see them unless you are up close and personal. If you ask me I would say she really doesn't look like me at all other than her profile. If you look at her from the side she looks just like me, turn her face forward however and you are looking at a spitting image of Justin. From the long eyelashes, blue eyes and pouty little lips all the way to her dimples in her cheeks and chin. I will try to get some videos up of her later next week!
Love you all!

The little "kitten"

More pictures of the Kitten

2 weeks old,a good man and an update on weight

Well our little kitten (our pet name for her, its an inside joke between the family, and i will spare you the goofy details) is 2 weeks old and is changing everyday, which makes me sad. I have declared with this baby that I refuse to wish her away. You know i wish she would start crawling, talking, walking, be out of diapers, etc etc etc... As this is what most people tend to do with babies mostly because they just cant wait for them to grow up, well not me. Even though I am exhausted and running on 4 hours of sleep I am going to enjoy every second of this little girl that I can.

WARNING - mushy lovey dovey stuff to follow. I didn't know it was possible for me to love someone so much. i didn't know it was possible for that love to grow more deeply as every day passes. But that seems to be the situation I have found myself thrust into. This man is my hero, to say the least. He found me when I was broken and he put me back together again, I think I did the same for him too. As I look at our child I see so much of him. I have never felt this way about anyone before in my life which is kind of scary. WHY??? Because every man that I have ever had in my life allows me to fall in love with them (to a certain degree) and then walk away as if I had never existed. When I was younger I always thought I will stay with the father of my children no matter what. Well that all changes very quickly. Tay and Ems father and I did not belong together and that was obvious to everyone but me from the start. Then I fell into relationships with people that I thought I could "save", only to learn you cant save anyone but yourself. Then out of the blue, God obviously had a grand plan and it fell right into place that day, I met Justin. He and I quickly realized that we didn't have to "save" each other and that we didn't have to help the other one grow up. We realized that we didn't need each other we wanted each other, and that difference is huge. We didn't need anyone to complete us, we just needed our other half, not our better half, but our other half. I can honestly say he and I have never had a fight. Some of you may think that's crap but its the truth. Some of you may think that because we don't fight we lack passion and never get to "make up". Well I am here to tell you when you don't fight with someone the passion never leaves it is always there and you don't feel the need to "make up" because everything is right. For this man I am so very thankful, not a day goes by that I don't thank God for bringing him into my life. And now we have this perfect little girl, which has made me fall in love with him all over again. When I see him come home from work I get the same butterflies that I got in the beginning of our relationship. I cant wait to see him every day. I count the minutes until he gets home. While pregnant with Katie Bella I was quite uncomfortable and unable to snuggle up with him at night time. Now that I am getting back to normal I cant wait for him and I to hop in the bed in hopes that I will be snuggling with him for the entire night. I know this is not what you guys had in mind for my blog on Katie Bella's page but I just felt the need to share these thoughts.

ON THE OTHER HAND...The doctor appointment went great. This sweet girl is up to 7lbs 9oz so she does not have to go back into the hospital which made me so happy and I felt a sense of accomplishment.

From an exhausted mommy

As today is my actual first day alone at home with Katie Bella a flood of thoughts rushed into my head, don't ask me why, I think the exhaustion is starting to wear on me. She is now 1 week and 2 days old and I believe that I may have slept a total of 4-5 hours a night. This may seem like a normal amount of sleep for some of you but I am here to tell you it is not enough. I actually broke down in tears on Sunday due to the fact that I was feeling quite overwhelmed with the whole situation. You see I haven't actually done the "new mother" thing in about 9 years and it is not like riding a bike. I forgot all of the late night feedings and stinky diaper changes, the lack of sleep, post partum blues, forgetting to actually comb your hair, forgetting to eat and checking on a very sleepy baby every 5 minutes to make sure she is still breathing. Justin thinks I have lost my mind. He has told me on many occasions to just let her sleep, but I still get out of the bed and walk around to her crib and jiggle her every couple of minutes to make sure that she is still ok. Its starting to take its toll though because my sleep is never deep enough to allow me to rest. SHE IS WORTH IT ALL THOUGH! Last night as I stumbled down the hall with Katie Bella in tow I realized that I had puke in my hair (so not like me) and my boobs were leaking down my shirt and that I had only had 30 minutes of sleep. I started to laugh and think "motherhood really does change things". But enough about me, lets talk about the one that brought us all to this page....KATIE BELLA! She is doing so well, she is the love of our lives and we are so happy that she is finally here with us. I struggled to get pregnant for many years and to finally have this sweet little girl in my arms is an answered prayer. She was certainly meant to be. She had her first dr check up on Monday and Dr. Hixson was wonderful with her, he loved on her the whole time we were in the office. She is in the 50% on her head circumference and for her height. Her weight, well that's a different matter! When she was born she was 8lbs exactly, we left the hospital at 7lbs 6oz and we weighed in at 7lbs 2oz on Monday so this little girl gets to go back to the doctor on Friday to be weighed again. She can stay at 7lbs 2 oz or she can gain weight but if she loses any weight they are going to put her back in the hospital. This is something I do not want to even think about so I am trying to block it out of my mind. I will check back in on Friday and update you all as to her condition!

Welcome to the world...Katie Bella!!!

Katie Bella was born on 08/18/08 at 7:52 am. She weighed 8 lbs exactly and was 19.5 inches long with a head full of brown hair and already has blond highlights and I didn't even have to take her to the salon for them. We love her more than life itself. She has been more than a joy to have around even though she is quite the diva.

BIRTH STORY!

Not much to report on that really. We didn't sleep much, due to the anticipation of of sweet girl on Sunday night. I think Justin and I slept a total of 2 hours. We were up and at it around 3 am and on our way to meet our girl by 4 am. None of the family was going to be there until 6am so Justin and I enjoyed our last moments alone together. Once the girls, mom, Justin's mom and dad and sister showed up that place was a mad house. Not long after though (30 minutes) they were walking me back to the OR. After a tearful goodbye (I was sooooo scared) and screaming to my girls that their mother loved them I was in the OR. POOR NURSES HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE IN FOR! I was given my spinal block which went well, this was the procedure that put me into respiratory distress with Taylor so I was quite happy when all went well. They laid me down on the table and I went numb, all but my mouth went numb. For the next 45 minutes I talked about any and everything I could think of. I think my thought process was if I continued to talk then I could not die because I would be too busy talking. The poor anesthesiologist was in no way prepared for me as I checked my blood pressure and heart rate more than he did. Little did he know that I am in the medical profession and knew exactly what to look for. He was a sweet heart though and just let me do my thing. At one point my bp was 80/54 and my heart rate was 151, and I about jumped off the table, but bless his heart he just kept pumping me full of drugs. The told me that the more versed they gave me the more I talked, the versed should have knocked me the hell out. At 7:52 it literally felt like a weight had been lifted off of my stomach and all I heard was "WHOA" and "That's a huge baby" and "That girl is BIG" this scared the holy crap out of me because I still had not seen her and was expecting them to lift a female football player over the curtain. Then the moment of truth, they stuck her sweet face over the curtain and my life changed forever. I saw her out of the corner of my eye as they were cleaning her up and thought "she is tiny"....just goes to show you the difference of opinions. Her apgars were 8-9 for the first and a solid 9 for the second and third. She was healthy and beautiful, what more could I ask for? After the surgery they wheeled me back into the recovery room and brought us our sweet girl. That afternoon they came to me and told me there was a problem, my eyes starting tearing and I immediately felt a lump in my throat. Katie Bella had some fluid in her lungs and they had taken some blood work and done a chest x-ray which was not showing pneumonia, so that was a relief. Her blood work was showing an infection due to the fluid and they were unsure that she would be able to leave the nursery. So 8 hours after I had been gutted I got out of bed and ran to the nursery to be with my baby. I sat in there with Justin and cried. 20 minutes after we left they were bringing her into the room, her pediatrician had given her the green light, just a minor infection but she would have to stay an extra day for her antibiotics. That poor baby still has bruises on both of her hands from the IV's. All in all our stay was wonderful, our nurses for the most part were awesome, with the exception of one, but hell there is always that one that is just in the wrong profession. We brought her home yesterday and she did very well. Mom has had the girls all week so they came over to "bond" with their sister and then they were back off to grannys. Katie Bella and I stayed up most of the night as she is still trying to adjust to "life". Right now however she is sound asleep and has been so since 3pm (its not 6pm) which is pretty darn good for a breast fed baby.

I want to thank everyone that came to the hospital to see her. You are all such a big part of my life and I am so glad that you were there to share this with me. Aunt Cyndi, Aunt CeeCee, grandma and grandpa Barzee, Aunt Khristyna, Uncle Joe, Adam, Alyssa, Mom, Taylor, Emily, Kryssy, Amy and Bud you guys are awesome and we love you all! Well I am off to wake my girl up so that I can feed her but I will be posting many updates on here for you all to keep up with her. We love you all!

-Amy, Justin and all of our girls!

"This is going to be interesting"

6 words you never want to hear from your doctor when discussing your upcoming C-Section. However I heard those words today! CRAP!!! So as all of you know,we are now in the home stretch, 3days and counting...that's right 3 DAYS. So now that we are getting so close to the day I think I just might back out. I was laying in the hospital today thinking "I am not ready to do this, maybe they will just forget to give me a c-section and we will act like this whole thing never happened". YEA RIGHT, needless to say my nerves have gotten the best of me. I am so ridiculously scared at this point that I just want to run and hide. For those of you who know me well, you know that one of my biggest fears is surgery. I had a horrible experience having a c-section with Taylor (after 38.5 hours of hard labor) and receiving an epidural that sent me into respiratory distress they decided I needed an emergency c-section...it was quite the horrific experience, one that my mother and I will never forget, as she had to sit there helpless while I stopped breathing for over a minute. The thought of something going wrong again haunts me every second of the day.
Okay so what has brought me to tell you all this...today was my last pre-natal check up with Dr. Riley, my b/p was through the roof again (140/100) so I knew from the beginning that I was going into the hospital for another NST. Dr. Riley comes into the office and listened to Katie's heartbeat (it was fabulous) and i started asking questions...(HERE WE GO) how many people can I have in the OR (1), do you allow cameras (yes), how long will my hospital stay be (2-3 days), after my last surgery you said I had a ton of scar tissue is that going to be an issue (this is where the discussion turns). Dr. Riley says "Well let me look at your file at the surgical notes (from my LEEP and the removal of my fallopian tube, ovary and tumor)" Then within the same breath says "This is going to be interesting" excuse me? And he replies "Well, its a good thing that this is a planned c-section and not an emergency, we are just really going to have to take our time". At this point I explain to him that Valium will be a must because he has now scared the poop out of me, to which he assures me that I will be kept comfy and relaxed....we will see about that! Then he sends me off to the hospital with orders in hand for the NST, which turned out fine, my b/p dropped back down to a normal state (106/75) and they sent me home with instructions to be at the hospital Monday morning at 4 am.
So this will most likely be my last blog while pregnant, the next time you guys hear from me, I will hopefully have some pictures for you all to oooooh and awwww over. Please please please keep Katie and I in all of your prayers that we both come through this surgery happy and healthy. We cant wait to meet her, but we are still very nervous!
Oh yea, if anyone wants to get in on the action Mom, Justin and Khristyna have a bet going on how much this little one will weigh... Mom - 9lbs, Justin - 7.4, and Khristyna - 6.13. I wonder who will win this one...I will let you guys know sometime Monday afternoon...

A bumpy ride

Oh where do I begin? HMMMM! Well over the weekend (tax free holiday - YIPEE) mom and I decided it would be a good time to take the girls school shopping. Thank goodness for my mother or I would have never made it. She dropped me off at the door and picked me up at the door and was in charge of Kryssy (the 3 year old) all day long. After 1 mall, and one escalator accident - nothing big just a scratched knee for Kryssy, and 8 other locations both girls had spent a grand total of right around $900. I think they should be set for school until at least Christmas, or at least they better be. I never realized how much of an activity shopping was until I ventured out at 9.5 months pregnant in the 100 degree heat of Tennessee. But I made it through the whole experience with only 1 contraction....yay! But there were times (like in Target, a place that has nowhere to sit) that I actually sat on the ground in the middle of the store, hell I am not too proud, I know my limits!
Ok in other news, no baby yet. She is still obviously very comfy inside of me, which is more than I can say for myself. Yesterday for instance, she was so active that she brought me to my knees on several occasions. I don't ever remember feeling these pains with Tay and Em (although that was 10 and 15 years ago). Oh well, there is an end in site....August 18th and I am counting down the days!

2 weeks and counting down the days!

Well guys we now have exactly 17 days until Katie Bella graces this world with her beautiful little face. Has this been easy? NOPE! Ok so here's the update...
Last Friday while Justin was at work I started having contractions at 5pm which were 30 minutes apart...not bad, I know. So I decided to wait it out. Then around 6:30 they were 15 minutes apart...hold the phone...I am not suppose to go into Labor, I have a C-section scheduled. So we pack the girls up and go straight to Labor and Delivery at the hospital (my doctor was on vacation). After being monitored for an hour they came in and decided to give me a shot of Terbutaline to stop the contractions. The on call doc had no interest in slicing and dicing without Dr. Riley in town (I cant say I don't blame her). Turns out that Terbutaline has a couple of side effects (ie rapid heart beat) so we had to stay and be "watched". At one point my heart rate was 130 and Katie's was 212, it got kind of scary!!!! So eventually both Katie and I came back down and we were sent home.
On Thursday I had my regular weekly checkup. So I pack the girls up and we go. Typical at first...urine sample, weight (lost 3 more lbs) then it was time for my BP. 158/98...WAIT WHAT!!???!!! My blood pressure is usually very low. I told the nurse that I have been having these "episodes" for a couple of weeks now. Cold sweat, nausea, blurred vision, etc. She said she would tell Dr. Riley. Ok, so in walks Riley. I had to have my "weekly dialation check" (OH JOY) and he felt little miss perfects head (He said she should have quite the head full of hair). Then he decided to listen for her heartbeat...it was 180 and was not going back to normal (normal at this stage in utero is 125-140). He pulls me up and says you are going to the hospital. HUH????!!!!??? Ok, why? Well my BP is up and Katie is in stress if this keeps up we are going to deliver this baby today. WTH? Taylor hops on her cell phone (mine is at home dead as usual) and calls Justin to tell him to get to the hospital NOW!!!! Then we call my mom. So we finally get checked in the hospital and we are given a room (which kind of freaked me out too, usually they just throw you in triage). After one hour of being monitored and Tyna (grandma) and Matt (uncle) and Justin racing to the hospital to be by our side we are released. My blood pressure finally fell to normal and Katie's heart rate fell within normal range. Thank goodness. The whole time I kept thinking...what is going on, We are not ready for this kid to come yet. The house is not nearly as clean as I like it (catching up on laundry takes a toll on the house) Katie has no sheets on her bed, my bags are not packed and if I am not mistaken I have a load of dishes to do. Not to mention no one has fed gizmo today! So needless to say if this has taught me anything it is to be prepared and ready at a minutes notice. If Katie wants to come early then she will and we have to be prepared. So for now I will be waking every morning to my check list of daily duties that will be done before anything else so that I will not be stressed by my "what I need to do today" list. I figure if we go into Labor anytime soon if will be tomorrow. Mom and I are taking the girls school clothes shopping and we will have Kryssy too. Ok clothes shopping with a teen and a pre teen is bad enough now throw an obstinate 3 year old into the mix and you have the perfect recipe for a crazy day that could possibly shock both Katie and I into Labor. WE WILL SEE....

1 month to go!!!

So today at my doctor appointment I literally tried to bribe Dr. Riley into delivering this baby! He thought I was being funny - NO!!!!!! I was being serious. I would have given that man any amount of money that he wanted! OH WELL - you win some you lose some! Once again just your normal check up, her heartbeat was strong at 157 bpm, she is head down with her body located on the left side. I actually lost a pound this week, don't be alarmed I am still quite huge!!!! Dr. Riley said this is totally normal, a lot of preggo's lose weight in the weeks before labor. Sure whatever...just let me lose the other 32 lbs soon, I would love to be able to see my feet again and be able to shave my legs without all of the grunting and groaning. This little one has the hiccups on at least one occasion each day, which would not be so bad if they didn't last for up to 30 minutes at a time. It is the weirdest feeling in the world to have your pelvic bone "jumping" every other second for what seems like an eternity. Fetal movement is slowing at this point (she has no more room) and I am no longer getting all of the kicks and punches that I once was now I get the shifting and rolling around. I think these are much easier to handle due to the fact that they are not sooooo blunt!!!!!
On another note, we are finally in the new house. It feels good to have a home that is no longer just mine. I love sharing this with Justin. Before it was always Amy's house, now its our house. We had to move for many reasons....#1 we needed more bedrooms #2 at $1904 per month (not including the taxes and ins) that house was eating me alive. #3 Lake Forest subdivision was becoming not so safe anymore #4 Justin is starting school in a month and we needed something that I could afford on my salary alone. #5 the "stairs of doom" (I hated those stairs with a passion I was always scared one of the kids was going to fall) with Katie Bella coming those stairs had to GO! So you see there were quite a few reasons why we had to move. I honestly don't miss the old house at all, it had a lot of crappy memories in there made with a crappy person. Usually when you leave someone you don't want any memories of them either...and that's exactly what this house has to offer no memories of the idiot only new memories that our family will make together!

Baby Shower pictures!

Hormones are getting the best of me, Baby shower, and so much more!

So last night as I sat in the dark, due to the fact that sleeping just does not come easy for me any longer, I happened upon a poem (the one below) and the tears started streaming. While the tears were flowing I thought "hmmm, I need to find a daddy poem for Justin"....bad idea! I found a ton, and the tears continued. So you can now imagine me sitting in the dark, Justin snoring like a hibernating bear in the background, sobbing uncontrollably. It was quite retarded! Anyway the reason for me telling you this is I found the perfect poem for him (from Katie Bella of course). I decided to keep it until the day she is born when I will have someone (one of the moms) give it to him while I am still in recovery. I figure that I should not be the only weepy one among the crowd! I know this is a bit silly, but again HORMONES ARE GETTING THE BEST OF ME! I am quite sentimental at this point in my pregnancy. Just thinking about her finally showing up gives me a huge lump in my throat. Ok, enough of that! LOL!

THE BABY SHOWER! Well first and foremost Thank Yous are in order...

Khristyna

Tyna and Rich

Mom and Rick

Chelsea (my preggo partner for at least another month and a half)

Shelly

JoJo

Thank you all for being such a huge part of my shower. You are some of the most awesome people and I cant and don't want to imagine my life without you all!

For those of you waiting on pictures....I didn't get any but several others did so I will post them as soon as they are sent to me. We received tons of wonderful things for our sweet little girl, and are very appreciative of everyone that was there and shared in this special day.

OTHER STUFF - Justin finally put the baby bed together and all I can say is OMG that thing is beautiful! Never before have I seen such a perfect little girls bed. I promise I will post pictures of that as well. Tyna (Justin's mom) is making all of the baby bedding for us and we picked out a beautiful pink/chocolate brown Matisse fabric (thank goodness Hancocks had 50% off that day or we would have spent a small fortune on that fabric). I cant wait until Katie Bella is here so she can see all the love that she is surrounded by.

MORE OTHERS - So Tyna and Mom are both working on blankets for Katie Bella. Mom is making a quilt with Emily for her and Tyna is making a quilt too. Mom and Em are working on a princess quilt and I know it is going to be one of the favorites. Tyna is working on a quilt (once again this made me cry) which on the inside has Justin's baby quilt (for the stuffing) and also has some material from Kryssy's bedding. Again this will be a favorite!

THE FINAL OTHER! - check out that belly picture! WHOA MOMMA!!! To date I have gained a whopping 30 lbs (all in the stomach region - its so big). I know for some of us (me included) that have been preggo before 30 lbs doesn't seem like much (with Tay I gained 80 lbs and Em I went from 115 to 232 - that's so embarrassing) but it is a ton when it is all central to one location! I really have no idea where my feet have gone! I cant get comfy in any position...sitting, standing, laying down, it just doesn't happen! And this little girl is quite the active one. You can see toes popping through my belly and feel entire feet and legs. Its so weird. But so worth it. I have always known that I would be the mother to a large family and until about a year ago thought this would never happen...all of the sudden it has so I am loving every minute of it.

More to come....I promise! I love you all!

Did you ever think!!!!

dear mother,
As the seeds of me you sowed,
As you breathed new life inside of me,
And slowly wached me grow,
In all your dreams about me,
When you planned me out so well,
When you couldnt wait to have me there,
Inside your heart to dwell,
Did you ever think that maybe,
I was planning for you too?
And choosing for my very own, A mother just like you?
A mother who smelled so very sweet and who had hands so creamy white,
A tender loving creature Who would soothe me in the night?
Did you ever think in all those days while you were coming Due, That as you planned a life for me, I sought a life with you?
And now as i lay in your arms, I wonder if you knew, While you were busy making me, I WAS CHOOSING YOU!

Katie Bella will be here on....

08/18/08!

We can hardly wait to see our sweet little girls face! Not much longer though! (funny thing about her birth date - its also Mine and Justins anniversary of our first date - LOL)
Also, this week marks 5 straight weeks where I have not gained a pound....YAY ME!!!!

G.D.

LOL, no that doesn't stand for what you are thinking. It stands for Gestational Diabetes...which I dont have YAY! 3 weeks ago I had to take the standard glucose test for GD and a couple days later I got the call saying that my levels were out of range and that I could possibly have GD. FANTASTIC! So we set up an appointment to do the long drawn out 4 hour test. So last Friday poor baby Emily and I headed off to the dr's office for a long wait. We were armed with so many magazines I thought for sure that we would be fine. We get there and they draw my blood (#1 stick) and then I get to drink the glucose solution (YUM YUM!) it was foul to say the very least. One hour passes and we had actually survived the boredom with cosmo, glamour and a host of teeny magazines for Emily. They draw my blood again (stick #2) and this time that horrible cow left quite the bruise on my forearm (the only place she could get a good stick). So Em and I decide we are going to venture off to the nursery in the hospital to see the babies (just because we were sick of sitting in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs). We get up to the second floor of the hospital and the nursery was no where to be found. Em was quite upset by this as she wanted so badly to see the babies. I find this all too comforting so that random people can not just come "look" at my baby when she does get here. So we find a couch in the hospital waiting room and wait for the next hour to pass. Then back up to the dr office for more blood to be drawn (stick #3) and yet another bruise, I was really starting to hate the woman taking my blood! Ok Em only one more hour, lets go sit on the comfy couch again. We were mistaken to think the last hour would go by quickly, this hour seemed to take an eternity. 5 minutes until 11:45 (blood taking time) and Em and I jump up and quickly walk (me run - no way jose) to the dr's office for the fourth and final stick. THANK GOODNESS!!!! Did I mention I was unable to eat or drink after midnight the night before???? This included TUMS which I can not go a night without taking at least 5 of these damn things due to the outrageous heart burn that this baby gives me. So as you can imagine Em and I are starving!
Fast forward to one week later (that would be today) curiosity had gotten the best of me. I wanted to know the results already. Prior to today I had told myself that when they dr's office called I was going to wait a day to call them back just so that I could suck down my last bit of sugar before they gave me the bad news, as I was certain I had GD. However I could no longer wait, I didnt want to be hurting myself or Katie any longer if this was in fact our diagnosis. The nurse did not have the results so she would have to call me back...yea big surprise there! 2 hours later she calls back - the results are NO GD! YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE!!!! This sweet baby and I are FINE!!!! Such great news to my ears! I hated to think that she too would be a whopper at birth (Taylor weighed 9.5 and Emily was 9.12). So anywho, that is my update for now. I will be back soon with pics from the baby shower which is in one week and Khristyna and I have tons of shopping for today! HAVE A GREAT ONE! WE LOVE YOU!

13 more cm to go!

I know I just posted a blog the other day but we had a dr. visit today so I thought I would give you yet another update. So all we really did today was get a measurement for my fundal height and hear her heartbeat. This big ole belly of mine is measuring just perfect 26.5 cm which is fantastic becuase I am exactly 26 1/2 weeks. At this time Dr. Riley continues to tell me that if Katie and I continue to grow at the perfect pace I should expect at least 9-13 more cm of belly to be added before she arrives. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???? This thing is already a mountain by the time she gets here this belly will be a continent. HOLY CRAP! As I was driving home from the doctors office I looked down an my monster belly and thought silently to myself "I only have about 2 more inches of space before my belly hits this steering wheel, and my chair is pushed back as far as possible" What is a little bity short girl to do? Not to mention while I am adding all of this extra "baby bump" we will be right in the middle of a typical Tennessee summer (for those of you that dont know that means HOTTTTTTT). After all these thoughts run through my mind I decide to call my mother and tell her. She laughed and said good Lord you will be wearing a tent. FANTASTIC! It will be 100 degrees with 80% humidity, my stomach will no longer resemble anything near cute, and I will be wearing a tent. Anyone know of any good tent makers...LOL?!?! On a more positive note I am just 1/2 a week away from entering the 3rd trimester. YAY ME! And not to mention her little heart was pounding away at 155 bpm. Dr. Riley said she was growing and her heart sounded perfect....well what did he expect WE ARE PERFECT! So I am now up to a visit every other week and have my glucose test scheduled for May 29th. I guess that is all for today. WE LOVE YOU ALL!

6 month update

We only have 2.5 months to go...YAY! She is still kicking, punching and rolling around in there. It makes me wonder if she is re decorating the inside of my belly. You know painting, re arranging her furniture, putting up pictures etc. etc. etc! LOL! I swear everyday that I look down I see more and more belly. I havent seen my feet in quite some time now. Its very sad, I had to have Justin paint my toenails the other day. Seems as if pedicures are out of the question due to the fumes in the salon. WHATEVER! Now my poor toenails look like a blind man painted them. Bless his heart he tried his hardest but they are a mess. We are getting more anxious as the days go by to meet our little girl. We constantly discuss what we think she is gonna look like and which features we hope that she gets from one another. Wondering if she will look like any of her sisters or if she will be the odd ball. We have even taken it so far as to do Punnett squares (i know i am a science nerd). As far as we can tell she should have light brown curly hair, and most likely green eyes. Now watch her come out with red hair and blue eyes...LMAO! Whatever she looks like I know she will be a living doll!!!! Anywho, I am posting some new pictures of this baby bump (I really dont think it should even be called a bump anymore more like a baby mountain). LOVE YOU ALL!

The baby registry

Okay so I have had numerous people ask me where we are registered for baby gifts.
We are registered at:
Wal Mart
Babies R Us
Little Heaven Sent
(here are the links)
http://littleheavensent.com (look under registry for McMullen Baby Katie Bella, the passcode is 1234.)
http://www.walmart.com/giftregistry/
http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp
We are getting more excited as the days go by. We cant wait for everyone to meet our sweet little Katie Bella!

More pics from inside

Well today was my 3rd and probably final ultrasound. Katie Bella is doing great in there. Stubborn as always! We only needed to check for cleft palate, 10 fingers and toes, and her aortic arch, but with a stubborn baby that took right at 1 hour. She waved at us constantly which was great! We were trying to check for a cleft palate and all she would give us was a profile of her face, then when we wanted her profile to get a picture of her she looked directly at us! She is quite the "KUNG FU KATIE" (as we affectionately refer to her) always kicking and punching and stretching, especially when my bladder is full.
We are registered at Babies R Us and Wal Mart for those of you who want to help spoil her :)
Well this will most likely be the last "inside" look before we actually get to meet her so I hope you enjoy the new pictures.

KATHERINE BELLA BARZEE!!!!

Well, after 30 minutes of trying to get this little one to show us the goodies....It finally happened. She (that's right I said she) finally opened her legs and showed her world to us. Justin kept asking the tech what to look for and she told him "you need to look for something touching these thighs, but I hate to tell you what you are looking for is just not here." Even Dr. Riley came in and said "Another girl ::squirms::". Looks like our little family was just meant to be full of estrogen. And they are changing the due date too, not sure to what yet because we have an additional U/S in 3 weeks, at that time they will give us a more approx due date. She weighed in at a whopping 11oz. !!! And thanks to my original Emily for telling me to drink Mt. Dew 30 minutes before the U/S she was quite active, she kept kicking her little legs and even sucked her thumb for a couple of minutes. WE CANT WAIT TO MEET HER!

What a 3 month pregnant belly looks like

So you always hear that everyone loves a baby belly....well how about the person with the belly?? Does she love it??? YES SHE DOES!!! This baby is poking around in there and this belly that I share with this little person is growing weekly! So I thought I would share the journey with you all. So I have officially hit the 2nd trimester mark! YAY ME! Which I was hoping would bring an end to my constant gagging, but sadly it has not. I will start posting monthly pics and updates for yall to enjoy the progress of my BABY BELLY!