2 Months Continued...

I thought I would give a little stat report on how Lawson is doing beyond just length and weight. Here are some of his accomplishments:

Tries to hold his own bottle.

Play this super fun toy until he falls asleep and just can't kick another second. :-)

Hold his head up while on his tummy (even though he hates being on his tummy).

Smile for the camera!

Roll over from tummy to back.

Put toys in his mouth.

He has also found his fist/thumb and loves them. :-)

This is the short version. If you'd like to hear me brag on how smart my sweet boy is, let me know. I'm glad to do it. :-)

Mandy

2 Months!!

I can't believe it, but Lawson is 2 months old already (actually, as of tomorrow he will be 10 weeks)! He is growing and changing SO much So fast. Last week was his two month doctor's appointment. Dr. Jon says he's growing good and is pretty perfect. He weighed 12 pounds 4 ounces and was 23 inches long. CRAZY!!!

We decided on camo for shot day. Makes you feel tough. :-)

 After shots. The doctor's office even had camo band-aides.

Lawson was so brave for his shots. He cried when the nurse gave them, but once she was finished and I picked him up, he was good. Such a big boy!!

Mandy

And We're Back...

So I know it's been a long time, but I've been a little busy with this little guy...

Most of you probably know how it all went down, but just for the sake of having it in print, here's the story.

We had a great Christmas, and I enjoyed the week off between Christmas and New Year's Day. I did stuff around the house and really just tried to get as much rest as possible. Then, on New Year's Eve, it hit me. I was sick: upper respiratory and deep chest congestion/cough sick. I went to my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, January 3. The doctor gave me a prescription and said I should go home and rest until I was better..."you need to be well when you have that baby." She asked me to come back on Friday, the 6th, to see if I was getting better. I am blessed to have a wonderful job with people who stepped up and handled my work that week, so I stayed home all week and basically slept and coughed...coughed a lot. 

On Friday, January 6, I woke up hurting. To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was labor or what (having never been in labor before), but since Jason was off work that day, we loaded our bags and went to my scheduled doctor's appointment. By the time we left our house, I was pretty sure what I was feeling every 5 - 10 minutes were contractions, which made me decide I definitely wanted an epidural. :-) Here's the time line for the rest of the day:

8:45 am  Checked in at doctor's appointment (still sick and having contractions)

9:15 am Doctor confirms I'm in labor, dilated to 3 and 100% effaced

10:00 am Checked in to labor and delivery

11:30 am Got epidural (thank the Lord!)

2:15 pm Nurse runs every one out of the room and we get to work

3:26 pm Lawson Jace Keyes arrives (and life as we knew it changed...for the best)!!!

First photo. 

Proud Daddy.

Lawson weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. He was beautiful (of course) from the first moment we laid eyes on him. We were released from the hospital and sent home on Sunday, January 8 weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces...so tiny.

That bed looks way to big for such a tiny baby.

This was his first nap in his bed at home.

As you can imagine, our lives have been forever changed. We are so thankful for a beautiful, healthy baby boy. He is growing and growing and learning all kinds of new things every day. I will post more about all that with pictures soon.

Mandy

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was a busy weekend for this pregnant girl. Friday night was rehearsal dinner for the wedding I was in on Saturday. The wedding on Saturday was closely followed by my final baby shower. Needless to say, by the time I got home around 10p on Saturday night, I was exhausted...but feeling SO blessed.

IN a wedding you ask? Yes, IN a wedding. One of my closest friends, Lora, got married on Saturday. I was one of six bridesmaids.

As you can see, it was a beautiful wedding! Can you spot the pregnant bridesmaid (third from the left)? Lawson fit nicely in my dress and my bouquet helped hide him just a little in some pictures.

I actually love this dress. And, if there is such a thing as flattering for someone who's 36 weeks pregnant, this was it. I loved being a part of such a special day in Lora's life! I will say I think I made several people nervous thinking I might go into labor. Or, that my water would break. The pastor told me several times that he has a strict no water breaking in the sanctuary policy. Lucky for everyone Lawson was a good boy and stayed put. :-)

After the wedding, I changed and headed to my final baby shower. My sweet friends Katie, Katy, Jill and Laura threw a fantastic shower! I got to see some old friends too!

Here I am with the lovely hostesses. What a special group of friends! I'm so blessed to have them in my life.

By the way, I stole these pictures from Katie's blog (because I can't seem to remember my camera). These cupcakes are just too stinking cute. Everything at the shower had a little tag: "C is for Chicken and Rice Soup" or "F is for Fruit". Too cute. They put so much work into all of it.

This wreath was on the front door. I LOVE it. It will likely make an encore appearance on the door at the hospital when Lawson is born.

Thank you to all four of the fabulous hostesses! I cherish my friendship with each of you!

Mandy

36 Weeks and an Awesome Shirt

Last Saturday I reached 36 weeks. I went to the doctor Monday to begin my weekly check up appointments. I gained another three pounds for a total so far of 35. Everyone assures me that this is okay and that I look great for which I should probably pay all of them :-). In all honesty, the doctor doesn't seem concerned at all about my weight. My blood pressure is still great and the swelling has really just started in the last two weeks. And, compared to some others I've seen, it's not as bad as it could be. At least not yet.

Lawson's heartbeat is strong and the doctor says he sounds nice and comfortable in there. He can stay comfortable for a few more weeks, but then he must speedily come out! She assures me we will not be having a Christmas baby as I was not dilated at all. We'll see where we stand next week I suppose.

A sweet lady at work brought me a super funny Christmas shirt this week, so I had to use it in my 36 week pictures. Sherry took a few extra pictures so you can fully appreciate the shirt :-).

 I think I could fill out a Santa suit quite nicely.

I love the belt!

  



And, my favorite part...it says, "Does this suit make me look fat?" Hahahaha! I laughed about this pretty much all day yesterday. The lady who bought it for me actually told me about it last week but said she didn't buy it because she didn't want to offend me. After I told her how funny I thought it was, it showed up at my desk. LOVE IT!!!

Merry Christmas!

Mandy

A little behind...35 Weeks

Ok folks. I know I'm a little behind on posts, but it's been a busy couple of weeks. These are the pictures from 35 weeks (last week).

As you can see, Lawson is growing...and so am I! I've reached a point in this pregnancy where I'm just plain tired. I've had a busy last month, so I'm sure that's part of it. And, there's also the fact that I'm going to give birth sometime in the next month. :-)

The day after the above pictures were taken was Fall Commencement at UA Fort Smith. Most of you know that commencement is huge for me...for the Records Office where I work. We have it once in fall and once in spring. Many people had there doubts about me actually working the fall ceremony this year, but I was bound and determined to push through.

As you can see, this time around I actually used up all of that extra room in my gown. To be honest, I think I was making people nervous all night long. One faculty member actually approached me a couple of days before the ceremony and instructed me that I should not wear heels for this year's ceremony (yes, I usually wear heels while I work...all the time). You'll notice I'm sporting my black glitter TOMS this time.

I made it through the program, but by the time I made my way home and to my couch, I was EXHAUSTED!!! My ankles and feet were swollen worse than ever. It was at this point I decided to stop trying to be hard core and accept that I'm nine months pregnant. I took the next day off and laid on the couch ALL DAY.

So, I'm making progress toward the due date, but I'm doing it moving at a much slower pace that normal. I guess that's part of the deal. I'll post more later about my crazy week last week and some fun pictures too.

Mandy

34 Weeks

This week we've reached the 34 week mark. I had a doctor's appointment on Monday, and everything seems to be going well. I've gained four more pounds, which I plan to blame on the fact that Thanksgiving happened since my last weigh in. :-) My doctor doesn't seem concerned about the weight gain at this point, so that's good.

Everyone wants to know how I'm feeling/doing, and the answer is pretty good. I feel like I've been blessed to feel pretty good overall through most of this pregnancy. Right now my biggest "issues" are carpal tunnel (yes, you can get this because of pregnancy), heartburn and the fact that Lawson thinks me standing up is his cue to pounce on my bladder. :-) The carpal tunnel leaves me with numbness in my thumb and two fingers on my right hand most of the day. And, of course, it's much worse when I wake up in the morning. The doctor assures me this should go away with the pregnancy. Heartburn = TUMS as a snack with every meal. And, well, I just make lots of trips to the bathroom. Breathing is also a bit of a chore, but again, I feel pretty good. My feet aren't the size of elephant legs yet, I have had some super busy weeks/weekends lately and still have plenty of energy for the most part.

As you can see, that belly just keeps getting bigger. At this point in the pregnancy, Lawson is putting on more weight than ever. Basically he's fattening up. I have another doctor's appointment in two weeks, and then we start going every week. CRAZY that were getting so close!!!

Mandy