One year ago today.....

One year ago today our little girl was born. Ashlyn Riane McGrath was born at 12:34 pm on Jan 22. She weighed 7lbs 13oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.

I got to pick my delivery date since she was breech and I was having a c-section. I picked Jan 22 because my day off was the day before and I wanted to make sure the house was clean and I had a day to rest. Plus Jan 20 was the inaugaration and I really wanted to make sure I didn't miss such a historic event. Dr Bauer offered to do my section on the Sunday before but I said no. I wasn't ready, still had things on my to do list. Plus I like to sticking to a plan.

Almost everything went exactly according to plan. Surgery was scheduled for 12noon. Dr Bauer asked us to be there a little early (she had a meeting at 1pm), so we showed up at 9am ready to go. They were real busy that morning so we got a little tiny pre-op room to wait in. The nurse tried to put in my IV in my arm and she blew out the vein. That had never happened to me before, I thought it would hurt, but I didn't feel a thing. So another nurse came in and tried it on my hand. Not sure what happened but it wasn't working. I was supposed to have one whole bag of saline before surgery and the first bag was barely dripping. It was probably because I was so darn swollen. Probably the worst part of being pregnant for me was the swelling. So for the third and final try the anesthesiologist came in and put it in the other hand and it worked like a charm. I had one bag in less than 20 minutes. There wasn't really much to do while we waited. I'd already pre-registered and they'd already asked me all the questions (done any drugs, illicit sex, need a paternity test...I'm not kidding!). So we waited and waited. Finally a little before noon, the anesthesiologist took me in to the operating room. I jumped up (more like waddled) onto the table and he put in the spinal, which wasn't as bad as I feared. My legs went almost immediately, totally weird! They lay me down and the nurses immediately prop my legs in the air and put in a catheter. Nobody but you cares that your almost completely naked. I've been one of the people walking around the room and we really don't care. When you're the one on the table, you seriously care that you're half naked! Not being able to feel anything just makes it more weird. Soon Dr Bauer came in the room with her backup and her trainee, then they let Jered in. He stood at the head of the bed with the video camera. I totally wanted to watch but she wouldn't drop the drape in front of me. After reminding that she had scalpels and lasers and would be cutting into, I gave up asking. She did her thing but Ashlyn's head was stuck. I have a funny shaped uterus, one of the reasons for the c-section and her head was stuck at the top. Jered said she was pushing pretty hard on my belly and finally at 12:34pm Ashlyn was born! We heard a little cry and it was the best sound ever! Everything seemed to be going so slow until she handed her to the nurses and then finally they gave her to Jered. After that I'm not sure what was happening, I assume she sewed me up because there isn't a big whole in my stomach. We just stared at her and kissed her and touched her! Before we knew it we were back in our room. After attempting to breast feed (which is whole other story) everyone came into our room and we showed off the most beautiful baby girl ever!

I was so tired, they put something into my spinal that made me really sleepy. There was no way I could sleep though! We were running on pure adrenaline. After everyone left we just held her and stared at her and touched her all night long. That's pretty much all we did the whole 4 days we were stuck in the hospital. It was nice the first two days but by the third day I was ready to go home! When the doctor on call came in to discharge us, he made the mistake of saying I could leave at 5pm. I quickly corrected him and told him Dr Bauer told me I could leave at 11am. We were out of there before noon!

One year later out little baby girl has turned into a little person. She has such personality! She loves music, loves to dance, she is constantly talking, one of her favorite games is peek-a-boo, she loves books and listening to mama read when she has her bedtime bottle. She is so curious about everything, always opening and closing drawers, cupboards. She is very cautious, she likes to observe and check things out before she tries it for the first time. She loves playing with the dogs and bathtime is her favorite time of the day. As soon as she hears the water running in the bathroom, she gets all excited and crawls as fast as she can down the hallway. She plays in the bath until the water starts to get cold, then she lets you know its time to get out. She has 8 teeth and she loves to eat! She's a pretty good little sleeper too. She lets Mama and Daddy sleep in most weekends as long as we get up and give her a bottle about 6am. We've had some rough patches when she's teething or going through a growth spurt. We've avoided any major sickness thank goodness! She did have one bilateral ear infection that didn't require any medicine. She always seems to have a stuffy nose and she's had a few coughs but nothing major.
We see the pediatrician next Wednesday and we'll be talking about gluten. The plan is to just feed her like normal for a few weeks and watch for any sort of reaction. Then after a few weeks do the blood test. If it comes back positive, she'll be gluten-free like her Mama. We won't be doing the biopsy like I did. I won't put her through that.

Her birthday party is going to be the 31st here at our house. Our good friend is making the cake. I can't wait to see it! She went to culinary school and she makes the best goodies! I told her to just make it all girlie and 1st bday-ish :) It'll be amazing. I also went to my cousin Angela's ceramic shop last week and painted a plate for Ashlyn. Its so cute and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I brought it home with me and I'm going to have everyone sign it, then we'll get it fired and glazed.

I love her more and more every day! She is the best thing that Jered and I ever decided to do. Its been hard for sure but all of those hard days and nights are totally worth it. I won't lie, the pregnancy was definently not my favorite part. The 4 month hang-over, the massive swelling, the weird groin pain, the strange weird fears and thoughts you have the entire 9 months, the 9 months of no drinking (well except for a few sips of wine, but seriously a sip, so not worth it!), the weird hormonal mood changes, the after pregnancy hormone weirdness (ugh!). So much to not love, but it was all worth it, for Ashlyn!

Going to the hospital!

Most beautiful baby ever....Ashlyn Riane McGrath, only a few hours old.

The first days at home.....couldn't put her down!

Up next......Birthday girl photo shoot :o)

Christmas Pictures....finally!!!

I know! I know! It took me long enough :) but here we are....tons of pictures from Christmas!


This is New Year's Day. My Grandpa got me this outfit. Too bad I wasn't better luck for those Ducks!

What's this???

It's mine?? Yay!!!!

This might be fun......

but this is more fun....I love to eat everything!

This is my new train that Mama and Daddy got me. Its fun!!

My friends Kassidy and Hailey got me this music box. I love to play all the songs!

This is my walker/car my Grandpa and Grandma got me. I can do whole laps of the house these days.

This was our first snow.....it looked real pretty but it wasn't very fun to drive home in. It took me and Mama 2 hours to drive home and that was after we waited 2 hours before we left work.

This was my Christmas picture and dress.

2010

Well the first week of the New Year is behind us and boy am I tired! I've been sick all week, I caught Ashlyn's daycare crud. Luckily Ashlyn is feeling much better than she was the weekend of Christmas. Right now Jered is pushing her around on the little car that my dad and stepmom got for her and she's loving it! She's loving all her new Christmas toys and plays with them all every night.

My mom and Eddie came up on Friday, New Years Day and we all watched the Rose Bowl. Unfortunately the Ducks didn't win, but Ashlyn wore her cheerleader outfit anyway. We had Christmas with my brother and nieces on Sunday. My mom did pretty good and didn't go too overboard. She did get Ashlyn quite a few new outfits though. We had a good fun, long weekend with everyone.

Then it was back to the real world and work on Monday. Ugh, its been a busy week for me at work and I've been sick so that doesn't help. I'm off tomorrow and so glad. Hopefully if Ashlyn lets me, I'm going to sleep in. Yay!

Ashlyn is doing so great. She has been changing so much lately. She really has a memory now. She remembers where things are and will go straight there to that particular drawer in the kitchen to pull all of the tupperware out. I pick up the tupperware at least 5 or 6 times a night. She'll also crawl into our bathroom and have my tampons emptied out of the box before we can catch her. She loves the tampons! She knows how certain toys work too and it doesn't take her long to figure it out. Our friends gave her this music box and she knows which button to push to play a whole song (which is her favorite, cause she loves to dance) and which ones will just play a note. She sleeps with her glow-warm that her Great-Grandma gave her. She squeezes it so it glows and plays a little song. She's talking up a storm too. She says Hi! over and over and over again. She still calls out Dadadadada and Mamamama all the time. Sometimes she throws out Da-dy just to mix it up. She's definently a daddy's girl already! She'll copy anything you say to her, well almost. We've been working on "I love you" and we've heard I and something that almost sounded like Love. She's shuffling along the coffee table and anything else she can hold onto to stand. She uses her new car that she can push and walk behind too. She loves music and will do her little shimmy and shake dance whenever she hears any. She doesn't seem to be too particular about any genre quite yet. She's still hanging out with me and my co-workers on lunches at work. She stares them down until they share their fries with her or anything that she can eat. Sometimes if I remember I throw a couple gluten free crackers in my bag before I leave for work. Usually I forget, but no worries she's not missing any meals and certainly doesn't look like it either!

I have tons of pictures to go through and post, I'll try to get to those this weekend. Everyone have a great weekend!!

Christmas!

We had a great but busy Christmas. We spent Christmas in Woodburn. Ashlyn stayed awake pretty much the whole time. She finally fell asleep in church around 11pm. We had a great dinner, opened some presents and then church. By the time we got home, we wer tired! I don't usually stay up that late.

Friday morning Ashlyn opened the present we got for her. She wasn't too into the paper like I thought she would be. She tore a small piece off and wanted to eat it. She wasn't interested in tearing it all off like we'd hoped. Next year! Then we drove down to my Aunt Jean's house for dinner and the kids got to open one present. My brother was able to have the girls for a few hours on Christmas and it was great to see them both.

Mom and I went shopping the day after Christmas and it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be. We went to the Hallmark store and then to Target. Target was pretty busy and by the time I was able to get Mom out of there, I was more than ready to leave!

Both Friday and Saturday nights we spent at my cousin Melody's house. We drank a few too many beers both nights but had a lot of fun playing games and being together. My cousin Cindy was here from Wisconsin and it was just like old times when they all lived in Seattle and would come down to my mom's house for the weekends.

We hit the road after breakfast on Sunday since I had to work the evening shift. It was so busy, ugh!! I'm not going to go into politics, but seriously 90% of the patient we see through the ER are uninsured. They come through the ER for things they should be seeing their doctor for but they don't have a doctor because they're uninsured. Which is why my co-pay for an ER visit is $150. Believe me, I'd have to be on death's door before I went to the ER and paid $150 co-pay. Only one of the 12 patients I scanned last night through the ER should've been in the ER. Oh well, I guess it is what I get paid for. That just meant the two movies I brought with me stayed in my purse all night long ;o)

I'll have pictures and maybe even some video for ya later in the week. Happy New Year!!

Christmas is almost here....

I can not believe Christmas Eve is tomorrow!! We are not quite ready yet. Just a few small gifts left to buy. We're both off tomorrow and looking forward to sleeping in and then will head down to Woodburn for the festivities at Grandma and Grandpa Lenhardt's. I can't wait to see Ashlyn open gifts, she is going to have so much fun tearing paper! We're spending Christmas Day with my family at my Aunt Jean's. For me, it's not Christmas unless I'm at Aunt Jean's for dinner and the gift exchange. Ashlyn participated in the kids gift exchange so she'll have one gift there as well. We won't be opening gifts with my two nieces until New Year's weekend at our house. My brother only gets the girls for a few hours on Christmas Day and we just won't have time.

We went to a Christmas party last Sat at our friend's Gary and Dawn house. We had a lot of fun, I drank one glass too many of red wine because I was feeling a little hung over Sun morning. Ashlyn was a little party animal and wouldn't go to sleep. She was up till after 11pm. Gary and Dawn' daughter Cammy finally got her to go down. She was wore out from playing. She was definently a hit, everyone thought she was pretty cute.

I did a little shopping Sat and Sun morning. I braved Costco, Winco, Target and the Mall. Ugh, I hate the mall! I went to two stores, I got in and I got out as quick as I could :) We got Ashlyn something really cool for her present. Lots of bells and whistles as Jered says. She's going to have a blast with all her Christmas gifts I'm sure. Playing in the paper will probably be the most fun!

WeeCare helped Ashlyn make Jered and I a gift. Its a wreath with her picture in the middle and it is so darn cute! They used a white paper plate, then did her hand print in green construction paper all around the plate with a red bow at the top. Then a picture of her in a Santa hat in the middle. So cute! I'll try to take a picture of it and post it soon.

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope I get to see most of you!

Here's a few pics from the party that Gary took:

Cameron had the magic touch and was finally able to get Ashlyn to go to sleep at 11pm!! I don't think she's ever been up that late, since she started sleeping through the night.

Ashlyn loved pushing the ottoman around

Fun fun fun all night long!

Playing with Cammy's bear

With Daddy, he let her have his cell phone and she felt pretty cool!

Pictures!!!

We got our tree on Thursday night. Jered cut it down for us and Ashlyn had fun walking through all the trees but boy was it cold! Her little cheeks were so pink. We had her all bundled up in her snow suit Uncle Justin & Aunt Steph got for her. We decorated the tree yesterday morning and it looks awesome! We put up all of our ornaments that we've collected through the years. Jered's Grandma has given him an ornament every year since he was born and we have a lot of those too. Grandma & Grandpa McGrath gave Ashlyn her first ornament and we put that up this morning too.

Jered and I were able to go out for a date on Friday night. We had so much fun! Our friends babysat Ashlyn so that we could go out with my cousins. We saw Bob Saget and he was so funny! After the show we stopped off at the Yamhill Pub, total dive bar, but cheap drinks! We were home by midnight, thats a pretty late night for us these days. Ashlyn slept in till almost 930am! Of course we were up by 8am. Sleeping those couple extra hours was so refreshing. I feel so rested this weekend.

Last night we went down to Grandma & Grandpa Lenhardts. Jered's sis was here with her new husband. We hadn't seen them since the wedding. Ashlyn was a little crabbier than normal, she's teething again. Ugh, teething! She loved the dinner Grandma made: roast beef, green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy. She got peaches for dessert. She ate almost everything.

We're almost ready for Christmas, good thing too since its right around the corner. We only a few more gifts to buy. I'm looking forward to being off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It so nice this year being on Friday. We'll get a really long weekend. Not sure about our plans for New Years yet. Both Jered and I are only working half days. Two long weekends in a row!

Ashlyn's first birthday is approaching fast! We're still talking and debating exactly what we're going to do for a party. I've applied for a volunteer position on the Citizens Review Board of Washington County. Its a review board thats reviews foster care cases and gives recommendations as to what the next steps should be for the kids and/or the parents and/or guardians/foster parents/adoptive parents. My cousin Angela recommended me and I hope it all works out. It would only be one day a month but its going to take some finagaling with my schedule. Work schedule, babysitting options, etc. I had an interview last Thursday with the man that does the hiring. I have to go through a two day training class and he thinks it may be Jan 21 and 22. Ashlyn's bday weekend. He's not sure yet so I'm waiting to hear back from him before I schedule her party. Its an interesting oppurtunity for me. I have huge reservations about whether or not I'll be able to handle. Ang told me its heartbreaking and rewarding all at the same time. I'm excited though too so I hope it all works out.

These are from Thanksgiving and after:

Pretty sure all the parenting books could use this picture of how NOT to let your baby sleep! She loves that pink bear blankie. Its silkie on one side and she likes to rub it on her face to go to sleep. And she mostly sleeps on her side or belly these days.
Playing with my toys at Grandma Glaydy's on Thanksgiving.

Mmmmm, pumpkin pie with whip cream, Yummy!

Talking with Grandma

Giving Grammy hugs!

Supporting the winning team :)

Picking out our tree

Our finished tree. Mama put these collars on the dogs. They have bells on them, the dogs hated them but I thought they were pretty cool!

Brrr its cold outside.....

Its so cold!!! 18 degrees this morning is just a little too chilly for me. I wish it were snowing, at least then it'd be warmer. Ashlyn and I have been getting all bundled up to go to work everyday. We got her a pretty cute stocking hat. Had to buy toddler size cause the baby sizes were too small for her big 90th percentile head.

I know its been a while since I've posted and I know people want to see pictures too. Well first I had been working so much there for a while that on my day off all I did was clean house, laundry and errands since I wasn't getting any of that good stuff during the week. Last Tues was my last OT shift for a while. I am working on the 27th and half day on the 31st but I'm off the 1st so those barely count. Then a couple of weeks ago I picked up a virus on our computer that has Jered's IT dept at work totally stumped. ALL of Ashlyn's pictures since she was born are on that computer. Jered is doing his best to save at least the pictures. The ones of Ashlyn are the only ones I really care about. And no we didn't have them back up onto anything. Stupid, I know!

We had a really great Thanksgiving. I worked a 12 hour shift, got off at 11am, came home to shower and we left for Glady & Floyd's. It was a nice relaxing day. Ashlyn loved all the food. She ate everything on the table except the stuffing but Grandma had made us gluten free bread so we didn't feel left out. Everything was delicious!

My dad came up to visit us on that Sat and stayed for a while. It was good to see him and my stepmom. Dad is out of town a lot for his job so we miss him sometimes when we go down. Ashlyn was crankier than usual and it took her a little while to warm up. but they got to see her show off a little. Sunday Jered put up all of the outside Christmas lights while Ashlyn and I decorated the inside. We're planning to get our tree Thurs afternoon. So far she's doing pretty good with the decorations. She recognizes the tone of voice and the word NO. I'm sure she'll hear it a lot more too :)

Last weekend we went down to Monroe again. My niece Bailey was 10 years old on Dec 1st. so my brother had a birthday party for her on Sat afternoon. They do a lot of parties at Papa's pizza in Corvallis and lucky for me and Ashlyn they now have gluten free pizza. It was Ashlyn's first time having pizza and she loved it!

Ashlyn is loving any and all food! As long as its real food. She's bored with the jarred stuff and we try not give it to her anymore. She's ate up pretty much all we had left anyway. She especially likes to feed herself. I make gluten free pancakes to take to Wee Care with her and she eats anything on the menu as long as its not gluten. She loves it all. If we put it on her tray and leave it there long enough she'll eventually try it. Last night she had some pork ribs we did in the crockpot, mashed potatoes and green beans. If you're eating in front of her she expects you to share. She still joins me and my co-workers for lunch and she stares at them when they're eating hoping they'll share. Unfortunately they're rarely able to share. Belinda did share her spaghetti squash the other day and she loved it. Hopefully she'll love sushi just as much as Mama and Daddy!

Ashlyn is becoming more independent every day. She is pulling herself to stand any chance she gets. She opens all drawers, doors, cabinets that she can find. She pulls things out of places you were sure she wouldn't be able to get into. Tonight while I was cleaning the kitchen she had a blast pulling all of the jars and containers out of the refill box (goodies we get from Grandma Glady that need refills). She's been mastering the stairs at Wee Care for the last week or so. She's been able to crawl up them and stop at the top but then she couldn't figure out how to get to down. Today she finally figured out how to crawl down! Our little munchkin is growing up. I'm afraid she'll be walking soon, before her parents are ready for sure.

We're getting ready for Christmas. Both Jered and I are off Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We'll be spending Christmas Eve at Glady and Floyd's and Christmas day at Aunt Jean's in Monroe. Hopefully we'll get to see my two nieces at some point too. I think it's their Mom's weekend. They love their little cousin but its hard for them to understand she doesn't want to be held all the time anymore.

I'll post new pictures as soon as Jered figures out the virus.