One Month Old

Can you believe that 4 weeks have already passed since Miss Caroline made her grand entrance? I cannot. She is doing so well and I am looking forward to her one month check up on Monday to see how much weight she has put on (look at those bird legs!).

Life is rough

She can totally pull off the animal print :)

Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas..with the best gift being Caroline of course :) Besides running around trying to get to different celebrations on-time and with all of our belongs (they seem to have multiplied in great magnitude) it was a pretty low-key holiday.

Speaking of getting places on-time, this seems to have become an 'issue' of mine. I have not once, but two years in a row gotten us late to Christmas Mass. It is not on purpose, but I seem to add on 15 minutes to every mass. If it really starts at 8:00, I will always believe that it starts at 8:15. Not sure why. Of course this year was no different. Gary was less then thrilled with me. According to him...the one time we should really be on time to mass this year...I told him that was a total "dad" comment. Yes, I know that he is in fact a dad, but it was a "DAD" comment...I guess we have officially crossed over.

So, the Fleming family was rushing into church at 8:10 (would have been early according to 'my' mass watch). Brooke was dressed in her Christmas best pajamas as was Caroline. The original plan was to drop the girls off at my parents and then go to mass, since that didn't work out with our time frame, PJ's it was! At least Gary and I made it dressed appropriately.

Caroline while we were opening gifts :)

Brooke's favorite gift was her sequin purse with pretend make-up, phone, keys and credit card. She immediately began calling all her friends :)

Post Pregnancy

There are not too many things that I miss about being pregnant. I do love when the baby first moves..up until they permanently lodge body parts into your ribs, bladder, etc...One of the things that I really do miss, though, is my casual dress and how it is totally acceptable in public for me to wear yoga pants 24/7. It is even viewed as being 'cute!'. It is not so cute anymore when you still wear those yoga pants after the baby is born. People give you the look of...is she newly pregnant?? Did she just have a baby?? I am still in that in-between time frame. I don't need to wear maternity clothes-thank goodness!-but none of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit yet either. So frustrating!!

My New Years resolution this year is going to be to drop those prego pounds (still have 7-8 to go) and maybe a few extra for good measure :) I am in two weddings this year and need to get back in shape! Gary and I decided to re-join our local community center and I am really excited as lots of my friends work out there as well. He was going to give this membership to me as a 'push' present...yeah...not so much. I am also looking forward to joining because I would like to sign Brooke up for some swimming lessons to get her ready for Innsbrooke this year. They also have different mom classes that I am thinking about signing up for on one of my days off. We will see how this goes...I refuse to have to buy new jeans or (yikes) a new wardrobe just because I have a newly adorable daughter :)

Putting on the LBS

We brought Caroline back to the doctors this past Friday. I feel like we spend more time there then anywhere else! I was nervous to put her back on the scale for fear she still wouldn't have gained enough weight. Well, she proved to us that she can pack on the pounds..and quickly! She had been 6 lbs 9 oz on Monday and Friday she hit the scales at 7 lbs even! The bottles that we have been making for her are working! It is a little bit more work for mom, but she is totally worth it :)

I always think that it is hard in the beginning. You really cannot go anywhere (especially in this weather) and all that the baby wants to do is sleep, eat and poop. Not all too exciting right?? They are beautiful to look at and I love to snuggle with them, but my favorite is when they begin to be more alert and lift their heads, etc. Today, Caroline already started to lift of her head (when laying on your chest or shoulder) and stayed up way longer this afternoon than she has the past two weeks. I love it. I cannot wait until she starts to become a bit more playfull. I know Brooke will LOVE playing with her-she is already trying.

Speaking of Brooke..she has a few new favorites as well. She recently discovered the musical Annie. She cannot get enough. Anytime I ask her if she would like to watch a show, Annie is what she requests. I am trying out The Sound of Music next-a huge favorite of mine. Gary is not really a fan of musicals, but my family LOVES them-she fits in perfect :)

Christmas Picture

How can this photo not be shared? Brooke's school took some Christmas pictures on their last day (which also happened to be the day Caroline was born-hence Brooke's shirt). It turned out so cute!! I couldn't' believe that she let them put that hat on her head and that she smiled! Too bad I didn't have this picture before I made the Christmas Card (not so good this year...be forewarned..).

Baby Present

I have a very good husband. When Brooke was born, he surprised me with a new Tiffany bracelet with Brooke's initials on them. I really was not expecting anything following Carolines birth with it being so close to Christmas. We had also decided that we were not going to give each other Christmas gifts this year. We each recently got a new cell phones and that seemed like enough. Well, Gary decided to come home from the mall the other day with a surprise...which is hard for him to do because I am extremely nosy and usually ruin surprises before they happen. I had asked Gary to go to the mall to pick up a shower gift (which he did do) and he also bought me this new wallet!!


Yes, to some people this may be an unconventional baby gift, however, for someone like me-it is perfect. He was considerate enough to make sure that it matched my purse and that it included a check book cover! Yes-I am 28 years old and I still write checks and balance my check book daily-I am OCD..what can I say?? So, I have a great husband and now I have a great wallet :)

Doctor Update

We headed back to the doctor's office today to check and see how Caroline was doing. He really wanted he to be putting on about an ounce a day of weight and we were hoping to see those results on the scale! Well, she didn't gain any weight from Thursday to today-she actually lost an oz-not good. So, we have to start supplementing her feedings and get more calories into this little girl so she can pack on the pounds. I need to loose, she needs to gain :) We are going to go back to the doctors again this Friday and see if the supplementing is working. Keep your fingers crossed! This is a whole new world to me-Brooke was on formula from day one and never lost an oz.

I am hoping to give a good update on Friday and a new picture of a chubbier Caroline :)

Baking

The last two years, my sister and I have made ginger snap cookies. It has kind of become my 'thing' every year at Christmas time. This year, my baking has changed a bit. Today I decided to make nursing cookies. Yep-you read that right. Now, before you get all disgusted and think that I have gone over the deep end and am baking with breast milk-not to fear. There is no milk in the recipe at all :) As I was doing my daily searching of blogs, I came across one that offered up a recipe to increase ones supply. Well, if you read my last post, I have a little one that really needs to be packing on the pounds so...supply I will increase! The cookies are essentially chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies and really are good-they just have two ingredients that are believed to help nursing moms (oats and brewers yeast). They are also really good for you too with flaxseed and other nutrient rich ingredients. And-no, they will not make you start producing milk if your not a nursing mom.....I had Gary and Brooke try them tonight and I got positive feedback. So, if you want a new recipe and has 'added benefits' as well, let me know-I have about 60 cookies and would be willing to share!

1 Week Check Up

Today we brought Caroline into the pediatricians office for her one week check up. They wanted us to bring her in to make sure that she was gaining back the weight she lost when she was in the hospital. The appointment went pretty well! She is gaining weight, however, not as much as they would like her to. She is up to 6lbs 10oz, but they would really like to see her get back to her birth weight of 7lbs 4oz. We are going to go back for a repeat appointment next Monday to see if she is gaining. We also had to get her blood drawn again to see how her Bilirubin levels were. This checks to see if she has jaundice. Our doctor said that a newborns levels usually peak at 5-7 days after birth-which we are right at-and Carolines are at a 14. This is good because they want their levels under 20 which we are, so good news!!

Sweet Caroline

So, I have been waiting to use that blog title for something like 9 months now :)

It has taken me awhile to get back to blogging, but now that we are home and starting to get settled in, I think that I can keep more updated!

We are all doing great-trying to learn to live on less sleep and spread out attention out between the two girls! It is GREAT having Gary home this week. Not only is it way easier to take care of the two girls with four hands, but he can also get TONS done around the house! It is a win-win for everyone :)

Brooke is adjusting well to having a little sister. She has decided not to call Caroline by her name, but instead she simply refers to her as the 'baby.' Sometimes she calls her 'mom's baby' while Gary is 'her daddy.' Could get interesting...She loves to try and hold Caroline and she even tried to feed her with one of her toy bottles today. Caroline was not interested. Brooke only gets mad when Caroline is in the swing and it is her baby dolls turn! I mean, she should have to take turns with a plastic doll right??

Caroline Marie Fleming

7 lbs 4 oz

20 1/2 inches

Her first bath

Dad & his girls
Brooke=not so sure yet...

Brooke now loving on her baby sister!

Caroline at 6 days old

She is totally not thrilled about having her picture taken and would like to be fed ASAP!

How cute is her outfit from Aunt Peggy??!!

Those Golden Archs

I am totally not one of those parents that doesn't allow their child to ever have fast food. At the same time, we don't stop every day/night and pick up take out! Today we were driving past McDonald's when Brooke pointed her cute little hand towards the window and said, "My fries??!!" What??!! How in the world does she know that is where you get french fries at?? It is not like it was even a McDonald's that we had ever been to! On top of that, when I do let her indulge in the chicken nugget Happy Meal, she always gets the apple slices! I found this too funny that she knew that those golden arches had french fries and that she just had to have them.

Since it is her last day as an only child, I thought I would treat her to a real Happy Meal-fries included. I would maybe pick something up for myself too (Hey-I don't get to eat before the surgery or after for many hours...I need a last meal!!). Let me tell you who finished off their entire chicken nugget meal and who barely touched theirs (fries included)....We'll see if she tricks me into this again (PS-the Happy Meal toy was totally lame too...strawberry shortcake stamp?? Not so much...).

Officially Registered

I had my last doctors appointment today before the arrival of baby Fleming. I also pre-registered, got my blood drawn and met with an anesthesiologist. I was even given a hospital bracelet which I was informed I CANNOT (repeat) CANNOT remove!! If I remove this bracelet, I will have to do all my blood work, etc again. Apparently some women have problems following simple directions. Tomorrow I have my final monitoring appointment and then we are good for our Thursday appointment!! I am still watching the hours sllloooowwwlllyyy go by...but it is getting closer and closer-less then 48 hours now!

Brooke has also been busy. She has really been working on her "Cheese" face. She is getting better :)

More like a sneeze here..

Much better :)

Yes-I know that she is wearing the same thing as the last time I posted pictures...I promise she has other clothes......

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving has been very busy with family get-togethers and celebrations. We were very lucky to have both of my sister in town and celebrated Maggie's 20th birthday (only one more year!!) on Thanksgiving Day!


We went to Gary's aunt & uncles house for Turkey Day and then my parents house the day after for Maggie's traditional birthday dinner of pizza and dip & bread (a pregnant woman's dream-might as well take advantage of this last week right?).


I also checked some major items off my 'to-do' list this weekend. We cleaned the entire house, got our few last baby items (on Black Friday-who does that?? Maggie & Kelly...), toe nails painted and the house is at least 1/2 way decorated. I still have a few more things to get done before Thursday, but I still have 3 days.


I am totally crazy and I am going to work one day this week. At least it will help pass the time. I feel like I am constantly staring at the clock waiting for the night to come and it finally to be another day. People are constantly telling me to 'enjoy' these last few days because before I know it...things are going to get REALLY busy around my house. It is REALLY easy for them to say that when they don't have two (adorable I'm sure) feet lodged in their rib cage. Although there are going to be sleepless nights and much, much more to do, I am ready to move onto the next stage and leave the pregnancy stage behind :)

This Is It

All that is left of the lovely Heparin injections. I think that I am more excited in the slowly diminishing amount of vials then anything else. I am at the point now where there are not too many places left to put a needle-I feel like I am going to pop everytime I do an injection!!

The 'almost' Big Sister

This little girls world is about to be rocked.

I had another doctors appointment this Tuesday and had my non-stress test today. Everything looks great with the baby! She was even sucking her thumb today which was pretty cute :) My doctor let me know that I have a 30% chance that I will go early. I like to think of that as a 70% chance that I will make it right up until my scheduled c-section date (even though I know how much Maggie would LOVE to share her birthday).

Complaints from a 9 month pregnant girl

I have made it through 261 days. I have 19 days to go-I shouldn't complain. I am complaining. I am in pain-so much pain. The only thing that I can compare it to is a broken rib like pain. No, I have never broken a rib, but this must be what it feels like. I am only pain free when completely laying down. I can maintain a level of pain tolerance if I am sitting. Walking is becoming difficult and, at times, totally embarrassing.

Today I was (again) attempting to get some Christmas shopping done at Target. I repeatedly had to stop and bed over in a pathetic attempt to remove my child's foot/leg/knee from my rib cage. I think that the other customers thought I was crazy or felt bad for me...by the time I started to remove clothing (don't freak out it was only a fleece) thinking that this would help the discomfort (don't ask-it just seemed like it would help) all shoppers had definitely jumped on the 'look at that weird girl' train.

As I was driving home I started to remember having this same problem with Brooke. After she was born and I got back to my former self, I realized that my rib cage and permanently been altered. At first this kind of freaked me out and I was upset. My ribs seriously stuck out farther then they did before and they were not going back! I totally got over it, though, because I thought this actually may help make me look smaller...I had some kind of logic to this theory. I also thought that if I was to have another baby, it would totally be easier because I now had more room. I was wrong. Maybe this child has huge feet or extremely long legs-I am not sure-either way...it-hurts-bad.

One more complaint-contractions. Low-lying, stop you in your tracks, think that the baby may be born right here-right now-in the middle of Target (I spend a great deal of my time there) contractions. I keep trying to tell my body to chill out. We have a date-things are planned and I need 19 days. The baby's room is not ready. I still have a laundry list of Babies R Us shopping and Christmas shopping to complete. Our cars need oil changes and to be cleaned (yes-both important to me prior to babies arrival....I don't want people to judge us by our filthy cars when they help install the car seat! You know they would judge....I would judge....). My body's reply to my request? Here's another one-have fun :)

So there you have it-my rant and rave for the weekend. I promise to try and get a better attitude by Monday-it will all depend on whether or not another foot has decide to invade my rib cage.

Last Ultrasound

We had our last ultrasound today. When I look back on the beginning of this pregnancy (first ultrasound being in April) it seems to have gone by SO fast...but these last 3 weeks seem to be going by SO slow...

Our update today was great! The baby measured 5 pounds 13 ounces...so almost 6 pounds. The good news (as of Tuesday) was that I hadn't gained any more weight since my appointment the week before. I totally made up for it by eating extra that day so I am sure it will all catch up to me by next week :) My grand total thus far has been 23 lbs-can't wait to have to start working that off....The ultrasound also told us that baby girl has a full head of hair! I asked if they knew what color but apparently that technology is not available just yet :) I am curious to see if she comes out with a full head of dark straight hair just like Brooke---22 days will tell us!

I still have SO much left to do before December 3rd. I have a major trip that I need to make to Babies R Us to pick up some 'essentials.' I also need to wrap up my Christmas shopping as my time will be limited come December. I hope that baby girl doesn't try and stir things up by arriving earlier then her scheduled time-I am a bit OCD when it comes to organization and things already being on the calendar. We shall see!!! Only 6 appointments left to go :)

Brooke's New Room :)

We have taken the plunge and had Brooke sleep in her 'big girl' bed since Sunday. We had tried to get her to sleep in the new room before, but she was not interested. Last Saturday after a very fun Halloween, she attempted (almost successfully) to escape from her crib. That was the final straw-she went into the twin bed cold turkey and has been sleeping through the night ever since! So far, she thinks that it is against the rules to get out of the bed without Gary or me coming in the room first...we will see how long that lasts :)

Speaking of Brooke's new room...at some point in time (maybe two months ago) I had promised some updated pictures.

I am not in love with the guard rails, but at this point they are necessary. After a couple months I think that I am going to take them off-I can live with them for now.

Isn't the headboard fun?? My mom and Gary made it for Brooke. I would like to say that I helped...but I really didn't.

The quilt was a HUGE find off of Craigs list ($20). It is from Pottery Barn and only a few year old. It was in great condition and literally one block over from our house. I was able to find the matching pillow sham off of Ebay for only $10!!

My friend Marci gave us the perfect color and size lamp to go on Brooke's night stand. This was such a help since I had already spent many shopping trips looking for one with zero success.

The only real 'issue' that I had was the bed skirt. It really wouldn't have been a problem, however, Gary decided to lower Brooke's bed. Again-this wouldn't have been a problem, but the bed (that my parents loaned us) was not able to be lowered...so Gary's solution was to saw off part of the legs....my parents loved this news :) The height actually works great for Brooke-not so much for a standard size bed skirt! I was able to use some pins and get it to the right height. I think that it works.

The dresser still needs to be organized and cleaned up a bit. It was hard to find an angle to take the picture without catching myself in the mirror-not a pretty sight right now :)

I found this little shelf at Hobby Lobby for around $10. It works great for all of Brooke's bows and her backpack.

I had been searching at stores looking for some art to hang on Brooke's walls and I found two really cute pieces through Etsy. I think that they are both adorable Brooke LOVES them!!

I found this one at Lemon Drop Studio. You can visit them here. You get to pick all of your colors, fonts, etc. Brooke was totally excited to see this elephant in her room (her current favorite animal)!! What is even more amazing then the adorable art they have to offer is there turn-around time..it is unreal. I ordered this print Sunday evening and that same night I had a proof!! The next day it was already in the mail!!

This second print I found at Babybyrds. You can visit them here. How cute is this!! You are able to really customize your order picking background color, letter font/color as well as accent (I went with the adorable bird). They also have TONS of prints for adults too-there is one I have my eye on for our family room once new baby girl makes her arrival . Did I mention their customer service too? I immediately heard back from them and had a proof ASAP! Being in the retail field, there is nothing like good customer service to make you want to come back for more :)

The room is still a work in progress and I'm sure it will continue to be for awhile. Right now Brooke is happy and sleeping in her bed throughout the night...which makes me happy :)

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween we were lucky enough to have Amy, Joe, Jack, Lily, Tracie and Maggie over to celebrate! The boys (and Aunt Maggie) took the kids trick-or-treating while Amy, Tracie and met stayed back to hold down the fort and hand out candy to the many trick-or-treaters I was sure that we would have....We had around 4 kids come by the house...needless to say, we have TONS of candy left over...not good for me.

Little Flower ready to go trick-or-treating!

Back with her candy!

Lily totally needs to show Brooke how it is done.

I swear she and Jack had double if not triple the amount of candy that Brooke did...and they went together!!

Buzz Light Year trying to save us from the 'evil' black sheep. He was successful-thank you Jack.

Brooke-totally freaked out by the Black Sheep..she warmed up to her eventually.

Other news? Brooke slept in her new room and big girl bed for the last two nights!! It is worth of a total post of its own..coming later with pics of the new room.

Brooke turns TWO!!

Brooke officially turned the big 2 on Sunday. We celebrated with the Flemings while also celebrating Brooke's Grandma Mary (GiGi)'s birthday and Gary's cousin Kevins. She had a GREAT time!

It is totally hard for me to belive that she is actually two years old and about to be a big sister. Time has totally flown by...hopefully these next 37 days will too :) Gary took Brooke for her two year check-up yesterday and she is 34 inches tall and weighs 25 pounds. She is around the 73% for height (not a Johnson trait) and the 43% for weight (also not from her mother).

I always think that it is fun to take a quick look at her month-by-month pictures to see how much she has changed. I think that she has grown up so much!

Brooke Year Two

13 months

14 months

15 months

16 months

17 months

18 months

19 months

20 months

21 months

22 months

23 months

24 months!


Happy Birthday Brooke!!!

ONE...Singular Sensation...

I have been so, so lucky the past 28 years to have known someone so amazing as Mary Jerry Geraldine Johnson. My Grandma was one special lady and made sure that each and every one of her five children, 3 daughter-in-laws, 2 son-in-laws, 11 grand-children (plus spouses!) and 7 great-grand-children knew how 'FABULOUS' they were.

I have so many memories of my grandma-she was so involved in everything we all did. She came to every dance recital (and danced and cheered the loudest from the crowd-no exaggeration here), never missed a birthday and while most of my friends were in Cancun for Senior year Spring Break, I was in Naples FL with Gary and my Grandparents-how amazing is that?!!

She taught us to appreciate and respect all Broadway shows-although we had to wait until we were 18 before we could play them on the player piano (do you know how many bad words pop up in A Chorus Line??!!)! I owe all my show-tune knowledge to her.

All of us were her 'sugars' and knew how important all of our relationships were to her. She is ONE woman that has huge impact on my life and I will never forget all of our amazing times together.

Everytime I hear New York, New York, I will think of my Grandma Mary Jerry and know that she is dancing her heart out with many loved ones while keeping watch over us all :)

5,6,7,8.........

It's a Date!

I had a check up today with my OB and he set a date for my c-section! He gave me the option of choosing either the 3rd of December or the 8th of December-this was a no brainer. I had been hoping that the 3rd would be an option (Grandpa Buchheit's birthday) so I picked 12/03/2009 right away :) I am so excited to have a date-I tend to be a bit OCD. (In case you noticed-the 'baby ticker' has been updated to reflect the new date :)) There is always a chance that I could go earlier (36 + weeks would be the very earliest, though) but I never went into labor with Brooke so I think that we will make it to our 'due' date with no problem.

Also-for those of you still wondering about the babies name-yes, Gary has given me the 'go ahead' on name choice #2. I am going to give those of you that DON'T want to know the babies name before December 3rd a chance to leave the blog now....




Are you gone Dad??




One last chance.....




Ok-some people (not me) like surprises. After much back-and-forth, Gary and I both settled on Caroline Marie. Not to be confused with Carolyn. I have always had Caroline in a top 3 position and Marie is my mom's middle name as well as my sister Amy's so it works perfect. Let the countdown continue.....

Halloween Garden Party

This weekend we went to a Halloween party at the Garden. Brooke had a BLAST! She was totally exhausted by the time we got home-too much Halloween :)

Hanging out with Aunt Tracie in the bouncy-by far her favorite part of the party.

Riding on the train with Grandma!

They had a petting zoo, but this was just about as close as Brooke would get to the animals.

Time for Halloween cookies!!

Yes-there was even a pumpkin patch! This was the one that Brooke picked out-she needed just a little help from Dad to get it into the car.

Scary right??