4 Months & Rice Cereal

Christine is growing like crazy! I can't believe she is 4 months old! We had our first "sick appointment" on the day she turned 4 months. It wasn't anything serious, the doctor thought she had a very mild case of the flu. Christine didn't act sick though, she was even smiling and talking to the doctor. The doctor called her "very social." :) She is now very alert and wants to be doing something all the time. She makes the best faces when she is concentrating really hard to grab onto something or put something in her mouth. She also smiles and talks a lot!

We also introduced Rice Cereal for the first time. I don't think she swallowed any of it, but it was fun making a mess!

Meeting Xander

The Edem's stopped to see us as they were on their way to Florida for their cruise. It was great to see them and see how big Xander is getting! We miss them like crazy and wish they lived closer! Below are some picture of Christine and Xander. :)

Xander is 8 months, Christine is 4 months.

Laughing!

Christine is now laughing! I love it!! I heard her laugh for the first time on New Years Eve. It's the best thing ever!! You can't help but laugh when you hear it. I'm trying to record it, but every time I get the camera out it distracts her and she stops. Oh, I love being a mom!

First Christmas

Christine had a great first Christmas. We decided to drive to Beach City, Ohio to visit Grandma & Grandpa Sampsel and it was quite the adventure. We left on the 23rd (my birthday). We decided to leave as soon as Christine woke up because her longest nap is in the morning. We hit the road around 7am and Christine slept until around 11am. We also rented an SUV so we could take Christine & Duke and have room for all our stuff. (the civic barely holds the car seat) Anyway, Christine and Duke both did awesome and we made great time. We decided to stop in Cincinnati and have dinner with some friends and then we were going to try to finish the trip. We got to Cincinnati around 3:30 and called our friends to let them know we'd be at their house in a 1/2 hour. Well, as soon as I got off the phone with them, traffic started to really slow down and we realized that the road was pure ice. We kept driving but we were going under 20 miles an hour and we saw many cars sliding all over the rode. Well then traffic just stopped. We sat for over an hour and learned that they had closed the bridge between KY and IN due to the ice storm. Finally around 7:30pm a police officer came through the traffic and separate everyone to the side of the road so a salt truck could get through. An hour later the salt truck arrived. An hour after that we started moving. That's right - we sat on I275 with an infant and a dog for 6 hours! It was crazy!! At one point Brian finally got out of the car to walk Duke and feed him, they were both just sliding across the road. The good news was that Christine and Duke were very well behave during all of it. Brian and I just passed Chrsitine back and forth to entertain her. Luckily, we were at least in familar territory and I was able to call my friend Gretchen and she got us a room at the Sheraton. (If you are reading this Gretchen, Thank you again!!) It was definitley a birthday that I will never forget!

We then got up on Christmas Eve and finished our trip to Beach City. We were able to see a lot of family and friends while we were there. Christine met her Great Grandpa Sampsel and GG (Great Grandma). Brian also had a class reunion while we were home so we were able to meet many of his high school friends. We also got to see Ryan and Kelly. Ryan is Brian's really good friend from high school and was a groomsman in our wedding. It was really great to catch up with them!

For Christmas Christine recieved many books, clothes, and a bebe pod.

She also LOVED to watch the train go around the tree.

We left on Monday, and decided to stay in Cincinnati again before heading home. While in Cincinnati we were able to meet Trevor Davis! Trevor, is our best friend's, Cory and Patty, little boy. Trevor and Christine were both born on the same day!

So, it was great time, but Brian and I are really glad to finally be home!!

Our Little Traveler

So, Christine has been on a plane twice in the past couple of weeks. We went to Kansas City for Thanksgiving. My uncle Jim lives in Kansas City and my mom's side of the family met out there. It was interesting traveling with an infant for the first time. It involved a lot of planning, but we made it without any problems. I was really worried about getting all the formula and other liquids that Christine requires, but it was actually really easy. It definitely takes a lot longer getting through security, but it all went smoothly. Christine was awesome! She didn't get fussy or anything on the plane. We got to see Andrew again. It's so much fun to see him with Christine. He's going to be an incredible uncle! Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving:

Then the next weekend we flew to Indianapolis. Our company's holiday party was in Cincinnati on Saturday, so we flew into Indy so my parents could watch Christine while we went to the party. Friday night we had Christmas with my dad's side of the family. It was fun to see everyone! I have a cousin that had a baby in June (Riley Craig) and another cousin who had a baby in August (Alexis Rachelle) and then there was Christine. My grandma was beside herself! Then on Saturday Brian and I woke up and headed to Cincinnati. Bedford was hit with a snow storm so we had to drive through that first...I didn't think we were going to make it! Brian described the snow storm as the "white death." Before going to the party we stopped in to see the Davids. (Patty had a baby (Trevor) on the same day as Christine!) It was so much fun to catch up with them and meet Trevor and see how tall Lucas is. We also got a tour of their new house. Brian was super jealous because they have a 3 car garage! :) Then we went to see the Eversons. We miss everyone so much!! I was so proud of myself for not calling my parents until 5pm to check on Christine. It was really hard to be away from her, but she was in good hands. My parents had a blast with her! Anyway, we partied with our dunnhumby friends and then spent the night in the "nati." We had to get up at 6am to make it back to Bedford for church. Christine was able to meet her Fayetteville Baptist family who of course, made a huge fuss over her. It was a lot of fun! We stayed in Bedford until Tuesday. I was able to have some girl time with Brittany which included a much needed pedicure. :) On the way home our flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems and then our next flight was delayed. We finally made it back to ATL and found out that our luggage didn't make it. Luckily, I had all of Christine's necessity's with me. We got home around 7pm and our luggage was delivered at 11:30pm. So, it wasn't too bad. Christine slept all day the next day! She was exhausted! Here are some pics from our trip:

The last 2 Months

The last 2 months have been amazing! Brian and I are definitely settling into parenthood and we are enjoying it! Christine has been an incredibly easy baby. She's really content and happy (probably the reason why we are enjoying being parents so much).
Sleeping - For the first 2 weeks she stayed in our room in her pack-n-play and woke up every 3 hours. Then we moved her to the nursery and the first night she slept until 2:30am...I woke up in a panic because I thought I didn't hear her. And that has been her consistent pattern. She goes to bed around 9pm and then wakes up at 2:30/3am and then wakes up again at 6/7am. Again, I'm really lucky! We've only had one bad night so far. The doctor put her on a multi-vitamin and the first night I gave it to her she screamed all night long and of course Brian was in Cincinnati that night so I didn't have any help. It was horrible! I now have total sympathy for the moms that have babes that cry all night. I couldn't handle it! This past Monday, Christine slept through the night for the first time. :) Grandma and Grandpa Walden are taking the credit. Brian, Andrew, and I went to a movie while they watched her. They let her stay up past her bedtime and play, so they think it was all their doing that she slept through the night. She hasn't done it again, so maybe it was them....
Getting Bigger - Christine was born at 6lbs, 14oz; 21.5 inches long. When we took her to the pediatrician for the first time she was 6lbs, 6oz; 19 inches long. That's right...apparently she shrunk a few inches in the first couple of days. :) We think the hospital just measured wrong. Anyway, at one month she was 8lbs and now she is 10lbs, 8oz; 22 inches long. She's been consistently in the 50%.
Personality - As I mentioned before, Christine is very content. She just hangs out. We took her to Lauren & Derrick Washington's wedding when she was 3 weeks old and she was awesome! She was passed around all night and listened to the loud music and was perfectly happy. In the past couple of weeks she's really started having a personality. She smiles and talks and grunts a lot! Brian will come home from work and hold her and she will just sit there and smile and talk to him. She LOVES her dad...and I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual.
Favorite things - Here are a few of Christine's favorite things right now:
1. Her dad
2. Her mom
3. The swing
4. The car/car seat
5. the stroller (she just likes to be moving!)
6. lights and fans
7. watching The Duke
8. listening to music
9. listening to us read her books
10. a bath
Diapers - I have to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who bought us diapers. I stopped counting how many we go through a day...but it's a lot and we just bought diapers for the first time this week. Now we are really going to have to start shopping prices on diapers!

Pregnancy & Labor

I decided I should post something about my pregnancy and labor so I can look back and remember everything...

Although being pregnant was not "fun" for me, I actually had it very easy. I was never sick or anything...just kept getting bigger. Here are some things I learned while I was pregnant:
1. It seems to take FOREVER, but then when the time comes, it feels like it flew by.
2. Feeling her kick and move around was the best part about being pregnant.
3. EVERYONE talks to you when you are pregnant.
4. Ignorance is bliss! Brian and I never took the child birth class and I am glad we didn't.
5. Just when you think you've made it without stretch marks, it will happen with only 2 weeks to go.

Labor - if you don't want to know all the details...stop reading now. :)

On September 19th (day before my due date) I was in the shower getting ready for work and I felt like something "happened." I called the doctor and they told me that I was probably fine, so I went to work. Finally around 3:30pm I just felt weird so I called the doctor and they had me go to the hospital (which I was not expecting at all!). So, I got off the phone, walked over to Brian (good thing we worked together) and we headed to Northside. We got to the hospital and checked in. The nurse came to check me and decided that nothing was happening. She said that I could stay and walk around to see if that would start something, but I opted to go home. We got home around 6pm and at 7:30 my doctor called to check on me. I was feeling "crampy" at this point, but didn't think it was contractions. My doctor told me that if anything happened to call her...Christine was really, really low and had been for about 3 weeks so my doctor was worried that she would come very quickly. Anyway, at 8:15pm I had to start pacing our house because I was in some pain. Finally, I called the doctor at 9pm because my contractions were 5 minutes apart. She told me to go to the hospital and if for some reason I wasn't in labor, they would start the process in the morning.

10pm - Brian and I arrived at the hospital (again) luckily, we didn't have to fill out all the paperwork again and we were checked in quickly. The nurse came in and checked me and I was still only 3cm so she told Brian and I to go to sleep and we would start things in the morning.
11pm - I am in pain and can't sleep - the nurse came in and asked why I wasn't sleeping. I told her I was in pain and she asked if I wanted sleeping pills. I refused them.
11:30/12am - I called the nurse and told her to bring the sleeping pills because I was still in too much pain to sleep.
12/12:30 - the nurse gave me the pills and then checked me. My water broke. She then said something under her breath and walked out of the room.
(From this point on I have NO idea what time everything happened)
The nurse came back in and said "you are 6cm, I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry." My panic response - "does that mean I don't get an epidural!!!" The nurse - "don't worry, he's on his way - he'll be here in 10 minutes." Those were VERY long ten minutes because my contractions kept getting stronger. Finally, my HERO showed up. :) The epidural was the one thing I was really scared of, but believe me when you are having contractions the epidural is nothing!
The last thing I really remember is my doctor coming in. She arrived and I was 9cm and she explained to me how to push. From that point on Brian and my doctor kept having to wake me to tell me that I needed to push. I would push and then fall asleep! Brian said that at one point I asked him for ice chips and by the time he put an ice chip on the spoon, I was out. So, I slept through everything!! Stupid sleeping pills!
Luckily, Brian was awesome and saw Christine being born so he could tell me all about it. Although, I don't remember anything, at least I have a story to tell. :)

Christine arrived on September 20th at 6:07am!!