Tuesday, September 28, 2010

And a few more pictures....







Also, at Gracie's 1 year appointment a couple weeks ago she weighed 18 pounds 6 ounces and was 30 1/4 inches long! She has been taken steps for awhile now but as of this weekend she is REALLY walking!

Gracie's 1 Year Pictures







And these are just a few!

Monday, September 20, 2010

A few links...

It's been a sort of long weekend. Gracie has been extremely cranky and just not sleeping. The last couple weeks she has only been taking one nap and that one nap at times has been very hard to get her down for! She also has been struggling to go to sleep some nights.. really putting up a fight. I'm praying its just a phase.. I am comforted knowing that at this age it seems nothing lasts very long! I still didn't quite feel I got the "restful" weekend I was hoping for and was feeling a little frustrated last night. God heard my prayers though when I got a phone call saying the little boy I babysit wouldn't be here today. I have definitely enjoyed some quiet time this morning.

I was re-looking over some blog posts and just thought I'd share them with you this morning.. One is on motherhood.

The other is on marriage.

Hopefully they will encourage you today. I know that they did me.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Gracie's First Birthday Party!

Well Gracie is officially a ONE year old now! Wow.. that was actually really weird to type! We had her one year doctors appointment and she now weighs 18 pounds 12 ounces and is 30 1/4 inches long... so basically she has gained 10 pounds and grown 10 inches!
We had a birthday party for her on her actual birthday this past Saturday. We did a ladybug theme and we had a great time! Here are some pics from the special day!







I'll probably do another post soon with a few more pics from her birthday... they only let me upload 5 at a time and I still need to download a few from my camera! And I promise.. she did smile at her party! She looks so serious in some of these pics!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Gracie: My First Year at OneTrueMedia.com

A look back at the past year...

My Birth Story, One year Late, for those interested!

Well, one year ago I started FINALLY having contractions with Gracie! I meant to post a birth story forever ago and never got around to it and so I thought I finally would today. I don't know who is particularly interested in this.. BUT I wanted to have it recorded...

I had shown no signs of progress at all, even at my appointment on her due date.. none. I was frustrated but had heard many times that this is very normal so I just tried to enjoy my last days before motherhood.
Thursday morning, September 3rd, 2009.. Matt and I went out to pick up some watermelons and tomatoes from a friends garden. I just felt sooooo tired. I had been having decent amounts of energy but that day it was not the case. I went home and pretty much rested all day. When I woke up from a nap about 4 that afternoon, Matt came in the room and was reading a magazine. Then all of a sudden I felt something.. "I think i might have just had a contraction!" I remember telling him.. So we just waited to see if it happened again.. sure enough about 5 minutes later. We timed them for a bit and then I thought.. "oh gosh, this is going to drive me crazy if we just keep waiting for them!" So we decided to go heat up some leftovers, tacos, I debated this not wanting to see them later.. but they sounded good, so I thought oh well!

I continued to have bursts of contractions 5 minutes apart.. then they would spread a bit further a part.. then close together again. We just relaxed. I really wasn't in all that much pain and so I just thought.. this probably isn't' even it. We watched some of the football game and then about 8 headed out for a walk. The walk was hard! The contractions were definitely getting stronger! We actually ran into several people we knew on the walk. I didn't' want to say i was having contractions b/c I didn't want to make a big deal if it wasn't anything so I tried to just keep breathing as we had a short conversations!

We headed back home and I decided that I should get more of my bag together and at least straighten my hair! haha I had taken a shower that day but just let it air dry and it was looking a little crazy. I thought I do not want our first pictures with my hair looking nuts! I debated makeup and decided it was silly to put on makeup to go to the hospital, especially since at this point it was almost 9.

The next hour we just timed contractions.. some came really close leaning in on 3 minutes apart and then others were still about 5. I finally decided it was time to call our doctor. She told me to get to the hospital!

We left the house about 10:30. My whole pregnancy I imagined our hospital ride to be chaotic and stressful and for me to be in a whole lot of pain. I had like two minor contractions the whole way there. All I could think was.. oh gosh.. we are going to get there and they are going to say go back home, you aren't even dialated!

We pulled up to the ER and went in.. I was breathing pretty normal. The guy at the desk even asked, "Are you in labor or are you being induced?" I said, "I think I'm in labor" (haha) He insisted on me using a wheel chair but I could have totally walked.. the contractions didn't seem so bad right then! Once again making me very nervous.

We checked in about 11:15 (which note to self.. unless a complete emergency, do not check in at the hospital prior to midnight.. we got charged for the whole day!!!!)
They checked me and thank goodness I was dialated to a 3 and they said I was definitely in labor and to just stay put! I felt so much relief!

At this point I called my mom. She had called earlier that night but I didn't tell her about the contractions. I knew she would have got right in the car and I didn't want her coming if it was nothing. So when I called she was obviously asleep,
"We are at the hospital mom"
"WHY!?!"
"We are going to have a baby!"
.. haha, I thought it was very funny she asked why!

So from about 11:30 to 2:30 we just walked around the hospital, I sat on my exercise ball, I went to the bathroom like 10 million times. I kept feeling the urge to go! I even got in the whirlpool tub for awhile! And finally around 2:30 I got nervous. The contractions were a lot closer, hurting a lot more and I just didn't know if I could do it! At this point I was dilated to a 6 or 7.. BRING ON THE EPIDURAL!

I was nervous for the epidural and that was probably the worse part of the whole thing sitting there, trying to be so still when the contractions hurt so bad! But when it finally set in...awww.. relief!

My mom arrived about 3 AM and for the next 3 hours we just talked, watched episodes of The Office and tried to rest. I was not very successful at resting! About 5:30 my doctor showed up and was going to break my water since that had never happened. But when she came in, apparently it had just broke.. I couldn't feel a thing. So they said I was ready to start pushing because that was the last thing they were waiting for, I was fully dialated!

At 6 I started pushing and pushed for 45 minutes.. it really wasn't bad. I guess that's b/c I had an epidural. I was informed that pushing is not fun otherwise!

And at 6:45 AM, Friday, September 4th.. Gracie Irene Maestas was born!!!
8 pounds 4.5 ounces, 20 1/4 inches long

and they said she was a small baby!

Has it REALLY been a year!?!?! We are having her first birthday party tomorrow! I'll post pics afterwards!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Summer Update!

Well, no I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... It is kind of funny to me that now that I have "more" time in my day since I haven't been babysitting this summer.. I actually have blogged less.

It's been a great summer! We have been busy but its been fun... Gracie has had a summer full of firsts...

... her first trip to an outdoor pool and a splash park.. SHE LOVES THE POOL!!!
...her first trip to the zoo
...first time picking blueberries, and for that matter, my first time too!
...her first Royals Game!
...trips to the park and time in swing, which she also loves!
...this local gym has free "gymnastics" time for little ones once a week and we have been going to that... Gracie loves crawling all over everything... its actually quite a work out for me!
...her first 5K, also my first 5K.. we walked it this past weekend to support DYM, the youth ministry building that we meet in for our church service..
...her first time at a Sports Camp, our church held a Sports Camp for kids in our community the last week of June. It was a great time! We had 48 different kids there throughout the week!

And I could go on and on.. but you get the idea. It's been fun! I can't believe it is already July! I just keep thinking back to this time last year and how excited I was getting that my new little baby would be arriving soon. And now my new little baby is growing so fast and turning into such a fun little girl! Gracie is SOOO busy.. she crawls crazy fast, pulls up on EVERYTHING (which has resulted in some minor ouches!) and is starting to just stand up w/ no assistance. I can't believe that she will be walking soon! SO NOT ready for that!! I already can hardly keep up with her!

I hope everyone else is enjoying the warm weather and all the fun that goes along with it.. here's a few new pictures!