First Beach Trip and Milestone Making

Forgive me for not posting in forever! But I'm back and boy is this little girl growing up fast! Lila Grace is 7 months 3 weeks old. She is now sitting up, crawling (it's sort of a hybrid crawl), she's pulling up to standing in her crib and trying on everything else, she's feeding herself puffs, and drinking from a sippy cup all by herself! It's all happening so fast!

This past weekend we went on our annual October family beach trip. We took a long weekend and packed up for Kiawah Island. Laurin, his parents, my dad, Glyn, Lila Grace and myself all made the trip.

It was a great weekend full of relaxation, play, good food and camaraderie. The only bad thing was that Laurin came down with a virus and felt pretty horrible all weekend long but at least he was forced to rest. He is feeling better but it seems he's passed it along to me...hopefully we can keep it away from the munchkin!

The first day we took Lila Grace down to the beach we weren't quite sure if she liked it. Her first step was on the wet, hard sand and I think it was quite cold...she didn't like it! Then I figured she had to dip her toes into the great Atlantic, but again, it was freezing and she squealed! I'd never heard such a high pitched sound come from her before. It was pretty funny. The next day we set up in the warm, soft, dry sand and things were much different. She was so excited about her new sand discovery, and played and crawled and had a grand time. Below are a sampling of the TONS I took, including a little video (very low res...oops) documenting the occasion.




Below are some videos (I accidentally had them set on "compact"—kicking myself for that one!) and yes you will notice Lila Grace's creative form of crawling. It's kind of a butt scoot/crab walk. But it works quite well and it's quite cute! She's quite a little miss independent. Oh, and sorry they are sideways, I forgot about that when I took them!



Lila Grace was a dream to travel with and really seemed to understand the concept of vacation. She was so relaxed, slept in longer, napped more than when at home. She's such an angel and we are so blessed to have such a sweet, funny, precious bitty on our hands. I fall more and more in love every day!

Bittersweet.

Last week Laurin's Grandfather, known fondly to us as Pop Pop, passed away at 94. He lived an inspirational life full of family, stories, art, music and love.

On Thursday, Laurin and I packed ourselves and Lila Grace up for a LONG drive to Bathesda, MD. Driving time was around 9 hours but the trip took about 11 with feeding/stretching stops along the way. Lila Grace was a dream to travel with...perfect in every way! It was really funny because about 15 minutes away from arriving she completely lost it and let us know that she had had ENOUGH of being in that darn carseat! But as soon as we got her out she was all smiles.

Throughout the 3 days we were there, Lila Grace enjoyed socializing with her extended family and we enjoyed having her for entertainment. She was an angel during the funeral, which says a lot because it was outside, blisteringly hot and full of gnats. I stood with her in the back and entertained her with leaves and flowers (which now she seems to have developed an obsession with.)

On Saturday we had the treat of meeting up with my Aunt Cari and Uncle Gary. They live about 40 minutes from where we were and came up to have lunch with us. We had a wonderful time catching up and they were so excited to meet their grand-neice! They couldn't get over the fact that they were looking at me with my own baby when they watched me grow up from the time I was born!

All in all it was a bitterly sweet weekend full of story telling and reminiscing about Pop Pop. Laurin spoke at the funeral and he was so candid and emotional...I was so proud of him. And so proud of my child. Moments like that are what family is all about.

Rest In Peace Bernie Nocks.

Girlie Things and a Funny Ear

FIrst of all, I'm amazed at myself that I haven't gotten Lila Grace any bows yet! Her hair has been quite long enough for a while now! But I did want to find some tiny, dainty, non-tacky ones! And finally, at Target no less, I found some! So here's a precious, girlie picture of my precious girl.

In addition, you all may have noticed in more recent pictures that Lila Grace has a funny ear. Well, what's causing it is a birthmark called a Hemangioma. It is basically a cluster of blood vessels that painlessly grows within the first year of life. Lila Grace's started to appear around 1 month. Usually the most rapid growth phase is in the first 6 months of life and the growth usually peaks at 1 year. They will eventually go away, usually within a couple years. Apparently, cosmetically they will look better left to absolve themselves. Fortunately for Lila Grace, hers is in a relatively non-obtrusive location. The doctor said that it will resolve itself eventually and probably the only residual issue may be some extra skin behind that ear. It is a very easy spot to do a quick plastic surgery fix if need be. At our 6 month appointment in a month our doctor will probably refer us to a dermatologist to make sure nothing needs to be done.

Anyway, it doesn't bother me. It's cute...my little monkey!

I'm a BIG girl now!

Because I have a high chair...and I love it!

First-time Traveler

Well, this little girl got about 5 gold stars for being such an AMAZING baby on her first overnight travel adventure. This past weekend the 3 of us traveled up to Johnson City, TN to attend one of Laurin's college buddies/teammate's wedding. The weekend was so great. Lila Grace was a perfect angel...we couldn’t believe it! She slept the whole way there. We arrived at about 3:45 and I fed her then I took a shower and got ready and then we went to the wedding. She didn’t make a peep throughout the service...she was playing with her pony and the fan/program the whole time. Then she hung out with us for the cocktail hour and then I found a quiet porch in the front of the place to feed her. She ate her whole bottle and then fell fast asleep in her carseat in the reception for about 2 hours...blaring music and all. Then towards the end of the reception she woke up and we danced with her and she was so happy! Then we got back to the hotel around 11:45, I fed her and she slept all night and let us sleep in until 7:30am. Then I fed her and she let us nap for another 2 hours. Then we went to breakfast with everyone and she was still perfect. She slept the whole way home! She was a little out of sorts last night but rightfully so...but she still slept 10 hours last night! What a trooper...we are such proud parents! I think she thought the whole thing was just a fun adventure! Below is a video of Lila Grace dancing with her daddy and a few pictures from the wonderful evening.

I love sweet taters!

Yes it's true...I'm an official big girl! Mommy started me on plain ole rice cereal mixed with my formula on my 4 month birthday but it was kinda icky. I'd eat it, but not very much. Then my friend, Tait's mommy told me about this other rice cereal that's mixed with apples...that was much better but still not awesome. But lemmie tell you THIS...sweet taters....mmmmmmm! I can almost finish half a jar at a time already! Daddy's been feeding it to me as a mid-morning snack (after my bottle) and mommy feeds it to me at dinner time. I love it so much that I lean forward with my mouth open looking for the spoon! I'm excited to try something new in a few days!

I love my Exersaucer!!!

Boy, do we have a little Baby Einstein here! We bought Lila Grace this exersaucer the day before she turned 4 months. At first she was a little to small/young for it and would just kind of sit there smiling for about 5 minutes before asking to get out of it. Now she LOVES it! She'll spend a good deal of time in it just playing and exploring. It's adorable!

Bonnie and Clyde

Well, Maggie and Duke. Yesterday afternoon the three of us got home from an outing just in time for Lila Grace's 6:30pm feeding only to find that our crazy dogs had stolen her canister of formula off the counter, brought it onto the couch and had eaten the entire rest of it...and gotten it all over the couch! Maggie was the most guilty suspect because she had formula crusted all over her chin and neck! I always figured that formula tasted terrible, but apparently they didn't think so! So Laurin had to haul ass to go and buy her more formula. The reason we call Duke and Maggie Bonnie and Clyde is because Maggie is usually the one to get the things off the counter because she's so tall and then they eat whatever it is together! Very naughty. The real kicker about the whole thing is that because the formula we use is so stinkin' expensive they ate like $10 worth! Silly puppies!

Impromptu Portrait Session

A couple weekends ago, on Lila Grace's 4 month birthday I took it upon myself to take a few portraits of this beauty. The upstairs in our new house has beautiful light streaming into the windows. So with a few pillows and sheets and a little help with entertainment from Daddy, I was able to capture a few pretty little pictures. She was really good about it. 

Starting over!

Ok, so here I am trying to make an attempt at starting over at the baby blogging process! I apologize for not posting anything for the past 4 months (yes, it's been THAT long)! But there's no time like the present to get back into it. My first post back is just simply going to be one of a few favorite pictures of Lila Grace since she was a newborn and a quick synopsis of her first few months.

First of all...I am head over heels in love and obsessed with my little munchkin (my favorite nickname for her). I have never felt love like this...when people all your life tell you that having a child is the best joy in the world...they are completely right and there is no way to describe the overwhelming feeling than to experience it for yourself. So, yes, I'm completely obsessed and love being so!

Lila Grace is a wonderful baby. She is so full of joy and spunk. We've had some challenges...mainly with feeding. At about 1 month old she was diagnosed with severe acid reflux. She was spitting up everything she ate. Imagine the exorcist here...yes projectile, soaking vomit...lovely I know. The only thing that softened that whole experience and was actually pretty funny was when she would look up at you with that big toothless grin through the puke all over her. In order to try and ward off a puke we had to keep her perfectly still after every feeding for about 45 minutes. Anyway, she was put on Zantac to lessen the pain of the acid and I was put on a dairy free diet because they also determined that she had a sensitivity to the cow's milk protein. So I breastfed (mainly pumped and bottlefed the breastmilk) for her first three months exclusively. Once I went back to work, I found that keeping up with the pumping was too overwhelming so we started switching to formula. It took us a while to figure out the right one. I had a lot of breast milk stored up in the freezer so I had been planning on mixing breast milk and formula until we started to have a big problem with constipation and fussiness. Finally our pediatrician suggested Enfamil Nutramigen, a hypoallergenic formula. Immediately it made all the difference in the world and she was a different baby. It is HORRIBLY expensive but we of course if it relieves all of Lila Grace's feeding issues then we are all for it! She has since stopped spitting up...which makes all the difference! She is still a pretty picky, small eater but she's much happier!

Lila Grace is tiny! She has followed a good growth curve since birth but the fact that she started so small...she is still very small. At her four month well check she weighed only 11lbs (4th percentile), but she was 24 in long (40th percentile) and in the 40th percentile for her head circumference. I just like to think she's just svelte and likes to be a skinny mini! Recently she definitely seems to be chubbing up a bit.

Lila Grace is very strong, she started holding her head up during tummy time at 6 weeks! She's obsessed with standing and has been doing so with our support since she was 8 weeks! I'm betting she will walk early...she doesn't have much weight to carry!

She already has a pony! Well, a little blankie pony. She loves pony and likes to have him to hold onto in her carseat and occasionally to sleep with (slap my wrist, I know). She bites him, snuggles him and puts him over her eyes when she's sleepy. It is so adorable to see someone so young love something so. I'm glad she already has something that brings her such comfort.

She loves her daddy! I think we have a daddy's girl on our hands. She gazes at him with such adoration. Laurin is such a wonderful daddy. She takes after him in being quite a busy body. Neither of them can sit still for more than 5 minutes and they get bored very easily...this works out quite well when he's taking care of her. Speaking of that...they've gotten a lot of bonding this summer considering Laurin has been taking care of her full time between soccer camps. While he's working camps, Lila Grace's Nana has been taking wonderful care of her. We are so incredibly lucky to have such a supportive family!

She loves to sleep! THANK THE LORD! She has been sleeping through the night (10pm until 6:30am) since she was 3 months. She loves her beauty sleep which Laurin and I couldn't be happier about.

She loved her swaddle. We swaddled religiously until last week. I think that is the main reason she has always been such a good sleeper, well that and a pretty strict feeding schedule. Last week we and she finally decided it was time to wean her from the swaddle. It was obviously time because she did really well and is now just using pajamas and a sleepsack to keep her cozy at night.

She loves Duke and Maggie, her play mat, her Bumbo, being outside, riding on the golf cart, sitting on the bed, watching us make her bottle, her bouncer, baby massages, car rides, the Baby Bjorn, the jogging stroller, grocery shopping, Target. But most of all her mommy and daddy for whom she smiles relentlessly.

I could go on and on but I've got to stop at some point...I guess that's where more posting will come in! Enjoy the pictures! By the way they aren't in much of a particular order...

The Birth of Lila Grace Nocks!

It is ridiculous how overdue this post is but we didn't get internet till last week and of course life with a newborn doesn't leave us much room to do silly things like this (she's sleeping right now)!

On Monday, March 9th I went in to the OB for them to re-check my blood pressure because it was really high the previous thursday (I was put on bed rest for a few days over the weekend). Well it went up more to around 150/90. So my doc came in and was like, you are going to be admitted to the hospital this evening to be induced. Yikes! At that moment everything seemed so real! So we had to be at the hospital at 5pm that evening, so I spent the day TRYING to relax and get myself in the mindset of birthing a baby! Talk about a strange feeling! So we went to the hospital, got settled into our labor and delivery room, and they hooked me up to an IV. That night they gave me Cervidil which is a suppository that is supposed to ripen the cervix and begin the labor process (I went into the hospital with no dilation or effacement at all). After a restful sleep (with the help of an ambien) the following morning they started me on Pitocin, the labor inducing drug that gets contractions going. Dr. Stamm came in that morning and checked my cervix and I was dilated to about 1cm...not enough to break my water unfortunately. So I began contracting...and did so all day. The contractions were not too bad though, quite manageable. At 5:30pm Dr. Stamm came back to check me and found that I hadn't really progressed at all...bummer! So he proposed that we do a 2-day induction. So that night I was put on another different cervix softening drug, cytotec. I slept well again and the following morning they started pitocin again. Dr. D came and checked me and I had progressed to 2cm! So she was able to break my water. After that, my labor REALLY got going! Holy moly, it was the most horribly painful thing I've ever experienced! I'm still pretty fuzzy on remembering all the details of the day, but I think around 11am they had to give me some IV narcotics for pain...this helped for about 30 minutes and made me REALLY out of it. The pain just continued to get worse and worse so they finally decided to give me the epidural even though I was still only at 2cm. Honestly getting it was probably the biggest relief I'd ever felt in my life and the procedure wasn't bad at all. After that though things began to get a little hairy. The baby's heart rate started to have sporatic decelerations...it was really scary because every few minutes the nurses would come rushing in and make me change positions to see if it would help...it usually would but I could tell there was growing concern. They had to lower my pitocin as they figured that's what was causing the drops in her heart rate. They finally had lowered it so much that I wasn't having contractions nearly frequent enough. By that time, Dr. CR came to check on me and found that I was still just over 2cm dilated and poor little Lila Grace had a little nob conehead! Dr. CR determined that the reason I hadn't been progressing, the decelerations of the baby's heart rate, and the extreme pain I'd been experiencing were all as a result of my "tiny" pelvis. I guess they had no way of knowing this until trying labor. After that she immediately told me I would be having a c-section right away. I apparently kinda freaked out because my epidural had worn off and I was in a ton of pain again and I was concerned that I would feel the whole operation! Obviously the nurses told me I wouldn't feel a thing!

On to the operation...this was actually such a wonderful experience! I was wheeled into the operating room. Laurin had to wait until I was completely prepped before he could join me, so it was a little scary having to face that room all by myself with a bunch of strangers. Fortunately Dr. CR (my doc for the last 7 years) ended up the one to do the operation, so once she was in the room I felt better. They gave me another epidural dose and a spinal block through the epidural line. It was a very strange sensation when they administered the drugs...it felt like ice cubes running up and down my spine. The only really uncomfortable thing about the whole operation was how frigid the drugs made me. I was shivering harder than ever and they kept having to put warm blankets all over me! Finally I was prepped and Laurin was able to join me...he looked pretty funny in his scrubs and mask! Once the drugs had taken effect they poked me a bit to make sure I couldn't feel anything. The nurse anesthetist was really cool and made me feel at ease. He asked me if I felt a poke, and I said no...a minute later when I asked if they had started, he was like, "she's already half way to the baby...when I said did you feel that poke, she was cutting you open!"  So at that point I really relaxed because I knew I would feel no pain. I could feel pressure and pulling...and I could feel them pull her out of me. She came out and cried immediately. I know it sounds weird but it was the most beautiful cry ever...not ugly-sounding like lots of babies. They held her up for a second and then took her over to the warmer to clean her off...at that point Laurin was with her and I just remember hearing him saying over and over, "Mel, she has your lips!" She had apgar scores of 9 and 9...perfect! Then they weighed her and she was only 5lbs 12oz!  A few more moments went by and they brought her over to my head all wrapped up...she was the most perfect, beautiful thing I'd ever seen! She was then wisked away to the nursery with Daddy in tow. They spent about 1/2 an hour tending to me and stitching me up and then I was taken to recovery. Laurin met me there and stayed with me until I could go to our room. Almost immediately after I got to recovery, the epidural wore off and the pain set in. They started giving me shots of morphine in my thighs at that point which were very helpful! After what seemed like FOREVER, they finally took us to our room and our entire family was there waiting and greeted me with applause and so much love! It was hard for me because I had barely seen Lila Grace and they had all gotten to watch her get a bath in the nursery...not fair! Finally they brought her to me and I was able to nurse and see this beautiful creature! Needless to say I was exhausted and woozy after 2 days of labor and a major surgery! After 3 more nights in the hospital we were sent home! The recovery process for me was better than I expected. It was HORRIBLE the first day but got MUCH better with each day. The hardest thing the first week home was just getting up and down. But I certainly can tell you that looking at my beautiful little girl dulled the pain!

So there's the birth story in a nutshell and here are some pics of the birth and our first few weeks at home!

Just before the angels sent her down!

Just thought I'd post some pictures my dad took of me and my belly the day before I entered the hospital at 39 weeks. As you can see there wasn't much room left! It's hard to believe Lila Grace ended up being as small as she was with the sizable belly I had toward the end!

36 Weeks!

Well, here we are at 36 weeks! This shot was taken in front of the fireplace in our new home. Everything is going great with the pregnancy and the new house! I can't believe it's only 4 weeks until my due date...and let me tell you I'm SO ready for her to get here! She just keeps getting bigger and bigger and is making me more and more uncomfortable...butt and feet in the ribs, her head pressing on my sciatic nerve...oh, so much fun! I am now going to the doctor once a week until the birth. Last week it was confirmed that she is still in the head down position and will most likely stay that way until the big day...Yay! The doc says she should be within ounces of my size at birth (6lb 8oz) which sounds good to me...I'm not sure how I'd feel about an 8 pounder (sorry Katie!) But I guess we'll see!

The nursery is coming along great, I need to post some pictures. It's pretty much done other than cushions for the rocker (Elaine and I picked out fabric yesterday and she is going to make the cushions–isn't she great!?) I still need to find some cute pink curtains, a lamp and possibly a rug to brighten up the beige floor. We have two (yes, I can't believe it) more showers coming up, one this weekend hosted by Laurin's soccer moms and one next week, hosted by the sunshine committee at Laurin's school. So I'm waiting to get any more baby supplies until after that so I can see what else we need. I started packing my hospital bag last night, so if someone decides to come a little early, we can be prepared!

Other than that, we've been busy working on decorating the new house and getting all settled in. Laurin continues to amaze me with his energy, generosity and love. He is taking care of the horses full time (occasionally I'll help a little but there's not much I can do), keeping me happy, working on the house, being a teacher, a soccer coach, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. We are going to try and find someone to help out with the horses in the next couple weeks so he can have a break and we can have someone for when we enter the hospital.

We are scheduled to get internet at our new house this weekend so I can get better about posting in these final couple weeks before the big event! (yes, I'm being a slacker and posting at work!) Until then, signing off!

bounce Shower 2/3!

First of all, Laurin and I feel so blessed to have so many people that care about us so strongly! We couldn't be doing this without the support of all of you!

So, some of my dear friends from bounce threw me an ADORABLE shower on February 3rd! The event was at bounce in the pretty sunny rooms up in the front of the building. It was at lunchtime and let me just say that was some of the best food ever! From Joquita's mac n' cheese, to Laveda's chilli, it was scrumptious...and I sure did make sure the majority of it was eaten! Sara Beth got a beautiful cake that was to die for delicious. So many people came and joined in the festivities, even a handful of boys! I was overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone...I definitely wasn't expecting so many wonderful gifts!

If you ask everyone who was there, we'd say one of the highlights was definitely my dad's gift! He gave me my breast pump!! It was absolutely hilarious that he was able to pull that off without making a fool of himself. He even decorated the box with pictures of cows, the dairy queen, and Scottie Mayfield. I guess he knew how much I needed the pump and wasn't afraid to give it to me in front of all of our co-workers!

Thank you all for such a wonderful day! Here are some pictures Ashley took to document the occasion.

Girlfriends Shower 2/1

Wow! Where to even begin!? My amazing best friends Liz Marion and Jennifer Tinsley threw me the most beautiful shower on February 1st! This was actually the weekend we moved into our new house so it was a nice reprieve from the stress and business of getting settled. The girls outdid themselves with beautiful decorations, goodies and details. There were even little napkins they had folded in the shape of little girl dresses, pink and green punches, and a corsage for me made of baby booties! So many of my favorite women in my life were there. Their generosity made me feel so loved, not to mention how great it was to catch up with everyone! Here are a couple pictures of the event. Thank you girls...I LOVE YOU!

32 weeks!

Welp, here we are in all our glory at 32 weeks pregnant! Yep, that's right, only 6-8 more weeks from today! It's kinda scary because I really don't know how I could get much bigger. All my family and friends are convinced she will come early...who knows..guess it's up to her!

Last Saturday we had our birthing class. It was great...long day but great! We learned a lot...however with all the reading and preparing I've been doing, I think Laurin learned the lionshare. We were able to tour Labor and Delivery, they told us where to park, what elevators to use, etc. It definitely put Laurin and I much more at ease knowing exactly where to go!

Last Tuesday we had our 31 week check up and everything looked great. My blood pressure, iron, urine, and glucose all were normal! Dr. Stamm (who we love) felt my belly and he was about 95% sure she was in the head down position. He said she still had some time to do some flipping around before she settles, but I'm pretty sure she still is in the same position. Let's hope so!

Little Lila Grace has been quite the active girl recently! I love it so much. She doesn't kick as much as she pushes and squirms these days. I'm definitely getting more uncomfortable as she runs out of room. After a long day my pelvis is very sore. And the little turkey has been hanging out A LOT in my right ribs...so much that they have started to feel quite bruised! Again, if she's like that now I can't imagine what it will be like in 6-8 weeks...yikes!

This past Saturday one of my dear friends, Elizabeth Provence, got married. We had the best time! It was so wonderful to see all my old friends and parents of old friends. The reception was so much fun with great food, GREAT CAKE, and a great band. I even danced a good bit which was so much fun. Lila Grace seemed to really enjoy the live music as she was dancing the night away in my belly.  :)  Below is a pic of Laurin and I from the wedding.