Pictures and Updates

Chris finally found my picture cord! It was with our PS3 of all places! So here are some new pictures!


Zach in the bathroom wearing my glasses... I have no idea why Chris put them on him, but it was pretty hilarious! His sitting in his Bumbo chair (which he absolutely loves), and he usually does this every morning while we're getting ready for work. Chris calls it his Bimbo chair.... as in, so you want to go sit on your Bimbo? Are you having fun with your Bimbo? The jokes go on and on....

First time eating baby food (bananas). We've been giving him cereal for a couple weeks and will randomly give him new things like this to try.... so far he really likes it all and does a great job with the spoon. And yes, he is decked out from head to toe, including his bib, in Purdue apparel. Daddy dressed him on this particular day...

Right after a big poopy diaper... he laughs and laughs, and you get the impression he's saying "Ha ha, you have to clean that up!" or "Whew, that's a good one, isn't it???"

With Heidi and Kaylan at their house on Halloween.... just look at that size discrepancy! 3 months between then and he looks like a GIANT next to her. Jeremy has started referring to his nephew as Godzilla, since he's so used to Kaylan's petitie stature.

A close up of Kaylan in her monkey costume (courtesy of Grandma Angie). Doesn't she look like Jeremy?

Just look at how tiny she is! In all honesty, she's a perfect size for a little girl (6 lb 3 oz), but really Zach was never that little! (At least, when he was that little it wasn't like I was able to look at and hold him) She feels like air when I hold her... but then again, Zach's almost up to 15 pounds now..........

Zach in his Halloween costume... got any ideas as to what he is???????

With Daddy getting ready to go to his first Halloween party at our neighbor's house.... figured it out yet???

He's a Woopie Cushion!!!!!!!! He's not very happy in this picture, but it's mostly because that thing is fleece and it was like 70 degrees that day, so with the double layers he got hot fast.

In this picture he's much happier! We looked high and low for something that would be original and funny and that he PROBABLY won't hate us for when he grows up. So while searching online, we found this Woopie cushion costume and just thought it was the funniest thing. Plus, we worked really hard with him on blowing raspberries in the weeks leading up to Halloween. So we had a Woopie cushion that made fart noises!!!

It's been a pretty smooth transition since I went back to work the first week of November. He (and we) love the babysitter. She lives right down the road from us, and when it's warm we can walk him down and pick him up. Plus, our friends take their two little girls there (Zach's girlfriends!) so that gives you a huge vote of confidence. Zach has recently gotten very possessive of his Mommy. For example, he gets really, and I mean REALLY mad when I hold Kaylan. Chris could hold her for hours and Zach wouldn't care, but all I can get in is about 10 minutes before he throws a major fit! But as soon as I put her down, he's fine! And if Zach sees Chris giving me a kiss, he gets mad! If he's in reaching distance, he'll put his little hands up and try to push Chris's face away! And then he gives him dirty looks! It's one of the funniest things he does, really. Maybe it's because he loves to give me kisses... Zach will reach up, grab both sides of my face, pull me close, and just slobber away! I can't lie, I don't really mind it at this point!!!

Thanksgiving next week will bring all of Chris's family, along with my Dad and Grandpa to our house. I'm not cooking as much as I usually do, but it will still be fun! Hope everyone has a good holiday!

Big Week!

It's been a big week in the Lakes household! Aside from it being my last week of maternity leave (boooooo), we also had a lot of surprise visits from family and the All Conference banquet to attend. We had to go to the banquet because Chris was honored as the Tennis Coach of the Year. It's the second time in 4 years he's been recognized, and I'm really proud of him. Especially this season, since it wasn't easy for him to coach and be gone 12-14 hours each day with Zach at home - but they still managed to win county and the sectional!

On Monday Heidi and I went shopping in the Edinburgh Outlet Mall. Zach needed some new clothes (since he's growing like a weed) and I needed some pants for work. It was fun, especially since the weather was so beautiful! On Wednesday, Sheri came in to see Zach (and to go to the casino!). It was a nice visit, especially since she doesn't see him as often as she'd like.

Okay, on to the big news...



Can you guess what it is?????



Heidi had her baby girl Tuesday night! I'm fairly certain that walking the entire perimeter of the outlet mall encouraged things along. Kaylan Jeannette McIntire was born at 10:01 Tuesday evening, is 19 inches long, and weighed in at 6 lbs. 3 oz. And realistically, that's a perfectly average length and weight for a baby, but she just seems soooooo tiny to me compared to Zach. I mean, Zach had almost 3 pounds on her at birth! But as it turns out, it's lucky Kaylan is a little gal.... because Heidi progressed from a 1 to a 9 in about 45 minutes, and they couldn't give her an epidural!!! I can't imagine!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so I know it's horrible that I don't have pictures, but I still can't find the cord to upload pictures from my digital camera. The boogey man must have eaten it or something... I guess I'll have to suck it up and buy a new one... So I promise I'll have pictures soon! (In case you're wondering how I've posted pictures the last two times, it's because those are pictures Sheri has taken and emailed to me) Kaylan looks JUST like her Daddy and has a lot of light brown hair. She's tiny and delicate and everything a little girl should be, and she's got the funniest squeaky newborn cry I've ever heard!

Tomorrow will have us trick or treating and letting Zach enjoy his first Halloween party with our neighbors. Their little girls are 3 and 7 months, so of course we say that Zach and Addie (the 7 month old) are boyfriend and girlfriend. And I'll let you know what he ended up being for Halloween soon!!!

Shots... booo......

Zach got his first round of shots last Thursday. He hasn't felt too great since then, which I guess is to be expected. Each day gets a little easier though! I go back to work in two weeks, and I'm looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time. This week is Fall Break, so Chris will be home for a 4 day weekend. We're both really looking forward to that!

Zach is 12.7 pounds and is 25.5 inches long. That puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th for length. His pediatrician looked at him, and then looked at Chris, and said that he must take after his Daddy by being tall and skinny!

The day before he had his doctor's visit, we went to Connersville for the afternoon. Chris and I had an appointment with the eye doctor. My eyes were just a little bit worse, which I guess is common after pregnancy. Chris thought his vision would be about the same, but it was actually quite a bit worse than he thought! He now has astigmatism in both eyes, whereas before it was only in one eye. I've always has astigmatism in both, so it didn't seem like a big deal to me...

Anyway, here are some pictures from the Connersville trip!

New Pictures...

So here are some new pictures of Zach. I can't believe he's 10 weeks old! He's really got smiling and laughing down this week, which is super fun for me. He laughs at a lot of stuff, but anytime anyone around him farts, including himself, he laughs! If anyone wasn't sure before, that alone should be able to prove that my son!!! Heidi's baby shower is next Saturday, so hopefully I'll have some pictures of her and more of Zach as well. She's only got 4 more weeks to go and is really ready to have her little girl. In other news, Chris's tennis team won the sectional on Saturday 3-2 against Shelbyville. It's the second time they've won in 4 years. I'm really proud of him! Okay, on to pictures...

Here's one of Zach smiling... Bath Time (before and after)....

Sitting up on the couch - this is one of his most favorite things to do, and he often watches TV. He really likes football (go figure), the weather channel, and Sesame Street.

Watching football with Daddy - and I know his eyes look odd here. I tried to get the red eye out and it ended up looking strange. Oh well...

Playing with Daddy - he likes to push off and try to stand. Plus it's good practice for him to hold up his head and strengthen his neck and back muscles. Just look at that face - you can tell he's really concentrating!

Playing in his crib - he loves his teddy bear mobile and gets mad when it stops playing!

Talking to Mommy...

Sitting up in the recliner and playing with Mommy. He was laughing here but covered his mouth right when the picture snapped.

Looking around.... we're pretty sure his eyes are going to be brown, but you can't tell here. I guess we'll find out soon. That's all for now!

Halloween...

Be sure to check out the poll!

Updates...

First off, sorry that I don't have any new pictures.... I can't find the USB cord to load pictures on to our computer. Zach is doing very well - he's liking baths more and more and is sleeping for 4-5 hours through the night. He's very playful and beginning to babble more and more. One of the funniest things he does is talk up a storm when Chris gets home from work! I can only assume he's telling him about his day. And speaking of Chris, I've got some good news and bad news.... The good news is that his tennis team won the county tourney last weekend! This is the second time in three years! Here's the link to the article in the paper on it: http://www.shelbynews.com/articles/2009/09/21/sports/doc4ab6f6124c0cc229115382.txt The bad news is that we found out last week that he has a sports hernia. He felt sort of achy in his lower abdomen and there was a small lump there, so we went to the doctor where he was diagnosed with a hernia. We meet with a surgeon next Monday to get surgery scheduled - the plan is to get it taken care of in October since I'll still be home on maternity leave and will be able to take care of him. It's outpatient surgery and the recovery time is 1-2 weeks.

Heidi is due in 5 weeks! She's got the baby's room decorated really cure in safari animals. Her baby shower is October 10. They've decided to name her Kaylan Jeannette (Jeannette is Heidi, my Mom, and my Grandma's middle name, which makes Kaylan the 4th Jeannette in the family). Heidi's sort of at that point where she's tired and achy all the time... the baby hasn't dropped yet, but I'd say that will happen any day now. Jeremy is really excited - he practically bounces off the walls like a little kid!!! That's all for now!

7 Weeks!

I can't believe my little man is 7 weeks old already! It seems like just yesterday he was born! Today he went to the doctor and got some vaccinations... it was pretty upsetting for us both. At least he's doing better now. He's doing a great job holding his head up and is working on rolling over from his back to his belly. Today he weighed in at 11 pounds and was almost 24 inches long, which puts him in the 75th percentile for both weight and length.

Over the Labor Day weekend we had our first overnight visit. The three of us went to Connersville and spent the night with Grandma Sheri and Papaw Wayne. Zach did a lot better than I expected! The only real negative was the car ride, since he HATES to ride in the car. I think it's because he's strapped in to his car seat and can't wiggle like he wants to!

On to pictures...

Tummy Time with Daddy (you can't tell by the picture, but he's holding his head up here)

In his Purdue Jersey


Eating with Mommy

And eating with Daddy - and yes, they match in their Purdue outfits!

In his Atlanta Braves outfit

I'll try to do better with updating; it's hard to do with a baby as active as Zach! But as he gets bigger things get easier, and everyone says after 6 weeks things start to get easier. All I know is that he's got a personality all his own and he's completely wonderful!

New Pictures

Here are a couple new pictures!


On our first walk throught the neighborhood.

With Daddy...

These last two pictures are from about a week ago. What make them special is that day Zach picked up his head and started turning it while he was on his belly! And then two days ago, he rolled over from his belly to his back. Chris and I thought for sure it was a fluke, so we kept putting him back on his belly.... and the little squirt rolled over like 7 times!!! We are still in total shock over it, since he really shouldn't be able to do that for a couple months. But his pediatrician said he's in the 90th percentile for pretty much everything, so it's not completly surprising that he's doing stuff early, it's just that it's a little earlier than anyone thought! I'm sure every mom thinks it, but I'm pretty sure Zach's a genius!!!

The Story!

So, last Friday the 24th I went to my doctor's appointment. To be honest, I was massive and miserable and swollen - in fact, when they weighed me we determined that I had retained more than 10 pounds of fluid from the previous week. While I was being examined, I asked the doctor how big he thought Zach would be, and he said probably between 7 and 7 1/2 pounds. I was dilated to three at that point. Because of all the water retention, he told me to just lay around in bed or on the couch until my appointment the following week - so basically I was on unofficial bed rest. By Saturday, I was completely bored with this and I was feeling a little better. So Saturday night around 5:00 Chris and I went to dinner, and then because I was worried about how bored I was getting, we went to Wal-Mart so I could get a new book to read. We were back home by 6:30, and I sat down on the couch to start reading my new book.

At around 9:30, I suddenly felt some wetness and I thought that I had wet my pants. I went to the bathroom, changed, and came back to the living room. Within the next two minutes, I had soaked through those clothes. I told Chris I thought my water had broken, and we called the hospital. They told me to come right in, and while it's normally a 5 minute drive from our house, I think Chris got us there in about 2 1/2 minutes! When we got there, I was 100% sure my water had broken due to the constant leaking, which the nurses were able to confirm. They asked me how far apart my contractions were, and I stupidly said I didn't think I was really having any. But when they hooked me up to the monitor, they were 4 minutes apart!!! I had been feeling a lot of discomfort all day, but I just attributed it to the baby being so large. At that point, they game me an IV and we called our family, all of whom were there in record time.

My contractions progressed pretty quickly and tended to linger without giving me much of a break. Chris was such a trooper and held my hand the whole time. By about 3:30 in the morning, I was dilated to 8 1/2 and I was in a lot of pain, so I asked for an epidural. Honestly, I was a little scared about it, but it hurt worse to get the IV than it did to get the epidural. It did gross Chris out to watch though. The worse part of that was that in order for them to give me the epidural they wanted me to get an additional bag of IV solution in, so they turned up the drip. This made my entire body tremble uncontrollably. Chris held my legs steady while the anesthesiologist was doing the procedure, and the nurse helped hold my arms and shoulders steady. Luckily, it didn't take long and once it was in they turned the IV back to a more normal level. It kicked in pretty much immediately, and while I could still move my legs and feel pressure, I wasn't hurting any more. In fact, I was able to just rest for a while, which was great, because I'm not sure I would have been able to push without it. At around 7:30, the doctor said I was ready to push, and at 7:52 he was born! Chris held one of my legs and did all of the counting for me. I don't know that I would have been able to stay calm and focus on pushing without him right there. Chris actually watched him come out, which he wasn't sure he wanted to do, but I think he's glad he had the experience. He also got to cut the umbilical cord, and watch all the cleaning up process. I had some tearing, which given his size is pretty much expected, but overall I have to say that the whole labor and delivery process wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely the worst pain of my life and the hardest thing I've ever done, but still, it wasn't as horrible as everyone makes it out to be!

Zach is one week old today, and it seems hard to believe I had him just 7 days ago! He's doing extremely well and gets cuter each day! Tomorrow we go to his first doctor's appointment, which I'm looking forward to. I had initially planned on breastfeeding and did while we were in the hospital, but he pretty much refused to breastfeed. All of the nurses helping me said that he was just one of those stubborn babies that don't want to breastfeed. And besides, he eats a lot, and I wouldn't have been able to produce enough for him regardless. So we switched him to formula and he's doing well with it. He's sleeping about 3 hours at a time too, so that's been good. I can't complain of too much sleep deprivation yet!

Introducing......................

Zachary Christopher Lakes!!!

Zach was born at 7:52 Sunday morning. He weighed 8 pounds 10.7 ounces and is 22 inches long. He's happy and very healthy and I'm so happy to be home! I'd love to give some additional narration to the following pictures, but to be honest I'm tired and sore still (I tore while pushing and have a fair bit of stitches that hurt) - so I'll let you check them out and when I get a little more time I promise to give all the juicy details!

Okay, I lied... I have to explain this one. This is the self-portrait Chris took when I told him that my water had broke. I didn't know he took it until I downloaded all these and he explained. Just look at that face!

Not there yet...

Well.... I'm still pregnant! I've pretty much spent the past week or so trying to talk Zach into coming on out to meet the world. My big bribe is that I know he doesn't have any room in there; if he'd just come out, he could stretch those little froggy legs all he wants! Of course, whenever I do that, he just kicks me in the ribs - which I'm pretty sure is his way of telling my to mind my own business (that, or he's telling me that he's the boss around here and he'll come out when he's good and ready)...

As of last Thursday at my doctor's appointment, I was dilated to 2 and 60% effaced. Which is a good thing! Best of all, the doctor said that he thinks I'll probably go into labor in the next week or so based on the position and size of the baby. Of course, with my luck, I'll probably end up a week overdue, but I'm going to hold on to hope that sometime in the next week we'll have a little baby boy around here! I feel like a ticking time bomb, in a way...

I've been doing some of that nesting stuff, which before I always thought was total crap. It's not! About two weeks ago, I woke up with the uncontrollable urge to clean out the fridge and all the cabinets. I don't just mean tossing stuff out either; I had to take everything out and clean everything with hot soapy water before I could put stuff back in. It was a complete compulsion that I couldn't ignore. Of course, I had to reorganize everything as well. I also keep randomly cleaning things that don't need it around the house. I don't think Chris would mind, except for the fact that my "reorganization" is seen by him as "hiding things".

Hopefully, my next post will include pictures of Zachary Christopher Lakes!

4th of July

I'm excited for the holiday weekend! It's actually Chris's favorite holiday and his excitement is contagious! We'll be heading to Connersville to spend it with Chris's family like we usually do, except we'll be heading home after the fireworks instead of spending the night like we usually do. We'll also have Claire with us. She'll be staying with is until Monday afternoon, mostly because there was no one else available to watch her. It will be fun though! She's usually very good for us, and Chris should be able to keep her entertained so that I don't have to do much.

I went to the doctor yesterday. Everything still looks great, and the best news of all was that he said he wouldn't be surprised if I go a week or two early! It's mostly because I'm only 5'1" - in the doctor's words "there's just not that much more room in there"! Of course, with my luck, I'll probably go a week overdue and have to be induced. We've gotten everything ready, so now it's sort of like hurry up and wait for me to start labor. Zach's still pretty active, but it's easy to see (and feel) that he's fast running out of room in there. I've got my hospital bag all packed, so I'm ready to go at a moment's notice!

Weddings and Doctor's Appointments

Heidi's wedding was last Saturday. It turned out to be a really beautiful affair! She looked gorgeous, as did the church and reception area. I've really got to hand it to my mom and dad, because they worked endless hours to get everything all set up. Since I'm officially a blimp at this point, I wasn't able to help too much - although Chris did get drafted to help quite a bit. But since he was an usher, I think he was expecting it. Aside from the dreadful heat (in which the photographer made us all go out and stand for what seemed like forever to take pictures), it was just what Heidi and Jeremy wanted. He was extremely nervous but very obviously ecstatic, and she was beside herself with happiness and excitement. I'm not going to lie, I had a hard time with all of the time I had to be up on my feet (and in heels, no less), but thank God for my wonderful husband. He sat with me for most of the reception so he could be sure I was resting, and he even took my shoes off me when my ankles had swollen around the straps and rubbed my feet when we got home. And he turned off our phones and let me take a nice 2 hour nap when we got home! Heidi and Jeremy are currently on their honeymoon in Florida, but they should be back on Friday evening. I think they're both ready to focus on their baby at this point, although I know Heidi especially is excited to become an aunt! Sorry I don't have any pictures of the wedding - I was a little distracted. But when Heidi gets her proofs in, I'll scan some and post for everyone to see...

In sadder news, Chris's great uncle Gene died this week. His showing is this evening and the funeral is tomorrow morning in Richmond. Uncle Gene had been sick for a long time, but it's really sad all the same. He was a really funny and spunky old man who liked to tease everyone. Chris's mom is taking it pretty hard, but then she's a really emotional person who takes things like this extra hard regardless.

And back to happy news... I go to the doctor every week now! We just had an appointment this morning, and everything is going very well. I've already dropped and Zach is head down and "locked and loaded" (that's what my dad said when I told him I've dropped - "Oh, so the little dude is locked and loaded in there!"). I've officially got 5 more weeks, but given the heat, the fact that he's already dropped, and that I'm already dilated at 1, they said it could be between 3 and 5 weeks. We have everything ready and bought and set up, so I guess now all we have left to do is wait! We had our last Childbirth Class last night, and we both feel prepared - at least, as prepared as a person can be when you don't know what to expect. And our 4 year anniversary is Friday. We had plans to go to a nice restaurant to celebrate, but since we'll be in Richmond most of the day with the funeral I don't know how that will work out. In the end it doesn't matter, because we're just excited and counting down the days until I go into labor!

Whew!

It's been pretty hectic lately around the Lakes house! We had my baby shower on May 30 and it was a lot of fun. Thanks again to everyone that came! My technical last day of work was June 1, but I volunteered to come back in for meetings on June 3 and 8. So I really only had my last day of work a few days ago! With my maternity leave, I won't be back to work until November 2! It seems a bit weird, but at the same time I know I'll have a lot of keep me busy! The following Saturday was Heidi's bridal shower, which was at the Copper Kettle in Morristown. It was fun, easy, the food was great, and she got a lot of presents!

Chris left Sunday night for his Las Vegas trip, and he gets back today. I'm ready for him to come home; I miss him! But I'm glad he was able to go with some of his friends, see the sights, do a little gambling, play some golf, and bring me home a good birthday present! While he's been away, Mom and Heidi have been staying with me (since everyone thought I shouldn't stay here by myself). It's been fun, and Heidi and I have been able to get some stuff done and settled for her wedding, which has been good. Speaking of Heidi, she just had her ultrasound last week....... and she's having a little GIRL! I think Jeremy's still in shock - Heidi said that he was 100% sure it was going to be a boy. They're all doing well though, and she's still right on schedule.

The wedding is in 2 weeks. There's still a lot of little stuff to do, but all of the major stuff is finished. Honestly, I think they'll be relieved when it's all said and done. This whirlwind of wedding planning on top of the everything else has been kind of hard. But it will be pretty and fun and very much the two of them.

My birthday is tomorrow! I'm actually not all that excited - I didn't even realize it was so soon until I had my day of conferences on the 8th. Chris is taking me to dinner. I really don't want to make a big deal out of it. We go to the doctor again on Friday for a regular checkup. We had our first childbirth class last week, and we've got two more to go. Our next one is next Wednesday, and in that class they take us on a tour of the entire ward. I'm really looking forward to that!

3/4 There!!!!!!

Well, I'm 3/4 finished with being pregnant! I'm 30 weeks and well into my last trimester. Everything is still progressing normally with Zach. Starting at my appointment next week, the doctors will check me for dilation and all that fun stuff. It's all downhill from here... at least, that's what I'm telling myself!

The other night I had Braxton-Hicks contractions for over 2 hours.... they don't hurt, but you do just feel uncomfortable. So I'm really hoping that those are something that just happen sporadically! It wasn't easy to go to work the next day, let me tell you!

I went to a class on breastfeeding last night, and we start our childbirth classes in 2 weeks. It seems as though everything is starting to go by really fast! Of course, I'm sure most of that is just the nature of things, and then of course we do have a lot going on!

I'm ready for school to be finished, and by that I mean both my master's degree AND teaching! My last day of teaching is June 1 and believe me I've been counting down the days. I put in for my maternity leave today, and I'm set to come back the week of Thanksgiving (I thought it would be easier to start back on a short week). I'm really ready for my master's to be done. I think I'm just over school at this point! But on the plus side I get finished with that in July, actually pretty close to my due date, so that will be a relief.

Heidi's doing well. She's set for her ultrasound in the first week of June, and she's really excited to find out what they're having. Wedding plans are well underway as well!

Here are some pictures of Zach's room, which is almost finished. It's done all in teddy bears playing sports, with blue and white paint. I can't take credit for any part of it, not even where things are hung on the walls - it was all Chris. I personally think it's as cute as can be and I wouldn't change a thing!

Hope everyone has an easy end to the school year! I'm hoping that when I'm not exhausted from working full time, I'll be able to blog more regularly (until Zach gets here, that is!).