Kylie’s Birth Story (Disclaimer: It’s a long one)

As I was anxiously awaiting my induction date (c-section…maybe/maybe not), I was glad that I still had almost two weeks for Kylie to turn back around so I could have her naturally.  I started having some strong contractions on Friday night, October 5^th, when I was out with my friend, Amanda.  We were at Olive Garden and on occasion, I would have to stop talking and let the contractions pass.  I didn’t think anything of it, because the same happened with Bryson for a few weeks before he came.  So after dinner, we went walking around Toys R Us so Kylie could get Bryson a few big brother presents.  After about 30 minutes, I had to call it quits because I wasn’t feeling so great.

 

The next day, we took Bryson to the park and played outside because the weather was amazing.  We figured we wouldn’t have many more nice weather days, so we had to get some park action while we could.  Everything was fine other than the occasional contraction…again, totally normal. 

 

 

However, when we were eating dinner that night my contractions became much more intense.  They started around 6:00, and by 7:30 I was calling the doctor concerned that I was in labor and Kylie was still breech.  She told me to come to the hospital to get checked out. 

 

Since this wasn’t my first rodeo, I knew these contractions were the real deal.  Especially when I thought I was going to die during each one.  That was the biggest indicator.  We woke up Bryson, loaded him in the car, and headed to the hospital.  I called my parents to meet us there so they could keep Bryson during this exciting event.  My Mamaw and Papaw were also on call so they could stay with Bryson during the night so my parents could come back to the hospital while we were having Kylie. They were all a huge help!

 

So we get to the hospital at 8:30 (longest ride to Nashville EVER) and my contractions had moved to every 2 minutes.  I didn’t want to rush Mike to drive faster because he was already going over the speed limit, but it felt like we were moving at a turtle’s pace the entire way to the hospital.  Ugh. 

 

We got checked in to our room around 9:00 once they confirmed that I’m in labor.  I guess they didn’t want to take my word for it.  That’s fine, they were quick about it.  I immediately asked for the epidural, and they said they had to wait for my doctor to get there so she could determine if I needed a c-section.  If so, I needed a spinal tap.  If not, I could have the epidural.  They told me that my doctor was on the way and would be at the hospital in 25 minutes.  Although I was relieved she was coming so quickly, the fact that I couldn’t have drugs until she got there was not comforting.

 

I’m pretty sure she’s secretly a super hero, because she got there in record time.  She comes in and immediately starts the ultrasound to find out which way Kylie was turned.  And yes, she was still breech.  To the operating room, STAT!  They dressed Mike up in some awesome scrubs and wheeled me into the OR.  They made Mike wait until I had my spinal in and was prepped for the surgery.  As soon as I got in the room, it was very bright and there were at least 15 people in there, all with their own tasks.  There were 2 anesthesia doctors, two NICU docs since she was two weeks early, one regular baby nurse, my nurse, my doctor, and the rest were strangers that I don’t remember.  It was super intimidating, and I immediately started crying because I was terrified.  My doctor held my hand and said nice things to calm me down, which I was so thankful for.  The spinal made everything better instantly.  It also gave me some crazy, uncontrollable shaking.  Therefore, I got this nice blow up heat thing.  That’s the best way I can describe it.  It helped somewhat. 

 

Mike was allowed to come back finally, and I was much calmer once he got back there with me.  When they put the sheet up so I couldn’t see anything, I realized I could see the action in the huge mirror light above me.  I had to remind myself several times not to look up.  I was also scared because I could feel people touching my stomach.  I kept telling my doctor I could feel it, and she said not to worry.  Not to worry, huh?  How would you feel if you knew you were going to get cut open and could feel stuff?!  So I worried.  I’m pretty sure I told her I could feel her touching me at least five times.  Then I asked her when they were going to start, because I wanted to prepare myself.  She then said they already started and were almost to the baby.  Really?!  I was amazed.  I couldn’t feel anything other than some strange tugging, so I was relieved to say the least.

 

I don’t know how long it actually took for Kylie to come, but it felt like maybe 10 minutes or so.  It could have been faster or longer, I have no idea.  But at 10:28 PM on October 6, our daughter was born.  She weighed 7.11 pounds and was 18 ¾ inches long. They pulled her out and said she looked great.  The doctor said the cord was wrapped around her neck, not tightly though thank goodness, and that’s why she wasn’t turning.  Poor thing!  I wanted confirmation she was a girl, you know, just in case the ultrasound tech got it wrong.  She was right…it’s a girl!  I was instantly in love when the doctor held her up for the first time for me to see her sweet face.  Her eyes were wide open and she was very alert. 

 

The NICU nurses took her and did whatever it is they do.  When I heard her first cry, it sounded like a large dinosaur had entered the room.  She has a strong set of vocal cords, that’s for sure!  Mike kept going over to her, then back to me telling me I was doing great.  He was the best coach a mommy could ask for!  And I know I was just lying there, but it was still comforting to hear him say I was doing good.  J  Then Kylie was wrapped up and handed to Mike.  He brought her over for me to see her, and my heart melted again.  I wanted to hold her so badly, but it wasn’t really possible since they were still working on putting me back together during all this.  That took an extra 30 minutes or so.

 

Mike was set on not looking at the c-section process, because we both assumed it would look like a crime scene and is not meant to be seen by parents.  However, when she was being taken out and the doctor said here she comes, Mike stood up and watched it happen.  I’m so thankful he didn’t make any horror faces or pass out, which would have freaked me out completely.  He can recount that side of the birth story if you ask him.

 

So finally, here she is.  Introducing Kylie!

Best big brother ever.  He sure does love his Sissy!

Turn, Baby, Turn

I guess I should have said *spoiler alert* for the heading, but as you can tell, Little Miss is still breech.  I suppose she is just way to comfy to turn around.  Mike and I got to see her in the ultrasound, which is always sweet.  Her heart beat was very strong, so she is staying healthy in my belly.  We discussed our options of what our next steps would be, which caused some anxiety because there are so many what-if scenarios. 

The doctor said she could still manually turn her tomorrow, and if that was successful, they would induce me to avoid her turning back again.  That sounded like the most promising option until she starting going over the possible risks.  She said my placenta is on top of Kylie, when ideally it should be located behind her.  This poses a problem, because in order to turn her, there is a ton of mashing on the top of my belly, which means mashing on the placenta, which means it could tear easily or break away from its position, which means emergency c-section.  She also that it’s possible the cord is wrapped around a limb or something else causing Kylie not to be able to turn herself, so if they make her turn, it could cause her a lot of harm.  She then went on to say that manual turns are not super successful and don’t always outweigh the risks.  Pass.

The next option is to schedule a planned c-section and power through.  Pass.

The next option is to wait it out another week, like we had planned, to see if she miraculously turns herself.  She has until next Wednesday for my last doctor’s appointment.  If she has turned, we will keep our induction date for Thursday and go in bright and early to have Kylie the way I would prefer.  If she hasn’t turned, Thursday will turn into c-section day instead of induction day.  So we’re back to where we started….just waiting on her to turn for another week. 

38 Weeks - One More to Go

Just when I started getting antsy that we still had a lot to buy before Kylie arrives, my work threw me a wonderful surprise shower.  They are quite a sneaky bunch, and they even had Mike in on it.  I don’t know how they all kept it from me, but they did an amazing job with everything.  I got all the last minute stuff I was stressing over, and it made me relax to know that we officially have everything we need.  I really do have the best co-workers in the world!

I went to the doctor last week to have my regular weekly check up and also to have an ultrasound performed to get an estimated weight of Little Miss.  The doctor wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to be too big, since Bryson was quite a large surprise.  During the ultrasound, it was determined that she weighs approximately 6.14 pounds at 37 weeks.  They say babies can gain a pound a week, so wish me luck!  She’s going to be big like her brother, I suppose. 

Now for the kicker.  She decided to flip from the last week’s appointment, so she is now head up – which is the exact opposite of where she should be.  The doctor said that they would check me again next week (tomorrow), to see if she decided to flip back to the right position.  If so, great…that’s progress!  If not, they will try to manually turn her.  Sounds scary, huh?  I think so.  This requires me to be admitted to the hospital “just in case” something goes wrong and they have to conduct an emergency c-section.  Getting scarier?  Yes.  The process takes place by my doctor, and possibly another person, mashing on my belly in an extremely slow circle to get her to turn around.  IF this is successful, they send me home so she can work her magic and focus on moving down.  IF this is not successful, I suppose they will try again on my induction date.  What pleasant news. 

Don’t get me wrong, there was good news, too.  She is very healthy and active still.  Her heart rate was in the mid-140s (her usual).  She is officially full term and could come out healthy any day without having to stay in NICU.  See, lots of positives.  It was just the code words: emergency c-section/manually turn/admitting to the hospital “just in case” that made my visit not so comforting. 

The doctor was kind enough to give me some exercises to try to get her to turn.  I tried the first one, which entailed putting one end of an ironing board on the couch and the other end on the floor (like a slanted plank).  I was instructed to lie on the board, head down, on my back, for 15 minutes.   That sounded simple enough.  Of course, I didn’t take into account my 30 pound belly crushing my spine and all the weight being shoved into my diaphragm so that I couldn’t breathe.  Oh, did I mention I’m having contractions periodically?  Yep, I got several of those during this brief stint of voodoo torture.  I reached my breaking point around minute 4 when I started crying.  About minute 10 Mike suggested I throw in the towel and try later.  That seemed like a great idea.  Next, I didn’t take into account the proper way to exit out of this unnatural slant, so I grabbed Mike’s hands so he could lift me up.  At some point, I lost feeling in my legs, I thought my spine snapped in half, I attempted to roll off the board sideways when leaning up was too painful, and then this retched animal sound came from within I don’t know where, but it was loud.  That was the most pain I’ve been in since my Bryson contractions.  I think I terrified poor Little B, and Mike had to take him out of the room for a few minutes while I regained my composure.  It was quite the adventure.  I don’t think I moved the rest of the night and the majority of the next day.  Thanks, Doctor S.  That was a great trick.

So hopefully tomorrow will bring better news and she has decided to turn on her own.  Stay tuned….

An incredible year and a half



Painting with Mimi





Play-doh with Papa



He loves stacking things

 

Silly Daddy!

Bryson has hit the one and half year mark, and it has gone by so fast.  He’s a little man now with own unique personality, which I love beyond words.  He is also a growing boy!  At his doctor’s check-up, he weighed 32 pounds.  That weight puts him in the 99th percentile.  His height was in the 80^th percentile, and his head was in the 98^th percentile.  Yes, we certainly have a big boy!  I’m amazing that I can still tote him around.  He loves when I perch him on top of my belly (his sister) and snuggle in.  I guess it makes him feel like he has his own seat since my belly is as big as his chair.  Haha

Our little guy has become quite the talker and animal sound maker lately.  He picks up on new words and is starting to master them now.  One of my favorites is still turtle, because he puts emphasis on both t’s and is so serious when he says it.  He has a turtle sandbox, and whenever he sees it, he points at it and says turtle.  I can’t get enough of that.  The other favorite is when we ask him to say sister and baby.  He says sissy instead, which is even cuter.  When he says baby, he emphasizes the y.   He is also very good at understanding what people tell him.  Of course, that doesn’t mean he listens to the direction, but he definitely knows what the request is. 

His personality is starting to show more each day.  He has the funniest facial expressions.  I was so use to the happy faces that I got 99% of the time, but now I get these Mommy-is-crazy looks that I can’t help but laugh at.  He now has angry expressions where he scrunches his eyes and mouth and stares at you.  He’s a pretty serious little man sometimes.  He is also getting into the temper tantrum stage.  They are pretty mild for the most part and only last about a minute, but if I try to walk him somewhere he doesn’t want to go (like from outside to inside), he will pull back on my hand, stop walking, then slowly lay down right where we are and either give me the crazy look or cry.  Then if I dare to pick him up, he gets more angry.  It’s lovely.  I’m looking forward to when he does that in public.  I’m sure that won’t be embarrassing at all. 

We are really pleased with the new school that we put Bryson in.  He went from a daycare environment where the “teacher” was more of a babysitter that simply watched the kids play and didn’t teach them anything to a school environment where Bryson actually learns things.  Imagine that!  They do all kinds of activities each day to promote fun learning and then give us homework (flashcards) to practice with Bryson when he’s not there.  They give us a daily agenda of what they are focusing on so we can be more involved in teaching him as well.  He now knows almost all of the animal sounds and can point to the main body parts (nose, ears, head, toes).  He can also do sign language like a pro.  He knows about 20 signs and uses them regularly.  Sometimes it throws Mike and I off because he’ll do something we haven’t seen before, and we’re like oh no, what does that mean?  We have to do a quick search so we understand him.  He’s teaching us, too.

I’m constantly amazed at the things he learns so quickly.  Mike and I took him to dinner last night and he squealed at one point while we were eating.  I put my finger to my mouth and shhhh’d him, and so he did it right back to me.  It was funny how he knew what to do to mimic me.  And I guess he understood what it meant because it worked!

Another thing I have to brag on is how much he enjoys books and puzzles.  He will grab a book versus his toys, climb up on the chaise lounge, and sit back and “read” his book.  He prefers sitting in your lap and you reading to him, but he’s perfectly content on his own.  He also loves to do puzzles.  As soon as he puts one together, he tips it over and starts again.  One day when I picked him up from school, he was doing a puzzle that consisted of three giant pieces and that was the entire puzzle.  However, at home his puzzles have about 10 smaller pieces and he completes them easily.  Now that he’s mastered those puzzles, he will get two of them and dump out all the pieces to both, lay out the boards and figure out which piece goes to which puzzle and complete them both.  He did this last night and put both together in about five minutes.  Oh, and I looked at the back of the puzzles and they said for ages 2+.  That’s right, Bryson is a genius.  J

I am trying to figure out how to post videos on here, so here's my first attempt.  It worked! 

I guess Bryson thinks Aspen is a horse?

Yes, I'm making stupid noises, but it makes him laugh.  For that, I'll do anything. :)

34 Weeks and Counting

Once again, it’s been way too long since I’ve posted anything on here.  It seems like as the weeks pass, I get busier and busier, if that’s even possible.  I had a ton of stuff to do to finish up Kylie’s room, and I’m getting a tiny bit panicky that it’s not complete.  I do realize she won’t actually use her room until she’s around 6 months old, but still, I would like for it to be ready when she arrives. 

We had our baby shower two weeks ago, and it turned out perfectly!   We had a wonderful time, and Mike and Bryson even came to represent the fellas.  There was lots of yummy food and the cutest owl decorations I’ve ever seen!  We got lots of amazing things to fill her room with and enough clothes to last her a year!  We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends.  And a great big thank you to Sandi for throwing our shower!  As always, you thoroughly outdid yourself!  We love you!

I have exciting news on Kylie’s official birthday (as long as she stays put until then).  When I went for my check-up two weeks ago, I asked the doctor again if she was serious about her offer to induce me at 39 weeks.  I have been sold on this route from the first check-up when she said since it’s my second baby, she could do it a week early.  I tried to book the date then, but she laughed and told me to sit tight until closer to time.  I guess 32 weeks was the “closer to time” timeframe, because she agreed!  Woohoo!  I am officially 39 weeks on Thursday, October 11.  The doctor says she normally schedules surgeries on Thursdays and asked if I was ok with the following Friday.  I said “sure!”.  Then she started looking at her calendar and tells me to hold on, because if she does it on Thursday, it will be the coolest date ever (10/11/12).  She then agreed to schedule any surgeries for the Tuesday before and booked me for Thursday because the date is so unique.  I was thrilled, and gave her a huge hug to seal the deal!  So, like I said, as long as Little Miss holds out, she will have one cool birth date!  J

The doctor also confirmed that Kylie is a strong kicker and a very healthy little girl.  Her heartbeat is staying between 140 – 150 with each visit, which is great.  As of my latest check-up yesterday at 34 weeks, I have gained 30 pounds.  With Bryson, I gained 40, so I have a month to go to limit myself to only gaining 10 more pounds.  That probably sounds easy, but I remember how quickly the pounds came on my last month, so I’m hoping I don’t surpass the last weight.  Fingers crossed! 

Miss Kylie is moving around all over the place.  I’m getting to the point where I can feel her arms and legs poke out, which is wild.  They are so little bitty, and I’m super impressed at how strong she can be with those little limbs.  Last night, I’m pretty certain she grabbed a hold of my hip bone and pulled on it as hard as she could.  Either that, or she was pressing on it with her legs (maybe she was doing squats).  Either way, it was not nice because it hurt like crazy.  I was able push her back to dislodge whatever limb was shoving into my hip bone, but within a matter of minutes, she settled right back there.  Thanks, Kylie.  That feels great.  J

Welcome, Eight Months. Good to see you, again.

29 Weeks

I can’t believe that I am now eight months pregnant.  I knew the time was going to go by really fast, but eight months, already?!  That was much faster than I anticipated.  It has been a great eight months, although challenging at times.  I’m starting to feel the pregnancy aches and pains that I don’t remember experiencing with Bryson until much later.   But maybe I just blocked it out and told myself these didn’t start until the last month.  Either way, they’re here to stay.  Sometimes I feel like I’m 847 years old when I stand up if I’ve been sitting for a long time.  It feels like my back gets pinched in multiple locations, and I can’t quite stand up straight until I stretch it out.  Sounds fun, doesn’t it?  I will say it hasn’t been like this the entire time.  For the most part, I’m pretty comfortable.  I know lots of ladies that have had it much worse than me, so I’ll stop complaining…for now.  J 

My last doctor’s check-up was last Wednesday, and it was a success.  I went for a check-up and the gestational diabetes test.  All went well, and I don’t have diabetes, which is fabulous.  I did get the great opportunity to savor that orange drink they give you.  I had remembered that it was pretty gross from the last time, but I think somehow it got worse.  I thought last time it wasn’t utterly disguising until the last half of the drink.  This time it was that gross the instant I took the first drink.  I drank it on the way to the doctor, since it has to be in your system an hour before the test.  At certain times, I almost gagged it was so bad.  I guess Kylie was NOT a fan of this.  Luckily it stayed down for the doc to complete the test.  I would have been one unhappy camper if I lost it and had to drink it again.  Whew…glad that’s over!

The rest of the appointment went well.  Kylie’s heartbeat was a strong 159.  She was moving and kicking all over the place.  Probably from all that sugar in the delicious orange concoction.  Her movements always look and feel so much stronger when I’m lying on my back (which you’re not supposed to do, but you have to at the doctor).  So when I’m lying there, I can see all her movements and feel every little thing she does.  It’s amazing. 

I’m still growing larger by the minute.  I have officially gained 22 pounds to date.  The range that I’m suppose to gain is 25-30 pounds, and I still have two full months to go.  I’m afraid to say that I’m going to surpass that estimate, and probably pretty quickly.  Two and half of those pounds are Kylie.  That’s her estimated weight, according to the baby website I read.  In case you’re wondering, that’s about the size of a butternut squash.  Yep, I’m sure that clears it up for you.  Not.  It also states she is approximately 15 inches long, can possibly distinguish my voice from Mike’s, can see light from my belly and is now growing eyelashes.  Very cool stuff going on in there.

Now that we have decided on the theme for Kylie’s room (owls and forest animals), we were ready to paint.  We agreed on yellow and figured we would get something not too bright but not too pastel.  You know, just right.  Mike picked out the paint color in about 5 minutes.  It’s called Pure Joy, which we thought was fitting.  It looked a little brighter than we first pictured but thought it would be tamer once it was dry.  We were clearly wrong.  My parents came over to help paint the room, which is what they did with Bryson’s room as well.  They are practically experts, because they have painted every room in their house numerous times.  They definitely know what they’re doing.  My dad did the trim areas (doesn’t even need the blue tape, which I find insane), and Sandi and I did the rolling.  I, of course, still need the blue tape even with the trim areas already painted.  Apparently I didn’t get my Dad’s genes when it comes to staying in the lines.  So now that the paint has dried, we realize it’s much brighter than we thought it would be.  I absolutely love it.  It looks like sunshine in there, even at night!  Every time Bryson walks past her room, he looks in and says “Wow!”.  It’s so funny.  Mike does the same thing.  He’s not quite use to the brightness yet.  It will sink in.  It’s awesome.  Pictures to come soon.

Bedding confirmed!

Here I am at 27 Weeks

Mike and I have been debating for several months on how we are going to decorate Kylie’s room.  Will it be yellow, or pink, or purple?  Will there be animals, shapes, random designs?  You know, the standard nursery questions.  We have finally agreed on one, which is actually the very first one Mike ever showed me at Babies R Us.  It’s mainly pink and yellow and it has owls, squirrels and other forests friends on it.  It is super cute.  I also love the fact that Bryson’s room is in forest friends, too, just in an equally cute boy style.  We are fairly certain that we are going to paint her room yellow.  The brightness of the yellow depends on a few factors, but I’m all for painting it as bright as the sun (or at least as bright as Mike will agree to).  When I was in high school, my bedroom was an extremely bright yellow.  That may sound scary to a lot of people, but it was awesome.  It’s impossible to wake up in a grumpy mood with that color all around.  I think Kylie will feel the same way.

We picked out Kylie’s nursery furniture about a month ago.  It’s a dark espresso color, and it’s beautiful.  However, the goons at BRU said we can’t order it until all the pieces are available at their distribution center.  Of course, we like the same style that everyone else likes, so it’s on backorder until the end of time.  We’re hoping it comes in before Kylie goes to college.  Fingers crossed!

Our next upcoming adventure is our shower next month.  I am really excited. To prepare for this, Mike and I registered this weekend.   I remember being very excited to register for Bryson, but then once we started, I almost had a meltdown due to baby gadget overload.  There’s just way too much to take in for a first time parent.  They should put some kind of disclaimer on the registration information that insists all first time parents must be accompanied by an experienced parent.  Seriously, it’s for your own good.  So this time, we didn’t need supervision to make it through.  We know what we need, so we were on a mission!  It was a huge success, and I’m pretty sure we had record speed.  I also got dinner at Carrabba’s out of our trip, so I felt like a winner on many accounts.  Shopping and dinner…what more could a girl ask for? 

Random Pictures ~ Just Because

I realize pictures can sometimes be more fun than reading...so here you go!

Fun times with Daddy!



Mommy, is this the pan you were looking for?




Aspen is not a pony, but I'm still going to try to ride her.

 

Success!



Car Seat Fun - Picture Time

I realized I had a bunch of funny pictures of Bryson in his car seat lately, so I figured I would share them. I pick Bryson up from daycare, and he always makes me laugh on the ride home.  He's starting to say sentences (in his own language I have yet to learn), and so we carry on the silliest conversations.  He probably gets mad at me when I answer him.  He's probably thinking "Ummm, that's not even close to what I just asked you, Mommy!".  But anyway, we have fun regardless.  Enjoy the pics!


This makes me laugh every time I look at it.




I have no idea why he sits like this.





Peek a boo!



Before...



...after




He covers himself up for snuggle time.  Once the blanket is on, he's out in about 3 minutes.



Seven Months Strong

The pregnancy has been going well.  I'm 25 weeks along, and it's crazy to think that in two more weeks, I will enter the third trimester.  This pregnancy has gone sooo much faster, which is a bit scary - in a good way, of course.  Kylie is one strong girl.  She likes to be really still (maybe she’s sleeping) and then suddenly go crazy with these Chuck Norris kicks that are so strong they startle me at times.  I literally jumped during one of these surprise attacks last week.  I can feel her moving around and adjusting her positions, which is incredible to feel.  It's nice to be able to feel her without having to be kicked every time. 

I went to the doctor last week for my monthly check-up.  All went well, and she has a very healthy heart beat of 156.  Last time it was in the 160s, so I suppose she had simmered down a bit.  The baby website says she is the length of an ear of corn and a little over a pound.  It’s strange to see how big my belly is and to know she only counts for ONE pound of that.  To date, I have gained 13 pounds.  I suppose I’m still on track.  Of course, the last time I did really well until I hit about this point.  Then the pounds started pouring on, and I ended up gaining a whooping 40 pounds!  Yikes!  Hopefully I can keep this one in check.  But then again, I’ve continuously heard you get bigger faster the second time.  So if I gain as much this time, I blame science. 

We went to the beach last week and had an amazing time!  I considered getting some of those maternity swimsuits so people didn’t have to blatantly stare at my massive belly, but that only lasted about .07 seconds.  I then figured I didn’t care what people thought or had to look at, and I refused to give in to the muumuu swimsuit.  So I wore my bikinis with pregnant pride!  I think that Kylie enjoyed our time floating in the ocean.  She may not have been able to tell a difference, since she may have the ocean effect going on already, but I like to think she enjoyed herself.  Although when the huge waves would smash into my belly, I’m guessing she wasn’t a big fan of that.  But she was a trooper.  The car ride even went well.  We didn’t have to stop every 30 minutes to go to the bathroom, which I expected may happen.  I didn’t get car sick until about the last hour each way which again was better than expected.

As a rule of thumb, when you go to the beach, you have to eat large quantities of seafood.  As another rule of thumb, when you’re pregnant, you’re not allowed to eat very much seafood.  I’m usually very cautious about what I eat, except apparently not when I’m on vacation.  I ate seafood every day I was there.  Around Wednesday, I realized my mistake and immediately felt terrible that I was feeding Kylie all kinds of mercury and whatever else is bad in seafood.  But then come dinner time, what do I order?  Seafood.  Yes, I had a bad mommy week when it came to my dining.  But it was soooo good.  Luckily, when I went to the doctor, one of the first things she asked me was if I ate a lot of seafood.  I looked down and nodded yes.  She then laughed at me and reassured me that it was totally acceptable to eat a week’s worth of seafood and to just not eat any more the rest of the month.  Deal!  So my guilt is no longer present thanks to my understanding doctor.  Thank you, Dr. S.!

Goodbye TN, Hello FL!

Our visit to sunny Florida couldn’t have gone any better!  From the mostly peaceful car rides, to the weather, to the food, you name it, it was awesome.  But I’ll fill in all the gaps, starting with the car rides.  Mike and I were equally worried at how Bryson would do in the car for 8 hours.  His usual tolerance for car rides maxs out around 45 minutes to an hour, so now you can understand our fear.  We decided to leave at 4 am so Bryson would have about 3 good hours of sleep left in him.  We had the car packed and ready the night before, so all we had to do was wake him up, change him, and load him in the car.  This worked exactly how we planned.  He stayed up for about 45 minutes, and then eventually fell asleep.   On the way there, we only stopped 3 times (breakfast, snack, and potty break), so we made really good time.  We brought along Toy Story to keep Bryson occupied if needed.  We didn’t think he would watch it, but he would at least look at it occasionally.  We were wrong…he watched the entire thing – TWICE!  There were several times at the beginning where he was actually laughing.  We have a hit!

We arrived around 1:00, but our check-in time wasn’t until 4:00.  Luckily, our room was already ready and the fabulous staff let us in when we got there.  We immediately got our swimsuits on and headed to the beach.  When we first set Bryson in the sand, he wasn’t sure what he was suppose to do.  He just stared at it for the longest time.  He would pick one foot up, stare at it for a minute, then set it back down very slowly.  I wonder if he thought the sand was going to remove his foot since it would get buried in the sand when the waves washed over his feet.  Maybe he was just checking to make sure it was still there.  I don’t know. It was cute though.  Mike took him in the ocean and would let the waves splash on him, which he loved as long as he didn’t get splashed in the face.  Once that happened, it was pretty much over for a good 30 minutes.  Back to the sand!  I don’t blame him. That salt water burns like crazy.  Bryson had a blast playing in the sand.  I was amazed at how long he would sit there playing in it.  As long as he had this shovel, he wasn’t going to move.  Well, he wasn’t going to move on his terms.  At one point, a massive wave came in and actually picked up Bryson and carried him a few feet down the sand.  He didn’t topple over, and he was definitely not a fan of the forced move, but somehow he managed to keep his shovel.  However, somewhere out there a child has a blue rake thanks to that wave.  Sorry, Bryson!

The best part about where we stayed was that our patio, which was a great size, opened up right onto the pool deck.  The pool deck then led right out to the wooden walkway to the beach.  So our usual game plan was to go to the beach, play in the ocean and sand, rinse off, then play in the pool.  It’s hard to tell which one Bryson liked better.  He really enjoyed both.  Toward the end of the week, he was learning how to kick his feet to get him moving.  He has become quite the water baby. 

Since we were with Mike’s parents and Uncle Tim and Aunt Ann, Bryson had a ton of people to play with.  He had so much fun running from person to person to play with.  Each night we would all go out to dinner together, and he would have the best time.  Uncle Tim was quite the master of putting toys on his head, especially the dinosaur, and Bryson would squeal every time he did it.  I’m sure these two put on quite the show for the rest of the restaurant, because they had us laughing for the longest time.  We were sitting outside overlooking the beautiful bay area in Destin, so we got to see all the boats coming in to the docks.  At one point, there was an air show with lots of planes.  Bryson would point at every plane he saw, which was a lot.  He did that when we were at the beach and pool too with the planes that fly the advertisement banners. 

Mike and I had a really great time as well.  His mom would play with Bryson in the sand while we played in the ocean.  I felt like a 10 year old out there.  I would squeal and giggle when a big wave would come, so I probably sounded like a 10 year old too, but it was so much fun.  I had the best play time!  We were able to go out two nights with just us and enjoy some time together, which is hard to come by sometimes.  We went to a hibachi place the first night, which was a huge dud, but the second night, we went to a place called Captain Dave’s.  It was on the beach, and the food was amazing.  It definitely made up for that hibachi place. We also got to see fireworks, which was fun.  We went to the pool one night and swam in the dark.  Good times all around!

The last night we were there, we went to the Crab Trap, which is also on the beach.  The waiting area opens up to a sand playground.  Because we all know how easy to clean off sand is, Bryson didn’t get to go on the playground, but it was a neat feature regardless.  The inside had all the windows opened, so you got the ocean breeze while you ate.  It was really nice.  Since the fun had to come to an end eventually, we had to pack up and head out.  We left on Saturday morning at 6:45, went to breakfast, and hit the road.  This trip was a little longer, because we had to pick up Aspen from the boarding place.  Bryson could definitely tell there was a time expansion, because right about the time we should have been home, he started getting a big hostile.  But it was nothing a little Toy Story and milk couldn’t fix.  We were so grateful for those two things in the car and for Bryson’s good behavior.  We probably would have all lost our sanity if he was angry the entire time.  But that didn’t happen, and we came back relaxed and happy to be home.  We’ll see you next year, Florida! 

Where are my feet?!