Sprout Update

We thought our little scare was over after the incident at 27 weeks but evidently Sprout is a little more impatient that we thought. I went back to the hospital at 33.5 weeks with contractions every 4 minutes. This time I was in pre-term labor and the doctors used a couple of doses of Terbutaline to slow down the contractions. Sprout also had two shots of steroids (24 hrs apart) for lung development just in case they couldn't put a stop to the labor. (On top of all of that, Grams was in Haiti during this time and we were afraid she was going to be out of the country during the arrival of her new grandbaby).

The contractions slowed down and I was released to go home, basically because Leah was at home and the doc was fully aware that I was not going to relax at the hospital if I was away from her. The kicker (and compromise) came with the instructions for bed rest! Considering I am an attorney with a case load, Leah is 21 months old and Jeff works nights - bed rest were the last 2 words we wanted to hear together. BUT...as a professional, there are few things more frustrating than advising a client of what he/she needs to do only to be ignored. Thankfully I am in a wonderful and supportive office filled with offers to help if needed as well as being surrounded by the most amazing family and friends. A couple meals have been delivered and the notes of prayer and encouragement have been pouring in. Jeff's mom was able to be here for a weekend to help with Leah and my mom has been a major blessing helping the rest of the time. Aside from all of the day to day help with Leah and keeping up the house, she has washed all of the baby clothes and helped us get Leah's things moved to her new room. Jeff had to work 76 hours this week and had been amazing -- still helping when he is not working or sleeping.

I will admit, I am NOT good at sitting still so this has not been easy. It seems much easier for me to just get up and do things myself than ask someone else to do it. BUT, I have focused on putting Sprout 1st and remembering that this time is not about me and what I want to do but about Sprout and what he or she needs.

I will be 36 weeks tomorrow and Sprout is continuing to grow. At this point, we are not very concerned if he or she decides to make an appearance. However, every day of incubation is another day of growing and we are hoping for as many as we can get. My sisters, Jewel and Jessie, are both leaving for missions trips the 1st week of May that will have them gone for several weeks. I know that they would love to meet their niece or nephew before they leave. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Thank you to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers! The prayers have been answered and we feel very blessed!

34 weeks

35 weeks

SLURP!

She just cracks us up. She is a little copycat. She saw me drink the milk out of my cereal bowl and now that is her favorite thing. She even stalks me when I am eating and climbs into my lap when I get close to the end of my cereal so she can have the milk. And I thought our dogs were beggars! Our cereal bowls have the built in straws so it makes easy work out of such a yummy task.

Leah had a bowl of veggie soup for dinner the other night and I had to take this video. She had to sip every bit of juice out of the bowl (and then kept refilling it with the juice from her fruit cup and drinking it, ha!)

Popsicles cure it all!

Unfortunately Leah got a throat bug. She woke up with a 102 temp on Friday morning so we took her to the doc. We originally thought it was an ear infection and didn't want her going all weekend without the antibiotics. It turns out it was a viral throat infection. She had little blisters in her throat and didn't want anything to do with food -- that is NOT Leah. Thankfully, popsicles cure everything!
Oh, and Peeps are soft too :)
Leah was better in less than 48 hours. I am pumped full of prenatal vitamins so the virus didn't come anywhere near me. Her daddy wasn't so lucky. He had it for a week with a fever that spiked all the way to 105.2!

OUTSIDE!

I know that a lot of my posts begin with the phrase "Leah loves..." but it is so true. She is such a happy little girl and has a long list of things that she loves. Pretty close to the top of that list is being OUTSIDE. For this reason, we intentionally do not have a swing set in our backyard. I can only imagine how often she would resort to begging if she could see a SWING that was OUTSIDE all of the time.

She will take anyone that she can convince for a walk. I tell ya, that little girl can walk for quite a while without wearing out - it must be those long legs. I have seen her wear out more than one adult at a time, haha.
Leah and Grandma:
Leah and Papaw:
She thought it was funny that she and the dogs were on opposite sides of the fence when she returned from her walk. They didn't think it was that funny.



Hide and seek with Finnigan:
Playing with the big boys and Grandpa:

She always her sippy and snack cups close....
Blowing dandelions with daddy

Happy Easter!

With 3 sets of grandparents comes several celebrations for each holiday and Easter was no exception.

On Saturday - Gramps, Gramps, Aunt Jewel and Aunt Jessie came down for a visit and to join us at our Easter celebration at church. There is a slight possibility that I could be biased BUT....how cute is she in her Easter outfit?!


Headed into church with daddy and Gramps
She also had an Easter basket from their house. It didn't take her long to get the bunny shaped graham crackers out and dig in.
The other big deal of the evening was the Butler game. There was a bit of a rivalry going on as Jewel had been promised free ice cream by a friend if Butler lost. Dad didn't take her position very well and even referred to her as "unHoosier". It was amusing to the rest of us but we had to threaten to turn off the tv if they couldn't keep their voices down!

Sunday morning Leah woke up to another surprise -- the Easter bunny had come for a visit. She was interested in everything but quickly distracted once she found the food -- PEEPS! I had no idea she would be such a Peeps monster.

Time for an "egg hunt" (in other words, time to throw a bunch of empty eggs all over the living room and put them back in the basket).

Later that day, it was time for Easter dinner with Grandma, Grandpa, Chris and Evan


What a lucky girl -- the Easter bunny left a basket at Mamaw and Papaw's too! Can you guess what was the biggest hit? Yep, the Goldfish and the Peeps! This girl loves to eat!

BIG GIRL!

We made a big move this month! Leah moved from her crib in the nursery to a big girl bed in her new room! The nursery is painted in neutral colors so it will be perfect for Sprout. We painted the extra room purple and made it Leah's new room. I think the move may have been a bigger deal for mommy and daddy than it was for her. The 1st night she went right to sleep in it and stayed there all night. It has been like that every night since. Nap time on the weekends is a bit of a different story because she would rather use all of the empty floor space to dance than nap but we are working through that :)

Last night that our BABY slept in her crib *sniffle*


First night that our BIG GIRL slept in her bed

She looks so little in it! (Mommy is ok with that)
Jeff and I are well aware that if we think she looks like a big girl now, just wait until she is next to her newborn brother or sister!

Happy Birthday Mamaw!

Mamaw turned 50 this year! She had a surprise birthday party on the evening before her birthday. It turned out well and Leah was a little social butterfly. Happy Birthday Mamaw!

Leah and Maddy -- they hugged and it was time for a snack. Savana, Leah and Caelen -- they ran, played and had a ton of fun together!