Jeep Cake

This is a cake I made this weekend for a 5oth birthday party. I am no Ace of Cakes, but people seemed to like it.

Recent Cake Making

I made this cake this weekend for a friend's baby shower. I think it is one of the best cakes I have done so far. I am really excited about the upcoming classes I am going to be taking to continue educating myself on cake decorating. This cake was a lot of fun.

This cake is certainly boobalicious!:) Isn't this how we all look when we are pregnant?

Hangin' With Grandpa

Caroline loves feading the fish at Grandma and Grandpa's house in San Antonio. Here is she is hanging out with Grandpa.

Here is Grandpa trying to keep her from falling in the pond.

This Emily literally "haning out" with Grandpa. Gotta love these girls!

Summer Lovin'

This is Caroline at the sprinkler park. It has been so hot this month that even being outside near water does not appeal to me, but Caroline loves it.

Here is Caroline posing with her BFF Reagan
This is Caroline's other BFF Mollie looking extremely stylish.

My Mom Rocks

Ok, so many of you know that I was on bed rest for about six weeks of my prenancy. Then, I had to have surgery three weeks after Emily was born. I could not have made it through the last several months without my mother's help. She is amazing. She spent every week of my bed rest here in Austin to help me with Caroline. Then she was here after Emily was born and during my surgery. I am so blessed to have such an awesome mom who is so willing to help. I love this picture of Grandma with her girls.

Emily at One Week

We have chosen a lamb to use as our measuring tool for Emily. This is her very first photo shoot with "Sam the Lamb," a name that Caroline came up with all on her own. I don't know where she gets these things.

Bringing Emily Home

Emily had a wonderful home coming. My mom and sister were there to welcome her with flowers, balloons, and a yummy cake for mom and dad. I am so grateful to them for all of the hard work they did for us over the last few months.

Emily looks so small in the car seat.

Hanging out in the bouncy seat.

Her first bath at home was not a joyous occasion.

A warm towel makes all the difference.

Getting back in the swing of things

Well as if having a baby in the last month wasn't enough, I had surgery yesterday to remove my gall bladder. I am hoping to get some posts up soon. We really have taken more pictures of Emily since she has been born. Please pray for a speedy recovery. I am really ready to be done with hospitals for a while.

Meeting Baby Emily

Caroline loves her new little sister. We have really tried to give Caroline some responsibility for Emily by giving her "jobs" to do like bringing us diapers and wipes. She can be a little rough with her, so we have to keep a very watchful eye on her, but overall, she has been adjusting well.

She is Here!

Emily Kathryn is here. She arrived via induction on May 4 at 1:34 pm. After 5 hours of labor and 20 minutes of pushing Emily made her way into the world, all 10 pounds 2 ounces of her. She has been a joy to us. Her resemblence to Caroline is almost uncanny. Here are some early pictures of Emily.

Induction Set

Unless Emily comes on her own, we will be induced on Tuesday morning at 7 am. Please pray for a smooth delivery and a healthy baby. We can't wait to meet her.

Prayer Request

Yesterday morning, one of my girlfriends here in Austin gave birth to her daughter, Natalie at 26 weeks due to an almost complete placental abruption. So far, Natalie is doing ok. Her lungs are very underdeveloped, and she will be in the NICU for the next 14 weeks at least. Jenn is doing well despite the emergency c-section. Please pray for little Natalie. She weighed in at 1.3 pounds.

As far as things with the Grafius family go, I am still pregnant. I am 38 weeks this week and very eager for Emily to make her arrival. I will be induced at 39 weeks if she does not arrive sooner. I am currently 3 cm and 60 % effaced which is what I was when I delivered Caroline. Please pray that I will go into labor on my own. I would like to know what it is like to go into labor on my own since I was induced with Caroline. Don't get me wrong, I am all about my epidural, but I would just like to know how to tell that I am in labor. Also, seeing as how little Emily is an out of pocket expense, not having to be induced would be good. I can't wait to share about her when she arrives.

Double Stroller

Ok friends, I need thoughts on double strollers. Caroline will be 2 when Emily is born.

Quick Update

Well I am still on bed rest. At this point, I will probably be on bed rest until at least week 35. I am currently 32 weeks and 4 days. I have another doctor's appointment this Wednesday. A huge praise that I have is that Emily is now head down. We are just hoping she stays that way. My mom has been here helping with Caroline and that has been a huge blessing. My sister is in town from New Orleans to help out this week which is really awesome. Currently, she is painting one of my bathrooms for me, a project that I intended to finish before miss Emily's arrival but alas it would be frowned upon for me to do it. I am super grateful for her willingness to help me.

I had a baby shower this last weekend so I will be posting some pics from that soon.

Lots of Rest for the Not So Weary

Well, I have officially been put on bed rest. Last Monday, I went to Labor and Delivery at the prompting of my doctor's office because I had been experiencing a lot of pressure, contractions, and trouble breathing over the weekend. When we arrived at the hospital, we were put in a room and I was hooked up to fetal monitors. Emily is doing great. Her heart rate sounded perfect for her gestational age. The monitor showed that I was having contractions, but the nurse referred to them more as uterine irritability. The nurse did a pelvic exam and found that I was dilated to 2cm which is not a good thing at 30 weeks. The biggest concern the doctor had while I was being checked out is that I was having trouble breathing and I had an elevated heart rate which signaled to her that I may have a pulmonary embolism. This is obviously a very scary thing since blood clots can be fatal, so they had a CT Scan done immediately. Praise the Lord: it was negative. I spent Monday night in the hospital for more monitoring and was sent home Tuesday morning with instructions that I was to be on bed rest until further notice.

Most people might think bed rest sounds really great, but let me tell you it isn't. Just as I was being put on bed rest, I feel like my nesting instinct kicked in. My mom has been here helping me with Caroline which is a huge blessing. I am not allowed to pick her up, so having someone here all the time is great.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning which I am really excited to go to. I am hoping she might give me a better idea of how long I will be on bed rest. Frank and I covet all of your prayers. We obviously want Emily to stay cooking for quite a while longer. You can also pray that I don't have to go into the hospital for any more monitoring. We don't have maternity insurance, so everything has to be paid for out of pocket. We obviously put Emily's health first, but it would be nice not to have any more hospitals stay than absolutely necessary.

I should be updating the blog more since I have so much time on my hands. Love to you all.

Snowy Days

Well as strange as it may seem, we had about 3 inches of snow this last week here in Austin. It was crazy! I haven't seen that much snow in central Texas since the big snow of '85. Some of you may remember it. Anyhow, I thought I would post some pictures of Caroline and her daddy playing in the snow.

Recent Pictures of Caroline

I can't believe that Caroline is 20 months old. Time flies. She is a bundle of energy which can be trying at times since I am seven months pregnant. We love her more and more each day, and it is hard to imagine sharing that love when Emily arrives. Here is some recent info about Caroline:

At her 18 month check-up she weighed 26 pounds and was 31 1/2 inches long

She has all of her teeth except her back molars which I understand she will get around age 2

Her hair is finally starting to grow a little--we can now give her a Pebbles style pony-tail on top

She is always increasing her vocabulary, but we haven't made the jump to 2 word sentences yet

As of yesterday, she has attempted to use the potty three times
(I don't know if I am ready for this)

Overall, she is a huge blessing.

Update on Baby Emily

Ok, so it has been forever since I have posted anything, and for that I apologize. We had an ultrasound yesterday to check out Emily's heart now that she is a little further along. Frank was born with a heart defect that was fixed surgically at 18 months. Since heart defects of any kind can be hereditary, all of our babies have to be looked at while I am pregnant. Anyhow, the ultrasound yesterday revealed that Emily's heart looks perfectly healthy and everything else looked good too except that SHE IS GINORMOUS! Emily is currently in the 97th percentile for her size (I should have a child who is in the A range:). She is measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. What this means is if my doctor allowed me to go to 40 weeks, we would be having a 10 to 11 pound baby. That said, we will either have to induce early or have a c-section. I am a little disappointed that I won't be able to go into labor on my own. I was hoping for that after being induced with Caroline. However, Frank and I just feel so blessed that she is healthy.

More updates to come.

Book Recommendation

I saw a review of what seems to be a great new book for moms. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to as soon as I get a copy. If anyone has read it, let me know what you think.

Title:
Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood
Author:
Jamie Martin

I found the review on SimpleMom.net

Baby Number 2 is...

Caroline is going to be the proud big sister to her new little sister, Emily Kathryn. We found out a few days before Christmas that we are going to have another little girl, and we are thrilled. I used to think I only wanted one little girl but after having Caroline, I am super excited to have another girl. Not to mention the fact that a new girl will be so much less expensive for now due to the amount of girl things we already have. Caroline has already learned how to say her sister's name which comes out "Emmy." I love it!