..Sweet Abigail..

A lot of firsts

2009-12-21T22:47:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since I posted....(thanks Erica for reminding me :). Abby now has two teeth. her bottom middles have come in. She is a sloooow teeth grower! I still can't get a good shot of them to post. We had to remove the coffee table from the living room because she kept bumping her head. She has now moved from cruising to full blown walking at just 9 months. Well actually, she has been taking steps for about a month now, but recently in the past couple weeks has been really walking well. She can go pretty far before she falls over.

We are having some issues keeping her off the stairs. She has mastered the art of climbing all the way to the top ( with our supervision of course). Marshall cannot put a baby gate at the bottom because there is no place to anchor one because of the railing. So for now, we will have to continually chase her.

She got her flu shot FINALLY the other week at her 9 month appointment. She weighed in at 18.9 lbs and 27 1/4" tall. She is in the 97th percentile for height! She's our little super model! The doctor was very impressed with her talking and her walking.

We took Abby to the mall tonight to see Santa but unfortunately we have no pictures because she screamed her head off. I wanted to buy one just for her baby book but I wasn't going to waste 15 bucks on a picture of my child screaming. We had our first big snow of the season this week. Over 12" of snow! below are some pics from when I took her outside to meet the snow. She wasn't to thrilled about it. She couldn't walk because we bundled her up so much. Enjoy some pictures below....

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-21T23:03:00.005-04:00

We finally got a break in the weather after 4 long days of non stop rain. I thought we were never going to get Abigail to the Pumpkin Patch this year! We had beautiful weather today and it was the perfect time to go.

At just shy of almost 8 months, Abby is getting around really well. She is cruising around the coffee table and couch. She even lets go and stands on her own at times. We have our hands full! She is definitely a mommas girl. She wants me all the time. Hopefully it's just a phase.

On another note, we have finally decided to start planning our wedding. After only a week into it, I am realizing that my puny budget is NOT going to get us much. I'm having a very hard time finding venues that are in our price range. I feel like giving up already and waiting until we have more saved. We are planning on a September 2010 wedding. Either the last weekend in September or the first weekend in October. More details to come as they unfold, and if we can ever find a place that we like in our price range :)

Enjoy some pictures from today....

Lotta Catch'n Up To Do

2009-10-10T22:17:00.004-04:00

It's been over a month since I had the time to sit down and leisurely post on the blog. A lot has taken place in the last month, I don't even know where to begin. Abigail is better than ever. She just turned 7 months on October 2nd. She is the most laughable, happy baby I have ever seen. She giggles and screams constantly. Nothing upsets her unless she is tired or hungry. But most of the time she is in a great mood.

She is doing what they call "cruising". Which means she is standing herself up and walking around while she holds onto the coffee table, the couch, my leg, or anything she can get a grip on. She will definitely be walking by Christmas. Watch out Christmas tree! She's a little pistol. Takes very little naps during the day, which means she sleeps GREAT at night! Bonus for us, but not so much for her grandparents.

At her last checkup she was in the 85 percentile for her height. ( she's mommies little super model) and 50% for weight; perfectly average. We have a hard time finding pants that are long enough for her. Still NO TEETH! I can't believe it. I thought for sure she would have teeth by now. Nope, natta! She is taking to baby food well. Veggies are a little tough but she likes sweet potatoes and mixed green beans and squash together. She loves all fruit. Still trying to get her use to the sippy cup. We are sorta slackin on working with her in that department.

On another note, we finally got moved into our new house! It's great. The three flights of stairs are gonna take some getting use to, especially when you have a 16 pound baby on your hip. Abigail even has her own bathroom. She sleeps in her own room in her crib with no problem.

Hopefully before the winter hits, will get another photo session in at the School Farm here in Greencastle. But for now, enjoy some pictures from the last month or so. When I get a chance, Ill post some pics of the new house. Right now it looks like Toys-R-Us threw up in our living room :)

Bye for now!

Crawling!

2009-08-22T19:18:00.003-04:00

Our little Abigail is not so little anymore. She is officially crawling all over the place. Already had her hand in the dog water and is lifting herself up on the couch! Where did my baby go? Still no teeth though. I thought for sure she would have one by now. Ill take a video here soon and upload it for everyone to see.

These are pictures I just took this morning. I love this outfit!

Um yea she fell asleep like this lol

Another First

2009-08-11T21:45:00.003-04:00

We went to Cowans Gap over the weekend to visit my parents. Abby got her first feel of the sand! No, it's not real beach sand ( that will come next year ) but she was so intrigued by it. I was so thankful she didn't immediately try to put a handful in her mouth! We walked around the lake and had a great time. Next year, we will be taking a trip to the beach, hopefully, and she will get her first taste of salt water!

5 Months Today !

2009-08-02T10:41:00.008-04:00

Today we mark the 5 months that Abby has blessed our lives. It's been awhile since I last updated and a lot has happened. She is sitting up on her own, rolling around, and tries really really hard to crawl. Pretty soon we will be able to start solids. We tried some sweet pureed carrots the other day and she wasn't quite ready yet.

She is showing all the signs of teething but still no pearly whites. We are impatiently waiting :)

We finally found a place to call home in Greencastle. We hope to settle and move at the end of September. We are very excited to have more space to live and Abby will have her own bathroom!

Enjoy some pictures from the last month :)

Happy 4th

2009-07-05T18:32:00.008-04:00

Abby turned 4 months on July 2nd. We had a great time celebrating at a friends house for the 4th of July. She obviously was the princess of the party. We think she might be teething. Any day now we should see a pearly white popping up. Lots of milestones lately too. She can now roll over and back with out a problem. We had to stop swaddling her because of this. SHe is chewing on everything! She talks and coos constantly. She is such a happy baby. Always smiling and very pleasant. She can almost hold her own bottle too. It's so cute.

Not much going on at the homestead. Trying to house hunt but not having much success. Abby has her 4mth appt. tomorrow so will see how much she weighs and how tall she is. She is a tall and slender baby!

Enjoy the pictures....

Blues Festival

2009-06-02T06:54:00.004-04:00

Abby went to her first Blues Festival in Hagerstown this past weekend. She was a very good baby. I was impressed because of how crowded it was. It was a gorgeous day. We got really lucky. She also enjoyed her first swing ride! Still too small to fit but we put her in the swing anyways and grabbed some cute pictures to share. Enjoy!

Just playing around

2009-05-28T08:09:00.002-04:00

I discovered Photobucket the other day. They have a great photo editing program for free. Who needs Photoshop anymore!

3 months today!

2009-05-25T19:21:00.004-04:00

We had a great weekend. Family, friends and sun. What more can you ask for? Abigail turned 3 months old today. She weighs now. She talks up a storm! Smiles all the time and is overall a GREAT baby! We are very blessed. She sleeps through the night and has been since she was 6 weeks old. She is getting better with the car rides and loves to take walks in the evening with mommy and daddy in the stroller.

We decided to try her Bumbo seat today while at grandpa's house. Her head is strong enough now to hold herself up while she is sitting in it. She loves it! She is so cute in it. Enjoy some pictures from today. Happy Memorial Day!

Finally caught a real smile on camera

Pappy Todd taking a walk with us in the park

It doesn't get any cuter than this

LOL

Casey sitting pretty with Abby

My First Mother's Day

2009-05-11T20:57:00.005-04:00

We had an awesome time at my mother's house who hosted a Mother's Day picnic for the family. Abigail gave me a lovely card that I will keep forever and daddy gave me some cash to do whatever I want with! I'm hitting the mall! The wind was awful so I didn't really get a good picture of the two of us. Better luck next time.

Me and Abby at Mom's House with a horrible hair day, but who's really

looking at me anyways :)

Grandma and Abby

Marshall and my cousin AJ ( 1 Yr. Old )

Random Pictures

2009-04-29T09:30:00.003-04:00

Well, this is my last week with Abigail until I go back to work. I'm so sad, I don't even want to think about it. I had the opportunity to go back to Sprint, so that's what I'm doing. The health benefits, 401k and PTO time are things I just couldn't pass up. As much as I hate mean customers sometimes, the company is great to work for.

So our Internet connection is finally back up to speed so I can upload pictures now. Here are a few from the last week or so.

Starting to hold onto toys

Enjoying a relaxing stroll outside

At Aunt Jessica's Birthday party

Abigail's 2 mth. photo for her baby book

♥ 2 Months Already ♥

2009-04-23T09:08:00.005-04:00

Abigail is going to be 2 months old on the 27th !!! I cannot believe it! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home. Now our little girl is sleeping through the night ( most nights ) and she is starting to do really well with taking naps so I can get some work done.

Looks like Ill be going back to work here soon. Most likely the first week in May. Marshall's grandmother will be watching her on the days we both work.

Abby is starting to use her voice box a lot more. She coo's and screams when she gets excited. It's the cutest thing. She smiles when you greet her in the morning. She loves laying on her changing table. She will lay there and be content just staring at the walls and all her stuffed animals on the shelf. She is starting to turn her head when she hears my voice. I'm so proud of her. I'm having issues uploading pictures again, so Ill post more later.

Easter cont...

2009-04-13T11:07:00.004-04:00

Ok here are some more pics....

Me and Abby. The picture is blurry and it makes me sooooo mad!!

Abby's cousin AJ and his first Easter Egg Hunt walking around with mommy

Abby's First Easter

2009-04-13T10:52:00.004-04:00

Ok, I must say I'm very upset at our camera. Their is a setting that was changed somehow and now almost all of our pictures are blurry. So, we didn't get that many Easter pictures that turned out good. Abby did great at Aunt Jo's house. She is still too young to go Easter egg hunting but next year she should be old enough. She took two good naps for us yesterday and slept pretty well through the night. Sometimes she wakes up for her night feeding and sometimes she doesn't. Haven't really figured out what makes her decision but oh well, I'm not complaining.

So enjoy some photos below and in the meantime, I have to try and figure out my camera.....or buy a new one :)

This is at Aunt Jo's house while she opens her Easter gift from her Great Grandma

This was before we left the house. I tried to get a good picture of her in her Easter dress, but she can't hold herself up too well. The animals are Easter gifts from her grandparents.

I will have to upload more later because Blogger is acting up now.....

1 Month Check Up

2009-04-08T21:07:00.004-04:00

Our little girl has grown soooo much in the last month. She now weighs 9 lbs. 14 oz. ! That's 2 pounds she has gained since birth. Her health is great. Poor thing did not like her shot in her leg today. She screamed and I cried :( . But she is ok now, sleeping away. Speaking of sleep, she had been doing VERY well with sleeping through the night recently. I'm not getting my hopes up, but for the past 3 days she has been sleeping between 5-6 hours strait! And take 2 good naps during the day too. I love it! I finally have time to do homework and eat lunch.

The Proofs Are In !

2009-04-08T20:45:00.005-04:00

We FINALLY got the digital rights to Abigail's photos today. We have been waiting for almost two weeks! Below are the web files of the images we chose. I must brag though; the photographer loved the picture of Abby in the hat that she used it for her next promotional post card design that she hands out for advertisements. She also will be putting some of her pictures up in a doctor's office at Robinwood Medical Center, which happens to be Marshall's doctor for display with a few other babies. Maybe she's on her way to Hollywood...(we would never do that ).

If you would like to get prints made of any of the images below DON'T copy these on the blog because they have her logo on them and the file is not print quality. All you have to do is email me ( bellawool@gmail.com ) and let me know which ones you would like and I will email you the print file that you can then take to Target, Walmart or where ever to have prints made in whatever size you want. There is a site which the photographer recommended to us to get prints made. It's called mpix.com. This is the site that she uses for her own prints. They are VERY reasonably priced. I suggest looking their first because you can just upload the image to their site and they will send the prints in the mail to you.

Random Pictures

2009-04-01T21:53:00.006-04:00

Here are some more random pictures from this week. Abby is now 4 weeks old! Man, where is the time going?

Fuss'n

Bailey Loves Abby

Tummy Time

Bath Time

First nap in crib

2009-04-01T15:55:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to slowly get Abby use to sleeping in her crib. Here is a picture of her first nap I took yesterday. Looks comfy to me. She only stayed asleep for about 1/2 hours though.

Who Does She Look Like?

2009-04-01T11:11:00.003-04:00

For anyone who has had a hard time wondering who Abigail looks like, maybe this will clear things up for you....

Abby on the left, Marshall on the right

Ordering Pictures

2009-03-22T18:05:00.002-04:00

If anyone had planned on purchasing pictures from the website, please contact us first. We want to buy a digital package so we can have copies to print on our own. It's much cheaper this way and if you planned on purchasing prints we can all pitch in an buy the digital package instead and save a whole lot a money!

Access Code For Pics

2009-03-19T10:49:00.002-04:00

Sorry ya'll. The access code is 'tara' for the pics. I thought the link took you directly to it but I guess not. Let us know what you all think!

Abigail's First Photo Shoot

2009-03-18T16:12:00.005-04:00

We had Abby's pictures taken last thursday. They turned out wonderful. They are available online to view and order if you wish. They are very expensive so it will be hard for us to choose the ones we like the most. Just click on the link below to see all the proofs. Hope you enjoy!

http://andersonphotographs.com/photocart/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=1110

In the meantime, enjoy some FREE photos below of Abigail after her first bath and her 1 week old picture :)

Family Love

2009-03-09T06:47:00.004-04:00

Here is a picture of Abby and her cousin AJ and her Auntie Chantea

The First Week

2009-03-09T06:29:00.003-04:00

So we have survived our first week home with Abigail. I wouldn't change it for the world. The hardest part so far is getting her on an eating schedule. My milk supply just came in and we are trying to make sure she is getting enough to eat. Sometimes she eats 10 times a day and other times she only eats 5 or 6 times a day.

She sleeps constantly through out the day. The lactation consultant calls it "milk drunk" because she seems to pass out for hours and hours after getting a good feed. The nights have not been that bad. I expected worse, but hey, we are only a week into this so what do I know. She slept for 6 hours strait on Saturday nite! I debated waking her to feed her but decided not to. I figured she will wake when she is hungry.

We've had a lot of visitors this week too. Everyone lov

es her. She is so beautiful! We had our first doctor's appt. on Saturday. All they did was weight her and look into her ears and eyes. She weighed 7lbs 12oz at birth, left the hospital at 7lbs 1oz and now weighs 7lbs 4oz. So she is gaining her weight back.

Im starting to finally feel better from the surgery. I can get up and down a lot better now than when we first came home. Im still taking the pain meds the doctor gave me, but other than that, I'm doing great. Can't wait to loose this water weight from the IV and start exercising again!

Enjoy some more pictures below :)

Birth Story

2009-03-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

Baby Abigail was finally born on March 2, 2009 at 11:39pm
Weigth: 7 lbs. 12 oz.
Height: 21 inches

My story:
We went in on the 2nd at 7am for an induction. Started induction medicine around 9am. After 9 hours, I was check and stuck at 3cm and 60% effaced at best. The doc decided to strip my membranes. After that, I was given Pitocin via my IV to really get things moving. At 6pm I asked for an Epidural because the pain was getting intense to handle. At around 7pm, with still no progress, the doctors broke my water with no success. Apparently, little Abby's head was acting as a plug and did not want to water to be released.

At around 8pm, the doctors noticed her heartbeat was irregular. Her heart rate would dip every time I had a contraction. They decided to stop the Pitocin for about an hour and see if her heart rate stays steady, which it does. At this point, I needed to have a catheter put in because of the Epidural.

At 9pm, they decided to restart the Pitocin one more time. After 10 minutes, her heart rate began to decelerate again with every contraction. She was in too much stress and the doctors could not figure out why. They assumed that either the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck or she was lodged in my pelvic and was not descending.

They checked tuned off the Pitocin again and decided to give me another hour to progress on my own or I will have to have a Cesarean section. Well, after 1 1/2 hours, no progress. I was stuck at 4cm after 14 hours of labor and still had a thick cervix.

At this point, I was so tired and don't think I was really with it. The doctors were not willing to try anymore induction methods because Abby was too stressed over the intense contractions. So the decision was made that I would have to have an emergency Cesarean section.

At 11pm, I was rolled into the operating room and prepped. Anesthesia put the numbing meds in through my Epidural and started to numb me. However, it took the max dosage to get me to the point where I could not feel anything. Finally, Marshall was able to come in and sit with me. They our precious little bundle was born. Marshall followed her to the nursery while they cleaned and checked her as they were finishing me.

At some point in the middle of stitching me up, I realized that I started to feel the pressure from tugging and pulling more and more. It got to the point where I was screaming from the pain. The anesthesia man had to knock me out for the rest of the procedure. This meant a longer recovery time and more time in between me being able to see Abby.

FINALLY, at around 2am, I was able to be taken from recovery back to the room and my dear sweet Abigail was brought into me. The family support was amazing. I couldn't not have done this with out Marshall or anyone else that was there to support me.

Turns out Abby was stuck in my pelvic wall with umbilical cord wrapped around her stomach twice. The reason I was not progressing through labor was due to her head being stuck inside my pelvic wall and unable to descend any further. So this meant that the doctor had to cut through my stomach muscles to reach her and pull her out.

If, it wasn't for the fact that they had to cut my muscles, I would be feeling great right now because the incision is healing very well. Marshall has been an amazing support and has taken on the mommy role most of the time because it takes me almost 5 minutes to get up if she happens to cry etc.

Well, I don't want to get into other details about that right now. We were released from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. We are all home and healthy.

It has taken me almost 3 hours to finish this post due to 'new' responsibilities :)

Below are some pics. Keep checking back because there will more man more to come!

Abigail Mackenzie is finally here!

2009-03-06T07:44:00.010-05:00

Blog Makeover

2009-02-26T11:26:00.004-05:00

So I have some time today since Marshall is back to work this week to give this blog a face lift. The address has changed and I added a playlist but it only has one song so far. Hopefully the next time I update, we will have some pictures of a little girl name Abigail! Send labor vibes my way please !!!

40 weeks and overdue!

2009-02-24T22:29:00.005-05:00

Well we had our 40 week appointment today. I was due two days ago. I figured I would be late, but I tried to stay optimistic about it. Turns out I'm dilated to 2cm now. Little progress from last week. My blood pressure was really high so the doctor does not want me to go too long before we induce ( something I really didn't want to do ) . So, we scheduled an induction for March 2nd ( the last possible date I was allowed to choose ). We are hoping and praying that I go on my own before then. The doctor did say that I have a very favorable cervix for induction and he is fully confident that I will have a safe and happy vaginal birth without a c-section intervention. But of course, you never know what could happen.

Abby or Abbi ?

2009-02-19T18:15:00.001-05:00

We are having a conflict that needs resolved rather soon. I like Abby and Marshall likes Abbi. So what do you all like?

Anderson Photographs

2009-02-19T18:08:00.004-05:00

We already have Abigail's first photo shoot set up. Scheduled for March 15th. This woman takes the best newborn pictures I have ever seem. She lives in Boonsboro. Here is her website so you can check out her work. The picture above is my favorite pose. I can't wait to get this pose with Abby!

www.andersonphotographs.com

39 week Appointment

2009-02-19T17:58:00.003-05:00

As I lay here on the couch, I cannot imagine doing this everyday. I had planned on working up until labor hit, but those plans soon changed this week. It all started with extreme lower pressure and the feeling that my hips were cracking. Then, as if that wasn't painful enough, I came down with a horrible head cold. Sore throat, headache, runny nose and overall achy feeling. So that caused me to loose sleep last night which in return caused me to miss work today. I have done nothing but lay on this couch and watch TV. I'm starting to rethink my stay at home mom future plans. I just don't think I could do it.

As far as the doctor's appointment I had on Tuesday, I'm dilated 1.5 cm and 50% effaced so far. No change from last week in case your wondering. This basically means that I'm not ready to go into labor. With my due date being only 3 days away, I'm starting to warm up to the idea that I'm going to be late. Maybe we will have a March baby after all. Who knows. The doctor did assure me, however, that they will not allow me to go over 10 days past due. So their is an and in sight!

For now, you can enjoy this lovely picture below of Marshall getting some practice on how to hold a baby :)

Silly Kitty

2009-01-29T01:59:00.000-05:00

Ruca is our bad ass kitty from the streets of Hagerstown. She has our blinds ripped to shreds and will not allow anything to sit on the coffee table without knocking it off. But we love her anyway. Secretly, she hates me. I guess she prefers men because she loves Marshall all the time. Well, kitty seems to think that the new crib and bassinet where bought just for her. She sleeps in the bassinet every night and sleeps in the crib during the day. Oh boy, we are going to have an issue on our hands once Abby is here...

Name Change Announcement

2009-01-29T01:56:00.001-05:00

Marshall is in the process of changing his last name from Mclelland to Szumetz. Reasons for this are long but to make a long story short, his grandparents adopted him when his mother passed away and he has decided to take on their last name. So Abby will carry the Szumetz last name as well ( and me when the time comes )

Cloth Diapering

2009-01-28T20:01:00.001-05:00

Ok, before you call us crazy hippies. Just listen first. Cloth diapering has come a long way. They aren't what your grandmother used back in the 60's. Their are a lot of really cool options for the 'modern' family. We decided to cloth diaper because, well we aren't rich and thought we could save some major cash and also because we do care about the environment and don't want Abby to have to build her home on a landfill one day.

So after extensive research and lots of thought, we decided to go withe the Bum Genius 3.0 brand. Check 'em out at www.bumgenius.com. At first glance you might say " holy crap they are expensive !" Well sure they are. $18 for one diaper is crazy. But did you actually sit down and do the math and research? I did and this was the best option for us. Yeah we had to invest a lump sum in the beginning but it's well worth the price in comparison to buying disposables.

These diapers are one size. Meaning they will fit her from the time she is 8 pounds till she is potty trained. The best part is if well kept, they will last through multiple children! How can you go wrong? Of course their will be the occasional road trip where we will have disposables on hand just for convenience but Abby will be a 95% Bum Genius baby.

Below is a picture of the design. Oh and if you click here you can see all the pretty colors they come in and some user reviews as well.

36 weeks and counting...

2009-01-28T19:48:00.001-05:00

I had my 36 week doctor appt. this past Tuesday. Babies heart rate is perfect, her weight is about 1/2 lb. under what they call 'normal' for this stage but what's normal now a days? She weighs around 5.8 lbs so far. 3 1/2 more weeks to go!

They did some more tests today just to make sure I don't have any infections that arose one last time before I deliver. Oh and the coolest part of all is the doc checked me for dilation and I'm 1 cm already! WOO HOO. I have a head start.

I found the cutest picture today of a baby Marmoset while I was searching for some newborn baby picture ideas. Don't ask me how I came across it. Check it out below. How cute!

Finally got this blog started

2009-01-28T19:33:00.001-05:00

Well, I've wanted to start this blog a while ago, so I have a lot of talking to do. I'll start with why I wanted to start this blog and a little Bio of me and my family. I will primarily be the one to update the blog but who knows maybe I can get Marshall to do some writing as well.

I'm Tara, 25, unmarried and pregnant. I have a dog named Bailey, a small Yorkie-poo and a cat named Ruca who doesn't care for me too much. In love and engaged to my best friend Marshall of almost 7 years now. Wedding has been put on hold temporarily until baby comes and things settle down. We live in a small apartment in a small town in Maryland. Hopes to have a house someday are always in our thoughts. But the right now the first thing on our minds is the birth of our new baby girl Abigail Mackenzie. Estimated due date is February 22nd, 2009. This brings me to why I started this blog. One word, for her. For her to have something to read and reflect on in the future. Something for her to cherish and have forever. The second reason I wanted to start this blog is to keep friends and family updated on the what nots of our lives as our little girl grows. I will be sharing lots of pictures and funny stories. Of course with some other little cool things I come across on the internet too! I love to share things I come across of cute pictures too of random things. You never know what you'll find here I guess.

The goal is to update this blog at least twice a week. Think I can do it? With being in school, having a newborn and working full-time, it's going to be a challenge but it must be done.

Enough for now. ♥ T&M