We're Home!

Everyone's home safe and sound! We had a nice time in Chattanooga and my mom and sister spoiled me rotten in Mississippi. I got a pedicure, went shopping, lunched with old friends, and ate lots of great food. Thanks for taking such good care of us! We got Chris from the Atlanta airport yesterday. It was so very good to see him. We spent the afternoon together, had an early dinner, and then he crashed. He woke up this morning with a fever over 100, so I'm trying to take care of him. It was a long couple of weeks without his help! Even though he's sick, he has been a tremendous help today with Story. She is just growing so much and of course decided to do everything while Chris was out of the country. She got her first tooth, is rolling all over the place, and found her feet! It has been fun to show off for Chris! He and his parents went shopping for Story in Africa. They got her some absolutely adorable outfits, an African doll, and a zebra (which has quickly become her favorite). Here's a couple of recent pics!

Story in her new pj's playing with her zebra. Thanks GoGo!

She LOVES to play with her feet!

I like to help dad work!

Mommy and Me

Singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider-her favorite!

Dad is real good at putting me to sleep!

Check Up

Today I took Storykins (her official nickname) to the doc for her 4 month check up. I was quite nervous to have to do this by myself for the first time, but as usual Storykins was a champ. She's doing great and is in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Then came the dreaded shots. I think she only screamed for about 5 seconds and then as soon as I picked her up she stopped! Amazing! I guess 4 shots isn't that big of a deal when you've been stung by a wasp! Praise God that he made babies so tough and so that they can't remember much when they're this young! I've made so many mistakes already and I learn so much about myself and her each day!
I absolutely adore getting to be at home with her. We play, water plants, go for walks, she helps me clean the house and LOVES to help me cook dinner! Her eyes light up when you read books, sing the itsy bitsy spider, and play peek-a-boo with her. She thinks it's great when dad makes up silly songs that have her name in them and laughs so loud when she gets on my knees while I'm doing sit-ups. I think the fall will be a big wake up call for us all! Oh well, soaking it up while I can.
Storykins gets to start rice cereal tonight, so that should be fun! She's on a 10, 2, 6 eating schedule, which is nice. This schedule isn't really working for me at night though. She's eating at 10 p.m. and going to bed after that feeding. I'm trying to figure out how to get her going to bed earlier. I keep trying to put her down at 8 or 8:30, but she is just not interested! I'm hoping the rice cereal will help this, if not I guess I have one more month to figure it out! In the fall, we'll be leaving the house no later than 6:30 a.m. It seems like Story has her daddy's sleeping habits with going to bed late and waking up late (she usually doesn't wake up until 9:30 or 10:00 a.m.). We're working on it!
In other news, Chris is going to Africa for 2 weeks. We're going to miss him so very much, but we're excited that he gets to go minister to some precious kiddos and spend some time with his family. I'm going to try to stay busy during that time. I'm heading to Chattanooga with my siblings and their families to see my dad, then I'm off to Mississippi for a week to hang out with my mom and other family members. I'll catch up with everyone then!

Story's 3 MONTHS old

I know I know! It's ridiculous that it has been so long since I've posted. However, I'm a free woman! I survived school and now get to enjoy 8 weeks at home with my precious baby girl. She is such a good baby. She looks just like her daddy! She and Missy are getting along much better now too. Missy just loves to lick her-which I constantly have to push Missy away and tell her "no licking". Those might be Story's first words!
Anyway, Story is scooting around a little, rolling on her sides, and loves tummy time (sometimes). She is a talker! I guess she gets that from me!
We just got back from her first Student Life Camp this summer. She did great and could sleep through anything! She loves the music and we hung out at reacreation for a little while. One afternoon we went to the lake with Dad while he fished. Story and I just had the best time reading books and playing on a blanket under a big shady tree. I told Chris I wish that was my job! It was a dreamy day! So fun!
The past few nights she has been sleeping 8-10 hours straight, so I hope this continues. I am moving her out of her bassinet in our room into her crib in the nursery tonight. I know she will be fine, but I feel like she will be so far away. I guess we'll get to put the monitor to use finally.
She is also finally going 4 hours between feedings which is really nice for me. I am anxious to get her on a napping schedule this summer while I'm home with her. We'll see! We head back to the doctor at the end of June and I promise to do better about updating now that I'm not so busy with work.

Story's 3 weeks old

Things are getting easier each day as we get to know our little one and she gets to know us! She LOVES her tongue! She loves to sleep from about midnight until 7 or 8 in the morning (I can't complain huh). She is nursing fantastically! She has a pitiful cry and pokes her bottom lip out! She is a doll and we are just in love with her.
At her 2 week check up she weight 8 lbs. and 2 oz. and was 20 3/4 inches long. So she is growing! I spend hours each day just staring at her and praying over her. I can't imagine leaving her to go back to work, but I'm trying to not think about that right now. Trying to soak up every minute of the next few weeks with her. One day at a time!
Chris has been in the Ukraine and I have been very blessed to have his mother here to help me out. I got out yesterday and left Story with her GoGo. It was great to have lunch with the girls and feel a little bit like life was getting back to normal. She'll turn one month old on Thursday, so we're planning our first outing to Aunt Erin's birthday party Friday night! Should be interesting! I'll keep you posted!

Story's Birthday

Sorry it's been a while. I don't know how people do anything once they have kids, but I'm gonna try my best. Let me back up and go through the day of Thursday, February 26th, 2009 with you. Chris and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and headed to the hospital to for me to be induced. They started me on medications and I begin to feel some major contractions. WOW! My nurse asked if I wanted pain medicine, but I was going to try to be super woman and make it as long as possible without anything. Well, about 5 minutes later I was begging for pain medicine! I made it through 10 hours of labor before my doctor decided a c-section would be best. Baby Story's heart rate kept dropping during contractions and she was having a hard time fitting through the birth canal. I couldn't feel anything thanks to the epidural! What a blessing! They wheeled me in and Chris came in to be by my side. I was so excited and just couldn't wait to meet our baby girl. Well, as soon as I heard that first cry, I lost it! Story Reese Kinsley was born at 4:48 p.m. on Thursday, February 26th, 2009. She was 8 lbs. and 4 oz. and 21 inches long. She has lots of brown hair and her daddy's beautiful blue eyes. It was such an amazing experience that is still surreal to me. Chris was amazing at taking care of Story and me. I didn't do so well on all the medications, so the next day I got off of everything except Motrin and began to feel more like myself. Story was nursing like a champ, but lost too much weight so we had to take her to the doctor the day after we left the hospital. Thankfully, she has started to gain weight again so she is headed in the right direction. We were so thankful to have friends and family here to help us. That first week was quite hard, but each day gets easier and better. We are loving every minute of getting to know our daughter! It's hard, overwhelming, and completely amazing! I'll try to keep everyone updated on our newest addition now that I am coming out of my fog!

Countdown On!

We had our last doctor's appointment on Thursday. My doctor wanted to draw a line in the sand because little Miss Story seems to be not so little. He decided to have a sonogram to get an exact fetal weight. Right now-8 lbs. 9oz.! OH MY! He says this is "do-able" naturally, but I am preparing myself for a c-section if needed. I am fine with anything at this point! So, Thursday, February 26, will be her birthday unless she decides to come before then. 5 days before we get to meet her and hold her! I just can't wait! When we had the sonogram we got a few more looks at her before we get to meet her face to face. She has lots of hair and these big, beautiful, Angelina Jolie lips! Everything is ready here at the house. I am going to try to keep working next week and have Wednesday be my last day. However, Kins and I are still discussing this. He would like for me to take Wednesday off to "rest". I think it would drive me crazy just sitting at home, waiting on her to arrive, and knowing that I haven't been able to "rest" in weeks! It's good to be at school to keep my mind off of me for a little while, but I am looking forward to 6 weeks at home with her just getting to know all about her. We'll see how it all turns out! I'll keep you posted!

When?

I have been challenged to write more on here even if I feel like I don't have anything to say. SO, I am feeling like a hippo. Seriously. It's getting so hard to even walk and I desperately don't want to waddle! I am swollen everywhere and just can't imagine another 4 weeks of this. All of my friends who are mothers laughed at me in the beginning when I said I would be fine for my baby girl to come closer to March. They said just wait until you get to that last month, and boy were they right. March/End of Feb. would be better for my work schedule, but I continue to learn that I really don't get to plan this out. The doctor said this week that she is measuring about 8-81/2 pounds and he will be surprised if I make it two more weeks. However, he is going to let me go up until my due date but not much beyond that. He's all about letting things happen as naturally as possible. So, I wait and wonder WHEN? I am so excited, so scared, so exhausted! I just can't wait to meet this baby girl. I can't wait to become a parent with Chris and see him with her. SO much to look forward to! Until then, I am trying to stay positive, sleep some, and enjoy these last few weeks of her being inside of me (as uncomfortable as that can be sometimes)!