PLAY TIME - 8 weeks old

Dad is showing Mallory all the cool things he can do on the computer...she really seems in to it!

Mallory is SOOOOOOOOOO big!!!!!!!

Here she is in her favorite outfit. ALL girls love their tu tu!

She's getting some serious play time in her Bumbo...or as Andy calls it, "the Bimbo." Thanks Nana & Poppa for finding this!

Lazy summer days

As you can see, Mallory has been VERY busy this summer. Here she is sleeping. ..in many different positions.

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day, Andy! We're so lucky to have you as part of our family. You're going to be the BEST dad! We love you SO very much.

~ The Girls

Lets go swimming

Mallory loves to swim! As you can see from the pictures above, she is a little "startled" at first, but comes around and really enjoys the water while her Dad holds on to her tightly.
We're getting some practice in for our Florida trip in a couple weeks.

Our first investment property

It's our first investment property...a condo on Robin Road. Andy and I have been wanting to own one of these condos for the past 6 years. We tried to buy one when we first got married, but it sold before we were able to. We've kept an eye out for these condos because we like the property so much. When this one came up for sale, we took it! The owner had lived there for 20 years....they don't come up for sale very often. We're so excited to own some investment property. We think because of the location (corner of Griffith and Robin Road), it will pay off. Here are some pictures of the outside, kitchen, and basement. We close on the property July 15th.

Six is the magic number...we hope

Last night was a good night. Mallory made it 4 1/2 hours between feedings! It must be a gift from God. He's giving me a break from getting 1 1/2 to 2 hours of sleep at a time--which we all know can make a person crazy!

I'm not complaining. Mallory is a GREAT baby. She's wonderful and really only cries if she's hungry. She wakes up to eat during the night and goes right back to bed. The problem is she's hungry again before I'm ready to get up from bed. By the time I've fed her, burped her and fallen back to sleep, it's time to get up again.

I'm hoping this is the beginning of a wonderful trend...Mallory sleeping VERY good and for long periods during the night. I'm hoping this is something that happens around 6 weeks (she just turned 6 weeks yesterday). That's our magic number. At 6 weeks, we're supposed to have this parenting thing down, right?!?!? If it isn't something that continues, thank you Lord for one night of wonderful, precious sleep!

Good night my princess...sleep tight tonight.

Hello pacifier, welcome to our family!

Thank God for pacifiers! Whoever invented the pacifier should be given an award.

As you can see, Mallory has discoverd the pacifier, and she loves it (and WE LOVE IT TOO). We lasted 3 weeks before introducing it. : )

This picture is hilarious...Mallory looks like she's about to rob someone!

Mallory's first bath...better than expected

Mallory's first bath went better than expected. I was kind of dreading this experience because I thought she'd scream and cry the whole time. It actually went much better than I expected...especially since I had no idea what I was doing. It was a first for BOTH of us!

During her second bath, she puked in the water. It was pretty gross, but we managed to get through it...

Our precious babay

Here are a couple more pictures of our tiny bundle of joy. We can't help but take pictures of her all day long. She's perfect!

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a first...it's Mother's Day, and I'M A MOM!!! It's kind of strange being on the receiving end. It was a very special day. Andy bought me a "loving mother" necklace and Mallory was dedicated at church today. Here's our first family photo.

Oh yeah, and Happy Mother's Day to MY mom too!

The Proud Father

Here is a picture of the proud father. I love this picture of Andy and Mallory!
We're going to be just fine....

Our first night at home...Andy, that's a pillow, NOT Mallory!!

Wednesday, April 23rd, was our first night at home. During the night, Mallory started crying, so Andy took her out of the bassinet and laid her beside him. He fell asleep and rolled over to his side, so I woke him up and told him to put Mallory back in the bassinet. He got up and grabbed the little red pillow he sleeps with...he literally scooped it up and gently placed IT in the bassinet instead of Mallory! "Andy, that's your pillow...Mallory is still in the bed!"

A sign of true exhaustion.
I guess I didn't realize how tired Andy was too!

It was meant to be...our labor story

I started having contractions at 11:30pm on Sunday night (April 20th). I remember telling Andy my back ached and he mentioned they could be contractions. I dismissed his comment as absurd and went to bed. Then, the contractions began (how is he always right??). We were SO excited when we realized what was happening. We grabbed our "What to Expect" book and read through it to make sure we really were beginning the first stages of labor. We then grabbed our stop watch and began timing contractions. They were about 6-7 minutes apart. The book suggested we go back to sleep in order to get some rest before the "big day." YEAH RIGHT! This was worse than waiting for Santa Clause...there was NO way we were going to get any sleep. We were too excited!

I called Dr Moore's office around 8:30 that morning to report that I was in labor. They informed me that Dr Moore was off that day, so someone else would be delivering my baby. I was disappointed, but what can you do?!? The contractions continued until about 9:30 am on Monday morning, when I told Andy we needed to head to the hospital. I tried to wait as long as I could because the last thing I wanted was to be one of those people who shows up at the hospital in false labor.

Well, that wasn't an issue. When we showed up, I was so lucky to find my friend Susan Johnson (who only works 2 days a week) happened to be working that day. It was SO great to have someone I was comfortable with by my side as my nurse. Thank goodness she was working that day!

By now, I was already 4 centimeters dilated, so they went on and gave me my epidural (which was a breeze, by the way). I got the epidural around 10:30 and little Mallory entered the world about 3 hours later.

Dr. Moore WAS off work that day, but she happened to run into Ann Watson (my boss' wife) at the park. Ann asked Dr. Moore if she had talked to me. Dr. Moore said, "No. Why?" When Ann told Dr Moore I was in labor she dropped everything and rushed to the hospital so she could deliver the baby! She arrived just in time. I had already pushed a few times when she came running into the delivery room. Dr. Moore noticed the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and her heart rate had dropped for several minutes, so she had to get Mallory out FAST. Within seconds she had vacuumed little Mallory out into this bright new world. Because Dr Moore reacted quickly, Mallory was OK. She came out kicking and screaming (I would be too with all that was going on). I am SO thankful Dr Moore was there to handle the delivery for me!

It was meant to be...

Introducing Mallory Claire Raines

Born: April 21st, 2008

Time: 1:46 pm

Weight: 7 lb 2 oz

Height: 19 1/2 inches

The Nursery is Coming Together

We've been workig on the nursery (also known as the storage room for the past 5 years). Cleaning out that room was a lot of work! Whew, I'm glad it's over. We decided to go with pink and lime green for Mallory's room. Here are a couple pictures...it's a work in progress.

My Growing Belly

Baby Shower

Brennan and LeighAnne hosted a wonderful baby shower for me. It was truly fantastic. I really enjoyed seeing my friends -- and I'm sure they enjoyed my growing belly!

Here are a few pictures from the shower. My due date is 4 weeks away....Baby Mallory could arrive at any time!

Thanks, Brennan and LeighAnne, for being such great friends! You two are great party throwers!

It's official: her name will be MALLORY

Well, we have officially decided on a name for Baby Raines. Her name will be MALLORY CLAIRE RAINES. It's nice to have that decision out of the way, whew! Now, we can practice calling her Mallory so we don't forget it when she's born!

We've been working on the nursery. We painted it lime green! We also bought cute little letters spelling Mallory to hang on the wall. I'll have to post pictures of the nursery soon...

Baby Shower

We had our family baby shower this past weekend. It worked out well because all Dad's siblings came in town for Grandmother's 80th birthday (Happy Birthday Grandmother), so they were there for the shower too! It was SO nice to see all my aunts, and everyone else who came to the shower.

Thanks to Jan & Jaime Martin for hosting the perfect shower for me and Baby Raines!

Getting Ready for the Baby

We've been getting ready for Baby Raines....putting together the crib, dresser, and armoire.

We've also had a little fun with some recent baby purchases--especially Andy. Should I tell Andy that thing on his head is a SWIM FLOATIE -- NOT a hat?!?!?!

He's so silly!

Baby Raines' Name

Deciding on a name has been tough for me. For Andy, it's a breeze. He doesn't care much, as long as he likes the name. And he's happy with ANY of the top 3 names we've narrowed it down to. Here they are: Mallory Claire Raines, Audrey Claire Raines, or Anna Claire Raines. I don't want to officially decide because I guess I'm afraid that we won't like the name later, or maybe she won't look or act like the name we decided on. A name is a BIG deal -- it's PERMANENT!!!

Anyway, I created a "baby poll" to get our friends' opinion. Here's the link to the poll, where you can vote on your favorite name: www.babyzone.com/babynames/bnpoll.asp?pollid=118338.

But hurry....Baby Raines will be here in EIGHT WEEKS!!

Black Crowes Concert

Baby Raines attended her first concert this past weekend....the Black Crowes came to Owensboro!!! I couldn't believe a band that big would make a stop at the SportsCenter in Owensboro, but they DID -- and I have pictures to prove it. They're kicking off a new tour and started in Owensboro with a "practice run."


They were great! Andy and I (and now the baby) are BIG fans of the Crowes. As you can see, we had great seats (any seat is pretty darn good in the SportsCenter). Our friend Julie Moore hooked us up with tickets -- thank you Julie!

The big snow

We finally had our big snow for the year. As you can see from this picture, we got plenty...a little unusual weather for MARCH! Tootsie took a minute to get used to it, but as soon as Andy went outside with her, she was just fine! I think her little belly must have been cold touching the snow! But she did her business like a good girl.

The last time it snowed like this in March, I was a freshman at UK...on my way to Miama, FL for spring break. We got snowed in overnight at the Detroit airport. I'm so glad Christina made it to San Francisco before the snow caused any delays...

Charity Ball 2008

Well, Charity Ball was this past weekend. Not much to say about it.

We had several couples over for dinner before the ball. Here are a couple pictures...

We already love you, Baby Raines!

Baby Raines, you won't believe how much you're already loved! You will be surrounded by friends and family who love and care about you so very much. We already can't wait for your arrival -- and we haven't even met you yet!

Moms-to-Be

Three girls in my Bible Study group are expecting. There must be something in the water we're drinking. It's the first child for each of us, so it's pretty neat that we're all experiencing this for the first time -- together.

Susie Gronseth (left) is due Aug 3rd (my and Andy's anniversary), I'm due May 12th (Mother's Day weekend), and Nicole Martin (right) is due any day now. Her Doctor thinks she might have the baby this week!

Our Bible Study group is literally growing leaps and bounds!!!

Give me some RED HOTS!!!!!

My cravings are getting stronger...I found myself driving to TWO (that's right, two) convenient stores just to find some Red Hots!!!
I've been craving them all week, but just had to have some today. Pretty sad, I know!

As you can see, Tootsie likes Red Hots too!

I'll be 28 weeks pregnant tomorrow.

Ski Trip to Perfect North

We met up with some friends in Louisville this weekend. They all went skiing at Perfect North, but I followed Dr Moore's advice not to ski in my 3rd tri-mester. : ) Instead, I stayed in Louisville and spent my time visiting Bryan & Shelley Duke (& Price), Kasey Jenks' baby (Presley), and shopping.
We had a great time. Thanks to Devon & Andrea Shelton for letting 9 people crash at their place for the weekend! They're great hosts! Here's a picture of the ski crew...

I'm so clumsy!!!

I keep dropping things...and these things are BREAKABLE!! I'll go on and blame it on the pregnancy, but honestly it's a far stretch since I've always been a bit clumsy.

On Saturday, Andy and I were cleaning the house. I dropped a beautiful glass pitcher we got for our wedding and it broke into a thousand pieces on the kitchen floor. I was SO bummed about breaking that pitcher. Thanks, Andy, for cleaning up my mess!

Then, last night, I dropped a coffee pot and --you guessed it--it broke into a thousand pieces TOO! What's wrong with me?!?!?!

At this rate, the baby won't even have a chance to break our nice things...I will have already broken it all!

Hmmmmmm.....I hope I don't drop our baby. SURELY I'll be more together by then. : )

Andy's new skis

I got Andy a set of skis for Christmas this year. He was so excited, he had to try them on in the living room. While we can't make the trip out west with Nick & Jen Thompson this year, we are going to Perfect North soon.

Maybe we can make the trip to Colorado next year. I hope so!