Riley the elephant

These pictures were too cute not to post immediately. Still don't understand how it can take two people to bathe such a tiny baby!

More Photos!

Just a few photos from my first week of life. So far it's been a pretty good life. Looking forward to what next week brings!

- Miss Priss


Aren't I precious???

Here I am meeting Grando. He was explaining the "bend but don't break" defensive philosophy of football.

Here I am at the hospital with Grandma G and Aunt Samantha. I am very well loved!

Sleeping on Mom's chest after we finally made it home from the hospital. I like my new home so far. Although I am not so sure about that cat...

This is me chilling in my crib. The bunny in the background is the "Betty bunny". Betty was a good friend of Mom's who passed away last fall. Our good friend Carol was kind enough to continue the "Betty bunny" tradition.

This was after my first bath. While I like being clean I wasn't all that thrilled with the bathing experience.

I got all dressed up for my first doctor's appointment. Even though it was 101 degrees outside, Mema still insisted that I wear the hat so I didn't get cold. The bow is bigger than my head.

I only sleep when someone is holding me. It's good to be the queen.

Me with Mom on my one week birthday. She celebrated the day by putting on actual clothes.

She's Here!

We are celebrating Riley's one week of life today and I realized that I haven't updated the blog. Apparently being a mother to a newborn is quite time consuming! Miss Priss made her arrival on Thursday, June 18th at 8:24 am - guess she didn't get the memo that Mom is not a mornig person. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 inches long.

I will say one thing for my child, she knows how to make an entrance! We checked into the hospital at 10 pm on Wednesday, June 17th to get the induction started. After being hooked to countless monitors and taking some drugs designed to get the process rolling, I was given my Ambien and was off to sleep. Thank goodness for the Ambien - I pretty much missed out on all the excitement that night. I was woken several times by the nurses and the on-call doctor - they kept moving me around, sticking an oxygen mask on me, and shooting me up with some drug in the shoulder. Thanks to the drugs I found this all mildly annoying and didn't understand what was going on. Barrett wasn't so lucky and earned his Daddy badge that night by staying awake all night in a chair staring at the monitors. To make a long story short, Miss Priss' heart rate would plummet every time I would have a contraction. I wasn't even aware that I was having contractions! Finally my doctor was called and it was decided that an emergency c-section was in order. Thirty terrifying minutes later and Miss Priss had entered the world. She is perfectly healthy and quite the beauty, if I do say so myself.

Okay, enough from me. I will now turn this over to Miss Priss.

In the hospital on Wednesday - say goodbye to the bump!

First family portrait. Doesn't Dad look cool in his mask??? Very McDreamy like!

Being held by Mema. If you want to hold me you have to take a number - Mema rarely lets me down! She has been with us all week and Mom and I would not have survived without her!

Week 40 Update

Just got back from the doctor's office and big progress! I am almost dilated 2 whole centimeters. Almost. Given that Miss Priss is apparently very stubborn, something she must get from her father, we have gone ahead and scheduled her eviction. She is coming out, if she likes it or not, on Thursday, June 18th. I cannot believe in just a few short days that I will be a mother. Wow, that's a big responsibility.

Miss Priss, I can't promise that I will never screw up but I promise that I will do my very best. I can also promise that you will be very spoiled. And that's not because of me - that's because of your grandparents! Your dad and I may help a little with spoiling process... And I promise that we will always love you. Even when you hate us and tell us we are ruining your life because we won't let you stay out as late as you want/ground you/take away your cell phone (or whatever kids will carry by then) we will still love you. (Can you tell that I am already scared of the teenage years???)

In other, less sappy, news, Aunt Amy has finally updated her blog with photos of Blake! He is quite the looker, if I do say so myself.

Exciting news!

Calm down, Miss Priss didn't make her debut in the last 10 minutes since I posted. I totally forgot the most exciting news of the week! On Sunday, June 7th I officially became on aunt. Welcome to the world Baby Blake! We can't wait to meet you. And congratulations Aunt Amy and Uncle Eric.

That's all for today, I promise. I have to feed Barrett now or I may be delivering this baby solo. Barrett doesn't do so well if he isn't fed at regular intervals.

Week 39 Update

Went to the doctor on Monday and I am still only dilated - say it with me now - one whole whopping centimeter. Apparently Miss Priss is quite comfortable where she is. Or she has heard that it's 150 degrees outside and is hiding out as long as she can. Can't say that I blame her. However, we go in on Monday to schedule her eviction. It's time to stop hiding and face the world. It's really not such a scary place. If you don't come out you don't get to wear all of the cute clothes that are waiting for you! If that doesn't entice her to come out, then she is not my child.

So I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My 9 months as the vessel are coming to an end. In some ways it's been a very long 7 months and in some ways the past 7 months have flown by. Yes, that's right, 7 months. I am a natural blond and was a little slow at picking up on the whole pregnancy thing. Was 2 months pregnant before I found out. Ooops!

I found out in a truly this-can-only-happen-to-me fashion. I will always remember exactly when we found out - it was November 1st after UT lost to Texas Tech in the final seconds of the game. Miss Priss, please ignore all of those 4 letter words coming out of my mouth earlier that night. Damn you Michael Crabtree. Somehow the loss and certain beverages helped me work up the nerve to tell Barrett that we may have an issue. Aside, ladies, I suggest not breaking this news to your husband/potential baby daddy when he is behind the wheel. Anyway, three pee on a stick tests later and life changed forever. When I went to bed that night I wasn't sure if I was more upset at the loss or more excited about becoming a mother. The next morning when I was praying to the porcelain goddess - morning sickness, not a hangover - I still wasn't sure.

While the loss still stings, damn you Michael Crabtree, I have decided the excitement of becoming a mother outweighs the pain of the loss. I do reserve the right to reverse that decision when she turns 13, starts wearing makeup a la Paris Hilton, slamming doors, and yelling "I hate you" at the top of her lungs. Ah, already looking forward to the teenage years.

So the past 7 months have been quite the ride. We have had some bumps along the way but I wouldn't trade it for anything. That said, Miss Priss, I am ready to meet you. So feel free to make your entrance at any time! I have a nursery and a closet full of pink clothes just waiting for you. So anytime you are ready, anytime....

Week 38 Update

So it's now week 38 and I am still dilated one whole whopping centimeter. Apparently this process is supposed to teach me patience. We went to the doctor yesterday and she currently weighs 6 pounds and 4 ounces and is in the 32nd percentile for weight. Which is smaller than Cousin Blake - sorry Aunt Amy! Barrett requested a larger baby but as the one doing the pushing I am just fine with her current size. As my doctor said, this isn't fishing, you don't throw them back for being too small. He actually said that but then he is a weird little man.

In other developments her head is now pushing on my pelvic bone which is in turn pushing on some ligament - should have paid more attention in anatomy class. Apparently this is actually a good thing. The fact that it now hurts the vessel to walk doesn't seem to concern anyone. Such is life as the vessel.

We also took a breastfeeding class last night. And yes, I did make my support person come with me. Barrett is now the bra - I stole that line from Courtney. At the end we had to watch a video - they are big on outdated videos in these classes. So as to not excite the fathers in the room they apparently found the most trollish looking woman they could find to star in the video. First shot is of her naked breasts - the men may be getting excited at this point - then they pan up to her head - big let down. Granted this was obviously filmed in the 80s but this woman was sporting bottle cap glasses, a permed mullet and the worst buck teeth I have ever seen. Apparently Heidi Klum was not available. For me, it was the highlight of the class. And Barrett may now kill me for telling that story online. Or at a minimum withold my M&M McFlurry.

Something I have learned while being pregnant that I thought I should pass on to all of my yet- to-be-pregnant friends. You can get a lot more done on the weekends when you aren't hungover. Who knew??? Granted the weekends aren't nearly as exciting but still, it's something to try every once in a while.