NTMGO

Not a whole lot to report these past couple of weeks. Everything is finally starting to settle down and we are getting used to the routine. Matt and I are both at work and Victoria goes to daycare one day a week (which I absolutely hate). The little piglet turned 12 weeks this week and has discovered she can now play with things in her reach and she's sitting up in her bumbo.



The rattle


The bird on the chair


We like watching baby einstein




It's hard to believe how quickly she is growing-even right before my eyes. It's funny really. I find myself watching her sleep, watching all of her facial expressions as she lays there so peaceful. This time with her has been difficult, but so rewarding. It's such a blessing to see her personality develop....she's going to be quite the handful when she is 2. Just keep us in your prayers-life is relatively stressful for all right now. Thanks for reading.


Getting some tummy time

Doomsday

Well I knew the day was coming I had to go back to work...ugh. I wasn't that fond of my job before, but NOW, I really didn't want to be there. It really wasn't that bad though. This first week back, I have been walking around in a fog. Work was the last thing on my mind when I was spending time with Victoria, and now I feel as though I am a brand new RN starting to work. It's amazing how much a person can forget in three months. Some stuff, unfortunately, came screaming back. I've become very grateful for changing my daughters diapers compared to what I had to deal with yesterday....if I would have had the pregnancy nose, I would have heaved my toenails all day long.

So I know what you're all thinking.....what did you do with Victoria? and how many times did you call? Well Nonnie came over Monday and took care of her on Tuesday. She played and played all day. She only got fussy right before I got home. I felt so great getting home and being the only one to calm her down (made me feel good to come home and have my baby love me even though I left her). Wednesday morning Nonnie left to go home and 30 mins. later we had a knock at the door. Well, holy crap dog....Aunt Judy surprised us!!!! She was in from Austin and wanted to see Victoria. I still think the shock is wearing off.:)


Victoria and Nonnie- I told you Nonnie has special g-ma powers to put that baby to sleep.

Aunt Judy and Victoria, Aug. 5, 2009


Wednesday night, Aunt Susan and Cameron came to stay with us and watched Victoria on Thursday, and by the way, I only called one time on both days....I did good because I really wanted to call every five minutes. We are so very lucky to have such wonderful family and so glad that they came to stay with us. Daddy is going to be keeping her on the weekends, and next Thursday is still up for grabs as to who is going to be watching her since I haven't heard back on the transitioning at the daycare I don't want to put her in. Luckily it's just three days I have to be gone, but I can't tell you how horrible it is that I leave before she wakes up and get home right at bedtime. Every day something new happens and that is three days a week I am missing. It's insanely hard and I hate it, but it's got to be done. Keep us in your prayers. More to follow, but here are a couple of new pics.




We love our swing!!!


This one is for Aunt Judy- our big flower headband :)


I smile all the time


We're on a see food diet

2 months old

We finally reached 2 months old and had the dreaded vaccines yesterday. She was such a happy baby until all of that. Fortunately, a bottle seems to be the comforter. Victoria is now weighing in at 11 lbs and 12 oz and 22 1/2 inches, putting her in the 75th percentile for height and weight. She is smiling and cooing so much more and is so very sweet first thing in the morning. Luckily she takes after us in the wanting to sleep department. The bump on her face continues to grow so we just keep praying that it reaches the plateau early. Keep us in your prayers.


Before the shots

.....and after


Well I return to work in a week and am so dreading it. I never would have guessed I wanted to be a stay at home mom and just take care of the little one, but what do you know. I hate the idea of daycare. I know that there are other babies there and she is not going to be given the attention that she has become accustomed to. I can't imagine leaving her and I am not at all opposed to driving to Tyler to drop her off with Aunt Susan or Nonnie. Daycare won't be such an issue for me when she's older, but now is just way too difficult...heck, I can't even push her bassinett away from the side of my bed yet. It should be interesting and I know I'm going to cry like a little baby when I leave her.

She loves to sleep on her mommy


Speaking of Nonnie and Aunt Susan, we had a wonderful visit to Tyler this past weekend. Nonnie and Papa got to spend some quality time with her while we hung out with friends. I'm quite certain they would be ok with us coming in, dropping off Victoria, and just leaving. They are so smitten with her and she loves being there so much. She is going to be so spoiled, but we are so blessed to have wonderful family for her to know and grow up around. I'll be working weekends pretty much from now on, so we are going to be in Tyler next weekend, but then there's no telling when we will be making the trip again. Otherwise, we are wonderful and Miss Victoria just continues to grow and bring us so much joy every day. We are truly blessed.

Victoria and Papa July 25, 2009

We love our Nonnie

She's so much more alert now.

Time for an Update

Hello to all. Finally getting a chance to update on Victoria. We went to the Pediatric surgeon appt this past Thursday. He confirmed that she does have a parotid hemangioma...actually he called it "textbook". So glad that it's nothing more serious. However, he did say that it was going to continue to grow until she reaches 12-18 months. At that time, it should plateau and possibly start to shrink away. The earlier it starts to shrink, the less chances of her having any residual effects. He said that 50% of the cases have resolved by the time the child is 5 and all cases are gone by the time they are 10-12. Surgery and steroids are only an option if it becomes grossly disfiguring or life threatening, otherwise, we are just going to watch it. He said it's going to continue to grow and could possibly become quite massive, but right now it's just a cosmetic issue for us because it doesn't hurt her and she will probably never even know she ever had it (provided it goes away before school starts).

She's absolutely gorgeous and keeps getting more beautiful with everyday that goes by. It was great this morning!!!! Daddy was feeding her while I was cleaning up around the house. Just as I walked out of the bedroom, I looked over at the couch just in time to see Matt pick Victoria up and something dropped from what appeared to be her lap....then it was on the couch. It was at that point I realized she had just taken a big 'ol poop on Daddy!!!! LMAO. I took her to change the diaper all the while Matt is in the living room talking about feeling violated and wanting to vomit. It was so great! She always spits up on me and never him, but she got him great this morning. Wish I had gotten pics. Anyhow, here are a couple of pics to update.



Miss Little Bithey with her huge pink bow

Cousin Cameron and Victoria, July 9, 2009

Aunt Susan and Victoria, July 9, 2009

Nonnie and Victoria, July 10, 2009

Pawpaw Dennis and Victoria, July 10, 2009

Aunt Dana and Victoria, July 10, 2009

Victoria and her Daddy at the Pediatric Surgeon's office. She loves to sleep in her daddy's arms.

We're finally smiling at Mommy and Daddy now.

It's a rough life, but someone has to do it.

Not a whole lot to report lately. Miss priss is growing like a weed. July 2nd was our last doctor visit and she is now weighing in at 10 lbs. She's getting to be quite the porker. So, now, she's in the 75th percentile with her weight and height and 50% in head circumference. Grandma Bonnie came to visit for a few days. It's so funny to watch those two. Victoria loves her grandma. Grandma Bonnie must have a some special grandma powers because I swear she could turn that kid upside down and she would still go to sleep in her arms.

Well Saturday, we noticed a small swollen area near Victoria's right ear. By late afternoon, it had become the size of a quarter. I called the nurse on call and she seemed to, without looking at it, think it was a bug bite. That child doesn't get put down long enough for a bug to bite her, but whatever. Anyhow she told us to watch it for three days to see if the swelling went down. Well, of course it hasn't. So we are scheduled to see the Dr. tomorrow. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing. It doesn't seem to really bother her, other than she has been exceptionally fussy these past few days and she isn't sleeping much or for any length of time. Anyhow, keep us in your prayers.

A quick update

Grandma Barbarisi just left after spending a few days in Ft. Worth visiting Victoria. I'm glad she got to come over, being that we haven't really been able to leave the house much over the past 2 weeks. We're ready to make a quick trip to Tyler, and ready to see our family down in Austin in a few weeks.

The arrival of a silent diaper change

Woo Hoo! Victoria actually went through a diaper change without having an ANF!!! Let us hope that it lasts.

Mo' Pics

Finally an Update

Now that we've had a little bit of time to settle down, I've finally gotten around to posting some pictures of Victoria. I have only a few minutes to crank this out, but I hope you enjoy

Victoria has managed to plot a strategy of "keep mommy and daddy up as much as I can at night." She has made it perfectly clear that she does not like sleeping on the Pack-n-Play. She goes right to sleep when she's next to Nicole, or in my arms, but we are working on fixing that. The swing we have was put to use today, and fortunately, she went right to sleep in it. That may be her bed for a little bit.

Nicole keeps running a fever, so she hasn't felt up to par lately. I'm sure getting on a few hours of sleep a night isn't helping. Now that we've found something that will help Victoria sleep, Nicole can catch up on her rest.

Mom has been here since Friday, and has been a great help in cooking and watching Victoria in the morning. We've munched down on some pot roast, chicken/dumplings, and hotwater cornbread.

New pictures will follow this, so enjoy. I'm off to feed Victoria, then possibly take a nap. -Matt

Victoria Kendall Gilbert arrived May 26, 2009 at 12:29 PM in Fort Worth, Texas. She arrived weighing 7.9 pounds, complete with curly brown hair. She has her mother's chin and cheeks, and her daddy's lips and nose. In other words, she's a little piglet. We are both so excited that she is here, and can't wait dmfir her to meet the rest of the family.

Nicole is recovering nicely, and hopefully will be able to head home tomorrow. We will have pictures and updates when we get home.

Matt and Nicole

I'm so glad she can't see that epidural needle. Wow!

Update

Nicole checked in at an 8. Hopefully it won't be too long.

Woo hoo

Off to the hospital. Wish us luck.

Woo hoo

Off to the hospital. Wish us luck.

Almost Here

It has been a rough night for Nicole. I suspect Victoria will arrive later today.

Still Waiting

Ok...so we went to the Dr. yesterday and I have only advanced to 1.5 cm dilation and now 70% effaced. This week has been relatively difficult. I haven't been feeling that great and am cramping quite frequently now and having lots of lower backaches. The doctor is going to be out of town this weekend and even though induction isn't until next Wednesday, that's not a very comforting feeling. So, I've been instructed not to go into labor this weekend...lol. She still hasn't dropped. I've been reading that being induced and the baby not dropping, makes for a very painful labor...not to mention the calcified placenta issue making labor possibly worse. I'm really looking forward to labor now!!! My attitude has really taken a turn for the worse and I am getting easily irritated..poor Matt, although he is quite the antagonizer, so don't feel too sorry for him. We are just chilling out playing the waiting game. READY FOR HER TO GET HERE!!! Keep us in your prayers and we will keep you posted.
Nic and Matt

Great weekend!

Well Grandma Bonnie came to visit this weekend. She finally got to see the casa and most importantly, the baby's room :) We took her to a great Italian restaurant in Southlake called Buca Di Beppo (I recommend everyone go, especially if you are starving to death-the portions are ginormous). Anyhow, then a trip to Central Market to get ingredients. Today was a fun filled day of cooking for Matt and Bonnie. They made a huge pot of wonderful spaghetti sauce and real italian meatballs....enough for 13 meals!!! The visit was short, but very exciting and we are looking forward to grandma coming back over real soon!!

Frustration

Ok...so I went to the Dr. today thinking I would be hearing some good news like, "hey, I'm going to induce you next week", seeing as how I was put on bedrest on the 11th. I heard instead that they made a boo boo and gave me the wrong EDD and the correct one is going to be a week later. So I went from being due May 23 to May 30. However, lucky me, I'm going to be induced on the evening of the 27th. They are going to start the pitocin then, and provided everything progresses normally (nothing in this pregnancy has been normal so far), Victoria will be here the next afternoon. Now, of course, there is always the possibility of going into labor on my own. I'm still at a -3 station and only dilated 1 cm. She's just chilling in her little hot tub and I don't forsee her coming any time before the induction.

A bit of great news is that she, per the sonogram today, is roughly 7 1/2 lbs. So, she's not the 10 pounder Matthew kept hoping for :( While the sonogram tech was measuring everything, she made the comment about the placenta being very calcified and she wouldn't be surprised if I got induced next week. No such luck though. Next week should be a fun filled aggressive exam.....yay!!!!

On a brighter note, we finally have Victoria's room pretty much set up and we're just waiting for our little miss priss to get here. Keep praying for us and please pray that I go into labor soon.


The letters took forever to do. I'm so not artistically inclined.

'Bout Time

Alright, we caved in and finally decided to start this thing. This entry will be short, but will fill you in on the baby.

Victoria Kendall Gilbert is on track to be born at the end of this month. Nicole and I are both very excited for her to be here. She has a great family to meet, and I'm pretty confident that they will all love her. She also will get to meet the great friends that Nicole and I have been so lucky to have. Fortunately several of the couples have had chirrens within the year, or will very soon.

We are on the home stretch, so please keep us in your prayers. Also, we'll hopefully get the hang of the layouts so we can spice this thing up a bit.

Matt and Nicole.