Women of Faith

This past weekend I had the joy of attending the Women of Faith conference in Dallas. Every year for the past 3 or so years, my mother-in-law, Phyllis, has bought tickets for us and also her sister, Aunt Gay, and Phillip's wife, Sara. It's a great weekend filled with lots of music, great speakers, and little sleep! This year we had other reasons behind why we didn't get much sleep - and that's because our precious little "tator tot" as Aunt Gay has coined him was with us. When I got pregnant with Levi, one of things Phyllis asked me was what would I do about the Women of Faith conference? And I answered emphatically, "I'm still going!" Now, of course as the weekend neared, and I began to consider how the semantics of going to the conference would work out with Levi, I began to hesitate - but not for long. . .and am so thankful I did. I had a great time, despite a virus I was fighting. Here's a picture of Aunt Gay outside of the American Airlines center making the same face as Levi. . .

And here is all five of us enjoying the conference. Thanks, Phyllis, for all you do to make this weekend happen for us with Levi sleeping happily!!

A little boy COOING

While we were in Spring visiting Nana and Papa, Levi decided to talk a little bit to his Nana. Here is the video with him telling her a bit of what he was thinking!!

Mackenzi's New Haircut

Mackenzi, Levi and I are in Spring visiting my parents this week. We wanted to come spend some time with Nana and Papa before Mackenzi started school and while I'm still off on maternity leave. Well, Mackenzi would also tell you we're here to see her cousins, Connor and Trevor (how could I forget that?). Mackenzi's getting ready to start Kindergarten and before we left Dallas, Daddy finally agreed to let Mackenzi get a new hairstyle! Once he agreed, Kenzi and I jumped on the idea of getting it taken care of before Daddy changed his mind, and figured we'd take her to where Nana gets her hair cut. Mackenzi has been wanting to get her hair cut for several months now, and Daddy has always refused to let her get it cut. Afterall, it took SO long for her to even get hair! We took several pictures during the haircutting process and then of course some after her hair was cut. Who knew she had so much hair? :) We even saved some of the hair for her baby book because this is the first "real" haircut that she's had. She's had plenty of trimming done, but not very much cut off at once. She is certainly ready for Kindergarten now!

GREAT FRIENDS and our kids!

Four of the funnest years of my life were spent at Dallas Baptist University. In the first of those four years, I met five of the greatest friends! We met our freshman year as either roommates, or neighbors, and have maintained our friendship for the past 13 years. Holly and I were roommates, Jami and Laurie were our next door neighbors, and then Monica and Angela lived just down the hallway. Out of the six of us, four of us have had little ones over the past five years. Mackenzi was born first, and then Jami had Maebry Grace 2 months later. Holly had Summer Elizabeth (in the stroller below) when Kenzi and Maebry were just two years old. Then after three girls, Laurie had the first little boy, Garin Lee in 2007. As we took the picture below, Garin was very interested in playing with his balloon! Following little Garin, we had our precious Levi. Of course Levi managed to sleep the entire birthday party and is snoozing in his car seat in the picture.

The girls had a great time at the party. You can hear how much fun Mackenzi had in this video of her swinging above the foam blocks! She kept asking the guy pushing her to push her HIGHER AND HIGHER!

First trip to Wylie

Levi had the opportunity to travel to Wylie for the first time last weekend. We met the family at El Fenix first and enjoyed some time with Uncle Phillip and Aunt Sara.

Then we headed on to the house and spent some time there, and Levi got to meet his great-grandmothers. Brian's mom's mother, Mamaw Edith, was very excited to see Levi. She came over and Kenzi met her at the door. We didn't know what had happened, but Memaw called out to Mamaw Edith to tell her we were just in the living room with the baby. Mamaw Edith called down from upstairs and said that Mackenzi had told her to come upstairs with her. She thought she was going upstairs to see baby Levi - only, Mackenzi was showing her upstairs where her Uncle Christopher was at! Here's a picture of Mamaw, Kenzi and Levi, and then a picture of Uncle Hilly holding Levi.

Brian's dad's mom, Mamaw Neva Lou, turned 97 this year. She was so excited to see Levi, and said she wished she could see him better so she could tell who he looked like. . .We assured her that after seeing Brian's baby book and a picture of him at 5 days old, that Levi looks exactly as Brian did as a baby!

Mackenzi stayed in Wylie while we came back home so she could spend some time with Memaw and Pepaw. It was interesting just having Levi here at the house during the day. All of the sudden, Newman took a special interest in having Levi around. With Mackenzi here, he has sniffed at him, on a few occasions, but for the most part hasn't had much to do with him. He's a good dog, and doesn't really get in the way either. He was great with Mackenzi when she was a baby too. Well, I had Levi down for a nap in his room, and just had the door slightly pulled closed. I walked through and saw Newman, aka the Guard dog, sitting outside of his room! This is not a place he normally lays down to rest, so it was obvious he was guarding our precious little boy. It was really sweet. What a good dog, Newman!

THE BIG SISTER

Last night Mackenzi's girl scout troup from Cross of Christ had a scrapbooking party at JoAnn Fabric's in Cedar Hill. We wanted her to go so she could see some of her friends from school since she really didn't have much of a notice that she was experiencing her last day of school the day before Levi was born. I didn't get things together ahead of time for it - and so Kenzi and I decided for her to do a "Big Sister" scrapbook page since we had printed pictures of her and her little brother. . .She liked this idea. So, here is the product finished. She had a great time, and enjoyed doing the page. We don't have a book for her - but I am sure I'll do a first year book for Levi like I did Mackenzi and would love to include a page that his big sister did for him. It's turned out cute.

This is just a sweet picture I took yesterday before we headed to JoAnn Fabric's. I had laid Levi down on this little playyard and when I looked back, he was sound asleep. . .too precious to not take the picture - I think he looks like a little turtle! When I see him sleeping like this with his mouth open, I try to close it! I don't want him to get a sore throat sleeping with his mouth open!

Precious Cargo

We have this precious little boy and this precious little girl. . .it's truly remarkable to look at them and know that our love created them. . .

Mackenzi is also known as Levi's other mommy. . .she literally knows about caring for him in ways I had no idea she knew about. . .she sees what he needs before anything is said and takes care of it! She's hilarious! Her understanding is unbelievable. . .she has wanted so badly to change a diaper - and we've told her that when his umbilical cord comes off - she'll have the opportunity. . .well, it came off, and maybe she's forgotten about that. . .because it hasn't come up again. . .but, here you can see in the picture how she's holding him and gazing at him. . .she told me the other night when she headed to bed and kissed him on the forehead that she LOVED him SO much! The sound of her voice when she said it was so sweet. She hasn't shown any jealousy toward him - although she has acted out some - wanting our attention, I suppose. She is willing to do whatever Levi needs - and doesn't seem to mind at all. It's still so surreal to have two children. They are definitely precious cargo!

One day shy of being 3 weeks old

This little life that came to us almost 3 weeks ago is absolutely precious! I can't even put into words how incredible it has been. With our previous history of miscarrying a baby - I think our poor hearts have been so burdened with almost not believing that he was real - my entire pregnancy was filled with worries and fears and at the same time elation that I was pregnant and that everything was going well. I kept believing that when I reached certain milestones I would stop worrying. . .like when I surpass where I was when I miscarried, I would stop worrying. . .or when I reached the sonogram and saw how precious he was I would stop worrying. . .and on into my 3rd trimester with when I had my last sonogram appointment, I would stop worrying. . .and sadly, I couldn't get past worrying. I tried - and I would cling to my faith to attempt to stop worrying. . .and to my credit, I did allow my saviour to comfort me throughout - unfornately I would allow the enemy to creep back in in no time. . .

And so now, we are at 3 weeks, and one would think I would have stopped worrying - and I guess in some ways, I have. . .but in other ways I have added new reasons to worry. . .the latest being that he wasn't eating enough to gain weight. . .when we took him to the doctor the day after we came home from the hospital, he weighed 6lbs 9 1/2 ounces. . .and the doctor explained that it was a little lower than they would have liked to have seen. . .and so, that created great panic in my mind. Thankfully when we took him this past week, he had surpassed his birth weight and had an additional 3 ounces to boot. . .and, I can almost say that today I had a wonderful day just enjoying him the way I know God wants us to!

I've known all along throughout this pregnancy that I would regret worrying so much and not trusting Jesus enough. . .and I have felt that way - I really knew I would. . .and so with today, I'm so thankful for this precious little boy - he's truly incredible.

Yesterday morning I took him into his room to change his clothes. I laid him in his bed and he was so content! We have been having him sleep in the bassinet in our room at night and during the day he sleeps in a little bouncer, or in the evening on Daddy's chest. . .and so when I laid him in his bed and he seemed so happy, I let him stay there - and look around. . .he did that for about 15 or 20 minutes. . .when I picked him up, he looked sleepy, and so I changed him and put him back in his bed. I put him a little on his side and he slept in there for about 1 1/2 hours. Here's a sweet picture of him sleeping in there.

Then later on that evening. . I was playing with yet another new camera (yes, I broke another one) and took some black and white pictures of Levi and Mackenzi. It was a lot of fun, Kenzi was cracking up because Levi was starting to get hungry and was rooting on her. This picture is one of the first ones I took. Mackenzi chose the way they were laying, so we can give her the credit for how sweet it turned out.

Levi Ashton Kreymer born June 27, 2008

JUST A QUICK RECAP SINCE I HAVEN'T BLOGGED SINCE BEFORE HIS ARRIVAL. . .

He was born Friday, June 27 at 10:19pm. He weighed 7lbs 4ounces and was 19.5 inches long. (Although after our pediatrician appointment on June 30th, he measured 20 1/4" long - so he must have been mismeasured in the hospital!)
I went in Thursday afternoon to the doctor for my appointment and she went ahead and sent me to the hospital for a treatment to help soften my cervix. Mackenzi and I headed over there at 3:00pm and started the treatment. The medication they gave me generally will have an affect about 6 hours after treatment. . .however, I started having contractions within the hour observation period. They discharged me and we headed out to Mackenzi's indoor soccer game. My contractions continued throughout the evening, finding us at the triage at the hospital that night around 11pm. They gave me a shot of demerol and sent me home. My parents headed into town and arrived around 2:30am. Throughout the night, I continued contracting, but did get some rest. Then Friday morning when we woke up, we started counting contractions. They continued throughout the morning and on into the afternoon. We decided to head to the hospital around 3:00 and was VERY disappointed to find out I was still only dilated to the same 1 cm I was the night before in the triage. However, they continued to monitor me for the hour as is standard, and within that hour, she came back to check me and I had dilated to a 3-4cm. I was so relieved to know that the pain I was experiencing was going to finally allow us to be admitted!
Unfortunately, Friday was a busy day for babies to be born and I was not the priority because I was not a high risk pregnancy. This meant that I didn't get a room right away, and didn't get an epidural very quickly either. . .so, I continued to work through the contractions until about 6:30 when my best friend came in to help relieve some of the pain! I was already dilated to a 6 by then. After the epidural, I was good for the wait. . .which, thankfully wasn't too long - I was dilated to a 10 by 10pm and he was born 19 minutes later! He is such a blessing!

AND BACK TO TODAY. . .

Today was our 2 week appointment. I was a bit concerned about his weight because he had lost a little more when we took him in the Monday after he was born - he had dropped down to 6lbs 9 1/2 ounces. . .When we took him today he had gained back up to 7lbs 7ounces - so he's gained an additional 3 ounces. He's doing really well, and the doctor doesn't need to see him until he's 2 months old. Unfortunately it's "feeding time" and so I'll have to finish this later!

Our first trip to the hospital. . .and 38 weeks!!

This past week was a bit scary. I felt tons of movement on Monday from our little Levi. He was just kicking away! Well, Tuesday there was less movement. . .well, not so much less movement, just lighter movements. . .I still had enough - they say to count 10 movements each hour. . .but, I was really keeping a close eye on things. . .figuring that Wednesday he would be back to bouncing around. This has certainly been a pattern for Levi - where he'll move tons one day, and will chill the next day - but then move again the following day. Wednesday I kept another close watch on movements. . .and felt like they were consistent with Tuesday's movements. . .Thursday when I woke up, I was determined to make him move - and move hard. But, I couldn't get much results. I started to panic some. . .and asked Brian to come talk to him to see if he would move. He did, but just not hard enough. It's difficult to explain, but I just didn't feel comforted by his movements. I decided to go ahead and stay home that day, and just lay low - laying down and resting. Kenzi woke up and I was certain he would bounce around when she talked to him. . .he always does. . .but, again, it wasn't much - so I decided to call the doctor. They called me back and said they wanted me to go ahead and go to the hospital for a non-stress test. Of course not long after I called the nurse, he started moving quite a bit. . .and although I felt better with that - I still wanted to hear and have definitive information that he was doing just fine. We went to the hospital and they put us on the monitor. He was moving like crazy - his heartrate was fluctuating like they like to see, and so, it was just a matter of time before we were discharged and sent on home with the reassurance that everything was going to be just fine! I was so relieve to not have to rely on what I was feeling - but could HEAR that he was doing just fine! You can listen to his heartbeat in this video. . .the most precious sound!!

The next morning I went to see my doctor, Dr. Finke, and everything looked really great! She does want me to come back this next week to have a sonogram. She's concerned that he might be getting too big. His heartrate at the appointment was 136. There was no protein in my urine as there was last week, and my blood pressure continues to look good. I have gained a total of 17 pounds. Dr. Finke also said my cervix has softened more than it had the previous week - but there is still no dilation at this point. I am definitely ready to hold this little boy. . .and am trying to keep my mind open to this week's sonogram and appointment. I don't want to get my hopes up that I'll be induced!

Mom and Dad came into town this weekend to take Gary and Tony back to Spring with them for the week. We had a great weekend. . .I have a beautiful computer that is working so wonderfully now! (which explains all the posting! I will tell you a secret though - I'm in my recliner with my keyboard in my lap so I can have my right foot elevated. . .it's taken on a new shape and is quite FAT and swollen!!)

Mom and I washed all of Levi's clothes for 0-3 months, blankets, washcloths, towels, bibs, and sheets. . .We also packed his bag for the hospital. It's just hard to know how big he'll be - so I'm not quite sure what he'll wear home. I have a couple of options. Kenzi's going home outfit was easy because it was a dress, and it really was easy to not be too concerned. . .but, I really don't want his outfit to completely swallow him! So, we'll just wait and see. We also bought letters to make up Levi's name and painted them for his room. They turned out cute.

I really just need to get my bag ready for the hospital. I can't believe I haven't done that yet. It's hard to pack ahead of time. I did have Mom take a picture of my belly. I even took a couple bare belly shots, and I'll share this one with you. . .

Gary (17) and Tony (13) are growing up. . .it's awesome to get to see them both. . .and so here's a picture from today before they headed to Spring with Nana and Papa. I love that they'll get to see Levi after he's born! They'll be here in Texas with their mom through the middle of July and then will head to Virginia together to be with Brian.

Well, that's all for now - we're just waiting for God's little miracle to be born!

Mackenzi turned 5. . .and graduated from Preschool!

Somehow I missed posting that Kenzi turned 5. . .and then also that she graduated from preschool!!! I started a post, but then didn't finish because it woudn't upload my pictures. . .and now it won't let me go in to fix it. . .so, I'll just start here. . .

She had a wonderful birthday on May 28th. We had her party the weekend prior at the Don Misenhimer park. She wanted a soccer theme. . .and this was after she told me, "Mom, I can just have a princess party since we already have princess napkins at home." Well, the princess napkins were from her 4th birthday party. I assured her we could change the theme up, and buy new napkins for her party this year! How precious is that? I think we're being successful in teaching her to be frugal. . .although maybe I need to work on that as well! Ha!

We really had a great time at her party. I never book the pavilion there, it's pretty expensive, especially on Memorial Day weekend. . .but, we've been successful in being able to utilize it for two years - her 3rd and 4th birthday party. This year, however, there was a huge party there - so we walked on over to the other side of the park where they had a picnic bench, and tons of trees. We always have come prepared to have chairs for seating, so it really turned out just fine. Kenzi wanted a pinata this year, and so we found one at Party City that was a soccer ball. She also wanted a cookie cake instead of cake. . .she's the only child I know who doesn't like cake. . .but, she doesn't. So, after much thought and pricing of cookie cakes, I figured I could make this cake myself! So, I did! It turned out very yummy, and Kenzi was really excited about it. I'm sorry I don't have pictures to upload from her party. Unfortunately my computer crashed, and so I don't have them saved on this computer.

On her actual birthday, Brian decorated for her - so when she woke up, she would realize that it was her birthday. It's funny, but this is the first year for her to realize that her birthday party was on a different day than her birthday. . .each year before she has been really confused, and tells us very adamantly that she already has had her birthday. . .or basically just that her birthday party day is her birthday. . .this year she figured that out. She kept saying at her party that she wasn't 5 yet - it was just her birthday party day. But, on her birthday we bought a cookie cake at Kroger to take to school for her to share with her friends. . .and then when we got home that afternoon, we took her to On the Border for dinner where she wanted them to sing to her, until she saw someone else being sung to - the problem was that he was older, and so they had him doing silly things - like waving his arms like a bird while they sang. . .and putting a cone cup in his mouth as a beak. . .she didn't care for that and didn't want us to have them sing to her. . .only they had already been asked. . .and were headed our way. She just had a terrible look on her face as they sang, but was fine afterall.

We also took her afterwards to buy her a betta. She had been wanting a fish, and since I've had bettas before, I figured that was a good fish for her - one that would last, that is pretty easy to take care of. . .and one she would enjoy. She named her betta, Kate. We nearly managed to kill Kate with the change in water. . .or scenery. . .or whatever. . .I'm not sure. We didn't think she was going to make it - but I did a few things - put her back in the bowl she came in - and used different water. . .and after a week of not eating. . .she finally started to eat and really looked much better. Now we have a pretty purple fish who is eating and doing just fine. Oh - we didn't really tell Kenzi which fish to pick out - and subsequently, she picked a "boy" fish as is labeled on the bowl. . .only, we refer to Kate as a girl.

The Thursday after her birthday was her preschool graduation from Cross of Christ Lutheran School. It was a very exciting day for Kenzi and for us, too! Kenzi got to wear a little blue gown and a hat as well. The kids sang a couple of songs for everyone too. Kenzi really enjoyed the year with Mrs. Hinckley as her teacher and Ms. Candy and Ms. Stella as the aids on her room. She made quite a few friends, and is really missing them this summer. She is such a big girl!!! She is definitely ready for Kindergarten - only she will be going to public school in Mansfield at DP Morris Elementary.

ROCKWAY SHOWER - June 8th

ROCKWAY SHOWER

Our hometeam hosted a shower for us on June 8th. It was at our pastor and his wife's house, Keith & Sarah Wiginton. It was a lot of fun. We had several stories to tell from the shower. . .after we got there, our friend Kelly came rushing in with the cake. She had her little daughter Bayley with her. She and Sarah were talking and then Sarah looked at me and said that Kelly had been through quite a bit to get the cake there! Apparently Bayley wanted to see what the cake was about and leaned over it and destroyed the top of it! Kelly was so frazzled by the time she called Costco and managed to get it taken care of. She apologized that it didn't have Levi's name on it - and told me how cute the top of the other cake was! I felt sorry for her! I hated being the reason she was so frazzled. The cake was a very yummy, yummy cake!

Our hostesses also prepared a couple of scrapbook pages for the guests to write blessings/prayers for baby Levi Garrett. When I saw that, I just knew right away that I wasn't going to say anything, and that I knew how easily it would be to cover up Garrett, since that isn't Levi's middle name. I wasn't too worried about it until I overheard someone asking Brian what Levi's middle name was. Then I stepped into the kitchen, and walked back in. Sarah looked at me and said, "What is Levi's middle name? Did we get it wrong?" And I just smiled and told her that his middle name is Ashton, and that it would be no problem for me to fix that on the scrapbook page. She said the person who told her that was POSITIVE of his middle name. Which was funny because it happened to be a friend of mine, Stephanie, from my Bible study. Then she came over and said she was sorry, she knew we had just talked about his name the previous Monday at our study. It was funny.

We are truly blessed to be a part of a church family who is so loving and caring. I believe wholeheartedly that God put us there. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I wanted them, especially our hometeam, to know right away that we were pregnant because I felt that we needed as many prayer warriors as possible to be praying with us for a healthy pregnancy. The love and support that we have been shown throughout this entire process has been truly incredible. I wanted so desperately to share how special they all are to me at the shower, but I knew I wouldn't make it through telling them. . .I did, however, ask that a group picture be taken. I want to be sure to tell Levi how much he was prayed for by all of them. They are very special to us, and to him. Here is a collective picture of Levi's gifts from the shower.

The addition to our family. . .

37 Weeks!! Time has flown in some senses, but in others - it seems like I've been pregnant forever! I did go to the doctor this past Friday and she said that I'm starting to efface, but not dilating quite yet. I did have a trace of protein in my urine, but she wasn't concerned of that. My blood pressure was 116/60, so with that, there was nothing to worry about either. I go back this Friday. . .I think it's fun and stressful some at this stage when we're just waiting. . .each week we hope to see some progress, but with this not being my first pregnancy, I know that it can be a matter of an afternoon that all will progress, and so I'm not worrying too much about it. I do know that I feel like I can't make it the next 2 weeks. . .just the normal backaches. . .my big fat foot. . .and just not being able to sleep. . .but, we'll keep waiting on God's perfect timing!