Packing on the OZ's!

Bella is getting bigger every day! When we took her in for her first check up she had lost over a pound from her 6lbs. 14oz birth weight. The next visit a week later she had only gained a few ounces and then only a few ounces more the next visit. She eats alot takes her time so we are always feeding her and finally it paid off. She is up to 6lbs 12oz. We are almost up to her birth weight. Even with her soaking wet diaper before we left and having a power spit-up as we were walking out the door! I'm sure with all of that she would have been above her birth weight! She has become quite the eater so I'm sure she will have no problem fattening up now. I have explained to her that she has to enjoy her food if she wants to be a part of the family and I think she understands. It was a little chilly when we had an appointment the other day so I went to put her in her sleeper and realized she has outgrown the preemie sleepers. She still is a little too small for her newborn sleepers but she isn't swimming in them like she was before.

As far as her sleeping, that is another story. For the first week or so she was sleeping so well. I think we were in the honeymoon period. Since then, she has been trying out a couple of different schedules. My personal favorite is when she eats at 9:00pm, 12:00am and then sleeps until 5:00am. Bella seems to favor the schedule when she eats at 9:00pm and then rests for 15 minute intervals till anywhere between 2:00am and 4:00am. After about 3 or 4 nights on her schedule, she will usually give up and give in to my schedule. I have to admit though, she does sleep better in her swing so she has been spending some time in it at night. I think I am going to save the swing for the nights when I am having trouble keeping my eyes open.

Our daily activities are pretty dependent on how the night goes. I am trying to get our house back in order but it seems like it just keeps getting worse. I think it is because I start a project when she is settled in and then I get about half way through it before it is time to eat again and she is calling me. I also like to play with her a little when she is awake and content. I keep trying out her new toys such as her bouncy seat and swing as well as just laying on a blanket on the floor and playing with some of her toys or just with me. As far as playing with some of her toys, if she will look at them for a short period of time, it is a hit. Right now, she likes the one with feet that vibrate. I put them on her belly and she wiggles around. She will lay and glance around for a longer period of time but she doesn't like it when I get up and walk away. What can I say - she is a social one.

She has had a few outings lately. She went to a picnic at our friend Curt's house and loved hanging out with Amy, Abby and Priyal. She likes girl time and relaxing outdoors in the sun. Bella also got to meet two adorable twins, Abby and Ellie. She also went to Mama Bev's and Papa Ted's house for dinner on Sunday. This was her second time but since there was a small crowd, she got to sit at the table. The ribs were yummy, to bad she doesn't have teeth yet. She also made her third trip to Mommy's school this week. I not only missed out on the last weeks of school but my classroom is going to part of a renovation so everything had to be packed up and moved to another room. It is pretty hard to do when I am not there. Luckily, my wonderful substitute, Katie, and all of the other first grade teachers were so helpful and did quite a bit of my packing and end of the year things for me. Bella was wonderful and met lots of new friends up at the school as I tried to empty my room. Ryan has helped with a lot of this as well. He took her up to the school with me to meet the kids. They thought she was pretty wonderful and were very excited to meet her. They had been waiting the whole school year so I'm glad they got to meet her before school was out.

Well, I am going to try and start dinner and we will see how it goes. She is probably getting hungry so the clock is ticking.

Getting into the swing of things!

I know it has been awhile since our last update but we have been busy trying to get into the swing of things. Bella is now two weeks old and we are starting to develop a routine. We want to send a big THANK YOU to Grandma Early for taking care of all of us so that we could learn how to take care of each other. After our first eventful week home, I was not ready for Ryan to go back to work nor was he and so my mom was sweet enough to stay a few more days and help us get adjusted. She got to spend two days at home before returning to STL for a wedding and because Amanda, Todd and Carson were coming to town. It was so much fun having them in town. We all went to Grant's Farm on Saturday and got to enjoy the incredible weather; thank you Amanda, Todd and Carson for coming in to town and playing. Carson and Bella even got to play a little bit. She would scream and he thought she was playing so he would scream back and smile. It was pretty funny. Bella also got to meet her Aunt Kristian this weekend. She thinks she is pretty cool!

Ryan and I have had so much fun getting to know our little Bella and all of her funny little quirks. When we try to burp her she bobs around on our shoulders and gives us "kisses" as she is really trying to feed off of our faces. She loves running water and relaxes when we take her into the bathroom during showers. She also loves getting her hair washed and moves her little head around so we can pour the warm water on her head. We are a little tired but we have had so much help and we are having the most fun!

Bella and I have been a little sad today because Dad had to take his first work trip away from us. We miss you! We attached a little video of Bella smiling for him and there may even be an eye roll or two in there. Aunt Lissy is staying with us so we don't get too lonely. She is helping us update the blog and we got to go for walk on Grants Trail. Of course, Ryan left town this morning so when I went to use the dishwasher this morning, it would not stop filling up with water and flooded the kitchen and leaked into the laundry room in the basement. THANK YOU so much to Papa Ted, Mama Bev and Olivia for coming to the rescue. We figured it is a problem with the pump and they not only helped us clean up, they also drug out our massive amount of yard waste. They are great!

Daddy - we will see you on Wednesday and we love you!
Love, Sara and Bella

Busy Weekend

We had a very busy weekend! Bella had a lot of visitors that were so excited to meet her. We got the weekend started early with Papa Early & Aunt Caroline coming into town on Thursday evening. Grandma Sedlak made us all a very yummy meal that was capped off with some amazing Gooey Butter cake!
Then the Zoo started to filter in on Friday evening, followed by the rest of the clan on Saturday morning. Needless to say it was a packed house! Lots and lots of babies. We also had a very special day on Saturday...Miss Molly turned the big 16!!! She picked the Soda Fountain in Lafayette Square for her Birthday dinner and it was delicious! HaPpY 16th BiRtHdAy MiSs MoLlY!!!
Here are some pictures from our crazy weekend and also some more from the hospital. We will be posting more and more when we get a chance.

Baby Bella is Here!

This Sunday, Ryan and I have our new little blessing to be thankful for! Our precious baby Bella is here! Dr. Snowden was not far off when he said that we should expect to be parents in a week. We heard that news on Thursday and by Sunday, we became Mommy and Daddy! We were at our friend Jake's 30th Birthday Party on Saturday night. A lot of people thought I was crazy for going out and were asking what I was doing there and I said "trying to go into labor!" as a joke. That night (or I guess the next morning) around 4:30 I woke up with some cramping and started to realize that they were actually contractions. It takes me awhile to catch on sometimes! They weren't too severe so I just started counting them and keeping track and in the morning when Ryan woke up I said that we probably shouldn't go to church. I think it took awhile for him to realize that it was actually "that" time. As the day went on, the contractions started to increase and by 2:00 we were heading to the hospital.

Everything went pretty smoothly. Especially once I got my epidural. Ryan was a champ throughout the whole process. Good thing one of us paid attention during our child birth class. By 7:03 our baby was here and we found out that I had been carrying Baby Bella around all these months! Bella means beautiful in Spanish and she truly is beautiful. Just ask her Daddy! He is more than smitten by his new baby girl. She was 6 lbs 12oz and 19 and 3/4 inches long. She has lots of dark hair and bright eyes. She was so alert in the delivery room and just looked around at everyone who came to see her. We got to announce that we had a baby girl when everyone came in. The general concensus was that I was having a boy so everyone was more than shocked to meet Bella Lucille Sedlak!

She has had so many visitors. She is one very loved baby girl. Bella will even open her eyes (or eye) for a lot of them. My Mom and Dad and my sister Ali, her two little ones, Jackson and Ellie, and my sisters Kaitlin and Molly all came from Kirksville in time for the delivery and Ryan's Mom and Dad were able to be there also. Since then she has had all sorts of visitors. Scott and Emily, Tim, Kelly and Olivia, Kaitlin, Jake and Amy, Abby and Brian, Priyal and Bhavik as well as Heidi and Brooke and Tyler. Niki, Shaun, Aunt Sue and our newest little cousin Chase came to play. Also, Amanda and Carson came in from Texas today and Andy, Autumn and Briley along with the rest of the Early crew will be here over the weekend to see baby Bella and celebrate Molly's 16th Birthday! I can't believe the Early Baby is 16!

As for Bella, she is sweet as can be and had Mommy and Daddy hooked. She is a good sleeper, she is learning about eating and likes to gaze around. We couldn't love anything more and she truly is our happy thought! I don't think either Ryan or myself knew just how incredible this whole crazy thing would be. We are in love and she is not only beautiful, she is absolutely perfect! We are blessed!

Anxiously Awaiting Bella or Matthew

On Thursday I went to see Dr. Snowden for my 2nd weekly visit. The week before, he indicated that I should expect to go within the next week to three weeks. At this visit he was pretty confident that Ryan and I should be parents within the week! I know, it is kind of a scary thought! :) Actually, we are both really excited! It is a little sooner than we thought I'm not due till the 22nd) but we are pretty much ready.

The nursery is as done as it can be with out knowing if a baby boy or baby girl is on the way. My Mom helped me with the bedding and the chandelier (which hung above Ryan and I's wedding cake) and about everything else! My Mom and Dad also came down for a weekend earlier and helped with all of the little details. Lissy and Allison hung the wall quotes for me on the gables which I was scared to do myself. Ryan has been busy hanging baskets, mirrors, frames, chandeliers and handy switches. I painted marbles and washed everything in Dreft. Ryan asked me over and over if what I was doing was called "nesting".

Ryan has intstalled the car seat bases and put all of the baby gear together. All of our bath time items are in the bathroom closet. We even have the cradle ready to go upstairs and the bassinet put together for the downstairs. The bottles are clean, our bags are packed and the cameras are charged. Ryan even got me an early Mother's Day/Push gift. It is the tiniest video camera I have ever seen and I am so excited to use it! We finally chose a pediatrician and I even scheduled my prenatal massage my sister's gave me! Hopefully I will be posting pictures of our little bit soon - but - not before my prenatal massage! I really love massages!