Almost Home

Hello to all our friends and family who have been following along. We are sorry we haven't been keeping the blog up to date but it has been a crazy week. Whit will fill you in on all the details soon but here is an update for those who haven't been watching Facebook.

Well we got moved to a private room last night. Now we can stay overnight with Lily. She is breathing with no assistance and her oxygen saturation is normal. Hurdle number one is over. She is eating better now as well, up to 55 ml every three hours and Whitney is working hard to keep production up. No help or tube feeding for a couple of days. Hurdle number two down. The jaundice is going away, no more photo therapy. Hurdle number three complete. Today she gets a bath and the mighty car seat challenge (to make sure she can ride home). We have baby CPR class at 4:00. Only a couple more hurdles to go. We are hopeful we can bring her home today or tommorow at the latest.

- Dadio

Lily has Arrived!

Well this was a shocker! Little Lily decided to arrive a month early and was born at 7:13 on Saturday morning. She is 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Whitney is doing great, she was amazing during labor. She managed to avoid punches or yelling at me despite a faulty epidural. She basically did it natural. Lily is doing well too. Her lungs may be a little under developed or have some fluid in them. They moved her to the NICU so she can have some extra help breathing. Hopefully she will only be there a few days and we will be able to take her home soon.

- Dadio, guest blogger

Flintstones?

First here is my view...



Yes that is my crazy HUGE tummy. Sorry not the most attractive photo. I keep wondering how it can get any larger...but somehow it finds a way. Whew. Luckily this "thing" is blocking my view from this...




EWWWW. Feet. I am not a fan of feet and can not believe I am even allowing myself to post this but I officially have Flintstone feet! Yuck. My narrow skinny feet are now little fatty's. Not loving it. I "guess" its normal but still....Do my feet have to match Fred's? I much prefer my long skinny toes.

Lucky for me I am at the point I can not only see my feet but I can not reach my feet to put on socks either. Flip Flops have been my friend (thank you weather for giving us at least a couple non-rainy days). I did get some very special advice this week however. My good friend Dave hurt his back and has been struggling with his socks. Says he found the Perfect Solution for me!

SALAD TONGS! Yup...thats right. He sent that to me and I could not stop laughing! Just hoping my next dinner visit he WASHES them first! LOL. Just teasing! Thanks Dave for the advice. For now Dan has been helping me with socks/shoes and bowling and there is only one more week of that (thanks honey!). So hopefully I can continue to avoid socks till Lily gets here. It is Summer almost right?

Until next time,

~Whitney

Excited? hmmm

I think its funny when everyone else seems so much more excited than I am? Dont get me wrong...I am excited but I think nerves have over taken the excitement. Its a little different when YOU are not the one anticipating childbirth. Of course YOU are excited! ha ha ha. 3rd Trimester is definitely starting to take its toll on me. I had been doing good but now Im ready. Dan was laughing this last weekend at me. What I asked him? "I can just tell you are over this...get this baby out!". LOL. I guess I have started complaining now and I am sure you can read my face....Not happy. I am working on being a good sport and I know we are in the homestretch now so this temp problem will soon be over! However I know keeping this girl IN is a lot easier than OUT! ha ha. But I am ready to have my energy and body back to normal or closer to normal at least. Im ready to play some Volleyball!

No more complaining...Lily will be here soon :)

~Whitney

Baby Pool

We went ahead and started a fun Baby Pool! I have added a link at the top so you can keep an eye on it. The prize for the winner will be a new ipod! One guess per person AND please make sure you have your name and email so we know who the winner is and can contact them after Lily is born. Pass the word! Lets make it a BIG POOL!

PS...if you are guessing late AND over 8lbs...I officially HATE YOU! LOL Just kidding!

Here is the link:

Baby Pool

~Whitney

How Sweet!

Well Lily officially has her own Sophie the Giraffe now! Cousin Landon and Grandma Teri went to Babies R Us and got her one. Landon wasnt sure he wanted to give it up but Grandma traded him for a new car! Thanks to both of you! Lily is sure to LOVE it! Here is a pic of Landon with Sophie...isnt he CUTE! And one of the new toy!

Sophie The Giraffe?

What in the heck is this silly little toy? I have seen it everywhere and just a few days back my sister (who works at the mall) saw like 5 babies with it. I dont get it? Well...my mom sent me the "scoop" on it here...


Sophie the Giraffe, full of discoveries and activities to awaken baby's senses. Sight: The dark and contrasting spots all over Sophie the Giraffe's body provide visual stimulation and make her easily recognizable to baby. She soon becomes a familiar and reassuring object. Hearing: Her squeaker keeps baby amused and stimulates his hearings. Taste:Sophie the Giraffe is very flexible and has lots of parts for baby to chew like ears, horns, legs. She is perfect for soothing baby's sore gum when teething and is completely safe. Made of 100% natural rubber and food paint. Touch: Sophie the Giraffe is perfect for baby's small hands. She is very light and her long legs and neck are easy for baby to grip. She is very soft to touch, stimulating soothing physiological and emotional responses. Smell: The singular scent of natural rubber makes Sophie the Giraffe very special and easy for your child to identify. Sophie is Phthalates and BPA free.



So I guess this means Lily needs one huh? Anyone's baby have one? Got an opinion?

~Whitney

Funny Bib...

My cousin Sarah found this funny bib and said she thought of us! Cracks me up. Thanks Sarah for thinking of us and sending! Its cute!

~Whitney

35 Weeks...

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Oh Boy....35 weeks...The countdown :) We now know that baby is head down! Yeah! That is good news. Now if I can just convince this girl she wants to come early we will be good. Dr. Says no more than two weeks early but two weeks is good!

~Whitney

Guest Book/Advice Box

I couldnt have a shower without some kind of craft project for the guests right? Most of my friends/family are pretty crafty anyway so I thought it would be fun to give them something to create! Connie created the beautiful Craft Box and supplied the goodies to help decorate. The idea was for guests to make a tag with advice for the new parents OR just share something...Or just sign and say LOVE YA! I know a few people said they had no advice but it was also our guest book. So IF you are reading this and you DID NOT participate you are in TROUBLE! LOL

Here is a couple of photos of the framed instructions and the craft table...






I snagged a few shots of the tags that were made to share too! This is not all of them....but I wanted to post a few. The tags were adorable and I LOVED reading what everyone wrote! Thanks Connie for putting this together...and thanks to everyone who used some of their creativity to help make this project possible!

Shower Part Four...

Am I driving you crazy yet? Just a few more posts I promise. Its fun to spread it out...then my 3 blog stalkers have something to look forward to right? Here are a few more gifts I thought it would be good to post. I wont be able to post everyones gift...So forgive me if you dont see yours. We LOVED everything we got I just wanted to pull a few that I thought would be good to post.

First I forgot to post the cute little tags my sister-in-law, Jenn made for our seats.




Next we have a Diaper Tower that Jessica MADE! Wow right? I thought you could buy these things but she made it from scratch! Sorry about the photo Honey...but its the only one I had :) The tower has already been taken apart, washed and put away! Thanks Jess! We LOVE IT! So fun and so creative!



We officially have Lily's first camera thanks to the Kraft's! I was scared when I saw the potential noise maker in the gift back. Im always the "Aunt" who buys the drums and anything noisy. All I was thinking was paybacks...Until we opened up and saw that it was a Camera! Too perfect! And its actually the perfect amount of noise! Thanks B & T! Its awesome!



This next gift was from my brother and sister in law. The sheep is SO SOFT and is a pillow with a super soft blanket that wraps up inside. Perfect for traveling! I think the sheep is a nice touch to my cozy chair! Thanks guys! So CUTE!




This keepsake is a gift from Lily's Grandma Teri...aka my mom. I LOVE IT! Its an adorable piggy bank but I guess its more of a watering can/butterfly bank? That would be more appropriate. Its beautiful and looks great in her nursery. We are putting quarters in it and once its filled we will add it to Lily's savings account. My mom started it off with several dollars worth of quarters but it still has a ways to go to be full. So if you come to our house...better empty those pockets! LOL Thanks Mom. Lily is going to love it!



SHOES! Love these cute shoes! Thanks Melanie!



I really love all the special custom/handmade items we have been getting. These are from Grandma (aka my mom) who had them designed just for Lily. They are burp rags with the cutest embroidery on them! LOVE THEM! Plus an adorable blanket also embroidered with Lily's name on it! SO CUTE and SO SOFT!





There is so much more that I can not even begin to post it all. Tons of clothes...as well as necessity items such as baby monitor, changing pad, bath goodies, sheets, mattress pad, traveling kit, more awesome handmade items etc. I may post a few more things along the way when I need a post. So sorry if I did not "feature" your gift on the blog. Dan and I LOVED everything and are very Thankful!

Hugs!

~Whitney

Shower Part Three...

Gifts Galore! My next few posts on the shower will showcase some of the wonderful gifts we received for little Miss Lily. I of course must start with the funniest as I still can not stop laughing! This first gift post is in honor of the wonderful Jonny who can always make me laugh! For those of you who dont know Jonny he was one of Dan's groomsman and is Dan's Best Bud. Jonny is the "hip portland dude" with his own style and taste. Now...Jonny bought us 3 gifts. One that was more for me, then one that was more for him and then one that was for Dan. In that order! Lets see what Jonny purchased....First is a little something for me (which I LOVE!)



Cute right?

Then a gift that is more "Jonny" style! LOL. (dont worry we love them...just makes me laugh as its totally a Jonny gift)




And for the final gift "A little something for Dan". First lets see the leading photos to opening this gift....




And the DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....



In case you missed it...



Yup thats right. Jonny thinks he is Funny! And the best part? The little booger was entered into the Diaper Lottery Drawing for those diapers! Guess we didnt specify that the diapers were supposed to be for LILY! LOL. We love you Jonny! Thanks for the gifts and the laughter! We Loved it ALL! Cant wait for Lily to meet her "Uncle Jonny".


~Whitney

Shower Part Two...

Round two of photos! This post will be for games and a few people shots!

First we have a cute shot of the prize table. Who wouldnt want a prize in one of these boxes. Funny thing is we were trying to make them gender neutral as we had a couple of guys without significant others attending...and guess what happens? Two of the single guys win prizes! LOL. Well one was an itunes card...but the other was dishes (sorry jonny!) But I think he actually might need them in his bachelor pad!



The first silly game we played was "Mums the Word" which was to not say the word baby. So we had made necklaces with cute little clips on them that you had to give up IF someone caught you saying it! Here is a shot of Jamie passing out the necklaces...



Next we played "Belly Bump" where everyone had to guess how big my tummy was. We passed around string for them to "guess". This was FUNNY and completely entertaining for me. Watching the guys push their tummies out and measuring themselves was hilarious. It was also entertaining to see just how LONG people cut their strings...Ummm...Im NOT that HUGE! LOL. Most people were way too long. Two however just about nailed it! Here is Tom being silly with his tummy and me measuring for the actual winner...




The next game I dont have any photos of but I do have a shot of the actual thing that was filled out. This Candy game fit perfectly with my "Sweet" themed shower. Can you guess all the matches?



Opening gifts in front of people has always been awkward for me so I embraced the idea of a distraction for the guests...or something to keep them busy. Solution was Baby Bingo! Guests filled out blank Bingo Cards with gifts they anticipated I was going to get. They could mark off one square per gift we opened (in other words if its a basket of goodies they cant WIN off that one present...at least 4 if use free space MUST be opened). The winner of this game was Jonny...who was so confident of his win that he left a whole line on his card blank. Guess he was right as he won super fast...



The final game...was really just a raffle. We called it a "Diaper Lottery". Since Diapers are not really a "fun" gift to buy but it is something that is really needed...Jamie added in the raffle. For each pack of diapers guests brought they got their name entered into the drawing. All I can say is HOLY DIAPERS! And we were assured we would use all of them! Oh boy! LOL



And to finish off this post...Just a couple of guest shots with a snuggle pic of Dan and I. (and Jenn...dont kill me for your shot! It just cracked me up!)







Stay tuned for Round 3! :)

~Whitney

Shower Part One...

There are soooo many photos from my shower that I figured it would be a bit overwhelming all in one post so this is going to get split into a few posts and you will just have to check back to see them all. There are a few things that need their own post and I dont want to have the importance of them get lost in the shuffle.

First things first: About the shower....

It was such an awesome day filled with love and support from so many friends and family members! One of my best friends, Jamie was the host of the shower but there was several people who contributed and helped make the day perfect. So first...A HUGE thank you to Jamie for all her hard work and for making it all come together smoothly! I know I am not an easy person to plan for OR easy for me to let go and let someone else take the reins! Only you could put up with me and still make it the best ever! For that I LOVE YOU! :) And appreciate everything you did and will not be able to say thank you enough!

Next we have my wonderful mom who also helped Jamie with the planning. Mom was in charge of the fun games but also helped with some of the decor, decorating and much more. She also flew in from Reno for the event and helped make it that more special! YOU ARE AWESOME MOM! Thanks for all the help! I will make sure Lily knows just how wonderful her grandma was! I hope you can be to her what my grandma was to me! (tear).

Then we have my sister-in-law Jenn who also flew in from Reno to help with the party. Jenn was in charge of the BEAUTIFUL cake and cupcakes which as a baker myself I know what a chore it can be (a fun one...but still time consuming). Jenn was also the creative person who made the Lillyville sign among many other fun crafting projects! Jenn...You were such a big help and I know Jamie really appreciated it as well. Thanks for flying in and being here for me! Lily is lucky to have you as an "Auntie"

Just a few more...Sorry...I know this is a lot of writing before the photos but its important that I start here as this shower would not have been what it was without all these people. I am usually the party planner so to see so many people come together to plan something for me just makes me all warm and fuzzy :) And I want to make sure each person gets a little love on the blog....

The final little helpers are going to be my sister Destiny who worked VERY hard on the bingo tags...right Dest? As well as spent her time pampering ME! And when I say pampering I mean it...She not only did my hair and makeup for the special day she also SHAVED MY LEGS! Yes you read that right! I cant reach! LOL. Now that is sisterly love! LOVE YOU DEST! Thank You! My sister Courtney took photos for me and drove up from Eugene last minute (she was not going to be able to make it) THANKS for coming Court! Love you! One of my other best buds Connie...drove up from Cottage Grove to the shower and also was in charge of the guest book/advice cards! What a fun craft project....I will post those pics in the next post! Thanks Connie! I LOVED IT! Dawn was in charge of blue balls....but read below for more on this...as well as helped with the glass tags! Thanks Dawn! It as a blast making all the goodies with you. :) And awesome Ali helped with the craft details...Ali is my crafting BUDDY! We had fun working on some of the last minute details together! Thanks Ali.....

So lets get started. I will explain and fill in a little more as we look at photos but that at least gets a few Thank You's in this post first!

The shower had about 30 people attend! WOW! Really that is all I can say. I was so thankful and happy to see everyone. This was a coed shower so it was entertaining to have the boys attend. They were all troopers though and I am happy we made it coed. The very first thing everyone saw was this sign made by Sis-in-law, Jenn upon entering our house...




Here are shots of the cake/cupcakes that Jenn made from scratch. She even cut out/ designed the stand up purple butterflies! She is so creative!







Here is the old fashioned candy and jars used for cute decoration. The tags were all handmade as well!








A few more decorations that were on the fireplace mantel...








Non-Alcoholic DELICIOUS drink...plus the cute glasses with tags that were hand made...





Part of the food table...




NUTTY BLUE BALLS! Yes...thats right! There had been an ongoing joke about Dawn's famous peanut butter balls. Dawn makes them for lots of parties and they are SO GOOD! But for this party Jamie asked her to decorate them with blue sprinkles...aka blue balls so they went with the theme. This joke continued for quite awhile and no one would let it go. So named them NUTTY BLUE BALLS and decided to embrace the funny! Thanks to Dawn for making them! You cant just eat one....they are addicting!





A couple more fun food shots...







And that is it for Round One! Stay tuned for more posts!

~Whitney