K-State Fan...

Let the brainwashing begin...mommy is going to turn this little one into a K-State fan if she can.

She seems amused, doesn't she?

Daddy thinks the bow is a little over the top - mommy thinks it is cute and keeps strangers from thinking I'm a boy - Baby K doesn't mind the bow unless she hits it with her hand and it ends up over her eye like a pirate eye patch.

Mommy hopes K-State defense and coaching improve so it is easier to hold your head up high while supporting the Cats - these non conference games are making me nervous - what is up? I totally think they have the talent so why isn't it showing up on the field? hmmm...

Go State!

New Pictures

Photo Slide Show (click here)
Ok, well here is a link to a slide show of some pictures we had taken today. I just wanted to have a few pictures to capture how tiny our little girl is right now.
Baby K continues to be a joy and such a sweetheart.
How do I post a Picasa slide show in my blog? I can't figure it out....hmmmm....

A Fall Day...

It is a crisp fall day today. 58 degrees, a big blue sky with hardly any clouds - after days of rain.

The crisp air and sunny skies make me want:
A Pumpkin Spice Latte
A hayride in a pumpkin patch
A K-State home football game
White Chili & Cinnamon Rolls

I will settle for the latte and a nap and maybe a short walk around the block - oh and wearing a Kstate sweatshirt dreaming of a game day. :)

Our First Week

Here is a link for a slide show of some highlights of Baby K's first week.
http://www.members.cox.net/heather_jane/First_Week/

Some words from Baby K:
These new parents of mine are crazy about me & I am loving it!

Why Dad is great: He is the BEST at swaddling me! I love being swaddled as long as I can have at least one hand by my face - I love my hands! Yesterday mom and dad caught me interlocking my fingers and it looked like I was praying.
Dad is also an expert diaper changer now, I was the first baby he ever changed a diaper for.
I love to snuggle on Dad's chest, he gives me lots of kisses and tells me I'm beautiful.

Why Mom is great: She feeds me and I LOVE to eat! She rocks me and talks to me and we have nice late night and early morning chats when the house is quiet and it's just us. We love to cuddle and she also gives me lots of kisses and tells me I'm beautiful.

Some words from Mom:
Baby K is Great, Fabulous, Amazing! She is such a good baby. She cries when she has a need but then quiets as soon as her need is met - food, diaper change, to be swaddled, to be cuddled - that's it. Only a couple of times have we heard her be really upset or angry. She sleeps through the night and has since birth (although until she gains a little weight I do wake her in the night to eat, which she is always happy to do), she loves to just cuddle and stare at us. She has the most attentive eyes. She is making this new parent thing seem like a breeze and very low stress. I know she has lots of surprises and challenges in store of us but this week has been a dream and we are ready to love her through any challenge.

Pictures of Baby K

Baby K was born Saturday September 6th, 2008 at 2:34pm.

She weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 19 inches long.

Her heart rate started doing some funny things as my labor progressed so the doctors decided it was best to go ahead and do a c-section. This was a little scary because things went from going really great and "normal" or "typical" for labor and in less than 5 min. her heart rate started dropping and then coming back up and then dropping really low when I would have a strong contraction or when the doctors would touch the baby. I still had a few hours to go before delivery and the doctors felt the baby was under too much stress. For those of you who don't know her heart rate should have stayed in the 120-140 range give or take but during contractions she began to drop as low as into the 50's and 60's and once dropped into the high 40's! At this point I was like - get this baby out of me and make sure she is ok!! I didn't say that but I was thinking it when the dr. came over and told me they were going to go ahead with a c-section. I was so thankful they did.

After she was born she cried out like all healthy babies do, they checked her out and cleaned her up and her Apgar Scores were 8, 9 and 9 which is awesome! She has shown no signs of health concerns at all! Praise the Lord! The doctors are a little stumped as to what happened but think because she was over due the placenta may have been too old to support her when things got intense. It's a mystery I guess, but we are thankful for a healthy beautiful baby!!

My recovery is going pretty well - especially because I have been able to get a lot of sleep. Baby K is an amazing sleeper and eater! If she sleeps through the night this will be her 7th night in a row...she is 7 days old...Thank you Jesus!!! I do have to wake her up if it has been 4 hours since she last ate, but the dr. is checking her weight on Monday and if her weight is up then he said to stop waking her in the night and let her sleep until she wakes up wanting to be fed.

Here are some pictures of our sweet angel!

Here is one last look of Baby K in my tummy. :)



She's Here!

We are Loving every minute of it!!

The Big Day...

Tomorrow morning, Saturday September 6th, 2008 at 6:00am my husband and I will report to the hospital and I will be induced. 40 weeks and 3 days into pregnancy and I am SO ready to meet our little princess! Above is a 3D sono pic that was taken at 29 weeks. She has her daddy's lips I think. Pay no attention to the fact that the 3d sono makes her arm look a little weird (that happens when they snap the photo and baby is moving) also, pay no attention to the fact that her face is smashed up against my uterine wall (TMI?).

I have been dreaming of what she will look like, what she will be like and what Labor will be like (with drugs of course, hee hee). My husband is excited too and nervous about the unknown - I am excited to see him hold his daughter and cuddle with her and protect her and love her - he is going to be an amazing dad! I am so excited I'm not really sure how I will sleep tonight. I am trying to rest and relax and praying that God will take over my racing thoughts of excitement and make me sleep.

Tonight we went out to dinner at the same restaurant we went on our 1st date, the same place we went to eat the day after our wedding, and again for the 1st anniversary of our 1st date. My husband suggested we go eat their tonight. It's kind of our special place I guess. Lots of good memories surround eating a meal there. Then we went to get Marble Slap ice cream - yummy!

I can't wait to share with you photos of our little angel, our gift from God, in just a few short days. How exciting!

Simple, Small & Scrumptious!

Honestly, I have not tried this recipe yet. However, here is what I love about it...making dinner for two is a bit of a chore especially if you're like us and aren't fans of leftovers. I have figured out how to cook for just the two of us over the past 2 years and I enjoy the challenge. We LOVE dessert but we also do our best to eat fairly healthy and unfortunately it is rare to make dessert that will only serve two people and dessert is one thing we will eat leftover! So foodgawker.com added this recipe today. It only makes apple pie servings for 2! And the ingreds are simple and I am sure delish! I wish I had an apple so we could try this tonight.
The other thing I love about this recipe is you could easily make it for 4 or 6 or 8 or however many servings as long as you have the ramekins. What a cute little easy dessert that will impress anyone from small kids to even the most talented of cooks. Try it!

Makes two mini apple pies.
Ingredients:
1 Granny smith apple, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tbsp. corn starch
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
1 store-bought pie crust, room temperature
2 tbsp. butter, cut into slices
Directions:
Combine corn starch, cinnamon and sugar in a medium bowl. Toss in apples and stir to coat. Take store-bought pie crust and place empty ramekins on top. Trace around ramekins with a knife, cutting out large rounds of dough. The dough will shrink as it bakes so make sure your circles are larger than the ramekin diameter.
Divide apples evenly into ramekins. Dot with butter, then cover with dough, crimping around the edge.
Place ramekins or bowls on a foil- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake at 400° for 30 minutes.

I think another great idea would be to make a crumb topping rather than use pie crust - some brown sugar, cinnamon, a little flour and some butter - when done cooking add some pecan pieces and a little caramel ice cream topping - that would be really yummy but require a little more work.

Happy Baking,
Correnta