Waiting impatiently for Kaitlyn...

Anticipation is growing in the Ryan household this week for our newest addition! My body is making great progress in the labor route this week. I actually have high hopes that she will come on her own before our scheduled induction on Monday at 7 AM. My sister and nephew are coming on Friday night after my BIL gets off work and they plan to stay about a week maybe more if I am having a harder time recovering than we initially plan. We are VERY excited to have them here! A big part of me hopes that Kaitlyn waits to make her grand entrance until Auntie can be here. Though I will admit that I am VERY eager to meet this precious little girl inside of me and can not wait to be rid of pregnancy! For those of you who would know these stats, she is at a +4 station just waving hello now, I am 60% effaced and dilated to 2-3cm as of this afternoon. Since then I have began to experience consistent small contractions. I think she may come sooner then Monday but we'll see :) Johnny points to my belly quite frequently and reminds me that the "baby" is in there. He is so cute, I am unsure if he understands fully what is about to happen to his little world but he seems content for the time being watching her move around and giving her countless kisses. He is so loving! When my nephew Nehemiah was born in May he showing complete adoration for him and was really helpful. He learned quickly the difference between his own diapers and Miah's and would almost always bring the right newborn diaper when asked :) He also helped to keep Miah's pacifier in his mouth while he was in his swing or bouncer and he would readily inform all adults nearby that he was crying. I can't wait to see him with Kaitlyn, I have complete confidence that while there may be a little misbehaving due to our new addition and split attention, I am SURE he will adore Kaitlyn and mostly be helpful and inquisitive for a season in the beginning :) Anyway, we are all SUPER excited and can't wait to meet her! We are lacking a bassinet or pack-n-play currently BUT JBF is around the corner and I refuse to pay full price when I can pay SO much less if we wait another week or so. I have also been keeping busy on various projects, mainly sewing but I have done the Mommy thing and made Kaitlyn a few tutu's, (I couldn't resist, they are so easy and cheap!) They are pictured below. Johnny is getting really big too, learning lots of new words and pronouncing his seasoned words with much more clarity. He is about ready to potty train now so my sister has offered to get that started while she is here, I told her to go for it! He says "pee-pee" almost every time he is about to go and starts walking weird asking for a diaper change when he is only slightly wet, I'm talking tinkles, he is complaining over mere drops, I think it's time to potty train :) Well this was a big long update and I must admit it has no clear structure and seems to be all over the place but given that my mind is all over the place currently I don't feel so bad :) I realized after uploading all the pictures that there really are A LOT but I know that the grandparents have been really patient in seeing some for some time so there are quite a few! Enjoy :)

In NO particular order:

Johnny, his bear and his car at Mimi and Papa's

This is Nehemiah, I don't know that I have posted any pictures of him but he is SO stinking cute and we love this little man to pieces!


Johnny had fallen asleep in the car on a trip with his bear, we all love this shot, so precious! It is a few months old now though :)


This was me and Miah on his Birthday!

Johnny was out shopping with Mimi and Papa at the mall one day and they captured this cute picture!

This was Miah and Johnny meeting for the first time in the H!

This boy LOVES his cars and trucks, pretty much anything with wheels which makes Daddy a VERY happy Daddy!! He has also been lining them up for months! This was a fun milestone to watch him accomplish and no one ever showed him how to do it, he just started doing it one day :)

This was on a Starbucks pit stop on our way home from spending two weeks with my sister in May for Miah's birth, Johnny is such a sweet little boy always willing to give kisses!

He LOVES that tea too!

He has gotten so much bigger since May, I love this picture though!

This was taken just last month. We are so excited to have a little girl in the mix!

This was a few days ago, Johnny has been a little needy at nap time lately so often times John lays down with him for naps, I don't think he minds ;) It's going to be fun to see him with two, boy is he going to have his hands full then!

Johnny was helping with Kaitlyn's new diaper bags, that and he was ready to go home saying "By Bye"

Love our little man! He keeps that hat on for the most part!

This is a rose theme I was going for :) Newborn tutu for Kaitlyn of course

This was the first I had done for her

We LOVE this one, its my favorite! Look for it in her Newborn Pictures we are having done shortly after she gets here!

John likes this one a lot too!

These are some headbands I made for her one day

He is so flexible! Silly boy, he does this a lot lol

He does this frequently too :P

Are you loving his gladiator times TP outfit Daddy made him one day?? Silly boys, he even had a cape at one point.

This boy is all legs just like his Daddy!

All smiles most of the time, he is pretty happy.

He adores his bath time, in fact some times when Mommy is running a bath for herself he climbs right in expecting an extra bath that day!

Kaitlyn's Crib Bedding!

I wasn't on the hunt for bedding just yet because we are doing the bassinet scene for a couple months first while we have company over but I was looking through a JCP magazine and fell in LOVE with Kaitlyn's future bedding! I am really excited to have found something that I absolutely love and now I know how to prepare decorating and accessorizing for her future room! Well it wont let me copy the picture, whatever :P Here is the link..

http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6E.aspx?DeptID=62438&CatID=62729&GrpTyp=ENS&ItemID=15eecac&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=62438%7c62644%7c62645&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=2&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=62438626446264562729#GroupItemNameSection0

31 Weeks!

This was Johnny & I at 31 weeks in 2008, I think I was more watermelon looking with him lol.

This is our 31 week picture for Kaitlyn & I!

Father's Day Week :)

My sister, her husband and baby Miah came last Friday for Father's Day and are still here :) We are excited about their lonngg visit since we don't see much of them to begin with. Mimi and Papa are soaking up the grand baby loving right now! I am SO in love with my nephew! Pictures from their visit are coming soon in a later post.

It has been wonderful to visit with my sister, I miss not having her near. We have been sewing up a storm! We are creating new products to sell online with Etsy and also to Paris Baby in Paris, TX where my sister lives :) I'll do a post later about the store on Etsy and feature its items in a later post.

We also had an ultrasound done with the Perinatal Center of Oklahoma. They initially thought that Kaitlyn had a condition which the name has escaped me, where some of the intestines are sticking out of the abdomen and need to be surgically put back in at birth. Talk about scary! I was in tears upon hearing the reason of our appointment and poor Johnny was just looking at me very concerned saying "mama" in the sweetest voice. THANK GOD that was not the case and the specialist took a look at our sweet little girl and said she was perfect, that he hasn't had the privilege of seeing an u/s that good in a long time. We came out of the experience even more eager to have her in our arms and we got to see a really cool show during the exam. We even got a few pictures from the experience and they are below as well. :D He also touched on the issue of my EDS and recommended a few tests that should be done as a precaution otherwise gave us some overall information about the disease and what it means for me now. Basically he told us what we knew, "You are in pain and its more likely to get much worse than even a little better before the end is in sight" <-- his words, I think he should have sugar coated it somehow but he didn't, he was pretty blunt. That's okay though, at least we have an accurate picture of what to possibly expect. Anyway there are a few good pictures below :) Enjoy.

Squished face! ^ She is literally in the ready position to come out, her little head is resting up against my cervix on her side of it, lol, SO comfortable!

Feet

Dr. J you were definitely right with that "It's a Girl" call earlier!


Lips and Nose

Profile Shot!

Ugh, 8 more weeks, can't wait!

Frequent Flyer

It appears we are going to be frequent flyer's at the Labor & Deliver section of our hospital, since EDS is as unknown to me as it seems to be to everyone else. The whole rather be safe then sorry keeps coming up. So far she is in there pretty snug even if her house seems to be falling down :/ They have talked about a few options, steroids to speed up Kaitlyn's development, full bed rest, moderate bed rest and a few more, I suppose we will here a verdict from my OB soon after they get some test results from last night. They seem concerned for a higher risk of premature birth with Kaitlyn so we aren't taking any chances, we want her to cook as long as possible! Thought I would update some of you :) Other then being in pain and sometimes a lot of pain I am generally okay. Keep the prayers coming though, this is going to be a long trimester!

Kaitlyn looked amazing on ultrasound last Friday and finally gave us a peak at her face :) They did a full U/S and we completely enjoyed our 30 minutes with her!

Johnny has graduated to a big boy bed recently and he is doing amazing with it. John and I feel spoiled in every way with that. He stays in his bed until he falls asleep for both naps and bedtime and he sleeps all night without coming into mommy and daddy's room. It's wonderful! He is getting so big too! I cant believe how smart he is! He is very aware of his surroundings and pretty responsive to them too! Can't wait to watch this little guy grow up more!

OKC

We have been super busy this last month, getting school in order and settling into our new place. People ask how we like our new place and the song Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood comes to mind every time! We are comfortable with the road we are traveling but less comfortable with this particular stage we are in. I suppose we are going through much different stages then others around us because we are so young with kids trying to finish our degree's. It certainly isn't easy but eventually we'll make it :)

We have not been successful in finding a church yet but we are still very optimistic and are trying a new one this Sunday. The churches in OKC are usually very big and even more baptist and we just aren't comfortable with that. I hope to get plugged in somewhere soon but we need to find the right church first.

We have not seen our handsome nephew since leaving TX a few weeks ago so pictures are our only vice in that area. He is already getting so big and he is only a month old!

Johnny has been extra "lovey" the past few weeks and Buddy gets an awful lot of hugs these days!

We often find Johnny under our bed with Buddy and a handful of toys to keep them both company. :)

Johnny is getting so big and doing a lot of Big Boy things, including eating a cheeseburger the Big Boy way!

We spend a lot of time at the pool, it is SO hot and humid here in OKC. The pool is nice to have :)

I have been doing a lot of sewing over the last couple weeks but I thought it was time for a break from the thread and needles to paint something for my grandmother who has long been asking for something. She will see it when she comes out in July for her visit but until then John will likely have it up on a wall somewhere :)

Settling in...

Well there is so much to post about... The most exciting is the arrival of our new nephew Nehemiah Alexander Kampmann. He arrived by c-section on May 3rd due to his misdirection in the womb landing him Frank Breach by 39 weeks. Weighing 8 lb 1 oz and measuring 19 inches long, our little blond haired addition emerged! He is such a joy and such a good baby! So far he is nearly 3 weeks old and sleeping up to 5 hours during the night, what spoiled parents Tiffany and Kris are! Nursing Miah started out as a challenge for Tiffany but thanks to some intense motivation and gumption she pressed on and the whole experience is much better now, even though they are still getting used to some aspects :) Thank you Julia for your suggestions!

Johnny took real well to Miah too! During our 2 weeks in Texas to help with the baby he learned to say "baby" and "puppy"! Pretty clearly too! He loved to hold Miah and hug on him. And chance he got to hold Miah without assistance he was a happy boy! Traveling is always hard with kids, just being away from home in general is tough for Mommy, Daddy and kids! Johnny has proven twice now that a week away from home is ample time away! After day 8 he becomes Mr Hide! We finally went home to our new home in OKC last week.

John moved us on his birthday May 8th and came straight down for Mother's Day on the 9th so we not only didn't get the chance to celebrate the big 25 for my amazing husband (we are doing that today!) but we had quite the job waiting for us at home what with the boxes and stuff everywhere! I'm not kidding, our apartment was barely livable for at least 48 hours! It is slowly coming along now as we are very slowly unpacking and settling in. Every once in a while we get rid of the boy, Mimi kidnaps him, and we get a lot done. Since officially moving here on the 8th we have had quite a few tornado experiences. SO not used to it but to my surprise I feel relatively calm during the threats. I feel so much closer to God being that I feel calm and at ease during what could be an intense situation for me and my nerves say two years ago. I feel like I just give it to him as soon as I hear the word "Thunderstorms". Seems easy but it wasn't for me. It's taken me a long time to get to where I am now with God. On that note, we are trying a new church this Sunday and we are eager to do it! It is another large one like Battle Creek so we are going to have to make sure it has groups and some other aspects that we loved about our previous church but it is Non-denominational and from what I understand it is really hard to find them in OKC. I'll blog sometime after tomorrow to tell all about our first church hunting experience :)

We are on the hunt for a big boy twin for Johnny. He isn't climbing out yet but he can climb in and often gets his legs caught in the bars of his crib, the shrieking screams from his bedroom in the dead of night have become rather unpleasant so we will embark on the conversion earlier than planned. That is once we find a nice bed for a good price! I think it will be a fun challenge though, once the up & down gets patted out. He is getting so smart and progressing so much! He is definitely our little shorty though, measuring at 30 1/2 in at nearly 18 months that puts him in the 10th percentile! We'll see if he shoots up later, we have a lot of time to tell :)

We are enjoying our little break from school and work but soon that will all be over too. Our Summer session begins June 7th and lasts for 2 months giving us 4 weeks before Kaitlyn is due to relax a little more. John has been led to make some much needed changes in his school plan in the recent weeks. He has decided that he will attend part time school instead of full time and in addition get a full time job. He is applying for a few different positions but our top two are a four year contract as a civilian gate guard at Tinker Air Force base and the one I am pulling for, the OKC PD. The PD is more exciting to me because we don't have to sign any contracts for 4 stinking years and with the AF job he would have some travel involved making school difficult to do in addition. We'll see though, it's all in the Lords hands! This is definitely huge on our prayer list as it will bring much more financial security to our family and more security to John as Husband and Father. We are very excited for this change!

I am 26 weeks along today and I feel like it! Kaitlyn is so active now. I remember a few months ago when we had our bout of threatened miscarriages due to a hemorrhage/hematoma (never got a straight answer on one or the other). What a scary time. She was far too little for any type of intervention and our only option was to wait and see. I would have killed for a personal ultrasound machine then! Thankfully the problem did fix itself in time and she is doing really well now, growing and maturing exactly how she should. The doctors are expecting a petite little girl in August! It's such a comfort to feel her moving around so actively like she does. I wished so hard that I could just feel her during those hard times and now I cant get her to stop. I would much rather her be active then not at all by every means though! We are all very excited for her arrival and the visit of my grandparents in August!

Well I am sure there is more to say but I am drawing blanks so I will leave you all with pictures of our trip to Texas and part saying that we are so incredibly grateful for all of our friends and loved ones for their continued support through our winded road of life! Until next time, may God be with you!