Welcome Kathleen and her 1st week!

Miss Kathleen Mae Moncus made her debut July 15th at 11 pm, weighing 6 lbs 15 oz and was20.5 inches long. She was well worth the wait! Mack and I had drove to Helen Keller Hospital and gotten there at midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. We had a great trip over. I was a little nervous but not really as bad as I thought I would be. Mack was making me laugh...he said the only thing he didn't like about the whole induction ordeal was that he really wanted to ride through town with flashers on going like 90 mph :) I told him I kinda wantedto myself.hah. So we got there and the nurse began my fluids, checked to see how far along I was and gave me a pill to start me thinning out. I was pretty surprised to find out I was still at the stage I was the week before at my appointment. So, I actually slept pretty well and woke up to the nurse starting my petocin (sp?) at 6:30 to get my contractions going. At 9:30, the doctor came in to break my water. I began to feel some regular contractions at about 11:30 and got my epidural at about 12:30. When the nurse checked me at 2:30, I was still at 2 cm!!! OMG, I thought, 'yep, I'm gonna be here all night'. I was not mentally prepared for a long labor. I thought since I was already dialated a little bit, it wouldn't be too bad. It was quite frustrating! Thankfully, we had lots of people in and out to visit, so that helped pass the time. I believe at about 4:30, I was at 4, 6:00 I was at6 cm.. and whenthe doctor came in at 8:30, I was an 8! hallelujah!We were getting there. At 10:30, I began pushing. I only pushed about 4-5 times and miss Kathleen arrived at 11 on the dot!! I was beginning to think her birthday was going to be the 16th and not the 15TH! It was an amazing experience and really it didn't seem like I laid there as long as I did. She was absolutely beautiful! I start to cry just thinking about how awesome it was to bring such an angel into this world!! She's truly a gift and we are so thankful for her.

Her 1st car ride home!








The day gown and bonnet my Momma made to bring her home in - so precious!

Her 1st bath!

Her 1st day, she met lots of special people. We had alot of visitors and I loved everyone getting to meet her. She did great and we kept her in the room all day and put her in the nursery at night to get a little rest. So, Friday was a good day, til they came in and told us she was a little jaundice and they needed to take her and keep her under the lamp and I would come feed her every 2 hours. They said frequnetly feeding them would help flush the bilirubin out. We were supposed to go home Saturday and were very hopeful her level would have dropped enough to go home. So, I got up Saturday morning all giddy and got ready only to find out her level had actually gone up from 11 to 11.5 and we would have to stat til Sunday. I was completely bummed and so ready to get our little girl home. But, knew that this was better for her so no worries. So Sunday morning it had gone down to 8.7...yay!!! We were going home!! So we were discharged and gathered all our stuff up, had her pic made (which you can check out at helenkeller.com, go to keller babies...our password is 2442003756 and 1st 4 letters of moncus..monc) and made that nerve-wrecking 1st ride home! She did great once we started riding. We got home and later my parents brought a ham over and Ed and Rita came over to eat. It was fun. Mary Helen and the kids visited that night too. She did pretty good the 1st night here, getting up about every 2-3 hours. . Mack stayed home til Wednesday and has already shown what a wonderful Daddy he is! I knew he'd be great but he's really blown me away! We had a great time all being together. Also, Tuesday, we went for our follow-up with the pediatrician...everthing was fine! She had gained an ounce since discharge which was right on track. My Momma came over Wednesday about lunch and let me get a shower.....that on itself is such a great help! She's been really awesome and helpful!Thursday was the roughest day yet. I felt like Kathleen was feeding CONSTANTLY...never getting satisfied. I was totally frustrated. I called the lactation nurse and she said she might have abelly ache and to try some mylicon drops. I think they've helped. Yesterday (friday) was much better. She has been sleeping pretty well at night. Last night and today have been the best yet. I think we're finally figuring each other out :) Mack's Aunt Donna and Uncle Larry and Bridgette came to visit this morning and then his Grandmother - who would be Kathleen's great-mother, and his 2 aunts came this afternoonn. It was a wonderful day and Kathleen was such a sweet girl!! ( I will post some pics of the visit soon...)

Soooo, being a Mommy is probably the most fun thing I have EVER done! Despite some of the frustrations of just figuring out what Kathleen needs and somewhat getting into a schedule (do you ever get to that point?!?), it's been so awesome! and I can't tell you how awesome Mack is...REALLY! She has made us both so happy and she is loved more than she knows right now!!! Keep checking for updates!

An Update...

Only 4 weeks away!! I can't hardly believe it! I am so excited about meeting our little girl. And a little nervous too :) Just wanted to post a few pics and give a little update. Here is a 35 week belly pic...

We have been going to childbirth classes which has been good. I enjoyed last week because Mack got to rub on my shoulders for a while...I personally thought this should just be an everyday thing :) Then we toured the facilities at the hospital and got familiar with where to go. That was the best class so far. Last night was about handling the baby. I don't know if it's making me more nervous knowing what to expect or if it's going to help me when the time comes. I imagine things will just go as they need to, prepared or not. I feel pretty prepared I guess. At my doctor's visit Tuesday, I was dialated 1 cm. I know I can be that way for a while, but it just made me so nervous for some reason!! But, we do have the nursery somewhat done...there is a crib for her to sleep in anyways! Mary and I put the bedding on it Thursday. There are still some things to hang and some here and there things to arrange, but for the most part, it is ready for Kathleen! Here are a few pics so far....For some reason they didn't turn out very clear, but I will post some more when everything is finished.

I have been washing baby clothes, blankets, socks, bibs, etc. in my 'spare' time. ( which is not very much, btw). I have loved going through all the cute things she has. Mercy at all her clothes!! They're all so precious and given to her by some pretty special people that I can't wait for her to meet :)

The house is pretty much put up. Our computer/sewing room is still a mess and there's plenty of things that need to be hung and decorating to do, but all in all, it feels quite homey. The doggies love their big back yard. They can run and play all day and don't even try to get out when we open the gate. We love it too. What's that song 'Love grows best in little places' or something like that...anyways, that about sums it up and I think it's very true :)

Also, Ed threw Rita a surprise 50th birthday party on June 13th at their house in Adairsville. It was a blast! And she was so surprised!! Her friend Kathy and I took her to this huge antique thing in Atlanta. It worked out perfect...we got back to Kathy's after a few stalls on the way back. Everyone was supposed to be at their house at 5:30 and that's what time we left Kathy's. We got stopped by the train which helped a little too. I was so nervous the whole day. I worried that my big mouth would say something and I didn't want to get her home early and didn't know if she would be willing to stay gone that long. But it was great and she was sooo funny when we pulled up. She kept saying 'why are all these people at my house?' and she wouldn't even get out of the car for the longest! hilarious. The party was actually early for her birthday since I would be just about to pop closer to her actual birthday, Ed went ahead and had one. It was too much fun!

We also had a great time on Father's day. We just went to church with Momma and Daddy, ate breakfast at Bojangles and then Mack and I headed home for BLT's we enjoyed the afternoon together (while he was putting together baby furniture - happy father's day to him!) And then that afternoon we headed to Momma and Daddy's for steaks. Delish! AND homemade ice cream which turned out so good and what I have been wanting since I came across our ice cream machine when we moved. yummy! It was a great Father's Day and I love my Daddy and I know Mack will be a great Daddy too!

Back to reality....

Let me end my non-blogging streak by saying that I had the most awesome 1 week, beach vacation last week! And how sad I am that it's over...I came back to a house FULL of boxes and then going back to work...the fun was over. We have been crazy busy getting moved. I began work here in Moulton May 11th. I have had 2 baby showers since then among a million other things going on. So, my vacation last week was very needed in my opinion. :) I guess i will start with the earlier events this past month....Like I said i started work May 11th here in Moulton and it's been wonderful. I invaded my parents house for about 2 weeks. I wasn't the only one though...Stacy and Will were here for 2 1/2 weeks!! we had so much fun and he is getting so big. I was so glad they were here while I was staying at Momma and Daddy's. They had a shower at church on the 17th which was so nice and Kathleen got so many nice things! My Momma surprised me with her day gown she had made...I was shocked! 1st of all, my mother cannot keep a gift secret and 2nd of all, she always waits til the last minute when she's smocking/sewing, so how in the world she kept from the finding out with me being there for 2 weeks, I don't know! It's so pretty though and I love it. she's quite talented :) Too bad she didn't pass much of that talent on to me..haha. Here are a few pics from that shower(ok, thought I had more than this, but they're on my Momma's camera):

The very next weekend was Memorial day weekend. Saturday afternoon, we all went over to Mary Helen and David's lake house to grill out..yummy! I put a couple of pics from that on here. Then, Sunday was the shower at my aunt Carol's. It was a blast! Again, Kathleen got so many nice things!! The house was full of people and gifts. My in-laws gave me a rocker and it is so beautiful...i am in love with it! Then Monday, I headed over to Adairsville for Ed's retirement picnic that was on Tuesday. We had a great time at Mack's parents house on Monday just playing with dogs, throwing horseshoes (i was just a spectator), and grilling out. His retirement lunch was a lot of fun too. They had some great food and so many wonderful things to say about Ed. I know he'll be missed up there! Just a few pics...

Will wore the outfit I made him for the shower :)

On Wednesday i got some wonderful news that my friend, Cece had their little girl! Rose is gorgeous!! Congrats to them!

That Friday was the day I had been looking forward to for a VERY LONG TIME!!!! I headed down to Montgomery to meet Mack at his office. Then, we were off to Ft. Rucker to stay with his cousin Zach and Krystal. We had a great time visiting with them. Saturday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and off to the beach!!!! YIPPEE! We got to Panama City about 10:30 and went to Erin's hotel and laid out on the beach with her until we could check into our condo. We went to our condo(the Origin - a new place - it's across the road from the beach, but not a bad walk and very affordable) and got ready for Stacy and Jacob's wedding. It was an absolutely gorgeous wedding at the Beachcomber. She was gorgeous and everything was so nice. They are such a fun couple! We went to the grocery store and came back and crashed about 9:30(just so I don't have to repeat this - we were in bed and asleep EARLY every night...what old folks!). Sunday was our 1 year anniversary!! I just can't believe it's already been a year...it's crazy. It seems like just a few weeks ago that we were getting for it. So, Sunday we celebrated by layin out on the beach ALL DAY LONG!!! My sweet husband got me a Pandora charm, and a sweet frame that says 'Baby to Bee' with a little bee on it and put Kathleen's ultrasound pic in there. Too precious! I was a bad wife and had not found what I wanted to get him yet. I knew what I wanted to get him, just did not find the perfect one :) (Eventually, he got an Auburn watch that I found while at the beach - i wanted to get him a pocket watch because timepieces are one of the traditional one year anniversary gifts. sounds cheesy I know, but I had not idea what to get him and thought I'd just stick with tradition :) ) That night we went to the Boatyard for our anniversary dinner. It was wonderful!!! All day long we kept saying 'ok, it's 10 o'clock...what were we doing on our wedding day at 10' or 'it's 2...we were getting married right now'. We just had a wonderful day. This past year has been awesome and very eventful to say the least! the best anniversary gift is the arrival of Kathleen...we are so excited and can't wait for her to be here! Monday was again spent at the beach. But, it was after we invested in a beach umbrella. what a life saver! We wouldn't have stayed out there for very long without it. I had continuously applied sunscreen on Monday, but I guess when your body hasn't seen sun since last summer, it doesn't matter. And I guess sitting in a beach chair on Sunday just roasted the tops of my legs even more and my chest and shoulders. I was pretty well done. I couldn't spend too much time on my stomach. I had started diggin a hole for my belly in the sand so I could lay down :) Worked perfectly...but still not comfortable for very long. Anywho, Monday afternoon after the beach, we went to a new shopping center in PC and walked around and went to the Hofbrau Biergarten. Mack had to try out the beer there and compare to the one in Germany. Of course it wasn't as good because it's not as fresh, but still it was fun to go. We had brats in a blanket (their menu was very Americanized too). They were good as our appetizer. Then we went to Hammerhead Fred's later for our meal. It was pretty good. We loaded up Tuesday morning and headed to Orange Beach! Mack was taking me there for my girls beach trip. I was so pumped!! We went to eat in Foley at the bowling alley. This was one of my favorites when I was working in Bay Minette. and I can assure you they have the best crab claws ever!!! So, I checked into the condo at about 1:30 and waited for the 1st batch of girls to arrive. we all headed to the beach for the afternoon, then went grocery shopping which was an adventure in itself. We spent all day Wednesday at the beach and pool. It was pretty cloudy but we all just rested and agreed that we got a little bit of sun through the clouds :) The other 3 girls got there Wednesday night. We spent pretty much every day just getting up early, eating, and laying out by the pool or beach. It was FABULOUS! We all just enjoyed catching up with each other and really had so much fun together. Thursday night we went to Live Bait, ate, and then saw the Velcro Pygmies, which apparently are my friend, Molly's favorite band to go see :) So, Kathleen has already heard the pygmies and I think she really likes them...:) We also ate at the Original Oyster House while we were there on friday. Then, Saturday, we went to the outlets and finished our trip with a meal at the Steamer in Gulf Shores. We tried to go to LuLu's but we'd probably still be waiting for our food right now if we woulda ate there. Sunday we all loaded up and sadly headed home. I think we all concurred that this was going to have to be an every year occurrence. I had gotten spoiled and Monday morning, it was definitely hard to get up and come to work...I was just wishing i was going to the beach instead! Oh yes, and the movers moved our stuff into the house on Friday so I walked into a house full of boxes!! My vacation ended quite abruptly right then! We have been staying up til 10:30 or 11 (which, mind you is incredibly late for me :) ) and unpacking. It's overwhelming, but we are getting there. i love our little house and the pups LOVE their fenced in back yard. they get to run around all the time! So, that's what's been going on with me. Very busy and having lots of fun!! :)