Monday, December 28, 2009

Hattie's First Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year spent with Family and Friends. Because Sean's siblings were all going to be out of town for Christmas this year with in-laws we celebrated the holidays a little early together with all the Packs and had such a wonderful time. On Christmas Eve we spent time with my Grandparents and the Phelps family and had a fabulous dinner! On Christmas morning we opened gifts with my family and had a yummy Christmas breakfast. Hattie loved her first Christmas and got a lot of new books that we can read to her over the years along with a few other fun things. In the afternoon we went over to Sean's Grandma June's to have some more Pack fun. Here are some pictures from all of our Holiday celebrating.











At the Hospital

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Hattie's Arrival

Labor & Delivery

Contractions hurt. They REALLY hurt! It's pretty funny because up until my due date I had never had a contraction and I was begging to just feel something, ANYTHING! Well at 2am on the 15th I started having some cramping and by 9am I was definitely feeling that something. We went to the doctor that day at noon and he checked me and I was dialated to a 1.5, said that I was progressing and set my induction for the 16th at 5am.--but Manhattan had other plans. By 5:00pm I couldn't bear the pain any longer and we decided it was time to go to the hospital. They took me back and set me up on all of these monitors and of course I wasn't really contracting like I had been and I was so scared they weren't going to admit me. They checked my dialation and I was at a 3 and I they also checked to see if my water had broken...apparently it had and I didn't really realize it?! Maybe I was too focused on the pain, I'm not sure. They also figured that she was in the posterior position because all of the pain I was having was in my back. They called my doctor and he said to take me back. By the time we got to room 112 the anesthesiologist was there ready to give me my epidural. I love epidurals :) Then they just wanted to wait and see how quickly I would progress on my own. Well as we waited Hattie's heart rate started getting really low and I could tell that the nurses were getting a little worried. One nurse went out to call my doctor and came back in with a dose of Pitocin to make things go a little quicker. Because her heart rate wasn't rising they had to put some monitors on her head as well as put some fluid back in because they thought she may be resting too much on her umbilical cord. The fluid did the trick! Her heart rate started rising and I just kept on dialating. After a couple of hours my nurse came in and checked me and I was at a 10! She said that Dr. Judd was on his way and his entourage had already arrived. As soon as Dr. Judd came in he got the forceps out and asked me if I was ready to see my little girl in 90 seconds. At 1:25am and 3 short pushes later she was here--all 6lbs, 10oz, 20in of her! The entire experience was so incredible and I didn't even feel a thing! I am just so grateful that the fabulous Dr. Judd uses forceps or else I would have had to have a C-section. Sean lit up as soon as he saw her and he was able to cut the cord and also helped give her her first bath. Manhattan has blessed our lives in so many ways and we feel so blessed to have her. My heart is full of love for my family and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Christmas present. She really brings the true meaning of Christmas to life.

Monday, December 21, 2009

SHE'S HERE!!!

Manhattan Grace has arrived! She was born at 1:25 am on December 16. She weighed 6lbs 10oz and was 20in long. She is the best Christmas present we could have ever asked for and we feel so very blessed to have her in our lives. More details on labor and the like to follow...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Update

Well, today is Manhattan's due date and early this morning I started having contractions. I already had an appointment scheduled at 11:00 am the doctor said that if I don't have our little precious tonight that he will be inducing me tomorrow at 5:00 am! We will see what happens! As I write this my contractions are about 5 minutes apart and lasting over a minute. I'll be sure Sean keeps everyone posted :)

Saturday, December 5, 2009

The Final Days...

This is how I'm feeling right now...

Everyone says that the last couple of weeks are the hardest part of pregnancy and I always thought that it couldn't be that bad. However, now that I'm experiencing it, I must say that it is THAT bad and maybe even worse! Everyday it is getting more and more uncomfortable just for me to do normal daily tasks and I seriously cannot wait to be done with pregnancy. On a more positive note I have to say that I am so blessed to have had a great pregnancy with absolutely no complications and there are only ten days to go until Sean and I get to welcome a beautiful little girl into the world. We are so very excited and cannot wait to meet her!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Loving Life


So I have kinda let Alexa carry the blogging load lately and I thought today would be a great day to write about what has been going on with me lately. There are some serious changes on the horizon for us and I gotta say, I COULD NOT BE ANY MORE EXCITED. Alexa is ready to be done with this whole pregnancy business but I have to applaud her for the way she has handled everything. She is still working full time, being a great wife, and still has not gone a day without wearing her heels. Move over all of Hattie's things that belong in the nursery closet, Alexa's heels are here to stay! I am sure Alexa will roll her eyes when she reads this, but I am amazed that she is still wearing those crazy things at 35 weeks. She looks amazing and I am excited to see her as a mommy. Speaking of being a parent, ummm.... who in the wide wide world of sports would have thought that Sean Pack would be a dad at 25. I chuckle quite often at the plan of our creator. I know its all happening for a reason and at this time for the same, but holy cow. That's all I will say about that. I am excited. Now to get to some things that have been going on with me lately.

Flawless.

So Alexa surprised me a few weeks back with an early Christmas present. I don't know if many of you know this, but I really like nice things. :) Luckily, Alexa shares my similar taste and in this particular situation, and we got a steal on pretty much the nicest pen I have ever seen. The Mont Blanc website would snub their noses that I called the pen a "pen". The "precision writing instrument" shown below will be the pen of choice for me for many years to come. Thank you sweetheart, I love it!


Chicago.

Alan, (my father-in-law) won a trip for two to Chicago during a competition for his work. The perks of the trip were awesome and I gotta say, Alan knows how to travel. We went to Chicago for a taping of the PBS show Soundstage. I am sure not a ton of you know what the show is, as it is on PBS, but it is basically a concert for TV. We saw Michael McDonald, formerly of the Doobie Brothers. It was really awesome. It was a relatively small stage/venue so we were really close. It was really a fun night. We had a reception before the show where we got to meet Mr. McDonald and get pictures and things with him. The taping was for a Christmas show, which is always a favorite for myself. It was a quick trip, but we stayed in downtown Chicago in the Magnificent Mile Marriot and got to bum around Chicago for a day. We ate at the Lux du Cafe, among other places and it was fantastic. I absolutely love Chicago and I want to go back so bad. Alan knew that I desperately needed new running shoes, so we stopped by the Niketown and he was so kind to buy me a new pair of shoes. They of course are pictured below. I have the yellow ones though :) The shoes are pretty much the best pair I have ever worn. 1 mile becomes 4 pretty easily. So it was a great, great, great trip and I thank you Alan for taking me. I had a blast. It was good father-in-law, son-in-law time. Thank you.


Sunday, October 25, 2009

Spoiled


Manhattan and I are very spoiled. Sean bought us this and I am so in love! Thank you baby :)

Fun Projects

Can I just say that I am absolutely, positively, ObSeSsEd with Hobby Lobby?! Oh my goodness! Magan introduced me to this fabulous place and I am 100% hooked! So, I saw this wreath on the Better Homes and Gardens website that I really liked and normally I am someone who just thinks that something looks fun but I don't attempt to actually make it...BUT today I branched out and made a wreath! An actual wreath! I am so excited about it! All of the supplies came from HL and the total project cost me $16.50!


Another couple of fun projects that both my mom and I have been working on are for little Manhattan. My mom found a bassinet for $5 at a garage sale that was in great shape but wasn't really my taste. I showed my mom what I wanted and she offered to help me make this skirt to cover the whole thing! It's about 3/4 of the way done it's just missing a BIG bow to go in the front :)

I searched and searched for "shabby chic" crib bedding and couldn't find anything that I remotely liked for our little princess. I of course told my mom about my dilemma and she said that she would be happy to make it for me! My mom is just amazing! Because so many people have asked to see the progress on the nursery I thought I would show the samples of the fabrics and trims that will be used to create Manhattan's one-0f-a-kind bedding! Her crib is a distressed sage green and I think that it will all tie together really well. I promise as SOON as everything is complete we will post pictures!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Lately

It's been a little while since I have blogged and I thought I would catch you up on a couple of happenings.

Amanda had her BABY!!! Little Ronin was born on September 12th and weighed 8lbs 2oz and is as cute as can be and I absolutely adore him! And I must say that Amanda looks just FaBuLoUs!

We celebrated Sean's 25th birthday with family and friends--it was a lot of fun! He even got to indulge himself with TWO ice cream cakes from Baskin Robbins which are his absolute favorite.
I've entered into my third and final trimester and I am starting to feel HUGE and a lot more UnCoMfOrTaBlE! Luckily the countdown has begun and the end is in sight! We even signed up for our Labor class this month at the hospital! Sean is really looking forward to a fun filled Saturday with 6 hours of absolutely no football :) I told him that I've had to do endure this pregnancy thing for 9 months, he can survive one day! Here are a couple of pics of me at 29 weeks. (Yes, I know that the first pic is a little blurry but I just had to show the heels! They are about the only thing that makes me feel remotely attractive these days!)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Happy Birthday Sean!

THE BIG NUMBER 25!
I just wanted to write a quick note wishing the most incredible man in the world a very happy birthday! Sean, I love you more than you know and I just want to thank you for being exactly who you are. I am very lucky to have you as my best friend and my husband. I am so grateful to have you in my world. You're truly the best! :)

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Best Friends Forever...Pregnant Together

So two of my best friends that I have known since first grade are also prego! It's pretty cool to have someone to call and relate to during this pregnancy adventure. Anyway, a couple weeks back we decided that we should document this rare event with a photo shoot! In these pictures Amanda is 36 weeks and having a little boy named Ronin and Jackie is 16 weeks and at the time she didn't know what she was having but she just found out she's having a girl and I am 22 weeks.





Thursday, August 6, 2009

My Newest Obsession

This is my newest obsession:



I have been dying to have this fragrance for so long! So, after dropping many hints, my wonderful husband got it for me on my birthday and I absolutely love, love, LOVE it! Even when I am having an off day and don't really like what outfit I'm wearing or my hair is struggling I will put this on and it makes everything so much better. So move over Burberry Brit--this is a fragrance that I will be wearing for a while!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Precious Prada Pack


Last week we took little miss to go get her hair done. We wanted her to have a "Roxy Cut" for summer but that didn't quite happen as planned. They were able to trim around her face and back but she would NOT let them get near her legs or paws. The poor women at Doggy Dreams were absolutely mutilated by our 4 pound little one and suggested (more like pleaded) that we get her a tranquilizer, yes a TRANQUILIZER, from the vet the next time we bring her in! Needless to say we have a lot of behavior issues that we are trying to work out with Prada, but dang it, she sure is cute! :)

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Hattie's 20 Week Photo Shoot :)











Well...I went in yesterday for my 20 week ultrasound and I have to admit I was a little nervous. I was so worried that something might be wrong with our little one--yes, I am a HUGE worrier. But everything turned out to be just fine! She is measuring great, has all 4 chambers of her heart, two little kidneys, a perfect little spine, and the most precious little profile. She is also moving A TON! I can't really feel her yet so it was good to know that she moves all over the place. Here are some pictures of our little precious who will be here in about 20 weeks! I can't believe we are half way there--it's incredible!