Time flies!

Ashlyn is already 6 months old! She is so fun and getting so big. She sits up on her own now and tries to talk. I started working again at a daycare which is nice since I can take her with me. She has got this new excited laugh that she does and it makes me laugh. David and I are doing well and don't have much excitement going on. I do hope that we can find a new apartment this year. Our neighbors are driving me nuts! They smoke indoors and it wafts up to our apartment through the vents and they keep having these huge fights since he cheats on her constantly. I still want to go back to school so I will be busy applying and such. I can't believe how much time has flown this year! We have been so busy that I wonder if I will ever get her scrapbook done! (Or started for that matter). We have been enjoying the nice weather (on the rare occasion it is nice). We can't wait until it stops snowing and raining everyday! We do have a few trips planned this summer and can't wait for our daughter to go with us. She is seriously so beautiful and amazing :)

A New Year

Once again I haven't been on here as often as I should be. The last 4 months have been great! We have had many challenges and many wonderful moments. I thought I would never get through Ashlyn's first diaper rash or the period of purple crying but we have. I seriously don't know what we have done without her. She is getting tall and has such a personality! She loves to smile and laugh and is such a happy baby! She loves to take baths and cuddle :) It has been hard to have date nights so we have a lot of family time! I decided to go back to work and it is kind of hard. I am going to stick with it for a while and hope it gets better. I am working in an infant room at a child care center so I am with Ashlyn all day still but have other kids as well. I feel like I am taking time away from us or something. I love the kids and seems like I can't wait to go back to work but then again I can sort of thing. We had a great Christmas and the little one got really spoiled! It was nice to see family but so hectic! I am glad the holidays are over and it is a new year with so much ahead! Maybe my New Year Resolution should be to update the blog more often.

She's Here!

Our little Ashlyn Marie is finally here!! She arrived on October 14th at 1:21 in the morning. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. She took her sweet time and nothing went according to plan but that was ok. It all started with our doctor's appointment on October 12th, her actual due date. We had the doctor strip my membranes to see if labor would start. Sure enough contractions started immediately and lasted the whole night. I cleaned the whole house and David knew then that I was in labor. I went to bed and woke up on the 13th to use the bathroom and the contractions were stronger and lasting longer. I got up at 5 and couldn't go back to sleep, so I just timed my contractions. They were getting pretty close together around 8 when I decided to take a bath. Once in the bath tub the contractions stopped and I started back at square one. I got out and walked around and contractions started up again! By 11:30 they were 4 minutes apart for 2 hours and we decided to go to the hospital. They told me I was 5-6 cm. but baby was still high. We walked and used the birthing ball and we were told I was a 7 around 4 pm. I was so excited that I kept moving around and thought this isn't too bad! Then my "birthing crew (Kristyn, Mom, Dad, Tami, David) started to show up. I stayed at a 7 for about 3.5 hours before deciding to have my water broken. Once this happened contractions started to get stronger and closer together. Around 9:30 I decided after being at a 9 for 3 hours I would get an epidural to help my body relax so I could finish dilating and baby would move down. That was a lifesaver! Once that was done I dilated within an hour and a half and started pushing at 11:30. It was so neat to see her head crown in the mirror and David helped deliver her! It was such a great experience to watch her be born and to feel her head once it came out. I never thought I would be so happy but it is also surreal that I have a baby that will be going home with me! Once out she didn't cry but just looked around and made some noise. We finally got to sleep around 5 am after 24 hours of labor and we couldn't be happier to have our little girl with us!

39 Weeks

Our little peanut is being so stubborn! I am now 39 weeks pregnant and so uncomfortable! I have so much trouble sleeping and every time I eat I get sick. I have not had any contractions that hurt or felt too many for that matter. I am retaining a lot of water and my feet don't fit into anything! David has been so understanding of my mood swings, discomfort, and irritability. I don't know what I would do without him! He is going to be such a great hands on daddy! He always wakes up in the middle of the night when I get out of bed to eat or go to the bathroom. He has to make sure everything is ok before he rolls over to go back to sleep :) I am currently 4 cm and 80% effaced and we go to the doctor again tomorrow. I might have the option of getting my membranes stripped but not sure how I feel about it. My blood pressure was high last time so hopefully it has gone down. We have everything ready now just waiting for the show to start. David has been super busy with work and is planning to work from home for a little while after the baby is born. We got our windows replaced so now we don't hear the neighbors anymore! We also got our new dishwasher which is helpful since all I feel like doing is sleeping. We went on a quick trip to Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons about 3 weeks ago and it was so fun! I am so glad we got to go and have one last camping trip before baby gets here! It was so exciting to learn about how Yellowstone was formed and of course the little misadventures that happen on all of our trips :) We had a great camping spot by Jackson Lake in the Grand Tetons and had fun going into the water. In Yellowstone we saw a lot of the hot springs and of course, Old Faithful. It was one of the best spur of the moment trips and we are so lucky we got to do it. I can't wait to take our little Ashlyn there one day to show here nature's wonders! 

The Waiting Game

I am bad at writing on our blog and keeping people updated! I am currently 32 weeks pregnant and ready for this little one to come out!! She is getting bigger and stronger. She kicks constantly and is all up in my ribs. We are so excited and I love seeing David's face light up when he feels her moving. :) He is going to be the greatest dad to our little peanut! We decided on the name Ashlyn Marie Luker. Well I wrote down names I liked and David came home one day and said I know her name. Then he put the names together and it fit! I could never decide a name because he didn't like it, he is just really picky about some things. We decided not to move right now and it might be better since David had a minor surgery to remove some kidney stones and neither of us can move much heavy stuff. We (mostly me) are just cleaning and organizing our house trying to get ready for this baby. I think our little cockroach scare was one that crawled through the drains because I haven't seen one since I poured bleach down all the drains. I have been moving so much stuff that I'm surprised I haven't gone into labor! Right now I am just working on getting all the final stuff we need (crib, bassinet, dresser, changing table, swing, stroller, etc.) All we have are clothes and some diapers! I am also doing little crafty things like painting letters for her room and getting some stuff to decorate. :)

Our Little Family

Our little family has been doing good the past few weeks. We have been busy figuring out if we want to move along with working and me finishing school. I am not working as much as I was before as I am swelling in my feet and legs. We just got back from Vegas for my birthday. We had fun but it isn't really enjoyable being pregnant and taking care of 3 drunk people. We had fun and won some money. We found out last week that we are expecting a little girl! It will be so fun although I don't know how to do little girl hair. I guess we can work on that though. I am really excited that we don't need a lot since my sister has 2 little girls also so we can get what they grow out of! It is stressful thinking of names and birthing classes, and hospital tours but somehow it will all come together in the end. I had a feeling today while in the library that I have no idea what to do or what we will need when we bring baby home. I really feel helpless in not knowing how to do everything. I hope we will figure it out one way or another. Hopefully we will have wonderful people to help us out. As of now we don't have a name but we have a few months to figure that out. Now we just need a few days to relax and enjoy being home!

New Beginnnings

I am having trouble posting as much as I would like due to lack of time. We have been so busy with work and me with school. It is nice to get a moment to write a little bit and update everyone :) We have some wonderful news to share! We are having a baby!!! We are so excited for a new beginning in our lives and can't wait to meet our little peanut. We aren't picky about what gender it is as long as it is happy and healthy. I have had a few obstacles with my pregnancy but that is expected with other problems I had a few years ago. I may have to stop working earlier than I want but I will be staying home and going to school. We are currently on vacation and are traveling through the Midwest. We haven't done much as it is not the right season but we did see some friends of mine in North Dakota and stopped at Devils Tower. We did have one minor problem with the alternator but got it fixed for a decent price. Hopefully we have a great last 2 days and enjoy the time together. David is making me laugh so much! He says the funniest things while we have been driving. I hope everyone is doing well, thanks for reading!