Makaeda's First Trip to the Pool

Makaeda's first trip to the pool (Water Mine Park in Reston, VA)...we had a fun filled day in the pool and out and about with Mrs. Tamara and Kennedi who is only 4 days older than Makaeda.

Carrots..

So we tried Sweet Potatoes this past Saturday but she was NOT having it..which means we're just going to move on and try them again in a few weeks...

On to carrots, at first she didn't really know how to feel about them...but she spit most of them out..


On the second day, I mixed them with rice cereal and she LOVED them..wanted to help me..



After a few spoonfulls, she decided I just wasn't going fast enough and she wanted to do it by herself...

Needless to say..carrots were a success so it's on to peas...stay tuned!

Our 1st Independence Day!!!

Here are a few shots from July 4th (and the 5th)...Enjoy

Memories from 3 months - 4 months

Here are a few memories from Makaeda's 3rd month and the very beginning of her 4th. :)

We took our first family trip to NC on Memorial Day weekend. Makaeda was able to meet her Nana and Grandpa (Reggie's parents) for the first time, going to cousin Jasmine's HS graduation, getting cozy with Godmommy Alicia, meeting all her Chapel Hill fam, and visiting Grammie and Pawpaw (Jessica's parents) at Jordan Lake. Makaeda did excellent during the ride, only throwing a fit an hour outside of Alexandria on the way back home...she, like her mother, realized that it was only a matter of time before we had to wake up and get ready for the "real world" again.



The next 2 slideshows are from Makaeda's 3rd month. We just cannot believe how much she's grown in such a short time...it's so amazing. And it's SO TRUE what they say about enjoying every second because they just seem to fly by..





And so the fun really begins..Makaeda had her 4-month pediatrician appointment on June 25th, 2009 and she was a whopping 15 lbs, 4oz and 24.5 inches long..what a healthy baby we have! She also had to get 4 shots which she was not loving Mommy and Daddy about but alas..

She's started "talking" up a storm and now instead of fussing before she heads off to snooze, she starts talking until she eventually just passes out (so much like her Mommy). She's really starting to look like Reggie (even though Mommy hates to admit it)...and she's starting her first solids of rice cereal. WOOHOO.



Crazy, right? Jessica is going to try to be better about updating this blog..we have so many pictures that we need a new computer just to house them all. :)

Hope all is well with everyone..love and happiness!

Almost 3 months old...

Makaeda Hope is almost 3 months old (10 weeks to be exact) and just the most precious child ever.  It's crazy how big she's gotten in just these past 10 weeks and it's amazing how much she's already learned to do or figured out.

She can now lift her head (although it's gotten a little difficult as of late b/c it's increased in size..haha), she's scooting along if she can get her feet together, she smiles just about everytime you say anything to her and she's started cooing and talking back to us.

She started daycare last Tuesday and she loves it.  Every night when we come home from work/daycare - she will coo until she falls asleep, almost as if she has SO much to tell us about her day.  Next week/weekend (Memorial Day weekend), we're traveling to NC to visit family.  This will be the first time that Reggie's parents will be able to see her so it'll be really nice, then we'll visit my parents who are camping and then it's out and about through Chapel Hill visiting various friends...

Here are some latest pics of our cutie..enjoy!

Happy Easter 2009!!

Our little empress is officially 6 weeks old - hard to believe that much time has passed already.  She's holding her head up pretty steady with a bobble here and there, smiling at us and attempting to have some sort of conversation with us through coos, yells and sighs.  She's starting to develop her own little personality with her father's stubbornness and her mother's attitude. :)

Here are a few pictures of her in her Easter outfit..enjoy until next time.

Our Little Sweetie - Miss Makaeda Hope

Our apologies (mainly mine - Jessica's) for not having posted updates sooner...as you can imagine our life has been a whirlwind over the past month, especially considering that our little bundle of joy came a bit sooner than expected.

On Saturday, February 28th, 2009, I woke up and thought my water had broken but it was no where near the "gush" that everyone tells you it will be.  Reggie had already gone to work so I hung around the house to see if there would be the "gush" or if I should just call my doctor to see about heading to the hospital.  After about an hour, I started having mini-contractions and called Doc who told me to make way to Labor and Delivery at Inova Alexandria.  The nurses and Doc admitted me, tested my fluid and confirmed that my water had started leaking and I was dilated 2cm.  They immediately put a catheter with pitocin into my cervix in order to speed up the process and regulate my contractions.  After about an hour and a half, I had dilated to 4cm.  After making it to 5cm I asked for my epidural.  

As soon as they administered my epidural, my blood pressure dropped severely as did Makaeda's heart rate.  Apparently I had had some type of reaction to the epidural so all of the nurses on the floor and my doctor ran to my room and turned me to my side so that Makaeda would get enough blood flow.  Talk about a scary situation!!  To remedy the issue, they gave me a shot of epinephrin, lowered my epidural levels, and made me wear these socks with massagers to help with my circulation (I couldn't move at all.)  After 11 hours of labor the doctor found that I had only dilated to 6cm and I was feeling the need to push ..because my body wasn't ready, Makaeda's head had already started to cone...so the call was made to head to the OR for a cesarean.

At 10:31pm, we finally - after all that time - welcomed our little empress, Miss Makaeda Hope Padgett Fuller into to the world.  She was 7lbs, 13.7 oz and 19.8 inches long.

It's crazy to think that it has already been 1 month since she arrived..and she's grown so much already.  At her 2 week pediatrician appointment, she weighed 8lbs, 8oz and had grown in length almost 5 inches!  She's such a joy and we cannot wait for everyone to meet her.

Enjoy the slideshow below with pictures from her 1st month of life...and leave some comments if you can.

Love, life and happiness...

39 weeks...whew

Okay, we've officially made it to 39 weeks and we're steadily approaching our goal of welcoming little miss Makaeda Hope.

- Had on OB appointment on Monday where we were dilated 1cm and she projected Makaeda to be a big "little" girl at around 8.5 lbs already!! She told us that we probably won't wait until the 11th to schedule an induction if I do not go by our due date or by the 11th..now we're basically waiting until the 4th and scheduling induction right away. She also said we may actually have to do a Cesarean because I may not be able to handle it physically...but we're going to try!

- Had our 39-week ultrasound earlier today...and she's looking mighty cramped in there! The radiologist said from her measurements she doesn't believe Makaeda is as big as the OB says so we'll have to wait and see! Either way, we have the following picture to share for the time being...looks like she has her mother's fabulous lips! (Not that I'm conceited or anything...wink, wink)

Other than that, still playing the waiting game as patiently as we can. I start maternity leave next Tuesday, March 3rd and Reggie will be home for 2 weeks after we welcome her...

Until next time, Love to everyone!!

The Waiting Game

So, we are officially about a week and a half away from our anticipated due date and the house is abuzz with preparations. I'm definitely in the nesting phase and have been cooking like crazy - something Reggie is glad that I brought back considering eating take out and fast food for about 8 - 9 months has gotten extremely OLD.

We went last night and bought all of our toiletries and necessities for our overnight bag considering I could go into labor any day now. Dr. McKenzie has me taking evening primrose oil to try and speed up the process if at all possible. I'm now going to see her once a week, with my next appointment on Monday. During my last visit, Makaeda had turned halfway and was facing my right side with her head in the correct position. You'd think I had one of those small aliens from the movie "Alien" inside of me with the way she tries to push, kick and stretch - it seriously has to be one of the most exciting and creepiest things to watch. I took a couple videos of her moving around in there just so we could reminisce later on in life.

We FINALLY received the crib from UPS this past Monday (Presidents' Day), which made it almost a full month of waiting and fighting them to actually deliver it when we SCHEDULED to have it delivered. I think our local customer service center has to be a group of the most incompetent people in Northern Virginia - possibly the entire state. (Side Note: I think it's sad when someone from the customer service center is on the phone with you telling you she just cannot find the box - which was large and about 75 pounds - in their storage center when the delivery driver is knocking at your door with the box itself..I mean you'd think since everything is computerized you'd be able to tell it's out for delivery, but what do I know?!?) With that said, this weekend will be spent getting the final touches done to the nursery and pictures will be soon to follow..Promise!

I plan to start maternity leave on March 4th (unless Makaeda decides to be stubborn)..but will definitely be on it by the second Monday in March as Dr. McKenzie says we'll probably go ahead and push her on out by the 11th anyways. :) Auntie Lish will be visiting (maybe with Auntie JLamb if she can make the trip) soon after, with my parents and grandparents coming after that...and I'm hoping Auntie Christin will be able to make it the first weekend or so in April but we will see (crossing fingers). Reggie is planning to take a week/week and a half right after we come home from the hospital and then he'll be taking paternity leave right as I go back to work so we're in the process of getting all those dates together...still feels like we have so much to do and SERIOUSLY so little time.

Anywho, hope all is well with everyone..more updates to come..until then - send good vibes and prayers our way.

Love, Health and Happiness!!!!

35 weeks...

Here we are at 35 weeks - excited and uncomfortable. :) At this point, we have about 5 weeks left until little Miss Makaeda arrives and we could not in more anticipation than we are (well I'm sure that will change as the final weeks wear on). We completed our 4-week Childbirth Preparation class this past Thursday and were actually sad. The other couples were so nice, we learned a great deal and I think it calmed both our nerves just a bit - if anything because of the laughs we had during each class. We've collected just about every item we need for the nursery - still waiting on the crib. We went to pick it up from UPS this past Friday night but it was far too large to put in the car so we've asked them to try and redeliver this week. Other than that, we'll just need to go pick up the crib mattress and our glider/ottoman. Once everything is situated, I'll share actual pictures of the entire nursery.

Our second baby shower, held at Kerrie's house, was so much fun and I think I probably ate way too much but what can ya do? We have been so grateful for all that our friends and family have done and continue to do. As you can see in the slideshow - Nana Fuller sent us a big box of goodies a couple of weekends ago. This child is going to be SO spoiled!

I have a doctor's appointment pretty much every two weeks now so we will let you know if there are any IMPORTANT updates at any of those. As for the rest of this Super Bowl Sunday - I'll be creating a phone tree for the "day of" and will be finishing our Hospital Preadmission paperwork. Wish me luck!

Love to you all and thanks for thinking of us!