A Case of the Hiccups

A Cold Morning

I had to bust out the cold weather gear since it was 23 degrees this morning!

Daddy Drop Off

In order to be able to squeeze in a morning run without dragging the bambino out in the cold, I thought it could work nicely if Ryan was the one to drop Brooke off in the morning at our babysitter's on his way out of town. In order to make it as easy as possible on him I had packed up all of Brooke's daily supplies in her diaper bag and loaded them in his car. So I woke up at 4:50 AM, fed Brooke, put her back to sleep and then got dressed and ready to meet my running buddy at 5:30 AM. We had a great morning run and I hopped in the shower at 6:35 in order to make it to work. So about an hour later I talked to Ryan and asked him how it went! He said he didn't know if he would be able to drop her off again because it took a long time. I asked him what the deal was since all he needed to do was get her out of her crib and load her in her pumpkin seat and drop her off. Ryan said it started off poorly when he got up to her room and it smelled like a dumpster. He said he couldn't very well show up at the babysitters with a stinky daughter and look like a bad dad. So he said he changed her diaper and got distracted and lost track of time because she was being all smiley and cute and he couldn't tear himself away. Then he said he finally got her loaded in the car and he listened to her filling her britches the whole way over to drop her off (our daughter definitely doesn't have any elimination problems)! When I went to visit her during lunch she was all smiles!

Home away from home

Well Brooke passed major test number two over the weekend (with her first major test being that she enjoys the running stroller)! We took a little trip to my home away from home and Brooke did great. I strapped her into our front pack carrier and at first she was sleeping peacefully against me. She must have innately sensed what an exciting place we were at and she woke up and was holding her head up like a big girl and checking out the sites. I wish I had our camera with us at the time because she was pretty precious. Where were we you might be asking? We were at what my husband and I loving call the D - Pot . . . or what normal people call the Home Depot! Since we didn't capture that trip on picture I've included a picture of Brooke and Ryan when we all took our first trip to the Farmer's Market.

Afternoon Musings

I have to say it is quite a blessing (or maybe a mixed blessing) that Brooke loves to ride in her jogging stroller since that doesn't give me any excuse for slacking on my running. So on our run yesterday I began wondering if Brooke will be a runner or a golfer or a pianist . . . and then I thought back to something shared in Bible study this week. My sister shared that another parent was praying for their child and they prayed that their child would have a profound relationship with God. This really struck me because it's easy to pray that your child will be healthy or intelligent or athletic or a blessing to others or that they won't fall on hard times . . . but really all of those things are insignificant! So I pray that our little Brooke will love and follow God (and I will try not to be disappointed if she doesn't like to run . . . and her daddy will try not to be disappointed if she doesn't like golf)!

Back to Work

So today was my first day back at work. I wasn't happy at all about the idea . . . but Brooke didn't seem to mind at all as I was loading her up to drop her off! A friend Audrey is watching her during the day and she conveniently lives close to my work. So on my way to drop Brooke off I thought I was completely fine and it wouldn't be a big deal. But as soon as I got inside Audrey's house I started to get all choked up. So I quickly left to keep from crying, but it was to no avail. By the time I got back to my car tears were streaming down my face while little Brooke was peacefully sleeping in her pumpkin seat inside Audrey's. I went by to visit her at lunch and nurse her and she was mostly asleep the entire time until of course I was getting ready to leave and I handed her back to Audrey. Then she woke up and was smiling . . . the little stinker!

Monkeying Around

Who knew monkeys could taste so good!

Good Morning

I can't help but feel utterly blessed when I wake up in the morning to this! She is such a precious gift from God!

Mizzou fan

How can Mizzou lose so badly to Texas with such a cute cheerleader on their side?

Talking to Daddy

Doctor's Visit

Brooke had her 1 month appointment (at 6 weeks of age) and she definitely hasn't had any trouble gaining weight. She now weighs 10 pounds 1 ounce which puts her in the 75th percentile for her age. And her height is now 21 3/4 inches which puts her in the 50-75th percentile on height! Her head circumference was 37 3/4 cm which puts her in the 50th percentile.

Play day with the cousins

Brooke went to Kansas City today to meet her new cousin Hadley who is a month younger than she is! She also got in some play time with her other cousins Bri and Mia and her auntie Amaris.

Who needs a pacifier when daddy's around?

Brooke's First Night in Her Crib

Brooke has been sleeping in our room at night and we decided it was time to try her out in her crib. Of course it broke her mommy's heart at the thought of Brooke being all the way upstairs by herself, but luckily Ryan was here to reassure me that she would be fine. I was quite surprised that Brooke had a great night . . . but I had an awful one. I couldn't sleep for the life of me! I'm obviously not accustomed to the noise from a monitor! I'd just be falling asleep and I would hear a loud crackle out of the monitor that would jolt me awake. I might have had the volume up too loud but I wanted to be sure to hear my little peanut in case she made any noise. And since we have a video monitor it was all too tempting to turn the video monitor feature on and watch her because she's just so darn cute! I wish I felt as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as Brooke was that morning when I went to get her out of the crib!

Starting to Smile

Playtime with her daddy

Quite the little runner

At 3 weeks of age, Brooke got packed into her deluxe jogging stroller and went for a 3 mile run and she did great. . . her mommy didn't do that great though! She was wide awake the whole time and didn't make a single complaint. She has since been on several runs and does great in the stroller. This pic was taken when she was 4 weeks old after a 5 mile run. She's such a dream!

Clarification on her name

Just for clarification, our daughter's first name is actually Brooke and her middle name is Lynn. Her name isn't Brooke Lynn like Mary Jo or Sue Ellen. . . just Brooke. With that being said, people are more than welcome to call her Brooklyn if they want. I know her uncle Dan (whose blogging skills are way beyond my own) has already proclaimed that he is calling her Brooklyn . . . which is completely fine. . . considering I call her Brooklyn sometimes, too. I just hear some people say her name is Brooklyn and I think they might not know that it is just Brooke. We really liked the option of calling her either one . . . plus Lynn is my middle name as well as my mother's and Ryan's mothers so there is a little history with Lynn as a middle name!

Daddy's First Bath

I had given Brooke her first bath while Ryan was out of town at work so I decided it was his turn to fly solo. I got the bathroom all set up for him and then left. I was wondering if he was doing okay and I walked in to see Brooke's hair all white and foamy with shampoo and then I realized that daddy gives her a better bath than I do. I guess I have to step it up!

Brooke's First Bottle

10 days old and already camera shy

My First Real Bath

Bathing a newborn has been something that has stressed me out since I found out I was pregnant. Luckily the first baths are sponge baths until their umbilical cord falls off so those weren't bad. It was a completely different story once we were able to submerge her. We decided that her first real bath needed "team Grathwohl!" So we got the bathroom all set up - we had a heater running on the right side of our countertop, a baby bathtub set up in the middle, and an inflatable bath cushion set up on the left side with her baby towel waiting on top of it.
It was definitely a two man operation. I was washing her hair and Ryan was washing her body and we were both baking since our little heater puts out a lot of heat. I hope Brooke appreciated the fact that her parents were sweating bullets! We finally got her all cleaned up and we moved her over and bundled her in the towel.
Team Grathwohl was congratuating each other on a job well done when we heard a loud rumble erupting from underneath the towel. Ryan and I both looked at each other in horror. "You look . . . no, you look . . . "! Well, we peeked under that towel and I can tell you that it wasn't pretty! So back to the tub we went! Lesson learned . . . get diaper on as soon as possible!

Head of Hair

I wonder where Brooke got her hair from?

Brooke and Ariya Meet

These cousins are sure to be fast friends with 3 months separating them.

Baby Brooke Arrives

On September 3, 2008 at 6:06 pm, Brooke Lynn Grathwohl arrived and changed our lives forever. She weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Her due date was September 1st but on the 2nd of September my doctor made the decision to induce me because she wasn't happy with a stress test. I was given a cervix softener at 8 PM on the 2nd and it made my water break at 5 AM the next morning. After my water broke, the fun began! The contractions were a minute and a half to 2 minutes apart and they were all in my back. I wasn't prepared for the pain. My original plan was full of optimistic ideals - like I would go into labor on my own and be able to do it without any drugs and that it would be a short labor.
But all those things just weren't in the cards for me. I guess my labor was a lot shorter than some, but I didn't make it without the drugs. I toughed out the back labor for about 2 hours. Ryan was having to massage my back during every contraction. I then tried to bounce on the birthing ball with Ryan massaging my back . . . the nurse thought this might help and be easier for me. I then proceeded to throw up in those plastic, kidney shaped barf pans. . . why they are a kidney shape is beyond me! That's when I realized that a drug-free labor wasn't going to happen for me. The doctor then told me it would be about an hour and a half before they could give me the epidural. I panicked! I kept saying, what if I can't make it that long and they said I'd be fine. Well 2 and a half hours later they came back and gave me the epidural. Ryan was wonderful the entire time and didn't leave my side. Once the epidural kicked in there was a night and day difference. I thought "why on earth would someone not get one!"
Once I finally progressed to being fully dilated, the pushing began. I kept checking my watch to see how long I was pushing. Other women in my family have said crazy things like "oh, I barely pushed" or "I pushed twice and they were out." So once again I had unrealistic expectations. So 5 minutes goes by, then 10 and I kept asking the nurse . . . "am I making progress"? She was kindly reassuring me that things were still going fine. Then 20 minutes goes by and then 30 and at this point I'm thinking how much I can't stand the women in my family who "barely pushed" . . . what a crock! Finally after 50 minutes, our little munchkin arrived. We didn't have a name for her yet, but she melted our hearts when the doctors put her on my stomach and she was wide-eyed and quietly looking at her mom and dad for the first time. What am amazing moment in our lives. About 15 minutes after she was born the visitors started pouring in. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all stopped by to say hi to Brooke!