She's here!

4/17/08
Julia Kate Poage
3:51pm
19.5 inches
7lbs 9oz

Mom & baby are well!

Julia was born at 3:51pm and mom and baby are well. Hasn't yet been weighed, but will post then.

She's here!

Julia's here! All is well! Will post more asap.

We're close!

alright, we're close. Pushing's started! We see some dark hair!

Almost ready!

Just got news that we're a 8 or 9 and about to start pushing! Woo hoo!

Still progressing.

We're making progress, but no major news yet. Haven't started pushing yet.

No news yet...

All is still calm, so no news yet. We're still doing well. Just waiting.

Calm before the storm

Things are progressing but quiet now. I think it's the calm before the storm. I'll post when the pushing starts, but now sure how long that will be.

We're all settled in - no news yet...

We're at the hospital and are all settled in. We'll try to post hourly throughout the day or an we have time / news.

Alright! We're off to the hospital! We'll post updates as the day progresses... :-)

Big News on the Baby Front! :)

I saw my doctor today! (I was scheduled to see her tomorrow, but after she looked over my chart to read what the sonogram and other "in-practice" doctor had found from my visits last week, she asked me to come in today to see her.)

Everything still looks great with Julia, and she would like to induce labor TOMORROW!! :) We've got a lot to do today to prepare for our big day... We report to Labor & Delivery at 8am and the real fun begins.

We're thrilled and really looking forward to meeting her! We'll post pictures here as soon as the dust settles. Please add us to your prayer lists, specifically praying for health and safety for both me and Julia, wisdom for our doctors and medical staff, and also prayers for a smooth, "uneventful" labor and delivery.

Can't wait to have something to report! Stay tuned... :)

Cousin DREW visited!!

What a fun surprise for Friday night! We had Gram, Aunt Jen & Drew come through town on their way home from Sherman!

Jen & Andrew are building a house in Sherman where Andrew will start his Opthalmology practice this Summer, and with all the decisions that need to be made for building they had a series of meetings on Friday that caused them to be late getting on the road home. They stopped off in Dallas for dinner and we kidnapped them... it's too late to hit the road to Austin from Dallas at 9pm! ...Especially with a 2-month-old on board!

Sleeping arrangements were interesting to say the least... Thankfully Gram & Jen were okay with room-sharing and mattresses thrown on the floor! :) Drew slept in Julia's crib, and even though he was surrounded by PINK all night, he took it like a man. Avery loved it, of course... it was like a big slumber party. Saturday morning we were able to snap a few shots of the cousins together! :)

Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum!

We had a fun day out with Nana & Aunt Chloe! Avery is our "outside girl" so she loves anything we do outdoors, but it sure was fun for ALL of us to go enjoy Spring at the Arboretum. Even a few raindrops didn't scare us away! We had fun. :)

Friday's Doctor's report: Probably another 1.5 weeks

Friday brought a LONG day of doctor's office waiting rooms. (I can provide more details if wanted, but basically my doctor AND the sonographer for my scheduled appointment and sonogram were both unexpectedly out of the office on Friday so I had to be squeezed in by other doctors and was warned that I might have to "wait patiently...")

Cutting to the chase... and sparing you the details you truly don't want to hear... Everything looks GREAT! Julia is ready and in position to come and meet us, and my body is already starting to prep itself for labor! The sonogram showed a large head (surprise, surprise) at about 80th percentile for her gestational age, and also predicted that she's already about 7lbs, 3oz! (Healthy!) I'm "favorable" for inducing labor, and when I see my own doctor on Thursday she will probably put me on the schedule for the following week. (The only reason they're considering inducing me is because my babies seem to have large heads and they are trying to spare me from repeating the damage that was caused on delivery #1 if possible...)

Jules may come before we induce, but it sure would be nice to know the DAY so that we can have a solid plan for what to do with Avery... Right now, I'm happy to just wait for the right timing! I honestly don't care one bit WHEN she gets here as long as she and I are healthy on the other side of it all. (But... I guess sooner is better now that we're to this point because I'm ALL FOR getting her HERE before that head grows anymore! 80th percentile already sounds like not so much fun for me...)

Can't wait to meet you, sweet girl!! Mom, Dad & Big Sister love you very much and look forward to seeing you soon!

Julia's Nursery - Making Progress!

Thanks to Gram, we actually have some of the bedding to show off!! Mom completed the dust ruffle part of the bedding in just a few hours this weekend sitting at our kitchen table. (Isn't my mother incredibly talented?!) It'll really come together once the bumpers are sewn and in... They'll be made out of the dotted fabric with a super-soft pink fuzzy fabric on the insides. Can't wait to see it all put together!

Here are a few snapshots of how things are coming along!...




My little painting project... Not finished yet- still needs a few more coats, but I loved the "dot theme" so much that I had to carry it onto the wall for fun! :) Once the crib is pushed back up to the wall underneath it, it'll look a little more normal but you get the idea...

Springy Thingy!

Saturday was a FUN day!

Avery's school (Park Cities Baptist) hosted a "Springy Thingy" for all the preschool kids at Curtis Park. There were all kinds of fun things to keep the kiddos entertained... A petting zoo, face-painting, snow cones, professional jugglers, inflatables, pictures with Parker the Bunny, and even a bungee-bounce thing! Pretty incredible and all for FREE! The weather was SO gorgeous... it couldn't have been a prettier day for the event.

Mom and Dad were in town for the weekend since they had just spent half the week in Fort Worth for Dad's business convention. They babysat Avery on Friday night so that Collin and I could go have a date night. Saturday, Gram (Mom) stayed home to work on sewing Julia's bedding while Grandpoppy, Avery and I headed to the Springy Thingy! We only wish Gram and Collin (our resident golf junkie) could have joined us... Hopefully next year!

Big girls don't cry

Sunday night marked another milestone for Avery... She spent her first night in her new "big girl" room!

What was once our "combo" guest/computer room is now Avery's new room. Walls that once displayed diplomas and Texas A&M Corps of Cadets memorabilia will now be decked-out in pink and green "girly" decor with baby dolls and stuffed animals sprinkled at their feet. (Poor Collin.) We're still definitely in "Phase I" and don't have much to show, but we accomplished enough in the room for her to be able to make the move and decided Sunday was as good a time as ever.

All afternoon while we worked on rearranging furniture we encouraged Avery to come back there with us and help put her room together. We were excited each time we saw her come into her room and said, "This is AVERY'S room!" As bedtime drew nearer, I started dreading what might come... I had no idea if she would be scared/disoriented/confused by her new room, and I feared a sleepless night (or two) were in order. NOT AT ALL. She was a CHAMP! Collin read 3 books, rocked her a little, said bedtime prayers and laid her down. She didn't make a PEEP until about 7:45 Monday morning! (That's a little on the late side for our early-riser, so we took that as a good sign!)

I'm hoping that she adjusts this well to ALL of the upcoming changes in her little world. She's really growing up... Sniff, sniff. :/
(These pictures are goofy, and Gram is in the process of sewing pillow shams out of the scraps from Julia's crib bedding, but it wouldn't be like me to post something without pictures, and like I said... we're just in Phase I.)

He is Risen!

HAPPY EASTER!! I love how my sister wrote it so eloquently on her blog, and I'll just quote her here... "Easter is the true celebration of the victory we have in Jesus, who was sacrificed for our sins, who overcame death, and who is living today to offer us forgiveness and eternal life with Him." How wonderful.

I don't think we ended up with any "still-frame" pictures of the three of us all dressed up on our camera. :/ I think they're all on Mom's. I'll get one from her and post it. I do have some video of Avery running around in her Easter dress after Sunday lunch, though! She looked precious in the outfit that Gram & Grandpoppy bought for her. Little girls are SO much fun!

Then we were off to hang out with the Poages and to have a "real" Easter Egg-hunt with cousin Ian! Thanks, Josh & Mel, for hosting us! We had a blast!!

Wedding Pictures

So... after all the egg-hunting pictures we made at Zilker Gardens, my camera battery was dead and my memory card was full. :( Boo. So all I got from the wedding were these three pictures... but the wedding was GORGEOUS! ...I only wish I had been about 25 lbs. lighter to enjoy it!...

Easter Weekend in Austin!

FUN, fun!!

Collin was a groomsman in a wedding Saturday night in Austin, which gave us a great excuse to head to hang out with Gram & Grandpoppy for Easter weekend. We had a full weekend of festivities, and LOVED having built-in babysitters for the rehearsal dinner & wedding. (Thanks, Mom & Dad!!)





Avery was spoiled rotten with cupcake-decorating projects, egg-hunts, outdoor fun, treats, toys, a trip to McDonald's. Avery discovered chocolate, and she's definitely a fan! (We must be related...) I posted a few of our favorite pictures from Saturday, but I'll also include a slide-show that covers just about everything from Saturday if anyone has time to kill and wants to watch.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!