Bailey Beth's Baby Shower

We had a small baby shower for Bailey Beth on Saturday. It was given to us by the Gaines family ladies. We had all sorts of desserts and fruit to eat - everything was delicious and decorated so pretty! Bailey got some super cute stuff, and several special "keepsake" gifts which I adore. I think it's nice for each child to have some of their very own special baby items. The shower was at Aunt Aubie's house, my dad's baby sister, so of course the kiddos had a great time playing in the cool playroom and outside visiting the horses. Enjoy the pictures!

Some of Bailey's gifts from the shower....she'll be wearing that Clemson hat in the hospital & her little white shoes are embroidered with her monogram!!

Bailey's bags from Nana & Aunt Lulu

Check out this girl's clothing!! This is only size newborn through 3-6 months too!

The Gaines ladies at the shower (we missed Aunt Denise, Lauren, & Chloe)

Me, Mom, & Shauna

Me & Megan

Kaleb & Shauna

Shauna & Aunt Amy

Bailey Beth's very 1st Madame Alexander doll

baby care timer.....hopefully this will help keep me on track - yay!

Bailey's designer sleep gown....isn't it beautiful?!

Daddy & Tyler visiting Aunt Aubie's horses

He sure loves balls!

Sam, Kaleb, & Tyler playing in Sam's cool playroom

All 4 of us.....Bailey Beth is hiding ;-)

My 2 handsome guys

PUPPP & Leg Cramps

Unfortunately, I've developed the pregnancy rash called PUPPP....again! I also had it with Tyler, but thankfully it didn't develop until the last month with both pregnancies. I've provided a link below to fully explain the rash if you are interested. The most important thing is that it doesn't pose any risks to mother or baby and is just basically VERY annoying due to the intense itching caused by the rash. I'm very lucky to have mild cases with both pregnancies too.

I did some research and found that drinking V8 juice dramatically helped relieve the itching in many women so of course Ben went out and got some V8 for me. Luckily, I love V8 so I definitely don't mind drinking it, plus it's one of the more nutritious beverages available. Unbelievably, it really does help relieve the itching!! It's my miracle drink! Before I started drinking V8 I would wake up in the middle of the night for 2-3 hours at a time just scratching and scratching to no end, but once I started drinking the juice there have been no more night wakings and the itching is much more tolerable.

PUPPP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pruritic_urticarial_papules_and_plaques_of_pregnancy

I also have good news to report on the nocturnal leg cramps!! One of my dear friends from high school, Christina, told me that she also had leg cramps in her most recent pregnancy and that her OB said to eat cantaloupe to help prevent them....so of course I tried it right away. Guess what, it worked!! I haven't had any leg cramps since I started adding cantaloupe to my daily diet. A possible cause to leg cramps in pregnancy is a lack of potassium and calcium (not to mention all the extra fluid in your legs) and cantaloupe is a great source of both. I've also been eating bananas and have tried to drink at least one glass of milk daily throughout my entire pregnancy to ward off cramps. I'm so thankful to have found these easy and healthy home remedies!

New Blog Title

I need a new blog title to include Bailey Beth! I was thinking I'd like to keep "Tyler Tales" and perhaps add on "Bailey ______". It would be perfect if I could come up with something that starts with a "B". I keep coming back to "Tyler Tales & Bailey Blogs" but I'm hoping one of you can suggest something a little more creative.

I'm open to other options too though....even changing the blog to more of a family site using Johnson in the title. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Tyler's Summer Haircut

Last night we decided that Tyler needed a summer haircut. His hair had gotten way too long and unruly. So, Ben got out the buzzer and we strapped Tyler down in his booster seat. Tyler isn't a big fan of getting his hair cut, but we got the job done! Check out the finished product - I think Ben did a good job.

I think he likes it

no more curls either

side view

the evidence

34 Weeks!

On Monday I turned 34 weeks pregnant so........you guessed it.......I had a prenatal appointment yesterday. Everything still looks good and she hasn't turned head down yet. She's not quite transverse (sideways), but she's kind of diagonal with her head towards my left hip and her heiny towards my right lung. It doesn't really matter if she's head down though since I'm having a c-section.

Bailey Beth's heart rate stayed right at 150 bpm which was the highest it's been in a long time. My stomach measured exactly 34 weeks instead of being "ahead" - a new concept for me. Maybe she won't be as large as her big brother was at birth. My blood pressure was a little lower at 100/59, but low is definitely much better than high at this point in pregnancy.

The nocturnal calf muscle cramps have begun, but I'm thankful they waited this late to start since I had them for months with Tyler! My body is like a heater - I constantly feel hot! My hands, feet, and ankles are quite swollen, but I can still wear most of my shoes.....wish I could say the same for my wedding rings. I've been having a lot more Braxton-Hicks contractions this time than with Tyler, but the OB says it's normal and nothing to be concerned about. My next appt. is on June 2nd and then I'll go in once a week until she arrives.

Weekend Projects and a Playdate

We had another fun, busy weekend! Ben got home a little earlier than normal on Friday afternoon because he spent the day in Charlotte taking some training courses at R. E. Mason instead of working in his plant. A couple hours later Bo, Erin, & Trey came over with pizza and we all enjoyed hanging out together. Ben showed Bo & Trey all the work he is doing in our backyard too. Ben is clearing out a good chunk of woods in our backyard to make a nice, level place for Tyler and Bailey to play away from the road. Our entire yard is on a slope and there isn't a good, level place for kids to play. Plus, cars and motorcycles drive way too fast through our neighborhood so we don't feel comfortable letting Tyler play anywhere near the road. Luckily for us most of the trees were small, but there were a couple bigger ones. Some of our kind neighbors came over on Saturday morning and worked for several hours to help Ben cut down some of the larger trees and haul off some of the brush too. We've still got to get a lot of tree stumps out and grade the area a little bit, so it's definitely a work in progress. While Ben has been working outside I decided to make Bailey some burp cloths. I'm hoping to have her monogram and name embroidered on several of them.

Brianna & Bennett came over on Sunday morning for a little playdate with Tyler. Anna was out of town and Brian had to go check on some of his patients in the hospital so we kept them for a little while. They all seemed to have a great time playing together. It was funny to watch Brianna & Bennett explore all the new toys, and Tyler was actually good about sharing. They all really enjoyed playing with the blocks and Brianna decided that they were building a "sand castle".

burp cloths I made for Bailey

they were making a "sand castle" out of blocks

Ben had to come to the rescue after the "sand castle" collapsed

Ben's burn pile for the small trees

Here's a shot of one side of the clearing

Mother's Day 2010

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! The day started with a delicious breakfast made by Daddy. He made scrabbled eggs, sausage, and hash browns complete with strawberry/cream cheese danish and decaf. coffee! Then the 3 of us just hung out and played for a little while. I think we blew bubbles most of the morning - one of Tyler's favorite past times! Later, Ben made us yummy quesadillas for lunch and then we headed out to go spend some time at the SC Botanical Garden in Clemson. The gardens are always so pretty and since it was such a beautiful & cooler day we really enjoyed being outside. Tyler had a great time exploring and of course we took advantage of several nice photo opportunities ;-). We concluded the day with take-out from my favorite chinese restaurant! I hope all the amazing moms that we know had a Happy Mother's Day - especially our own mothers!

Mother's Day kisses!

I loved his shirt!

strolling through the Botanical Gardens in Clemson

see the little waterfall?

33 weeks pregnant

Mother's Day roses from Ben :-)

Owen Patrick Harris

Our good friends, Ryan & Jennifer, just had their 2nd baby boy! Owen Patrick Harris was born on Tuesday, May 4th at 3:46 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and measured 20 inches long. Owen is precious and looks just like his big brother, Austin. Mama and Baby are doing great.

Baby Owen in his Clemson hat - perfect!

Mama & Owen

The Harris Family

Big Brother Austin & Tyler visiting Baby Owen in the hospital

32 Weeks - Big Update!

On Monday I turned 32 weeks pregnant - only about 7 weeks to go. I had another prenatal check-up on Tuesday. Again, nothing too exciting happened at this appointment, but we received a phone call from the OB's office manager on Wednesday to let us know when they scheduled my c-section! My c-section is scheduled for Thursday, June 24th at 11 am. As long as my pregnancy continues to progress smoothly and Bailey doesn't decide to come early we expect to meet her on June 24th. This is very exciting for us since this would mean that both of our children will be born on a Thursday and the 24th of the month. Plus, my favorite OB, Dr. Hood, is on call that day so more than likely he will be doing my surgery!!! The OB who delivered Tyler has retired from the OB side of his work and only sees GYN patients now so Dr. Hood is my #1 choice.

My blood pressure was 108/68, my stomach measured 1 week ahead again, and I gained 8 pounds since my last visit 4 weeks ago. Bailey Beth's heart rate averaged to be around 140 bpm. Everything still looks good and I still feel pretty good. My feet have started swelling considerably, but I am still able to wear most of my shoes.

I have to go in for prenatal checks every 2 weeks now, and in June I'll go once a week until Bailey arrives.