December 1, 2008

We had a great week of Thanksgiving meals and visits!  We started the week with my family and had everyone over for dinner on Sunday.  Karly enjoyed being held by Kma, Gpa, and Aunt Kelsee.  I posted pictures last week.  We had a busy week getting ready for family coming in and our other two Thanksgiving meals.  Thursday we went to the Piersons to have Thanksgiving dinner and then watched the Aggies lose terribly to UT.  Karly wore her aggie gear and cheered them on anyway. 

Karly "ran" in her first turkey trot on Thanksgiving.  We took her out in the jogging stroller and she slept the whole time, but she still got a medal for finishing the race!  It was good exercise for mommy and daddy before we had a big pancake breakfast.  Karly also went shopping on her first black friday.  It was quite an experience for me taking her shopping by myself.  Next time I will have to go with someone b/c it was a lot to juggle the stroller, diaper bag, our shopping bags, and still maneuver through the stores.  We were quite exhausted afterward, but we got some great deals for us! 

Saturday we took some family photos for our Christmas cards and then had Thanksgiving dinner with the Schielack's.  Saturday night we attended a holiday party and the best part of the weekend was that I got to sleep for 7 hours straight!  Nonnie & Poppy stayed up with Karly all night and kept her fed and happy.  Lance even got about 6 hours of sleep, so we felt great on Sunday.  Lance finished the Christmas decorations outside, while I worked on our Christmas cards.  It was a busy weekend, but we had a great time with all the family. 

I have lots of pictures to post including Karly's newborn shots and Thanksgiving pictures! 

November 21, 2008

Wow this week has flown by!  I have tried to get on here several different times to send an update but I always get interrupted.  This week has been a little harder for us because Karly and I were on our own and Lance went back to work.  We managed to survive and besides being tired we're all doing well.  Here's a recap of our week..

Monday was my first time to leave Karly for a few hours.  I went into town and stopped by to see my Amegy family and go to the dentist.  It was difficult to leave Karly, but also nice to get out for a little bit.  K-ma came over to watch her and Karly did great with the bottle.  We stayed in Tuesday and then Wednesday I took Karly into the doctor to get her eye checked out.  She had some mucus coming out of her right eye and the doctor said it was perfectly normal but she just had a clogged tearduct.  They wrote me a prescription for some ointment to apply and to keep doing the massage and warm compress.  It's already gotten a lot better in just a couple days.  Wednesday I tried to pump before we went to the doctor so I could feed her there and she realized what was going on and refused the bottle from me!  So it was a little stressful trying to juggle all of her stuff, feed her, and be out in public waiting on the doctor.  Then when we left there we had to go to HEB to get her prescription filled.  She loves the car rides and cart rides at the store so I just pushed her around the whole store (and had some samples) while they filled her prescription.  Needless to say we were both exhausted by the time we made it home.  Corey came over to visit us and brought a ton of great food from Central Market.  I'm still enjoying the goat cheese spread!!  Lance ended up working late, so we had a girls night.  We've had a couple long nights with Karly confusing day and night and being a little fussy about getting back to sleep.  Lance says she is attached to me, but I think it's because I spend so much time with her it is comforting for her to be near me.  Thursday we had our first Wal-mart adventure which went pretty well but her carseat does not fit in their carts at all so I had to put her in the cart and then there was no room for groceries and other stuff.  She started to cry at the end of our visit so I raced around the store to get a few more things and get her home.  Today we slept through the cleaning lady coming (oops) and then we got up and went to Babies R Us which isn't really close but Karly loves being in the car so she didn't mind at all.  I can't believe it's already Friday and that Karly is 3 weeks old tomorrow! 

Everyone has been asking for pictures and I've tried to take some this week, so I will upload those today.  I feel like I take the same pictures over and over because she can't quite pose yet.  She is already holding her head up and pulling up a lot.  She is a very strong little baby and very determined at times (wonder where that comes from).  She is also eating like crazy and gaining weight b/c she was just under 9 lbs at the doctor's office on Wed!!  That means she has gained 2 oz per day!  She has already grown out of her newborn size clothes, but luckily I got her in each outfit at least once.  Now we are working our way through the 0-3 months sizes.  She usually spends most of her time in sleepers now that it is cold b/c they have built in footsies and they are easy to change diapers.   We haven't even made it through half of our diapers yet, which is great b/c I don't think we'll have to buy any until after Christmas!

Next week will be Karly's first Thanksgiving and we've got 3 dinners we'll be having with all the families so lots of pictures to come!

November 14, 2008

Karly had her 2 week check up today!  I can't believe that she is 13 days old already, the time has flown by.  The doctor said that her color looked really good and all the nurses commented that she looked much older than 13 days.  Apparently she is eating really well because she weighed in at 8 lbs 4.25 oz!!  She has gained a little over 1 lb since just last Wednesday at her first appointment.  Karly has also grown 1.5 inches since she was born 13 days ago!  She is in the 50% for her weight and 75% for height.  Lance and I were really excited to see how well she is growing and b/c we are both shorties the height stats are exciting.  We hope this trend continues!  The doctor was pleased at how well we were doing with the breastfeeding.  It was a great feeling after the struggles we went through with it the first week.  Now we are just battling the 2 am hour when we do a feeding and then the very early morning feeding at 5 am.  Mommy is very excited about introducing a bottle so that she can have a break every once in awhile.  Lance has agreed to take the weekend shifts so I can actually sleep more than 2 hours at a time to catch up!  He's also going to help with the 5 am feeding before he goes to work since he will be leaving the house at 6 am. 

Karly is a really good baby and we are so blessed that she is healthy and happy.  She had her first outing this week when we went out for lunch one day.  It was my first time out into the real world in 2 weeks and it was really nice.  Last night we took her to the grocery store and she slept the whole time.  We are trying not to take her too much, but it's nice that we can all get out of the house even if it's only for 30 minutes.  The weather is finally nice and we're going to go on a walk for the first time this evening.  I am very ready to get out and start walking again! 

Thanks to all for the cards, flowers, emails etc.  We really appreciate it and Karly is very loved.  We can't wait to share with her one day her guest book and all the pictures we've gotten of all her visitors!

November 10, 2008

Mommy is back on!  I can't believe we've been home for a whole week already, the time has flown by.  We have experienced a whole new level of tiredness, but it comes with overwhelming feelings of happiness that you hardly think about it.  Everyone wants to know how I am recovering and of course how Karly is doing so I'll address those topics first.  I am doing great.  I actually was able to walk around right after I delivered and although I haven't seen the outside world much I am getting around a lot at home.  I have to say that Lance has been an amazing husband and daddy through all of this.  He gets my meals ready, picks up regularly, and changes as many diapers as he can to give me a little break.  I know most of you are not surprised by that statement, but I really couldn't do all of this without him.  I am looking forward to getting back to regular walks, eventually a run or two and even getting out to go run errands. 

Karly is doing wonderful!  She has been an amazing little trooper through everything.  We have some nights/days that are better than others but for the most part she is on a 2 1/2 - 3 hour routine that consists of feeding, a little wake time, and then a nap.  We do this cycle all day and night so for me mastering the 1-2 hour sleep periods at a time is the key.  I have definitely gotten better at this and it also helps that I am somewhat of a night person so that I can get up throughout the night OK.  She looks like an angel when she's sleeping and she also makes the cutest faces (some we've captured through pictures).  We are trying to take pictures everyday because we know how much she will change so quickly.  We are getting her newborn pictures taken tomorrow and I can't wait to see how they turn out.  As soon as we have the pics I will upload them to the site.  And I did hear the jokes about me getting on the site the night she was born, I actually probably would have if I had a laptop in my room!  I have missed my computer time, but Lance bought me a new laptop for my birthday which is how I can get on here right now and it's been great so far. 

Other news on Karly is that we had our first pediatrician appt last week and the doctor heard a slight click in her left hip.  He wanted us to have an orthopedic doctor check it out as a precaution, so today we went to an orthopedic to get an x-ray.  Karly did great and the doctor determined that we needed an ultrasound to be 100% sure her hip bone is in place.  So we have to take her to Texas Children's next month for the ultrasound where we will get the verdict.  Both doctors are pretty sure it's normal, but the only way to be absolutely sure is to get the ultrasound on her hip.  Apparently this is pretty common because of what their bodies go through during delivery.  We are optomistic that everything is fine and if not finding out now will allow them to fix the problem now and not have to have surgery later on.  We have her two week pediatrician appt on Friday and we'll get to see how she is doing on her weight gain etc. 

Keep checking for new pics!

November 5, 2008

Daddy here...wow can you imagine that, I am now a Daddy!  Well we finally have had the opportunity to get settled back in at home, get a little rest, and upload some pictures so that we can update everyone what has been going on for the past few days.  I know there have been several people inquiring about some updates, so I apologize for not getting this up sooner.  Ok, where do I start...

We checked into the hospital on Thursday night (10/30) so that they could start Katie on the induction process.  Once the doctor noticed that she still had not dialated by Friday morning, they decided to take her off the drugs, let her rest and get something to eat.  They started the process again on Friday night (10/31) and monitored Katie & the baby throughout the night.  Katie finally started to dialate and was at 1 cm by 8am on Saturday morning.  This was enough to allow the doctor to break her water.  Boy oh boy...I had no idea how much that would help kick in the delivery  process.  Next thing I knew, she was 3 cm, then 5 cm, then 9 cm...all in a flash.  I was busy sending out text messages and emails to our immediate family to let them know what was going on, when all of a sudden the nurse came in to start prepping the room for the delivery.  Everything went by so fast...the doctor came in and my beautiful baby girl was delivered.  Karly Kate Schielack was born on 11/1/2008 at 3:23pm in the afternoon.  She weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long.  I know I may be biased, but I think she is the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes on.  She has distinct characteristics from both her Mommy and Daddy.  She got Mommy's lips, ears, blue eyes, body frame, narrow feet, and little hands.  She got Daddy's hair, nose, chin and grin!

What an exciting day 11/1/08 was for our family...Karly was born, the Aggies found out a way to win , and we were able to watch the t.u. Longhorns fall out of the top ranking when they were defeated by t.t. Red Raiders.  We had many visitors throughout our stay including, Nonnie & Poppy (Connie & Harry), K-Ma & G-Pa (Kandee & Allen), GG (Great Granny Towery), Uncle Kyle, Allie May, Aunt Kelsee, Aunt Jenn-Jenn, Anton, Alex, Jordan, Elijah, Janelle, Chris & Kim Graeter, Corey Sumner, Jonathan Meyer, Marisa Morgan, Aunt Anna Schielack, and Deborah Horan.  We ate so good while we were at the hospital.  All of the family continued to help us by bringing meals and allowing us to avoid the hospital food.  We also received alot of flowers and gifts from friends and family and we really appreciated everything.  The nurses at the hospital were all so nice and helpful...we don't know what we would have been able to do without them.  Although, we really enjoyed the experience at the hospital, we were definitely ready to head home.

We were released from the hospital on Monday (11/3) around 2pm and made it home around 2:30pm.  The trip home in the Tahoe was quite a hoot...Katie was freaking out because we had Karly in the car and she wanted to make sure we made it home safely, and Daddy drove more careful than he did on his driver's exam back 12 years ago.  K-Ma, G-Pa, and Aunt Kelsee all brought us over some meals for the week and man, were we thankful for it.  It has allowed us to enjoy more time with Karly and less time fixing stuff in the kitchen.  Our first night home by ourselves was quite tough on all of us...Karly wanted to be awake and feeding every hour, so needless to say, Mommy & Daddy were exhausted.  We were all able to rest up yesterday and Karly even enjoyed her first bath.  She didn't like the water and bathing, but seemed to really enjoy when we combed her hair...Daddy thinks that Mommy & Karly will be making many a trip to the salon over the next 18 years.  We also received more flowers once we were home and also had several visitors come by the house...Mason & Brooke LeGrue and Lindsey Vyoral.  Mason cooked up an amazing brazed chicken soup that we all enjoyed last night.

Today was another eventful day...Karly went to her first Pediatrician appointment.  She did very good, but didn't seem to like her first shot there.  Doctor says she looks really good and we are scheduled to go back in a couple of weeks. 

I hope this helps to update everyone on all the exciting news that is going on in our lives.  I have posted some pictures to the site for all to enjoy.  

We will keep you all posted as things progress.  Hope all is well in all of your worlds!

October 27, 2008

We are at 39 weeks and counting!  Today was our last OB check up and we now have a plan for Karly if she doesn't decide to come on her own.  We are scheduled to be induced Friday morning, so it's very likely we will have a Halloween baby.  I started having contractions on Friday and by Saturday night they were more regular and frequent so we went up to the hospital.  They wanted me to stay overnight to monitor the contractions, and although I was having them I was still not very dialated.  So the doctor has decided to go ahead and schedule an induction this week.  We're both really excited to finally meet our baby girl!

As soon as we get home from the hospital Lance will update the site with news and pictures.  We hope the delivery will go well and maybe she'll even decide to come on her own before Friday.  

Exciting news to come soon!!!

October 20, 2008

Today we had our 38 week ultrasound and appointment.  It was really fun to see Karly this time because she is so big and you can see some of her features!  We got a pretty good close up of her face and Lance immediately thought she had my lips and maybe my nose.  I couldn't believe how you could make out those features.  The last time we saw her face she still hadn't developed skin, so you couldn't make out features.  We also thought she had chubby cheeks.....imagine that one!  She is about 6 lbs 10 oz, which is a great size.  She is only in the 30 percentile and the doctor was pleased with her size.  Hopefully she doesn't get too much bigger before she decides to bless us with her presence.  I am still not dialated, but she has moved down and her head is giving some pressure on the cervix so she could just decide to come any time BUT most likely she'll be a little stubborn and it will either be next week or weekend. 

I always thought she would be early, but I'm coming to the reality that it might be a November baby.  We should have her by November 3rd (that is the latest we'll go).  Everyone say a prayer and hope she decides to push herself along a little.  I'm still going on daily walks and I've experienced a lot more contractions and pressure recently.  It's just a waiting game for now, so stay tuned.  We only got a few pictures today and I'm going to try and post the one of her face so you can see her too. 

I'm also going to post a couple pictures from my birthday brunch on Sunday with the girls.  Lance took the day off Friday to spend with me on my birthday, so I'm definitely looking forward to that.  More updates as I have them...

October 17, 2008

Well we are at 38 weeks and still no baby!  I thought I was ready before, but I am definitely feeling more ready now.  Not only from a physical standpoint, but because I've gotten a lot done in the last 4 days.  Our bags are completely packed for the hospital.  I have done countless loads of laundry and washed all of Karly's things from blankets, sheets, towels, and all of her 0-3 month clothes!  The house is in order and all the returns are done.  Lance finished building all of her toys, strollers, etc so now we just need her to complete the picture.  I've really enjoyed my time off and I've stayed busy so it's actually gone by very fast (as you can see from all the things I mentioned above). 

Today I went to the neighborhood fall market and I went a little bow crazy.  I took a picture of all the bows I bought, but it was so fun picking them out.  I also got her a pink and brown bow holder that will be ready next week.  I think it was one of the first times I really let myself go a little crazy on the girly stuff, but it was really fun.  I also looked at some Christmas dresses today, but decided to wait until we are closer to see how big she is.  We're both really excited to meet her and we hope she comes soon!

Monday is my next appointment and we are doing an ultrasound.  We're really anxious to see how big she is and how things are progressing.  I've felt a few contractions this week, so I hope that is a good sign!  I'm trying to stay optimistic, although those that know me know I am definitely not the optimist of the family   More to come....check out the new pics and hopefully I'll have some maternity pics to post soon! 

October 15, 2008

Yesterday I had my 37 week check up (I'm now 37 1/2 weeks along).  I am considered full term, so it's safe to deliver at any point now.  There wasn't a major change from last week to this week.  The doctor double checked her position and she is definitely head down, but still no dialation.  I hope for progress by next week!  We have our last ultrasound scheduled for next Monday morning and we'll get an estimated size of her.  I am very curious to see how big she is now.  At this point the doctor just has a wait and see attitude and would prefer nature to take it's course.  If it doesn't take it's course by Halloween then we will definitely induce. 

Today is my second full day at home and it's been really nice so far.  I have a pretty long to do list, so I just slowly try and work on that and rest in between.  I am not sleeping as well at night, so being able to take a nap during the day is awesome.  We kept ourselves busy over the 3 day weekend and finished putting together ALL of Karly's things and completely organizing it all.  I took pictures of her closet because I was so proud of it!  K-ma made her some basket liners to match the curtains and they look really good.  Monday was Zoe's 3rd Birthday so we celebrated with a little McDonald's ice cream and we have pictures of them chowing down!  It was really funny as Chloe chased her cup around the kitchen after she finished, they just loved their treat that night. 

That's about it for now, I am off to my walk this morning.  I am hoping the regular long walks will help her along.  Stay tuned, we'll be updating as we have more news to share!

October 7, 2008

I had my 36 week check up today and first exam with the doctor.  Things seem to be on track and I am not dialated yet but her head is down.  The usual things all look good, weight, blood pressure etc.  We go back next week for another exam and then an ultrasound on October 20th!  I am excited to see her again and see how big she is.  At that point we may have a better idea of when she will come or when we will make her come.  I hope that I can just go into labor a little early naturally, that is definitely best case scenario.  I am starting to get even more uncomfortable and that "get this baby out of me" syndrome that I've heard so much about.  I can only imagine it will be getting worse the next couple weeks. 

I am finishing up at Amegy and my last day is Friday!!!!  It's very exciting to think about having some real time at home to get all the last minute things in order and work on some little projects that I never really have time to do otherwise.  We're still trying to put away baby gifts and do returns, but we've made great progress over the last week.  Our goal is to have all the returns done and our hospital bag packed by Monday (I think we can do it). 

Last weekend we went to Adam & Reagan's Wedding.  We have some great pics of the new babies in the group (Peyton & Madeline).  They were both so good during the wedding!  And of course all the boys had a great time catching up.  We enjoyed ourselves and it's definitely our last little trip before the baby comes.  We're getting close now and don't want to be too far from home!  I will update with pics soon and as soon as I get a few of the maternity pics from Amy I will post some of those also.  Stay tuned for more updates!

October 1, 2008

Well we are about 4 weeks away from the due date!  I had my 35 week check up yesterday, although I will be 36 weeks in a couple days.  Everything looked really good, I've gained about 30 lbs so far which the doctor is happy with.  My blood pressure was on the low side but still normal (I think it's because I was starving!)  Karly was moving and kicking throughout the appointment.  I think she was telling me she was hungry too, so we stopped and got dinner right after the appointment.  I will go back next Tuesday and have my first exam with the doctor to see how things are progressing.  Then 1-2 weeks after that we do another ultrasound to check her size, position etc.

A couple of other things have happened in our lives recently that aren't as happy subjects but we want to make sure that everyone is keeping our loved ones in their prayers.  One of my very close friends at work, Diana, has been diagnosed with leukemia and is fighting for her life right now.  It's been a tough situation because it happened so suddenly and I've developed a close relationship with her.  I am going to the hospital again tomorrow to visit with her family and hopefully get an update on her.  I hope and pray that she is reacting to the chemo OK and will be out of ICU soon.  The other news is that Lance's family is going through a hard time right now with the Alcoa situation (where Harry works).  There are a lot of things up in the air, but there is a possibility that they may have to relocate from Rockdale.  Please keep both families in your thoughts as they are dealing with these difficult times.

I am going to try and close on a positive note, because we do have many things to be thankful for.  We have had so many great friends and family sending gifts our way.  We're getting through them and putting them away one by one.  Lance has done a great job of putting things together and has the swing and pack n play built.  I love both of them and can't believe how cool they are!  The pack n play has a remote and lights up and vibrates, it's just amazing what these gadgets can do.  I will get some pictures up of the pack n play, Amegy Shower, and our precious aggie diaper cake from Wendy (one of my co-workers).  More updates coming soon, so stay tuned!

September 22, 2008

It's been quite an eventful couple of days around here!  We hosted Nana & Jim at our house this weekend and had the shower on Sunday afternoon  hosted by Jennifer & Kelsee.  It was a nice turnout, especially given the quick reschedule and hurricane mess in the city.  We have so many nice gifts to sort through and put away, our living room is full!  I have pictures updated on the site from the shower.  

The other exciting news is that the nursery is completely finished!  Ashley came over Friday night and gave us the letters that she made.  We hung them over her crib and there are pictures updated on the site now so that everyone can see the finished nursery!  It looks really good and all of our hard work has paid off.  Now we just have to find room for all the toys and clothes we've gotten!  It's definitely a good problem to have

Lastly, we had a surprise shower today at my office!  It was really nice that everyone came out for it and we have even more things from that shower.  Ashley, Chelsea, and Christine hosted the shower and several of my co-workers attended.  I have a few pictures that I will upload to the site.  Thanks to all who helped to put all the showers together and of course all that attended or couldn't and sent gifts.  We are so blessed to have such a great group of friends and family to help us welcome Karly into the world.  

September 10, 2008

Well...this is the first time that "Daddy Schielack", that's me (Lance), has had a chance to get on the website to post a message about our upcoming blessing, Karly Kate.  Katie has done so well at keeping everyone posted on the progress of the pregnancy and our new little one-to-be. 

I can't express how excited I am to become a Daddy.  I can only hope that I can be as good of a parent to Karly as my parents (eventually to be called Nonnie & Poppy), my Granny, and family have been to me.  I think Katie can say the same for her entire family.  Everyone has been so excited in this time and we are blessed to be surrounded by such great people.

I have posted some pictures to the site of Katie (approximately 33 weeks along), taken in Karly's room.  I have spent many an hour in that room getting the nursery ready for the big day.  I have had so much fun helping to get the room ready for our little "K.K.", as I plan to call her.   Kandee helped out with making the brown & pink valance and memory board as well, which are are nice touches to spice up the room. 

We are now getting to the home stretch of the pregnancy and I know Katie and I can't wait to have our new baby girl.  We really enjoyed our lamaze/childbirth prep classes and found them to be quite helpful with not only what to expect, but also helped us with the anxiety associated with our first newborn and the birthing process. 

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am here and happy as ever.   I hope to see everyone real soon!

September 8, 2008

We had a 32 week check up today and we also had a quick ultrasound.  Unfortunately, I don't have any new pictures to share.  The doctor wanted to see the baby's size etc., because my weight has been a little up and down.  I've had weeks where I gain a lot and then weeks where I don't gain any.  We did confirm AGAIN that she is a she, so that was a little reassuring.  Karly seems to be doing really well and she already weighs 4 lbs and 10 oz!!  I thought that sounded really big, but it's actually about 58%, so she's just slightly above average.  She also has a full head of hair already!  I was a little shocked by that because I thought I would somehow know if she had hair.  It was good to see her again today and the doctor is really happy with how everything looks.  I will have another 2 week check up and then I go for weekly visits that include an exam.  I can't believe how close we are getting.  In about 6 weeks we will have another ultrasound to see how big she is.  I think at that point we'll have a better idea of when she may actually be here. 

I also posted more pictures of her nursery, it's basically all done except for the letters which we will have up before the weekend.  The curtains are now hung properly and I tried to get shots of each angle of the room for all the people that won't get to see it in person.  I'm really looking forward to the weekend and seeing my Nana!  She is making a long trip to come to my shower and she hasn't seen our house since we did all the updates.

That's about it for now, updates should happen more frequently as we have more doctor visits.  Hopefully we will have an easy road to delivery......oh and one thing I forgot to mention is that I have 5 more weeks of work and then I will be home at the end to enjoy my last week or two before Karly arrives! 

Don't forget to sign the guestbook!

August 27, 2008

We actually have quite a few updates this week, it's been a busy week at the Schielack house!  After getting all of Karly's new gifts situated in her room we realized how much baby stuff will be taking over our house in the next few months.  Lance has a new project to organize the garage (he's thrilled about this), but he has done such a good job in getting the rest of the house ready for her.  We still feel like we have a new house between all the updates and massive organization we've done.  Last Thursday we had our first childbirth class which was an interesting experience.  Our class has about 12 other couples and most are due between the end of September and the end of November so we are right in the middle.  I thought the last 45 minutes of the class was GREAT because the daddies got to massage all the mommies especially in the lower back area that is starting to really hurt at times.  Part of our homework was to practice these techniques which I have graciously let Lance work on everynight.  It was also informational in learning all the stages of labor and what actually happens during the birth.  We have two more classes and I think we're going to also take an infant CPR class.  Our doctor said this would be great for us to take and we were thinking about doing it already. 

We also had my 30 week checkup yesterday and all looks good with me and Karly.  I was a little concerned about my weight gain, but the doctor thinks I am doing fine and I am on track.  Her heartbeat was a little lower yesterday, so we think she was probably sleeping.  Probably the most exciting thing from the appointment is that the doctor wants us to come back in two weeks for an ultrasound!  I am excited to see her again and he just wants to see how her growth/size is progressing etc.  We didn't think we would have one until about 36/37 weeks so that is great news.  And we will get some updated pictures of her to upload so that you all can see how she has changed. 

Karly will attend her first aggie game this weekend, although she won't be able to see what is happening I know she will be able to hear everything!  Hopefully the weather is forgiving for us, but I am not optimistic.  Karly and I will be watching the rest of the season from home in the air conditioning while Daddy ventures out to the first few games.  I think that's all for now, don't forget to sign her guestbook so that Karly can see who is checking in on her

August 17, 2008

We had a great weekend after enjoying our first shower!  Connie's friends in Rockdale put together an awesome shower for us and they did a great job.  I got to meet a lot of friends/family of the Schielack's and I think everyone had a really good time.  The fellowship hall was decorated so nicely with pink everywhere!  Connie made a diaper cake that looked amazing and we came home with a Tahoe full of stuff.  My sister took a carful home too which was a huge help, we couldn't have gotten it back all on our own.  We are trying to sort through it as we speak and it's quite a task.  Karly's room is completely filled with gifts, so I am a little beside myself about organizing it all.  Karly has a lot of new clothes for her closet, diapers, toys, and so much else.  The best was saved for last when the hostesses presented us with our travel system!  We were so excited because it is our carseat and stroller that we have to have to leave the hospital with.  Now Lance has to put it together, he's added it to his to-do list.  I've put a few pictures from the shower on the site, so you could enjoy them also. 

I've also added some pictures of Karly's crib.  The nursery is coming together and now we have to start finding a place for all her things.  We start our childbirth class this week, so we are looking forward to that.  More updates to come, stay tuned!

August 12, 2008

Well it's been an eventful week for us.  I woke up yesterday with a stomach ache and thought I was having some more morning sickness, although I hadn't felt like that in months.  As the morning progressed I realized it was definitely not morning sickness as I couldn't keep anything down, not even water or sprite!  So I called the doctor and they told me to come in so I could get checked out.  Lance came home from work and we went to the doctor, at that point I was feeling very bad and started to get a little weak.  The doctor did a couple tests and I was getting very dehydrated and because I couldn't keep any fluids down he wanted me to go to the hospital overnight.  So we went next door to the hospital (very convenient to the dr's office) and checked in.  I had a private room which was nice and they immediately hooked me up to some fluids through an IV and also gave me medication in the IV to stop the nausea.  I was asleep for a couple of hours and Lance did some work and went home to take care of Chloe and Zoe.  By the time he got back I was waking up and able to drink some water.  I recovered pretty quickly and they got my fever down by about midnight.  The nurses were all very nice and helpful and they monitored Karly every hour I was there.  She did great and didn't seem to be phased by what was going on with me.  I guess she will be a strong little girl!  All is well now and I am back at home resting.  We're looking forward to the baby shower this weekend in Rockdale and I'm going to try and have a relaxing week!

Lance took another picture of me this weekend, my belly has grown a lot in the last few weeks.  I will post more pictures after this weekend.  We are starting to get gifts in the mail and they are filling up Karly's room and closet!  I will post more pics of the nursery once we get everything done.

August 6, 2008

We are now entering the last trimester, I will be 28 weeks on Friday!  If I go to full term then there are only 12 more weeks left.  Karly went through her first tropical storm yesterday, luckily it didn't end up a big deal at all.  We also had our 27 week check up and diabetes/anitbody screen test.  We are on track for everything and should find out the test results later this week.  We already know that I am a negative blood type, so they will go ahead and give me the Rhogam shot next week.  I actually did the diabetes test a week early so I am perfectly on track for everything.  We have two more regular appointments to do and then I will start going weekly.  They will also do another ultrasound at 37-38 weeks to see how big she is and make a determination on when they should induce if necessary etc.  She could actually be here around my birthday instead of Halloween so I am excited about that.

We are still working on her room and I have made her bed so it's all coming together now!  My mom has the curtains underway and Ashley should get our letters in later this week.  I hope to have it all decorated in about a month and then we'll just get to sit back and wait for her arrival.  We also bought a cabbage patch doll and started pretending she is Karly with Chloe & Zoe (more Chloe of course).  Chloe definitely knows something is happening and last night Lance and I took turns holding her as we did our normal activities and Chloe sulked around waiting for attention.  I think it's great practice, so thanks to Corey on that for her suggestion.  Once Lance gets her new fan installed I will take more pictures of her room so you can see the progress.  Lance has 2 more ceiling fans to go......after that we will have added an additional 3 fans and replaced the other original 2 that were in our bedroom and the living room.  I've said this before but it really feels like a new house that we picked out exactly what we wanted in!  I'm excited for everyone to see all the changes at the shower coming up in September. 

Don't forget to sign the guestbook so Karly can see one day who is watching her grow!

June 29, 2008

Karly's bathroom, which is also the guest bathroom in our house is now finished!!  We are really excited and have been working really hard this weekend to get it all done.  The painters finished Friday night with the bathrooms and we were able to put it all together after the paint dried.  The yellow turned out really nice and we have a second beach themed room in our house now.  I also think it is much more kid friendly than the old bathroom.  I forgot to get before pictures, but for those that have been to our house know  about the maroon and gold with scroll wallpaper.  It's hard to get great pictures in a bathroom, but I did get a few.  Lance did a good job of hanging all the new fixtures and mirror.  The framed mirrors we've added in both bathrooms make a huge difference! 

I've also been hard at work organizing and going through all of the closets in the house to make more space now that we are losing a "storage room."  Karly's closet is completely cleaned out and the small wardrobe she has started is hanging in her closet.  I'll be getting some organizing shelves to go in there because it's a pretty small closet for her.  We expect to have the furniture arriving in about 6 weeks and we're really excited to get the room put together! 

We hope everyone enjoys the 4th of July week/weekend coming up.  We are going to use the 3 day weekend to relax and see some friends.  We are taking a break from the house!  Stay tuned as we make progress on Karly's room....new carpet coming soon.

June 25, 2008

We have decided to reveal Karly's middle name!  She is officially Karly Kate Schielack now.  We both love the name Kate and it comes from many sources.  Of course it's a shortened version of Kathryn, after me, then there is my Nana who is also a Katherine, and finally another grandma on my side who is no longer with us was Jessie Kate.

I am going to start posting pictures of her nursery.  It is completely empty right now, as the painters are coming tomorrow to paint her walls.  It will take us a few more months to get it all ready, but you can watch the progress happens as we do.  We're also having Karly's bathroom and our guest bathroom redone.  The painters are taking down the scroll wallpaper (yeah!) and painting it yellow.  I've wanted to redo the bathroom since we moved in and now is the perfect time to make it a little more "kid" friendly.  It will coordinate with our beach themed guest room with similar colors.  Lastly, we have decided on furniture for Karly and will be ordering it this week!  It's a beautiful collection that we found at Baby's 1st Furniture.  It's made by Creations and it's the Santa Barbara line (you can see it online for those that want to).  We're hoping to have it in 6-8 weeks and the best news for Lance is that it comes fully assembled!

Check out the pictures to see progress on Karly's room.....I will be posting more this weekend after the rooms are painted!

June 17, 2008

Karly has been very active this last week.  I first felt her kick last Thursday and it seems to get stronger everyday.  It's a very cool and weird feeling all at the same time!  She was kicking like crazy last night and Lance even got to feel her. 

We're making progress on the nursery and hope to have it painted next week.  Once we get it painted then we will have the new carpet put in all the bedrooms which will complete all the new floors in the house!  I'm also working on redecorating the guest bathroom which will also be Karly's bathroom.  I'm very excited to see the last room with wallpaper go!  I will post pictures as we make progress.  We've also picked out Karly's bedding and some of her room accessories.  I have started a registry at Restoration Hardware, their new baby line is adorable!  My mom will be making Karly's curtains, so I think her nursery is going to turn out great.

New 20 week picture (my stomach is growing) and don't forget to sign Karly's guestbook!

June 10, 2008

We are ready to announce the name!  We've had a lot of people asking and we came to a pretty quick decision, so (drumroll).......Karly will the newest Schielack joining the world this year.  We have not decided on the middle name (we're still debating), so we'll announce that when we come to a final decision.

We have also been hard at work on the nursery already.  It needed a lot of work and I will be posting some progress pictures soon you can watch the room change.  The room was filled completely from wall to wall with containers and boxes.  It became the Christmas/wedding/misc storage room!  This has forced us to go through everything and do some much needed organizing and cleaning out.  We are going to use pink and brown as the nursery colors and will be deciding on the paint colors soon, so make sure you vote to help us decide! 

Also please sign Karly's guestbook if you haven't already.  One day she will be albe to read all of your comments and wishes to her!

June 7, 2008

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We got the confirmation yesterday in our second ultrasound.  We got some GREAT pictures and a video of the little one.  She was moving around a lot and very active yesterday.  She also touched her face and sucked on her thumb a lot.  We'll have to work on that habit right away I guess.  We are very excited and I think surprised because for so long we convinced ourselves it was a boy.  I think I heard "Schielack men only produce boys" about a hundred times.  This will be the first girl for Harry & Connie, so I can probably guess that Connie is at the mall even as we speak!  We are ready to start shopping and decorating too, so hopefully we can finalize our paint colors and look at baby furniture too. 

Check out the pictures, you can see some of her features already!  Also stay tuned for the big name announcement, it's coming soon!!! 

June 3, 2008

Well, we were hoping to have some BIG news to share today but it seems that the baby did not want to cooperate during our ultrasound this morning.  We THINK it may be a girl based on the lack of male parts showing and some of the anatomy the ultrasound tech saw.  Friday we're going to have a second ultrasound and we hope to get a final confirmation.  Lance and I are both really excited about the possibility of it being a girl, because I think we were both convinced it was a boy.  Everything seems well with the baby, there was one more picture they wanted to check to get a better picture of the heart.  The heartbeat was strong today at 152 and it was really neat to actually see the heart beating on the screen.  I have some pictures from the ultrasound that I will add tonight and we'll have some more after our ultrasound Friday. 

In other news we had a GREAT trip to Charleston, South Carolina.  It was a lot of fun and very relaxing.  Kristin & Kevin spent most of the trip with us and we all had a good time on the beach during the day and eating all of Charleston's great food at night.  The resort we stayed at was awesome and our condo was brand new!  The kitchen had nicer appliances then we have at home.  The guys played at one of the nice golf courses, while Kristin and I enjoyed massages in the spa!  We definitely treated ourselves to some well deserved rest and relaxation!

I promise to update as soon as we get the official word, we hope Friday afternoon!

P.S.  The poll is a tie at 22 boys and 22 girls, you all seem to be as unsure as we are.  I think we're hoping now for the confirmation that it really is a girl.  PINK, PINK, PINK!!

May 13, 2008

We had our 15 week checkup today with Dr. Holt.  It was the first time for us to meet Dr. Holt (I've been going to a nurse practioner) at the Dr.'s office since I was 18.  We liked Dr. Holt and his nurse and there is a strong chance he will be delivering our baby which is exciting!  He delivered 300 babies last year of the 700 the practice had in 07.  Everything seems to be fine with the baby, the heartbeat was a little slower this time at 142.  I actually lost some weight which was kind of surprising to me as I see my stomach slowly growing.  Dr. Holt said it's actually normal to lose weight up to 20 weeks.  I have a feeling it won't be the case next time I go.  He also told me to go home and rest today with the possibility of me having some kind of "bug" after describing my symptoms.  Hopefully a day of rest and some medicine will do the trick.  The most exciting news from the visit is that we get to do our ultrasound in 3 weeks to find out the sex!!!  We can hardly wait, so the big day is June 3rd...actually the morning after we get back from Charleston.  And don't worry I will make sure I update the page that day when we find out.  We'll also get some pictures of the ultrasound so hopefully baby Schielack cooperates in position that day.  More news to come in 3 weeks!

According to the poll, a girl is in our future with 17 votes!  That may be just wishful thinking but we'll know soon.