Happy Easter!

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016

This Sunday we celebrated Easter by visiting Josh's side of the family up in Cadillac.  This was Adrienne's first big trip somewhere farther than the grocery store.  She did great in the 3-hour car ride and slept practically the entire drive.  She got to meet her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jordon for the first time.  They are expecting their first child in July and we can't wait for Adrienne to meet cousin Henry when he is born!  The weekend was filled with visiting, talking about babies, taking turns holding Adrienne, and eating delicious food.  We are so grateful for such a loving family!

-Laura

Our little bunny

Happy in Grandpa's (Boppa's?) arms

Our family (including Bruce - he blends in at the bottom of the pic)

Adrienne's first Easter egg

Josh's mom made beautiful eggs using natural ingredients

One Month Old

Friday, March 18th, 2016

Our first monthly baby update!  Time sure does fly!

WHAT DOES ADRIENNE LIKE?

Adrienne loves to be close to her Mommy and Daddy.  She spends most of her day with me in the Moby wrap so she can be close and snug.  We have been going for walks around town and to shops downtown.  She loves being able to see what is going on when she is in the wrap whether it's just me unloading the dishes or watching Bruce play outside.

We were a bit worried that Adrienne would hate baths.  She despised the sponge bath stage before her umbilical cord fell off.  She would scream so hard her face would change color!  However now that we have gotten her in the tub filled with warm water we have seen that she absolutely loves it!  She is calm and enjoys the warm temperature.  Her first bath experience was a little hectic with us not know what we were doing (and resulting in getting peed on:)  but we are getting better at it.

WHAT DOES ADRIENNE DISLIKE?

So far the only thing that really seems to upset Adrienne is not being in someone's arms (we will get to this more in the sleeping section).  She has her fussy time in the evening but it doesn't seem to be triggered by anything in particular. The doctor said she might have colic (gasp!) and we are hoping this stage doesn't last too long.

HOW IS ADRIENNE SLEEPING?

Let's just say the sleeping has not been great:)  We quickly gave up on her sleeping in her crib as she seems to have some reflux and was spitting up a lot and having lots of gas.  She sleeps in her "Rock n Play" most nights now.  As of right now, she usually has a stretch of sleeping 3-4 hours beginning around midnight.  Then she will wake up every hour or two until daybreak.  It has been exhausting to say the least.  Luckily we have been able to take naps during the daytime, but we are hoping to start transitioning her into a bedtime routine and getting her to fall asleep on her own without being in someone's arms.

HOW IS ADRIENNE EATING?

Right now Adrienne is exclusively breastfeeding.  It has been a challenge getting her to latch right and not hurt Mommy but she is getting better at it every day.  She loves to eat and she has moved up from the 5th percentile to the 8th percentile in weight (still a little peanut).  We go in for another weight check next week and we hope she continues to move up in that percentile!  We are also planning on introducing the bottle this weekend.  She has already used a pacifier and seems to enjoy it so we hope she accepts the bottle just as well.

HOW DOES ADRIENNE PLAY?

We have been seeing a lot more smiles from Adrienne.  We realize at this point they are probably still just the result of gas, but we love seeing them just the same!  Adrienne has been practicing her tummy time daily and has very strong legs and neck control for such a tiny girl.  She also has started to make a lot more eye contact and follow our voices as we move to different sides.  We haven't really pulled out any of her toys yet but I think she may be ready for some of them soon!

PICTURES FROM ADRIENNE'S FIRST MONTH

So peaceful

Tummy time with Bruce

Eyes open (they are still deep blue)

Bruce is very protective

Relaxing

The only swaddle blanket she can't break out of:)

First outing was to Aldi

After a sponge bath.  Tired out from crying

She likes to rest on her hand

Smiles

Hanging with Aunt Maggie

Needed to bundle her up, but none of her cute clothes fit yet:)

Happy baby

First walk with Bruce

Again, loves to rest on her hand

Snuggles with Daddy

First walk downtown


She loves a warm bath:)

Introducing Adrienne Mae Leask

Friday, February 26th, 2016

Adrienne Mae Leask

Born February 19th, 2016 @2:12pm

6lbs, 5oz

18 & 3/4 in long

At just 1 week old, we already can't imagine our lives without Adrienne!  Below is the story of Adrienne's birth and first week of life for those who are interested and also for us to remember and share with Adrienne when she gets older.  This is going to be a long post! :)

PREGNANCY

With a little over a month left in my pregnancy, the doctors were concerned about my small size and ordered an extra ultrasound.  At the ultrasound we discovered that Adrienne (who was unnamed at that time) was measuring small and was in the 12th percentile.  The doctors said that they get more concerned when babies are below the 10th percentile, but as a precaution I would have twice weekly non-stress tests and weekly dopplers to make sure baby was healthy.  Because of my gestational diabetes, the placenta can start to deteriorate early which can cause stress on the baby too.  At first I was really upset about this, but I quickly realized that all of the extra monitoring gave me piece of mind every few days that baby was still healthy.  Below is a picture of me at one of the non-stress tests.  I sat in a giant lazy-boy chair and drank ice water while listening to baby's heartbeat.  All of the testing showed great results.

Even though the testing was excellent, the doctors still did not want me to go past my due date and thought it wise for me to deliver a week early at 39 weeks.

We scheduled an induction for Tuesday, February 16th and Josh and I both arranged to take off work a week earlier than planned.  However, the hospital ended up being very busy and the induction kept getting pushed back.  It was a little stressful to be so ready to go every day and then be told to wait longer, but Josh and I enjoyed our last few days together as a family of two (plus Bruce).

Finally on Thursday the hospital called and told me to come in at 10AM.  We were so ready to finally meet her!

BIRTH

Happily, Adrienne's birth was free of any major complications. From the time the induction started to when she was born was about 24 hours with just 20 minutes of pushing. The nurses at St Joseph Mercy were amazing. Josh was a rock throughout the whole process too and never once got woozy watching everything (I cannot say the same for one of the nursing students who was observing!).  He cut the umbilical cord and took charge with the first diaper change and swaddling.

After she was born we stayed in the hospital for one night and enjoyed some time with family visitors. Our parents and Matt and Emily were the first to meet Adrienne. And one of these days we will get Matt to hold her:)

At just 6lbs 5oz the doctors were right that Adrienne would be a tiny peanut.  However, her size put her in the AGA category (Appropriate for Gestational Age) and she is perfectly healthy. We are extremely grateful. 

Being weighed


Snuggles with Mommy


First sponge bath


Heading home from the hospital


First car ride

FIRST WEEK AT HOME

As to be expected, the first week at home has been a series of ups and downs. She had difficulty eating at first but she is getting better at it every day and gaining weight like a champ. Josh and I are still working to figure out how to help her sleep as she tends to prefer to be in someone's arms at all times (we love it during the day, but not so much at night:)

Evening #2 at home and Adrienne experienced her first power outage.  We sat around with candles and hoped that it would come back on being that it was freezing cold and we have electric heat.  We bundled her up and waited it out and it came back on a few hours later.

Below some of our favorite pictures of Adrienne's first week. My brother warned me that I will need more photo storage and now I can see why. We just can't get enough of this little girl. More updates to come soon!

-Laura

First time in crib

Eyes open!

Bruce loves Adrienne too

Thank you to family for providing us with the comfiest chair for her nursery!

Daddy time

She loves to have her arms up

Happy baby with a full belly

First at home sponge bath

All clean:)

Three Weeks to Go!

Saturday, January 30th, 2016

Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks along. We are just around the corner from meeting Baby Leask!  We have narrowed down her name to two choices and plan on deciding when we meet her.  We did run into some complications as we found out she is just a tiny peanut (in the 12th percentile!).  Due to her small size the doctor wants to keep a close eye on her.  So my once weekly appointments have now turned into 4 appointments a week!  It has been a bit overwhelming while I am still teaching, but it is all worth it to make sure she arrives safe and healthy.

On Friday, the staff at my elementary school threw me a beautiful baby shower.  It was crazy how they somehow knew exactly the last few items that we were missing for Baby Leask!  Below is a picture of the adorable cake from the event.  I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so much love and support! Oh, and yes I did wear the "New Mom to Be" crown in the background:)

Below are pictures from her completed "Arctic Animals" nursery.  We didn't go too crazy with the theme.  It's harder than you think to find polar bear and penguin decorations!  The last addition to the nursery was the beautiful blue side table built and painted by Josh's parents.  It looks perfect with the crib!  Everything is in place and now we wait for baby.  The next update will be shortly after her arrival:)

-Laura

Christmas & Baby Shower

Monday, December 28, 2015

The Christmas festivities have come to an end and we are relaxing at home right now while there is an ice storm outside!  Here's a quick rundown of some of the holiday fun that we shared with family.  

We began in Houghton Lake visiting Josh's dad and stepmom.  It was really nice to catch up with them and it was the first time they got to see the baby bump in person.  Unfortunately, they lost power in the middle of the night so we woke up to a chilly morning and Josh's dad figured out how to use the coffee maker without electricity (very impressive!).  

After that, we drove over to Cadillac to visit the rest of Josh's family.  Bruce enjoyed spending time with his doggy cousins, Ava and Bailey, even though there was not even a dusting of snow to play in.  On Christmas morning we all impressed each other with magic tricks from our Christmas poppers.  

Our last Christmas visit was in Holland with my family.  Brian, Patty, Yan and Kai came to visit too.  We haven't seen them since summer so it was really nice to hang out.  Yan and Kai are getting so big!  We exchanged gifts and had a delicious dinner.

Below are a few pictures/videos from the holiday celebrations.

Bruce enjoyed opening up his own presents on Christmas morning.

Happy puppy:)

Our family on Christmas night

Part of Sam's Christmas gift from Josh was the jellybean game "Beanboozled".  To play the game you spin a spinner to choose a color jellybean.  Then you have to eat that jellybean.  The trick though is that half of the jellybeans are yummy flavors and half are disgusting.  Check out the video above to see if Chris gets to eat a chocolate pudding or a dog food jellybean!

After all of the Christmas celebrations, we still had our baby shower to look forward to on Sunday.  My Aunt Norma and Uncle Tim were gracious hosts once again for a Howell family function.  Since everyone knows that Baby Leask still doesn't have a name, part of the shower included people writing down their name ideas and we read them all while opening the presents.  Some of the memorable ones include "Lego Leask" and "Laura Olivia Leask aka L.O.L".  I can assure you that neither of those two are going to be the winner:)  Thanks to everyone who came to show their love for Baby Leask!

Lauren took the quilt squares from our wedding guestbook and sewed them into a baby blanket.

We received lots of gifts that matched our "arctic animals" nursery theme.

After the baby shower Josh gave Maggie the last of her Christmas presents - an all you can play trip to the arcade.  They had a blast!  Maggie said that her favorite game was "Mortal Kombat 3" because she dominated Josh in best out of three.  She also enjoyed "Star Trek Pinball".

Updated bump shot from today.  The doctor said at 35 weeks I would have another ultrasound so we can get an estimation of the size of Baby Leask.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

-Laura