Miles

I realized that I have posted nothing on this blog about the fact that I was pregnant, and we now have a beautiful one month old baby boy. Here is Miles Wilson Berger, born August 18, 2011 at 8:41 am. He weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 19 3/4in long. We are still trying to decide who he looks like, but regardless, he is a welcome addition to our family.



I really should give you the whole story. I changed jobs in mid-December 2010, and found out I was pregnant after my first week at my new job. I took a pregnancy test without Alex knowing, and confirmed with an OB appointment two days before Christmas. Alex had gone over to his parents early with Addy for Christmas, so I was able to do even that without him knowing. I wanted to make the announcement a surprise, so I decided to announce at Addy's first birthday party, which was planned for the weekend after her birthday in January. I, of course, had to tell someone though, and told my sister Melissa, because she was also pregnant! My parents flew in and Alex's parents and sister and her family came over and we had Addy's birthday party at Aunt Shannon's house. Addy opened a few gifts, and I saved one for last, and asked that Alex help her open it because was sort of for him, too. The gift was a shirt that says I'm Going to Be a Big Sister. Alex was pretty surprised, as was everyone else.

I actually continued to keep the pregnancy a secret from coworkers and acquaintances, because I did not want to tell my bosses at work until after I had a 90 day review (in every effort to ensure that I received a raise!). That is the reason I did not post anything on this blog or elsewhere regarding the pregnancy. Here is our little family at Easter, with Addy resting on my baby bump.




My pregnancy with Miles was really easy. I had no sickness at all, as I did with Addy for the few 4 or 5 months. At 20 weeks we found out his gender, and the ultrasound showed cysts on his little brain. My OB ordered a more in depth ultrasound to be taken at the hospital. She said she was not really concerned about them, but I, of course, freaked out for the next week. The ultrasound tech at the hospital did a great job of calming my nerves and anxiety by telling me that the cysts never present a problem with brain development, but may be a marker for other problems. Since there were no other irregularities with the original ultrasound, it was unlikely that any problems would present themselves. Then she immediately confirmed that the cysts were already gone, and that Miles was perfect.

Miles was quite the mover in my belly. He often was most active during the day while I was at work. He often got the hiccups, but never kept me from sleeping!

At about 36 weeks, I started having random spotting, and informed my OB about that. So I got to have another ultrasound, and got to see Miles in 3D! Nothing was wrong, so the spotting was unexplainable, except that perhaps I was just progressing to labor. At that point, Miles was only weighing about 5lbs 13oz. Needless to say, that was much less than Addy was thought to have weighed at the same time, but we were glad he was healthy.

This is me the day before our scheduled C-section. Because Addy was delivered by C-section, and my OB practice did not do Vbacs, I had a repeat C-Section with Miles.

We were scheduled to have Miles delivered at 7:30 am on 8/18. My OB was about 45 minutes late, so he arrived at 8:41am. Lady Gaga was playing on the radio in the operating room when the surgery began. Our sweet anesthesiologist took this picture for us.

Miles later that day.

Addy had stayed with Aunt Shannon that morning after my mom came to the hospital. They came later to introduce Addy to her new baby. She was pretty unphased at first, but warmed up the next day.

We left the hospital a day early, because I was bored with sitting around, and it was hard for Addy. Here is Miles on the trip home.


My sweet mother flew in a couple days before Miles arrived to help us out. She was such an angel, and took great care of us. She stayed for three weeks, and we miss her terribly.

Dad and my brother, Justin, came down Labor Day weekend for Miles' blessing. All my pictures of the kids with Uncle J are on his camera or my mom's camera (J, send me the pictures!), but here is one of my Dad with the kids.

Miles was blessed by Alex and some other important men in our family (Grandpas Wilson and Berger, Uncle Travis, Uncle Phillip, Uncle J, and Cousin Joe) on Sunday, September 4, 2011. We were really grateful to Alex's family and our close friends for making the drive over for that morning.

We were sort of concerned how Addy would take to having a baby around, since she was pretty spoiled by us and our undivided attention to her. She has adjusted really well. As I said, the first day she met Miles, she was not really that intersted, but when she came to the hospital the next day, she sat with me on the bed and held Miles. When I thought she was done, I had Alex pick up the baby. When he did, she reached her hands up to him and Miles and said "More. More" until we gave him back to her! She loves giving him kisses, and snuggling up to him. She likes when Alex pretends to let her carry him. She doesn't know his name, and just says "Who's-at? (Who is that?)" whenever she sees him. If she doesn't call him Who's-at? she calls him "baby." She likes to touch his face, and point out his nose. Hopefully, this will last!

Happy Half Birthday, Addy!

Today is Addy's half birthday! She is 18 months old and could not be more of a joy to our lives. We celebrated by sending her to nursery at church, (yea! although we've snuck her last Sunday, and Sundays when I was single parenting), talking to Grandma Wilson on Skype, and having Aunt Shannon, Uncle Gene, and Joe over for dinner. Can't believe how fast this last year and a half has flown by, or that before her next birthday, she'll have a baby brother!

I tried to get a good picture of her for today, but couldn't get her to hold still, so you get a 4th of July picture and one from today of her on the run crying.

Updating

I have neglected to post for quite some time, so here are some updates.

Addy is growing like a weed. She got her molars in April and May, and in June we have welcomed three of her canine teeth. I think the fourth might be poking through. She's added a few words to her vocab: Alex (much to Papa's chagrin), Peachy (Aunt Shannon's dog), and "ack" (which either means duck or quack). She has started running, but her running is actually slower than walking. She has become somewhat of a Mama's girl, which I don't mind too much. She likes playing in the rain, but not when there is lightening or thunder. She loves playing in the water, but cannot be trusted in a pool without at least two adults around to keep her above water.

Here she is playing in the front yard with a sprinkler we found recently.

One day I found her in the closet talking to her teddy bear. She realized this was fun and it became sort of a game of hide and seek between us.

She really enjoys putting on my shoes. We were really impressed when she put on both of these heels and walked around the house.

We have discovered that Toy Story 3 is magic. Puts her in a trance.

Addy likes to help out when she sees someone sweeping. She actually has become quite a little helper at a few things. At the grocery store, she loves to help load and unload the cart. Doesn't always fair well for produce that gets thrown, but I enjoy watching her.

Addy's First Boat Ride

Uncle Gene and Aunt Shannon treated Addy to her first boat ride yesterday on Lake Tarpon. She really did have a good time, though in this picture she was not too happy with me trying to put her shoe back on.

If you look just beyond Addy's hand, you'll see a Gator swimming by. We also saw some turtles, water turkeys, and four bald eagles while we were out on the boat.

Addy really enjoyed when Uncle Gene got us going really fast. Uncle Gene even let her drive a little bit.

This was right when we lauched, and Addy was really uncertain about the life vest, but she quickly warmed up to it once we got going.

Thanks Uncle Gene and Aunt Shannon for the good time!

Florida Weather

This week we had some pretty bad weather roll through the area. It was pretty unusual because while later in the spring we get regular afternoon thunderstorms, this storm started one night and lasted a good 24 hours or so. We aren't talking light sprinkles either, but the kind that just show red on the doppler radar. There were 9 tornados that touched down in the area, none near us, thank goodness, and over a million lightning strikes. While we clearly did not suffer the worst effects of the storm, we did have fun with what the storm left us. If you look here, you can see two bocce balls completely submerged in our backyard. We had a swimming pool that was created by the fence. Alex had to dig out the ground under the fenceline later on because the water was getting close to the door in the utility room. Whenever Alex goes outside, Addy must follow. I finally gave in and let her go out. She enjoyed splashing around in the knee-deep water.

The fun didn't last too long, because here, Addy decided to take a step, but lost her balance.

Shortly after I snapped this shot, her head and gravity betrayed her and she went under. Alex got her up quickly, but she was pretty traumatized. We headed straight for the bathtub, but she was even weary of that water (and she loves bath time) after this experience.

We had an exciting first experience with the puddles (pool) left behind by our Florida weather, but I'm pretty sure we'll be sticking with shallower puddles after this.

Such a big girl!

We recently took a trip to the east coast for Addy's cousin, Westin's baptism. Addy really enjoyed playing outside at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

I love her little curls! I hope they stay around for a long time!

Addy turned One!

My baby is 1! Addy had a birthday on January 17. We started her special day with birthday pancakes. She was skeptical at first, but soon learned to appreciate the candle and delicious blueberry pancakes.

Unfortunately, January 17 fell on a work day for me, so it was just a normal day, but we did celebrate with a mini cupcake after dinner (practice run for the birthday party...see below).

As you can see, it was so good, Addy had to try to get every last crumb!

We had a birthday party for Addy on Saturday, the 22nd. Grandma and Grandpa Wilson flew in from Ohio for the special occasion, and Grandma and Grandpa Berger and the Jarvis's came over from the East Coast as well. Here is the Birthday Girl in her special shirt.

Papa made Addy her very own "cake in a can" and decorated it himself. I don't think he's ever baked me a cake, so that should tell you how much he loves this baby. She started off pretty intimiated by the size of the cake and sheer volume of icing atop the tower of cake.

Obviously, this did not last. Just after this shot, Addy got me good in the face with one of those hands. Somehow Papa escaped unharmed.

We had to say good bye to Grandmas and Grandpas after church on Sunday morning, but we snapped a picture of Addy with her Grands before they had to go. Pretty obvious that Addy's 99th% height comes from my side of the family. :)

Alex and I are so blessed to have this beautiful baby. We remind each other of it everyday, and comment every day how very much we love her. Here are some facts about Addy at age 1:

Nickname: Babe-O

Height: 32 3/4 inches

Weight 25.2lbs.

Head size: Off the charts.

Eats: Everything, but especially loves fruit, Cheerios, and Annie's Bunny snacks. She's recently started eating Macaroni and Cheese and more meat (she didn't care for the texture of meat before). She always wants some of whatever Alex and I have.

Sleeps: So well, all through the night, and with her bunny and her paci

Speaks: Her vocab includes: Mama, Baby, Ball, Uh-oh, and Yay. I think she knows Papa, but Alex doesn't think so.

Funny tricks: Down dog (yoga), blow kisses, courtesy laugh

Loves: books, Papa, her bunny, people watching, baths/water, remote controls and cell phones (but don't try to fool her with broken/unused ones, she knows the difference), packaging she can pop tops off of (like a Pringles can)

Hates: to have her clothes changed, sippy cups as replacement for bottles, the sound of packing tape dispensers (as we discovered recently in our move).