Abby Smiles!

I just took this video of Abby Smiling. She always smiles after she wakes up so I caught the video after a car ride. That's why she's in her car seat still.

Mommy Post!

Well, it's October so I figured we should probably update the blog again for our interested readers! This month I (Julie) decided to write the post.

As we said before Abby is growing so quickly and it is so fun to watch her learn new things that to us may seem so simple. For about the past month Abby has been quite talk-a-tive. Her first baby talk word was "Gah!" She was laying on her changing table being very alert and looked straight at me, you could tell she was thinking about it, and blurted out "Gah" quite loudly. She has mastered "Gah" and has a whole slew of new sounds that she is stringing together to make baby talk. She even has a favorite stuffed animal that she talks to when we go in the car. Every morning, on the ride to daycare, she has a very long conversation with Mr. Frog. I wonder how long it will take before she gets frustrated that he never responds to her?

As for her vaccinations, they went pretty well. She did alright afterwards but got a very mild fever the night after she got her shots. All in all, we did everything we could to keep her immune system working at full capacity to help adapt to the vaccinations. A few days before the vaccinations she was adjusted for the first time and she was also adjusted a few days after. The first time she was adjusted she slept for about 5 straight hours at day care and pooped a TON! For those of you who don't know what an adjustment is like for a baby, it's nothing like getting an adjustment for an adult. Because babies bones are not fully developed it's very easy to move their joints. So easy, in fact, it only takes a few little finger taps or vibrations to get the bones to move. It's quite interesting and it's very effective.

One of the biggest events in Abby's life is that she no longer sleeps in her bassinet in our room. Just last week she started sleeping in her big girl crib. We have the monitor on all night in case she needs us but we'll put her down to sleep at about 9 or 10 and we always have to wake her up at 6:30 every morning. Although I don't want to admit it, think the reason she was waking up at night when she was sleeping in her bassinet was probably because I was snoring (oops.) But, the sleep is excellent and we're spoiled because she sleeps so well.

Although we've been getting great sleep with Abby sleeping in her own room, Jason and I have been very busy with work and school so he has planned a weekend get-a-way to Redwing at a Bed and Breakfast for us to relax and also celebrate his Birthday which is on Oct. 15th. Abby will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa Beal and Duke will get his own mini-vacation at Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's. Thus, the cat's will also get a vacation from Duke because it seems recently that Duke has been taking his frustrations out specifically on Leon. (Poor Leon.)

That's it for now! Here are some new pictures of Abby. The one where she's checking herself out in the mirror is pretty cute but, my favorite one is the one where she's laying on my Chiropractic table.

Growing up so fast!!!

Our sweet little girl Abby is 2 months old today! Julie and I know we haven't been very good about updating the blog but we have been so busy. But we figured we better make some time to update everyone on the life and times of Abby Paige. Last week Abby started daycare at Vickie's house. I am pretty sure it was harder on Julie and I than her. While it is tough to leave her she is doing really well, Vickie says she is just an terrific baby. The other kids also love Abby, when Julie comes to pick Abby up at the end of the day all the kids have to say bye to baby Abby. Other developments are her ability to hold her head up better and better each day. She has also started sleeping later and later, which is really nice. The last week she hasn't gotten up any earlier than 4:30 in the morning.
Other up coming events in Abby's life would be her first round of vaccinations on Friday, which Julie is pretty nervous about. As many of you know Julie is going to school to be a chiropractor and recently had to write a paper on the pros and cons of vaccinations. And while we decided to vaccinate Abby, Julie was forced to read about the horror stories when vaccinations caused far more harm than good. Abby is also getting baptized this Sunday, which is going to be a big day for her and the whole family. Abby's grandma Janis will be putting on a little party for her afterwards.
The attached pictures just show how Abby has grown so far, you may notice her smiling in a few as she has begun smiling at people and things she likes.

Abby's Updates

Abby continues to be a great baby, more than any parent could ever ask for. She eats well and sleeps even better. On Thursday night she went to bed at about 11:30 p.m. and didn't get up until 5:45 a.m!!! Unfortunately this hasn't been a nightly thing but she has been sleeping more and more every night. Other big changes are that Abby has now started sleeping in her bassinet and not with Mom and Dad. She is doing well but needs a little love before she goes to bed. Abby has also started eating breast milk and formula. Since Julie will be going back to school soon and Abby will be going to daycare we have decided to start the process of feeding her formula. It was a really tough decision to switch to formula but with Julie studying for boards and going back to school it seemed like the best option.

The pictures we have attached today are of my sister and mom both holding Abby. We have also put on some more cute pictures of Abby by herself. And Bealblog first we have also attached of short movie of Abby just hanging out on our bed.

Also for those of you have are frequent viewers you may notice we have added a link to the Mach's Blog. Tim and Bobby are the proud parent's of their second child Tyson who is Abby's 3rd cousin and exactly 1 month younger then she is. You will see lots of great pictures and posts about Tyson and his big sister Emma.

Abby is almost a month old!

Abby has been in our lives for almost one month, and boy has she had an impact on us. While being parents is even more work than we could have ever imagined, we wouldn't trade it for anything. While getting up at 2:30 in the morning is not our favorite thing to do, knowing we are doing it for Abby makes all worthwhile. Everyday that goes by Abby is showing more and more of a personality and everyone thinks she is as cute as button and sweet peaches.

As for the rest of family everyone is doing OK. Duke is back home and doing very well with Abby, he likes to lick her feet and steal her pacifier. While Julie loves being a mom, it hasn't been easy. First she labors for 28 hours and then has a C-section and all the complications mentioned in the previous blog. Then she got a uterine infection which came with 2 prescriptions and a fever of 100.8. Then just last week she got mastitis which had a 101 degree temperature and another prescription. I am doing pretty well, tired and sucking down the iced coffees at work but other than that I doing fine. Well I think that is all for now, we have attached some cute pictures of Abby that we think show how she has grown from the last blog.

Everyone welcome Abby Paige Beal!!!

Well it finally happened, Julie and I are parents! Abby Paige was born July 18th at 9:12 at night weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces and was 21 inches long, and what an ordeal it was for her to come into our lives. As our last blog said the doctor had decided to induce Julie on Tuesday July 17th, so we headed to hospital ready to have our wonderful little girl. After 28 hours of rather painful labor Dr. Block decided that Abby was just too big and Julie would have to have a C-section. Needless to say things didn't go as we had hoped. As if the C-section wasn't enough Julie hemorrhaged pretty bad and lost a lot of blood, but I am happy to report while her hemoglobin is still low she is feeling better and better everyday. Now as for Abby she came out perfect, just as cute as Julie and I could ever imagine. She was very healthy but did get a mild case of Jaundice in the hospital and had to be under billi-lights the last 3 days we were at the hospital. The picture of what looks like a real life glo-worm is Abby catching some rays to help with the jaundice. After 5 days in the hospital we were finally able to go home, which was a big relief for all us as trying to get sleep in a hospital is almost impossible. There seems to be someone popping in to check something every hour.

Now that we are home Julie and I are starting to adjust to having a baby around the house. For the most part Abby is as perfect a baby as a parent could ask for. She rarely cries, eats well, continues to gain weight, and loves to be held. She still likes to keep Mom and Dad up at night but she is so sweet and cute we really don't mind. Julie is continually getting stronger and feel better from her surgery, however she has managed to get a cold in the midst of all of this. But being the trooper she is she never complains about her motherly duties. That is it for now, but we will be sure to keep everyone updated on how Abby, Julie and I are doing. Even if we don't have a lot to write we will be sure to put up pictures as much as we can.

Mark Your Calendars!

As you may have noticed last week we didn't put up a new blog due to no significant changes. But let me tell you things certainly have changed this week. On Wednesday we had another appointment with Dr. Block, and this is when things got interesting. Dr. Block noticed how uncomfortable Julie was and how she hasn't had any contractions yet. And with the baby being the size they believe her to be Dr. Block decided the best course of action would be to schedule Julie to be induced around in the evening of Tuesday July 17th. In order to do this there had to be a stress test done on the baby to make sure she was up for her epic journey into our lives. During this stress test the baby would not sit still and the MA's were having a tough time tracking the babies heart rate. Just as a precaution Dr. Block sent us to the hospital to get things checked out there. Once there Julie was hooked up to a fetal monitor for about 45 minutes to track the babies heart rate. Everything looked great but they still had us do an bio-physical check the babies gross and fine motor movements. She passed that test with flying colors and they the nurses at the hospital sent us home with a clean bill of health and no concerns as to the babies well being.