Picture of the Week *Happy New Year – Old Schol*

December 31, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Guess what?!?  2012 was an awesome year!  I can blog for days about how life-changing it was, or how great it is to be parents, but I’ve done that a lot already this year.  And aside from that, I’m quite sure you think I’m a boring old fart Momma.  Well friends, it’s time to let a little cat out of the bag…   I once was a party girl!!  Yep, it’s true!   Although NYE 2013 won’t exactly include any Junction Punches, there once was a time when that tasty purple drink was a staple of my diet.  In honor of the big holiday tonight, the time has come to transport back to one of my favorite nights of all time…

It was the cusp of 2005. 

I was about to graduate from OU in a few months.

My friends and Denny and I decided there was only one place on the earth we needed to be for December 31st.. Athens, Ohio!! 

(Obviously, we would have loved Vegas, or NYC or Miami but we were poor college kids).

I could tell you more about that night but I figured that the pictures will say enough.  Enjoy!!

Holidays 2004 067

My checks & balances BFF Sara!! We were quite out of balance that night.

Holidays 2004 065

Before diapers, wipes and tubby time, we were fun! Although I’m not exactly sure why he married me after that fashion disaster I was wearing.

Holidays 2004 076

Happy New Year from 3 reasons OU was a top party school!

new years 5-on the floor

The ending to my night in 2005
(and I realize it is likely also the ending to any future political aspirations because I am posting this photo)

So there you have it… the Pre-Mommy days of my life!  Our NYE tonight will be much more low-key, but I don’t mind one bit.  Tomorrow I’ll be glad to wake up to a cute baby face versus waking up next to a big old bottle of Tylenol.

Wishing you and yours a WONDERFUL 2013!!  We are forever grateful for all the blessing and memories of 2012.

Cheers!

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What a difference a year makes…

November 3, 2012 by · 1 Comment

::   This weekend makes me think about how lucky we are   ::

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Exactly one year ago tonight we were in the emergency room of Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital finding out we lost our baby.  We were seven weeks pregnant during the 2011 fall back weekend when something went wrong.  It was without a doubt one of the toughest and literally one of the longest nights of our lives.

Fortunately we visited the same hospital again. but this time for different reasons….

Exactly one month ago tonight, we were again at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital in the midst of labor awaiting the birth of our sweet baby girl.  She arrived in the wee hours of October 4th!  It was another long night, but a wonderful night.  And it was wonderful enough to make us realize that the heartache we felt on a cold night 11 months prior was part of our journey to turn us into a family of three.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since we said goodbye to what we thought would be our first baby, but I especially can’t believe it’s been a month since we said Hello to Makenzie!  How did time go so fast?  I’m certain we’ll need the extra hour of sleep tonight, but I’m pretty sure we won’t be too heartbroken if we spend it wide awake with good company.

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Welcome to the World Makenzie Ruth!

October 10, 2012 by · 2 Comments

She Is Here!

Our sweet baby girl, Makenzie Ruth McGee, has arrived and our world will never ever be the same!

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(Part of the reason I write this blog is to remember the little parts of life that often get washed away with time, so for this post I’m going to document the night of Makenzie’s arrival with all the details that made her entrance into the world so incredible… that is if I can recap it all without being a weepy mess over my laptop)

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Wednesday was one day past our due date.  It was also a huge day because we were headed to the hospital that evening to be induced.  In preparation for a sleepless night, Denny was napping upstairs and I was downstairs watching the Kardashians (don’t judge please).  At 2:14 PM I felt a contraction much stronger than I has been feeling the past 2 days and I immediately knew our little girl was ready to arrive.  The next contractions came at 2:19, and then 2:24 and then 2:28.  Thanks to the recently downloaded contraction app on my phone we knew we were officially in labor!!

By 5:15 PM Denny and I were pulling up to Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital (yes, he was a gentleman and dropped me off, and while I waited I had a killer contraction which caused a group of what appeared to be high-profile drug reps awkwardly stare at me as I hunched over the flower beds).   As I recovered from the contraction and we walked through the lobby, the tears started for me… this was it, we were going to meet our daughter!  The nurses whisked us in, and before we knew it we were listening to our little girl’s healthy and steady heartbeat on the monitor.  It was a relief to know we made it to a safe place and it would only be a matter of time until we held her.

The next 11 hours and 29 minutes were a blur — countless contractions, 2 epidurals, 10 centimeters, and an exciting countdown to meet our girl.  We were told to rest but neither of us could close our eyes for a second.  I remember laying in bed trying to memorize every detail of the room, every scent, and every moment of the night.  Denny held my hand and supported me during every second of the night.

Auntie Melissa documented the progress

8 then 9 centimeters

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Finally at 3:44 AM, a perfect, beautiful, sweet, eight-pound, three-ounce baby girl arrived with ten fingers, ten toes and gorgeous dark hair!  Dr. Susan laid her on my chest and Denny and I fell madly in love with her.  It was the most incredible, surreal, overwhelming, amazing and beautiful experience of our life.

PERFECT!

Just like that, we were parents, and we were a family of three.  Despite worrying for months how we would decide on her name, Denny and I looked at her and knew her name within moments – Makenzie Ruth McGee.

The morning went by in a blink.  Makenzie met her Auntie Melissa, her Nana and Papa and spent some time in the nursery.  Here are some more pictures below!

Pretty girl!

Meeting Aunt Melissa!

Nana with Makenzie

Papa with Makenzie

The famous Quilty It’s A Girl sign! It was used for both Melissa and me when we were born.

We feel SO incredibly blessed to have welcomed such a sweet and healthy baby girl into this world.  We continue to be overwhelmed with love and support from our friends and family and can’t thank everyone enough for sharing our joy (even is we haven’t yet had the chance to call you back or return your e-mail).

The past seven days have been wonderful and I promise I’ll document more of the first week of her life shortly.  Have a great night and if you happen to be awake at 3:44 AM tonight think of our sweet baby girl and send her a Happy 1st Week Birthday wish!

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40 Week Bumpdate

October 2, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

It’s October 2, 2012

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We Made It!  Forty Weeks and our Little Girl’s Due Date!! 

Our final sticker!   And check out the Bump, whoa!

Turns out our little girl is a little trickster and doesn’t seem interested in arriving just yet.  In the meantime, I finished my last day of work yesterday so now we are patiently waiting.

It’s so exciting but yet hard to really comprehend all that is about to happen.  Part of it is bittersweet because I’ll really miss being pregnant and feeling her move all day (and who doesn’t miss the chance to wear stretchy-waisted pants), but I know meeting her in person will be the most amazing day of our lives.

Based on our Doctor’s appointment yesterday it looks likely that we will try an attempt at being induced tomorrow.  We will be sure to keep the world updated when our little pumpkin arrives.

Stay tuned!  🙂

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The Calm Before the Storm

September 15, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

What. A. Week!

I’ve been trying to prep for the impending arrival of our little girl and I’ve been trying to prep for 3 months away from the office.  Both are keeping me quite busy.  Aside from that we had a short (and fun) visit from my parents this weekend.   And we’ve been trying to find time to clean, cook and do laundry (my darn housekeeper never shows up!).  In addition from the everyday life, here’s a quick update of where we are.

37 Weeks and 5 days… 

That’s where we are!

Smack dab in the middle of She can arrive at any minute-ville!  Woah!!

:: PHYSICALLY ::

I feel great !  I’m pretty big and I’m getting some crazy restless legs at night, but overall I feel great.  I’m a big believer of mind over matter right now.  In November when we lost our first pregnancy I remember thinking, “How can anyone ever complain about being lucky enough to be pregnant?”  And that is the thought I have everyday.  When I feel tired and puffy, I just think about how Incredibly Lucky I am to be tired and puffy.  It’s not something that everyone is lucky enough to experience and we are 37.5 weeks into it.  It’s pretty cool.

:: EMOTIONALLY ::

Anxious. Excited. Disbelief. Nervous. Happy. Blessed.  Scared.  SURREAL!

There are just not words to describe what we feel right now.  We are aware that something big, huge, life-changing is about to happen, but it is hard to wrap our minds around it.

Some days all I can think about is holding that sweet little girl.  Some days all I can think about is how or if I will ever get all my work done in time to be away for 3 months, and Some days I think a Whoa, I sure hope we can handle this.

So essentially it’s the calm before the storm.  We’re working… we are waiting… we are wondering.  We’ll keep you posted when the Beanette picks her Birthday.

Until then, have a great weekend!  🙂

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Picture of the Week *Just the Two of Us*

August 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Years before there was a Beanette, and long before we were the McGees, Denny and I were just two crazy kids in love.  When we met I was still an OU student and he was living in Pittsburgh.  

With just a few weeks left of being just the two of us, I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane.

When we first started dating the world was different…

  • Facebook was for college students only (I didn’t join until 2005 and Denny thought I was signing up for a dating Website)
  • Texting consisted of writing a note to someone on loose leaf
  • Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson were having wardrobe malfunctions
  • “That’s Hot” was the phrase of the year
  • Usher’s Yeah was the most popular song

May 2004 – Here we are on one of our first weekends together enjoying Athens finest — Courtside Pizza. It was baseball alumni weekend, and I believe Denny wooed me with some cold pitchers of beer.

Fall of 2004 – We were together about 7 months at this time and I already started dreaming of where our future would take us… it actually turned out way better than I ever could have imagined.   🙂

I can’t wait for the next chapter of family photos, but I don’t ever want to forget about the early days (although I’m sure these pictures will someday earn an eyeroll from Beanette). 

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Have a great week everyone!

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