1 month!

Abby turned 1 month old last week and we can hardly believe it. Here are some new pictures to show you what she has been up to.

Her daddy got her a Blue's Clues DVD to help stimulate her mind. She looks pretty cute watching it in her bouncer seat. We also have her listening Beethoven's symphonies and piano concertos as well as other good music. She is very alert and we can tell already that she will be a bright little girl.She also had pumped milk from a bottle for the first time. Her silly daddy took it out of the fridge and fed it to her cold... and she loved it! We are pretty sure she is the most easy going baby around. And we are thrilled she took the bottle with no problem.

She had her first little cold. Her mom had a stuffy nose and Abby unfortunately got one as well. It was so sad to see her sick, but she was still amazingly calm and happy. In an effort to keep her upright, we had a her sleep in her bouncer for a few nights. She loves that thing, especially the soothing vibrations it does. One night she slept in it for 6 hours without waking up!

AND... drumroll...
Abby learned how to smile! Her first real smile was on May 23 while her mom was holding her. Her dad did not see it and refused to believe that she did it. But the next day, she did one for him. We have tried many attempts to photograph/video her smiles and it has been quite difficult. Here are our best efforts.

The very beginning of a smile.

Almost all the way, but not quite the full effect. She has the biggest gummy grin and we will keep trying to capture it.

Here's a few more cute photos of her!
Thanks to Uncle Mike and Aunt Emily who made her Beatles 'Help!' shirt. I like this one because it is like she is posing along with them.

Her artistic bath picture thanks to Aunt Annie. Notice the reflection as well as the large belly. She is really starting to chub up. We think she is over 8 pounds now!

And here she is just being the sweet girl that she is!

Sounds!

Abigail is 3 weeks old now, and she is starting to learn more about the new world she inhabits. She is now starting to learn to look for sounds that she hears, which is pretty exciting. Below is a video that demonstrates this new skill!

Our Sweet Baby Girl

Our little Abigail is almost 3 weeks old! She is doing very well. We took her to the doctor on Monday and she weighed 6 lbs. and 14 oz. She is still tiny, but considering she was only 6 lbs. 1 oz. when we left the hospital, the doctor was very pleased with her progress. She eats well and is a great sleeper. At a week old, she began sleeping 3-4 hours in the night! She is such a calm baby and we simply love her. She brings so much joy into our home. Abby has had many visitors including Grandma and Grandpa Bishop, Grandma Pratt (who shares her birthday), great-grandparents, and aunts. Everyone loves to hold her and she loves to be held. She is enjoying new things every day such as "tummy time", riding in the car, going for a walk in her stroller, and she had her first real bath this evening. We have accumulated many pictures of our little girl in the past two and a half weeks. Here are a few to show you how dang cute she is.

Coming home from the hospital
Floor time
Dad picked out these jammiesJust hanging out
Going for her first walk

Having her first real bath

Believe it or not, she is even cuter in person! Stay tuned to more pictures as she continues to grow and change.

Abigail Mae

Abigail arrived at 7:39 Saturday evening. She had a little trouble once Mom's water broke; her heart rate dropped suddenly, so the doctor decided that we needed to get her out quick. Mom had an emergency c-section, which was a bit hard on all parties involved. Abigail and her Mom are tough though, and are in great shape. We are still hoping that Dad will recover.

Abby weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 inches long at birth. She has been very patient with her parents as they learn to take care of her.

We wanted to post a couple of videos so everyone can see how cute our little girl is. Dad likes the first video because his hand adds a little perspective of how tiny she is.

39 Weeks and the End of the Semester

My due date is in 6 days and I'm feeling better than I ever expected to feel at this point in my pregnancy. I finished work on Monday, my classes yesterday, and am hoping to have my finals done by this Saturday (hopefully the baby will cooperate, so far she has been very obedient).

On Monday they said I was dilated to 1.5 and 70% effaced. They offered to strip my membranes, but I declined because I would rather get this semester over with before she comes. We are getting excited, although it still seems crazy that I could go into labor at any moment.

Landon is all done for the semester and I am very jealous. We are doing well, just waiting for our life to completely change in a few days! Here is a picture of me at 39 weeks. I look a lot bigger than I actually feel!

32 Weeks and a Check-up

Last week I hit my 32 week mark! Here I am to document my progress.

Landon gets upset when I pose with my hands on my belly. He says it hides my belly (I'm not sure how I could possibly hide it).

So I moved my hands, but then he was upset that I wasn't perfectly sideways.

So here you go. No hands and directly sideways. Are you happy now?

We also went to the doctor on Friday and things seem to be normal. My weight gain seems to still be on track and well as my belly growth. He said the baby is definitely not large, but not small either, which I was very pleased to hear. He also told us that a lot of first babies come late and not to anticipate going early. He advised us to plan on going about two days late, that way we won't be as upset if the due date comes and goes.

This past week we went to our last prenatal birthing class. So now we are both experts on what to expect and what to do during labor. Well, probably not, but it definitely was useful and has helped us feel more prepared and confident.

We have been taking advantage of the little Babies R Us coupon books that contain 20% off one item coupons each week. We have gotten some good deals (20% off our crib mattress) and it is nice to spread out the expenses a little bit rather than getting everything at once. I need to take some pictures of the baby's room to post on here, but for now, this is probably enough.

An Eventful Weekend

We had a great Valentine's/Chinese New Year/President's Day weekend this year. On Friday, my grandma took us out to dinner since she and Fay were in town. They brought the baby a quilt and a receiving blanket, and promised a crocheted blanket once my grandma finishes it. It was fun to eat and chat with them.

On Saturday we decorated Valentine's cookies with some of Landon's relatives. I was finally able to use some of my cake/cookie decorating items including my alphabet cookie cutters to make a "LOVE" cookie. After decorating cookies, Landon took me out for Indian food where we had delicious food- Saag Aloo, Chicken Aloo, garlic naan, and mango/strawberry lassis, and samosas. We went all out! I am so grateful that I can still eat spicy, delicious food without getting heartburn! After that we went and played a couple of games of air hockey and took pictures in a photo booth. We then went to "The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe." They sell fancy cupcakes and drinks (hot and cold, without caffeine). It is a fun little joint and a great place to take a date. After all that, we came home and watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (thanks Mom and Dad).

On Sunday we went to church and spent most of the day organizing our baby's room. It was so fun! We still have a lot to do, but it is so fun to go in and just look and imagine a baby in there. We also made calzones, something Landon has been wanting to do for a while now.

Landon created his calzone first.
And then I put mine together.



And they ended up being ginormous.

Happy Valentine's Day!

On Monday we had an Arrested Development party and did more in the baby's room. It was a great weekend!

Chinese New Year started on Sunday the 14th, but we didn't actually celebrate until Friday. And we celebrated well thanks to my parents for a generous red envelope. This year is the year of the tiger, which is what it was when I was born. Since our baby girl will be born this year, she will be a tiger too!