Macey's Update

Here are a few pictures of Macey with her eyes open. It doesn't happen much since she is still a sleepy girl. She has been a joy to have around and clearly likes to be held when she is awake. She can impersonate a gumpy old man, a munchkin and an elf really well. We're still waiting for the other tricks she has up her sleeve.
The boys love to play with her when she is awake and amazingly can sleep through all of their comotion. Good girl!

This was Macey's first bath - she set the record for losing her cord before a week old. The boys really liked to hang on to theirs. She loved the warm water but hates getting her clothes changed.

MACEY BLAIRE BEUS

We have named our little girl. And we are home - those are two big reasons to celebrate! Things are going pretty well...My mom is here to help me keep my sanity. Thank heavens for moms! She is mostly content although a time or two has shown a side of her that we hope doesn't come to visit too often. Here are a few pictures we have gotten. She just gets cuter each day.

Grandma and her newest little girl The after-party
An hour old - luckily she has gained some coloring since then

G'ma and G'pa

The boys were full of giggles when they got to hold her for the first time.
Brad REALLY enjoyed our time in the hospital - kicking back dreaming of hanging himself from boredom.
Macey in her take home outfit - We couldn't get any eyeball shots.

A Baby Story

We had our little girl at 6:04pm yesterday. Here is a link to her picture from the hospital. (You'll have to copy/paste it - the site isn't working right.)

http://www.kadlecfoundation.org/template.php?id=3943

We entered the hospital at 7am and it took quite a while to get things started. She was not breech much to my relief but I was dialated to a 3 - so something was finally happening. I had a GREAT epidural that worked perfect throughout my day- long waiting game. Baby's heart rate started to drop during contractions after they broke my water so they had to slow everything up and watch that - taking all day. They were sure her cord must have been wrapped around her neck, but we found out later it wasn't. Pushing lasted less than 10 minutes (not as fast as Brandt unfortunately) and she arrived Sunnyside Up (just like Kaden was). So they said I should be even more grateful for my epidural. I certainly am! By the way I didn't tear this time and I had a little celebration for that which the doctor laughed about. I was impatient, as usual, but it all worked out quite well.

She weighed 7 lbs 12 ounces and surprised all the nurses (they thought she was going to be small). But she was short - 19 3/4" long. She's a cutey (I'm probably biased). We think she looks mostly like Brandt - she has his nose. Flared nostrils from their mother, sorry children. But Brandt's nose looks really cute now...

We are really trying to nail down the names and are trying out Macey Blair (or Macey Jean) and Taylor Jean today. I think she looks like one more than the other although I had been more sure that we'd use the opposite name before we had her. So we are going to let things settle. I love both names so I feel like I won't be disappointed. We have been just calling her "sister" which is probably a nickname that she'll always have.

We're crossing our fingers that we get released tonight. I just love my bed. Brad and baby slept well last night...but not me.

Thanks for all your inquiring and congratulations sent our way. We feel loved! And we love her!

The last update on our Family of 4

I have swallowed my pride and added a picture of my big belly for all the world to see. Brad made me pose for a picture the other day. So here you go my sisters. Induction is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 7 am. The last 2 days I have been super worried that she has done some acrobatic moves and is breech again - feels like it. But I guess we will just have to wait and see tomorrow. It's finally here!!! We're having another baby. Brad isn't sure we remember what to do after 3 1/2 years. I am slightly more confident. This last week has been a whirlwind. Getting some last projects done and having Kaden's Birthday party (he really turns 6 on May 30). It was HOT and the kids had a lot of fun on the slide. It started out rough managing all the kids and festivities, but it ended up pretty good I thought. Maybe it just ended good since it ...ended But anyway, thanks for all the help I got from the moms. Kaden had the day of his life! Here are some picts & a video of the excitement.

Kaden got some great presents and has been sporting these sun glasses ever since.

Emma and Brandt showed their wild side on the slide. Those are two of my crazy Sunbeams!

Here is a picture of our makeshift nursery- sharing with our "office". It turned out pretty good - as good as it could. Wish there was more room. The dresser I refinished turned out better than I expected -and I love the bedding, although you can't see it so well. Now we just need to bring a baby home to put in that crib....If tomorrow never comes.

Yesterday's Excitement

I had one of my weekly appointments yesterday at 38 weeks (and 2 days). The doc spent some time really feeling for the baby on my belly and finally said "I think that's the head". Anyway, he went on to check me and say that nothing was happening at the cervix level (to which I let out a groan of disappointment). Then he said at the very end "Why don't you hang out in here so we can do an ultrasound and make sure that that head is down there." Sure enough...it wasn't. She was breech. I exclaimed "What a naughty little girl!" This is a surprise since clearly 2 weeks ago, she was not and the head was engaged. At the weekly appointment in between, a different doctor was really checking the head positioning for a lot longer than usual and said that the head was not engaged, but he seemed unsure about the positioning although didn't do anything about it. So who knows when she turned - somewhere in that two weeks. I do NOT want a C-section and made that clear. So they sent me to the hospital for a more thorough ultrasound and to do an eversion (sp?). The ultrasound showed lots of fluid and a fairly small baby (I'm not sure how they gathered that - but I guess it will be better to push out anyway.) These conditions are ideal for an eversion. Finally after what seemed like a full day at the hospital, the doctor turned the baby. Now this is done using all his force and strength which emits the most amount of pressure and pain that can be administered besides giving birth, I decided. He simply pushed and pulled on my belly and turned her back around. She did well and they monitored things during and afterward. I was having contractions on the monitor all day - so hopefully things start happening now that she is heading out the right way. I did get them to schedule an induction for next Tuesday the 20th. So if I don't have her on my own by then, she will certainly be here in a week (and 4 days before my due date, which is pleasant.) Now we keep hoping that she doesn't flip back around somehow (which is a high chance), although I can't seem to imagine how I could miss that since it was VERY uncomfortable to do the flip yesterday. She may get a spanking for that tricky move when she arrives.

Eye Challenge

Find the baby in the tree. Keep looking...and no - some crazy witch does NOT pop out at you while you are looking and require you to make a pants change.

I think it looks a lot like my baby right now. She's welcome to come at any time now!

Long OVERDUE...for a post, that is

We are busy completing projects (wait, did I see "we"? - Brad gets no claim on these). Let's start again: I am busy finishing projects so that this baby girl will be welcome to come.

• The dresser is painted and finished. Takes a couple of days doing coats and finishing coats, etc. Thanks to Lisa for the help and motivation to get things rolling. I just got the rare handles, that I searched aimlessly for days on the internet (in order to fit the existing holes), put on after buying additional hardware and spray painting the screws black since the ones that came with the handles were too short. (It never ends I tell you.) Now if I can get the artwork up..... then I'll add pictures.

• I decided to sand down the picnic table and paint it. In my mind, this was going to be a snap...it turned out that was only in my mind. Many laborous hours later (not the labor I was hoping for) I can see a few spots that need touch up, but it looks like a whole new table. It is already receiving target practice from the birds and my dogs paw prints from climbing on top to watch us through the dining room window. That's what it is mostly good for anyway.




• I have finally decided to go ahead and do something for Kaden's birthday next week - since his birthday falls on the 30th (a week after my due date). So we'll wrangle his pals here a couple weeks early to celebrate. He's been talking about this and drawing pictures about his dream "dog" birthday for months now....so I just couldn't burst that bubble. I've also been working on a baby book for Kaden (5 years later) that I need to finish and get to publishing for his B-day. He's really excited.
  

I have a few more unimportant projects that I am scrambling to cross off my list before baby comes. Brad thinks that is what I have to do to go into labor - cross things off my "to do" list. Not actually doing the projects, just completing them. Too bad that doesn't motivate him to join in. He did have a Spectacular Birthday though (that no one on his side of the family - including parents - remembered).

Beus "Cowboy" Family Night

The boys had a blast with their cousins last week when G'ma Beus and Aunt Donna held a Cowboy FHE. They came dressed in cowboy attire (seems my boys were about the only ones with an unlimited cowboy supply - shirt, boots, hat, belt buckle, guns and holsters) and they got a stick horse to ride, played some cowboy games, participated in a cowboy play (Kaden made his drama debut), learned about some of their ancestory from G'pa, and had the chance to get a mustache painted on. Only one of my boys consented to the stache and then was clearly unhappy about it - it had to be quickly washed off. See if you can tell which one from the pictures.