On the Move

I finally got brave enough to venture out of the house on my own, so Cameron and I have had a very exciting couple of days. For our first outing, we went and visited daddy at the office so that Cameron could meet the Volk & Bell crew. Ryan had fun showing off his little girl and I was really proud of myself for getting Cameron all packed up and over to the office without any hiccups!

Since everything went so well at the office, when we left I decided to take Cameron over to the hospital to get her second genetics screening. They do the first screening in the hospital right after the baby is born and then they have to do a second one when the baby is 7 to 14 days old. Basically, they prick the baby's foot and squeeze blood out of it until they get enough to test. Cameron did really well when they took her blood the first time, she barley even cried. However, this time was a different story. She really wasn't happy with mom or the nurse that pricked her and she definitely let us know it. It was really sad to watch her cry like that, but it was also kind of neat because I was able to calm her down just by talking to her. That definitely makes you feel special as a mommy to know that your voice can be so soothing to your child.

After the raging success of yesterday's outing, I decided that I'd give it another go today, so this morning Cameron went and met Angela and Rebecca at mom's group. I really enjoyed it. Everyone was so nice and it was awesome to have the chance to talk to other mommies. It always cracks me up when I go to things like this in Longmont because everyone seems to know the Volk's. It makes me feel so special!

Some of Cameron's super cute outfits are a little more work to dress her in because they have mulitiple pieces, so I decided to reserve those for times when we actually leave the house. With yesterday being our very first outing, Cameron got to wear her new heart outfit. Very cute.

Cameron in her cute little heart outfit, gotta love that face

The flash didn't work great on this picture, but I thought it was cute

Sleepy baby

My Husband = WONDERFUL

Ryan got me the best Valentine's Day present, a necklace with Cameron's name engraved on it. It was a little late getting here so I didn't get it until last night, but isn't it the coolest necklace ever? I truly do have the best husband in the whole world! I'm a very lucky girl and Cameron is lucky to have such a wonderful daddy.

Back to Reality

Well, it's been a full week since we came home from the hospital and the good news is we are doing great. We're still trying to figure out Cameron's schedule, but I have a feeling that it's like most other things, it just takes time. She has really been a pretty good baby so far, which is fun for us.

Now we're transitioning back to the real world. You know that feeling after you get married? The one where you get back from the honeymoon trip - one of the most memorable and wonderful trips of your life - and then Monday morning rolls around and it's back to work, back to reality? I kind of feel like that today. Ryan went back to work this morning so it's just been Cameron and me hanging out at home all day. It's such an incredibly strange feeling to know that this is my new job...I am a mommy! It's going to take some getting used to, but I have a feeling that I'm really going to like this job. ;-)

It was kind of hard having Ryan leave this morning. I wish that he could just stay home and play with us every day. It's been so nice having him home the past week. But unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at things!), the insurance world needs him so Cameron and I are going to have to make do without him. Just as long as he hurries home to play with us at night.

Cameron giving us the evil eye

What a sweet baby

Tiny hands

Daddy's happy, Cameron is NOT :-)

Sleepless Nights

A week ago at this time I had just finished my last day as a TCA employee and was in route to my parents house to walk on their treadmill and have dinner. Little did I know that in a few short hours I'd be going into labor and that we'd be introducing our little girl into the world.

Today's a tad bit different than last Friday. I haven't ventured out of the house except to get the mail and right now I'm sitting here updating the blog and watching Cameron sleeping in her swing. Talk about a complete 360!

Ryan and I are slowly starting to get the hang of this whole parenting thing. It's definitely an adjustment, but it's been really fun. We're just smitten with Cameron. I know I'm bias, but I just think she's the cutest little baby ever!

It has been really fun to watch Ryan with Cameron. He is so good with her, what a great daddy! You can really tell that he loves his little girl.

I think the hardest thing to get used to has probably been the crazy night time schedule. It seems like we just fall asleep and then it's time to get up again. I'm glad that there really isn't anything that I HAVE to get done during the day right now because I'm pretty worthless!

We had Cameron's newborn checkup at the pediatrician a few days ago. The doctor said that she is a very health little girl. She's starting to gain back the weight that she lost in the hospital and is peeing and pooping like a champ. It was so nice to hear that she is doing so well.

Here are the latest pictures...

Cameron didn't really like her first bath (mom and dad had a hard time with it too!)

Cameron's new swing

My little princess

Daddy's little Valentine

Wide awake

A Lot of Firsts

The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind. We were discharged from the hospital Monday morning. It was a little sad leaving. We have been anticipating this for so long that it's hard for me to believe it's already just a memory.

Longmont United Hospital was wonderful. We were so blessed to have such a wonderful team helping us bring our little girl into the world. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Here are some photos from the last couple days. We've had a lot of firsts...

Family Photo

Just before we left the hospital

Getting Cameron in her car seat

Getting used to the car seat

Leaving the birth place

Getting home

She's so cute

In her crib, she's so little!

Pretty girl

Daddy and Cameron

Crazy hair!

She's so peaceful

Cameron's birthday party favors (apparently she doesn't like them!)

Our cuddle bug

Look at those muscles

Big yawn

Good-bye

She's Here!

Meet Little Miss Volk!

Cameron Brianne
Born February 13, 2010, 12:06 pm
7 lbs. 1 oz, 20 inches long

She's finally here! I went into labor Friday night about 11:oo pm, we went to the hospital at about 5:00 am and Cameron was born at 12:06 pm. Everything went really well. All the nurses and the doctor were excellent. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

I ended up getting an epidural at 7:00 am. I wasn't planning on it, but Cameron was in the wrong position and it was giving me some serious back pain and, man, that was not pleasant! I really give my mom and Kathy props for having Ryan and I naturally, as far as I'm concerned, they're super women!

We think Cameron is perfect and are so blessed that God had given her to us. Here are a few pictures. We'll continue to post more as we have them.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and Happy Valentine's Day!

Wedding Success - 39 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a mini watermelon!

Photo courtsey of BabyCenter.com

Read about how baby is developing

Well, another week down and still no baby. I'm actually glad that little Ms. Volk decided not to make her debut this weekend because Maegan and Panama's wedding was on Saturday. I felt great all weekend and was able participate in all the fun festivities without any problems! Maegan was a beautiful bride and the wedding was wonderful. So in a nut shell, the wedding was a huge success!

Now that the wedding is over, I've got one week of work and then it's baby time (assuming baby doesn't decide to join us any sooner)! I'm definitely starting to get a little more nervous. I'm used to athletic events where I know exactly when they start so I can get myself mentally ready before hand. With a baby, you have absolutely no idea when the starting gun is going to go off, so that makes it more difficult to "get in the zone," making the whole thing much more intimidating. I suppose this is just another way for God to remind me that I need to trust His plan. Gosh, why does He have to keep doing that? :-)

Here are some photos from the weekend.

Me and Maegan at the bridal luncheon

The Baylor girls

The beautiful MRS. Guevara

Panama

Ryan and Me

Nick and Anne

Profile shot, February 6, 2010

Keep checking back for updates. We'll definitely let you know when we have more baby news!

It's February! - 38 Weeks

Baby Volk is the size of a leek!

Photo courtesy of BabyCenter.com
Read about how the baby is developing

Last week I messed up and posted the 38 week food photo instead of the 37 week food photo. Sorry about that! Hopefully I didn't confuse anyone too badly, but my guess no one really noticed because who the heck knows what Swiss chard is anyway? It certainly doesn't ever make it onto my grocery list! However, to avoid any further confusion the 37 week food photo has been updated, so you can look back if you want to see what Swiss chard ACTUALLY looks like!

So here we are, we've made it to February. After nine months of awaiting this little girls arrival we are down to the final strokes. For the most part, I'm still feeling pretty good. It's getting a little more difficult to propel myself out of bed in the middle of the night for my frequent trips to the bathroom and I'm starting to get a little sore down in "that" region. But, all things considered, I really don't have much to complain about.

I had another doctors appointment on Friday and the doctor said that things seem to be progressing nicely. I've started dilating a little bit, which is good. Apparently, you wanna get as many "freebies" as possible before you go into labor (or at least that's what they tell me). Since our last appointment, the baby has changed positions. Now she's on my right side and is in the posterior or sunny-side up position, which you don't want because it usual results in a more painful labor. She is still head down though which is good. The doctor told me that I could try sitting on all fours to see if we could get gravity to help move her into an anterior position, so I might give that a try.

We've got furniture in the baby's room now. YEA! It only took us three trips down to Westminster to get everything picked up, (the boxes were pretty darn big so it took us a few attempts to get everything loaded up successfully). I've made quite a bit of progress getting everything in the room organized. I think we just need to make one more trip to Target before we get things finished up. I'll post pictures when we're done.

I think that just about covers everything for now. We'll continue to keep everyone posted on any new developments.

Profile shot, January 30, 2010

P.S. Dr. Finnegan was wearing Ryan's Dr. Finnegan shirt on Friday when I went to see him! It was the exact same. HAHA