Birthday and babysitting.

We had a few things go on this past week and one of those things was my birthday. I had already decided a day or two before my birthday that I was going to take the day off but Scott surprised me Friday morning when I got him up to go to work that he said he was staying home with me!!! Scott got out early Friday morning to cut the grass since we knew we would probably have rain all weekend and I worked in the house a little. Once we were done with this Scott took me out to lunch and then we went to the mall for a little while. We then went back home and I took a little nap and Scott worked on the satellite dish. While I was asleep Scott went to his Mom's for a little while and then when he came back up to the house I was awake and he said that we were keeping Makayla again. Brittany is in the process of moving and this past weekend they started moving in a lot of the furniture so maybe they will be in the house by this coming weekend. Scott took me to my favorite restaurant (Provino's) for dinner Friday night and then we went to pick up the baby. Makayla did very well Friday night and she has already gained a pound and barely fits in the preemie clothes she has been wearing. She is also showing us that she is more aware of what is going on around her and she is trying to hold her head up a little on her own. Saturday it rained all day long so the three of us just stayed in our pajamas and enjoyed hanging out. Saturday night Mom and Dad came down and on Sunday we still didn't have very good weather so we just stayed at the house again and watched TV and did a lot of talking. Brittany came Sunday night to pick up Makayla and once again we thoroughly enjoyed having her and can't wait until the next time!

Babysitting the grandchild.

This past Thursday Brittany had to be admitted to the hospital as she was having trouble keeping anything down and she kept getting dizzy to the point of her passing out one time. They kept her most of the day on Thursday and then sent her home Friday afternoon. They never could find what was the cause of this but they think it was a virus. As a precaution they thought it would be better if Brittany wasn't around the baby all that much in case it was contagious. We picked up Makayla Friday night and then had a very nice time having her all weekend. Friday night when we got her to our house we got out Jayci's pack-n-play and she slept in our room and Scott and I took turns getting up when she needed to be changed or fed. We got up Saturday morning and went to Columbus to go shopping and we got out Jayci's car seat and stroller and took her out and about. Makayla slept most of the time we were gone and did a wonderful job as this was the longest she had been out like that since she was born. Saturday night Mom said that she didn't mind if Makayla slept in the room with her and so she did the changing and feeding that night. Sunday Scott and Molly kept her while me and Mom went to pick up a few things and then we just all hung out at the house most of the day until we had to take Molly and Mom home. We took Makayla with us so Dad and Jenny could see her and again she did very well on the ride but she did get a little fussy when we got about 30 min away from the house but it was time for her bottle so we just pulled over and fed her and then she was fine. We took her back to her mommy Sunday night and we can't wait to be able to do this again. This was a great opportunity for me to get a practice run at having a newborn in the house and then packing up the car with a baby and I love every minute of it! Below are a couple of pictures we took of her over the weekend.

Nanny and the past year.

It is hard to believe that it has been one year since Nanny passed away and to think of all that has transpired in the last 12 months where she wasn't physically here with us have been quite emotional but I can always feel that she is watching over us. In this past year we have all had our moments of happiness, sadness and reflection and all of our families have gone through a lot of changes and have had many events take place. For Scott and I our biggest has been getting pregnant and I have to say that I have missed her so very much through this whole experience. Scott and I got into a conversation about Nanny last night because I have had some moments here in the last couple of weeks where I have been a little emotional about things and I was telling him that it doesn't seem like it was a year ago that we lost her and that I was missing her a lot here lately. He then told me again about the story of where just a few weeks after she passed away how he felt as though someone was helping guide him through his decision of us trying to have a baby again and he knows it was Nanny and how he knows she has been with us through each and every step of this process. I can't wait until Jayci is old enough for me to tell her stories about her great-grandmother and how she got her name. Our family is so fortunate to have the foundation that Nanny, grand-dad, Mamma Sewell, Daddy Sewell and all others before us have helped build and I know that will continue with all of the other generations in the family.

Nanny will be forever in our hearts and I know that one day we will see her again but until then I take tremendous comfort in knowing that she is watching out for all of us.

WOW what a weekend!

There was so much going on this weekend so let me start with Friday afternoon. Scott and I left Friday after work to pick up Molly and then head to Mom's for the baby shower and ultrasound. When I picked up Scott he said that he had talked to Brittany and that she was already showing signs that she might start going into labor in the next few days! I had a feeling that something would happen and that we wouldn't be there when she had the baby but from what her doctor said it could be another 7-10 days before we had anything to worry about so we went on to Mom's. Saturday morning we got up to start getting everything ready for the shower and we got a call about 10am that she had started going into labor but that her contractions were still fairly far apart and not regular so it still looked like it would be a while and we knew there wasn't any way for us to be there so we just asked that they call as much as they could. In the meantime the guests started arriving and I can't begin to tell you how much it meant to me and Scott to see everyone there that made it and there were several people that I hadn't seen in many years and we did end up with quite a crowd. I don't really have any pictures to post as we didn't get any pictures with our camera but there were several people there that did so we should have some soon. The shower was so much fun and Jayci received many things that she will get a lot of use out of and I can't wait to see her in all the cute clothes, blankets, swing, shoes, etc. I will be taking a lot of pictures of her using all of these and will think about all the love that came from those that gave them to her. Scott and I want to thank everyone for being there and sharing this special time with us and Jayci will soon find out what a lucky girl she is for being born into such a wonderful family and having a lot of friends in her extended family as well.

I need to extend a couple of extra thank yous to a couple of people. First off Mom and Cheryl for planning the whole shower and in getting everything ready! Mom the house looked great and I know how hard you worked on all of it and I will never be able to thank you enough! Cheryl did a lot of hard work in getting the invitations out and they looked fabulous and I know you had a big hand in also getting a lot of other stuff ready for the shower....THANK YOU! Amanda (or the other Mandy) I really want to thank you for the cupcakes (they were so adorable) and bringing dip and handling the punch and the other things that you did. I can't ever thank you enough for all that you did and it if you ever need anything please let me know. Melanie is such a cutie and I am so glad that she got to come.

Well that was Saturday and before we went to bed that night we talked to Scott's family and they said that Brittany's contractions were a lot closer and that the baby would be born before the sun came up. We went to bed and Molly had the phone so she would get the call when the baby was born. We got up Sunday morning and when we woke Molly up she was so excited as she told us that she got a call about 3:15am that Makayla was born at about 2:15 and weighed 5 lbs 15 ozs and that both her and Brittany were doing fine!!! We went ahead to our ultrasound Sunday morning (see Jayci's page for details) and after the ultrasound all of us went out to lunch and then we headed back to Mom's to pack the car and get back to Alabama to see Brit in the hospital. We got to the hospital at about 2:00 and were able to spend about 3 hours with Makayla and she is so adorable. Brittany was understandably very tired and sore but she is doing great and hopefully they will send the two of them home sometime today. I will post again when she is home.