Just touching base...

Well we have had a pretty uneventful week. We got the car back from the shop and it looks great.

Natalie's ear infection seems to be finally clearing up, she has one more day of medicine and then we hopefully are done! I will keep you all updated as I am sure you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to hear about Natalie's ear infection.

Natalie, by force, made some new friends this past weekend.

Christian, my bosses son who is 8.



And Eleanor, her parents are good friends of ours and her mother was there when Joe and I met. Elle in this picture (last Saturday) was 2 weeks old.



Talk to you all soon.

What did you do that for Daddy.....

The look that Joe got right after he bumped the car in front of him on Monday. He had just picked up Natalie from daycare and was headed to the doctor, for yet another visit about her ears, and while turning on to the main street he tapped the car in front of him. Other than a bruised ego everyone is fine. Apparently Natalie felt that it was a good time to fill her diaper. So poor Joe was not only having to deal with exchanging insurance information he had a kid to cart around that smelled like poop. All I can say is better him that me.

Here is the picture of the car after the accident.


Well that is all for now. Maybe the next time I post Natalie will no longer have an ear infection.... then again maybe y'all will want more pictures before she is 2.

Have a great week!

Swimming

Well Natalie was in the pool over the weekend. She was not so sure about it but she did not cry. She did not smile by any means either. She put her face in the water, by force, and was splashing around. She lasted about a half hour.

Joe's brother was in town this weekend as well. Natalie loved him. He has facial hair and she just thought that was great. Between that and his deep voice she was in heaven. She would smile and laugh whenever he was holing her. You would think that of all the pictures that Joe and I take that we would have gotten one with the two of them but we didn't. I will be emailing Rick's girlfriend to see if she can send me one I know she took some!

Nothing else is really going on around here so here are the pictures from the weekend.

Things are getting better

I think that Natalie after a little over a month is finally over her ear infection. She has now been on 4 medications and I think the last one was the ticket. In addition she has also been put on Prilosec, just like her Dad. This in combination with yet another new formula, the least expensive on the market mind you, has decreased her spit up tremendously. Not a new kid yet but she sure is getting there. She finally had her 4 month shots yesterday. We had to wait until the ear infection was cleared up before giving her shots. She slept the best she has slept in a while last night and was in her crib the whole night. Joe and I did not sleep well, too quiet! I think that we both were up 2 times to check on her.

Well last weekend we went to Louisville to see Natalie's Great Grandmother. It was a treat for all. On Monday my mother brought her up here to Indy so that we could have the 4 generations picture taken. It was blazing hot but I just talked to Heather our wonderful photographer and she said that there are very few bad pictures. Natalie apparently hammed it up well. Here are a few pictures that Joe was able to take over Heathers head.








This weekend will be another first for Natalie... She will get to meet her uncle Rick. Joe's brother will be coming out from Connecticut for the weekend. I am sure that we will have a lot of pictures from this weekend so I will post more when I get them. Natalie will get to go in the pool for the first time!!!

Have a great week.

Will the madness ever stop???

Well, Natalie still has an ear infection. She has had the same infection since the 4th of July weekend. She is now on her third medication and we have now seen the doctor 7 times for the same infection. When I took her to the doctor the other day about her still grabbing her ears I was told that she had some dry skin and that is why she was still fussy. I hope that they are right!!

The doctor also said that Natalie no longer needed a night time feeding and that she should be sleeping all night. We were told that if she started fussing at 2 am not to go and get her. Do you know how hard it is to sleep when all she does is scream?!?!?! Two nights ago was ok, she slept from 10 to 4. Then there was last night. OH MY!! She went down at about 11 and was up at midnight crying, she got her paci and was back to sleep. But every time she would lose that paci she was crying. This went on until about 2 and then Joe got up with her and ended up feeding her. We were both under the impression that feeding her would help, we were wrong. She cried from 2 until about 5 and then she slept for about an hour. I think that she just had a lot of gas from crying so much... just a vicious cycle!

This weekend we are off so that Natalie can meet her Great Grandmother Busch. Grandma Karen will be meeting us down there and then coming up to Indy for a week long visit.

I will post pictures when we get back from the weekend trip. Hope you all have a great weekend.

MMMMMM Cereal!!!

Well yesterday when I took Natalie to daycare her caregivers said that they had done some research and saw that cereal might help with her reflux. They wanted to give her a little to see what happened. I agreed and when I went to get her yesterday she still had on the same clothes!!! They said that she ate every bite and did not spit up at all. This was GREAT news. Joe and I tried to give her some last night and I think that it was a bit runny. We know now but she did like it and she was able to keep the majority of it down. I think that this will be a new staple. Once in the morning and once in the evening. No veggies or fruit yet. I want to make sure that she is not going to have any adverse reaction to the cereal.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days.










Have a great weekend

9 to 4

Yep that is how long little miss slept last night. When she got up at 4 she ate and was back asleep in about 20 min. It was nice having her sleep that long. Got some much needed rest by both of us.

No pictures today just wanted to share the exciting news.

Have a great day!

First Long Trip

Well we took miss Natalie to Michigan for the 4th of July weekend and the Gregory family reunion. She was GREAT!! It is a 8 hour trip from our house to the hotel with traffic and we made the same time with her as we have made in the past with out her. She slept the whole way there and home.

She was fighting the same cold that she has been fighting for the last 2 weeks when we were there. In addition she started a screaming fit every night at about 6. She was constantly spitting up and so when we got home we decided to take her to the Dr. We noticed that she had been holding her right ear but thought nothing of it since we were at the Dr. the day before leaving for Michigan and she checked out just fine. Good thing we have an excellent doctor. She did a full check up on her and found that she had an ear infection. The doctor also thinks that she may have reflux. We have put her on her fist dose of antibiotics to clear up the ear infection and will touch base with the doctor on Monday to see if her spitting up has decreased at all. If not she will be put on something similar to Prilosec. Good news is that she will more than likely grow out of the reflux. I will keep you all updated.

Here are some pictures from this past weekend.

Natalie in her 4th of July outfit




Natalie with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Mike on the Petoskey Stone Bear



Natalie with Mom and Dad



Little Miss hanging out watching the Tour de France



This is the day before we left



On our Saturday morning walk to get coffee with her Elton John sun glasses on




Have a great weekend everyone,
Sarah

3 months already

Well she is already 3 months old!!! She had her checkup today and weighed in at 12lbs. 8oz. And she is now 23 1/2 inches long. This puts her in the 80% for her adjusted age (due date vs. actual birthday). She is still a little peanut compared to the other kids in her class, but they are monsters. There is a girl in her class whose mother is about 6'2 and dad is even taller. Needless to say she is a BIG kid. I am sure Natalie will be taller than all the other kids once she is in grade school. She will still only get formula for the next month and the doctor is hoping in that time that she will start to sleep through the night.

So, I blew it…. I thought by posting Joe's Father's Day gift on the blog Friday afternoon at 3:00 I would be safe. I assumed that he would not check it before the weekend. Well you know what they say about assumptions…. He saw. He still played along and did not open it until Father's Day. Other than that Father's Day was good we went to brunch and then for a walk.

Here is a picture of Joe and Natalie at Father's Day brunch.

Father's Day weekend

We have no real big plans for Father's Day but Indianapolis is moving and shaking this weekend. We have the Us Grad Prix this weekend aka F1, there is the Indy Jazz Fest as well as a parade of cars. I think that we are going to brunch on Sunday for Father's Day and that is about it. I think that with Natalie and I being sick that we are going to try and get some much needed rest. Ken and Nancy are going to be going to the F1 race on Sunday and it should be great weather for it. I think the high for Sunday is 73. Nothing like spring temps in the middle of June. I am sure all you Texans are super jealous.

Natalie "made" a special gift for her dad for Father's Day. The daycare did it but it was really nice. Here is a picture.



the poem says:
Walk a little slower Daddy,
Said a little child so small
I'm following in your footsteps
And I don't want to fall.
Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they are hard to see:
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading me.
Someday When I'm all grown up,
You're what I want to be:
Then I will have a little child
Who'll want to follow me.
And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true:
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For I must follow you

I thought that her caregivers did a great job.

Here are some other pictures that we took earlier this week.







Have a great weekend!

First week

The first week of daycare is over and done with. Unfortunately little miss has caught a minor cold. She just sounds like she has a little nasal congestion. This is the first shock to her immune system and so hopefully she will come out healthy with no needs for meds.

Her caregivers are very nice and say that Natalie is a great baby!

She seems to be sleeping better at night when she gets home, I think this is because she can not stand to miss out on anything so she takes very short naps.

Amazingly enough Natalie will not be the tallest in her class. There are 2 little girls that are just giants. One is about 6 months old and weighs about 26lbs. Then there is another little girl that is about twice as long as Natalie. I met both other their mothers and one mother is about 5'10 and the other is well over 6 feet. Next to these girls Natalie looks like a little peanut. Apparently both of these girls are off the charts for their age as far as height and weight go.

No pictures today, sorry. Tried to take some this weekend but she got fussy every time we took out the camera. Maybe some towards the end of the week.

Talk to you all soon,
The McGuire's

Last week before Daycare

Well we have dropped off the check and bought the supplies, she is on her way to daycare. This week Joe will stay home with her 2 days and I will stay home 2 days. She had a rough weekend. Her tummy seems to be hurting a lot more and she has started screaming in pain. I am hoping we can get this under control before daycare!!! The Indy 500 was this weekend and every year that have a stealth bomber that flies over, this year our house was in the staging flight pattern for the bomber. It was very cool and the sound of the plan put miss Natalie to sleep quickly for her morning nap.

We got back one of the professional pictures from last week so I thought that I would post it.

Sorry Monday turned into Wednesday

I was busy with school this week, had a final in Music Appreciation.

Last week my parents came up to watch Natalie and brought the best gift ever... energy!!! They let Joe and I sleep through the night all last week. We were very spoiled. Now we are back to reality. Although reality is getting better and better, on Monday she slept from 8pm to 2:30am and then went down at 3:15 and up again at 5:30. She is at Camp McPhail again this week and seems to be eating and sleeping on a schedule more and more. Next week Joe is home on Tuesday and Wednesday and then I am home Thursday and Friday. She will go to daycare the following week.

Other than that there is nothing really to report.


Now for pictures





Have a great day,
Sarah

2 months tomorrow

Well little miss will be 2 months tomorrow and she had her 2 month dr. apt. today. Grandma Karen and Grandpa Mike took her and I met them there. Today was the day of 4 shots. I left for that. She weighted in at 10 pounds and 13 ounces she is now 22 1/2 inches long.

Sorry for the quick update... I will be back on Monday with more and pictures

Sarah

Special Treat

Last night little miss slept from 8:30pm to 3am. This is the longest that she has slept in one night thus far.

This week she is at Camp McPhail, Joe's sisters. At Camp McPhail she has 3 boys to play with. Apparently on her first day there she was treated like a queen, as she should be! She was taken for a walk, she LOVES to be outside, she was read to by her cousin Griffin(6) and played with by her cousin Aidan(3) he says that they understand each other and he knows when she is hungry or needs to sleep. She is called Baby Natalie around Camp and I think that this is something that will stick forever, as my 6 foot 2 inch brother is referred to as "little" Patrick since we have an Uncle Patrick, she is the baby for now and so she is called Baby Natalie as if that is her full name. So when she is 20 years old and still called Baby Natalie we will all know why.

Now for pictures


Fast asleep



Going out with Grandma and Papa for a night on the town, look at that red hair



Mother's Day



Little Miss wide awake



Her spring outfit her Grammy Karen bought her



NO MORE PICUTES MOM!!!

Growing so fast!!!

Six weeks ago when people kept saying that kids grow up so fast I never would have thought I would think the same thing since it seemed like we were in the hospital forever and awake for 24 hours a day. But now we see it. Natalie is growing so much, while we still get the daily comment about just how small she is we look at pictures and think, holy cow she is huge compared to what she was!!!. At her checkup on April 25th she weighed in at 8 1/2 lbs. and was 22 inches long. She has grown 2 inches and almost 2 lbs. I have attached some pictures the first is the day that she came home from the hospital and the other 5 days after her checkup in the same outfit. She fills it out so much better now!!!



Coming home from the hospital





6 weeks old





When my mom was out a couple of weeks ago she and my father wanted to buy a tree for little miss, we bought a Autumn Blaze Maple Tree. This is a hardy little tree, we have had some pretty bad weather since Joe planted the tree and it is seems to get more leaves the worse the weather gets. We are excited for Natalie to have a tree that she will be able to grow with and will be her place to get away from her parents as she gets older.







Jennifer came out to see her a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately when she was here it snowed, yes late April and we had snow. Coming from Texas this was a bit of a shock but we tried to make the best of it and did more of a car tour of Indy than a walking tour. We had a great visit and look forward to little miss going to Texas some time soon to meet Jen's little man. It is visits like this when I wish that we lived in Texas so that we could see each other more often and watch our kids grow up together. Since it is not the cards for now we will have to deal with the visits a couple times a year.







Natalie is home with Joe this week and I am back at work. Next week she will be going to spend the week with her Auntie Megan, Joe's sister, who has 3 boys of her own. I am hoping that she can train her to sleep through the night! The week after that my parents are back to spend the week with her and then 2 weeks later she will be off to daycare.

I will be posting more often now since she will be changing every day!! Check back soon for more pictures

Sarah

Monday will make little miss 4 weeks

Where to start, where to start....

March 20th I was admitted for the induction at 4:30 and then given the medication to start the process. Slept fine that night with the exception of the nurses coming in every 2 hours to check vitals.

March 21st at 8am they started the Pitocin and the Dr. came in and broke my water. This put me in active labor. I went from about 9am to about 3pm with no medication other than the Pitocin. I was then given the epidural to help with the pain and hopefully make me calm down and progress faster. The doctor was noticing that Natalie's heart rate after the contractions was not recovering the way that she would like and so I was monitored more closely for the next couple of hours. At about 6pm the doctor had not seen enough of an improvement in Natalie's heart rate and she prepped me for a c-section. Miss Natalie was born at 6:32pm. I apparently was not the only one that was hungry.... Natalie was given a bottle about 30 min. after being born and drank the whole 2oz. As a point of reference, she drank an ounce at every other feeding while in the hospital be it formula or breast milk.

On Friday when Natalie's dr. came to see her I asked about her being kinda of yellow the Dr. then reviewed her Billi Rubin numbers and said that it would be best if we got her under the lights to help with her color. She stayed under the lights for about 8 hours and then we were sent home with lights to lay her on that night.

Saturday was our first day at home and it was a chance to get in the grove so we thought... at about 5pm I got very cold and wrapped up in some blankets and laid down. I continued to get colder and added more blankets. After about an hour of this I took my temp and I was at 100.5. Called the Dr. and she said to take some Advil and call her in an hour. An hour later my temp was at 102 when I called her back she said that I needed to go to the ER. Jor and I made a call to his sister to see if she could come over and watch Natalie as we did not want to take her to the ER with all of the sick people. When we got to the hospital about 45min. later my temp was at 103.5. After many doctors looking at me they decided to admit me and pump me full of antibiotics. After many tests and a lot of bags of fluids of some sort I was able to go home on Wednesday. They were never able to figure out what happened or where the infection came from.

Back at home again and everyone was well.

We all have been doing fine ever since.

Natalie has been a great baby. We have had some challenges with her food. She is very gassy and is now on formula solely. Not our choice but it is best for her.

We had our 2 week Dr. visit last Friday and she was 7lbs. 4oz. and 20 1/2 inches. She had gained 13oz in a week. Dr. said that was wonderful.

As for me. I have had no other symptoms of the infection.

Natalie is sleeping about 3 to 4 hours at a time at night. Hoping that this will increase soon. Joe and I could use some sleep.

Here are some picture of the little miss.


This is her under the Bili lights


Her first day at the park


We will post again when we get some new pictures.

Sarah

Got Baby?

Mark your calendars...March 21st, 2005 6:32 pm. That's when baby Natalie Jane McGuire joined the world. (Pictures to come later, when Sarah gets around to it...she's a bit busy right now.)

Natalie weighed in at 6 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long (or tall). Joe reports that she drank an entire bottle of formula in one sitting! (Chug-Chug-Chug)

Mom and Pop are proud but exhausted and looking forward to lots of sleep right now. Heh, little do they know...

For those that would like to give well wishes, you may contact Joe and Sarah on their collective cell phones. If you don't get an answer, please leave a message. You can also contact them at St. Vincent's room 215...but, again...they're looking for a bit of shut eye and I don't want to get blamed for 50 or 60 calls right now.

Ace Reporter, Jeff McClelland, signing off.

McGuire Household Happenings

McGuire Household Happenings
The Big Day
Apparently the big day is going to happen sooner than we thought. Sarah had an Amenio test this morning and the results came this afternoon. The baby's lungs are healthy and with their best guess she weighs about 7.10 lbs...a good size.
So, Sarah is going to be admitted to St. Vincent's on Sunday afternoon at 4:30p.m. where the good nurses and doctors will start the induction process. The plan is to have the baby on Monday morning or early afternoon...but it is really up to Natalie.
I will try to keep everyone and this site updated as much as possible.

Induction Date: April 4th

Looks like if all goes well I will be induced on April 4th. Little Miss can come before just not after. As promised here are some pictures of the nursery.