We're back!

I'm sure we have lost some blog followers considering I haven't updated this in months. Oh well, I won't make excuses, I'll just post some cute pictures of Anna Claire and a short video of her crawling, eh, scooting and hope you'll forgive me :)

She is growing more and more everyday and is starting to copy stuff we do. It's really cute! She was a pink bunny for Halloween and charmed everyone at my office Halloween party. She was smiling and "talking" and just being the happy baby that she is! It's hard to believe she'll be 9 months old next week (Nov. 13).

A trip to the beach and July 4th

The last month, for the Tuten's, has been busy. In mid-June we took a week long vacay in North Myrtle Beach with my (Meredith) family. Anna Claire was entertained and loved all week long. She got to experience the beach, ocean and pool, all for the first time. She wasn't too sure about the ocean at first, but eventually enjoyed having her feet in water. She loved the pool and seemed to enjoy it the most. It was fun to be able to spend time with everyone. Aunt Nat and Uncle Hunter hadn't seen Anna Claire since her first week and Uncle Nick had never seen her in person, so it was fun for everyone to see how much she had grown.

July 4th Thad was able to manage a day off in between two very long days at the hospital. This is a long month, on-call every fourth night! We were both sick with bad colds, so we didn't do much on the 4th except to go to a cook out for a couple of hours before we were carried away by mosquitos. While being right on the water in Charleston for fireworks sounds like fun, you forget that mosquitos the size of large children are there too, not even the bug spray could keep them at bay.

Here are some of our favorite pictures of our girl over the last month:

June

For those of you who have been asking me to please post some new pictures of Anna Claire, here you go. I promise I'll try to do better!

I started back to work in mid-May, we made the transition successfully. Anna Claire does well with her sitter, and when I pick her up she's happy, fed and usually rested. She's not always in the same outfit she was in when I dropped her off, but that really has nothing to do with the sitter, but more to do with Miss Anna Claire! I still hate dropping her off every morning, a friend told me that I would get used to it, but didn't mean I would like it, I would say that's pretty accurate.

Anna Claire is growing like a weed. She goes for her 4 month check up tomorrow, and I'm excited to see her growth. She is more aware of us and especially loves her daddy, I'll post some pictures of them together below. She is getting stronger and can sit up pretty good (not quite on her own) and almost hold that head up without bobbling.

Since I last posted Thad celebrated a birthday. We went to dinner, but Anna Claire had a melt down before we could finish our food, actually, I think I only got one bite of mine come to think of it. Thad shocked me when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said a nice fountain pen....so that's what he got, a really fancy one that is retracable, apparently with as much writing as you do as a resident people take notice of what you use to write with and he got several compliments on it the first day he used it.

Here are some pictures of our baby girl from the last month. I've got to figure out how to edit some of them so she doesn't have red eye.

Jasmine still likes to snuggle with us and Anna Claire.

We pulled out the Bumbo and little Missy thought she was big stuff! She got so tickled, it was so cute!

A new post

Since it's been almost a month since I last posted I figured it was time for an update. Sorry for the absence, I wish I had time to post everyday and I suppose I could if I didn't do anything around the house or interact with Anna Claire at all. Speaking of our Anna Claire, she is growing and becoming more alert and fun everyday. I go back to work on May 11th and it's going to be a very, very sad day. I know we'll survive, plenty of parents and babies do, and I have plenty of friends who have had to go back to work and they and said babies survived.

Anna Claire has also been to her first birthday party (our neighbor's little girl turned 3), slept in the crib in her own room, stayed in the nursery at church and rolled from her tummy to her back! It's been an exciting month of firsts!

Since I last posted Thad has finished his shed! I first posted about it first here. He took his two weeks of paternity leave these last two weeks of April, coincedience that is also happened to be the last two weeks of turkey season? I think not. While he did do some hunting, we also celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary, my birthday and then completion of the shed!! I told him if the doctor thing doesn't work out he could build these, he's just got to work on his turn around time. :) Here are some pics.

GO HEELS!

Anna Claire and I were so excited about last night's Final Four game that we decided to put on our Carolina gear and sport it all day on Saturday in anticipation of the big event. We are glad we weren't bad luck and we look forward to putting our outfits back on on Monday!!

A special thanks to a family friend for handing down her cheerleading outfit! Anna Claire's got some room to grow in it!

7 weeks today

Anna Claire is 7 weeks today. Time does fly.

Last weekend we took our first out of town trip to visit my parents in Asheville and to introduce Anna Claire to some family and friends. It was a big weekend. It took us 6 and half hours to get to Asheville, before Thad and I could make it there in 3hrs. 45 min. Needless to say we learned a few things about traveling with a newborn. The trip home was more like 4 and half hrs. Anna Claire got to meet a couple of her Mimi's friends and my best friend since the first grade, KHW (I won't use her name to protect her innocence, haha).

This week we also had lunch with a friend from work who had the same due date I did, Feb. 18. She ended up having her son on Feb. 17. It was fun to meet up and talk about what our babies were doing, how much they are sleeping, what they like, dislike, etc. Friday afternoon I took Anna Claire to work so I could introduce her to some people there. It was fun, they all kept saying, "Look at all that hair!"

Here are some pictures from this week:

The Bottle

Anna Claire has been exclusively breastfed until last night. We decided it was time to at least introduce the bottle since when I go back to work in a few weeks she'll have to take the bottle while I'm gone. It was successful, no nipple confusion for her. She sucked down the almost 3oz of breastmilk in no time flat. I read in a book that someone other than me should give her the first bottle (who knows if it mattered), so here is a picture of Thad giving her HIS first feeding!

Here are some other pictures I took today.

5 weeks

So I missed posting last week when Miss Anna Claire was four weeks. She turned 4 weeks on Friday, March 13th, another Friday the 13th, I wonder how often we have two months back to back with a Friday the 13th in them?

We can hardly believe how quick the time has gone nor how quick our little sweetheart is growing. Over the past month we've learned a few things:

-She loves her pacifier.

-She hates having anything pulled over her head.

-She loves bathtime, especially when Daddy washes her hair.

-She hates being swaddled if she's wide awake, but likes it if she's half asleep.

-She loves her playmat.

-She hates naps and constantly fights sleep during the day, one day she'll be sorry she missed out on this once in a lifetime opportunity to nap as much as she wants, well, almost as much as she wants to anyway.

This week she started sleeping through the night, at least sleeping from about 11pm to 6am, which has made the biggest difference for me. We'll see if it sticks or if it was just for a couple of days.

The best part about this week is that she is slowly starting to smile, at least when she's either just had a nap or just been fed. It's fun to see that she's smiling at us and becoming more excited about the world around her.

Here are some pictures from this week:

This picture makes me laugh, sometimes she is so alert and looks like she's going to start talking at any moment.

We did a little photo shoot trying to get a good picture for a birth announcement and of course, Jasmine was right there in the middle of it trying to help. I thought this was a sweet picture. Jasmine has definitely started to warm up to her, but finds another room when Anna Claire is crying.

Anna Claire is three weeks old!

We can hardly believe how fast the weeks are already going by and that Anna Claire was three weeks old on Friday. I apologize for the lack of posts, I want to post more, but I just haven't been able to find the time. If she naps better this week, then maybe I'll get around to posting more.

Last week was a good week, we had a play date with my friend Kathryn and her son, Sander, who is 3 weeks older than Anna Claire. The babies slept while the moms visited and ate lunch. Thursday, EA came by to visit and held Anna Claire while she slept. Saturday, Thad's mom, "Grandma Gloria" came for a visit and cooked us lunch, and brought stuff for the freezer, yeah! Late evening Saturday, my mom, "Mimi" and aunt (Auntie Debbie) and cousin, (Mo) all came for a visit. They loved Anna Claire and enjoyed spending time with her, even changing diapers!

Here are some pics from the last week:

Two weeks old

For those of you coming to our blog for the first time via Natalie's blog, welcome! I'm not nearly as entertaining or witty as she is, but I promise I'll do my best to continue to post pictures of Anna Claire, although I'm finding I'm not having as much time to browse on the internet as I used to!!

Hard to believe only 2 weeks ago our sweet Anna Claire was just coming into the world. The time is already flying by. We went yesterday for her 2 week check-up. She was just about up to her birth weight, at birth she was 6lbs. 9oz. and yesterday she weighed 6lbs. 8oz. She measured at 20.5 inches which is quite a leap from the 19.25 she was at birth. The doctor's nurse who normally does the measuring was out sick, so he said he might not have been quite right, but regardless, our little peanut has streched out over these last few weeks. She's in the 75th percentile for height, which for me it just funny, I don't think I was ever above the 50th percentile!

Overall we are doing well, I feel much better after my C-Section and almost feel back to my old self, there are a couple of areas that aren't quite where they used to be, but I hope over the next 6 weeks or so they'll find their way back to the pre-pregnancy home :) I'm getting the hang of motherhood, which at this point is just feeding and changing diapers it doesn't seem like there is time for much else. Once she puts on more weight and isn't eating as frequently then I'll have more "time"....yeah right.

Here are a few pictures from her second week:

One week old

It's hard to believe our sweet little Anna Claire is already a week old! This time last week we had gone to the hospital, I'd had my C-Section and we were at the hospital receiving our first visitors and showing them proudly our new daughter. It's been a wild week, in some ways because I did have surgery, parts of it are fuzzy for me, but all in all the details are there and it was a great week. God has given us a sweet, good baby. She eats well and sleeps at night, not for long stretches, but she sleeps, so for that we are thankful. And of course, Mimi's (my mom) assessment is that she is completely advanced for her age, she would know, she's taught preschool for 30 years, Thad and I completely agree :)

Here are some pictures from the past week.

The last picture of us before Anna Claire's arrival.




First family photo:

At Home

We are home! We were released from the hospital on Sunday afternoon, originally we thought we would be there until Monday, but I was doing well enough that my OB said I could head home. I was very relieved! It was so good to bring Anna Claire home.

Our first night was a challenge. Anyone ever seen that show on TLC called "Bringing Home Baby" where it shows the two parents up in the middle of the night with a screaming baby, they are both exhausted, they've tried the swing, they've tried the bouncing seat, they've rocked, they've fed, they've changed the diaper, and the baby is still screaming?? Uh yeah, that was us on Sunday night. At last we found the only thing that would console her was mom, specifically she had to be laying on my chest with the pacifer in her mouth, it was a long, long night.

Night number two was a little bit better, but it was still all mama, although it wasn't quite an all nighter. I was able to get her fed and quiet and then Thad took over about 4:30 so I could get some sleep. He's been an awesome daddy, I love to watch him love on her, change her diaper, or just hold her, it's the best.

Mom and Nat are here helping, they have been life savers. They cook, do laundry, help me get off the couch, and help with Anna Claire, etc. Thad and I agreed today we have no idea what we would be doing without them. Nat has to leave on Friday and mom will be here all next week since I still won't be able to drive. They've had fun trying out new recipes and taking a couple of trips downtown for shopping.

Anna Claire is great. We took her back to the doctor today for a weight check and she had only lost one ounce since leaving the hospital on Sunday, so she's at 5lbs. 15oz and will only grow from here now that my milk is in and she's getting a full belly on a regular basis. It helps make her a calmer baby and one that rests better, during the day anyway. Here are a few pics of precious girl.

Guest blogger...

Hey y'all! It's Nat, Meredith's sister. I am going to be blogging all day as we await the arrival of Baby Girl Tuten. But, to keep things easy, I will be posting on my blog. For those who would like to follow the journey, please visit www.nickandnat.blogspot.com.

We have a date!

Friday, February 13th, not my first choice of birthdays for our new little one, poor thing will have to always explain to all boyfriends and her future husband that Valentine's Day and a birthday are two separate days and cannot be combined into the same gift!

Yes, our sweet baby girl will be delivered via C-Section on Feb. 13th. Little thing is breech and after an unsuccessful attempt to manually turn her last week, we'll end up with a C-Section. She's not breech in the sense that she is directly vertical, she's laying more horizontal with her head closer to my right side, or sometimes even up under my ribs (I'm sure you can imagine how comfortable this is!) It makes it easy for everyone to know when to arrive in Charleston for the big event and you better believe everyone is super duper excited. Her Aunt Nat will arrive from Chicago on Thursday night and all other grandparents the very next morning, bright and early I'm quite sure.

I'll probably have Nat be the guest blogger, I don't know if the hospital has wireless or not, maybe they will, if not, Nat will make posts from home with pictures. We are pretty much all set for her arrival, her nursery is ready (yes, I'll get some pictures and post) and after this weekend we'll have all final essentials to care for her, but nothing the local drug store doesn't carry.

Please pray for us over this next week as we prepare to become parents, for the C-Section, for the nurses and doctors at the hospital where we will be and for all family and friends traveling for this great event. We absolutely cannot wait to introduce you to her!

Long time, no post....

Sorry for my long absence, I promise, in the last few weeks of my pregnancy to do better about posting, especially pictures as we make progress on the nursery, and other preparations.

I can't post like we haven't been busy or like the end of 2008 ended on a good note. The truth is we've been busy and the end of 2008 didn't end so happy.


Due to the baby's arrival in February, Thad had to rearrange his schedule so that he could be off when she actually gets here. That meant 3 months of grueling months at the hospital and between November, December and January 32 nights of call, that's a month of sleeping at the hospital and not coming home at night, not so fun for me and definitely not fun for him. We are at the tail end though and as of this posting we've got 7 nights of call left and then, while he might not be taking call at the hospital, I have joked with him that he'll take call at his own house. He's more used to staying up all night than me, so he'll take the night shift...yeah right!


On the Monday before Thanksgiving we lost my Nana, suddenly. She had been having some heart problems and spells of dizziness over the summer and was under the care of both her regular internist as well as a cardiologist. She got a stomach bug over a weekend and by Monday morning had passed. Thad consulted with her internist and both agree her heart condition cause her to go into A-Fib (?) due to the electrolytes in her body being out of wack due to the dehydration likely caused by the stomach issues over the weekend. Ultimately, it was her heart condition which put her at high risk for any type of "cardiac event". Needless to say, while Thanksgiving wasn't completely ruined, it wasn't as happy and fun as normal.


So we moved on to December, where we learned my mom's sister and my dear Aunt Martha wasn't doing well after a long battle with cancer. The day after Christmas her battle was over and she went home to be healed forever. Mom, dad, Nat and I all traveled to Williamston, NC to be with our family and to remember and celebrate her life. It was a beautiful service and it was so good to be with my mom's side of the family and to grieve and celebrate with them. We were all broken hearted, it's still hard for me to think about let alone talk about without getting emotional. She was a special, special lady and a wonderful, mother, sister, aunt and grandmother and will be greatly missed by all of us. I could write many more posts about her and her journey, and someday I will, but it's too much for today.

So that's what has been consuming our lives on top of the busy holiday season, normal work, and getting ready for a baby. It's why I never got Christmas cards out, I bought them, but just never had the chance to sit down and get them addressed. I figure next year, we can send one with the baby and make up for this year.

Stay tuned for more pictures and pregnancy updates!