Category: Julie

Julie, Reed

Trying to stay positive

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I know every woman since the beginning of time has felt the same way I feel these days.  Strangely, that doesn’t help me to get out of my own head.  There are still 12 days before Reed is due, but I am literally doing everything in my power to try to get him out early.  At least everything natural and not scary.

Saturday we had the laugh-a-thon with the Shulers.  When my friend Nicole was pregnant she went into labor 19 days early after spending the evening with her in-laws (who are hilarious) and so they kindly hosted Randy and I on Saturday night to try to get the same result.  We laughed a lot, but nothing.

Saturday late night we went to my parents house because my uncle is in town.  He is licensed in homeopathic medicine and has successfully used the accupressure techniques in inducing labor on his own wife.  If none of you have ever done this it is painful!  We went through the routine twice on Saturday night and then three times on Sunday after church.  Nothing.  Not even Braxton-Hicks contractions.

Sunday we went to lunch with Randy’s family to celebrate my upcoming birthday.  I chose Maggiano’s and ate eggplant parmigiano (even though I was terrified I would hate it) and drank a glass of wine.  Nothing.

Sunday afternoon we went for a 2 mile walk.  Nothing.

Last night we went for another 2 mile walk.  Nothing.  Then we decided to try the spicy foods thing, so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings.  This kid didn’t even blink an eye!!  My mouth was on fire and he just enjoyed every minute of it.  He didn’t even wake me up in the night.  So again, nothing.

The most ridiculous part about all of this is we aren’t even close to his due date, so I didn’t really expect any of it to work.  I was just being optomistic.  I go back to the doctor today and hopefully he will tell me I have started to make progress.  If not, I guess we will stop trying all these silly antics!!  (Except the walking, that’s my favorite time of the day)

All in all I’m still doing fine and trying to stay positive, except when I’m at work.  I closed all of my audits 2 weeks ago and really haven’t had any work to do since then.  These 9 hour days of trying to stay busy so I don’t get stuck with some crappy stressful project that I will never finish before I actually leave is beating me down.  I don’t want to stay home because that would be boring too, so if anyone has any ideas on how I can stay busy and help the time pass I’m all ears!!!

Julie

Julie, Reed

37 Weeks and 2 days…19 days to go

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We went to the doctor this morning.  Blood pressure, good.  Weight, sore subject.  Baby Reed, still a boy!  I had a panic moment this morning that we would go in for the sonogram and they would say he was actually a girl.  It is a terribly long time to wait between the 19 week sonogram and the 37 week sonogram. 

The doctor estimates he is around 6 pounds right now, which is bigger than Randy was at birth, I guess he will take after his mother.  He is head down, but I have made no progress at all.  I don’t think he will be making his appearance anytime soon!!

This past weekend Randy and I finished painting the stripes in Reed’s nursery.  Hopefully we will have time to take and post a few pictures tonight.

Julie, Reed

Month 8 Update

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I feel like I am finally in the home stretch.  Yesterday marked week 35, with 35 days to go.  5 weeks still seems like a lifetime, but I know it will be here before I know it. 

In retrospect I have to admit that this has been a smooth pregnancy with little complication.  However, in the last week my feet have begun swelling to sizes I didn’t know were possible.  Overall my joints seem to be stiff and full of fluid.  I wonder if this is what people with arthritis feel?  Did anyone else go through this weird joint thing?  My mom did, but I always assumed that was because she was a floor nurse who worked 12 hour shifts on her feet all day.  I sit in a cube.  Not really an excuse for me!

At my last Dr. appt on Friday he measured my belly and said baby is definitely growing and will probably be a large baby at birth.  Since I was 9lbs 3oz at birth that doesn’t surprise me (but Randy was only 5lbs 9oz!!!)  My only hope for a small to normal sized baby will be if he decides to come early, which I wouldn’t mind at all!

He moves all the time (except at night, weird).  My favorite part is that I can always find him.  He’s getting so big that no matter where he is in my belly I can always feel a big lump of baby.  For some reason I find that encouraging.

I think the best part so far is that I can still sleep through the night.  If I have to roll over I wake up to do so, but fall right back asleep.  Believe me…I’m enjoying every full night of sleep I have left! 

JB

Events, Julie, Randy, Reed

Concerts & Events

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Baby Baldwin has had quite an exciting life so far.  We have already mentioned all the places he has been, but he’s also been to several concerts too.  So far, he has seen Cory Morrow, Aaron Watson (twice), Wade Bowen, and most recently Pat Green.  After our experience at the Pat Green concert and San Antonio rodeo last Thursday, he might not see any more concerts until after he’s born.  My large pregnant body doesn’t fit into the tiny seats with no leg room so well anymore.

He has also been to a few Spurs games, an Aggie football game and a Silver Stars game.  Somehow I think it was a lot easier to bring him to these events when he was still inside the womb than it will be after he’s born…

JB

Events, Julie, Randy, Reed

Baby Shower II: Couples Gone Wild

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We are a little behind in our updates. Julie and I have each had intense work weeks recently, and we are both brain-drained when we hit the couch at home. Nonetheless, we need to keep you (our loyal readers) up-to-date, so it is only a temporary excuse.

Almost two weeks ago, we had our second of four baby showers. This one was hosted by Julie’s Grandmother, Mom and sisters.  Her family isn’t near as big as mine, so it was a perfect opportunity for them to invite many of their family friends, and for us to invite those friends that don’t fit into “Family” or “Church”, but are still very important and close to us. Julie’s entire immediate family was in on the gig, including Dave, who served up some great snacks from the BBQ pit.

The major difference this time was inviting the guys as well. The first shower was all about the ladies and had all the shower games and such. Julie’s goal for this shower was much less girlie and even less about the gifts. While we still opened the gifts for everyone to see, it was a come-and-go-as-you-please; mostly so the guy’s eyes wouldn’t glaze over and they could escape to stand around the BBQ pit with Dave if they needed to.

It was a blast and the puppies that Julie’s family are trying to sell provided great entertainment outside. Many thanks to her entire family for putting this on. It was fun for everyone… even the guys.

-RB

Events, Julie, Randy, Reed

Baby showers have begun!!

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My first baby shower was this Sunday (Jan. 18).  This shower was thrown by 5 wonderful women in Randy’s family including his sisters, cousin, cousins of his mom, etc.  I want to thank all of those ladies for throwing such a fun shower, so thank you Beverly, Britany, Patty, Debbie and Susan.

I felt so blessed because half of the guest list was from out of town…and they all came!  Randy’s aunts and cousins came from Houston, Natalia and Dallas to celebrate with us.  I didn’t get a headcount of the guests…but there were probably 25 ladies and all of them were Randy’s family members (except Diana, mom and me).  All in all we had a great time and I appreciate everyone celebrating with us and I of course appreciate all the gifts too… 🙂

-Julie

Julie, Reed

Baby Update and Nursery Progress

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I’m going to give you updates on several things all in one post…

Baby Reed is a very active little boy.  I am constantly amazed that each day he continues to get stronger and move more often.  This week he is definitely going through a growth spurt and I am feeling the stretch in my belly.  Since my belly has gotten significantly larger in the last few weeks people have stopped looking at me and wondering if I’m pregnant or not.  They know!

Now that we no longer have to worry about and dote on Shiloh (tear) we have been able to start doing some of the fun things to prepare for baby.  We went to Ikea to buy a bookcase last weekend and finally put it together last night.  We have lots more decorating to do in the nursery, but a few pictures are attached below.  

We have also finally registered.  For anyone that is not already a mom I have to warn you…it is an overwhelming experience.  Registering for the wedding was fun because I already knew about house stuff and what you do and don’t need.  Even though I have lots of friends with babies and grew up in a large family I realized I know nothing about what baby gear you do and don’t need.  So registering was a challenging experience for us (because I like to know everything before I dive into something!)  Tack on top of the general stress the fact that it was Christmas time so all the stores were packed!!  Thankfully, we have finished.  Any of you mommies out there, if I have missed something or registered for something stupid feel free to tell me.  I’m not too proud ot admit I don’t know what I’m doing!  (We registered at Babies R Us and Target)

Finally, showers start next weekend and I am so excited.  I can’t wait to see friends and family that I don’t get to see very often, but more importantly the presence of showers means we are starting the final countdown!  I am at 30 weeks with less than 10 to go.  I can’t wait to meet this kid that keeps pushing me around all day!!

Julie







Holidays, Julie, Randy, Reed

Proud to announce… Reed Matthew Baldwin

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Merry Christmas!!

We have picked today to give Baby Baldwin #1 an official name, Reed Matthew. The name has been circulating for several weeks now amongst our family and friends, but with all the new babies we have visited and announced, I felt the announcement and the title might have been lost in the mix. So I picked our “Christmas post” to make it official.

For those that don’t know, the initials “RMB” have been in my immediate family for 3 generations already. In the Baldwin extended family, all the boys at least begin with an “R” and have various middle initials. I have never wanted a Randy Jr, so the search for boy names started in the Rs and ended in the Ms.

Neither “Reed” or “Matthew” hold any significance in our families. My goal was simple, but distinctively a boy name. Not too trendy, but not old-fashioned. For the longest time, “Ryan” was my first choice, but within the last 3 years we have met a number of Ryans, so it was losing its uniqueness in my mind. To me, “Reed” fits the same mold as “Ryan”, and we’ve had a great response from it. The next challenge was to find an M-name that matched… and Julie picked “Matthew”.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

-RB & JB

ps — After MANY requests, we finally have a belly pic to show everyone!

Julie, Randy, Travel

Babymoon 2008

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In our last post, I eluded to the fact that Julie and I were taking one, last trip before the baby comes. We’ve been calling it our “Babymoon”. Really it’s just one lasy hurrah before our lives are taken over by the next generation. The term derived from “Honeymoon”, might be a little off, since a honeymoon is taken AFTER the wedding… and this “Babymoon” is BEFORE the baby arrives. All in all…. you get the idea.

Our trip was to Cozumel, Mexico. Primarily for a destination wedding for our dear friends Meghan and Wade, but it was much more than that for us We decided to take a few days before the official festivities started and celebrate our 3-year anniversary together. Little did we know, it was just what the doctor ordered!

Apparently Julie and I had forgotten how to sleep though the night. Our dogs have been waking us up during the night for one reason or another, and it really has taken a toll on us and the amount of rest we get. Most of you reading this would say,”It’s preparation for having children!” This may be so, but eventually you can talk to a child and reason with them… dogs just don’t seem to get it sometimes. Regardless, the first night in Cozumel was some of the best sleep that Julie and I had had in months. We slept so hard that the maids had to wake us up the next morning around 9am. It’s a good thing they did, because the breakfast buffett was only till 10!

The majority of our trip involved, sleeping, eating and laying on the beach. We mixed in a few activities like beach volleyball and snorkeling, but otherwise, if we didn’t have to do it for the wedding, we didn’t do it. We did our best to stay relaxed and fun. The wedding party and the family were a whole lot of fun, so that wasn’t a problem… we had a blast.

It was interesting to be a part of a destination wedding during the same time of the year that we had considered doing the same thing. After being a part of one, it’s hard to imagine that we would have had the same type of experience with our family and the people we knew at that time in our lives. It was truly a blessng that our wedding plans turned out the way they did, because we would not have changed them for the world.

Full Photo Album

-RB

Holidays, Julie

Thanksgiving #1

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This year we will be very busy for Thanksgiving.  My mom’s sister, husband and daughter from Seattle visited us last weekend.  My grandmother is staying with us, and my cousin from the UK moved to San Antonio in September.  We have quite a motley crew and one that has never all been in the same place at the same time.

My dad comes from a small family and everyone lives in San Antonio.  I have no cousins on that side of the family which always made holiday get-togethers are very adult and not so “fun”.  My mom is the one with a big family…but they live all over the world.  She has one brother in Oregon, who has 6 kids, sister in Seattle who has 2 kids, and another brother in England with 3 kids.  Obviously we don’t get to see mom’s family very often, so this was an extra special weekend.

This was a whirlwind celebration that was packed into 2 days.  Saturday the ladies went to see Twilight (of course!!) and the boys went to a b-b-q with my dad (would you have expected anything less?)  Saturday night we all came to my house for chili, games and to watch the bloodbath in Norman.  Sunday was turkey day.  It was a little tense with that many women in the kitchen cooking a meal that everyone cooks differently, but we had a wonderful day!  To cap it all off we had to watch Napoleon Dynamite because it is a Reasonover family favorite.  As my cousin Julianne says, “If you think you hate this movie you have to watch it with the Reasonovers.  You will laugh just like they do and you won’t hate it anymore”.  I’m not sure if we converted Uncle Ed, but we certainly had a great time.

Last comment, coming to work the day after a Thanksgiving meal is strange.  I have never done it and everything feels out of whack.  I don’t know how people go to work on Black Friday, it feels un-American or something…

Julie