sick days

Cabin fever is running rampant at the McIlroy household. We put Bailey in the church nursery for the first time, and wouldn't you know it, a week later she was sick. The nasty virus has been making its way though each member of our family, so we've been spending a lot of time at home, taking it easy. Here you can see how we've been entertaining ourselves on these rainy afternoons:

fun at the park

everyday dance party

B and I have this routine every morning. After breakfast, we go in her room, put on some music, and I dance around like a lunatic while she laughs and shrieks. She loves it, and I have to say it's become one of my favorite times with her. Since we've been at this for 9 months now, I'm beginning to notice her musical preferences. The girl loves Weezer, Bob Marley and Jack Johnson!

Most of the time, we play worship music in B's room, and she seems to like it. But she shrieks and squeals whenever we crank up the ol' ipod. Maybe it's a fallout of all those late nights her bleary-eyed mom tried to mumble the words to some classic lullaby, and then gave up and sang u2 songs instead.

the cutest 'lil pumpkin

Exciting news! My parents have finally made the move to Washington! They're now only about 40 minutes away from us--a huge improvement from 5 hours! We've been at their house a lot this week, helping them get settled in. Today we went to check out a pumpkin patch near their house. It was fun--we picked out a pumpkin (which I plan to cook and try feeding to Bailey--) and Bailey had a good time trying to get fistfuls of straw into her mouth. She even had her photo taken for a local newspaper!

Fall is here; the weather is crisp and cool, I have a persistant urge to bake things, and the trees are so pretty they're practially a driving hazard.

Cheers to October!

fun at the aquarium

We had a fun day exploring the Seattle Aquarium. Afterwards we went out for a seafood lunch and Bailey discovered bread...she was gnawing on a roll and cried whenever we took it away!

Bailey's first campout

It was with slight trepidation that we planned a camping trip with a 6 month old...many horror stories were told by friends and family. But thankfully we had a blast last weekend camping with our friends Karl, Carrie, and Savannah. Bailey slept well in the tent and woke up a happy camper each morning. Darin and Karl got out on the lake to paddle while the girls cooked up some yummy food over the campfire. My parents stopped over for the day to hang out...Tony with his boat and Mom with her bike. And Bailey found Savannah's mad peek-a-boo skills to be quite hilarious, as you will see in the video clip (see link below)--all in all it was a great trip and we are inspired to get out and camp more often.

July? Already?!

The last few months have just flown by! Here's a quick update on what's new with us...first of all, after months of agonizing about it, we decided to give away our two sweet dogs. I never thought I'd be the girl to have a baby and get rid of her dogs, but they just weren't getting the attention they deserved. They each went to a fantastic home--Bear now lives out in the country and Parker is the new best friend and soccer partner of a 14 year old boy. We miss them like crazy but they are doing great, and I have to admit, I'm really enjoying having a nap-friendly and dog-hair-free house!

Darin and I celebrated our 4th anniversary last week with a "Choose Your Own Adventure" date. Those of you who grew up in the 80's will remember those books. Darin was presented with his own "book" and had to make choices throughout the night. We ended up eating Greek food at our favorite restaurant and going to see an old sci-fi movie from the 50's...except the movie's entire soundtrack was completly re-done by live improv comedians. Fun!

Bailey is almost 6 months old and doing just wonderfully. She is such a delight to us! She is saying "da-da" and practicing her "p" sounds these days...she blows little bubbles and says "puh, puh, puh." She's a very smiley baby and has the sweetest, toothless little grin. She's almost able to sit up on her own and grabbing for everything with her chubby little hands. We're just getting ready to start some solid foods...time for for messy food fun!

In other news, I recieved a sewing machine as a birthday gift and I've become obsessed with making baby headbands, dresses, etc. I am also proud to report that at the tender age of 31, I have somehow managed to be inducted into AARP (I have a membership card!). I' m sure it's due to a computer glitch, but whatever.

back to work

Today has been so hard....my maternity leave is officially over. Tonight is my first shift back at work, and the first time I've been away from Bailey for more than a couple of hours. The anticipation was the worst; I had a couple of hormonal crying jags and I could hardly put her down all day. But now that I'm actually at work (I'm writing this between calls!) it's not as bad as I thought...I'm busy and distracted and not a sobbing mess as I'd feared. Although I still hate being away from her and can't wait until I can work from home! Bailey and Daddy will now have evenings together while Mom goes to work. Darin is wonderful with her and I know it will be a special time for them to bond.

On a happier note, we had a fantastic time last weekend with Grandma Susie, Great-Grandma Kay, and Aunt Gail who came to visit. We went all over Seattle (I even nursed Bailey at the top of the Space Needle! That's one for the baby book...) and Darin and I had a great time playing tour guides. We miss our long-distance family!

making the rounds

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks! First Darin's mom and dad--now known around here as Grandma and Grandpa--came to visit for a few days. We had a relaxing weekend, and Grandma even babysat so we could take our dogs in for their yearly shots. Whew! I wasn't looking forward to juggling two big dogs and a baby--thanks Grandma!

Yesterday we returned home from Idaho where we spent the weekend visiting Bailey's Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Joy, Uncle Peff, Aunt Beth, Grandpa Jim and Cat, and cousins Ian and Luke. Grandma Lynn met us there and we had a lot of fun all being together....We celebrated Ian's 2nd birthday, played Scrabble, watched episodes of "The Office," and even had our own family edition of "The Amazing Race" that had us scrambling all over town to find clues. I tried to get some photos of Bailey with her cousins, but it was tough to get a good shot! Oh well.

We're happy to be home...this week several friends from my book group are bringing meals for us--what a blessing! I'm excited to have some visitors and some yummy meals. :)

Bailey is doing great! She is just starting to smile, although I'm not convinced it's really a social smile yet. Either way, it sure is cute!

3 weeks old

We've survived the first 3 weeks of parenthood--it has gone by in a flash! Bailey is doing well; she's nursing like a champ and gaining weight. However, the sleep thing is still a work in progress!

We're settling into a routine and ventured out today for church. Bailey was fussy this afternoon and Darin saved the day by calming her down...his method: giving her a tour of the kitchen, complete with a detailed explanation of the spice cabinet! She fell asleep in his arms.

As you can see, we don't have anything too exciting to report....just changing lots of diapers, breaking in the rocking chair, and feeling overwhelmingly grateful for this little bundle in my arms. :) Happy 21st day, Bailey Shae!

it's official

Well, we're officially smitten. Our days are now spent taking pictures, talking about poop consistency, and snuggling with the baby. Who knew watching the facial expressions of a sleeping baby could be so entertaining?

This first week has been busy. Bailey has had some jaundice and also lost more than 10% of her body weight in the first few days after birth. We've been going to see the doctor every day for the last few days, and nurse Judy, one of mom's co-workers from the health department, has come to visit twice. She has been a huge help with breastfeeding advice. Finally the jaundice is improving and she's started to gain weight. Today she finally broke the 7 lb-mark!

Yesterday Bailey met her Uncle Peff for the first time...then today she had her first real bath...what fun! So many little milestones...

she's here!!!

We welcomed Bailey Shae into our family at 9:05 pm on Sunday, 1/21/07. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 19 inches long. She's perfect! We are so blessed to finally have her with us!

Our birth story is not what I expected it to be...if you don't care to hear the details you may want to skip down to the photos now!

I started having regular contractions on Friday 1/19 (Bailey's due date). By early Saturday morning (2 am), they were 3 minutes apart and my doctor told us to go ahead and go into the hospital to be checked. We were disappointed to learn that despite all the contractions, I was only 2 cm dilated. I was given a shot of medication to help me sleep, and we went home again to wait. But only 2 hours later I was awake again and still having contractions. My contractions were painful and strong enough to keep me from sleeping, and I was having them anywhere from 2-10 minutes apart. This continued for 46 hours straight! Unfortunately, the contractions weren't causing much progress in my body. By Sunday morning, I was completely sleep-deprived, frustrated, scared, and in tears at the thought of another day of contractions. Darin called the doctor and he agreed to meet us at the hospital in an hour.

When we arrived at the hospital, I was 4 cm and 100% effaced; some progress, but still not much to show for 40+ hours of pain and sleeplessness. We were told there was no room for us to stay since I was only having irregular contractions and such slow progress...the rooms were almost all full...we would have to go home again and return when something changed. We opted to walk around the hospital for an hour to see if that would help kick things up a notch. As I paced the lobby, Darin and my mom called everyone they could think of, asking them to pray that either I would dilate more, or my water would break in the next hour. The thought of going home and spending another day in misery was unbearable at this point. Just as the hour was up, we started back toward the labor and delivery floor to be checked. I felt a small trickle and wondered if it could be the water breaking. By the time I had undressed again and was on the table, it had become more noticible and the nurse confirmed it--my water had broken! I was moved to a birthing suite.

After the water broke, the contractions immediately became more intense. I had hoped for a non-medicated birth, but by this time I was worn out and my ability to cope was swiftly declining. I waited it out for about an hour, and when I was checked again I was still only 4 cm! My doctor thought that because the uterus had been working for so long, it was "tired" and wasn't pushing the baby effectively. Finally I asked for an epidural. It was great! We started Pitocin and within 2 hours I was fully dilated and ready to push. Bailey was born after only 30 minutes of pushing.

Right after delivery, she was placed on my chest to be dried off and warmed up. The nurses became concerned because her skin color was dusky and she wasn't "pinking up" like they wanted her to. They had to take her to the other side of the room and work on her for about a half hour, calling a NICU nurse in and finally suctioning her airway. They removed some vernix--a white coating that covers the baby in utereo--and the NICU nurse said she thought Bailey had been sucking on her umbilical cord! Bailey immediately recovered and has been doing well since.

So--she's here, and we're enjoying every minute of nursing, swaddling (daddy's specialty), and getting to know who Bailey is. We love visitors and invite everyone to stop by if they would like to meet her.

Thank you to our wonderful friends and family who prayed for us all along the way...before and throughout the pregnancy, for a safe delivery, a healthy baby, and even for my water to break at the perfect time! We are blessed not only with our sweet little girl but also with an amazing network of family and friends--that's you!

waiting for Bailey

Well, we're as ready as possible! The nursery is painted, tiny pink clothes are washed and folded, and the monitor is charged. All we need now is a baby! The Dr. predicted she wouldn't make it until our due date of 1/19, so now we're just playing the waiting game.

Check back soon for updates and photos...