Summer is here!!!!

We are very excited that summer is finally here. We have been couped up in the house with the rain we had at the beginning of the month.

Gracie is growing like a weed. At her 6 week check up (last Friday) she weighed 10 lbs. 8 oz. and is now 23.5" long. She loves to smile and "talk" to family members. No, she is not sleeping through the night, but is giving me longer stretches, which is appreciated. I am very happy to say that she will take a bottle. Abbi never took a bottle which made it difficult to leave her with anyone including Tyler. Besides eating and sleeping, Gracie loves to be under her gymini watching her toys; she also loves her swing.

Abbi is doing very well. She is pretty much fully potty trained...Yippee!!! She still wakes up in the morning with a wet diaper so it may be a bit before we can lose the night diaper. She is dry 75% of the time for naps so I guess we will work on that. Abbi has adjusted well to being a big sister. She is a huge help to me and is very patient when I am feeding Gracie. She has never really liked holding her sister but this week has asked twice to hold her...maybe she feels like she is not as fragile anymore.

Tyler and I are doing well. Tyler is very busy with work right now. He has also taken on some side jobs and is building furniture for a few people too. I am staying busy trying to keep the house in one piece and laundry caught up!

Two weekends ago we went to Calgary for some much needed visiting. I was able to catch up with friends that just had babies as well. We stayed and visited with Brandon and Chandra. Abbi and Tyler enjoyed playing Rock Band (see pics below). It was great to see everyone!

We are heading to the lake this weekend for the holiday. We will stay at the cabin with Tyler's parents, brother and sister-in-law. My parents will be camping out there so we will be able to spend time them too.

Here are some pictures that were taken this month...Enjoy!

Rachelle

Welcome Gracelyn Coral Ulmer!

Welcome our new daughter, Gracelyn! She was born May 9th, 2008 at 7:28 pm weighing in at 7 lbs. 13 oz. We call her "Gracie."

Here is a pic the morning of my induction. Gracie was born that night.

We are very excited to add another girl to the family and Abbi is loving being the big sister. Abbi helps mommy with Gracie, especially with diaper changes! Tyler was at home for a week and is back to work this week. We have adjusted well and even had a few outings this week to playgroup and the mall.

Not too much else new besides the our new little girl. Abbi is fully potty trained at home and we are working on the training when we are out and about. It is a bit tricky to find a bathroom everywhere you go! Tyler is very busy at work as well as getting the yard work done at home. Hopefully we can get the rest of our yard done this weekend!

Here are a few pics of Gracie!

Rachelle

Baby Countdown!

So I am now officially in my 38th week and so it could be any day now. I do have a feeling that I will still go into May as I was not early with Abbi and was in fact 2 and a half weeks late.

We are all ready for the baby to come. The nursery is all ready and Abbi is in her new room. She adjusted well to sleeping in her big girl bed and enjoys having a room for her things. She is also getting use to calling the nursery the "baby's room." We also set up some of the baby things (swing, chair, etc.) so that Abbi could get use to all the "new" things in her environment. We are doing pretty good and only needed to give a few reminders for her to leave the baby stuff alone.

Tyler is trying to get some odd jobs done around the house before baby arrives. He would really like to start our kitchen renovation but I am trying to convince him to put it to the side until the baby is a few months old. I am not too sure if I can hold him off that long.

At my doctors appointment this week the doctor informed me that the baby is face out which will mean back labor. The chances the baby will turn to be face down are very slim. I am trying not to let this worry me but I know what back labor is all about because Abbi turned. I guess we will have to see what happens.

Rachelle

Abbi is in her new bed!

Abbi has officially moved out of the nursery and is in her new big girl bed. Tyler built her bed and dresser and is just working on a shelf to complete her new room. Abbi insisted on sleeping in her new bed the minute we moved it in and she has been sleeping in it ever since. It is quite high of the ground, but we haven't had any "fall outs" yet. I can't believe how fast she is growing.

As of this week I am home from work. My doctor would like me to take it easy and get as much rest as I can...I am not going to complain. Tyler did take me in to emergency a week ago with a high fever and some mild cramping. They hooked me up to an IV and pumped me full of fluids which seemed to do the trick. After that I was experiencing some shortness of breath and my doctor said it sounded like a bit of fluid in my lungs. He gave me some puffers and insisted that I be off work and now I am feeling a lot better.

Abbi and I are concentrating on going on the potty now that I am home. Today we have been successful two times...here's hoping!

We are counting down the days until Jena's reception...11 more days! We can't wait to see everyone...it will be a blast.

Here are some pictures of Abbi's new bed and dresser. I have also posted a pic of me at 30 weeks...not the greatest, but oh well.

Rachelle

Abbi is 2!!!!

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY ABBI!!

So, Abbi turned two at the beginning of this month. We celebrated her birthday with family. Abbi was so overwhelmed with the gift opening and cake but loved every minute of it.

I thought I would do a quick update on Abbi since it has been awhile. She just went to the doctor for her two year old check up and everything was fine. She stayed at the 50th %tile for weight but dropped a bit for height...must be from the Ulmer side (haha). She now weighs in at a whopping 27lbs. Abbi has definately become a sponge when it has come to new words. She loves repeating everything you tell her and will constantly ask "what's that" or "I see a ____" when she recognizes something familiar. She is talking constantly and will now talk a bit more on the phone with people she recognizes. She is still not the greatest sleeper but is starting to sleep in a bit longer than 6:30 am. As for toilet training...she was very eager before we went to Mexico but we decided to hold off as it would be difficult to continue while on holidays. Anyways, when we came back she was not interested. I have a few days off right now and we have slowly working back into it. Today we went 4 times on the potty but she is not telling me when yet. Oh well...here's hoping!!!

I am now 29 weeks along now and will hopefully post a pic of the "bump" soon. I am feeling great especially now that I have my sling off. I have to start physio for my shoulder and hope to have more movement out of it by the time I have deliver. Abbi and Tyler have been a huge help while I have been recovering. Other than that the pregnancy is going very well...knock on wood! The baby is very active...especially at night time. I don't remember Abbi being this active...I hope this isn't a sign!

We are busy trying to get Abbi's bedroom done. Tyler had strep throat last week so he wasn't able to work on it at all but we are hoping to get further along this weekend. We are still finishing up the basement. There are all the last minute jobs to get done that never seem that important but will make a big difference in the end.

Enjoy some pictures taken at Abbi's birthday!

Rachelle

More Pics of Mexico!

Rachelle

Mexico and Jena's Wedding!

Well just a short blog (will explain later) to update everyone on our trip. The trip was fantastic and Jena is officially married. The wedding went very well and it was beautiful. Abbi was great and loved that she could go swimming every day. I will try to keep posting pics as I have time. The reason this is so short is that I fractured my shoulder blade and I am in a sling for at least 6 weeks. It is my left hand so at least I have use of my right hand. I was in the ocean and a nasty wave took me down. It happened Friday so at least it happened at the end of the trip.

Rachelle

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Our Christmas was very special this year. We enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Abbi was very excited to open presents and was willing to open every one's gifts in the process; once again she stole the show! We had Christmas morning at our house with my parents, Tyler's brother and his wife. We went to Mom's house for Christmas dinner where Jena, Chris and Chris' dad joined us. It was very nice. We had Christmas with Tyler's family on the 30th as this is when time worked best.

We had a very quiet New Year's. We went out for supper with my family and then ended up staying at home and watching movies. We were invited to a few places but felt that after a pretty busy Christmas and with Mexico coming up staying at home would probably be the best choice. We actually feel asleep before midnight on the couch but managed to wake up just in time to celebrate the New Year and go back to bed!!

We are looking forward to 2008...we will be adding a few members to our family. Firstly, we will have a new baby in early May. In just a few days we will welcome Chris as our brother in law and lastly Tyler's brother and his wife are expecting in late August. We are very excited for these changes!!!

Well I guess I should stop procrastinating and finish packing for Mexico. Being pregnant has made this quite a chore as everything does not look like it should...oh well! I am hoping that once we are on the beach I just won't care anymore.

Happy New Year everyone...hope you have a great one!!!

Rachelle