Kylee Elizabeth Engstrom

Kylee Elizabeth Engstrom was born on Friday, December 5th, at 1:41am. 1 hour and 41 minutes after the day daddy had been prediciting for months.

I started having consistent contractions Wednsday around 11pm, and I went in for an ultrasound on Thursday just to make sure she was okay, since I was a week overdue. The docs figured out pretty quickly that she was okay, but needed to come out right away since the amniotic fluids were low, so I was induced at around 4pm on Thursday, and less then 10 hours later, our baby girl was here. I just want to give special thanks to my husband for all of his love and support during the labor process. I'm thankful for my beautiful baby girl, but I'm also even more in love with my husband because he was so awesome during my labor.

This was taken right after she was cleaned. Our first family photo!


First time I ever held her...and fell in love instantly.
This was taken right after she was born but all wiped down.

Our little princess.

Josh holding Kylee for the first time. He hasnt stopped smiling since.

I did get to hold her right away, but the docs took her shortly afterwards to do her wellness exam. I couldnt hold her for almost an hour while they worked on her breathing. I thought she was okay but her breathing was a little muffled, and when they took her away to work on her, I think I experienced the fear only a mother can know. Terrifying but baby girl was fine!

This picture was taken right after Daddy finished giving her her first bath.

I feel like the happiest person alive, and I know Josh does too. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes, Kylee was born healthy and we are all doing great now.

The Baby's Room

Of course, cant forget my first baby. Nash has taken to lying next to me on the couch and resting his head on my belly. He used to get up and move when she kicked him in the head, but now he just sleeps through it.
I had a request from Aunt Carolynn to post pictures of the baby's room one more time before she comes. We really do have everything we need finally, for now, so thank you everyone for the offers and the gifts! I'm sure as soon as she gets home we'll find we forgot to get some stuff....

The little bear in the crib is the first gift Josh and I bought her, on our way back from our Wedding.

The room already smells like a baby! I love it! Come out already!!!!!!

Wednesday I have my 41 week appt. I've had pretty consistent contractions for the last 24 hours, but pretty mild ones at that. I even had time today (and energy) to go christmas shopping for my husband. I wasnt able to find anything though because SOMEONE looked at the internet history and discovered all the gifts I was looking at buying HIM. Not naming any names though. my darling husband.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Right outside our house, just before the Thanksgiving meal.

ha ha...us trying to get Nash to face the camera.

40 1/2 weeks, I've been having painful contractions everyday for the last week, only lasting about ten-twenty minutes before they completely go away. Note to others...whoever said Braxton-Hicks contractions werent painful lied!

This little boy, when all the adults were busy eating their thanksgiving meal, went and stole a turkey leg. While everyone was laughing we grabbed our camera and took a picture.

Us getting all the stuff ready. Thanks for the great Ham recipe Wendy! Almost every woman in attendance, child bearing age, was pregnant. The women who werent pregnant were carefully avoiding touching us or sharing water.

Josh helping set everything up. I think we had about 20 people there, mostly Army families. We had deep fried turkey for the first time, and let me tell you, I'm definitely making that a Thanksgiving tradition in our house! I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. I know for us, our first Thanksgiving together away from our families, we truly had a great day. A few years ago I heard a great sermon about Thanksgiving. We should remember to always give thanks to God first, for without him, we would have nothing.

39 1/2 weeks

I feel great, just for the record. Besides being uncomfortable most of the time, I feel really great. And, I dont feel like the baby is coming anytime soon...but we'll see about that. I'm not the one who decides that. This weekend I have drill, so Josh has been hanging with the guys watching football. I got a new phone last night with one of the best digital cameras on the market, just so I can take pictures of the baby. So if you want pictures...let me know :) (Besides the grandmas, I KNOW they want pictures) Have a great weekend everyone, and here's to hoping she can make it to next weekend!

See...you can have fun at work!

Josh and I went to a Rib Cookoff at a friend's house from work a few days ago. The food was delicious (dont have to tell me twice when there is a buffet!) and we had tons of fun.

This is some of the crew I work with being silly.

And this of course would be the view from where I work, note the ocean just a few blocks away. To celebrate our company's 20 year anniversary we had a party and everyone wore red. My boss (possibly greatest boss ever, and he doesnt read this) is the guy on the far left. Can you tell I have a baby in my belly? And according to the blog...she's a snugly baby!

Does anyone else tear up (or flat out cry) whenever they look at the blog? Or is it just me? It might be the music and the baby ticker...but I'm a sprinkler over here. I got the baby girl a journal today so I can start writing to her about how much we already love her :) Thanks Grammy and Aunt Samantha for that idea!

Spoiled

Nash is definitely a good dog. One of my friends loved him so much when she met him, a few days later she got him an early christmas present. He loved the toys so much he kept trying to get two of them in his mouth and played the whole night with them. She just came over to give the baby a gift and ended up loving Nash! If this is any indication of the generosity of others, the baby is sure going to be spoiled! Thank you Miss Carol!

Ok...we put up our christmas stuff a little early. I would do it every year if I could. This year, however, I was able to convince (make) my husband to put up stuff early because of the baby being due any day now. The weather outside is not frightful...but it is the most wonderful time of the year!

We had our 39 week appointment today, everything is still good as can be :) I cant believe she's coming any day now...could time GO ANY SLOWER? (say it like Chandler says it Carolynn)

Oh, and the best part of my day, the baby got her first real piece of mail! Cousin Alaina picked out a postcard to send to her new cousin and even wrote a message and drew a picture. AWWWWWW! (that definitely brought on the tears)

Doggy Beach

These are pictures from the doggy beach out at the local Air Force base. The scenery isnt quite as beautiful as other beaches, but the water is so shallow and waves virtually non existent, so dogs love playing in the water.

Let me tell you...it being so shallow and the sand so soft, my feet felt terrific! And since no one else was at the beach, I let the belly get some sun!

My dog truly has an obsession with being dirty and sandy.

Josh found a sea crab. We saw all sorts of sea creatures we had never seen or even heard of.

This is a video of Josh after he caught one of the crabs. Its pretty cool how they bury themselves under the sand right away to escape predators.

Hiking

On Thursday Josh and Nash went hiking...in case you didnt know our neck of the woods is on a hill and surrounded by great hiking terrain. If you like humid weather and bugs, its great. I know from when we first got here that the scenery up there is absolutely amazing...

Okay Baby Girl...the lease is up!

Josh caught me talking on the phone tonight, and laughed at me the entire time he took this picture. I know I still have 2 weeks to go, but like every other pregnant woman, I'm done. Out already Miss Thang.

Our Baby Shower

We had our 36/37 week check up today. All systems a go! We also had our baby shower today, where we were blessed with lots of diapers, recieving blankets, and clothes. As you can see, we had this at Josh's work, in the break room. Turned out pretty good for a hospital break room!

cool panaromic shot of half the group

Finally...Pictures!

Grammy has been asking us to do these pictures for weeks. We had a bunch of people over to watch football today so spur of the moment we had a friend take these pictures. We plan on taking outdoor ones next weekend (cough...my hair will actually be done then, too, maybe even a little makeup on). You made it 37 weeks babygirl, and according to the Army you are full term. We cant wait to meet you! Can you believe at this time next month...she'll finally be here? Is that enough to make everyone cry or is that just me?

I, for one, cannot wait to stop crying at every little thing. Ask my mom. I early voted on Saturday and cried afterwards. Was I always this emotional?