Stella is 4 Months!

Sweet Stella turned 4 months on February 11, 2014. She happened to get her 4 month shots that day and was such a big girl! She barely cried and was back to her normal happy and smiley self when we left. She weighed in at 15 lbs. 13.5 oz and was 25 inches long.

Her new favorite things to do are pet Jaek and Chloe, jump, splash in the bath, talk to Mommy and Daddy, and of course smile :)

Now that Stella is on a regular schedule and quite alert, we have more flexibility to go and do things with her. The end of January we decided to head up to Lake Louise. The weather in Calgary was around 50 degrees (warmer than even Houston at the time) and another gorgeous day. The weekend happened to be a winter festival and ice sculpture contest. We enjoyed spending the day at Lake Louise walking around enjoying another gorgeous winter day.

Stella celebrated her first Valentines Day with all of her friends from our baby group. Genevieve's Mom, Carmen, hosted the party and it was a huge success. All of the babies had a great time exchanging gifts for a secret Valentine exchange, playing, and giving lots of hugs and kisses XOXO

Happy girl!

All the sweet Mommies and Babies in our baby group!

Stella and her Valentine Hayden...he was pooped out from all the excitement :)

Stella and Chloe during story time reading one of Stella's new books she got for Valentines Day :)

February 17 is Family Day here in Calgary and a public holiday. We spent Sunday going to Bragg Creek to see Elbow Falls. The falls are no longer large water falls due to the change in the course of the river from the bad flood that came through Calgary in June of 2013 right before we moved. It was however, still beautiful landscape and a nice place to hike around for the day. Stella also enjoyed her new hiking backpack :)

Stella and I at Elbow Falls

Elbow Falls

We are heading on our first vacation (aside from meeting family and friends at Christmas) to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, Mexico to escape the negative temperatures here in Calgary. Stella can't wait to get to warmer weather and splash around at the beach, while working on her tan of course!

Stella is 2 Months Old!!!

Stella Grace de Jong was born on October 11, 2013 at 1:01 pm.  She was 8lbs 7oz and 21 inches long.

Her Favorite Things: Eating, Smiling, Jumping, and looking at all the fun pictures throughout the house

It's truly amazing how much happiness one little baby girl creates. Kim is with Stella during the day and is faced with the normal challenges of raising a baby but they're all forgotten when she looks up and gives you that big open-mouthed smile. Everything else in the world seems trivial at that point in time.

We're heading to Houston for Christmas to introduce Stella to our family and friends and celebrate Stella's first Christmas. Holidays will be so much more exciting now to share the joy and meaning of Christmas with a child. Kim and I are so happy and excited to show her off to everyone.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!!

{Patiently} Waiting...38 Weeks and Counting

Well we are making our way slowly but surely to Stella making her debut. Today I am 38 weeks and not a whole lot of action going on. She has dropped quite a bit, so it is easier for me to breathe, but no real progress on dilation after my check-up yesterday. The doctor said things could change quickly, but I am just sitting back and waiting. Don't want to rush the whole process even though I {may} be over being pregnant. I figured I have waited this long...what is another few weeks, right!?!?!

Kaes and I are just so anxious to meet our little angel and hold her in our arms. It truly has been a wonderful experience and even with a cross continent move, dealing with a very sick puppy, moving to another new country and getting settled in, I can't really complain too much. I have the normal aches and pains of pregnancy, but am very thankful that I have been healthy, feeling well, and able to keep up my normal daily routine and schedule. I know it could have been quite a bit worse!

I finally finished up Stella's nursery a few weeks ago. My and her hospital bags are both packed and ready, car seat installed, and even a sack of rehydrators and snacks are ready to go. Now we just wait...

Here are a few pictures of her nursery and of me as I have been progressing over these past few weeks.

Not too much longer now!!! Stay tuned for pictures of our little girl!

             
 

35 & 37 Weeks

Sugar and Spice...and Everything Nice!!!

In case you don't know, we have decided on a name. No more Baby D - we have decided to name our sweet angel Stella Grace de Jong.

I had my first baby shower in Longview thrown by my sweet cousin Jessica. I am so grateful for all her hard work in getting it together. It couldn't have been more perfect! I had family from both sides come and share the special day with us.

A very close friend of mine that I have known since middle school did maternity pictures for me at the end of July. Day-Z Photography with Amanda Adams is a natural light photographer specializing in newborns, children, and maternity photography. We did a session on a very warm evening and somehow she still made all of the pictures look beautiful! I am so happy she did them and was able to capture a special moment in our lives.

My second baby shower was thrown by Jane, Jesica and Tara. It was at Jane's house and was so beautiful! I couldn't have dreamed of it being any prettier. Stella is one lucky lady to have so many wonderful people in her life to come and share our special day :)

Mom and I, along with the 2 pups, will be driving up to Calgary over 4 days going through Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Montana, and into Canada where we will meet Kaes before he has to go back to Malaysia for the last few weeks. I am very fortunate that Mom will be with me for 2 weeks in Calgary to help unpack, organize the house, and help get Stella's nursery all set up :)

Please pray for us a safe journey up to Calgary! More updates to come once we get all settled in :)

It's A....Girl!!! - 21 Week Check-Up

Current Cravings: Still green apples, but mostly any flavor of ice cream :)

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting our first bundle of joy due to arrive October 14, 2013!

I am currently 21 weeks and Baby d and I are doing wonderful! We even climbed up the Great Wall of China just last week. I major feat I must say! I am very thankful that I have had a pretty easy pregnancy so far. I was sick in the beginning each morning, but it seemed to pass quickly and I know it could have been MUCH worse.

At our appointment today, I had a test for protein and sugar in my urine and it came back negative (signs for diabetes) which is great news. I am right on track for weight gain, just need to make sure I keep a steady gain to not have issues as I get closer to delivering.

Sweet Baby Girl has really long legs and big feet!!! It is not totally surprising since Kaes and I are both pretty tall. She is going to be a big baby.

The doctor says all other signs are normal and growth is going well. She has 10 fingers and toes, solid spinal growth, good blood flow from main artery from me to her heart, all organs growing normally, and heart and brain look good. She likes to cover her face with her arm and definitely stays active and likes to kick me quite often :) I don't mind as I know she is doing okay.

Sweet girl covering her face with her hand

The doctor says she has really long legs and big feet!!!

Profile pic of our sweet baby girl

My next appointment will be in Houston before moving up to Calgary. The doctor says that I am fit to fly, which is good since we have quite a bit of it coming up!

We couldn't be more thrilled to know our little angel is healthy and growing normally. She is already so special to us and we can't wait to meet her in just about 4 months!

What to Expect When You Are Expecting!?!?!

Current Cravings: Macaroni & Cheese, green apples, tomato soup, and chocolate Haagen Dazs ice cream

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting our first bundle of joy due to arrive October 14, 2013! I am currently 13 weeks and Baby d and I are doing wonderful!

The experience here in Malaysia has been very good so far with ultrasounds every time I go into the office. Since this is our first child, I didn’t know what to expect, but was shocked to find out that we could see our little angel each time we went.

I first went to the doctor when Kaes was in the U.S. and I was 8 weeks along – February 26th. The doctor was able to do a transvaginal ultrasound and confirmed I was pregnant and let me listen to the heartbeat! It was such a wonderful experience although I was sad Kaes was not there to share such an exciting time. I thought I would only have blood work and talk to the doctor, not knowing they would be able to see and hear so much right away!

Our second visit was at 10 weeks on March 20th This was the first visit Kaes attended and we were able to see Baby d right away. Baby even did a complete flip in my belly as we were watching!!! We knew right away we had a very active one on our hands! Everything looked normal and we discussed what would happen at the 12 week, end of 1st trimester appointment the next time we came in. I had no idea of all the tests to screen for and the abnormalities or diseases they could tell just by taking my blood. So many decisions to make and already I am worried to death!

Baby d at 10 weeks

The third visit was our 1st trimester follow up on April 2nd All looked well and looking for signs on the scan, Dr. Kiren (my gynecologist) said the baby looked normal and the signs of downs syndrome were not present. This is 70% accurate and a blood test could give us 90% accuracy on any other abnormalities present, but she saw no alarming signs. Thank the Lord! 

Baby d at 12 weeks

I am having blood work done this coming Thursday and will get to have another scan of Baby d while seeing the doctor. I can’t wait to see how much the baby has grown!

Other than our exciting visits to check on our growing peanut, I feel like I am over the worst part of morning sickness. It was a bit of a struggle many mornings, but drinking apple cider vinegar mixed with water has helped. Dr. Kiren was concerned at 12 weeks that I have not gained any weight, but I assured her that I had reserves to begin with, so not to worry :)

Our next appointment is on April 29th and we {should} be able to find out the sex of our baby!

What do you think? Girl or Boy???

Give us your thoughts and stay tuned for the next update!!!

Love,

Kaes, Kim, and Baby d