Man they grow fast!

ok so im sure most of u guys are aware of this but..... i just have to say MAN THEY GROW FAST! kelly told me just after having deuce that i should take a few minutes everyday and just relish in his littleness (if thats even a word) because he will grow faster than i think. well...im here to say she was right (dont let it get to ur head kel) and it was prob the best advice i was given since his birth! so i dont really have much to say, but i wanted to share some new pics of our growing little boy! he now ways 7lbs 7oz and is starting to hold his head up more n more. he loves to look outside and lay on his changing table and look at the border on the wall. baths have gotten much better, he doesnt even cry anymore. such a big boy! deuce got to experience his 1st snow on the 5th and i did too! (my 1st real snow 6in, not just a layer ice over of the whole city) he has also been to the barracks and been held by "the few, the proud, the marines"! it was soo cute to see all these big tuff guys hold this tiny little baby. we also welcomed r new cousin in this week and we r looking forward to seeing him soon, along with every1 else.

so this is dave's idea of going to get deuce up so i can feed him n yes they both really are sleeping

deuce gettin his 1st bottle

the body bearers having a little fun with deuce. they really are softies at heart!

his first night in his big bed. already out of his swaddle.

deuce enjoying a little playtime in his activity gym! he really likes that thing

us enjoying our 1st snow or should i say im enjoying our 1st snow!

nothing beats the "i love mommy" shirts!

deuce playing (although he looks a little angry) on his changing table.

ahh bathtime and he's actually not screaming!

and last but not least ~ bronco! he got to enjoy his 1st snow as well!

until next time.....

luv mel, dave n deuce!

p.s. ~ cant wait to see every1 at christmas time!

The Arrival

to recall the events properly this will be a collaborative update by myself and dave.

first and foremost, the love that was born that day for our son could not be imagined until we touched, smelled, kissed and held the little rakes!

with us being proud new parents please excuse us while we boast about our boy!

ok so here we go...... if you've already heard the story than u can just skip to the pics, but i thought i would share with everyone the emotional roller coaster we went through in the days leading up to delivery. so after being late one week the doctors gave us an inducing date for the 16th of nov. so after starting the calling @ 730am and being told to reschedule @ 430pm for the following monday, we got a call @ 530pm to come on in to start the inducing procedure. so at that point the roller coaster had started...

so after what seemed like 48 hrs of labor(actually 8 or 9) you can see what great spirits mel was in. so if a picture is worth a thousand words, let me give the short version..."i have more cables hooked up to me than a d@#$ing kiss concert can we please get this baby out". the only thing to come from the inducing process was pain and a baby who was having a hard time dealing with the added stress.

so after a night of frustrating labor and 0 dilation, the doctor came in to speak to myself and mel about the concerns he was having about the stress the baby was going through due to a low heart rate from the contractions and inducting process. so for the overall health of deuce (david james II), with the advice of our good doctor we agreed the best course of action was a c-section. this is a picture of myself scrubbed out for the procedure, boy this outfit was very tight through the crotchital region.

15 minutes later our son is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the doctor and nurses are cleaning him up for his tuff mommy!

this is the earliest photo of the rakes' 3...smiles and cries!

deuce's first change of clothes and daddy's too! talk about being thrown into the fire, but i guess there's no other way to learn!

i think i was a little drugged and dad was a little emotional and deuce ... well as u can tell was a little upset about leaving his comfy little home! still a great moment in the recovery room! (from what i remember)

a big sigh of relief after surviving his 1st bath!

aunt kelly putting the magic touch on deuce and putting him to sleep! i cant express in words how thankful i was (and dave) for kelly being there! she was my emotional crutch and thank goodness because there were a lot of emotions flying around the days she was here!

a. marla (now known as grandmar) took her turn in relishing in deuce's cuteness! and no im not biased at all!

here are some more pics of deuce's 1st week at home

deuce ready for his 1st card ride home (from the hospital)

deuce chillin on grandmar's shoulder

our 1st thanksgiving. we spent it with the fishers' at krista and robie's.

yet another 1st ~ shopping!

deuce after his 1st bath at home. im showing the after pics bc i figured no1 really wanted to see the bath in action!

deuce doing a little chilln in the sun while napping. i guess he's taking after his mamma!

deuce's 1st meeting with santa even though he has no idea. he slept through the whole ordeal

and last but not least bronco~ he is adjusting nicely. of course he is curious and a little jealous but other than that i think he is already protective of the little guy. here he is checking up on him while deuce was napping.

all in all it has been a fabulous week. we are elated with joy and couldnt picture it any different!

until next time, luv

mel, dave and deuce!

Week 41 ~ still prego!

so here we are in week 41 and yes im still prego! how sad! i was put on bed rest at the beginning of last week for high blood pressure and here ive been every since. diane made it up safely on monday and now the 3 of us (dave, diane and me) are just waiting anxiously. i try not to think about it from day to day but how can i not. im reminded of it constantly. like when i get out of bed, off the couch or try to shave my legs. IM STILL PREGO! we are trying to do things to pass the time but there's only so much u can do when ur supposed to be on bed rest. so we have strolled the mall, target, wal-mart, bed bath and beyond.....and so on. dave is really loving life!

dave n i went on (wat we figured would be) are last date as a couple for a while last friday. we went and had a little spicey mexican food. (thinking that might speed things along) didn't work!

this past saturday (11-10-07) dave celebrated the marine corp bday so diane n i thought we would help a little with the celebration.

notice i am so done with taking pictures of the belly. this is supposed to be my delivery day but instead im sitting at that same mexican resturaunt hoping for some more spicey food majic!

and for bronco he has no idea his life is about to be turned upside down...all he knows is that there are 2 more hands here to pet him and 2 more legs to take him out to potty!

last but not least ~ a plus of being up here for the fall/winter is u actually get to enjoy the changing of the seasons. the trees have started to turn and they (in my mind) are gorgeous. and i know we dont quite get the turning of the leaves in texas, so i thought i would share a few pictures of them that we took at the park where we take bronco to play.

ok well i guess that's all for now... we will keep every1 updated as soon as the little guy decides to make an appearance!

luv mel n dave

Week 39

so here i am at 39 weeks, busting at the seems. yes i'm kinda lop sided. dj was doin his usual leg thrust into my ribs! as of now i am 1cm dialated and effacement is about 85% so at least im progressing a little. oh, and i just wanted to give a big thank you to kelly for my "bella band" i got for my birthday. it has been a real saver. i am still wearing my regular jeans unbuttoned with the bella band on top and no1 knows the diff!

this would be dave enjoying some pizza for monday night football. the broncos were playing so.....well u get the idea!

and of course last but not least bronco! this would be him tryn to figure out wat dave was doing while he was taking my prego pictures. clearly hes still a puppy and very "nosey" hee hee!

until next week, luv mel n dave

Week 38

well i just got back from a doctor's appt and unfortunately there isn't much to report but i thought i would update every1 with some belly pics anyway. baby is still doing great and is growing nicely. they predicted him to be about 8lbs at birth and his heart beat was very strong (like his daddy, as the doctor said). i feel like baby is running out of room and should want out soon but the doc said no progress yet! :(

as you can tell we have spent the last couple of weeks just lounging waiting for baby dj

bronco ~ well, there isn't much goin on with him either! im starting to think we are really boring! hee hee. he did however get a bath n nail trim this past week so i had to show off his new do!

well that's all until next week!

luv mel n dave

Visit from Aunt Marla

well things have been pretty quiet up here. just truckn along from day to day. baby dj is growing and moving like crazy. every evening dave n i sit on the couch and at about 8:30 baby puts on a show. he moves from side to side and kicks. we have four weeks to go and counting.

bday ~ we did a small get together for my bday in sept and went to outback for a little appitzer dinner. the cheese fries are even better when your pregers!

a. marla's visit ~ we owe her a big thank u! we have been with only one car since i moved up here. dave's has been in h'ville since he entered the military and he really hasn't had a need for it with it just being himself. but with the addition of me and soon to be baby dj and the move out to annapolis one car has been a strain. so, a. marla decided to make a trip of it and drove dave's car (w/o ac) from austin through oklahoma (for a little of her own visiting) and on to annapolis. and now we have the luxury of two vehicles and i will never take it for granted again!!! a. marla actually arrived a day early so we went for a nice dinner at a restuarant on the water and she was able to relax with a little maryland crab and some wine! the next two days we spent doin some shopping and just relaxing. dave served as a tour guide over the weekend since i was working. they went to bathesda and saw the national navy medical center (or something like that), the barracks where dave works, and the naval academy here in annapolis. monday we went to the national sailboat show that was being held here over the weekend. we got to walk on and through some of the nicest sailboats. and let me tell u, it realy is like a house on water. although, i dont think i could actually live on one.

dave n i on a catamaran (sp?) at the boat show. this was dave's favorite boat. they had port holes in the bedrooms, which meant u could see the water and all the fishes below!

a. marla served as a great tour guide and new all the ins and outs about the different boats

we got to take a tour of this 75ft charter boat. it was crazy huge!

we stayed to watch all the boats pull out. it was pretty cool to see how they all were able to manouver around each other to get out. way in the back u can see the big scooner with its sails up, he led the parade of boats out.

all in all we had a great visit!

last but not least ~ as usual we have to give every1 an update on bronco! he is now 8months and just an overgrown puppy. he loves his outside time, but the doggy beach is now closed. so we have to find other ways to wear him out. this past weekend he was reunited with his toy from when i first got him. i accidently left it in austin and of course a. marla brought it with her so he was once again in doggy heaven!

and this would mr. moose!

august 07 ~ family time!

well august much like most of the year has proved to be a very busy month. we had the baby shower, and then camping, a couple of parades at the barracks where dave's company had to fire the cannons and 1 big house warming bbq at the apartment!

the baby shower ~ wat a great time! thanx to carrie and kelly for getting it all together and thanx to every1 who made it out. the decorations were great along with the food! i got lots of great stuff to get baby dj off to the right start!

carrie n kelly did a great job with the diaper cake! but i here they may have had some help from richard! but dont worry i wont tell anyone!

the baby guessing game was very intense! and there was absolutely no cheating!

the bedding and play gym that i didnt even notice until tam tam pointed it out! and yes kelly is holding my shirt!

after the baby shower it was time for some fun with the nephews and just some general down time. they are growing so fast and turning into such little dudes! aunt marla n i made a trip to wal-mart and bought some bubbles for the boys and it turned out to be a great time for all!

the boys attempting to blow bubbles. i think klayton was a little more successful but austin was very relentless in his pursuit!

after all that work austin needed to rest!

camping ~ i stayed the week after the shower with k3 and got to watch klayton a couple of days! wat fun! we went for a walk everyday and he got to see the "back backs" aka back hoes i think!? one day he even got to climb on one and he also got to climb in the front of a fire truck. wish i had pics bc his face was priceless. but who really takes there camera with them wen they go walking! so that weekend we hit up lake summerville just like old times! we even camped in the same spot we used to. it was sooooo much fun! another thanx to kelly n kev for getting it all together! friday it was just kelly n i so we got some much needed sister to sister gossip time, poor klayton. but saturday we were joined by kev (at 3 am) dad n jeanette, u.lary n a. linda, a. marla and her friend (questionable) and kristen n jason (wich im sure most of u know). it was just great family downtime. too bad carrie n rich culdnt make it :(

we took the boat out n yes thats me! i got to ski!!!!

kelly n kev enjoying the boat time as well. kevin was the man behind the scene all weekend. he pulled all of us and didnt even get his own shot till sunday morn.

aunt mel, klayton n kelly hanging out in the middle of the lake. mom would be so proud!

the parades ~ parade season runs pretty much all of summer. since dave is stationed at 8th n I wich is the most "famous" of the barracks because it is the original marine barracks they pretty much promote and show off the marines for the country. so every friday night during the summer they put on these performance parades. they have two different marching platoons, the drum and bugle corp band, the "presidents own" band, and the silent platoon (a company that marches and tosses the riffles with no commands) and then theres daves section - the world famous body bearers! so on special nights these guys shoot the cannons. special meaning anyone that is attending that isnt normally there. like a senator or congressman or some other high up visiting from another country....u get the point. so this past week they shot them off in honor of the last parade and lets not forget chuck norris was there!!! hee hee

the drum and bugle corp band marching

this is marching platoon company B. daves old platoon before he became a body bearer

this is my attempt to video dave and the other bearers shooting the cannons during the presidents band playing "ode to joy". dave is on the middle cannon, not that u can really tell!

the body bearers marching back after shooting the cannons. i tried to point out wich one he is, but hes in the middle of the second row if u cant see the arrow

dave n i at the e-club (club at the barracks) after his final parade!

this is me pulling the prego card to get one of the guys to share his ice cream with me!

last but not least lets not forget about poor bronco. he is adjusting nicely and loves to play with all the dogs around the apartment and he loves it even more wen we take him to the doggy beach!

this is bronco at the doggy beach playing with his favorite toy!

conclusion ~ well this was pretty much our august and we really enjoyed every minute of it! september is set to be pretty quiet but im sure something will come up. theres of course my bday, and a. marla is coming up for a visit and thats always an adventure so stay tuned!

luv mel, dave, baby dj, n bronco!