Smiles All Around!

At 3 weeks and 6 days, I finally got a genuine smile from Brooks! It was one of those wide open gummy smiles and of course it made me tear up in excitement! I can't believe how fast the time is already flying by...out little man is going to be a month old on the 21st.

I will try to get a picture of his handsome smile and post it for you all to see.

On the same day of his first smile, he had his first diaper blow out that somehow travelled all the way up his back to his neck. :) Good thing he is so cute!

Until the next milestone,

B

Duck and Cover!

Bryant was changing Brooks this afternoon while I worked on my computer. All of a sudden we heard an explosion, and Bryant shot out of the line of fire. When I looked up, I saw a buttery substance fly across the room! I know Brooks will kill me for sharing this story when he is 14, but we laughed so hard we cried. His poo shot about 4 feet off of the pack and play, covered the floor, the couch and Bryant's shirt. Oh the joys of motherhood! :)

Becca

Proud Auntie

Trevor's oldest daughter, Karsyn Jo, who is 9 years old has really fallen in love with fly fishing, much to her parent's delight. Each summer Trev's three girls go to Washington to spend a couple weeks with each set of grandparents. When they are on the ranch with our parents, they always go fishing. My parents had a pink barbie pole and without exception, whoever fished with the infamous pink pole would outfish everyone! So, my dad hand crafted a fly rod with pink highlights for Karsyn and gave it to her for Christmas this year.

When he was down to meet Brooks a couple weeks ago, they were finally able to hit the Frying Pan and test out the rod. Karsyn did great and if I remember correctly, everyone caught a fish.

I can't believe how grown up she is! Time is flying by.

A Clarification...

I want to clarify something I mentioned in my last post about being a stay at home mom and feeling surprisingly productive. As a working woman for the last five years, I have idealized the position of a stay at home mom to include afternoons of gossipping with girlfriends and watching Oprah. However, now that I have a sort of internship as a stay at home mom, I realize that a lot of effort and time goes into making sure the house is kept, diapers are changed, babies are bathed, laundry is folded and last on the list, I am showered every day...oh and exercise has somehow found the very rock bottom of the list thus far.

So, to all of the other moms out there, way to go, I now truly understand and respect the work you put in to manage your home and raise your babies.

My apologies for any past disrespect. As I go back to work on June 1st with my baby in tow, I will longingly reflect on my internship and wish I too could apply for a full time position. :)

Becca

Update

I have been excited to blog and share with you all that has been going on since becoming a mommy over 3 weeks ago, but it seems like every time I sit down and start writing, my little guy wakes up, or something else pulls me away from my computer. In fact, I started this blog last week, and am just now sitting down to continue it.

As any mom can attest, the first weeks of motherhood are filled with sleepless nights, frequent tears and a major readjustment to your schedule. Bryant and I are finally starting to get a little more sleep (with the occasional "off" night that our boy wants to eat endlessly), and we are getting our routine down...if you can call it a routine.

I am into my third week of maternity leave and I surprisingly love being home and actually feel productive, it is just a different type of productivity than I am used to. I head back to work with Brooks in tow on June 1st after six weeks of being 100% mommy.

I have been able to get out most days and have enjoyed the adventures. My mom was here for two weeks and was extremely helpful in our transition into parenthood. She cooked, cleaned and took Brooks at night and in the mornings so I could sneak in an extra hour of sleep here and there. My dad was able to join her toward the end of her stay and we loved hanging out with him and I loved watching him hold his newest grandboy! :) I can't wait until they come back again. We were so blessed to have them here for so long! On a side note, my dad is officially retired! We are so excited for him and hope to see them more often now that he owns his schedule for good! Way to go daddio! We are so proud of you!

The day my mom left, my best friend from home, Sarah came down to visit for a few days. She too was an immense help. I miss her like crazy and can't wait to see her again this summer (right, Sarah!?) :)

My cousin and great friend, Kelly arrives in just over a week, and Bryant's mom will be out to visit, soon after Kelly leaves. It has been so fun to have so many close friends and family members down to see our boy. We have truly loved the company.

This past Friday we were really suffering from a sleepless night and didn't get out of the house to go out to lunch until after 2:00. We met up with Emily at Ajax Tavern and on a whim, decided it would be fun to go to Santa Fe for the weekend. We left lunch, and all headed home to pack. With two infants in tow, we left our driveway with the Garaffa's at 6:30pm. We pulled into our hotel in Santa Fe around 2:30am. On Saturday Em and I enjoyed a great walk around town with the munchkins while Bryant and Dave went on a huge mountain bike ride. When they got back, Em and I were able to sneak away and enjoy the spa for a little while. We went to an amazing dinner at Geronimo's, and I have to say, both boys were exceptional. They slept the entire meal, so we could enjoy great food and conversation.

I put off the laundry yesterday and met a friend in Aspen for coffee. After that I went of my first hike post partum up Smuggler Mountain. It was great to get out, and to my excitement, I was down another pound this morning from yesterday... :)

Motherhood has been such a blessing and every time I hold Brooks in my arms I feel like the most blessed mommy on earth. Every time I see Bryant hold him, I feel like the most blessed wife on earth. He is truly an amazing daddy...a natural.

I will be posting more pictures soon, but they are on Bryant's computer, so I have to wait until he gets home.

Thank you for your patience between updates. I am still working on putting together the birth story to post, but need some assistance from my amazing doula and sister in law Amy Jo. For some reason, I can't remember the details as well as she can! :)

All the best to you, and thanks for your thoughts, prayers and comments.

Love,

Becca, Bryant, and Brooks

Liam's First Days

Getting his footprint taken by nurse Jane


First bath


Getting cuddles from cousin Karsyn


Getting ready to go home


The big arrival

Liam Brooks Ragan's Birthday

I will write a more detailed post about Liam's arrival soon, but in the mean time, wanted to post some pictures from his birthday. We are so enamored with our little man, and can't wait to introduce him to you all.

All the Best,

Bryant, Becca, and Brooks

The End is in Sight...

Today we had another appointment to check on my blood pressure. It was still borderline high, so the doctor suggested we schedule an induction for early next week. We are scheduled to go into the hospital Monday at 7:30am. Ideally, we will go into labor naturally over the weekend, and I, along with Bryant and many others will be praying earnestly for that to happen. We know the Lord has a perfect plan for our little one, and we find peace in that.

As always, I will do my best to keep the blog and facebook updated with any news.

Thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers and support! We truly can't wait to introduce you to our little guy!

Love,

Bryant, Becca, Brooks, and Big Sis, Mali

The Weekly Update

We had another check up today. The bad news is, I am back to 1cm dilated (the midwife kind of pushed me to a three last week), the good news (sort of) is that the doctor said she really doesn't want me to go past my due date due to my blood pressure. So, that means we should be parents within the week (my due date is Thursday, April 23rd). We are praying that labor happens spontaneously, before induction is even considered or scheduled.

I have to go in on Friday to have my blood pressure re-checked and the doctor will probably make the call in that appointment.

The best news is that our little one is looking great. His movement, size and heart beat are all perfect and he is in great position for delivery. I can't tell you how excited I am to squeeze his little toes and smooch on his yummy cheeks.

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. We love you all and can't wait to introduce you to little Liam Brooks.

Love,

Becca, Bryant, Brooks, and Mali Burger

Still Preggo

Thank goodness for Facebook. With out the little update line, it would be so much harder to keep you all posted on any progress with our labor, or lack there of in our case.

After trying pretty much every trick in the book yesterday...yes, every trick, I had a few contractions, but nothing notable enough to call the midwife. I went to bed with an uncomfortable stomach (probably from the caster oil), and woke up around 1:00am with 2 big contractions, and nothing more.

Today, I stayed home from work and met Amy Jo for coffee in Basalt, then drove to Carbondale to meet my Acupuncturist at his house. Nancy, our midwife, said to try this, and if it doesn't work, we are going to take a break for a few days because, LB is obviously not ready to come out yet.

So, here I am, at home with 8 needles in my accupressure points, which include my ankels, feet and two on my hands. They are tiny and look like the wart removal bandaids. I have again, had a few contractions, went on a walk with my friend Emily, and will see where we go from here.

It was hard to start doing all of these "tricks" because I am an all or nothing kind of gal. I knew once the ball started rolling, I wouldn't want to stop until the goal was met (meeting our son), but I am also reminded regularly, that God is in control, and has his birthday already picked out. So, despite the full moon and major barometric change tonight, if he doesn't come tonight, he wasn't meant to.

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, calls and comments. They all mean so muh to us.

The Ragans

Waiting Game...

Today we had a great check up with our midwife. I went into the doctor's office and was still at a one and 50% effaced. The doctors and my midwife are all borderline concerned about my blood pressure. I walked out of the office at three cm dialated, and the baby is at negative one station, which means he has started his descent into the birth canal. We are really praying things continue to progress and we get to meet him sometime tonight or tomorrow.

We will update the blog with any exciting news.

All the best,

The Ragans

A Little Excitement

On Friday, Bryant and my brother, Trevor stopped by my office to join me for lunch. Before I knew it, the guys, including my boss, were placing bets that I would deliver by Sunday...and over the weekend, I thought they might just be right.

Friday night Bryant and I laid low, watched a movie and went to bed semi early. Saturday we woke up early and went to the gym. I hopped on the treadmill, and then swam for a while. Afterwards we went into Aspen and Bryant dropped me off for an appointment with my dear friend, Autumn. Around 3:30, we headed home to watch the final four (Bryant is a HUGE Carolina fan, as you can imagine). Throughout the game, I started to feel some contractions, but they weren't painful, so I got up and took the dogs for a short walk to see if I could get them to pattern out. When I got back to the house, I sat on our fit ball for a while, and sure enough, the contractions started coming at a regular pace. Bryant started writing them down and before we knew it, they had continued for nearly 4.5 hours at 3-5 minutes apart! Despite the textbook advice on calling the doctor when contractions are five minutes apart, we didn't have our hopes up, and having some experience working with laboring moms in the past, and with the constant advice of my sister-in-law/doula, we waited to see if anything progressed...and I hoped things would continue.

I eventually went to bed around 11:30, and was pretty uncomfortable all night, but nothing. Yesterday, I had a few contractions during church. I went to get my fingers and toes polished at Remede Spa, and asked the nail lady to rub my ankles (accupressure points to start labor). I had a few contractions, but only one that stopped me in my tracks.

Amy Jo met us at our house, and she and I walked about six brisk miles last night in hopes to get things going again, and again, a few contractions and...nothing. Bryant and I went to Mexican last night in hopes the spicy food would irritate things...the only thing it irritated was my heart burn.

So, I am back at work this morning...sitting on a fit ball, and praying for God's timing and not our own. I know he has our baby's birthday already planned out, and I rest in that...

For more babyville news, my friend from college, Katie had her little man on Saturday (she was one week ahead of me), and another great friend from college is going in to be induced this morning. So many babies due this month!!!

Until something else exciting happens,

Becca & Baby

Sympathy...Am I Really That Big?!

Today I went on a walk to run some errands in town. At this point, it is impossible for me to button my winter jacket, so I usually just let my belly hang out the front and fasten the one button that reaches around my chest (barely). I have a bright red sweater and jeans on, and my jacket is camel color, so my belly might be highlighted a little.

I had so many people give me, "that poor lady" look and several random people ask me when I am due and even reach out and grab my belly. It made me realize that I am severely pregnant, to the point that people make no reservations about touching my belly or commenting on its size, which I am positive they would never do to a non pregnant person.

What a crazy season in our lives...


Until the next adventure,

Becca

Progress?

Memory Lane: I found out I was pregnant two days before we hiked to Crested Butte last August!


Today Bryant and I had another check up at the doctor's office. It was pretty routine, but we did get some positive feedback on our progress. I wasn't checked for dilation, but the doctor did say LB is sitting a lot lower (yippy!). My blood pressure is a little high, but not quite in the danger zone, so they are going to be keeping an eye on that, too. I have also had a few other signs of early labor...which could mean today or in 3 weeks. Wait, wait, wait.

Our bags are all packed up and ready to go. We are just praying daily for God's timing and for a quick and tolerable labor.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We are so close! We have another appointment next Wednesday with the midwife... if we make it that long! :)

As always, I will update the blog with any news from babyville!

Love,

Becca, Bryant and Baby

Reminiscing

We stayed in this tent on Mumbo Island on Lake Malawi! Incredible!


Today I was telling some of the gals I work with about a few of the crazy adventures I went on while on a project team in Africa after I graduated from WSU in 2004. After we finished our conversation I googled some of the places we stayed, and was excited to see they have updated their websites. It would take me hours to tell the stories and crazy sites we saw while in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, but I should be studying, so to wet your palette, take a look at the following websites...

http://www.wildlifecamp-zambia.com
We stayed at Wildlife Camp in tents while on safari in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. The first night we were there, we woke up to elephants walking between our three tents! It was so exhilerating/scary/incredible!

http://www.kayakafrica.net
This trip, we kayaked out to a private island on Lake Malawi for three nights of "glamping" on the shores of the crystal clear lake. It was so peaceful, and a wonderful experience.

http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-malawi/mvuu-imgs.htm
Our first safari was at Mvuu Camp in Malawi. Mvuu is Chichewa for hippopotimous, and the camp lived up to it's name. What an awesome trip. I think we saw over 1000 hippos in 2 days of safari!

I can't wait to go back one day, and can't tell you how incredible the experiences were!

Until the next adventure!

Becca