August 2009

Kallie is growing up SO fast...she's playing like a big kid, trying to stand alone, chasing the dogs everywhere (as fast as she can), throwing fits, etc. We are enjoying her so much!!! ;-) She had her 9 month dr appointment this last week, although she is going to be 10 months old tomorrow (Monday, the 10th). She weighed in at 21 lbs 9.5 oz, putting her in the 83% for weight. She was 30 3/4" tall, putting her in the 100% for height. She didn't have to have shots this time, so that was nice for us! She has had many falls this last month or so since she has started crawling and pulling herself up onto things. She has pulled a chair over on herself, bonked her head on numerous tables, and lots more!!! She doesn't seem to mind or get mad/upset for too long before she forgets and wants to be on her way!!!

I also had a dr appointment this last week. Nothing new or exciting to report! Just a 10 minute appointment where I got weighed, listened to the baby's heartbeat then went on my way! :-) They did tell me I would schedule my repeat C-section somewhere between weeks 28-32 (I am 22 1/2 weeks now!). We will have the baby sometime between Dec. 4 and 11th depending on when the doctor is working that I choose to have and if everything goes as planned! If I do go into labor before then, they will just do the C-section then!

Ryan is getting ready to start hunting season, so he's busy prepping for that! :-) He just finished putting in a railing at our house so we can limit the falls that the kids take on the stairs!!! ;-) Sports are getting ready to start, which means he will be starting back to school really soon! \

We hope everyone is doing well! We will keep you posted on new events that happen over the month!! Take care!

Love,

Ryan, Melissa, and Kallie

Kallie is going to have a little...

Just going to let you all know that I had my ultrasound today and Kallie is going to have a little sister! Everything looked good! I had a doctor appt on the 9th of July and the doctor told me I'd have a scheduled c-section between the 4th and the 11th of December since Kallie was stuck and I had such a hard c-section with her. We are very excited for another little girl. I will keep updating as time goes on! :-) I am now 19 weeks and 3 days pregnant...about 20 weeks left!!! ;-)

Kallie is doing well. She is crawling now. She's into everything. We haven't been home long enough to "baby proof" our house, other than one baby gate that goes downstairs. She is finding cable and cords everywhere!! She has fallen into the sliding glass door (only a little bruise on her cheek) and she has pulled a TV tray over...almost landed on her but luckily she was a couple inches to one side so it missed.

Other than that, we're doing well. Enjoying our summer of traveling back and forth from the valley to central Oregon. It is nice to be home though, and I'm excited to sleep in my own bed tonight!!

Hope you are all doing well!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa, Kallie and Baby Girl #2!!

June 2009

Well a lot has happened at the Eckman house since I have last posted. Kallie is now 8 months old and quite fun with her little personality! We are also expecting our 2nd baby!!! We just found out last week and are very excited. I am due Dec. 11, 2009. Kind of crazy that the babies will be just 14 months apart but we're glad they will be close!

Otherwise we are wrapping up the school year and getting ready to go to basketball camp! We will be making the trip to Gonzaga next week for a girl's basketball camp. Should be fun!

Kallie now has 2 teeth. She is trying to get places, not crawling yet, but she is scooting and rolling places (when she wants to!). She will get up on hands and knees and rock, but then decides she doesn't want to go anywhere! She loves the other daycare kids or kids anywhere we go for that matter. She's very social and likes to see what is going on!

We hope you are doing well...sorry it's been so long since I've posted!!

Love,
The Eckman's

6 months old

Well our little princess is already 6 months old...it's hard to believe but time is flying by. Kallie has been changing a lot and is growing so fast. She is now sitting up on her own (when she wants to), she is rolling over both ways, she gets up on her knees like she wants to crawl but hasn't learned to crawl yet, and she just started reaching for people. She is changing every day and becoming more and more of her own personality. It's fun to watch her grow and change so much.

As far as our family goes, nothing much is new for us. We went to Sunriver this weekend. Ryan has his Athletic Director conference so we went for the weekend, he won't be home until Tuesday. We enjoyed our stay and the warm weather. We were also able to see both sets of Grandparents which was very nice.

We go back to the doctor this Friday for Kallie's 6 month check-up and shots...I will let everyone know after that how BIG she is!!! ;-)

Have a wonderful week and enjoy the sun!!!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa and Kallie

5 MONTHS OLD!!!

I cannot believe that I'm typing that our daughter is 5 months old already...where has time gone? Oh that's right...basketball, school, etc has taken up our time!! :-) Basketball is now over. Ryan had a good time coaching but doesn't quite understand that girls think different than boys do! School is good for both of us. Going by fast...only 2 1/2 months left until summer!! YAY!! Our district is not in near as bad of shape as some districts are. They talked about cutting days at the end of the year but I think that they have decided not to. We'll see what next year has in store for us soon though. Hopefully they won't have to cut any teachers from our district.

Well as you can see from the pictures Kallie is growing FAST!!! We go to the doctor on Tuesday, March 17th for her 4 month check up...I know it's late but between our busy schedule and the doctor's busy schedule that was the soonest we could get in for it. We did take her in just to have her shots a few weeks ago. Ryan got to go with me this time and I think he now understands why it is so rough on me!

Kallie is now interacting more with us. She definitely has her own little personality!! She's a great baby and we really can't complain. We have been fighting off a cold for the last 2 months it feels like. Kallie is now going on round two of the cold. Her and I have both had it twice now. Even when she's not feeling well she is a great baby! She had a two week stretch where she started waking up in the middle of the night but that has stopped.
I did start her on rice cereal at nighttime. She loves it. I usually feed her in her bouncy chair just because it's the most convenient...well she has decided it's fun to make herself bounce as hard as she can while I'm trying to stick the spoon in her mouth...not an easy task for me to feed her while she's doing that. So...needless to say we usually end up with a big huge mess!
She is still only rolling over WHEN she WANTS to...little stinker! Usually when we want to show somebody she won't do it and then when we're not paying attention she rolls over. :-) She tries really hard to roll over from her back to her tummy but she just can't get it yet!! She has a new "saucer" that she loves to be able to stand in!!

Other than that I can't think of anything else that's been going on with us! I guess that is good news...right? Hope everyone is doing well...take care!!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa, and Kallie

Kallie is 3 months old!!!

Happy New Year!! Sorry it has been so long since the last blog, but we've been quite busy!!! Between me going back to work and basketball we're hardly ever home it seems! Kallie is 3 months old now (as of yesterday). We went to the doctor on Friday to have her birthmarks checked and she is doing really well. The doctor said that they look good, the ones that have grown are minimal so she is not concerned. Two of them actually look like they're changing color meaning that they might be going away. We'll just keep watching them.

They weighed her while were were there and she now weighs 13 lbs 6 oz., which puts her in the 78th percentile for weight. They didn't measure her length this time but last time she was in the 90th percentile for length (23 1/2 inches long at her 2 month appt).

We go back to the doctor in February for her 4 month shots and to check her birthmarks again.
We have been very busy with basketball...this season has taken a while to get going thanks to the snow. The kids didn't have school the entire week before Christmas break started due to snow days. So they got 3 weeks off for Christmas. I have to say the roads were pretty nasty over here because they DON'T plow. It would've been just like home...if they would've plowed the roads. So anyway, when there is no school for snow days they cannot practice or have games. So...Ryan had to reschedule 3 league games and their home tournament. This last week we had 3 games and then our rescheduled home tournament yesterday. So 5 games in 6 days. It's going to continue to be fairly busy with the rest of the rescheduled games plus the regular schedule.

I started back to work this last week. The kids were VERY excited to see me...I was not so excited to leave Kallie. BUT she is doing GREAT at the daycare she's going to. The lady (Debby) is great. She has a few other kids during the day (between 3-4 kids) and then 4-5 more get off on the bus in the afternoon. It works out pretty well because the kids get off the bus and I usuallly get there to get Kallie 15 minutes later. Debby is great with Kallie and she's doing well. Not fussy and she's napping/eating well while there. Which is a huge relief to me.
Other than that we're just enjoying every minute with her that we can. She's noticed she has hands, so they're always near or in her mouth! She is very active (wiggle worm) and never sits still!!! She's sleeping well at night, usually falls asleep around 9-10 and then I wake her up to change her and feed her when I go to bed then she sleeps until 6-6:30. I cannot complain!!! Let's just hope she continues on this cycle!! She's a lot of fun and a very happy baby!!! I think she's over her "I only want my mom" stage and is letting others hold her finally!!! Not that I didn't enjoy her wanting me, but it's nice she'll let her dad hold her!!!
Alright, enough rambling! I better be productive while she naps!!! Talk to you all soon!!
Love,
Ryan, Melissa & Kallie

SNOW

I'm sure you've all heard (those of you who don't live in the valley) but we have been experiencing some Central Oregon weather!! We got snow on Sunday, so there has been no school the last two days. Now it started melting and it's now ice...so there's no school tomorrow either!! Ryan took some time and built Kallie a "snowblob." :-) Otherwise we have been staying inside out of the cold! Hope you are all enjoying this winter weather...talk to you soon!!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa, and Kallie

2 months

Well time is really flying by! Yesterday Kallie turned 2 months old already!! Today we had her 2 month checkup and shots...she did scream...okay she wailed...it even made me tear up. She had three shots in her legs and an oral vaccine she took my mouth. She slept for a good 3 hours afterwards...but now is fairly happy as you can tell by the picture. I just took this picture 10 minutes ago!! I was trying to get a picture of her bandaids and she thought it was funny I guess!! I did get one though.

Kallie weighs 11 lbs 8 oz...which puts her in the 69th percentile for weight and she is 23 1/2 inches long putting her in the 90th percentile for height...

The pediatrician also checked her birthmarks, which I don't think I've ever mentioned on here before. Kallie has 6 birthmarks. They are very red and noticeable...people think they're bruises or marks...but they're birthmarks. She has 2 on her head, one on her right arm, one on her right ribs, one on her left thigh and one on the left side of her bottom. The doctor said they're "normal" and we're just watching them right now...she said they will or should calm down and will flatten out (they're raised off the skin) by the time she's in school...if not before. They watch them in case they grow rapidly...that means there could be some on the inside on her organs (which is common) and so they would do an ultrasound, especially on the liver if they start growing faster. Anyway...you can see one of the birthmarks in the pictures next to her pink bandaid.

Other than that Ryan has started basketball season so we're busy with games. I go back to work January 5th, not quite looking forward to leaving Kallie yet. We are in our new house for Christmas which will be nice. Our families are coming over to visit us during the week of Christmas. We're looking forward to that!!!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, I promise I'll keep posting as often as I can. :-)

Love,
Ryan, Melissa & Kallie

1 month old...

Well time is still flying for us!! We have been VERY busy over the last month. We have had a baby, bought a house, moved, and now Ryan has started basketball season.

We can't believe that Kallie already a month old. My time at home seems to be going very quickly. Before we know it, it will be time for me to go back to work. I am not really looking forward to that part, but I know that it is something that has to be done!

Kallie is changing a lot. She has lots of facial expressions and is turning more and more into her own person, rather than a newborn baby!! I have some pictures to post but they are still on the camera right now. We are getting internet at the house sometime this week or next week so I will be able to post some new pictures then. I hope things are going well. :-)

We have a new address: 302 6th St. Amity, OR 97101 BUT...if you want to send us mail you have to send it to our PO box...which is: P.O. Box 653 Amity, OR 97101

Until next time...have a great week and try to stay dry!!!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa, and Kallie

2 Weeks Old

Well the last couple of weeks have gone by pretty quickly at our house. We have been busy with visitors, games and well just daily stuff. We have had a great couple of first weeks getting to know our beautiful daughter Kallie. She is growing and developing her own little personality. I have included a few pictures from the last week or so. Enjoy!!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa & Kallie

1 Week Old

Well it's hard to believe but Kallie is already 1 week old today! We went to the doctor yesterday and when we left the hospital she weighed 7 lb 1 oz and at the doctor she weighed 7 lb 7 oz...so she's gaining her weight back! The nurse also said she is the only "pink" skinned baby they have seen all week. I'm assuming the rest have been jaundice.

We are still sleeping well. I have to wake her up to eat during the night. She is a really good baby! Other than that we're just taking things a day at a time!!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa and Kallie

Kallie has arrived

I'm sure all of you have already found out...but Kallie has arrived.

It was a long and very tiring journey over the last week or so but we are making it. Last Thursday, October 9th Ryan and I had just got home from school when the nurse called to see why I didn't go in to have my labs done at the hospital. I didn't know I was supposed to go in as on Monday at my appointment the doctor was worried about my blood pressure but didn't seem to concerned. He asked the nurse to take my blood pressure again, so she waited 5 minutes then took it again. She asked me to wait until she told the doctor what it was. Well I waited about 10 minutes and had heard them talking in the hallway, he went in to another patients room so I stepped into the hallway and looked for the nurse, who was nowhere to be found...so I left. Probably the wrong thing to do but I figured they would call me if there was something wrong. Well they did call but not for 3 days...Thursday when I got the phone call she said they wanted me to go to Salem Hospital to have some tests and labs done. So we arrived at 5:00 and I was hooked up to the machines, they drew blood, etc. The doctor came in and they checked me...still 1 cm and 30 % effaced like the last week. So he asked me to wait and be checked again in an hour or so. Well I was having contractions and over the few hours they were getting stronger and closer together. So...when he came back around 9:15 he decided he would feel more comfortable if they just kept me and started me on Pitocin (a drug to increase contractions and make them closer and more intense). So they admitted me into a room and we started Pitocin around 10:30. We called our families to let them know we would be staying, they drove over as soon as they go the calls.

So I labored all night and then all day on Friday, October 10th. The doctor came in Friday morning and checked me...I was still 1 cm, 30 % effaced. He told me that he would be back that evening to check me and see how things were going. He told me that we would have some options to consider depending on what were to happen throughout the day. So I labored all day and then he came back around 5:30 and checked me again. He said I had made NO progress. So he told me we could shut the Pitocin off so I could eat (I hadn't ate anything since 11:00 the day before) and get a good night's rest so we could restart the Pitocin the next morning; we could just keep going with the Pitocin and see what happened; or we could stop everything and do an "elective" c-section. He said that he didn't know that anything would come of labor and that we may be doing a c-section the next day anyway. So Ryan and I discussed all of our options and we decided that since I was in labor all day and had made no progress and since the doctor said she may never drop due to size or other complications we decided to go with the c-section.

We felt really good about our decision. They started prepping me for the c-section, doing paperwork and gathering our stuff to be moved to the mother/baby room for afterwards. They told Ryan that he would wait outside the surgery room until he was allowed to come back. So they wheeled me down the hallway in my bed and into the surgery room where I had to move onto the surgery bed. The anesthesiologist started giving me the spinal, which hurt but not too bad. Not like I had anticipated. Then my legs started to go numb...or what I though was numb. The doctors came in and started marking on my stomach where my incision would be with a pen. I asked them if I should be able to feel them marking on my stomach. They told me, "Yes, you will feel pressure and touch but nothing will hurt." Well I could feel the pen point but figured it was just the "touch." So then they started the surgery. Well much to everyone's surprise I could feel everything with the surgery. I was in SO MUCH pain that they gave me more medicine in the spinal, which didn't work. I guess they showed Kallie to me when they got her out but I don't remember seeing her. Once they got her out c-section with the vacuum and then forceps (as she was so high and up in my back) they knocked me out with more medicine because I was in so much pain. I don't remember much of that night. Bits and pieces but I was out of it for the most part. I would dose off and on throughout the night.

The anesthesiologist came in several times after that to apologize and said that they were checking into the meds to see why they didn't work. He came in our last day at the hospital to tell us how bad he felt and that some of his co-workers have had the same problem recently with the spinals.

Kallie was born at 7:21 pm on October 10th, 2008. She weighed 7 lb 11 oz and was 20 inches long. She dropped down to 7 lb 1 oz before we left so we'll see tomorrow what she's up to (hopefully up, not down). She's been pretty good so far. She sleeps pretty well. She's starting to eat better and things are going well. We came home on Monday around 1:00 and we are glad to be home in our own house. No more waking up to nurses in the middle of the night...just to Kallie!

I think I got everything on here but if you have questions or comments feel free to e-mail me! melissa.eckman@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who has come to visit us so far. We appreciate both sets of our parents and all their help along the way!

Love,
Ryan, Melissa & Kallie

Clarification

Just wanted to make sure that everyone knew I am NOT having regular, consistent contractions...only every once in a while. Sorry if I gave any of you false hope!! :-)

Melissa

Week 38 Update

Today I had my 38 week appt. At first my blood pressure was high, but the doctor had the nurse take it again and it was ok. The numbers still seem high to me, but then again what do I know!!

Other than that, nothing too much is new. He checked me again and I am about the same as I was last week. He did have the nerve to ask me if I thought I was having a healthy 5 pound baby. I told him, "I don't know...what do you think?" He said, "Nope...I think it's probably at least 8 pounds." I sure hope not...but I guess we'll just wait and see. I am having some contractions but nothing regular.

I have 3 days left of work and then I'm off until January. I hope that the next 3 days go by quickly. We'll keep everyone posted as to what happens over the next couple of weeks!!

Love,
Ryan and Melissa

Week 37

Well I didn't have a picture from last week because Ryan had the camera hunting, but this is a new picture from 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

Today we went to the doctor. I went in, got weighed...which I think I forgot to mention that over the last two weeks I had gained 7 lbs and 4 lbs. Well this week I lost 4 lbs so I am bacck to gaining a total of 19 lbs so far. Nothing too much is new. My blood pressure was about the same as last time...134/75 . I saw a different doctor this time and he's not concerned about my hugely swollen feet either. I went from 1/2 cm dialated to 1 cm dialated. Which, from the way I understand it...means absolutely nothing!!! ;-) He said they'd let me go a week past my due date and then induce me. Other than that...nothing too much is new. I go back again next Monday at 4:00, unless something happens before then. We have a very busy week this week with the high school's homecoming football game and all the festivities that go along with that.

I will keep everyone posted!!!

Have a great week!!

Love,
Ryan and Melissa

36 Week Appt

Well I went to the doctor again this week because he wanted to check my blood pressure from last week. I assumed that he would check to see if I am making any progress but he didn't. He said he would only check if there were signs of labor. So, I got weighed, had my blood pressure taken (which he said was fine), he listened to her heart beat and I asked him to see if he could GUESS how big she is so far. He said probably around 5 1/2 to 6 lbs. He didn't really want to guess I could tell but he did. :-) He said if she gains 1/2 lb a week she would be around 7-8 lbs. We'll see!! Other than that I go again next Monday. We'll see how that goes! Until then have a great week.

Love,
Melissa & Ryan

Halloween Costume

Leopard Halloween Costume

Baby Stuff...

Carseat and Stroller














Carseat














Crib Bedding














Crib Bedding