FIREPROOF

Tonight, Fireproof premieres in theaters. It stars Kirk Cameron and the lovely Erin Bethea (my college suitemate). By the same group that made Facing the Giants, it's about a struggling marriage between firefighter Caleb and his wife Catherine. They are on the brink of divorce, and he learns how to "rescue her heart" and try to win her back. Go support it on its opening weekend!

She's smiling!

Caroline started smiling at us this past weekend...it melts my heart! Now I get more than just blank stares when I talk to her. After awhile, though, the pouty lip comes out!

I know it has been awhile since my last post. We've had quite a few experiences, so let me try to catch you up. Three weeks ago, we ended up in the ER at Children's (along with about 7 or 8 handcuffed young teens...still not sure what they were doing there) because Caroline had been throwing up all afternoon and was refusing to eat. There was something concerning on her x-ray, so then we were sent to have an upper GI done a couple of days later. She did great during the procedure; she loved the bottle of barium, and then she slept through the series of x-rays. It turned out that there was no blockage, but we did discover that she has acid reflux. Now she is on medication, and it's like she's a different baby! She is so much more pleasant and content now. We had no clue that she had reflux, because she never did (and still doesn't) spit up hardly at all. Also, she is finally catching up in the weight gain department. She was just back to her birth weight (6lb 13 oz) at 3 1/2 weeks, which was concerning, but she is making up for lost time now that her tummy isn't hurting. She gained 14 oz two weeks ago and 10 oz this past week! The beginnings of fat rolls are forming on her thighs, and her cheeks are getting fuller. :) So even though the whole fiasco was frightening, I am thankful it happened!

Ryle family visits

A month ago, Philip's family came up to visit. It was a fun weekend, with lots of Wii playing, and fishing in our neighborhood lake (who knew there were fish in there?), and of course a lot of eating! Oh, and cuddling the baby. :)

And a lot of football viewing ... It was the weekend of the first Bama game, and Caroline got all dressed up for the occasion. Roll Tide!

We're so glad the Daniel and Natalia could come up from Miami to meet Caroline!

Uncle Daniel and baby Callie

Daniel and Natalia decked out for the game

Family Visit

This past weekend my brothers, sister-in-law, nieces, and nephew all came to visit with us and meet their new niece/cousin. It was a very short visit, but packed with a lot of activity. There was plenty of Wii playing, of course! It's always fun to watch other people hula hoop on the Wii Fit. And Uncle Matt gave Joshua a BB gun; we all enjoyed watching the guys target practice in the back yard (while trying to keep the poodles and 17 month old Anna out of the line of fire). Thanks for coming to visit, family! We enjoyed the rare chance to all be together!

Anna, Laura Beth, Joshua, and Caroline ... all four grandkids together for the first time!

Philip, Laura Beth, Matt, and Rob playing doubles in tennis.

Like mother, like daughter ... Michelle and Laura Beth playing soccer on the Wii Fit.

Uncle Matt getting some snuggle time with his niece.

Joshua and Laura Beth holding Caroline for the first time.

Week One

We've had fun at home this week with Callie. Philip went back to work on Wednesday, so it's been me, baby, and my mom for the past few days. There's been a lot of typical eating, sleeping, pooping, holding, crying, etc., etc. I love all of it! She's just so tiny and precious.





Actually, she's so tiny that we had to go to the Carter's outlet yesterday to get her some newborn outfits. She has a ton of 0-3 month stuff, but I didn't get much newborn clothing because the doctor kept saying she was going to be pretty big. The day before I was induced, she estimated 8 1/2 - 9 lbs. Ha! It was nice to get out of the house and out into the world. Caroline slept the whole time, which was great. And now we have lots of cute stuff to dress her in! There will be no shortage of photos of this little girl. :)








In the pics above, she is wearing one of her new outfits. I was glad when I saw they had their winter stuff in; it's really what she needs since we keep our house pretty cool. Philip was having fun mimicking her facial expressions...silly Daddy!



My mom is headed home today. We'll miss you, Mimi! It has been WONDERFUL having help around the house this week. She was going to stay through the weekend, but I am feeling great and we thought it's be nice to have a weekend with just our little family. The remaining weekends in August will be full of family coming to visit and meet our precious baby girl! Besides, she has to get home and pack since she and Dad will be moving to Anniston soon...yea for having grandparents close by!



Ellie and Maggie have done really well with the baby. Actually, Ellie thinks that Callie is hers. She is very protective of and concerned about her. She needs to know where she is at all times, and comes to get me if Callie is crying. I'm glad that transition has been a smooth one; I was worried about how our spoiled dogs would react to having her here!

Caroline has the longest fingers and longest, skinniest feet I have ever seen on a newborn. I guess she is going to take after her momma in that department! At least I already know where to special order shoes and long pants from. :)

We're home!

We are home now with our family of three (plus my mom who is thankfully staying the week to help out). What a wild ride! The whole experience has been absolutely amazing. We came home Sunday afternoon, and it was nice to be able to relax without having someone want to take your blood pressure or draw blood every couple of hours. We did miss the hospital nursery on our first night home, but I know the sleep deprivation will pass!

Caroline had her first appointment at the pediatrician today, and she is doing great! She is nursing well and loves to be swaddled. She also loves her paci and her swing.

Here are some pictures from the past few days. Keep checking back for more ... I am going to try to be a better blogger now that I have something to blog about! :)

Our precious Gift with all of the pink gifts we got at the hospital


Caroline with her paci...thanks Shanan for the scoop on the cute personalized ones!


The new happy fam

You can't see it too well here, but the dress she wore home from the hospital is the same one I came home in.

Nana and Callie get some snuggle time

Grumpa with his new granddaughter

You can see our silhouette in the window

We're all ready to go!

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Introducing Caroline

Caroline Brynn was born today at 1:35 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20.25 inches long. She is healthy and happy, and we are thrilled to have her here with us!

Momma

Daddy

Nana

Mimi

Pop

Grumpa & Nana

Auntie Erin