Kyleigh's 1st Christmas = White Christmas

Ok, so word has it that Charlotte hasn't had a White Christmas in 62 or 63 years. The year of 2010, Kyleigh's first Christmas we have a white Christmas! How awesome! We do have pictures of us to show too! I have to say, even though it was her first Christmas, she slept through most of the day! I don't know if she just didn't feel great or if she was going through a growth spurt! She did get some nice toys, some of which she will have to grow in to!

I took Kyleigh for her 6 month checkup yesterday! The doctor said she was growing well, she weighed 15 lbs and 10 ozs and was 25 inches long. She is in the 25th percentile for her length, she is definitely vertically challenged like her mother and father. The doctor told us to go ahead and move on to stage 2 foods, she also said we could start giving her some of the same food that we eat. I have also been trying out the sippy cup on her, she is doing pretty well with it drinking out of it, she just isn't getting the part about really tipping it up so it can actually get it out, but when she has help she does well. The doctor also pointed out that she is getting her first tooth! I wouldn't have noticed had she not told me!

I also took her to get her 6 month pictures made despite the fact that she had 3 shots! How brave was I? Some of the pictures were really great and cute. I will post some to here soon!

I hope you all are enjoying your Holiday Season!

Love to all!

Kyleigh's First Christmas

Well it's December 24th and we are excited about Kyleigh's first Christmas. The Christmas Cards have gone out, we have decorated, she loves her pink Christmas Tree that is in her room as well as the big one in the bonus room. I think she is mezmorized by it every time she looks at it and sees the lights because her eyes just get big!

A few weeks ago, I took Kyleigh to sit on Santa's lap at Carolina Place Mall. I have to say, I was very impressed by that Santa, he was very nice looking and not scary. Kyleigh did not scream or cry while sitting on his lap. I personally think she looks like a baby doll on his lap. I love the picture that we got!

We had Christmas already in Greensboro with the family since Shelley came in from Colorado. We got awesome gifts and Kyleigh got to meet Shelley who had not been able to see her before now. We wish Aunt Shelley lived closer!

The tree is filled with gifts awaiting Santa's arrival this evening starting a Caruso Christmas tradition. I know she won't really understand what is going on this Christmas but it is a time for Christmas memories to be made!

We are truly blessed with a special baby girl. She is so good and is growing like a weed. She laughs and smiles a lot, she has even started talking, not formed words, but she will sit and talk to herself. She jumps in the jumperoo, oh and she is pretty much sitting up, which I am glad about because I want her to sit up in her 6 month pictures which I am getting made on Monday! Unfortunately we are going for her 6 month check up first that morning, but hopefully the shots won't affect her and she will be in a good mood!

Love and Happy Holiday's to all! Please let us hear from you!

Kyleigh's 4 Month Doctors Appointment

On the 29th, Kyleigh went for her 4 month doctors appointment. She was 13 lbs and 13 ozs and was 23.5 inches long. Growing like a weed! The doctor told us we could start giving her baby food too, so far we have experimented with rice cereal, green beans, oatmeal, and green peas. We have also been giving her formula! She is liking all of them so far!

She is still the only little girl in her class! She had class pictures the other day, so I am interested in seeing how that comes out. She has really taken to a saucer that they have in her classroom. So much that we are borrowing one from my friend Michelle this weekend.

Kyleigh is going through so many changes, she is rolling over from front to back and back to front, grabbing on to things including mine and Nonnie's glasses as well as my necklace and Murphy's beard, putting her feet in her mouth is becoming a favorite of hers too! She is talking so much, sometimes it sounds like she says "Hey", we are very curious to find out what her first word will be.

October - a time for firsts.....

So far this month, Kyleigh has experienced a few firsts. Those are:

• Her first cold. She came home from daycare one Thursday afternoon with a very runny nose. It turned into a full fledged cold. She went to Pop's and Cici's that weekend with us, and was feeling very bad and running a slight fever. Even though she was feeling horribly, she was still in pretty good spirits. The following Wednesday, I took her to the doctor because the daycare told me she had been pulling on her ear, so I wanted to make sure she didn't have an ear infection. She didn't, and just had a cold. The doctor said sometimes when when stuff is draining in their ears they pull on them. However, I do believe she is starting to also notice her ears! So that would be another first!
• Rolling Over. At Pop's and Cici's, she rolled over on the bed. Of course, Pop said it was just because Cici was sitting on the bed. Well she proved us wrong on that because a few mornings later, Mike and I were looking in her closet looking for something for her to wear and all of the sudden we hear this big "thump" on the floor. We turned around and Kyleigh had rolled off of the ottoman onto the floor. She cried for a bit, but after I picked her up and calmed her she was fine. Needless to say, daddy had a horrified look on his face, so I had to let him know it would be ok.
• Laughing is getting to be a common habit of hers too. She laughs a lot and loud, as some would say she is starting to discover her voice.
• Kyleigh is also doing exceptionally well at holding her head up. So well, that they put her in the saucer at daycare and she can sit and look at all the fun toys.
• Holding her own bottle. She is trying to help out and hold her own bottle. She has helped me and is trying to help at daycare too.

There will be other firsts, it is amazing how much and how quick they change. She is going through so many mental and strength changes, as well as physical changes. Stay tuned for more. Feel free to share too.

Kyleigh at 2 months

Kyleigh is growing so fast! At her 2 month appointment she weighted 11 lbs and 10 oz, she was 22.5 inches long and her head was 38 inches round. We took her to Lake Wylie where she got to swim in the lake and visit with Janet and Bub. We had a great and relaxing time!

Kyleigh's 1 month old

The month flew by, at her 1 month appointment, she got 1 shot, she weighed about 9 lbs and 7 ozs and was in the 75 percentile for weight. Also, she was 21 inches long in the 50% percentile.

She started daycare on August 11th, she is in a class with all boys! She gets a lot of flirting in. She got to go swimming for the first time on the 7th of August! Each day she continues to get stronger and stronger in holding her head up. She is starting to smile some too.

Kyleigh's newborn pictures

Introducing Kyleigh Morgan Caruso

Kyleigh Morgan Caruso was born on June 23, 2010. She was 7 lbs and 10 ozs and 20 1/4 inches long.

On June 11th I was placed on bedrest due to high blood pressure. When I found out that I was on bedrest, I thought I was going to be bored to death. My friend Michelle from Raleigh had duty first to keep me from getting bored, then Mike's mom came down and stayed for a week. The next week, it was Claudette's turn. In addition to helping me, she was keeping Kennedy and Ragan. Well 2 days into her visit, she took me to the doctor with Kennedy and Ragan in tow. We went to the doctor that Tuesday, June 22nd because I was having to have NST's 2 time per a week. That day the baby was hardly moving, however it wasn't a huge concern to the doctor so he sent me on home. After the doctor, we went and had a nice lunch at Showmars and they took me back home and stayed til about 5p. Right before they left I started to feel bad, bad enough that I sat on the stairs when I was walking them out, so I drank some water and decided to go to bed and take a nap. I woke up 2 times during my nap to go to the restroom. The 2nd time, it felt like I started going to the bathroom in my pants. I quickly got back up and started to the bathroom, and thought I should grab my phone because I had a feeling my water had just broken. I called Mike at work and told him that my water had just broken. He said "ok, I am leaving the store now". I called Claudette to tell her my water just broke and she said, "ok, I am on my way to pick you up." So, I called Mike back and told him to just meet us at the hospital that Claudette was coming to pick me up. While waiting for Claudette, the 10 mins seemed like 30 mins, I grabbed the rest of the stuff for the hospital, grabbed Mike a change of clothes because I knew he wouldn't want to hang out in his Sprint clothes, and I fed Murphy. Yep, that's right, I fed Murphy, I also gave him his insulin shot because I didn't know when someone would be able to feed him or when he would get his next shot. Then I proceeded to call the doctors office of which they put me on hold because the nurse wanted to talk to the doctor. We ended up going ahead and heading towards the hospital, calling people on the way and telling Claudette how to get back to the hospital. Mike's mom had to turn around and fly back down, my dad wrapped up his work and went home and grabbed some clothes so he could come down, it was chaos but a happy chaos because we were ready to meet the baby.

After 19 hours of labor and getting to the point of where I was 9 cm dialated and 100% effaced, the doctor came in to prepare to deliver, but I had digressed and my cervix had swelled so they were going to have to do a c-section. They prepared me for surgery, Mike went to tell the parents what was going on, and then he came back to get prepared to be with me. After what seemed like only a short time to me, but it was apparently about an 1 hr or so, 143pm on June 23 to be exact, they told me it was a girl! I was so excited, and asked Mike if he was disappointed because I think deep down he really wanted a boy! But he couldn't have been any more pleased and happy that it was a girl, and he got to deliver the news to our parents.

Pictures of the Nursery

7 months and counting

Well, we are just 3 short months away. I would like to say the first 6 months flew by, but they haven't really, but I know when I look back I will have wondered where all the time went.

The other day we finally completed the nursery. Now I guess you could say is all we need is the baby. We have been working on it for a while, first there was the paint and then the crib, changing table and dresser were all put in. When Mike's mom came down the beginning of March, she insisted on buying a rocker/glider because that was what Gram wanted her to do. We looked at several, and I love the one we got, and it was cheaper than some of the more traditional gliders. Finally, came the blinds, valance followed by the Under the Sea lettering and all of the sea creatures that were added to the walls. Murphy goes in and out of the room frequently as if he's protecting and awaiting the baby.

All we have to do now is; go on a hospital tour, some pre-natal yoga for me and get ready for the baby to come (we even have the names picked out)! We are super excited to meet the little one and to find out what it's going to be. For all of those people who want to call the doctors office to find out what it is, no, you can't do it, you have to be just as surprised as Mike and I.

Enjoy some pictures of the nursery, and there is one of me taken Monday, it's not the greatest, but who ever said that pictures do justice.

Love,

Suzanne, Mike, Baby Caruso, and Murphy

Reality

Well, reality has set in, and even though I have heard the heart beat the last 2 months, the fact that we could actually see the baby today was surreal.

Everything measured out and looked good. Where I am 18 weeks and 5 days, I was actually measuring 19 weeks and 1 day. We saw the fingers and toes, 4 chambers of the heart, ribs, and face. The technician went to show us the lens to the eyes and held the wand on it's face so we could just look at it. Throughout the whole ultrasound the baby was moving around, especially it's arms and legs, well when she held the wand over its face, it decided to not perform for us, it was rather funny actually. We did see it's lips move, and the tech told us it was drinking. This was such an awesome experience to see such an amazing creation that God has given. And, no, we didn't find out what it is, we won't find out until July 3rd (or whenever baby Caruso decides to make it's appearance into the world).

We have started on the nursery, the bedding we got is an "Under the Sea" theme and the room has been painted a green to go with the bedding. Mike and Billy went to get the crib tonight.

The excitement is setting in more and more every day!

Love to all, hope to hear from you all soon! Here are some pictures from the ultrasound, sorry they are kind of crooked.