The Grote Family

It's Been a While!!!

2011-04-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been well over a year since I blogged about our lives! I guess I have been too caught up in being a wife, mother, seamstress, getting settled in a new place, and the list goes on and on! I have a very ambitious goal to update my blog with the last year's events! I want Ann Reese to be able to read it when she's older to see what we were up to! It's been a roller coaster of excitement, especially watching our baby girl grow and develop a little personality of her own! Here's a small sample of her up-to-date pictures.

We are in Birmingham for a visit with Davey's family, and Ann Reese is having a ball! She's loving playing outside with Honey. I captured a few pictures in the backyard before the water hose was brought into the picture! Ann Reese has such a sweet spirit, and it really shows up in these pictures. She loves holding your hang, loving on her babies, and giving HUGE bear hugs! She's very trusting and will go to complete strangers. A little scary, but I'm glad she feels safe! This little girl has captured our hearts in so many ways. I never thought I'd see Davey playing with purses or dolls, but she's turned him into a total softy! It's just adorable! I guess if we have a boy he'll be saying the same about me playing with balls, bats, and G.I. Joe (or whatever boys play with)!

Our New Life!

2010-02-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

Ann Reese Grote was born on Jan. 18, 2010 at 12:07 at Saint Vincent's hospital. She was 7 pounds and 15 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Travis actually guessed her weight in our pool. Too bad for him that we didn't bet money! It was a VERY easy labor and delivery. I was very blessed to not have a crazy long delivery with complications. Those came 4 hours after delivery, though. Ann Reese inhaled fluid when she took her first breath which caused her to have fast breathing. The fast breathing caused her blood sugar to drop because she couldn't eat. She was sent to the NICU around 5. It was the HARDEST thing I've ever had to go through. All moms have a perfect picture of what they think it is all suppose to be like and this was just not it. My poor baby was not healthy enough to stay with us and that was very worrisome. We didn't know what to expect over the next few days, but we did know that our wonderful family and friends were by our side. We got to go see her at 8 that night, and it was very tough to see her there hooked up to monitors and with an IV in her little foot. We were hopeful to get her out in 2 days, but we weren't sure. We got to stay with her in the NICU on Wednesday night thinking we were going to get to take her home on Thursday. On Thursday morning, the doctor came in and said she had to stay due to high levels of jaundice. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? This devastated me! I had been discharged from the hospital meaning we would have to walk out of there without our baby with us. I had dreamed of when we would be able to bring her home and this was not that day. I must have looked like a crazy person leaving the hospital with emotions flowing. I was so thankful for my mom being at my house to keep me positive and uplifted! 6 days after she went to the NICU, we finally brought home Ann Reese. Me, my mom, Dane, Peggy, and Davey all went to the hospital to get her. Only Davey and I got to go into the NICU to see her, so it was very exciting for our families to see and hold her once she got out of the NICU doors! A lot of tears flowed! It was the best feeling to pick her up without a nurse telling us it was okay. It was also a very sad moment thinking of all the other babies in the NICU that would proabably be there for a very long time and some not even make it out. Davey and I spent a lot of time praying for these little ones and thanking God we had a healthy baby compared to these tiny babies. We went through all the wonderful moments such as showing her all around our house and her precious room. It's been 6 months now (I'm horrible for just getting this written) and life has never been better! I love being a mom and having amazing family support. I love you all!

Our baby girl the first time we saw her in the NICU.

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Thankfully, two days later we finally got to take our baby girl home. It had been 6 full days in the NICU. Honestly, it was the best feeling in the world going to the hospital with my mom, Dane, and Davey to pick her up. We were finally getting to leave the hospital with our baby girl!

Missing Girls

2009-12-19T12:19:00.000-08:00

On November 1st, Gabby was hit by a car and died in my lap on the way to the vet. It was extremely sad and still stings when I think of that day. Gabby was our first baby and needless to say we absolutely adored her. We only had her for a year and a 1/2 before she was killed. We spend last weekend with my parents for Christmas and they gave us this beautiful oil painting of Gabby. When we opened it, I burst into tears seeing her sweet face. My mom was crying and apologizing for making me cry so hard! Of course, I loved it and couldn't think of anything better to remember her by. David loved it also. He was pretty speechless. Mom wanted the background to be blue and cream so it would go with our bedroom colors. She is so thoughtful! It is now hanging in our bedroom, so we'll see her everyday. Yes, the first few times I walked by it I was thinking I didn't really want it there because it made me sad, but now I'm use to it. David and I decided that we would focus our attention on Ann Reese to help us get past Gabby's death. It has helped a lot, but we still think and talk about her all the time.

2009-12-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

David and I are excited that we are going to meet Ann Reese in less than a month! The pics below are a small progression of my belly so far. I haven't taken many at all. I feel pretty silly taking pictures of my belly, but I guess it's good to have for Ann Reese to look at one day. It's much bigger now, and I'll post pics of it soon!

2009-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

20ish weeks

16ish weeks

14ish weeks

2009-06-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

At my last doctor's appointment on June 9 we had our first ultrasound. The baby messured 7 weeks and 3 days. We thought it was 9 weeks and 5 days. BIG DIFFERENCE!! The doctor said that was fine and sometimes happens. Of course I flipped out and thought something was wrong. Thankfully everything is fine! The doctor said the ultrasound looked perfect and the baby's heart rate was 171, which is great! It was amazing seeing our little one! We are very very blessed.

2009-05-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

Our sweet friends planned a celebratory dinner to celebrate the baby news! They are so great! :) Thank you girls and husbands!

Due Date Countdown Widget

2009-05-27T13:56:00.001-07:00

We're having a baby!

2009-05-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Davey and I found out I am expecting a baby on May 12, 2007. I took a dollar store pregnancy test which showed a very faint positive line. I woke Davey up and asked him to look at the test. He could see a faint line, but we were not sure if it was really positive. I went to school and looked up information on pregnancy tests the whole time. I decided at 11:30 I had to go home and find out for sure. I met a friend on my way home to look at the test. She said it looked false to her. I decided to go home and take another test (not from the Dollar Store). It came up positive in the first 2 seconds! I was so excited to find out this news for sure, but I was very anxious about what comes next. I called my doctor and got an appointment for the afternoon. Davey and I went to the doctor where he confirmed we were having a baby on January 7!!! Davey and I agree that we are so blessed and this is completely God's plan for our lives. We couldn't be more excited!