Where has the time gone?

I can't believe my baby is 8 months old! I am constantly amazed at how much August changes and grows each day. He is becoming such a big boy! I am much better at updating facebook, but here's what he's been up to these past 8 months. I've been documenting his milestones on my phone and figured it would be nice to have them here as well.


Your first month
You are a pro at holding your head up!
You love sitting on daddy's chest
You coo all the time and love to coo at us
You haven't smiled while you've been awake yet, but you love to smile in your sleep. It is so sweet!
You wake up every 3 to 4 hours at night to eat. You still need a little formula to get you through to the next meal.
You wake up bright and early every morning. We're talking 4 or 5 am here!
You love to swing and like to sleep in it too!
We've skyped with all your grandparents several times!
While you still hate it, you've started to turn and hold your head up during tummy time.
You love to stare at lights!
You are an eater!
At your one month doctor appointment you weighed 11 pounds 3 ounces.
You love music and even love my awful singing!
You like to dance.

Your 2nd month
You smiled at mommy and daddy on your 6 week birthday!
Although you will smile, it's not a regular thing just yet.
You love it when mommy and daddy help you stand or sit.
Even though you aren't eating big boy food yet, you tike to sit in your high chair and watch mommy and daddy in the kitchen.
At 7 weeks you started really smiling at mommy and daddy!
Now you're practicing laughing in your sleep. I can't wait til you do it when you're awake!
On 1-24-11 you laughed at mommy and daddy!
You've had a couple nights where you've only woken up once. You're parents are loving it!
You're smiling all the time now.
Still a great eater!
You love standing up on mommy or daddy and can even bear some weight on your legs.
You can lift your head to a 45 degree angle during tummy time, although you still hate it!
You love to listen to music.
You coo all the time.
You're starting to bat at your toys on your gym.
You can sometimes hold a rattle.
You still love walks and we started going on extra long ones.
Your first trip out of the house was to the Venza's house for jenny's birthday and you did great!
You're wearing size 6 months! What a big boy!
You love to nap in your swing.
You can track with your eyes as we move toys around.
You had your first trip to target and the grocery store! Mommy wore you with the baby Bjorne and you slept!
You are talking and laughing a lot!
During tummy time you've started pushing yourself up and you can hold your head up at a 90 degree angle.
You went out to eat for the first time on your 10 week birthday with mommy and nana! We had California pizza kitchen and you loved looking at the surroundings!
You laugh and smile all the time now.
You started sitting in your bumbo at 11 weeks.
You almost slept through the night at 11 1/2 weeks! You didn't wake until 4 am.
At 12 weeks you rolled from your tummy to your back for the first time!
You slept through the night 1 day before your three month birthday!! Mommy and daddy were ecstatic!

Your 3rd month
You're still sleeping through the night!
On 3-5-11 you rolled from your back to your side!
You've started to scoot while on your belly.
You had your first cold at 14 weeks.
You've started transferring your links from one hand to the other.
You had your first ear infection and round of antibiotics at 15 weeks.
You are grabbing and batting at everything!
You are so calm!
At 16 weeks started saying "gooo"
You have the cutest laugh!
Your hands are always in your mouth!
You tried your exersaucer for the first time. You looked so small in it.
You eat 6 4 oz bottles and one 5 oz bottle a day. You've officially had no formula since you were six weeks old!

Your 4th month
At your 4 month check up you were 16 lbs and 13 oz, which was the 75th percentile.
You were 25.5 inches long, in the 75th percentile.
You had your first bottle of water at 18 weeks!
You giggle like crazy when mommy talks silly.
You say ghee and gah.
You finally stopped using your swaddle.
Rolled from back to tummy on 4-12-11.
You started pulling on the mouse on your carseat to feel it shake. Before you would just look at it.
Started sticking out your tongue on your 19 week birthday. You did it non-stop for days!
You found your feet the next day!

Your 5th month
You are talking nonstop! I swear you know exactly what you want to say.
You are starting to sit unsupported for longer and longer periods. Still a little wobbly though.
You love splashing during bath times.
You started sleeping in your crib for the first part of the night on 5-3-11. On 5-4-11 you fell asleep in your crib all by yourself without being rocked!
You're eating about 31 oz of breast milk a day.
You are such a happy boy!!!
You've been grasping your feet and hands a lot.
You can sit by yourself for a long time.
I think you're officially teething! You have become so restless overnight.
Your teacher from school, ms. Maya babysat you so mommy and daddy could go to a movie for mommy's birthday.
You had a double ear infection May 16th.
You had your first oatmeal on May 16 and hated it!
We tried rice on May 20th. You don't hate it quite as much as oatmeal.
You are sleeping the entire night in your crib and don't need rocked anymore!
You can sit all by yourself for a long time!
You are so good at grabbing toys and putting them where you want.
25 weeks- every morning you wake up on your belly.
You're eating your rice a little bit better.
You started sweet potatoes on may 30th. It took you a few days but now you love them!

Your 6th month
You're eating sweet potatoes, carrots and you just started peas!
You are talking and laughing so much!
You started squash.
You had your first plane ride on June 17, 2011. We went to Illinois for your great great grandma June's 100th birthday. You were amazing and didn't cry once!
You've started waiving "hi" and "bye", but I don't think you quite know what you're doing just yet.
You started apples and love them!
You've had a cough for over a week.
The week before you turned 7 months you started turkey!
You were diagnosed w bronchiolitis and had to get an inhaler.
You've started rolling over all the time!

Your 7th month
Still no teeth.
You've slept past 8 am twice now!
You got your first tooth on July 13th! Bottom right. You got your 2nd tooth (bottom left) on July 21st!!
You are making your first blended sound. It sounds like bla bla.
July 22nd you started eating lunch!
July 26th you have started scooting backwards. You're doing such a good job getting your legs up under you!
July 31 you started waving hi in response to someone waving at you!
You're also saying the da sound now!

Your 8th month
You had your 1st fever on your 8 month birthday :(
You started your "ma" sound!!!!
You are the best baby ever! I love you!!!!

The first month in pictures...

Learning with our jungle cards!
First bath at home.

August's first Christmas! He made out like a bandit.

First walk around the block.

Tummy time with daddy.


August with his grandparents and great-grandparents!

What a wild month it's been (actually, we're almost to two months, but I'll blog about that later!). Here's a little bit about the first month...

He is a pro at holding his head up. He loves to sit on his daddy's chest, and he coos all the time!. He sleeps about 3-4 hours at a time at night, and smiles in his sleep all the time. He wakes up bright and early every morning ready to play and swing! During tummy time he is able to turn his head and even hold it up a little bit. He skypes with his grandparents all the time. He loves to be sang to and also likes to dance. He's such a big boy and loves to eat! At his one month doctor appointment he weighed in at 11 pounds 3 ounces!


The big boy on his one month birthday!

August is here!

Introducing… August Gray Maxwell Powell!

August made his grand entrance at 5:03 am on Thursday, December 2, 2010 after a grueling 35 hours in the hospital. Cody and I checked in at North Austin Medical Center at 6 pm on Tuesday, November 30^th for a planned induction. The goal was to be put on Cytotec over night, start the Pitocin the next morning around 4:30, and break my water by 8:30. Things did not go as planned…

Tuesday night was pretty easy. Cody and I watched a couple episodes of Dexter, hung out with our parents, and just generally kept things pretty low key. The Cytotec did its job, and I was hooked up with an IV and the Pitocin the next morning at 5:30. When my doctor arrived at 8:30 to break my water, she was unsuccessful but hopeful I would be ready by noon. The contractions were not uncomfortable, and she even let me eat breakfast! When noon rolled around, my doctor attempted to break my water for the second time. Let’s just say I was definitely at a 10 on the pain scale and it was still unsuccessful! This was definitely the most pain I was in the entire labor. I was shocked that there hadn’t been more progress in the four hours since she had last been there. The doc recommended I go ahead and get the epidural so that she could try to break my water again at 4 pm without me being in so much pain. The epidural was a breeze, and I recommend it to everyone! I was a bit bummed that the whole process was taking so long. At this time my doctor estimated baby would arrive early morning the next day.

When the doctor came back at 4:30, she broke my water easily, and said that I had progressed a little further since noon. She was hopeful things would kick into high gear now. Unfortunately I had no real changes until around 9:30 that evening. Once 9:30 rolled around though, things really started to pick up. I went from about 2-3 centimeters to 10 in about two hours. I was ready to push by 11:45, and I was so excited that things were finally happening. I had been worried about a C-section, but this progress gave me hope that it wouldn’t be necessary. Our wonderful nurse at the time, Carrie, said that first babies usually require 3 hours of pushing to get out. Mom and Cody did a great job helping me those first three hours, but when 2:45 rolled around and it still seemed like we were getting nowhere, thoughts of a C-section began to creep back into my head. Carrie called the doctor on call, who said he wanted me to continue pushing for another hour. When that didn’t work, the on-call doctor finally came in to take a look at the situation. He recommended trying the vacuum before we decided to go the C-section route. He explained some safety concerns, and we agreed to try the vacuum as a last ditch effort. After five long hours of pushing and trying the vacuum, I was prepped for surgery.

The surgery took maybe 20 minutes, and the entire time I kept asking, “Is he here yet?” I was pretty disappointed that I couldn’t see August for a few minutes after he was born. Then when I could see him, my hands were out of commission, so I could just look at him for a second. August arrived weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces. He was 21 and a half inches long. Cody accompanied him to the nursery and I was able to hold him maybe an hour later. He was absolutely adorable!!! I couldn’t believe he was ours!

The recovery was long and difficult. We stayed in the hospital until Sunday, and I was pretty much out of commission for the first two weeks at home. All is well now, and we’re slowly getting in to our daily routine. I’ll post more pictures of August’s first three weeks and first Christmas soon!

Now for the pictures!

Getting all cleaned up in the nursery.

The first time I was able to hold August in the recovery area.

Most of the very proud grandparents!

Two very tired, but happy new parents! We're so happy with our little family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did. My mom and brother joined us for a feast cooked by my mom. We had so much food, but it was delicious! Here's the chef with her masterpiece!


I'll be 39 weeks on Sunday, and we got the great news that we'll get to induce even earlier than December 3rd! I'll go in to the hospital on the night of November 30th, and the induction will start at 4 am on December 1st. I am so excited to see him! He's been doing really well, and my blood pressure hasn't been too much of an issue lately although I am still going in for twice weekly non-stress tests. As of 37 weeks and 5 days, baby boy weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces. Here's hoping he hasn't put on too much weight in the past week and a half. Next time you hear from me, the little guy will be here! Here's hoping for an easy and quick delivery!

He's getting squished in there!

Non-stress test. I won't miss getting these twice a week. These things take forever!

His new jungle rug to finish off the room. Thanks, nana!

35 Weeks!

It's been a whirlwind these last few weeks! First my mom came in to town to help get the nursery whipped in to shape. Then Haley threw me the most fabulous shower! Later that week we had our first child birth class, another ultrasound, and my first blood pressure scare. A couple weeks back I was sent to the hospital for a couple of hours of monitoring. I did fine for about a week before it went up again. Blood tests and monitoring continue to show that all is well. Hopefully that will calm down these last few weeks. We had an ultrasound at almost 33 weeks because baby boy was measuring so big. At that ultrasound he already weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces! I can't believe he's so big already! We just had another ultrasound at almost 35 weeks for the same reason. He now weighs 6 pounds 9 ounces! He already seems like he's ready for the world! All of his organs look great, and he has the cutest little face. He's just a big boy! I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

We're almost there!!! Hopefully we'll get to meet him sooner rather than later.

30 weeks

Wow! I can't believe how fast time seems to be going right now. It's hard to believe he'll be here in ten weeks or less (hopefully). We just had our 30 week doctor's appointment, and all looks well. Baby is now measuring right on track, so my fears about a big baby are hopefully behind us. Here I am at 30 weeks.


A few weeks back Cody, his mom, our friend Jenny, and I got to see the little one in 3D. As usual, he wasn't very cooperative. After an hour of jiggling him and repositioning me, we got several really cute shots. Here's a comparison of his face from 23 weeks to 28 weeks. His little cheeks have really filled out! I can already tell he's going to be a cutie.


23 weeks 28 weeks

We've also been doing some work on getting ready for his arrival. His crib is pretty well set (except for the mattress), the curtains are up, his bookshelf is built (and even has four books on it), and the pack n play is put together. We're still waiting on the dresser and changing table topper to get here, but it's back ordered until October 12th. We also have some really cute animals that need to go up on the wall. Haley is throwing us a shower in a couple weeks, and I am so excited to add to our baby's room after it. Exciting times ahead!

Baby news!

I'm 26 weeks and 4 days today. According to the doctor at today's appointment I'm measure 29 weeks. I wonder if we have a Thanksgiving baby on our hands?! Things are going great. Aside from some slightly swollen ankles and back pain, I really have no complaints. Cody's doing a great job rubbing my feet every night. On September 13th we go in for our 3D ultrasound. I'm so excited to see his little face again! I also found out today that we'll get another ultrasound at 35 weeks to check his position. The clock is really ticking now. Only 94 more days!