Life with Kayla at home

Kayla Ann Corn is here!

Kayla Ann Corn joined us on
December 13
11:51 AM
7 lbs 4 oz
19 in
Ryan and I wanted to honor both our grandmothers who passed away during our pregnancy. My grandmother-Ann Wilkin and his grandmother Minnie "Kay" Corn. We chose Kayla Ann as a way to lovingly remember our grandmothers and celebrate the new generation joining us now!
Labor & delivery went very smoothly. I couldn't have asked for things to go any better than they did. Ryan was/is a fantastic partner and support to me and now us.
I started noticing I didn't feel quite right around 9:30 pm on Wednesday night and by around 11:30 pm I woke up Ryan to tell him I thought I was in labor. We called the doctor at 4 am and he said "well, come on in. You're going to have a baby today!". We left for the hospital around 5 am and by 5:55 I was in a delivery room!
They said I was about 7-8 cm dilated when I arrived and that we did "a lot of good work at home"! (kinda proud of that) ;) The doctor on call said I was around 8-9 when he checked me around 7:30 am and by the time my doctor got to me at 8:30 am, she said that the only thing holding this back was my waters. She broke my waters and around 10:30 they told me I could start pushing.
I pushed (with the benefit of an epidural) for a little more than an hour before Kayla came out to join our lives and bless our family. She was and is perfect. She is sleeping well, eating "aggressively", and a wonderful little cuddler. Thank you for your prayers and support during the pregnancy and for sharing in our joy now.
Here are some pictures to get you all started!

Waiting for the baby

Hey friends,
Today is the due date and I'm not saying I WON'T have her today, but I'm definitely not feeling it! I have my weekly appointment with my doctor tomorrow and will know more then, BUT last week they said that they would like to induce Sunday night with a birth on Monday, 12/17 IF this little girl doesn't make an appearance of her own.
For those of you who pray: Please pray for courage, a labor without induction, and safety for all of us. I'm sure we'll be fine, but it's just a wee bit overwhelming to think about the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenge of bringing a little one into the world.
Here's a verse that I've enjoyed lately:
Isaiah 66:9
Do I bring to the moment of birth
and not give delivery?" says the LORD.
"Do I close up the womb
when I bring to delivery?" says your God.
OK-so I know he's talking about the nation of Israel BUT He makes a good point...He hasn't taken me all this way for nothing! :) We're gonna have this baby any day!
Here are a few prego pictures in the nursery to tide you over! ;)

Indianapolis Colts Women's Clinic 101 -beginners

Ryan & I made a friendly wager on the results of Super Bowl XLI and happily…I WON! Per our bet, Ryan had to pay to send me to a clinic run at the Colts practice facility for women who want to learn the basics of football.
Last night my friends Libby and Laura joined me for four workshops hosted by Colts players, alumni and an NFL official.
Former tight end, Geneo Riley, lead an interactive session on the practice field that covered; terminology regarding the offense & defense and line-ups. The best part was watching a lady in her 90’s play the role of Marvin Harrison beautifully! They gave us laminated cards (aka cheat sheets) with details & pictures of all the positions and their responsibilities. Libby & Laura even got “drafted” to play mock defense!
THEN we met with alumni wide receiver, Darvell Huffman, who covered the breakdown of teams within the two conferences, how schedules are created and the importance of the bye week. He basically told us that a group of men decide all those things over mai tais in a warm location somewhere every year. Hmmm….
THEN we met with Colt’s practice QB #9, Josh Betts, and Defensive Back #33, Melvin Bullitt. They were SUPPOSED to cover general team information: the roster (who makes up the team, how many players in each position, etc), other members of the team & their roles (practice squad, IR, PUP, etc) and game day info (uniforms, coin tosses, scoring, etc). They did talk a fair amount about the practice squad, who dresses for the game, and their uniforms. They also answered questions about how jersey numbers are chosen/given, if they like wearing the tight pants, how they stay motivated when they know they’ll most likely sit on the bench all year, and what actually goes on under a pile. Apparently there IS a lot of pinching, biting, pulling and kicking. Darvell said that whatever you can do to get someone to let the ball go, you’ll do it. He said his coach offered the guys $1,000 to whoever could turn over the ball to him. They were funny guys and gave us a good insight into life as a player in the NFL.
Finally, we returned to the practice field to meet with NFL official, Mark Baltz. He has been in with the NFL for 19 years and is the head linesman. Libby, Laura and I got to get on the field and pretend to be officials…I was the “back judge”! I can’t imagine how scary it’d be to see an offensive line rushing towards you!
The questions to Mark Baltz were pretty funny. They included questions about if the yellow “flag” would hurt if it hit you and general confusion about the fact that not every player tackles another player every play! J
There were people from all over the state and even one from Minnesota. There were younger girls that looked very athletic, girls my age that were dressed super cute (possibly wanting to meet players?) and LOTS of older women (60s-90s). Most everyone wore Colts gear and I think that everyone enjoyed it. I know I did!

Colts Women's Clinic 101 (for beginners)

Ryan & I had a friendly waiger



After Ryan's team, the Chicago Bears, lost to the Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Baby Shower

October 14, 2007
My mom and her dear friend, Donna Sigfrids, hosted an AMAZING and very fun baby shower for me. Thanks to my special friends who drove in from out of town and my in-town friends too for clearing their day to celebrate God's blessing in our lives!

The Nagels

Benjamin-kindergarten
Sophia-first grade
Amanda-second grade
Jonathan-fourth grade

These are pictures of my sister & family. Thought everyone would like to see the cute kids and their gorgeous family! They live in Manitou Springs (just outside of Colorado Springs, CO)

How I spent my summer

So I've been getting requests for belly pictures, however I don't have any good ones at the moment. I keep MEANING to take some, but never remember when I'm near my camera.
Since getting over the 5+ months of morning sickness, I've been enjoying pregnancy much more. It's fun buying all new clothes (not fun outgrowing all normal clothes), everyone is super nice and insist on lifting things for me & give up their seats to me, and Ryan & I enjoy feeling our little girl kick and squirm in my belly.
We registered at Babies R Us (HUGE selection) and Wal-Mart (mostly for our Robinson friends/family). It was fun to start to envision our baby in these cute little outfits, sleeping on the precious pink sheets, or wrapped up in a fuzzy hooded towel.
Ryan's dad is going to come up in October to paint the nursery for us, but in the meantime we have to gut that room and find new homes for all the boxes, clothes, furniture, etc in that room. We hope to tackle that this weekend. I'm having to say goodbye to some of Jeff's seminary books and books from my dad's old ministry library to make room to SHARE the bookshelves more with Ryan. I hope that our church can include some of the books in their library. I MEAN to read them, but haven't been motivated in the last 5 years to dig into the expository of Zachariah, the 5 inch thick systematic theology books, or to do word studies in the Greek or Hebrew lexicons! :) I guess I can always go visit the books at the church library.
Our parents seem to be having fun preparing for a little granddaughter. Ryan's parents are especially excited to be first time grandparents and to have a GIRL in the immediate Corn family (besides me of course)! ;) There have been MANY little outfits purchased by grandmas and I'm sure we'll see many more in the years ahead.
In other summer news, both Ryan & I have grieved the loss of our grandmothers. My grandma on my mom's side, Ann Wilkin, died at the age of 84 this June. Ryan's grandma on his dad's side, Minnie "Kay" Corn, died this past week at the age of 95. We both feel blessed to have these interesting & unique women in our lives for so many years.
In happier news, we were able to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday with family. Although still heavy with grief, he is so spunky and enjoyable to spend time with. Family came in from both Philadelphia and Alberta, Canada. Ryan had a really bad flu/cold, so I went solo and extended my visit to make the most of my last visit North before Baby Corn joins us! :)
We only had one wedding this summer. I guess since the season of wedding mania is wrapping up, I can expect a new season of baby madness! :) Kara, a dear friend from my 3 years of being in a women's Bible study here, got married and moved away. Sad for us...great for Kara! It was a great excuse to see many of the ladies from my last study, laugh together and get caught up. It seems like it's so difficult to do that consistantly.
Another special visitor this summer was my godson, Jacob Jeffrey LeRoy and his mommy, Jennifer (Jeff's sister). They were gracious enough to drive 5 hours from E Lansing to spend some time together. We visited the Children's Museum, but I think Jen & I may have gotten more out of it than little sleepy Jacob. Oh well...it was/is always so special to reconnect with Jen and to see my quickly growing buddy, Jacob.
Oh-today is both Jacob's 2nd birthday and my grandpa's 90th birthday! :) Happy Birthday!
That should hold most of you over for a bit! ;)

Celebrity Look Alikes 2

My celebrity look alikes

Crib Craziness

Hey friends,
I need some opinions from y'all (especially parents) or non-firstborns about crib selection.
We went crib shopping this weekend, but we can't decide if we want/need a convertible bed that eventually becomes a full size bed or if we should save $200 and just get a regular crib.
Who's to say that our kid will be in a room that can hold a full size bed and other stuff? I always had a twin. THEN, what if the next kid or two has a smaller room that can only hold a twin, but the first born has this fancy bedroom suite b/c Ryan & I had money now that we won't later?!?!
BUT, since my parents have offered to buy the crib and are open to buying the convertible, should we take advantage of that offer and then our kid will definitely have a nice bed? We can use the other money in the budget to get a dresser & rocker. I mean, should we not get a nice bedroom suite for this kid because we MIGHT not have money to do it for the others? Convertible cribs are all the rage. Should we go with the flow?
Who knew the crib purchase could impact our entire future family's dynamics and sense of worth? :D

We are liking the white furniture with the bedding by Cocolo called "Tropical Punch", BUT nothing is set in stone.

Movement

This past week I started to feel some "tapping" down below during work. It is truly a bizarre experience and awfully distracting during work. :) Although it's a bit disconcerting, I am growing used to feeling our daughter moving around inside of me and feel a little concerned when I can't feel her for a little while. SO many new experiences.

It's a GIRL! :)

Ryan & I got to see our little one yesterday during our 18 week ultrasound. The technician felt very confident in telling us that it's a little girl (who is measuring well in every important aspect). It was neat to see how they check and measure her heart, head, facial structure, neck, hands/feet, spine, chest, etc. They can check for many birth defects just through this ultrasound and we were happy to hear that everything looks good.She is about 8 oz now and between 5-5.5 inches! Ryan & I had a fun night out on the town celebrating our news and dreaming about this big news! We're planning on sharing the name only AFTER she joins us in December BUT you're welcome to give us your best and favorite options. No-we don't want to use "Candy". Thank you for the many folks who have ALREADY thought of that. DO BETTER! ;)

Most recent additions to the name pool include: Sweet, Indian, and Field. Oh-and an early contender Bjorn. :) SO CLEVER YOU ALL!

Our very own!

SO I have been a bit preoccupied with this new adventure of pregnancy and have neglected my blog. :)
Ryan & I found out April 11th that we were pregnant, catching us both by suprise, but we are 100% excited for this blessing to arrive on Dec. 11(ish). Ryan is a very proud father-to-be and is quick to help me and is very sympathetic to my moods and symptoms.
The morning sickness is pretty bad (like daily) and so they finally gave me some FANTASTIC drug that keeps me from puking all the time. Happy for that. We find out tomorrow (hopefully) if it's a boy or a girl. I think it'll feel a lot more "real" when I can start thinking of baby names and planning a nursery. Ryan said that as soon as he knew we were pregnant, he knew it was a girl. To contrast him, I'm saying BOY! :)
The last ultrasound was at 12 weeks and our baby was doing flips and sucking it's thumb. It's the craziest thing for me to realize there is a little person living inside of me.
No weird cravings (everyone asks). I'm just happy to eat and keep it down!
I made the move into maternity clothes a few weeks back and life is much more comfy. I may never return to pants with zippers! ;)
Think that'll do it for now. I'll write tomorrow with the update and maybe some pictures!

Easter

We had fun at Easter visiting with friends and family!
I had fun decorating Easter eggs, making a bunny cake and hanging out with my neice, Sophie, who was visiting from Colorado!

Ryan LOVES the babies!

Ms. Ashlyn Riddle is almost 1 year old (note the same hair cut is shared by the pair)

Ms. Hailey Bockstruck is just 3 months old! (She's a Cubs fan and not sure what to think of this guy's Cardinals shirt) :0

Birthday Fun

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate my birthday with me! I had a blast learning to duck pin bowl and sharing a great meal with friends. Kudos to Ryan for baking his first two-tiered birthday cake (the 34 candles were a bit much however)! I am blessed!