Big brother kisses

My baby girl

Bailey is 3 months old!!!

Is it December already???

We have been quite busy lately. My sister, Laura, had a little boy named Zack. He is beautiful and sweet! And, she is a great little momma! Bryce had his debut school program at FUMC Tupelo - where he was an Indian who stood front and center and did NOT sing a word. It was adorable! Bailey has been growing so fast - she smiles all the time, says "ack" and "aah", and gives great kisses!

Oh, and we moved to Nashville - well, Hendersonville to be exact. We love our new house - it has a basement for all of Bryce's toys to be spread all over. We loaded up in the van with the Wood family last weekend and got some cowboy boots. Bryce does not like to take his off. And, I gotta say, Danny is a handsome cowboy.

Lucy decided she wasn't getting enough attention, so she went in the back yard and cut her back wide open. In order to save anyone from gagging, I will not post any pics. We had to find a vet immediately so she could get stitches - which she promptly tore through. She is healing - slowly but surely - so she will have a little (huge and nasty) scar.

Also, as new residents of Hendersonville, our best friends Susannah and Wes, told us about Santa coming to take pictures at Rock Castle. We got to wait in our van (the awesome "Mommy Van") until the little elf came to get us for our turn with Santa. Bryce walked right up to him and gave him a hug. He asked Santa to bring him a racetrack and two race cars. I am pretty sure that Bailey asked for some dolls - although I didn't hear her say it.

We went to visit my great grandmother over Thanksgiving Week. That makes her Bryce and Bailey's great-great-grandmother. We had so much fun taking a picture of the five generations of family. How cool is it that we have Granny, Memaw, Mom, me, and Bailey??? Five women from age 91 to 3 months.

Prayer request: our friends Catherine and Brannon have just moved their father to the hospice house in Tupelo. Please keep the Kahlstorfs in your thoughts and prayers. Catherine and Brannon are some of the first friends we made when we moved to Tupelo four years ago, and we love them and their beautiful daughters very much.

We hope you enjoy the pictures. I have more that Cara took - but they will be saved for the birth announcement and Christmas card. To all of our friends in Tupelo, we miss you guys. It is not easy to move away from such great friends. But, we are very happy up here in Hendersonville (Nashbill) - and we are finding ourselves falling in love with this town and the people who live here.

Happy Holidays to each of you from the four of us!!!

A baby GIRL for the Prestage Family!!!

Last Wednesday, I woke up early to discover that I was in labor! Danny and I jumped up and got dressed and rushed to the women's hospital. We didn't even wait on someone to get Bryce, we took him with us! Once my mom arrived at the hospital to watch Bryce, Danny was able to join me - I was hooked up to monitors, waiting for the doctor to determine if I was really in labor. Sure enough, I went from 1 cm to 3 cm in an hour - so they moved me in to a delivery room and we got really moving.

Danny and I made a few phone calls to our family to let them know what was going on. It was so much fun getting to surprise everyone with that phone call! Over the next several hours, they started me on pitocin, broke my water, and gave me an epidural. From the time I arrived at the hospital at 7 am to 1 pm, everything moved at a slow pace. But, at 1 pm, I dilated from 5 cm to 10 cm in 45 minutes. Also, my epidural started to wear off, so I decided that it was time to push before the doctor could get to my room. For those of you who have delivered a child with no epidural, you know that when you gotta push, you gotta push. Danny stood right next to me and coached me through each pain I felt. He made me feel so confident that I was doing a good job. He was amazingly calm and reassuring. I know it was hard for him to see me in labor, but he never showed a minute of uncertainty. Danny is a wonderful husband. And dad.

The sweet nurses also helped talk me through the contractions and pushing for a while, until the doctor arrived. He walked in and I pushed twice - and delivered a beautiful baby girl named Bailey. She was tiny! Danny smiled and instantly fell in love. I cried tears of joy. I had no idea that you could actually fall in love that quickly.

After the nurses cleaned Bailey up a bit, I got to hold her and try to nurse. She latched right on! I was so proud that she was eager to eat - and it felt just right getting to hold her so close. My family got to come in to the room to meet our daughter - and the look on Bryce's face was so exciting to see! He jumped right in the bed next to me - he wanted to see what I was holding.

The next two days were great! Bailey weighed in at 4 lbs. 10 oz. and 17 inches long. Bailey was spitting up a bit, and we had a little trouble getting her to nurse. On Friday, we were getting ready to discharge from the hospital, and the nursery had taken Bailey to give her a few of the check ups they do before discharge. We got a call that they decided to move Bailey to the NICU to do some testing to see why she was still having trouble with her belly.

I can't really explain the next few hours - I only know that I was crying and scared. The nurses and doctors were so great - everyone was trying to help me remain calm - but that wasn't happening. Bailey was transported to Le Bonheur to have surgery on her stomach. Danny and I followed right behind. Once we arrived at the hospital, we learned that Bailey had duodenal atresia - a blockage in her duodenum that had to be corrected with surgery.

So, Saturday morning, Bailey had surgery. She came through like a little champ! We are keeping everyone up to date on carepages dot com/carepages/baileyprestage. If you haven't gotten a chance, please check it out. We have lots of pictures posted and are updating Bailey's progress daily.

We are looking forward to the day we get to bring Bailey home! We don't want to rush anything, as we know that this recovery will take time. We pray for healing for Bailey.

Spring Update....... finally

Danny and Bryce before the race

Danny and I - it was early! We left Sandestin at 3:45 AM!!!

People getting ready to swim - almost 1000 racers!

Bryce took a nap in his stroller so he could have the energy to cheer his Dad on after the race.

Aunt Laura and Bryce waiting on Danny to get out of the water and on his bike.

Danny at the last mile of the race! We were so loud!!!

Danny found the only shade and tried not to pass out!

Danny got his things together and we totally drove through McD's for cheeseburgers!

Danny and I - maybe I should have helped him carry his things!



We made it to the beach while we were down for Danny's race.

Yes, I let people take pictures of my pregnant belly. I was 20 weeks in these pics - halfway there!

My family

Bryce running after his Daddy at the Double Decker ride in Oxford.

Post-10k at Double Decker

Easter Sunday! My boys clean up great!

Notice the bike and trainer in the background!

Danny, Mark and Jon before the Double Decker ride.

Ok, I have to apologize for taking so long to upload these pics. We have been so busy these past few months, so lots to report. Danny completed a 10k run, a 46 mile bike ride, and his very first Ironman Half Triathlon (that is 70.3 miles total)! Bryce had his two year old birthday party and is celebrating his actual birthday on Friday! I have been feeling great - already 22 weeks pregnant! We had a sonogram and Baby Prestage #2 is doing very well!

Baby number two on the way!

Here are some pics from our vacation to the mountains in North Carolina. While snowed in one night, I found out we were going to be having another baby!!! At dinner, I told Bryce he was going to be a big brother. I think Danny choked on his food. His face lit up - and that was it for us! Totally in love with Bryce - and now our sweet baby number two!!!

A new Prestage Baby is on the way! Danny and I could not be more excited - Bryce is still not clued in to what is happening. I feel sure he will be completely surprised when we bring home his new baby brother or sister in September. He will be the world's most loving and sweet big brother! I am so unbelievably blessed to be able to have this family of mine.

Also, can't complain about the way things are going. I feel great most of the time. Once I determine that I am not going to vomit, I can usually fall asleep at night. And, as long as there is the perfect amount of the right kinds of food in my stomach, I don't feel too nauseous. I know that I am a very fortunate pregnant woman. My dear sweet loving (and sometimes scared of my mood swings) husband was very thoughtful and got me a prenatal massage (to be enjoyed later in pregnancy). I am quite sure that I don't deserve how patient he truly is.

So, get ready to place your bets. Since we have decided to wait until delivery to find out the sex of our baby, we will be taking bets on the gender and due date. If you win, you could choose the baby's name. (For those of you in on this with our first born, Bryce, you know the rules! If I get induced, all bets are off. And, WaveRunner is still eligible.)

Thank you to all of our kind and loving family and friends who are sharing this time with us. Our family is blessed.

It's cold outside...

I am so easily distracted, which is my latest excuse for not blogging more often. I will say that our December was filled with lots and lots of photo ops. We had a great time visiting family, friends, and even got some new toys from Santa. And, we had a fantastic New Years! I would have to say my favorite part was waking up on January 1st to Danny getting back into bed. He had been up with Bryce since 7 am. It was 1 pm when he woke me. No, I was not sick. I was sleeping in!!! Now, I am going to get all of my fave pics together and upload them. Soon. Maybe even today. Happy New Year!