By Rylan Kimberly (with a little help from Mommy Dani Maxwell)

Well, it has been a heck of a week, let me tell you.  I moved to a new place last Tuesday and the road there was pretty rough.  I loved my old place; all toasty and warm and just my size.  The next thing I knew, there were lights and open spaces and lots of things that look like me only bigger.  I had no idea what was going on!

I met a few cool people though.  One calls herself Mommy and the other calls himself Daddy.  They seem very familiar, like I’ve heard their voices before.  But where they used to just call me “baby,” now they call me Rylan.  Or sometimes Ry or sometimes Angry Birds.  I have no idea what that one is about.

My new home is pretty neat and I’m getting used to it.  I still miss my small apartment, so I like to cuddle a lot with the Mommy person.  Especially at night, but it always seems she wants to sleep then.  Boy, does she have things messed up!  I keep trying to tell her sleep is for the daytime and then you party all night.  Don’t worry, she’ll eventually get it.   The Daddy person is really nice too.  He keeps saying he can’t believe how much he loves me and how “beautiful” I am.  I don’t know what that means, but it sure feels good.

I have met a lot of other people too that seem really nice and can’t stop buying me presents.  Mommy calls them “family” and says we’ll be seeing a lot more of them now that I’m here.  All in all, I feel good.  I get to eat whenever I want and sleep all day.  Mommy and Daddy are trying really hard to keep me happy so I give them little smiles every once in awhile to tell them, “Good Job!” 

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13 News Anchor Dani Maxwell and her husband Steve are the proud parents of a baby girl.

Rylan Kimberly was born at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

She weighs 5 pounds even and is 18 inches long.

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By Katie Nilsson

I wonder if all new parents worry as much as me.  I never thought I would ever be concerned about the things I can’t stop thinking about now.  I worry about what I’m eating, and if it’ll affect the milk I’m making for Kamden.  I worry whether I’m making enough food for my little guy.  I also worry non-stop about his digestive issues, even though the pediatrician tells me it’s not uncommon for breastfed babies not to have a bowel movement for 5-to-7 days.  As much as I’m reassured that everything he’s going through is “normal”, I still worry!

Kam is a little more than seven weeks old already and from everything I’ve read, the “experts” say most babies’ crying “peaks” at six weeks, and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me, and Kyle too!  It’s the cry that you just can’t stop.  No matter what we do, he keeps going.  Thank god it doesn’t last all night, but it certainly lasts long enough.  I can understand why though, his eyes are developing, along with just about everything else and that must be pretty scary for the little guy.  Other than that, he seems to be doing really really good!  I’m still trying to get pictures of him smiling, but he won’t do it on demand yet.  Here’s another recent picture of my little man.

Mom's Little Man

He’ll make a guest appearance at the Puttin’ on the Glitz fashion show fundraiser for Swedes this Friday.  Plus, Kyle and I are also taking him to see Santa at CherryVale that same day!  If you, read this blog, and are out there for the 6:00pm show, be sure to come over and say “Hi” to us!

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By Dani Maxwell

Boy did we get a treat today at work!  Our director, Dan Jensen, brought his twins by for their first visit to the WREX studios.  Dan and his wife Becca welcomed Ian Alexander and Amelia Joy into the world October 11 and we have been on pins and needles waiting to meet them!

In my opinion (and mom’s and dad’s too) Ian looks just like Dan and Amelia (Mia) looks just like mom.  How perfect is that?  This picture doesn’t really do the cuties justice but it’s the best we have!

Mia veggin’ out

Congrats again you guys and thanks for bringing the twins by!

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 By Dani Maxwell

 By now, you all know my husband and I are expecting a baby girl in mid-November.  But can you guess the exact date she’ll be born?  If you can, you could win $150 in groceries!

Head to the www.wrex.com contest page to enter.  Guess the day and hour and the person closest without going over the actual birth time will win the gift certificate.

Here’s a hint: my due date is November 15th.  Good luck!

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 By Dani Maxwell

 I’ve always been the short kid.  Even among my gymnastics team growing up (and ALL gymnasts are short), I was the smallest.  (That’s me on the right in the front row.)

So I wasn’t that surprised when the doctors kept telling me and Steve our baby girl was a “little” on the little side.  She was in the 30th percentile for while in height and weight, but this week our growth ultrasound put her in the 10th percentile.  I’m 36 weeks pregnant and they estimated she’s only 4 pounds 3 ounces.

So our doctor recommended seeing a specialist at SwedishAmerican Hospital to see if he thought there was some sort of growth restriction; maybe a problem with the placenta not getting enough nutrients to Baby Max.  If that was the case, they might have to deliver early.  (And after all the work to keep her in there longer!)  The specialist estimates she weighs about 4 pounds 10 ounces…. better…. but still in the 10th percentile.  Good news is, after checking the amniotic fluid, the brain fluid, and the proportions of her body, the doctors don’t think there’s any problem at all.  The doctor says some women just have 5 pound babies, and our girl will just be small.  And that’s not the only thing she has in common with her mama.  Check out this picture… and see the nose?  That big honkin’ thing?  That’s definitely a Maxwell trait.  I got it from my father.  Lucky lady.

Well, needless to say, we thought we might have to prepare for an arrival this week.  Thankfully the shower my sisters and stepmother had planned (which originally was cancelled) was back on!  They had an impromptu baby shower at my house this past Sunday and we were so blessed to have a ton of friends and family come to wish us well.  Of course they brought everything we needed, and I finally feel prepared.   My favorite thing was the party favor my sister, Carly, came up with:

Steve was pretty excited to get the nursery ready after looking at all the gifts.  He spent most of the day doing that and surprised me when I came home from work Tuesday.

So the plan is to keep Baby Max “inside” for now to put on some more weight.  Although we’re anxious to meet her, she has to get a little bigger before she’s allowed to come out of her room…. I mean her womb.

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By Katie Nilsson

For any of you out there who’ve had a baby, you know the weeks after are quite a blur. Mostly you’re recovering, and feeding and changing baby. If you get a shower, it’s considered a productive day. That only lasts so long though, before you’re ready to get back to “normal” and I finally feel like Kamden and I are getting there. I’ve been taking him on errands with me, and we even went out to my favorite local hangout last Friday for dinner and my very first beer since I found out I was pregnant. It feels good to remerge into society, although it’s a lot different than doing it before baby. Everything takes longer, and you never have enough hands! Plus, carts are a MUST everywhere, so you don’t have to lug the baby carrier all over the place. While it’s been a great bicep builder, it sure is a back-breaker! I love bringing Kamden out and about though, so far, he’s been a little doll everywhere we’ve been. We haven’t done anything major, just errands, but it’s safe to say I think his favorite store is starts with a “B” and ends in R’ Us! Still haven’t been able to capture Kam’s smile on camera, but here is a picture we took last night while he was hanging out.

Big strong man!

Is he a cutie or what?!

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 By Dani Maxwell

 I have to admit, I was really sad when we had to cancel the baby shower my family was throwing me.  I had  gone into pre-term labor and was in the hospital to try to stop my baby girl from coming too early.   One of the nurses asked me,” So, you have a car seat with you in case she comes, right?”  NO!  I was already a bad mother and Baby Max wasn’t even born yet!  I told her, “I was hoping to get it at my shower this weekend!”

Fortunately doctors were able to stop my early labor.  Even more fortunately, I have a wonderful mother-in-law who was already planning another baby shower for us and had secretly recruited a friend to get the car seat purchased by her sisters from Wisconsin to Rockford just in case the baby did come.

Grandma Z and Dani

We ended up having that baby shower this past Sunday at the Stockholm Inn in Rockford.  Not only did we eat great food, we played Baby Bingo, Baby Word Scramble, and Guess Dani’s Belly Size.  My husband Steve was there for brunch and his guess was around 60 inches.  For the record, my belly is about 37 inches right now.  Haha!

We also got some really wonderful and thoughtful gifts from aunts, cousins, and friends.  Grandma Z (Steve’s mom) bought this, my favorite outfit of the day.  (Sorry to my friend, Nicol, who came all the way from Colorado and then I accidently covered up her face in this picture!)

My father-in-law’s co-worker, Debbie, is the “Best Gift Giver Ever.”  I dubbed her that when she sent me and Steve a wedding present.  Sunday, her gifts just kept coming!

Here’s a picture of the awesome cake we ate.  Look at that big belly!

I just want to thank everyone who came out to our shower Sunday and all the support we’ve gotten from friends and family.  A special thanks to Grandma Z who I know is as excited about this baby girl as we are!

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