3 Months!

I can't believe my baby girl is 3 months old today! It has gone by so fast. We are having so much fun with this sweet baby girl. She has started smiling and "talking". We are over colic and the crying over digestive issues -- I think we're getting use to be in this world finally.

Audrey is the sweetest baby in the world! We are so totally in love with this chunky sweetie!

Only 5 weeks?!

I can't believe it's been 5 weeks that we've had this beautiful new girl in our lives!

This is my sweet girl after her first doctor's appointment (1 week old)

She gives me a reason to get up in the morning (even if it is 4am). These past 5 weeks have been the most wonderful and the most challenging of my life. This little person relies on me to take care of everything for her -- and sometimes, I don't know what to do for her and I have to let her cry which of course breaks this new momma's heart!

Doesn't every mother have to get a picture of her crying baby before she soothes her?

The last several weeks have involved lots of getting up in the middle of the night, lots of tears (more hers than mine, thank goodness), lots of poopy diapers, lots of naps, lots of laundry, and lots of kisses and cuddles and my heart being full

.

Watching John with Audrey makes my heart grow three times every time -- I'm pretty sure that it will pop out of my chest soon! He is so good with her. Sometimes, I think he's the better mommy than I am. He clues in on what's wrong with her at the times that I don't. I thank God every day for this wonderful man who completes me and makes being a parent easier because he takes up my slack.

Things are great -- even when I'm so tired I can't stand it -- the Lord has truly blessed us with each other and with this precious new life that we are entrusted to mold and form.

I pray that He guides us and that we can teach her the ultimate lessons in loving the Lord and guiding her in His ways for her life!

Thank you Jesus for these blessings!

Days Like Today

Life as a mother is amazing! I'm loving every minute of it. Her sweet little cry doesn't usually phase me -- except at 3am when it's only been an hour and a half since I put her down because she decided that 2am was the best time to be wide awake. :-)

But this morning....

I don't know what was wrong with my sweet girl but she would not stop crying. Mommy wanted to cry so bad because she had no idea what was wrong! I still don't know what was wrong, but I ended up with a sleeping baby in my arms for a good 2 hours. Does the soul good to hold my sweet smelling baby while she sleeps because Mommy's arms are the best place to be.

I hope tomorrow is a better day -- even if it's not, I thank the Lord every day for my sweet little girl! Life is definitely more full with her in it!

INTRODUCING....

Audrey Loraine

This sweet girl graced our lives on February 2, 2012 at 7:17am. She weighed a good 7 pounds and 13 ounces is 19 inches long.

We could not be more in love with this blessing the Lord has sent to us!

Pregnancy Hormones?

I haven't been incredibly hormonal throughout this pregnancy -- that is until today. I cried over something silly for the first time in pretty much the entire 36 weeks.

I'm not good at giving things up to other people. I am quite the control freak about things. Due to being unable to work, I've had to give up my responsibilities -- this means they fall on other people. John is taking on alot of it. He is being a good sport, but I know he's so stressed out and it's not easy or fun for him to have to do his job, plus pull my slack. Just knowing this makes me upset.

I am so thankful for him to take care of my responsibilities, but I know he's so ready for me to get back to being able to take care of them myself -- those at work and those at home.

I love you John! Thank you for being such a great man!

John: The 30 Year Old

John's 30th birthday was the Saturday before last (yes, I'm late on this post). I had grand plans of having a big blowout for him because let's face it -- 30 is a big thing! Instead, we had cupcakes with his sister! :)

She made cupcakes with Star Wars on top! How awesome is she? She left the fun stencil thingys for us to use later as part of his gift. We will be having fun with those for years to come.

Here is a picture of us (not a great one) singing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy!

I love you John! I'm excited to be with you for the next 30+ years!!

Mixed Feelings

35 weeks today. Baby girl will be here in 2 weeks! Not being able to do much of anything leaves me LOTS of time to do/think about anything besides this new life.

I have mixed feelings about all of it. Will I be a good mom? Will I be able to take care of this little person who will be expecting everything from me? Will I recover from this C section quickly? Will I get my body back? Will breastfeeding go well? Do we have everything ready? Will I regret the C section (even though she's breech so I have no control over it)?

I know that all of these feelings will be put to rest and no longer be a concern once I see my baby -- but not being able to do anything but watch TV and make lists......my brain takes control! :)

Two more weeks.....

Bedrest - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I've been on bedrest for a week now - officially. It's tougher than I thought it would be. I feel like when I'm at home I should be doing things: laundry, cleaning, organizing. But, since I'm not allowed, I'm working on being chill.

It has worked! Our doctor's appointment went great! Blood pressure is down, Mommy lost 2 pounds (woot woot!), Ultrasound showed that fluid levels were up a bit. Bitty girl is still booty down. C section is scheduled for February 7! I can't believe she'll be here in less than 3 weeks!!

In my bedrest time, I've completed 1/3 of a pinterest project that I didnt' realize was going to take me years to complete....and am working hard to finish up 2/3 of it. Thank you notes are almost done!

It's nice to have some downtime to do some of the things I want to do that I would be putting off otherwise.

My girl will be here so soon!!

God is Good!

I've come back to the blog world. Mainly, to record my thoughts about current happenings.

This week I was shown again how amazing my Savior is! During a routine prenatal visit, I casually mentioned to my doctor that I thought little girl was not head down. My fantastic doctor was curious as well. We did an ultrasound only to discover that not only was she breech, she is swimming around in low amniotic fluid. Because of this and my elevated blood pressure, I was admitted to the hospital for tests and observation. We saw a high risk obstetrician who confirmed my amniotic fluid was in fact low -- 4 centimeters to be exact when most woman at 33 weeks have 10! However, Praise Be to the Lord! Baby is excellent! She is growing as she should -- she weighs 5 pounds all organs are working properly. Now, its' just about mommy being calm and non-stressed and let her cook a bit longer....we have 25 days until we meet her. It's earlier than expected, but we are praising the Lord that what could have been a more difficult and trying experience turned out to be ok.

I'm constantly amazed by what God can do in our lives. I have been thanking Him and praising Him over and over for this experience and great news. I had no idea how much I loved this baby girl until I thought we might lose her. I had no idea how strong my husband really is until he had to take on the stress of it all at the most inopportune time at work. And he was fantastic! I couldn't ask God for a better mate!

We are blessed beyond words with people in our lives who care for us so much! Our co-workers have been so great to take on my work (now that I'm on strict bedrest) and to help out the hubs. Our friends and families have been amazing to check on us and keep me company during my 2.5 day stay in the hospital.

The Lord really is great and continues to teach me to rely on Him because in Him all things work for His glory.

Praise the Lord for all he has done in our lives and continues to do!!!!

How Great Thou Art!!!