Her name...

There were a lot of people praying for our baby girl while she was in the NICU. Her name was put on several blogs and left in comments. At that point, neither myself nor Alex really cared - we were so thankful for the prayers and that in the end - our baby was okay. We talked about it then and Alex agreed that I could share her name on the blog. I love her name. I think every mother feels this way. I was planning on sharing her birth announcement on the blog, once I mailed them out. I don't think it's a coincidence that today is the day that I chose to share her name. I just read Katie's blog and it brought me to tears. She wrote about her sweet girl's name and how she loves to hear it or see it. I stopped and immediately lifted her up and thanked God once again for Amelia. Katie has been such an encouragement to me and during such a painful time for her as a mother and I think most of all as a believer. She always shares her heart and I admire her greatly. I ask you to lift her up right now, as well.

Love to all,

Thanksgiving 2009

We have had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to spend time with both of our families which is always nice. We had Thanksgiving with my family on Wednesday evening.

This is our niece, Joylyn. She was DYING to hold A...it was the sweetest thing. When A was born, she told my sister that A was not Aunt Jill's baby, she was hers and that she was going to take her home with her. HA! So cute.


When my family gets together, we write down what we're each thankful for and we take turns sharing. There are always some tears and lots of laughter during this time! :)


Daddy & his baby girl


Gerry & Joy


Me and my girl. Her shirt says "Thankful for Mommy" :)


This is the whole gang! Having a large family is the best. :)


My sweet husband let me sleep all night last night, while he took care of A. I woke up this morning feeling very rested and ready for more turkey!

This is our niece, Alexandria - holding her new cousin.


Aunt Sarah taking a turn!


For this I am thankful...


And to end the evening, we went to see A Christmas Carol with some of my family. A got to see her first movie and in 3D!


Okay, so she slept through the entire thing, but how cute is she in her 3D glasses!? ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Love to all,

1 month old!

Our baby girl is one month old! Actually, yesterday was one month but I wanted yesterday to be all about my sweet man's birthday. :)

Here is how she and her Daddy spent the day. She loves to lay on her Daddy's chest.

Our sweet girl is growing and changing every day. Here's what she is up to these days.

-We're pretty sure she is over 7 lbs now. We put her on the scale with her Daddy and though it's probably not the most accurate way to tell, she has definitely gained some weight since her last doc appointment.

-She is out of preemie clothes and her newborn clothes are starting to fit a little better.

-She has a sweet little cry, but we rarely hear it.

-She loves to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed. At 4am, I love it too!


-She is eating every four hours. She is very patient...she will take her paci until I breastfeed her or we give her a bottle. She will go from breast to bottle, no problem.

-She smiles a lot in her sleep and is starting to smile even while awake. We love it!

-She seems to really like her car seat and her sling. Thank you, Lord!


-She's lifting her head (big time) and turning it the opposite direction of where she's faced.

-She kicks her legs really fast when we change her diaper...she looks like she's riding a bicycle. Makes us laugh every time.

-She can say her ABC's and count to 10. Just kidding. Her Daddy is working with her though. HA!

Time truly flies and we're cherishing every second. We love you, baby girl!!


And today is a special day too...A would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her Aunt Joy! :) We love you!!

Birthday Wishes...

Today is my sweet husband's birthday!


My best friend...


My love...


Absolute best father to our baby girl...


And I love him with all my heart.


Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

I have no doubt - this is going to be a wonderful year. :)

HEY, HEY, HEY!!!

I've been going back through pictures from the hospital and this is one of my faves. It makes me laugh every time I see it. We would go see A in the NICU and they would have this giant hat on her. It would always slip over her eyes which she seemed to really like.



The first time my Mom saw her in it, she said, "she looks like that character off of Fat Albert!" I started laughing...she SO DID!


Come to find out, his name was Dumb Donald. HA!


We don't have to tell A that part. ;)

3rd Baby Shower...

I never had a chance to post about my 3rd and final baby shower. You will see from the pictures below that I was extremely swollen. My M-I-L saw me at the shower and immediately asked when my next doctor's appointment was. Come to find out, she feared that I was preeclamptic but didn't say anything (she didn't want to scare me). My doctor's appointment was two days following this shower. My doctor took one look at me and I was sent to the hospital immediately. The rest is kind of a blur and Alex is going to write about that soon...we promise! I was put on magnesium sulfate (along with several other things) and for those of you who have been put on that - you know what it does to you. I can't remember much of anything. Anywho, on to the shower pics!

My S-I-L, Sara did so much for this shower.
This was my Journey Church shower...we meet in a large warehouse space which is near impossible to decorate. Needless to say, she did a fabulous job!!

Sara made this chandelier. Yes, you read that right...she MADE IT! It was huge and gorgeous! She is so talented. I'll be showing you what she did in A's nursery soon!


The spread...she had a chocolate on chocolate cake and white on white cake...DE-LISH!


The yummy punch!


Lots of fruit to dip in chocolate!


All of these girls helped make it a special day. :)


Me with my Sis, Grandma, S-I-L, and Aunt


Me and Joy


Lots of fun presents...


My sis ended up having to come home and pack my bags for the hospital...this one came in very handy!


This looked so tiny at the time...we put A in it at the hospital and it swallowed her whole! :)

It was such a fun shower! Just had to share pics! :)

Love,

Happy 80th Birthday!!

This is my Papa Mc.


We celebrated his 80th birthday over the weekend!






He had over 100 friends and family come through to celebrate with him.
















It was a great party - celebrating a great man!

I love you, Papa!!

So in love...

We are so in love with this baby girl.



I took her to the doctor on Tuesday. She was up to 6 lbs - 8 oz! The doc was happy with her weight gain. I had taken her in because she seemed a little congested, but everything was okay. I'm a little paranoid. I'm trying very hard not to be that first time Mom that every pediatrician hates. :) Her pediatrician is great though. Told me that's what she's there for and to always come in if I'm worried. She told us that we can quit waking her every 3 hours to eat and let her wake us. That has been nice! She is going about 4 hours between feedings now. We're enjoying every minute with her. Alex can hardly wait to get home each day. It's so sweet.

I went to our local Holiday House yesterday...bought A's first Christmas present! This year is going to be so much fun for us. I'm ordering new stockings and can't wait to hang our baby girl's next to ours! I have accomplished quite a bit of my Christmas shopping over the past week and even better...I've found some great deals. I really want to put up our tree. Will have to work on Alex to get that done before Thanksgiving. We'll see. :) A and I listen to Christmas music all day long...love it!! This is my favorite time of year. I love all of the open houses, decor, music, food...how can you not love it??

I'm trying really hard to post more than once a week, but it's all I can do right now. I'll get better...I promise.

Love to all,

Sleep...what's that??

I've been a bad blogger the past few days. Why you ask?

I'm sleepy. :)

A and I are both doing well. She is the sweetest thing. She smiles a lot in her sleep. I of course, believe that she hears exactly what we're saying and is responding with a smile. Others say it's gas. She loves to have her hands by her face. I call her the little Houdini. I will swaddle her up and within minutes, she has worked her hands out by her face.

I'm still trying to sleep while she sleeps. That has started being harder than I thought it would be. I often find myself staring at her when I should be sleeping. She's just so darn cute. I'm still healing from the c-section. Recovery has been easier than I thought it would be. I'm sure things will get a little easier, once I'm completely healed from that. For those of you who had a c-section...how long before you started driving? I'm pretty sure they told me not to drive for 6 weeks and I'm pretty sure THAT'S A VERY LONG TIME. Any of you drive before the 6 weeks were up?

I have the best husband in the world. Have I mentioned that before? I'm pumping a lot and always have a stock of milk in the fridge. He told me to go to bed on Friday night and sleep for as long as I want. He completely took care of A. I slept from 9:30pm - 9:30am. I had to get up and pump in the night, but other than that...sweet sleep. :) I had been going to bed and getting up with a headache. I think it was from the lack of sleep. I rarely get headaches. When I woke up on Saturday morning, it was gone! I knew that the lack of sleep would be hard for me. I have always been one to get sick if I don't get at least 8-9 hours a night. I'm adjusting, but I'm not going to lie...it has been hard.

I'm looking at the Christmas countdown on my sidebar and realize that I am SO PAST DUE on my next giveaway. A coming early threw things off a bit. :) I know what the next giveaway is...just have to go get it! And did I mention - I can't drive. (LOL)

My sister, Joy is doing so much better from her surgery (tonsillectomy). Thank you to those who were praying for her. I have missed her so much. We talk daily and see each other a lot. Not being able to see her or talk to her right after A arrived was so hard. She was able to come over and hold A for the first time last week. It was so neat to sit there watching my sister hold MY baby. At one point, we were both crying. Her babies were always like my own...still are. I have no doubt that A will hold a special place in her Aunt Joy's heart. :)


Well, I'm going to go get ready for church while A is sleeping. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love to all,