Happy Easter

We enjoyed a lovely Easter together with some of our family. My church/ photographer friend (who has done several shoots with us) was able to snap several impromptu (on my little camera) photos after church. I am so thankful.


The background does certainly not shout "Easter pictures," but maybe the bonnet does :)

My two favorite people.
Yes, I LOVE white.

Many Firsts

This past month baby enjoyed her first friend's birthday party, first time at the park, and the joy of applying for a passport. Baby is now 4 months weighting in at 12 lbs 2 oz and 23.25 inches long. Off the top of my head- at birth she was 5 lbs 6 oz and 18.5 inches long, at one month 7 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches, at 2 months she was 8 lbs 13oz and 20 inches, and at 3 months she was 10 lbs 10 oz and 21.75 inches. ( I have tried to be thorough with labeling her professional pictures, and it looks like that has helped me in remembering.) She does not like tummy time much at all but is handling it a lot better than last month. It is so delightful when she smiles at us and a little bit funny when she smiles at this one particular ceiling vent. Has it only been 4 months (plus nine) that she has been in our lives? She really is such a delightful and happy baby.


Playing at the park with daddy

A delighted party goer

Her passport photo- the final version is more cropped in. I did it myself at home instead of at the office and was really glad I took the time. She is actually lying down. Can you tell? it took 47 rejects to get this one.

So Thankful

This past Tuesday N was on duty, and I had a craving for Taco Bell. So, after a run to the library, baby and I went to get a taco. The girl who rang us up had to be no more than eighteen and was really pretty and sweet. She noticed I had a baby with me, asked how old she was, and mentioned that she herself had a six month old. At that moment thankfulness washed over me for all that God has given to me and in particular for my loving and amazingly hardworking husband who had that very morning woken up at four a.m. and would not even have the opportunity to come home to us after a hard day’s work as he had duty. While I am being supported by my husband and have the privilege of kissing, snuggling, and playing with my baby girl all day long, here was this young mother separated from her six month old baby making at the most eight dollars an hour as a fast-food cashier. Being a mother to my sweet little girl really seems like a dream- and then we do have those moments when life seems all too real such as when she poos through her clothing all over herself, me and my favorite nursing pillow.

I have finally gotten back into the swing of exercising once again!! I love/ hate Winsor pilates. It is amazing how quickly you feel and see results. ( I used to do the 20 min tape but now am doing 40 min of the 60 min tape.)I suppose all pilates work the same but I really like these dvds. It was difficult giving up pilates during pregnancy due to the lying on the back restriction. N has been very supportive of my exercising. If I properly schedule around the baby, she also will be kicking and stretching on the floor with me. It is funny that the degree of kicking and stretching that a baby does effortlessly and painlessly actually takes a while for an adult to achieve.

She is such a delight. We have been very blessed to have such a well behaved and happy two month old. Who knew babies could be so good!

Little Hands

Tiny Toes


Daddy's Little Valentine

Playing with the light

All Smiles with my best friend

Can you see the theme?

Life with a Two Month Old

Life is wonderful. I feel that at the tender age of 22 that I have accomplished most of my life goals- a college graduate, wife, and mother. My tombstone would already read "beloved wife and mother." As I hold my little one in my arms, I am already dreaming of becoming a grandmother myself. On fb I posted a picture of her wearing my engagement ring and a friend commented that hopefully it will not happen for many years to come. Well, since she is not yet 3 months- I surely have many years to wait for such a happy occasion. Yet, already I am embracing the thought of my daughter getting married and having babies :) When she was wearing the rings I felt like I have already given them to here- anything that is mine I now consider hers. Well, I do hope to be blessed with many more children. So there will have to be sharing between them. I simply think now all that I may "own" is not my own but to be shared with my children. I was thinking of material things- yet really one of the most important things that I can give to my children is my time. It is my dream to be here at home with them all through childhood and beyond. If circumstances would require me to go out and support/supplement the family say N was going through more schooling or became injured, I would have to and that was one major reason I thought a college degree was important for me. Yet, as life stands now I will forgo the upgraded cars, fancy dinners, and exotic vacations to be here making the most of the 7226 days I have with my daughter until she turns 20.

She is now 11 weeks old and just rolled over front to back this week. Once she started smiling back at us- I finally felt like a mother. It is so delightful to see her face light up- just because we are smiling at here. No toys, treats, or tricks needed to see her happily grinning face. She is simply happy to be playing with us.


Christmas 2008

Hanging with her bitty baby


Borrowing bitty baby's dress All dressed up with mommy


Professional photographers make great friends!!

Before baby

With baby

before
With




"Let's go shopping"

"I'll grab my purse, mommy"

I have yet to get proper details of the finished nursery. The pic to the right is a pic of her sonogram and the one in the middle is a maternity shot. Seeing the sonogram, maternity pic, and baby all in one picture brings the process full circle.




Helping with the laundry

Opened the New Year with her Baptism

The Birth of Our Daughter!

 Our baby M was born at 4pm weighing in at 5lbs 6 oz and measuring 18.5 inches long.

Little did I know while writing the last post that I would go into labor that very night. We went to bed at an early hour on our second wedding anniversary, and I had my normal pregnancy insomnia. My body was weary, yet my mind would not fall asleep.  After failing to fall asleep, I got up around midnight and went on the computer. A little later I went back to bed and attempted to fall asleep again. Boy did I fail at that one! I had just gotten cozy (not too easy a feat while 8 months pregnant) when baby girl gave a great full bodied kick. It was a rare kick at this stage of the pregnancy as she had replaced such vigorous kicking with more gentle movements due to the space confinements. All of a sudden with the kick I felt myself pop from the inside! I crossed my legs, rolled out of bed, and hopped my way to the bathroom. My water had broken! Thankfully not one drop reached the bed or the carpet. I called to N, and he rolled over. I called again and said, "In less than 24 hours we were going to see our daughter!" I wish I could say that we simply put our bags in the car and made our way for the hospital. That next day was the day I had promised to get the bags all packed. So, we went around the house finishing up our hospital packing and took out the video camera to get a pregnancy video I had promised my grandmother. In the dark of night we calmly headed for the hospital in the drizzling rain and met no traffic through the infamous tunnel. The drive to the hospital felt like the calm before the storm because, while I was in no pain, we knew our baby would be here within the day. I felt such relief that N was home when I my water broke and was at my side through the whole process.  We were admitted to triage at 3 am where it was confirmed that my waters had broken and that I was less than 2 cm dilated. We waited there for half an hour until we were officially admitted to labor and delivery. Two hours later I was still at 2 cm with irregular painless contractions. At 7 am they used a foley bulb to encourage dilation. As my labor was not progressing well against the twenty-four hour time constraint due to the waters having broken, I was started on an oxytocin induction at 9:30 am.  With this intervention my attempt for a natural labor ended. Since a medically induced labor was certainly not a natural labor, I had decided that if they said oxy I would say epi. By noon, I was at 7 cm and received the epidural a little while later. Getting the epi took two tries, two doctors, and three contractions. It was most uncomfortable having to be perfectly still through those contractions. Twelve hours into our hospital stay, I was ready to push. After having been awake for 31 hours, the thought of then pushing seemed an impossibly difficult task. Yet, I was astonished that the pushing process was invigorating and dare I say enjoyable. What a relief to work through those contractions rather than breathing through them! N was a great support as he counted for me and actually held his breath while I held mine. It was a family effort~ all three of us working towards the same goal. Pushing for an hour only felt like 15 minuets as I enjoyed watching my progress and was given a flood of energy for the task at hand. One of the most joyous moments of my life was touching our daughter for the first time while she was still inside me. It was a sweet hour of labor ending with the arrival of our tiny baby girl! They put her on me all slimy just like I had asked them, and then she went for a bath. Thank you for all your prayers, support, and love. We are blessed.

 I uploaded quite a few closeups so that you can get the views you would have gotten if you could be here with us.