You're three weeks old already...my last little newborn. So far, the easiest of all my babies. Your face is still new to me; as I nurse you, we stare at each other like newlyweds. Who are you? you seem to ask...and yet, we both know.
So fearfully and wonderfully made; His ways are perfect. I can see that in all its glory as you wiggle in protest when I change your diaper. Your personality starts to show itself in bits and pieces as we figure you out. This dance we do with you in the middle of the night--exhausting but I wouldn't have it any other way.
People tell me I will hold you in my arms longer because you're my last. I think they're right. Your hair sticks up in the middle as it starts to curl--will you have the curls your Dad hoped for when you were just a glimpse of the sweet one you have become? Your dark eyes--will they change as you grow? I can't wait to find out, yet still I say to the night "slow down; I'm not ready to begin another day, still soaking in the beauty of this one."
My belly ached just a month ago; now, my arms ache as you love to be held while you sleep. It's a new pain but filled with more pleasure than I dreamed possible.
Sweet girl, I am so blessed to be yours forever...
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
It's a non-exciting post. Don't get your hopes up.
Little bit is chilling with her dad (he takes the 1st shift of the night), and I'm a little awake since I had 2 naps today. Don't be a hater, because I didn't get to fall asleep until 2 am and was awakened 3 times before 6:30 am. :)
I've had so much free space in my mind the last few weeks...I spend most of the day either feeding my newborn or feeding myself so I can feed my newborn! I love having more time to think and ponder things--more time for small prayers and meditating on a verse, and more time for pondering my life over the last year. This time last year, we had just moved in to our new apartment. It was a little crazy. I didn't blog much about it because I was trying to focus on the positive, but let's just say things were interesting. :)
I feel like there is so much the Lord has shown us over the past year, and yet SO much more I could have/should have learned. So much more to learn and I hope I never stop wanting to learn. It would have been so easy for us to just quit and move in with parents for awhile because of how much we struggled this first year in WV, but I'm glad we didn't. (I'm sure that our parents reading this are glad too!) We would have been happy to live with parents, don't get me wrong, but I don't think we would have learned everything we did by taking that road.
The biggest thing I learned is that the growing never ends. Either I'm growing in the right direction, or the wrong one, but always growing. Last year, I thought, "Oh, I've learned contentment now...the past 2 years have really taught me something! Let's move on to another topic now, Lord." Guess the joke's on me--we're still learning contentment, LOL. How does that Scripture go? "But godliness with contentment is great gain." For real.
I learned how to be married again...like that kind of married where you're both home at night at the same time and you sleep in the bed at the same time again (because he used to work nights so I slept alone...don't let your imagination run away with you, now). :) Let me tell you, it was weird at first. But now I can't imagine how we made it through those 2 long years of Marc working 2 jobs and crazy hours. It was all God, for sure.
I learned that the world doesn't end if you have to put your dreams on hold awhile. My kids survived me not being home, and they actually flourished more with Marc this last year than I think they would have with me. It has given Marc's body time to heal and rest, and he has really connected with the 2 oldest. I'm sure he's dreading me going back to work in November, but I think he'll do great with Emily. Hopefully she continues to be a sweet baby!
This isn't really an awesome post, but you'll have to grant me a few "non-exciting" posts for awhile until I get my blogging back. It's been so long since I've written anything besides a professional email for work...I almost forget how. Maybe I'll be able to re-cultivate my blogging abilities while I'm on leave. We'll see how little Emily does!
Ok, well, I'm off to bed now. Don't want to waste too much of this precious time that I could be spending in sleep!
I've had so much free space in my mind the last few weeks...I spend most of the day either feeding my newborn or feeding myself so I can feed my newborn! I love having more time to think and ponder things--more time for small prayers and meditating on a verse, and more time for pondering my life over the last year. This time last year, we had just moved in to our new apartment. It was a little crazy. I didn't blog much about it because I was trying to focus on the positive, but let's just say things were interesting. :)
I feel like there is so much the Lord has shown us over the past year, and yet SO much more I could have/should have learned. So much more to learn and I hope I never stop wanting to learn. It would have been so easy for us to just quit and move in with parents for awhile because of how much we struggled this first year in WV, but I'm glad we didn't. (I'm sure that our parents reading this are glad too!) We would have been happy to live with parents, don't get me wrong, but I don't think we would have learned everything we did by taking that road.
The biggest thing I learned is that the growing never ends. Either I'm growing in the right direction, or the wrong one, but always growing. Last year, I thought, "Oh, I've learned contentment now...the past 2 years have really taught me something! Let's move on to another topic now, Lord." Guess the joke's on me--we're still learning contentment, LOL. How does that Scripture go? "But godliness with contentment is great gain." For real.
I learned how to be married again...like that kind of married where you're both home at night at the same time and you sleep in the bed at the same time again (because he used to work nights so I slept alone...don't let your imagination run away with you, now). :) Let me tell you, it was weird at first. But now I can't imagine how we made it through those 2 long years of Marc working 2 jobs and crazy hours. It was all God, for sure.
I learned that the world doesn't end if you have to put your dreams on hold awhile. My kids survived me not being home, and they actually flourished more with Marc this last year than I think they would have with me. It has given Marc's body time to heal and rest, and he has really connected with the 2 oldest. I'm sure he's dreading me going back to work in November, but I think he'll do great with Emily. Hopefully she continues to be a sweet baby!
This isn't really an awesome post, but you'll have to grant me a few "non-exciting" posts for awhile until I get my blogging back. It's been so long since I've written anything besides a professional email for work...I almost forget how. Maybe I'll be able to re-cultivate my blogging abilities while I'm on leave. We'll see how little Emily does!
Ok, well, I'm off to bed now. Don't want to waste too much of this precious time that I could be spending in sleep!
Friday, October 1, 2010
What you've missed...
I can't believe I skipped September...I miss blogging so much, but if I have to pick between sleep and family time vs. blogging, sleep/family will win every time. :)
This is the kids' "first day of school 2010" picture. One of the best pictures they have ever taken together. Zachary is in preschool again--he misses the Kindergarten cutoff by a few months due to his November birthday. He goes 3 days a week (half days) and just loves it. Kenna is in 2 yr old "preschool," which is really more like a "parents day out" program. She goes once a week, on Tuesdays. They go to the same preschool--we feel really blessed to have found this school and it's super close to our house, which is always a plus!
My last pregnancy picture, taken at 35 weeks. I always forget to take that "last picture" before delivery. Must be the contractions... :)
And...here she is! This was taken at 1 week old. It's a little blurry but oh-so-cute and I just had to post it. Emily Jayne...she was 7 lb 4 oz and 19 inches long. Born on Friday, Sept 17th (2 1/2 wks early).
I had another c-section (my 3rd and last) after going into labor all on our own at 37 weeks 4 days. Guess my babies just like to be early! It was quite the crazy day in the hospital--there was a massive thunderstorm the night before and the nurses said whenever the air pressure changes like that so drastically, they get a lot of women in labor all at once. They originally told me that morning that if I indeed continued to labor and deliver that day, I would end up recovering in the triage room because they did not have any available beds for me. Crazy!! This is not a small hospital, either... 
We went home 40 hours after surgery, and are having a great, sleepless few weeks together. :) In all seriousness, Emily is a pretty calm baby and sleeps as decently as you can expect a newborn to sleep. I am home from work on maternity leave until Nov 1st, and Marc is a stay at home dad, so we are all together as a new family of five. It's pretty great since we can take shifts with the kids, and my recovery is going SO well. I haven't had any pain meds at all (even advil) in several days and am finding the whole experience a little hard to believe compared to my other 2 c-sections. Nothing like the power of prayer--thanks to all who have prayed.
This is the kids' "first day of school 2010" picture. One of the best pictures they have ever taken together. Zachary is in preschool again--he misses the Kindergarten cutoff by a few months due to his November birthday. He goes 3 days a week (half days) and just loves it. Kenna is in 2 yr old "preschool," which is really more like a "parents day out" program. She goes once a week, on Tuesdays. They go to the same preschool--we feel really blessed to have found this school and it's super close to our house, which is always a plus!
My last pregnancy picture, taken at 35 weeks. I always forget to take that "last picture" before delivery. Must be the contractions... :)
And...here she is! This was taken at 1 week old. It's a little blurry but oh-so-cute and I just had to post it. Emily Jayne...she was 7 lb 4 oz and 19 inches long. Born on Friday, Sept 17th (2 1/2 wks early).
I had another c-section (my 3rd and last) after going into labor all on our own at 37 weeks 4 days. Guess my babies just like to be early! It was quite the crazy day in the hospital--there was a massive thunderstorm the night before and the nurses said whenever the air pressure changes like that so drastically, they get a lot of women in labor all at once. They originally told me that morning that if I indeed continued to labor and deliver that day, I would end up recovering in the triage room because they did not have any available beds for me. Crazy!! This is not a small hospital, either...I started having regular contractions about 5 pm on Thursday night which continued throughout the night, getting stronger when I moved around. I went to the hospital about 9:30 Friday morning and had more contractions :) until they decided to go ahead with my c-section about 4:30 pm. A few emergencies and 4 hours later, she was born. It was a long 4 hours, I'll tell you that!
I had the best hospital stay and the best recovery of all 3 surgeries--I feel really thankful and blessed. Just look at these cuties!
We went home 40 hours after surgery, and are having a great, sleepless few weeks together. :) In all seriousness, Emily is a pretty calm baby and sleeps as decently as you can expect a newborn to sleep. I am home from work on maternity leave until Nov 1st, and Marc is a stay at home dad, so we are all together as a new family of five. It's pretty great since we can take shifts with the kids, and my recovery is going SO well. I haven't had any pain meds at all (even advil) in several days and am finding the whole experience a little hard to believe compared to my other 2 c-sections. Nothing like the power of prayer--thanks to all who have prayed.Emily had her 2 week checkup today and is doing great. She weighs 7 lb 7 oz today and her dr said she's gaining weight wonderfully. Zachary absolutely adores her; Kenna "mostly" does. :) The day we brought her home from the hospital she said loudly, "I don't like that...I don't want that!" No shyness there...but now she loves her "baby Emmy" as long as Mommy isn't nursing her. We're getting there!
Mostly we love having 3 kids--the transition has not been anywhere near what going from 1 to 2 kids was. We had Nana (Marc's mom) here for the first week to help us, and oh, what a help she was!! I don't think we could have done this well without her. We've had a few days this past week with some whiny older kids and fussy babies when we think, "where are the grandparents?" LOL But overall we're loving this new experience.
Maybe I'll be able to post more while I'm off work. I get pretty fast at typing with one hand while feeding Emily. :) Excited about this fall and all the great things ahead!
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