One week

It is hard to believe it has already been one week since our baby girl joined the family. Here are some pictures from the past week...

Blissful

The past five days have been utterly blissful for me. To be honest, I really hadn't been looking forward to "starting over" again with the sleep deprived nights, the aching body, and the crying baby etc. but I've actually been loving every minute of it. Part of it, I think, is that I am finally getting to experience "normal" this time around; no NICU, no therapists, no devastating medical bills just average new baby stuff. The other side of my enjoyment is due in part to the fact that this isn't my first time around the block; I know what to expect, I feel confident in the decisions I am making as a parent and I know all of the wonderful experiences headed our way.

As if loving on a new little one isn't enough, I get the privilege of watching Little Man with his baby sister. She is the first thing he asks about when waking and the one person he is genuinely interested in throughout the day. All day long he tells us that she is hungry or wants some milk or a blanket, you name it. He copies me with his stuffed animals when I nurse the baby, swaddle her and even burp her. All throughout the day and night I find him sneaking kisses, stroking her hair and talking/singing to her in this sweet, high-pitched sing-songy voice. Watching him be a big brother brings so much joy to my heart and makes me love him even more.

Most of all, I am grateful for my husband. He has waited on me hand and foot since the day he found out I was pregnant. I was put on bedrest and he didn't miss a beat taking over all of the domestic duties and stepping in as primary parent extraordinaire. He has worked extra shifts, odd jobs and suffered through garage/craigslist/ebay sales to help us prevent charging our hospital bills. He has been sweet, loving, patient and kind as I was pregnant, hormonal, irrational and exhausted. He held my hand when I was shaking with fear in surgery and reassured me and calmed my fears when the NICU team worked on June bug trying to get her to relax and breathe for those first scary minutes. He sets his alarm so he can get up and change the baby before I nurse and insists on cooking our meals, changing dirty diapers and cleaning our apartment all while maintaining a delightfully positive attitude. How on earth did I luck out with this guy??

This doesn't begin to dig into all of the wonderful things that have blessed our lives including an employer that encourages me to put my family first, parents who bend over backwards to help us in any and every way possible, and friends who call and check on us and love on us even though we have been completely out of pocket for the past few months. Life is good and God is incredibly generous.

All I know is that I am one very happy, blessed, mommy.

Two Peas In A Pod

So it looks like I am the only one who sees the resemblance of Little Man and June Bug so to further prove my case...

Little Man and June Bug

Big brother

Our little man finally got to meet his baby sister. He was a little nervous at first but it only took a moment before he jumped up in my bed and asked to hold her. He was so sweet and gentle, stroking her hair, wrapping her fingers around his thumb and tickling her toes. He used this really cute high pitched voice when he talked to her and asked all kinds of questions as he snuggled and loved on her with kisses and hugs.

Thank heaven for big brothers

Travis and I gave him a big brother present that is kind of like a "doll" for boys. It is a stuffed panda baby that coos, cries, and even suckles a bottle. He has been carrying around his baby all afternoon and when the panda fusses or cries he talks so sweetly to it asking what is wrong and saying, "I get bottle!" Nana gave him a kid's digital camera so he can be in on the action and he has had a blast snapping photos of any and every thing in site. The best part is when he takes a picture, looks at the tiny (and I mean TINY) LCD screen and says, "That's perfect!" or "That's cute!"

Thank heaven for baby sisters

There has been some debate as to who our little June Bug looks like and while I originally thought she looked like my baby pictures, I found some pics of Little Man that make me think she is following in his footsteps. Compare the above picture with this one of Little Man at the same age....

I'll see if I can find a better example this weekend.....

She Is Here!!!

Our sweet baby girl has arrived!

Travis, Little Man and I went to my weekly OB appointment this morning and discovered I had progressed (I am sparing you the details) and that I was having regular, heavy contractions that were about 4 minutes apart. My OB sent me to Labor and Delivery for observation and some drugs to stop the contractions. Seven hours later and about 10 rounds of drugs and my contractions were 2 minutes apart and I was even more dilated.Next thing we knew I was being prepped for the OR! Our sweet baby girl was born at 7:45pm on May 15th weighing in at 6lbs 4 oz and 18.5 inches long. Seeing that she was born nearly 3 weeks after her brother, gestationally, we were really surprised when she had difficulty breathing and apnea episodes. One of the neonatologists was called down for a consult and she was wisked away to the Special Care nursery (no NICU, woohoo!!). Only 15 minutes after I was taken to recovery the nurses called and said that she was over the breathing issues, keeping her temperature well and that I could nurse! I couldn't believe what wonderful news that was (those of you who know Little Man's story know the misery of waiting 12 hours to see your son for the first time). She latched on like a pro (sorry guys) and has been moved to the regular nursery! She can't room in with us tonight because of the problems she had at first but starting tomorrow she is all ours, all day!!


Thanks to all of you who have prayed and interceded on our behalf throughout this pregnancy. We are thrilled to have another healthy, yet early, baby. Big brother got a brief second to view her through the glass before heading to Nana and Pop's house but we are sure looking forward to the two of them meeting tomorrow morning!

Big Brother

Travis and Little Man went to a new siblings class at our hospital this morning. Travis said Little Man had lots of fun learning all about new babies and that he was very serious and particular when it came to diapering and swaddling the "baby". He was also really, really concerned that the baby didn't have a "lovey" so he put his lovey by the baby's head. Trav said that the instructor took them on a tour of the hospital and when they got to the L&D room Little Man said, "Oh yeah! Mommy room!" Guess our little guy is growing up!

A Shower of love!!

This past Sunday four of my very sweet friends hosted a shower in celebration of our sweet little baby girl. I was so glad that my OB gave me a "pass" for the shower, with stipulations of course, and had a wonderful time seeing people I haven't seen in a few weeks and opening wonderful gifts for our little June bug (due in June, get it?). Here are some of the highlights...

34 weeks

The delicious food

The cake

Little Man opening his gift from Vivi

So excited!

With my lovely sisters

All of the wonderful gifts