Family Photos

My little bro (tharpe media) did an AMAZING

job with our very first official family of 3 photo shoot :)

You HAVE to go see the rest of his faves posted on his blog...

http://tharpenator.blogspot.com/

Sweet Sleep :)

Look who slept 8 HOURS last night!

I heard you shouldn't let them go longer than 5 hours until they are at least 4 weeks old....so especially since he was so small, I had been waking the poor boy up to eat in the middle of the night for the first few weeks...then he kinda got in a routine and would wake up on his own at 2 or 3. But last night, I decided NOT to set an alarm and he did great! I felt very refreshed this morning, and he was so sweet and calm when he woke up too. I think he's in a growth spurt. We'll see how tonight goes (I have my fingers crossed and comfy pillow waiting).

War Zone

That's about how I would describe my body over the past 7 weeks...a living War Zone :) the good news is that today, I FEEL GREAT!

After coming off 40 weeks of pregnancy (exactly to the day), I had my very

first major surgery in the form of a Cesearean-this also brought with it my

first real surgery scar,
first spinal,

first i.v, and

first catheter. When I got home from the hospital, I had my

first post-pregnancy hormone drop (lol, well probably not the first of those being that I am a WOMAN) in the form of a shock-type reaction where my hand (the i.v. hand) and both feet swelled up over a matter of seconds, and I couldn't keep from shaking or having cold-sweats.

Later that evening, I had my
first "milk coming in" which certainly is like nothing I've ever experienced. YOWEEE! and the next night, I noticed my heart was racing and wouldn't stop for hours.

5 weeks later, I was given antibiotics for a

bacterial infection, and that same week more meds for a possible onset of

HSV type#1 (fortunately I NEVER had a sore on my lip! Praise GOD).

A week ago today, I had an

huge blood panel (14 vials) done to check my clotting factors, for possible Thrombosis (this might explain the blood clots in the placenta). We wanted to know so we could prepare for the next time. It left my arm bruised up pretty bad! This is how it looks today (a week later, mind you).

The next morning, I woke up with a horrible headache, fatigue, chills, 102 fever, and felt very sore..turns out, I had my

first case of Mastitis. YIPPIEE! More antibiotics! Oddly enough, my body temperature has been very LOW over the last few days....I'm assuming from the meds, but maybe it just doesn't know what "regular" is for me right now. I'm praying I don't have to deal with any more major physical changes for a while!

Poor baby Will, had to struggle along with me concerning his feedings for the past week. Since my milk production was down with the infection, he was wanting to eat so much more often, and working so much more burning precious calories to do it. At one point, he ate like every hour. We weighed him today, and he didn't gain very much this week. I had a feeling :( I think he will pick back up again for the next week. Seems like we're already back on track today with our feedings, and there's more available for him to eat again. He looks so much bigger to us! and he's getting really long too! He was almost touching the end of the scale!

In other news...I got laid off from my job 2 days before my maternity leave was up. Although, we hadn't made the final decision or turned anything in yet, I planned to resign and stay home with the boy anyway. It was nice to have the option to stay if it was necessary for me to continue working (like any emergencies, etc), but I'd say it was pretty good timing :) Thankfully, I can apply for unemployment and we also get to keep our insurance for a few more months without any extra cobra fees. That will give us more time to find one we can afford, and really fits our family. BTW does anyone have any suggestions on that? We're looking for good insurance and since we're out of state from his companies headquarters, Billy's considered self-employed now.

In other-other news...did I mention the WORLD'S CUTEST BABY lives at my house??!

Yep, that's how he introduced himself to me, so I figure if he said it, then it must be true! :) LOVE THIS BOY.

1 year ago...

April 12, 2008 marked the VERY BEST day of my life! On that day, I married my soulmate ~ my best friend ~ the man God made especially for me! (and I could fit in a size 4 wedding dress! LOL)

It was no mistake my brother worked for the same company and introduced me to Billy and it was by way of a miracle that God chose to bring us together to communicate on April 12, 2007. I am sooo very blessed and honored to have Billy for my husband, and as we both pledged to each other last year and on our anniversary yesterday, we are IN THIS FOR THE LONG HAUL!

This has been the most fun year of our entire lives, and I just know the future holds many more great times for the two of us and our newest little family member :)

Germs

Last night, after a great checkup, we washed the doctors office germs off of our 6lb 12oz, 20 1/2" long boy! Yes he has grown 15 ounces in 14 days (even better than the norm)! Will's pediatrician was very encouraged and couldn't believe how much he'd taken off without any formula in over a week and a half. After the last visit, we took him on an empty stomach to the hospital where he was born, weighed him, then nursed him and weighed him again. Turned out he was getting 3 oz. of breastmilk on his own so we weaned him off formula pretty soon after that.

While we were in the doctors office, I asked him about a cold sore I felt coming on (trust me I just "know" the feeling), asking if it would be dangerous for me to be kissing on the baby. He immediately pulled down his book of med's, and prescribed something for me (mind you, he was MY pediatrician growing up). I've fought cold sores/fever blisters pretty much as long as I can remember, but as I learned yesterday, they are VERY DANGEROUS for small children and elderly. He wanted for not only myself to be treated, but for Will to have treatment (via my breastmilk) asap.

WEIRD. I knew the STD kind of herpes was potentially deadly, but these measly little sores would do someone harm?

So when I got home, I found several websites, that warned not to let anyone come in contact with your child that has Herpes Simplex Type #1 (the cold sore kind, not the STD).

Anyone? What about the child's own mother?

One article in particular that was very sad, brought the horrifying reality of what could happen had the virus spread rapidly without treatment http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/7915010.stm

So, I am officially NOT KISSING my baby (this is so incredibly hard for me!) and keeping my hands and everything else that touches him SQUEEKY CLEAN until there are no signs of this little lip intruder. The good part of the HSV type#1 is that it's not contagious at all unless there are actual visible signs of an outbreak, such as a cold sore, etc. The doc said since I knew it was "coming" and it hadn't "come" yet, we most likely are able to treat it pretty quickly and aggressively. We shall see, but if nothing else, this certainly makes me question the cleanliness and health of anyone who holds Will from now on.

Props

As some of you saw in my first William Riley post, my little bro showed some mad photo skills during Will's birth. Well, since then, he's broken in his new camera even more, and his creativity is really paying off. He recently entered a contest with one of his shots of Will pouting during a burping session...there were over 400 entries, and he was given 3rd place losing only to 2 professional photographers. Way to go bro!
ALL 3 OF THE PHOTO'S BELOW WERE TAKEN WHEN WILL WAS *10 DAYS OLD*
Here was his entry: (we think it looks like a Norman Rockwell shot)



Here are a few more from that day:


And you can keep up with all of his photography on this site:
http://tharpenator.blogspot.com/

Leaps & Bounds

I'm so happy to announce that 2 days ago, Will weighed 6lbs 5.7 oz!! This means he's most likely around 6.8 today :) He's actually outgrowing some of his preemie clothes, and is fitting (somewhat) into his newborn sizes (especially the Carter ones that shrink, lol). My cousin says he's now a "chubbo"...funny we didn't think we'd be using that word to describe him, and it's still a reach...but he DOES have some fat on his ribs, and cheekies, and on the top of his hands even, as I noticed yesterday. Yeehaw!

He's starting to really make eye contact, and has more wake-time now. I think we've finally got him on a good eating/sleeping regime and he seems pretty mild mannered up until the moment he's about to eat-then for some reason, he starts almost yelling at me! It's hilarious, he just yells out until he gets food, and even then, he takes breaks while we're nursing to pull off and yell at me some more! So funny, that boy!

Yesterday, for some of his wake time, I laid him in his crib and he stared at all the animals, and I think he finally noticed his mobile. How cute :) You have to come by and see him while he's still tiny, if you haven't already. I think you will too find that this boy has a way of grabbing your heart as soon as you meet him.

Pretty in PInk

With Brian and Lin expecting in September, I must say my mom and I are SOOO thankful to have a little girl to buy some fun little clothes for! It's hard getting too creative with my choices in the boy's section so now I just mosey on over to the girls and browse when I get the chance......

We stopped the other day at Carter's and picked up a few selections for my little niecey poo!! I wanted to surprise Lin and post this pic for them to see we were picking up a few things here and there, and then I found out THEY ARE COMING HOME! Tomorrow, actually! Yippiee! Can't wait to see you guys! XOXOX

Oh Boy!

We had our 3 week doctors visit for Will yesterday...it was mainly a weight check to see our progress with the supplementation. I'm happy to announce that he has EXCEEDED his birth weight and is weighing in now at
5 lb. 14 oz.!!!

The doc was so relieved, and said he's probably getting even more calories than he needs now, so we're pulling back a tad on the formula and slowly weaning him off over the next 2 weeks. Hallelujah! I still worry sometimes when I have to wake him up after a pretty long period of going without eating...but he always seems to be really hungry when it is time to eat, and he is gaining and having a good amount of wet/dirty diapers, so I shouldn't worry so much.

In other news...

*Will had his first TOY STORE experience. We had to run a few errands and one of them was to Toys R Us. He was SO FUNNY to watch in that store. His eyes were bright and alert, and he just couldn't get enough. Mom put a little toy deer in his line of sight and it was so cute to watch him. He had the first infant-seat-in-the-shopping cart ride, which went pretty well.

He got to sport some real big boy shoes for the first time that day and finally fit in a newborn onesie. (thanks Deanne and Nana!)

*We wanted to find an Easter outfit for him that fits (seeing how all our cute things now are way tooooo big for him still) and so he got to go to ("got" to, lol) the mall with us and ride for the first time in his stroller. (We use it at home as a portable bassinet, lol, but never with his car seat) Janie & Jack have the most ADORABLE preemie size clothing, and we found the perfect outfit for him! I can't wait to show you!

*He also EARNED his very first REAL big boy bath this week! I had him all pappoosed on the bed, napping. It was adorable and he was so sweet and content...and then Lo and Behold I hear a rumbling and a bubbling coming from that boy. I waited for him to wake on his own, and he was pleasant and oh so sweet. He didn't seem to be bothered whatsover with his lovely new body art :) Even after this, he's still such a *CUTIE*

and then finally...

Billy and I had a candlelight dinner on Wednesday. :)

However, this wasn't by choice..the tornados and crazy rain took our electricity with them! We had to order pizza in since we had NOTHING real to eat that wasn't frozen. When the guy got here, we all realized he forgot to bring our DrPepper with him, so he had to get back out in that weather, go get it from the store, and then come back to our place yet again. Poor dude. I would show you a picture of our experience, but the flash from the camera does it NO JUSTICE to how dark it truly was in here.

While our lights were out, we managed to keep the baby relatively happy in his crib, and Billy and I played a game of Phase 10 by the flashlight. It's really strange how having a baby changes EVERYTHING mentally for you. We weathered a week without electricity during the hurricane, just the 2 of us, but all I could think of that night was Will's formula going bad in the fridge, and all the frozen milk I'd pumped for him...and how we couldn't go for much longer without eating or I wouldn't produce enough milk for him to eat well...and....whew my head hurts! You mom's all deserve a medal for all the worrying you've done for your kiddos!

He poured in the oil...

Do you remember that song?
When I was a little girl, we had a worship leader who LOVED singing that song...so it's imprinted deep in my memory "He poured in the oil and the wine...(good samaritan)...the kind that restoreth my soul"...

Anyway! I guess our "pouring in the oil" to Will's tummy has paid off! Literally, that formula is made up primarily of OIL. Weird huh? My mom spoke with the nurse at my cousins orphanage, concerning Will's low birthweight and the need for supplements. She replied to her "why doesn't she just put vegetable oil in his diet like we do with our tiny babies here?". Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? Did you just suggest I put VEGETABLE OIL in my babies belly?
So I did a little reading on the formula ingredients we're giving him: Milk, whey protein, VEGETABLE OIL, SUNFLOWER and/or SAFFLOWER OIL, SOY OIL, MCT OIL, COCONUT OIL, ALPINA OIL, COHNII OIL, and a bunch of vitamins/minerals. Crazy!

We walked in to the pediatricians office yesterday, took a deep breath, undressed the boy and almost had a heart attack when the nurse announced "5 pounds even". We told her we had to try it again, I KNOW this boy has eaten more in the past 2 days than usual...so she re-tried the scale, and came up with 5lb 3oz! MUCH BETTER! That means he had a gain of 2 oz in 2 days. Not bad! We're supposed to check again in a week, and hopefully see a 4-7oz gain by then. That means we could be back to the birthweight in 2 weeks or less! Praise JESUS!

I had to share this video. Billy was playing with my new camera while he did what we've coined the "Wake up song" for Will. See, we have to actually wake the boy to eat most of the time, so Billy created a song we sing to him, and you can see how it actually works! LOL~

Firsts all around

So today's my bday :) Hooray, I'm 29! I don't know that I ever had certain years I wanted to have accomplished certain things...you know like "5 kids by 30" or something...I'm so blessed, and the past 2 years have been especially amazing for me. This is my first Married birthday, and my first Mom birthday, so what more could I ask for? I have the most amazing husband, and a beautiful boy now!

Billy was so excited to actually be celebrating WITH me (last year it was over the phone-he was still in Cali), so he kept watching the clock, and at midnight, he yelled out "Happy birthday!" I was cracking up, cause I was walking around the house with a pump in hand...woo hoo, fun times!

He came into the kitchen this morning, and couldn't wait for me to open my stuff...the card alone made me cry and his presents were awesome....he got me a Canon Powershot SD960 IS! That sucker hasn't been on the market for even a whole month yet! He knew I wanted my own camera to throw in the diaper bag, and mine's been kinda out of working order for a while now (I had a warranty but never got around to getting it fixed). It's charging as we speak, but I couldn't pass up a great photo-op with my son.

I laid him in his bed for some "wake time" after his meal...and he was staring at all the colorful animals on his bedding. But then, since he can really only see a few inches away, I put one of those little silkies real close to his face (the green elephant one). He was SO CUTE just watching it, and trying to grab it's little foot, and playing peek a boo with his hat. It was sooo adorable. Had to share.

So today's gonna be a great day- feeding my son, enjoying my husbands company, and reveling in all the firsts we get to share together. Oh, and he also picked up a DVD of John & Kate +8 for me, since he knows I'm home alot right now, and we don't have tv :) So I just might watch a few of those today too :)

Little Victories

Well, today we had our doctors checkup. Will is 12 days old, and he's strong and alert. However, his weight has been a concern since day #1, and today was no different. They weighed him on a different scale today than usual, and he only checked in at 5lbs 4oz..... so....the doc wanted to make sure it was accurate, and had us re-weigh him on the scale we normally use-5lbs 1 oz?!

What is up??! He's been eating really heartily, and for long periods of time...but we think that might be part of the problem. He's burning more calories than he's taking in. SO...it's back on the 22 cal. supplements for this boy. At least until he shows signs of growth again. BUMMER! The doctor said if his weight doesn't start going up again soon, he might have to be hospitalized with a feeding tube. They would probably run tests at that point to make sure there's not a problem with his intestines or anything else that would be keeping him from keeping nourished.

I told Billy when Will was born so small, it gave he (Will) and I the chance to have these "little victories"...you know, teaching him how to suck properly, learning how to use the nipple shield, enticing with glucose water, using formula supplements, then weaning off of it all together... and finally being able to go with breastfeeding all the way....

So we're choosing today to see God's hand in this. He knows our boy needs to grow. He knows what's best for us all, and if this will be yet again, another "little victory" for us, then it's worth going through it. For now, I will do my best as a mom, to take my worry and fear, and turn it into some faith and trust in our God. Maybe I need to go eat some more calories so my milk will turn to GOLD :)

Priceless

William Riley

William “resolute protector”; Riley “one of great strength”.

After the many battles this baby boy had endured, we knew he must be destined for great things, and needed a strong name. While we were in the hospital, several hours after he was born, Billy pulled out a Christian baby name book, came across Riley, and read to us a scripture that was tagged with it: “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness”. We knew in that moment that this would be our son's name.

Here is our week in pictures...

and if you want to see more of the birth, I posted a large amount of

beautiful shots taken by Will's Uncle Aaron on myspace.

March 4th-
9:00 pm- After 21 hours of laboring at home, my contractions had held at about 5 minutes apart, with some random sets as long as 13 minutes in between. We decided at this point to head to the hospital and see how the baby was handling everything. They checked me in and I was only dialated to a 4. This was hard to believe considering the amount of time already spent in hard labor. About 3 hours later, we’d made very little progress, and after a very serious contraction, the baby’s heart rate decelerated for a period of 7 minutes. Several nurses were alerted, the on-call doctor was paged from home, and I was given an oxygen mask. At one point, I heard my labor and delivery nurse yell out “Don’t code!” (I don't think she even meant to say it out loud) and I knew this was a serious issue we were facing with the life of our child. Not even an hour later, it happened a second time, and we didn’t want to run the risk of stressing his body anymore with a potential 6 hours or more of labor ahead. Will was delivered by cesearean at 2:54 am, on his due date- March 5th, 2009. Weighing in at only 5lbs 12 oz and 19 ¾” long, this tiny little boy has already melted our hearts forever.

We were given some test results today on our cesearean. They had sent my placenta off to pathology for testing, to see exactly why we never progressed, and why Will was so small. It turns out there were enfarctions in the placenta that basically died off. Blood clots formed, and the nutrients and oxygen were cut off for Will in those areas. This affected his ability to perform during labor, and it also affected the fat he would have been storing up the last few weeks in utero. We are so THANKFUL for the doctors instict to go ahead with the C-Section. God is good and we are blessed our son's doing so well!




March 7th-
Will got to come home in a Hummer! Billy's parents rented an expedition when they came in to town, but when they picked it up, it had been upgraded :) Since Will was so stinkin' small, his "coming home outfit" was way too big, so Uncle Todd came to the rescue and bought him an adorable preemie set with a baseball cap and everything. We placed him in his bed, and he was smaller than his stuffed animals. He didn't even look real. It was adorable.


March 8th- The Dedication of our Son
Since we had both families in town, we thought there would be no better time to offer our son back to the Lord in an intimate celebration at our home. Pastor David Summerlin came and blessed us all with a beautiful and sweet and holy time of offering Will back to God. Many of those present spoke words of blessing over him, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house (literally). It was such a special time. I'll post pictures when I get them.


March 9th- First Doctors Visit
While we were in the hospital, the on-call pediatrician turned out to be the pediatrician I had when I was a kid! I used to go see him up until I was 21 yrs old! LOL. He does a wonderful job, and is a great listener, so we decided to use him as well. Will got weighed in at 5lb 4oz. today. Hopefully this is the end of the normal weight loss phase for him.



March 12-
Will is 1 week old today! He went in to the doctors today for a blocked tear duct, and also because we hadn't changed a wet diaper in several hours....they ended up catheterizing him and that boy had 13 cc's in him! The doc laughed and said at least he's not dehydrated! He's getting plenty of food, and he just has a big bladder :) He gained 2 ounces since the last doctors appointment (losing birth weight is normal, but we needed him to start gaining again), and he's nursing really well (hallelujah!). His tiny mouth made it hard for him to suck properly, since he didn't have the fat stores most babies are born with. Thanks to mom's, mothers in law, aunts, cousins and friends working and working on it with me, my boy learned how to eat! Every feeding seems to be getting better and better. We've weaned off the shield, are off all formula supplements, and he is starting to get fat on his little body. I can officially kiss some real cheeks now!

Happy B-day Billy Boy!

My hubby finally caught up to me yesterday when he turned 28!!! (mind you, this will only last for 19 days, hehe)

It was nice to be home with him all day, but unfortunately, he was feeling under the weather. I think the night before was probably the worst sleep either of us had gotten in a long time.

He got some great gifts in the mail from the B fam, and last night he actually got to use one of them :) His new TomTom will remind us what side of the street to drive on (if we should be in another country and forget), can update us on current gas prices at the stations we are near, and even MOO'S like a cow when he exceeds the posted speed limit!

It was great fun making it moo on our way home from the original Ninfa's where we celebrated with friends and fam! The food was good (as usual) and I made him a tres leches cake to share with everyone. Yum.

I thought it was the cutest thing ever when he had 4 homemade cards given to him at the table! His little buddies (and Rachel, lol) honed in their artistic skills to give him extra special bday cards, that all had very special and intricate details including leaf-less trees, Billy sitting as his computer with a sombrero, the preggo wifey and babe inside her belly (Courtney even managed to remember the baby has an umbulical cord) and a variety of other creative specialties. Check 'em out :)

Billy's "big gift" this year was a grill he's been eyeing for a while now. A couple of us went in together to get it for him. We decided to give it to him a day early, seeing how he would probably want to put it together himself (that's a present in itself to him). He's got it "locked and loaded" on the bistro patio, and I told him we'll probably really get to break it in when the baby's here and we've got a crowd to feed.

Happy Birthday Babe, I love you and hope you have an even more exciting year ahead of you (although, I don't know if you can top this past one)!

Better off in Bed

We had our “weekly” visit to the doc yesterday, and she wasn't pleased with my blood pressure readings. I haven't had any problems with this for the entire pregnancy, but as we get closer to D-day, they take these numbers more seriously, and it was definitely much higher than usual. I have been dealing with some headaches and off-and-on blurry vision during the days for about a week or so....usually while I'm working. I also have this weird tenderness at the top/right side of my uterus, that bothers me the more I walk or stand…she says it’s the round ligaments, but whatever it is, I feel like someone punched me in the same place every day and gave me a big bruise inside.

So…she’s asked me to stay home from work, at least until she takes another reading Friday morning. Her goal is to be the least aggressive as possible...and let the baby come in due time.
Please pray with us, that they won't have to use any other measures if medically possible.

**************************************************************

CLEANING PARTY

In other news, our “NOOK” looks more and more like a “NURSERY” now!!!

Thanks to my Mom, Aunt Mary and sis Rachel, the entire townhome has been turned upside-down! Billy walks around and says we “need to make a mess” because it’s so “sterile”. It looks and feels great to have it all cleaned up! I’m very, very, very thankful for these ladies. They came and helped us put everything away for the baby, DEEP-cleaned our entire place top to bottom (Rachel even climbed up on the bathroom counters to clean the light bulbs!), and gave great advice in the process on where things really need to go for easy access when he gets here.

Billy (with Court and David's help) built some cubes to organize us a little better, and the dresser/changer combo is on backorder so the baby got some of my Rubbermaid drawers in the closet for the time being. The ladies “improvised”, and turned our ottoman into a changing table, LOL. They were sitting on the couch "pretending" to change him, and said that's where we'll be wanting to do the diaper duty anyway. Silly moms. :)

As of yesterday, we are the proud owners of the comfy chenile glider/ottoman I’ve been drooling over, and it should be ready for pickup within a week (it’s been on backorder too). How do people get all this stuff in time usually? We waited too long I guess, or maybe we were just fooled with how “fast” this furniture comes when our crib made it here in less than a week.

Oh well, it’s all just “stuff” and the baby is all we really want to get here in time! So, come on Baby B! We all wanna’ meet you...ON MARCH 4th IF AT ALL POSSIBLE…hehe :)

Baby got a bed!

Okay, so a few weeks ago we had a belated wedding gift given to us in the form of a check(Praise JESUS!), and were able to purchase our crib and mattress! Then we ordered our bedding and received it today!!! We found it on a super sale at Baby Supermall...with free shipping and couldn't resist going ahead and getting it. If you haven't seen that site you have to go check it out.

Today, with the help of grandma's and great grandma's we also became the proud owners of a matching dresser that will also function as our changing station (it matches the bed)! Yeehaw! That should be getting here maybe in the next week and half or so...hopefully :) Until then, we'll be waiting and organizing the babe's clothes as much as possible...getting everything ready to chunk in those drawers when they show up!

I think all we're missing to our cozy "Baby nook" is a super comfy chair and ottoman...and we're good to go! We've already got our stroller and diaper bag so we can even take him SHOPPING! :) Billy can't wait for us to get the Baby Bjorn portable crib. We just can't get over how light weight and easy it is to travel with. It will be a breeze when we go make our lengthy stays to Nana's house in California! :)

We've been SO BLESSED by all the friends and family helping us out with all the cute clothes, blankets, towels/washcloths, bath stuff, etc...it's been WONDERFUL thank you! There is still more celebrations to come and we can't wait! This is a blast for us! This boy is going to be so spoiled and loved and we are grateful for the blessing of pure unadulterated love and help from all those around us while we go through this awesome new phase of our lives.

While I'm saying thank you, I have to brag a little on my awesome sister-in-laws!

First, Winnie (in Boston) hand crocheted a beautiful cream blanket for the baby. We were so blessed and surprised by it, and I'm almost afraid to use it it's so nice! Then, we received a special delivery in the mail from my bro and sis in law (I'm sure she had more to do with it than he did, lol, thanks Lin!) they went online to our registry (in Africa) and found the super soft and silky blanket that goes with our bedding!

THEN my in-town sis in law, Rachel, sent me the sweetest email offering to be my "Merry Maid for a day!" I couldn't beleive she would think of such a thing, and can't wait to see the town home when she's done with it! I'm so grateful to these ladies for thinking of us, and being so incredibly thoughtful. We love you all!

36 weeks...

I've got a little "Baby Love" for my Baby "B".....Billy took these last night :)

Oh the Irony

We’ve had many inquire as to what we shall be naming our son…and to all of them, we’ve answered “we’re waiting until we meet him”. Ironically, that very response sparked 3 very, VERY similar stories in 3 un-related families. We were amused.

#1 My cousin Melissa.
For the duration of her pregnancy, we were all convinced she would be naming her son "Matthew". Now, don’t get me wrong, she never officially announced that would be his name or anything, but because this baby was such a special child, who came after many prayers for children, they wanted him to be Matthew meaning a “gift of God”.

On the day he was born, Melissa and Michael looked at their newborn baby and realized he wasn’t a Matthew. They spent hours after the birth reading name books and discussing the issue at hand. Michael had a favorite book of the Bible, and the both loved that name.

Therefore on that day, their son was named JEREMIAH.

You can imagine our surprise, when we received text messages announcing the birth, wondering who in the world was our cousin Jeremiah?

#2 My friend Pam-maw.
Pam and John were pregnant with their 3rd child, and only son. They didn’t have a name for him before he was born. They wanted it to be perfect and God-given and so they waited for his birth to decide. After the birth, they spent many hours in the hospital, praying and believing for the perfect name.

24 hours after his birth, their son was named JEREMIAH.

#3 My co-worker.
We have a few younger guys who show great interest in my pregnancy at work. They frequently ask me how I’m feeling and recently one of them asked if we had picked out a name. When I gave him our “usual” response, he told me his own story.

His parents were pregnant with him, and had decided on “Nehemiah” for a name. While they were in the hospital, after he was born, they changed their minds, and waited several hours to name him because it just didn’t “feel right”.

On that day, their son was named JEREMIAH.

Seems like everyone who waits to name their son ends up with JEREMIAH! I don’t know what name we’ll end up with, but we did realize when God speaks something specific, we should be listening. LOL, for now, we’ll just call him “Baby B”.

*Priceless*

Concerning childbirth-

"Mom's should have a zipper. But then they would play with it"
~David, 5 yrs.

Sickness and Disease

With our due date a little under 5 weeks away, Billy and I ventured over to the hospital for a little hospital cafeteria food....AND our birthing classes. :) They were jam-packed into 1 long weekend. We learned SO MUCH! I mean, we’ve had friends who’ve told us what to expect (like 4, 000 different stories too), but to hear and see the actual event taking place made it even that much more real. I’ve seen Baby Story a thousand times, but it’s almost always high-risk deliveries, and they’re usually edited to the max anyway.


The instructor said that people always seem to be confused when ladies have “hospital births” mixing them up with all the other patients who come with SICKNESS and DISEASE. She said “pregnancy is not a SICKNESS”, and “You don’t have a DISEASE”. It was a good reminder that we were born for this! God made the female body to carry this child through 40 weeks of miraculous formation, and we were made to birth these children as naturally as possible! It was empowering. I leaned over to my “support person” a.k.a husband, and said “I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROARRRRRR!”


Lamaze has gotten away from their stereotypical “hee-hee-hooo’s” in breathing, and really made some efforts to teach women to find their very most natural and comfortable way of deeply or shallowly breathing in order to stay calm and relaxed. We got to practice those techniques and figure out what works best for us. It was fun. It reminded me of my vocal warm ups before a big singing competition or concert…if you can really use your diaphragm and breathe right, you relax and stretch the rest of your body, just like you would your vocal chords.


We also had some fun with pilates balls, handheld relaxation tools, and music. We learned several ways we can use a squatting bar, or our partner for support and counter-pressure. It was great and helpful and now I’m not nearly as anxious about what to expect. We have quite a few options to be really active during labor if we want to be. I’m really gonna’ TRY to stay as un-medicated as possible (please pray for me, lol). I’m not ruling it all out, and won’t feel like a failure if I end up asking for a little epidural action, but I am doing my best to go meds free…it’s better for the baby, and I know it’s a much better recovery for me too.


I think my biggest fear and anxiety before was the claustrophobic feeling I might experience with the medical staff being too darn invasive, or cords keeping me tied to my bed, or the potential use of drugs that may keep me from feeling much of my body…but now that this boy’s dropping a little, and I’m breathing better and more naturally again, and now that I have so much more information on what my options to relax and be focused on the right things are, the more I think I’ll be just fine.

All in all, I can do this! I AM WOMAN AND I WAS MADE FOR THIS!

The Macho Myth

This was our devotional from today, and I thought it was very shareable. It had EXCELLENT insight, and I love the way they expound on what appreicating really means. At the very end, when it asked the quesion, Billy answered it for me and said "Um, that would be on the last blog post, marked January 19th" lol. Read for yourself, and take a li'l truth from the WORD today....


The Macho Myth
by Barbara Rainey

Ephesians 5:33 Let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.

One day Dennis gave me a list of what he considered to be the needs most men have:
· Self-confidence in his manhood;
· To be listened to;
· Companionship;
· To be needed sexually by his wife;
· To be accepted and respected.

Counselors and pastors would give you similar lists, based on their experiences. And you know what this tells me? The "macho man"-self-contained, independent and invulnerable-is a myth.
To bolster Dennis's confidence, I try to encourage him by being his best friend. Every husband wants his wife to be on his team, to coach him when necessary, but most of all to be his cheerleader. A husband needs a wife who is behind him, believing in him, appreciating him and cheering him on as he goes out into the world every day.

The word "appreciate" means to "raise in value." When I give Dennis words of praise and encouragement, I raise his value, not only in his eyes but in mine as well, and that builds his confidence as a man.

The psychologist William James said, "The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

And Charles Swindoll adds this: "We live by encouragement and die without it. Slowly, sadly and angrily."

When is the last time you told your husband you appreciated him?

A Mighty Good Man

WARNING: IN THIS POST, YOU MAY EXPERIENCE SOME SLIGHT GUSHING :)

I was just sitting here thinking about how thankful I am to have Billy in my life and wanted to share :). He is the husband God had planned from the beginning, and I see it more and more all the time.

He has been such a trooper through this whole change of life called pregnancy, as he has watched his newlywed life change and his brand new wife EVOLVE into a rounder-figured, hearburn ridden, early nighter, poor housekeeper of a woman.

Last week I could have sworn it was my birthday or something! On Wednesday, a shopworker came barging in with a delivery of beautfiul live orchids! I was speechless. I thought, what are we celebrating? Turns out he didn't need any celebration to send them! It was my first "married AND preggo flowers" and the card nearly made me cry as Billy said he had admiration for the strength I've shown during this pregnancy. Wow! Strength? I didn't feel like I was being strong at all! I whine about not being able to bend over well, or having my random "one hiccup", or putting my shoes on and having to constantly be grunting, or falling asleep as soon as I lay down no matter what time it is, or getting leg cramps in the night and nerve pains in the day...but yet...he admires me??

The next day....he found out I wanted to go to a concert downtown with the Symphony and Peter Cetera (former Chicago lead singer), so he BOUGHT TICKETS! We had such a fun and crazy night, nearly missing the first half after I had to fly through rush hour Friday traffic, and get home to find out we didn't have enough time to really "go out" for dinner....so we settled for Taco Bell! LOL!!

We felt like highschoolers at a prom night or something....all dressed up and then fast food for dinner! He spilled his burrito on his tie and we had to wash it off as good as possible...but yet we still laughed for the rest of the ride like giddy schoolboys/girls....then we couldn't find the parking garage....and once we did, we had to park at the top. I decided to venture out and wear my heels that night *bad idea* and as we FINALLY approached the concert hall, Billy remembered he left HIS WALLET in the car, and our tickets were at will call *and we potentially needed his id to pick them up*.

Fortunately, they didn't need his ID so we were totally fine without the wallet, and we made it after just missing a few songs...

But seriously....it was funny. Some people would have been stressed to THE MAX after a night like that, and it's times like those I realize how much we really are MADE FOR EACH OTHER!

To top off my BIRTHDAY-LIKE WEEK TO REMEMBER...I decided to be frugal and make my own New Years cards this year. He didn't want me to smell the fumes of the adhesive, so he spent 3 very COLD nights in our garage watching King of the Hill & Kung fu Panda on a portable dvd player while he spray glued 300 cards for me!!!

All I can say is, my husband is MY HERO! He makes me laugh at normal little things, and reminds me to ease up when I get too serious about life. I know he's going to make such a great dad, because he already takes great care of his kids mom!

P.S. He told me to say he has big muscles too