Long Awaited ANNOUNCEMENT

Before I get to the "BIG NEWS" I have to start with a bit of an update (you know, 'cause it's been over a month since I posted... again... sorry about that....). But don't worry, it's all tied in to the baby's arrival. So, on my due date (Saturday February 4th) we took Andrew to a local park and did some metal detecting (Scott's new hobby) as well as spent lots of time playing on the play-scapes. Andrew loved the slides and Daddy even took him up to the bigger tunnel slides, and sent him down to me. He had a blast, as did we!!! Oh right, it was my due date... nope, nothing was going on as far as signs of baby coming. But we thoroughly enjoyed what we hoped was our last family day as a family of 3. Oh, and in case you were wondering how we could spend 3 hours at a park in February, in CT... well, we haven't had much of a "winter-wonderland" winter this year. It was about 50 degrees the weekend I was due.

Here I am at 40 weeks, 1 day in the dress that I wore with the same sweater 7 sundays in a row. I seem to recall mentioning something in my last post about being down to 2 outfits that fit nicely. I also had this one lovely dress that I am very happy to not be able to wear for a good long while now due to the fact that it isn't nursing friendly (I have plenty of other dresses that are though... :) ).

Me and my handsome little buddy. This was the first time he got to wear a real suit for church (a gift from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas). He looked so handsome and even left his tie on during church! I was very impressed since I don't know what I would think of a clip-on tie. It looks uncomfortable. Maybe it isn't, but it looks that way.

Now for the BIG announcement!!! We are very proud to announce the birth of our daughter, Natalie Rose on Saturday February 18th, at 1:54 in the afternoon. She weighed 9lbs. 14oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long! Yes, we got our little girl, and yes, she was born at 42 weeks to the day!

She had a bit of bruising on her face which contributed to the redness in the above picture (plus the fact that she wasn't even 2 hours old yet). She is beautiful and we are all so in love!!!

That Thursday I had an ultra sound to check on Baby, the fluid levels and the placenta since I was almost 2 weeks past my due date. We wanted to make sure it was safe for baby and me to continue to wait for her to come on her own. Everything was great and I knew I'd have the baby by the end of the weekend due to some other signs I was having at the time. By Friday morning though I was convinced I wasn't going to have the baby until after Saturday as Scott was scheduled to be in Albany at a book signing that day (which he did have to postpone after all). About mid afternoon I started to have some serious, real, contractions! They were few and far between (about every 45 minutes) but I knew something was going on. I decided to still go to a baby shower I had hoped to go to that night and promised Scott and my Mom to come right home if I "started" having contractions (I hadn't really mentioned the ones I was having as I didn't want to get excited if I wasn't going to actually go into serious labor yet). It was about a 40 minute ride to the shower and I had 2 contractions 30 minutes apart during that drive. I was starting to think things really were starting. The next one was 30 minutes later, and then they started to be every 20 minutes. It was during the devotion time and a game (at the shower) that I had 3 contractions 20 minutes apart and decided that maybe I should start thinking about going home since while I was having the contraction I couldn't talk and felt like I wished I had stayed home (but I did so enjoy the time that I was at the shower). So I said my "good bye's" and headed home. Especially since standing up had given me another contraction not 10 minutes after my last. I made it home and spent the next 8 hours relaxing and trying to rest in between contractions. A couple hours after I got home the contractions moved to 10 minutes apart and so I went to bed, not to sleep but to just try and rest as much as possible and let my body do what it needed to do. Natalie's labor and birth was so much better than Andrew's because I worked with my body, letting it do it's job instead of fighting every single contraction that came along. I was in labor for about 20 hours which is just over half as long as 37 hours (my labor with Andrew). I only pushed no more than 10 times total (not what I had prepared for because I pushed for 2 hours with Andrew, but oh, such a nice surprise). When she was born I just couldn't stop praising God. First that she was here and then after I took the time to check and see if baby was a girl or a boy, I was just praising Him all over again!!! She is such a joy and a blessing!

She loves her Daddy, and as you can imagine, he loves her too!!! I told Natalie that from birth she's had him wrapped around her little fingers. :)

Andrew didn't know what to think of her at first. I think he wondered when she was going to leave and he'd have my full attention all to himself, 100% of the time again. However, he has since seemed to change his mind. He is always checking to see that she has her hat, and he also likes to come take he hat off and touch her hair. He has become much more interested in her and I know that within a matter of weeks he will be loving all over her and I'll have to keep an even closer eye on the two of them. :)

Natalie at 1 week old. As you can see she is very alert and sometimes seems interactive, which just doesn't seem right for an almost 2 week old. I guess being 2 weeks late has it's perks. She is nursing well and definitely seems to be growing and changing very quickly. I love my little family of 4!!!! God is so good!!!

Life

Well, if you're reading this, then I'm impressed... I still have readers. Incredible considering that I have not been good about writing on here over the past year. Why? Well, put simply... Life. Just life happening and blogging not being a part of that. I still check up on all my followers, not that anyone knows it because I never comment, but I want to. Sometimes I do go to comment and my computer or internet "hick-ups" and then before I can fix it and actually leave the comment I was going to, something happens (life) and my computer is put back away for another time. I do get online to check my email at least once a day, and usually more than once a day, but getting on long enough to do more than check my email (even reply to emails or comments of facebook) is more of a rare occasion. With the baby coming soon I wonder if I might get more of an opportunity to blog (while nursing) or if I'll be too busy keeping up with Andrew while nursing. But either way, that's okay. It's life, and life for me right now means spending time with Andrew, keeping my apartment in good order, and doing whatever else comes up (crocheting, visiting with a friend, reading, making tinctures and lotions (inspiration from Shoshanna Easling's Making Babies series which I highly recommend), eating (being pregnant means frequent small meals for me every 2 hours or I start feeling sick), napping (being pregnant with a 16 month old means I nap when he does, especially in the third trimester), etc.).

Andrew is growing, growing, growing! A year ago I remember remarking on how neat it was to see his personality coming out more and more. But now? Now, we are even more amazed by his personality and we are loving learning about him and learning how to communicate with him. He says lots of "b" words (ball, book, buzz) and anything that starts with "m" (mamma, more) and even though his first words included "da" for Dad, he refuses to say it now. Once in awhile we'll catch him saying "daddy" but whenever he looks at pictures (we have lots of pictures from our wedding, and few family pictures around our house) he always points out "mamma" and laughs when we say "and Daddy..." He seems to be connecting pictures of babies and babies we see with my tummy. But he calls babies and my tummy "muh". He will see a baby and start pointing and saying "muh, muh" and then come over to me and pat my tummy saying "muh, muh". It will be neat to see what he thinks of the baby once it is here.

Speaking of Andrew.... we went outside for a short bit this afternoon as it's been snowing all day and I figured it was time he got to out instead of standing at the window watching all his aunts and uncles playing in the snow. He was more interested in watching the four wheeler plowing the driveway than he was in the snow, but once we came in he got very interested in the snow that was coming off his boots. So I got a bowl of snow for him to "check out" and captured a few pictures.

Here he is pausing in his enjoyment of the snow to "pose" for me. It was so funny.

And then he got very interested in testing the snow....

I am now 38 weeks along which means that I could have the baby anytime in the next 4 weeks I figure. I'm not counting on going close to my due date since Andrew was 12 days late, and of course if the baby isn't ready yet, I don't want to rush it along. However, I am super, super excited about meeting the baby and being a family of 4. I can't wait to see how Andrew interracts with the baby. The pregnancy has been going well. I've discovered that cutting out wheat from my diet means much less heartburn and acid reflux which I do have a hard time with. I'm also doing much better this time exercising and will probably end up gaining only half as much weight as I did with Andrew. Exercising all the way through pregnancy is SO much better than waiting until the third trimester to start thinking about it. My flexibility is so much better and of course, I'm sure it helps with keeping up with Andrew.

Update---Via Friends

Merry Christmas to all my blog readers! We've been pretty busy around here getting ready for Christmas and getting ready for the Baby coming (only 6 1/2 weeks until my due date!!!). Seeing as at the moment I don't have time for a real post, never mind posting some pictures, I thought I'd be nice and direct your attention to this post at the Seven Sisters' blog, where you can see lots of fun pictures of Andrew from our recent trip to Indiana.

May you all have a blessed Christmas!

Long time

I know I'm doing a horrible job keeping up with this blog. I've been very busy. I've finally gotten into a good routine with Andrew that includes doing Laundry, cleaning our apartment, and staying on top of it all. For the longest time everything was just once in awhile, when I'd get the chance... :)

Andrew is growing and growing. He's calls my "mom" and that's the only word he seems to say regularly. I think it's because he has so many aunts and uncles to talk for him. :)

I'm now 29 1/2 weeks along. This baby is so different from Andrew. It is more active, and definitely has a stronger personality. I'm so curious to meet this Little One and see if it's a boy or a girl. I had a dream it was a beautiful little girl we named Bethany (which is one of our top 2 girl names) and so I'm thinking that somewhere in my future is a little Bethany. :) I really don't care whether we have a boy or a girl. I'll be excited either way. I want a girl mostly for Scott because he really wants a girl, but either way, we'll be super excited!!!!

Thanksgiving is in two days and last Friday we decorated for Christmas. Before you go judging me, we are leaving in 10 days for a 2 week book tour getting home 1 week before Christmas, so we decided that we wanted to enjoy our place decorated for Christmas, especially since I won't be leaving everything up until the end of January like last year because once New Year comes, I'll be kicking into high "Baby Prep" mode. :) Less than 11 weeks until my due date, I'm so excited!!!!

Just a little "tid bit" for you....

I've been studyin Proverbs 31 and this verse just keeps popping out at me.

"She seeketh wool, and flax and worketh willingly with her hands." Proverbs 31:13
A virtuous woman works willingly with her hands. How often do we do what we need to do because we need to do it without a willing heart? I've noticed that the more I look at what I need to do with a willing, cheerful, eager attitude, the easier it is to do it. It also usually turns out to be more rewarding as well.

I know this wasn't long, but it's something. :) Now I need to get off the computer and go work on Christmas gifts. I'm trying to finish everything (as much as possible) before we leave for our trip.

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The Shortest Post Ever

I love hearing the "pitter-patter" of little feet on the kitchen floor as my little guy walks by me!

In other news, I can now officially feel the baby moving (18 weeks and counting) and we were out of power for 6 days last week thanks to (what was then) Tropical Storm Irene which was actually a lot of fun!

I know this is a short post, but hey, it's better than nothing right? :)

News

No, I have not forgotten about my blog. I have been just living life, and not taking time to document it (I know, shame on me!). There is so much to share, and as always, so little time (it's only a matter of minutes before Andrew realizes he needs a nap). So, I'll just do a list of updates...

Andrew:

• is now walking, and really walking. He's been taking multiple steps very frequently for a couple weeks now, but in the past few days he's gotten to the point of just walking (although he still has his cute little "toddle")
• has peed on the potty twice in the last 2 days. I bought him a potty chair just to have on hand, and then decided that I'd try to put him on it every time I change his diaper. The third time he went on it Saturday, he went (I didn't even check at first, just closed the lid and then thought, I should probably just get in a habit of checking, and low and behold, he had gone pee!). Then he did the same thing yesterday. So now I'm thinking that it's possible he could be potty trained at least during the day by February (I'll let you know why February in a moment).
• cut his first tooth at 9 months and at the same time decided that he was finally interested in solid foods. (Praise God!) He is now 11 months and prefers only table food, and especially whatever any of the rest of us are eating! I can't give him enough food!
• loves music and any time anyone starts singing or playing music, Andrew gets all happy, nods his head, and then just gets this big grin on his face!

Me:

• I am pregnant, again!
• I'm due February 4th, which makes me 15 weeks, 2 days.
• I know, by this point with Andrew's pregnancy, I had several baby bump pictures for you, and even though now, I have quite the baby bump compared to Andrew's pregnancy at 15 weeks, I haven't taken any pictures.
• Andrew and the baby will be 18 months apart, which I think is perfect! I'm so excited!!!! One year from now I'll have 2 adorable little kids to keep track of, and I can't wait!
• One thing is for sure, this pregnancy seems to be going much faster than the last. However, I'm sure that the fact that I have a little guy running all over the place that I must keep track of, is the "culprit". :)
• The first trimester, I seemed to be more sick compared to the last pregnancy, and thankfully it mostly died out about 11-12 weeks instead of 14 weeks like with Andrew.
• Apparently, it's going to be tradition, but just like with Andrew, at 9 1/2 weeks I woke up with a terrible migraine and was vomiting by mid morning. Of course it happened to be the day before we were leaving for the International Christian Retail Show in Georgia. I somehow managed (with lots of help from my sisters and mother) to get us all packed up and get everything ready to leave at 4am the next morning. I knew I was only sick from the pregnancy, and it wasn't a virus, so I determined that as long as I was not vomiting when we were getting ready to go, I was still going to go. By about 7 or 8 hours into our drive I was feeling much better and even ate some Mexican food for dinner. Only, pregnancy! :)
• Since that lovely day of being sick, I've been dealing (joyfully) with headaches that usually turn into mini to full blown migraines every day.

So, there's an update, and now you all know that I haven't fully disappeared from cyber-space! :)

I will leave you with a picture from the ICRS we went to a month ago. Andrew was sleeping for this picture, but we were pretty excited to meet Roma Downey (mostly known for being in Touched By An Angel). And yes, I was already showing at 10 weeks.