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!!!

WIFE

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I can't believe it's been 2 months since I last posted! But then, I have not spent much time in the last 2 months on the computer. If you would like to see some new pictures of Andrew, we have been at the Seven Sisters' house twice in the past month and they've been to our house just 2 weeks before that. You may have to read the last 2 months worth of posts on their blog, but they have a LOT of pictures of Andrew on there, like in this post (at just 7 months). :)

I am currently going through Elizabeth George's book A Wife After God's Own Heart (and gleaning lots of good things that I'm working on putting into practice) and I wanted to share an acronym with you that I intend to put on my bedroom mirror!

"Four biblical elements to help us apply God's teaching:"

Warm up his life with your love

Improve his life as a helper

Follow his leadership with a willing heart

Esteem him highly with utmost respect

Absent

I know you, my readers (if you are still reading my blog after such a long absence) have probably been wondering where I have been. Well, I took an unofficial, blogging hiatus. I have not been spending much time on the computer over the past month and have been focusing my time and energy on my adorable little boy (who is almost 5 months old), my husband, and my home. It has been very good for me, and although I do intend on writing a little more frequently than every 6 weeks, I am also going to continue spending less time on the computer (or at least not more than I have over the past month).

In the way of news, Scott's book Swords of the Six is being released in just a couple weeks (you can pre-order for $9.97 from amazon.com right now). The cover is beautiful!

With Scott's book coming out, we are moving (again.. :) ) in with my parents. There are very few people in the world who we would feel comfortable moving in with for and undefinite length of time, and we are blessed that my family happens to be such people. We are very excited and can't wait to be all moved out of our trailer and settled in there.

Andrew is rolling all over the place now. I am most certain that he'll be crawling before 7 months. We go to the doctor's next week, and I am very curious as to how much he's grown since his last visit. In contradiction to my last posts, Andrew is still in some 3-6 month clothes. He is NOT in 3-6 month sleepers (those are 6-9 month), but when it comes to onesies, shirts, and pants, they are all 3-6 month. He also actually plays with toys now, and it is SO much fun watching him. He loves to be upright and so the Bumbo seat and Saucer seats/Walkers are our best friends. :) I have lots of pictures to post, but alas, I'm not writing from my laptop and don't have access to them at the moment. But hopefully soon!

And in case anyone was wondering, where I live, we have about 2 feet of snow right now. :)

Christmas

Christmas has come and gone to some, although I still don't feel like Christmas is quite over. We had the best Christmas ever! I will start with the beginning of the week. On Monday I had a few friends over for a a couple hours just to chat. Three of them are in College and so we don't see each other very often. My "best friend" from 1st grade just loves Andrew and so I had to get a picture of her holding him.
I love Andrew's outfit in the above picture! It was sent to him from his friend Leah and has Pooh Bear on the bottom of his overalls. So cute! :)

We had a good week leading up to Christmas. We were so excited because being near family is SO much nicer than being 20 hours away. On Tuesday Andrew and I went shopping with my Dad and stopped at our favorite little restaurant that has the best milkshakes and onion rings. My Dad used to with his parents when he was little and then when he and I would go Christmas shopping, we'd stop there for lunch. We had lots of fun and had a successful trip. :)

On Wednesday Andrew and I went over my parents house while Scott was at work as my Uncle and his family had driven here from California for Christmas and was coming over to visit.

On Thursday Andrew and I went with my family to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the new Narnia movie) for the second time (went with Scott on Sunday). It is a very good movie, and we all had lots of fun! :)

As you can see, I'm REALLY enjoying being near my family for the Holidays! We made lots of cookies last week and watched some Christmas movies in between working on gifts and wrapping them.

On Friday I made my Mom's Cinnamon Rolls to bake on Christmas morning (they were DELICIOUS!), cleaned the kitchen, worked on gifts, and finished wrapping everything. We then went over to my parents' for a light dinner before going to the Christmas Eve service at our church. Since we were all dressed up, we took some pictures. I just LOVE how this picture of Mom and I turned out.

Mom's "Christmas shirt" has glitter on it and so needless to say, we all end up with glitter on us by the end of the day. :)

Rebekah is very patient in letting everyone else hold Andrew even though she herself is dying to hold him, so I make sure I try and get a picture of the two of them on the rare occasions that she is holding him (without anyone trying to "steal" him).

Christmas morning, I got up at 6am. The earliest I've gotten up and stayed up in a very long time! Well over 6 months, I'd say. But we did go to bed early (at 11:30) and we were very excited about Christmas! Here are our filled stockings. My Mom made the bear in Andrew's stocking. It has a little sheep's suit and is just adorable!!!! Scott is working on getting Christmas music playing.

And our tree, with gifts underneath it.

Before we opened our stockings, Scott read the Christmas story from Matthew. It was so nice. Andrew slept through everything, but he won't get away with missing it all next year! :)

I managed to snatch a picture of Scott starting to open his stocking, and that was all I got from all of our gift opening. Oh well, hopefully I'll do better next year! I'd better!

Here is Andrew, sleeping peacefully, with his stocking beside him. :)

We were at my parents' by 8 and had such a LOVELY time!!! We took our time opening the gazillion presents that were under the tree (okay, there weren't really that many, but there definitely was more than I've ever seen there). All seven of us "kids" had gifts for everyone, and those alone overflowed the tree, nevermind when Mom and Dad added their gifts for us! :) It was SO much fun and we just had the best time!!!!

Daddy and Andrew are "buddies". :) After seeing each other quite a bit over the past week, Andrew gets excited when he sees Grandpa!

There were several "large gifts" like the one pictured below. Colleen is helping Joe "unwrap" his gift from her and Will.

They made him a castle, and it is just the coolest thing!!!! I have no idea how they did such an incredible job with it. Joe loves it and has been having lots of fun with it!

My parents got me some new clothes (which I very much needed) and we got some really neat gifts from my siblings. Hopefully I can take some pictures of them and post them soon.

My parents and I surprised Scott with a Wacom Bamboo tablet for his laptop. I successfully sneaked his laptop into our car without him even getting suspicious. He had lots of fun "playing" with it and did his first full illustration.

About mid-afternoon we went over to Scott's parents' house and had a lovely afternoon and evening!

On Sunday we went back to my parents house (my cousins wanted to visit one last time before they left).

Here is Scott playing with his tablet and Andrew "hanging out".

Well, Andrew is ready to eat, so I must go. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

3 Months and Other Happenings

I have many pictures to post, but I'm not writing from my laptop, and since I have time, I figured I better blog, picures or not since I am way past due!

Andrew is now 3 months old and can only fit into 6-9 month sleepers. He is still wearing 3-6 month clothes that don't have feet on them, and onesies. He had a cold for over a week, but it's finally gone now. We are very blessed because even though the cold lasted so long, it came in stages and was spread out so we didn't have any REALLY miserable times. You knew he wasn't feeling himself, but he wasn't extremely fussy. Andrew is such a mellow baby, I know we're getting spoiled. He never really "screams", just complains and "fusses". I'm sure we're in for a big surprise with the next baby (or not, who knows?). Andrew is also very close to figuring out how to roll over. He's almost got it, but not quite. It's hysterical watching him as he gets up on his side but can't figure out how to complete it and end up on his back. Sometimes he'll just give up, and it's funny to see his expressions.

I am doing good. I am trying to get back into a consistent exercise routine as ever since my cousins wedding (which I was doing good for), I lost my main motivation. So my new motivation is to get back into tip top shape so I can get all out of maternity clothes without lookin "buldgy" and so I can be in better shape when I get pregnant again than when I got pregnant with Andrew.

I've been doing much better at keeping on top of cleaning, laundry, and cooking. I'm sure that Andrew's willingness to play on the floor for more than 5 minutes is helping, but ultimately, I know it's because I'm working harder (with the Lord's help) to keep my focus on HIM! I'm re-reading Anne Ortlund's Disciplines on a Beautiful Woman from The Gentle Ways of the Beautiful Woman. SOOOOO good!!!! I read it sometime before I got married, possibly just before Scott "came along." It was so good then, and I knew it would be even better to read when I was married. Anne Ortlund's books are the kind that you should always be reading and should always be on your nightstand. Disciplines of The Beautiful Woman is my favorite at the moment. You can find her books at Amazon at a decent price. I'd post a link, but for some reason it's not working right now. As a disclaimer, these are just my own opinions of her books. I only encourage you to buy them because they have been SO encouraging to me, and especially now, with a baby added to my everyday life (and all that comes with that), reading snippets here and there, has been so helpful and encouraging. Her heart for the Lord is so eminent.

I'm out of time. Hopefully I'll be able to share more soon (and post all the pictures I keep meaning to post).

Cousins

On Thanksgiving I took this pictureof my newest cousin Jason (who is 6 1/2 weeks younger than Andrew) and Andrew. It is so cute, and I just know they'll have lots of fun together as they get older.

Thankfulness Part 8 (and other happenings)

Here, we are, the last day of November (although I'm doubting that anyone will read this before December comes seeing as that is 50 minutes away) and I'm sorry to say that I didn't do very good with my original intention of writing at least every day, adding to my "Thankfulness List." But 8 posts in four weeks isn't too bad, I think, considering that a 2 month old boy is keeping my hands quite busy.

Speaking of that 2 month old boy (11 weeks and 3 days to be exact), he is certainly growing. I just pulled out all the 6-9 month clothes (which is what he has on right now) as we are completely out of anything that resembles 0-3 month, and the 3-6 month are just barely fitting him. I'm really glad I haven't bought the onesies and outfit I plan on buying for his stocking yet! I would have bought the wrong size. Andrew was first born, I didn't know what to think of all the winter clothes we were getting that were size 6-9 month because I thought "he's not going to be 6 months old until March," and now I'm laughing at myself!

The last part of my Thankfulness list... I'm thankful:

• That I don't have to work a "9-5 job" and leave my cute little bundle of joy
• That God has given me an opportunity to earn enough money each week to pay for our groceries and a little left over (perfect timing with Christmas in a few weeks)
• For the lovely ladies I got to visit with this evening at my parents house while their girls were in Bright Lights
• That we had such a lovely, relaxing Thanksgiving!
• That even though Andrew has a bit of a cold, it hasn't been bad enough that he's been overly fussy (he's certainly not himself, but he still smiles on occasion). I know we will have very bad times in the future (all-nighters and everything), but for now, I'm thankful that the first cold isn't as bad as it could be.
• That I am already using cloth diapers because I didn't get stressed out today when I realized that I only have 7 disposable diapers left and no chance to get any before Friday :) It's great how God provides!
• For my time with the Lord this morning
• For two hands (it is so much easier typing with two rather than one) :)
• For eyes, to see and read
• For ears, to listen
• For all that God continues to bless me with

This past weekend we went to a Christmas party at Scott's aunt and uncle's house. They do this party every year, and every year Scott's uncle dresses up and Santa and hands out gifts to everyone. Now, just so you don't get me wrong, we don't believe in Santa and we are not going to make our kids believe in Santa. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy Scott's family's traditions. We had a great time at the party (we missed last year's because of our trip), seeing and visiting with all the family and here is a picture of Andrew with Santa (a.k.a. Uncle R.).

Aside from Andrew's cold (which he caught from his Daddy and I caught a touch of as well), we are doing very well! We had a great Thanksgiving and got to see both families, and compare Andrew to my two new cousins (who are 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 weeks younger than him), as well as letting him "play" with his two cousins (Scott's nephews). We also learned that my Mom's brother and his family is coming for a visit over Christmas, and we are all SOOOO excited!!!!!

Speaking of Christmas, now that we are passed Thanksgiving, has anyone else started decorating for Christmas? I love the Christmas season (as I'm sure all my readers have figured out by now), the decorations, lights, music, movies (especially the old ones like Christmas in Connecticut and Holiday Inn), cookies, my Mom's cinnamon rolls, and most importantly, what Christmas is about -- the celebration of Christ's birth. I know Andrew can't fully understand yet, but many times already, I have taken him over to where our manger scene is set up and told him the story of Christ's birth and why Christ came.

Here are a couple pictures from my cousin's wedding a couple weeks ago. As you can see in the above picture, I did dress Andrew up and he looked so darling, but we did change him after a short while as it was a little uncomfortable for him with his shirt and vest rolling up under his arms.

Here is my cute little boy with my very handsome Man!

And one of my family and I. I'm so thankful for each person in my family and love them all so much!

Last but not least, a verse the Lord brought to my mind this morning, and I just had to look it up!

"Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

Thankfulness Part 7 - Thanksgiving

So, it would appear that I have not been doing very good keeping up with my thankfulness list. But I'm not done yet. I still have 6 days left before December hits. We've been rather busy lately. Last weekend my dear friend and cousin married the Love of her life, and it was such a lovely wedding. I did dress Andrew up, and he looked so cute in his sweater vest and dress clothes (I did get a couple pictures, but they're on my camera still so perhaps in the next post...), but I'm glad I don't do that often because even though he looked so adorable, his shirt and vest kept riding up under his arms, and I doubt it was comfortable. Of course he had to wear the little booties that my Mom made him (see previous post).

In 19 minutes it will officially be Thanksgiving. I love the holidays, but as I think back to past Thanksgivings (and "Christmases"), my eyes begin to water as I recall all the great memories I have of family dinners/get togethers with loved ones who no longer walk on this earth. Growing up we always had both sets of grandparents and my Dad's grandmother over on the holidays and in the past few years that has extended into my Aunt's family too. That's what I remember most about the holidays, not what we ate that year or what we got as gifts, but the togetherness of family.

Thanksgiving last year, we were finishing loading up the trailer, changing the oil in the car, trying to fit as many boxes of books as possible into the trailer, and saying our goodbyes to our families as we would be heading out early the next morning for Scott's book tour. In a lot of ways we feel like we missed Thanksgiving (we had a lot of other things on our minds), and while we had a decent Christmas, it was very different not being with family. Praise God for Skype! So, needless to say, we are very much looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the holiday season.

On to my thankful list. I'm thankful:

• For all that God has done in the past year (I can't believe it's been a year since we started our trip)
• That we get to spend the holidays with our families this year as well as start our own family traditions now that we are a family.
• That God allowed me to miscarry last summer as He has brought me so far since then (although it still brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it)
• For the 9 garbage bags full of boy clothes that I just went through that were given to us. It took me 2 weeks to go through them (it was so daunting), but I am so thankful for all the clothes as they mean I won't have to buy that much, and there's such an abundance, I am passing some along.
• That he Lord has impressed on me the importance of seeing what ways I can decrease our spending. I use whatever coupons I can find, but I realized that making our bread (which I've known how to do since I was 8), making our cereal, and making other breakfast foods like baked oatmeal, cuts $15-$20 off of my weekly grocery bill. That's a lot considering how little it takes for the "substitutes". I can make enough bread, cereal, and baked oatmeal for a month for $15-$20 tops!!!! That's a savings of $45-$60 a month. Pretty good, if I do say so myself.
• For Andrew's smiles every time I talk to him (he just wins my heart every time I look at him).
• That I have such a caring husband with a listening ear. He likes to listen to me talk, whether it's serious things, or just ramblings, and that means a lot to me.
• For the friendship that I share with my Mom. She considers me one of her best friends (next to my Daddy, of course) and I greatly treasure that!!! She's definitely one of mine!
• That even though my kitchen is still a mess from cooking dinner today, I am not stressed about it, because God has been teaching me to make the most of every minute I have, and I did get lots done today.

This past week I was reading some of Laine's Letters and in one of them, she talked about how she likes to keep a list of all that she does throughout the day so as she starts thinking of all her "to do's" instead of becoming overwhelmed thinking "how will I ever get them done" she can see all that she has accomplished. I know that as I've done that this week (although it's been mental lists, not written ones), it has encouraged me to add to my list of "accomplishments." Laine's Letters are very encouraging, and I encourage you to check them out!

It is time for me to head to bed. We're getting up early tomorrow so we can help in the preparations for dinner.

May you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

PICTURES!

Well, it took me a little longer to do this post than I planned, but it's finally here. :) So, pictures... Here is Andy sporting his cute little outfit from Aunt Lori! My sister says the colors look really good on him. :)

This picture was from about a week and a half ago when I gave Andrew his first bath with the [baby] bathtub in the big tub instead of in the kitchen sink (our kitchen sink is too shallow). He looked so cute!

A week or two ago, Andy and I went and visited Scott's parents while he was at work.

Here is the first picture I've gotten of him smiling! I had to post both pictures, so you can see the progression of what he was thinking. He's just so adorable!!!!!

And just for the record, we have since gotten some BOY hats (instead of the green that makes people ask "is it a boy or a girl?") but they weren't done drying at the time of these pictures.

We were delighted last weekend to get a visit from my Dad's cousins and their daughter Amy!

Amy and Andrew:

This past Thursday, we picked up Author J.R. Parker as he will be staying with us for another 2 weeks! We're really enjoying his visit (even though he's really here to promote his book Kestrel's Midnight Song) and frequently this is what I see:

On Friday we had a get together at our house and realized that we didn't have any pictures of Mom A. with Andrew, so of course, we had to get the camera out! :) I loved how Andrew wouldn't look at the camera because he was looking Grandma!

And one more of Andrew and I! The first couple weeks I only have 2 pictures of the two of us, so I've been trying to make sure I periodically take one.

Andrew is growing and growing. I'm having to get out the few 3-6mo outfits we have (and we picked up a couple at Walmart last night, as his 0-3mo outfits that have feet are too short for him. He is so incredibly adorable!!!! We just love "playing" with him!

I am finally starting to figure out how to balance everything, Wife, Mother, and Homemaker. Jacob's visit is definitely "helping" me stay consistent (God's timing is so perfect). Of course, this post has been sitting on my computer screen for about 8 hours now. :)

Well, Andy is ready for bed and so am I, so I guess that's all for now.

Andrew

Andrew is 3 weeks old and growing and changing daily. I'm too tired to do a real post as Andy hasn't slept more than 90 minutes straight in 30 hours, so you know what that means for me. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few of my favorite pictures from the last 3 weeks.

My Mom is such a natural! :)

I love this picture! My dad started bouncing Andrew on his knee while singing John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt and Andrew sat straight up. It was so cute! He's holding his head up much more frequently now and he never stops gazing all around him, taking in as much as he can!

Our Little One's Story (and some pictures)

I enjoyed getting everyone's comments with their guesses. Everyone who didn't already know the weight were pretty off. Keep reading for the details...

On Friday September 10th I was having strong contractions throughout the day and by 3pm they seemed to be getting closer together. Scott had gone to work and I called my Mom and asked her to come at 3:30 as the contractions were becoming 7-10 minutes apart. I kept myself distracted by doing laundry, straightening the house, cleaning the kitchen, making Taco Salad, and then cleaning the kitchen again. All that in an hour. I called Scott at 5 and told him this was it and I needed him. By then the contractions were 5 minutes apart. Mom and I started to fill the birthing pool as I was planning a water birth. We let the midwives know what was happening and by 7:30/8:00, they were here. By that time I was finding some relaxation (but no relief) in the pool. To make a really long story/post, just long, I spent about 7 hours laboring in the pool. I did get out for a while and walk around, but then I was back in the water.

However, the water, although it felt nice, didn't seem to be helping move things along so I got out and didn't ever end up back in it. Saturday morning came in went and right about the 24 hour mark my Dad and siblings brought us over some dinner. My sister came over to me and asked me how I was doing and at that moment I said "I don't know why I ever wanted to have a baby!" Now, I can't even fathom how I could have said that (and that was not the first time I had voiced something similar) but that's the stage I was at. The contractions were still raging strong, but they didn't seem to be doing anything and it seemed like they were just going to go on forever.

Again, to keep this semi-long (instead of really long)... Around 9:30ish, my midwife told me she had a prescription for me that I was not going to like. She wanted me to put my shoes on and go stomp up and down our driveway for 30-45 minutes. Now up to this point any "walking" (if you could call it that) I did was very small steps as I was in so much pain and so uncomfortable. I asked her "can't I stomp around inside?" She told me that if we didn't really get things moving we were going to have to seriously consider going to the hospital. That thought scared me so much (I'm not afraid of doctors or hospitals, I just didn't want to have my baby in a hospital), that I immediately became a changed, determined woman. No more trying to make it through each contraction so I could rest for a few minutes, I was going to work as hard as I could to get this baby moving. So Mom, Scott and I went outside (after a prayer) and started STOMPING. Not only were we stomping, but we were praying and praising God and with every contraction, as I hung on my Mom, I prayed "Lord, move this baby dddoooowwwnnnnn." After a good 30-40 minutes of that we came back inside and I tried to rest between a couple contractions as I was way past tired and exhausted. During which time I was praying and asking God to just fill me with His strength to birth this baby. After about 20 minutes the midwives turned all the lights back on and said, "come on, you don't want to stop now." (The contractions were finally changing and things were moving.)

God gave me the strength I needed and the endurance to keep going and to make every contraction count. I don't remember when I started pushing other than that it felt like I was pushing for hours (although I wasn't really, at least not for more than 2), but at 4:46am (making it 37 hours of labor) on Sunday September 12th, my Little One was born. Throughout the entire pregnancy I kept thinking the baby was a girl, but trying not to focus on that in case it was a boy. Even Friday, the day I went into labor, I was convinced the baby was a girl, but when the baby was born and I saw that it was a boy I said "it's a boy! Oh, I love him, I love him!!!" Scott was thrilled to peices as he desperately (I hadn't realized just how desperately) wanted a first-born son.

Now remember, we still didn't have any boy names picked out. There were names I liked, names he liked, but not a single name we both liked! After he was born and I was sitting on the couch with him, Scott said, "you can name him" he was just so thrilled it was a boy. My first thought was "what?" and then I knew, "Andrew?" I asked. He said "yes!" I asked him "are you sure?" and he said, "yes, I like Andrew. How about Stephen for the middle name?" (After my Dad) and I said, "Perfect! Andrew Stephen, our little Andrew!!!" Just as I had hoped and prayed, God gave us the perfect name when he was born!

So Andrew Stephen was born on September 12th, and he weighed (are you ready???) 9 pounds and 10 ounces! He was also 21 3/8 inches long! He is the darlingest little boy and I love him to peices!!! I am so thankful for him and so thankful that God would choose to entrust him to our care. I know that he is just a gift for a time as faster than I know I'd like, he will grow into a man and have to go his own way (hopefully, prayerfully) following after God's Will. So I am trying to make the most of every moment I have with him now (hence why it has taken me a week to do this post) especially as I know he is constantly growing and every day brings little changes that I don't want to miss! Here is a picture of our little Andrew (or Andy, as Scott nicknamed him) in one of his favorite sleeping positions (doesn't it look like he's thinking, or something?).

And here is the first nice picture of Andrew and I!

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures so far. This was when Andrew was only a few hours old. Look at that happy, happy look on Scott's face!!! He is such a proud Daddy!

My Mom finished making me a sling (by Elizabeth Lee Designs) this week and so today I tried it out for the first time (I didn't go anywhere, I just tried it out). I love it and I love the brown material with little hearts all over it!!!

My Mom was invaluable to us over the past week and a half! She came on Friday and stayed all the way until Wednesday morning only going home once for 3 hours on Monday. She was so helpful with everything and we are so grateful to her! I am not allowed to leave the house for 2 weeks and must continue to take things slow and easy (which is harder than I thought!).

I must say, it is nice not being so pregnant anymore! I can now lay on my back for more than 2 minutes, and it doesn't hurt at all anymore! :) YAY!!!!! I have already lost 28 pounds and am beginning to wonder what non-maternity clothes I will be able to fit into soon. In the meantime however, my maternity clothes are nice and comfy and I think look nicer on me now than they did before! :)

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I will stop here for now and give all my readers a break! :)

NOTE: I started out this post typing one-handed while Andrew was nursing, and now this is where he is, sleeping peacefully on my lap! He is just so adorable!!!! :)

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

Right now we are playing the waiting game. My due date is on Tuesday and we are so ready for this baby. Not to mention, I'm looking forward to not having a big hard belly again. I mean, I know it will take time to get back to "normal" (that is, whatever my new normal is) but when I'm doing dishes or cooking and I need to get something from the upper cabinets, I am constantly reminded of the fact that I'm 39+ weeks pregnant! As you can see in the pictures I've gotten quite large and baby is ALL in front now (and a little lower). I am praying and praying that if it is in accordance with God's will He will allow the baby to be born sometime in the next few days. But, for all I know, I may not have the baby until September 10th, or sometime around there! (Oh, what a dreadful thought that is!)

Thanks to the shirts my Mom gave me (they came at JUST the perfect time) I still have 3 shirts that I can alternate with, two of my new ones and a size XL maternity shirt that I had bought just before my shower. I don't know where expectant mothers of twins find shirts to wear when they get close to the end of their pregnancy! As it is, I never thought that I'd fit into a size XL, never mind an XL maternity shirt! Anyway, enough about me and my clothes!!!! :)

I've had a nice, relaxing weekend. Yesterday I got some cleaning done (I'm hoping the next time I need to do the vacuuming, will be after the baby is born!) and started on a new baby blanket for my Etsy shop.

Today I took a short nap after Church and then later this afternoon, we went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant. It was very good and close by so we were back home before 6. Now I'm writing a blog post and Scott is working on writing and the likes. :) Check out his blog post about his short stories here.

I don't have many plans this week. Actually, I don't have any plans this week other than my weekly prenatal appointment (which I'm hoping will be something different...). I don't know if that's a good thing because the baby will come, or if that's a bad thing because I'm going to end up finding myself rather bored. :)

It is so strange to think that Summer is practically over. I have many friends who have already gone back to college and I know that even the high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools are starting as well. I am very thankful though that we are at the end of summer because that means the baby will be here very soon as well as the fall weather! I love fall, the leaves changing and cooler weather! Of course, I have other reasons for wanting fall too. September marks the first month that I'll be a Mommy and we have company coming at the end of the month that we are greatly looking forward too!!! I'm also looking forward to after I have the baby and getting things a little more settled and organized as right now we have all we need for the birth and everything taking up a lot of space in this (while larger than our apartment was) small, house!

So, what are you looking forward to in Fall?

I have been reading The Mom Walk by Sally Clarkson and I would like to share a couple quotes with you.

"I realized that one of the roles God wants me to play in my children's lives is a conductor of joy, happiness, and celebration. After all, God designed our need for these things into our hearts. We were made to enjoy life and our Creator, and we were meant to choose to live in His beauty and provision.
"This doesn't mean I won't have difficulties or times of depression. But I do have choices I can make as a mom that will determine the environment in my home." (Sally Clarkson)

This does not only apply to the role of mother, but also of wife. When I am joyful and cheerful, looking for opportunities to praise God, the whole atmosphere in my house changes. We don't have children in the house just yet (although Little One is frequently reminding me that it is on it's way :) ) and I can only imagine how much my attitude will effect the environment of our home, because I know that it does now, and once the children are coming along it will only be even more important and vital that I am not always downcast, focused on all my "duties and responsibilities" instead of focusing on the gift of my children and all that the Lord is doing. Now is the time to be practicing this because it is just as important and vital that we look at our responsibilities with delight, especially for the sake of our Husbands (or families if you aren't married yet).

I will end this post with one more quote:

"To neglect enjoying God and His own wonderful ways in my life is to not really know Him or grow in Him. For at the very basis of His character are love, life, beauty, and joy. To know Him is to know goodness. To walk with Him is to walk in lovingkindness, pleasure, and delight." (Sally Clarkson)

14 Weeks and an Update

Today I am 14 weeks along in my pregnancy. The baby weighs approximately 1 ounce (depending on which source you are referring to) and is between 3 1/4 to 4 inches long. I wasn't planning on posting another "baby bump" picture so soon, but then I realized that because of Internet connections, if I can even post for the next 4 weeks, it most likely will not be with pictures. So, I figured "why not?" :)

Everything is going well. I seem to be poking out even more (I know, I shouldn't be surprised) and am just so excited about this little being part of our little family. Now, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before or not, but we are NOT finding out what we're having. However, I'm really hoping it's a girl and actually bought a couple cute "girl" outfits last week for the baby. They were 80-90% off and I just couldn't resist! I saved $56! At the very least, I figure if we don't have a girl, I could always give them away as baby gifts. But that would have to mean that the first few aren't girls because I just LOVE these outfits! Okay, so maybe I love almost ALL outfits! :)

I am just about completely through being nauseous all the time and only feel sick when I've gone too long without eating. Praise the LORD! :) That is truly a blessing! I'm starting to feel more "funny" feelings in my lower abdomen although nothing I can attribute to the baby just yet. :) A few more weeks for that.

We are greatly enjoying our stay in Georgia! We have so much fun with our hosts and I must admit I'm sad that our time is almost over. Next Monday we head for North Carolina! 4 weeks there and then HOME!!!!! So, we are trying to take advantage of what time we do have left here. :)

Yesterday it was around 60 degrees here and just beautiful out! I got a good walk in and was hoping to walk today, but alas, Georgia thinks it's a part of New England. I woke up to a light covering of snow on the ground and now it is raining. Apparently by March Georgia is done with all this kind of weather so this is very abnormal for everyone in Georgia (what was that about global warming?????? Don't get me going on that.). Even though it is less out of the ordinary for us, I must admit that I was hoping for warmer weather by the time we left. Normally the flowers are coming out by now, but they're a little late this year. Hopefully Spring will at least be showing itself more by the time we get to CT. :)

I snapped this picture (below) of my darling Husband to check the lighting in the room and it came out so perfectly, I just had to keep it! :) Scott has been doing lots of writing the past few days on his 3rd novel as well as applying small edits here and there to Offspring. I can't wait to see Offspring printed and read it again in printed format!!!!


I think that's about it for updates. My sister turned 18 recently (which made me feel old for some reason, really weird!), and I am just so thankful for the technology that we have! I got to watch her open her gift from me and see her reaction and everything and it was just so much fun! Although the world we live in today is crazy and scary, there are definately some advantages!!!! :)

I know it's been awhile since I updated, so I hope this makes up for it! :) Stay tuned though for another post later this week......