12-27-07

A year ago today I took a pregnancy test (4 to be exact) and they were all positive. I was completely shocked, scared and just didn't know what to think. I could not believe that I was PREGNANT!! I was a little nervous about telling Chad. I mean we both talked about me not taking birth control anymore and knew that this was a possibility, but we just didn't know it would happen one month after quiting the medicine! He knew I was late and that I was pregnant. He just didn't say anything. I remember taking the last test at home (the others I took at our Jasper office...no one was there, except Stephanie) and I just sat it on the bathroom counter and told him to go look in the bathroom. He was looking around and thought I had changed something in the room. He finally glanced at the sink and noticed the test. He asked if it was mine! He's so crazy! And then asked if I was pregnant. He was so nervous, shocked and a little scared. He leaned against the end of the bed and said I gotta sit down for a minute. He immediately wanted to tell people, but I wanted to wait...We ended up telling him brothers and mom and later my parents. Moments I will never forget. For some strange reason I even remember what I was wearing!
Flash forward to 12-27-08. We have Olivia, a healthy beautiful 4 month and 2 day old baby girl. She is THE BEST EVER!!! I don't know what we would ever do without her. I am so thankful that God choose to bless us with her. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us with her.

Mama Mia!

So...I am sitting here (on my new computer) watching Mama Mia! with mom and Sarah and Olivia. She is asleep right now though. Anyway...all this movie is singing, singing and more singing! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We did. Chad completely surprised me with my new laptop. It's so nice and it's GREEN my favorite color!! We also got a new tv a 42 inch flat screen it's so nice! I guess that is the only good thing about this movie right now. The new tv. Here are just a few pictures of Olivia on Christmas morning.

Four Month Check-Up

Friday I took Olivia to the doctor for her four month check up. She had to get another round of shots (four) and something by mouth. She didn't do that bad. She only cries for a second and as soon as I pick her up she stops crying. She weighed 12lbs. 8oz. She had only gained a pound and a half since her two month check up. I figured she hadn't really gained that much. She was also 23 7/2 inches long. The doctor said everything looked good! So now we are starting cereal and then baby food. I gave her a little bit of cereal Monday morning and she did really good with for the first time to be spoon feed. It will be interesting to see my dad feed her. He keeps her during the day (until he has to go to work, around 1:30) and then takes her to my aunt's house who lives behind my parents. It works out really well and it's FREE!!! My dad is crazy about Olivia. He has to see her at least everyday!! Here are a few recent pictures of her.

"Results of mommy kissing Santa"

Olivia&Her Great-Grand Dad

All bundled Up!

"The Best Gift Ever"

Our ornament this year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Thursdays 13

1. Olivia goes to the doctor tomorrow for her 4 month check up. I am anxious to see how much she has grown.

2. Sunday is our Christmas breakfast at church and I am not sure if we will be able to make it. We are going to Gadsden for my dad's side of the family Christmas.

3. Saturday we are doing Christmas with Annetta's family.

4. I don't know when I am going to really have the time to finish my Christmas shopping.

5. I don't think I really should buy Chad much more only because he has buying a lot here lately...stuff he wanted for Christmas!

6. I can't decide if I should buy Olivia the Jumperoo. We looked at one they had on display at WalMart and thought it would take her forever to even be able to reach the floor. I think she is going to be petite like me.

7. I don't really understand buying babies Christmas gifts. They have no clue what is going on anyway. Kind of seems like a waste of money.

8. I saw a bad wreck this morning on the way to work on 65 South. It was 3 cars. The car in the middle was up under the first car. It was crazy!

9. I think I loose my sanity almost everyday on my way to and from work. I hardly ever have a peaceful drive.

10. Chad had 4 teeth pulled yesterday. 2 from the top and 2 from the bottom. He seems to be fine. He acted like it really wasn't that bad. It made my teeth hurt just talking about it.

11. Tonight is our 2nd bible study on the King's Daughter. It's going really good. I will update later. Anyway...tonight we are going to do a goodie and ornament swap...I still don't have an ornament! I might not be swapping.

12. I am going to take a class in the spring semester. It's only one class, but it's a start on getting back in school. I have to take 4 classes before I can start the nursing program...well really you don't have to have taken one of them, but it's better if you have already taken it.

13. I really hope Chad passed his A&P class. I am going to be a little aggravated if he didn't.

I Love This Song

I working on a post that I will upload later. God has really been laying a lot of stuff on my heart lately. It's my hearts desire to grow closer to him everyday. I hope it's yours too!

Thursdays 13

This is really random....



1. I got my proofs last night from the picture we had made Saturday. They turned out really good! I am going to have a hard time deciding what pictures to get and in what size.


2. I also got my Christmas cards ordered last night!


3. We finally got our tree up Sunday afternoon BUT I do not have all my ornaments put on it yet.
   
4. Tonight is our girls bible study at Bri's. I am really looking forward to it!
   
5. Today I am wearing a sweater I bought from Gap when I was like in 10th Grade!! I doesn't really look that old, but I have had it a long time. I just can't seem to get rid of it!


6. I now have 50,290 miles on my car!! Ughhh.....I really would like this with tinted windows. I LOVE anything by Honda except the Fit and the Element.

7. Talking about Honda. I have had 3 accords. They are my favorite. I don't really know why.

8. I probably like cars way too much for a girl.

9. Tomorrow is my Fridays off!

10. I still have quite a few Christmas gifts to buy.

11. I really don't know what I am going to buy Olivia. Maybe a Jumperoo.

12. Me&Chad were talking last night and I finally talked him into getting new furniture for the living room at the first of the year!

13. Chad is such a BIG help to me. The other night I didn't get off work til 5:30ish and when I got home he had picked up around the house and washed all the bottles! I didn't even ask him to do that! He helps me so much. I don't know what I would do without him. It's so funny how your relationship changes when you have a baby. It's like we have a "new" love for each. It's weird. I have always loved him, but now in a different way. It's AWESOME!!

Wordless Wednesday

32 Things That Change When You Have a Baby

I got this in an weekly email I get about babies and wanted to post it. I can relate to a lot of these.

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.
3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like scarifies.
4. You respect your body...finally.
5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way. --This is so true.
6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.
7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
9. Your heart breaks much more easily. --So true
10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day. ---!!!!!!!!
11. Every day is a surprise.
12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. ---I have never been so excited about a poopy diaper!!
13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
14. You become a morning person.
15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
16. You discover how much there is to say about one tooth.
17. You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth.
18. You now know where the sun comes from.
19. You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have.
20. You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers.
21. You don't mind going to bed at 9 pm on Friday night.
22. Silence? What's that?
23. You realize that the 15 lbs you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having.
24. You discover an inner strength you never thought you had.
25. You no longer rely on a clock-your baby now sets your schedule. --So true.
26. You give parents with a screaming child an "I know the feeling" look instead of a "can't they shut him up?" one. ---This is totally me.
27. Your dog who used to be your baby becomes just a dog. --Poor Charlie
28. You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late.
29. You learn that taking a shower is a luxury. --You also learn to take a 5 min. shower instead of a 20 minute one.
30. You realize that you can love a complete stranger.
31. You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place.
32. If you didn't believe in love at first sight before, now you do!

3 Months

Can you believe Olivia is 3 months old today?!? These past 3 months have gone by so fast. It seems like just the other day I was ready to done with my pregnancy and now I have a 3 month old. Olivia has changed our lives forever. I mean...I knew she would, but it's has been the best ever. She has just fit in so perfectly. It's hard to even remember how things used to be. God has truly blessed us with a beautiful, smart, and healthy baby. We couldn't have asked for any better.
Here are a few pictures from birth til now.

1 day old

1-2 weeks old

1 month

1-2 months

2 months

almost 3 months here

Giving Thanks with a Grateful Heart

This week is Thanksgiving. A time to be thankful. I think we take so many things in life for granted and aren't thankful enough. I was reading the other night about this little girl born with a chromosome disorder and isn't expected to live to be a year old. It made me realize how Blessed & Thankful I really am. I am so thankful to have a healthy baby, a wonderful and loving husband, supportive family and friends, a house, a good job (sometimes) :D a great church family, I could go on and on. We should be thankful ALL the time not just a certain times of the year. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

She Be Rollin

Olivia rolled over last night! I am pretty sure she has already done it before, I just didn't get to see her do it. The first night she slept in her bed she had to have rolled over because there was no other way she could've ended up in the position that she was in. Last night me and Chad were playing with her on a palette in the floor and I would lay her on her stomach and every time she would roll over to her back. It was really funny to watch her. She would be so surprised every time she rolled over. I took a couple of pictures, but don't have my cable to upload them. She never would roll from her back to her stomach. She got really close, but just didn't know what to do with her arms. I think she is ahead of things she is supposed to be doing. So maybe she will walk early. Me and Sarah (my sister) both walked at 9 months. She already tries to talk to us. We started this thing with her. Just kind of talking to her every night. We will just starting saying "Oh" and she will say it every time we say it. She will even match our voice tone. It's crazy! Then we started doing this noise with our lips (the noise it makes when you relax your lips and blow) and she tries so hard to do it too. She will just watch our mouth and try to do it! She doesn't completely make the noise, but you know that is what she is trying to do, she only does this when we do it. It's really funny to watch her.

Playing with Mommy a couple of nights ago.

The night she rolled over. (You can see her birthmark in this picture.)

My sweet baby!

*******************
Last night some of the girls in the church met to start a bible study. We met at Chick-Fil-A to just talk about what we wanted to do, how often we wanted to meet and what we wanted to get out of the bible study and read a few scripture. It went really good. I am so excited to see what God is going to do! We decide we would read The King's Daughter Becoming the Woman God Created You To Be. It sounds like it's a great book for our group. It's for women in all different phases of life. Women who have kids and who don't, women that are single, married, etc... I will let you know how it turns out.
*******************
Tonight Chad is going to Cody's game. They will be playing Cullman at Cullman in the I think the 2nd round of the playoffs. I am not going. It's just going to be too cold. Me and Stephanie are going to have a play date with the girls. Paige is 6 months older than Olivia. They don't really play right not, but they will one day.
Tomorrow night some of the couples from church are going to Ben&Wendy's aka Bendys to hang out and play some games. I know it's going to be a lot of fun because Wendy is crazy!!
Sunday we are going to try to put up our Christmas tree. We will see if we actually do that or not. I want to do it now so it will actually be out for a little while and make it worth dragging all the stuff out of the attic. I really do dread putting it up though. Our tree is so BIG we have to completely rearrange the living room to make it fit. We bought it last year and love the way it looks, but really it's just too big for our living room. We probably should've thought about taking it back. It was pretty expensive. Maybe we will get everything done this weekend. That would be great!

Cutting Back

So...they are cutting my hours back at work. Starting December 1st I will only work 4 days a week, having Fridays off. I kind of have mixed emotions about the whole thing. I mean who really wouldn't want a day off, but on the other hand I do still have to work. I work for a real estate company who builds and manages apartments. Most everyone knows how the economy is right now, so a lot of stuff is fixing to slow down around our office for a little while. They don't expect this to be something permanent. I think I choose to not really be informed about things that I probably should be. I mean I know that the economy sucks right now, but I really just don't care to know all that stuff. I don't care to know how many points the stock market fell yesterday, today or tomorrow. I mean how is everything not doing so great and gas prices are $1.99?? That's all I really care about. How cheap I can buy my gas! Sometimes I feel like all I do is drive. (Did you know that in February I will have had my car for 2 years and it had 0 miles on it when I bought. As of today I have 49,000 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Anyway...I kind of saw my cut back as and "open door" maybe I can try and take a class in the Spring and some how find a job in Jasper. I really like my job. I just wish it were in Jasper and not Birmingham. My life would be just a little bit easier. I did tell my boss that this was not what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I know that this job is not what I am supposed to be doing, but it is what I am doing in the mean time. So, she knows my intentions on going back to school.

In other news...Today is Chris's Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I think he is 28. He might be 29. That sounds really old. So tonight we will go out to eat. I am guessing Perico's since there is absolutely no where to eat in Jasper!
Chad is getting his braces put on today. He's excited to finally have straight teeth well...at least in a couple of years anyway.

Its Been a Busy Weekend

We've been busy. Friday night I went to our ladies get together at The Barn - Pumpkin Patch. We all got together ate really good soups, chili and desert. It was a good time. Saturday we took Olivia to get her ears pierced and she did very good.

When we got to the mall I thought we weren't going to get them done since there was only one girl working, but we went ahead and did it. I didn't think we were ever going to get out of there and it was so crowded! We picked out her earrings, little diamonds, but I really wanted pearls. The girl got everything ready, but then had to check some people out. I mean why do they only have one person working? I think that is silly. Olivia was starting to get a little antsy and I was too. She finally came back and tried to mark her ears and got the marker everywhere. The marker was rubbing off on the girls gloves, which rubbed off on Olivia. All on her ears, side of her face and forehead and then onto her outfit! Thank goodness for baby wipes. So Chad held her and the girl did the first ear and quickly the second. She did so good and only cried for a second.

Here is a picture afterwards, but it's kind of hard to tell.
Saturday night we went to Megan's wedding. Chad didn't come, because he "had to" go hunting.... So it was just me, Olivia, Annetta, Chris and Cody. Megan was beautiful of course and everything was really pretty.

Sunday we had Olivia dedicated and she looked beautiful. I LOVE the dress that she wore. I have been waiting a long time for her to be able to wear it.

I am really thinking about something...

Our Pastor Adam and his wife Lindsay with Olivia.

Some of our family that came.

On our way home from church. Isn't she goregous??

Thursdays 13

I saw this on someone elses blog and like the idea. All you do is list 13 things you want to share.
So here goes...

1. I am going to the Cheesecake Factory tonight for Carmen's birthday.
Happy Birthday Carmie!!

2. I really dislike my job. I feel like it's not what I am supposed to be doing and I am so tired of driving to Birmingham.

3. I can't wait to have our family pictures made in a couple of weeks. I am very anxious to see how they will turn out and how Olivia will do. I am also having her 3 month pictures made.

4. Going to a wedding this weekend. Congratulations and Good Luck Megan!

5. Me and Chad are talking about getting Olivia's ears pierced Saturday.

6. We are having Olivia dedicated Sunday!

7. My bangs and hair in general has been annoying me since the last time I got it cut. I think my girl has messed up my natural part. Can you fix that??

8. I really want an Iphone but Chad won't let me get one. It's not so much the phone, but having a phone with the internet. He thinks that's stupid and there is no reason for me to have that. :(

9. I bought groceries Tuesday night (which I hate) and spent $202.85!!

10. I am probably the most indecisive person ever!! And it drives me CRAZY!!!

11. I am so ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!

12. Chad is getting braces Monday!! Yay Mr!!

13. I REALLY want to go back to school for nursing, but I just don't how I can fit it in and if I could even do it....Why do I always doubt myself??

In Her Own Bed

**I started part of this post Monday and never got to finish.

Last night (Sunday night) I decided to put Olivia in her bed. I wasn't really sure how she would do. She sleeps in a bassinet in our room. She has always been a very good sleeper so I was anxious to see how she would do in her bed. She seemed so tiny in that big bed. So I layed her down around 11:15. She kind of woke up when I layed her down at first so I rocked her for a little while longer and she was fine. The bed is so deep it seems, that I have to step up on my tipy toes to actually put her in the bed. I sat up the monitors and went to bed. She ended up waking up around 3:30ish. I went in there and she was in a totally different position than how I layed her down and she was not even under the cover. I really have no clue how she got to where she was laying. I had put her kind of head first with the corner of the bed. She ended up with her head at the opposite in of the bed. It's hard to explain...anyway...I just got her up and put her in our bed and she was fine. I know this is a big no-no, but I was too tired and honestly didn't feel like taking the time to deal with the situation. Is that bad?? So yesterday (Monday) I came to the conclusion that she probably woke up because 1. She was not under the cover whatsoever and 2. she wasn't on her wedge. In the bassinet she sleeps on an inclined wedge.

So last night I tried it again, but this time with her wedge and she did fine!! I went in there this morning around 6:30 and she was sound asleep. She had her little arms above her head right by her face. I love when she sleeps like that. It's so sweet.
We really do have a good baby. We are so blessed and I am so thankful!!

Slackin'

I am a slacker. Not all the time just sometimes. I haven't posted anything in a week.
Olivia's first Halloween was pretty good. We were at the church all night for our Fall Festival. It was fun even though she can't really do anything.

Mommy & Olivia the LadyBug

Daddy and Olivia...Please ignore his boggin. He thought it was funny that he looked like a hobo.

Olivia & AnnaLee...they are 3 weeks apart.

Pooped

So that was Olivia's first Halloween. Saturday we stayed at the house most of the day. Morgan waxed my eyebrows and then me and Olivia went to visit with Auntie Bri Bri and Eric aka Stranger. He is so scared to hold Olivia and we are always around Eric and Bri so we sometimes refer to Eric as stranger or that strange man. Maybe one day...

We also went out to eat with Biranna and her family at Garfield's in Jasper. I will be soo happy when there will be some descent places to eat in Jasper. I am not going to get my hopes up though. Sunday we went to church and had a good Sunday nap. It was kind of a boring weekend, but sometimes that is nice. The next couple of weekends will be pretty busy. This Saturday we are going to Christmas Village. I am so excited!! I plan on getting Olivia's picture made with Santa there. They have a really good Santa. He looks real. And I hope to buy some reallly cute stuff for Ms. Olivia and others.

Wordless Wednesday

JHE

ENGEL, JOSEPH HARRY, age 92, of Jasper, AL, passed away on October 24, 2008. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 26th at Collins Burke Funeral Home in Jasper. Interment will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery. Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss will officiate. Mr. Engel and his family owned and operated Engel's Department Store in downtown Jasper for many years. He co-founded Top Dollar Stores with his brother-in-law, J. George Mitnick, which grew to a chain of 250 retail stores in eleven states. Mr. Engel has been associated with Crowne Partners for the past few years. Mr. Engel served with the U.S. Army in World War II, entering as a Private at Ft. McClellan, Anniston, AL in 1942, and discharged as a First Lieutenant in 1945. Mr. Engel loved his hometown of Jasper, AL and was very active in civic affairs throughout his life. He was a past president of the Jasper Kiwanis Club and a member for over 50 years, a past chairman of the Jasper Area United Way Campaign, and a member of the Masonic Lodge for over 60 years. He was also a member of Temple Emanu-El in Jasper and served as Secretary/Treasurer for over 65 years. Mr. Engel was preceded in death by his loving wife, Reva Levy Engel, parents, Ike Z. and Fannie Engel, brother-in-law, J. George Mitnick, all of Jasper, brother, Ben Engel and his wife, Frankie Engel of Birmingham, and brother, Bob Engel, of Omaha, NE. He is survived by his daughter, Ilene Engel and son-in-law, Bob Arotsky, of Washington D.C., son and daughter-in-law, Alan and Lisa Engel; and three special granddaughters, Andrea, Marci and Ilana, all of Birmingham. He is also survived by his sisters, Lillie Buchstane and Willine Mitnick of Jasper; sister-in-law, Renee Engel of Omaha, NE; and many loving nieces and nephews. The family is grateful to his compassionate caregivers: Barbara Maxwell, Susie Williams, Beatrice Mosley, Christy Bobo, Dorothy Brown, and Aleta Gardner. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Reva Levy Engel Fund of the Birmingham Jewish Foundation, PO Box 130219, Birmingham, AL 35213 or to the Walker Area Community Foundation, PO Box 171, Jasper, AL 35502.

I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Engel for 3 years. He was a very kind a generous man, always thinking of others. I use to take Mr. Engel home every afternoon. He still came to work even at 90 years of age!! He didn't get there til 3, but he still came in everyday. I would walk with him to the passenger's side and help him get in my car and buckle him in. I don't know how he got in and out of my car, but he did. He was a great person and loved by all. He will be greatly missed!!

Two Months

I can't believe Olivia is already two months old! The past two months have flown by. She is such a good baby. She has the best personality and is so laid back. She never really cries only when she is getting really hungry and here lately she will start to whine when I am trying to burp her. It's kind of funny. She loves bath time AND she sleeps throught the night!! THANK YOU JESUS!!! She has always been a good sleeper. She was only getting up once. I would change her and feed her and she would go back to sleep. I think she started sleeping through the night at around 4 weeks. She is so active and alert. She has been so alert ever since she was born. People always tell us how alert she is. She is smiling a lot now, cooing and kicking those little legs. She is the sweetest thing!! Here are a few pictures. I took these last weekend.

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This is an older picture of her during bath time. She loves it!

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After church last Sunday. I just loved this little sweater dress!

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Mommy & Olivia

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Laughing at Daddy

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She has dimples!

I LOVE YOU OLIVIA!!!

To do list

This is in no particular order.

• Clean and organize our spare/tanning bedroom
• Find a comforter for the spare bedroom
• Work in Olivia's baby book
• Make her hands and feet imprints
• Find Olivia a Christmas dress ---ASAP
• Find a photographer for Family pictures and Olivia's 3 month pictures---ASAP
• Bring out my Fall/Winter clothes
• Hang a few pictures
• Put pictures in albums
• Try to start buying a few Christmas gifts
• Help more at church
• Become more efficient
• Clean the garage
• Find a job closer to home
• Work on my tan :)
• Loose 5-10lbs
• Tone Up
• Be a better wife
• Be a better mom

This is not my entire list, but it's enough. I am sure I could think of a million more things to put on here, but I would feel to overwhelmed.

August 25, 2008

So…I thought I would finally take the time to post about my labor and delivery experience while it is still pretty fresh in my memory, like I could really forget. I guess you could forget little things, but anyway…I didn’t tell every little thing, some things I did, but not everything, and there’s no yucky details.  If you really want to know, just ask and I will share.

So I go to my regularly scheduled weekly appointment Monday August 25 and my appointment was later than usual and the office was busier than usual. My appointment was at 10, but I get there early to try to hurry and get to work. Yes…working and almost 39 weeks pregnant! It was a yuck day that day, mostly because of Hurricane Faye. I get to the doctor’s office and wait and wait and wait. It was taking forever. I was just talking with a few people in the office that I knew. Finally I got called back and did the usual finger prick and pee in the cup. Back out front til there was a room ready. I don’t think I saw Dr. Edwards til 10:30 or 11 and I had been there since about 9. When I finally saw him and he checked me he said, “Wow…you’ve been contracting!” I had dilated to 3cm after being 1cm for over a month and I had also thinned out considerably. And my blood pressure was a little high and I was pretty swollen. He asked me if I could go on to the hospital and I was completely shocked!! I totally wasn’t expecting that. I mean I felt fine. I was even going to go to work. I wasn’t in any pain or anything. The whole time I had been thinking he was just going to tell me he would see me the foll0wing week and I would be over 40 weeks and miserable. But no, he told me basically what I wanted to hear and I couldn’t believe it and was questioning him. He told me to go get my bags and head to the hospital. He would go ahead and call and let them know that I was on my way. So I put my clothes back on and call Chad. He didn’t answer!! I called him again and Ashleigh (she goes to our church and works with Dr. Aswell who also goes to our church) answered on speaker phone. He was at the dentist and I had no clue! I told him that he was sending me to the hospital and all 3 couldn’t believe it! I make a trip to the bank and then head home to finish packing my stuff.


We head to the hospital after making one stop at Arby’s for Chad to get some lunch. I can remember feeling so nervous and anxious about what would take place in the next couple of hours. Would I be in a lot of pain? Could I handle it? Would I have to have a C-Section? Wonder what she will look like? I’M GOING TO BE A MOM????


We made it the hospital around 12:30-1:00 with my parents not to far behind us. We found the nurses station and they take us into the room where everything took place. Right away they made me take all my clothes off and put on the lovely gowns, get in the bed, ask a thousand questions, draw my blood and start iv fluids. The nurse checked me and I was still at 3cm. Then they started the potocin. I think around 3pm Dr. Cynthia Jones, the on call doctor came by and broke my water. I think that was the order. That is probably the weirdest thing ever. I was like this huge stream of warm water gushing out of you. It was crazy. I remember kind of laughing about how it felt and it would just come harder. It didn’t take to long for me to get uncomfortable. I just felt really sharp pains in the lower half of my stomach and pressure in my bottom, almost like I was fixing to let out a lot of gas. It didn’t take too much of that for me to want the epidural! I had to finish the iv fluids before they could give it to me, but they went ahead and let the anesthesiologist know. I remember taking some kind of medicine like pepto to coat my stomach before taking the epidural and that made me sick. I only got sick one other time and I think it was after I had the epidural. I am so glad of all mornings I didn’t eat breakfast. That could’ve been a lot worse. So I was finally able to get the epidural and it is probably the best thing ever. I was really nervous about getting it, but it wasn’t bad at all. It almost like you and your body know that you really want it so you will do whatever it takes to get it. I actually felt relief to sit up on the edge of the bed. So I curl my back up like a shrimp to take the epidural and remember him tapping my back to find the right place. It was taking a little while and he asked me if I was having any back spasms. I said no, I didn’t think so. I started to get nervous that something was going wrong. He just asked me to curl up as much as possible. He kept tapping around and finally found it. It did hurt for just a few minutes, but it really wasn’t that bad. Then he used like an entire roll of tape on my back to make sure it wouldn’t come out. I was fine with that. I didn’t want it to come out either! Now this ended up being the only that Chad didn’t get to watch. He watched everything even the doctor breaking my water and when I got my catheter. He was a little aggravated at the doctor when he didn’t get to watch him put the epidural in, but he got over it and just stood in front of me and held my hand. I think I did about squeeze it off when it was getting the epidural. So after getting the epidural everything was great! I basically laid in the bed and talked to everybody and my nurses. All of my nurses were wonderful! They were all fairly young and so nice. Around 8pm I was at 10cm with just a little bit of cervix left. The nurse told me that we could start practice pushes and move that cervix out of the way. We did that for about an hour. It really wasn’t bad. I remember her laughing at me, because in between contractions I would just lay there and play with my hair. I kept saying, “I can’t believe I am doing this?” Around 9pm the nurse called the doctor and I pushed a couple of times for her. They started getting everything ready, putting the cloth on me and at 9:19pm Olivia was born! It felt like such a relief when she came out. It was an amazing feeling seeing her for the first time. I couldn’t believe that was our baby and that I actually had her! She was beautiful!! She weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 19 ½ inches long.

She is the best baby! I don’t think she could be any better. She is so laid back and easy going. We are so in LOVE with HER.

Fireproof

Last Saturday night our Sunday school class went out to eat and went to the movie Fireproof. I had heard it was a really good movie. I think I was a little surprised at how good it actually was. It really makes you took a look at your marriage from the man and woman's perspective. I don't want to give to many details if you haven't seen the movie yet, but I REALLY think every couple should go and see it.
Here's a link to the trailer.
To end this post I want to say Thank You to my husband! He is a wonderful Husband and Father!! I have been so amazed of how he is with Olivia. I knew he would be good, just not this good! He helps me so much, I don't know what I would do without him. I think a baby really does change your relationship. I love Chad more than ever and it just keeps growing!!

I need you like a hurricane

"Hurricane" by Jimmy Needham

I have built a city here
Half with pride and half with fear
Just wanted a safer place to hide
I don't want to be safe tonight

CHORUS
I need You like a hurricane
Thunder crashing, wind and rain
To tear my walls down
I'm only Yours now
I need you like a burning flame
A wild fire untamed
To burn these walls down
I'm only Yours now
I'm only Yours now

I am Yours and You are mine
You know far better than I
And if destruction's what I need
Then I'll receive it Lord from Thee
Yes, I will receive it Lord from Thee

(Chorus)

And it's Your eye in the storm
Watching over me
And it's Your eye in the storm
Wanting only good for me
And if You are the war
Let me be the casualty
Til I'm Yours alone
I am only Yours
I am Yours alone, Lord

I have a little radio that I listen to at work and I hear this song at least 3 times a day. It has become one of my favorites. Sometimes when I listen to songs I am not "really listening" you know...I am not really listening to the words and what they mean. One day when I was driving down the road and this song came on I really paid attention and it got me thinking. I need God to be like a hurricane in my life. Thunder crashing wind a rain to tear my walls down. I am saying I am here God, do with me as you please! I need You! Then the verse says I am yours and you are mine you know far better than I and if destruction's what I need then I'll receive it Lord from Thee. Sometimes I think that is something I really struggle with. Knowing that God is in control of my life and he is going to take care of everything. He knows far better than I! Why is it so hard for me to just let go and let God?

Hmm...

I am starting to get the hang of this blogging thing. Now I just need to make the time to post more often. I promise to update soon!

Kissy Paw-Paw

Meet my Kissy Paw-Paw. He is probably the most loving compassionate person you will ever meet! He recently had a heart attack and we almost lost him. It was very scary. As far as we knew, him included, he was fairly healthy and very active. Two weeks ago today he had triple bypass. He has been at home for a week now and seems to be doing fairly well. I pray that everything continues to go well and that he will be with us several more years. I don't know what we would do if he wasn't here. I usually call everyday to talk to him and my dad. (He has been staying up there through the week taking care of him. The doctor wanted someone to be with him for the first 2 weeks after he came home.) Everytime I talk to him I can't ask about him because he always wants to check on me and "his baby girl" - Olivia. I hope that Olivia gets to actually know both of my grandparents and not just meet them.

I read this quote today and I can't get it out of my head. It doesn't nessecarily go along with what I am talking

about, but in a way it does, and this my blog and I can post whatever I want to, right? :D

" When God leads you to the edge of a cliff, trust HIM fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall or He'll teach you how to fly!!!"

My back hurts

My lower back is really hurting right now. I don't know if it's labor/baby related or just from sitting at my desk. I guess this could be a good sign. I think it's kind of funny when you start to get excited about feeling different or have pains in the last month of your pregnancy. I really wish I could go home and just lay down. Honestly, I don't even know why I am at work. I guess I am just killing time! It also doesn't help coming to work when everyday someone will ask me about being there. They just can't believe I am still here. I mean - I will go home if you want me to. It wouldn't bother me any.
Hmm...I picked up my rental car Tuesday after work. I don't really care for the car they gave me. I wish I had mine back. The car has this really funny smell. I don't if it's just my over sensitive nose or what, but it will not go away! It reminds me of a maw-maw's hairspray. It's soo strong and it makes you want to choke! It's also really boxy. I feel like I can't really see that good to get over and back out of places. My belly doesn't help much either, but I didn't seem to have problems in my car. I asked Chad yesterday if he thought they would give me a different car, because I really didn't like that one and he basically said no. I didn't even try calling to ask. Oh well...maybe I will have my car back Tuesday.

Olivia's Room

Her very own book.

& here is her coming home dress.

**I didn't take any time in trying to make this post "pretty." I don't think it would've mattered anyway. I really need to read up on blogging tips or something!

Sitting on Ready

My doctor likes to use that phrase. Today I am 38 weeks 6 days. I am more than ready for Olivia to be here and not be pregnant anymore. Just in the past week my feet and ankles have started to swell and this morning I didn't think I was going to be able to wear any of my sandals. I was starting to get really frustrated and was contemplating not going to work. I mean it was already 8:30 and it takes me about 45 minutes to get there!
I think I have everything ready for Olivia's arrival, now only if she would come. The nursery looks really good! I am very happy with the way it has turned out. The letters I ordered came in last week and we put those up. At first I wasn't quit sure how it would turn out, since it was just me and Chad putting them up. It was mostly Chad. He did a really good job! I will try and take some pictures tonight to post, although my photography skills are nothing compared to Amanda and Megan's. : )
So...in the last few days of my pregnancy, there couldn't have been anything more annoying than my friend backing into my car...In Her DRIVEWAY!! It was exactly what I wanted to deal with! I really don't know what she was thinking. I guess she was thinking, because I was sitting in the back seat knowing that she was getting a little close to my car and started saying, "Don't hit my car, don't hit...." and then she hit it!!! Ugghhh....it was horrible. All I could do was just sit there. I didn't even want to look. She backed up right into the driver's side door and fender. I was surprised the door would even open. I wish it would've somehow just been totaled! It probably would have been a lot easier to just get a new car and that would've been nice!
So...this afternoon I am going to pick up a rental. It should only take a couple of days to fix my car - or at least I hope.

In a good mood

So...I am in a pretty good mood today. I hope I just didn't jinks myself by saying/typing that. I got to pay off a bill today!!! YaY!!! It's not a huge bill, but it's still a monthly bill we (really Chad) owed. This weekend we sold one of his four wheelers, paid it off and made a little bit of money too!! I don't think Chad really wanted to sell it, because I was the one who really sold it, but he did anyway. He still has another one (that is paid for) and he rode it the most anyway. So now we have one less payment and a little extra money each month! It feels good to actually pay stuff off! Now...we just have to pay our cars off and our house...yeah right!! :D I don't think we will ever not have a mortgage payment. That would be REALLY nice though.



In other news - I had a doctor's appointment this morning AND he "checked" me today. I also had to take the Group B Strep test - which is just a culture from "down there". I was wondering when it would happen. I wasn't sure if it would be this visit or my next. I was semi-prepared but not really. I always like to have a warning of what he will do next time and I didn't have one. Oh well...it wasn't too bad, but it didn't feel nice either! So...I am 1 centimeter dilated and he said the she is defiantly head down or in his words, "There's her noggin." So now I will go to the doctor weekly. I have to admit I am already getting nervous. I mean it really could be any day. I hope she doesn't decide to stay in there forever. I really don't want to go over 40 weeks. Let's all pray that Olivia cooperates and makes a semi-early entrance. Maybe she will be ready a little early...there's not a lot of room in there!

Let's Give Them Something to Talk About

I don't have anything interesting to talk about. I don't know why or how I came up with that heading. It just popped in my head. I don't have anything to do and I am tired of looking at stuff on the internet, so I thought I should post something. Let's see.....This week is almost over. I will be kind of glad when it is. We are having VBS this week and it's starting to wear me out. We usually don't get home til 9:00. Which means I haven't washed any clothes this week or really done anything in my house. The house is okay the dirty clothes aren't. I like to try and wash clothes through the week so that way I don't have to spend the weekend washing. I was thinking about leaving VBS early tonight to try and wash at least 2 loads. I doubt I will be able to though.
I have some good news. I did order that lamp from Target for the nursery. When I placed the order on the 17th it said the estimated ship date wasn't until August 15th! I thought that's just great. Olivia could be here by then. I mean it's not that big of deal to have a lamp, but ya know how girls can be sometimes. I know how I am anyways... if there is something I really want and I get that in my head I can't quit thinking about it til I get it. I try not to be like that, but sometimes it's hard. So anyway...the lamp shade shipped yesterday!! I was excited. I was kind of thinking I should just look for something else, but now I will just have to find a base. And I think I am going to go with one I found from Pottery Barn Kids. I ordered the curtains last week and those should be at my house today or tomorrow. I did order the personalized letters from Layla Grace, but those won't ship for 4-6 weeks because they are hand made. If I wasn't so indecisive about things I would've already ordered them and probably had them by now. I have been looking at them for well over a month. I thought it was neat that the style I like used the name "Olivia"...I took that as a sign. It was meant to be. :D By the way...I went with Chalk as the font.
Hmmm...what else is there to talk about... Oh... I know something kind of funny. You know when your pregnant people will say the stupidest and funniest things sometimes. A lot of times I don't even have a response when I hear the stupid comments or questions. It's almost like I don't even know what to say. Also...if I had a $1 for every time someone or even the same person has asked me when I was due I would probably have a million dollars!! Seriously...I almost want to wear a sticker or something that says: DUE-AUGUST 28TH!!!- AND YES...IT'S A GIRL!!
Okay...now that I have that off my chest. This Sunday at church I was in the children's church and this little girl come up to me and started asking me questions. Now...first of all she is new to our church (her dad is our new minister of music) and I think she is like 5 years old. She was randomly asking me questions and then said "Hey your pregnant... you have a baby in there." And I just kind of laughed and said yeah, I am pregnant. Then she pointed at my belly button and said, "Is that its nose?" I thought I was going to die! It was pretty hilarious. I just laughed and told her no. I said that's my belly button. I will admit it makes weird shapes sometimes. It never pokes all the way out only the top part. Then sometimes it's completely flat and looks like I don't even have one.
Well...I guess that's all I have time for. I think I am fixing to slip on out of here!

Last Night

Last night was pretty annoying! I think I got a total of 3 hours of sleep. My stomach was "hurting" I guess it would be Braxton Hicks Contractions, but I am not real sure. Then I had Heart burn all night, but I would like to call it throat burn. It just feels like my throat is on fire no burning feelings in my chest. It felt as if I could throw up any second, but I would just kind of burp. After taking medicine I laid back down and dozzed off. Only to be awaken by a crazy dream. I had a dream that I ended up going into labor and I had nothing ready!! It was horrible!! I mean I have all the "stuff" and the most important the carseat, but it wasn't in my car. I didn't have any clothes for myself. I wasn't ready for anything. Olivia's room is a disaster. There is "stuff"-shower gifts- everywhere. I just haven't had the time to get in there and put things away. I don't even know where I want things to go. It seems like I can't slow down enough to get stuff done around my house or just have time for myself. I actually took off from work Friday just so I could clean my house. Who really plays hookie to clean their house?!? I didn't clean alll day, but I got a lot of stuff done but nothing really in Olivia's room though. I won't be able to work on anything this week because we are having VBS. Uggghhh...maybe this weekend I can't get a big part of it done or atleast I hope so. I don't have much time left.

I Am Still Alive

...If anyone cares. :D I haven't posted anything in over a month. I have been a bad blogger. I am sorry. I have had 2 posts that I was working on and never came back to them, so I just deleted them and started over. A lot has been going on in the past month and I don't think I have enough time to update you completely on everything.

Sunday was my shower for Olivia. It went really well. It was very overwhelming with all the gifts. I am still sorting through stuff and deciding where stuff will go. I think I will wait for my mom to get back from the Beach before I do to much more. I need her assistance. : )

I am still have a couple of things to do to the nursery. I still need a lamp, mirror and wall decor. I think I may have just found the lamp shade I am going to get. Thanks to Amanda. I was telling her some of the stuff I still need to do and she sent me some links of lamps she liked. One of them was one I had just looked at the other day online and thought it was really cute. It's from Target. It really does go with the bed skirt. I was thinking the same thing. Well...I know this is short, but I am really sleepy. Hopefully it will not be another month before I have another post.


Good Night.

Come on 5 O'Clock

What to talk about?? This week has been sooo boring at work. I really haven't done a whole lot of anything. Today has probably been the worse and 5:00 can't get here fast enough. So-I thought I could kill some more time blogging. :D I really don't have a lot of anything to say. ??? Let's see...I have ordered the invitations for my baby shower. I picked them up today. They turned out to be really cute. I just picked out the invitation yesterday and came up with the wording so that I could get them this week. I should've probably already had them and not have waited til the last minute. I told Bri (one of my friends) planning the shower that I wanted to do the invitations. That she didn't need to worry with that.

Here's the proof


I got the invitation from Paper Works on 1st Avenue North. They have a lot of really cute invitations, decorative paper, party supplies, etc...


Last night I didn't get home til 7:00! I wish I could get home everyday at like 4:00. That would be so nice!! I didn't cook last night so Mr had to fend for himself. Mom had cooked spaghetti and that sounded really good to me, but Chad hates spaghetti. Instead he ate Cream of Wheat (similar to Grits) and Grilled Cheese. I have never heard of Cream of Wheat until we started dating.


Our pool is starting to look a little green. It's not that bad and it wouldn't look that way if Chad would've vacuumed it when he said he would. I think we shocked it one night last week and when we did I told him that we would have to vacuum it the following night...We never did. So he PROMISED he would vacuum the pool Wednesday night. I didn't think he was ever going to do it...He didn't go out there til 9:30!!!! I almost told him to forget it! There is no sense in vacuuming it now. You can't even see everything. He vacuumed it anyway and left the pumps running all night! Sometimes I feel like I have to do everything!! I know it's not his fault because he has never had a pool and doesn't know how to really take care of them, but he should know, by now anyway, that you turn the pump off every night! It drives me crazy how he will wait til the last minute to do something, or until I go to do it and then he won't let me.???



We are leaving for the Beach tuesday morning!! I am so excited. I just hope I don't have any problems like my last beach trip. We are going down with another couple, Matt and Rebekah. Then Wednesday Eric, Brianna, Bryan and LaDonna are coming down.

10 Weeks To Go!?!?!

I can't believe 30 weeks has already gone by. It seems like yesterday I was trying to be sneaky about buying a pregnancy test. I just knew I wasn't pregnant and I would "start" any day. I sure was wrong! I think I took 4 pregnancy test. The first test I bought I said to myself that it was wrong. The lines weren't very dark. The next day I took 2 more store bought tests and one from a doctor's office. I remember thinking, are you serious...I just couldn't believe it. To be honest I was a little upset at first. I didn't know what Chad would think. And this just wasn't really part of "our plan." I really believe everything in life happens for a reason and God knows what he is doing!! Why is it so hard for us to realize that?
So...here I am 30 weeks later. It has been that bad. I am sure things could've been much worse. I just hope nothing too crazy happens these last 10 weeks. I know I probably shouldn't say that, but oh well. Somebody has to think positive.

Blahh...

I started this yesterday and never got to finish.



That is what I feel like. It started yesterday morning while I was getting ready for church. First of all...i didn't really get much sleep. Everytime I had to change sides I would wake up and my throat felt like it was on fire most of the night. I guess that would be heartburn. ??? I have never had heartburn before, so I keep describing my symptoms to Chad and I think he tells me everytime..."yes-that's heartburn." Before I ever took a shower I was in the bathroom...ya know...not throwing up, but "the other." Which is something I do quit often. It's really starting to get on my nerves. So...we went to church and I made it ok, felt somewhat better. Went to my parents house for Father's Day to eat lunch with my dad and just didn't really want to eat anything. I think I ate 2 pieces of corn on the cob. We went to the lake with some friends and rode their boat and I felt okay...We stayed out for awhile, finally getting back to their house around 7 ish. We ordered a pizza and watched a movie. I only ate one piece of pizza and ended up falling asleep on the couch. Chad woke me up after the movie went off to go home. It was around 10:00 when we got home. I got ready for bed, laid down and it wasn't 2 minutes later I was running to the bathroom. Just barely making it...Pizza is probably the worst thing I have thrown up to date. It was horrible! It's like I couldn't control it and it went everywhere... Poor Mr. (that's my name for Chad-I know it's weird) he had to help clean up the mess. So finally...we went back to bed and I was fine. Pregnancy can be so strange at times.



Saturday- We had the 4-D Sonar and it didn't quit turn out how I wanted it to. I was a little bit disappointed, but it is always neat to see what she looks like whether it's in 4-D or 2-D. Olivia just wouldn't cooperate. She had her hands and her feet up by her face. After taking measurements, looking around at everything and trying to get her to move. We took a break and I drank some caffeine and ate some crackers. It helped a little...there are a couple of okay pictures, but I have seen better. The sonographer kept saying she is just being stubborn today and Annetta would always say, "she is Chad's child!" I was really wanting to see if we would be able to see more of her features. I guess we will just have to wait until she actually gets here. I will try and post the pictures later.



Monday- I had a doctor's appointment. I had actually lost a little bit of weight, so they weren't too happy with that. I told my doctor how Sunday went and the past couple of weeks. He suggested taking Fiber con and increasing my fluid. Side note...I am so tired of drinking water. He thinks I could have a small case of irritable bowl syndrome. Other than that...everything looks good. I go back in two weeks-July 1st (my 22nd birthday!)

Baby Talk

I thought I would post some of my sonar pictures of Olivia. I can't wait to see what she will look like. I hope she looks a lot like her daddy! I think Chad has the prettiest eyes, the longest and thickest eyelashes and the best complexion I have ever seen! I wonder is she will have his eyebrows??? Poor thing...we both have thick eyebrows. The first picture was at 14 almost 15 weeks and the second picture was at 18 weeks. It's neat to see how much she grew in 4 weeks. In the second picture I am pretty sure that is the umbilical cord sticking up. It's still weird to me to think there is a baby inside me!! I still really don't feel that pregnant. My stomach is getting bigger but it's not uncomfortable yet...which is surprising. I thought that would be one of the weirdest things-to feel my stomach over my pants. Pregnancy is a CRAZY thing and it's really not what I thought or imagined it would be like. The kicks don't feel like what I thought they feel like. She still hasn't kicked me that hard, and yes I know-it's coming. Everybody keeps telling me that, about everything. "Just wait....you'll see...it's almost like they want me to miserable or something. Sometimes my mother-in-law can be the worst. I think she mostly just says things to aggravate me intentionally. She is funny like that, but I still love her. Anyway... Here is one of my favorite pictures of me and Chad. It's old-It was the day of my 19th Birthday. I think we will have a pretty baby! Don't you think so?