"One week"
Well,
Sophie has officially been a part of our family for a week now. How
truly blessed we are to have her here. We continue to adjust to having
two children, but I can't imagine not having both of them as part of our
family. Josiah is really loving his "baby." This morning I was coming
down the stairs and he heard us. He said "Momma, Baby!" While eating
breakfast he wanted to get up on the table (we had Sophie in her bouncy
seat on the table) to see "Baby." He loves giving her kisses and gets
concerned when she doesn't have a hat on her head. Watching how gentle
he is makes me smile--he is learning from Daddy on how to be gentle with
girls. I couldn't think of a better man to show Josiah the ropes.
Today
is my first day home with just the kids. I will have a friend come
over around lunch and nap time to lift Josiah into his highchair and
crib for me. It'll be another week before I can pick him up again.
Even though I'm feeling great and feel like I could do it if needed,
I've decided it probably best to follow doctor's orders.
We
thank you for the continued prayers. God has truly blessed us in many
ways. Please continue to pray as we learn about our sweet, little
Sophie. We have learned that things we did for Josiah don't necessarily
work for Sophie. How truly amazing God is when creating life and
thankful that we aren't all alike.
Well,
we are trying to wait patiently for Sophie's arrival. I'm definitely
ready to have her here. We went to the doctor last Thursday, and I was
almost 2cm, 70% effaced and -2 station. That night I lost my plug and
started to have some contractions. We thought that she would be
arriving. Well, she didn't! I've been having contractions on and off
since then, but nothing to have us head to the hospital. Today we went
to the mall to walk around trying to coax her out. It worked on
Josiah, so we will have to see if his sister is going to be as
cooperative. We are definitely ready for her--room is finished,
suitcases are packed and in the car, lists are made for Josiah's care.
I'm trying not to get too antsy, but I'm ready to be able to see my feet
again and put my socks and shoes on without any help. We will keep you
posted on any progress--the hospital has wireless, so we should be able
to post pictures while we are there. Keep us in your prayers as we
wait for her arrival and to enjoy these last few days with just our
sweet little boy!
It's
Christmas Eve, and we had another doctor appointment today. The doctor
said that I'm still a good centimeter, but that I'm over 50% effaced.
She felt very confident that Sophie wouldn't arrive on Christmas. Her
estimate is in 2 to 3 weeks our little girl will be joining our family.
I keep telling Chris it will be January 7th that she will arrive. He
keeps saying, she needs to come after January 9th since he will be
having a youth lock-in on January 8th. I guess we will have to wait and
see when she gets here. I am getting a little more tired each day. I
think it's because I'm not sleeping well at night and the fact that my
body is getting ready to have her. Chris continues to be an amazing
husband by doing as much as he can to help me get my rest. Heis working
his schedule so he can be home earlier in the afternnon after Josiah
gets up from his nap. I am truly blessed to have such a loving and
caring husband who truly knows the meaning of servanthood.
We'll
keep you posted on Sophie's progress. I'll try to get pictures up from
Christmas as soon as possible. Again, we wish you a very Merry
CHRISTmas.
I
went to the doctor on Friday and found out that Sophie is head
down....and I've dialated a "good centimeter." Chris has said
repeatedly that I will be having Sophie before her due date, so we will
just have to wait and see. I have been having LOTS more pressure and
have been way more tired. It's been hard getting around, but we
manage. Chris has been a big help with Josiah, so I'm thankful for
that. It is hard to pick up and carry 23 lbs.
Sophie's
nursery is all done except for the rocking chair. I've even gotten all
her things we will need for the hospital. Now, I just need to get my
things ready. I guess since I've started dialating the doctors are
wanting to see me every week. So I go back on Dec. 24th for another
check check-up.
We can't believe that CHRISTmas is less than a
week away. We are looking forward to having Josiah's "first"
CHRISTmas. I know he had one last year, but he wasn't really interested
in all the CHRISTmas traditions and fun. This year, he has really
gotten in to doing his advent chart each night. We have a little book
with a Bible verse that we read and then he has to put a sticker on the
path that leads Mary and Joseph to the manager. He has a lot of fun
putting the sticker on. If we haven't done it by the end of dinner, he
points to where his book is and signs "please." We look forward to the
future with Sophie and having a time of advent devotions with the two of
them.
Well,
we survived our first blizzard as a family. We got around 22 inches of
snow! This was Chris and Josiah's first big snowfall. I think it was
pretty special that they could experience that together. Chris worked
extra hard outside keeping the walks clear and the car cleaned off--just
in case. He also had to work extra hard because all he had was a
garden shovel. I've yet to let him live down the fact that earlier in
the week I told him he should go ahead an buy a snow shovel, and he said
that he would get one later. Well, Friday night, he was out looking
for one---and surprise---they were all sold out! I told him that either
he or I will be buying a shovel this week because I'm not going into
labor with a possible snow storm and watching him shovel with a garden
shovel!
Josiah enjoyed being
outside, but we weren't really surprised by that. He was enjoying the
snow until he tripped and fell face first into a pile of snow. After
that, he wasn't too sure about it. We went back out today, and he was
fine with the snow again. We didn't do too much with the snow except
pick up balls of snow and toss them. I think if he was just a little
bit older and I wasn't so pregnant, we could of had more fun.
We
are suppose to get more snow on CHRISTmas day, so I hope they are
correct and we get to have a white CHRISTmas. Come back after
CHRISTmas to see all the fun pictures we take.
Well,
I just got home a little bit ago from Sophie's baby shower at our
church. All I can say is, "WOW!" Our church family has truly blessed
us with showering Sophie. I feel like we are definitely ready for our
little one to arrive. We were blessed with some adorable girly clothes,
diapers, blankets, burp clothes, lamp for her room, toys, changing pad,
books, onesies and crib sheets. We have seen the love our church has
for Josiah, and we know that Sophie will be just as loved.
I'm
in the process of washing all of her things. Josiah was a big helper
as I was cutting all the tags off. A couple of times he threw some of
her clothing in the trash bag, but that didn't stop me from letting him
help. One of the ladies gave Josiah a "Big Brother" gift. A fire truck
with lots of buttons that make cool noises. He has been enjoying it
since he opened it up.
I hope to get the pictures downloaded
in the next few days. The next 7 weeks are definitely going to go by
very quickly. We have a nursery to finish and bags to pack and a little
boy to continue to love on plus Christmas and Chris' birthday. I would
much rather the next few weeks go by quickly than slowly--I might
regret thinking that! 
Until next time...take care and enjoy this CHRISTmas season!
Well,
we are having our first snowfall of the season. It is 4pm and it's
been snowing since about 7am. It's been snowing pretty consistently, so
we have quite a bit of the white stuff. We did bundle Josiah up and
took him outside for a little stroll to get the mail. Mommy had a hard
time finding a jacket to button up with my big ol' Sophie belly. I
wasn't too cold because as Chris put it, "You have a built in heater."
Josiah looked like a marshmallow man with his winter jacket on--I will
be posting pictures at some point today.
We've
had a pretty lazy day. We started off this morning by having a family
breakfast of pancakes as we watched the snow falling. Then we played in
front of the fireplace. I was able to get my Christmas letters in the
envelopes--now we just need to seal them--I think I was pass that job
off to Chris--all that glue CAN'T be safe for Sophie!
Then we had some baked potatoes for lunch with all the fixin's and then
took a nap. We will probably hang out and play some more before we
make Calzones for dinner. Good think I'm pregnant so I don't have to
feel bad about eating all this good food.
I was supposed to
have a baby shower today, but because the snow came earlier than
expected we thought it best to let everyone stay in the safety of their
home. If church isn't cancelled tomorrow then we will just do after the
service. With all this snow, I'm praying that Sophie's day of arrival
won't be filled with a big snow storm.
Everyone is doing well
though. Josiah and I have had a bit of a stomach bug since last
weekend. No fevers or anything, so we're thankful for that. I'm doing
much better, but Josiah still has his moments when things aren't
settling very well. He's been in great spirits and still full of
energy, so I guess he isn't too bothered by it!
I can't
believe we are only 7 weeks away from our due date. Chris has started
some painting. He primed Josiah's room yesterday and plans to paint it
on Tuesday, then paint Sophie's room on Friday. We got her bedding
yesterday and still waiting for the changing table to arrive. So before
much longer we will have her nursery all ready for her arrival. I will
try to get Chris to take a picture of my belly, so you can see the
growth that she is making.
Well, I should get going--Josiah
has figured out how to take the knobs off from our cabinet, so I guess I
need to go do a little more supervising before he destroys something
serious!
