A birthday weekend

This weekend was really busy for us, especially since we've gotten used to staying in the house this first month. Friday night my sister and her husband, Cody, came in town and we grilled out at my dad's house. Then Saturday, for my mom's birthday we all celebrated by going to IHOP for breakfast, which was something she really enjoyed doing on Saturday mornings. She'd always order a cheese blintz with strawberries, and she loved when the whole family would go with her or just spending time with my dad for a quiet breakfast. This was Isabella's first trip to a restaurant, and she did very well although she did get a bit squirmy after only sitting in her seat for about 5 minutes.

After lunch, John and I left for Tuscaloosa for our niece, Gabrielle's birthday party. She's two years old and was so cute with her Elmo-themed birthday. We had a great time, and Isabella made the close to hour long trip without difficulty. (She slept most of the way.) Later we cooked at our house and my dad and sister and brother-in-law hung out for a while.

Isabella in her stroller

This is grandma Marga with Isabella.

Cousin Sophia and Isabella

Aunt Candace and Isabella

Isabella after her bath

My sweet girl

There's not much news today, but I wanted to add some cute pictures. Isabella found her thumb yesterday when she was fussing. I'm not so sure that's a good thing, but she did look cute with her tiny little thumb in her mouth. This is a picture of her napping in her crib.

Isabella has had a lot of visitors this week, including my good friends Roni (with her 7 month old daughter Elizabeth) and Ashley (with 1 1/2 year old son Drake.) This is a picture with her grandfather, my dad.

And this one is just cute; it's John, Isabella, and Rocky!

90 Minutes in Heaven

I just finished reading this book that my dad gave me to read a few months ago, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts about it. This book is written by a Baptist minister who was in a terrible car crash and was pronounced dead on contact. He has an amazing story in which he visits heaven and returns to earth after being dead for 90 minutes. I can't possibly give a description which will adequately tell his story, but it's pretty amazing and encouraging. He has a lot to say about heaven, but the part I liked best is that all his loved ones were there to greet him as he stood at the gates and they were the most joyous he'd ever seen them. He said they did not wish to be on earth, that they didn't regret leaving any of us behind because of the great joy they experienced in heaven. All of this may seem silly to some who may read this blog, but it's an encouragement to me to think that my mom is there waiting on me to join her one day and that she's so happy.

Since having Isabella, I've spent a lot of time missing my mom and wishing she were here, not just for mine and Isabella's sake but for her too. I hate that she didn't get to experience the joy of being a grandmother here on earth. Her birthday is this Saturday and I know it'll be a tough day for our family, but just thinking that she's in heaven and she's smiling the most beautiful smile because she's so happy and peaceful there, well, it just helps to think she's doing far better than us down here. I miss her so much, but I know that she's so much happier now that she's home.

Happy birthday a few days early, mom! I love you!

3 weeks old

Today Isabella saw the pediatrician for a checkup, and I'm pleased to announce that she did very well. He gave her a great report, pronouncing her as a very healthy little girl. She now weighs 8 lbs. 4 oz. and is 21 inches long. She's gained an ounce a day since her last visit, which really pleased the doctor. I told him that she's been fussy and gassy lately, and the doctor recommended that I cut dairy products from my diet to see if it helps. I love dairy, especially milk and ice cream, so this won't be fun for me. I'd do anything, though, to keep her from having an upset stomach. I hate seeing her cry.

I think the most popular question I get centers around how she's sleeping. She's doing alright, but I'm up with her every other hour to feed her and change her and then get her back to sleep. So, I'm not getting many hours in a row. Somehow, I'm still able to function though. I guess I'm adjusting. I'm being proactive though... the doctor, among others, has recommended a book called "The happiest baby on the block" which is supposed to have helpful advice on getting your baby to sleep longer hours. I'm sure a lot of it will come as she gets older, but I'm going .

I'm also ready to start getting out of the house with her. We've been advised to keep her out of public places for 4-6 weeks (to keep her from getting sick.) I'm getting a little stir crazy though, so we may start running short errands to break up the monotony of the day.

Our favorite part of the day is getting out on our patio and swinging together. Isabella and I just love the peace of being outside together. She looks all around and I just enjoy holding her.

John and I've been very blessed with this sweet little baby. We're so excited to see her grow and change. She's already grown so much and I'm a little sad to see her getting bigger, but also excited to see what she's going to be like as she grows up.

Getting her new measurements gave me the idea to play dress up with some of the clothes she's can now fit into.

This is Isabella in a dress that her Aunt Lauren and Uncle Cody gave her, sitting by her duck that they gave her the day she was born. This is Isabella and Tommy (John's favorite teddy bear when he was little, which he is giving to Isabella now.) and she's wearing a sundress her daddy picked out. And this is the bonnet that goes with it, which is obviously way too big for her right now. Maybe she'll grow into it before she grows out of the dress!

Are you ready for a change of pace?

Isabella is 2 1/2 weeks old now; I just can't believe how big she's getting. She's not doing anything really exciting, but it seems like I could just watch her sleep or make funny faces.

She makes so many precious noises and her facial expressions are adorable. I guess that's the new mom in me. We went to see the pediatrician on July 5th and she was doing great. She's growing like she should and everything was normal. We see the pediatrician again this coming Monday, and I'll post another update after that.

This picture is one of John helping Isabella do one of the few activities she participates in right now.

My days are alot alike. I feed Isabella every 2 hours and play with her or nap during the hour in between. I try to get rest when she's resting but it's hard to get sleep in such small windows. My family has been so supportive and helpful these last few weeks, and John's been a wonderful dad and husband. He's great with Isabella; you can tell she already adores him.

John and I went out on a date for dinner on Saturday night while his mom kept Isabella. We were only able to go for about an hour since Isabella is eating so often, but it was nice to get out of the house just the two of us. I'm looking forward to when we all get out a little more often. The doctors have recommended that we not take her in public for at least 4-8 weeks, and we shouldn't start bottle feeding for 3-6 weeks. But I'm just enjoying my quiet time with her at home. She's such precious little blessing for us and I already can't imagine my life without her.

Happy 4th of July (a little late)!

I'm finding that as a new mom there's a lot of things I plan to do that just don't get done when I thought they would. What I'm speaking of at this time is this blog. I've said everyday this past week that I'm going to update everyone and share some pictures of our little girl.










She arrived on Monday morning at 7:16, June 30, 2008 a few days earlier than her July 4 predicted due date. I was the happiest of all to have her here early, and I'm guessing John was the 2nd happiest to hear an end to pregnancy complaints. Of course, neither of us knew a lot of what to expect as far as the afterbirth complaints, so we just traded the old ones for some new ones.


Here are the details... I started having very, very mild contractions throughout the day on Saturday last week, but I really was able to ignore them and wasn't even sure whether to call them contractions. On Sunday morning, my contractions were stronger, although still mild, but coming at 4-6 minute intervals. I called the nurse and spoke with her and she advised me to stay home until they were strong enough that I had difficulty talking, but not to wait if they got closer together. John and I were getting ready to go to the hospital, showering, packing, etc. I called my sister in Nashville and she headed to Birmingham. We called family and told them it could be anytime now. By lunchtime though the contractions were spreading back out to 20 and 30 minutes apart. By mid-afternoon I quit timing them because I was so frustrated. I walked multiple times that day and played the Wii for a few hours that night just to be active and help the contractions along. By 9:30 that night the contractions were back to 15-20 minutes apart and the rest of the evening they steadily progressed to 10 and then 8 minutes apart and they were getting much stronger. I wasn't getting much sleep because I was waking for every contraction, so I started planning to get up and shower and eat breakfast (and this is about 2:30 am.) About 2:45 all plans to take my time flew out the window, because I felt a pop and my water broke. My contractions went from 8 to 3 minutes apart just like that and they were SIGNIFICANTLY more painful. I knew what the nurse meant about not being able to talk through them at that point. So, I got John up and thankfully everything was in the car already so we headed to the hospital. When we got there the contractions were 1 1/2 to 2 minutes apart and lasting more than a minute, not much break by the way. I was able to walk to the 3rd floor nurses station and sign in all while having a contraction. The nurse took me back to check me out, but I was not taken to the huge room where you deliver babies, instead I went to a triage room. The nurse checked and said (in a very surprised tone) that I was 6-7 cm dilated already. She also commented that I was so calm walking in that she was sure I wasn't in labor and I would be going home soon. (Apparently, you should make a really big fuss when you get there so they take you seriously... note to all expectant moms out there.) She confirmed that my water had broken and wheeled me to the big delivery room. They had to get blood work and get results before the anasthesiologist could give me an epidural, but they finally got everything ready and Dr. Carlson (the best doctor ever!) came in to give me my pain relief. I was much more comfortable at that point, so I'll skip ahead. I got to the hospital about 3:45 and delivered little Isabella at 7:16 am. She was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20.5 inches long. She's just beautiful in my opinion. It's by far the most surreal moment of my life to hold her in my arm after feeling her inside me for 9 months.

This is just after Isabella's first bath, which I will tell you she did not enjoy. She turned red all over she was screaming so loud, well, right up until I scrubbed her head. She actually seemed to like that part, but who doesn't like to get their hair washed?

This is aunt Lauren giving Rocky a treat for being a new big brother, so he wouldn't feel left out.
This is me and my little angel on 4th of July. I debated getting her an outfit, since I wasn't sure she'd be here to wear it. I'm glad for the surprise.

Our new family!