Wordless Wednesday.

silly son!

I was putting lotion on my hands this morning and a few seconds later Gavin says, "Mommy, that stinks good."

Love him.

Take a look at the blog list to the left - these are some of the awesome blogs I enjoy reading - have fun =)

Not Me Monday.

Quickly before my 'Not Me Monday' post - Gabby met her Great Grammie for the first time yesterday.  I will post about that with photos later tonight, hopefully!  I don't have time right now because I need to head in to work soon for my annual evaluation with my director.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not fall asleep in a t-shirt covered in formula from my adorable little girl.. that would be gross!

I do not stare at my son's gorgeous eye lashes every chance I get.  I do not wonder how I can somehow capture their true length in a photograph - [after hundreds of frames there still isn't a good shot]..

There's no way I'd spend at least a couple of hours a day dreaming about building a beautiful new home with my husband.

I do not lay in bed at night and think about blog ideas while I'm trying to fall asleep!

I do not think my husband looks super cute on his motorcycle.. too dangerous =)

I would not stand in my kitchen and eat a chocolate chip cookie only seconds after dreaming and wishing I was back to my pre-pregnancy size..

I did not purposely put this outfit on my son..

(okay, let me explain - he did have jeans on but accidentally went pee pee on them so I just put him pj pants on and didn't bother to change his shirt!!)

Grateful.

Before you read this post please understand it's going to be different from the others.  It's a little "deeper" and, well, I guess you could say more serious than previous posts.

I was very naive when I got pregnant with Gavin.  He was not a planned baby.. Steven and I were engaged and planning a lovely wedding and were completely shocked when there were 2 lines on that stick instead on 1.  I say I was naive because I didn't understand what so many women go through to become pregnant.  I didn't understand how many women suffer loss after loss after loss.  I didn't understand how many families spend thousands of dollars on fertility treatments to hopefully conceive a child, never knowing for sure if the treatments will actually work.  I didn't understand how many families decide to proceed with adoption as a way to build their family and the magnitude of that process.  These things never crossed my mind during my pregnancy with Gavin, and therefore I don't think I embraced or appreciated that pregnancy as much as I should have.  Don't get me wrong, after the brief, "oh crap, this was not the plan, oh crap, what do we tell our families, oh crap, I'm going to be a mom, oh crap, oh crap oh crap" Steven and I were extremely excited but looking back I was not nearly as grateful or as thankful as I should have been.

When Steven and I were trying for baby #2 I was becoming discouraged because I thought it was taking forever and I was scared it was never going to happen.  [looking back, it only took 10 months for us to become pregnant, which is really not a long time at all] I decided to reach out on-line for support so I joined a discussion board on babycenter.com.  I stumbled across a woman's profile with a link to her blog so I decided to sneak a peak (yes, I am nosey!)  This blogged changed me.. it was about a young couple who's son was born still at 22 weeks.  After a very healthy and normal pregnancy their son had no heartbeat at their 22 week ultrasound.  This blog took me on a journey to many other blogs that detailed the lives of families who had lost their babies, either while still in the womb or shortly after delivery.  These and other blogs also detailed some of the couples journeys to get pregnant.. several months of  lab work, injections, egg retrievals, IUI procedures, IVF procedures, such difficult procedures with no guaranteed end result.  It may sound strange that I wanted, almost needed, to read about these families and their tragedies but they were so very inspiring to me.  The strength, faith and love these families shared through their blogs were so powerful (and yes, these were complete strangers to me). 

In April when I became pregnant with Gummy Bear I couldn't help but feel scared because I was so much more aware of miscarriages and stillbirths - I would never be able to handle the loss of this baby as gracefully as some of these other families have - but I also felt incredibly thankful and blessed and lucky.  This feeling was so different than anything I felt when I became pregnant with Gavin.  As I said before, I was naive back then, but now it's safe to say that 3 years, a new job in the field of adoption and a brave families and their blogs can certainly change a person.

When Gabrielle cries and wants a bottle at 3 a.m. and I really struggle to get out of bed I think of the thousands of families that would love to stumble out of bed and reach for their infant to feed them.  When I have to clean up Gavin's yucky vomit on the kitchen floor I again think of these families who would love to have a son's vomit to clean.

Every single time I look at Gabrielle and Gavin I simply say, thank You.  Thank You that we were able to conceive without any interventions, thank You that both pregnancies were without any major complications, thank You that both children were born healthy, thank You that both children have continued on that healthy path, simply, thank You.  I wonder sometimes why we are the lucky ones, blessed with 2 healthy children, a boy and a girl.. what some call "the million dollar family."  I try not to question His plan but when some wonderful families are faced with such terrible losses and others are so abundantly blessed I sometimes get confused.

I guess to sum things up, I feel like the luckiest momma to have these 2 amazing, loving, beautiful children and I am so grateful to those brave families who share their stories of loss and grief and hope, you all have inspired me and changed me in many many ways and I am a much better mother because of it.

 

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!"

SMILES!!!

I got 2 huge [non-gas related] smiles today from my little sweet potato!! She just melts my heart =)

Gabrielle is 1 month old!

My little sweet potato is already one month old.. how is that possible?!  I continue to fall in love with her each time I see her beautiful face.  She has forever changed me and our family and we are so blessed to have her! Here is a snippet of your past month Miss Gabby!

• You now weigh 9 lbs 8 oz and are 22 inches long!
• You had your first visit with Santa and enjoyed your very first Christmas!
• You helped Daddy celebrate his 32nd birthday and helped us ring in 2010!
• You have taken trips to Target, Babies.R.Us and the mall - Mommy's little shopper!
• Your eyelashes have grown a bunch the past month.
• You're one of the only babies I know that doesn't hate tummy time.
• You have a very loud cry when you are hungry.
• You may hate me for this one.. but you are a very gassy girl!
• You seem to enjoy baths.
• You like to hear the water running when we are getting your bottles ready (just like your big brother when he was a baby!)
• You have been amazing on car rides!
• I cannot believe how strong your neck is already.
• You have the most adorable dimples when you smile (which you still only seem to do when you have gas!)
• You have really long fingers and finger nails.
• The "It's Good" position has become your favorite way to lay. (this too was your big brother's favorite way to lay!)
• You are still in newborn size clothing and are wearing size 1 diapers!
• When you were about 2 1/2 weeks old you decided you did not like being wrapped up like a little burrito!
• You are drinking anywhere from 2 to 5 ounces every 3ish hours.
• You sleep a little longer at night.. there were 2 nights when you slept for 5 hours straight and 1 night when you slept for 7 hours straight!
• You love to check out your surroundings and are definitely starting to respond to voices and faces.
• You have the most adorable nose!
  

 

 

 

 

 

Gabby did see the doctor today for her one month well baby check up!  Dr. Scott said she looks wonderful and he even commented on her very petite little girly features =)  He said sometimes it's hard with newborns to determine their gender just by their facial features and joked that without the pink and blue blankets in the hospital he would have no idea 95% of the time but not with our little chick-a-dee!  Gabby got the second round of her hepB shot.. not fun!  My poor peanut cried good for about a minute but then we snuggled and she was fine.  We go back in a month for her 2 month well baby check!

 

 

 

the first photo is right before we left for the doctor - and check out her little boo-boo lip in the 3rd photo.. poor little girl!

After her doctor visit we went to Bethany so I could get my annual self-evaluation complete and so we could visit with all my awesome coworkers!  I caught the tail end of our staff meeting and decided it would be really neat to take a photo of my daughter with all my coworkers - these people are like family to me and are all so supportive and caring and inspiring Christians.  I miss these gals (and Mark, I guess!) and it looks like I will be putting on my "pregnancy counselor" hat again at the beginning of February.

My first "not me" Monday.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I love reading these on other blogs so I thought I would try to start doing it myself - hopefully I will stick to it and my "Not Me" Monday posts will be enjoyable and most likely embarrassing!!

There is no way I would have let Gabrielle sleep in my bed with me for 3 hours so I could get some rest, nope, not me!

My 3 year old son would not be allowed to watch Cops just so my husband and I could laugh at him singing Bad Boys Bad Boys.. 3 is just too young to watch such a show!

I'm definitely not obsessed with my daughter's nose, I do not poke it every chance I get.

I did not make Gavin get me a glass of water today because I was too lazy to move, that would be too pitiful.

I do not try on my "fat" jeans after almost every shower and practically cry because they still don't fit.. [which I guess goes hand in hand with - I did not gain 4 pounds over the Christmas holiday because I totally let myself go.. no way, not this momma.]

No way does my son tell me every day that he wants a dirt bike when he gets older - and no way do I pray after each time he tells me that he will change his mind when he's older.

The total number of photos taken during Gabrielle's birth/hospital time did not total over 375.. and I have not taken at least 20 or more of her and her big brother since she came home.