Things Pondered, part III

(For the first two "Things Pondered" posts, click here and here )

At 3:29pm today, my sweet Evelyn Joy turned 3 years old. With Matthew's arrival last week, I have been even more aware of how big she is getting. Seems like just yesterday she was a little bundle like her brother. Now she is a fairly independent little girl who loves life and brings us so much joy. I really can't imagine life without her. I have cried quite a bit today. Happy tears that she is healthy and growing physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And yes, a few sad tears at the fact that she is growing up too darn fast!

Here is a recap of my big 3 year old's day!

This was Thursday night. She feel asleep a 2 year old....

...and "I woke up THREE!!!"

We started with her favorite.. cinnamon rolls! With a candle and singing of course!!

The rest of the day was spent playing with her presents, playing multiple games of Candyland with her daddy, and plenty of birthday fun. She had many phone calls today, too.. which she thought was the coolest!

For dinner, we met my mom and her husband for dinner at Evelyn's favorite restaurant, Red Robin. Seriously.. she loves the place. We don't go out much.. but when we do, its her number one choice! She had fun opening up all of her presents from Grandma and Grandpa Doug.. and of course getting sang to by the wait staff and eating ice cream were the tops, too!

Looking thru her new Tinkerbell sticker book! (while Grandma loves on Matthew!)

Lovin' every bit of that sundae!!

One last picture. So.. many of you know that my sweet pea loves, and I mean LOVES Fisher Price Little People. Well, my mom got her a small set as one of her birthday presents. We told Evelyn she had to wait til tomorrow morning to open it as was late when we got home from dinner. After we got her to bed, I came out and found this:

The box is the new stuff... she put those 3 other people just like that.. as if they were either window shopping or keeping and eye on her new loot! She cracks us up!

Evelyn Joy... we are so thankful for you. You make mommy and daddy smile, both on our faces and in our hearts. We pray that God blesses you this year in many ways, and that all your dreams come true. We love you!!


"... and Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" Luke 2:19

Oh, BABY!!.

A week ago today I gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy I have ever seen!! It has been quite the week of adjustment for all of us, but we are SO thankful for Matthew's arrival! Many of you have asked "So... how was it?". Well, it was full of many blessings from the beginning. God's hand was truly on us the entire time. So, without being too graphic.. hee hee... here's the basics of what happened December 2, 2009.

Let's go back to Tuesday, the 1st. I was SO ready to be done being pregnant I was becoming cranky about it. It was a nice afternoon so Evelyn, Jody and I go for a walk.. hoping that maybe some good exercise will bring on labor. And wouldn'tcha know.. it worked!!

Wednesday, December 2nd:

1AM: Got up to got the bathroom and my water broke. Contractions started getting pretty intense right away, but manageable. It took a little bit getting things into the car, getting Jody settled (she came over to watch Evelyn), and saying goodbye to my sweet pea (she woke up briefly.. I only cried a little bit! heehee). I knew I had some time so we weren't in a huge rush.
2:15AM: Arrived at the hospital. Realized I should have had something to eat before I left the house.. only liquids from here on out. I wasn't hungry at home... of course, I was starving when I got checked in! UGH!
5:30AM: Epidural in... WOOOHOO!!
6AM-10:30ish: Spent time sleeping, making phone calls, getting sick (my own fault.. I secretly chugged some water cuz I was thirsty. Bad idea...), chatting with my AWESOME nurse Sue, etc.
10:30AM: I was fully dilated.. but was too numb so they turned my epidural off and we had to wait until I had a bit more ability to push.
11:30AM: Time to push...
11:53AM: After a few pushes, the AWESOME Dr. Dalke pulled Matthew Donald out and onto my chest. What an amazing moment!!


Stats:
Matthew Donald Morris
12/2/09 11:53AM
8 pounds, 3 ounces
20 1/2 inches long

He looks A LOT like his sister did!

Evelyn 12/06

Doug and I have prayed, first and foremost, that Matthew would be healthy, which he appears to be. Then, we prayed that he would eat and sleep! :) Many of you know that Evelyn did NOT eat and we had many struggles with her gaining weight and growing. And most of you know that my sweet pea didn't sleep thru the night until September of this year!! God has been SO good to us in that Matthew both eats AND sleeps well. We couldn't be more thrilled!


Evelyn LOVES her brother and is slowly adjusting to sharing her mommy and daddy. She is a big helper and loves to pick out diapers for us and get the pacifier for her brother (which, ironically, he doesn't care for most of the time!). She loves to talk to him and calls him "handsome" quite a bit. We are thankful for this and hope their relationship only blossoms.

Time is scarse these days... we live life in segments between feeds... but life is good. I am starting to feel good and am not nearly as sore as I was with Evelyn. We are SO SO thankful for this amazing gift of our son. I hope to blog more soon... thanks so much for you who have been praying for us!

Oh my... I have TWO kids! :)