One Year Ago Today....

... I went into labor. It started at about 2:30 in the morning with mild contractions. Of course Doug and I were totally excited (a bit nervous, too). The baby would be here soon.. and right on time for my Dec. 5th due date! Doug had taken the whole month of December off to be with me and the baby, so it was going to be great for him to have so much time with his new daughter. We started the whole timing thing and waited for things to progress....

Unfortunately, Evelyn had other plans. I ended up being in labor for a whole week!! I had contractions only at night for 4 days, then pretty constant for another 3. It was brutal. I was tired. I was anxious to meet my sweet pea. I didn't want to push out a big baby, or worse yet, have to have an urgent c-section or something. Painful... physically and emotionally!

At the same time, it was one of the most precious weeks I have ever had with my husband. He was up with me most of my long nights and we would laugh hysterically watching Conan O'Brien and other shows that only are funny at that time of night (the best was watching Conan get drunk on eggnog with Martha Stewart... priceless!). We went on walks, ate ice cream, had amazing conversation and prayer time, and were nap buddies! It was a blessing to have this time together before our lives would be changed forever.

I would post a picture of my last days before Evelyn came, but I don't have any. That's ok... trust me... it was not a pretty sight! :)

I can't believe my baby turns one next Tuesday!

Too, too funny!!

I copied some other bloggers who did this... its too funny not to! Enjoy, Merry Christmas!


http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9635110126

Keep it down, people!

So I went in to check on Evelyn during her nap... this is what I found:




Apparently the sound of my shower mixed with her music was too much for her! Isn't she sweet?

Oh, we went and got our Christmas tree on Sunday. It was beautiful outside and we had a great time. Here are a few pics:





It seemed funny to get the tree up and decorated before December, but with the weather not looking super for the next couple of weeks, I am glad we did! Merry Christmas!

Thankful

Evelyn and I stayed home from Thanksgiving festivities yesterday since she has been running a fever for a couple of days (I think she is finally over it.. smile). While she was napping I was thinking about all I had to give thanks for. I am one blessed girl for sure! I am sure I could come up with more, but here are my top 10 things to be thankful for (that come to mind right now):

• 10. Freedom... God bless the USA!
• 9. Good health... I take this for granted too often
• 8. Memories... both good and bad... they help me remember where I've been
• 7. My friends... they see the good, the bad, and the ugly... and love me anyway!
  
• 6. My Bible study family of 5+ years (the Greens, Johnsons, Spiedels, Taylors, and Yoos)... love you guys!
• 5. My "BFF" Jody.. I can't say enough about how much she means to me
  
• 4. My family and Doug's family.. I am abundantly blessed by them daily
• 3.5 My cat Sam... he can be a stinker, but I love him to bits anyway!
  
• 3. My daughter.. she has stolen my heart
  
• 2. My husband... the love of my life and the best daddy ever
• 1. My salvation and the giver of that salvation, Jesus Christ

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Bring on Christmas music and peppermint mochas!!

Helmet Update #5: So close, yet so far away!

Well, we went to visit Randall the Orthotist today, hoping that our little bug might get to have her helmet off. Alas, not this time. BUT we are SO SO close. She is completely symmetrical in two out of the three areas of measurement. Yeah Yeah Yeah! She still, however, is still about 1mm off on her eye symmetry. Of course, this is probably the most important measurement as it can affect her vision.

So... we will wear the pink helmet for another 4 weeks and recheck. He is pretty confident it will be symmetrical by then and we can take the helmet off during the day (we still will wear it at night for a month.... kind of like a retainer after braces). He also said we could have the helmet off for long stretches if we needed to for things like birthday and Christmas pictures. That made me feel better! :) Although, as you can see, she is pretty cute in the helmet....


We can't thank you all enough for your support and prayers during this time! It has meant the world to us... and we are so grateful!

Fall Fun

Today we spent some time outside in the BEAUTIFUL sunshine. Evelyn had a blast tromping around in the piles of leaves we were working on.

Her she is, helmet free for a short bit and wearing her Duck garb... I am sure that is why they won today!! GO DUCKS!!


She was so curious about the leaf blower!


"..... I am SO outta here!!! These leaves won't slow me down one bit!!"


Enjoy the sunny days ahead!

One last Halloween Picture....

I was planning on hooking up with my sister and my 15 month old nephew yesterday to get some pics of him and Evelyn in their costumes. Both kids had busy mornings and so we decided just to do it today.

Here are two of the cutest kids on the planet!