"She works with her hands in delight" Proverbs 31:13

Esther's First Photoshoot

Hello everyone! I hope y'all are having a wonderful time preparing for the holidays! Eli and I are finishing up some last minute Christmas shopping and are looking forward to visiting family tomorrow and the next day. Esther is doing beautifully and is starting to coo and suck her thumb a little bit. :) She loves when Daddy looks at her and kisses her, and she is fascinated with our Christmas tree lights as of late!

Yesterday, my good friend Micah came over for a visit with her sister Lee and her mom. Micah was so gracious to take some beautiful pictures of Esther! She is a wonderful photographer as you can see if you visit her blog. She set up a little photo shoot in our kitchen and snapped away at Esther, taking tons of pictures! Esther was fascinated with the camera. :) Thank you so much Micah for taking her picture! They are beautiful! If y'all would like to see the other pictures that Micah took of Esther, go here. I still can't believe how sweet they are! I might just hang them all on my wall. :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

  

Esther's Home!

Our little lamb was released from her long hospital stay today, and Eli and I were able to come home! Thank you all for your prayers! She has made a wonderful recovery and is now snuggled on the couch with Mom who is thankfully staying with us tonight! We're so glad to have her home with us. :)

She's Here!

 

Please meet our little Esther Evangeline! She was born last night at 9:55pm and is a chubby 10lbs 3oz with lots of blonde hair!

Thank you all for your prayers and support! I could not have asked for a more perfect delivery. :) The Lord was so gracious to us and answered so many prayers through the delivery of our little baby girl...I was even able to have my midwife there to deliver her like we had hoped for! God worked in so many wonderful ways! Even though the labor was extremely intense, I wouldn't have had it any other way with all of the support and help we had through it all. 

If you would, please be in prayer for Esther. She is currently in the NICU because she is having a little trouble breathing from swallowing some miconium  during labor. She is very much improving, but your prayers for her would be very much appreciated. :) Thank you all again for such support and for surrounding Eli and I with prayer! I will write more when we come home. :) God bless. 

No Baby Yet :)

Yes indeed...she's still cooking I suppose! I'm writing to ask for prayer that I would go into labor before Monday...otherwise I'm going to be induced... and I just really don't want that! :) If I'm induced, I won't be able to have a midwife and will be turned over to the "high-risk" doctors. Please pray that she will come very very soon! I appreciate it so much! The anxiety and nervousness is starting to kick in now because I just don't know what it's like to have a baby. I do know that God is good and that He designed all women to give birth...still it's hard not to think of how hard it's going to be. :) I will let you know as soon as I can when she arrives! Have a blessed weekend

A Year Ago Today...

Today is our one year anniversary! It seems like only yesterday we were standing at the altar, and now it's already one year later! So much has happened in the past year: from marriage, driving across the country, and moving, to job changes, and now a baby due any day now. What a year...but one I wouldn't want to spend with anyone else!

 Today, Eli surprised me with my favorite candies and a dozen red roses for our anniversary with one single white rose in the middle to represent our little baby. :) He's so sweet. Wouldn't that be something if Baby Girl came tonight? Haha...I don't think that's likely to happen...I haven't been feeling anything unusual today. Only the LORD knows when her birthday will come! Thank you all so much for your many thoughtful comments and prayers! They are very much appreciated. :)

 
  
  

I'm about to pop!

Hi Everybody! As you can see from the top of my blog...my "ticker" is expired. :) No baby yet though! I am two days past my due date, and there is no sign of her coming quite yet. Eli and I are eagerly awaiting her arrival though, and I'm trying to keep my mind occupied so I don't dwell too much on the labor pains! Tomorrow is another appointment, and I believe I get to see an ultrasound because I haven't had her yet and the midwife wants to make sure she's okay. I have everything ready for the baby's room now I think so we're just waiting for her to come now. :) I will be sure to post when she arrives whenever I get a chance... or I'll have someone else do it. Please pray that she will come before two weeks is up because I surely don't want to be induced. :) Thank you so much everyone for thinking of me. It really means so much to me! 
 

37 Weeks

Hi Everyone! Yes, I am almost at the finish line of my pregnancy!!! I surely feel like I'm going to pop. :) I feel great though...but I'm afraid I can't get around too easily anymore without getting swollen feet or an aching back. :)

 Everyone has been so gracious with giving Eli and I so many items for our little girl's arrival. On Saturday, Mrs. Donahue gave me a wonderful baby shower at her home. I had such a blessed time being able to visit with friends and family...and of course...being able to open all of the little sweet girly gifts. :) Thank you Mrs. Donahue for my very first baby shower!! I tried to upload some pictures, but the computer is giving me a hard time! If you want to see some, my friends Meredith and Micah have both written some lovely posts about it. 
  

I have been busy getting Baby's room in order these past couple of days. Next on my list is to wash all of her little clothes and bed linens. :) I guess it could be any time now!!
 

My Day Out With The Girls

Me and Granny

Today Mom, Granny, and I had a girl's day out in the quaint little town of Farmville. Our mission...a big clothing sale! Grab the coupons! Granny, very kindly and generously, offered to take me shopping at this particular store to look at baby clothes. We scouted the store and found several sweet baby gowns and body suits. I was telling Granny that I wish I had a newborn baby doll to play dress up with!

 Mom and Granny were so helpful with good mothering advice. I have so many questions! After finding some great deals, Granny treated us to a wonderful lunch together...no I am not drinking an alcoholic drink in the picture. :) It looks like it doesn't it? I ordered a raspberry tea and was like...ummmm?...when the waitress brought it to me. :) It sure was good though and I had to have another one! Thank you Granny for blessing me with such an enjoyable day. Baby thanks you too for her new clothes. :)

Pot Pies and Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Tonight for dinner, I was feeling quite spunky and decided to try something a little different. :) I was craving chicken pot pie and had remembered some little dishes that were in my hope chest from a long time ago. I could never think of a way to use them so there they sat! I thought...why not make pot pies? Well, I concocted a pot pie filling of sorts with chicken, gravy, and vegetables...poured it into two dishes... and topped them with a buttery pie dough. It actually turned out really nicely! Eli loves the crust on pot pies, so I took the leftover rolled-out crust dough and baked them with our pies. It's not exactly a figure-friendly dish...but you gotta love comfort food!  I think I'll be making these again!

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week so far! Last week was a doozy! Eli had caught some sort of cold/flu bug last weekend (I'm convinced it was the swine flu..j/k :) and guess who got it a couple of days after? I was not a happy camper! Lots of chicken noodle soup was made last week and hot tea was always on to brew (I snuck in some homemade hot chocolate once for Baby :). I'm very thankful that Eli was able to take off so he could get well, and then be off with me when I had first gotten it and it was really bad. We are officially on the mend now and only have a cough that is getting better every day!

Yesterday was an exciting day! Mom and I met in town and went to register for my baby shower in October. First, we ate lunch at one of my favorite places...Red Lobster. I have so been craving seafood! Afterwards, we spent the whole day registering for Baby J. Registering for your first baby is quite overwhelming because you need like everything! Everything started looking the same after looking through aisles aisles of baby stuff. :) Thankfully, Mom was there to keep me focused and helped me to know exactly what I needed. Thanks Mom. :)

I am still not quite finished with my registries and need to add a couple more things, so that's going to be my project for the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'm going with Mom and Granny to a baby sale! I'm excited! 

This Evening...

I love seeing this when I look outside my window. :)