infertility

Let me preface this post with the fact that I am going to attempt to keep this from becoming a novel, but it is very hard to sum up 2 years in one paragraph. But here goes. I have several friend on my heart today that I'm burdened for as they are struggling with infertility. Having been there myself I know there really aren't any words that bring comfort or peace, just prayers. So this is what I'm praying for them today. (You know who you all are.)
(1) That God would show you today, in lots of small ways, how well he knows you, how much he loves you, and that he hears you. (Ps. 33:13-15)
(2) That your view of who God is would not be shaken by your emotions or feelings, but grounded in scripture. That you would remember he is GOOD. (Ps. 33:11; 27:13-14)
(3) That no matter what Dr. you see, drug you use, or procedure you undergo, you would remember that the Lord ALONE is the creator of life. We will be disappointed if our hope is any person or thing other than Him. (Ps. 139:13)

These are just a few things that friends prayed for me that were a constant struggle during that time but kept bringing me back to my knees. Being on the other end now, can offer a few words of encouragement? He hears your prayers. He wants you to be honest in those prayers. It took me the first year to actually be able to express to anyone other than Adam, especially the Lord, the bitterness and frustration I was feeling. And once I did, he started to change it. I so badly wanted to be content and strong...and the more I admitted I wasn't, the more He helped me to become those things. If you're waiting for healing, do not give up. Grace's life is testimony to this. When we come before His throne humbled and broken and ask for His healing on our bodies, He is willing and able! ....He very well may lead us to a Dr. or toward a procedure to help us along the way, but it all starts with His hand.

I love you all. I look forward to hearing the stories of all of your "faith babies"! (Thank you Heather K.)
Psalm 30:2 "O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me" vs.11-12 "You turned my wailing into dancing. You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You and not be silent. O Lord my god, I will give you thanks forever."

15 weeks

First of all, apologies I haven't updated in 6 weeks. I knew that would be my problem when I started this blog, but I promise to work on it :) Second, I need to clear up the Santa controversy. We ARE going to do Santa for Grace at Christmas. I was just thinking out loud on here and apparently need to not do that. Lots of people were concerned that Grace wouldn't experience Santa. No worries. Santa as well as an elf on the shelf will make an appearance next year. Though they won't be emphasized as much as Jesus. I'm not going to worry about--as my brother pointed out, I grew up having Santa and know that Jesus is what Christmas is about and I am not scarred from finding out Santa is not real. ANYWAY....MOVING ON!

I realized I haven't been recording Grace's milestones like I would like to, so thats the goal today. So far:

5 weeks: started smiling on purpose

8 weeks: staying awake for an hour of playtime after eating

10 weeks: slept through the night for the first time (11pm to 7am)

10 weeks: moved into her nursery for naps and nighttime

11 weeks: umbilical hernia completely healed...Praise the Lord!

13 weeks: first roadtrip with mommy to see Aunt Bella in Fayetteville

14 weeks: started babbling (and hasn't stopped since!)

And here we are at 15 weeks tomorrow! Grace is so much fun! She is so silly. I was telling Adam the other night it is so fun to wake up and see her smiling and talking at the camera sitting on her bed. I have no idea how long she's been awake but she's so happy entertaining herself in the mornings. We've almost gotten a giggle out of her a few times. I can't wait for a real one! She babbles and coos all the time, especially when she's trying to go to sleep. We've caught her on video a few times. She's definitely a mamas girl right now. She loves playing with daddy, but sometimes refuses to eat and sleep for him. (Although I keep telling him its b/c she barely protests and he won't try very hard to make her do anything she doesn't want to.)

I am looking forward to starting cereal in a couple of weeks, although it makes me sad she will be old enough to eat out of a bowl...with a spoon...sitting up. Where does the time go?

That's all for today, I hear her yelling "mommy" from her crib! (i wish).

And here we are

And here we are

Christmas update...

Our little cheerleader would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I can't believe its almost been a month since I last posted. We are staying so busy. Time flies when you're having fun right? Grace has grown so much! We go Monday for her 8 week appointment, even though she turned 9 weeks yesterday. Don't know how that happened! Anyway, I'm anxious to see how much she weighs now. She is such a joy. Her little personality is starting to show. She is the most content, happy baby. We have tried really hard to follow most of the Babywise principals and she has fallen into a sleeping and eating schedule that is allowing me to get things done during the day and for her to finally start stretching it out some at night. I'm so proud of her! This is the picture we put on our Christmas card--one of the first smiles we could get on camera. Now she is grinning ear to ear and even shrieking some when she smiles. She is so cheesy sometimes! We are so excited to share our precious gift with our family at Christmas.

As Christmas is QUICKLY approaching, I hope you all enjoy your time with your family and make many wonderful memories. But remember in all the busyness why we celebrate. I think this Christmas has been so different already in that my heart is in such a peaceful place. Adam and I were remembering back to last Christmas. Selfishly, we were slightly depressed. It was really hard for us to stay focused on Christ's birth and celebrating that, b/c we were so desperately wanting a baby of our own. I was thinking a/b Mary the other day and what it must have been like to not only carry a miracle child, but the Savior of the world. To know that God chose you to carry his Son. I pray that I understand what a responsibility I have as a parent to teach Grace who Jesus is. That one day she will understand what a big deal Christmas is. That it isn't about presents. I look forward to hearing her little voice sing "Happy Birthday dear Jesus...". (We make Jesus a birthday cake and do this with my family.) Our biggest discussion lately has been if we will do Santa. We don't want her to think Jesus isn't real when she finds out that Santa isn't. As a child my mind never went there....but just something to ponder. I just really want her to get it. And don't want her heart to be clouded by anything else. Anyway, As the new year approaches, I am thankful for my miracle child this year. I am thankful that the Lord took us through all that he did. Our faith, marriage, and testimony is bigger and stronger than ever. I am thankful that he healed my body and that I am still seeing evidence of that. I am thankful that he is challenging us to bless others because it causes us to examine our own blessings which blows me away b/c we don't deserve them. Lastly, I am thankful for His Grace in my life. I have so far to go as a follower of Christ, a wife, and a mother. But I know he will take me there, one day at a time. We love you all and hope you have a WONDERFUL Christmas. Take some time to thank God for sending His Son as a gift to redeem the world. He is ALL we need!

Tis the Season

I can not believe we are 2 days away from Thanksgiving! Where did October go? It seems like yesterday was halloween. O well! That just means Christmas is right around the corner! I can't wait for Grace's first Christmas! We've been doing a few things to get in the Christmas spirit with some of fun girlfriends and Grace's boyfriends. (We officially had our first confrontation a/b who Grace will end up with. Atticus or Jack?--Vanessa and Lauren, you can duke it out.) Grace and I met Vanessa and Atticus at "Doodles for You" to paint pottery. We made a few Christmas gifts and an ornament with Grace's footprint and 2009 on it. So cute! I can't wait to do one each year! They babies were so good! So slept mostly and didn't even fuss when they got their feet painted!

The next day Lauren, John Parker, and Jack went to Dazzle Days with us where we met up with Vanessa and Atticus. We did a little shopping. Lots of fun vendors with adorable kids stuff. (Dazzle Days is more than kids stuff but thats all I spend my $ on these days!) I bought Grace a crochetted hat to wear with her Christmas outfits and a bow for Thanksgiving. Also I found this really cute brand of t-shirts called Sweet Tee Couture. http://www.sweetteecouture.com/ I bought two shirts to wrap up for Grace for Christmas. My favorite is one that says "Souther Chic" in pink! It was fun to just get out for the day with the girls and our little ones! We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving day in Beebe with Adam's family. Many of them haven't met Grace yet so we are excited to introduce her to them! Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your family and friends and all the Lord has blessed you with!

Grace is one month old!

Well, I can't believe we've hit the one month mark! Grace celebrated her 1 month birthday on Saturday. We didn't do anything special. Just had a family day and took some pictures of our growing girl. She's doing great and changing everyday. I thought I'd better share the highlights of the first month before I forget!
*At 2 weeks old Grace started staying awake about 15 to 20 minutes after she would eat. Now she's awake 45 min to sometimes an hour and a half. Its so fun to see her being so observant now that she can see further. She has the biggest brightest blue eyes! I can't wait to see if they'll stay blue or change.
*On the night of her 1 month birthday Grace slept for 6 hours straight! Mommy and Daddy loved getting the long stretch of sleep and were so proud of her! Its almost like she was trying to show us what a big girl she was! Of course she hasn't done it again since but I'm still so thankful for that restful night :)
*Grace has been on two playdates this month. Her first was with her friend Atticus Simmons. His mommy, Vanessa, is my sweet friend I met through Junior Auxiliary. We actually had the same due date originally until mine got moved up a couple days. Turns out Atticus couldn't wait on Grace b/c he came 2 weeks earlier than her. I've been so thankful for all of Vanessa's advice. I think I texted her 100 times the first week we were home because I knew she had just been through it all. Grace's second play date was with Noah and Ally Foster. Their mom Shannon is such a great friend...she brought me Chic-fil-A for lunch on Friday and then we took the kids to the park in our neighborhood. The kiddos enjoyed meeting Grace. Ally said Grace was "cute". She waited a long nine months to meet her new play buddy. I can't wait to see these two sweet girls grow up together!

That's about it for this month! We go to the doctor on Wednesday so Grace can get her next Hepatitis shot. I really hope I don't cry. The last time mommy watched her girl get poked with a needle the guy drawing her blood asked me if I was OK and gave me a tissue. yikes. I was only 7 days post-partum though so hopefully this visit will be smoother! Say a prayer for me :)

Grace's first halloween

Just a quick post to show a picture of Grace on her first halloween. We didn't go trick or treating, just had a quick photo shoot this morning after her bath. Adam's parents, siblings, and grandparents came down for the day. It was really fun to introduce Belinda's parents to Grace for the first time. I love how they made such a big deal out of her even though this is their 8th or 9th great grand child!!! But who could resist this sweet little ballerina??

Grace's first photoshoot

Is she not the most beautiful thing ever? Grace was such a good girl at her newborn photo shoot. Aunt Bella came down for the day to go with me to take Grace to have her pictures taken by a friend of a friend, Karen Fulgham, who has a studio in her home. She did an amazing job! I'm having such a hard time choosing which one I want to use for birth announcements as well as which to order just to have! If the little pumpkin wasn't so stinkin' cute it would be so much easier! I can't believe how much she has changed in 2 weeks. She already looks like such a big girl! Anyway, just wanted to share all the gorgeous photos with you all. Maybe you can tell me your favorite so I can have some help deciding on a birth announcement photo?

Go to www.karinfulghamphotography.com. Click on online ordering. The password to view our pictures is "Grace".