the big day

we started our day at 515 am. i rolled out of bed. i pumped, packed b's diaper bag, packed bottles and accessories into the pump and then got myself ready. we were out the door at 6. adam drove his car into town and his sister amanda, bella, and i rode together. we didn't really say much on the way. when we got to the hospital, we checked in and waited. they called us back pretty quickly. they brought us a teenie tiny hospital gown, check b's heart and temperature. and then we waited some more. we played. we sang. we bounced. pastor jason came in and prayed with us and encouraged us. adam noticed that b's hospital gown said "soooooooooo big!" all over it so we sang "my God is so big" as a family. when my mom and dad arrived, we were still waiting for someone to come and talk to us. b started to get fussy, but thankfully i was able to get her to sleep.
after lots of waiting...at about 805 (surgery was supposed to start at 8) dr. sims came in and asked if we had any questions. we didn't. then the nurse came back in. then the anesthesiologist. we asked him a couple of questions and then they took my sleeping baby girl from me. i cried. when we got back to the waiting room we had two sweet friends from church waiting with amanda (thank you lisa and irene!). it was wonderful to have people there to talk to. if it would have just been adam and me, we would have cried together until they told us our girl was out. we had probably been waiting for about 15 minutes when the sweet volunteer called us to the phone. dr. sims was on the line. he told me that she was out and doing great. he did give her two stitches just to hold the cut. he said that in cases like this he likes to do stitches so that the tongue doesn't just grow back to where it was. he told me that b had 1 1/2 to 2 cm of extension. we sat down and gave everyone the scoop. and i called my sis. then we waited a little longer. eventually a nurse came to get us and we rushed back to the room only to find that it was empty! so we waited some more. :) when they brought us our baby girl she wasn't really crying. when she saw our faces, she smiled and i cried again. i took her and gave her her bottle.

while i was giving her her bottle i noticed blood coming out and i flipped out and cried some more. the nurse assured me that she was fine and she sucked down nearly 6 ounces of breast milk like it was her job!

after she finished her bottle, she smiled and talked to us as if nothing had changed. (minus the occasional blood coming from her mouth).

we love our baby girl so much!

my dad works nights. he got home at about 4am and he and mom left for bg at 5 am. they arrived at about 730 and left at about 915. my dad is at work tonight too. talk about an awesome bebe and poppy/mom and dad!!!!

after mom and dad left, b spit up some nasty bloody milky stuff. the nurse again assured us that she was fine. adam left for work at about 930 and amanda, b, and i were back in alvaton by 1030.

b has had a great day. she is eating (from at bottle still at this point) like a champ. it is VERY hard to keep a 4 month old from putting her hands in her mouth. she has had a little more bleeding this evening, but over all she is doing wonderfully!

we are so thankful that our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty-there's nothing our God can not do!

surgery week

as you may or may not know-sweet bella joy is having a minor surgery on friday morning. we have been working toward this since she was 2 months old. her pediatrician didn't think it was needed, but after seeing dr. sims, he felt that it was. she is having a frenulectomy (or having her tongue clipped) in hopes that our feeding issues will be no more (and i will be able to nurse my baby girl!!!). please pray that the surgery would be quick, that dr. sims would not have to put in a stitch, that adam and i would have a peace that surpasses all understanding, and that b would recovery quickly and feeding issues would be obsolete!

in more happy and fun news, at her pre-op appointment, b's weight was 14 lbs and she was 25 inches! she is growing growing growing!! her 4 month check up will actually be a 4 1/2 month check up on july 30th.

lake cumberland-bella joy's first vacation!

since february we've been planning our long weekend trip to lake cumberland. you see, my daddy turned 50 in february and we wanted to do something extra fun to celebrate! so we waited until their shutdown from work and planned our little family vacay. we had so much fun!

bella "kayaked" with her daddio!
my sister's little fam and my little fam in lake cumberland.

bebe and her girls!

poppy and his girls at the hatchery.

our happy little family!

we had a really fantastic house with a beautiful lake view. we kayaked/canoed, swam, played games, and ate some delicious food a la daddy (my daddy is a PHENOMENAL cook!). all in all, i think b's first vacation was a big hit! i wonder what her next vacay will be!?

4 months!

somehow, my baby girl is already 4 months old! my my the time flies. we started the morning right by taking bella joy's monthly shot with her moose! she is so much fun.

this week she started sleeping in her crib. she usually wakes us with cries, but this morning at about 515 we started to hear some jabbers in the monitor. she never cried. at about 545 adam went in to check on her. and she was turned sideways in her crib and was about to roll over! yes, about to ROLL OVER! she is getting so big so fast!

at 4 months, bella is wearing mostly 3 months clothing. she can sometimes wear things that are 3-6 months. she is starting to love toys. she especially loves her rhino lovey, her eric carle ladybug, her letter links, her purple eared moose, and her crinkley lion. she smiles all the time. she laughs once in a while. and boy is she a jabber box!

bella joy, we love you so much! happy 4 months baby girl!

look who's growing up!

a few weeks ago, hubs and i discussed when we would have bella joy sleep in her room for the night. we decided that it would be best if we have her in her crib by the time she was 4 months old. well, 4 months will be here on thursday. so last night we took the plunge. you see, our sweet girl had been sleeping in her pack n play next to our bed since the day we brought her home. don't judge. so last night, when i snuggled my baby girl to sleep and placed her in her crib like a big girl it was incredibly hard for me to go to sleep. and of course, i cried. her are some photos to document our baby girl who is growing up way too fast for my liking.

snuggles with momma.

sleeping soundly in her crib like a big girl!

oh i love that baby!

she did a great job. she fussed a little at around 3. thats when daddio went to give her her paci back. probably around 4 she fussed again and we brought her in for some more momma snuggles. oh baby girl, please please always love momma snuggles.

bathroom redo

i've been promising this update for a while. and its finally here thanks to a very sweet friend of mine :) let me know what you think of our new bathroom!