Smiles

Adaynn is smiling more and more these days and I love it! Having a baby has changed me in so many ways. Physically I was absolutely changed, our dynamics at home have changed and spiritually I feel like my heart has been changed.



Having a child makes me understand the analogies in the Bible much differently. There is a verse from Matthew that has been weighing heavily on my heart lately.

"If you, then, though you are evil , know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matt 7:11


Right now there is nothing that makes me happier than seeing my sweet girl look at me and smile. It could be after she eats or when I am snuggling with her on the couch but I do everything I can to give her what she needs and make her happy. I can not fathom the love God has for his people to send his Son as a gift to us. I know that I will give Adalynn anything I have and my Father has so much more to offer me and all I have to do is ask.

Start of Fall

I have been looking forward to fall for what feels like forever. The great weather, football season, and enjoying our sweet girl. It has gotten off to a great start!


Nick turned 25 on Thursday. Adalynn and I met him for lunch and celebrated with cake at home later. I gave Nick a new bag for his laptop and Addy gave him a picture of her for his desk. Nick and I have celebrated birthdays together since we were 17 but I think 25 is going to be our best year so far!

Today was the first Aggie football game (whoop!) and we loved putting on our maroon and listening to the game this evening. Nick has a running group with his bootcamp clients from San Antonio Motivational Personal Training on Saturday mornings at different parks around San Antonio. Nick's client Tracy walked with Adalynn and me this morning as we clocked over 3.5 miles. The weather was cool and beautiful! I am so happy the temperatures are getting lower!

My parents watched Adalynn for a while this evening so Nick and I could play tennis together for a while and grab dinner alone. We went to a newer Mexican restaurant near our house called Poloma Norte that is Aggie owned and we really enjoyed it. If you want to try it out when you are in SA let us know! We also got to listen to the Fighten' Texas Aggies getting a win. I can't wait for the first televised game!

Tomorrow will be Adalynn's first time to go to church. I am looking forward to many wonderful years at Northside. We are blessed with a wonderful church home where we are very loved and encouraged.

Dallas

Nick, Adalynn and I just got home from Addy's first out of town trip. It is so different traveling with a baby! She had 4 times as much stuff as either of us and made all of our stops take extra long but it was worth it to get to go to Dallas and visit Ryan and Aubra.

We left San Antonio Friday at noon with a clean, full, sleepy baby and a car stuffed with a pack and play, baby bathtub, diapers, wipes, bottles, and enough baby clothes (I thought) to get us through a week. After a relatively easy 6 hour drive we had a dirty, hungry, crying baby. Nick gave her a bath after unloading the car and she proceeded to pee on him before he could get her diaper on.

She pulled out her nice manners to hang out with Aubra and when Ryan got in town we all went out for a burger for dinner. She was so quiet and good during dinner and afterwords when we sat outside and enjoyed some live music. She amazed Nick and me by sleeping from 11 at night until 6 in the morning Saturday.

First thing in the morning she threw up on my pajamas so we got to do a load of laundry at Aubra's after being in town for approximately 12 hours. Aubra and I relaxed and made lunch while Nick was at a conference for work and Ryan studied.

Addy got to enjoy the first of many girls shopping trips in the afternoon and then we made a yummy dinner at home and rented a chic flick while the guys went and watched a fight. I made a fatal error of not following Adalynn's bedtime routine and payed dearly for it later.

Here is where things turned south- Adalynn was so sweet and snugly I couldn't wake her up for a bath so I let her sleep in my arms during the movie. I put her in bed around 11 and things looked good. At 3 am, Adalynn decided she had slept enough and was up for the rest of the night. Fortunately she never screamed or woke up our patient hosts but Nick and I definitely got some "quality time" with her taking turns napping until about 8:30 in the morning when we started packing up to come home. Thank you Adalynn- lesson learned.

Luckily we were able to make great time on the drive home today and are hopefully getting back on track with her sleep schedule. Adalynn is once again clean, fed, and asleep in bed. Lets hope she stays that way for a long time. Mom and dad need a break!

We had such a great time hanging out with our friends and introducing them to Adalynn. I wish Dallas was closer to San Antonio with all my heart! I think next visit we will fly!

What a Week!

Miss Adalynn is one week old today! This has been such a crazy/ amazing/ wonderful week!

My due date was August 9. I knew that I would likely not be having a baby on that day as my doctor had scheduled me for an induction starting on the 11th "just in case". I tried to stay really busy so that I wouldn't be nervous about my induction so on the 10th I went for a walk, went to a movie with my brother John, and got a pedicure with my mom. Nick and I were planning to get one last pregnancy ice-cream from coldstone that evening but I felt too sick to eat. I went to bed feeling sick and Nick offered to take me to the hospital. I said I would take some tylenol and wake him up if I felt any worse. Right as I said that, my water broke!

We were so excited and headed to the hospital shortly after. I was in labor for 14 houirs but after the epidural, it was not bad at all. We stayed in the hospital for only 24 hours and are both doing well.

I am trying very hard to not be one of the moms that is constantly updating facebook with a million pictures. I am definitely taking tons of pictures though, I can't help myself! I will add a few here so only people that are interested will be subjected to my obsession.

Adalynn is healthy, so sweet, and is (so far) sleeping well. Our whole lives have changed in the last few days. Thank you Nick for giving me a precious daughter and being a wonderful husband and daddy. Addy and I are so lucky to be loved by you.

Last Pregnant Weekend

Well I am still pregnant, but not for much longer! The last 9 months have really flown by with the exception of the past 5 weeks. They have been dragging on forever! I tell people that its like telling a 4 year old that Christmas could come any day in the next month so they just have to wait and see. Every day I wonder if she will decide to come out, every night I go to bed hoping to go into labor before morning! I am not really scared about labor (probably because I am so naive about it by choice) or about having a newborn, I am just unbelievably excited. I have been able to continue walking consistently throughout my whole pregnancy and I still feel pretty good.

I had my last regular doctor appointment on Thursday and I am still not looking like I am anywhere close to having a baby in my arms even though my due date is Monday. I go back on Wednesday if I am still pregnant and we will induce labor so I will *hopefully* be a mommy by next Thursday. Nick is incredibly excited and has been so wonderful and supportive. He is going to be the best dad! She will have him wrapped around her finger in no time at all.

We have been so wonderfully supported by our family and friends and Addy is very blessed to be so loved before she is even born. Pictures and stories about baby Adalynn will be here soon!

Addy's Nursery

The nursery has come a long way! Thanks to our very generous loved ones, we got a ton of Adalynn's things at my shower May 1. Shirley painted several weeks ago and Nick put in the chair rail and built the bookcase. I am so excited for her to come. I went in there and just sat in the rocking chair today thinking about how wonderful it will be to have her here in 10 weeks or so. I want to share some pictures from my shower and from the nursery. Note about the shower pictures: I am big, but my shiny dress makes me look like a beach ball. I am NOT about to pop yet.

The bookcase that Nick build for his little girl. I am so impressed with his handyman-ness. It was not a kit or anything :)

Me with Addy's Grammie and Mimi

Outside of baby- land, two weeks left in school until I will be out for the summer! I will definitely miss some of my students but I am ready for the break. Nick and I had a wonderful weekend together. On Friday night we went to the Churchill Pop Show to watch several of my students perform. Nick was such a good sport about it and it is great for me to see the kids outside of the classroom setting. We finished off the evening with some Coldstone ice cream which is a great way to finish any day. On Saturday we did some housework and then went to a dinner party hosted by one of Nick's clients. There were people there from Mexico and Uruguay as well as Texas and California so there were many views represented and it was an evening of great conversation. (OMG we are getting old. Everyone else there was 35+ and we had a good time...)

On Sunday we went to church and then lunch with my parents. We went for an afternoon swim and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Aldaco's to celebrate the engagement of our good friend Derek Brown to his lovely fiancee Kelly Anne. They are so sweet and we are really looking forward to their wedding in Destin, Florida next summer!

3D Ultrasound

I have so many things to update about I have been putting it all off. We got the nursery painted, had a lovely shower, and today we had a 3D ultrasound and got to see Adalynn! Time went by so slowly in the beginning of the pregnancy and now I feel like it is flying by!

I had my 28 week appointment today so starting in June I will be going to the doctor every two weeks instead of once a month. I never thought I would love going to the doctor so much but it means that I am a little closer to holding my girl so it makes me really excited! I had my glucose tolerance test today (yuck). I had to get up and drink a brown syrup that tastes like flat Pepsi (I am NOT a Pepsi fan) in 5 minutes and then go give blood to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. While we were at the doctor, he told us if anything goes wrong to skip the ER and go right to Labor and Delivery. Nick and I, being the responsible adults we are, have not only not toured L&D yet but we don't even know where it is. Our poor baby... We are planning to go to the June 7th tour so we are trying to get our act together.We both kinda take this attitude like, that is a long time away, we don't need to stress yet. But it is getting closer and I guess it is time for us to prepare.

So that was first thing this morning. At 11:30 we had an appointment at Baby Vision to get a 3D ultrasound. We got to watch Adalynn move around for about 30 minutes and got a bunch of pictures of her. The ultrasound girl was really nice and we had a great experience. Some of the pictures are a little weird, she said the baby is smashed in there so some were a little distorted but overall I am really glad we did it. She loved having her hands by her face so it took some effort to get a good shot but it was cool to be able to see her a little bit.

My next goal is to post pictures of the nursery- hopefully this weekend!