Being a mom ...

People ask how I like being a mom. (Somewhat like the question "how's married life?" after the wedding- the answer is a little obvious.) It's amazing! The only thing that would make it better would be not having to do everything else that takes my attention away from our sweetie - you know like all the loads of laundry that she creates. Okay well that and maybe a couple more hours of sleep. :)

Sophia is 5 weeks old today. The last month has gone by soooo quickly. We've already seen lots of changes and lots of firsts. We're getting into the groove of things just in time for me to go back to work (a week from Tuesday) and change the groove. lol You can say a little prayer for that one.

We had our first photo shoot yesterday. The pictures turned out so good - look for them on my facebook page this sometime this week. Here's a little preview.


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Josh started his new job last week - just in time for the new year. Ever since we have been married, Josh has worked very hard at 2 or more (at a time) part time jobs. It was a necessity at first because of his involvement in ministry at Diverse City. After DC closed, he has been keeping an ear out for something else with full time, regular hours, benefits, etc. The short version of the story is the God is amazing and worked everything out to provide for us at a perfect time. Josh even got a two week break between jobs to spend with our new baby girl.

So far, he is doing orientation and training at the new company and it seems to be going really well. He will mostly be dealing with customer service in an office that provides medical supplies. It's not the job he plans to retire from, in fact he is still hoping to start his master's degree in the nearish future. :) But we hope this will give us the funds needed for that and be his last job before moving on to counseling.

She's Here!!!

Sophia Grace was born on Sunday, December 6th (before the due date!). She weighed 6.65 lbs and was 19 1/2 inches long.

We are doing amazing! Settling in and getting used to a new schedule. Josh and I are totally in love of course, and we think she may be the cutest kid ever. :) It has been overwhelming at times, but I am sooo thankful for our sweet little girl! We have had a lot of help from family. Next week may be a different story since we'll be "on our own". lol But Sophi is such a good baby. Our biggest challenge has been getting her to stay awake long enough to eat.

Baby news and a final belly pic (also known as irony)

I wrote this post on Saturday - I'm not really sure why it didn't get added, but I'm adding it now for the pure irony that after I typed this I went to bed and my water broke in the early morning. Plus, I like looking at the huge belly that is not there any longer!



39 weeks. If you compare to my last picture (about 6 weeks ago) I am a little proud that I am not even more huge. You know, because I have so much control over all of this. lol

This week has been interesting. My sinuses decided to go crazy on Monday and I have pretty much had a cold all week. (One more reason I am soooo grateful to be off work right now.) So now I am torn between wanting to go into labor as soon as possible and wanting to be able to breathe when I'm there.

Things are not exactly quiet. We have been staying busy - finishing Christmas shopping, buying last minute things we need for the baby, the laundry that never ends, a variety of doctor appointments.

I had my latest check-up yesterday and the doctor said I am between 2 & 3 centimeters and 75% effaced! I can finally tell that the baby has dropped as well. I am really surprised because I expected to be so much more uncomfortable than I am, I didn't think things were moving along. I'm starting to get my hopes up that she will be here before (or on) her due date! But just in case not, they went ahead and scheduled me for an induction on December 16th. It's so nice to have an definite end in mind.

Maternity Photo Session

So, Emily took these amazing photos about 4 weeks ago. I've taken a while to put them on here, but check out my Facebook page for the entire group. I've never had so much fun being in pictures before. :)

And yet ...

I have absolutely loved my first week off of work! I still need to send in billing for the month, but after that I will not be messing with anything court related until January!!! It's crazy how busy I've managed to stay though. Josh wonders if I'm nesting. Possibly. Or just playing catch up to all the things that I didn't do for the last month. :)

I have been

• organizing the baby's room
• washing clothes (ours and Sophi's)
• cleaning baby equipment - the car seat is now ready to be installed!
• packing my bag for the hospital
  
• packing Sophi's bag for the hospital
• trying to clean house, but mostly just the kitchen - the rest still needs a lot of work
• going to many, many doctor and chiropractor appointments
• enjoying time with my hubby who is finally home
• eating a lot of yummy thanksgiving food that I did not have to cook

Less than two weeks to go! We have been telling Sophia every day now that she would rather be early than late. We'll see if she turns out to be a good listener. lol

Showers of blessings

As promised, here are pictures of the wonderful baby showers that we were blessed with. I was blown away but all the support and fun and gifts. :) We are still sorting through everything and it is a fun job.

The first was given by our friends from church. Tracey was gracious enough to let us have it in her home even though she's been busy with a precious new baby of her own. We had family that were willing to drive a ridiculous amount of time just to hang out with us for the weekend. And my sister, Lindsey cooked all the delectable looking goodies that tasted as good as they look. :) We definitely made some memories.



The second was hosted by my sister-in-law Kati (with lots of help from the rest of the family) at the church Josh grew up in. There were a lot of his family able to come join in celebrating. I was again blown away by all the love (even though I couldn't even remember everyone's names!). And Sophi is getting some very special homemade things that I know she will one day appreciate. And for the record, it takes exactly 12 squares of toilet paper to wrap around my stomach. lol



Thanks so much to everyone who was a part. And even if you couldn't make it, I really do appreciate all the support and encouragement we've gotten in the last months. I can't wait to introduce Sophia to you all!!!

Alright!

As of today, I am 37 weeks in. That means a) only 3 weeks left! b) she could technically come any time now and be full term - but it won't be that soon c) tomorrow is my last day of work! How's that for a run-sentence? lol

Because of all the driving I do with my job, my doctor didn't want me to continue working past 37 weeks. I was disappointed by this at first because it means that much of my time off is "wasted" before she even arrives. Of course, I am excited to be done with work for a few weeks either way. And pregnancy has become more ... physically demanding as the weeks go by, so it will be a relief to not have that responsibility.

It's really funny how many things in pregnancy don't seem like a big deal at all until I experience them for myself. Things like stretch marks (oh so many stretch marks!), cankles, the waddle, hot flashes, etc. No, it's not that big of a deal, yes it will be worth it, but still ...

I was going to post a new belly picture, but when I got dressed this morning my camera was still downstairs. And that just felt like too far to go. :) Just take my word for it, the belly is huge.