No more sleeping through the night

Niah starting sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old. She would go to bed at 10 pm and not wake up till after 9 am. She did this till she was around 6 months and then all of sudden when she woke up there was no more going back to sleep on her own. There was also less sleep for me. We have been working on different ways to go back to sleep on our own. Usually, I just need to go in her room and rub her belly till she goes to sleep, no problem. It is really cute (maybe not at 4 am but the next day thinking about it) Niah wakes up crying and as soon as she sees us she smiles, ear to ear. Research tells me the problem when a child grasp object permanence it is common to wake up in the night and miss there parents and know they are not there. I guess I will have a few disturbed nights sleep till she understands and realize that we are there in the house.

Niah tried avocados. It took at least 4 times before she ate a full serving but now she likes them, I think :-) We moved on to green beans, she makes very funny faces but does eat all of them. Next we will try carrots. We are working on eating twice a day 1 oz of cereal in the morning for the iron, 2 oz of veggies in the evening. She does not always want to eat 2 times a day but I figure let her eat what she will and just try at both meal times. Eventually she will get use to eating 2 meals and then we can progress from there.

Niah is very mobile now! She scoots and rolls across the living room. I look up and she is in the living room, then in the kitchen, on one side of the room, and then the next! I love watching her try to get her legs under her to actually crawl.

Niah helped me wrap presents tonight, her favorite christmas activity so far. I let her unroll the paper and play with the extra cut off paper. She sat next to me laughing and playing the whole time.

My busy girl

Niah has become quite the busy girl. She wants to be doing what everyone else is doing and be apart of everything. She will reach and grab for everything, gets very mad when you do not let her have it. One night we were playing sequence and she was sitting on my lap and she was fussing and mad because I would not let her have my cards. So we gave her a joker card and she was happy the rest of night... She felt like she was playing. At work I can give her a paper and she will play with that paper for atleast an hour. This is her at work playing!!



Niah started eating sweet potatoes on thur. night She was a little unsure of them. And made a few very funny faces but she has been dying to try food.

Here is Niah working on drinking from a sipping cup, with a little help she does a great job!!


Finally I had to show you how adorable she was for Halloween as a lady bug. You can not see her so cute red with black polka dot legwarmers but she had them on!!

Going to sleep on our own

For a few weeks now, I have been working with Niah to go to sleep on her own. Now, I did this for her own good to learn good sleep habits because trust me it is one of my favorite things to do is to rock my baby to sleep. I did not want her to shed a tear in the process. I can not say that not one tear has not been shed but it has been only a few. That is why it has taken weeks to get there and 90% of the time she goes to sleep on her own with out a tear. I get Niah drowsy and then I lay her down, she does a fussy talk and I go in every 3-5 mins to calm her down and then leave. She now goes to sleep within ten mins. It is the cutest thing to listen to. She starts out talking really loud and gets quiter and quiter until she is asleep.
Here she is after she goes to sleep. She is my child has to have a blanket to go to sleep... We get cold



Now I can't say I never rock her to sleep since we started this because sometimes a baby just needs to be rocked to sleep. Tonight was one of those nights, she had been fussy most of the afternoon and it seemed she did not feel good so she was rocked to sleep. I love my little girl!!

Christmas List

As Niah is my child and completely enjoy the holidays. We spent last week decorating for Fall and Thanksgiving.
Here are a few pics of our decor.

As we were decorating I began to inform her of the most wonderful holiday of all time.... CHRISTMAS!! I told her about how Santa is not real but it is fun to pretend and that on Christmas morning he brings good little children presents. We read the bible together every day so I told her about the Christmas story, the christmas lights, and the presents. So we came up with a Christmas list!!

From Daddy, Niah wants a homemade white toy box... we thought he should know now so he can start building.

From Mommy... Niah thought she was not quite ready for her kitchen set or doll house so, Niah decided to leave it up to Mommy what would be the perfect gift :-)

From everyone else she is hoping for more story books.... Niah loves reading stories with mommy everyday and she is tired of the ones she has. She likes books with textures and books she can not rip the pages. Here are other ones we like from looking at the library




Niah started eating cereal this week. She is not real sure of it but gets better eating everyday. She insisted on drinking her milk afterward. Here is a picture her while she is eating.

Hello Fall

As always life is going way too fast but we are enjoying the change of the season to fall. I plan on decorating the house for fall this weekend with mums, and other decor.
Niah has been rolling and is beginning to sit up for a few minutes without support. Niah had a big day this last week getting dedicated at church. Lots of family and friends came to the service. It was very special to have my dad do the dedication. Here is Niah with Mommy and Daddy at her dedication.


We have started buying fall and winter clothes for Niah. We also got her the most adorable halloween costume and we just had to buy Kyah a matching one. Pictures are being taken in these outfits. Here are the costumes.

We believe she will be in 3-6 month clothes in about a month. Niah is very happy and will almost always return a smile to anyone. She definately knows mommy and daddy's voice. Niah will even look for Mommy when she is being held. She loves the anticipation in games like peek a boo and will start laughing anticipating what will happen. We are thinking about starting cereal in a couple weeks when she is 5 months old. We will start baby food when she is 6 months. But mommy is going to start making baby food and freezing next week. Niah still continues good sleeping habits if she gets 3 naps equalling 6 or 7 hours she will sleep all night with out waking going to bed around 8:30 and waking up at 8 or 8:30. If we lose a nap in the day she will wake up several times in the night. Which makes for a mommy that needs a nap the next day but by any means I can not complain.
We just love love love, I can not say it enough, love being parents.

Brought out the Coat and Hat

I had bought Niah a coat and hat for Alaska, knowing she could wear it in the fall when cooler weather came and today we had to break it out. I think she looks so adorable in her hat and coat but so not ready for the cold weather.


This is what she was wearing earlier this week

I know I am biased but I love her smile!!

Here is some catching up from the last month. Niah took her first plane ride to Alaska, the first flight was a little over an hour to Dallas and then we went from Dallas to Anchorage which was a 7 hour a flight. Niah did wonderful through all of the flights. We were met promptly by my aunt to take us to Seward 2 hours from Anchorage. Niah had a rough start in the car seat but soon fell asleep. She did just as good going home on the flights. Thankfully Niah and I were both exhausted from the time change of 3 hours and the all night flying and the all day travel that we both slept till noon the next day. Then Niah was still on Alaska time and was not going to sleep till 1 am the next few days. We had a rough go getting her back to Missouri time but with in 3 days she was back to normal.
We then went to Branson, to silver dollar city and Big Cedar. Niah does great as long as she does not have to sit in her car seat. We decided after that trip it would be a long time before we put our little princess through a rough ride in her car seat for long amounts of time. It is hard on her and on us. I spent sunday with a forty minute car ride home from lunch trying to calm her down and had to take a 2 hour nap from the exhaustion and she took a 3 hour nap.
Niah is very active and observant now days. She wants to see and notices everything. She watches people come in and out of the the room and she loves to see people smile. Niah is now pulling on everything especially my hair. She loves to run her hands through my hair while she is going to sleep. She is still a wonderful sleeper, she goes to bed between 9-10 and does not wake up till 8-9 and sometimes even 10. Please believe, I thank Jesus for that everyday and know how blessed I am. Niah has now started sleeping in her crib and transitioned well. I started putting her in her crib and if she woke up in the night I put her back to sleep in the bassinet and after a few nights she started sleeping through the night in her crib. She is a good napper but naps best at home on Mommy and Daddy's bed. Niah notices both mine and Matthew's voice and looks for us when she hears it.
Niah has a big week ahead, 4 month pictures on Monday. Cousin Kyah is coming to visit Thur. Baby dedication on Sunday.
We have started painting the basement and we are about 90% percent done. I have a few touch ups left. Then hopefully we can go pick out carpet and have it installed, I am ready for the dust from the basement to be gone!!!
The next month will be just as busy as the last few. Niah has 5 month pictures schedule, work is finish up with fall retreats and closing everything for the winter, Matthew goes to Africa so Niah and I got to visit Christa. Then starts the Holiday season, one of my favorite times of the year!!!

End of summer brings lots of New for Niah

August has flown by and we are now into September. Our little girl is 4 months old now and has already flown across the country to Alaska, seen the ocean, went to Silver Dollar City, and stayed at Big Cedar.
Niah did much better with her 4 month shots, she was just as normal as usual. She went from her 2 month appt of being in the 11% for weight to the 65% for weight. Before that she was not even on the charts!! She is 23.5 inches long and weighs 14 lbs. She slept in her crib the whole night for the first time last night.
We started working on the basement once again, it got put on hold when Niah was born. We have painted the bathroom and spare bedroom, Matthew did the tile in the bathroom. We are now looking at carpet for the rest of the basement and we still have to paint the living room.

How things change

Since I have become a mom almost 3 months ago many things have changed. I think of all scheduling with Niah's eating schedule and decide how to procede through out the day. I no longer work 12-15 hour days, Niah is my priority and although she can go to work with me she also needs time with just me and no other distractions. I am not as anal about my house being clean, I still clean my house and it stays clean but I would rather spend more time playing and caring for her then waste it cleaning when we get home. Now, I may not sweep and mop the floors several times a week it may only get mopped once. I may only get to cleaning the bathrooms once a week. My husband still thinks I am anal about it though :-) I now think about Niah before making any decisions, such as the trip to Alaska, I am contemplating on whether Niah can handle the long day travel, time change, and being away from home for that long. When I go shopping, I usually do not buy anything for myself but always a cute outfit for my little girl. Currently, my living room has a play mat, car seat, bouncer, swing, and stroller, we have become babies r us.

Niah is almost 3 months old. She is really talking and interacting. When she sees a familiar face she will immediately smile and lately she has started crying when she focuses on an unfamiliar face. She does not like people with any kind of glasses. Her new favorite toy is her floor mat. She hates to be cold so we go outside and walk when she is cold. One of her favorite things is to take a nap in our bed with me, she will sleep as long as I sleep. We are working on her going to sleep by herself. Anytime she is tired, we lay her down so she does not go to sleep being held. She now goes to sleep at 10 and wakes up at 9 am. She is still in newborn but she just started wearing smaller 0-3 months.

We just love our little Niah!!

Standing, sitting, and rolling

Niah is growing and developing, everyday she amazes us. Niah loves to stand up with help, it makes her feel big. She likes to sit up on your lap as well. She tries to mimmick noises and things that you do with your mouth, it is so cute. Daddy says he saw Niah roll over from her back to stomach but she has not repeated it yet.

Niah has extremely dark eyes now instead of the cloudy blue she was born with, they look like a charcoal color. She has very dark hair and the hair she lost on top is growing back and she has a head full of hair. She is still wearing newborn clothes but I think she will be transitiong to 0-3 months by the end of July.

Niah is very opinionated and lets you know when she does not like something. She hates being passed from person to person and gets very fussy when done. She has certain ways she likes to be held and still loves to be in her mommy's arms when she is very tired. Niah is not a huge fan of bottles but we try a bottle a day, if it doesn't work out then we just throw it away. Niah loves riding on the golf cart or in the boat, she goes to sleep instantly. We just started using the jump a roo and she loves it but she is too short for her feet to touch the ground. She can spend over an hour in the jump a roo. Niah now sleeps in her bassinet every night with no problems. She takes naps on a flat surface as well, the only thing she requires is that it be very soft, if not it will not work. She is doing a wonderful job of falling asleep without being held and we try to not hold her while she is sleeping to teach healthy sleeping patterns. Niah is really starting to "talk" and we love to hear her babbles. She loves the outdoors and loves her walks in the stroller with mommy.

Niah is definately a joy in our lives and can not imagine our life without her.

2 Monthes Old

Our baby girl was 2 months old on Monday, July 5th. She had her 2 month appt. on tues. Niah weighs 9lbs 14 oz, she is 21 1/2 inches long. Niah is in the 11% for her age but she is officially on the chart!! Even though Niah is almost 10 lbs for some reason she does not fit in 0-3 months yet (they are huge, and newborn fits nicely! Niah is developing well and the dr was impressed with her desire to communicate, smile, laugh, and mimmick people. She tries to move her mouth the same way you do and tries to make the same noises as you do. Niah got her 2 month vaccinations at her appointment. We gave her the small dose of infant tylenol, like they suggested. She cried when she got her shot but calmed down instantly when I started nursing her afterwards. She was fine for several hours after the shot, then all of sudden she wakes up screaming in pain. My poor baby was in pain from the shot and her little thigh was swollen. The rest of the day we had to hold her leg still so she wouldn't move it and cry because of the pain and we kept ice packs on it. By the late evening she was feeling much better. It broke my poor heart.

Niah loves to sit up and look around. But even more than sitting up Niah loves to stand up. It is so cute she uses her hands to keep her balance even though we are holding on to her waist and when she is confident she has good balance she tries to take steps. During, tummy time she tries to crawl and gets very frustrated she can't get anywhere fast. she can usually pull herself forward a couple times over a 30 min period. She has started wanting to play more. For over an hour one day she learned how to kick the blanket off her legs. So she would kick it off on to the floor and start laughing. Then we would put it back on and the process continued. Each time she kicked it off she would just laugh.
This is her kicking the blanket off


The next few pictures are of some things we have done to the house. Some landscaping and rock work we just recently did to the house. We also got a mirror for the master bathroom and put it up.

Everyday Life

Niah has a very busy day. On most days Niah and I arrive at the office for work a little bit before 8 am. So that means mommy gets up at 6:30 to be ready in time. Niah eats between 6 and 7 and again at 8:30. She usually goes back to sleep by 9 and sleeps till about 12:30. Then she spends time exercise those legs and gets frustrated she can't move, she also loves to look around. She eats again and goes back down for a nap until 3:30 or 4 depending on how long she stayed away. We leave the office between 4 and 5. The evening usually consist of a walk if the tempature is not to cold or too hot. She loves her stroller if it is moving. So we usually walk around camp and do small projects and make sure everything is going well. She will spend most the evening awake until about 8 then she will eat and sleep till 10 and wake up and eat again and sleep till 7ish. We are working with Niah sleeping by herself on a flat surface. She sleeps in her bouncer at night, carseat and swing during the day. So now during the day we will put her down on cushion on the floor and see how long she last. Then we move her to her car seat or swing when she wakes up mad. I have been working with her on tummy time. I am also trying to get her on a consistant schedule, she has bedtime down flat and has for 3 to 4 weeks its during the day that fluctates for her.She can actually pick her self up with her arms and she bobs her head quite a bit. Niah's neck is getting really strong and picks her head up quite a bit.
This is Niah at work today enjoying her swing


Niah still seems to get fussy and want her Mommy at times. Which I actually love, I may not always love it but she is my first and only child. I love having her with me and taking her on errands and to the office. I have only left her 2 times, once with daddy and once with mimi.

My sister is coming on saturday for most of the week for my birthday week!! Which means the babies will get to spend some time together. We have lots of activities for the cousins to do together. We talked about trying to get them out in the pool and see how they like to swim. They will probably be doing alot of sleeping together. I can not wait till they get old enough to play together.
This is what Niah and Kyah do together now but they still enjoy being together!!

Growing Up too fast

Our little girl is 6 weeks old and it has flown by way too fast. Niah is having more awake time and loves to be talked to and she tries to talk back but usually it is not so much of her talking back but moving her mouth and tongue trying to get sounds out. It is so cute. She loves to just lay and watch everything around her. Niah is falling into a schedule. Niah wants to be in bed by 10 pm and does not wake up till 7. She takes several naps in the day but has awake time between her naps. She gets very fussy is she is passed around and held at her bed time. She knows what is comfortable and will move and make noises till she gets in a comfortable position where ever she is. She has started a fake little cry, and I know I shouldn't like it but it is adorable and she is just showing that she doesn't like something. Niah is going through a stage when she is tired she wants mommy and will fuss till she gets her and then goes right to sleep. I can't lie, I love that she knows me and loves to be in my arms. She seems to get fussy with strangers when they hold her until she gets comfortable with them.
My adorable baby girl on a walk with mommy.


I love being a mom so much and I just wish that I could look and watch her all day. I always knew that I would love having children and use to say that I wanted a 100 children but I had no idea that I would love it this much. I realize she is my first child and I am probably considered an overprotective parent but I guess I get to be that way because she is my baby. No matter how overprotective I am, Matthew is way more than I am. Daddy still adores Niah and always wants to get in as much time with her as he can. He always says you see her all day at work, I want to hold her. Daddy always stops by work several times a day to say Hi to his little girl.

The house has several small projects going. The basement is waiting for me to paint it which I will start in between youth and kids camp when I am not so tired. We had some flower beds built in the front with rock. Matthew has been working on the landscaping the yard. It looks really nice.

Kyah came to visit this week. Here is a picture of both babies while we are shopping. Niah is only about half pound bigger than Kyah but she is not a newborn anymore and I realized that after being around Kyah.

1 Month already

It is so hard to believe that our little girl is one month and growing up way to fast already!! She had her 1 month dr. appointment today. She weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces. She has gained 36 ounces since her last appointment when she was only 6 days old. She is 21 inches long which means she has grown an inch and a half. Her head circumference went from 9 cm to 13 cm. She just started wearing newborn size clothes but still fits in her preemie pants and jackets.

She loves to eat. We started giving her 1 bottle a day. She takes a bottle pretty good. Sometimes gets very frustrated with a bottle and will only nurse and refuse the bottle. She will not even drink from a bottle after the 1st bottle so mommy never leaves her for long amounts of time (honestly how could you leave her, she is such a doll). She sometimes gets fussy when she is passed around alot but calms down when she gets in mommy or daddy's arms. She is not a huge fan of a pacifier, she will sometimes take it in the car but most of the time she turns red and spits it out if you give it to her. Most nights starting about a week and half ago, she sleeps from 10 pm to 5 or 7 am. The dr. told me not to let her sleep through the night but she gained over 2 pounds in month so I am not concerned with her not eating at night.

Niah is a wonderfully baby that is hardly fussy at all. She does not like to be ignored. Her favorite times in hanging with Mommy and Daddy at home. Daddy adores his little girl and spent the last weekend basically just holding her all day and talking to her. Niah has always been full of expressions but she is now smiling. It is so funny because she smiles when you talk to her at just the right moments like when dad gets her poop on his hand or when you tell her she is cute. Niah already enjoys story time and worship music.

Mommy and Daddy are adjusting well to baby now. Mommy has learned that the house will never be as clean as it was before she had a baby. I just work on keeping it clean and organized but I may not get to clean the bathrooms several times a week or get steam the floors several times a week and just focus on making sure the floors are clean and the bathroom gets done sometime. Daddy now takes directions in the kitchen to help with dinner. He also spends alot of time trying to figure out the best way to soothe and hold Niah. We love Niah and can't imagine life without her.

My baby is almost 2 weeks old

The last 12 days have flown by, it does not seem possible that my baby could be 2 weeks old this week. We love every minute with our precious Niah. In fact Matthew and I go back and forth on who's turn it is to hold her and he is convinced that I use nursing as a reason to hold her :-) I find myself just wanting to look and watch this amazing little being all the time.

We brought Niah home from the hospital the day after she was born Thur, May 5. We walked her through her home and introduced her to her room. Our first diaper at home ended up in a wadrobe change and a huge mess. Daddy was changing her diaper and it just so happens the cold made her pee all over. Daddy who wore surgical gloves at the hospital to change diapers could not understand why we did not have any. The diaper resulted not only in a change of clothes, but we had to change blankets and the changine pad cover. That was not the last time an incident like that happen, just yesterday she was not done pooping when her diaper was being changed then she managed to pee as well. Daddy is getting use to getting a little bit of it on him now and his reaction is not quite as dramatic.

Niah hates to be cold and tends to shiver when laying by herself no matter how much clothes she has on and how many blankets she stays swaddled in. She loves body heat. We had to figure out a night time routine because she would just shiver in her bassinet. So now we rotate her from the bouncer seat (not on because it rattles her bones and hates it on), to her bassinet, to the carseat so that she will sleep through the night with out being held. She does really well at night now, at first she was waking up every hour but now she eats about 10, 1, and 5. I wake her up at 9. Sometimes she will have have a later feeding than 10 and not wake up till 4 and then gets up at 8:30.

Niah is a calm baby and only cries when she is cold or hungry. It takes awhile for her to work up to a cry and it is more like a high pitch squeel that is not very loud. Daddy hates it when she cries and when she was very upset with a bath, he said we are never giving her a bath again. I have to remind Matthew that sometimes she will cry, unfortunately. Matthew adores her and can not help but hold her when he sees her. Niah was laying on the ottoman and I was sitting next to her, Matthew said, "What are you doing?" I said, "Trying to see how long she will lay on her own." He said, "Well we don't have very much longer to hold her." Then picked her up.

Niah has had a well Dr. visit and a not well visit. The well visit went good, she weight 5 lbs 7 oz which the dr. was impressed she had not lost more than 2 ozs. She is healthy and the dr said she is beautiful. The not well visit was just this last Friday. Wednesday, her eye had discharge coming out of it, we called the hospital 2 and the dr.'s office twice. They assured us it was just a clogged tear duct and would get better. Friday, we called and made an appt just to make sure it was ok. They took a sample of it to make sure there was not infection and checked her over. Niah had gained 2 oz and now weighs 5 lbs 9 oz. She also lost her umbical cord at the Dr.'s office when I took her clothes off for the weight check. Dr. said she looks good.

We took Niah on her first road trip 2 hours away to Springfield for a wedding. Not so sure she was a fan of it. I think she was a little overstimulated. It will be awhile before I am ready to try that again. She did great friday but Saturday she was fussy for the first time ever. Matthew was at the point he said, "Let's go home she never cries at home." After the morning she did much better. We did learn that you have 3 times the amount the luggage you normally do and the trip takes twice as long with a baby.

We love Niah so much and can not imagine our lives without her now!!

The Birth

Tuesday, May 3, we went to see the dr. to evaluate what the plan of action should be. He was either going to admit me that day to just prepare me to be induced or I would have to go in Wed. morning to start the induction. The dr. came in to check me and he gave me a face and I thought, "Oh no 41 weeks pregnant and I can't even dialate to a 1!" But the dr said, "I do not have bad news, your a 1, that is just enough for me to break your water, tomorrow morning!!" I was so relieved that one I made progress and 2. I did not have to spend an entire day in the hospital and not even be in labor. I finished my day with working, taking advantage of the warm weather by walking around the camp taking pictures, and painting the tabernacle bathroom. I do not think Matthew or I could sleep very well because we had to get up at 4:30 am but at 2:30 am I woke up to contractions. For the first time in my pregnancy, I had contractions, I never had braxton hicks or false labor but tonight I started having a few contractions and I lost my mucous plug.

Wednesday, May 4, we left for the hospital at 5:00 am, I was still having contractions, they were pretty far about and really short. We got to the hospital, I think we were both nervous, anxious, and excited all at the same time. We filled out our paperwork and took us to our room. They started pitocin around 7:15, they started with a very low dose and the contractions were not bad at all and were around 4 or 5 minutes apart and about a minute long. Around 7:45 the dr. came in and checked me and I was between a 1 and a 2. He then broke my water, which took about a minute and felt very weird. At that point my contractions were getting much stronger and closer together. The part I hated most was that they had to have this stupid heart moniter on the baby and everytime a contraction came on and I moved the heart moniter or the baby would move and lose her heartbeat. So they would come in my room and tell me about how it had to stay on the baby. By this time my contractions were 2 mins apart and 120 seconds long and they were very painful. I would usually jump out of bed with the contraction and try to get in a comfortable position standing leaning on something which then brought a nurse to my room due to the heart moniter. The heart moniter made me stressed and very irritable (well probably the contractions made me irritable) The babies heart rate started dropping lower with some of the contractions which made the nurses worry. By this time I was having some contractions right on top of each other with no break and then I would get like a minute break. The dr. came in and decided to put an internal moniter on the baby to keep her heart rate and get a better reading. Let me tell you having to lay on a bed through several contractions not being able to move was very difficult, I was almost in tears. At this point he checked me and told me I was a 3 or maybe between a 3 or 4. I was horrified that it had not gotten further than that with such strong contractions. The baby was face up and it needed to be face down so he tried to see if he could move it with his hand. That was very uncomfortable especially with having contractions while he was doing it. The contractions started to make me sick and I then began to throw up. I had gone through almost 4 hours of terrible contractions of being 2 minutes apart and 120 seconds long and decided to get the epidural. I got the epidural around 11ish. The nurses were very happy because as soon as I relaxed the babies heart rate stayed consistantly higher. The dr. came in around 12 or 12:30 and checked me again. He told me I was between a 7 and an 8 and he thought we would have a baby by 3:00. The baby was still face up but this time as he was trying to aide in moving her I couldn't feel it thank goodness. I was now in transitional labor.

At 2:00 the nurse came in and started having me push, the dr. would be in soon. He thought it would be awhile of pushing since she was face up. I did hard pushing for 15 mins and she was not moving down and I had to put oxygen on because the babies heart rate was not recovery after the pushing and I took a couple minutes off from pushing. The dr. came in and realized that the baby did not have enough room to come down and began to cut the skin that was blocking her. I was so glad that I had an epidural at this point. After he was done cutting, I began pushing and she still had limited space so he decided that we would need aide in getting her out and they had to use the vacumn after I had pushed for 20 more minutes. Finally, after 10 more minutes of pushing her head came out. The dr. then told me one more push, after him telling me to push so hard for the head I started to push and he was like woa not that hard. There she was laying on my stomach crying, it was a very emotional wonderful moment for me and Matthew to finally see our little girl After Matthew cut the cord they took her over next to my bed to clean. Then I began to lose an extreme amount of blood. My room filled with more nurses and activity than I ever thought. All I remember was the dr. who is usually a patient calm man was giving quick orders and the nurses were not moving fast enough for him. Finally after 45 mins, the dr then began to fill me in on what was happening and that they may have to take me to an operating room if the bleeding did not stop. I just began praying, thinking the last thing I want to do is leave my baby and go to an operating room. Again, thank goodness I had an epidural for all of that!! Then within ten minutes then told me the bleeding was under control and as long as it stayed that way, there would be no operating room. Praise the Lord!! The room calmed down and I finally got to hold and feed my baby.

Somewhere in there Matthew was holding our little girl and said, "She has to be Niah, she does not look like any of the other names on our list." Niah Beth King was born at 3:02 pm, weighed 5 lbs 10 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She is doing very well and we both love and adore her.

This is a picture of her that I took just today. I realize she is my baby so I am partial but I do believe she is the most beautiful baby.

Due Date

Well today is officially my due date and as of yesterday I am no closer to delivering than I was 6 weeks ago. Somedays I actually think this little girl is climbing up my stomach instead of dropping down lower. I have been officially scheduled for an induction next tues/wed, if I do not go into labor. So my prayer for the rest of this week is that I do go into labor!! You may ask why tues/wed, well that is because I am headed to the dr. tues morning for him to check me. If I am in the same place I am now which is not even began to ripe, he will admit me into the hospital and begin the whole process of trying to make me ripe. It is pretty funny to me that you measure a baby by fruits and vegetables and then they tell you how close you are to delivery by how ripe you are, again fruits and vegetables. Apparently, the ripening can take awhile and then he will start the induction process. He pretty much told me that it would be wed. before I had her. So as you can see that sounds like a long lengthy process and if you think of it send some prayers that this girl will come before then!!

I am going take one of the pictures from our maternity session and put it on the wall in the nursery and I am going to either put the verse: "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. ~ Psalm 139:13, or The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name. ~ Isaiah 49:1"

Now, knowing that either way I will have this wonderful baby in my arms by early next week makes me so excited. I have dreamed about her coming and prayed over her life for the last 8 or so months (I was 6 weeks along when I found out) and now she will actually begin life in this world. I am anxious to see her personality, and the wonderful person God created and what amazing things HE has in store for her.

Until she comes I am going to work on things at the house. Last night I cleaned all the windows, screens, and window seals and washed every blanket sheet and towel. Now on to removing every trace of dog hair off the furniture. Poor Addie will not know what to do when baby comes. She got kicked off the furniture but we did buy her a very nice dog pillow. She is well aware she is not allowed in the nursery and will stand at the nursery door watching me in there. I will have to get her lots of treats and bones so she does not feel left out.

Here are a couple more pics from our maternity session

Antsy Pantsy

My due date is around the corner and our baby girl is not showing any signs of wanting to come out. What can I say, she must enjoy warm environments as much as I do. I prefer the temp of the house to be high 70's where as the husband likes it at high 60's (even while I have been pregnant). Weeks ago, the dr informed me that she could come any day and now he is not so sure when she will make her appearance. The last few appointments she has not made any progress of exiting the wound. It's a good thing I didn't get my hopes up.

I continue to prepare things for our little one and with each passing day, I think of new things to get done at home and work. My thinking is it is easier to get things done now while there is not a baby to care for as opposed to when my attention will be on her. I get more excited for her arrival everyday!!

We got to preview our maternity pics. If you would like to go to them just go to this link it's a video preview.

Here is one of the pics from our session.


Well, a baby coming has not stopped progress in the basement being finished. Matthew and his dad have been hanging drywall all week in the basement. Matthew says his motivation to finish is so he can have a quiet place to go after the baby comes :-)

The end is near

Most people tell me that, my pregnancy has flown by for them but honestly my pregnancy has flown by for me as well. I can not believe that I am only 2 weeks away from my due date. Luckily, I have not been uncomfortable at all and have no complaints about the last trimester. I may have paid my discomfort in the first trimester, because at that point I was never going to get pregnant again and I think Matthew was on the same boat of never wanting me to get pregnant again. We joke now about it but Matthew said at times he was sure I was going die of dehydration and lack eating. I would gladly have two 3rd trimesters and just skip the first one. My only wish is that I had a little more energy, it seems I get less done in a day than I would like, due to exhaustion.

Well in the last week we have managed to go to birthing class, get maternity pictures done, and keep up with our weekly drs. appt. Birthing class was a relief for Matthew because the 7 hr class only took 4 1/2 hours. He said he learned alot and thought that everything that was shown in the class was valuable information. He also learned that birth is dramatized in the movies.... Matthew said you really have hours upon hours to get the hospital from your initial contraction. In the beginning I tried telling him this but I think he doubted me. Matthew's dr appt. went well, he has new skin growth!! It seems his hand his hurting him less, and he is getting his energy back! Thank goodness. My drs. appt had a little less news than his. The baby has moved down some but not enough to notice. I am not dialated to a cm yet just a dimple but the dr. told me that doesn't mean you can't have a baby this week. Christa wants me to have the baby friday, another friend put her money on the 16th. My due date is not actually till the 27th, whats your prediction?

Getting a hospital route down

As most of you heard, Matthew thought he would see how long it takes to get to the hospital in an emergency. Last Thursday, Matthew was working in the tabernacle and his thumb got cut by a chop saw (which is an electric saw used to cut 2x4's). Not knowing the severity of the accident and knowing the power of the saw, Matthew grabbed his thumb didn't let go and jumped in the truck with my dad. My dad driving at extremely fast speed at points of going 100 got to the hospital in 12 minutes which usually takes 25 minutes. Matthew's exact words were, "Your dad DROVE GOOD, It is important to have someone get you there quick in times like that." Matthew didn't let go of his thumb until they were in the E.R. and they made him let go of it. My dad and Matthew kept the severity of the situation away from my ears in fear of sending me into labor. They called and let us know they were going to the hospital. By the time I got there, Matthew had been heavily medicated and the Drs. had good reports so not quite as intense as the intial entrance to the hospital. The dr. did continue to ask me as they were cleaning and working on his thumb if I was doing ok. Matthew's thumb is still very tender and he doesn't like to move it much or put it below his heart but it is doing much better. The dr. told him it would be 6-8 weeks before it would be completely healed to the point he can use it but we are believing in a much quicker recovery. Matthew enjoys working with his hands and has found out how valuable his thumb is in working with his hand and says he knows God will give him a quicker recovery. Matthew has joined my club of weekly drs. visits, as well. But after this incident we do know we can make it to the hospital in 12 minutes if we have to.

Baby is doing well, I am 37 weeks and would be considered full term when she arrives from this point on. Our little one is gaining around 1/2 ounces everyday and practicing blinking, sucking, inhaling, exhaling, and gripping. The dr. says I am not ripe yet and he said he would like to tell me based on that around when I will have her but that is really not accurate. He said some women can be dilated 2-4 inche and be 50% effaced for weeks and some women can not be dilated at all and go into labor within the week. Babies come at their own timing. The dr. also informed that I could not possibly carry her any higher and she can not grow any further up. My ribs definately realize that she is high and her body consistently hits them. Thankfully, I am not uncomfortable at all and have no swelling. For the first time in my pregnancy it seems I am more tired during the day and have a harder time falling asleep at night. I mostly can't sleep at night because I think about all the things I need to get done before she arrives. Matthew and I are attending birthing class on Saturday. He is not so thrilled that it is from 8:30 to 3:30.

The nursery is almost completely done. I am just waiting on a corner shelf from Kansas City. We have pretty much purchased all of the things we needed to start off with, that I could think of. I am sure there is plenty of things I didn't think of or forgot. I also have to put pictures on the walls they are pretty bare. I plan on using the little time I have left to get things ready and spring clean. I know after baby comes I will not have much time on my hands as it goes into busy season at the camp.
Me at 37 weeks, as you can see a very high large basketball is my bump :-)

Always a project in the King House

If you have not observed, Matthew and I seem to take on huge projects, one right after the other (more like overlapping). We got married, built a house, got pregnant, and now we are finishing the basement. Before I go in further, our lives are by far not perfect but we have definately been blessed beyond measure. I can not even express how thankful I am for everything in my life.

Ok back to the basement, we bought the bathtub/shower combo this weekend and the plumber is working today to finish the plumbing. Matthew started last night on framing in the last wall for the bedroom, bathroom, laundry room. As I said, our lives our not perfect and with that comes the accident of matthew backing his truck with 16 ft long boards into the garge to put a pretty little dent in it. My only reply was, "So glad that it was not me that did it :-)" (I have already had my fair share of denting things and him having to fix them.) Matthew's goal to finish the basement by the time the baby gets here or at least the drywall done. He says he is finishing it because he wants a quiet place to sleep but I know that he is just kidding and will want to be apart of the nightly wake ups.
Here are some pictures of the beginning our our basement project
This is the basement wall


This is the garage dent


The nursery is getting closer to being done. The bedding is done and we bought our crib mattress. The curtains are hung and the light fixture is up with a dimmer. Matthew made me a canopy and I am will finish the material for the canopy this weekend and we will hang that. Last few projects is pick up shelf in Odessa and paint it. Hang pictures on the walls. Put a second shelf in the closet.

Here are a few pictures of the nursery
The changing table with my diaper stacker (I made)

The finished crib with mattress and bedding

The curtains, for some reason the lighting made the room look orange


Of course I did not leave out the progress of baby girl. I am 35 weeks along which means only 5 weeks to go. I had an ultrasound last week and she is 4lbs 12 ozs which puts her in the 36% range. She is a little below average on size but very healthy. The most she could way if I went over is 7lbs 5 ozs according to the dr. The good news is that I will not be delivering a 8 or 9 lbs. baby. The best news was that she is not breech any more which means no scheduled c-section for me. She is already showing her strong will and making us wait for her delivery to get a good look at her face. I have had more ultrasounds than the normal person of around 7 or 8 and on every single ultrasound she has found a way to hide her face so we could not get a good look. I started weekly appts 2 weeks ago, and I make my way to the dr every week so he can track the progress. He is suspecting an early delivery but I am not getting my hopes up incase she decideds to make me wait. I have felt great and have not been too uncomfortable, thank goodness, because some people make it sound terribly in the last few months. I actually sometimes forget I have a huge basket ball in my stomach until I look down or look in the mirror or someone inquires about my pregnancy. There is still no name for our little one and will probably not be a name till after delivery, I have to see her.

7 weeks to go and counting

I am in the 8th month already and it is almost impossible to believe that my pregnancy has gone by this fast. The dr. says that our little girl has a healthy heart beat and that I have the lowest blood pressure he has ever seen in a pregnant lady. Next week, we will have an ultrasound to see the position of our baby and how she is doing. If you look at my belly anytime I am wearing a fitted shirt you will see lumps poke out where she is moving. Sometimes she will leave some part of her body poked out and I will have to push it back in.
As labor is approaching, I have been reading up on the Bradley method of delivery. As I am reading about labor and natural ways to help with pain relief since I am going to attempt a natural delivery, I am even more amazed at child birth. I do not understand how any woman that has been pregnant can deny that there is no God. I think about how this baby is created and formed and develops, the complexity of it is just amazing. It starts out the size of a poppyseed and grows into a baby with a brain, lungs, heart, and everything else it needs to survive. Not only is that truly amazing but God created woman to be able to house and deliver babies into the world.
Now, past all of that, I will have to admit that labor and delivery is slightly intimidating. I tell myself constantly there are 8 billion people in the world and all 8 billion have gone through delivery. I also tell myself if a teenage girl can survive delivery and labor surely I can. I also tell myself that moms that have had 1 baby PLAN, not surprise, but PLAN another pregnancy and try for it. It is not contractions or pushing it is the fact that an entire human being will be escaping my body through a very small opening is the part that is slightly terrifying but thankfully self talk and telling my self whether I am ready or not this baby will come so I need to prepare mentally helps. But I must admit, everyday as I read another chapter or start another book on delivery, there is alot of self talk going on and maybe even more prayer. Jesus, hears please give me a small baby and an easy delivery with a quick recovery daily!!
On the the planning for baby, we are getting the nursery complete. Dear friends of ours (Christa and I, it was a joint shower), Celia (and Steve, he did so much) threw us the most special baby shower with such thoughtful touches. They took pictures of the day, made posters and signs, had adorable napkins, everything was set up so lovely, and delicious food. Then we had so many amazing friends that have been around our lives that blessed us with wonderful gifts that helped us get ready for our little girls. I think how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life and excited for my little girl to be that blessed to have so many people that will love her and be apart of her life, is so wonderful. After the shower, I have been organizing and finishing the nursery. We found a great light fixture on clearance (My favorite aisles), we picked up the changing table, and have been moving things around the room.
Here is a picture from our shower with my mom and Celia


Here is our light fixture for the nursery

10 Reasons I know I am pregnant!!

So last night I was talking to Matthew and we were talking about how all these things changed so I decided to do a top ten list.

1. The obvious is the huge ball that is growing from my stomach. That went from people thinking I was just gaining weight because I got married and too afraid to ask to now complete strangers coming and touching my belly.

2. My gums bleed everytime I brush my teeth... I know I find it terribly gross to spit blood out everytime I brush but not much I can do about it unless I went without brushing and that seems even more gross.

3. My husband feels need to hold on to me if I am walking anywhere outside with snow or ice even if the sidewalk is clear. Not only hold on to me but he feels I need an extra push or hoist in, if I am getting in a truck.

4. I have more doctor's appt. on my calendar than any other event and all the staff and dr's begin to follow your personal life as much they do your pregnancy.

5. Anytime I am carrying more than a piece of paper, people give me a look like should you really be doing that... And most people take what I am carrying out of my hand.

6. On my side of the bed I have 4 or 5 pregnacy books, 2 books on a names (which we do not have yet), a few books on infants and caring for them, books on infants and sleeping, a fetal heart monitor, stretch mark lotion, tissues to blow my nose since I wake up every morning congested, and tylenol (since that is all that I can take for pain and headaches).

7. I have now started collecting coupons for diapers, wipes, and any other baby supplies. I also look at moms in public to see what products they use on their infants and go home to see if I registered for them.

8. It is no longer exciting to buy things for me when I can buy things for the baby. Pretty sure that the babies room will look nicer than our bedroom when it is all said and done. And I now have a need to be really crafty and make things to save money.

9. It is terrible hard to sleep in the same position for more than an hour so I am constantly waking up uncomfortable and switching positions. As well as waking up on average 4 times to go to the bathroom.

10. Finally there is always constantly a pain in a bone or muscle in my body. Whether it be my ribs, my back, my sides, or my skin hurts.

I am now 29 weeks and only 11 to go. It will be here before we know it. Baby is around 3 lbs and said to be the size of a squash. I went to the dr and he said she seems to be doing very well. She is breeched at the moment and we are hoping she switches positions. I explained to the dr. that I would rather not have a c-section since recovery time is said to be much longer. I also told him I did not want to tear or have an episiotomy and my goal was not to get an epidural but if the pain was too much I was not opposed to the idea. The dr. thinks that it is funny that I am very specific on my request and I said well, I know that I may not get them all but I might as well voice them because you never know God could answer every single one of them. The dr. is going to monitor her position and then around 35 or 36 weeks do an ultrasound to see where she has decided to end up. But the good news is she is healthy active, and the dr. found it hilarious that she would move anytime I would talk to her during the appt. but didn't budge until I told her I needed her to kick.

Snowed in Means lots of time for Baby Preparations

This week, we were hit with a blizzard, as I am sure most of you were. We got 24 inches of snow and in some places the wind blew the snow as high as 5 feet. Most people would go stir crazy being snowed in for 3 days (I am still unable to get my car out of the garage) but I used it for baby preparations. Over the weekend I had bought paint samples and painted each wall a different color to choose the perfect color to paint the nursery. Everyone voted, then Matthew and I made our decision. Hearing about the blizzard I picked up the paint on Sunday so if it did snow I could use my time wisely. On Tues. Matthew went out to snow plow and I followed strict concern of me not going outside in the terribly weather and began painted. I painted the whole room, then began cutting in at the baseboards and when I began cutting in at the molding after one wall I ran out of paint. So sadly, I will not share pictures because the room is still in disarray waiting for more paint but 90% of it is painted. Matthew and I love the color and think it will match the bedding perfectly. Wed. and Thur. were also productive days because I walked (since driving is not even feasible) to my mom's house and we began working on my bedding. My bedding will look very similar to this picture with a few minor changes, the pattern for the bumper is a little different but the skirt looks exactly like that.

I am going to trim white curtain panels with the same pink on the skirt for the window treatments. My wonderfully hand husband is going to build me a crib canopy. Similar to the one in this picture.

Except I will use white and pink fabric or white and green depending on what will look best.
We have our crib, Matthew and I put it together last weekend and we love it!! It is white and very classy like our little girl will be :-)
The last thing left I am looking for in the nursery is a small elegant chandelier. I am hoping to go to a fixture place in Sprinfield what we love and find one.

I am terribly sorry if decorating a nursery is not that interesting but that has been the topic of my concern so it quickly gets put at the top of the list with Matthew's concern. Mainly because he says if he worries about it with me, he thinks it will help me be less stressed about.... What a great husband he is. But he is also the husband that learned that putting a pot up in the wrong spot or putting the mayo on the wrong cabinet in the refridgerator will drive me crazy until it is in the proper place so he will now ask if he forgets :-)

As far as pregnancy goes I am well into my 28th week, which means third trimester for me. If my ribs are not aching and I do not have to be in the same position for a long time, I forget that I have a huge belly that is only getting bigger. Pregnancy has not slowed me down too much and is a million times better since the first 12 weeks. I luckily had not had any swelling but my back does ache alot more than normal which means that our jacuzzi tub as really paid off. Matthew argued with me about buying it and I think he now is thankful he gave in for my comfort :-) Our baby is quite the mover and Matthew loves to watch her kick out my stomach as she moves around. I went from every 3 weeks to every 2 weeks on dr.'s visits. Baby has been head down the last 2 dr.'s visits and the dr. thinks she will stay that way. He is also predicting an early labor due to the way my body is built and how it reacts to the extra weight. I told him I wanted the baby to weight 5 lbs 10 ozs since 5 lbs 8 ozs is considered low birth weight. He laughed at me and asked if I wanted to pick the day I go into labor as well. I told him it would be nice.

All Baby preparations now

Now, that we have returned from vacation, our last vacation as just Matthew and I we are all baby preparation. It seems as we are getting closer and closer to our due date, more of our conversations are about baby and preparations for baby. Today, we registered at Walmart and next week we are going to register at Babies R Us. Matthew enjoyed scanning things and thought we should register for everything they had :-)

We have been on the search for the perfect crib and will hopefully decide and order by next week. We also got paint samples and are narrowing our search on bedding. We bought a travel system stroller and car seat combo, that we got an amazing deal on.


Matthew can now feel our little one kick and move and can not believe how active she is. He will now continually ask if she is moving and will want to feel her :-)

As we are getting the nursery together we also have been working on several odd jobs on the house as well. Lots of painting projects and trimming out of things. Hoping to get as much done as possible. I have the feeling we will not have this much time after she arrives. Matthew's favorite phrase to say when we are at a restaurant with children sitting near by is, "We better enjoy the peace and quiet now."
Fireplace Matthew is working on right now


Went to the doctor this week and he said everything looks great. I also had my glucose test this week and will get the results next week sometime. No one told me I had to drink 12 ounces in 5 mins. Goodness, I was not sure if I could do it but I was successful!! The doctor asked what kind of childbirth I wanted, I told him I would attempt all natural and he then asked if I knew what that ment. I smiled and said yes. I said I am not opposed to an epidural but I do not want it if I didn't need it. He said most women are one way or the other thought it was an interesting take. Now only 2 more weeks till my next appointment. I feel like I see my doctor more than anyone else.

It's a.....

If you have not heard, we are having a little girl. We have not chose any names yet we are waiting for the perfect name that will match her. She is now growing at a rapid paces and weighs in about 1.5 lbs. She has began gaining 6 ounces a week. I can definitely tell that she is getting bigger and her kicks are a little more forceful and sometimes surprise me.

I have neglected blogging because I was enjoying the holidays with the husband and family. It was so fun to start family traditions in our little family, that we will continue doing each year. The little one got just as many Christmas presents as I did.

We are starting to plan out the nursery. Right now it is an all white room waiting to be decorated. We are not going to do a themed room but I do not I want a real pretty chandelier (with a dimmer), a white floor rug, and I plan on put cute sayings and pictures on the wall. I am going to do all white furniture but I have not chose bedding or a wall color, still contemplating on that one. I will put pictures of the two nurseries I like up. I would change things in both of them to make them a little more our style and put our decorative touch on it.





We have started looking on baby furniture and reading the consumer reports on all of the different furniture we like. We hope to buy a crib this month and have bedding picked out. My mom is willing to make the bedding if I can not find a good deal on it.

I have started getting very excited and impatient for our little girl to arrive. I am also glad that we have 4 months to prepare for our little one. Lots to do to get everything ready for her.