Cynthia Anne's Birth Day

So, it's been almost a week since our little one made her big debut.  Here's how it happened and of course some precious pictures of an absolutely beautiful little girl!  (sorry it's a little long...)

My due date came and went.  February 14, was the due date, instead, Josh and I made ourselves a nice pasta and chicken dinner and sat at our kitchen table by candle light to enjoy some time together.  The next few days we went on a few walks to see if that would help our little angel get here before Friday, I was always completely exhausted by the end and had to go home and put my feet up for a while to get some energy back.

Mom getting ready...

Dad, patiently waiting...

So, Thursday night is upon us.  We decide to go to be early since we are going to have to be at the hospital at 5:30.  We do go to bed early, but neither of us really got any sleep.  Josh was even up at 2am, and went to the gym to work out.  5am is finally upon us and we head to the hospital, excited about what's about to happen, but in a little disbelief that we are about to meet our daughter!  We get all checked in and they start prepping me for the c-section.  Josh is awesome during this, getting our stuff all set up and organized, probably more just to keep himself busy more than anything!

The time has arrived, they wheel me back to the operating room, but Josh has to wait to come back, he says this was the longest 20 minutes ever...it didn't seem like that long to me, I guess I wasn't just sitting there though.  Finally, Josh comes in, and they start the procedure.  About 15 minutes later, we hear, "There's a full head of hair..."  and not 30 seconds later we hear our daughters first cry!  It still brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that moment.  It was such a precious moment because I knew that she was our daughter and that we had created this little life!  From that first little cry I was in love, even though I hadn't seen Cynthia yet, oh, and I sure couldn't wait to see her!  Just a few minutes later, the nurse holds her out from behind the curtain, and yep, a FULL head of black hair, and she immediately stole my heart away!  She officially weighed in at 7lbs 11 oz, and was 19 inches long.

They start cleaning Cynthia up, fixing me up, and Josh gets to go around and see our daughter!  He takes some pics, then comes back to show them to me!  I knew that I couldn't wait to hold her!  He goes back and forth a few more times, but then finally comes back holding Cynthia Anne!  How precious that was for me to get to see her hold her for the first time!  My husband is a great man, but the tenderness that just overcame him was awesome for me to see!  We spent the next few minutes talking to Cynthia while they were still fixing me up.  Finally, they are done and we get headed back to our room!  It is on the short ride back that I get to hold Cyndi for the first time, oh so special.

To be honest, the next part is a blur, I just know that I was so focused on our little blessing that it didn't really matter what was going on, who was in the room, or what they were doing to me!  She was (and still is!) just so beautiful and perfect, Josh and I could just keep staring at her for hours!  When Josh would talk, she very much knew that it was her daddy talking, and she would look for the sound of his voice and calm down if she was crying, so again, that tenderness of his shone through and made my heart swell up that much bigger!

We had quite a few guests come visit us and Cynthia, which was nice!  So, thanks to those of you that did!  We did however have a little fight with jaundice over the next few days.  As of now though, her bilirubin numbers have gone down and she is gaining her weight back!  Josh and I are still trying to figure how this whole schedule thing works, or at least how to get some sleep in!  We are having a blast with this little girl and are trying to live moment by moment and take it all in, even though we wonder what each of the next steps is going to have in store for us!

Daddy holding Cynthia for the FIRST time!

Our new little family of 3!

Mom holding Cynthia for the first time!

Cynthia getting her first bath

Getting nice and warm

I just couldn't resist this picture!!

She's ours?  We get to take her home?

Oh how we've been so blessed! 

Cynthia getting her first bath at home

Just relaxing in daddy's arms

Who wouldn't just love this face?!?! 

A light at the end of the "tunnel"

So, the week of our daughter's birth is finally here!  It is a little strange to think that only 8 months ago we just began preparing for this little one's arrival, and now, it will definitely happen sometime this week!  Tuesday, Valentine's Day, is our official due date.  Last Wednesday, I was dilated at a 1 and 50% effaced.  We talked about induction, but because of a uterine abnormality, if labor does not start on it's own, my doctor is not sure how effectively the muscle will be able to work on its own.  So, if labor does not start on it's own, I am going to have a c-section on Friday morning.  It's a little scary to think about, but we are so thankful that this pregnancy has gone so smoothly.  Because of my uterine abnormality, we were actually a little worried that we would be dealing with pre-term labor...but our God is a BIG God and is in complete control and has an amazing plan, we just have to trust Him through it!  We NEVER thought that we would actually be talking about going past our due date!

Please pray for us this week, that we will have patience and that we will be rested and relaxed!  Josh has been such as great husband during the last 8 months, so supportive and taking such great care of me.  I know that he's going to be a great daddy to this little princess, and I know that he's so ready to meet her.  I've been blessed to get to carry her for the past 9 months, and to get to feel her movements and talk to her constantly, I know that he is so ready to get to hold her, see her face, and look into her eyes!  We are both ready to start the next step of this journey together and are so thankful for the prayers of our friends and family!

Here are some pics of my ever growing belly from the past two weeks.  A friend told me early on that I would never believe how big I would get, and it's true, I never thought that I would be this big.  I do think that my dear husband is ready to get his pajama pants, sweats, and t-shirts back though, since that's pretty much my wardrobe at home!

at 38 weeks, only 2 more weeks to go!

at 39.5 weeks

Still Waiting!

I know that there are still a little more than 2 weeks until my due date, but I'm so ready for our little girl to get here!  I know, I know...enjoy these last few days/weeks and get ahead on sleep, clean the house and all that...but to be honest, I'm starting to get really uncomfortable!  I don't think the picture below illustrates just quite how HUGE I'm feeling...  The last doctor appointments have gone well, good heart beat, she's head down, but I'm just not dilating yet...

 37, almost 38 weeks pregnant

Josh and I are both just so ready to hold our little girl, to see what she looks like, to hear her cry, to figure out who she looks more like, to bring her home, to see how our cats are going to react to her, and to start to learn about the little person that God has entrusted us with!  There are still times I'm not quite sure I know how to do this though, but I know that she's God's gift and she belongs to God, so I'm trusting Him and leaning on Him.

We have been blessed with two showers in the past week as well.  One from long time dear friends and one at school.  So now, we've gotten just about everything that I think we'll need...for a while at least!  It was super fun at both showers to open up and see all the pink and bows!  Here's a picture of the shower that the Saylak's threw for us as well as the cake and diaper cake from the shower at school!

+1 Photos

A dear friend recently took pictures of Josh and I and my pregnant belly.  They turned out awesome!  Check out his page to view them.  If you are in the Round Rock area and need photos taken, contact Tim!

Pregnancy Photos

Happy New Year

As I sit here today thinking about all that happened in 2011, I cannot help but post a top 10 list.  These are the highlights of what is running through my mind right now.  There were also some low points, but since I consider myself an optimist, I am so thankful for these high points that I am praising God for.  I cannot thank God enough for being the BIG God that He is and for having such an amazing plan for our lives.  I am also reminded of some of the lyrics to the song "Beautiful Things" by Gungor, he has taken old and made them new!
All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new
You are making me new


So here it goes,
Top 10 Moments/Events I'm Thankful for in 2011:

10.  Another year of good health for me and my family!

9.  Going through the Discovery program to get some heart healing that I truly needed!  (www.discovery-austin.org)

8.  Getting to see my husband cross something off his "bucket list," going to a World Series game that his Texas Rangers were playing in!  Not only did we get to see them win that game, but he caught a batting practice ball from Adrian Beltre!

7.  Seeing the changes that have happened in the past 8 months in my Dad's life: coming into relationship with the Lord, meeting and marrying his new wife, putting the past in the past and looking forward to a new outlook on life and family!  (Discovery is amazing!!)

6.  Seeing the changes that have happened in my brother's life in the past 6 months: coming into a relationship with the Lord, stepping out of his rock band, and taking part in the praise and worship team at his church!  (Discovery is amazing!!)

5.  Getting to see my dear sister 4 times this year, January, June, and 2 times for Dad's wedding!  I love her and miss her!

4.  Getting to go to Spokane, Washington to see my dear Lisa Ulrich! (http://lisaulrich.blogspot.com/)

3.  Being married to my best friend!  We have so much fun together and love living life together!  I can't even imagine what my life was like before him!

2.  Going to Tennessee and Chicago on vacation with my hubby!  In Tennessee it was amazing to be surrounded by lots and lots of mountains in almost the middle of nowhere!

After watching the Blue Man Group in Chicago.

From the Foothills Parkway outside of Walland, TN in the Great Smoky Mountains.

1.  Finding out that Josh and I were pregnant (see previous post), finding out that we were having a baby girl. Which will be here sometime in the next 6 weeks!  And, it has been tons of fun getting things ready and set up for her arrival!


Now, I'm looking forward to and dreaming of the many moments that I'll be thankful for in the next year!  Things like: holding our daughter for the first time, seeing Josh hold his daughter for the first time, seeing Josh be a daddy, learning how to be a mommy, seeing my sister again in February, continuing to learn about the big things that God has in store for my family, spending another year being married to my best friend!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL and I hope that you are challenged to look for the moment's you're thankful for in the past year!

Baby on the Way

We are officially 33 weeks pregnant with our little girl!  It's becoming more and more of a reality that around Valentine's day, we'll have the newest member of our family joining us.  We couldn't be more excited though, and are so ready to meet this blessing that God is giving us.  I would lying if I said that I wasn't nervous...nervous about the delivery process, nervous about bringing this precious person home with us, and a little nervous about the whole parenting process.  The thing that calms these nerves of mine is the fact that Josh and I make such a great team!  I am so ready to see him be a daddy, and I know that he's going to be great at it!


So, here's the story of the past 6 or so months.
In June, Josh and I went on vacation to visit family in Tennessee, and then went to Chicago for a few days.  Tennessee was fabulous, we loved the mountains and had a blast enjoying God's creation!  I had started to feel a bit tired, and was expecting my "visitor" soon.  We then headed to Chicago, which was a dramatic change in scenery.  We went from being surrounded by mountains to being surrounded by buildings and lots of people.  We walked and walked and saw lots of museums.  One day Josh convinced me to get a pregnancy test.  So, the next morning, I did the test, and it came back positive!!!  I waited until Josh woke up, and showed him the picture of the test, he wasn't sure what it meant, but when I told him he just smiled!


I made a doctor appointment as soon as we got home, and they confirmed that I was about 5 weeks pregnant, and due on Valentine's day!  We had fun getting to call our family and tell them that we were pregnant!

It wasn't very long before I started feeling sort of crummy, but was so thankful that I was on summer break so I could just veg out at the house.  It was about a month later, at our next doctor appointment that we got to see our little peanut!  It truly was amazing!  Then again in August, we got to see her again!

As I learned about all the changes that were happening to my body and all the changes that were happening to our little peanut, it made it so easy to be thankful for God being in control and for having such a wonderful plan!

Then, in September, we had another ultrasound and found out that we were having a little girl!  What an amazing experience, getting to see all of our little one's body parts and see how big she was getting.  I know that Josh was also amazed and loved getting to hear the sound of our little one's heart beat.

This whole pregnancy hasn't been too bad.  I really haven't had morning sickness, just been tired.  I know that I am getting really ready to meet this little one and hold her in my arms.

This is me at 24 weeks pregnant.

Taking a stab at this...

So, I'm going to try my hand at this blogging thing.  We'll see how it goes.