First Trip

A little before Cynthia was born, we decided that we would take a trip to visit Kansas City towards the end of my maternity leave to see Josh's sister and her kids.  She had a son born just a month before Cynthia.  So, we got back a few days ago from it.  We had a great time, it was nice getting out of our house for a little while, nice seeing family, and nice experiencing some weather that wasn't already too hot to go outside.  Cynthia did great on the plane rides there.  She actually slept the whole time on the way there until the very last few minutes because she was getting hungry.  On the way back, she was awake for most of the flight, but didn't fuss too much!  This made for one happy mom and dad, I was seriously dreading that she would be 'that' crying baby on the plane that bothered everybody.  While we were in Kansas, we also made a trip to Branson to stay at some cabins managed by Jamie's husbands family.  It was so nice there!  We looked out our cabin door to the lake, such a great view!  While we were on this trip, Cynthia had some really good nights of sleeping!  One night she even slept for 7 hours!  The other nights she slept for 5 or 6 hours at a time!  This hasn't quite continued at home, but I was so thankful for it on our trip.  Cynthia also attended her first baseball game, the Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers, the Royals lost, but it was a fun game!  So, here are some pictures from our trip, I'm so sad that I didn't get more pictures than we did, but we did get some cute ones of her with her cousins!

On another note, she seems like she is getting so big!  She is starting to really smile back at us and is definitely cooing!  She's getting so strong and really likes being able to sit up more and look out at the world.  Her arms and legs are moving around a ton, but it seems like she's getting more control of them and is figuring out how to use them.  We have realized that she LOVES bathtime!  On our trip, we had to bathe her in the kitchen sink at the cabin, but she love splashing around!

I am definitely sad that I will not be spending all day with our little princess as I prepare to head back to work next week, but I am trying to look forward to being back in a regular routine and back where I know that God has put me.  I am super thankful though that Josh is going to be able to stay home with her, I know that he'll love this time (if he doesn't fall apart first, hehe).

Checking out the new toy to play with at Aunt Jamie's house

Napping with daddy at the cabin

Our nice view from the cabin in Branson

Slayton cousins, Taylor, Macy, Logan, and Cynthia

Jamie and Logan, and Me and Cynthia

Having fun with bathtime

First baseball game

Pictures with Logan, who is only one month older than Cynthia

And here's our two month old shot!  Just look at that beautiful smile!!!

The First Five Weeks

I'm still catching myself coming to the realization that I'm a mommy now, and I've been a mommy for almost 6 weeks...  And as I think back to the past 6 weeks, I'm amazed at how much I've learned and how much my precious daughter has changed in just this short amount of time.  I'm also amazed, not only at how perfectly God forms each of us in our mother's wombs, but also at how He has sustained me during this time of her infancy.  I find myself exhausted some days, but most days my body is somehow able to do what it needs to do, and I know that it's only because of the good Lord blessing me with good sleep when I am able to get it.

In the past few weeks, Cynthia is, of course, getting bigger, and she's also getting so much stronger with her neck.  She's also really starting to get on more of a schedule, which we all appreciate! (Minus the days when she's going through a growth spurt and all she wants to do is eat!)  She's also more and more aware of what's going on around her and beginning to smile more!  I knew that I would love this little girl more than I could have ever imagined, but what I wasn't prepared for was that I would love her a little more each day!

Here are some pics of her...

Tuckered out on a walk with mom

This is pretty much how she sleeps all the time, arms up

There are no words for this...

On her one month birthday

I just love this picture!!  One of my favorites

Chilling with mommy...love this face!

Sometimes we both get our afternoon naps...

About to head to the park with friends!

5 weeks old and getting so big!

Timer and tripod made this photo possible!  After this, I realized (again) that we're a family now...

 Such a pretty girl!

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Three Weeks

Wow, hard to believe that Cynthia was born just three weeks ago!  It all seems like so long ago when I think about all the diapers and feedings I've gotten under my belt so far.  But then again, with all that I'm still trying figure out, it seems like just yesterday sometimes!  It is definitely amazing to see how much she's changed in three weeks and to think about how much of a miracle she is.  Her recent accomplishments include: getting stronger and being able to hold her head up more and more, being able to sleep for a little longer at night, staying awake for longer during the day, and starting to respond to us and stare at us when we are around her.

Last weekend, we made our first trip to Bryan to celebrate Grandpapa's 60th birthday and we got to meet Aunt Catherine!  It was a special weekend, we also got to meet other family!

Here are some new pics!  I just lover her little face so much!

pretty ballerina!

Aunt Catherine

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