You tell me...

 

Is she the baby whisperer or what? 

 

 

The hair do and glasses may have changed but she still has the touch!

 

We love you mom nana!

 

Our little miracle....

has arrived!
 

Our sweet Ella Grace made her debut August 16th at 1:31 pm.  She weighted 5 pounds and 14 ounces! 

  

 To say we are blessed is an understatement as this pregnancy was not an easy road.  In the past year, I have witnessed the power of prayer and the will of my Lord in a way I could have never imagined.  

 

To make a long story short, we were considered "high risk" from the first appointment due to a miscarriage that we had this past fall.  The first 19 weeks were walk in the park in retrospect.  At our 20 week appointment our doctor found several issues that required us to see a specialist on a weekly basis.  It was during these appointments we learned our sweet little girl was only in the 4th percentile in growth.  After a series of lab work, the doctors concluded the growth restriction was a result of a faulty placenta.

 

Around week 32, we learned this crappy placenta had become even more problematic.  I had a placenta abruption and the umbilical cord doppler's became elevated.  Elevated doppler's meant Ella was not receiving the nutrition she needed.  Ella was evaluated through hospital stays and eventually I was put on bed rest.  Thus the decision was finally made....we would induce as soon as possible.

 

So Thursday morning, August 16th, we arrived at the hospital at 4 am.

 

 

Around lunch, we had hit 8 cm.  The doctor dropped by just to see how we were doing and things started to take a turn.....Ella's heart rate began to plummet drastically and within minutes we were in the operating room.

 

At 1:31 pm, we met our little Ella. 

 

 

 

 

 

While Ella was being cleaned, the nurse noticed she was having respiratory issues. 

 

The next thing we know she was being sent to the nicu. 

 

(first time I got to see her)

 

(first time to hold her)

 

 

(holding her daddy's hand)

 

But after two (what seemed to be VERY long) weeks, our baby girl came home! 

 

One part of the story I left out is how perfect God's will truly is.  During the c-section the doctor realized I had a placenta accreta that had gone undetected during the ultrasounds.  What is an accreta... it is when the placenta grows into the uterine wall.  So what does this mean for a pregnancy if it goes undetected....it means hemorrhaging and a hysterectomy is likely.  But my gracious God not only sparred me from a hysterectomy, he gave my doctor the discernment to insist on a c-section which ultimately protected our child and prevented me from having a blood transfusion.  

 The God I serve is an awesome God.

 

We truly are blessed!

 

Home sweet home

This past weekend, we made one last trip to Birmingham before Miss Ella's arrival. 

And of course, we partied it up with the old crew! 

just because i think it is fun....here is a picture of the same group circa 1987ish

From what I can tell, white visors were all the rage that year!

While we didn't have an ocean to keep us busy, we managed to have just as much fun eating our body weight in food, having lots of laughs and hanging out til most of the men had fallen asleep! 

Here are a few pictures to give you a glimpse of our fun (Thanks for the pictures Stac!!!) 

 

  (J and Lucy seeing how far they could get in the pond before someone fell....and by someone I mean Lucy)

(me and my dad) 

(the pregnant ladies and our loving husbands!)

 

 

Although we have all gotten older, being together is just as much fun as it was 28 years ago!

21 weeks

and growing and growing and growing!

Happy Friday!

And in other news...

Meet the new addition

to our family.....

Miss Libby Rose!

The few hours leading up to her arrival were spent texting.....

making each other smile,

playing quarters (a very fun made up game for children under 5 and adults over 33) 

and finding each other's nose.

Libby and mom are doing great! 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father... - James 1:17

Where we've been

Since we last talked, J and I have been busy.
We have purchased a house, put a house on the market and sailed the wide open sea!

Today we will keep it simply and just focus on life at sea!

So do you remember how Dad had a BIG birthday this year? 

Well this was his gift.....

Yep...we bought him a ship. 

Go big or go home, right?

Day 1 was packed with events.

First, we boarded the "boat" wearing these sexy shirts!

(everyone BUT dad thought the shirts were cool????)

Next, we had a few grueling rounds of chess.

Finally, we attempted to take really sweet pictures.

It didn't work so we just took pictures of the sunset.

Day 2-
we mastered the wind blown look,

while others modeled hats,

and Lucy sipped refreshing smoothies!

That evening we dressed in our Sunday finest,

and showered each other with love.

the power of advertising.....

Day 3....

we played in the crystal clear ocean,

listened to the pirate ship blast sensored Cee lo,

smiled,

stared down tiny birds as they stole food from our plates,

and protected ourselves from the sun.

That evening we took mug shots

and the 2011 family Christmas card photo.

Day 4 - Nassau

We visited the Pirates Museum,

and ran into Anne Bonny and her gang.
(if you are not up to date on your pirate history, you may want to review this.)

We eventually escaped, knocked back some H2O

and figured out directions.

Then daddy wanted to make sure we saw the shells,

Molly ate a treat and

Lucy had a little cry.

This is Molly talking Lucy off the ledge.

J and I decided to ditched the group and rented this bad a bike!

Yeah, I agree, he looks fierce.

Can anyone find waldo?

We explored the island and pretended we were in a motorcycle gang. 

That evening, we ate with the locals.

Day 5 - Race Day

Molly looks terrified.

and on the final night, we took a nice Family Photo!

what a great trip!

I am truly blessed with a wonderful family!

 OH yes...one more thing.

As we are walking of the boat, I see this!
I had no clue he had taken it.  If only I had found it sooner it would be framed hanging on our wall.
 Isn't he handsome. It is that award winning smile if you ask me!