What I'm Loving Wednesday

I am linking up with Jamie for Wednesday loves...

This edition is dedication to my beautiful sister and her family because I am loving that she is going to have baby Graham TOMORROW!!! I cannot wait to meet him. I especially want to see what he looks like!! Grace is such a good mix of both Elizabeth and Nathaniel, so it could be interesting!

I SO badly want to go and be there when he is born, but as crazy as it is I am subbing tomorrow and Friday. I can't believe these are probably the only 2 days I am going to sub all semester and it's when he is going to come!! Oh well... I will have to settle with seeing him this weekend!

Without further ado {??} the Smith family {as a family of 3!!!}

Love you guys!!! And I can't wait to introduce Graham Jackson Smith later in the week!!

Easter

There in the ground, His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sins curse has lost it's grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I live

Good Friday

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Nichole Nordeman

baby Graham

Update:

The nurses were able to turn baby Graham so he is head down again!! Thanks for your prayers!! Now he is good to go, at least for the next week!

A quick prayer request:

This week my sister, who is 39 weeks pregnant went in for her doctor's appointment. The baby {Graham} was breech. So this morning they are attempting to turn him back. There are many possible complications with the procedure! It could make either one of their heart rates spike or cause her to go into labor both of which would require an emergency c-section. So please pray for her and the doctors to have wisdom over the procedure!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Today I am linking up with Jamie...

I'm loving that bedtime bootcamp is kind of working! Brynlee has only been waking up one time through the night. So now, we work on getting to bed and naptimes!

I'm loving that this weekend is Easter. I love Easter for so many reasons. The most important reason being that if Jesus didn't raise from the dead then my faith is powerless! Can't wait to celebrate with our church family this weekend!

I'm loving that baby Graham will be here soon!! We are praying hard for a safe delivery {a few minor complications have come up!}. I so can't wait to see what he looks like!

I'm loving that Brynlee is currently napping {in her crib} for maybe the 4th time in 6 weeks!

I'm loving living so close to family! It is always fun to see Brynlee hanging out with other family! Don't know what we would do without them!

I'm loving my amazing husband! He works so hard to make everyone happy! He does so much for us and everyone else! I love his heart and desire to be the husband and father that God wants him to be!

baby talk

There are a lot of things I love about Brynlee- too many to name. I love so many things that she does everyday. But one of the absolute best comes usually once a day after her belly and nice and full... You see, most of the time Brynlee will fall asleep after nursing {at least until I try to burp her}. I love her sleeping face... but that isn't my favorite! My favorite are those rare times when she is still awake and oh so happy. She will just lay in your lap forever, talking, giggling and having the time of her life. I love her sweet voice as she tells me all the many reasons why she refuses to sleep. It is so precious. We haven't started rice cereal or veggies or anything yet. And if I am being honest it is partly because I don't to lose these moments with my chick pea!

 Another fun thing that James loves... She has started grabbing and playing with her toes!

Baby Dedication

Today was Brynlee's baby dedication. At our church this happens through an afternoon reception. Each family participating has a table to fill with people who will be instrumental in helping us raise Brynlee to love Jesus!

The whole afternoon was great!! I loved that the whole celebration centered around our responsibility as a parent to set an example for our children of a authentic, real relationship with God. Right now, we are the most important people in our child's life. It is our job to show them Jesus and His love that was displayed through His death and resurrection. We must take our job seriously and be intentional with every moment that we spend with Brynlee! I know our time with her in our house will go by far too quickly. It is essential that in that time she develops a growing relationship with God, so that when she has left our house and is on our own, she will continue in her walk. She will not be saved by our belief in God. Her faith will only remain strong if she makes it her own!

We also wrote a letter to Brynlee... but it is on James' phone, which I don't have access to at this time. Although it is a personal thing, I might post it later on. We believe wholeheartedly that the other people who surround Brynlee will have a huge impact on her life. By allowing others to know the what we want for her life there is accountability for us as parents. So that will be coming in a later post! But for now, some more pictures from the afternoon!

4 month Check-up

Brynlee was supposed to have her 4 month check-up on Monday. Last Friday they called saying our doctor would be out of the office so we had to reschedule. Apparently the first available appt. was April 28th!!?? 2 1/2 weeks later. So we made the appointment. Well for weeks now we have had different things going on with her and I kept saying "I can't wait to go to the doctor and just ask about...." When it was delayed I was pretty disappointed.

This week a few things go worse with Brynlee, mainly nursing and sleeping. So on Wednesday James called to see if we could get a sooner appointment... and we did. Yesterday we went, I asked tons of questions and feel better about a few issues.

Officially Brynlee weighs 16 lbs 2 oz and is 24.75 inches long. Her weight is still in the 91%!! We love healthy babies over here! The past couple days she has had a super runny nose, and has been pulling at her ears a lot. Turns out she has an ear infection in her right ear! Super sad to hear, but it gives some reasoning to all the fussiness, not nursing well and of course barely sleeping!

Although I will say the past two nights have been much better and she even took a REAL nap today!! I got a ton of cleaning done!! Well, not really a ton but a lot of things that were way overdue! So now, we are relaxing outside, waiting for James to get home from his trip!!

Hope you are having a productive Saturday as well!

Show us Your Life- Books

So today at Kelly's Korner we are talking about books you are currently reading.

I wasn't really a "reader" until I discovered Jodi Picoult in high school {actually my mom discovered her for me when she worked in my school's library}. So usually I am reading one of her books. And while I am not currently, I plan on reading "My Sister's Keeper" again very soon. This was the first book of hers I read. It is amazing and surprisingly meaningful for me. If you ever plan on reading this book- please do not see the movie first! It does not do the book justice AT ALL! Plus the ending in completely different...

I am reading the fourth book in the Bride Series: "Happy Ever After" by Nora Roberts. I have really enjoyed the other three books but am finding it hard to get into this book. I guess I am just not a huge fan of the main character. Oh well.

  Another book I am reading "Bringing Up Girls" by James Dobson. I am a huge Dobson fan and have heard great things about his book "Bringing Up Boys." I am only about three chapters in on this one and so far it is good. Although one tip- plan to read more than just the first chapter when you begin. It starts out slightly depressing. He begins the book talking about all of the challenges young girls have to face in life. I felt very inadequate for the job I have in being a mom, but it gets better. There is a lot of wisdom in this book.

So that is what I am reading these days! And an array of children's books, of course!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

1. The weather. It has been beautiful the past couple of days so we have spent a lot of time outside! A much needed change of pace.

2. Chick pea as always. She is simply adorable. I could listen to her laugh all day!

seeing if she can fit all five fingers in her mouth

3. Fraiser- we have been watching it since Brynlee was born. We are currently on season 6... it was a good substitute for Modern Family {we have only seen the first season}

4. Sleeping babies. She always looks so happy and peaceful! Makes me feel better about the times when she isn't so chipper.

4 months

Well Brynlee, yesterday marked for months since you have entered our lives... outside the womb! We just couldn't be happier with the person you are becoming! You are so sweet and LOVE to talk {probably since that is what we do all day, everyday} You are still a very happy baby {unless you are waking up in the middle of the night hungry. not so happy then, but we understand!} You love to smile and laugh at anything and everything- especially when daddy makes funny faces at you!

  

You are a mover. When you hang out on your blanket you like to turn circles, and sometimes scoot completely off the blanket! You want to sit or stand all the time and are just itching to turn over. You are close!! You wear a size 3 diaper {the 2's were cutting off circulation to your adorable, healthy little legs! SO we moved up!} For clothes you mostly wear 3-6 month and 6 month stuff. 

Hadlee wanted in on the tummy time

Sleeping is still a bit touch and go. Right now you sleep around 3-4 hours at a time through the night- usually going to bed between 8-9 and waking up around 8. However, you love to do this thing anytime we put you down where you wake up 30 minutes later. We are trying different things to remedy this situation but so far nothing has worked. You aren't loving the naps these days either. A lot of times after that 30 minutes you won't go back down, or maybe just for 15 minutes more. This week we are going to try to do an actual schedule for sleeping and see if that helps!

 This month will be a big one... your first Easter and a special service at church were we will dedicate you to God! We can't wait to see what He has in store for your life! So glad we get to be a part of it! We love you chick pea!

Baby food

So Brynlee is now 4 months old... and this is the official age you can start rice cereal and introducing solids. I am just wondering how you guys went about doing this? At what age did you start?? How did you know your baby was ready??

I have thought a lot about when we would introduce solids and rice and everything else, but really haven't made any decisions about it. I definitely love breastfeeding for the convenience and nutrients for Brynlee. But I just can't decide exactly how to go about this. And I would be asking our doctor, but her 4 month check-up got pushed back 2 weeks. So yea.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

As we speak

Just one quick thing...

I love this guy!!

There are a lot of reasons why... but right now we will focus on just one. AT this very minute he is putting our adorable chick pea to bed, like he does most every night he is home. He knew we had kind of a rough day and is being amazing by doing this for me. Of course, I love putting her to bed... but when we have been fighting naps and bedtime and I have gone through the whole routine a couple of times already today, I am just not in a good place. So he is doing it!

These two together just melts my heart!

I might puke

 "Since you are breastfeeding, that pregnancy weight will fall right off" If I hear this again, I may puke.

This will be a post pregnancy post. One that has nothing to do with the amazing chick pea napping in the next room. This one is all about me. And I am sorry. Really I am. I would much rather write about Brynlee, but I have to get this off my chest. Okay- can I be honest for a little bit?? Will you let me rant just a tid bit!? Ok thanks. Here goes.

Now, don't feel bad if you have said this to me. I understand. It happens for a lot of people. And yes, the first 20 lbs came right off in about two weeks! It was great! Wonderful! Then reality set in. The other 25... not so much. Instead I have spent the last 3 months losing a whopping 10 lbs.

I know the following things:

- I have to lose the remaining weight slowly in order to keep nursing
- I can't run too much if I want to keep nursing
- Nursing is much more important than getting back to pre-pregnancy weight
- "It took 10 months for your body to get this way, give it at least a year to get back" {hearing my doctor on this one!}
- How I look is not the most important thing

All of these things are true. But it still is hard to be 4 months post baby and still not really feel like myself. Some of this has to do with the amount of sleep I am getting, and not having a job. All of those things play into this. But it is a little frustrating to feel like I have nothing to wear because I don't want to spend money on clothes I will only be wearing for a few months {hopefully}. It is hard for me to spend money on clothes even when I plan on wearing them for years to come! 

I don't want to discourage some of my pregnant friends who may be reading this. Because some people really do get back to being them soon after have their baby. I guess I am just a little frustrated with the process of it all. Normally I would just be super disciplined in working out, run twice a day and just do it. But because of nursing I can't. I just have to be careful. Plus, who has time for running twice a day with a baby around??

Is there a point to this post? Not really. I am just venting. So for now I will return the cookie dough to the fridge and take a nap!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I am loving that the pictures from our fancy camera are now on my computer!! So here is what we have been up to the last couple of weeks!

playing with Daddy

hanging out in the wrap

meeting uncle Joel

 

 

 

celebrating Grandma and Grandpa's anniversary

 So I had some other pictures too- but those don't seem to be available... maybe tomorrow!

30 years

Happy Anniversary to my parents- who have been married for 30 years!!

I think you all would agree with me that 30 years is a LONG time... and being married to the same person for that long is very unusual these days! I am so lucky for parents who decided so long ago that when they got married it is forever, no questions asked. I am so lucky that growing up {and even now} I never had to worry about if my parents would stay together, or if a random argument would get out of hand and end up in my parents splitting up. I am so lucky that even when things aren't perfect between them they work through things to make it better!

I know that my parents have been through a lot in the last 30 years. They have moved A LOT, worked in different churches across the country {the whole working in churches for 30 years is a whole other topic in itself!}, had four kids, 2 3/4 grandkids {#3 to come in the coming weeks} and tons of friends! I think they would agree that they have a pretty good life and have been lucky... BUT no one has been more lucky than us four kids for such amazing parents.

Not only are they amazing parents but they are godly people. They have given us the best example for what it means to live out your faith everyday and it make it your own. They have also given the best example of a godly marriage and what it means to CHOOSE your spouse everyday! The best gift we can give to Brynlee is to do the exact same thing!

We love you mom and dad!!! Here's to another 30 years together!