I LOVE my J-O-B + Random Update

That's right. I LOVE being a stay at home mommy.  There is absolutely nothing in the world I would rather be doing all day every day than raising my precious girl.  I'm so grateful for my husband, who not only shares this mentality, but works very hard to make it a priority.

The past month or so was kind of crazy.  We were in Tulsa for a few days after Thanksgiving visiting family. The next week I came back home for a family situation and ended up staying a couple nights. On Dec. 11, at our new church, we dedicated Naomi to the Lord.  Matt's parents and my mom got to come to the service and I'm so glad they were there.  The night before, Matt got really sick, so even though he managed to drag himself out of bed and to church, that was about all we saw of him the rest of the day, poor guy! Luckily it was only a 24 hour bug and no one else got sick.  My mom stayed with us for a few days and we had our little Christmas with her.  The next weekend was CRAZY.  We had planned to just go to Edmond to meet up with Matt's family Christmas day and then drive home that night since Matt's store was only closed that day.  Well, Matt ended up being able to take off almost 3 days of work so we drove up to Sara's Christmas Eve eve, stayed the night with her, got up the next morning and drove to Tulsa to surprise Matt's grandparents and mom and dad to have Christmas Eve with that side of his family, then drove back to Edmond that night, got up the next morning and had Christmas at Sara's house (Matt's brother and parents drove over early that morning), then that afternoon we drove back to Tulsa to surprise both my dad's side and mom.  We stayed at Matt's parents house that night and went to his cousin's the next day so Matt could see family that had come in from out of town.  Matt had to go back home that day, but I got to stay in town and see a couple of my best friends that I hadn't seen in while.  A couple days later, my dad and sister drove me back home and stayed with us for a couple of days and then my friend Lauren and her baby, Wesley, came and visited.  It was so good to see her and meet her sweet little boy!  And it was so cute to see him and Naomi together.  It was a busy week, but I'm so glad it all worked out for us to see all our family and friends.  And as much as I love the holidays and seeing everyone, I'm glad the hustle and bustle is all over and things have settled back down into routine again.  I thrive on routine. :)

Naomi is now 'talking' to us, or the air, or her animal friends.  It's so cute!  She just coos and coos, even when no one is watching.  She is sleeping great through the night (even though last week she had a growth spurt and was up several times a night several nights..ugh!) and a few weeks ago, I dropped the late evening feeding.  She gets anywhere between 1-2 hour naps during the day and has been going down great without crying! She's on a good 3-4 hour schedule now too.  One bad thing is that she has started to hate being in her car seat unless she's moving.  She'll start to get really fussy if she has to sit still for very long at all.  I hope this is just a phase!  She's also been drooling like crazy.  People keep saying that it's a sign of teething, but I haven't felt any yet.

I've started to go through her closet and clean out all the clothes she can't fit into anymore and let's just say I may or may not have cried about it.  I can't believe how fast time is flying and how fast she is growing!  I know everyone says that, but it really is true.  I'm so thankful for all the videos and pictures that we've taken since the day she was born to look back on.  Here's some recent shots:

Pretty sure that last post was supposed to be scheduled to post itself, but it didn't...Anyway, waaaaay behind on blogging here!  Here's an update of random things I remember from the last couple of months since you are now 3 months old! Geez, time flies!

Ok, so from the get go breastfeeding was so incredibly hard and frustrating!  But your mom is as stubborn as a mule and was determined to make it work.  Also, I'm cheap and my boobs are free, so there.  At about 6 weeks old, you and I finally got it down and you've been great ever since...except that you take anywhere from 45 mins to 1 hour to eat! Talk about a S  L  O  W  eater!

When you were about 1 month old, you started making a really weird noise one night after you ate and it sounded like you were gasping for air (which you were) and it made you upset (obviously, it would me too!) and by getting upset, it got worse.  Your dad and I about had a panic attack and rushed you to the ER.  After the doctors checked you out, you got a cat scan (because your awesome mom let you roll off our make shift changing station on top of our coffee table a couple days earlier so they thought maybe you had swelling in your brain which could cause breathing problems).  The cat scan came back negative for swelling and the chest x-rays showed no sign of a collapsed lung or any other problems, so you were diagnosed with trachea malaysia, which basically means that your trachea collapses in on itself sometimes causing your airway to be small and makes it hard for you to breathe. Awesome. The doctor told us that you will grow out of it by the time you're a toddler and to just watch it and make sure your lips don't turn blue. Double awesome. Other than that, you are a healthy and happy girl!

At your 2 month check up you were 11 lbs and 2 oz. and 23 3/4 in. long.  Still pretty long for your age. You've been eating well and we get in about 5-6 feedings per day.  You started sleeping through the night consistently just a couple weeks ago and it's been great :)  Your daddy and me know exactly what to do to get a smile out of you, and we can't get enough of em'!  You are your happiest right after you eat (go figure, me too) and so getting you to smile is easy.  Last week, while you were sleeping, you laughed for the first time! It happened so fast but it was too cute! Your daddy and I can't wait till you start laughing at us!

In clothes, you're in size 0-3months or 3 months right now.  I think we've only bought you 1 outfit since your Grandmas keep your closet stocked full.  Every time they come see you or we go see them, you get something new.  I can't blame them.  It's hard not to buy cute outfits for you!  But instead, mommy makes the cute headbands to go with the outfits :)

You really are such a good baby!  You only really cry when you're hungry or when I lay you down for a nap sometimes.  If I make you wait too long to eat, you scream your head off :)  We started doing 'tummy time' after you were about 6 weeks old and you've gotten really good at it!  Then you started rolling from your tummy to your side, and last week, rolled all the way over from tummy to back! I even got it on video :)  Speaking of video, I don't think 1 day has gone by that your life hasn't been documented by video or picture.  We, and all your crazy family, are absolutely head over heels in love with you.  I wake up each morning so thankful I get to be your momma, and your daddy is just as in love with you as I am.  Almost daily he stops to stare at you and says, "Isn't she just the most precious thing ever?!" And, of course, I agree.  You are so precious and beautiful, just look!

 (At about 10 days old) 

 (2 weeks old)

 (3 weeks old)

 (Grandpa loves making you laugh! 6 weeks old)

 (about 8 weeks old)

(11 weeks old)

The next few are all random...

We love you so much, Naomi Claire.  You are such an incredible gift from God.  We get the privilege of raising you and hope to instill in you the faith in God that your daddy and I have.  He gave you to us so that we could teach you about Him.  We pray for you daily that He would call you to Himself one day and that you would live your life following after Him.

Newborn Photos

So, since I'm also an aspiring photographer, I COULD NOT WAIT to get my camera on my new baby girl. It wasn't until she was about 10 days old that I started trying to do the normal newborn photoshoot setup and all.  That first week I had been extremely weepy and emotional, was still pretty sore from surgery, and still getting used to this new taking-over-my-life feeding schedule we were on.  When I finally did start trying to take photos of her, she kept waking up and fussing.  Normally, she had been sleeping pretty much all day long, but of course not when I try to take her picture :)  Here are a few of my favorites:

Happy Birthday!

Our precious baby girl, Naomi Claire, finally arrived on September 3, 2011! She is absolutely perfect and such a sweet and beautiful baby.  I want to remember how everything happened, so here's Naomi's birth story:

In my last post I talked about how we were going to wait until a couple days after my due date (Aug. 29) to go back to my doctor so they could measure her again and decide from there what to do.  Well, we went to my appointment that Thursday and Naomi was measuring about 10.85lbs which was really close to the cut off weight of 11lbs. to be able to deliver naturally.  Our doctor was really concerned about me getting induced and even trying to labor because she hadn't even dropped at all yet and she wasn't sure I'd even be able to deliver a baby that big. So, after some initial fear, research, more fear, tears, and questioning our doctor, we decided to schedule a c-section for that Saturday, September 3 at noon.  Throughout my pregnancy I just "knew" I wouldn't have to have a c-section.  In all the books I had read, I would always skip over that section because 'that wasn't going to happen to me'. HA! God sure is funny sometimes :) Needless to say, I felt completely unprepared for what was about to happen in just couple of days and was very fearful of the recovery afterwards. I talked with one of my aunts later that day who had a c-section 16 years ago and she was extremely encouraging about how her experience was great and recovery was no big deal...and she's a big, big baby :)  So that definitely made me feel a little bit better.

My mom and youngest sister came down the night before Naomi's birthday and I was so glad to have them there.  We all went to bed around 11 and Matt and I made our last video log (we had been shooting videos the last couple of weeks about the pregnancy and anxiousness to meet our sweet girl) as a married couple without children.  It was bittersweet, actually, because as excited as we were to become parents and hold and kiss our sweet baby, this chapter of our lives where it was just us was coming to an end.

Matt got up extra early that next morning to go into work to get some stuff done and I got up and around as normal, except that I couldn't eat breakfast which is hard for me since I love me some breakfast!  I remember that morning I felt so excited and nervous to know that in just a few short hours we would have a human being to take care of forever. Finally, Matt came home and we packed up the car and headed for the hospital.  We got to the hospital around 10am and they got me into a room and into the hospital gown.  A few moments later I had a thing around my belly that monitored Naomi's heartbeat and then came the IV.  The c-section was scheduled for noon, but I guess there had been a couple of unplanned ones that morning, so mine was pushed back a little bit.  I think it was around 12:45pm that the nurse came in and told us it was time to head down to the operating room.  Matt's parents and sister and my mom and sister had been hanging out with us that morning in the hospital room, and at this point gave us hugs and kisses and headed off to the waiting room anxiously.

As we entered the operating room they were still preparing the table for me so we stood there for a little bit nervously asking each other what we were thinking and feeling.  Matt was scared for about what was to happen to me, but I was completely calm about it since I knew I wouldn't feel a thing and I just felt really excited to meet Naomi.  They finally got me on the table and threw open my gown so I could get the epidural.  I have always been pretty modest, but I guess at some point in the pregnancy I just lost all care for modesty since my doctor had to feel me up every week, so at this point I didn't care about being exposed to all 20+ people in the room!  Well, kind of...

The anesthesiologist was very nice and informative about what was about to happen.  He tried a spinal tap first, which didn't end up working.  I kept feeling shots of sharp pain going down one side of my body or the other, so he ended up doing an epidural higher up on my spine.  Trying the spinal tap was probably the most pain I felt throughout the whole process.  The numbness started to come on and then the loopiness :)  Matt started video taping me during this time asking me how I felt as they were sawing into me.  He wasn't allowed to actually video the surgery part, but he could look over the curtain to watch and when he did he was extremely grossed out by what was happening.  I kept asking him to tell me what they were doing and he would say, "Are you sure you want to know?? It's really gross!" I did though.  I didn't feel any pain and my eyes felt extremely heavy from the morphine. After about 15 minutes, our doctor said it was baby time so Matt could video Naomi being born.  Watching the video afterwards, I was amazed at how violent c-sections are! It looks like they pull open your stomach and all this fluid and blood gush out! Sorry for the visual :)  After a few moments of the doctor digging and pulling, a head appeared and they started suctioning out her mouth and nostrils so she could breath.  Obviously, I couldn't see any of this, but I remember looking at Matt as he saw it and began to cry.  Then, I heard her cry for the first time and I can't even begin to describe the emotions I felt.  Relief, joy, elation, excitement are just a few I remember.  They whisked her over to the warming station and Matt went over to see her and touch her for the first time as I lay strapped to the table.  I wanted to see her and hold her and kiss her so bad, but had to wait a while.  Finally, they let Matt bring her over to me so I could see her.  I was so drugged up it was hard for my eyes to focus which made me mad.  All I wanted to do was hold my baby!  After they got me all sewn up, they took me to a recovery room where I finally got to hold my sweet girl for the first time.  She was/is absolutely beautiful and perfect with ginormous cheeks, sweet little lips, long fingers and toes, gorgeous eyes and barely any hair! Thank God!  Haha! I had always wanted a bald baby :)  As I nursed her for the first time in the recovery room, Matt and I took in all that had happened and this precious girl we finally had.  We were in awe of this miracle from God and in love with her.

Naomi turned 1 month old yesterday and it has been one of the best months of my life, truly.  It has been really hard at times frustratingly learning things for the first time, being unsure of almost everything, postpartum hormones, etc., but loving on her makes all that disappear.  Seeing Matt love on her just melts my heart. He is such a good daddy, but I knew he would be when I married him :)  We love you Naomi Claire!

39 Weeks and Waiting...

We are officially less than 1 week away from Naomi's due date!  I cannot believe how close it is and how fast time has flown by!  Matt and I are getting more and more anxious by the day for her arrival and hoping it comes sooner rather than later, of course :)

Matt and I (and Naomi) have been so incredibly blessed by friends and family in getting everything we needed to be prepared for her.  I have been completely blown away and humbled by God's provision.  Speaking of things for her, her quilt is sooo close to being finished! All I have left is to figure out how to sew the binding on.  Here's a peek at it without the binding...

That may have to wait til after she's born when my sweet mother-in-law comes to hang out with us for a week :)  Matt got her beautiful furniture all put together a couple weeks ago, and I ended up making a crib skirt for her in just a couple days (super easy online tutorial=Cassy's complete focus til project is finished) Ha!  Yes, I completed it, but thank God you can only see one side of the thing! My sewing skills are horrible!

Plus, there was fabric and thread all over our living room for a few days and poor hubby dealt with it like a champ.  Actually, he's been so encouraging about all this stuff I decided to make for her at the last minute and thinks it's really sweet, which makes me think he's really sweet :)  After I finished the crib skirt, I decided to take some canvases a friend had given me and use them in making decor with her name on it.  I loved how it turned out as well.

So, I think I'm done 'nesting', unless something else crafty sparks my interest :)  Now, we wait....

Last week at my doctor's visit, they measured Naomi again and now think she's a whopping 9.6lbs!  My doctor suggested we go ahead and schedule an induction for the day after her due date, and we were happy to do so since we thought she may be getting to big to deliver normally.  Then we had our childbirth class the next day and learned so much about labor, delivery, epidurals, and even inductions.  Now, I really don't want to induce unless I have to.  I am hoping and praying that my body will go into labor all on its own when she is ready to be born.  We talked with our doctor at our appointment yesterday about holding out for a little longer and decided to wait til next week (after my due date) to measure the baby again and then decide to do an induction after that.  Come on out Naomi, everyone is waiting for you!!!

Baby, Belly, and Vacation

It feels like time is flying now that I only have 4 weeks left until my due date! EEEKKK!!  I am so incredibly excited and also soooo not prepared! My sister and mom are throwing me a shower this weekend back in Tulsa, so I'm hoping Naomi doesn't decide to make her appearance in the next couple of days :)  When we first got pregnant, we thought we had all the time in the world to prepare, and now I'm getting anxious for all we have left to do. Or really, I'm the one that's getting nervous about it. Not only do we not have her furniture yet (that's coming from mom and dad soon! YAY!) but I still don't have her bedding done, or anything else for that matter.  And, since we moved into an apartment, I don't get to decorate a nursery, which honestly, I'm glad about now because I would be freaking out trying to paint, find decor, etc.  She will have her bed and dresser in the same room as our guest bed and office. Poor little thing :)

We had a Dr.'s appt. a couple weeks ago and I was scheduled to have an ultrasound because my belly was measuring bigger than normal and my doc wanted to make sure everything was ok in there.  We hadn't gotten to see Naomi since week 20 so Matt and I were super excited to see our baby girl moving around again :)  Normally she moves like crazy all day long, but, of course during the ultrasound she didn't move!  The technician was able to measure her pretty easily since she wasn't moving too much and told us she is measuring 2 1/2 weeks ahead of schedule as far as weight goes.  It won't push my due date up, but I could be having a BIG baby! That kind of scares me a little.  But other than that, she is completely healthy and so am I.  We are getting so excited to meet her and hold her and love on her.  It's still so fun to feel her move and kick around in my belly.  We've felt different body parts protruding quite a bit more now.  Sometimes Matt will even push on my belly to get her to play back with him :)  Don't worry, our doc said that was ok and it wouldn't hurt her. Here's a couple of belly photos...

At 33 wks

And at 35 wks

She's starting to feel too big for my belly :)  And I'm starting to get pretty uncomfortable doing anything except sitting or laying down.  I get out of breath pretty quickly, and bending over to pick something up feels like I'm cramming her up into my ribs!  Other than that, I'm doing great.  My feet will swell every now and then when I've been on them too much, but I can't complain. This has been a great pregnancy (thank the good Lord because if not, it would probably be my last) and now we're praying for a smooth and quick delivery.

Right now I'm getting caught up on my mom's wedding photos I took for her big day in Maui, HI.  We got to spend a week there before her wedding and I had never been to Hawaii before, but it did not disappoint!  It was absolutely breathtaking and I couldn't stop taking pictures :)  My mom's new husband, Brad, treated us all to an incredible resort, amazing food, shopping, snorkeling, deep sea fishing, and more.  It was a vacation Matt and I never dreamed of being able to take, plus we had so much fun with both families.


This next week will be spent trying to get quilt top finished so I can send it off to be quilted and then I'll have to figure out how to put the binding on.  I was planning on making a bumper as well, but since it's so late, that may not happen. 

Wow! It's been almost a whole month since I, or should I say Matt, last posted...Well, A LOT has happened since then.  A few days after that post, Matt and I got the go ahead from his company that Matt would be taking over the store in Lewisville and we would be moving the very next weekend.  You can read about all the emotions and details on my other blog, but needless to say, it was a hard week for me.  We've been in Texas for about 2 1/2 weeks now and so far really like it!  Although I hate living on the 3rd floor, our apartment is spacious, has tons of storage and is right by Matt's work.  There is so much to do and explore around here and that has kept us from feeling lonely, or at least me.

We met with our new doctor last week and she seems great.  She was very talkative and informative, but also extremely professional about everything.  Matt and I looooved our doctor back in Tulsa.  She was super sweet and very down to earth.  Not that the new one isn't, but we've just seen her once, so we'll see how it goes.

I am now a whopping 29 weeks and 3 days! Yay for 3rd trimester!!  Here's a photo I took last week at 28 weeks...

I absolutely love my baby belly :) I don't mean to sound vain, but I just love it!  It's a constant reminder of the incredible creation that God has blessed us with.  One of my favorite things is feeling her move around.  She is very active at certain times of the day, and sometimes I'll just sit with my hands on my belly for a while and enjoy it :)  I love that Matt can feel her kicks and movements much more now.  He loves it too!  We are just completely in awe of this whole thing and really can't wait to meet her.

And last, but certainly not least, we have also finally chosen a name for our baby girl!  Naomi Claire :)  It took me a while to be completely on board with committing to it, but now that I have, I know it's perfect for her.  Going back to scripture, choosing a good name was very important to me.  God changed several people's names in the bible based on his new plan for their lives, so I wanted to give her a name that had a meaning that we could pray over her.  Naomi means "pleasant; beautiful" and Claire means "bright; clear (or pure)".  I love these meanings and we will be praying that she is/becomes all of these things according to God's will for her life.  We cannot wait to meet Naomi :)