Date night

Last night was date night. Our first night out without baby Julien. It was nice to spend time with each other. Of course, immediately after we left the first topic that comes out of my mouth is Julien. David had to remind me that we should talk about us.
It's so important for couples to spend some time together away from their kids to strengthen their own bond. I've been told stories of friends that didn't take time with each other and regret it. One couple said they love their children to death, but their relationship has dwindled a little. We see it in movies all the time where the kids have grown and started lives of their own and the parents no longer love each other or even know each other anymore. David and I discussed before getting married that we would love each other first and then our kids. It's so important to love each other first. You tighten the bond with each other and show your children what love is, especially when they begin to get into relationships of their own. David and I want to be able to show Julien that we love each other and that he can be secure in knowing that that is one thing he doesn't have to worry about.

Christmas Decor

Everyone has their own personal preference on when they want to begin celebrating the Christmas season. My sister and I discussed and agreed that we think it's best to put our decorations up on the first of December. I feel like many people just forget about thanksgiving. Let me rephrase that. Many big corporations drive through the Thanksgiving festivities to get ahead in the materialism of Christmas. Recently my husband has made me see that Christmas is only for a short month ( not even the full month) and for the people who love Christmas, that is way too short for a season that comes once a year.

This year I am giving in a little and started to listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies a day after Thanksgiving. We also wanted to start some traditions for our family such as reading scripture pertaining to Jesus' birth and doing advent. I never heard of advent before and I am so excited to start it. I have been looking on Pinterest for inspiration and attained some ideas to work off of. Most people listed fun activities to do with their families. They are nice, but don't really touch any spiritual aspects. There is one person who listed scripture for each day of advent which is awesome. Somehow I want to put little bit of everything together and tweak it as our kids grow older.
I love the holiday season (when treated correctly) and spending time with family, but most of all it reminds me how much God has blessed me.

An attitude of gratitude

Thanksgiving is the time to be thankful and I certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year. A beautiful baby, a wonderful husband, and good family and friends...what more could I ask for?  I've been trying to catch up with my devotional app and went back a couple months for a devotion that is actually quite perfect for the season. I was taken to Psalms 100 and was reminded that there are many things that we can complain about on a daily basis such as long lines and bad traffic. What we need to remember is that we need to be thankful for the little things and carry that spirit around with us instead of the spirit of complaining. Instead of being upset of the traffic be thankful for the vehicle that you have to help you get from point A to B. Also when praying, we should thank God for the little things too. Things such as being able to wake up that day or being able to get ready for work.

I am thankful for a husband that is doing work and school to better himself and the family. I am also thankful for a beautiful baby boy that we have been blessed with. On top of that, I am thankful for the abundance of family and friends that have been a big helping hand at every life milestone David and I have been through. It makes me ponder about the many others that don't have friends and family or that have lost a loved one. I am blessed beyond measure and give God praise!

Time Is Going By Fast!

I can't believe its already been a month since Julien came into the world. In my head I keep singing the song "Sunrise, Sunset". "...wasn't it yesterday when they ..were.. small...". I love that movie! Seriously though! My little man is getting so big. I can literally see changes happening over night.  For instance, his fingers keep getting fuller and bigger every time I look at them. On thursday night he actually started interacting with David and was smiling at the game they were playing together. His first (real) smile! Things are actually getting better now with feedings and sleeping. Last night was one of the best nights we've had. I didn't have to struggle at all to get Julien fed, changed, burped, and then back to bed in about half an hour. He did so well. We still have a hard time understanding some of his cries sometimes. David and I interpret some of his cries differently and that makes for a frustrating time for everyone, especially for Julien. Despite the struggle things are getting better.
We had our first outing with Julien last week on Sunday and a lot of people got to see him. Of course, for our first outing I forget the diaper bag. Luckily, Julien slept through the whole service and we got to go straight home afterwards. We took cute family pictures when we got home and had nice family time. Life is good and God has blessed us so much!

Welcome to a whole new world!

Having a baby is not all its cracked up to be. Don't get me wrong. I love Julien with all my heart. I just didn't see all the other things attached to having babies coming.Sleepless nights, crying, dirty, diapers, and even a little paranoia (worried that the baby will stop breathing). I think I remember encountering these topics before baby maybe a couple times from others, but it never really hit me until I was in the middle of it.  Even though its been hard I am learning a few things for now and the future. Through this I am learning to have more patience. Patience through feeding, making sure he is for sure asleep before putting him in the crib, waking up every couple hours, and especially in burping him. It will definitely resonate to handling patience with different things in the future. Everything listed here is normally what u. but when you are sleep deprived its seems more intense.  David has been a trooper. He has been willing to get up and help out with Julien. I feel bad though cause it is a struggle for him to do this while he still required to go to work and school. He sacrifices so much for us and I am really thankful.

We Had A Baby!

We are ecstatic! It started Monday night. We woke up to twinges of pain that got us excited. Of course it was really early, according to our due date, to be anticipating real contractions. These twinges of pain continued to get closer together and we had to call the midwife to make sure. We were told to take it easy, rest, and see if things die down.The twinges of pain indeed died down by morning and we were a little disappointed. Luckily we had an appointment the next day and were looking forward to finding out the next steps to take. Hours before our appointment the twinges of pains were now understood to be real contractions due to the fact they had not stopped coming even though they were irregular. I was checked at my appointment and I actually had progressed to 90% and 1-2 cm. dilated. We

were elated. We returned home to get as much rest as possible before it was time. We went to bed early and started to watch the movie Puss n Boots that lulled us to sleep. Shortly after, I began to experience more intense contractions as the night began to turn from Tuesday to Wednesday. By midnight my contractions had grown more severe and closer together. David and I knew it was time. We called our moms, got into the car, and drove to the birthing center where our midwife was waiting for us. We entered the room where I would eventually birth my baby and it was being warmed up by a heater, the bed was soft and inviting, and the tub was yet to be filled.  I never had the chance to truly envision how I wanted the birth to go, but I was open to anything. I first tried the tub. It started off great. The water was warm and comforting to my body and the pain...for a while. Despite the heater, I eventually started to get cold and could not have the bath any hotter  for fear of harming baby. I soon had to abandon the tub and retreat to walking around. I paced the room and nearby rooms as contractions continued to progress. David's mom, JoAnne, got to the birth center first and immediately started to encourage me. I then had to move to the bed. I was tired and my midwife encouraged me to take rests in between contractions. The small chunks of sleep were constantly followed by contractions that woke me and got me on all fours. David was constantly by my side for every contraction rubbing my back despite his exhaustion. He definitely had less sleep than I did due to excitement and I was so appreciative of him being there the whole time ready for anything that I asked. In due time my mother finally made it to the birthing center, but by then I had to really concentrate on the contractions and I couldn't even say hello. Not too long after I felt done with just enduring contractions. I wanted to know if it was time to push. The midwife checked me and told me that I had not quite made it. I was only 9 cm dilated. I felt a little frustrated. It seemed like it already had been forever going through contractions and I still was not ready to push. I started to cry. It was a little more than I expected, but I was constantly being encouraged to keep going and that I was doing a great job. Finally, it came time for me to start pushing. Of course I never did this before and didn't know what I was doing. I kept pushing as much as I could and my water finally broke. David was standing behind me and got some of the spillage too. From there I started to feel the contractions becoming more intense while had to push. It was very difficult to push through each contraction and even more difficult to push the proper way. My mom constantly was correcting my method and giving me a nice cold cloth to my forehead. At one point during the pushing a lost consciousness for a second and had to be put on oxygen. After that mishap I began to be fearful of what was going on. I kept pushing but felt no progress of the baby coming down which in turn made me feel like time was passing by with no progress. I then voiced how I felt defeated and couldn't go on anymore. Despite my plea to stop, everyone kept on encouraging me to press on and not give up. I took to heart what they said. I was already so far into this, I had to keep going. The sun was rising and I kept pushing. I eventually made it to the point where the midwife encouraged me to touch the vaginal area, to feel the baby's head. I couldn't believe I had finally got this far. I was almost there and I had to keep going for this to be over. So I pushed. I pushed so hard and as much as I could that as soon as the head came out it was hard to stop and the whole body came immediately after.

They quickly placed the baby on my chest and  a few seconds later announced that it was a boy! A boy! Not only was I wonderfully surprised by the sex, but also by the color. My baby was lighter than I expected him to be. What was even more a surprise was the color of his eyes. They ended up being a gray color which means its going to change later...another surprise. By the way we love surprises! David and I were so happy to have him out and with us. We love that he is here!

Baby coming soon...

I've been complaining about being tired and wanting to rest that I haven't thought about what was going on with my belly. David and I went to see the midwife today and found out that the baby has dropped. It's engaged! With that news I am forced into the reality that this baby is going to make it's appearance soon. I am excited yet nervous for what's ahead. This baby is coming soon. Hopefully baby fergy will wait just a little longer and be on time. Not too early and not too late. Is that too much to ask for?