Oh Tidings of Comfort and Joy

 Three weeks tomorrow! I look back at where I was and what I was doing on this night three weeks ago. I remember being very frustrated and exhausted. Low and behold... I still feel that way today. But this time it's a little different. It's more frustration because I've realized how selfish I am. Having a baby really means giving them your all. All your time, all your effort, all your love and affection. Today was a hard day; we're still figuring things out. We're still trying to wrap our heads around being parents and taking care of this little baby, and we're still trying to figure out how we fit into this new life. This evening, we took time to do a little decorating while the baby girl was asleep. We didn't go all out, which normally would make me sad, but this year... our house is cluttered enough! But it was a special time to just spend with Jason again. Just us two, working together and Putting lights and ornaments on the tree and setting up a nativity scene. I love that man with all my heart and I'm so glad to share every moment good and bad with him.

 

Listening to Christmas music, the good stuff... about what Christmas is all about: CHRIST, made me just refocus myself. Through this crazy time, it's all for the glory of God. Little Sara isn't just a reflection of her Mommy and Daddy; she's a reflection of Christ above all. For some reason, it makes me look at Jesus differently. It makes me wonder what type of baby he was. Was he fussy? Gassy? Did he sleep through the night? But really; having a baby now makes me appreciate what Mary did and what she went through. Ultimately, it makes me wonder how God could send his son into the world to be sacrificed for sinners. How could Mary watch that and know that it was all for HIS glory? It's just amazing to me. So, as I sit here, waiting for Sara to wake up at any moment, I just am in awe of God; overwhelmed by how much he loves us; and utterly amazed with the blessings he has given us. I've missed this feeling of JOY in my life and really just feeling God's love and all I want to do tonight is just shout it out.

I thank God for my cousin Julie who really helped me out today. She was very caring, loving, and wise and gave me so much attention and advice in my time of need. I've had so many people just reach out to us whether it be through a text, phone call, bringing food, sending up prayers, or just letting us know they're thinking about us. It's been a really encouragement. And I love my husband for all the effort, time, and support he gives his two "baby girls" (he calls us). Even through the stress and exhaustion, he's so loving and an amazing Daddy and man of God.

I'll leave you with some adorbsy pictures of the little Pumpkin Squash Head! :)

She's holding her head up so well! Super star!

2 Week Stretch

Sara Bear is 2 weeks old today! We made it through the rough 2 weeks!! So it should be all down hill from now right? ;) Each day does get a little easier, just because we're getting use to what she wants and when she wants it. But also, once we get use to her... she changes things up on us and we have to get use to a whole new little girl! We know that she'll sleep for a good stretch of 3-4 hours around 7:30... so naturally, I try to sleep more at that time and Jason stays up until the first nightly feeding. Then we know that at about 3:30 AM... she starts waking up every hour and a half... so Mommy stays up and tries to let Daddy sleep a little more in the morning. Sara loves her bath time now. She threw a big fit during the first one. She eats A LOT!!! She's already getting so big! We've had to ditch the newborn clothes already! Mostly because she's just so long. We have our two week doctor's appointment Friday and so far things seem to be going alright! A little overwhelming and exhausting, but then we look at this little being in our house and just say "woah.. we MADE that!" It truly is a miracle. A screaming, pooping, peeing BEAUTIFUL miracle. ;)

We had lots of guests this weekend for Thanksgiving. Sara got to meet Nana and Papaw from Ohio, Nina and Papa (again) from Vegas, and Aunt Mitchi, Uncle Kevin, and Evelyn from Vegas too! They were all SO helpful in our time of need and it was so much fun to share our bundle of joy with them. And we even took the little one to the beach. I think she loved it... while she was snuggled up and sleeping.

First Thanksgiving. She was a cranky pants.

First trip to the beach!

Since we did the predictions, I thought it'd be fun to follow up on that and compare the results!

Mommy's Prediction

Daddy's Prediction
Actual Results

Eye Color: Blue, One Green/One Blue 
Her eyes are currently a blue grey
Hair Color: Blonde/White, Blonde
Her hair is very blonde, but sometimes seems like it has a hint of red! It's beautiful!
Skin Color: Fair and maybe blotchy, Mother of Pearl
Her skin is actually amazing! It's pale, but so clear and smooth! 
Bald or Full Head of Hair: Full Head of Hair, Full head of hair
She definitely has a FULL head of hair! 
Hair Type: Straight/Crazy, Thick and Wavy
I would say it's straight, except after bath time when it's a little more wavy. 
Who Will She Look Like: Me, Melissa
We think she has a perfect mixture of us both. Jason's eyes, Melissa's nose.
How much will she weigh: Somewhere in the 9 pounds, 9 lbs 5 oz
She weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces
How long will she be: 21 inches, 21 1/2"
21 1/2"
Arrival: On Time, 15 minutes early
4 days late. 
Bad Traits She'll Probably Get:
1. Big Nose: Daddy has a larger nose.
2. Bad Skin: Mommy has wretched horrible skin. She'll probably have something wrong with hers too!
3. Different sized thumbs: Poor Mommy has been teased her whole life because of her different sized thumbs; so who knows! Maybe I'll have a little mini me with misshaped thumbs too!
1. My big nose: I have trouble drinking out of small diameter cups
2. Too analytical: sometimes I can not take a joke because I will over analyze 
3. Moody: She is a GIRL people!

James Jason Lawyer
Born on May 27, 1983 at 7:30 AM (His due date)
Weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces
His length was 21 1/2 inches

Melissa Nicole Thomas
Born on April 29, 1986 at 7:19 AM (Her due date)
Weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces
Her length was 21 1/4 inches














Sara Nicole Lawyer 
Born on November 20, 2013 at 10:48 PM
Weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces
Her length was 21 1/2 inches

A Baby Story

It's been a hectic week here at the Lawyer residence. All three of us are trying to figure out this new life of ours and boy has is just been the most amazing, exhausting, and emotionally draining experience we've ever had. But I thought it would be fun to look back on this last week and share our story. Our looooooong drawn out baby birth story. So here we go. And I know some of the pictures are kinda gross, but they go with the story and I picked the decent looking ones. :)

Monday, November 18
In the morning, we went in for our weekly check up. I was at 40 weeks and 3 days. The ultrasound had shown that Sara was "a pretty big baby." So my doctor came in and suggested that we induce. After struggling with the decision a bit, we decided to go ahead and move forward, so he put us on the list at the hospital and told us to call the following morning to see when we would get in. So we drove home and I started doing some last minute things around the house to prepare for being gone the next day. Soon after... and I mean, like SOON after... the hospital called telling me to come on in at 3:00 to get started. So frazzled... I now only had a hour to get things in order before we left. Then we headed out. After all the paperwork, they started me on this medicine called Cervadil which is suppose to prepare the area. It takes 12 hours for it to be finished. So here we were... just sitting and waiting and trying to sleep.

Tuesday, November 19
The nurse came in 12 hours later to check to see progress and my body had gotten to 2 cm and then a bunch of other mumbo-jumbo that I don't really get. Then the doctor decided to do yet ANOTHER round of this Cervadil... which sucked because it would be another 12 hours of just sitting and waiting. This time around, I had gotten hopeful because they had said we were having contractions (even though I actually couldn't feel much) and that things were looking good. YAY! Ya... no. 12 hours later, that evening, they checked again and the nurse didn't even tell me anything. So I knew right away that absolutely nothing had changed. I was annoying, unmotivating, and heart-breaking. And yes... I cried. So then they started me on a low drip of Pitocin over night.

Wednesday, November 20
Early the next morning, the nurse came in to check how things were going... which honestly, by now I was just down right sick of because it REALLY hurts! :( Low and behold... STILL no progress. They started the Pitocin on a stronger drip. So now I'm upset, Jason was upset and we were just ready to quit and give up. Just GET. HER. OUT! is what we were thinking. We were just down right let down. So, we called my doctor because at this point, we didn't want to hear anyone else's opinion, we wanted his. I have an awesome doctor btw. Instead of calling us back he just came right on over and sat with us to talk it out. He talked lots of sense into us and really calmed us down. After our little pep talk we knew we would be able to get through this wretched long process!!!

FINALLY... after sitting around For-E-ver... my water decided to break on its own! yay! This was about at 2:00 I think. And from there things really got started!! Contractions were stronger and came on more frequently and they HURT! And I was not about to try to be a hero. I'm already going to be pushing this girl out and taking care of her.. so I don't care about feeling the pain! So since my water had broke, they shot me up real quick with an epidural. I fell lucky enough to say it wasn't bad and I had a good experience with it. I was in heaven. I was able to rest and even NAP, it was great. The most ANNOYING thing at this point was everything I had to be hooked up to. It was too much... and annoying.

After a little nap, they came in to check me again at 3:20 and I had already jumped to 5 cm! yay! So I was like... well, may as well go back to sleep! At around 5:50 they had come in to tell me that I was fully dilated and I was going to start "Laboring Down" and it was almost time to push. When they had gotten everything in order and were ready it was about 7:45... time to push! Hardest thing EVER! We sat there pushing and pushing and they kept telling me that we were getting close and I was doing well, but I was getting so tired. Then by the end, it hurt, I was tired, and freaked out because the baby heart beat was moving faster and it was scaring me. Eventually, the doctor said we would have to suction her out or go in for a C-section. I was actually relieved to know that finally I could get some help, so they set up for the suction. after two more pushes, there she was. It was an amazing release of everything. She started crying right away, Jason cut the cord; which I was so proud of him for because he has said he didn't want to see any of it, and they set her ooy-gooy body on my chest. It was amazing. They checked her and everything looked good. She was a whopping 8 pound 5 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. Bright blonde hair, grey blue eyes, and soft angelic skin. She was perfect.

Thursday and Friday
We had to spend the next TWO days in the hospital and we seemed to have come on a wacko day because all the beds were full on both sides of the delivery and recovery. So it definitely took a while to get things going to go home. We were so done with being at the hospital. It was frustrating being barged in on and being checked again and again, and waking us ALL up. Bleh. So finally at 4:00 on Friday we got to GET OUT! And we drove home... with a BABY!It's hard to believe that we have another person in our midst. sometimes I just look at her and think "I MADE that!!!" It's surreal! We love our little smooshy face girl so much and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for her future.

Like I said, this week has been a whirlwind. But I have to focus on the husband for a second and brag about how amazing he is. So patient and loving and VERY supportive. I could not have put myself through all that if he had not been there to hold me hand, PRAY with me, coach me, and feed me ice chips. He was always so on top of things so that I didn't have to worry one bit. He's an amazing husband and has already shown to be an amazing daddy. :) And I absolutely love that Sara is a nice mix between us both. It shows our love for each other in human form. God is GOOD!

Baby Room Revealed!

 Lots of pictures coming your way. I don't have much to say about the baby room, since words really just speak for themselves. But I did have a very fun time putting things together and I LOVE the way it turned out. It's just so bright and cheerful (as well as a little touch of nerdiness). There were many things that people gave us that we added to the room. It makes it much more special. I'm so happy with the bright orange and pink theme and I hope you all enjoy. ^_^

Here's the room when we first moved here... then the room as empty... and then the transformation to a baby room!

  And here's some close ups of some of the room features! yay!