Elizabeth Anne has Arrived!

 On Tuesday morning, we loaded up and left the house as a family of 3. Jonathan and I made a quick stop to drop Jonah off to spend the day with some of our favorite people. Then we headed on to the hospital! 

 They asked us to be there 2.5 hrs before the scheduled c-section time. I couldn't imagine that it would really take that long to get checked in. There really wasn't a lot of "down time" though. We were busy filling out forms and answering questions right up until our scheduled time. THEN the waiting began. The surgical team was running behind. We were delayed almost an hour. 

 They got started at 12:49pm. 

She was out by 1:17pm. 

That crying (and let me tell you, it was some darn good crying) was the sweetest sound a mama could ever hear! The Dr.'s first comment was her good coloring. The nurses told us later she was one of the most beautiful babies they have seen. They see a lot of babies, so I'm not just biased when I say she is BEAUTIFUL! 

While the Dr. was stitching my belly, Jonathan accompanied the nurses who cleaned and checked the baby. We were very anxious to hear her weight, and then SHOCKED to learn she was 

8lbs. 9oz. 

Did I mention that she came a week before the actual due date?! That is nearly two pounds heavier than Jonah who came out full term! 

 As soon as I was put back together they let me recover in a delivery room...WITH my baby. This was different from my first c-section. When I had Jonah the labor and delivery was too crowded...I had to recover on the surgical floor away from my baby. THAT was torture. 

We feel so very blessed. My heart overflows with thankfulness. Jonah came home from Grandma and Grandpa's house last night. We have spent the day as a family of 4 and I LOVE it. I love our children so dearly. I am so thankful that God gave us such wonderful treasures. I pray I can parent them in a way that gives HIM praise! 

Honoring America

I had big plans of editing some photos for this post. Thus the delay in writing it. Well, I haven't gotten them edited in the creative way I'd planned. Nor do I see myself getting it done any other time this month. So, I'm going to write it with (mostly) unedited pictures. 

The College of the Ozarks hosts Honor America every year...a week before Independence Day. There are live bands/facepainting/ food vendors all afternoon. Then, at dusk they make some patriotic presentations, veteran recognition, and we all sing our national anthem/say the Pledge of Allegiance as a group, which is really neat. 

And of course, at dark there are fireworks. 

This was our little group this year. We had a good time over on the blanket by the rose garden! 

 did you ever notice that Jonah is eating in a lot of the photos I post?! But look how much he is enjoying that watermelon!! We had to cut him off...he wanted it more than the cookies! 

 We tried and tried to get a good shot with the pretty fireworks in the background. We got good shots of us, and good shots of fireworks. (the creative editing I had intended was going to superimpose the two into one great photo...maybe someday!)

the little guy was in awe every time! we'd told him it would be loud, and it didn't seem to bother him. actually, we tried to prep him a bit by watching fireworks on YouTube beforehand, so he'd know what to expect. 

Happy July! 

(only one week until our sweet daughter arrives)

Anniversary Getaway

I posted about it being our five-year wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. We went on a little weekend trip to St. Louis while my mom and dad came to stay with Jonah. We had a blast, but didn't take very many photos. Or, at least not any with much variety.  

We hit up a couple of our favorite restaurants...Canyon Cafe & Cheesecake Factory (our vacations are always centered around the food). 

We took in an afternoon movie. 

We visited the Botanical Gardens. 

(it was a beautiful morning!)

This is one of my favorite spots in the entire place...near the Japanese Gardens. 

(30 weeks pregnant)

They were setting up for a lantern festival which was set to kick off the following weekend. this was a neat fountain display. 

Can you tell the dragons are made from dishes? 

The long skinny parts are teacups back-to-back and wrapped in plastic. 

 Most of the decorations were lighted. I bet it was really pretty at night. 

 (whimsical cherry blossoms?)

 I thought the globes were neat (also lighted for night viewing) so I made Jonathan pose near them. 

And then he struck a pose of his own in this wagon near the kiddie park. 

 Do you see the geckos that came out to say hi?! When I spotted the first one I thought it was planted there for ambiance...but then his friend came out to say hello as well. 

This was some kind of fruit that grows directly on the tree trunk. I thought it was photo worthy. 

"self-portrait"

Five Years!

This print is hanging in our bathroom. I just love it. 

I can't believe it's been five years. (tomorrow)

I love our love, that's all. 

Tow Mater

While Jonah and I were out shopping this evening I got a text from Jonathan. He alerted me to the fact that Tow Mater was in town. Not only in town, but across the street from his work, no less. So, we hightailed ourselves over to visit Daddy at work and visit Jonah's FAVORITE character.   I let Jonah be surprised, and it was AWESOME!! He was tickled to his toes when we pulled into that parking lot! 

I could not get him unbuckled and out of the car fast enough!! 

I love seeing such delight on the face of this boy!
(I just noticed how much the above photo of Jonah resembles childhood pictures of Jonathan at his age...it's definitely in the smile)

I thought the truck was done very nicely too...it's a pretty cool replica of the cartoon guy we all love so dearly. 

And here is the sweet little guy with his stuffed Mater that was a souvenier from three of our favorite people when they went to Colorado over Spring Break. 

oh by the way....

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our busy house to yours. 

Happy Anniversary

Right now, this very minute I am anxiously awaiting pictures of a good friend's newborn baby girl. (who was actually born on her due date!) So, as I'm thinking about today's date, I realize that YESTERDAY was an important one too. 

Yesterday my parents celebrated 41 years of marriage. 

I know an anniversary is between the happy couple, but I'm kinda partial to this particular couple. And I'm very thankful for the marriage they've shared/displayed/upheld as an example for me. 

Love you Mom and Dad. 

James Andrew Atkins

As I mentioned the other day, Jonathan and I went to visit Daniel and Riss. 

We had a really fun visit with them. We just hung out, went for a walk, and ate some really good food. Typical for one of our gatherings. Oh, wait, that walk...I should say more about that walk. You see, Riss was a couple of days overdue with that sweet baby. I'd teased her about packing a bag and walking to the hospital, so that by the time she got there she'd be in labor! Well, we went for a walk around a nearby lake instead. Jonathan kept wanting to go further, but there was seemingly no end in sight. So, we talked him into turning around...and since no water had broken...I guess Jonathan thought there should be some sort of awkward water situation, so he stepped into a huge mud puddle that covered his foot up to the ankle. 

We went on about our visit-as-usual. 

Jonathan and I were planning to return home first thing (if 9am can be called first thing) Sunday morning. Then we got the phone call. It was Daniel. She was in labor...and had been at the hospital since 1am. (he also alerted me to a text message he'd sent much earlier which read: 'the water broke we are going to the hospital riss says to say thanks')

I have never before been in the waiting room of the hospital when a new baby has been born. There was a lot of anticipation. You see, my sister-in-law decided to go the old-fashioned route and NOT find out the gender of the baby she carried. I have known a handful of people who have made that choice and it is always SUCH fun when the baby is born to finally find out! (makes the pre-planning a bear, but totally worth it in the end) So, there we sat in the waiting room, going back and forth with reasons we could believe it was a boy, or a girl.  Each time the big door opened we were all on alert to see if it was Daniel. When he did come through the door...declaring that Baby James was here...it was THE SWEETEST thing! 

I loved being there for that moment.

Auntie Amy and Uncle Jonathan 

This is right after he told us the news...that is my i'm-so-excited-i-can-hardly-stand-it face. 

And here is baby James. 

James Andrew

8lbs. 5 oz. 23 inches

 Sunday, November 13, 2011

10:45am

Did you see that length? I don't know that I've ever heard of a baby being that long...at least not one that came out of a mama who is barely over 5 ft. tall!! His legs are nearly as long as his mama's already!

He had quite the time getting out into the world. The Dr. used the phrase "tight fit" and there was a vacuum involved. The tight fit is believed to have caused him to have what was discovered to be an acute phemothorax (air between the lungs and rib cage). He came out gasping a bit. Shortly after birth he was transferred to another hospital with a NICU. They took care of the problem easily, but he has to stay there through the duration of antibiotics. 

This is very hard on his mom (and dad, i'm sure). 

They are totally in love with the new guy! I am so happy for them and for our family.

Another Trip to the City

Last weekend Jonathan's parents came to visit. We took ourselves (with our season passes) out to Silver Dollar City. We really use them far too little. It's free (if you don't count gas or the occasional food purchase) entertainment. 

Anyway, we headed out there on Friday, and we sure were glad we didn't try to go on Saturday...cause it rained ALL day Saturday!!

(there may or may not be multiple collages today...be glad I didn't post all of the pictures individually...there are a lot of great ones!)

Remember this similar picture from the same time last year:

Jonah and Grandpa tried on some hats:

Jonah also did a lot of this:

And then, on the way out, Jonah (re-)discovered pumpkins!! (he thinks they are all BALLS!)

Still Newlyweds.

May 19, 2007

It has been four years since we said "I do."

And you know what, we still "Do."

We like to consider ourselves newlyweds...we'd like to keep it that way for 50 more years. 

(yeah, we are sappy and silly)

I just received an email with a link to a cool video. I thought it was very fitting to today's post. Hope you like it. It is very happy and very sweet. 

Somehow he got this to play right after another movie trailer!

if the video doesn't expand, you might enjoy viewing it full size.  click here.