Holy, Holy

My daughter LOVES this song and will run around the house singing it at the top of her lungs!  Here is the words if you can't recognize what she is saying...


Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Highest Praises, Honor and Glory
Be Unto Your Name


We are the broken, you are the healer
Jesus redeemer, Mighty to save
You are the love song, we'll sing forever
Bowing before you, blessing your name


(Sigh!) I just love her!

It's Potty Time!

I have never wrote anything about Alivia's potty training yet but I am one proud momma!  Alivia has been in big girl panties for the past few months and is doing quite well!  We still put a pull up on her during naps and for nights but she really is staying dry during the nap.  When we brought Atley home from the hospital Alivia regressed a little bit and we knew that could happen.  The past couple of days she is back on track and doing great!  The funny thing she is doing now when she poops is that she says, "Shhh, Listen!" because she wants to hear it go into the toliet!  She also pushes herself up off the toliet to watch it come out.  This little girl is too funny!

Introducing Atley Mae Wood!

Little Miss Atley Mae Wood was born at 4:38 p.m. on Monday, November 22nd and she is 2 weeks old already!  I truly cannot believe how fast time flies!  She was 7 lbs 1 oz and 19 1/2" long. 
The story of her birth started on Sunday morning at 6:45 a.m.  I woke up to a few trickles of water and I literally thought I had peed in my pants.  I was embarassed but I didn't know how it could happen.  At 8:30 a.m. the same thing happened so I knew I couldn't have just peed again.  I began to think that it could be my water breaking however, I quickly doubted myself because I thought it would be a continues trickle or a sudden gush.  I didn't want to go into the hospital and for them to tell me, "Honey, you just urinated on yourself!"  I am sure every woman fears that.  Aaron wanted me to call the doctor but I assured him that if it happened again I would call.  We went on to church and had our whole day hanging out and nothing happened.  Later on that night we came home from the Thanksgiving Praise Service at our church and I had a few more "trickles."  I called the doctor and he suggested that I come in to the hospital and they could test it to see if it was truly amniotic fluid or not.  At 2:00 a.m. we arrived at Genesis and from that point of our arrival my contractions started about 2-3 minutes apart.  They tested the fluid and sure enough, it was my water.  They quickly admitted me into the hospital and I was pretty comfortable but I was only dilated to 1 1/2 cm at that point.   My contractions slowly started to spread to 4-6 minutes apart so they decided to start me on potossin.  Um...I didn't like that very much.  I wanted to say no thanks but I had a feeling that they would do it anyways!  Finally, they checked me and I was at 4 cm and I said, "I would like an epideral...like right now."  They called the doctor and he arrived about an hour later so I was at a 5 or 6 and my contractions were coming now every minute.  It was so hard to sit still while he did my epideral because I had about 10 contractions!  Not fun!  Finally at 3:30 the doctor checked me because I said that I started to feel pressure a little bit.  I was at an 8 and she was still at a -1 station.  I thought for sure that I would have to push for a while because with Alivia I was a lot lower and I only had to push 3 times.  They assured me that after your first child your baby doesn't drop until delivery.  They said that I would not have to push that much at all.  Well, they were right!  An hour later the nurse came into the room and my mom, mother-in-law, Aaron and I were just hanging out and talking and she asked if she could check me.  I said sure and then before I know it she was pushing the emergency button saying, "Help, Help now!" and talking in codes!  I did not know what was going on but she looked at me and said, "The baby's head is out!"  Aaron and I thought immediately that she was crowning and that it was just time to push, but no...Atley was litterally laying in-between my legs out all the way to her shoulder!  She just had me push to get the other shoulder out!!  So, the nurse literally delivered Atley and the doctor came flying in with about 5 other people at that point!!  I was in shock!  I am still in shock to think that happened to me!  You know those stupid shows, "I didn't know I was Pregnant" well, they are going to have another show called "I didn't know I delievered" and that will be even more idiotic and that is me!  Seriously! 
Atley was admitted into the NICU the next morning because of the fact that my water had been broke more than 18 hours and the risk for infection for the baby increases and also for the fact that because she delivered so quickly she swallowed a lot of amniotic fluid and never got the chance to release it.  I was crying so much when they told me that they were going to watch her, run some tests, give her an I.V. and hook her up to monitors.  It was hard to see your newborn go through that.  We are so blessed that she is completely healthy and all her tests came back good!  We brought her home on Thanksgiving morning and we were truly thankful to God that he protected her!

33 1/2 Weeks!

So I thought I would share how my pregnancy is going so far with my baby girl.  I am 33 1/2 weeks and due Thanksgiving Day although I am convinced I will not make it that long.  Lately I have had a TON of pressure and cramping in the stomach and I pray that I can last a few more weeks for the little one to mature.  I will go in to the doctor in 2 weeks and then after that every week till she is here. 


I am getting very excited to see what this little girl looks like!  Will she look like Alivia or will she look totally different?  For some reason Aaron and I think she will be bigger and longer than Alivia was when she was born.  I hope not too much bigger! 


Also, my brother and sister-in-law are expecting a boy in March and I am super pumped about that!  I cannot wait to add more babies to my side of the family because it makes it that much more fun for when the holidays roll around.  Next Christmas should be a blast with 3 grandkids!  Also, I am glad they are having a boy because deep down I really wanted a boy this pregnancy at first and now I am glad they are able to have one so we can balance out the family a bit! 


I never really shared that with a ton of people, but I have to admit I was a little sad when the ultrasound technician said it was a girl.  I was absolutely sure that it was a boy and I was so prepared for her to tell us this, but when she said, "It's a Girl!" I don't think I said anything for a whole minute.  I needed to take it all in and, I'll admit, shed a couple of tears.  After the appointment I started thinking of all the wonderful things another girl will bring to our family.  I cannot tell you how excited I am that it is a girl again!  I have gotten past my disappointment and realized how blessed we are that we can bring another child into this world.  I really hate that I even felt that way in the first place, but here I am being honest to the world!  God obviously knows what he is doing and for that I am so thankful that he is in control and not me.  My selfish ambitions would only ruin things and I am glad that there is a "Master Planner."

She's All Talk!

Since these past few weeks Alivia has been saying & doing new things daily and I wanted to record it somehow so that I will always remembered these special moments.  I caught her the other day counting as she put her ring stacks back on the base.  Well, counting as in, "Two, Seben, Eight, Nine Ten! Yea!!!!"  I don't care that she left out 6 numbers...I am a pretty proud momma!  You will see a few other adorable things that she has picked up on.  Even right before we shot the video I was telling Aaron how I LOVE fall and I put my hand on my chest (am I dramatic?? um, yes!) and then I see Alivia say the same thing to him and do it too!  So funny!  We recently had a garage sale and when I brought Alivia outside, she ran over to my box full of stuffed animals and said, "Oh, there it is! There it is!"  Aaron said, "You've never seen those before in your life!"  She carried them around all afternoon because she acted like they were her long lost friends she had just found again! 
Sorry for the shrill voice in the video.  I'm sure you will think, "but that is how she always sounds!"  Therefore, I should apologize for my voice altogether!  It is not a pretty thing when you listen to yourself!

Fall

I love fall weather and fortunately, today was a perfect fall weather day!  I am so excited for this fall...mums, pumpkins, my birthday, the new baby coming, apple pie/crisp, etc.  I was having such a bad day today and once I went outside it immediately put me in a better mood.  I had to run to Walmart for a couple of things and on my way I heard the song by Trace Adkins, "You're Gonna Miss This."  I absolutely love that song and on top of that, I realized that life is too short to be upset about certain things or down in the dumps because things are not going my way.  I really hope I can learn to keep that perspective when days are not going good or I feel like the world is crashing down on me.  I just want to enjoy every minute with my family and not think that I can do things some other time, but I want to live in the moment and enjoy life while I can. 

Swimming

Alivia LOVES water too! We put a cheap blow-up pool on our deck for the summer and now she can go play in it whenever she wants. It is nice and convenient and mom can even lay in it with her.

"Yum! This chlorine tastes good!"

Dress Up!

Ok, so first off I realize that I haven't blogged in a while, but I am hoping that is about to change.

Secondly, my daughter LOVES to play dress-up. I mean, really??? Does a 1 year old know how to have such an imagination as this??? Yes, she most certainly does!

She will then run to the full length mirror and go, "Oh Boy!" and look herself over. It is precious! I just love being the mom to this little girl!

Love you!

Alivia is doing some the sweetest things right now that I have to share...

Yesterday during dinner, Aaron and I said, "Love you!" and Alivia kissed her hand and tried blowing us kisses!
Lately when we put her on the changing table she will grab a kleenex and sniff it like she is trying to blow her nose and then she throws it down.
Today when I got out of the shower I put on lotion and Alivia came walking over to me and bent down, put her hands on her knees and sniffed my lotion! It was soooo cute!

These precious things make me so proud to be a mom!

I was bawling like a baby tonight watching 16 and Pregnant. There was this couple on there that decided to give their little girl up for adoption and went through a Christian adoption agency. I cried watching their struggles with giving the child up and watching the adoptive parents guard their hearts until the deal was done. What an amazing experience and I was so amazed how mature this young couple was even against their own families wishes of giving the child up! I just can't imagine going through that. This couple gave their little girl a life they couldn't have given her themselves. How amazing. I am so thankful for my life and my little girl and the fact that I never had to go through anything like that. I am thankful for not having to make that kind of a choice. Thank you God for the life that you have given me and for blessing me with a baby girl who I can take care of.

"Pants on the Ground, Pants on the Ground Lookin' like a fool with your Pants on the Ground"

I decided to put an outfit on Alivia that my mom had bought her for her birthday. It is a 12 month outfit and since she is 12 months I thought it would fit her perfectly. Well, they don't. Needless to say the American Idol song hit fits this description perfectly. Alivia was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "lookin' like a fool with her Pants on the Ground."

Birthday's

Alivia has changed so much over this past year...it is so hard to believe! It seems like our family has changed so much! Aaron turned the big 3-0 in December so that was something big! :) He doesn't like me talking about it much so I like to mention it every once in a while and act like it is a big deal to give him a hard time! Ha! I guess I better go easy on him since I will be turning 30 in a couple of years and I will probably take it just as hard as he has.

We celebrated Alivia's birthday the weekend of the 16th and had our family come from Kansas and Missouri. It was a house-full but I absolutely loved the chaos! We had 10 people plus Alivia staying with us all weekend and I wouldn't have had it any other way! We had friends and family for the birthday party and then we dedicated her at church the next day. I didn't think I would get all emotional about that but I was wrong. I shed a few tears knowing that our baby girl is being prayed for and looked over by our church, family and friends. That is such a blessing to know!

Here are a few photos from her festivities:

Happy 1st Birthday Alivia Faye!!

Our little girl turned one on January 19th. Here is how much she has changed over this past year...

I'm one day old!

I'm one month old!

I'm two months old!

I'm three months old!

I'm four months old!

I'm five months old!

I'm six months old!

I'm seven months old!

I'm eight months old!

I'm nine months old!

I'm ten months old!

I'm eleven months old!

I'm one year old! I'm such a big girl now!