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Hello Blog World.
It's been awhile, I know. Ever since we got DSL, it takes FOREVER to upload pictures to Blogger, and with all my 'spare time' these days, it just doesn't get done. :) So instead, please go to the Picasa link above to see day-to-day pictures of Eliza. There are albums for each month and I try to upload pictures every other day or so.

I'm really not sure how much more blogging I will be doing from here on out... I go back to work in 5 weeks and I know my time is going to get even more precious. I know y'all understand. I promise to keep the Picasa albums up-to-date, tho.

Just a little update on Eliza before I go... she's almost 8 weeks now (wow, time flies). She's a GREAT baby - happy and smiling and sleeping really well at night (I probably just jinxed myself!!). Bruin and I are just sooooooo in love with her. The boys are handling the transition well, too. Cricket could really care less about her but Dodger is her ever present body guard. It's actually really cute - whenever she cries, Dodger will come find one of us and whimper as if to say, 'Could you take care of that???'.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave comments on the pictures, just like you would comment here. I enjoy reading them and knowing who is stopping by. :)

Our Birth Story

So here's a brief outline of how things went down...
Monday 3/22 -
Woke up with minor and inconsistent contractions. They continued all day. About 9pm they finally got consistent (about 10 mins apart) and were moderately uncomfortable. Still not enough to warrant a trip to the Birth Center, so we stayed home. Ended up getting no sleep that night cause they would wake me up.

Tuesday 3/23 -
Called the Midwife around 9am. She said it could still be days, so I was to ignore any and all contractions and continue on with my day. Which I did. We had a non-stress test scheduled for 2:30. Afterward, they stripped my membranes (yowser). Within an hour of getting my membranes stripped, my contractions got VERY intense and about 3-5 mins apart. We labored at home for another 2-3 hours, monitoring the contractions. We finally called my Midwife again around 8pm and she said, it's time! So we headed to the Birth Center. The next few hours are sorta foggy... still having intense contractions every 3-5 mins. My Midwife gave me a sleeping pill and a mild pain killer so I could get some sleep that night. But it didn't work. Another night without sleep. :(

Wednesday 3/24 -
My water broke about 2:30 in the morning. The next few hours are foggy. Around 9am, I was finally 7 cms so I could get into the tub. It was HEAVENLY. I labored there for about 3 hours, finally getting to about 9.5 cms. However, my contractions slowed down dramatically (about 6-8 mins) and they got concerned. Eliza's head also hadn't started to mold into the birth canal which indicated my contractions weren't strong enough or hard enough. So I had to get out of the tub. We tried other methods to try and 'jump' start my labor again, but at this point it's 1pm and I'm exhausted. I had been laboring for 40hrs and haven't gotten any sleep in two days. We decided the best course was to transfer to the hospital and try to jump start my labor with Pitocin. We drove to Trident and got some Pitocin (along with an Epidural cause I knew I couldn't labor naturally if I was getting Pitocin). They made me sleep for about 2 hours. Then, around 5pm, I started pushing. I ended up pushing for almost 2 hours. Her head would descend then rock back up. It was quite frustrating. Finally, I just got this surge of energy and pushed with everything I had left... and out pops Eliza. :) My Midwife later said I was about 5 mins from a C-Section. Thankfully, that didn't occur. She was perfect and healthy at 9.8lbs and 21.5 inches long.

That night, poor Bruin hit a wall... he had been SO good at taking care of me that he forgot to take care of himself. So he ended up in the ER with serve dehydration and exhaustion. He had a rough few days but by the following Monday, he started feeling much better.

THANK YOU to all our friends and family who prayed for us... I never thought I'd be 11 days over due AND spend 46 hours in labor. But it happened. I'm just so glad that it ended well and we are all happy and healthy. Here are a few pictures of the monumental day:


Me laboring in the birth tub.


Meeting Eliza for the first time.

And just for kicks, here was my 41 week belly shot:

The Nursery...

We are still waiting for the mirror we ordered to put over her dresser. I also haven't decided what I want to put on the wall next to her closet. Other than that, though, the nursery is done! Here are a few pictures:

From right to left:


The closet. This is just her Newborn - 3 month clothes. I have 4 more bins of clothes waiting in the wings!!


The bookshelf. We need some more books but its a good start.


I love seeing her name on the wall... I also LOVE the wall Giraffe!!


I bought the glider and ottoman at a consignment sale last year. It was a great deal!


The beautiful picture my friend Traci made... LOVE IT.


The 'French' white dresser... the website said it was just white. But its not.


A friend at work suggested using a shoe organizer behind the door to put all the 'little' stuff in. Great idea, right??

Belly Shot, 40 weeks!

My due date has come... and gone. Eliza apparently didn't get the eviction notice. :) I keep telling myself that you can't rush perfection, haha! I still feel great so honestly, its OK. SHE knows when she's coming... I just wish I did, too. :)

Baby Shower #2

I know this is LONG overdue, but here are a few pictures from our second baby shower! We had a great time and I'm so glad I had my most favorite people there - many came from out of state, too! Thanks again so much for every one's generosity. We got pretty much everything else we needed for baby and now are READY for her to come. Any day now! :)

Baby Shower

Snow... in Charleston?!?

Yup. You read that right. Snow. In Charleston. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself...


Our backyard




Bruin and the boys playing...Bruin got Cricket right in the face with a snowball


Our front yard


The poor magnolia tree... she thankfully perked back up


It was so pretty when the sun came out

Belly Shot, 36 weeks

Whoa. Now THAT is a big belly... :)

Belly Shots, weeks 30 and 32

These are a bit behind, as I'm actually 34 weeks today. But here ya go!


30 weeks


32 weeks

Things are still going well here. Though I still feel like I need more time (um, maybe another 12 weeks?!!?), I'm actually getting anxious to meet her. :)

Sweet Dodger

It's hard to believe it's been almost two years since we got our sweet Dodger (his 'Gotcha' Day is March 2). He's such a huge part of our family and we just love him so much. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't crack us up by doing something funny. He is fiercely loyal and incredibly smart, too. And for anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting him, you know he's CONSTANTLY on the move. So it's amazing I was able to get these pictures of him recently...

Cricket's Fake Sunshine

It’s been really cold here lately so the boys haven’t been spending too much time outside. While this probably doesn't bother Dodger one bit, poor Cricket has been going through sunlight withdrawal. So the other day, when Bruin was putting up our new baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, Cricket made use of the extra light Bruin brought in so he could see...


Sweet puppy. I just love him.

BTW, they HATE the new gate cause it blocks off the landing they use to wait for us on while we were upstairs… Little do they know how many other changes are soon to occur. :)