Our Little Cashew

4 months

2010-04-21T14:14:00.006-04:00

Yet again I am demonstrating my lack of ability and/or gumption to keep up a blog to a regular degree seeing as Liz is 5 months old and I'm just getting to her 4 month!! lol Liz is keeping us busy not to mention going over to Mamaw and Papaw's just about everyday. I'm not sure that I've spoken about it in previous posts, but we found out that my parents will be moving within just over a year to Charlotte NC due to my dad's job being shifted to the company's main hub there. Bummer face obviously but a total God send in more ways than we can begin to count. All of us have been bummed about being so far apart, especially with Liz (and hopefully other future grandkids) but we can't deny God's hand - downsizing opportunity which is a massive help to mom and her health for example. Plus, they'll be halfway in between us and where my sister is going to end up, Panama City Fl when she gets married this summer.

Liz is growing like a weed, though I feel like I say that sooo much but it's true! They grow so fast and develop even quicker, I can't believe what even just a month difference can make. She is gaining strength quickly, starting to try and sit up (trying to lift her head and shoulders up) and getting almost all the way turned over except fo

r her head when trying to turn over back to front. Carrying her is getting so much more convenient now that she's so stable; I have an extra hand again!! Yessss! Her reaching and grasping toys and other objects is getting much more purposeful, her favorite being hands/fingers, rattles, and rings.

We had her 4 month check up and the doc is totally pleased with where liz is at. She's a tall, strong, skinny mini with a great set of lungs :-) From day one, the doc has made mention of how alert and attentive Liz is and this visit was no different. When we got to talking about Liz and other things, Liz was in rapt attention of whatever the doc was saying. She's such a trooper too. She got more shots this time and it went about the same as the last time where she pretty much stopped crying right as the nurse was putting on the last band-aid. What a good girl! She's also discovered her feet, much to all of our delight. She can't get enough of them and is notorious for grabbing them and then drop kicking her bed while she's waiting on us to come and get her out of bed! Super funny to hear happening on the monitor!

She's been getting bored a lot easier too. While she has great attention skills, she sure figures things out in a fair amount of time and wants to move on. Her favorite past time is out shopping (where there is sooo much to see, hear and smell) and going for walks using her carrier instead of the stroller. She's giggling and getting much more ticklish which is an awesome combination for us to enjoy!! My favorite is giving her tummy a zerbert while shaking my head - always gets a great laugh!!

She's also gotten really good at mimicking us. She recently has loved figuring out how to make the "ooo" face, and she tries to get her tongue going when you make noises using your tongue. She loves music too. We'll get into the car, put the radio on and she's good to go. There's been a few times where she's even seemed to been singing along.

Billy and I talk all the time about what God might have in store for her. So many times I find myself praying for her, her tomorrows, people who will come into her life, her husband, what she might experience, etc and I get a little nervous along with the excitement. God has charged me with this little one, raising her up and I can't imagine doing this without Him. Billy and I both realize we could not do this without Him. What peace, hope, and comfort we have knowing that we don't have to have all the answers, that though we will make mistakes there is grace, thank goodness!!

We (yes we!) are so looking forward to doing some shopping at garage sales this season. Yes, even Billy is pumped for it - mostly though from the stand point of how much money it saves us! lol Really, I'm right there with him. I love to find a good deal, love to shop, but feel like I did the best I could when I find something that we need for a price that works with not only our budget but what the true cost of the item should be anyway (i.e. an outfit that probably only cost $1 to make for a dollar)!! I personally will pick up an outfit or something occasionally as needed or even just desired, but I have a hard time spending so much on something I know didn't cost 1/4 of the cost to make. Anyway, I'll get off my soap box now :-)

We are greatly enjoying watching out little one grow, being humbled and filled with joy at the reminder of the love God has for us as His children.

3 months!

2010-03-09T09:30:00.004-05:00

My goodness! I can't believe it's here already!! Our little girl is 3 months old and growing like a weed! We are absolutely enjoying every moment as her personality shows itself more and more each day. Her smiles and the occasional laugh (yeah! she hit that this past month!!) make playing really that... playing (instead of making fools of ourselves goofing around and getting not a ton of response other than a furrowed brow). She's starting to really see things around her and is curious to all that is going on. We've been trying to hold off on purchasing a ton until garage sale season because we know we can get a ton more for our money, but we've had to go ahead and pick up a few things. One was a bumbo, which has been so much fun for her and I!! She's been pretty good at using her head for a bit now but not so much on her core strength so the bumbo has really allowed her to hang out while I do whatever needs doing but still look around.

She's also staring to show signs of

wanting to roll over back to front; not sure if it's close to happening or not, but she's been getting her hips and shoulder blade off the floor in the effort. She was notorious for moving around her crib when she was to be sleeping - so m

uch so we'd find her with her face smashed into the bars, sound asleep... a complete 180 from where we laid her down!! It was quite comical! But we had to get her to stop going that far because she was waking up in understandable discomfort, so we thought about getting one of those wedges but yes, we are cheap and didn't want to spend the money. So I got creative one day and used a couple of hand weights we had laying around and a towel and created one! All I did was take the towel and folded it in half hotdog style, then at one end put a weight and rolled it up a few times, then repeated that at the other end -

leaving a space just large enough for her to lay in. So far it's worked great!! I did put a couple of stitches around the weights so she can't push them to where they come undone.

Anyway, She's still sleeping really well at night and is doing pretty well at getting herself back so sleep when it calls for it. We feel like doing a modified Baby Wise has really helped get her there. The core of what we've done has been just getting her into a routine. Regular intervals of feeding through the day, waking her if needed even, and a steady and predictable routine to go to sleep. We made ours simple and quick because we knew we'd like to have more kids and knew we couldn't be spending a ton of time putting a kiddo down when there were others to worry about. It didn't make sense to be spending hours just getting the kids to sleep each night!! So ours just is to go in, get her into her sleep sack and rock her for a few minutes. We sing Jesus Loves Me to her while we rock and usually by the end of the song (we sing a few verses) she's droopy eyed and ready for bed! We lay her down awake but drowsy and

she's usually good to go! Asleep within 10 minutes or less.

Every night, singing that song with my baby girl in my arms has been so much more than just putting my child to sleep. I didn't expect that. Well, I expected it to be a bonding time and special, but not the change it would invoke in me. Long story short, I haven't had the highest view of myself for a long time now, always seeing flaws. Oh sure, I've been more comfortable with myself as time as gone on, but Satan has certainly used it as a foothold in my life. He's stepped it up especially after the birth, you know, stretch marks and all that jazz. I've fought it, logically knowing that my body was how it is supposed to be after giving birth, but my heart wasn't really affected. A couple of nights ago, I was singing to Liz and the words of a song that I have sung since I was a young child finally started to sink in...

Jesus loves me, this I know

for the Bible tells me so

little ones to him belong

they are weak but He is strong

Yes, Jesus loves me!, Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!

the bible tells me so!

Jesus love me this I know

He loved so long ago

taking children on His knee

saying "let them come to me"

Yes, Jesus loves me!, Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!

the bible tells me so!

Jesus love me still today

walking with me on my way

wanting as a friend to give

life and love to all who live

Yes, Jesus loves me!, Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!

the bible tells me so!

I finally am starting to see myself through His eyes - a creation of God, molded and formed with great thought and love, beautiful, in whom He used to bring into this family another creation, beautifully molded and formed with great thought and love and that the resulting marks and shape of my body are just the evidence

of that miracle - the fingerprints of the Master Creator. A God who is so much bigger than I can ever fathom but yet so personal and close with His creation. Not only does this begin to heal the self-inflicted scars on my heart, it also reminds me of our responsibility and wonderful gift we have been given... to impart what we've learned to Liz, and any other kiddos we have. My prayer is that she can learn from mommy, not only the basics of life but how to love herself and see herself through His eyes, not letting anyone or anything tell her otherwise. May I be transparent to her so that we both can grow, knowing and living

in the love and peace of our Saviour.

We have made that promise, to ourselves, to our daughter, to our God, and to our Church, to raise her as best we can with the guidance of God in Him. (the picture is from the dedication service at our church, Traders Point Christian Church on Sunday February 28, 2010. Both our parents attended)

2 months!

2010-02-05T10:30:00.004-05:00

I can't believe how time flies! So soon it seems Liz is working her way to three months and meeting so many milestones!! Just yesterday something clicked and she kept rolling over from her tummy to her back - so much so I couldn't keep her on her tummy for tummy time!! Every time I'd flip her back over, within a minute or so she would be flipped back over! So that was fun, but then she pulled a funny too today by crying at a noise that startled her for the first time!! I totally didn't expect her reaction, so when I coughed and she started to to cry - all mom could do was laugh! Oye! She'll probably get me for saying that later :-)

All this growing and developing is certainly fun, but as all moms know, it comes with it's challenges as well. We are adapting the Baby Wise approach to fit our family and one of the things it talks is looking for the tired cues and then putting them down as soon as you see them. Not rocket science, as I'm sure most mom's do this anyway, but so far hers has been a yawn. Well, she went through a good growth spurt recently (5 flippin' ounces a feeling! Can we say "oink oink"?) and decided she wanted to change it up! I'm still gaging it but so far it seems she's gone to fussing when she's tired. That's obviously thrown off her naps a bit when I don't catch it at the right time, so many naps she gets a bit overly tired and fights going down or wakes up throughout the naps. It's Friday now, and this all started last Saturday or Sunday, but she and I are both adjusting. I think she's getting better at putting her self back to sleep if she does wake in the middle of a nap.

This picture is a perfect example of what we have affectionately dubbed the "milk buzz" look. Complete and utter satisfaction!! Yum!

One of the other way positive things that every mom and dad counts down the days till is the gloried sleeping through the night. I am so proud to say my little Elizabeth Sarah has figured out how to do that around 8 weeks old!! Now obviously it's not perfect but getting about 7 hours straight of sleep from her is fabulous!! We're still trying to figure out what the schedule looks like still, how feedings will look throughout the day and how that works into our bedtime routine. I'd like to get it to where she's going down at the same time each night and we're going through the same routine. The two scenarios we flex between depending on what the feedings looked like that day are 1) she eats are 7:30 or so, kept up for play time - usually bath and books/cuddle time, then put down. We go in a 10:30 and feed her but put her right back down and 2) we feed sometime between 5:30 and 6:30, putting her last feeding at around 9:30, in which we keep her up for play after then put her down. Neither one seems to click any better with her but for all of us I'd like to get it consistent if possible.

We'll get a better chance to do that now that I'm home!! I loved nannying and wouldn't trade a second of time spent with the families that I had the pleasure and honor of serving but I am going to enjoy this new chapter in our lives as I get to stay home with our kiddo. Jackson, the little one I've hung out with for the last year and a half just welcomed with his mommy and daddy his new baby sister, Ella Francis! We are so excited for them and I know J will be a great big brother. He was so tender and sweet with Liz when we were there, I'm a bit envious of Ella of the brother she's has. He would get this worried look on his face and try and offer all he

knew to help her when she was crying. He'd look at me and ask, "paci? baba (bottle)? boppie?" and then usually if she was in the room with us (not going down for a nap in another room) he'd go and gently pat her tummy or stroke her head. So sweet! He tried to share his food with her quite often, which was so cute! We'd be eating lunch and he'd hold up his fork with a hot dog piece on the end and say "Lizzie?" and I'd have to tell him "no, but thank you. Lizzie's still a baby. That's big boy food just for Jackson." I hope we get to visit them often.

Needless to say, she's loving exploring her world and is really starting to notice people and things around her. Her favorite thing to do is sit on your lap and play the staring game and the do-as-I-do game. Her smiles light up the room!! She loves her daddy and will turn as hard as she can to look for him when he comes in the door after a day at work. As someone put it, she's discovering and forming her trust with different individuals and that she recognizes that they are different. For instance, mom is soft and warm, dad is strong and a bit more rough tumble type play, etc. As her Aunt D put it last night at dinner "She's finally looking at people!"

That's all for now... pedunk is waking up!! Sometimes we feel like the dog on Over the Hedge

"Play? Play?"

One month!

2010-01-06T13:14:00.005-05:00

So I'm a few weeks late, but in combination with my being a horrible journal-er to begin with and having a newborn around the house (not to mention Billy being sick for the last week or so)...being prompt about writing was doomed from the start!! hehehe

Anyway, Big Girl hit one month December 22 and daddy and I couldn't be happier or more proud (i suppose i should include tired and distracted here too but everyone fills those in on their own). The first month was tough, a lot of working out kinks and figuring each other out but it was an adventure that was God-guided and God-blessed!

I have one piece of advice for new mom's and dad's that I'm sure many have figured out before us - don't try to do it all!! I'm not talking about the house work or laundry, which is what most new mom's hear about. I'm talking about the sleeping!! Obviously we were a bit different than some in that we are formula feeding, so it worked out for us to do shifts, but I'm sure there are ways around the nursing as well. At first I tried to take the whole night shift during the week with the intention of letting Billy do it on the weekends. That is another option for some folks, but by the end of the second week of doing this, I was not only exhausted, but discouraged and felt so alone at that time of night. That mixed with my hormones getting back to normal made 9:30 every night a cry fest - poor Billy dealing with adjusting himself to a new baby and a hormonal and emotional wife. We talked, and decided we would do well to try shifts. So we began with my going to bed around 7:30-8ish and he taking from then until about 12 or 12:30. I would then be "on call" from then on equalling both of us getting about 6 or more hours of straight sleep. I'm not sure I can describe how much of a difference that made!

We've also launched into a modified version of Babywise so due to that, we are both getting at least 6 hrs if not more depending on how long she sleeps and when the feedings land. Side note- if you are interested in the Babywise approach, check out the book at your local library or borrow it from a friend to scan through first to double check to see if it might be of use to you and your family or not. Some folks don't agree with the approach or it simply doesn't fit their lifestyle which is totally fine. Another thing to check out is a blog I stumbled across which has been super helpful. It's http://babywisemom.blogspot.com

She's changing

so much everyday, it's been so amazing to watch!! We stayed in town and had Christmas wit

h my family before Aunt D left for Florida. We had so much fun playing games, watching Christmas movies, decorating cookies, and adding a new tradition - creating play-dough snowmen!! hehehe Liz got a fun kitchen from mamaw and papaw and a fun first tea set from Aunt D. We (Billy and I) decided a while ago that we would like for our kids, while they're young at least, to attend Christmas Eve Servic

e at our church and wake up at home on Christmas morning. She's too young to remember this year, but we figured we should start the tradition now to get into the groove. We attended our little one's first Christmas Eve Service and were so moved. God is amazing!! Just a note to remember, Aaron (our pastor) talked about the passage from Mark that begins with the geneology of Christ (what a thing to talk about huh?!). Let me tell you... it was so eye opening!! We have no idea in our culture today what the birth story of Jesus truly tells about and how much it meant and means!! If your curious, check it out on Itunes, just look it up on the church's website at www.tpcc.org and your should find the link and directions.

We woke up Christmas morning with our little one :-) and had another new tradition, brunch with my parents at our house! So much fun!! We left for Billy's family's get-together soon after that. Lissy did really well with the car ride and even better than expected with all the new sights and sounds (believe me there were lots of them!! So much fun!!). I thought she might be super over stimulated and freak out but she did really well!! What a great little girl! She got a fun wiggly cow toy from grandma and grandpa which I'm sure she will just love here in a few months!! She gave us some huge gifts as well - she started cooing and smiling a bit in response to a face!! Ever since then it's been so fun to hear her "talk" to herself and to try and get a smile out of her!

I also started back to work, hanging out with Jackson at his house, and I think we're adjusting pretty well. Jackson is so helpful and wonderful with Liz, I hardly need to remind him to be gentle! Whenever she cries, he says "baby?" (which is all he calls her right now) and wants to go give her passie to her and rock the stroller if she's in it. So sweet! His little sister is due in about a month and though I'm sure it will be an adjustment, I don't think it will be as big as it could be. I think he'll be a great big brother. She did get herself to sleep with out any crying today, which was great because Jackson was down for a nap. I can't say it enough, God is amazing!!

The big day has arrived!

2009-12-01T04:19:00.004-05:00

She's finally here!! It's taken a bit to get back to posting but here we are! Elizabeth Sarah Nord was born November 24th at 8:58 pm weighing in at 8.15 and 22 inches long- big girl!

It all started around 2:30 am that Tuesday morning when Rachael woke up to minor cramping. She got up, unable to sleep, and began to notice a pattern as the morning progressed. It was still pretty far apart, but eventually began to grow closer and closer together. Billy got some good sleep and when he got up, was a great help in encouraging through the contractions and helping to time them. Such a wonderful hubby!! We waiting until about 11 am or so to head in to the hospital, wanting to make sure we were far enough along they didn't just send us home!! I wasn't too sure we would be very far but at least we had been 3 cm for a bit- that had to count for something right?! We got to the hospital and when they checked, I was at 5cm already and doing well!! Yippee!!

We were admitted, then called our parents to let them know what was going on. Mom had been having dreams that we wouldn't call her until the baby was born, stemming from the comment I made about waiting to call after making sure we would be admitted :-) Needless to say, they jumped in the car and got to the hospital as fast as they could. We played the waiting game, with Billy winning the award for best support person in the world, and eventually progressed to about 7 cm before requesting the epidural. I had wanted to wait until I was farther along in labor for fear of it slowing down the progress, but when we got it- I think it took about an hour for me to make it to 10 cm!! And folks, I am a firm believer in a women being able to do it on her own if she wants to - all the power to her, but dude, for this lady- I am a "I don't have to pay for Eve's issues now so why would I chose to?" lol Note: I always had heard stories of the epidural hurting and such so I was a little nervous... totally no need to be!! Hardly felt it at all!! I think there were parts of my tattoo that were more uncomfortable than that was! Anyway, no need to worry about progressing apparently! We were feeling great and pushed for about 2 hours.

Around that time, my epidural began to wear off- not fun! I like to think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but whoa, dude. So we requested a re-dose. From the time I requested the dose through the time I got it and it was kicking in, the dr.s noticed her heart rate showing a little distress. I was so proud of our daughter to make it this far into labor with no signs of struggle - she's such a trooper!! After that, I started to peak a fever at 101.2 (which is crazy high for my typical 97 ish), my blood pressure was steadily rising and my heart beat had picked up at an alarming rate. The dr, Billy and I finally made the decision to go ahead with a c-section.

Billy was really concerned through the whole thing about me and bless his heart, my state just made him even more so. He was able to come into the surgery room all scrubbed up and be with me. The surgery went well and Lizzie came out crying - the best sound I think I can imagine! The folks getting her all taken care of kept talking about how alert she was, and then cracking up when we poo'ed not once on the table they were prepping her on, but twice! lol That's my girl! Meanwhile, the dr is trying to get my heart rate down (which didn't go down until about 4:30 that morning) and Billy's wanting to make sure I'm ok but also see his new daughter. Rough, but God is good and got us through.

We noticed right away she's a strong little girl. She was moving her head around a bit (albeit very clumsily) and was super alert after eating. Nursing went a bit rough, and from what I heard, that was to be expected. She was a great eater but for some reason we were tearing mommy up. We knew it was going to be difficult and sore so we continued as best we could and sought help from two consultants and all the nurses who came in.

We spent Thanksgiving in the hospital, but had great food and plenty of visitors (not to mention a lot on our minds with the newbie). Coming home was uneventful and felt so good to be out and home. The first couple nights sleep were rough, but Mawmaw (Rachael's mom) came over and stayed the night and helped us to trouble shoot some stuff. After that, sleep has been pretty good!! She had her days and nights mixed up but I think we're getting that ironed out. She's going about 4 hours in between feedings so we're getting about 3 straight hours of sleep a stretch at night - which is pretty much awesome!! Part of the problem we encountered with the sleep at first was also feeding related we think.

We continued nursing at home but Rachael was in tears each time she went to nurse. We decided to give her a break and pump, giving the breast milk to Liz via a bottle instead. In the meantime we researched formula just in case it would have to come to that, and found that Rach was not producing what Liz should have been getting. When we told the pediatrician what was going on, she thought that might be part of the issue with the nursing. We talked about it and agreed that we felt comfortable going to formula, especially since Liz had gotten all my colostrum, which meant the most to me. That standing there, her sleep has regulated and she's all but lost that fussy time in the early morning.

Now all we're trying to iron out is our nap times! She's not sleeping well during the day for some reason, and we're not really sure why. She'll sleep great when she's being held by someone (note we are limiting this because we know she'll get used to it if we let her), and we're putting her down in her crib to sleep for naps to reinforce the sleep there, but she's still waking up periodically in a crying fit. Obviously we're knocking out any of the basics, food/burp/diaper/reassure. Any thoughts - feel free to voice!!

Already a goober!

2009-11-23T16:45:00.003-05:00

So we know she's our child (already being a goober) and we also know she takes after her grandparents to some degree (my parents) - she's running late!! Hehehe! At least we know she'll work well with our church schedule! lol (If you grew up at or just familiar with Traders Point, you'll remember we have Traders Point Time - everything consistently running anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes late)

Went to the Dr today and although there's been some progress (I'm now completely 3 cm) and she is still doing just fine, went ahead and scheduled an induction date. As of now, she could still be a November baby, but if not then she'll be a December baby. The induction date is December 1 at a bright and early 6 am. The Dr tried to help it along today by messing with my membranes, but she didn't feel any change like she usually does if it's going to help.

Other than that, not a lot of change! Personally, I would love and prefer it if she would come on her own. I'm not a person who tends to follow the natural or organic trend to a very large extent, but we do try to do what we can (i.e. if I have a headache later in the day, I'm more inclined to try and sleep it off rather than take meds for it- I'm not against meds, just like to try and let my body do what it can to fight it first before using meds if possible). In this case, we'd like to have it happen without medicinal help if possible but also recognize the merit and safety in urging her to come if she hasn't by the induction date. Prayers would be greatly appreciated, not only for her to come on her own if that's in His plan, but also again just for a labor and delivery that follows His plan whatever that looks like.

any day now!

2009-11-19T15:25:00.002-05:00

So great news is that I don't have preeclampsia...

Bummer news is that means we're playing the waiting game until she comes.

And boy is it an interesting waiting game!! I've slept wonderfully through this whole pregnancy so far (I will totally chalk it up to the sleep number bed we have - best investment we've made!!). Two nights ago, I had probably the worst nights sleep of my short life so far. Went to bed at 11:30, awake at 12:30 (for like a minute), awake again at 2:30 for about 15 min, again at 3:45 for about 15 min, and then at 4:15ish was wide awake again - so much so I didn't go back to sleep until a nap around 12:30 that afternoon when Jackson was taking a nap!! None of this from discomfort or potty breaks mind you... just awake! Funny part is, I felt pretty good until right before the nap!! The "saga" continues through last night when we went to be around 11 and I didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 7am - not even for a potty break!! And guess what!?!?! I felt like I was in desperate need of more sleep and/or major caffeine help most of today!! How does one get hardly any sleep at all and feel totally fine one night and then a solid nights sleep the next and feel like she only got an hour!? Anyway, moving on...

Last night, a friend reminded me with a great idea that my water could break at any point (although I think it's only like 8% or something of women have that happen before they get to the hospital but whatever...) and she had heard from a friend that putting a shower curtain under your mattress pad is a great, inexpensive way to help protect your mattress. I thought that sounded easy enough and great in helping protect one of our favorite belongings so Billy and I proceed to disassemble our bed to put this brilliant plan in action. Just a tidbit for those who could use it, either now or later. I'll let you guys know if it works or not!!

So now we wait...

One week to go!!

2009-11-17T10:05:00.002-05:00

Week 39 and ready to go...

LOL So we are absolutely ready for Biz to get here, and actually it's not because I'm uncomfortable which is such a blessing!! I'm still feeling really good and the only time I truly feel huge is when I'm getting in and out of bed hehehe (which I'm sure is pure entertainment for Billy)

We had our checkup this morning and end all be all things are going well. The dr said I looked like I have dropped but I'm still measuring higher so we'll see on that one. I am almost 3 cm dilated and 50% thinned but as you guys know, that could not change for weeks so basically she could come tomorrow or a week from now, who knows! The only kicker is that my blood pressure was a bit high, so they are did some tests on me and I get the lovely pleasure of having to do a 24 hr urine sample.

(side note which might be TMI) Why do they give you a dixie cup to pee in every time you go in for a visit WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!?! hello! I haven't been able to have any clue as to what's going on down there for awhile now, so what makes them think I can aim in general, much less into a tiny little cup? oye...

Anywho, even with having to do all that, God provides - I don't have to go into work today so it doesn't affect anyone but me. We'll see what it comes back as, but worse case scenario it's preeclampsia and they induce! The wonderful provision again is that I'm progressing and it's after 37 weeks so the concern is not as great. The planner in me is yet again thinking this could work out beautifully in my limited vision - she comes and we are home in time for Thanksgiving! Yippee! Most importantly though, the One who sees the big picture knows what He's doing and is never early or late, always perfectly on time. In that, there is a beautiful peace that passes all understanding in my heart knowing Biz and I are resting in our Father's loving and perfect care. We'll keep everybody up to date as we know what's going on.

4 weeks to go!

2009-10-27T14:20:00.004-04:00

So we're 36 weeks today and we are getting so excited!! It's been established at our house that I am in nesting mode (let me clarify- nesting more than I usually do!! lol) and baby gear is popping up all over the house. We hadn't really set up a ton other than what's in the nursery but now I've been getting things out like the play mats, the diaper bin for downstairs, trying to figure out where the pack and play will go downstairs, etc. Billy informs me too that Christmas gear will be set up soon after this Saturday (let it be known I was game to wait a couple of weeks, but bless my wonderful husband's heart- he wants to make it a low key month for both of us). We're getting geared up for Christmas shopping in the next two weeks as well - I don't think we'll be thinking too much about that kind of thing after she comes!! hehehe I already have the Christmas card envelopes addressed and labeled (just have to get stamps)... pretty sad huh...

I've gotten some great advice concerning my last blog (about the epidural concerns and such that I had). Thanks guys, we appreciate it! Now our biggest prayer is getting her head down!! She's been doing flips for last week, head down for a bit then an hour later head and butt sticking out sideways. The dr said that by this Thursday if she hadn't flipped yet then we needed to talk about the next steps we could take. Truth be told we aren't worried about it, God has a handle on whatever happens in the next month! Lucky Guy, even knows what day and time she'll be here!! hehehe Sometimes I wish he'd let me in on that little secret but I suppose that might take some of the fun out of it. Mommy's such a planner... anyway, we'll keep it posted what's going on. Funny thing is, although I have a feeling everything will be just fine, I am totally fine with scheduling a C-section as well (that might be the planner coming out in me...)

We got to visit with Billy's side of the family this past weekend and every time we see them I wish we had more time. Carter, our newest nephew whose a couple of weeks old, is so darn cute and looks so much like his brother! I was way proud of Billy who seemed to take to handling a baby a lot more naturally than he has in the past. He's always done well with his other nieces and nephews, but I think he's in baby mode now and took advantage of getting comfy with something he'll be doing a lot more of in just a few short weeks. At one point after a meal I looked around and realized I didn't see Billy or Carter - they had gone in to watch some football and Billy seemed just as comfortable as could be with him! At one point everyone else disappeared outside to go look at my in-laws new camper and we were excited to hang out with lil'C inside. He starts letting something go in his diaper and being way noisy about it, all the while Billy is cracking up! I don't think he's ever heard that before! lol So I suggest we give him a few minutes and (hope against all hope) then Billy might change him... yeah... that was met with "naw, I think you should do it"... I almost had him... oh well. He did proceed to observe and critique ("are you sure you wiped enough? It's not too tight is it?" etc)

We spent some great time with friends (Megan and Tim) the weekend prior out at the apple orchard. My family and I have gone to Beasley's Apple Orchard in Danville, IN since I can remember and since Billy has come into the picture, we've continued the tradition with him and plan to with our kiddos as well. We thought we could spend some great time with our friends out there while multi-tasking and having Megan use her amazing gift at photography to take some maternity pics of us. We have a fun history together, going to ISU and both being a part of Cru there, her taking our wedding pics, attending the same church here in Indy, and now we are blessed enough to have her agree to take our prego pics for us. Not only does she have a great business going (megelaine images) but both she and her hubby and some of the sweetest and fun people we know. Billy and Tim kept us laughing the whole time in their efforts to find the biggest and "bestest" pumpkin and peeking in and out of the rows of corn! Since I've been negligent in my photo taking while prego, we now have these fan-shrekin'-tabulous pics that we're so happy to have for us and Lizzie later down the road.

Now I need to go work on her baby book and making sure I have the diaper bag and our hospital bag ready to go and in the car. Oh yeah, and the towel to sit on in the car just in case since I'll be hanging out with Jackson up until she comes... hahaha! This could be interesting...

32 weeks!!

2009-09-30T14:24:00.002-04:00

Yesterday marked 32 weeks and boy has time flown!! She's growing fast and running out of room!! I was just thinking last night as we sat on the couch for some down time that it's kind of sad when your stomach becomes a main source of entertainment for the two of you! I'm pretty sure she's head down now, and probably been that way for a couple of weeks (I just didn't recognize some of the signs until they mentioned it at lamaze class). Liz is certainly a hiccup girl (which I feel all down in the pelvic area) and likes to stick her booty out :-) I'll be curious to see if any of that continues after she's born.

Lamaze has been great, better than I expected it to be. I knew I would learn and it would be helpful, but I had heard stories of ho-hum teachers who talk all about how it was done in the "old days" and/or the focus being on stuff I've already learned from various sources. If you know anyone looking for a good class like this with a good teacher, the Lamaze class taught by Rebecca at St. Vincent is where we are.

I feel really affirmed in most of our decisions and well informed, the only thing that I'm struggling with now is the epidural. I never thought I'd say that!! LOL Well, maybe, sort of. Basically it comes down to wanting to be able to walk around, get into diff positions and such to help Liz out as much as possible, but obviously can't do that once you get the Epi. Turns out there is such thing as a low dose, or "walking" epidural, but my luck- it's not really offered in the U.S. (or at least in most of it; most important fact of that being not in Indiana). I'd really like to have a vaginal birth, but more often than not you end up with a c-section when you have an epidural. oye!!! So I think Billy and I talked about it and agreed that we will get as far as we can and then take one step at a time. If that includes meds, then so be it. If not, well hey! cool beans!

Billy did laugh when someone warned him about the potential of me yelling at him during labor, blaming him for all of it :-) He told them that wasn't in my personality to yell at anyone, but then I corrected him...

if I yell at anybody...it'll be Eve...

Bless his heart, I just want to make sure he'll be alright. Don't get me wrong, I do not think he will faint or get sick or anything like that. For those of you who know him well, you'll see what I mean. I get worried about him being worried about me! lol doesn't make sense sort of but it's hard seeing someone you love in pain and not being able to do much about it. He's that tender soul that I think that will affect more than many I know.

I know for certain though that I probably won't see anyone happier, more joyful, eyes with tears, etc than him when she actually arrives. He, we both, are so excited for her to join our family and have been saying for awhile now (even before we were preggers) that the house just seems like it needs something more, that it's missing something. God is so good and had blessed us with so much that we had no clue as to what that could possibly be. Now I think we know though... we're waiting for our little girl. We've been waiting to have toys all over the house, messy meals, laughter, tears, questions, loose teeth, crazy schedules, and so much more.

Our one prayer is this, that we continue to walk in His shadow bringing along with us our Lizzie and anyone else that might come along for the adventure...

Time is flying!!

2009-09-10T13:08:00.002-04:00

We just had our 29 week check up on Tuesday and though I knew we were in the home stretch, it was still a bit of a shocker when I sat down and they planned the next handful of visits going every other week and then once a week!! Oh my goodness!! Good news is she is looking great still and a huge blessing - I do not have gestational diabetes!! We didn't figure as much considering my weight so far and all the other signs that weren't there but it is good to know!!

Billy chuckles every time I get up from the couch or in/out of the car. Bless his heart, he says it's cute but I have yet to see how that is "cute." All I can say is that I am looking forward to getting new break pads on the van so I can at least stop the teasing when I get in/out of the cars!! Hopefully we can get them done before we go down to southern Indiana for our second shower; it will be a lot more comfortable if we can.

Billy got to feel Lizzie hiccup for the first time the other night and was cracking up at it! She gets them pretty frequently, and though funny and sweet now, mommy is not looking forward when Lizzie gets them towards the end of the pregnancy!!! It's hard to believe she's probably over two pounds now and from what we can estimate, probably about 15 in or so long! Hard to tell though unless we get another ultrasound because she's got those long legs she likes to make sure mommy remembers she has! lol

Billy asks such sweet questions and we get into such fun conversations about how she's growing and developing. When I mentioned a couple weeks back that she was getting the hiccups, he asked how that worked when she's not breathing air and such (good question!). We talked about how she's practicing her lungs with the amniotic fluid and just were both in awe of the miracle that is happening in me right now. Though science has explained the fundamentals of how conception, growth and birth happen, it simply highlights and displays how much of a miracle it is and how life is beautifully created by the Master Creator!! Liz has one foot in heaven and one here on earth right now...I think that's why I cry anytime I see a birth or newby - almost being able to see the fingerprints of God on that little one. How amazing and awe-inspiring!! The God of the universe, the judge, Lord, creator, sustainer, master, etc is so personally creating and molding a new life inside of me, changing not only that her life is now added to the mix, but Billy and I's response to Him. How better an illustration be made for how He loves us than for us to know the love for our daughter! We can not help but to respond!!! I am in awe of it and pray to listen well the lessons He longs to teach me, so not only can I grow and continue to be molded in to His image but that I may be a part of guiding Lizzie to grow and continue to be molded.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

~ 1 Jn 3:1

6 months and counting

2009-08-13T12:25:00.004-04:00

So we've hit 6 months already and it feels like time is simply flying!! We have our first baby shower this weekend and I am super excited to get to see everyone!! I always have a hard time with these kinds of things though-those who know me well enough know I don't like to be the center of attention. I am so happy though because I found out a few weeks ago that my grandpa from Florida will be coming for a visit this weekend and his traveling companion, who I just love, is coming to the shower!! So fun!! It will be interesting to see how long the guys stay for ;-) though I am completely good with them going and doing their own thing, my mom (with good intentions to want to see her dad as much as she can) would like for them to stay. Let you know how it goes *wink wink*

Lizzie's doing great still. We had a check up last week and she was just movin' and grovin'. It's those long legs I think! When I asked the dr about her moving around a lot, she said something about how I probably wasn't feeling like a punching bag yet. Though true to it's fullest extent, I don't think she anticipated how strong Liz is right now for when she listened to the heartbeat, Liz kicked the mic and my doc laughed and said "oh! I see what you're talking about!"

We can't wait to meet this little girl. She is already so precious to us, I can't imagine what it will be like to finally get to see what God's been up to.

I do have an official mommy-mobile now. We weren't even looking for a new car since both of ours are doing just fine (Dave-ramsey-ing it as we call it). It was a total God thing though because on a Monday we found out about a van and decided to look at it the next evening but it sold before we could get there. We figured it just wasn't meant to be, plus we didn't really need it anyway. We thought we ought to pay attention a bit more when another popped into our radar not 5 day later!! lol we checked it out and decided it was too good to pass up!! I'll post a pic later.

Other than that, life is pretty much "normal" (whatever that means)...

Fun times in the belly!!

2009-07-24T16:07:00.003-04:00

So Lizzie's moving around like crazy, which at this point is a lot of fun for mommy, but there was yet another first yesterday. I felt her kick and push on opposite sides of my belly! lol I have to admit it kind of startled me for a minute!! I guess it's those long legs of hers stretching out and she's big enough she finally reaches both sides.

Laughing with Billy the other night because after feeling Lizzie "dance" for a few minutes, when asked what he was thinking (that oh-so-introverted husband of mine), he asked me if I ever felt like there was an alien in my stomach! The whole scene reminded me of the movie Space Balls if you know what I'm talking about. So funny...

Lots of updates!!

2009-07-21T10:28:00.004-04:00

As someone pointed out, I need to update!! Life's been crazy as you guys know but of course that's no excuse- I think I just stink at journaling or in this case blogging.

Fun news though- we're having a girl!! Her name is Elizabeth Sarah (Lizzie for now) and apparently from the ultrasound, she'll be a tall girl like her mommy. Her legs are measuring a whole week ahead of schedule!! I forgot to ask the tech how her torso measured in comparison...like I got this mental image for a moment of a young lady with a really short torso and really long legs- kind of like in Toy Story, you know, those crazy toys that next door neighbor messed up? She's certainly got some talent involving her feet though. Sometimes at night I swear she's tap dancing or something!! I have an understanding that this will get worse as time goes by so I'm trying to relish my ability to fall asleep in the midst of her performance at this point in the pregnancy.

Everything else looks great though is what the tech said. It was so fun to watch Billy's reaction- he was just glued to the monitor. So sweet! My parents went with us too and they were a hoot (as usual). I don't think the tech knew quite what to do with them, but I reassured her that most of the time I didn't either. Mom did really well figuring out what certain things were but dad just had a tough time on anything but the obvious stuff. It was neat to share that with them for many reasons but also simply because that ultrasounds though being used at the time my sister and I were born, were not done unless absolutely needed. A lot has changed since then- even the pregnancy test was a mystery to them! Billy and I showed the picture of the preg test when we found out and I think mom was shocked that I was so sure but hadn't gone to the dr yet for the blood test. Apparently that also was not available at that time!

We're 99.9% sure she's a girl too- we got some great shots that made it pretty evident! I kept telling her that this was the one day out of her whole life indecency was acceptable and encouraged!! At first I didn't think she was listening (not the last time in her life I'm sure) and had her legs crossed for about 80% of the time but every so often she would share her secret with us :-)

I did find out something pretty crucial that I can't believe we didn't know before-I'm O-! Growing up my parents always thought my sis and I were A+ like them since they both are but apparently I got a fun recessive gene from both sides!! So I have to get this fun shot before and after birth to keep my body for creating antibodies to the baby's blood. From what I understand, it wouldn't affect this pregnancy but would create issues with future pregs so...fun times!

We do have her nursery painted and the items that we do have, put in and situated. We call it our little Neapolitan room- pink on top, cream strip, and chocolate on the bottom...yummy!! Maybe I'll post a pic of it sometime soon.

Other than all that, life is fairly close to what you might call normal in the Nord household (although, really, define normal). Billy's getting into his new job and is crazy busy which in a lot of ways is a great thing. Frustrating to him though is starting back a few paces on the learning curve. We also seem to be the pet sitting place to be for the summer. It's been a revolving door of dogs and cats, but it keeps us busy and quiets that voice inside both of us that says we should get a dog soon. Next summer (crossing my fingers). You may question this, but Billy is also at the same point here- it's not just me!! He's on restriction from voicing his missing the dog that comes to hang out with us quite a bit. I told him a few days ago that if he said that he missed Stella one more time, I was going down to the humane society and bringing one home!! We'll see how the rest of this year goes with that one...

Sorry bout the long pause...

2009-04-22T20:54:00.003-04:00

I know it's been a bit since we've posted, but basically our lives have been crazy busy to say the least!! Since we posted, we have gone through with purchasing our first home, Billy switching jobs, trying to move, etc etc etc. all the while with the little part of the brain that the baby has left me with!! (yes, I feel like I have lost my head sometimes...I've heard this will never return...)

Cashew is doing well (from what I can tell). A few days ago I did start having some hip joint pain and at first I just thought I slept on it wrong or something but it got to the point where I was waddling around like I was 8 months prego but without the belly!!! Called the doc and she said that I was a bit ahead of norm but that it was just the hormones and such doing wonders on my expanding and softening body parts, that somewhere along the line a nerve got in the way of all that and possibly the baby was chillin in a position to put pressure on it or something. So I get to go to PT now!! It's all worth it, right ladies!!

I have noticed my pants are a little bit more snug, which is fun because I was always told that you wouldn't show until you were like 5 months along!!

Billy's doing great, excited about everything going on!! I give him updates on what the baby looks like at certain points and it cracks me up everytime when he gives me that look like "whoa!!" I told him tonight what the doc said about my hip and he was pretty astounded at what women's bodies go through during pregnancy. We got to talking about how God created men and women differently to be able to handle our differing roles, both physically and otherwise. How creative and great a God we love and are loved by to have created something so beautifully complicated!! Love it!! Love HIM!!

Little One on the Way!!

2009-04-01T09:38:00.000-04:00

So last Thursday, I was sitting around on spring break and noticed I felt really nauseous. Now, for those of you just catching up with us or those who haven't heard the whole story, this is not necessarily an uncommon situation to be having symptoms like this. We've been trying for almost a year and almost every month I've had something funky going on with my body. Billy and I thought that this was nothing new but to be sure we bought yet another preg test. We both were convinced that this was just another funk so he went to work the following morning and I took the test... +...took the second (I didn't believe it)... +

We are pregnant!!

I got in my car, drove to the hospital (without calling mind you, which is absolutely not in my nature...must be the baby) and demanded a blood test. Well, they close earlier than normal so I would have to wait until Monday to get the results. But, they informed me that to them the at-home's were just as accurate and were good enough for them.

So now began the epic struggle of how to tell Billy. Do I call? naw Do I wait until he gets home? Yeah right!! So I opted for the trend of the age...good old text messaging!! I took a picture of the tests (yes, plural) and included a msg that said "someone's going to be a daddy..." and sent it away. The typical happened: he called, we cried and exclaimed, yadda yadda.

Important side story
We had some friends over Saturday night and shared with them the great news. They are about 3 1/2 months along themselves and have been calling their little one "peanut."

Fast forward to Sunday night, when we told my parents. Billy had this cute idea to use a tradition we've had in our family since I was a kid: the Wayne Newton prayer card. Yes, you heard correctly. We had picked up this playing card with wayne on it when I was in elementary school and when we began to fight over who was going to say prayer at dinner time, someone got the brilliant idea to use the card. Whoever had the card under their placemat was the person to say prayer. Billy and I had wallets made of the preg test and stuck them under the placemats before dinner that night and announced the wayne tradition. Needless to say, mom, dad and sister all cried.

Monday we get the call that my test was postive, and my numbers good so we schedule an ultrasound for the following day since we had no idea when my due date was. To explain this, my last cycle was Jan 27, and for those unsure of that significance...I was way late. I think I was going on like 60 someodd days of no cycle. Strange this was that we had taken tests as late as first week in March and they turned up negatory. Oh well!! God has His ways!!

We had the ultra sound yesterday and both that and my numbers varified we are 6 weeks along. We were able to hear the heartbeat and Billy was just in rapture of the screen. He said at one point "it's our little peanut!" I told him that we couldn't call him that because of our friends, and about 10 seconds later, he said "it's our little cashew!!" So that is how our baby has been dubbed Cashew. The grandparents and aunt of Cashew have run with it and I am now sure that this poor child will never live this nickname down...