Joyce Meyer Convention

Joyce, my mother-in-law, was "convention queen" of Joyce Meyer convention in 2011.  She was one of 5000+ people nominated!  With that honor came 4 free airline tickets, 2 hotel rooms, a food allowance, and transportation to and from the airport to the 2012 Women's convention in St. Louis.  She invited Melissa, Crystal and me to join her.  That meant Noah got to go too! 

While I am always up for a vacation, I was super nervous about traveling on a plane with my 4-month old, but he did great!  I'm sooo glad I bought these headphones because it was very loud when the worship band was on stage at the conference.  Darlene Czech from Hillsong led worship and was amazing.  I also enjoyed hearing Kari Jobe sing.

The main theme of the conference was Hope, and how we as Christians should always have hope.  If God can move mountains and part seas, then surely he can take care of the little problems that we face! Christine Caine, Joel Osteen and of course, Joyce Meyer, all spoke.  

Sight-seeing at the top of the Arch with Crystal.

Leaving out of the Waco airport.  One of Noah's many cat-naps.

The arch was beautiful.  Called the "Gateway to the West" and built by Thomas Jefferson.

Parent's Day Out

Katie's first day at Parents Day Out at First Baptist Hewitt for the fall.  She attended last year as well and enjoyed it.

Meg, the director, gave me the option to have Kaitlyn as the youngest in her class or the oldest, since her birthday fell right on the line.  I chose the youngest, as I plan to have her enter Kindergarten after just turning 5.

We are working through preschool workbooks for about 30 minutes per day.  She calls it "doing school" and loves it.  She knows her colors, numbers, ABC's, most shapes etc.  Today she said an 18-word sentence, so I would say that she continues to express herself well for her age!  I think her articulation is good, with a small interdental lisp, but we can work on that one eventually!

Kaitlyn has become a daddy's girl since Noah has been born.  She loves having his undivided attention in the evenings.  She is sweet, good at sharing, and a bit bossy (unlike her mother! :)

Katie loves to pray for people and is very thoughtful in her prayers. I love that about her!

Noah- first 4 months

I am so enjoying having a baby boy.  It's nice not to have to worry about keeping a bow in his hair.  Noah's cuddly and mostly laid back.  When he is mad, he sure lets you know it!  He is a bit more emotional than Kaitlyn ever was- happier with tons of smiles, and has ear-piercing cries.  He has become a good sleeper.  Here are some pictures over the past few months.

2 weeks

 2 weeks with Katie Sue

 4 1/2 months.  Always smiling!

At 4 months, he has been sleeping through the night for over a month (sleeping 10 hours at a time at 2 months), going down at 7 pm, dream-feeding at 10 and then making it til 7 AM.  He takes 3 naps a day ranging from 1-2 hours each.  He is happy for most of the day, especially when he is with mommy!  Noah is starting to enjoy playing with objects, pulling hair, and sitting up.  Despite multiple practice sessions, he still has no desire to roll over.

Noah Ethan

I can't believe it has been 8 months since I have posted.  Lots has happened.  I guess I was lazy during my pregnancy.  Overall, it was an easy pregnancy after the dreaded first trimester and the nausea subsided. I ate too much and gained too much weight, figuring that might be my last opportunity to eat whatever I wanted.

I'll tell Noah's birth story and then maybe catch up some on the last 8 months.  I woke up the morning of May 10 thinking that it would probably be the day of his birth.  Micah said he had the same feeling.  I had contractions all day from 8 am, intensifying after 5:00.  They ranged from 5 to 15 minutes apart throughout the day, but were 5 minutes apart at 5:00 and were 3 minutes apart by the time we headed to the hospital.  They were installing a sprinkler system in the back yard and I was even able to listen to his 10 minute explanation of how they worked at 4:30.  At 5:15 I called Micah and luckily, he was already on his way home.  The Baylor regents were in town, so he really needed to be at work that particular Thursday as the ITS representative.  Joyce came over to watch Kaitlyn for us and we were off to the hospital around 6:00, arriving at 6:30.  I had difficulty getting ahold of one of the midwives through Waco Center for Women's Health, but luckily, I had the cell phone for the midwife who delivered Kaitlyn, and she said she would text the other lady and for me to head to the hospital.

I checked in, was sent to triage, and they determined that I had progressed enough to stay (100% effaced, dilated to 5 cm).  I headed to the delivery room.  The contractions were really painful at this point (probably 8/10).  I kept going back and forth about whether to get an epidural and had decided to play it by ear.  At this point, I was ready for my epidural!  They got some fluids in me and were about to call the anesthesiologist.  I had the midwife check my status one more time, and I was dilated to 9 cm (too late for an epidural!)  I then had the urge to push, turned over on my side, and my water broke (to say the least- I'll spare you the gory details!)  I just thought the pain was bad prior to the water breaking.  I'm not a screamer, but at this point, I was screaming!  The nurse kept telling me to breathe through the contractions.  I made Micah hold my hand during each contraction.  I pushed with all my might, hoping it would help the pain to end.  And on the fourth contraction after my water broke, my little Noah came into the world.  He was crying!  A beautiful sound after Kaitlyn came out blue and silent for the first 30 seconds.

I can't believe the little guy was 9 lbs, 3 oz and 21 inches long.  All the nurses kept saying, "he's a big baby."  The midwives guessed he was in the 7 lb range.  He has very nice brown hair with blonde highlights.  The cord was loosely wrapped around his neck once, but did not seem to affect him. I think he looks like his daddy and most people would agree.

  

Noah has arrived!