Almost 1 Week

I have finally taken the minute that I wanted to blog a little about this wonderful new experience with our little girl. The one word that keeps popping in my head is ... Unbelieveable. I just feel like I cannot look at her enough, can't kiss her enough, cannot believe that God is so good, and cannot even hardly write this without tears. She is actually laying on the bed in front of me as I type making the sweetest little sleeping noises. Even now, I find it hard to put into words what is going on in my head about this past week.

I will tell you that Rob and I have had some funny times this week also. Diaper changing has been my favorite time of the day. I felt like I had changed my share of diapers before her... at least enough to know what I am doing... but you wouldn't know it. The first diaper was night one hours after she was born. We had already had an exhausting day to say the least. So, exhausted, Rob lays her at the foot of my bed and we began. We both put the new diaper on and after we were complete, I held her up to get ready to feed and just had to laugh at how ridiculous we had done. It was barely on.. sideways.

More diapers... She loves to wait until the diaper is off and that warm wipe hits her toosh to pee. (Thanks April, Olivia loves the wipe warmer.) Which means we have changed her clothes several times along with her diaper. And then yesterday was the best. We have smartened up to the open air peeing, but could never had prepared for what was about to happened. Since we are doing pretty much everything as a team at this point, we both got to experience this. As I was preparing to put the new diaper under her booty, she decides she's not done and shoots out a little mess about a foot away.... over the table and onto the floor. Rob was about to die.. and I could not stop laughing. I know that's alot of info.. but it was priceless.

So there you go. Our first week summed up in diapers. Olivia is now our little miss poopy pants. And we love her more than either of us ever thought possible. I am posting a couple cute pictures from our first week at home. I hope that you enjoy this and thank you for loving us and our new little beauty.

SUPERNATURAL CHILDBIRTH

Supernatural Childbirth.....those are the only words that I can think of to explain the wonderful blessing God has given us. Olivia was born on August 9th 2008 at 8:26 PM. She weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces and she was 20 and a quarter inches long. What an amazing event Saturday was. Summer was absoulutely amazing during the active labor and delivery. She had Olivia naturally just like she had set out to do. Summer is working on a full recovery and I am floored daily by her strength and determination.

Olivia is doing awesome. She is so beautiful. She just sleeps, eats, goes to the bathroom, and makes the cutest sounds all day. I can hardly give Olivia up to mommy. I just want to hold her all day long. Ohh and she smells so good. I put her down and I can smell Olivia on me. It is so cool. Sleep is getting better. Summer and I are working together so that we can give each other some time to get sleep in when she lets us. I cannot wait to return home from Iraq so I can resume my daddy duties. Keep us in your prayers and love on Olivia as much as you can.

Rob,

The Bags are Packed!

So, I have one week to go. I know that some of you are interested in seeing how big my belly has grown. This picture was just taken today. I have truly been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy. Besides a SUPER active little girl, everything has been perfect.

Rob should be home some time this weekend. I spoke with him (barely) this afternoon and all I really know is that he has left Camp Bucca and is in route to Atlanta..... somewhere. The arrival time is yet to be known. We are praying for a safe smooth flight above all else. I have told Olivia she only has to wait a couple more days and then she is welcome at any time. : )

I will go to the doctor tomorrow and after the examination we will discuss an induction date, just in case she needs a little help. My doctors are all very willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that Rob gets to spend plenty of time with our new little girl.

Hopefully, my next blog will be a picture of our beautiful little girl. We love you all and are thankful for all your prayers.

Getting So Close!!!

So on Thursday, I will only have two more weeks until my delivery date. Obviously, the delivery date is only an estimate but either way we are getting very close. My doctor says everything looks great and she anticipates little Olivia to weigh between 7 and 7 1/2 pounds... which I think would be perfect.

Rob will be leaving Iraq in 10 days, to arrive home a couple of days after that time depending upon the flight schedules and weather. So pray there are no sand storms there so that he has no delays. We are both so exciting to see one another and to meet this little girl. Everything I have read tells me that Olivia should be a little less active at this point due to the lack of space, but I am not sure she got that memo. People (including the midwives) are amazed at how visibly my belly moves from side to side. It's actually pretty crazy! As I have told many of you, she definitely appears hyper like her daddy.


I also completed a series of classes on childbirth this past weekend. I actually found them pretty interesting. It wasn't like I learned much new information, but I did learn it all at a more practical point in my life. I definitely wish that Rob could have been there with me. He has been getting my cliff notes version for the past couple of days. : ) My friend Leslie was my support person for the classes. I think she is also very excited to see Rob come home, so that she can be relieved of such a nerve-wrecking experience.

I am attaching some pictures of her room, just so that you all may see her stuff. I haven't hung the wall art yet, but I will get to that this week..... or at least that is my plan. I have yet to go and pick up the rocker, just because carrying/unloading such things isn't super easy right now. So that may be something Rob and I do together when he arrives home. I also took a picture of her closet, because it is UNREAL how many clothes she has at this point. What you see in the picture are only sizes below 6 months (not including onesies). She has the entire other side of the closet filled with larger sizes!!


I know it's been a while... but that is what has been going on with us. I keep meaning to get someone to take a picture of me and my big belly, but I always forget. So maybe within the next week, I will get some belly pictures posted. I hope all of you are doing great. We love and miss everyone.

Only 7 Weeks Left

Well, I am definitely growing. I feel like every week I can really tell a difference in how big she's growing. Tomorrow I will be 33 weeks. I have had two wonderful showers and have gotten so many great gifts. Olivia has about 50-60 cute little outfits. I am pretty sure I will have to change her at least twice a day in order for her to wear everything.

She is still very active. She gets especially active when I get ready to go to bed. I don't really know if that is a good sign for our future sleep. : ) Rob and I are counting down the days until he comes home. There isn't very much longer now. He should be arriving around the first of August. So please be praying that she isn't too early or too late.

For those of you that have sent packages. Thanks so much! He has really enjoyed recieving those. The address is in a previous blog if you are interested. There is a church here in Atlanta that has kinda adopted his unit and has 30 boxes on their way. He was teasing the guys about how he was getting so much stuff since it is coming in his name, but it's really for everyone.

What's Up

Hey guys...Sorry it's been a while since I last posted a comment, but the internet has a ton of firewall protections here and it took a while to get around them. So I moved out of the tents and into a 3 person pod. They call them pods here..they are metal trailors anywhere else. They are much nicer than the tents that is for sure. It's like staying at the motel six and getting upgraded to the Ritz Carlton. I went from having 65 roommates in the tent to only have 2 roommates now. So life is good. Time is flying by it's hard to believe we have been here for almost 3 months now. It is a topic of conversation almost daily. The heat is getting worse today the thermometer showed 125 and that was as high as the thermometer would go. Dust storms are crazy here also. We have only had one bad one and a few small ones. The entire sky turns a bright orange, it is a real sight. Olivia will be here soon it is hard to believe that in 2 months Summer and I will be holding our little baby. Well I must go I thank you guys for all your thoughts and prayers. Don't forget to call and encourage Summer in these two months of her pregnancy. I love you all.

"Above all others a soldier prays for peace, for it is he that must bear the scars and wounds of war" GEN. MacArthur

Bigger Belly... Less hair

So, it looks at though I am finally growing a belly. I am looking more pregnant instead of just chubby. : ) As you can see, I also cut my hair on Friday. I had decided almost a year ago that I wanted to grow it out and donate it to the American Cancer Society. On Friday, I finally had the 8 inch requirement, so off it came. I am very relieved. My beautician joked about how typically she would never cut a pregnant woman's hair in a drastic way, but she knew my intentions pre-pregnancy. She asked me several times if I was going to freak out or anything. Kinda made me laugh.

Overall, I feel really good. Olivia is VERY active!! She definitely takes after her dad. I had my glucose test a couple of weeks ago and everything was normal from that. I have started having more regular visits. I believe that after this visit next week, I will start going every other week. I will also go on a tour of the hospital this Sunday with one of my close friends here in Atlanta. Thanks Leslie!!

Rob is good. We get to talk almost every day. We even get to see one another on the computer some and that makes this so much easier. He is getting quite a tan and has lost some weight from the heat. He seems in very good spirits and is very anxious to come home for leave in August. As am I ready to see him. Thanks for all your support.