How Bella Gets Her Exercise

I know that Makaela has been on center stage, and mostly will continue to be, but I thought I should put something up about Bella. We still love her too :)

She has actually become Destructor Dog since Makaela was born. This is mostly because I'm in bed pretty late into the morning with Makaela, and Nathan leaves for work which doesn't leave much attention for Bella so she finds other ways to occupy herself. Don't get me wrong, she does get attention... its just not usually in the mornings.

Makaela has taken to prefering to be walked to be calmed down. I can no longer just sit on the couch and do it...I guess I was getting too spoiled. Walking is good though because its better than just sitting on the couch, and Bella gets some exercise too. Whenever we walk the circle in our kitchen, Bella is always close behind. She is a little lazy though because if we speed up our walking, she doesn't keep up. She just continues to walk at her very slow pace, but we still get a kick out of her following us every time... without fail.

Also, for some reason, i'm not sure why, Bella is afraid of our kitchen dish towels. I should take this opportunity to note what a skiddish dog bella is... she actually often seems to resemble cat-like manorisms rather than dog ones. She will rub up against our feet arching her back... she uses her paws to try and grab our feet when we play with her, much like a cat with a ball of yarn...and the likes. Today we helped bella get some exercise by taking her outside with the dreaded dish towel. All Nathan had to do was wave it in the air and she would run laps around our backyard. By the time I got the camera... she had already been running for a while and was pretty tired out. I'm having trouble getting the video to upload, but I will keep trying. For now, hopefully the story is funny enough and hopefully I will get the video up before too long. Who said you have to take your dog on a walk to get them exercise? :)

2 week check up

I'm a little late in writing this, but I can't believe we're already past Makaela's 2 week check up! The time has gone by so fast already, and I know it will only continue to go faster. It definitely makes me very aware of how quickly its going and I hope and pray that I will never take any moment of our time with her for granted!!

On Friday we had our 2 week check up and the doctor said everything is looking good. She lost about half a pound when we left the hospital, but she was back up to her birthweight plus one ounce :) She shrunk 1/2 inch from birth... not really. They think she was measured wrong at birth because it technically should be a 2 person job, but thats not usually what happens. So she was actually a little shorter at birth than 21 inches, and she measured 20 1/2 inches at her appointment. Everything else is looking good and she's falling right around the 50th percentile in her growth categories so far... although I do think she is ahead of the curve in some areas. She has practically been holding her head up since birth and her neck continues to get stronger and stronger! She will also use her legs to stand up herself if we squat her down. Its amazing! The first time I squatted her down with my arms under her shoulders, she used her legs to push herself up into a standing position and then proceeded to stand for many seconds. Maybe she will be walking by the time she's 6 months... I hope not. The sooner she becomes mobile, the more work my job takes :) But we are just loving every minute with her and are having so much fun watching her grow and change each and every day.

My parents were the most incredible blessing to me and us the first few days they were here after her birth. When we finally came home on saturday, we walked into a house that was spick'n'span. I'm usually a very clean person, but I think my house was cleaner than I've ever gotten it to be myself! My mom and dad cleaned everything from top to bottom so we could come home to a clean house which I so appreciate because they know how well I CAN'T function in a messy house. They continued to serve us in so many ways.
Saturday night was our first night at home with Makaela, and as probably expected, it was quite challenging. Not only was it challenging with the baby, but Nathan had responsibilities at church on Sunday morning, and I didn't want him to be bothered or burdened by anything crying baby related so he could hopefully get a little rest to function. My mom had offered to take Makaela whenever I needed her to, but I felt bad going to her so soon. As I think about it now, I know it was some of my own pride in feeling like I should know how to do this and I didn't want to have to rely on someone so experienced so soon. Shame on me. I don't know how to do this, and I'm learning day by day as we go along. After about 3 hours of trying to console Makaela on Saturday night, I finally went to my mom sobbing. She graciously took my crying daughter and said "sweety, this is what i'm here for. Next time I want you to come to me before you get to the point of tears." Oh sweet outpouring of grace! It had to be around 4am when I disrupted my mothers sleep, but she lovingly and graciously took Makaela so I could try and get some rest also. The next night around 11:30 my mom woke me up and told me it was about time to feed Makaela. She told me to go feed her and when I was finished to bring Makaela to her. She was so sweet and was so concerned for me that I get some rest so I would be able to hopefully function once she left. I brought Makaela to my mom around 1:30 or so and my mom did not bring her back into me until almost 7:00am. WONDER WOMAN!! that allowed me to sleep for about 5 hours which I was so thankful for!!! This was just one of the many ways my mom poured her love and care out on me and us while she was here. She also made many meals for us to have once meals from the church stopped coming. Oh my sweet sweet mom served us in ways that I cannot describe. I told her she was God's love and grace tangible in our lives as he used her to pour out his blessing on us. I love you mom!!

Can I go on a little longer? I know I spoke so highly of my dear Nathan in my last post, but you have to realize that was only during our short time at the hospital. I could go on forever about the lst 2 1/2 weeks at home!!! I have seen my husband be a servant more than I ever have before. I have seen him serve in more ways than I ever have before. From the moment we walked through our door, he has done nothing but love and serve me even more than before and he has done all of this without a single complaint. During my first days of nursing and trying to get everything figured out, he was so faithful in coming to check on us and see if I needed any help or needed anything in general. He has pitched in above and beyond with even just the normal housework, and if he comes home from work and I'm feeding Makaela, he jumps in to do whatever needs to be done to get dinner ready to go. His servant heart has just exploded over the past few weeks. It is hard for me sometimes because I am such an independent person, and I have a hard time letting people serve me, but I know he desires to love me and serve me and this humbles me and forces me to not be so prideful in trying to do it all. Who knew that his servanthood would cause me to see my own sin in my pridefulness. Christ is the ultimate example of humbly serving, and my husband has striven to follow this example. In his efforts, I have seen Christ in him, and because of this he has pointed me toward Christ. I continue to love him more everyday and I am so excited to go through the journey of parenthood with him. Even more than going through parenthood together, I am so excited to see him father and lead Makaela as I have seen him lead me. It is my prayer, and it is our desire to honor Christ with this blessing He has given us, and as I see my husbands growth in his leadership, I know that he will continue to lead us this way as He follows and serves Christ himself. My beloved Nathan, I love you so much!! Thank you for your endless servant heart attitude and for setting that example for me.

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is( Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:1-11

Dance Party with Daddy

Nathan's dad has a reputation for getting the most gigantic balloon he can find for any new grandbabies. Since Makaela was born right before valentines weekend, he got a gigantic heart balloon that sings. We attached it to her changing table and she and daddy have little dance parties. I couldn't help but get in on one of them :)

Our Little Rose

By now, I'm sure all of you who read this are well aware that we have had our little girl~Makaela Rose. And you have probably all seen pictures on facebook, but in the slight chance that you missed those, I will post some here.
Here is the Labor and Delivery story :) I was called by the hospital on Thursday morning around 8:30 to come in and be induced. We got there around 10--did all of our checking in and got nice and comfy in our room. I was started on a pitocin drip around 11:15am to get contractions going. You'd think that the fun all started here, but it didn't really. We sat around with our mothers for most of the day watching TV, chatting and having a grand old time. I was not really feeling any of the contractions. Every time the nurses came in they always asked for my "pain level" to which I would reply, "I'm supposed to have pain?" They continued to up the pitocin drip, but I still rarely felt anything. Our parents left around 7:30 or so to go have dinner, and sure enough while they were gone my water broke.... now let the games begin :) My water broke around 8:15 and I felt the very first contraction after that... no doubt in my mind it was a contraction!! I said "oh thats what these are supposed to feel like." After about an hour and a half of Nathan helping me through them, I told him I didn't know how long I would have to do this, but if it was going to be like 6 more hours, I couldn't do it without an epidural. I feel like I tried as hard as I could to go through, and Nathan continued countless times to say "just one more contraction" until I reached the end of my pain tolerance level. Had I known the amount of time that would pass before I actually got the epidural, I probably would have requested it sooner :) I had to go through a bag of fluids first to be well hydrated, and then the anesthesiologist was in a c-section. It was about an hour before they were actually there to give me the epidural.

The most joyous nurse came through our door... her name was Daisy and she was from England (or somewhere over there) and had the greatest accent. I never thought laboring could really be fun, but I will tell you she made it just that... not even kidding. She was so light-hearted, yet very blunt and always just got right to the point about what was going on. She prepped me for the epi. and said as soon as the anesthesiologist came in he would only be about 5 seconds and it would be done. I must say, I was nervous about getting it because i have heard such horror stories about people getting it, or having to get it multiple times, or it not working etc., however once she informed me that I was lucky enough to have the chief of anesthesiology I was much more calm. He came in and when she said 5 seconds, she meant it. He had that thing in my back before I even knew anything was going on and it did seem to kick in right away. I should say at this time that I was at 6cm before they gave it to me which I believe is as far as you can be before you can't get one. I am pretty sure that once you move into the 7cm or transition phase, you can no longer get an epi. Within about 5-10 minutes of getting it, I remember saying something like "I'm sure this is too soon, but I just feel a lot of pressure." They said thats normal (since you can no longer feel contractions) but said they would check me whenever they put the catheter in, which they were doing right then. Daisy checked me and sure enough, I had shot to 10cm and was ready to start pushing. They had to wait a little bit for my doctor to get there, so she said "try and hold of as much as you can" to which I replied "thats really hard!!!" So she said I could push if I needed to and let me tell you... I needed to. I started pushing and my doctor got there within about 10-15 minutes. I pushed for about 30 minutes total and we had beautiful Makaela Rose in our arms. The nurses said she came out surprisingly alert, and Daisy said she had a "hairy bum." :) Makaela was 8 pounds and 21 inches long and was born at 11:48pm on Thursday, February 11th.

All in all, I was in hard labor for about 3 1/2 hours which is great to think about for the next time because I keep hearing the labor time cuts in half with your next child :) I don't know if this means I'm built for having babies or not, but I am a pastors wife and I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to eventually be driving one of those 15 passenger vans around full of kids. I don't think we'll have quite that many, but I am so thankful for how the process all went. The Lord was so good to me and to us, and He poured out his grace and strength in exactly the right amounts of what we needed at the current time.

My beloved husband was.........I'm not really even sure what word is best, and I don't feel like Awesome even comes close. He was just so so wonderful and great! Once my water broke and I responded to the first contraction, he knew it was go time. My body was shaking uncontrollably at first and tensing up all over the place. We had just read about the importance of not tensing up and that began his job of working to help me release tension in my body anywhere he saw it (which at the moment was everywhere). He faithfully watched the monitor and would tell me when a contraction was coming, then he would faithfully watch my body, especially my hands and face, to make sure I was not tensing any of my muscles, and he always told me when I was coming down off the contraction. I don't know how many times he said "release tension here" as he lightly touched my hand or my forehead, and he was so calm. He might have been a little too calm in fact as I could hear his little fingers madly texting family/friends what was going on in between contractions :) He just poured himself into me wholeheartedly and fully devoted every ounce of his love and attention to me. I saw him (even though I had my eyes closed the whole time concentrating through contractions) take on a new form of leadership in our relationship and it seemed to come to him so natural. I know Christ had prepared him for this role and he stepped in and with the grace of God he led me through each and every contraction in the most loving and tender way. I am so thankful for my loving husband and thankful for his desire to serve and glorify Christ through this process. He did just that, and helped me to strive to do the same and in the end we were rewarded with the precious blessing of life that the Lord has given to us to care for.

More about our new parents experience to come...

Blogging Made Easier

So how many of you (maybe 4 or 5) people who read this blog were drawn in to think that I have truly come up with an easier way of blogging? I'm sorry to say, it is a bit misleading. It really is only blogging made easier for me because we finally have internet at our house!! YAY!!!! So now instead of having to always try to figure out when I can blog on Nathan's computer at the church, I have the freedom to do it at home anytime I want... for about 2-7 more days that is. Then the freedom/anytime part will change :)

Speaking of that, a brief update for those of you who care to know...I'm very close to the end here. 40 weeks tomorrow to be exact (or as "exact" as they can be). My last appointment showed I was 4 cm dilated and 75% effaced. The baby is pretty much supposed to fall out at that point, right? I guess not. Baby is still a little too high so we are waiting (ever so patiently I might add) for to engage a little more. My next appointment is on Friday--the 5th of February--yes the day AFTER my due date. I'm quite convinced I will be going to that appointment, and I'm very anxious to know what they will say. I would imagine I will still be more dilated, so that leaves me hoping they will send us to the hospital to have our little girl~ I know you aren't all on the edge of your seat as much as we are (except the grandmas who read this) but we will be excited to let everyone know the news. :)

Lastly, here are a few of the decorations pictures I promised from my shower. Again just another sign of how adorable and precious everything was, and how wonderful all the ladies are who worked so hard to put everything together for me. They can officially all be hired for all future birthday parties :)

Incase you can't read this it says--

"A Little Bit of Mom and a Little Bit of Dad makes the Sweetest Baby the World's Ever Had."

This cake was the most absolutely precious cute cake.

I didn't want to cut into it at all!!

One Final Hurrah

This past weekend, Nathan and I went on a small extravaganza down to "The Americanas" in Glendale. We went to celebrate his birthday a week early and also have one more big date before little baby fogde comes :) It had been rainy all week and Friday had finally cleared up...so we thought. No, we expected rain, but probably not as much as we got. We did drive through sleet and some snow (I guess that just goes to say how much we wanted to get out!!). We got a little dressed up and headed down for a night out on the town which included a movie, then dinner and dessert. We did start our little adventure the right way with a stop at Sister Sister Coffee House. Once that necessity was taken care of, we headed down to the Americanas (a place very similar to the Grove, but newer and not as far away). We walked briskly (I waddled as brisk as I could) to the movie theater. It was raining and we were both trying to fit under this small umbrella which was definitely intended for 1 person. We saw "The Book of Eli" and then went for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. It had been many years since either of us had been there, and we had only gone for dessert, so this time we went for dinner and dessert. We had such a great time together and despite the unsatisfactory travel conditions, the weather did eventually clear up and we got to meander around for a while after dinner. Here are a few pics from our excursion... our last hurrah before our lives are changed and BLESSED dramatically.

Sister Sister was a very intricate part of this date.

Plus it had already been a busy day, so we needed a little "pick-me-up"

or "nap in a cup" as I like to call it.

It's so sad...Nathan's drink is in the way of his cheesecake. He ordered a peanut butter something cheesecake, and I (choco-holic that I am) ordered a chocolate cheesecake with chocolate mousse... of course :)

Showered with Blessings

This past Saturday, I was blessed to have my baby shower. To be perfectly honest, I'm not really even sure where to begin posting about this because I was truly blessed beyond what words could even describe. But I will give it a shot. I feel like my shower was a little out of the ordinary in that because Nathan is on staff here at Wayside, my shower was open to all of the ladies at church. That is where the blessing part begins...dear sweet Bethany asked me about planning/hosting my shower. She knew that it would involve planning/hosting for any lady from the church who wanted to attend which made the scale of everything a little bit bigger. More room was needed, more snacks were needed, and overall more organization was needed. Good thing she is the queen of organization :) She gathered help from many willing hands and the shower was just the most precious time for me. The theme at the shower was ladybugs to go with our Nursery theme. There were ladybugs everywhere, a ladybug cake, black and white and red balloons, super cute signs, ladybug themed table decorations etc. Everything was so absolutely cute I felt like it was impossible to capture all of the moments! I cannot express how thankful I am to Bethany for spearheading everything as well as all the girls who helped out. There were a good 7 or 8 girls who were all participating in pulling this event off. If that's not enough blessing, there were about 50+ ladies who came and went throughout the time of the shower. It was a drop-in shower so ladies could come and go as they pleased. I was truly showered with many gifts all of which I know will be so helpful. I got many many many cute clothes, several items for bath time, photo albums and frames, and loads and loads of diapers. I think we have enough diapers to get us through the first few months that baby joins the world :)

I am constantly overwhelmed with the love and generosity of our church. It seems as though anytime there is anything going on (good or challenging) someone is there pouring love out on you. Such was the case again at the shower and I don't know how I can truly express how thankful I am to all of these women and their families for everything they have done for us and given us. We are so excited to welcome Baby Fogde into the world whenever she decides to come join us. And we know that she will be showered with love as she gets to meet everyone at church.

The Lord has continued to bless my pregnancy even through the increased discomfort of the last 2 months or so. Everything is still looking great and its just a matter of waiting now until she is ready do come. I'm sure there will be more updates to come as we go to the doctor every week now... and hopefully before too long there will be pictures of Baby Fogde!!

This was the first of many faces of extreme excitement and "Oh my goodness... cuteness!"

This little outfit which is for 0-3 months is dying to take the place of what we already picked out to bring baby home from the hospital in... I'm inclined to stick with what we bought for her but this one is so cute it is quickly gaining ground on the other outfit and may just win in the end.

I will post some more pictures of the decorations when I get them. My sister took lots of candids for me, and I'm going to get some more of the decorations from the party planner extraordinaire... Bethany.