Month one

Annabelle!  You are one month old!!!  What a month it has been.  In some ways it has gone in slow motion, as the nights merge into days, with few hours of sleep in between, but in a very real/scary way it has flown by!  My little baby is a month old!!!  Unbelievable.

Your first few weeks were spent with mommy, in our room just getting used to each other.  We napped, ate, played, prayed and learned each others every facial line, every smell, every finger and every toe.

We have had lots of visitors, so many people are loving getting to finally meet you!  You smiled at us around week 3, it was amazing! Your eyes lit up, your face widened and there you were, our little smiley girl :)  something I will never forget.

You love laying on your back and kicking your legs, you hate your tummy time, and love playing with your daddy when he comes home!

We have gone from you sleeping a LOT to me trying to get you to at least get one good nap in the day.  You wake up every 2 hours at night, you like to eat then and most times like to stay up and play.  We are working on you wanting to sleep but for the most part me or daddy are up with you, rocking you for hours on to make sure you stay asleep!

After week two, you woke up to us, and really started using your lungs!  You like to really work out those cries for about 2 hours at night, when you are exercising your vocal chords,  I bounce with you on my exercise ball, you LOVE this, and every time I stop bouncing you wake up and tell me to KEEP BOUNCING MOM!!!  So we do, we bounce and bounce and bounce.

Your first out of town trip was right after you turned one month.  We went to visit mommy and daddy's meeting place, Baylor!  You wore your green and gold and got to see the bears, take a tour of the campus, and eat at chilis too!  You loved it!!!  We got to visit your auntie Cami, Uncle G and cousin Caris in Waco, you had so much fun playing with them!  You love your family and they love you.

Your first month we spent in constant amazement, amazed that our girl was really here, in our arms and completely and totally OURS!!  I still dont think it has sunk in yet, you amaze us every second of every day.

One of my favorite things you do is your wake up stretch....it is the cutest thing!  Whenever I pick you up and you have been sleeping, you reach both of your arms over your head clench your fists and give a BIG STRETCH!  It is so sweet watching you stretch your muscles, getting ready to wake up and see your world.

We go on walks, you love the air outside.  We watch American Idol & The Biggest Loser and lots of the Food Network.  You and I talk a lot, we talk about your family, your daddy, your home, your room, trips we are going to take you on and things we are going to do.  We both love our long talks together.

One of YOUR favorite activities is bath time, no matter how upset you are before your bath, as soon as you sit in that warm water you are relaxed and content.  You are so cute looking up at us as we wash your little self.  I hope you always love your bath, it is one of my favorite times with you!


**Pretty soon we will need a 2 month update, but  I wanted to make sure I got to your one month first, because you will be 8 weeks old soon!!!  Cant believe it!

Love you Annabelle Grace, you have made me a better me.


Here are a few of my favorite pictures of your first few days and weeks of life....moments I will never forget.

your first bath at home, grandma susie did most of it while mommy watched and learned

me & you in your room for the first time

you and all your Jones girls....your are so loved

you and mommy, love!

you sticking your tongue out at daddy :)

Our first picture in our house, right when we brought you home from the hospital!

moments

Our moments....

These are what I live for.  The last 6 weeks with my girl have forever changed me.  I have realized over the last weeks, that mommy hood at least on my part is sort of entered into blindly.  No amount of advice, warning, book, knowledgeable friend or relative could have prepared me for what I have experienced thus far.  I must say, for that I am thankful.  Although most days, I feel like I have no IDEA what I am doing, the fact of the matter is, that Annabelle and I are doing this, together.

Our days are divided into moments, moments I am trying inhale in and not let them escape.  Thanking God for each one, from the nights of both of us crying for no particular reason, to the sweet, sweet peaceful moments we have snuggling and sleeping.  Our moments, are just that, ours.....

I have found myself the last week or so really taking in my moments with our little one, with a huge realization that they will be gone so quickly.  I am already seeing a baby emerge our of our little newborn.  One with chubby cheeks, personality like her daddy's, one that likes to kick her legs and hates me putting bows on her head!  It has happened in an instant, as I knew it would.

All advice aside, I am embracing our sleepless nights, embracing the fact that my girls favorite place to sleep is on my chest, embracing that I have not gotten one ounce of anything done because she doesn't like me to put her down, I know all too soon these moments will morph into something so, so different.

Resisting the urging of the "experts" telling me I will spoil my baby by holding her too much, that she needs to learn to sooth her own cries, and that I need to start some sort of routine for her to strictly follow, I am embracing the moments I get to hold, sooth, and play with my girl.  At 3:00 in the morning when our little AB has decided she wanted to party for the last 2 hours, and finally submits to the sleep that is taking over her little body, those are my moments.  I lay with her, smelling her hair, holding her hand knowing that these moments could only have been brought to me by the Lord above.  The blind moments of motherhood, when I am stranded with dog, baby, and stroller in tow, I am a mile from my house, attempting a walk, when all 3 have a major breakdown, those are my learning moments.  Those are the moments my blinders of going from Tara to mommy are slightly moved, and I can see I am learning, I am learning to be a mommy.  Annabelle is being very patient with me taking on this new role, and I think is secretly getting a kick out of the fact that I am a little bit of a mess more often than not.

So for now,  my hair will remain in a bun crammed on top of my head, my make up will consist of last nights moisturizer, and I will choose to spend my moments getting to experience all my girl has to offer!

Because what is better than the moments like these....

Ice Ice Baby...part 1

(A month later....I am finally getting to blog documentation of our girls birthday, I may or may not get through this post, I am currently writing with my girl, strapped to my chest, we will see how long she thinks the Moby is a cool idea or not.)



Ice, Ice, baby, indeed.  Not as in Vanilla, but our Ice baby is sweeter than any chocolate or vanilla combined.  I may have to pick my nicknames a little more carefully next time around, because my winter baby did not disappoint.  After 3 weeks worth of our Dr. saying "any day now" and me walking around in a semi-labor state, at week 38 1/2 I finally decided, enough was enough.  I/my dr. called it quits on my 2 hour daily commute, I called my mom in for moral support and we went on full baby watch mode.  That week was one of the most vivid/surreal weeks of my life....  We knew baby Annabelle was on her way, just weren't quite sure when, so we waited, and waited and waited.  Mom and I did not waste our days away, instead we filled every ounce of the day with activity upon activity thinking it would spur on our little girl. B-dub was especially busy that week at work, so having grandma Susie in town was just what the Dr. ordered for this very anxious mommy!

The week before our little winter baby's birthday, was a week for the record books.  Late January and 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, perfect spring/summer weather day after day.  Every morning I had a little pep talk with my girl, letting her know that the forecast said it was a beautiful day for a birthday, but little did I know there were other plans in store.  During our week off, mom and I went to the spa, went shopping, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cooked, and walked miles and miles all in hopes something would bring on the contractions.  Careful what you wish for....

Then the troops arrived, Auntie Camille, cousin Caris, Grandpa JJ, and Auntie Shelby all came down on Saturday, Jan. 29 in hopes that the newest little addition would be coming soon.  I had my Dr. appointment scheduled for that Monday the 31st and we were all convinced he would admit me in the next day or so to have this baby....

Then a reality check, that Monday the Dr. told us just what were were afraid of, it could be another week or so, and we wouldn't try and intervene for at least 5 more days...WHAT!!!  I cried, so ready to meet my baby, my comfort level had maxed weeks ago, and all  my family was in town for the big birthday.  Not to mention we were expecting the worst winter storm in Dallas in 50 years the following day,  not quite what you would call suitable for traveling visitors.  But all pleading aside, we decided Friday, Feb. 4th was the earliest we would induce and B-dub and I left, fully prepared to celebrate our girls birthday on Friday.  I pushed my family out the door, less they be stuck here for an entire week with the ice well on its way.  In a frenzy everyone left as fast as they came, gearing up for the return trip Thursday night.  Well, that evening the ice came, and came and came and came.  Covering Dallas in inches and inches of winter precipitation, and just like that our week of spring turned into a winter wonderland, and we weren't going anywhere.  For the first time in a week, I stayed in my pj's all day, didnt shower, no make-up, no blow dryer, no anything.  I sat on the couch and rested, after all I needed my strength for Friday's festivities.

During the mad dash out the door, mom decided she would stay. So it was the three (four) of us, Bobby, Me, Mom, and Annabelle  cozied up for a day indoors.  True to form, our winter girl heard her cue, at 5:00 that evening I started feeling horrible.  Not wanting to alarm anyone I stayed quiet, and rode through the ever increasing pain.  6:30 rolls around and I was not hiding my feelings very well, I broke down and told Bobby, I may be having contractions, but dont get too excited.  We waited.  Not long after, like 5 minutes, I had another, then another, then another.  Interesting.  We let mom in on what was going on, but didnt get to dramatic about it, very unlike me.....

Finally, I couldnt take it, I told Bobby to go start scraping the ice off the car, the only place I could think of was the hospital.  When we finally made the decision to go, things seemed like they went in Fast Forward.  I threw my things into my bag, slapped some makeup under my eyes, and tried to not throw up the dinner I just ate....and off we went.  B-dub was in for the drive of a lifetime.  What would normally take 15 minutes, was taking well over 30, the streets were bricks of ice and we were sliding every so carefully over the top of them trying to make it to Labor & Delivery.  Through contractions, I called the family to tell them, Annabelle may have decided to come early.  But there was just no way they were going to be able to make it in for the evening events.  Thank goodness for the i-phone.

Finally we got checked in to our delivery room, and even though no one was convinced I was in full labor, I knew were were in it for the long haul that night.  Labor came on fast and furious, and an hour after the nurse almost sent us back home, we were prepping for a delivery, and all I could think was where exactly was the Dr.  Any dr.  Just a dr. of some sort, to stop the pain, to check on my baby, anyone to help us out.  Apparently Dr's aren't in full force at midnight on coldest day of the year in history.  At 1:00 am I finally got some relief with an epidural, and some friendly faces.  True to best friend form Alise & Nick braved the ice and drove 30 minutes at midnight to be there for Annabelle's birthday.  They were such troopers, but were committed to staying until Annabelle was in our arms safe and sound.

Sparing the lengthy and somewhat dramatic details, the hours from 2:00 to 4:00 am will forever be ingrained in my mind.  Somewhere between starting to push, finally being seen by a Dr, my B-dub intervening on our behalf in front of every nurse in the hospital,  my mom being my labor coach, and the Dr. making me just mad enough, we delivered our girl.  4:22 am exactly, and exactly 22 minutes after the Dr. made his announcement that there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to deliver her without some medical intervention.  Little did he know, I was just determined enough, had a powerful prayer force on my side, and had the 2 best labor coaches around....because between 4:00 and 4:22 we had our girl in our arms.  My miracle.  Forever she will be.

Annabelle Grace, graced us with her presence weighing in at 6 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long 2-2-11.  Our girl was here. In my arms, staring up at me, I was forever changed.  I was transformed into mother.  My husband was transformed into daddy and our world was turned upside down.


** pictures and part two to come......