Happy Halloween!

Well here in Ashland we had Halloween on Thursday instead of Saturday. Every year since I've been here it has never been on the 31st. I know that they won't do Wednesdays because people here do church that night. They won't pick Fridays because it is football night, and Saturday is when all the drunks are out. So I'm getting use to it, but I will always think its strange to "trick or treat" on any other day than Halloween.

Sophia was a fairy this year. We actually didn't have an outfit until that day when Janice, her babysitter, made her this. It was so cute, and she loved it!

I feel bad I didn't post this picture earlier, because my sister Jacque wanted to see them before the 31st. Oops! I've been busy!

So we let Nanna J and Papaw take Sophie for the night and had some people over. It was a lot of preparation for a few people but we had so much fun. These are the girls I use to work with. Miss seeing them everyday!

Erica and Charlie Renee and Billy

Ray(one of Ty's oldest buddies) and Rebekah

Nothing but trouble!

Joy and Crabman (My name is Earl)

We don't want bucked teeth!

I laid Sophie down in her swing, so that I could get on the computer and pay bills. She didn't make a sound so I figured she fell asleep. Sure enough when I went to go check on her she was sleeping. I guess she must have lost her passy because I found her sucking on her thumb. I thought it was the cutest thing ever, and then I remember me! I sucked on my thumb forever and had bucked teeth from it. This girl is not going to do the same! No more adorable thumb sucking!

Update

Here are some pictures of Sophie about 2 weeks ago. She is so cute! The first three are from a wedding we went to. This is also a few days before she started to smile.

We love to sleep!

Oh Sophie!

Okay.... so my sister Jacque called me and asked me to post some pics of Sophie. I took some yesterday and today, and was able to capture her smiling. She just started to smile about 2 weeks ago, and Ty and I are on cloud nine!! She makes us laugh everyday and we are so taken by how much she is changing as time passes. Sometimes we think it passes too fast. We have only had her for 10 weeks and yet it seems like just yesterday we brought her home.

Notice I tried to mess her hair up to look like her cousin Emilia, so that she doesn't feel like the only one.

Today

As I sit here posting these pictures I have so many things going through my head. Ty and I are going through a rough time, but regardless we are constantly laughing, plus we know that we could have it a million times worse. I had experienced a moment in my life when I was looking on the outside in. I watched my sister Luci and her husband Chris go through the most difficult time a parent could possibly go through. It was from them that I learned how to be selfless with my own baby girl. They have allowed me to see life in such a different perspective, and treasure each day that we have.

Hope and Grace are constantly on my mind. Every time Sophie looks into space and starts to smile, I ask her if the girls are with her playing. I am a different person because of my two little nieces Hope and Grace, as well as my own little girl Sophia. As the girls play joyfully in heaven my heart is still heavy and I miss them deeply. I know my sister misses them each and everyday as well. There isn't a day that goes by that I am humble for what I have, and grateful that Sophie has the two most wonderful God parents EVER!

Anyways, I suppose they are with me now, because I felt the need to talk about them.

Well I hope you are now happy Jacque.... I finally posted some pictures. I am having a great day today and hope to have a good cold weekend snuggling.

Sophia's Arrival

It has been such an incredible time in my life. I have never been so happy before. It seems as if I have been blessed a million times over, and yet I don't know what I have done to deserve such joy.

On August 6th I had a doctors appointment to have a simple check up. I was hoping to get good news, but instead they told me that there wasn't any change. I was disappointed, but knew I only had one week until Sophia's due date. I went grocery shopping and then went home. I laid down for a nap and fell asleep. When I woke up I just laid there trying to come alive out of a deep short sleep. Then I felt it. My water broke. I called for Ty, and amazingly enough we were both calm. But I was so confused, and wasn't for sure that it really happened. I wasn't having contractions, and it was nothing like I saw in the movies. So we went to the hospital, and sure enough that was the beginning of my labor. It was 8pm.

Everything seem to be going so fast. I knew my mom and sister were on the way to Ashland, and Ty's parents were there soon after I was admitted. Time flew by, and I felt as if I was in a dream. I kept thinking, 'Is this really happening to me?'

It wasn't until the next day, August 7th, that baby Sophie decided to grace us with her presence. At 3pm the doctors said that we were going to try to push, and of course I was fine with it, considering I couldn't feel anything below my waist. Luci, my sister, was in the room to begin with and she looked at me and said "I'm staying, is that ok with you?" Secretly I wanted her there so bad, but was too afraid to ask her. It has been a rough road for us, and yet we have been lucky to have had one another through all of this. I knew that Hope and Grace were there every minute with Sophia as she came into this world. I also knew that they were with their mother at that time, reminding her how much they love her. I needed Luci there, and I am glad she wanted to be there. At one point, I looked at Luci and she had her head down crying, and then I looked at my husband and he had his head down crying. I almost lost it! At that point I wanted to break down and cry too, but I held it together and looked up at the ceiling and focused. I knew that I couldn't look at them again until it was all over, because if I started to cry there wouldn't be a way to stop me.

At 3:12 my baby was here. Did I really just carry a baby for 9 months and give birth. Is this real? What a gift I was given by our Lord to experience such love! I now know that this was meant to be forever my calling...a mother. I was meant to be a mother, and I am head over heels for my daughter. I have fallen in love all over again with my husband as I watch him with her. I watch him love her, and want to take care of her as much as I do. I think I must give Sophie a million kisses a day. Granted I am new at being a mother, but once again I am meant to do this. Sophie is my life and each day I spend with her is another day I thank God for everything in my life. I feel so undeserving and so very grateful!!

Luci coming out to tell the grandparents that Sophie was here!

She was wonderful!

Proud Godparents of Sophia Dominique

We did it, she is finally here!

He is so amazing with her!

She looks nothing like me, all her daddy

This makes me too emotional to look at.

Nana, my mom, holding my baby...

when I can just imagin that it use

to be me she was holding.

This is what she does ALL day long.

Sophia at 35 weeks

I can't stop laughing at these pictures. I have had a smile on my face since leaving the doctor's office. I have waited so long to have another ultra sound and it finally came. Today was wonderful to see Sophie and I am amazed how big she is. The doctor told us that she is at least 6lbs right now, and my mouth dropped. I now know why I am so uncomfortable at night!!! I can't ever find a good enough position and I feel like she weighs a ton.

She looks like her daddy for sure. It is obvious that she has his chin!! I think that is what makes me laugh so much just thinking about it! Her eyes look big, and Ty says she has my nose because its wide and flat(what??). Anyways, it was so wonderful to see my baby Sophie, and these pictures are amazing to me. I am worried to see how much more weight she is going to gain!



Her foot and the umbilical cord kept getting in the way, so these are the best pictures we got.

Look at those lips!!!

Seriously, it is so Ty's chin..... so funny!

She is trying to hide behind the cord.

Is that hair I see on my baby girl?

Hope and Grace

It has been a long road traveled. It was so hard to keep up with this blog. There was nothing I could say when I knew what I was preparing for. I felt so obligated as an aunt and a sister to let my two nieces shine as they grew in their mother's womb. The moment we knew about the girls complications I was so deeply sadden and hurt. If it wasn't for the strength I saw in my sister and her husband, I myself would never had been able to be strong for them!

It was a blessed experience for me to have had the chance to share this with my sister. I was able to create this special bond with Hope and Grace, as I carried my own baby girl for the past 7-8 months. I was scared for this day ...that came on June 23, 2009. I honestly thought I wasn't going to be able to handle it. But the second I entered the hospital room I felt this peace go through me. I saw my sister on her hospital bed with her two baby girls lying on her chest. And as my own baby kicked and jumped inside me, I picked up my nieces and held them tight. I have never felt such peace in my heart before. I was looking at two of God's miracles. I wasn't angry, or upset like I thought I would have been. But instead I was happy at that moment. To hold them, kiss them, and to tell them how much I love them meant the world to me. They were angels! The smile on my sister's face was priceless as she was so proud of her two baby girls. Although I hurt for my sister, Luci, and her husband Chris, I know that the many prayers that are being said for them will carry them through. Christ is all around us, and His presence has been so clear this past week!

God had given a gift to my sister, and that was to give life. These two lives have been the cause of so many people's conversions of their own hearts. The selflessness that Luci and Chris gave to their babies, and the love they have for them and one another, have change so many lives.
Luci and Chris have been the most inspirational people I have ever met, and I am just lucky enough to have them as family.

As I prepare to have my own baby girl, Sophie, in a couple of weeks, I can't wait to share this beautiful story with her. Hope and Grace will never be forgotten, and their spirit forever lives within all of us.

An amazing day! Our little Chiquita!

I know I haven't blogged in forever, but I have a life people! I have so much going on right now I have zero time for everyday blogging! So I promise you will at least get to hear about the big stuff! So....
On Monday night I was sitting in bed watching TV when the baby started to move like crazy. I called Ty in the room and for the first time he was able to feel the baby. It was such an exciting moment for us. I feel like I have been waiting for so long to have him feel our baby's movements.
Yesterday was even more of an exciting day!!! We went to the doctors office to finally see our baby again. It was yesterday we found out that we are having a GIRL!!!! We are thrilled and I am so excited.

My Sweet baby girl! I think she is beautiful. And yes we hope that she is not holding up "the finger!!"

Fun weekend

Pic of Luci and I at 16 weeks pregnant!

Ok, so I had to put these pictures up before my sisters do because they are so much better updating their blog than I am. I had an awesome weekend! I went home to have dinner with all of my friends and I can't tell you how much I have missed that! I was able to see all of my closes friends, and especially Kelly and Danielle who are also pregnant, and due in August too! I totally forgot to take pictures of the three of us, so that was a bummer. I will so do it next time.

By the way I think I felt my baby move today......but I can't tell. It was different...it made me smile!