Early Smiles

I remember being so excited when I captured a smile on camera for the first time with Shepherd.

Well, today I managed that feat with Lydia.

So, what is the consensus?  Do they look alike or not?

Ruffles, fat rolls, and such

We are currently enjoying a visit from BJ's sister, Alison, and her husband, Breandan, so I don't want to spend too much time writing a lengthy post.  Instead, here are a few quick announcements to catch you up on my life this week.

-Lydia has recently acquired fat rolls on her legs.  They rock my world.

-Shepherd's face, as I have stated multiple times on this blog, is fantastic.  This week, it continued being fantastic.  

-Lydia had an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist this week.  It went well, and we left feeling reassured.  Basically, we've got a good chance that this problem is going to fix itself, and if it doesn't, we've got a pretty doable game plan.

-Today was Lydia's debut at church.  I put her in a dress with so much ruffle-age it was hard to get her into her car seat.  If that many ruffles on a 5 week-old doesn't qualify as a success, I just don't what does.  

Back from Menard

BJ's job is always busy, but it is about to get crazy busy in September as our church initiates a new worship minister and begins a vision finding process.  About a week ago, it occurred to us that if BJ didn't take some time off is August, it just wasn't going to happen this work year, so we headed down to Menard.  It was a wonderful week of relaxing, watching Iron Chef on DVR, passing Lydia around, and playing with Shepherd in Mom and Dad's huge yard.  Here are a few pictures from the week.

Of course, every child has to get a bath in their grandparents' sink.  Lydia suffered through bathtime with minimal screaming and crying, and she finished the bath by looking beautiful in a pink towel.

However, Lydia spent the vast majority of last week on Pap's chest.  She is having a rude awakening today.  When it is just me and Shepherd in the house, she can't be held every moment of the day.

Shepherd spent the week outside with Mamm.  They mowed...

...and went on wagon rides.

He really likes a good wagon ride.

 
All and all, it was a wonderful week.  Thanks Mamm and Pap for a great time!

Those Promised Pictures

After taking a couple of weeks off to figure out this whole mother-of-two thing, I'm ready to get back blogging.  Of course, I know that what everyone really wants is less of me talking and more pictures.  So in that spirit, here are 15 of my favorite pictures (in no particular order) from the past two weeks and a brief description of why they made the list.

-because even though I know hospital pictures are sort of gross, is there any better moment than the first time you hold your child? 

-because the only close second as far as great moments go is the first time you see your husband with your child.

-because when I first showed BJ this picture, he said, "She is the size of the 'd' in her name."

-because my dad was an invalid due to a recent surgery the first week of Lydia's life, so he was "forced" to sit around holding her all week while my mother chased Shepherd around.

-because when I look at this picture, my heart just about bursts.

-because I got my multi-tasking skills from my mom.

-because of that heart-bursting thing I mentioned earlier.
 

 -because she is named after them.

 -because Shepherd is a sweet boy who likes to share.

 

-because his face is so great, even when grape juice is dripping from his chin.  Now that I'm thinking about it, especially when grape juice is dripping from his chin.

 -because is just looks right having two kids on BJ during the after-work play time.

-because sometimes Shepherd shares his biggest and best toys.

-because we're the four of us now.

-because pictures are supposed to be chaotic when Shepherd is in them.

-because, oh my, those blue eyes.

On a more serious note, Lydia was diagnosed this week as having a hole in her heart.  The doctor assures me that I should not lose sleep over this because it is a common problem that can be treated and because she is obviously thriving.  But of course, mothers are better at losing sleep than they are at not worrying.  We have an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist in two weeks.  Please keep us in your prayers.

Let Me Tell You About Lydia Carol Gensic

1. She was born July 21, 2012 at 4:15 p.m.  She weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces, and she measured 19 1/2 inches.  Here is what all those numbers mean: We got cuteness in a compact size.  It is awesome.

2.  She almost beat the doctor to the delivery room.  If you know anything about Shepherd's birth, you know that I tend to deliver quickly.  Unfortunately, the nurses didn't understand just how quickly my body does this particular task.  So here is Lydia's delivery story: I headed to the hospital at 2:30 p.m. when my water broke.  I was only dilated 5-ish centimeters, so the nurses figured I would have several hours to go.  My head nurse left my room after about an hour and 15 minutes of checking me in and hooking me up to monitors saying that she would be back in about an hour to check on my progress, but to let her know if I felt any pressure to push before then.  About 15 minutes later, I told BJ to get out there NOW and tell them I had to push.  The head nurse came in figuring surely I wasn't really ready.  When she checked me, her eyes got huge, she ran out of the room yelling for someone to call the doctor and about four nurses ran in with all of the carts and supplies needed when the baby arrives.  The head nurse asked me not to push until the doctor got there.  I told her that I couldn't not push.  I only pushed through 4 contractions.  The doctor made it there for the last two.

3.  The past 9 months were very stressful.  I didn't post much about it here because I was having such a hard time dealing with everything, but I had Interuterine Growth Restriction, and there were many concerns about the well being of our daughter.  Now that she is here, healthy and gorgeous, I feel overwhelming gratitude.  God listened to a million frantic prayers from this very scared mother, and I will never be able to adequately express how that makes me feel right now.

4. Did I mention she is beautiful?

5. After having your first child, it is overwhelming to think that you will have the capacity to love another child that much.  Turns out you do.

6. Shepherd is full of hugs and kisses for Lydia.  He also called a paper bag from Whataburger a "baby" and then drop kicked it.  Lets just say he is conflicted right now.

7.  Lydia is almost 2 days old, and so far, she could not be more different that Shepherd as a newborn.  She does things he never did.  Like sleep.  And she doesn't constantly do the things he liked to do the most.  Like scream.  Basically, she's pretty chill.  Along those line, BJ asked me earlier how Lydia was doing.  I said that she was still in her crib for a nap and that she was "sleeping like a baby."  It suddenly occured to me that that particular term had taken on a whole new meaning for me.  I actually have a baby who sleeps like a baby.  Weird.

8.  If you were wondering, here is the story behind the name and why we chose it.  Lydia is of course a Bible name and appealed to BJ on that count.  Lydia was also the name of my great grandmother who acquired for our family the house I grew up in.  Carol is after my dad and my brother, both of whom are John Carol Pierce.  She couldn't possibly be named after two more wonderful people.   

9.  Last but not least, expect more pictures.  I can't seem to stop running for the camera.

Shepherd's New Battle Strategy

I am very fortunate in that pregnancy isn't too hard on me.  I tend to keep a pretty good energy level and not get too uncomfortable.  However, at over 38 weeks, I am not quite as capable as always.  Shepherd has noticed.  Primary, he has noticed that I am having a little more difficulty picking him up, and he has also noticed that the more unhelpful he is, the harder it is for me.  This means that if he doesn't want to be carried somewhere, he gets as low and as limp as possible.

Towards that end, Shepherd and I were heading out the house yesterday to pick BJ up for lunch.  Shepherd doesn't like how hot the van is on these hot summer days when we first get in it, so he decided he didn't want to go for the ride.  Here is how he dealt with the situation:

After he laid flatly and limply on our front porch for several minutes, I finally managed to get him into the van and to the church.  But I am scheming my revenge.  A few weeks after BGG is born, I'll be back to my old form.  It is probably going to be a rude awakening for my little boy.

The Fruits of My Nesting

As I've said many times on this blog, I have had way too much fun getting BGG's area ready for her.  For the first six months to a year, she is going to be in mine and BJ's room.  Here is her 'room' followed by some close-ups of the different parts.

While my dad was here a few weekends ago, he painted this old vanity of mine peach and several wooden baskets I had yellow.  This has made a great, cute place for storage.  The yellow receiving blanket was knit by Aunt Alison!

Of course, Mom's quilt is central to the whole decor.  (Please ignore that we have no sheets on the crib. Shepherd had to sleep in BGG's bed last weekend when we had company, and we haven't put new sheets on yet.)

 
After matting and framing the painting I did for BGG, the piece really reflects the overall color scheme of yellows, peaches, pinks, and greens.  Obviously, I didn't want to limit my color scheme too much.

 
This is just a little wall hanging I threw together using a few things I found from Hobby Lobby.  The coral pink is a paint I used on the letters for BGG's name that hangs above the changing table.  Unfortunately, I won't be showing that part of the room because her name is still a secret.

Lastly, this is the changing table Nana and Papa got for us.  I love it!  I used peach scrapbook paper to label what is in each draw.

Of course, part of what makes the changing table so great is the mounds of girly clothes within it's drawers.

 
It is a good thing the room is ready because we are less that two weeks from the due date.  In fact, last night, I packed the hospital bag.

 
So to close, here is a picture of me this morning a 38 weeks pregnant.  I don't think I can get much bigger, but I'm sure I could be proven wrong. 

One of the many reasons I actually like where I live

In all honesty, it has been a while since I've lived in a place I really enjoyed.  Kentucky's weather was depressing, Frisco was too 'big city,' and Abilene, while I loved the people, was not the greatest scenery ever.  Ardmore, however, has my kind of weather (mild winters and hot summers), it is nicely medium as far as size goes, and the scenery is beautiful.

One of the biggest perks to living in Ardmore is that it takes us about 10 minutes to drive to a wonderful state park based around Murray Lake.  This morning, we took Shepherd to one of the beach areas at the lake, and we had so much fun.  Here are a few pictures of our outing, although for the safety of our camera, I wasn't able to get too many pictures of our splashy toddler in the water.  After all, that camera is about to have the job of taking 300 pictures of my newborn daughter within the first week.

And here are a few pictures of mid-morning snack time for Shepherd.  It consisted of goldfish and more goldfish.  We'll call it his first picnic.