Favorite Moments from the Hospital...

20 minutes after I got my epidural

(40 minutes before she was born)

when Lalla was born :)

my boys meeting their sister...

both grandmas holding her, doting over her and bringing our boys to the hospital to meet her

the patio in our room!!!

our first family of 5 pic...

taking our new baby girl home with us!

right after we arrived home from the hospital

(well if I'm really honest, I was pretty overwhelmed at this moment, but I was thankful for what this picture represented. Our changed and growing family...

Pics From the Week...

First Bath...

that sweet tongue pokes out a lot...

Wyatt and Walker had Harrison over...

Tiger ride with Harrison...

Lalla sleeping in her bed...

wish I could read both of their minds...

"I'm so curious about you..."

love the sleeping arms of a newborn...

sweet eyes (reminds me alot of Wyatt when they're open)

boys are enjoying the pool in our new place :)

Much to be thankful.

Much to pray for.

"Be joyful always. Pray continually. In all things give thanks. For this is the will of the Father."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Lalla

She arrived on her due date.

8/10/10

9:03 pm

7 lb 3 oz

18.5 in

She has 2 very proud and attentive big brothers.

2 proud and loving grandmothers

and 2 humbled and excited (and tired) parents

I went to the doctor the morning of her arrival for my appointment. I was convinced at this point that Lalla was never going to make it out of my body (:)) So silly now to even admit. But I was beginning to believe (after 2 false alarms and trips to the hospital) that I had forgotten what labor feels like.

I had my first real contraction leaving my doctor's office. They continued on the ride home but I wasn't convinced it was really time. Wes went to work and I came home. Three hours later my mom (who rushed up from one of the earlier false alarms) asked me if I wanted her to time them because they seemed to be closer together and more intense in pain. At one of our false alarm trips, Wes mentioned to me that he remembered my face changing with each contraction. That I wasn't able to just breathe through them, but that clearly I was in pain. I called him 20 minutes after mom started timing the contractions and asked him if he would come home. He came home and said "That's the face I remember!" I did what any girl in labor would do - I cried. The contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and INTENSE!

Wes and I quickly got into the car (clearly our bag had been packed). We arrived at 4:30 - they checked me at 5pm and I was dilated 5cm.

I labored without ANYTHING until 8pm when I received my epidural.

At that point I was 8cm.

40 minutes later I was fully dilated and ready to push

20 minutes later she had arrived

at 9:03 pm.

She is a doll. She reminds me a lot of my other babies (when they were babies). She looks like Walker when her eyes are closed and Wyatt when they are open. She has dark hair (slightly shorter on top than in the back).

She is doing pretty well with sleeping - at first during the packing/move, she was waking every hour and that was just difficult. But she's progressed to eating every 3 hours.

We are settled into our new place. A loving body of believers coordinated the move for us - and about 25 selfless pairs of hands and feet moved us in. Put our beds together, hung shelves, unpacked our kitchen, made our beds, etc. We were showered with love and service upon Lalla's arrival and our move. And while it is hectic, we are thankful and humbled to be in this place. Right now.

"For all things are of Him, through Him and to Him. To Him be glory forever."

Romans 11:36

Walker's Wheels

So Walker expressed interest in riding a bike before Wyatt.

He has helped himself onto several bikes including a ten-speed and Wes' mountain bike.

We knew that it would be very difficult for him when his older brother got a bike and he had nothing remotely similar. We entertained the idea of them sharing?!? And then quickly realized that was absurd. With both boys about to endure a big change in their life, we thought it would be fitting to give them both a toy that occupies time both in learning and enjoying.

Here are the details on Wyatt receiving his bike.

Well we inherited this trike from Wes' sister, Stacey. It has been at Wes' parents for a while and we thought with the addition of Wyatt's bike it was time to also bring the trike to our house.

So both boys received these gifts on the same day.

Both chose their own helmets.

And it is hilarious to watch Walker ride his trike,

in our apartment,

on the carpet,

with his helmet on,

declaring "my bi-kickle"

I must say.

The trike has a trailer in the back and Walker usually has one thing in it.

I've observed a truck, a toy snake, a tape measure, a ball, etc.

But more often than not, its his blah-blah that he's toting around.

:)

39 weeks today!

I am as tired as I look in these pictures. :)

I am sooooo ready to have this baby girl.

Been having contractions every day, some even painful.

Unlike labor with my #1 and #2.

I feel like previous "experience" is seriously working against me.

Haven't made a false alarm trip to the hospital...yet.

But oh have I've been tempted to.

Have had a great week with my boys.

Would be such a great week to welcome our little girl :)

Changes Ahead...

Hard to believe how big our boys have gotten.

It seems like we've just been through a year of changes.

Moving to cozier space

brothers sharing a room

new church

new school for Wes

new job for Wes

new pre school

new parks

new friends

new words (Walker)

new neighbors

new potty "experiences" (Wyatt)

new insights (Wes and I)

new distance from our families

new bed for Walker

And now we are awaiting a new birth.

Of a little girl named Lalla.

I have such little idea of what that will look like or mean for our family. :)

But somehow I can picture glimpses of both the sweetness and reality.

I have been folding so much pink.

And it just makes my heart glad.

I wonder what Wes will be like a girl daddy

What I will be like as a girl mommy

What our little girl will bring with her

How the Lord has uniquely shaped her with likes and dislikes already

That we have NO clue about

It is a fascinating process

I am also trying to be intentional about treasuring my time with my boys

The sweet parts of their personalities have been really obvious to me this week

And I'm thankful for that

They have each picked out a small toy to give Lalla in the hospital

And they are looking forward to bringing those to her

I have a little something for them, too from their sister.

I'm looking forward to our next season...

"And at this appointed season He brought His word to light..."

Titus 1:3

Wyatt's Wheels

Wyatt, beaming about his new bike!

(Walker, falling down in the background)

Wes and I decided that we were going to get a bike for Wyatt.

He had never had one before.

When the time came, we knew we would get one from our friend's shop back in Florence. However, because they are excellent quality bikes we knew we'd have to budget in order to make it work. They also have a great philosophy on their products where when your child outgrows his/her bike from their shop you can trade it in and it go towards the cost of the bigger one.

We went into Bicycle World the last time we were in Florence and found the one for Wyatt. We had conversations with Wyatt about this bike. Prior to this, he had not expressed interest in learning how to ride a bike. We told him we felt it was time for him to have a bike. Wes gave him a vision for using his money that he has been saving towards this bike. He got really excited about that and began to do extra chores in order to earn the extra money he needed.

Our friend, Scott called us a few weeks later and shared that a bike (the same size we had been looking at) had been traded in and he was offering it to us as a lower price. Wyatt had been doing chores beyond his normal ones in order to work towards the cost of this bike. He already had most of the money to go towards it.

So upon Wyatt earning enough to equal half of the cost of the bike, Wes phoned Scott to talk about details on how to get the bike from Florence to Charlotte. Wes also asked Scott if he could just pay over the phone for the bike and Scott's answer was shocking.

"No," Scott said. "You can't pay over the phone."

Wes was curious but Scott followed it up with telling Wes that the staff at Bicycle World and Naturally Outdoors had put the bike in a very visible place for the staff and beside it, they placed a jar that read "Wyatt's Wheels".

Over the same weeks that Wyatt had been working to save his money, their kind staff ended up paying for the bike in whole!

What a huge gift!

We loved sharing the story with Wyatt and the example of grace that they have become for us.

An unearned gift.

For no reason at all.

Just grace.

Thank you Bicycle World and Naturally Outdoors for this indescribable gift.

We are extremely thankful.

Wyatt LOVES his new bike and has thoroughly enjoyed learning how to ride it.

(He has picked it up quickly and is doing great!)

"From the fullness of His grace, we have received one blessing after another."

John 1:16

"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God."

2 Corinthians 4:15