Our Sweet Sassy Girl!

Today I want to write some fun things about our girl that I don't want to forget:

-When you lay her flat or put her in her swing or boppy she automatically goes into a "crunch" position. She is so ready to get up and go!

-Lately when we give her her paci (or her baby as we call it) or her bottle she automatically uses both hands to hold it. It is just the sweetest thing when she holds her baby! We love it!Won't be long before she is holding her bottle all by herself.

-She LOVES to be outside. If she is upset sometimes the only thing that will calm her is going outside. She loves going for walks in her stroller too! :-)

-KK got her a swing for her backyard and almost every time we put her in it she falls asleep. Swinging + outside = best sleep ever for Sarah Jo

-She absolutely HATES HATES HATES tummy time. LOL.

-She loves to watch anything that has movement. TV, Ceiling Fan, Mobile, etc. The girl is serious about her TV and if you block her view she lets you know about it. LOL.

-When she wakes up in the mornings she is soooo happy. She will just smile and talk until I get her up to feed her. But once you get her up you better feed her quick. Ha Ha!

-One of my favorite Sarah moments since she was born is when she stretches! She raises her arms, stiffens her legs, closes her eyes and puckers her lips. It. Is. Adorable.

-Sometimes after she sneezes she makes a noise like "what was that". It is so sweet.

-When we put her on her changing table she talks and smiles. I love it. Sometimes I think I change her diaper too much just because they are such sweet moments. When Micheal and I put her in her jammies at night is probably my favorite part of the day. All three of us together and Sarah just chats and chats!

-When we lay her in her crib and turn on her mobile she just grins and grins! The second we start winding it she knows what is coming!

-She knows what she wants and lets you know when she is not happy. LOL!!


I just love seeing her little personality shine through more and more everyday! She is the best!!

First Fever

Yesterday morning we experienced another first with our sweet girl...but this was a first that I was not looking forward to...her first fever.

It all started around 9:30 when I decided to take Sarah for a walk over to my parent's house. She is so happy and smiley in the mornings and I wanted them to see that since they were both off. Plus I wanted to see if Mom wanted to go walking with us.

We got over there and Poppy loved on her and mom and I hung out with her for a bit. When she started to get a little fussy and show signs of being tired we loaded her up for our walk.

We got back about 30 minutes later and I noticed she felt a little warm when I took her out of her stroller. I chalked it up to being out in the sun for a bit and decided I would check again when we cooled off.

About 20 minutes later Mom was holding her and told me she thought she felt warm. Ugh Oh! I went home and got the thermometer and sure enough she had a low grade fever. She also slept the whole time we were taking our walk (which is not unusual) but fell right back to sleep on Mom after waking up when we got home (that is unusual for her to take two naps back to back like that. I called nurse line to find out what to watch for. She told me to give her Tylenol every 6 hours and watch her temp to make sure it didn't get up to 100.4, if it did we needed to take her to the clinic in Lubbock that is open on the weekends. Sarah was also congested so she told us to take her in the bathroom with the shower running to help with her breathing.

She pretty much slept off and on all morning and into the afternoon. I kept taking her temperature and it was always drastically different (even when we did it back to back) so I no longer trusted my thermometer. Because of that and the fact that it was Friday I decided to go ahead and take her to see the Nurse Practitioner that is on call on Friday afternoons for Sarah's doctor.

When we got to the doctor's office you could tell the Tylenol had kicked in because she was so happy and smiley and did not fuss and even smiled and cooed while the doctor was checking her. However, when she checked her ears everything changed...she freaked. Sure enough she had an ear infection in her right ear. Poor Baby. We left with a prescription for antibiotics in hand.

We went and got a new thermometer (the old fashioned kind that goes under her arm) and headed home. She was pretty content and happy throughout the evening and slept on and off.

I was up with her for part of the night due to congestion and her becoming an expert at breaking out of her swaddle but we managed. :-) At 4am I took her temp and it was normal so that was a relief. And as far as we know she has not had any fever all day! Praise God!

So that was our first fever experience. I am glad we got that out of the way and it was very mild!

Believing for complete healing for our girl and that these ear infections do not become a regular thing for her in Jesus' Name!

Our Daily Adventures

Staying home with our baby has always been my dream and I am so excited that I get to do that everyday!

I have to admit though...the adjustment to becoming a stay at home mommy took me by surprise! Or maybe it was mostly the becoming a mommy part haha! But sometimes I get kind of lonely! I really did not expect that but maybe I should have. This has definitely gotten better the older Sarah has gotten because we can get out and do more. Please don't get me wrong... I would not trade this for the world. But just because it is something you have always wanted and dreamed of doesn't mean its going to be easy! And I guess I did not realize that lol. It seems foolish now but I'm just being honest. But now that I am somewhat finding a groove with a daily schedule for Sarah I feel like I have more time throughout the day to have some time to myself and get some things done (like blogging!). For a while I was having a hard time getting her to nap during the day but I swear the day she turned 2 months something clicked and we have this awesome schedule where she eats, plays and sleeps every three hours. So I do my best to stick with that and if we go out I try to do it during her play/sleep time so she can sleep in her car seat while I am at the store or running errands. Or just driving around to get out of the house. We also like to go visit KK and Daddy while they are at work!

So I want to document our daily schedule right now at 12 weeks. Now this changes if we have to be in Lubbock for something or if we have other plans. But on a typical weekday this is what we do:

7:30-8:00 - Wake up and playtime in her bed while I get ready to feed her
8:00 - Diaper Change and Feeding
8:30 - Playtime/"Talking with Mommy"/Swinging/Watching her mobile/Playing on Activity Mat
9:15-9:30ish - Nap Time (this is typically her longest Nap) This is when I shower/blog/Bible Study/Finances/chores
11:30 - Diaper Change/Get dressed for the day and Feeding
12:00 - Daddy comes home for lunch! We play with Daddy and Sarah usually naps/hangs out in her swing while we eat
1:00 - Play some more with Mommy
2:30 - Diaper Change and Feeding
3:00 - This is usually when we get out of the house to do something - go visit Daddy/KK - go to Sonic - Drive Around etc.
4:00 - Nap time/play time depending on if she slept in the car
5:30 - Diaper Change and Feeding
6:00 - Play time
6:30 - Nap Time
7:30 - Sometimes at this time we go for a walk or just hang out with Daddy
8:30 - Diaper Change and Feeding
9:00 - Start trying to wind down for bed/get jammies on/do our leg exercises (this helps prevent a gassy tummy during the night)/hangout with Daddy and watch tv.
10:00 - Mommy rocks Sarah to sleep. Sometimes she drinks a bottle just to top off for the night. Then nighty night she goes.

Wednesdays and Saturdays are our bath days right now. We don't do a bath every day right now because she doesn't really need it and sometimes the after bath process makes her mad. I would love to do a bath every night as a part of our bedtime routine but until she gets a little bigger and not so stressed during lotion/jammie time we will just keep it to twice a week. Also at each feeding w give her gas drops. She gets Gripe water 3-4 times a day in her bottle. She is currently being breast fed and drinking a 2 ounce bottle at each feeding. She pretty much eats every 3 hours but sometimes gets hungry around 2.5 hours. Except in the morning, sometimes her long morning nap puts her at around 4 hours before she eats again.

I know this scheduled could completely change at any minute but right now this is what works for us!

Life is pretty sweet right now! I can't believe on Friday we will have a 3 month old!

My Breastfeeding Journey

When we brought sweet Sarah home from the hospital it was tough. I was trying so hard to breastfeed and waiting on my milk to come in and it took forever! While we were in the hospital and for the first couple of days we were home she latched good and seemed to be eating. But then she started putting up a fight and it was soooo hard and stressful to get her to latch. I can barely remember the first couple of weeks with her because I was so stressed out and anxious (not to mention exhausted). It was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done.

On the Tuesday after she was born (she was about 5 days old) we went for her newborn checkup at the pediatrician. Everything looked great with her but she had lost about a pound which is more than the 10% weight loss that is normal. My Dr. wasn't concerned because my milk had not come in yet. She had me feed before we left and Sarah gained an ounce and she was very pleased with that so she told us to come back for her 2 week appointment unless we had other concerns in the mean time.

We went back home but things kept getting worse. I would just pray and pray and speak and declare that Sarah was a good latcher and a good nurser! It seems kind of funny now but I was so scared and desperate. I even prayed that if she wasn't getting enough to eat that God would still help her grow and stay healthy while we figured this out. I was concerned that she was dehydrated and she was just not happy at all. So we took her back for a weight check on Thursday. She had lost half an ounce. I was so sad. We didn't get to see our Dr. because she was not there. The nurse consulted with another Dr. and I heard him say put her on a formula supplement. A part of me was so crushed but another part was so relieved because I just wanted to feed my baby. We then went to the hospital and met with the lactation consultant. She was very helpful and confirmed what the dr said about supplementing for a while. She told me to feed Sarah on each breast for 15 minutes and then pump for 10 minutes. Then give Sarah what I pumped with enough formula to make it an ounce. I was so glad we had a plan and I just kept reminding myself that I had a healthy baby and everything would be ok. But it literally broke my heart to think of her being so hungry. Even now writing this it brings me to tears. She was depending on me and I felt like I let her down.

After we left the hospital we went to Walmart to get some bottles and some vitamins and other things to help my milk come in and boost my supply. (At this point it had come in but I had very little). While I waited in the car with Sarah I looked through my text messages and saw a text from my sister in law Miranda from a few days earlier. She had sent me a link to a youtube video and asked me to play the song for Sarah. I had not looked at the video yet so I pulled it up. And it was such a God moment. The song was called "Do Not Worry". And the first line referred to the sparrows not being worried about having enough to eat because God takes care of them. That pierced my spirit and I started to cry thankful tears. I knew God was telling me not to worry because Sarah would be fine.

I talked to Miranda and thanked her for sending me that link. I then told her what was going on and she encouraged me because Addison went through the same thing when she was born and they had to supplement and now she is a healthy 4 year old.

If it had not been for Micheal and my Mom's support over those first few weeks I seriously do not know what would have happened. I probably would have given up breastfeeding all together. But thanks to their support and laction consultants and messages from my mom friends all telling me they understood and that breastfeeding is in fact hard I am proud to say we are still breastfeeding at almost 3 months. I am still supplementing as well but I am not ashamed of that anymore. It may not be ideal but it is what works for us. When we went for Sarah's 2 month well check (at about 10 weeks) the Dr was very pleased with her weight and even asked if we thought she was overeating since we told her she spits up a lot. I told myself after that good report that I would no longer worry about Sarah's feedings. I would just feed her when she lets me know she is hungry and trust that she is growing and healthy. That was such a weight off my shoulders.

I don't know who might end up reading this post but just know that breastfeeding is wonderful and amazing and frustrating and hard all at the same time. I had prayed about my breastfeeding relationship with my babies for years before I had them (thanks Meg!) and never expected my journey to be so difficult. It still saddens me from time to time that I couldn't exclusively breastfeed Sarah and if I dwell on it I still feel inadequate in some ways...like my body didn't do what it was supposed to. But I am so grateful that I live in a place and time where we have formula for babies and my girl does not  go hungry. And we still have lots of breastfeeding bonding and snuggles every day. Supplementing helps this momma feel less stressed because I know she is getting plenty and a stress free momma makes for a happy baby girl! :-)

One we got over that hurdle in the beginning everything has clicked into place. I am staying home with Sarah (my lifelong dream) and we get to spend everyday watching her grown into this little person. She has been smiling since about a month old and has been cooing for about a month as well. It is just the most precious sound I have ever heard. She settled into a routine of waking up at 4am for a feeding at about 5 weeks and then would go back to sleep until around 7 or 8. And then at 2 months she started sleeping through the night. :-) She is a gassy little girl so we have to deal with that which sometimes makes her pretty fussy (poor thing). But with gas drops and gripe water she seems to be much more comfortable throughout the day. All in all she is a precious girl and we cannot get over how adorable and amazing she is!

Kansas

In July of last year our dearest friends Andy and Meg moved to Kansas. It was a total and complete "God thing" but it did not make saying goodbye any easier. Meghan is my closest friend. She has been with me through all of the ups and downs and milestones of growing up! She comforted me through heart breaks, cried when I told her I was engaged, stood up in my wedding and was just a constant companion in between.

So we decided to look on the bright side and instead of focusing on the fact that they weren't going to live in Sudan anymore we decided to get excited about trips to Kansas and overnight visits with them!

In October we took our first trip to see them. We rode with Ben and Shonda and her family followed us in their car. It was a great trip! I was exactly 12 weeks pregnant when we went and still very much in the throws of all day sickness lol. When I look back now I cannot believe I was brave enough to take a 10 hour car ride in Ben's new car! There was one time on the way home that it was a MIRACLE that I did not get sick in the backseat! That would have been horrible.

Besides being sick a few times while we were there it was a wonderful trip! We went to a Kansas City Chief's Football Game. (Tried to tailgate...but the whole thing pretty much backfired on us) Ha Ha. Poor Andy... he was all prepared and ready but traffic put us getting to the game minutes before kick off (even though we left super early) and after the game we fired up the grill, threw the patties on and right then a guy on a golf cart came up and said it was time to start clearing out. :-( It made for a great story even though we didn't get to eat our burgers.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory, downtown Kansas City and the Apple Cider Mill. We also got to watch Jaymes and Adly play soccer and Madilyn march with the band at their football game. But the best part was just being with great friends!

I can't wait to go again. As soon as we feel confident to travel that far with Sarah we are going!!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

On December 7, 2015 we found out that we were going to have a baby girl!

From the time I found out I was pregnant I had a very strong feeling that I was having a girl. To the point where I couldn't even picture the baby being a boy at all. It kind of freaked me out because I did not want to get to the point where I would be disappointed if we weren't having a girl. I would love to have a son but for some reason I just knew deep down inside that this baby was a girl.

A few years back when I worked at Central Plains Center I remember I was having a really hard day. My cousin had recently had her son and I was so happy/sad/jealous/excited for her. Having a baby and being a stay at home wife and mother has always always always been my dream. From the time a was a little girl. My mom said that when I was in Kindergarten we had a project where we had to cut out pictures of what we want to be when we grow up out of magazines. I cut out pictures of women holding babies because I wanted to be a mom. I sat at my desk at work that day feeling so sad because I just wanted what Kayla had so badly. I remember praying and hearing the Lord tell me that he was keeping my dream of a child safe for me until the time was right. And then I was flooded with images of the color pink. It was that moment I felt like the Lord told me I would have a daughter someday. And He was keeping her safe with Him until she could be released to me at the proper time.

What a Wonderful Father we have. :-)

So Micheal and I decided that we would find out what we were having privately and then have a gender reveal party with close friends and family the following weekend to share the news. At the sonogram I was so excited/nervous. My main priority was that the baby was healthy and had everything it needed to grow into a healthy baby. The sonographer shared that everything looked perfect! I then asked if she was able to tell what we were having. I was afraid the baby would be I a position that would keep her from seeing! She told us that she was able to tell and already knew! Micheal and I had been staring at the same screen as her but we had no clue! LOL! Those sonograms are hard to decode! Ha Ha! We told her we did not want her to tell us what we were having and to instead write it down and put it in an envelope for us so we could open it that night at dinner.

We left the appointment with some adorable pics of our baby's little face and a sealed envelope! We were so excited. After we left we went to Discount Tire to have Micheal's tires worked on. I just remember sitting there staring at the sonogram pictures and texting them to everyone I could think of. It was the sweetest little face. I could not wrap my head around the fact that I had a little person with arms and legs and eyes and a nose growing inside of me. It was so surreal. After we left we ran a few more errands and then decided we couldn't wait any longer and decided to go eat. We ended up at On the Border. Micheal was passing it and I said "I like that place...lets go there!" I was just ready to open that envelope.

We sat down and ordered and just kind of looked at each other like when do we do it. LOL. It felt like such a huge moment. I really wanted to know but I was also sad that the anticipation and wonder would soon be over! It was exciting knowing that we were about to find out if we were going to have a son or a daughter. I had also really began second guessing my "I know it's a girl feeling." LOL. I had told EVERYBODY that I knew we were having a girl and suddenly I was like OMG what if I am wrong! LOL!

We took a couple of pictures and decided to go for it. We opened the envelope and laid the sonogram picture on the table. There was a little post it on the corner that said "It's a Girl". I was over the moon!!! We had a daughter! What an amazing gift! :-) It was a wonderful moment.

We then sent a text to our family that we knew just to rub it in! Ha Ha! They would have to wait until Saturday to find out. They were not too happy with us. ;-)

When Saturday finally rolled around we did our Gender Reveal. It was so fun. Micheal and I had filled black balloons with Red Confetti and every one would pop them at the same time to reveal. Since it was Christmas time we did red for girl and green for boy. Everyone wore the color clothing of their guess. It was a great time. :-) Everyone was very excited to know that Baby Simpson would be a girl. She would be the first great granddaughter on my Mom's side of the family. The first grandbaby for my parents and the only local grandbaby on both mine and Micheal's side of the family. This poor little girl didn't stand a chance! ;-)

April could not come fast enough!

Daddy being silly because he wanted his 20 week picture taken too! :-)

20 Weeks Pregnant! Half way there!

 Baby Girl Simpson! I loved that her lips were puckered! :-)

 

The Envelope!! BOY or GIRL!?!?!?

This is the pic Micheal sent to family rubbing it in that we KNEW!! :-)

 

Coming April 2016

I left off yesterday with what I wrote the day I found out I was expecting.

Today I just want to recap on how I told Micheal and how we shared the news with our loved ones.

So, the morning I found out we were in Colorado on vacation with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend. I really wanted to think of a creative way to tell Micheal (my original plan was to buy a Texas Longhorn Onesie and give it to him), but we were going to be with family all day and we both had to go back to work the next day and I just knew there was NO WAY I could keep this news from him for that long. So I just decided to tell him when he woke up.

I laid there for what seemed like FOREVER waiting for him to get up. When he finally did I told him that I had a present for him and he needed to go put his contacts in so I could give it to him. He came back in the room and I said I made you something... and I handed him the test. He just stared at it. He later told me that he wasn't sure what two lines meant... but he was pretty sure I wouldn't show him a negative test so it must be positive. LOL. While he was staring at it I jokingly said 'Two lines means twins!' He was like WHAT!? Ha Ha! He just kind of sat there in shock and then gave me a hug. I asked him if he was happy and he said he was. We were both pretty speechless... and the worst part was we had to go through the day with the family acting like nothing was happening. It was soooo hard!

I was so happy all day that day. Just walking on the clouds! I was carrying our baby!

I wanted to wait until I went to the doctor before we told our families but my Mom's bday party was the following Sunday night and I REALLY wanted to tell her by giving her a present. And she wouldn't be suspicious that I was giving her a gift because it was her bday! I decided I wanted to tell her by giving her a charm for her bracelet.  Micheal asked what I was looking for and I said I would know it when I saw it. We went to Kohls to find one and there it was...a stork carrying a little bag!And the best part was it was 98% off... it only cost like $2 LOL! I gave it to her at her party when just our family was around. Her reaction was PRICELESS! We got it all on video and it was awesome.

We then made plans to tell Micheal's parents later that week at dinner. By then I had gone to the doctor and they did a sonogram and gave me a printout so we decided to tell them by giving them the picture.  They were so excited and Micheal's mom cried. We had to tell Kristen and Miranda over the phone because they live out of town. We wanted to facetime them but had technical difficulties so instead we texted them a picture of us holding the sonogram while we were talking to them. Everyone was so excited!

When we got home from Micheal's parents house we facetimed Andy and Meg and told them. Andy was excited and Meg cried. It was so sweet!

We decided to wait until my 8 week sonogram to tell anybody else... including grandparents.

Once we got the good report from the doctor we spread the word! It was so nice to let the cat out of the bag and not have to keep that enormous secret anymore!

Everyone was so excited and ready for April 2016 when Baby Simpson would arrive!!

 

 

 The Sonogram pic we sent to Micheal's sisters and showed his parents!

 



 Mom's reaction was priceless!

Gage's 2nd bday party. This was the weekend I first experienced the not so pleasant part of being pregnant... nausea extreme! The little band I am wearing is a sea band that is supposed to help... it didn't. LOL.

Heath and Courtney sent us this pic after we texted them the news!

We told Nanny and Pappy by putting a shirt on Gage that said "My cousin will be here April 2016"

(Kayla was pregnant with Lilah in this pic but Nanny and Pappy didn't know yet! :))