Trunk or Treat

Our church has an annual Trunk or Treat for all the kids in our area.  My good friend Dawn was in charge of putting the whole thing together this year and it went great!! Over 2000 kids attended!  Lots and lots of candy was handed out! Selah Grace and I were Ladybugs.  Andrew was a "Texas Rangers Fan"...



3 weeks old

3 days old.

3 weeks old.

Time sure does fly when you are having fun!  I thought these two pictures would give you an idea of how much Selah Grace has changed and grown in just three weeks.  She is becoming more and more alert by the day and her smiles in her sleep are getting bigger and bigger :)

Ginger is still getting used to her though...



The first two weeks.

Long time, no talk!!

Currently, I am scarfing down cheerios while Ginger is terrorizing the big pink bunny in the nursery and Selah is snoring.  Yes, snoring.  I swear that kid looks like her Dad and even snores like him.  I am still not sure that I even participated in her creation ;)

These past two weeks have been CRAZY!  I have been dying to sit down at the computer and spill my guts but every time I get both of my little noise makers settled down... something happens that takes me away.  The first week it was just Andrew and I.  Last week my Mom was here with me while Andrew went back to work.  This week.. I am by myself.  And.. it is not as scary as I thought it would be!  Yesterday, I took Selah to her two week appointment, went by the bank, went grocery shopping, did a load of laundry, cooked dinner, so on and so forth.  I felt pretty accomplished by the end of day.  We had no baby meltdowns in any public places.  Hallelujah.

Our first week home was the craziest week by far.  Not any birthing class in all of the world could prepare you for your first week home with a newborn.  We thought we were doing pretty good until we got home with Selah Grace for five minutes and realized that Ginger had gone into heat for the first time while we were gone.  We tried to put her in a diaper, wrapping her in a blanket, etc.  Nothing was working.  SO, Andrew had to call the Value Vet down the street and see if we could get her fixed ASAP!  By the end of that day, we were wore out.  I was in so much pain after having Selah (did I mention that she was 8lbs 12oz!!!) that the added stress of having a puppy in heat was not helping our situation.

Then I noticed that Selah was looking a little yellow, we were having a hard time waking her up, and she was not eating very well.  Our nights were horrendous.  She had the day and the night confused for the first 5 days of her life.

I will never forget Friday night, October 15th.  Andrew and I got 30 minutes of sleep.  I laugh about it now, but that night... no one was laughing.  Selah would not latch on to eat for anything.  She was screaming and I thought that I was going to go out of my mind!  All Andrew could do was say her name over and over and over again to try and calm her.  Selah, Selah, SELAH, SELAH... Selah. We ended downstairs, on the couch, Selah in her swing... at 6:30am.  We had Selah's doctor's appointment at 8:30am and we had to bath and clothe her before we got there.  Andrew and I set the alarm for 7am.  30 minutes of sleep.

We were so frazzled getting her to the doctor that morning.  I looked horrendous.  I was still incredibly swollen, hadn't taken a shower, and had massive big black bags under my eyes.  Selah Grace looked like a doll though.  I didn't want the doctor thinking that I was a bad Mom or anything... even though I looked like some of the women on the America's Most Wanted section of the newspaper.  The doctor did comment on how tired we looked.  Her words were, "Is this your first?"  And by the tone of her voice and the smirk on her face, she was not asking us if we were first time parents... She already knew.

Here we are two weeks later and we are all still alive.  I am feeling much better, Selah is sleeping better, and Ginger does not have to wear the cone around her head anymore that she came home in from Value Vet.  The day Ginger came home from the vet was something straight out of a sick and twisted reality TV show.  She was drugged and wearing a cone around her head.  She kept forgetting that she had it on and would run into our legs trying to get our attention. Andrew was in and out of consciousness from exhaustion, I was drugged and in severe pain, and Selah was fussy as all get out.  One day we will look back and have a great story to tell.

And... I just have to comment on how hilarious Andrew and I looked giving Selah her first bath.  I see so many pictures on facebook of these new Mom's and Dad's with big ole smiles on their faces while gently bathing their newborn.  Our experience was terrifying.  With 30 minutes of sleep and no experience giving a newborn a bath (ever!) all I remember was Andrew yelling... "OH NO! I got her belly button thingy wet!" 

So incredibly funny.  I could really go on and on, but by now half of you have already stopped reading this post because there are too many words and not enough pictures up till now. I will leave you will this... if you are having a newborn soon just remember... "don't get the belly button thingy wet!"  Good luck :)

YEAH! We are home! Now what?

First bath...

G-Pa and Honey meeting Selah for the first time!

 Uncle Travis meeting Selah for the first time!

 Happy little family.

 My Mom and Dad with Selah Grace.

Chubby Cheeks.

Proud Dad.

She's a Daddy's girl.

If only she could sleep like this a night!

I love baby cheeks!

My Parents and I.

Week number 2 = still no sleep.

"You talking to me?"

The picture I took to use for Selah's birth announcements.

This is how we roll on a Friday night...

Yes, we had two cone headed babies for one week :)



8lbs 12oz... 19 inches long!

Good Morning from our hospital room... Wagner, Family of 3!!!  Yesterday, I was in labor from 8:30am to 5:38pm.  I only had to push for 30 minutes and Selah Grace made her entrance into this world.  Fat and purple... 8lbs 12oz and 19 inches long!  We are in love!! And y'all... Andrew did sooo good!  No passing out.  He cheered me on like I was superwoman.

Today, we would love to have any visitors that would like to come and see us.  Just call mine or Andrew's phone so that we can direct you to the right room.

Ok Grandparents... here are the pictures we promised!  I'll post more about Selah Grace delivery when we get home and settled.  Thanks for all your prayers yesterday!  We sure felt them :)



The next time we talk... she'll be here!

Yesterday was my last doctor's appointment before I am induced on Monday!  YEAH!  It was an incredible feeling to not have to schedule ANOTHER appointment when I left the office yesterday.

We had an ultrasound to see an approx weight for Selah Grace.  According to my due date I will be 39 weeks starting on Monday.  Yesterday, Selah was measuring 42 WEEKS!  She is, according to the ultrasound, 8lbs and 5oz.  Big Baby.  The doctor said she could be a pound more or a pound less when she is born.  Let's hope that she is the pound less. :)

I have an abundance of amniotic fluid. My doctor says that once my water is broken the pounds will come flying off.  I think she is just trying to offer up an hope she can due my miserable state of existence right now.  I was so incredibly swollen when I went to the doctor yesterday that my ankles and the heels of my feet were deep purple and bruised.  Lovely.

When I asked my doctor if Selah Grace was going to fit all she could do was say, "I hope!"

SO... Monday is the day, people!  We will all get to FINALLY see Selah Grace's sweet chubby face.  We got a little peek at her round face on the ultrasound yesterday, but couldn't get a good picture.  She's gonna be a chunk! 

Andrew and I will be arriving at the hospital at 6:30am on Monday morning.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that Andrew does not pass out while I am in labor.  It's a legit concern here folks. Also, we will let everyone know when would be a good time for visitors.  We are not sure how everything is going to play out on Monday.. aka.. there is always a possibility that I could be in labor for 12 hours or have to have a c-section... so we will let you know when visitors can come by the hospital to meet Selah. I have been asked by a lot of you when people can come, so I will just say... be on stand-by!

This has been quite the journey.  A whole lot of emotional healing and physical itching has taken place.  Thanks for praying Andrew and I along this past year and a half.  We greatly appreciate everything our friends and family have done to love and support us. 

Happy Fall Y'all!

Tonight Andrew and I joined some of our friends for an afternoon at the Walden Pumpkin Farm in Nolensville Tennessee.  I haven't been since college.  It was a blast then and it was a blast today!

After the pumpkin patch we went to eat some BBQ at Martin's in Nolensville.  SOO YUMMY!  They have REAL BBQ!

Here are some of the pictures I took.  Enjoy!

One year later...

This morning I woke up feeling very joyful.  The windows were open and I could hear the leaves falling down outside.  I could hear Andrew filling Ginger's food bowl downstairs.  I waited to hear her fast little paws across the wooden floor as an indicator that Andrew was on the move.  She has officially landed the role as "Andrew's shadow".

Trying to get out of bed is an entire topic of conversation in itself... but lets just say that I couldn't quite muster up the strength to wiggle my way sideways safely out of the bed toward my little red bible laying on the computer table.  So I grabbed my phone and started searching.  Technology is great, especially when you can't get out of bed!  I have an iPhone application that is titled "The Bible" (aka... for the everyday slacker/big pregnant woman who can't get out of bed).

This application gave me several choices in scripture... Galatians, 1 Kings, Ezekiel, and Psalms.  Off to Psalms I went.  As my phone did all the work for me, I thought about what this day, September the 30th, meant to me.  Lots of emotions filled my head and heart as I thought back over how I felt a year ago.  A year ago yesterday, Andrew and I sat in the dark ultrasound room as the sweet nurse told us that she couldn't find a heartbeat.  My heart dropped.  Trying to hold back the tears... I felt like my world was crashing down around me.

And today, waking up to the crisp clean air with a healthy full-term baby inside of me... I felt one same emotion that I did last year on this exact day.  Hope.  The God who welcomed my baby into heaven last year, now has placed Selah Grace inside my womb to glorify his kingdom.  Both of my babies have a very direct and clear purpose in this world.  To glorify God.  I have hope that the baby that I lost will bring glory to God and I have hope that Selah Grace will bring glory to God.  I have hope that God knows what he is doing. 

And there it was.... Psalm 81: 6-7
He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

This morning God reminded me that his ways are bigger than mine and that everything that happens will bring him glory.  He heard my cry of distress, he answered me, he tested me, he removed my burden, and he gave me Selah. 

What a sweet and beautiful picture of God's grace in mine and Andrew's life.  I can't wait to see how God is going to use Selah Grace to glorify himself.

Last year, my tears were full of pain and heartbreak.  And this year my tears are filled with joy and a little bit of understanding.  God can and will heal your hurt.  Will you let him?
 


Related post: "Prince of Peace"

Have mercy on me full moon!

Bad news - Yes, I am still pregnant.

Good news - My doctor is going to induce me if I have not already gone into REAL AND TRUE labor on October the 11th!  That seems like a long ways off.. even though it is only 2.5 weeks. 

I think what has made the last two months a bit challenging (besides the fact that I have no more skin left on my body from all the scratching & itching) has been the reality that 4 WEEKS ago my doctor looked at me and said, "She could come any day now!"  That is what did me in.

I'll never forget the panic attack I had on the bathroom floor a year ago in our tiny apartment when what was intended to be a joke (click here to read about it) ended up with me on the floor, hyperventilating, when I saw that little pink plus sign show up on 8 different pregnancy tests. August the 27th, 2009 is a day I will never forget.  I couldn't see how God was going to work out this whole "pregnant" thing.  September the 30th, 2009 is a day I will never forget either.  I couldn't see my life without the baby I lost that day.

And here we are, September the 23rd, 2010 and I am trying everything I can to make this baby come!  I have power walked, eaten an entire pineapple (heard that it induces labor), inhaled spicy food, etc.... the list goes on and on. I have even been relying on tonight, because it is an official - 100% - full moon.

Last night while eating dinner and looking at the HUGE 98% full moon outside, Andrew asked me why I was going so crazy about getting her here.  My answer was plain and simple.  Because, I have been waiting for OVER A YEAR for her.  To see her.  To hold her. To touch her.  To smell her.  To watch her discover what it feels like to breath and cry. 

By the time a woman starts to really feel pregnant mentally, emotionally, and physically they are usually a couple of months into the pregnancy already.  So by that time, they only have about 7 more months to go.  I have been experiencing that feeling for about 13 months!  I am ready.  My body didn't even have time to get back to normal after my miscarriage before I found out that I was pregnant again.  So, to all of you out there that are looking at me power walking around my neighborhood like a mad woman.. I am not crazy.  Just really ready to meet my baby.  Don't judge :)

So as we were wrapping up our night, I looked at Andrew and asked, "Will you squeeze me really hard and break my water?" 

All he could do was look at me, laugh, and say, "Two more weeks, just two more weeks..."

Gift Ideas!

Even though it is currently 92 degrees outside, the holidays are right around the corner!! 

My heart begins to flutter when I think about all the Christmas and Thanksgiving festivities that are quickly approaching!  SO... I thought I would share my secret for where I get all of my great gifts.

My MOM! She is super talented and has a whole lot of time on her hands.  I made a website for her (click here).  So go and check it out!

I think that any one would be crazy not to be in love with her stuff!