24

Today is my 24th birthday, and it started at 3:30 am with Gwendolyn waking for a bottle. Exciting huh?? I know you're jealous, don't try to deny it! and as silly as it sounds, taking care of her has been the best part of today. This morning around 7:45 she woke to eat again and afterward, she spent her time talking, smiling and dare I say giggling with me in my room. Love this girl!
I received a bunch of texts to my phone and messages on facebook wishing me the best. I'm so grateful for all my friends and family :) They're all so amazing!

Today is exactly 6 weeks from when Gwendolyn was born, and other than a blood clot in my right leg, the doctor says I'm all healed up (even if I don't feel it yet) So that is all good news :)
Today I've been thinking about all my childhood memories, and how fast growing up happened... even though when I was little, this age seemed like forever away.

I'm the oldest of 3 girls, my parents are both the youngest in their families so my arrival was a big deal to both sides. I'm named for my maternal grandmother Joy (and my mom's middle name is Lynn) she was so excited that I was coming that she wanted to be in the room when I was born (but my grandpa made her late ha ha! If you knew him, you'd realize it's not a huge surprise LOL) I was a month away from turning 3 when my sister Andrea was born. The doctor had told my mom all along that Annie was going to be a boy. I had my heart set on a little brother and even picked out a name! Andrew. But as her due date got closer, my mom had a feeling it was a girl. They could not, however, get me to change my mind. A little brother named Andrew was what I wanted and what I was determined to get. Finally my grandma Bills reasoned with me... "Honey, how about if it's a girl, we can name her Andrea... AND you can get your ears pierced?" Who can argue with THAT arrangement??? :D

Annie and I were very close to each other and spent most of our time outside bug huntin' (sad but true) We had Barbies also, but when I left Annie home and went to my first sleepover... there was an unfortunate incident involving Andrea, jealousy, scissors, and my skipper dolls hair.
Bugs were safer.When our Dad would come back from computer conferences, he'd bring us some things. And, yes, we thought we WERE hot stuff in those LOL!

WE also took dance lessons in our neighborhood together, this was Annie's first year and I'm not sure how long I'd been doing it...

When I was 7 our little sister Kori was born and Annie and I didn't think we needed another sister. We were happy the way we were. But after she came home... and after her screaming stage was over... we came to love her. In fact she was downright funny sometimes. I'm so proud of both my sisters! Annie is so well read, she loves spending her time reading books and she's definitely read more than Kori and I combined! She's so clever and such a good listener and is ready to stand up for anyone in her family, and is a great big sister for Kori. She is so smart she could do anything she puts her mind to. (and she's the only one of us 3 who isn't terrified of needles) Annie is a tough girl and can handle anything thrown at her. Kori loves to read also, but I'm so proud of her for how hard she works at school, she's kept her grades up all without the normal coaxing from parents. She does it because that's who she is, and I think that's awesome!
She also doesn't have a problem standing up to her friends when she thinks they're doing something stupid. She's a really good friend and has such a soft heart and loves giving hugs to her family. I have the best 2 sisters :) and I love our family!

I hope I can get a couple more girls in our family someday. And I now realize thinking about birthdays, that each year we get older, our mom's must shed a tear of happiness, and thank the Lord in their prayers, for another year we've spent together. I know I do each day!

I am also very grateful for Jeff. He is so sweet to Gwendolyn and takes good care of us. Every so often when we're falling asleep, he'll whisper "I love you" in my ear as I'm drifting off. I think it's moments like that, when I can really feel his love the strongest. I love him so much and love spending every second we can together. I love his smile, and try my hardest to get him laughing, because when he does, this little twinkle comes out, and it's so sweet! We've been married 2 and a half years (getting closer to 3 years) and I love all the memories we've made together.


Having said all this. 24 feels old. Sorry. It just needed to be said.

becomming SUPERMOM?

I'm a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, a wife, and now a MOM! I have been all the other things for a LONG time, and I never realized how much work it is to be a mom until now. Don't get me wrong, it's the most rewarding position I've ever held! But every day I appreciate my mom more and more. I never realized exactly how much she did for my sisters and me.

My baby is a month old... A MONTH OLD! And I still haven't figured out the best routine to take care of her as well as take care of Jeff and keep our house decent. I often find myself rocking little Gwen to sleep, looking at all the clutter piling up in our house, and the baby tub still sitting in the kitchen sink... (and since that is in there, Jeff cannot figure out where else dishes should go. Poor guy has no idea what the dishwasher is even there for) I see my puppies toys tossed helter-skelter through the living room and hallway, as well as their food spilled out of the dish because when I fed them I had to do it one handed while holding a baby, I notice that the mail has been stacked on the dining room table (that's the most action it sees nowadays though) and no one has sorted out the junk mail and credit card offers. So as I sit there, hair looking nothing like it did when I got ready this morning and wondering how my home will ever look decent again, I listen to the coos of my sweet little Gwendolyn and the words of this poem come to mind...

I hope that my child, looking back on today
Will remember a mother who had time to play;
Because children grow up while you're not looking,
There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep

Then Gwen and I enjoy a nice long cuddle in the rocking chair. I love this little girl so much, that the other stuff doesn't matter so much anymore. I hope I can always give her this much attention!

We had her one month appt last week and she weighs 7 lbs 13.5 oz which means she is putting on weight at a great pace! She also made it to 21'' long now, so she's average on her weight, she is doing so great and I love seeing her little smile when Jeff or I kiss her on the cheek. She makes the cutest little baby sounds cooing and gooing at anything and everything. I also Love to see her face light up when she hears my voice or Jeff's and everytime she falls asleep in my arms I can't help but wish that this moment won't ever have to end.

2 week old!

I can't believe how fast time is going. It seems to fly by faster now that I'm not pregnant anymore!

Here's my Gwendolyn update.

Ever since she was only like 5 days old she started only waking twice at night! Woo hoo! Jeff and I are so lucky to have such a great baby! She is so cute while she's awake and loves to look around the room at the lights and into our faces. She also has recently started giggling while she falls asleep, it's so cute :) She loves being cuddled by Jeff and so far really enjoys when he'll lay her in our bed when she falls asleep. We have a cradle in our room that she sleeps in, but honestly she only wakes around 3am and 6:30am, soon once she's woken the 2nd time, Jeff is a softie and lets her lay by him when she goes back to sleep.
(Gwen and Daddy)

Last Sunday we took her out to our parents houses to visit. It was my sister Annie's birthday so we had dinner there after we visited at Jeff's parents.
(Annie and Gwendolyn)

Once we got her in her car seat and into the car, she started screaming louder and more upset than I've ever heard her, it was so hard! I climbed into the backseat to try to calm her down and it worked only for a minute, so Jeff got ready to turn the car around and take her back home and try visiting our families another day, but right as he was about to turn onto the street heading back to our house, she konked out. And she was pretty good the whole time she was out at our families houses. Although I think we threw her schedule off a little because she got hungry at the Judkins' and I was NOT about to breastfeed in front of my mother and father in law or my 3 brother in laws and 3 sister in laws... seriously. I can't seem to make myself comfortable with the idea of anyone but Jeff watching, and sometimes that's even weird. So we gave her a small bottle to tide her over, but she's not used to that, so she was confused at the rest of the feedings. And when we went home, she luckily slept the whole way home :D

Today we're heading out for her first doctor appointment, and I'm not looking forward to having to put her into the carseat again, but hopefully she'll do better today. I hate to hear that poor girl cry! She's such a cute sweet baby, I feel like I was SO lucky with my whole pregnancy and with this baby. I know the next pregnancy probably won't go this smoothly. But seriously, I didn't ever get very big with Gwen, and I'm already able to wear my pre-pregnancy attire which feels great! Now I'm hoping I can lose a little more with some exercise and get down to a smaller than pre pregnancy size. Who knows if I will be able to motivate myself to do this, but I want to try!

(2 Weeks Old!!)

I will get some pictures of Gwen and me to put up on my next post. Right now I'm the only one holding down the fort, and not sure that I can take a good picture of us by myself :)