Is Charlotte growing up?

Usually I leave the posting up to Nicole, but I thought I'd share one of my most recent encounters with the city of Charlotte.

I had a very late meeting this past Wednesday that lasted until after 9pm. Afterward we went to Carpe Diem (Elizabeth Avenue near Presbyterian Hospital) to process through some of the agenda items. As we were walking out of the restaurant a guy walked right up to Joe and started asking him for money. As we walked he kept the conversation going while Joe politely declined his requests.

The point of all this is that this is happening more and more in Charlotte. Charlotte is becoming a bit city with all of the perks (plenty of entertainment) and consequences (poverty) included.

What should be our response? These events never happen when you have 45 minutes to spare. They seem to happen when you are exhausted, late for work, when it is raining, when it is freezing cold, and you don't have any cash. I don't know about you, but I never have cash. Just 15 minutes earlier, when we were settling our bill, we remarked how none of us ever has cash.

Can't wait to hear your responses!!

DeJaVu...

(Ok first let me say I don't know how to spell the title...)

Seems like I've made this post before...probably about a year and a half ago. I did...here it is. We had to buy another one.

I did some research. I drove to Target. I put it in my basket and then I paid for it. I brought it home and put it together. The difference is we spent more money this time...it BETTER last longer that the one we bought last August! It's a Bissell Healthy Home Vacuum.

Overcome with emotion...

I've cried at least once everyday since late last week. Some friends of ours in Texas have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first child. But this delivery was not the "conventional" delivery. They've tried for many years to have children of their own and the Lord has chosen not to open their womb. It has become more clear than ever to them just why He chose this path for them. They began pursuing adoption. I don't know all the details of how this came about or exactly how long it took to find a birth mother. But the main thing is they did find a birth mother about 5 hours away from their home. Over the last few months they have been traveling to visit this birth mother and even go to doctor's appoinments with her. This young mother requested that our friends be in the delivery room with her when she had the baby. This Monday, the 18th, she was induced and our friends were right by her side. Reading all the updates has been the sweetest thing and has so touched my heart. I just cannot imagine how hard it was for this mother to make this decision...to first choose life for her unborn child and second to give this child to another family. Before I had children, I thought about birth moms giving up their children for adoption but I don't think I really ever thought about how incredibly difficult it has to be. Thank you birth moms who choose life and choose to allow your children to be adopted. What a blessing you've given their adoptive parents...my friends in Texas, especially!!

Wanna buy a house??

'Cus our's is FOR SALE!! No, really...it is!! Our Realtor is bringing the sign for the front yard this afternoon. We've wanted to move closer to the city for a long time, mainly to be closer to Jonathan's work. We found a house we like and have made a contingency offer. Even if we don't get this house, we are going to leave ours on the market and conitnue looking. Click here for the listing. And if you don't want to :-P , here are some pictures that are with our listing...

Hard to believe...

that Kate is already 1 month old!!! She had her one month check-up on Friday. After all the worries, she's in the 50th percentile for both weight and length!! YAY! She weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 21 inches long. :-) Emma has never been in anything but the 0-5th percentile! I'm not going to know what to do with an average sized child!! :-P

The last few days...

You've probably noticed I've been a little silent the last few days...which, now that I think about it, isn't all that unusual for me, so maybe you weren't wondering! LOL!

Emma went home with Grammie on Tuesday morning so Jonathan and I could do some much needed organizing and cleaning out of our house. It's needed some TLC for several years now!! This is the first time Emma has gone on a trip without us. It was bitter-sweet. While I knew she needed to go so we could get work done, I knew I would miss her terribly!! Tuesday morning while I was getting her things together and getting them packed, she said, "pack Kate things?". I told her she was going to Grammie's all by herself like a big girl and that Kate was staying here with Mommy. Then she asked if Mommy was going. So again I had to explain that she was going by herself. She wasn't sad, just a little confused. But I did think it was the cutest thing that she asked if I was going to pack Kate's things! She's already showing great concern for her little sister. I look forward to how God will grow that relationship over the years!! Emma comes home on Friday. Jonathan and I both are looking forward to seeing her!

Her daddy's daughter...

This is a picture of Jonathan when he was 4 days old.

And this is a picture of Kate at 4 days old.

What do ya think??

Just checkin' in...

Well, my mom left today. Our neighbor took her to the airport so I wouldn't have to get out so early with both girls. It would have been a challenge to get Kate fed and Emma up and around by 7:30am. We could have done it if we'd had to, but we didn't thanks to my neighbor. (Thanks Monica!!) I found myself crying as the car left. I wasn't crying because I didn't think I could do this by myself. I was crying because I really didn't want her to leave. I really enjoyed her being here. I also enjoyed my dad being here. It's hard to say goodbye when you don't know exactly the next time you will get to see them. We're hoping for spring break, but it could be this summer. Being so far away from my family is hard. We love Charlotte, but it is so far from my family.

That being said, Kate, Emma and I had a really good day on our own today! I even ventured out with them both to Target. Emma was great today. I know we will probably still have some of those days, but today was good and I'm grateful!! Barbara/Grammie comes tomorrow for a few days. But it's good to know that we can do this by ourselves!!

Here are a few pictures:

Kate's first bath...

My big helper...

Emma has really been helping us with Kate... :-)

Emma and Daddy playing...

My mom and I went out to run some errands this morning. This is what Emma and Daddy did while Kate slept...

Emma's first haircut...

Well, I caved. A lot of people (mainly family members) have been urging me for months to get Emma's hair cut, at least a trim. I've been very reluctant to do it for a variety of reasons, but the main one is that I want her hair to grow to be all one length. But this week I basically got tired of the naggings and just did it. :-) It took less than 10 minutes and Emma was SO GOOD! She sat perfectly still and let the woman cut her hair. I don't think you can see a measurable difference, but it is cleaned up and a little shorter. The woman who cut it did say a trim would help it grow...I'm not sure I'm convinced...we'll see. Here are a few pictures...

Some pictures...

Here are some pictures I took today. Enjoy!

Poopin', peein' and eatin' like a champ...

Kate had her last weight check this afternoon. She was up to 6lbs 10oz!!! Praise the Lord!! That was an ounce and a half weight gain from Tuesday!!!!! What exactly does this mean??? It means we can get back to some kind of normalcy around here (well, at least as normal as it can be with a newborn in the house :-) ). YAY! Way to go Kate!!!!!!

Another Kate Update...

Kate's weight check this afternoon went really well. She had gained 1/2 an ounce. The doctor we saw today said that was what they expected newborns to gain in a day. YAY!! I was very encouraged. However, we are still feeding her every two hours until the next weight check, which is Thursday. The good news is that I don't have to supplement every feeding. I can use my own judgement based on how well or how poorly she nurses. I also get to go to every three hours at night. So thank you for your prayers!!

Emma also had a much better day today. She tried to pull Kate out of my arms a couple of times because she wanted to hold her. She also kept bringing me diapers so I could change Kate. :-) This morning Kate was in her crib and I was downstairs. My dad was upstairs and Emma went to go find him. When he came out of the room he was in, he found Emma at Kate's crib putting diapers by her head. :-) She's been a great little helper today!

My heart has been encouraged in so many ways today. Again, thank you for your prayers!! God is indeed faithful and more than capable of sustaining us!

Ok...don't hate me...

I tried on my pre-pregnancy jeans this morning and they fit!!!! I don't look like a model in them, but hey, WHO CARES?!?!? They are NOT maternity jeans! I also weighed this morning and I'm only 2 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight! Before I get hate comments, let me just say that big girls are allowed to gain less weight in pregnancy!! (I only gained 13 pounds.) AND I also worked out 3-4 times a week my WHOLE pregnancy (even through the morning/all day sickness). My last workout was the Friday (1/11/08) before Kate was born. :-P

Kate update...

Kate went to the doctor yesterday and had lost another 3 ounces. I was VERY discouraged. The doctor has had us feeding her every 2 hours. Mom and Dad took 2 of the feedings last night so I was able to get at least a little sleep. They were able to give her an expressed breast milk bottle. Kate did really well last night. She hasn't eaten as well today, but she is eating...which is somewhat of an improvement from the last few days. We go back to the doctor this afternoon for another weight check. If she hasn't gained any weight, then I'm pretty sure the doctor said we would think about some testing. So please pray with us that she has gained at least an ounce!!

Some friends brought us dinner last night and prayed with us. Thank you for that!! I'm not sure you will ever know how much that means to us right now! We know people are praying, but it really meant a lot for you to actually physically pray with us last night.

Introducing...

KATE ELISABETH KELLY


Born: January 15, 2008, 5:52 am


Weight: 7lbs 9 oz


Length: 19 1/2 inches






Short birth story: On Monday night I made Taco Soup for dinner. Before going to bed I regretted even thinking about spicy much less eating it! I had horrible heartburn! I took my Tums and went to bed. As I was laying in bed, I could have kicked myself for not bringing the Tums upstairs with me. I knew I would wake up in the middle of the night to find the heartburn had returned. I was right. At 1:15, I woke up to go to the bathroom and couldn't go back to sleep because of the heartburn. I begrudgingly went downstairs to get Tums and then back up to go back to bed. By this time I was wide awake and could only think about the things that still needed to be done to prepare for this baby. I got out of bed again and went downstairs to watch TV and get on the computer. By this time it was 2:15am. I waited for the computer to boot up and scrolled through the channels to see if anything was on TV besides infomercials. All the sudden I realize my water is about to break. I ran to the kitchen so the carpet wouldn't get wet. :-) I went up and woke up Jonathan, called the doctor and then our neighbor who was coming to stay with Emma. We made it to the hospital by 3:40am and were scheduled for our c-section at 5:30. Kate Elisabeth made her debt at 5:52am!!

She is doing well. She lost 14 ounces in the hospital, which is 10% of her body weight. C-section babies tend to lose weight, but the pediatrician is a little concerned she's not getting enough to eat. So we are breasfeeding and supplementing with expressed breast milk with a syringe until Monday when Kate gets weighed again. Feeding her is a timely event, but it's helpful when there are several helping. I've been VERY encouraged today with the progress she has made. She is SO SLEEPY that it can be impossible at times to wake her up enough to breastfeed and I end up just supplementing her with expressed milk. Emma did this too, so I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Emma is adjusting. She loves her sister, but is having a hard time sharing her mommy. Again, I'm thankful for all the help we've had and still have. Some cute things Emma has done: 1) in the hospital she shared her "lovey" with Kate (this is HUGE), 2) One day when she came to visit in the hospital, she didn't even look at me. She came in, looked around and said, "sister? sister?" She was looking for Kate 3) she has tried to share her ice, cookies and M&Ms with Kate and 4) She has put her finger or fingers on EVERY part of her face and told us what feature it is (nose?, eyes?, head? etc).

Jonathan's mom (Barbara/Grammie) got in the car shortly after we called her with the news we were on our way to the hospital. He arrived a little before 8am and tok over for the neighbor. She was here until today helping mostly with Emma and the house. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!! Pete (Grampie) got here Thursday and has been invaluable in keeping in Emma occupied!! They both left today and my parents arrived this afternoon. My dad will be here until the 30th and mom until the 6th of February. Barbara will come after she leaves for as long as I feel I need her. With a repeat c-section, my recovery is a little longer than I had hoped and I will need help with Emma, so again I'm so very thankful for everyon'e willingness to be here and help us out.

Anyway...here are a few more pictures:

Preparing me for late night feedings...

So I've more or less been awake since 2am and it's currently 4:26am as I start this post. I suppose somehow my body is trying to prepare itself again for those late night feedings. :-P

But I won't bore you with that. Instead, I'll tell you about the dream I had sometime tonight while I was actually sleeping. Of course, be forewarned that it probably won't make nearly as much sense to you or be as funny!

Jonathan and I were hungry and decided to go to McDonald's. They had this new special that you could get. It was a small hamburger and if you were pregnant, it included your new baby right in between the meat and the cheese...no delivery in the hospital necessary! Convenient, huh? You sacrificed the size of the baby, but apparently it grew pretty fast. As anxious as we were to have this baby, we figured this was a great deal! (I have no idea what the cost was.) I patiently waited until we got home to open up the burger and "deliver" the baby (remove the cheese). The baby was so tiny that you could barely even see it; much care had to be taken to ensure not to hurt it. We also had to cut the cord and remove this sac of something from around it's body. We were able to successfully do this and then carefully look to check the gender of our new baby. It was a girl!! We were thrilled. I took the baby outside in my palm to go swing (we don't even have a swing). As I was out there, I called my mom to give her the news and remembered I should have started breastfeeding already. My neighbors were outside, but I went ahead and did it with no cover up. Remember, the baby is TINY. So the show to the neighbors was all breast and not a lot of baby! And the baby's mouth was so tiny that I'm not sure how it was even possible to eat (and her mouth looked like a lizard's)!! She did though. I go back inside and she's the size of a normal baby. Emma is there and she is happy as can be with this new little baby in her house. She isn't, however, happy that the new baby is wearing her old clothes. (How she remembered? I don't know, it's a dream, remember??). I think this is when I woke up to go to the bathroom, which started this whole insomnia mess!!

Note to self: NO MORE McDONALD'S!!!

Nursery...

The nursery has been finished for a few days now. I re-painted the bottom part of the wall and am MUCH happier with it! I think it makes the bedding pop. I also rearranged the furniture to give it a little different feel. What do you think?

From the door...

From the chainging table...

From the changing table to the other corner...

From the opposite corner...

The crib...

We are ready for the baby!! Some of us (me) are more ready than others! The other night as we were praying before bed, Jonathan prayed that God would grow and protect this child a few more weeks in my womb. After he finished, I told him not to pray a few more weeks!! :-) He said the baby needed to stay in for that much longer...I said, "God knows how much longer it needs to stay." I'm praying that it's a few days to a week!! ;-)

Christmas...

We had a wonderful Christmas here at home. I am too far along in the pregnancy to travel too far from my doctors. I have to say it was really nice to not have to travel!! Jonathan's parents and brother came here and were gracious enough to sleep on air matresses! With preparing for the new baby, we no longer have a guest room or bed! :-) It was a little tight, but we managed and truly had a wonderful time. Barbara was SO MUCH help! She brought most of the food for Christmas day with her already prepared. All we had to do on Christmas morning was cook the turkey, put one dish together and heat up the rest. It was great! That's the way to go! Have it all done ahead of time!! This Christmas was much more fun with Emma! She loved opening her gifts and everyone else's!! :) Here are some pictures:










Grampie and Emma...





Grammie and Emma reading...


Emma opening a gift on Christmas Eve...


Daddy and Emma giving high 5's with all her new "gear" on...




Emma in her new Thomas tent... (SHE LOVES THIS GIFT!!!)



Emma's new rocking chairs and cradle under the tree Christmas Eve...



Jonathan putting together the gift Uncle Reg, Aunt Tera, Trent and Abby sent Emma...


Emma playing with this gift... (SHE LOVES THIS GIFT, TOO!)




Everyone oepning gifts on Christmas morning...



Me with my new AWESOME pots and pans Steve gave me...



Emma playing with her AquaDoodle...

A family portrait...

Emma in her rocking chairs...

And last but not least, a preggo belly shot of me using one of my new pots...