3 Weeks Old

I cannot believe Ansley Grace is already three weeks old. The night I went into labor seems so long ago, but it's still hard to believe that May is around the corner and she'll be a month old. I can't imagine life without her now. She loves to cuddle and that is such precious time. She just recently started staring at me and making the sweetest satisfied noises while she's eating. I just love her little voice. She's sleeping in her pack n play next to our bed and only wakes to eat. I'm definitely looking forward to her sleeping through the night.

Jeff and I took her home (to our parents' houses) this week and had a great visit. Wednesday was our three year wedding anniversary so we left her with Jeff's parents for a date at the Cheesecake Factory in Dallas. I had a wonderful time, but was so ready to get back to her.

I've posted a few photos that a friend of ours took last weekend. She did an amazing job.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day today and remembers why we celebrate this holiday. I'm pretty sad that we didn't get to go to church this morning, but it's still too early to take Ansley out yet. We will be going to Hope Group this week though and we're looking forward to seeing all of our friends. I'm definitely ready to get back out into the real world.

There's really not much going on here, which would explain why my posts are so boring. Here's what my day looks like...feeding Ansley every three hours, cleaning up the house, and considering to take a nap just in time for it to be time to feed Ansley again. Having an obligation every three hours really makes the days go by quickly. I can't believe that she'll already be two weeks old this week. On the other hand, it seems like she's always been a part of our family. Jeff is an unbelievable daddy. I new he would be good, but I didn't expect for it to come so naturally to him. He gets up at night to rock her back to sleep and changes diapers. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and baby.

More photos!!!

So, since my mom is two and a half hours away from her only grandchild, she keeps hasseling me to take pictures and post them on the blog. I haven't really been able to dress her up and take her out yet (since she's just 10 days old) to take cute pics. I'm looking forward to putting her in her dresses and bowes for those. Anyway, here are a few more photos that were taken today. Aunt Mandy brought Ansley the cutest big pink bow to add to her collection :)

A little bit more about Ansley Grace...

I'm so in love with this little girl. She's perfect and I'm not just saying that because she's mine. Our nights are going really well since she's sleeping so much. Jeff and I have been rocking her to sleep and falling asleep in the recliner with her, so we're working on getting her to the crib. We reached a milestone this morning after she ate and slept in the crib for about an hour.

Anyway, Jeff's Aunt Sister (every time I write that I'm reminded of Where the Heart Is) got Ansley Grace the cutest little hat that you add clips to. I've taken some pictures of her with it on and posted those.

Unexpected Arrival

Well, it's 5:21 AM and I've been up with Ansley since 4:00. I decided that now was the perfect time to add to the blog and let everyone know about all of our excitement over the past few days. Monday was the doctor's appointment and at that point I was 80% effaced and 3 cm dilated. The doctor went ahead and scheduled an induction for Wednesday, April 1. Being the planner that I am, I was thrilled with knowing exactly when she would come so I would be completely prepared. However, Ansley Grace had other plans.

Jeff had to work on Tuesday and I was left home alone all day. My mom was to come stay with me that night so she could go with us to the hospital the next morning. I had a great day and got a lot done...cleaned the house from top to bottom, had lunch with Katie, and dinner with my mom. No contractions, no pain. Nothing. I decided to take my shower that night instead of Wednesday morning so that I could sleep late, then Mom and I watched a movie and I snacked on Red Hots and Tums. As I was sitting in the recliner considering going to bed at 11:30 that night, my water broke. Talk about a strange sensation. My common sense and endless preparation vanished at that moment and I had no clue what to do. Mom called Jeff once. No answer. Apparently he thought that we were just up late and had something we wanted to tell him...a funny story or something like that. So he decided that if it were really important we would call him back and that we did. Mom told him that he better head this way quick.

In the meantime, I was trying to decide how to conceal the fact that my water had broken to avoid embarrassment at the hospital. Then I thought I should put on makeup and when Jeff called back and found out that's what I was doing, he thought I lost my mind and told me to get straight to the hospital. We loaded up and headed that way. I was quickly checked in and my contractions had begun by that time. All of a sudden they hit me hard and I begged for the epidural. The pain was so intense that I couldn't speak to answer the questions the nurse was asking me. Thank goodness my mom was there. Jeff finally arrived and was such an incredible help to me, holding my hand and reassuring me that I was doing a great job. I got the epidural...that was the best thing I've ever had! I could no longer feel the contractions and just a few hours later it was time to push. Ansley Grace was born at 6:13 that morning. She weighed 8 1/2 pounds and was 21 inches long. She is without a doubt the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

In all of my planning, I never could have imagined that my labor and delivery would be so perfect. It was the sweetest moment of my life and I'm so thankful to have shared it with my amazing husband and mom. Just thinking about it makes me tear up and smile to myself. We're all home now and things are going really well. She's such a good baby and is very laid back like her daddy.