One month (plus some....)

I have started a "one month" post several times and just can't seem to find time to finish it...so before she turns 2 months old I'll give a quick update:
She's incredible! She was 8 lb 6 oz and 20 1/4 inches as of the last appointment. She's growing at what we think is a ridiculous rate, she's finally fitting into all of her newborn clothes and has even worn 0-3 month outfits now! I'm sure before we know it she'll have outgrown all of those...everyone talks about how time flies when it comes to your children's growth and I can already see how true it is...just yesterday she was waking us up every 3 hours at night...oh wait, no that really was just yesterday...
Seriously though, she has changed a lot even in 6 weeks and we are so looking forward to more adventures the older she gets. She is looking more like her Daddy the older she gets (much to his joy although he tries to hide it)...but she is her Mommy's girl and inherited my personality so far. She's a girl who knows what she wants and lets you know it! She LOVES the outdoors and LOVES to move. Some might say she's already a little spoiled because Mommy walks laps with her most days...Granna and Papa (Sadie's parents) started that though, and it's really not her fault, she has two high-energy parents (and high-energy grandparents) who aren't very able to sit still so she was bound to like to move.
She's more entertaining than tv and is definitely Queen of the house most days. Her latest tricks have been "talking" and smiling intentionally...without a doubt the highlight of my day when I can get either of those to happen!
I could go on and on about how much fun we're having with her, but she's so cute and pictures are more fun anyway!

One of the pictures for her announcement....thanks to Granna and Papa for taking them!

Daddy loves his girl

Family picture

First real bath (not sponge bath)...Mommy loves her girl too

Tummy time with Papa

Outdoor time with Granna (Yes...she has them both wrapped around her finger already)

Thank you all again for continued prayers, we are so very blessed. She's healthy, growing, learning, and never ceases to amaze us.

Things I'm "not gonna do"

I'm sure everyone does it, we were no exception...we had a list of things we were "not gonna" let Evie do, most people's lists probably look similar, she's not gonna eat junk food, watch tv, behave "like that kid" in public, or date until she's 40 (haha Daddy...I'm SURE she'll stick to that one)...And like all the parents before us who said that, we have already given in on some things and she's not even a month old! One of the things on my list was that she was not gonna have a pacifier, it was going to be hard to break her of that so we just weren't going to let her have one. That lasted until she was 4 days old. During our re-admission to the hospital Evie was particularly unimpressed with the bili-lights and the fact that she had to be only clothed in a diaper and other than that wide open, we also were not allowed to hold her. During that time the nurses were trying to give us ways to calm her down but our girl was not impressed by their efforts and felt the need to let the whole floor know that fact. In an effort to quiet her down so that her neighbors (other pediatric patients) could sleep the nurse's aide gave her a pacifier that had been dipped in sugar water, the first brand ("Soothie") she spit out quickly even with sugar water, the second ("Nuk") has quickly become her favorite toy. Here are a few pictures of her and her pacifier:

Under the bili lights with her goggles

Free of the bili lights but very attached to her Nuk

Hanging out with Papa (Sadie's father) before her first day at church

All ready for a workout with Aunt Alyssa the Pilates instructor via Skype!

Lastly...she was just making sure it was close in case she needed it!

Thank you all for continued prayers, as you can see she is growing at an incredible rate! As Papa has said on several occasions, she's "such a miracle" and truly she is!

Mommy Update

I signed for the first time as someone's "legal parent/guardian"....how weird! There is so much to update on after this (almost) first week of Evie with us outside of Mommy, so many things to be thankful for, so many unexpected blessings, but as all of you who have had newborns know, there just isn't enough time for many non-essentials as we all get settled in!
So this will be a shorter update but at one point I'll give more details on the last week and the labor story that further defined our fiesty little Yankee who came when she was good and ready, not when the doctors told us she would come (and pooped on Mommy as SOON as she came out, when they were placing her on my abdomen - thankfully not before she came out though!).
We have been home for 2 nights in a row now and are so incredibly thankful to not have any medical personnel checking on us. We are thankful they were available when Evie needed it...but even more thankful she doesn't need it now! As one of the nurses told us "it's been nice meeting you, but I hope to not see you again!"
Thank you all so very much for your prayers, love and support! Although Jaundice is common and even more common in strictly breastfed babies, it was still very scary to have our little one need to be admitted to the hospital. We have one more bilirubin check tomorrow to be sure levels are staying where they need to but it looks like we're in the clear with all that and will get to actually start settling in.
We will update again soon, but we wanted to be sure to thank everyone especially for the prayers, as Daddy said "please keep 'em coming!", we have felt them and are all home and healthy as a result of them. Thank you also for the many emails, phone calls, text messages, food brought by, and other ways of loving on the three of us!
We are so very blessed.

Evie and Daddy cuddling

Mommy and Evie "talking"

Evie Update

Granna is posting again because Evie has returned to the hospital with her parents. A routine follow-up check on her billirubin level revealed that despite sleeping with her billi-blanket her level had continued to climb. Evie has had a couple of very lethargic spells after crying too so it was back to the hospital for her.

Evie and her parents are being covered in prayer and we ask you to continue praying for them.

Evie is here!

Sadie and Jonathan have limited internet access so Granna is posting this one. Granna (Cyndi) left Greenville and arrived in Benton at 9:00 Sunday evening.

Sadie was admitted at about 1:00 Monday morning, after a ride that included narrowly missing 2 deer in the road. Our little feisty yankee arrived this morning at 4:50. Evonne Whitley weighed in 6 pounds 10 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Mama, Daddy and Evie are all doing well.

She is just so beautiful!!!


Love,
Granna

Baby Shower/Beach/Updates!

Another packed update.....the baby shower was wonderful!  We got lots of goodies that we are still trying to find space for.  As I was telling my Aunt...it really is amazing how much space things for a little person less than 10 lb can take up!  Thank you to friends and family near and far who have supported us in all the ways possible throughout this pregnancy, we are very blessed.

A diaper cake (slightly jumbled from the car ride home) 

given to us by one of our young church friends, Taylor, 

and the balloon baby from my sisters-in-law who put on the shower!

As you can see, the gifts are overflowing her room!

We spent another week at the beach last week thanks to Jonathan's work, the fireman's convention was going on so while he was in classes I got to lay around all week!  It was a wonderful way to celebrate finishing my final test related to nursing school, which I took on June 3rd and discovered I passed on June 5th.  We had prayed Evie would decide to wait until after that final test before arriving...thankfully she listened to her parents and I'm now officially licensed by the state of South Carolina!

We had our most recent doctor's appointment on Tuesday and it was quite possibly the best yet, no more pictures of our girl but we got the official word that if labor were to start now, it wouldn't be stopped.  The doctors feel good about where she's at so although it would still technically be considered "pre-term labor", they feel like she's ready for it!  There's no indications that she'll be arriving in the very near future, but it was still a wonderful blessing to hear that the Lord brought us to that point.
Now it's just a matter of getting everything ready for her to actually arrive!  Thankfully, since I have neglected almost everything related to the house while trying to finish nursing school things, my mother will be coming next week to help us get a few things ready and help me do some final cleaning/organizing to make life a little easier in those first few weeks.

Bags are almost packed!

They are still watching my blood pressure since it continues to be "borderline", but I'm not having any symptoms and Evie appears to be handling all of it just fine so they are not really concerned at this point.  Evie has made us laugh as we have "gotten to know her" throughout this pregnancy based on how she responds to what's going on around her/what I'm eating/who's talking/etc...at the most recent appointment the doctor was telling us what body parts were where and put a thumb and forefinger on either side of her head (which is down...YAY!) Evie started kicking like crazy as if to say "Hey! Cut that out!"  Then of course the doctor said "now there's her heel....there's her knee" pointing at my upper abdomen, I had to bite my tongue to not respond "ya I know, I can feel them...now stop!"  We are so proud of our growing fiesty little girl!
Thank you so much again for all of the prayers, please continue to pray as we get closer and closer to "meeting" Evie, pray for wisdom for the doctors as well as for the two of us as this adventure is about to change dramatically!  Please pray for a smooth, uneventful delivery and a healthy Mom/healthy baby at the end of it (obviously we want a healthy Dad as well but the physical side of labor doesn't affect him quite so much!).

Maternity Pics

Last weekend we headed "up the mountain" to spend some time with the Ross family (Jonathan's mother's family) and while there we got the very talented cousin Lindsay to take some "family pictures" for us before Evie arrives.  We were so thrilled with how they turned out!
Here is a sample of the many pictures she took, they are all on Snapfish and Shutterfly so if you would like to see the rest feel free to leave a comment or send me an email and we'll send you the link!

First shirt Daddy bought his girl

Mine is definitely bigger!

We love our girl!

As you can see I'm laughing....Evie typically will move/kick when Daddy starts talking to her and "listening" to her "requests" for things like "Evie says you should make Daddy some pancakes....."

She probably is already a "Daddy's Girl" but she is sure loved by her Mama as well!

This water felt so good on my swollen feet!

We also had our most recent appointment this week and Evie continues to grow in leaps and bounds!  There was some concern about my blood pressure being slightly high but for now they are just keeping an eye on it since it was just "borderline".  They also decided they do want one more ultrasound of her since I keep measuring several weeks ahead of where I actually am they aren't able to determine how much she's growing based on my measurements (the "normal" way), but since the typical problems with a bicornuate uterus involve under-growth, they continue to have no concerns.  We are incredibly thankful to have made it through so many weeks without any complications.  Please continue to pray for no complications and for at least a few more weeks of growth for our girl.  She is definitely losing space in her area as her movements have changed from quick jabs to long stretches but those are great signs she is getting ready to meet us!
Thanks to Lindsay for the pictures and her "assistant" Ann for help!
Thanks to all of you for continued prayers for the three of us as we get ready for changes in the near future!