Life Lately

Can anyone believe this week is July 4th, and our Hadley Kate is 5 months old??!! Where is the time going?? We have been enjoying our endless summer here on Kwaj. Our friends Jon and Angela, had some family come to visit so we have been doing lots of get-togethers, and really just using it as an excuse to have a bunch of parties. :) The other week, the Mitchell's got everyone together down at Emon for a shrimp boil. This seems to be a staple for anyone hosting visitors on Kwaj. See this post for when we hosted a shrimp boil for the Sekol's visit to Kwaj. As usual, the food did not disappoint. The Mitchell's handled the main course, and everyone else brought a pupu (appetizer) or dessert to share. We brought a peanut butter and banana bundt cake that I got from Mix and Match Mama's recipe, and it was a big hit! Let me tell ya, if you're ever in need of a fail proof dessert to bring to a party...look no further. Those bundts are the easiest things to make, and everyone loves them! Here are some candid's from the shrimp boil:

The Kirks, Nick, and Garrett

Amy and Becky

Some of the Mitchell clan, Jenny, Don, and Chamee

Chowing down :)

It was delicious!!

Hubs and I enjoying a baby free night out! We stayed out until 9! Rowdiness!

There were LOTS of babies born last year, and we are all finally back on island! We all thought it would be fun to get a baby play date group together, so some of us have been taking turns hosting a play date at our house. I had some of the ladies and their babies over last week, and it was baby mania at casa McClellan!

Maya, Aksel, and Reagan

Sarah and Maya (Maya is shooting Hadley some serious side eye for stealing her bouncy seat spot) lol

Bethany and her daughter Reagan

Leigh and her daughter Maggie (how delicious is Miss Maggie?!)

The man of the group :)

Miss Hadley playing around in her exersaucer for the first time

Saturday night we went to a wine and cheese fundraiser that was held at the Vet's Hall. Any kind of cheese that is swankier than Velveeta is hard to come by on Kwaj, so we jumped at the chance for some fancy cheeses (read: Sharp Cheddar) lol. Some of our friends are in the band Radar Love, and they provided music for the fundraiser. Do I have any pictures? No. Why? Because we were too busy having a great time. If you serve a bunch of adults wine, and the only food they consume is cheese and crackers, then you know things are gonna get rowdy! Let's just say there was some major dancing that happened, and there may have been just the 5 of us ladies doing the majority of it. Good times were had.

Tuesday night, our group of girls got together for a little book club on the beach. We all feel that we should probably rename book club...food club, because truthfully only half of us read the book, but ALL OF US enjoyed the food that was served. We read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The general consensus was that we all liked it, but we thought it was a less thrilling version of Gone Girl. I give it a solid B grade. I do, however, give the overall evening an A+....special shout out to Becky for bringing her pull apart pizza bread. We could've just gotten together to eat that, and it would've been a quality night!

Angela, her sister in law Kathy, and Jane

Me, Cher, Amy, Becky, and Sarah enjoying the bookclub sunset

Chamee and Megan

Becky and Sarah

half of our food spread...we have to keep everything closed up until after sunset when the flies go to bed

the other half...yum!

As usual...the sunset did not disappoint

The next couple of photos probably require some explanation. Leanne sent Angela a birthday card with the following picture:

Pretty sure the caption had something to do with true friends and tequila ;)

Obviously, since Leanne is back in the states and we miss her terribly, we had to do our best to recreate this tequila fueled, living art display that was sent to us! So without further a due...here is our photo interpretation:

Setting up...we take our craft very seriously. Obviously. Amy was our artistic coordinator

Attempt number 1

Nailed it

I am 100% confident that all the other beachgoers thought we were certifiably insane. I say that their version of crazy is our version of a good time!  So Leanne...no need to thank us...you are WELCOME!

a more relaxed one of the group

Lastly, Johnathon rented us a golf cart the other weekend, so we decided to take Hadley for a little joyride around the island. We stopped at Coral Sands to take some fun impromptu family photos!

That's our life lately, and we are loving it!

Weekend Recap

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We had a fun, relaxing weekend here on Kwaj. We have fallen into a really nice routine....our weekend's are simple, but we love them! Our weekend's are Sunday and Monday so that our weekends happen at the same time as the weekend days in the states. This means Johnathon's work week ends Saturday evening. Johnathon got home from work, and since I had nothing planned for dinner, he got to grill us some chicken teriyaki! (I'm a good wife like that). After dinner, we took Hadley and Sadie on a bike ride, then it was home for bath time.

Someone loves her some bath time in the kitchen sink!

...she also loves some post bath belly kisses from daddy!

Johnathon is such a great dad, and always helps me out in the evenings with bath and bedtime. I know Hadley LOVES seeing her daddy in the evenings, and it's so much fun to watch how she lights up when he gets home! After bath and bedtime Johnathon and I assumed our regular Saturday evening positions on the couch to continue our binge watching of Sons of Anarchy! Seriously, if you haven't watched it, you should probably start now, then thank me later.

Saturday, we had a lazy day around the house doing chores and playing with Hadley. I ran to the store, and when I got back Johnathon and Hadley were exploring outside....

Discovering the wonder that is...grass

Just a girl, her dad, and her trusty steed

Saturday night our group of friends went to go see a band called Igor & Red Elvises at the Vet's Hall. Our friend Cher sent her husband and kids off on a camping trip that night and generously gave up her evening home alone to watch Hadley while we had a date night! THANKS CHER! Kwaj has a Quality of Life council who's job entails paying comedians and musicians to travel to Kwaj and provide us with some much needed off island entertainment. None of us had ever heard of the band (apparently they are wildly popular in the Eastern Block), but when they are your only proper off island entertainment in months, you don't ask, you just go.

For those of you wondering what genre Igor & Red Elvises fall into, I'm here to tell you....you can't really categorize this band into one genre, and that's only because their genre doesn't exist yet. They describe themselves as "Siberian Surf Rock." Wondering what Siberian Surf Rock look like? To the best of my descriptive abilities it looks like a large Russian man wearing satin, leopard pajamas with open toe sandals, accompanied by 4 women who look like they walked out of a 60's themed European Disco tech. It was magical. In case this isn't painting you a good enough picture, here is a band photo from their Instagram page:

Their music is exactly how they described it...Russian, meets 60's surf music. If your confused, your not alone, but I have to tell you...they were one of the most entertaining bands I've ever seen! Like, conga lines were forming, extended drum solos were had while the rest of the band chugged drinks backstage, it was nuts. And their music really isn't the kind of stuff you can "cool dance" to, it's more like the kind of music where you jump around a lot  and just leave all hopes of looking cool at the door. It should also be noted that the lead singer (Igor) had an incredibly strong Russian accent, and after each song would yell into the mic "The Red Elvises...YOUR FAVORITE BAAAAANNNNNDDDD!" as well as "Everyone has drink!" Aside from the fact that Igor was not a fan of using articles in his speech, I was a big fan of his. We stayed for both sets and danced up a storm! It was such a fun night!

another band pic from their IG...the Red Elvises enjoying Emon Beach

Johnathon and I unintentionally rocking color coordinating outfits

Me and the usual suspects ;)

Since my normal bedtime these days is a rowdy 10pm, I was exhausted by the time we got home, so our Monday was pretty low key as well. We did end the weekend with a nice dip in the ocean. Hadley wasn't a huge fan at first, but now that she has a couple of ocean experiences under her belt, she is much more comfortable in the water. I can't wait for her to be 6 months so we can take her to the Merbabies swim class.

Hadley is always a little hesitant about the water at first

I love those baby blues :)

She finally let me dip her in

family shot

I think she feels safer when Johnathon holds her cause she started enjoying it much more :)

Lifeguard Sadie on duty

Great end to the weekend

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Our friends have some family coming in town this weekend so we are gearing up for another fun weekend of Shrimp boils, a Wine and Cheese fundraiser, Book Club, and Father's Day fun!

Hadley Kate's Nursery

I've been meaning to post pictures of Hadley's nursery for awhile now, but...it's me, and procrastination is my middle name! To be fair, those levels of Candy Crush won't beat themselves. But I digress...ANYWAY, when we were trying to decide how we wanted to do Hadley's nursery we were feeling kind of limited because:

A) we live in Army housing, and it's really difficult to make cinder block walls and linoleum floors look cozy and baby friendly.
B) We wanted to be surprised with the gender so we couldn't really commit to pink or blue. And if you've ever spent time on pinterest searching "gender neutral" nurseries you could easily substitute that search topic for "beige and boring," and you would come up with the same results. Sigh.
C) We live on a tiny tropical island with nary a Homegoods or Hobby Lobby in sight, so everything had to be purchased online and mailed or barged out here which can get expensive.
D) See above mentioned cinder blocks.

I was brainstorming ideas with my friend Sarah who was also pregnant, and I mentioned how I love the book Where the Wild Things Are. Sarah immediately sent me this link for an awesome guide to a Where the Wild Things Are nursery:

 The second I saw this nursery I was sold. Even though it was designed for a little boy, I thought it was soft and neutral enough that it could work for either a little girl or boy. So I set off to do my best replication given the cinder block and remote location constraints. Conveniently, a lot of the "Wild Things" themed items were bought from Etsy so I was able to order them and ship them out here easily. A lot of the other items we picked up on our vacation back to the states. The chair, bookshelf and dresser we blindly ordered online. We had to hope for the best that the wood colors matched because it takes six weeks to barge them out here, and to be honest I'm not sure we could have returned them even if we wanted to. Thankfully everything seemed to match fairly well and we are so happy with Hadley Kate's Wild Things nursery! Take a look:

Welcome to Hadley's nursery

We tried to stick with a yellow, gray, blue, and white color scheme

This is looking back at the door. The bookshelf is from Walmart and the end table we got from the furniture warehouse on island! Score!

The white owl is a nightlight from HomeGoods and the stuffed animals were gifts from our Michigan baby shower

The Where the Wild Things Are blocks are from an Etsy store called Storybook Blocks

This was a cute sign I found at Francesca's...I bought it just in case we had a girl and needed some pink ;)

The chair is from Target and the Wild Things pictures are from an Etsy store called Olive and Burch

Prints from Olive and Burch

The birch tree decals are from Naturewall, the paint is Fashionable Gray by Sherman Williams

Sidenote on the tree decals. In case you find yourself trying to stick decals to a cinder block wall (not likely) just know that it is a real pain. First, it's not a huge party trying to hang the trees straight in the first place, but about 24 hours after we hung them, the trees immediately started to peel. I don't think this is as much a reflection of the quality of the decals, as it is a reflection of how poor a choice cinder blocks are for wall material in a home. Our solution...rubber cement for the win!

Hadley's crib (hand me down), mobile, and rug (from Target)

The crib sheets are from Carousel Designs

 The sheets were an ordeal to order, because I originally tried to purchase custom sheets through a store on Etsy. Needless to say...that didn't happen. It's a super long story that was traumatic enough the first time, and truthfully, I'm still not sure I'm over it. Basically, all you need to know is after not hearing from the Etsy store for months, I found out that the fabric I wanted had sold out a long time ago and the seller chose not to tell me that until the bedding set was already way late. Like...I ordered them in October and Hadley WAS ALREADY BORN by the time I heard from the store. It ended with me hormonally yelling on the phone to Etsy customer service trying to get a refund which they were very unwilling to give. In the end I did get the refund and bought these sheets from Carousel Designs instead, and they are amazing. The quality is great, they arrived within 2 weeks of my order, and Hadley likes to obsessively strokes the paisley pattern while she's laying in bed...not napping :)

I couldn't find the exact changing table, but its Target as well

Hadley's view...its more of a "garden view" than an "ocean view," but she still loves looking out the window while she gets her diaper changed

Hadley was my photographer assistant today ;)

Thanks for checking out Hadley's nursery! Hope you like it as much as we do!

Things I Kind of Know About Parenting: 3 Month Edition

Y'all...raising a baby is hard work. I feel like I knew this on an intellectual level. I mean, I'm a pediatric nurse, I've seen families deal with sick kids, I've worked at day cares, summer camps, babysat, we owned a dog...all that surely prepared me for being a mom, right? Ha!

I blame mom blogs. Shortly after we got married, I was bitten by the baby bug...bad. I began finding all of these great "mom blogs" out there, and started to read about all the things I had to look forward to. Sure there were the occasional posts about messy playrooms, tummy bugs, or potty training difficulties, but more often than not, I was reading about how these women were making homemade, organic playdough, sewing their own baby clothes, and whipping up a delicious crock pot recipes like it was nothing. I began to have visions of me wandering the aisles of Hobby Lobby with an adorably clean and well behaved toddler while sipping on my pumpkin spiced latte, and picking out perfect Christmas decorations. MOTHERHOOD WAS GONNA ROCK! I was ready to be THAT mom.

I was nine months pregnant, and we were very ready to meet Hadley Kate. I had read several baby books ( Baby Wise, Baby Whisperer, etc) and I was so sure that I had all the tools to make my baby a great sleeper and a perfect newborn. We brought Hadley home, and I was ready to hit the ground running with establishing a routine, and overall winning at this new mommy thing.

It took approximately 24 hours for me to have my first meltdown. The nurses at the hospital had bragged about what a well behaved baby Hadley had been in the nursery. So why was she waking up ever hour and half at night?? Didn't she know she was supposed to be on a 3 hour schedule? Didn't she know she was supposed to stay awake after eating THEN sleep? Then at about 3 weeks she started struggling through her feedings, I had to go dairy free, and Hadley got put on Prilosec for reflux. Oh, and she also screamed her head off from 5-7pm everyday for no apparent reason. I was exhausted and frustrated and we were only 1 month into this whole parenting gig. This was so not what my mom blogs and baby books had described to me.

In Hadley's defense it wasn't all bad. After the first couple of nights home from the hospital she did fall into a 3 hour schedule, and by about 1 month she was sleeping in 4-5 hours stretches at night, and by about 2 months she would sleep from 10:30pm-8am with only 1 feed at 5am. Now here we are at 14 weeks, and Hadley sleeps 12 hours at night, and takes 3 solid naps a day. She still gets tired in the evenings but we have found ways to calm her (bouncy seat, long walks outside), and her reflux is getting under control. My mom kept telling me that something happens around the 3 month mark, and that even the toughest babies get a lot more fun. Thankfully, we have found this to be true!

In the beginning, all these older women who's children are full grown would come up and ask me "Isn't having a baby just so much fun??" I would muster up my best smile and just say "Mmmm hmmm sure is!" But I was thinking to myself, " How could they think this is fun? I'm just trying to get through the day!" I hate that that's how I felt the first couple of weeks. I loved my daughter more than I have loved anything else in my entire life, but I wouldn't say our first couple of weeks were "fun." They were tiring, exhausting, and sometimes very frustrating. But then one day she started smiling at us. Then she started cooing and making adorable little noises. Then she discovered her hands. Then there was the day that I could go grocery shopping with her, and she wouldn't melt down midway through the cereal aisle. And now every time Johnathon or I go and get her out of the crib, she gives us the biggest smile, and I can tell she's happy to see us. Johnathon and I read a quote that says "parenting is a conglomeration of all the things I've never learned." We have certainly found this to be true. I know we are only 3 months in, and that we still have many sleepless nights ahead of us. There will be teething, and potty training, and temper tantrums, but right now I am having so much fun with my daughter! We made it through the newborn stage, a little tired, but so in love with our little girl.

I read a quote on one of these mom blogs that said "Comparison is the thief of joy." I love this and repeat it to myself often. I think part of the reason I didn't find the newborn stage all that much "fun" is that it wasn't at all what I was picturing. I saw all these women with "perfect babies" that could tag along to brunch with their friends and their baby wouldn't make a peep. Their babies ate only homemade baby food, and their mom's left the hospital wearing their non-maternity, size 4 jeans. I was left wondering what was wrong with me? What parenting mistakes was I making that I wasn't able to accomplish all these things and still find time to make organic, homemade playdough?? How were they finding time to get dressed, and do their hair, and I hadn't made it out of the same pair of yoga pants in 3 days??? But then it dawned on me...my baby is happy, and healthy. I am doing the best that I can, and THAT IS ENOUGH. To Hadley, I am the greatest mommy in the world, and that is all that matters.

Bloggers often put there best foot forward, and showcase the glamorous, organized side to their lives, so that people can find inspiration. This is a good thing, and I've found great ideas from reading them. But I have to remind myself that is not there lives all day everyday. Every mom has bad days, or days the laundry doesn't get done, or a new outfit that gets pooped on in public. It happens. To everyone.

So I'm 3 months in to parenting, and I feel like I've learned so much about how to be a mom, and about Hadley. I know now what each of her cries mean, what makes her smile, and how to get her to take a bottle when she's over tired. I also know that there are many, MANY more lessons to learn, and that parenting will get easier and harder all at the same time. Finally, I know that I can only be the kind of mom that comes naturally to me.  I may never get around to that homemade playdough, and that is okay, because instead I spent 10 minutes blowing raspberries on my daughter's tummy, and watching her giggle. So to all my new moms out there...if you feel like your not acing this whole parenting thing, I promise you are! And if you ever need reassurance, look for me and Hadley at Hobby Lobby...I will be the one in yoga pants, wearing no makeup, with a highly caffeinated pumpkin spiced latte ...loving every minute of it. Mostly :)

And because no blog is complete without pictures, here are some pictures of the rough early days and the cutie pie that is Hadley Kate:

I had plans to get all pretty for my hospital photos, but I was busy throwing up in between contractions so that didn't happen :)

Bath time in the beginning required all hands on deck

I pretty much spent the first 6 weeks after Hadley was born wearing pajamas and staring at Hadley and thinking how gorgeous and exhausting she was

And because this is my blog, after all, I get to still put my best foot forward...so here are some of my "put together" mommy pictures

Hadley and I on Mother's Day

It takes a village to raise a baby...so lucky to have so many moms and babies on Kwaj with us!

She's Here! Hadley Kate McClellan's Birth Story

Apparently working full time and being pregnant really interferes with a girls desire to blog! Oops. So if you were left wondering how the last 9 months went...here you go!

After the first trimester, all my nausea and fatigue went away and I started to feel like a real person again. I was able to enjoy watching my best friend Sarah get married in Canada, and we visited both of our families back in the states in August and September. Right before we flew back to Kwaj, we had our 20 week ultrasound done in Texas. Being the pedi nurse that I am, I was very nervous for the ultrasound because it was the ultrasound were most abnormalities are seen. Fortunately, all looked well, and my mom and Johnathon got to sit in and watch baby Mac float around all cute as can be!

My second trimester was pretty uneventful, and was marked by a serious appetite increase, Halloween, a trip to Roi, Thanksgiving spent with our island friends, a wonderful Kwaj baby shower, and finally Christmas.Three days after Christmas I flew back to Texas at thirty four and a half weeks pregnant to begin my island maternity leave stateside. Fortunately my good friend Sarah was due a day before me, so we got to fly back to Honolulu together, which made the flight so much more bearable. Johnathon also took pity on me, and agreed to fly me back first class. I have to say...after flying first class, including one leg of the journey in a pod seat...I'm pretty sure I can't fly any other way ever again! Hear that honey???!! ;)

It's the Kwaj Hospital's policy that all pregnant women leave island by 36 weeks in order to ensure that they deliver stateside. Because Johnathon couldn't take that much time off of work, I flew back a month before he did. Making a hormonal and VERY pregnant woman spend a month away from her husband at 9 months pregnant is never a good idea, but getting to spend extra time with my family in Austin before the baby came was wonderful. We ate lots of delicious restaurant food that I don't get to eat on Kwaj, and took lots of walks in an attempt to get the baby to "drop." Johnathon finally flew to Texas on January 27th, and my due date was estimated at February 8th. We had ONE wonderful date night...and then I had my OB checkup on the 29th. I was making a little progress (40% effaced) but I wasn't even dilated yet, the baby hadn't dropped, and my doctor made it seem like Baby Mac wouldn't be making an appearance anytime soon.

Fast forward 24 hours, and I wake up with what I will describe as a "potential, probable, definite water leakage." Although, at the time, I was positive that wasn't what was happening. I always assumed that when your water breaks, its a super dramatic moment in the middle of a crowded store, and that the "water" goes everywhere. Not the case here my friends. Johnathon asked me if it was
"go time," and for as much as I wanted this baby to come out, I couldn't fathom in that moment that I was really in labor. So I coolly replied...."PSH...NAH!"

So we went about our day, and I pretty quickly realized I was having contractions. Again, I had been reassured by all my baby books, blogs, and doctors, that first time babies usually don't come early, and that you can have contractions for days before your in "real labor." So my mom, Johnathon, and I headed out to Babies 'R Us to buy a diaper bag, because this planner ( i.e yours truly) waited to the last possible second to buy one. I'm one of those super prepared moms you can tell. : ) We had lunch, and had so much fun getting excited when I could feel a contraction. Looking back, I totally want to slap myself for thinking "man...contractions aren't bad...maybe I could do this naturally next time!" Ugh...I want to slap my giddy, happy, pregnant self right out of my silly fantasy 'cause I had no idea what was coming, or at the very least, what was coming out of my mouth!

My contractions started to get stronger in the evening and by bedtime I was starting to get uncomfortable. I tried to get some sleep but couldn't. My doctor told me my contractions had to be 1 minute long, coming every 5 minutes for at least 1 hour. This confused the hell out of me because I would have contractions every 4 minutes that lasted for 1 minute, and this would go on for about 45 minutes before they would slow down and start coming every 6 or 7 minutes. I really didn't want to be THAT GIRL that rolls into the ER swearing she's in labor, just to be laughed at and sent home, so I tried to power through as long as I could. By about 4:30am I was really in a lot of pain so I decided to sit in the bathtub. Right as I got in the tub, I felt more "water," and this time I was more apt to believe my water had broken or at the very least was leaking. I still waited to call the doctor as my contractions weren't consistent, but the pain was so bad by 7am that I started throwing up. That's when I threw in the towel, woke up Johnathon and my mom, and we headed to the hospital.

By the time we got there, I was miserable and every person there could see it. They stuck me in a triage room and examined me, only to be told I was 2cm dilated and about 60% effaced. Read: I had a long way to go. They told me to walk around the unit to help speed things along, but not to get my hopes up because I would probably be sent home. I was drooling over the idea of getting my epidural ASAP so you better believe I hauled my large and in charge self around that unit as much as I could. They checked me again around 10:30am and a different nurse told me I was 1.5cm dilated and 70% effaced....HOW DO YOU GO BACKWARDS IN DILATION??!?! I was bummed. The doctor came and talked to me and was going to send me home with an Ambien so I could try and sleep, but then he saw me have a contraction. He said something to the tune of "well your definitely having contractions..." no duh. He then went on to say that they couldn't admit me based on my current situation, but if my water had broken THEN I could be admitted. I realized that as I was in so much pain I had forgotten to tell them about my potential "water leakage." A quick test confirmed that I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid and I was admitted to Labor and Delivery. HALLELUIAH!

They admitted me to my delivery room, started my IV, and told me that because I was in so much pain I wasn't relaxing enough to let my body do what it needed to do. Their recommendation: an epidural. I have never been more on board with a plan in my entire life. They put in my epidural, started some Pitocin to speed things up, and let me get a nap in. I felt glorious. I think I told my nurse that if she could guarantee that I got enough of the epidural medicine to not feel ANYTHING, that I would push this baby out no problem! She just laughed and said she would see what she could do. My dad and sister came later in the day, and we all hung out for a few hours.

The doctor on call that night was Dr. Campaign. She wasn't the doctor I had been seeing, but I couldn't have been more pleased with her. She was so calm and encouraging without being in my face and peppy...loved her.  She came and checked me around 8pm and announced that I was 5-6cm dilated and 100% effaced. She thought I would be ready to push in a couple of hours, and she would be back around 11pm or so to check on my progress. Around 10pm I started to feel more pressure and started shaking a lot. My nurse said I was probably ready to start pushing, but Dr. Campaign was in the middle of a c-section so I had to wait a little bit longer. Dr. Campaign arrived around 11:30pm and told me I was ready to push, and she would be close by. My family left to the waiting room, and it was just Johnathon, my nurse Dana, and I. I pushed for about 20-30min and my nurse said I was making enough progress that she wanted me to stop until Dr. Campaign got there. Once the doctor arrived I pushed for maybe 15 more minutes, then in the middle of a push, Dr. Campaign said "stop pushing!" so I did, and Hadley just kind of slid right out!

Hadley Kate McClellan was born February 1st at 12:35am, weighed 6lbs 2oz, and was 20in long.They let Johnathon announce that Hadley was a girl, and I have to say it was the greatest surprise of my life! Johnathon and I couldn't stop smiling. Johnathon insisted through my whole pregnancy that I was having a boy, so I was worried he might be disappointed, but the second he saw Hadley, he couldn't stop beaming. Johnathon cut the cord, and they placed Hadley on my chest. They got me cleaned up, let me nurse Hadley, then let my family back in to watch the nurses bathe her.

The thought of labor was this huge, ominous thing that I knew I had to endure to meet my baby, but was really terrified of going through. It was definitely painful, but I have never been more proud of anything that I've done, and it really is the most miraculous experience, and one that I know definitely made Johnathon and I love each other even more. We are so blessed to have a healthy baby girl made in God's image, that we love more than life itself. One of my parents neighbors told me that before children you know love, but having children is knowing BIG LOVE, and I think that is so true.  Here are some pictures of Hadley's birthday:

Psalm 139:14

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows full well.

Our last photo as a family of two :)

A VERY TIRED me, meeting Hadley for the first time

Amanda and I went to nursing school together and she was my post-partem nurse. GO FROGS!!!

Johnathon, Hadley, and I on our discharge day

Hadley all bundled up and ready to go home!