3 weeks old!

I think I am obsessed with photographing little Amelia. I'm constantly taking pictures of everything- everyday. I wonder if there is a support group for that?! Anyway here are a few photo's of her.

Amelia's strawberry blond hair

Proof that her hands are always by her face- even when she eats!

My friend Micki came over to our house and took a few photos of Amelia (okay so we had a lot of fun and we have tons of photos to prove it but I'm only posting a few!) Here she is 3 weeks old!

Grandma Faye made this beautiful orange, yellow and white afghan for her- this photo makes me think of "I am like a star shining brightly- shining for the whole world to see!"

This is probably my favorite one of Miss Amelia with the blanket that my mom started and Grandma Helen finished.

she has my long fingers...

and Nathan's feet...

Miss Amelia (of course she is playing with her hands!)

Our life as zombies

Amelia (2 weeks old)

Mommy and Amelia

She can pull the best faces!

Gassy smiles

Daddy daughter moment

Amelia getting ready to be swaddled

Amelia is three weeks old today and we can hardly believe how fast time has gone by. We are definitely experiencing the zombie-like status of parenthood. Amelia is such a mellow baby but we have had some reflux issues that we've been trying to figure out how to deal with. She has been gagging/choking when she spits up and it also comes out her nose. This can happen in the middle of the night, after feedings or pretty much anytime (in her bassinet, bouncy chair, swing...you get the point). Her pediatrician switched her formula and we've already seen some improvement- she's spit up a few times but is no longer choking on it. Now if we could just get it to come out of her bottles easier! Its a thicker formula so we widened the nipples from her bottles with sewing pins- its still is taking her forever to eat....work in progress I guess. So with her new formula and a new bassinet (its designed for babies with reflux issues-if anyone wants more details let me know-its gotten rave reviews!) we are crossing our fingers that the choking issues are behind us. So far things are looking promising.

Here are some fun little things we've learned about Amelia so far:

1. She loves to snuggle (one of her fav spots is lying on her tummy on your chest so she can snuggle into your neck).

2. She likes to be swaddled but only if you let her arms be free.

3. Her arms must be free so she can have them by her face (and she usually does at all times).

4. She snorts and grunts.... (more snorting then grunting).

5. She is ticklish on her feet and under her chin.

6. She HATES to have a wet diaper- even if its barely wet, she will cry until its changed.

7. She has a love/hate relationship with her paci depending on the day.

8. She currently does not like to wear a hat- this changes on a daily basis.

9. She loves to just be in her diaper and have some "naked time".

10. She gets the hiccups at least twice a day-sometimes more sometimes less.

I am so grateful for Nathan's help. The first few nights after he went back to work I was getting up with Amelia so that he wouldn't be so tired for work, but he decided that wasn't okay. Knowing that I try to sleep during the day when she does but I usually can't (momma who is a light sleeper + noisy sleeping baby = no sleep for momma) he offered to help out during the night so that I could snag a couple of hours of rest. BEST HUSBAND EVER! So Nathan currently takes the first half the night and I take the second which means we are both zombies- but loving every minute of it!

Amelia's First Easter

Happy Easter everyone!

Amelia in her bunny hat

Miss Amelia

Amelia's Arrival

Well many of you are eager to know miss Amelia's birth story so here are the details as promised. Last Sunday after church I started feeling like I was leaking some amniotic fluid so Nathan and I debated whether or not we should go to the hospital to get it checked out. The debate lasted all afternoon and we finally decided around 8 pm to go to the hospital, better to be safe then sorry. By that time I had convinced myself it was a false alarm, Nathan reassured me that everyone has false alarms and this could be our trial run giving us a chance to familiarize ourself with the hospital in preparation for Tuesday. He packed our hospital bag in the truck just in case though and on the way over he said "Wouldn't it be funny if they just decided to induce you just because you were already there?" to which I told him that they never do that and Tuesday is our day. Blast him for being right.

At the hospital upon arrival I was at 4 cm. The amniotic fluid test came back negative and I had a deep sigh of relief, I had mentally prepared myself for Tuesday and I was glad I still had time. Turns out my doctor was on call that evening and she said that if I had any progress that they would admit me. Apparently I was having contractions every 5-7 min and sometimes 3-5 min but I could only feel them in my back so I had no idea they were coming that close. After an hour of monitoring I had progressed to a 4.5 cm and I was told I was staying put and having a baby. Enter emotional breakdown here, Nathan and I were both in shock. I began to shake and I didn't stop shaking until mid morning on monday.

They admitted us around 11 pm and we moved into our room where I received the epidural. The plan was to begin pitocin to help my contractions, and getting the epidural before the pitocin contractions started seemed like the smartest way to go. However the epidural's side effect is shaking- adding to my already existing shakes made me shake even more. Labor went pretty smoothly after that, Nathan was able to get a few hours of sleep and I tried to rest but I mostly just stared at the machines in shock. Six hours later it was time to push and about ten minutes later Amelia joined our family. Pretty speedy for a first time delivery. Thank goodness she turned and was no longer sunny side up- I was afraid I'd be pushing for hours. Amelia has a two little stork bites, one on her nose and forehead, we call them her rug burns because she came out so fast. Recovery has been the hardest part of labor and due to some complications that arose we are formula feeding, she is a very good eater and sleeper and is a very mellow baby.

Even though it was a huge shock that the hospital kept us and we had our baby a day earlier then planned, we are glad that Amelia is here and healthy. We are enjoying getting to know her likes and dislikes and she is constantly making us laugh. We are truly blessed to have her in our family.

She's Here!!!

Amelia Violet Wheeler finally came. She was born March 29th, 2010. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was only 19 inches long. The length was a bit surprising due to how tall her parents are. Both Mommy and Amelia are doing great. Here are some pictures that we have so far.

Some Visuals

The last little while we haven't posted any pictures of the things that we have been doing. Seeing that pictures are worth a thousand words, this will fill in the details.

After we finished painting "Lentil's" and the guest room Nathan got to pick out a color for the loft. As you can see it's very bright which makes up for not having any lights set up in it. Depending on the natural light that comes in from the windows it's any where from a yellow to a solid orange. It really helps Nathan wake up when he goes and exercises in the morning.

After the loft was finished being painted Stephanie was really worried that the mood of the walls no longer goes with the furniture. That lead us to the first piece of art that we have bought together. Stephanie still doesn't think the room goes together but since its Nathan's "Man Cave" she is learning to deal with it.

This was the night that we started to pack our hospital bag because we thought Stephanie would go into labor at any moment. As you can see there is much love between this mother and daughter.

This is Stephanie at a whopping 40+ weeks. For about the last two months Stephanie has been wearing Nathan's T-shirts with her yoga paints. She feels like she's a lazy slob for not getting dressed up all the time, but at this point anything that she can do to get a little comfort is worth it.

This lets you see a little better at how big she is. Most people can't believe that she is more than 7 months but this is also coming from people that have never seen Stephanie before she got pregnant. Nathan thinks its just perfect.

Hopefully you all enjoyed a little view of what we've been up to.

Due date is here without Lentil

Well Lentil's due date is passing us by, depending on who you ask (Nathan says its the 23rd and I say its the 24th) either way not much is happening. Who would have thought we'd go late? certainly not us, nor any of our family members, or even the doctor. So here we still sit and wait- patiently and sometimes not so patiently.

I can't believe how much our lives are about to change; most of the time when I really think about it, it really freaks me out. I'm so glad I have Nathan to go through these adventures with me, he keeps me sane.

P.S- Lentil is posterior (sunny side up) which explains all this awesome back pain I'm having (I have to say awesome to refrain from other words). Labor should be fun if she remains posterior, all I have to say is thank goodness for epidurals! This next week should be fun- we'll definitely join the parental ranks by next tuesday.