3 Christmases

Christmas 2008:
35 weeks pregnant, eagerly anticipating the arrival of Alethia Joy

Christmas 2009:
Empty arms, broken hearts
The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Christmas 2010:
Missing little Alli, but with arms full of her little sister.

Hearts full of joy.
So very blessed.

Hannah Beth, every time we look at you, we're reminded of God's faithfulness to us.

Starting to become mobile...

Before:

After (a few minutes later):

She scooted herself from a vertical position to a horizontal one! I have a feeling this little munchkin is going to be crawling across the room before we know it... growing up so fast.

3 months

I'm finally writing Hannah Beth's 3 month post, and she's going to be 4 months in just a couple weeks! Time flies and she's growing up so fast.

Sweet Hannah Beth, at 3 months:

• Size: you weigh about 12 lbs and are 23 1/2 inches long.

• Clothes: you're still wearing some 0-3 months and starting to wear some 3-6 months clothes
• Diapers: we're finishing up a box of size 1-2 and will be moving up to size 2 soon!
• You are soo great at making eye contact with people and you definitely recognize Mommy and Daddy. Sometimes you follow us with your eyes around a room.

• You really enjoy your bathtime.

• In fact, you just really seem to like water. When you're fussy, Daddy figured out that we can turn on the faucet and you'll almost always stop crying. You love hearing and watching the water run.

• You're still not a huge fan of tummy time when you're awake, although you hold your head up really well now. You prefer being on your tummy for naptime though [under our watchful eyes.]
• You also prefer taking your naps on Mommy and Daddy's bed rather than your own.
• Just a couple days after you turned 3 months, Mommy and Daddy moved you from your Pack n Play in our room to your big crib in your room. The transition was so smooth and you seem to really like your big bed!
• Speaking of sleep, at about 2 1/2 months old, you started to sleep 8 hours at a time at night. Now you'll even sleep 9 or 10 hours sometimes before it's time to eat again. We're so proud of you!
• Mommy LOVES staying at home with you, Hannah Beth, but sometimes she needs to go places without having to take you out in the cold. You do a great job of staying with either Daddy, Grandma, or Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, a few times each week for 1-2 hours.
• You're doing well at nursing, and you continue to take a bottle of breastmilk really well and that helps too when Mommy leaves you to run errands.
  

• We can see your little personality really coming out now as you coo and look around. You've started to giggle just a little bit...we're still waiting for a full out laugh :)
• You've got a little temper that comes out especially when you're overtired...sometimes you really fight going to sleep, but you're soo much happier when you've had good naps!

• We listen to your lullaby cd's often and they really seem to help you settle down when it's nap or bedtime.
• You still love having your diaper changed and just lying on your changing pad...sometimes Daddy even pulls up a chair next to your changing table to hang out with you while you play.

• Your family sure does love you a lot and they give you lots of attention. You also get lots of attention from friends and church and the youth group girls love to hold you too! Here's a pic of you with your cousins:

• You've really started to become attached to sucking your fingers and mostly your thumb, especially when you're going to sleep. You still take the pacifier once in a while.

Hannah Elizabeth, I absolutely LOVE being your mommy...it just gets better and better each day.
We pray every night for you to become a little girl and young woman who loves Jesus and comes to know Him personally at a young age. We're so thankful for you and so happy to have you here with us this Christmas.


We call you our "sweet baby" and that is what you are!

Happy [Day After] Thanksgiving...

from our little blessing, Hannah Beth :)

I am soo thankful that God chose to bless us with a sweet, living, healthy little girl.

It still amazes me when I look at her that she's really here, with us, in our arms.

What an amazing blessing.

Last year at this time I was kinda dreading going through the holiday season without our precious Alethia Joy, who would've been about 10 months.

I still grieve. I still miss her everyday and wonder what this holiday season would've been like, with 2 little girls, one 3 months and one 22 months.

But we see the "beauty from ashes" that God has shown us through the birth and life of Hannah Elizabeth.

Praise be to Him!!

Enjoying time with Aunt Natalie...

and Uncle Nathan!

"Showered" with Love!

2 weeks ago, our "new" church family blessed us and Hannah Beth with a baby shower! It was an unexpected blessing and so sweet of them. Here are a few pictures...

So, so generous! Many adorable outfits (lots for this winter!), wonderful gifts, and we even got a convertible car seat that Hannah Beth can use when she grows her of her current one :)

Sweet girls :)

Beautiful centerpieces--butterflies to go along with our nursery theme

Great-Grandma, Aunt Natalie, Grandma, Hannah Beth (sleeping!), Mom

Selena & Maria, the two lovely ladies who organized the shower

My mom & me

My "little" sis & me

Great-Grandma VK & Hannah Beth

Those hiccups are so frustrating!

2 months!

Happy 2-month birthday (yesterday), Hannah Beth!

At 2 months:

• You weigh 10 lbs, 14 oz, and you're 22 1/4 inches long.
• At about 1 month old, you moved up from newborn diapers to size 1.
• You've grown out of almost all of your newborn clothes by now...it made Mommy kinda sad to put some of her favorite little tiny outfits away (especially the "lovebug" one you wore on the way home from the hospital), but she also is having fun with your "new wardrobe" of 3 months clothes!
• You do a great job of sleeping at night--(starting at about 6 weeks) you usually sleep 5-6 hours for the first stretch of the night.
• You don't really like taking naps in your bed during the day--you love to be held while you sleep!
• You love to be held any time!
• At about 5 weeks, you really started to smile and respond to things around you.
• You've always been great at making eye contact and looking at people.
• Before we moved at 5 weeks old, you slept in a cradle beside our bed (the same cradle that your daddy and his brother and cousins all slept in), but now you sleep in a pack'n'play next to our bed. We use a "crib wedge" to keep you from moving or rolling over.
• You really like your "Ocean Wonders" play-gym, where you can look at yourself in the mirror and look at all the bright colors.
• You don't really like to burp "on command."
• In the past couple weeks, you've started to "coo" and "talk" to us--it's so much fun!
• You don't really cry a whole lot unless you are overtired, hungry, have a dirty diaper, or wanting to be held.
• You love to look at bright colors and shadows.
• You love your "Sassy" black and white book.
• You're a great nurser and really enjoy being close to mommy.
• You started drinking occasional bottles of mommy's milk at about 2 weeks and do a great job at it.
• Your hair is a brownish color that sometimes looks like it has a reddish tint to it.
• Your eyebrows seem to be getting darker and your eyelashes are growing and darkening.
• You're very photogenic :)
• You love to be held "like a football" on your stomach.
• You've recently really started to like sucking on your "Nuk" pacifier--you like it much better than the one they gave us at the hospital.
• The place where we have seen the most smiles is probably on your changing table! You can't stand having a dirty diaper but love being changed!
• You're starting to enjoy bathtime more and more...you just don't like the part where you have to get out of that nice warm water.
• You do not enjoy being put in your car seat, but once you're in there you usually fall asleep after a few minutes.
• You've just started to be able to sit in your Bumbo chair!
• You're starting to like your swing too!
• Since you were less than a month, we've started a bedtime routine with you--change into your jammies and swaddler, nurse, rock, pray with you, sometimes read a story, and sing to you.
• We moved 1,200 miles halfway across the country when you were only 5 weeks old. You were such a trooper and slept the majority of the trip.
• Since you were born, I've met/heard about 3 other Hannah Elizabeths! It's a good name. :)
• Hannah Elizabeth, you love to be held up close to our chests and love to snuggle! We do too!

We love you soo much! You're growing up so fast and it seems like you're changing every day.

We praise the Lord for you, sweet girl!

The many faces of our 2-month-old:

Update on life...and photos

My blog has been shoved "under the rug" as of late with all we have had going on...hopefully now that we're getting settled in our new house and state, and we have internet access here at home, I'll try to do better, at least with pictures of Hannah!

Hannah Beth is doing great. She is such a little sweetheart, 8 weeks old now. Each day when I look at her and hold her, I just cherish this precious little life, and sometimes it still amazes me that we have a beautiful little living, breathing child to take care of and love.

Not a day that goes by that I don't think of and miss our precious Alethia Joy. It's hard to describe or explain, but there's a constant feeling of loneliness...like our family just isn't complete, because our little daughter born almost 21 months ago is in Heaven instead of here toddling around, starting to talk, and loving on her baby sister. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is so much better off there than here. But it's still hard. The grief is different now, but it's still there, and I think it always will be until the day we see her face in Heaven someday.

It was hard to leave our home in NC for many reasons...one of them being--that's where all our memories with Alethia Joy are...my pregnancy, the hospital, the grave site, all the precious people around who were there to support us and love on us through our fresh loss and grief. It feels in a way like we've moved on in our lives, away from all these Alethia-related things. But we are not moving away from our memories. And we were even able to bring our 2 rose bushes that were given to us in memory of her. She will always be near to us and we're so thankful to know that she is safe in Jesus' arms. Before we moved, we visited the cemetery, so baby Hannah could "see" where her big sister is buried. I've never been one to spend long hours at Alethia's gravesite...everyone's different, but to me, it just hasn't been helpful...mainly because I know that her soul is not there, and that's what matters. But I did want to visit there as a family, since I don't know for sure when the next time will be.

We are getting settled in our new home here in Iowa. It's slowly starting to feel more and more like home, since we've gotten things pretty much all unpacked and put pictures and things up on the walls. We're thankful for all the storage space, now that we have a walk-in attic, basement (unfinished), and a garage. The living area of the house itself is about the same size as our old one, but it's certainly nice to have lots of accessible places to store all the stuff we're not currently using!

I think one of my biggest adjustments to living up here is going to be the weather. It's already so cold, and it's not even November yet. Good thing we have lots of blankets, I think we're gonna be needing them...Now if only we had a fireplace... I've obviously gotten spoiled over the last 3 years of living in the South!

Tony is really enjoying his new job as the youth pastor. We're so thankful for this ministry opportunity and we know that this is where the Lord wants us right now. Since this job is only part time, he is in need of a 2nd job. We would really appreciate your prayers for that. He's put out his applications and resume and is just waiting and praying something works out soon...

And now what you've probably skipped over all the above stuff just to get to anyway..haha..pictures of Hannah Beth!

Meeting her cousins Isabelle and Kindra :)

Watch Hannah Beth Grow! (first 7 weeks)

1 week old

2 weeks old

3 weeks old

4 weeks old

5 weeks old

6 weeks old

7 weeks old