5 Months

And some. :)

You know how some people take those ridiculously cute pictures every month with something cute saying "2 months" or "6 months"? Well not me. Unfortunately. I wanted to be one of those people, but it just hasn't happened. Oh well, there's always next time around!

Already enjoying LEGOs. Just like his daddy.

Haha, he's such a cutie pie! Seriously, how can you not love him?!

Time Flies...

I can't believe it's almost Christmas! I just noticed that I haven't posted anything since Thanksgiving.... oh dear. Life has been so hectic lately but I'm hoping that after the holidays things will slow down and we'll get to relax more. :)

One reason why we have been so busy is because of our busy little man! 3 months old and he is eager to move. All the time. Here's a video I took of him, showing off his new move.

Ahhh, he is getting so big! I miss his little-ness. :( To tell you the truth, I've been reluctant to put him in 3 month clothes because I don't want him to grow up. But he has SO many cute clothes in that size that I finally gave in. :)

Christmas will be different this year. This will be the first time that the whole family won't be together. I know we'll still have fun, but it's just..... weird. And it's Aiden's 1st Christmas, too! Not that he'll remember it. I guess I need to remember that Christmas isn't about the gifts or even family, it's about God's amazing plan and His awesome gift to us!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year's!

Courtney (and boys)

The Many Faces of Baby Aiden

I obviously haven't been on in a while, but I have a good excuse. Babies take a lot of work!

I realized the other day that I haven't put up any pictures of Baby Aiden, besides the ones from his birth. He makes the funniest faces that I just have to share them with you!

He makes this face all the time while sleeping.... doesn't look very peaceful.

We were getting ready for a walk and I don't think he really cared for the position he was in. But he fell asleep a little bit later.

So serious!

And now goofy!

This one just makes me laugh. :)

I sure do love him! Especially when he is sleeping in his own bed! Now to see how long he'll sleep.....

Aiden's Birth Story

I can't believe Aiden is already a week old! It flew by so fast! I figured that this was a good time to sit down and write out his birth story, before I forget any of it. :)

It all started on a saturday morning...

I lost my mucous plug around 11 am (sorry if that's TMI). Now, I wasn't quite sure what that meant so I gave my midwife a call. She told me that it meant I was dilating (I was at 1 1/2cm earlier that week) and that labor could start within 24-36 hours. We didn't want to get everybody all excited, so we only told our parents and a friend, Sarah Cornett, who was going to take pictures of the birth for us.

Contractions started just a few hours later but they weren't very strong or consistent until late afternoon. Now, the timing of everything was just perfect. Eli's cousin was getting married that day and a bunch of his relatives were in town. Everyone (and I mean everyone!) kept telling us to wait to have the baby until after the wedding but before they left! We went to the wedding and then the reception and had a wonderful time. We left the reception at about 9pm, by that point the contractions were pretty strong and were coming 10 minutes apart. Came home and took a bath to see if that would help any. And it did! I didn't have any contractions while in the tub but once I got out they started coming stronger and closer. By 12am they were averaging 4-5 minutes apart. We left for the birthing shortly after that! My midwife checked me when I got there and I was almost at 5cm! At this point I decided to take a shower 'cause my back was killing me. It was wonderful! A little while later I transfered to the hot tub and labored there for 2-ish hours. And ended up getting sick! This is Eli's favorite part to tell. :) The midwife gave me a bowl and I threw up in it, so she went to clean it out. While she was away I threw up again and since I didn't have a bowl, Eli caught it in his hands. What a great husband I have! After that, I was checked again and was at 7cm and my water had still not broken. So she broke it for me and boy, did those contractions get more painful! I kept telling Eli that it hurt and he kept holding my hand and telling me I was doing great. He was wonderful and so supportive! At around 3am, I got out of the tub and labored in bed because my back hurt so bad and none of the positions in the tub were helping it. By 3:30am I was ready to push! That was probably one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. But less than 2 hours later, Aiden was here! The official stats are: born at 5:19am, weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.

It was one of the most amazing experiences when he came out and was put up on my chest. I was in shock, just couldn't believe he was actually here! And Eli was all teary eyed. :) Aiden was so calm, barely cried and just laid there, looking around with his gorgeous little baby eyes.

Now, I won't lie and tell you it was easy. It was definitely hard, but so worth it. While I was in labor all kinds of thoughts ran through my head about how I couldn't do this, it hurt so bad and now I understand why people get the drugs and c-sections! Looking back, it wasn't that bad and went by very quickly. I'm so glad I made the decision to have an all natural birth. Now I feel like superwoman! It's just an amazing feeling knowing that I gave birth to this child! I feel so accomplished!

Here are some of the pictures Sarah Cornett took!

Please come soon, Baby Aiden!

I don't mean to complain, but I am so ready to be done being pregnant. Just ready to be done with the back pain, tiredness, feeling large, being HOT all the time and the random contractions. Especially after last night. Had about 3-4 contractions within an hour, went to bed and started getting them closer together and on top of that had constipation and diarrhea. Ugh, really! Spent a miserable hour laying there before I was finally able to fall asleep. Now, I must admit, I was pretty excited that I was having contractions, it's means something is going on, right?!?!

I can't really complain. This pregnancy has been so easy. No morning sickness, no heartburn, no swelling and no weird food cravings. We're both healthy, but I really want my normal body back. Or at least close to my normal size.

So I guess the point of this post is to ask for prayers. For strength, energy, patience and acceptance of my body right now. Sounds silly, but I really hate the weight I've put on.

On a lighter note, I am going to attempt to make scented pine cones tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes!

Blessings From All Around

We have been so blessed lately by friends, family and even strangers that I thought a post about them was due. :)

1.

Our Baby Shower (Aug.7th)

My wonderful friends, Sarah Cornett & Sarah Rafeedie, threw a shower in honor of Aiden and me and they did such a great job!!!! Everything was absolutely beautiful! I don't have pictures yet, but I will definitely post some as soon as I do. It was such a wonderful time being surrounded by friends and family who are happy for us and who were so generous to us! We received so many clothes and necessities! Like blankets, bath stuff, diapers, toys, books, car seat cover (which is needed in Alaska!) and much more. We were blessed beyond our dreams. :)

2.

Eli got a new job! We had been praying all summer that God would open the doors for a new job and He did! It is with Xerox as a technician and a step forward, money and career wise! We are very excited. Now, the only "problem" with this job.... Eli has to go to Seattle for two weeks of training. We told them from the very beginning that we're expecting a baby in mid to late September. Unfortunately, there is only so much training he can do up here with out the training in Seattle and Xerox can't just pay him to sit around here doing nothing so Eli will be leaving Sept. 26th for two weeks. :( We were given the choice of Sept. 6th or Sept. 26th for the training dates and after talking and praying about it, we decided to go with the later date. Please join us in prayer that Aiden does not come later than his due date, Sept. 21st. We're pushing it kinda close! I'm personally hoping he comes around 38 weeks..... :)

3.

Eli came home the other day with two surprises! First, FedEx's district manager's wife (who lives in Hawaii and whom we have never met) knitted us a beautiful present! A cute little baby hat and booties! Apparently she makes them for all the employees. Secondly, Eli had (at work) helped out a couple of ladies from the State Library, I believe, with some signs and had told them we're having a baby. Well, they came by and gave him some baby books! Brand new and two of them are by Eric Carle. I love his stuff! I was shocked by their kindness and generosity!

May God bless you all,

Courtney

2nd Anniversary!

I apologize for the long break between posts..... was unintentional, life has just been busy! That's how these Alaskan summers are!

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on July 18th. I can't believe it! 2 years really flew by! We kept it low key this year, even though we did dress up a bit. I had to try out my new dress! :) Dinner at Glacier Brewhouse and then Rollo McFlurries for dessert. They are delicious, by the way! We did have a slight problem..... after dinner we walked around the block and upon arriving at our car discovered a flat tire! And to make it worse, didn't have the right size tire iron in the car (who buys the wrong size, I don't know, but very annoying).

Overall, we had a nice day remembering each other and when and why we said our vows.

Oh, and Eli surprised me by getting off work early and helping clear some boxes out of the nursery!

I love this man so much! I am so thankful for him. Some one who loves me, holds me when I cry, laughs with (and sometimes at) me and reminds me that God is in control.

Belly Picture!

30 weeks & 5 Days!

My anniversary present! A complete surprise! It is very comfortable and I love it..... so does LaRue (our cat). She thinks it's hers, silly girl!

Only 3 (ish) Months More Till...

Baby Aiden gets here!

I can't wait. :)

But in the meantime I am keeping myself busy with work and getting things ready! We went and registered the other night... whew, was that overwhelming! So much stuff, so many different brands and I have no idea what I really need versus what's fun or cool to have! I'd much rather receive useful items than fun (but useless) items.

Eli's cousin was very sweet and send us 2 boxes full of new or gently used baby clothing! Look at all those cute outfits!

And we got the crib! I love it! Now all we need is a mattress and bedding set!

And I found all of this baby paraphernalia at a garage sale for $5. What a steal! Burp rags, receiving blankets, hats, bibs and a couple of outfits! I think Baby Aiden will have enough cute outfits to wear. :)

God Bless,

Courtney

22 weeks!

I guess I should be official and say 21 weeks and 5 days. Never really understood why you had to state the exact day......

Anyways, this picture was actually taken at 20 weeks, but that's pretty much what I look like now. Maybe a tiny bit bigger, but not enough to really notice.

I promised Eli once upon a time that I wouldn't post any bare belly pictures (any maternity pictures actually!) on Facebook. But this isn't Facebook so I'll post one here.... :)

For some reason maternity pictures kinda freak him out, especially awkward ones!

Aren't these adorable?!?!

I love them! I went to a pottery studio about 2 weeks with some ladies from church and had a blast painting these little vases! Yes, they're vases and I will (hopefully) use them for that purpose.

I decided to go with a jungle/safari animal theme for the nursery. These little guys were kinda my inspiration. Now to find some cute fabric for the bedding, maybe curtains and decorations for the walls!

And the little elephant matches a canvas painting my brother-in-law brought us back from Africa 2 years ago! Perfect!

In other news,

I am getting my first EVER massage next week! So excited!

God Bless,

Courtney

Baby Blanket Update

I finally finished the baby blanket I was making for Cameronn and Baby Lily! And just in time, Lily was born on Good Friday. A few weeks early, but she is healthy and cute! I have only seen pictures, but everybody says this is true!

I really liked this pattern. Super cute and pretty easy.

Now to start a blanket for our baby! I already have the yarn, just need to download the pattern!

Courtney

It's A.......

BOY!

We decided to use a cake to reveal what we're having (Thanks Gail for the wonderful idea!) and it was so much fun! Not only did our families not know, neither did Eli and I. :) I love that we were able to find out all together. We managed to get almost everyone either on the phone or there in person. Kinda chaotic, but still fun!

The cake, thanks to Amanda Cook.

I love my parent's faces in these pictures!

It's blue!!!!

Baby Aiden Liam's first presents (from Grandma & Grandpa Rushing)

Can't believe we're actually having a boy! That is what I secretly wanted all along and we got him! September cannot get here soon enough!

I do have ultrasound pictures, but not on a cd, so I don't if I'll be able to post any. But Baby Aiden looks perfectly healthy and is definitely a BOY!

All Things Baby!

Baby, Baby, Baby.

That's pretty much all that has been on my mind!

I went shopping the other day and came home with this cute little outfit. :) Couldn't pass it up! And I think a little girl can wear this and look absolutely adorable!

Of course, other people might think it's a boy..... oh well!

We also got a cradle! Given to us and still in great shape. LaRue thought it was for her at first, but we quickly set her right.

I am definitely getting different sheets, though. Not a fan of white and the little dots are actually hearts (not very boyish and I want something cuter for a girl)!