week by week

I promise to update more later, but just wanted to share these week by week photos of Maxfield's first 8 weeks. This little guy is one happy, growing boy. We are loving having him around.:) Of course how can you not love this face?!:)

little man makes his appearance

On April 25th at 2:55 p.m. we were excited to welcome Maxfield Atticus into our family. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 21 in. long. I must say he was definitely bigger than I had expected. We are quite enamored with the little guy and although running a little shy on sleep, we are excited about this transition in life.

The labor and delivery of little Max did not go at all as we had "planned" or expected. Since he was late coming (9 days overdue) we went into the hospital on the evening of Sunday the 24th (Easter Sunday) to begin preparation for scheduled induction on Monday morning. After some irregularities with Max's heartbeat during contractions, the doctor decided that it would be best to induce me late Sunday night. After laboring through the night I starting pushing mid-morning on Monday and had high hopes of delivering him before noon. However, after pushing for 3 hours and making progress things pretty much stalled and my doctor decided that he was just really too big for me to deliver that way. He was also facing the wrong way, which added a great deal of discomfort to the entire situation.

Around 2ish in the afternoon I was moved over to surgery for a C section. It was quite the thing to go through and is still sometimes hard for me to think too hard about without feeling extremely overwhelmed and emotional, but the end result of a healthy baby was so worth it. I think Luke and I both felt a bit traumatized, but we made it through and are just thankful for great doctor and wonderful nurses and God's protection for Max and me.

We were in the hospital for 4 days total and were very impressed with the great care we received from all the nurses and staff. I'll still be recovering for awhile, but seem to be making strides every day. I'm so thankful for Luke, who has been taking such good care of Max and me. He's had even more responsibility from the start because I was confined to bed for a few days and when I wasn't I still required a great deal of help any time I got up. He had to get used to changing diapers immediately and to having a baby in one arm while trying to accomplish things with the other.:) Max loves his daddy; Luke is usually more successful at calming him down than I am.:) I feel incredibly blessed by the love, support, patience and care he has shown to Max and me. I'm so thankful to have him in my life.

We got home last Thursday and have been making the transition into this new phase of life. My mom came and stayed with us for several days cooking and cleaning for us as we learned how to take care of this little guy. She was incredibly helpful and it was such a blessing to have her here. I love my mom so much!:) Luke starts back to work next week, which will feel so weird to me being on my own during the day. Hopefully I'll be up to the task.:) Max is overall a pretty happy kiddo and he's even a decent sleeper. We are so in love with him and while slightly biased, think he's just about the cutest thing we've ever seen.:)

Welcome to this world and to our family, Maxfield!!

come on little man!:)

Apparently I've made the little guy too comfortable in there.:) He doesn't seem to be in any kind of hurry to join us here in the outside world. I told Luke he's already showing signs of our personalities-- he's clearly a home body and doesn't like to rush into anything.:) The waiting is definitely tedious, but I know it will be worth it when we get to finally meet him. Come on buster, your mommy and daddy want to hold you!:) (and i'm pretty sure there are several aunts and uncles wanting to meet you as well:)

happy thoughts

-I'm so happy to see that the spring weather has decided to stick around.

-I'm so addicted to the Iphone Luke surprised me with a couple weeks ago.:)

-I'm so in love with Luke, an incredibly supportive and thoughtful husband.

-Most of all I'm so excited that I get to meet my son soon!

life inspires art

A couple of recent paintings inspired by the past 9 months. Life has a way of affecting what flows from the paint brush.:)

Getting Ready

We are under the two week mark here and getting excited about our new addition. I started my maternity leave this week in order to get some extra rest and finish getting things ready for the little man's arrival. I'm enjoying being able to put my feet up and focus on the final details.

The past couple of months we have been busily preparing his room. Previously our second bedroom had been a guest room/library/computer/put stuff in there we weren't sure where else to put room.:) So it has been quite the overhaul. We got rid of some furniture, organized our closets better and moved some bookshelves etc. in order to make it all workable.:) We were given a few hand-me-down items, so not everything completely matches, but we are happy with the result and it feels good to have things ready to go. We still have a few minor details to finish, but it is for the most part done. We decided not to paint the room since it we are still renting, so we bought a wall decal and some other things to decorate the room without having to paint. Etsy is a great place for decor especially if you aren't sold on all the theme stuff at baby stores.:) Here's a few pictures of the progress-- some of these aren't very good, but you get the idea.:) (also, in case anyone is concerned, in accordance with safe sleep standards we will be removing the crib bumper when he sleeps in there:)

4 Years

Today marks 4 years of marriage for Luke and me. It's hard to believe. It both feels like we just got married yesterday and that we've been married forever.:) It's been an awesome 4 years full of lots of joys and challenges, but most importantly lots of love. I'm so thankful for such a thoughtful and caring husband-- someone I look forward to seeing every day and to spending time with. I look forward to starting our parenting journey in the next few weeks and to many more wonderful years together!