Life Before Baby

Well, I had hoped to be completely caught up with my blog before we had Piper, but that didn't happen... so instead I am doing a final (random) post with some pictures of life before our new little bundle came along. And then I should be caught up...we'll see if I can stay that way :)

This is a picture I took of Wyatt and his best bud, Evan. We've been blessed with some good friendships through our church. It is fun when we are in the same life stage and made even sweeter when our kids play together too! Evan is six months older than Wyatt; he has a little sister, Molly, who is only six weeks older than Piper. Good times are ahead! :)

This picture will make another appearance at Wyatt's wedding, I have no doubt :) My little boy LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to take off his clothes. Sometimes he leaves his shirt on, but he is almost always without pants when we are home (fortunately he leaves his diaper on). That's not to say he doesn't enjoy dressing himself because he does; he just likes to undress himself too! Here he found some of Daddy's socks (took this pic on my phone).

This is another picture I took on my phone of Lila and Aunt Janina. I took this the day after the kids and I were rear-ended. Yes, a car accident. It was scary but we were all okay. Unfortunately the car needed some work, so we had to get a rental for a couple weeks. After picking up the rental car, we met Aunt Janina for lunch. Lila wanted to take her picture sitting on this rock outside the restaurant.

After we put up the Christmas tree, the kids really enjoyed dancing around in front of it and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. It was fun to watch.

Followed by a quick hug :)

Christmas 2010

Here are a few Christmas pictures I thought I'd share:

Taken on Christmas Eve in front of the tree.

Taken on Christmas morning (Piper slept through all the gift opening.)

 So I took some pictures of her later that afternoon when she was awake.

 Holding on to my finger.

 Think it's almost time for a nap again!

 Showing off the cute Christmas outfit Aunt Janina bought for her.

And cute little feet. 

(Although she has her legs drawn up most of the time, so I don't think there were actually any feet in there!)

Mary's Christmas

I don't usually get very philosophical on this blog; it is usually more about our daily happenings, but as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, I can't help but think more about the BIRTH of Jesus... given my own recent experience with Piper. A few days before I went into labor, I had commented on Facebook that "I don't know how Mary ever rode a donkey to Bethlehem; I think it's uncomfortable just getting in and out of a minivan." Well, little did I know that I'd be going through labor just a few short days later -- and I have to say in light of my own experience(s), I find Mary's sacrifice to be amazing.

When I think of birth, two words come to mind pretty quickly: painful and messy. For each of my children, I gave birth in a hospital. But with Piper, I think I had the closest experience to what Mary might have experienced... and I say that knowing it's not even anywhere close to what she experienced!! I started having contractions a few days before Piper was born, but the day we went to the hospital, they got progressively more painful and closer together. So by the time we went to the hospital, I was hurting... and all I wanted was to get hooked up to some pain meds! Now, I can only imagine that by the time Mary and Joseph got to Bethlehem, she was hurting too (she had to have been if Jesus was born that night!). And yet, everywhere they turned there was No Room. When we got to the hospital, there was not a nurse in sight! They were all busy helping other ladies give birth. Fortunately they did have a room for us and finally someone came out and helped us into a room, but then she left - without hooking me up to a monitor or anything.

So I had to wait for about 30 minutes (I think) while my contractions came every two minutes and I experienced the worst pain ever! I asked Ben to please go find somebody (until they confirmed I was in labor, I wouldn't be getting any pain relief!). Ben came back in to say that someone would be with us in a minute. A little bit later, I said to him again, "Please go find someone!" (ok, not sure if I actually said please or not). He kind of looked at me with this helpless look to which I said, "This is your only job. Go find a nurse!" Now, you know how on TV and movies, the wife will say things like "you did this to me!" Well, I'm pretty sure I said "this is your only job" in that tone. Fortunately when he came back the next time, a nurse came with him. After another hour of waiting (during which I had to really use breathing exercises!!), I finally got an epidural. Ah, sweet relief! Now, what does this have to do with Mary? Well for one thing, I'm pretty sure she didn't have the option of an epidural. In fact, she may not have even known about breathing exercises. AND, she surely couldn't look at Joseph and say "you did this to me!"

Once it was time for Piper to come out (which didn't take long since I was almost 10 cm dilated by the time I got my epidural), I suddenly had in my room: a nurse, the doctor, a nursery nurse, and an OB tech. They were taking apart the bed, putting padding down, getting ready to check over Piper when she was born, etc. Why? Because it was about to get messy. At this point, I really feel for Joseph. He didn't have any of those people -- and they were in a barn!! What would Ben have done if he were the only one to help me? I'm sure Joseph was terrified.

But, in the end, they were chosen to bring Jesus, God's Son, into the world. And they were willing to endure a messy, painful experience to do it. So this Christmas season (besides being VERY thankful for epidurals and hospital staff), I also find myself asking, "Am I willing to deal with any pain or mess God might ask me to endure if it means bringing Jesus to the world?" Mary didn't know what was coming, only what was promised, and she said "yes, Lord." I pray that my attitude would be the same.

Piper Josette Amey

Well, I didn't get my blog full updated before the baby arrived. How could I know she would decide to come two weeks early?!

Piper Josette Amey was born at 11:58 p.m. on December 17, 2010. I guess she decided she didn't want to miss any Christmas festivities! :)

 She weighed 6 lbs, 5 oz. and was 19 3/4 inches long... our smallest baby! Oh, and she had a full head of very dark hair.

 A nurse took our picture after she was born.

 Daddy got to hold her and thought she was SO light weight compared to our "little" boy, Wyatt (who weighs somewhere around 35 lbs now).

 The next day the kids came to the hospital to meet their baby sister.

 Lila was particularly taken with her.

 Aunt Janina took a turn holding her too!

 A friend of mine made this little hat for Piper. I got so many compliments on it! The nurses all thought it was the cutest thing.

 Here's a better picture of her dark hair.

Full body shot. The hospital dressed her in the candy cane socks and "Special Holiday Delivery" hat. There were six other babies born the same night as Piper.

 Here she is all snapped in and ready for the car ride home. She protested a little but didn't scream about the car seat the way my first two did.

Since we've been home, Lila has asked to hold Piper several times! She has also informed us on how to take care of her/what could be wrong when she cries. She is quite the helper and big sister! :)

Hopefully I will get back and post a few of my older updates... I seem to have time in the wee hours of the night right now :)

Christmas Program

On Lila's last day of preschool before Christmas break, they had a Christmas program in the morning. All of the classes sang some songs together, and then they showed a slideshow presentation. It lasted about 30 minutes.

Here Lila is coming onstage with her class. She was excited to get to sing on the big stage!

She got the biggest grin when she finally found us in the crowd.

She did a great job singing to all the songs, but didn't do any of the hand motions!

Here is a picture I took of her teacher, Mrs. Hedges.

Thanksgiving Feast

For Thanksgiving, Lila's preschool class had a Thanksgiving feast for lunch, and we were invited to join them. Each child brought a part of the feast (ham, turkey, cheese, fruit, rolls, etc.)

 Here Lila is standing next to her assigned seat.

Before we ate lunch, the kids recited a Thanksgiving poem, then said a prayer. The little boy sitting next to Lila is her best friend at school -- or as she calls him, "the one that I love."

Washing hands in the sink before we eat.

Here she is posing - eating a cheese cube. Not surprisingly, she was one of the last children to finish her lunch.

Here she is picking out a cookie. Lila was "assigned" the cookies. I made some sugar cookies, and I also made some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies (I tried to make these gluten-free because there is one little girl in Lila's class who is allergic to gluten... but then I learned that my vanilla had gluten in it! Oh well!)

This was the best picture I could get of the two of them together. Wyatt ate his lunch seated in the stroller, but once he finished I let him out to go sit next to Lila.

In the Past Three Months...

These are some pictures I've taken in the past three months... not in any particular order.

 I fed Wyatt his first taste of peanut butter & jelly. He didn't gobble it down like I thought he might, but he did ok. However the next day when I asked him if he wanted another PB&J sandwich, he said "I no like it." So I haven't given him any more, but at least I know he's not allergic :)

 These are some cute cupcakes I made for Lila's preschool Fall Festival day. Unfortunately, she got sick the day before and couldn't go that day! We still took the cupcakes up to the school -- and we even got to go on our own personal hayride before we left (the preschool director and her husband, a pastor at the church, are SO nice and thoughtful!!) And of course, we enjoyed our own cupcakes at home :)

 Ben's parents came for a visit toward the end of October. I guess we were so busy having fun I didn't take any pictures until it was time for them to leave. It is always fun to take them to the airport where we can walk right out to their plane!

 Lila wanted to see what the inside was like.

The kids had all kinds of fun steering and pushing buttons. Grandpa Amey was still able to take off, so they must not have done anything too harmful :)

 In September, Lila started going to AWANA on Wednesday nights. This is a picture I took of her class playing games the first night. Ben usually goes with her most weeks.

 At the end of September we were also visited one evening by Ben's Uncle Bill and Aunt Angie. The kids were not shy at all! Here Uncle Bill is reading them a story.

This picture cracks me up! Lila is playing games on Aunt Janina's iPhone and Wyatt is on mine.

During Thanksgiving week (when Lila was off from school), Ben worked a half day one day and took Lila to work with him. She was so excited!! I packed her bag with some fun coloring books and crafts for her to work on, along with a snack. Ben said she did great, and he was actually able to get some work done too!

Halloween 2010

It has kind of become a little tradition for our family to dress up together for Halloween. One year we went on "safari"; the next year we were food mascots. This year we were Disney characters!

 We went over to some friend's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Our very first guest was our pastor's little boy who came as a Praying Mantis!

 Here is our crew: Pinnochio, Cinderella, Woody from Toy Story and the House from Up! (which was a great costume for this pregnant lady!)

 We also had a family of Potato Heads in our group!

 Here's the whole gang who dressed up.

 And here we are from the back.

 I have to say, Wyatt was so cute as Pinnochio (yes, I am biased!). I was amazed that he kept his hat on while we were trick-or-treating. It did come off once we got back to the house. Notice Woody's pull string on Ben's back :)

Neither of them were shy about getting the candy! :)