Our beautiful blessing has arrived!

Claire Elise Alexander arrived on Friday, February 18th, at 8:48 am.  She weighed 9lbs 10oz. and was 21.75" long!  She has dark blue eyes and lots of blondish-brown hair.  She is absolutely perfect and such an amazing blessing.  I will post pictures and details with her birth story soon!  Thank you for your prayers!

On the Eve-Eve of being a mom of three...

Warning---no grammar check or rearranging has happened to this post...it's totally rambly and all over the place with emotions and words.

I can barely keep it together this morning...lots of tears...happy ones.  But I have mixed emotions.  I realized last night that today is Asher and I's last day of just him and I.  Tomorrow Kris's mom is coming over to help with last minute things for the day, and my parents will be staying tomorrow night with us to be here for Asher when we leave at 4:45 am on Friday.  I appreciate them both so much for all of their help.  Looking at Asher now, laying on the sofa watching "Cat in the Hat" on PBSkids, doing what he normally does this early in the morning...he looks so big, yet he's still my baby.  I hope I still have plenty of time for him.  I almost feel like I've been wasting too much time, I should have been cherishing our time together this past year.  Now it's the last day...goodness.  I miss him already.  I know things will be ok...Kris and Katie will be more than willing to hold and love on Claire while I still have time to snuggle with Asher.  It's just that today is the last day I can totally devote to him.  It's the last couple of days that I can lift him into my arms and just hold him for a few weeks.  Today I'm going to try really hard to just hold him and be calm.

And Katie...oh my Katie girl.  Today when she gets home from school I just want to let her know how very much I love her.  And I want her to know how she will ALWAYS be my baby girl...my firstborn, my little sweet pea, my first peek at God's amazing ability.  I remember seeing her for the first time and just being completely amazed that God would give her to us.  She was so red and bruised from our rough delivery, but she was the most beautiful thing I had EVER seen.  I know we have difficult pre-teen and teen years ahead, but I love her with ALL of my heart, and I always will.  I have to make sure she knows these things.

Being a mom of three will be amazing...I know it.  Kris and I still just cannot believe how blessed we are.  There is no way that we could have ever began to earn or deserve these children, nothing we could do but ask and pray for them, and now...we have three.  I just can't believe it.  I'm so excited, and nervous, and happy, and just...overwhelmed with God's amazing LOVE and blessings and forgiveness. 

4 days til baby!

I'm not counting today (Sunday) because it's almost over :o)  And I'm not counting Friday because we'll be up and going before the sun comes up!  I am getting so excited...almost giddy!  Yesterday was Kris's 3rd 12- hour day in a row, and I was so tired and cranky.  I was short with the kids and my poor parents came for a visit and I was totally grouchy all day.  Katie was really having some jealousy issues and trouble being good, and by bedtime, I almost cried myself to sleep, I was so discouraged.  Today was Kris's first of three days off, and I just can't explain how happy it makes me when he is home with us.  There is something about his presence that just calms me...it always has.  He has done an amazing job of helping with the kids, cooking, and cleaning during this pregnancy, I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful husband during these past 9 months.  We have had an amazing day with our church family today too, it has totally energized me and made me just feel so blessed and happy.  We have a great Sunday School class, and have become pretty close with some of the people in it.  My friends, Emmalee, Charisse, and Sabrina have been such an encouragement to me!  Our pastor had a great message, the music was beautiful, and Kris had the privilege of giving the testimony and prayer for his friend, Brian during his baptism.  So many people in our church have been praying for us through our pregnancy, and so many people had kind words for us today.  Tonight was our annual  youth soup cook-off and pie auction at church, and it was a lot of fun to watch the competition and fellowship.  The weather was also beautiful today...in the 50's and just gorgeous!  I can't thank God enough for this great day...I needed it so much. 

By this time next Friday...

...Kris should be holding our littlest girlie in his arms!  It's hard to believe that our c-section is one week from today!  When I look back over the last nine months, the last year, the last three years, the last 15 years, I am just amazed at all that God has done!  I was talking to a friend the other day and realized while talking with her that every prayer that I've prayed for our family has been answered...some not in the ways that we expected, but God has lead us and taken care of us every step of the way...He is faithful!  We have gone from a little family of three, so deep in financial debt and uncertainty of not being able to have another child, broken from a failed adoption, to a family of almost 5, and the debt is so much better!  I remember writing this post when I had no hope of ever being a stay at home mom, of ever having another child, and I was so discouraged about my job as a case manager.  It is hard for me to grasp the amazing ability of God to take care of us, to know exactly what to do to comfort us, to get us through days like that.  Now here we are...a week away from holding a brand new precious life in our arms...seven days away from being a family of five...and I feel so incredibly blessed!

37 weeks and SNOW, SNOW, SNOW...

This has been an eventful week.  On Sunday I wasn't feeling well during church, so I decided to have my blood pressure taken at the hospital.  It was pretty high, so Dr. S. admitted me for a 4 hour bp monitoring and non-stress test for the baby.  We ended up staying the night and I got to go home on Monday.  We're still scheduled for the 18th, but she was preparing us for delivery early if my numbers didn't get better, but they did...thank You Lord!  I visited the clinic this morning for my 37 week appointment and my blood pressure was a little high, but not terrible, so we're doing ok.  They are supposed to call later and let us know if there is anything else I need to do at this point. 

On Tuesday, we had a blizzard...literally.  There was blowing snow, and so much of it.  We have a couple of drifts that are almost 5 ft deep!  Yesterday and today the sun has been shining so beautifully, but no snow is melting because of the temperatures of -9 degrees!  It's crazy.  We are beginning to have major cabin fever.  I have just felt like I need to run out into the snow just to get out of the house for a minute!  Ha!

Katie and Asher are doing good, they are really looking forward to Claire being born.  Katie is more excited than I thought she would be, and she is just ready for her now!  Asher still doesn't seem to comprehend whats going on, but I think he will understand once he sees her...I can't wait for that moment...I just can't wait for the five of us to be together in that hospital room after she is born!