Month 1 with Little Man

Admittedly, we might have had a few too many things on our plate the month that Micah was born. Looking back, I'm surprised that I survived it! Ha! In all seriousness, we had some MAJOR life changes that month, and it was really hard at times. Thankfully we had a lot of help, and the sweet Lord brought us some peace :)

Nana & Micah

This was taken at our old house. The one that was being packed up the week that Micah was due b/c we were in the middle of buying a house. It wouldn't have been so bad, but Miss Naive' over here thought that all movers were like military movers. You know, the kind that pack your whole house up one day, come back the next day to load it into the truck, and then deliver it and unpack on the third day. (If you're not military, you probably think I'm crazy b/c this is NOT how it's done in the civilian world!). So a week, yes 1 WEEK, before we're supposed to move I wise up to the situation and we face either paying an obscene amount to hire someone to pack and move our stuff, or we do it ourselves. Guess what we chose? Well...it wasn't QUITE as bad as doing it all ourselves, we hired someone to help with a truck, but Chris & his mom (yep, she's a saint!) did most of the packing and hauling to the garage!

So, in November we packed up our old house, I had a C-Section (and was literally NO help at all during the moving process!), we signed on our new house, we moved in, we had 3 different sets of visitors, we had Thanksgiving Dinner, and I totally lost my mind :) Ha! I didn't really, but at times I totally felt like it!

A sweet daddy-son moment captured.

After Micah's very 1st Bath

Precious? I think YES!

Gobble, Gobble!
Us w/ Elli
Brother & Sister
Our first Thanksgiving in our NEW HOME!!!

GG & her little turkey :)

BIG News!

Well, we have some pretty big news....we had our son!! And it's only taken me a little over 4 months to blog about it! I sometimes look at him and wonder where the time has gone. And then again, these past 4 months seem like the longest of my entire life :) HA!

So, here's the story in pictures...

Our last picture as parents of just 1 child. I was remarkably calm that morning. Excited, but calm. Not totally freaking out like I thought I would be! We got to the hospital at about 5am, and they wheeled me back to the OR at around 7:30am. The only really scary part was the first 5 minutes or so when Chris wasn't with me in the room. They gave me the spinal and got me situated, and I was relieved to see his face when everything was ready to go!

Note the barf bucket beside my head...nice, huh?! Glad that's in the picture! I get super nauseous when I'm nervous, and my nerves had really hit hard! Also of note, my trusty iphone. I was allowed to play music on it, and got to listen to the same songs that I listened to when Elliana was born. It was really special, and I'm so glad we were able to do it!

And....HE'S HERE!!!

Micah James Duncan

7lbs 12 oz & 22inches

7:53am

**Now there is a wet rag on my forehead...yeah, it was getting bad!**

Ahhh, my own room with my new son. It felt great to hold him, and I was so glad to be done with the whole C-Section thing!

Our first picture as a family of FOUR!!! One of the best moments of my life!

Elli and Daddy loving on "Baby Micah"...it's what E STILL calls him :)

Sweet Boy

Nana getting some sugar from her grandson!

Little Snugglebug

M in his "Going Home" outfit...love it!

Heading Home

My 2 precious blessings. I am so very, very thankful.

Final Stretch

It's been forever since I've blogged! It's easy to blame our cute little toddler, or the fact that I'm exhausted...but really, I just sometimes feel like I don't have much to say. Our lives have settled into a pretty normal routine, and while there are definitely days that are out of the ordinary, most of the time it's pretty even keeled around here :)

My wonderful friend, Tara of TLohse Photography, did a photo shoot for us recently, and I think the pics turned out really lovely. We wanted to document E's 2nd birthday, my pregnancy, and get some family shots as well. Tara has a gift for capturing people's emotions, and when I look at the work she did for us, all I see is LOVE.

Nothing much to report on the pregnancy; however, after much consideration and prayer we have decided to go ahead and schedule a C-Section for early November. I didn't have Elli via C-Section, so this has been a totally new (and quite overwhelming) experience. There are many extenuating circumstances behind our decision, and we definitely feel like it's the right choice for our family...it's just that the unknown can be kind of scary sometimes.

We're also in the process of house-hunting. Exciting, right?! After extensively looking into the possibility of building, we've decided to switch gears and look for a house that is already complete. I think the process would go much more smoothly if we weren't so darn picky...oh, and if we could wrap our heads around housing prices out here! They are crazy! So, while we've found a few that we're really interested in, I'm not sure we'll be homeowners anytime soon. We'll just have to see what God has in store for us :)

I just can't get over this picture. Truly, I can't. I just love these two. And I can't wait to see our sweet little boy added to that mix of emotions!

My cup runneth over.

Discipline & Love

A friend of mine is having her third baby, and as a gift to her another friend is putting together an inspirational book full of quotes/stories/memories that she gathered from the women who know her. Four questions were sent out to a group of us to answer, and my favorite one was:

What do you love most about being a Mom??

This was my answer:

I love almost everything about being a mom (minus the sleepless nights for the first few months! Ha!). I love that God chose me (specifically) to be Elliana's mother. I love that when I look at her I see my husband and I's love for each other. I love that I get to explore with her, guide her & teach her about all of the wonderful things that God created. I love the snuggles, the laughs, the hugs and kisses, and the sweet way that she says "Amen". But in this season of discipline (she's nearly 2!), I also love watching as she learns life lessons about forgiveness & consequences. Delicate, heart matters. I love that I get to be the one who demonstrates those things to her...and that the Lord trusted me with that call.

I'm one of those people who just sits down and starts writing. And one who, most of the time, is surprised at how whatever it is that I write turns out in the end. This time was no different. I wrote from my heart, and I was honestly a little bit surprised about what came out. But it's the truth. This time, this season of motherhood, is hard. Chris and I have had many discussions about discipline, about how to deal with certain behavior, and about how we hope to steer Elli as she grows. We're not perfect, and neither is she (though her grandparents might disagree with me there!). She throws fits sometimes, she screams, she cries, I react, 2nd guess and sometimes regret the way I handled the situation. But each and every night I pray that the Lord guides me to do the "right" thing during those times. I pray that I'll have a mere second of clarity amidst the chaos and be able to truly see my precious little girl who can't yet explain/communicate correctly yet, and make the decision that best teaches/disciplines her in that moment.

But the crazy thing, the thing I wouldn't have expected from her at such a young age, is that she honestly seems to thrive when we discipline her. Maybe "thrive" isn't the right word. What I mean is that she looks in our eyes when we firmly explain why her choices were wrong/bad/hurtful. She wants to give us a hug and a kiss before we put her back down on the ground (we usually have her in our lap when we're talking to her about fits/tantrums/etc). She wants to know that we forgive her, that we love her, that no matter what she does...nothing will ever change those things. Such an amazing parallel to what (I think) adults want to feel/know. Even though she will continue to make bad choices sometimes, I am starting to see the wheels turning in her head when she's faced with a decision. "Should I run away and laugh when Mommy is calling for me?" or "Should I come when I'm called?" or "This oven looks really fun...maybe I should play with the handle just one more time!". Of course I know she won't always pick the better option, but I can see her growing, learning, analyzing her options now. And it makes me so happy, fills me with such joy, that I'm the one who gets to watch such an important transition in her life! And the responsibility of that has been pretty cool for me as well. I don't think I lose it NEARLY as often as I used to (hmmm...don't ask my husband about that one though! Ha!), and I'm learning that some things really are small potatoes when compared to the big picture. Ummm, that's HUGE for me :)

How about y'all? What's your favorite thing about motherhood? How do you feel about discipline? Has it been a struggle, or pretty easy going? How do your children react? I think sometimes it depends on age, too. Well, all the time really! E is almost 2, but I've heard 3's are pretty rough! I might be singing a different song this time next year! Heehee!! But I'd love to hear some of your thoughts...it's always great to get different perspectives!

Pregnancy Update

So...here are the pics :) I probably should have asked Chris to take them b/c I just look awkward with the camera/phone!! I think I look bigger in week 24, but I guess it's the shirt. Weird!

24 Weeks Pregnant

25 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 26 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss: 8 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes, definitely!

Sleep: Pretty good. I've been waking up a lot more lately though.

Best moment this week: Getting the nursery bedding!! So fun :)

Movement: Lots of kicking and moving!

Food cravings: Sugar and Asian Food...weird!

Gender: BOY!!!!!!!! So excited :)

Labor Signs: None

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach and cold ham sandwiches.

What I am looking forward to this week: Nothing really baby-wise this week.

Weekly Wisdom: I think I need to revisit my previous Tums investment :)

22 Weeks and Counting

This little baby is rockin' and rollin', so I thought I'd give y'all a little update :) I really wish I had a picture of myself...but not enough to go in the bathroom and take one! I'll see what I can do this weekend. Poor 2nd child, we already don't have as many pictures as we did the 1st go 'round!

How far along? 22 weeks...new due date is early November!

Total weight gain/loss: 5 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yep! And I have to share what happened the other day when trying on a bathing suit at Motherhood Maternity! So, I was dreading purchasing said suit (for obvious reasons!), but when I put it on I thought to myself, "wow, my belly doesn't look half bad....but what the heck happened to my legs?!!" Needless to say, I gained a little insight into why my pants have been a little bit tight lately! My 1st baby was all belly...my 2nd seems to want to "spread the wealth" of weight gain a little lower!

Sleep: Still pretty good, thankfully!

Best moment this week: Rocking Elli one night, and feeling the baby kick at the same time. So fun!

Movement: Some kicking, but mostly a rolling feeling.

Food cravings: Sugar!!!

Gender: BOY!!!!!!!! So excited :)

Labor Signs: None

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach...and a glass of wine sounds really good at the end of a long day!

What I am looking forward to this week: Celebrating the 4th!!

Weekly Wisdom: Elli is going to be the greatest big sister ever!! I can't wait to see my two babies together :)

Summertime

I forgot how hot it is in NC. Add pregnancy to the heat and humidity, and it's almost more than I can take! Poor Elli, her favorite thing to do is play with bubbles outside and it takes just about all the energy I can muster to sit out there and watch her in the afternoons. Whew!! It sure puts England weather into perspective...maybe it wasn't so bad living over there after all :)

Chris is just trucking along in his training. **That's him on the left!** He's flying now, so he's happy. He's pretty easy to please that way :) We'll find out sometime in September where we're heading next. We only have 3 options (and one is back to England!!), but the hard part is narrowing down where the best place for our family is going to be. Right now, we're really struggling with that decision. There are deployments to think about, and a brand-new baby coming along about 5 weeks before we will be scheduled to move. Not the greatest timing, but I know in my heart that it will all work out in the end. It's just getting to that point that is hard!

Elli is doing great as well. She's at such a fun stage, and it's exciting to watch her learn and grow so quickly these days. She's finally starting to put words together. I think she was a little delayed in that area, but she's definitely making up for it now. She loves her baby dolls, and wants to rock them, feed them & change their clothes constantly. I'm thrilled b/c she's so sweet and gentle with them, and I'm really hoping that it's a little window into how she will be when we bring home the new baby. We're also working on the alphabet, which has really been quite comical. Every word she sees is "ABC". Every letter you show her is "ABC". A toothbrush is "ABC" (b/c we sing the alphabet song when we brush our teeth). Funny!! Needless to say, we're a ways off from knowing our letters! Ha!

She's still a big fan of the water, and we try to go the Spray Park in our area at least once a week. In fact, she loves it so much that we're going to do her birthday party there! I think she'll have a blast! And we're heading to the beach to spend July 4th with my family, so she'll have plenty of fun in the sun over the next few weeks!

As for me, I think I'm really starting to settle in here in North Carolina. Sometimes it takes awhile to really get acclimated to a place, and though we've been here before I think I struggled more than I thought I would. But we finally found a church that we really like, I started volunteering again, and we've been blessed with great friends who have helped along the way. I'm in a good place now, and I'm anxious to meet our new little bundle...a BOY, by the way!!

WooHOO!!!!!!!!