Lady Bug

I've been a little busy with Cecilia, sorry for any anxiety caused by no blog post.

She has totally stolen my heart, and her Daddy has already admitted that he is in big trouble. We can't get over how much we love her. She is almost a week new now. My labor was very long, 41 hours, and my body was fighting the contractions the entire time. After 34 hours, I was only dilated to a 5, and I was so exhausted that I was falling dead asleep between 1 minuet apart, very intense contractions. My midwife was great and very supportive of my determination to have a natural birth, but at this point she was encouraging me to consider an Epidural to allow my body to relax, and so that I could rest before pushing. I reluctantly gave in, knowing that even if I dilated to a 10 in the next hour, I didn't have the strength to push. By 10:49 PM it was time to push, and after only 20 minuets, Jon proudly announced "Its a Girl!"

We took Cecilia to her first doctors appointment yesterday. The diagnoses: She is perfect. She is nursing well, and will start to gain some weight back this week.

Here are a few photos, there are many photos on Picasa.

The Lady Bug Story
Through out my pregnancy I've said that if the baby was a girl, she would be my Lady Bug. We have also seen lady bugs in strange places: My mom found a herd of Lady Bugs at her house in the mountains not too long ago. We found a lady bug on the side of our car after taking the maternity pictures a few weeks ago, etc. When we got home from the hospital on Friday, Jon helped me out of the car in the back seat, and he said "BETH! LOOK!" I turned around and right on the seat where I was sitting next to Cecilia was a Lady Bug. Cecilia is definitely my Lady Bug. Do you see the Lady Bug on the seat?

Bath Time

Meeting Uncle Pat via Skype

Small Fry is a GIRL

Welcome to a very special addition of Blogging Beth brought to you by Blogging Jon; that’s right Jon is writing this entry! We are proud to introduce the world to our daughter Cecilia Kathryn Fries. She is a beautiful 20¼ inch, 6 lbs 13 oz baby girl, born at 11:09 pm on the 29th. Mom is doing great! She has worked so hard in laboring, and her daughter and husband are so proud of her! Dad (me, OMG it’s weird to think I can now celebrate Father's Day!!!!), is doing awesome, for now who needs sleep? I am running on adrenaline and the excitement of my little girl. Here are some quick pics of our new bundle of joy; rest assured there will be plenty more in the coming days!!

Ready

I'm finally feeling ready. The nursery is complete, aside from a few shelves that could be put up. The car seats have been checked by the hospital to make sure that they are installed correctly. My bag is mostly packed. I feel huge and very tired. Jon and I are both ready to meet this little one! Could be any day now...

Last weekend we spent the morning with my grandparents, Ma & Pa. They came up and went to church and breakfast with us, and then Ma took some fun maternity photos of Jon and I down at the park. I'm thrilled with how they turned out. Here are a few of my favorites.

Pics from the Shower

Here are some pictures from the Baby Shower/ BBQ this weekend. It was so much fun!

Aunt Jenny and I

Mary, Me, Mom.
Mary drove in from Iowa and surprised us.
It was great to see her.

One of the many babies that were torn behind every one's backs.
Cutting the delicious cake!

WOW! So many generous gifts.
These were my Dad's baby shoes! So cute!
Who says baby showers aren't for men??
Jon was so excited about all of the baby stuff.
A USMMA onesie from my brother Pat and his fiancee.
Grandma Katy made a beautiful quilted wall hanging for the nursery.
It is going to complete the room. It is absolutely beautiful!

Very Thankful

We are almost ready for Small Fry to join our family. We bought our new (used) car on the 4th. It is the first time in over 3 years that we are a two car family. I love my new Pilot! We have already gotten full use of all the space in it. On Thursday, my co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower. It was so nice of them! We received our stroller and some of the crib bedding from them. It was so nice and generous, and I was very surprised. We had our big family baby shower this weekend and it was wonderful to celebrate with all of our family and close friends. A big "thank you!" to my Aunts, my Mom, and all who helped host the party. We received so many terrific gifts for the baby, and we were able to finish up all of our shopping on Sunday for the baby. We also picked up the crib from my Aunt and Uncle. My littlest cousin was very excited to give his bed up for Small Fry because he got a new race car bed. We are so thankful for all of the generosity, love and support that everyone has bestowed upon us. The little one will be here soon, and I am starting to feel ready.

It's a Bus, NOT a Miata!

The driver of the bus that I normally ride home seems to think that he can drive the large bus as if it were some kind of sports car. He accelerates around corners and curves to the point that people are clinging to the seats in front of them and holding on to their stuff so that it doesn't go flying across the bus and out the window. He will speed up to a string of stopped cars only to slam on the brakes and throw everyone out of their seats. Does he think this is fun?!?!?! It really is not fun, especially when you are 8+ months pregnant! If I wanted to go on a thrill ride, I would have gone to Elitches Amusement Park for the evening.

Less than a Month

We are getting down to the wire. There is still a lot to do, but we are ready now, if we had to be. We bought a little girl and a little boy outfit last weekend, along with some wipes. We should probably get some little diapers on hand, I'll add it to the list. Jon installed the car seat this week, he also took the entire car seat apart and read the manual cover to cover and then gave me a lesson. He is going to be such a great daddy. I am feeling pretty good. The attic fan has been a blessing to have, it does a great job cooling the house off at night. My ankles and feet are swollen, and my wedding ring doesn't fit anymore, but it is all temporary. We are going car shopping this weekend- this kid is getting really expensive! Last night we registered at the hospital, so we don't have so much paper work to do when we get there on the big day. I am feeling the strong need to "nest", I've made lists of chores for every room in the house, I hope to get some of them done this weekend.

Here are the two outfits we picked out. Any guesses??