Savoring....And getting ready...

I love being pregnant. Even in the heat. Even being huge. I just love it. Never do I feel so closely connected to Our Creator, as when I am pregnant. At night I climb into my bed and pull up my shirt so I can watch my sweet baby dance around in my belly. If I sit just right, she gets moving. Oh, I love her so already. She squirms and wiggles away whenever anyone tries to feel her move, especially her dad, with his big, heavy hands. He lays one across my belly as he falls asleep. The closer to sleep he gets, the heavier his hand becomes, and the more scooting this sweet baby does. This nightly ritual is one we have repeated with every single baby. It's his time to get to know his child a little, and for us to revel in this miracle...this gift that God has chosen to give us.

Kenzie and Liz went to Adoration late last night to pray for their grandmother. She is in the ICU at the hospital after recently undergoing a quadruple bypass surgery. Please keep her in your prayers, as she is not recovering as quickly as the doctors seem to think she should and her husband, one of my favorite people on earth, is getting very tired.

Anyway, my Kenzie brought this lovely prayer card home for me. It sums up exactly how I feel about pregnancy. I feel blessed and loved by my Creator. So, I am savoring what will most likely, and should be my last pregnancy. The doctor has made it abundantly clear that this is no longer a great idea, for me or for my babies. My own body has made that clear, as we have lost 6 sweet babies, who now wait for us and watch over us from heaven. This pregnancy has gone very, very well. I hate to worry about the other shoe dropping, and I try not to be anxious. The anxiety of earlier in the summer seems to be dropping away, of course just now getting into my groove and will have to change it all up again as school draws ever closer (NO!).

So being a planner and a list maker in the extreme (I don't really like surprises, especially the ones that come from being unplanned or ill prepared!), I have begun getting ready for this little girl. I of course have shopped, but not to an extreme extent. I have some things, and still need to get some things, but the most important thing is the list, yes? I have several lists, a To-Do, a To-Buy and a To-Aquire-One-Way-Or-Another. ha!
To-Do
1.Get out the car seat, clean it
2.Get out the downstairs bassinet, clean and paint it
3.Get bassinet bedding out, clean it
4.Get 1st round of baby clothes out, wash
5.Get baby swing out, clean it
6.Get crib and bedding out, clean both
7.Create/find a place to keep her stuff

To-Buy - Most fun list ever! And really almost as much fun as folding tiny clothes...
1.Barfies!
2.Socks - just a few
3.Newborn diapers
4.Blankets - just a very few
5.Bins or baskets for on my dresser to keep her tiny things in
6.Baby leg warmers, just because the whole onesie, leg warmer combo baby trend is KILLING ME with the cute!
7.Onesies - though, I need to recheck this because I keep buying more, thinking, "I need onesies!'
8.Yummy smelling baby bath and lotion
9.Dreft!


When Doug and I did our fun, "It's a Girl!" Gymboree happy dance, I earned $50 in Gymbucks, which I happily used today. One of my favorite purchases was a set of three matching 'Big Brother' t-shirts for my littlest guys to wear to the hospital to come meet their sister. They will love that, but I don't have anything for my other kids. We don't usually bother, as they are fairly used to having new siblings come along, but this time, I just want to celebrate. I want to welcome this baby girl, and be excited and have the kids be excited. I feel so blessed to be having her after we lost our little boys, that I just feel like celebrating a bit more than we usually do. Any suggestions for a 12 year old girl, an almost 10 year old boy and a couple of teenagers? The teenagers are going to be the godparents, so I kind of feel like my Kenzie would like some small charm with hers and the baby's birthstones? My 12 year old will share the same birthstone, so I may do something along those lines for her, too. Even the big girls have charm bracelets - it might be a nice way to commemorate the birth of what will probably be their youngest sibling, 22 and 21 years younger than they are! My boys are harder...maybe some goofy t-shirt will be best for them, too. Maybe something along the lines of "I don't do diapers" or "I am the brother, not the babysitter!" - Hey, I am open to suggestions and obviously need them!

To-Aquire-One Way-OrAnother  - Really just means borrowing back things I have leant out, or straight up borrowing from a sibling...
1.Probably some socks, blankets, onesies
2.Very cool Vera Bradley diaper bag that no one but me seems to like
3. JJ Cole Cuddle Me Car Seat cover
4.Whatever else I decide I MUST have  - one of the girls will have, I am sure - like a bassinet for upstairs -

So we are heading into the full swing of getting ready for a baby. I love being in the full swing of getting ready for a baby. I love folding the clothes and sniffing the Dreft and Baby Magic. I love packing the tiny things she will wear home from the hospital. What I don't love is knowing that it's almost over. This magical time is coming to and end. Yes, I know having her here will be amazing...there is NOTHING in the world I love more than a newborn. Flat out, no holds barred, nothing better in the world. Followed closely by toddlerhood. OOh, the sweet magic of toddlerhood! I love that, too. But, this cherished state of being pregnant, holding hands with God, is not something I take lightly, and am so thrilled to have this last time. I intend to savor every single second...

Sweet Priscilla Grace...

is a healthy baby girl! Thank the Sweet Lord. I was so scared to go in there today. Equal parts scared and excited, because I could feel her moving all around. The ultra sound tech, Katie, is the same tech who was with us when we found out about the twins. She felt so bad about that, and when I went in for a check up after it happened, she asked if she could give me a hug, and that she had not been able to stop thinking about us. She is truly a wonderful person, and I am so glad this little one is in her care! She was as thrilled to find our baby happily scooting around and healthy as we were. We feel immensely blessed. God is Good.

So, we are thrilled to introduce our sweet lil Priscilla Grace!

Priscilla is her dad's choice. I  pretty much hated it wasn't thrilled with it for a long time. Honestly, I am still working on it, but he has wanted that name for a long, long time. For a while I thought he was joking, and that as soon as I agreed he'd say - "Naw - I was just messin' with ya!" But when we found out we were having a baby I was so thrilled, I told him that if it turned out to be a girl, I would name her Priscilla. He is such a good guy, and he deserves a say, don't you think? I think I will probably call her "Gracie" or maybe Kenzie's suggestion of "Rissa". We are such a nicknaming family, she'll be 10 or 11 before she knows her real name anyway. Priscilla is also the name of a saint I have come to admire since studying the name. 

From Saints and Angels on Catholic.org

Aquila was a Jewish tentmaker. He and his wife Prisca or Priscilla were forced to leave Rome when Emperor Claudius forbade Jews to live there. They went to Corinth, where St. Paul lived with them during his stay there and may have converted them to Christianity. They accompanied Paul to Ephesus and remained there; Paul stayed with them on his third missionary journey. They then returned to Rome, where there house was also used as a church and then went back to Ephesus. They suffered martyrdom in Asia Minor, according to the Roman Martyrology but a tradition has them martyred in Rome. Their feast day is July 8th.

 

from Wikipedia

Priscilla and Aquila were a first century Christian missionary couple described in the New Testament and traditionally listed among the Seventy Disciples. They lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul, becoming his honored, much-loved friends and coworkers in Christ Jesus.^[1] Priscilla and Aquila are described in the New Testament as providing a presence that strengthened the early Jesus groups. Paul was generous in his recognition and acknowledgment of his indebtedness to them.^{[Rom. 16:3-4]} Their mutuality in ministry and their leadership can inspire members of church communities today to work together as teachers and preachers of the gospel.^[1]

And Grace - well, that's my contribution to her name. I think it is the perfect compliment to Priscilla. I am actually starting to love the whole thing.

So, we saw the best ultrasound we have ever seen - brand new machine - and saw all four chambers of the heart, her little brain, kidneys, bladder, all her measurements and she looks great. As a told a friend earlier, the fact that she is a girl is just icing on a really big, happy cake. We're just so thrilled she is healthy and growing well. 

I had been teasing Douglas that if the baby was a girl I was going to make him take me straight from the doctor's office to Gymboree and buy out the store. We have not had a girl in ELEVEN years! I needed to get started on her wardrobe, because you know, she's got to look fabulous when she bosses all these boys around. And so, we went. Doug didn't try to hold me back or give me a limit or anything. He got right in there, finding all the best stuff faster than I could! I was proud. When we met, he didn't even know there were clearance racks - now he was diving into Gymboree like a pro! This is out haul - pretty impressive, right? All clearance, as we were looking for mainly Fall and Winter items, so they were 60% off, plus I had a 20% off everything coupon, plus I got $50 in Gymbucks! Seriously, that was so much fun. 17 pieces, all between 0 and 12 months...I tend to mostly dress my babies in soft, comfy items and save real clothes for Church and pictures... the occasional get together. But my, oh my - they are all so sweet and fun. We bought everything we wanted, and the total was $112. I was pretty happy with that! 

We feel so blessed and thankful for this new little one. I continue to offer prayers of thanksgiving, and continue to beg for her protection and continued health and growth.  As for the kids, the girls are thrilled to have a wee baby sister, as are the little boys. The big boys are acting all aloof, but I know they will love her when she gets here, even if she isn't a boy!