Colton's Arrival

Colton Robert Gift arrived Saturday December 13th at 8:59pm weighing 7 pounds and 19 1/4 inches long. I had contractions most of the day Friday and my water broke about midnight Friday night so it was a long labor and much more challenging than I anticipated but sooo worth it when I got to meet our little guy. Bobby was an incredible coach through the labor and delivery and is so proud of and in love with Colton. It's been really fun to watch. Colton spent 5 days in the NICU which was hard to not have him with us but the hospital let us stay for free after I was discharged so we could be with him and work on breastfeeding which was a challenge as he had to be under th billiruben lights as much as possible. We are home and doing well now, made it through Christmas without everyone thinking I'm a completely overprotective mom, but I didn't let everyone hold him at Christmas gatherings because I don't want him to get sick and then Bobby and I ended up with the stomach flu the week of Christmas. Colton is doing well though, he is very sweet, pretty laid back and soothes himself most of the time but he has a fiesty temper when it comes to eating. He wants it immediately and is not always patient enough to nurse, but we're working on this. As soon as he gets to eat he's happy and laid back again. Bobby and I, mostly me, are trying to adjust to very little sleep but I love my time just snuggling with Colton and bonding. It is an amazing feeling that he is ours. We have alreay taken more than 200 pictures so here are just a few:)

Mr. and Mrs. Gift

Well we finally did it! Bobby proposed two weeks ago and we got married on Friday! It was a very simple ceremony but very nice, we had two of our friends and my sister come with us and we'll plan a bigger ceremony/reception next year for all of our friends and family to come celebrate with us. In some ways it seems strange to change my name, I've had it a really long time but I'm so excited to have his name and the same name as Colton.

I'm 35 weeks today so we only have two weeks until we're full term! Amazing! I feel like we still have lots to do to be ready but I'm not sure everything can ever be completely done. My poor kitty had to have surger this week but is finally home and recovering. He has to wear one of those plastic cones on his head and has a respiratory infection also so he sounds and looks pathetic but I think he's glad to be home. I'm relieved to have him home and hope his recovery continues to go smoothly.

Baby Shower

It seems very surreal to be having a baby shower for me and my baby but the time is here and I had so much fun thanks to my dear friends Sandy and Jenni for hosting. It was so good to see my friends and celebrate our little guy coming soon. And almost all of them are mommies already so I got lots of good advice and stories. Next weekend is our family shower and then there will be one at my office and at school! That's a lot of showering! We feel so blessed to have the support system we do and that so many people are as excited about Colton's arrival as we are! It was fun to bring everything home and show Bobby and plan for the fun moments of using it. Bobby is excited about the Johnny Jump Up and the onesies with "Gone Fishin" and cars and trucks on it, it must be a guy thing!

3rd Trimester!

I haven't done as much posting here lately because I've been using my Totsite alot. But we are very excited that I'm now in the 3rd trimester and only have 90 days left until Colton's due date! Exciting but crazy! I'm so excited to meet him but trying to remind myself that life is going to change alot and focus on enjoying my time with just Bobby and I and sleeping, which isn't as good as it used to be with hip pain and having to pee every 2 hours but atleast I can go back to sleep or take a nap which I'm guessing will be much more challenging once he's here! If anyone wants to check out our totsite it is http://totsites.com/tot/babygift

Updates

I haven't done so well at keeping up lately. I read everyone else's blogs but feel like I can't keep up with my life. I don't know how you mom's do pregnancy with a toddler! It's all I can do to make it through work, cook, grocery shop, do laundry and sleep and I didn't get enought of that this week. Tandy made me laugh at not having a DVR but I sympothize, ours broke a couple weeks ago and so we lost all of what we'd taped. They said they were sending us a new one and then a week later when I called they didn't have any record of me calling before, great! They did finally send us a new one and we got it hooked up last night, just in time for new shows, I'm very excited!

I'm feeling the strong desire to get my house cleaned, organized and ready for baby but not the energy to do it and I suddenly have no fun lower back and hip pain which really doesn't encourage all the stuff I need to do around here!

Today I got my hair cut and had lunch with my dad and now I think I'm ready for a nap, maybe then I'll get some stuff done around the house:)

Our Boy

We had an ultrasound this week to do measurements they weren't able to get at the last ultrasound and got a good profile shot of our little guy. This is the first time I've been able to see sort of what he looks like. The others he was always facing the picture and looked more like a skeleton. Not that it was in question after the first ultrasound or the amnio results but he hadn't gien us a good definitive picture of his boy parts, but this time he was not shy so we got good visual confirmation! I'm starting to feel movement, which is exciting and enjoying that the nasuea has gone away most days. I'm 21 weeks today and it's starting to be a realization that we have a lot to do to get ready for this little one in 4 short months!

Minneapolis

I've been back a couple of weeks now, but hadn't posted about my trip to Minneapolis with my Creative Memories buddies. 6 of us rented an Expedition and drove to Minneapolis for a 4 day Creative Memories Convention. It was lots of fun as it always is but I had to take a few naps this year to keep up with all of the festivities. Our team mascot is Tigger so he led the way from the dashboard and one evening during the trade show we dressed in our "Tigger Gear". This year CM announced that Make A Wish is going to be our charity we support and they had a family with the most sad yet uplifting story, we were all in tears! It's the amazing stories of helping people save or share their memories, sometimes in heartbreaking moments that continues to inspire me in my business. The decorations and stickers can be fun, sure, but it's telling our stories and showing people what a difference they make in our lives that is priceless.