4 Months

Baby Girl,

Four short months have gone by and every day is bitter-sweet. I love you more than words can express. You are turning into such a vibrant little girl.  You personality grows every minute and I love the person you are becoming.  You just learned how to blow bubbles with your own saliva .. a real talent I might add.  You've also learned to make the "Guh" sound.  I am proud of everything you learn. It's exciting to see you so anxious to use your hands! You stare at toys and you focus so hard on trying to use your hands to play with them and you are getting closer and closer each day. You just started raising your arms in the air  - it seems like you are actually learning how to use those crazy limbs that, up to this point, seemed to just be in the way!  Your father and I couldn't be more happy to have you in our home.  We have loved every minute of being your parents and we are so enormously blessed that you were sent to us.  We just had our first health scare as you came down with croup.  It broke our hearts to hear you cough so painfully and see you so miserable and for us to not be able to do anything to comfort you.  But we thank the Lord for your health.  There are many parent out there who are not so fortunate.  You are wonderful.  You are so special to me Nora Grace.  I am so thankful for the time we have to spend together everyday.  It may seem cliche, but I love to nurse you.  It is something that has always been important to me and it is very special for me.  I love how close it brings us and I love that you need me in such an important way.  I want to give you everything you ever need baby girl.  I always want to be here for you as your mother, your mentor, your friend, your biggest support.  I want you to always know that you can come to me with anything.  I will always be there for you and I will always love you you.  No natter what.

Goodness gracious! Mom needs to be better about posting. You're almost 7 weeks old now and growing so fast. you're really losing that newborn look and growing into a toddler face. Dad and I are trying so hard to get social smiles from you! .. You're kind of stubborn though.. But you do give us lots out sleepy smiles and they're more previous than gold!
This last week you had your first shower with dad and you loved out! Dad enjoys this time with you and now he takes every opportunity he can to steal you for shower time! I love to watch you two together. Your dad had such a way with you, it's beautiful really. I'm a blessed girl to have two amazing people in my life!
You are such a princess Nora Grace. We just enjoyed your first Halloween and I got to make your costume! It was so fun for me and i hope to make this a tradition!
Mom really wants to continue breastfeeding you but things have gotten kinda rocky. You seem to prefer a bottle and I think my supply is decreasing. I've tried to power pump and hopefully this will increase my supply. I don't wanna stop. Breastfeeding is important to me and I will feel slightly like I failed if I have to start supplementing now. I pray that things will get better and you and I can enjoy this bond for many more months to come.
I love you baby girl and I'm so blessed to have you. I've never once missed my old life. You make it real. You make our meaningful. You make it worth it.

Love always,
Mom

Baby girl, you hold my heart. I love you more than I knew was possible. You've given my life so much meaning. You bring so much joy to your dad and myself and we love being a family.

We took you last night to Dad's missionary reunion. We love to show you off. This is the second time I meet president and sister Evans, both times they have raved about your humble dad as a missionary. From their testimonies I know that your Dad was a missionary who gave 110%. I've always known that, but it's beautiful to hear their reassurance in realizing that they are still touched by his example and dedicated service 2 years later. Nora,I love your dad so much. I hope you always see the love we have for each other and how happy you too will be one day if you marry an obedient, service-oriented, compassionate, and caring young man. Our Father in Heaven could not have sent me a more perfect husband. And now luckily, we have a perfect daughter to share our joys and happiness with. Thank you for coming to us and making or lives complete. We love you Nora Grace.

Love,
Mom

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Baby Nora,

Your birthday finally came!  I can't put into words all of the emotions I felt on September 17th, 2012.  You are the most precious, heaven-sent angel I have ever met.  Your Daddy and I are so thrilled to have you here and we love you more than words can say.  My heart is so full of pure joy and pride whenever I look at you and remember that you are my little girl.  That Heavenly Father sent you to me and trusted me as your earth Mom.  Bringing you to this worls was such a surreal experience.  I felt like Superwoman in the delivery room.  And as soon as you arrived, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with love, pride, and satisfaction.  Labor and delivery was such a hard thing, but it was the most worthwhile day of my life.  In those moments my life immediately changed from selfish to selfless.  You were my new focus and my whole new life.  We're so blessed to have such a perfect angel in our family.  We love you Nora and we are so thankful you are here and healthy, but mostly, we are so happy that you are ours.  Everyone loves you and your spirit is already captivating.  I love spending my days with you and I love taking care of you.  Life is so good.  Thank you for your company.  You are completely worth the 9 months of sickness and pain and the changes to my body.  I love you sweet girl and I always will.

Love your Momma

 

The Last Stretch

Sweet Baby Girl, your due date is drawing near! We have 2.5 weeks left, but your Daddy and I are hoping that you come sooner.  I want as much time to recover as possible before we head to California for Uncle Chris' farewell. 

I am so glad to have your Daddy back.  Things have been so wonderful since he has been home.  We have always had such a strong relationship, but his 4 weeks away just made it even stronger.  I am so lucky to have him as a husband and you are going to be SO lucky to have him as a Daddy.  His Dad, Grandpa Boyd, gave him a blessing the other day and he was told that he would be a very helpful Daddy.  That makes me smile and thankful for such a willing, loving, and dedicated husband and Daddy.  I want you to know how important it is to marry somebody who houses these same characteristics one day. 

I love you so much, and I know it's only going to double when I finally get to meet you.  I can't believe we have been together for over 9 months now.  I feel so close to you spiritually.  My heart swells when I think about holding you for the first time and seeing your beautiful face.  Your Dad and I feel so blessed.  There are so many people who want to bring children to this earth but are unable.  We constantly thank our Heavenly Father for giving you to us.  It's such a beautiful miracle to have a daughter who is part of the both of us.  We are a true eternal family.  We are so excited to meet you Nora.  I can't wait to be your Mom and I hope that I do a good job.  I hope that you can be proud of me, I hope that your Dad will be proud of me as a wife and mother and I also hope that our Heavenly Father will be proud of me as your earthly mother.  I know that I will need his help every single day though, to be the kind of Mother that he would have me be. 

Things have been kind of hard for Mom the last few weeks.  I haven't slept well for weeks.  My body is tired and I don't have the energy to finish the chores around the house that I want to before you get here.  My legs are so swollen from retaining water and by the end of the day, I feel like an elephant.  You are sitting so low that my bladder is constantly being pressed on.  I have to go to the bathroom at least once every hour, and sometimes twice.  I get really sore and tired just from doing the easy things that I used to do everyday.  I've been having contractions every single day and they make me very sore from the tightness in my chest to the soreness in my pelvis.  My back is very tight from trying to hold you up and there are knots all up and down my spine.  These and many more reasons make me so very excited for you to come home with us.  You're getting so big now - big enough to sustain yourself outside the womb.  It's so surreal.  The moment I have been waiting for for the last 9 months is finally around the corner.  I am ecstatic.  I am also very nervous.  I am scared for the delivery.  Mommy has never had a very strong tolerance for pain, and I know that delivery is very painful.  I hope that things go smoothly and we bring you here healthy and strong.  I hope that I can recover easily and quickly and be able to do all the things with you right away that I have been dreaming about.  You mean the world to me and I can't wait to hold you, feed you and bond with you every minute of every day. 

Baby girl, I will see you so soon and I want you to know that I love you more than I have words to express.
Daddy and I cannot wait to hold your little head in the palm of our hands and call you by your name and kiss you over and over.  Daddy always talks about seeing your first yawn.  Make sure to give him a really cute yawn.  We will see you ever so soon.  Stay strong until the day that we meet you.

Love always and forever,
Mommy.

31 Weeks

Baby Girl,

I am surprised at how big you are getting.  Especially in the last week.  You seemed to have doubled in size! We are at 31 weeks currently and it's quickly coming to the end.  Your Daddy is currently away at Field Training for the Air Force ROTC.  He will be gone for a total of 4 weeks and we have no communication during those 4 weeks.  I miss your Daddy so much baby girl.  I certainly hope you marry someone as impressive and loving as your Father one day.  He is my biggest hero and the love of my life.  I am looking forward to the growth we will see from this experience.  And I am thankful for the time I have to spend with you alone.  This time apart from your Daddy has given You and I a chance to bond and I honestly feel closer to you because of it.  You've been so much more active and it's comforting knowing that you are healthy, active and moving around.  You're spirit has definitely manifested itself and I love it.  Your Daddy left a voicemail before he left for us to listen to.  I play it for you each night so that you can hear Daddy's voice and you always respond.  As soon as you hear Daddy talk, you start to kick and squirm.  I can tell you miss him too.  It excites you to hear your wonderful Daddy's voice.  And it should.  He'll be the greatest man you'll ever know.  I can't wait for you guys to meet.

Every little move you make is so profound.  I can see your head as it pushes against my belly.  I can feel your little arms and legs pressing out and manifesting against my skin.  You make me so happy Nora Grace.  I can't wait to be your Mom and I hope I remember to include the Lord in our relationship so that I can be guided to raise you and teach you all that I need to .  So that I will be patient at all times.  Even when it seems impossible.  I'll need your help and I know the Lord will help our whole family if we dedicate ourselves to him.

9 weeks to go princess and I am loving all the details of preparing for Motherhood.  I can't wait to meet you.  Send your Daddy some love at this time and keep me lots of company!  Keep up the acrobatics because I love the time we have together.

Love always and forever,
Mom

7 Months

It's crazy to think how far we've come since that day that I saw those two pink lines on that stick.  Many days of sickness have passed, many moments of joy.  Many tears, both of happiness and sadness.  Many doctor's visits, pictures, work days, and lazy Saturdays.  Many moments that begin to fade away, and a few we will never forget.  Literally, months have passed us by.  So much has happened to bring us to where we are today.  The truth is that pregnancy has been hard.  It's been hard on me physically.  Becoming so big isn't really something that anybody is comfortable with.  Even though I know it's for a good cause, it's still hard to see my body transform.  Thanks to your amazing Daddy, I don't doubt that he thinks I am still beautiful.  He loves the pregnant me.  But I still have a hard time accepting pregnant me.  Not only does my body look different, but it works differently than it did before there was a little ole' you in there.  I quickly learned that I wouldn't be able to workout during pregnancy.  Running was ruled out within the first trimester.  Exercise is such a good outlet and I haven't been able to take advantage of it for months.  Even walking has become a challenge for me these days.  I feel overly exerted from walking through the grocery store.  Tasks that used to be so simple are now challenging for me.  What happened to the old Jamie who had lots of energy and loved to cook for her sweet husband?  Who cleaned the house often and did crafts in her spare time?  I've been sick for months.  I've thrown up more times than I can count.  My back aches in places I never knew existed.  My feet burn all night every night.  And I cry all the time.  I feel helpless and slightly worthless at times.  This isn't the "Me" I want to be.  I can't do everything for myself and others that I used to be able to do.  I feel like a burden to your Dad, yet he has been nothing but kind and supportive through all the tears.  And you know what the truth is behind all this?  The truth is that I can't wait to be your Mom and I love you more than words can say.  I can't express the excitement and joy I feel to welcome you to our family.  I feel so blessed that the Lord has trusted me to be your mother.  I know that none of the crazy symptoms and setbacks could ever change the way I feel about you.  It may not have been the easiest journey, but it has always been worth it.  You are the prize princess, and I couldn't be more honored.  I hope one day that you too will make these small sacrifices to experience the joys of motherhood.  I know my love for you will only grow.  It is through these trials that I have grown to appreciate you and the bonds we've made.  I love you baby girl.  You've always been worth it.