Baby Hadley

We are loving having this baby girl in our home.

She has a Name!...

We have had a hard time making up our minds about naming this precious baby, but I think we have finally come to a decision.

Meet our little Hadley Caprice-

She looks so small when being held by her daddy.

I love her little lips.

So do they look like sisters?

Hadley


Cambri

I think they look like twins. At least in these pictures they do.

Our Newest Addition!!!

This is rather lengthy. For those who don't care about the details you can skip down to the pictures.

Our precious baby girl made her debut at 9:04am today. She weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz. and is 20 inches long. She is healthy as can be and has a great set of lungs on her. She also came with a nice head of dark hair!!! Lets hope it doesn't all fall out. She truly is perfect and we are so happy she is here.

Timing couldn't have been more perfect. Nate is still in the middle of doing all his crazy orthopedic rotations. He has been in Cleveland just an hour and 15 minutes away for the last month, but starts a new one in Columbus (2 hours) away on Monday. Even though he is only an hour away he still isn't able to come home at night so we only see him on the weekends when he isn't on call. I wanted so badly to have this baby in time to take her home for the weekend so we could spend some family time together. To add some stress to the situation Nate's car broke down Sunday morning on his way to work. I had to go pick him up and take him the rest of the way to the hospital and wait for him to round on his patients before we called AAA to come tow our car back to Sandusky. Since Nate has to have a car for work I was left without transportation for 4 days. Since we are 30 minutes from the hospital this was a cause for concern in the case I went into labor and Nate couldn't make it back in time to get me. Because of this I had decided maybe it was best to be induced Monday the 4th so that we could have a little control over the situation. After my appointment that morning I was scheduled to go in to the hospital that night at 8:30pm. I had a slight breakdown as the reality hit me that I was having a baby that day and my days of one-on-one time with Cambri would be coming to an end. Once I had my moment of tears I decided I was ready and okay with my decision. That was until my induction was canceled due to an understaffed hospital. I was then rescheduled for the following evening...that fell through and I was pushed til Friday morning at 7am. Honestly I didn't want to be induced at all but it was more important to me to have this baby in time to have her home for the weekend. With Nate being away from us for the last 3 months I just wanted some family time. So the thought of waiting until Friday morning sent me into another breakdown. If this was the case we wouldn't get to go home until Sunday morning at the earliest.

Long story short...prayers were answered and baby came all on her own when my water broke at 2:30am today (Thursday, just one day past my due date. Better than the 4 days I went over with Cam).

I called Nate so he could start making the trek back from Cleveland to pick me up so we could make the trip to the hospital together. Contractions hadn't started yet so I took a shower and cleaned up a few dirty dishes while I waited for him.

We got to the hospital around 4 or 4:30am. At this point the contractions were getting more painful but I was still okay. My labor with Cams was 17 hours from the time my water broke so I was expecting a long day. Fortunately things couldn't have gone smoother or more perfectly. By 6:15am I was ready for the drugs. I had a few contractions that pretty much made me lose control and I knew at that point I wasn't going to go natural. I am not tough enough and honestly I am okay with that. I love me some good drugs that is for sure. It also didn't help that I was barfing like crazy. Nate was amazing at coaching me but I know he was glad I chose to get the drugs.

I got the epidural around 7:15am and baby was here by 9:04am. I couldn't believe how fast things were going. When the doc came in and said it was time to push Nate and I were shocked. I pushed about 4 times and she was here. I can't complain about a 6 1/2 hour labor from start to finish.

I love everything about the way this labor and delivery went.

I can't believe I am so lucky to be the mom of two very beautiful and amazing little girls.

I am very overwhelmed with gratitude for the many blessings that my family has been given over the last few months. It has been challenging indeed to have Nate so far away, but we have been watched over and taken care of. Even though my faith has wavered often, I know that my Heavenly Father has listened to and answered many of my prayers.

Enjoy the pics. I hope to get some more up soon.

Here is my belly in all its glory. (Chels this is for you). This was taken just 3 days before I went into labor.

My precious babies. Lets hope Nate can handle all these girls!

I don't know why this picture is turned sideways but check out that hair!!! At first I didn't think she looked much like Cam but now I see a lot of resemblance.

Cam runs from cameras so this is the best we could do.

Our little family

So far Cambri has done well with the baby. I think it helps that baby sister had a present waiting for her at the hospital when she and Grandma Rencher arrived.

More pictures to come...

Patiently Waiting...

I have been without a computer for the last month so I am out of touch with the blogging world. I am also too lazy to post anything too exciting so I will just give you a quick update. Hopefully the next update comes complete with new baby pics.

I am finally down to the last few days of this pregnancy. For the most part I really do feel good, although if I don't take a nap when Cambri does I usually turn into an emotional mess and a lazy lump on a log. I think the guilt I feel for being a lazy momma is the hardest part to deal with. Being a single momma through this process has been a challenge as well. I truly have a greater appreciation for everything Nate does to help me out at home. Even if it is just for a few hours a day, having a dad and husband in the home makes the biggest difference. Both Cambri and I are anxious to have him home for good the first part of November.

Thankfully family will arrive this Saturday. Nate's mom will be here Saturday and staying for 2 weeks. And then my parents will come for a week. We are so very excited to see all of them. As much as I want to have this baby any moment (please) we hope she stays put until this weekend. After that I will be doing anything and everything to coax her out.

I have officially been told I look like I am ready to pop at any moment so I will not be posting any pics. I do know that I am huge but I still don't understand why perfect strangers feel the need to say such things. One day I will be tough enough to return those comments with a sassy remark.

We shall keep in touch!

Perfect Weekend

It really has been the perfect weekend. Nate had the weekend plus Labor Day off so he was able to drive home to see us. We have played hard and rested even more. We even had some fun playing a round of golf. Turns out I am not a good golfer with our without a big pregnant belly.

I have truly enjoyed having Nate home. It is amazing how much better life is when he is around. Both Cambri and I need him. It is nice to be able to play off of his energy since mine is almost non-exsistent lately. (I am turning into a big blob who has to pee all of the time.) The single mom life is one I hope I never have to experience for real. It does make me nervous to face the next few years. From the sounds of it, this year is just a taste of what is to come during the first few years of residency.

Life might be kind of crazy right now, but we are very blessed in so many ways. This summer has been proof that the Lord is aware of each of us and will provide strength beyond our own.

Speaking of blessings...

I love my little girl. She has turned into a full blown 2 year old and daily we experience many highs and lows. It keeps us both on our toes, but it also keeps me very entertained. The other day I was having a conversation with nate over the phone. I was crying and Cam kept giving me hugs and kisses telling me "its okay momma, Cambri make you so happy".

Anytime Cam wants a treat she will say, "Treat momma, it make my belly so happy!" And yesterday after telling her she couldn't get her baby stroller out she looked at me and said, "take baby on a walk and make her so happy!" It is hard to say no to these kinds of requests.

Sometimes I wish I had her life.

I have definitely had some nesting instincts kick in. If I actually accomplish any of my projects I will show a post of what I have been doing to keep me busy when the Cam Bam is sleeping.

Lots of Updates and Pictures...

First things first, we survived our LONG 5 weeks away from eachother!!! We still have many more lonely weeks but at least our little family gets to spend the weekend together. Yesterday Cambri and I drove to York, PA (a little 6 hour drive from Sandusky) to see Nate. Cams was so excited to see her daddy and has been loving every minute. I of course am loving my time with him too. Our time away has definitely renewed my appreciation and love for him. Luckily in 3 more weeks he will be moving to a rotation site that is only an hour away from us.

Last week my cousin took some pictures for me to document this pregnancy and get a few shots of Cams. She did a fantastic job and I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out. Thanks Misha! If you want her contact info let me know.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Now for our summer update in no particular order:

(basically it is a tribute to Cambri who has been my permanent shadow for the last month)

Nate's Bday was last month. We didn't really get to do much celebrating since it was the day he took step 2 of his Boards and then drove 10 hours thru the night by himself back to Ohio. The poor kid forgot it was his birthday so when he checked his phone on his lunch break during the test and saw that everyone in his family had called he thought for sure something bad had happened. We hope to make up for this lame bday when he is done with his cray schedule. I did get a chance to make him a cake. I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself:)-


It has no meaning behind it. It just looked like a fun cake to make. Happy late Birthday to Nate!

I have been on a sewing kick lately and was able to sneak in making a cute skirt for Cams while at home. Here is a nice rear view for you since she runs from cameras evertime I pull one out.

My little thief trying to sneak a sucker from the gas station. We were picking up Subway for lunch and while we were waiting I found her inching ever so slowly to the candy isle. She kept telling me to stay put and that she would be "right back momma". Little devil:). She loves treats way more than she should.

The day finally came to give Cambri her first real haircut.

I was sad to see her curls go (especially since it took so long to grow them) but she was growing a mullet and I promised myself I wouldn't do that to her long before she had hair. It took lots of Dora fruit snack and cartoons to hold still. She can be such a little stink bug:)

Once I made the first few snips I realized how cute it was going to be and I was happy to see the mullet go.

Here are my attempts at trying...

(I snuck this one right before she closed the pantry door on me)
and trying...

and trying...

and trying.....

to get a decent front view of the new 'do'.

Here is a picture taken of Cams back in September of last year.

She may not have been blessed with a full head of hair but she sure has come a long way in the last year.

This one is for my sis-in-law. Her little guy Spencer is probably one of the best babies I have ever known. He put up with lots of love/torture from Cambri. He smiles at you every time you look at him and it makes you want to attack him with hugs and kisses.

I just thought this one was cute. After creating her artwork she was more than happy to pose for this picture.

Just another attempt to take a picture of the little stink. This was before the haircut. You can kind of see the mullet.

Both Grandmas fed this little girl's new found Dora obbession. Dora dolls, bags, books, treats, movies....Dora is her new best friend.

Cambri has a new phrase that she uses ALL the the time, "no, Cambri do it". Here she is washing her own dishes. And yes we hang out in our underwear a lot at our house:)

How could I resist this cute little lady bug. I am super excited about dressing up for Halloween this year.

Obviously this little one has been the star of the show for the last 2 years. I sure hope she is ready to share the spot light. Ready or not the time is nearing. We are down to the last 7 weeks...CRAZY! I am getting anxious but at the same time loving the time I have had one on one with my Cam. I have my days when I feel sad that those days are numbered, but I know baby sister will be a blessing and I can't wait to meet her.

One last picture...

This is one of the things I miss most about Iowa (besides all my fantastic friends). I don't think these exsist in Utah because they would apply to 90% of the population. And unfortunately I haven't see them in Ohio either. But I took advantage of them during our week in Des Moines.

The blogging will be scarce over the next few months since Nate has our only computer with him, but I promise to keep you updated when baby #2 makes her appearance.

If you made it to the end of this long entry you are a good friend:).

Checking In...

Time to play a little catch up. I haven't had the ability to download any pics onto the computer and I don't really like blogging with them so instead I just chose not to blog at all. I still don't have most of my pictures but here are a few that Nate's brother and his wife snapped of Cambri. They don't really have a lot to do with anything I am blogging about, but they make the post so much cuter:)

Cambri will never look at the Camera when I am taking the picture so I was happy to get these few shots of her being cute.

I love my brown-eyed beauty.


It has now been almost 4 weeks since we have seen Nate. Up to this point we had never done more than a week apart so this has been challenging. Especially because we only get to talk on the phone for about 5 minutes a day. Poor Nate has been slaving away working from 4:30am-8 or 9:00pm, and then usually has to study for a bit. Not sure what next month will bring but I hope it isn't this intense. I don't really understand the point of making the students work that long, with such a little sleep, but I guess when you are the grunt you do what you are told.

I feel guilty that he has to work so hard. After all of this I really think he/we:) deserve a graduation celebration next Spring.

I have lots of things to blog about like Nate's really cool birthday cake and Cambri's new haircut but I want to wait for pictures to do that so I will have to hold off for another week or so.