As Told by Mimi....

My mom has spent a lot of time with us since Anabelle's birth and has been an incredible help for both Mike and me doing all sorts of things around our house and yard so we can spend time with our baby girl. She also spoiled me terribly, and now I don't know what to do without my coffee and breakfast served to me in the morning while I feed Anabelle!



She also has become Anabelle's personal photographer, going home with at least 100 pictures each time she sees her. This is my favorite series of photos (and commentary) by Mimi!

"Where is my Mimi?"

"Looking..."

"There she is!"

First Week of Firsts! (part 2)

Look how LONG I am!
Mimi spoiled me lots and lots. She also spoiled mommy & daddy by doing laundry, cleaning, gardening, making food, loving us and mowing our yard twice!Papa also spoils me lots. I love to curl up on his chest and sleep!

My first swing ride. I love it! Especially after a day full of visitors. I like my quiet time.

My first visit with Auntie Rachie.

My first bath... I screamed the whole time! But my second bath was much better. I just need to be warm!

My daddy loves me lots.

My mommy loves me lots, too!

My first day by the pool. It was a tough one.

I love to nap with daddy.

My first visit with Grandpa Ron & Grandma Lisa.

This is one of mommy's favorites of me and daddy.

My First Week of Firsts!

Anabelle is 10 days old today! It's unbelievable how blessed we feel by her. She is absolutely amazing. We are overwhelmed by how much we adore her and how deeply we love her - even from the second she was born. God has blessed us richly with this sweet girl, and we praise Him daily for her!

It's been a very busy first ten days with lots and lots of visitors. We are now getting to some normalcy with just the three of us and are loving it. Anabelle eats and sleeps like a champ. Mike gets up with her in the middle of the night to change her while I get ready to feed. I've been able to get plenty of sleep and have enjoyed every second I'm awake with her. Tuesday was Mike's first day back to work, which was tough on all of us. Fortunately, it's a short week, and we can't wait to spend every minute together this weekend!

Our new favorite activity is sitting and staring at our baby girl. There is nothing more special than realizing what a miracle she is. Enjoy her week of firsts (part 1 and part 2).



---------from Anabelle's perspective:




My first photo! I was so alert and content for hours after being born. I am so glad to be out in the world. It was getting tight in mommy's tummy.
My first family photo. Mommy & daddy were SO excited to see me! I was excited to see them, too.
First time meeting Mimi & Papa. They look so proud!

First time meeting Grandma Mack. She came a long way to see me!
My first birthday party! Daddy and mommy sang to me. Don't tell the doctors, but they even lit a birthday candle.

First time meeting Auntie Abby. She waited all night and had to come back Tuesday to meet me.

My mommy & daddy just adore me!

My first car ride - home from the hospital.

My first trip to Jimmy John's! We went there before we went home. My mommy was so excited to have lunch meat and to introduce me to her favorite restaurant.

To be continued......

Love from Anabelle

I'm working on a post of our first week with our sweet, wonderful girl. But in the mean time, enjoy one of my favorite shots from our "photo shoot" this morning!
p.s. We are desperately in love with her! God's work is INCREDIBLE!!

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!

Anabelle Elizabeth Mack
May 18, 2009
11:23 PM
9lbs 6oz
23 inches long

She's wonderful, beautiful, content as can be and a big girl!!!

We are doing great... a little tired, of course, but we love this little baby girl! Can't wait for you to meet her!!

Waiting on Anabelle....

16 hours in....

I started contracting overnight, so they removed the Cervadil early morning and continued monitoring. At 8 I showered and got cleaned up. Then I ate from the hearty breakfast buffet of ice chips and suckers:
They started me on pitocin at 9AM to get contractions going more seriously. My mom showed up about then to spend the day with us, too.

She also became my hair stylist for the day since I'm strapped to a bed. Thank God for that!

And then there's this guy-- who's been so supportive and helpful through it all. He's been wonderful through it all and is SO excited to be a daddy!

About one more hour until they'll check to see how dilated I am and hopefully break my water and start the epidural. Stay tuned....

On our way!

It's 6:30. Just called the hospital. We are leaving in 45 minutes to go start me on Cervadil. HOLY CRAP!!! :)

It's been a wonderful and very Mike & Biz-like day.

7:00 AM - Wide awake. Lay in bed and talk about how life will be changing.
8:00 AM - Alarm goes off, start getting ready.
9:00 AM - Cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs and coffee for our last breakfast for 2.
11:00 AM - Church with my parents and Abby.
12:30 PM - Lunch at El Rodeo with the fam.
2:00 PM - Beer (and lemonade for momma) at the Rathskellar with friends. (Happy Birthday, Dan Sweet!)
4:00 PM - Home to wrap up things at the house.
5:00 PM - Ritter's Frozen Custard for Snickers and Oreo Glaciers.
6:00 PM - Dinner, pot flowers, tie up loose ends, watch SNL from last night, get EXCITED!!!

And we're out the door! Your prayers are appreciated. We'll keep you posted.

Baby Update

We went to the doctor today... I haven't progressed since our last appointment so we had to make a decision on when to induce. My belly was measuring small, which is probably because she's dropped so much, but they decided to do an ultrasound. We got to see our sweet girl on the inside one more time, and she's doing wonderfully! Based on measurements, they estimated her to be 8.5 lbs. Yikes! After learning that, we opted to not wait another the almost 2 weeks that they gave us as option 2. Instead, we went with option one to induce on MONDAY!

Mike and I will go in on Sunday to the hospital, and I'll get Cervadil. We'll hang out, probably watch movies and rest Sunday night. Monday morning they plan to start me on Pitocin and get this party started. I'm a bit nervous about being induced because everything we've learned says it can make for a longer and harder labor. Your prayers would be appreciated! Otherwise, we are thrilled to have Anabelle arriving as planned, and it's so nice to actually plan on a date and time.

We made lots of calls and text announcements about it today. Unfortunately, my sister Rachel can't be home because of finals, and Mike's dad will be out of state next week. But the most important thing is that Anabelle arrives safely and in good health!

Maternity Photos

My dear, sweet, wonderful friend, Kristin, and her husband came to visit three weeks ago with their daughter, Annika. She is an amazing photographer and generously took maternity photos for us. It was a really fun weekend to catch up with them after not having seen them for a year, and it was so special to have the photos done! Here are just a few of my favorites...

Anabelle's Nursery

The waiting is over!! We finally have our furniture for the nursery! So I can finally post finished pictures. YAYYYY If you didn't know already, one of my coworkers, Ken, graciously offered to build a custom crib for us. As if that weren't enough, he also took our junky dresser and refinished it to match the crib. AND to top it off, the photographer I work with at work donated cherry wood that has been drying for 3 years to use for the crib. Unbelievable! God has been so generous with us!

Speaking of generosity, another vendor I work with does large wall decals as a tiny portion of their business. Mike and I designed wall art for Anabelle, whose name means "Graceful Beauty." When I asked them to quote me on it, they said it'd be their baby gift to us!

Enjoy the first glimpses of sweet Anabelle's nursery. We haven't finished the last wall, but it will happen soon.

The crib and finished dresser, along with the wall decal and mirrors!

Here are the wonderful Crockers who made Anabelle's crib a labor of love. They even made sure not to get frustrated at eachother when working on it so it was infused with only sweetness and love!

We cannot WAIT to have our sweet girl in her bed.