be still

Monday, May 30, 2011

Month by Month

At my sister's suggestion I've been taking a picture of Camry on each month-a-versary to show her growth. Her much loved Manni Bear joins her in the picture, and you can see she's quickly surpassed him in size! I decided to adorn Camry in her diaper only to show off the impressive belly she's worked so hard on, and I put her on a different blanket each month for some variety.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Skills of a 3 Month Old

Here is a video of the most recent trick Camry has learned. She has changed so much in the last month. She is now batting at objects, reaching for toys and holding onto them, smiling and babbling all the time, rolling over with ease, and now imitating us in our wild attempts to entertain her. We are so in love!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Camry's Arrival

Captured recently by the beauty and awe of my daughter, I suddenly find myself in April with a 6 week old! Unbelievable. The weeks have absolutely flown by me. Here is my best attempt to chronicle this time through words and pictures, though they could never do it justice.

After great anticipation and excitement, February 25, 2011 marked the entrance of Camry Alys into the world. God answered all of our prayers for labor and delivery. Jon and I had such a great experience working as a team through labor. He was the best coach ever—never tiring even as hard as I tried to wear him out. I was pretty demanding.

We went to the hospital the night of the 24th to begin induction. We thought we would get a good night's sleep before they started the serious drug (Pitocin) in the morning, but that wasn’t the case. Labor began around 2 in the morning and progressed quickly enough I never needed the Pitocin. I promptly woke up Jon at 3 when I didn’t think I could manage contractions on my own, and he got to work with putting counter pressure on my lower back (I had back labor), applying cold wash cloths to my forehead while applying heating pads to my lower back, feeding me ice chips inbetween every contraction, and applying Vaseline to my lips nearly as often. I had packed him some good nutritious snacks (like Skittles, and a Twix), and he didn’t even have time to eat them. The poor guy barely made it to the bathroom before I was calling him back to my side for something. Like I said I was pretty demanding (rightfully so in my opinion), but he never complained, and he cared for me meticulously for the next 11 hours. After about 2 hours of pushing, Camry Alys was born at 1:31 pm. She was 7 lbs. 10 oz., 21” long, and stunning! The most memorable moment for me was when Jon announced “It’s a girl,” then he looked me in the eyes and said, “We have a baby girl!” I will always remember the sound of his voice, the look in his eyes, and the feeling I got learning for the first time that I have a daughter.