Lilly is 3 Months Old...

(you are SO LONG that you have a blown snap in your onsie)

Lilly,

You are THREE months old today. Here's what you are up to...

• You still eat about every 3 to 4 hours during the day, and you sleep 8 to 10 hours at night.
• When you take a bottle, you eat about 5 ounces.
• You eat around 8 or 9 o'clock every night and wake up sometime between 4 and 6 o'clock the next morning.
• Mommy has gone back to work, so we are so thankful that you are sleeping so well.
• You are also officially sleeping in your crib and not in the bassinet in our room.
• You still smile constantly and you are babbling TONS!
• You weigh between 13 and 14 pounds if I had to guess.
• You still love playing on your play mat and listening to music in your room. Mommy is VERY thankful that you will spend some quiet time in your room during the day so I can get some things done.
• You still have LOTS of hair, but you have a big bald spot on the left side of your head from rubbing it while you fall asleep at night. I'm REALLY hoping the rest of your hair will stay put!
• You are getting better at holding you head up, but have made very few attempts to roll over.
• Your reflux is SO much better. You hardly ever spit up anymore, but you drool constantly. I'm hoping that's not a sign of teeth this soon!
• Your BeBe and YaYa came over for lunch one day and played ALL day with you! We discovered your love for books...you are SO much like your daddy!

You are still as precious as you were the day we brought you home. Looking forward to what you'll do next month!

Love,

Mommy

1 month...

2 months...

3 months...

Mother's Day...

What a GREAT day today has been! Not only was it my first Mother's Day, but it was Lilly's baby dedication as well. So many of our family and friends came today to support Lilly. Michael and I are truly grateful for each of them taking time out of their day to show their support not only for Lilly, but for us as her parents. She really is a very loved little girl!
As I thought about the meaning of today, it really weighed on my mind what a HUGE job Michael and I have as parents to raise Lilly to be a godly woman. When I see what children today are faced with, it truly scares me to think about how much more she will face as she grows up. As parents, you want your child to be SO MANY things: well-liked, successful, smart, beautiful, etc. I could even go as far as naming petty things such as keeping her room clean, being homecoming queen or valedictorian, having her daddy's sharpness and her mommy's athleticism...
But as her Mom today, I am honestly just overwhelmed with the huge task that is before us, and all I can do is pray. I think that's the only thing that will get me through the next 20+ years, and I am so glad that God gives us the gift of talking to Him...it brings me such comfort. So today, the day we pledge as parents to raise Lilly as Christian parents, I pray:

• that she will fear God and grasp the sacrifice He made for us by sending Jesus to die for us and truly thirst for Him.
• that she will trust in Him and allow Him to direct her paths in life.
  
• that she will have integrity and hold high standards.
• that she will respect herself, others, and authority.
  
• that she will put on the full armor of God in order to resist the temptations of the world.
• that she will display the Fruits of the Spirit.
• the she will be pure.
  
• that she will be salt and light in this sinful, lost world.
  
• that she will have a servant's heart and strive to make a difference.
• that she will understand what really matters in life.

I am SO thankful and in awe that God chose me to be Lilly's mom. What an awesome gift she is.

Lilly is 2 Months Old...

Lilly,
You are TWO months old today! You are such an easy and sweet baby. I can't even explain how much Daddy and I have enjoyed these past two months. Here's what you are up to...

• You still eat about every 3 to 4 hours during the day, and you have slept as long as 10 hours at night!
• When you take a bottle, you eat about 5 ounces now!! BIG GIRL!!
• You eat around 8 or 9 o'clock every night and wake up sometime between 4 and 6 o'clock the next morning! You are such a great sleeper!

• You still sleep in your Nap Nanny or in your bassinet in our room. We are hoping to move you to your crib in the next couple of weeks, but I wouldn't hold us to it :)
  
• You are starting to be awake for longer periods during the day now, and you LOVE to play, smile, and talk while you're awake!
• You smile all the time now, and you have started to coo in the last 3 days. I know one day I will wish you didn't talk so much, but right now it's the sweetest sound in the world!

• Your play mat is your new favorite thing! You love to hit the toys and smile.

• You weigh 12 pounds!!!
• You wear mostly 3 month clothes and size 2 diapers.
  
• You went to church for the first time Easter Sunday, and you did great!

• The Easter Bunny was VERY good to you!

• You also got your shots this month. You cried SO HARD, but quieted down pretty fast. You ran a low-grade fever and wanted your mommy a lot, but I didn't mind :)

You are the sweetest baby, Lilly! Mommy and Daddy love you TONS! We can't wait tp see what next month brings :)

1 month...

2 months...

Lilly is 1 Month Old...

Lilly,
You are ONE month old today! I can hardly believe how fast this first month has gone by. Here's what you are up to...

(This was the best I could do for our monthly picture...you were not in the mood today. Maybe next month we can see your "monthly outfit" better!)

• You are eating about every four hours.

• When Daddy gives you a bottle, you take between three and four ounces. Daddy says you burp like a MAN! We will have to work on your manners, for sure!

• You are sleeping SO well. You eat at 10:00 every night, and you usually wake up between 2:00 and 4:00 to eat and again between 7:00 and 8:00. We are very proud of how you are sleeping.

• You seem to wake up and "play" around 4:00 every afternoon, but you sleep most of the day still.

• You weigh 8 pounds and 7 ounces.

• Your umbilical cord fell off and you got your first real bath. You LOVE getting a bath!

• You definitely have your daddy's personality. You are very laid back!

• You are having TERRIBLE reflux, but your new medicine seems to be helping.

• Because you are spitting up so bad, you either sleep between Mommy and Daddy on your Boppy or beside the bed in your bassinet. We don't like for you to be out of our sight yet :)

• You are doing great napping in your big crib. I think Mommy is the one having a hard time with you in your big crib.

• Your nicknames are "Lillypie" or "Lillybug".
  

• Mommy and Daddy went to dinner for our anniversary. You stayed with your Pop's and Meme, and all of their friends came over to see you! We tried hard to talk about other things at dinner, but somehow the conversation always got back to how precious you are and how much we love you :)

• Mommy is trying very hard to follow the Babywise method, but sometimes I just can't help but to snuggle and rock you until you fall asleep.

• You still wear a newborn or size 0-3 month in most of your clothes, but you have outgrown some of your smaller newborn things. The other day I put a 3-6 month sleeper on your and it FIT!

• You LOVE to ride in the car!

• You make eye contact and try to talk to us.

• You get the hiccups ALL THE TIME :)

• Your big brother, Chaucer, is very protective of you. He likes you a lot, but you get mad when he licks you.

You have brought such joy to our lives already, Lilly. There was no way to prepare ourselves for how full our hearts would be when you arrived. I pray every night that we will be the best parents we can possibly be to you because you deserve nothing less. Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know.

Love,
Mommy

Lilly Blair Ford...

Lilly Blair Ford was born on March 5, 2011, at 5:41 am in room 211 of the Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants at UMMC. She weighed 6 lbs, 8 oz and measured 20 inches long. She is the most precious baby, and her daddy and I love her to pieces. Here's the story of how she arrived..

I was SO miserable and ready to deliver that I begged Michael to take me to PF Changs (He HATES PF Changs!) and I ordered the spiciest dish on the menu - Chang's Spicy Chicken with extra chili sauce. We had already been walking around the neighborhood a good bit, but I had decided that we were going to power walk until I couldn't walk any more!

Well, this was my fortune...

(as if I needed more motivation)

Home from PF Changs - 38 weeks pregnant, and all of our ridiculousness worked! I woke up the next morning in labor!

I stayed at home until my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart, and then called Michael and said COME HOME NOW! Although we have no pictures of before we arrived at the hospital, let me just say it was WILD!! It was filled with non-stop phone calls from Michael while I was contracting and trying to get my things together, driving from his office in Clinton to our house in 15 minutes to pick me up (usually a 35 mile drive down the Natchez Trace by the way), crazy fast packing of everyone's suitcases, and driving to the hospital like HE was the one in labor and me telling him multiple times that there was no need for emergency flashers to be on at this point! It's one of my favorite memories of the whole process. I LOVED seeing him SO excited that he was about to be a daddy. It was ONE of (THE greatest moment is a little further down) the greatest moments for me.
We got to the hospital, and they put me on a monitor and checked me. I was having contractions every four minutes and dilated 4cm. My doctor decided that my blood pressure was a little high (her's would have been too if she was in labor and had just ridden with Michael to the hospital!) so they decided it was time to ROLL!! I was THRILLED! We called all of our family and started a twelve hour journey that I will NEVER forget!

Last picture as a family of two! Still happy at this point - epidural was still working...

The fabulous Dr. Bean...I cannot express how wonderful she was!

Lilly's YaYa and BeBe. The greatest friends in world! They camped out in the waiting room with the rest of the family ALL NIGHT LONG!

Everyone waiting on Lilly...
We are missing my dad in the picture. He had gone to take a nap because he was fishing in a tournament at Lake Bruin that day and had been up since the CRACK OF DAWN. I kept telling my step-mom not to call him because I didn't think this was REALLY it - I was in TOTAL denial that I was really in labor I guess! By the way, he had found a sweet spot and caught three fish before he got the call :)

Lilly's Pops and Meme

My precious grandparents drove from Port Gibson, and waited ALL NIGHT! Everyone begged them to go home, but they were wasting their breath! They were going NOWHERE until they saw their great granddaughter!

My crazy sisters came to visit...

10 pm: This was about the time I started to notice that I was feeling A LOT of pain with my contractions...hmm. I will leave out the details of me crying, cursing, etc. and just say it was all downhill from here! That's right, the worst part of labor, and I am feeling every bit! I DID NOT want a natural childbirth, but I got one anyway :)

After twelve hours of labor, being stuck at 4cm FOREVER, and suffering through the majority of the labor process without any drugs, I finally heard the words I had been waiting on for the last nine months..."You're complete! It's time to push!!"
I started pushing at 5:30 am, and our precious Lilly Blair made her entrance at 5:41! I was SO exhausted and SO tired of hurting that I decided it was time to get serious and get this baby out of me! Michael still talks about how fast it all happened. He handled it all like a pro!

There are NO WORDS to describe the next few pictures. It was the most amazing day of my life. At this moment, I had never been so in love with my husband, and never so sure of the fact that I serve a God who is above all else. My God knew what he was doing through this whole process. All of the pain and loss, all of the worrying with this pregnancy, all of the tears shed - God brought us through. That's all we ever asked of Him was to get us through, and boy did He SHOW OFF! He gave us the most beautiful baby I've ever seen...

I will cherish this picture forever. So priceless...

They all couldn't WAIT to get their hands on her!

I can't say thank you enough to my sweet friend, Margaret, who worked 26 hours straight (that's right!) to be sure she was there to take care of Lilly when she was born! I owe her my LIFE!

I will do a post of all her visitors soon, but I have a hungry baby calling me!

Long Time, No Post...

It has been FOREVER since I have posted anything. I have been super busy with work, assembling baby necessities (it seems like Michael and I have an assembly project every night!), satisfying my major nesting urges, and working in Lilly's nursery.
I'm LOVING how everything is coming together in her room. I will post pictures as soon as the final touches are complete!
One of my nesting urges was to organize all of our pictures on the computer, transfer them to our external hard drive, etc. We already take WAY too many pictures of Chaucer, so I know it will only get worse when Lilly arrives. Anyway, I started off with great intentions of taking weekly pictures of my growing belly, but I let my practical side talk me out of it about 18 weeks into it. Who wants to take a picture of themselves when you left for work at 6:00 that morning and you are just getting home at 8:00 that night??? NOT ME! When I got to the weekly photos that I DID take, I found a rather shocking comparison:

The day we found out we were expecting Lilly (4 weeks)...

Sunday at my shower (34 weeks)...
What a difference 30 weeks makes!

My sweet, sweet friends hosted a baby shower for me and Lilly last weekend. It was so much fun, and she got so many great things. Here's a few pictures...