Stephen's First Post aka Death of a Gumball Tree

Happy Thanksgiving! I have decided to try blogging and will hopefully add posts in the future and bring some new topics to the Foster Love blog. So let's get down to business...

This past week, I decided it was time to tame the woods in the backyard and cut down some trees. For the main event, we (my father-in-law and I) cut down a 30-35 ft gumball tree in our front yard. It was practically dead and dropped annoying gumballs into the yard a couple of times a year. We successfully dropped the tree in the yard and not on the house and then spent the rest of the afternoon cutting the tree into smaller pieces and carting the pieces to the backyard.

Conquering Heros

Make sure to watch to the end to hear the cheers from the crowd (aka Sarah:)

Thanks Brad M., for letting me borrow your chainsaw.

The finished product.

Glen and I found our next target. An 80 ft dead pine tree near the back of our property. Stay tuned...

Our First Two Weeks

Sorry I've been MIA! I know it is okay and expected, but I still feel bad. Here's a brief look at our first two weeks together...

Riding home from the hospital

The crazy thing about this birthing process is that I didn't cry. I actually had been afraid that when I went into labor, I would become a huge puddle of tears and mush. Something supernatural came over me, and I put on my game face like never before. It really was an out of body experience. However, when we packed up our things to leave the hospital, the hugeness of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks. In the picture below, Sadie has on the dress that my dad and I wore home from the hospital. Yes, my manly dad wore a dress and satin booties home from the hospital. When I slipped the dress over her head, I realized how special this moment was, and how it would only happen once. Stephen and I were bringing our daughter home. The tears flowed...
Gram and Pops are totally in love (and I love this picture).
First bath (she screamed her head off)
We learned after her bath that she LOVES having her hair brushed. I think we might have a quirky kid on our hands. Check out this picture...is she krumping? More importantly, whatever she is doing she is doing it in leg warmers.
On Sadie's one week birthday!
Sadie is learning to play with some little toys, and it is really cute.
Tuckered out
Playing with Stephen on his birthday
I could write so much more about these last two weeks, but I think it would start to sound like a personal journal entry. I have learned so much and feel so different. Living life with our new schedule is a huge adjustment in and of itself (can I get a what what from all nursing mothers?). My mom was an INCREDIBLE help, and it was hard putting her on a plane back to KY yesterday. The good news is that my wonderful in-law's come late tomorrow night, and then my parents come back next Tuesday for Turkey Day. This is when it is really hard to not live close to any family, but I know God will continue to provide for us. All of our friends here have shown us so much love- providing meals, flowers, gifts, words of encouragement, prayers, and more. We feel so blessed by our community here. Thank you to everyone that has helped us survive these first two weeks! From the bottom of our hearts, we can't thank you enough!

We did it!

Here is how the whole thing unfolded...

At 5:30 pm on Tuesday, I started having contractions. They were different than the ones I'd had before, but I wasn't 100% sure it was the real deal. By 9 pm, they were less than 5 minutes apart, so I called the Doctor. He said to come on in, and they'd check things out. I got there, they checked everything, and told us to walk the halls for the next hour (hoping my water would break). My water didn't break, but things progressed, so they said we were going to have a baby! We were finally admitted and checked into our Labor and Delivery Room around 12:30 am.

Here I am checked into our room...

After a long night (that is completely a blur), I was finally ready to push at about 7 am on Wednesday. At 9:20, sweet little Sadie Katherine made her debut!
She was 7 lbs. 14 oz and 21-1/2" long...
I don't really know how to start to explain how awesome this experience was. As more time passes, it becomes more awesome. I'll be honest, laboring was probably the most challenging thing I've ever done. Let me also say that Stephen was the most encouraging and supportive and tender coach. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I think in the 12 hours we were in Labor and Delivery, he may have left my side for a total of 3 minutes. He is the best- and I felt so incredibly loved. God was so faithful to give us the strength to endure. I had two major times when I wanted to totally throw in the towel. I am thankful for the presence of the Holy Spirit that carried us through. I got scared close to the end, and I realized that God designed this process, and He would carry it through to completion. He did, and here we are enjoying our daughter...
About an hour after Sadie was born, my parents arrived after driving through the night from Kentucky.
We were excited to have visitors! Jayme and Megan dropped by to meet Sadie and give us hugs of congratulations. Our friends and family have been so incredibly encouraging during this whole pregnancy and yet again during this new phase. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Things are changing for us, but it couldn't be sweeter or more rewarding.


The picture above is cute, but we kept laughing at her security tag. She looked like she was on house arrest.

I'm going to post more on coming home and our happenings around the house as soon as I can.

Thank you again to everyone for the phone calls, emails, and prayers. We couldn't have made it through without you and will continue to lean on your encouragement in the coming days, weeks, and months. We thank God for placing each of you in our lives.

We introduce you to Sadie with great pride and yet complete humility. Can't wait to share her with you.

Where we're at...

Eating this for lunch...

Been sitting on this as much as I can...

This is as ready as it can be...

And it is one of these tonight...

COME ON BIG MONEY!