3 weeks old and only 2 days until her first Christmas!!!

I can't believe that Micah is already 3 weeks old today. As I realize how fast time is going, it makes me want to push the pause button so I can soak up each moment with her. This morning while I was getting Christmas gifts all together, I got to enjoy some fun time with her. She was awake and happy, and I loved every minute of it! Check out her big belly...I love it and could eat her up!!!

Here is my sleeping angel a few minutes later.

And another one of her sleeping...I know, they are almost the same, but I just think she looks absolutely precious all wrapped up and sleeping peacefully!

Here is yesterday's Christmas outfit. Wrigley joined in on the action.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas Eve eve :)

the countdown continues...4 days!

Micah is excited that there are only 4 more days until her first Christmas! As you can probably tell, we have a *few* Christmas outfits for our little one, and I wanted the world to see how precious she looks in all of them. This particular one is one of my very favorites! I fell in love with it one day a few months ago when I was bored and looking online during the day, and I just knew that Micah HAD to have it. I just think it is the perfect description of what Christmas is all about...peace and love. Jesus was born to bring us peace and show us what our Father's love is really about. It's a lot bigger than we can even imagine, but truly contemplating the birth of Jesus and his humble entrance from heaven onto the earth is truly amazing. Having Micah makes it all that much more close to home this year, and I really want her to understand from a young age what the true meaning of Christmas is. So, not only do I think this outfit is super cute, but I also love the words.

Wishing you peace and love this Christmas!

Dear Mr. Bouncy Seat...

You are the best invention ever. Micah adores you, which means that I do too. Over the last couple of weeks, you have afforded me many showers {and even the opportunity to put on some make-up and fix my hair a few times}, a few naps, and some meals with both hands free. You have become Micah's best friend {aside from her mommy and daddy of course}. You make her happy and can even lull her into sweet sleep. Thanks for being so awesome and helping my little love enjoy peaceful moments outside of our arms. I couldn't do it without you.

Love,
Stacey

**************
Only 5 days left until Christmas... Here's Micah in one of her Christmas dresses. I think she looks pretty dang cute :)

Enjoying some time with my Christmas Cutie

six days

Only six days until Christmas, and we are in the Christmas spirit around the Fieldhouse. All the Christmas gifts have been bought and are just waiting to be wrapped. {Which I really need to do, but one little precious has been taking up most of my time and attention these days.} We are really looking forward to spending some good time in College Station with our families, and I have a feeling they aren't complaining about some more time with Micah!

We have had a fun couple of days. We took Micah on her first walk yesterday. Here she is all bundled up and ready to go on a walk, and her daddy was excited to push her around the neighborhood and show her off.


Speaking of her daddy, Chris is awesome as a father. He has been so helpful for me and been available to soothe Micah when she cries and offer me some much needed "me" time. He is the best daddy ever, and I have fallen more in love with him in the past 2 1/2 weeks!
This is Micah's favorite "daddy hold." She falls asleep everytime, without fail.

Micah and daddy snuck in a little nap time this afternoon too!

I caught just a little "smile" on camera too. I know these aren't real smiles yet, but they make me so excited for the day that Micah starts truly smiling at us. I know it will completely melt me!

my two week old baby

Micah is two weeks old today. It's amazing to me how much she has already changed in such a short period of time and how I fall more in love with her everyday! She has started staying awake {and happy} for longer periods of time, and it is so fun to talk to you and watch her find us with her eyes. I have a feeling that being a parent is just going to get more and more fun!

We went for her two week appointment yesterday, and she had to get her PKU test done again. Oh my goodness. It was awful! Poor baby screamed the whole time, and it took what felt like an eternity. This is how she spent most of the rest of the day...totally wiped out! But, looking super cute :)

She weighed 8 lbs 9 oz, which is up 13 oz from last week! We have a good eater on our hands. And, she is 21 1/4 inches long. That puts her in the 50% for weight and 75% for length {we all know she doesn't get that from me:)} Because she is back up to her birth weight, we get to let her sleep at night for as long as she wants, which is super exciting. She's been a great night sleeper since we brought her home, and last night, she went 5 1/2 hours between feedings!!! It was amazing. Now, I realize that won't always be the case, but it sure felt good for Chris and me. The doctor also thinks that Micah may be having some heartburn/reflux and gave us a prescription for some meds. We think we can already tell a difference and are relieved that Micah will be feeling better!

Micah made her first trip to Wal-Mart this morning, and I don't think she loved it. No surprise! Now, she is enjoying some quality time with her daddy. Happy 2 weeks, baby girl! We love you to the moon and back.

first social outings

Over the weekend, Micah went on her first social outings. With Chris's family here, we decided to take advantage of the help for her first time out of the house {besides to see the doctor}.

We went to Schlotzsky's for dinner on Saturday night, which was Micah's first time in a restaurant. She did awesome! She fell asleep in her carseat on the way {as always!} and didn't wake up until an hour after we got home. The car is like magic for our sweet girl, and Chris and I really enjoyed some fun time out of the house.

Then, on Sunday, we made our first appearance at church. It was fun to get her all dolled up and show her off to our church family. Everyone loved her :) She did great at church, after a brief snack to get things started, and slept through the whole service without one peep. I was honestly a little nervous that she would wail during church because our girl can be fussy, but she was an angel! I was a proud mommy!

Here we are after our first church service as a family of three.

We go back to the doctor for Micah's 2 week appointment tomorrow, and we are hoping she is back up to her birth weight. She eats plenty, so I feel good about it.

I will update more later...Micah is telling me she's hungry :)

one week

Lots of "one week" things have happened in the last few days. Micah had her 1 week appointment with the pediatrician, whom we LOVE, and she has gained back some of the weight she lost in the hospital. Dr. S told us that she is looking great, and we of course were thrilled to hear it.

Micah also had her one week birthday on Wednesday. She is the cutest, most beautiful baby ever...not that I am biased or anything! She is a champ at eating and has slept REALLY well at night. She can be quite opinionated and is a bit fussy. But, when she finds us with her little eyes and makes her sweet little noises, we can't help but fall more in love with her. How can you resist this face?


Finally, today marks one week since we brought her home. On one hand, we can't believe it's already been a week, but then again, it seems like it's been much longer than just one week {in a good way}.

We have been so blessed to have family around to help us out. My mom was here until Tuesday morning, and Chris's mom came on Wednesday afternoon and will leave on Sunday. We are definitely spoiled by such amazing family that is so willing to help us out, and we will miss them like crazy when they are gone. We have also been fortunate to have a church family that has provided lots of meals for us since we have been home. It sure has been nice to be so well taken care of, but Chris and I are also looking forward to figuring out life as a famiy of 4 {have to include Wrigley}.

Hope you are all enjoying this holiday season!

our story

**Pictures will be added later. I have a little something taking up my time these days! :) **

This may be a little bit of a longer post, but I really want to document this story for me. So, it won't hurt my feelings if you choose not to read it :)

On Tuesday, December 1, we had one last sonogram and our 39 week appointment. We were excited to see our little girl one more time before we got to meet her and received a great report from the ultrasound tech once again. She was perfect. So, we headed over to see Dr. G. We had a feeling from some discussion at our appointment the week before that she might want to induce because of Micah's size. Sure enough, we talked with her and decided that our little girl would enter the world the next day starting around 6:00am. Needless to say, we were pretty excited! So, we headed home talking about all the things we wanted to get done that afternoon {pick up the house a bit, take a nap, etc.} and planned to go on a nice date to dinner and rent a movie before finishing our packing for the hospital. We would end the night by trying to go to bed early while dreaming about our little girl.

But, Micah had other plans. I started feeling pretty crampy after our visit to the doctor, but that had happened before. I didn't worry too much about it because I figured it would pass. Around 3:00pm, I was feeling pretty crummy and thought maybe if I just laid down and slept, it would get better. After laying down, I realized these were not just cramps but actual contractions and told Chris we better start timing them. They were coming about 5 minutes apart and were getting pretty painful. We called Dr. G after an hour or so, and she told us to go to the hospital. So, we put our plan in high gear and raced to pick up the house and pack for the hospital. We left the house around 4:50pm and picked up a little dinner for Chris "just in case." We also called our families on the way and told them they may need to head out a little earlier than we originally thought.

We got to the hospital, checked in, and headed up to labor and delivery. I got changed into a gown and hooked up to all the monitors. After watching me for about 30 minutes, they decided to just keep me in the hospital that night in case things started progressing, and if they didn't, the induction would continue as planned the next morning.

7:30pm - Contractions are really starting to hurt, so I get some Stadol. Holy cow, that was some crazy stuff. I think Chris found it quite entertaining because I was talking a lot, but my words were totally slurred. But, it definitely helped take the edge off of the contractions.

9:45pm - My parents get to the hospital, and we enjoy some conversation with them. Stadol is still working pretty well, and my parents also get a good laugh out of me.

10:30pm - My water breaks {craziest feeling ever!!}, and I immediately start feeling different. Contractions get a little worse, and I start feeling sick. My night nurse, Emily, convinces me to order my epidural right away {thank goodness!}.

10:45pm - I get my epidural, which was NOT bad AT ALL, and start feeling great almost immediately. I also get some phenergen to help with the nausea.

10:45pm-4:30am - I cannot feel anything from the contractions {bliss!}, and Chris and I even get to nap for a couple of hours. I am making steady progress, about 1 cm an hour.

4:45am - I started feeling a good amount of pressure from the contractions and get another dose put in my epidural. It helps a lot! Our families start making their way back to the hospital because I am dilated to 8 cm.

6:00am - I started getting some pitocin because I am getting stuck at 9cm.

9:00am - They come in to check me and say I am ready to push. FINALLY!!! My epidural is beginning to wear off, so I can feel lots of pressure now. I am ready to have this baby.

9:51am - After 45 minutes of intense pushing, Micah Elisabeth Field entered the world. I will never forget the first time I laid eyes on her or the first time I heard her big cry or the first time I saw her daddy hold her or the first time we laid hands on her to pray. Unforgettable.

After Chris and I shared a few minutes as a family, he went to the waiting room to break the news that she was here and finally reveal her name.

The rest of the day was filled with introducing our sweet Micah to family and friends.

It was a great day and one I will always remember. {It even SNOWED right before I began pushing!} Happy Birth Day, Micah Elisabeth! We love you!

we're home

We got to come home yesterday around noon, and it is still sort of surreal that she is actually ours to keep. We are falling more in love every moment and are learning a little about what it means to be parents. Micah is an incredible baby, and we are so blessed. I promise I will sit down to write more later and tell our story, but for now, I will leave you with some pictures {which is what I know you all want!}.

Micah and Dr. G

All dressed up in her going home outfit

Our family of three-ready to go home!

All bundled up in her carseat

We're home, and I think Wrigley is a fan :)

Checking her out

A little shout-out to Wrigley today, it's his 3rd {or 21st} birthday! More to come soon...

Micah Elisabeth Field :)

Our sweet baby girl is here...and we couldn't possibly be more in love.

She arrived at 9:51am this morning, weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, and was 20 inches long. As you will see below, she has LOTS of precious hair. And she is absolutely perfect.

Chris and I are thankful beyond words, and we are praising God for this sweet little miracle.

so much to say...

Sweet baby girl,

I cannot believe that this part of our journey is almost over, and that in just a short time, I will be holding you in my arms. I know my life will never be the same, and I cannot wait to begin. I will never forget the day I found out that I was pregnant with you. I think I probably smiled for a whole week just thinking about it. I remember the first doctor's appointment and seeing your tiny little body on the screen with that little light just flashing away, and I got my first glimpse of the miracle that God has been working on every moment of every day since then. It was amazing to me to learn how you were growing and developing each week, and I am sure your dad would say that I was somewhat obsessed with knowing exactly what was happening. I was so well-read that I knew what the doctor had to say before she even said it :)

As my belly began to grow and become more noticeable, I loved being able to tell people that I was carrying you inside of me. Then the big day came, and we found out that you were a girl. It was so exciting to know and made it so much more real. We have had your name picked out since that day! You will be the first to hear your sweet name, baby girl, because we have kept it a secret all this time. I think it is perfect for you, and I hope you will love it as much as your daddy and I do.

Time flew by, and you just kept growing. I loved having a belly because it reminded me of the miracle of you. I will never forget the first time I felt you move inside my tummy. It felt like a little flutter, and I wasn't sure at first. But, it got stronger and stronger, and now I feel you all the time. You love to move around and remind me of how big and strong you are becoming. That is probably my favorite part of carrying you in my tummy. I love watching my whole belly move with you and seeing your daddy's face light up every single time he gets the chance to feel or see it too.

Your daddy and I pray for you every night and will continue to do so throughout your entire life. I pray that you will be a woman of unwavering faith and deep conviction and possess a love for God and your neighbors that cannot be paralleled. I pray that your daddy and I will be good examples of Christ-followers for you. I pray that you will never doubt how much we love you but even more than that, how much your heavenly Father loves you. As the verse on your wall says, "may you always act justly, learn to love mercy, and walk humbly with the Father." That is our deepest prayer for you.

I cannot wait to meet you tomorrow, my precious daughter. Be prepared for lots of cuddles, hugs, and kisses. I will miss being pregnant with you though, and it has been a privilege to carry you the past 39 weeks. I love you so much already, and I know that will multiply a million times tomorrow when I hold you in my arms and look into your eyes for the first time. Thanks for making me a mommy. Happy birth day eve, sweet pea!

Love you to the moon and back,
Your Mommy