A letter from the future...

Dear my 2013 self,
            I am writing you from the year 2033 with the hope of encouraging you on your journey as a wife and mommy.  I have often looked back at the "little years" with fondness.  It was not always easy while the days often felt long, but the years went by too quickly.

Adalynn was born in March, and Zeke turned 3 in January of 2013.  Life was more about the hour to hour tasks, but there were many precious moments amidst the chaos and busyness.

Adalynn's birth was a gift for so many reasons.  God has answered your prayers and given you the desires of your heart.  Gregg, Zeke, and Adalynn all came into your life in God's perfect timing.  Your mom, Jami, Christy, Dena, Teresa, and many others supported you through friendship and prayer during the highs and lows of raising children.  God also placed women in your life who taught you about Dr. Denmark and her philosophies on child rearing.  Dr. Denmark's feeding and sleeping schedule has allowed you to maintain a sense of normalcy for yourself and the rest of your family...a true blessing!  Gregg even got to go hunting on opening day in Georgia!

You tried to place Adalynn on the "Dr. Denmark schedule" at 2 weeks old (like you did with Zeke), but it took a little bit longer with her.  By 1 month old, she was able to go 8 hours between feedings.  She slept from 8:30pm until 4:30am on March 28 (her Wynna's birthday) for the first time.  You tweaked the schedule you used for Zeke to allow you to sleep some after that early morning feeding before Zeke woke up.  You fed her at 4:30am, 8:30am, 12:30pm, 4:30pm, and 8:30pm.  It was not always easy to get up for those early morning feedings, but it was a precious time with Adalynn in the peaceful early morning darkness. 

You were surprised at how Zeke struggled to adjust to the new addition to the family, but you could also understand it.  He was used to spending each day at home with Mommy.  With the arrival of Adalynn, he had to learn to share your attention and affections.  You started reading to him or doing an activity with him when you sat down to nurse her.  This became a very special time for you and Zeke.  He showed great ability to pick up new concepts quickly, so your skills as a teacher came in handy! At 3, he was learning sight words, spelling, addition and subtraction problems, and Bible memory verses.  You didn't realize your homeschooling journey would begin so soon, but it thrilled you to see Zeke's love of learning.

The true purpose of this letter is to remind you that you do not need to pressure yourself to do too much.  By teaching your children about the love of Christ, modeling it, loving their daddy, and loving them, you are doing what God called you to do as a mom.  The years will go by too quickly, and you should take time to enjoy the little moments with Zeke and Adalynn.  When Zeke asks to throw the ball...take a few minutes to toss it to him.  The homemade bread, kombucha, or kefir can wait another 10 minutes!

Children are a gift from the Lord;
    they are a reward from him.

Psalm 127:3  

Don't forget to take the time to thank Him for that reward.  He has blessed you in so many ways!

                                                                                                                     Sincerely,

                                                                                                                     Megan of 2033     

Beautiful Baby Girl!

We have been blessed to find a photographer that lives near us and is great at what she does.  Six days after Adalynn was born, my mom and I took her to Summer's house for a photo shoot.  We were there about 3 hours, but the end result was totally worth it.  Summer had the room warm, played the heartbeat sound on a noise machine, and moved very slowly to assure that Adalynn stayed asleep.  I even nursed her while we were there!

Enjoy...

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another." John 1:16

Headband lovingly made by Aunt Jami

 

 

Gator Girl!

Little Ballerina!

Mimi's (Lou Kennedy) baby doll carriage

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."

John 1:16

Fishing with Daddy!

Zeke has enjoyed Gregg being home with us for the past two weeks.  He loves to help his Daddy.  They built a work bench together that is just Zeke's size, and even got to go fishing with our friends, Carlos and Carlitos, at the pond at their church.

Working man!

Learning how to fish

They got one!

Next week we will attempt to return to a somewhat normal routine, but for now, we have enjoyed our time together at home!

Adalynn's first newborn pictures (taken at the hospital)

Adalynn Rose Nomachee Hall ~ photo taken March 1, 2013

As many of you know, the hospital offers a newborn photographer to take pictures in the hospital room right after birth.  We decided to go ahead and purchase these photos, in addition to the pictures we were going to have taken by our photographer, Summer.  Adalynn is most likely our last baby, so I wanted to capture her at only a day old to help me remember.  She even still has on her ID bracelets and device they put on the umbilical stump!

I wanted to share them with you all.  I will post the pictures Summer took as soon as she sends the edited versions to me.  Enjoy!

Zeke meets his little sister (and she comes home)!

While we were at the hospital, my mom (Wynna), brought Zeke to meet his little sister.  It was a moment I will never forget.   The expression on his face was pure joy!

He brought her a BIG balloon and couldn't wait to show her how it played music.  We had a nice visit as a new family of four in the hospital room!

Jared and Jami also came to visit us (at separate times because of their kiddos).  It meant so much that they made the effort to drive all the way to Marietta to meet their new niece!

Adalynn had her first sponge bath in the hospital, although they wouldn't let me use the "Earth Momma - Angel Baby" soap I brought because it had essential oils ("fragrance") in it!  Little did they know, she already had been anointed with essential oils right after her birth!  I probably could have pushed it, but decided one time with Johnson's baby soap wasn't that big of a deal.  Although, I don't understand why they use a product with sodium laurel sulfate in a hospital on new babies.  That is another post, though!

Our nurse, Leah!

We had several wonderful nurses (Leah, Tiffani, and Trudy), and were grateful for their help.  We had a small issue with a little blood in Adalynn's diaper each time she pooped.  The night nurse started testing it to make sure it was blood, and it was.  They called the pediatrician and they did not seem overly concerned, but told us they would be there Saturday morning to look at her.  We called our friend, Pastor Caspar, and he prayed over the phone with us as we laid hands on her.  As he asked God to heal Adalynn, he asked God to allow the doctors and nurses to be amazed and attribute it to a miracle from the Lord.

That morning, the nurse had told us we wouldn't be going home until that afternoon or evening, if not the next day (we were desperate to go home because we'd already been there an extra day waiting to see a negative result in her group b strep culture).  After we prayed, the pediatrician came in and saw that it was a small fissure on her bottom causing localized bleeding.  He said we could go home that morning!  The nurse was amazed and we knew it was God answering our prayers for that and the negative group b strep.  We praised Him and thanked Him for his bountiful blessings!

We got to go home on her due date, Saturday, March 2, 2013!

Waiting for the wheelchair to ride down to the car

Jami came over to our house and was there with Wynna and Zeke to greet us.  We had a nice afternoon together.

We have been settling in nicely.  She has been sleeping a lot, of course, and is eating well since my milk came in around day 5 of her life!  Zeke wants to hold her constantly, and I try to allow him to do that.  He says, "She sleeps A LOT, Mommy!"  She found her thumb once and continues to try to find it (just like her big brother!).  My mom stayed with us until last Wednesday, which was such a blessing.  Gregg will be here with us until Monday, March 18th.  That is when I think it will truly sink in that I am a mommy of two!
 

"Just born" (really 3 days old!)

We had our first pediatrician appointment to check her weight (she had dropped 11% of her body weight, and they like to see 10% or less).  She is gaining now, and we will go today to have her checked again.

I have captured a few smiles, especially when she's looking at her big brother!  I have found that it helps to give Zeke "jobs" to do to help me.  I also try to read to him when I nurse during the day.  I want to be sure he is getting the attention he needs, in addition to maintaining the structure and discipline he needs too.  There has been a learning curve for me, for sure!

"One week!"

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support as we enter into this new phase of our lives.  I look forward to seeing how God works in the lives of my children over the years and sharing it with you all.  God bless!