Child of Love

BOTH favorites...

If you know me well enough, you know this is a Brian Regan reference. However, there are more than 'two favorites' so, you will have to forgive the inaccuracy of my reference. These are some of my favorite songs of late, 2 of them Christmas, one of them not. Enjoy!

PS- Couldn't get them in THIS post...so they will follow.
PPS- Had trouble finding 'Child of Love'. Originally done by Sara Groves for 'City on a Hill' Christmas CD. Love it. My favorite Christmas song ever. Especially now that I am a mom. Hard to imagine Mary's emotions and thoughts this time of year...

Thankful!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations". Psalm 100:4-5

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving (which was yesterday) I think it is a good idea to acknowledge all that we have to be thankful for. Okay, I won't be able to get it all, but at least I can reflect on some of the blessings over the past year!
I am thankful for...
1. My husband. Who is so thoughtful, attentive, sweet, caring, masculine (I think the sweet + manly combo is missing in a lot of men these days...), patient, forgiving, and loving. He is an amazing daddy to our daughter and I thank God everyday for him!
2. My healthy, happy daughter! I never thought I could feel this kind of love instantly, but the second I saw her my heart swelled! She is the most perfect gift I could have ever asked for! She is teaching me more about God's perfect love for us.
3. My family. After Jason and I were home alone with Harper for the first time, we said "wow, we really love our family, we couldn't have done this without them". The truth is, we could have. BUT thanks to the love and support of our family, Harper transitioned smoothly into our lives with very little trauma for her or us! Our parents have given us amazing models and I pray that we can live up to the amazingly high bar they have set!
4. Toby. Our sweet, sweet dog who has accepted Harper into our home with so much dignity. He was my first (albeit furry) baby. He is so gentle with Harper and wants to give her a bath so badly! After hearing reports about how other dogs react to such a dramatic change, I am thankful for Toby's kind and gentle spirit.
5. My job. And Jason's job for that matter. In these tough economic times we both have jobs. I am thankful I have a job that allowed me to work half time so I could be a good mom and a good therapist. I am thankful that financially I CAN work halftime, although it will be difficult. I am thankful that Harper will be only 5 minutes away from my office.
6. My friends (did I mention before that this is NOT in order?). I am so thankful for all my friends who have given me advice, support, and loved me even when I might have been forgetful or random or freaking out about something silly. You guys have helped me be a calm(er) mom and I believe this in turn helps Harper be so calm!

There are a million of other things that I am thankful for, but I have a baby that needs attention. SO thankful for that! :-)

Harper's First Halloween

Here are pictures of Harper's TWO costumes from Halloween!

Sleep Deprivation

:-) Being a mom is the most life changing, amazing thing I have ever done! Plus, Jason and I got very lucky and we have the perfect baby who only wakes up once at night! That being said however, we are still suffering from a little sleep deprivation. Here are just a few things that have occurred, most likely due to sleep deprivation!
1) One afternoon when it was just Harper and I home for lunch, I poured myself a glass of sweet tea...and then another. I'm not sure if I forgot I had just poured one or if I thought Jason was home. I drank both, I figured I needed the extra caffeine.
2) I was making beef stew. I dumped the entire package of beef into the pot, absorbent liner and all! I have a sweet husband, who scrubbed the burned pad off of the pot!
3) I put the milk in the pantry and the cereal box in the refrigerator. Fortunately, I figured this out right after I did it! (Have you noticed a lot of these involve food? Maybe I should be wary of cooking!)
4) I have called Harper the dog's name...maybe I shouldn't admit this, but it is true. I don't think she is scarred too badly.
5) I have put Harper's diapers on inside out and backwards...most of these have occurred at 2 am, but not all!
6) I have walked into a room and forgot why I was there (oh wait, I did that before I had her, too!)

I am sure there will be many more to come! I wouldn't trade a single second of sleep for this precious girl!

Two weeks old!!!

I can't believe Harper is two weeks old! It is strange because on one hand, I can't believe it has been two weeks already, and on the other hand, I can't remember life without Harper so it seems like she has always been here! Here are pictures of her at birth, at one week, and at two weeks!

Our beautiful blessing!

On September 24, 2010 Jason and I had our world changed forever! Harper Grace Martin was born at 4:40pm. She weighed 7 lbs, 2 ounces and was 21 inches long! There are no words that can ever express how MUCH love you have immediately for your child. Learning that you are going to have a child you know you love this being that you haven't even met, but seeing her and hearing her for the first time was AMAZING. I wish I could put into words exactly how I felt. We are so grateful and thankful for our sweet daughter and we praise God that He has chosen us to be her parents! I think the best way to sum up our feelings on becoming parents is to quote the last Psalm, Psalm 150.
"Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
Praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord." Psalm 150
We feel like shouting from the rooftops our joy and our praises to God! Enjoy these precious pictures of sweet Harper!