Happy Halloween!!

Sawyer has had a pretty good evening, we went on a long walk and she loved it! Here are some pictures of her in her skeleton costume.

Hard times

We've had some hard days around here lately. As I am typing this Sawyer is in a baby carrier wrapped on my chest, going in and out of sleep. She is still doing pretty well at night, sleeping in 3-5 intervals. However; this past week when she has been awake she is pretty much crying the whole time. We took her to the doctor this past Friday because I was pretty sure she had silent acid reflux. She hardly ever spits up, but she cries pretty much as soon as she is done eating and won't stop until she falls asleep or until she eats again. The doctor gave us some medicine and said we should see results within the week.

Well she has been on the medicine since Friday, I do think it's helped with her reflux; however now it has made her constipated =(

Clint and I have been stretched to our max, and have had many moments of frustration. But we are taking it one day at a time and relying on strength from the Lord. I'm praying this will help our marriage, and will draw us closer to God. We pray our baby girl starts feeling better soon, and ask that you all do the same!

We'll post a picture of Sawyer in her Halloween "costume" soon.

Motherhood

There is no nobler career than that of motherhood at its best. There are no possibilities greater, and in no other sphere does failure bring more serious penalties. With what diligence then should she prepare herself for such a task. If the mechanic who is to work with "things" must study at technical school, if the doctor into whose skilled hands will be entrusted human lives, must go through medical school...how much more should the mother who is fashioning the souls of the men and women of tomorrow, learn at the highest of all schools and from the Master-Sculptor Himself, God. To attempt this task, unprepared and untrained is tragic, and its results affect generations to come. On the other hand there is no higher height to which humanity can attain than that occupied by a converted, heaven-inspired, praying mother.

-Annonymous quote from the book "The Shaping of a Christian Family" by Elisabeth Elliot

I love fall!

As some of you know fall is my favorite time of the year. I am so thankful that I got to have a fall baby, and I am looking forward to many fall birthday parties!!

My mom and I tried to get Sawyer into the fall spirit, and start her off early loving this season. As of right now I don't think Sawyer is a huge fan of fall...

But hopefully in time she will grow to love her mommys favorite season =D
Here are some other pictures, enjoy!

Bath time

Today started out as a rough day but thankfully turned around towards the evening and all has been great! My sweet friend Megan got married tonight and Clint and I were suppose to attend the wedding, but because of our rough morning/afternoon we couldn't make it. I have learned that children have a tendency to change your plans, that was hard for me at first to deal and it revealed my selfishness. I have spent many moments in prayer today, praying for my attitude to change...and God has been faithful.

Okay, now on to our bath time. Sawyer did awesome, I was a bit anxious at first not thinking it would go well, but she surprised me. She did great!! Hopefully we will have a good rest of the night and she will sleep peacefully.

More pictures

Here are some pictures that Clint took while we were in the hospital. Also, don't forget to give us some input on family picture ideas!!

Family Pictures

Hey Everybody
It's time for some audience participation!! We need your help. We are looking to get some family pictures done sometime before fall is over. Our good friend Lang Leichhardt over at langthomasphotography.com is going to hook us up. Lang is a long time friend of the family (it is weird saying friend of the family, but having the baby only served to further our "family" status). He is a talented photographer, but more than that, he has been a great friend for many years. If anyone is looking for a photographer (especially weddings) there is no one I would recommend more highly. We would like to do something creative and fun for family pictures (not just your standard everyone in jeans and a v-neck). I thought it might be cool to do some sort of themed photo shoot, like maybe we dress up as a 50's style family with Alex in the kitchen wearing an apron cooking dinner and me at the table reading the paper, etc. If anyone else has any cool, original ideas, we would love to hear them! I am expecting you all to come through strong on this one! Don't be shy!
In the mean time, here are some pictures to hold you over:

Encouragement

I've been thinking about these verses today:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God." Philippians 4:6

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Last night and today have been a little rough, but we are taking it one day at a time and thanking the Lord for our little blessing!

Another good night!

Well...It was another great night for Sawyer-Beth. She is really living up to the expectations I had for her as best baby ever! She slept equally as well last night as she did the night before. Here are some pictures from yesterday. Enjoy









Mama and Baby doing what they do best!

Pictures of Sawyer's 1st Week

Hey Everybody!

Here are some pictures of our baby girl's first week:

Ride Home from the Hospital







Don't ever let go baby!



Chilling with her Great-Grandmother



We Bleed Blue!







That's all for now folks!

**Update** We had a great night last night! The baby slept from midnight to 4 a.m. and then 5 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.!! We are so proud!

First week

Tomorrow our sweet baby girl will be one week old, it's hard to believe.

We've had some great times together already and some hard times. 2 nights ago she did great, I would feed her and then Clint would get her ready for bed and we would put her in her bed and she would sleep for several hours and then wake up to be fed again. That night Clint and I got around 6 or 7 hours of sleep (not in a row of course). We were so encouraged by the night, and thanking the Lord for rest. HOwever, last night was a different story. Miss Sawyer was NOT a happy girl, no matter what we did she did not care, the only thing that made her happy was eating. So lets just say we didn't get any sleep, but thankfully my mom helped out in the morning so Clint and I could get a few hours of sleep. So today was a LONG day, and we are praying that tonight will go smoother. It's difficult knowing what is the right thing to do, so many decisions to make. I am so thankful I have such a wonderful husband who is helping out SO much, I am dreading when he'll go back to work...he still has another week off.

Please pray for a peaceful, content baby. Pray that the Lord would give us patience and that we would enjoy these first few weeks even though they are so hard.

We'll put some more pictures on here soon!!!

Love, Alex

HIccups

Baby's got the hiccups!

First batch of Baby Casabella Videos

The wait is over! She has a name and if you haven't gotten a good look at her yet check out these videos! Many thanks to Grandpa Casabella for the video camera, without you these wouldn't be possible!





Pray for her people! We love you!!

She's here!!!

Well our sweet girl finally arrived, I can not believe it. My labor experience was awesome and went by so quickly...I will post the details later.

As of right now Clint and I are adjusting to being a family of 3. I am feeling pretty good, despite some uncomfortable pain below. Clint has been amazing about the whole thing, he is going to be such a great daddy.

Our daughter is precious, precious, precious. I can not believe she came out of me, it's crazy. We should be heading home tomorrow, which I am kind of looking forward to. We have to give her a name before we leave the hospital so she will have a name by tomorrow!!

I will post more later when I can.

Love, The New Momma =D

Delightful day...

Why I love today:

Took a morning walk with a jacket on

Cloudy sky

Drinking apple cider

Making mexican corn muffins

Getting ready to eat chili

Waiting for my love to get home

Today has been a great, relaxing fall day and I am so thankful for it. Looking forward to many more days like this except holding a little girl in my arms!!!

38 weeks update

Well I went to the doctor this morning, all is going great. I actually lost a pound which they said is somewhat normal, nothing to worry about.

The doc said I am around 2 cm dilated and still around 90% effaced, he of course said we could have a baby any day now, but he always says that =D I would love for her to come this weekend, but I am trusting that she will come when she is ready! I got my pedicure today, it's October, my in-laws are back home, so we are ready for her to come... COME ON SWEET GIRL!!!

Today I am feeling great! Going to make dinner for the hubby: turkey loaf, sweet potatoes, and stuffing. Then we are going to my parents to organize all those baby clothes I got a few days ago.

I will keep you all updated.

Keep praying,

Alex