The Miracle of Life

We were so fortunate to be able to have Christi Santangelo of Santangelo Photography in the delivery room to capture the miracle of life in photographs for us.

These photographs are precious to us as Christi captured the precious moments of our daughter's birth.  

These pictures preserve memories and emotions that we could have never captured on our own.  I cried like a baby viewing them for the first time.

Christi did an amazing job and we are so thankful to have these cherished memories in pictures.

*There were around 300 pictures total!! So this is just a summary of all the wonderful memories preserved!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above…"

James 1:17

Hello, Aubrey Lane! from The Mustard Seed on Vimeo.

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted what I asked of Him…" 

1 Samuel 1:27

I hope you enjoyed watching this video as much as I enjoy watching it... over and over again ;-)

My Redhead's Summer

With all the excitement of Aubrey Lane's much anticipated arrival, I haven't posted many pictures of Jude this summer.


Well, just so you know, Jude has had, up until this point, a very fun filled summer.  We wanted to make sure that we got some good quality time in with him before life changed for everyone.  


We've gone to the zoo, the movies, the pool, the beach, the playground (well until it got too hot- living in Louisiana means that outdoor summer activities must involve water), and so on... We even drove about 30 minutes to watch 20 minutes worth of fireworks ;-)


Jude's favorite activities have, of course, been those involving water.  Mostly the pool at his cousins' Cade and Katie's house.

Jude also got to participate in Vacation Bible School for the first time at our church this year! (while I taught nine months preggo) He had his very own shadow that helped him everywhere during the day.  He had a blast!

Although summer hasn't quite drawn to a close just yet, our activities for the next month will be somewhat limited due to my healing from delivery.  (Which is going well by the way, just a little sore and completely restricted from lifting Jude for any reason other than to save his life)  And soon Jude will start school back at LSU!  It's going to be quite a busy time for all of us, but I'm sure we are going to adjust and manage just fine!


Speaking of adjusting... Jude has not missed a beat with our newest addition.  He has been very sweet and hasn't acted out or shown any jealousy at all.  I know he doesn't fully understand who Aubrey Lane is or why she is here, but I know he's going to love her very much!  


Oh.. and I have all the birth photos from our AWESOME photographer.  Some of the photos are obviously a little too... ummm... intimate to share, but all of them are precious so I'll be sharing some more of them when I find some free time.  However, I don't know how soon that will be since I spend most of my free time catching up on my sleep!

Well, I hope everyone is having a great weekend!  We are going to get out of the house today so I'm super excited!  So I need to go get a couple kiddos ready.  ;-)

She has a name!!!

After two days of remaining nameless, our sweet baby girl now has a name chosen for her by her daddy!

Lane, Jude, and I are so excited to announce that

Aubrey Lane

is the newest member of our family and we are so in love with her already!

Not only is she named after her own father (which was my idea and I just love that I have a son and now a daughter that are both named after their daddy), but both my grandfather and my father bear the name Aubrey.

The name fits her perfectly!

For all our friends and family who would like to see more of Aubrey Lane's birth photos, our wonderful photographer has posted some more highlights on her Santangelo Photography facebook page.  You can view them by clicking here! Then click on the "births" photo album!

Meet Sweet Pea!

Photographs provided by Santangelo Photography

Getting to kiss my daughter for the first time!

Such a sweet girl and good baby already!

Perfectly perfect in every way!  

Could I be anymore blessed?!?!

Just when I think that the Lord has given me all the testimony of His glory I can stand, He adds another chapter!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!


Photographs provided by Santangelo Photography

A BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

Jude would like to announce to you the birth of his little

SISTER!!!

Our sweet girl arrived at 8:26 am weighing 6 pounds and 9.5 ounces!! 

She is perfectly perfect in every way and bears a slight resemblance to her big brother with a headful of dark wavy hair.

She has yet to be named because nothing seems good enough for her!!

Testimony:

As most of you know, I desired to have a VBAC if possible.  However, my body refused to cooperate so I had a scheduled cesarean section this morning.  After the baby was born the doctor told me that my body had not shown any signs of progressing towards labor.  She also told me that our sweet girl had the cord wrapped around her neck!  She had not been strangled by it, but had I gone into labor, we could have lost our Sweet Pea!  Thank God that His plans are so much better than our own!

Thanks so much for your prayers.  The delivery and recovery went unbelievably smooth today and we are so blessed to have a daughter!

I will update with pictures and a name as soon as I can!

Lots of Love,

Lane and Angel

Honey, the baby is on its way!

That's right!

We are on the way to the hospital this morning to have our Sweet Pea/ Butter Bean!

Despite my mutliple efforts, I never did go into labor so I have a scheduled cesarean section for 8 this morning. But we know this is God's plan for the baby's arrival, so we are okay with it!

It has been a very exciting 10 months and surprisingly easy! I have enjoyed sharing all my baby adventures with you, and my family has been overwhelmingly blessed by your prayers!

I will update everyone in the next day or so!

Lots of love,
Lane, Angel, Jude, and Sweet Pea

39 Weeks!!! All I can say is WOW!!

Today, I am officially 39 weeks pregnant!  A few weeks ago, I was sure I would have a sweet baby in my arms by now.  However, plans have changed over and over again... but I'm fine letting my bun in the oven "cook" as long as possible.

This morning, I will see both the specialists at Maternal Fetal Medicine and the OB filling in for my doctor.  This will be my last appointment before my scheduled cesarean section on July the 19th!  That is unless I go into labor beforehand... which would be a miracle in itself given that I haven't dilated a bit.  I'm even willing to bet money that I still won't be progressed when they examine me in a bit. 

I'm still praying very hard though!  I have five more days for it to happen.

These are our last days as a family of three and Jude's last days as an only child.  Honestly, this makes me a little sad.  My redhead has been my world for the past four years and I can't imagine making him share his title now.  But everyone says this is normal and I'll be surprised at how much my heart grows in seconds to love both children beyond belief.  I'm waiting for that moment.

Now we still are kind of scrambling to gather things for Sweet Pea.  Jude's toddler bed has yet to arrive, so no crib just yet.  I still can't make my mind up on a double stroller, so in turn, I still don't have a carseat for my baby.  And I never made a decision on which white paint to use, hence the nursery is still "wheat grass" yellow (I loved it at first, but it's starting to really hurt my eyes). 

The good news is, the toddler bed should be here Saturday.  I can swing into Babies R Us and get a carseat as soon as I make up my mind.  And I can probably manage to get the nursery painted Saturday while my hubby is assembling the toddler bed (as long as I make up my mind on what color of white-  I could really use some decorating advice here.  My trim is bright white, but I want a softer, off or linen white on the walls, would this look bad or anyone done this and have a specific color suggestion???).

Well.. that's really it for now...

Oh and a wee bit of information about the delivery of Sweet Pea for my friends in family- in case I do go into labor and don't have time to get the message out.

To my family and friends who are planning to be present at the hospital during the delivery:

Lane and I requesting that no photos be taken of the baby with your phone until the okay is given.  This is to prevent any pictures to be texted or posted onto Facebook.  We are also asking that you do not send any texts or make any Facebook posts about the baby- especially the gender and name of the baby!  We want to give family and friends who are planning to visit later the opportunity to meet the baby in person instead of via text or Facebook.  When we are ready, we will make a birth announcement here on The Mustard Seed.  I hope this doesn't upset anyone; Lane and I just feel like since we have patiently waited for this special baby, we would like to have the honor of publicly announcing the birth of our sweet baby and Jude's younger sibling. 

Thanks for your cooperation!!

"Sprinkled" with Blessings

Now that things have slowed down around here for five minutes, I have time to put up a few pictures from my Baby Sprinkle.  

Plus, I have Sweet Pea updates at the bottom of the post!

This was Sweet Pea's beautiful diaper cake

made by my beautiful friend, Sarah!

These were my sweet hostesses with the "Thank you" bags I gave them!

By opening their home, sending adorable invitations, making a precious corsage, filling the table with delicious food and the best punch ever, these ladies are absolutely the bestest ever!  I was so touched by all the blessings and love that was "sprinkled" -poured would be a better verb- on Sweet Pea and me!

Now for the Sweet Pea news...  Yesterday I went back to the specialists at Maternal Fetal Medicine. They did another ultrasound and the baby looked fantastic.  They didn't measure the baby yesterday, but said that they would do that next week.

If most of you remember, the doctor last week did not want me to carry the baby past 39 weeks, and that the baby could possibly delivered this week.  This news caused some disappointment on my part because it would limit my time on attempting labor and put me delivering when my doctor was out of town.  However, as the week went on, my disappointment gave way to excitement and anticipation of the arrival of my Sweet Pea!  

Then yesterday, I saw a different specialist with a different prognosis.  This doctor felt that my scheduled cesarean section date, July 19th, was fine as long as the baby still looked good at my next visit.  (He explained that if the baby was distressed, they would take it that day which is a given.)  I was very happy that my doctor would be able to deliver our baby, but not quite sure what to do with the two more weeks we were given to wait after being prepared to have a baby this week.  The exciting part is the baby is doing so well.  The doctor said that their was really no cause for me remaining a patient, but they would see me one more time until I deliver.

Then, I saw my doctor and shared the news from MFM with her.  She seemed just as elated as I was that she was going to be a part of the delivery.  We went over my birth plan one final time (since she will be out next week) and talked about what to do if I go into labor before that time.  However, examination, once again, showed no dilation or progress towards labor.  I even had two contractions during my examination that the doctor noticed.  Once again, she was encouraging and told me that a lot could happen in two weeks especially since I am contracting.  I did feel encouraged by her words, but I am beginning to mentally prepare myself for a section.

I told Lane that the reason this process is taking so long is because I am too prepared.  For those of you who know me, I am rarely prepared for anything and always late for everything.  For the past week, I have been breaking my back to get prepared for baby.  We have rearranged furniture, cleaned every inch of the house, shampooed carpets, polished floors, washed baby clothes, sterilized feeding supplies, and packed bags for the hospital.  I told Lane, I was unpacking the bags and just waiting for the 19th or the "moment" whichever comes first.  

Meanwhile, everything is done so I have two weeks to enjoy with my favorite boys and relax.  So that's just what I intend to do!

Happy Thursday,

Angel

No Baby Yet...

Well... I am officially full term; 37 weeks and 6 days! This is the most pregnant I have ever been because my sweet Jude came at 37 weeks exactly!


I was really hoping to go into labor yesterday ;-)  I knew my doctor was on call yesterday.  But Sweet Pea has decided to stay a little longer.  I'm trying not to get discouraged and keep positive.  I still have until Sunday to have my doctor deliver this baby...


Unfortunately, I don't have any idea at this point when my Sweet Pea will be arriving.  I will see my doctors again tomorrow and will get answers then on when and how the baby will be arriving.  


Even though I don't have any answers now, I'm still very excited and anxious that it could be as soon as tomorrow.  


Since tomorrow could be the day, I am going to get a pedicure today and relax a little from the busy weekend we had--> Our Jude dude was very sick all weekend, and we spent a lot of time getting ready for the baby.


Well that's really it for now.. since I don't really have any news to share.  I'll have my bags packed with me tomorrow just in case, and I'll try to update when I can.  Still keeping my fingers crossed to go into labor on my own.


Hope you all had a great holiday weekend.  I am going to try to post some cute pics later of what's been going on around the house the past week.  


Lots of hugs,
Angel