Playing Catch up

A few highlights from the past few weeks, which would have been individual entries if i would have had the time/ coherence to write :):

week 5

Elise started stretching her nighttime sleep

to about 5 ho

urs a time. What a blessing. John was able to stop feeding her at 1 am, but still continued to help me if she got up too many times at night. So thankful. At her one month appointment she already is up to 5.6 kilos, or 12.3 pounds. The nurse look at me and said, "She's much fatter!" and she is indeed. But still not as chubby as the numbers say, j

ust long and lean :) I just love this little one so much

week 6

Finishing up Cataract Surgery preparations and getting ready for Thailand.

This week we had so much to do, and were such busy bees. The idea of traveling to another country with my precious girl seems kind of scary to me, but I am thankful to have Rachel and Emily, sweet friends and experienced moms to travel with. It is so hard to know what to pack for a newborn in a totally new place, but I decided on her snap n go stroller, her pea pod tent, and her baby bijorn as all the gear I need. That should defini

tely be enough, right? Oh, and about 50 diapers and 50+ sunscreen:)

week 7

Thailand!

What an awesome week! Elise and I joined up with women from our organization who live all over the world

for a week long

retreat/ conference in Ko Samui, Thailand at the Centara Resort. We had an amazing time soaking in His presence, listening to good and encouraging teaching from some very admirable women, and connecting with old and dear friends. One of my best friends, Amy, was our roomie for the week. I had not seen her for almost 2 years, which is a ridiculously lo

ng time for us, so it was such a blessing to be with her and for her to get to sp

end time with Elise, and process how mothering is going thus far and what all she has to look forward to.

It was crazy hot and humid there, and I was a little nervous about Elise getting too much sun, so it took us a while to venture out to the pool and beach. Amy and I decided to

spend our morning off having an early breakfast and then going with Elise to the beach before it got too hot. So, at about 7:30 am, we were on the beach,

and we lasted about 15 minutes before going back to the breakfast buffet :) We did, however, lounge around the nice and shady pool area for most of the day, which was amazing, and got to chit chat with all the ladies soaking up the rays.

The people in Thailand were so loving, humble, and gentle people. They loved Elise! Every where we went, people were making googly faces at her. Even the ladies at the security check in

the Bangkok airport asked if they could feed her a bottle while I went through. So sweet!

week 8

Cataract surgery project and my best friend, Mr. Jet Lag:

We got home Saturday night at 8pm, and I had to be at the ho

spital at 8:30 Sunday morning. YIKES! I was so jetlagged, and so was Elise. John watched her in the mornings while I was at the hospital and I was so bless

ed. I would leave him a bottle and then come home about 1 to feed her, head back to the hospital, and then wrap u

p the day around 3. At that point we were so exhausted that Elise and I would crash about 6 or 7 pm. The project was a success and i was so thankful to be a part

for the 5th time. One really cool thing was the surgeon put a camera into his microscope that projected the surgery up close on a tv screen. We all sat outside the O.R. and watched each surgery being done up close. I ha

ve now seen it done so many times, I feel like I could do it myself...well, maybe not.

It took us the rest of the week to get over jet lag, but by the end Elise was back to sleeping 6 hours straight at night. Praise God!

We also went for my final visit with my OB Gyn. I love this sweet lady and wish so badly she could deliver all my kids.

week 9

Pinched nerves, turkey times two, 5 years of happiness, and a full night of sleep:

I started this week with some really rough sciatic nerve pain in my back. It was so severe that I couldn't walk and carry Elise at the same time. I literall

y was bent over at a 90 degree angle for about 4 days straight. John was such a great helper and I don't know what I would h

ave done without him. On Tuesday, I felt about 80% better, and by Thursday I was 100%.

Praise God! I was also in charge of making the turkey for Thanksgiving, and this year we had so many people that I had to make 2! Wednesday morning, Elise and I got up at 5, and I put her in her swing in the kitchen and we started cooking. She was such a good helper :). We had one turkey done by 10 am, carved it up, and used the bones and drippings from the pan to make gravy. Yum, Yum! We finished with the second about 9 that

evening. I just couldn't be bothered to make anything the morning of, so i decided it was better to reheat than to exhaust myself. Indeed it was.

Thanksgiving was awesome! We had 16 adults, 6 kids, and 4 babies at our team's place in Aley, and we had such a great time. We read through the history of Thanksgiving before lunch, and then after lunch watched a video of the Texans v Titans game from Monday night. It felt like a very traditional Thanksgiving, and we were crazy stuffed!

Also, Elise slept for 8 hours straight for the first time! YAY! It was freezing up in the mountains, so I bundled her up in a little snow suit and put her to bed. She didn't cry or even wimper, just went straight to bed at 9 and then woke up

at 5. what the what?!? SO awesome! I, on the other hand, couldn't sleep for some reason, so I just laid there awake waiting for her to wake up, and she never did! Hopefully we can coordinate our 8 hours of sleep next time, but for now I am one proud mama!

Today is our 5 year anniversary. Wow, time has gone by so crazy fast. On one hand, I don't remember life before John, on the other hand I feel like we are still newlyweds. We have cultivated such a deep foundation over these first few years and they feel so precious to me. I would never trade them for anything. In one word, they have been adventurous. Here's to many more adventures, Babe! Love you!