8 Months

Kiara loves to read!

She is just so precious!

She was ready to go out and garden :)

Kiara is 8 months old now! I can't believe how fast time is going! She is learning new things everyday and Zach and I love to watch her explore her new talents. She can sit up on her own now, which means she now thinks that laying down and tummy time are for babies! She loves her toys, but she loves her books the most...looks like we are going to have another bookworm in the family :) She said Mama for the first time last week and now she can't stop saying it (much to my joy and satisfaction). Now we are working on saying Dada...she isn't there yet, but hopefully one day soon.

I had a fabulous first Mother's Day and Zach is really looking forward to his first Father's Day. He probably doesn't want me to share this...but the new Hallmark commercial for Father's Day gets him every time :) Kiara has him wrapped around her little finger! I love to see their relationship grow and develop...he is so good with her!

Kiara is growing so fast! She is still a petite little thing but she is getting very long! That isn't really a surprise with how tall Zach is. We had to move her up to 9 month clothes about a month ago because she was getting too long for the 6 month pants...everything is still baggy on her, she is so skinny!

She loves eating solid foods. She seems to be allergic to rice cereal, so we have stopped giving her cereal all together. Someday soon we might try barley cereal, hopefully she won't have a reaction to that. She loves sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, bananas and applesauce. Her least favorite is peas, they don't look very appetizing to me either :(

Zach and I are doing great. I can't believe that we have been living in our house for over a year now! We are still working on little projects here and there, the joys of owning a home :) Zach is loving his job...he likes the challenges it presents. I am still working two days a week and I am thrilled that I get to stay home with Kiara the rest of the time!

We pray that you are all doing well! Love you all

5 Months

She was trying to get the camera!

And she was fascinated by the flash :)

I love this picture!

Well, Kiara is 5 months old today! Time is just flying by! It feels like just yesterday we were finding out that we were pregnant and we were hearing her heartbeat for the first time :) What a magical day in our lives! Now we have this beautiful daughter to love on each and every day! What a blessing she is. She is changing so much with each day too! She has started rolling over...before we know it she will be running all over this house :)

A Mother's Love

During the nine months (or in my case, almost eight months) that you are pregnant, everyone tries to tell you how much your baby will mean to you. How you will bond with your child and love them unconditionally. You can read about it, hear it, and see it in your friends and family and the way they interact with their children, but you never fully understand what it means until you hold your baby for the first time.

When they first placed Kiara in my arms, it was as if time had stopped. The world stopped spinning and the only thing that mattered was her. She stole my heart that day and she will hold it forever. I love everything about her and I love everything about being a mom. I cherish the midnight feedings, I laugh when she wakes up with a big smile after a rough night, I actually don't mind the dirty diapers! When I see her, I know that this is what God had planned for me, to be a mom and to love every moment of it.

Sure, I have my moments where I feel like I am clumsy and the worst mom, like when I don't put the diaper on tight enough and everything finds a way out! But I just look to the Heavens and laugh about it because I know I am not the only one that has been there. And usually Kiara just laughs right along with me.

I am amazed at how her crooked little grin and her tiny but mighty hugs can brighten the hardest of days. I am grateful that I am blessed with such a joyous and happy baby! I love watching her watch her daddy. He just fascinates her! I love hearing them play and talk to each other in their own little language. I thank God every day for blessing me with an amazing little family. How truly blessed I am!

Bringing Baby Home

Love her little outfits!

Floor time!

She is such a good sleeper!

Her first cold! :(

She is so aware of her surroundings

Going for a car ride

Bright eyes

Snuggling with daddy :)

Mommy loves her!

On the billi-bed to get rid of Jaundice


We have had lots of new adventures since coming home with our baby Kiara. She has been such a blessing in our lives! We have had multiple doctor's appointments to check her weight gain and she continues to impress the doctors. We are so proud of her for doing so well!

In the first week that we came home, she was put on a billi-bed because she had jaundice. Thankfully they were able to set it up at home and we had nurses come to the house daily. She did really well on it and other than feedings, she slept the whole time without any fussing! What a brave little girl :) Praise the Lord that she only had to be on it for about 30 hours.

She continues to grow at a great rate. She did lose some weight in the beginning but that is normal for all babies. Her lowest weight was 4lb 3.5oz! She quickly regained that weight and then some. At her one month check-up she weighed in at 6lb 2.5oz!

She is a great sleeper! She still wakes up to eat about every three hours, but she usually sleeps in between those feedings. She is most active in the evening. That is when she decides she wants to stay up and play :) So we cuddle a lot and have tummy time. She isn't that impressed with tummy time and usually only tolerates it for about ten minutes. She would much rather be held, which I am happy to do :)

She is no longer wearing preemie clothing. She has moved up to newborn! While a lot of the clothes are still baggy on her, she is long and needs the bigger clothes.

It has truly been a blessing to have Zach at home this entire time. He was able to take 5 weeks off of work and we have enjoyed having him here. He has had a lot of time to bond with Kiara and I think it will be hard on all of us when he goes back to work. Just another adjustment that we will have to get used to :)

I am loving being a mommy! I couldn't ask for a greater gift. She is our little miracle and she blesses our lives each and every day! Our lives have totally changed since she arrived and we love it! I find myself just watching her for hours on end. Each little sqeak and wiggle amaze me. I love watching her grow and learn new things. Her little smiles brighten my day. And while I don't want her to grow up too fast, I can't wait to see what an amazing person she will turn into! I know that God has amazing plans for her life!

Welcome Kiara Elisabeth!

Our little bundle of joy has arrived! Kiara Elisabeth was born on October 9th at 9:15 pm. She weighed in at 4 lb 8 oz and she was 16 1/2 in long.

In my 33rd week of pregnancy, I went to a Doctor's appointment regarding my blood pressure. I had been having complications with it and it was getting worse. I had already been on medication for a few weeks because of it. At my appointment, my Doctor decided that I officially had preeclampsia and he was not letting me go home. I was admitted to the hospital from his office. I spent the next two weeks in the hospital being continuously monitored and tested. My family and friends were amazing! They continuously called, visited and brought me little things to occupy my time and keep my mind off of what was happening. We knew that our goal was to make it to 35 weeks, even better if we could make it to 37 weeks, but 40 weeks (my due date) was out of the question. I was given steroid shots to increase the probability that Kiara would be able to breath on her own and I was only allowed out of bed to do the basics like brush my teeth and take a shower. We were doing everything in our power to keep Kiara in for as long as possible and to keep my blood pressure as stable as possible.

At 1am on October 9th, we decided we had made it as far as we were going to. I was officially 35 weeks and two days. My blood pressure had reached a critical point and they were unable to lower it. I was induced. They told me that I could be in labor for the next two to three days since I was so early and they didn't think my body was ready to have this baby. Immediately I began having contractions. They were a little sporadic at first, but within about an hour they were very regular and I was having them about every five minutes. I continued to practice my breathing while I waited for Zach and mom to arrive at the hospital. I had told them to take their time since we thought things were going to take so long. They both arrived at about 1pm. By that time, the contractions were much worse. I was really having to focus to get through them and I was having a lot of pain in my back, not back labor, just pain. Thank Heaven for the tennis balls that Zach had brought to the hospital. Mom and Zach took turns rubbing my back with them during every contraction. By that time, my contractions were only about two minutes apart and lasting for over a minute. Which meant that I was having maybe 45 seconds to rest in between contractions. It was very hard work! I knew it would be difficult and I had said from the beginning that I did not want any drugs. I refused to have an epidural due to my fear of needles. I wanted to remember Kiara's labor and delivery and I didn't want to risk passing out due to the needle!

At about 2:30, I was only at 1cm. But at least I had made it to that! At about 5pm they had to give me oxygen to make Kiara "happier". That also helped me get through the contraction better and I actually slept for about 30 minutes, even through the contractions! At 6pm, my doctor arrived and I was at 2.5cm and 3/4 effaced. They decided to break my water! This increased my contractions even more! At about 7:30, I decided to have them give me Fentenal thru my IV to try and take the edge off of the pain. This allowed me to have a little time to breath in between the contractions. I still felt the worst of the contraction but I didn't feel the beginning of them and I didn't feel the end. Even though I needed to have some drugs, I am still proud of myself for not succumbing to the epidural.

At 9pm, I was in the middle of a contraction when I suddenly had the urge to push. My mom pushed the call button for the nurse and within about two minutes, 10 nurses and my Doctor were in the room and setting up. They did a quick check and said that I was "complete" (10 cm). I pushed through the next two contractions and Kiara was born! They immediately began checking her, the NICU nurse had to make sure that everything looked good. She was breathing on her own, she had apgar scores of 8 and 9! She was perfect!

We had to be very careful about keeping her body temperature up and making sure that she was nursing well, she did great, and making sure that her blood sugar didn't get too low. She did great with all of those things and she never had to spend any time in the NICU! Praise the Lord!!! On the night of the 10th, she had her carseat test and she passed with flying colors! All babies under 5 lbs have to pass the carseat test to make sure that they don't stress out while in the carseat for long periods of time.

We were both discharged on Monday the 11th in the morning. We went through the routine paperwork and packed up our things. We arrived at home with our little one by about 1pm on the 11th!