Motherhood: 2 Months In

Well, Owen is now officially 2 months old, and I have to say, motherhood is fabulous! I just love being a mom. I love taking care of him and I crack up at how his laundry is always clean and his room is always spotless....and then there's my stuff. My stuff is the last to get done...so what if I have to febreze a pair of dirty pants off the floor to wear to work...at least Owen looks cute!! LOL!! (I've only done that once, by the way. And don't judge me because it was my first week back and it was hard getting up to go somewhere that early!)

Anyway, my point is, just these 2 short months of being a mom has completely transformed who I am. I realized how self absorbed I was before and how selfless I have become, which has really surprised me. I thought it would be hard to put myself last, but it is so not hard at all because of the love I have for Owen.

I am so blessed that God gave us a child. I wish everyone in this world could have a child because the way I think about my relationship with my heavenly Father has completely changed, and I think if I never did have a child of my own, I wouldn't fully "get it." What I mean is, I have thought about what Jesus did for me...not what was done for people in general, but for ME. God allowed Jesus to die on the cross for ME. He allowed "His Owen" to die for me. I think about the love I have for Owen, and I would not let him die for anyone, especially people who would mock and scorn him, spit on him, curse him or not even believe he existed. It is so humbling when I think about it that way. I was moved to tears and just thanked God for his love for me.

I challenge you the next time you pray to truly show appreciation for God sending his son to die for you, and not just say it flippantly, but to truly be humbled and recognize what Jesus did. And not only when you pray, but to live your life in such a way that shows you are appreciative.

I know I struggle daily to be the Christian I want to be. But knowing that God loves me unconditionally helps me get back on track. I'm so thankful and blessed to be a child of God, and my prayer is that I live my life in such a way that MY child will be too.

And Baby Makes Three...

Owen Louis is here! He's been here for 6 weeks, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about his debut! The labor/delivery was 8 hours, which I was pretty proud of myself...some people are in labor for 13 to 20 hours for their first babies! So I was glad not to be a part of that group! Owen weighed 9 lbs, 9 oz and was 20.5 inches long...so he was a big boy! And still is!

His personality so far is SO sweet and he is a very content baby (thank you, Lord!)..I think he is going to be like his Daddy.

So far, motherhood is wonderful. Its funny..no matter how tired I am, one smile from his sweet little face is like drinking a venti mocha frap with an extra shot of espresso! :)

Our life just feels so full. We are so blessed with a healthy baby. Here's the latest pic of him!

It has been a while...

So I was naive to think that I would keep my blog updated. I completely missed blogging about my whole 2nd trimester. So I will just have to play catch up. The word I would use to describe my 2nd trimester is "breezy." I had all this energy, joined a water aerobics class, walked a lot, etc. It was great! I did fail my first glucose test for gestational diabetes and had to go back for the 3 hour test, which really wasn't that bad. But I passed that one, so no gestational diabetes. Hooray! Matt's sister, Erin aka "Auntie E," and Matt's mom, Nelda, aka "Nonna," started working on Owen's room and it looks FABULOUS! We did a vintage golf theme and it all looks SO good. Those are two talented women. I hope Owen gets some of their creative genes. Here are some pics:

This is the "toy zone!" Fun toys with airplanes flying overhead!

This is the changing table/dresser combo. Sign above says "Tee Time: 2:00 a.m."

His name is hanging from a putter above his bed, and little golf balls are at the end of the pull strings on the fan.

Now I'm in my 3rd trimester, and only 7 weeks until my due date! It has flown by. I have a feeling though that the next few weeks will drag as I get bigger and the weather gets hotter!! But that is ok, I will be willing to sacrifice now for Owen so that he can have fun pool parties for his birthdays! :) I still feel great, I am just getting tired in the evenings again like I was in my first trimester. I almost fell asleep in the pool Monday at water aerobics while waiting for my class to start!! I propped my head in my hands on this ledge and just closed my eyes while floating!! I must say it was really comfy resting in the water feeling weightless!!!

I have had 3 baby showers...one on May 9 at Lake Houston Church of Christ. It was so fun to see my family and old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. Got LOTS of goodies there and had fun going through everything once we got it all home. My second shower was June 7 at West Erwin Church of Christ, and again, got LOTS more goodies and had a bit harder time finding a place for everything!! My third shower was June 13 at Carleta's (a family friend) house in Whitehouse. It was a golf theme and everything was SO cute. There were even golf balls floating in the punch! My fourth and final shower will be June 27. It will be in Lindale at Amanda's (friend) house. It is a diaper shower, so I'm excited to get lots of diapers for the lil bit!! Can never have enough of those!! I am very thankful to everyone who hosted a shower for me and everyone who came to them. It is such a blessing to us. I told Matt that its crazy how we had no kid things in our house, and even my nephews would ask, "Aunt Lindsay, where are all your toys??" and now we have a room that is busting at the seams! Even Logan, our oldest nephew on my side of the fam, said he "just really wanted to play in Owen's room" the last time he was at our house! So thanks to the generosity of our family and friends, we have a home ready for a baby!

It's all downhill from here...

So far, pregnancy has been a breeze. I was so thankful to not have any morning sickness or any sickness period. However, the last couple of weeks have had a slight change of pace. First of all, I've started getting up to go to the bathroom every morning at either 4:30 or 5:15. It's weird how it is like RIGHT on the dot of one of those times when I wake up. This is odd to me because I NEVER wake up in the middle of the night and never have. I am trying to enjoy the fact that I can just get back in bed and go back to sleep without having to feed someone, change a diaper, hold a crying child, etc., so its not that bad in the grand scheme of things, but it is annoying. And I try to roll over and fall back to sleep to make the sensation go away, but it doesn't. Gets worse. So I have to climb out of my warm, perfect position where I can finally breathe and feel comfy, and go sit on a cold toilet sit. Ugh. Secondly, I feel like it takes work to get a really deep breath. Like, I have to sit up strait, tilt my head back a bit, and then breathe to get that deep breath that feels like, "ahh." So I feel like one of those really big guys that are so overweight that they are out of breath when they walk from the couch to the bathroom. So thats annoying. Thirdly, I have made it hard for Matt to sleep because I am already a talker in my sleep, but I've started making this weird goat noise while I sleep...the way Matt "re-enacts" it, it sounds like a goat and a baby cooing at the same time..kind of a "a-a-a-a-a-oooooh" mixed with a quiet groan. So thankfully, that doesn't bother ME much, but I do feel sorry for Matt! Ok, where am I at on the list? Fourthly, I noticed my first stretch mark on my tummy yesterday. That was actually really hard for me to stomach, no pun intended. I will say, not trying to brag, but I inherited really smooth, pretty skin on my tummy from my mom (thanks, Madre!) and now it will never be the same again. Fifthy, I now have cankles. The swelling of my ankles is just crazy. I get sock lines when I wear socks, and my legs are so white that when I take the socks off, it looks like I still have socks on because of the swelling/sock lines. Ok, this is all the moaning and growning you will "hear" or read from me. I am not a complainer by nature, but I do just want to be honest about what I am going through at this point. I'm just a little nervous because I already have these "ailments" and I still have 4 months to go..hence the "its all downhill from here." So everything will probably get worse over the next few months, however, I will soon have one sweet, precious gift from God to take my mind off of it all!

It's a Boy!

We are so excited! As soon as his little image flashed up on the sono machine, the tech said "Oh! I know what it is already!" And I said excitedly, "WHAT?!" And she said, "It's a boy!" And I said "Reeeeallllly?!!?!?!?" And Matt did his little giggle/chuckle thing! I was SO excited because everyone around me had me convinced it was a girl! I did the ultimate drano test that is supposed to be completely accurate, and it was wrong. The heartbeat was always around 170, which is usually "girl speed" and that was wrong..so I was actually surprised! But deep down I still thought it was a boy, and stuck to that. Matt and I made a bet the night before we found out, he said girl, I said boy. I won a massage! Yay for me! Thanks Owen!! :)

His name will be Owen Louis Kelly. Owen is just a name we like and just both agreed on since the time we were engaged. Louis was Matt's Pap-Paw. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I know he was a good man, and I'm glad we are naming our son after him. Owen will have plenty of people on the Kelly side of the family to tell him about Pap-Paw and why his Daddy wanted to name him after him.

Please continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy & delivery.

Now it is time to start shopping!!!

Last day as a gender neutral pregnant person...

So if my title didn't make sense, this is the last day before we find out "who" is growing in there! I wanted to share some of my thoughts. First of all, before I was pregnant, I'd ask other pregnant people if they prefer a boy or girl, and they would say, "Oh, either..I just want a healthy baby." And I thought, "thats a bunch of crap." But now that I'm there, I totally agree!! However, my only thing is I do hope that whatever the doc tells me "it" is, that it is accurate. I really don't want to bring a boy home to a pink room. But I've got fabulous friends and family that would probably rush to my house and slap a coat of blue paint on top of it in a jiffy!! :)

I am almost halfway through my pregnancy, and I gotta say that I am so blessed. So far it has been a breeze. No sickness or anything! The only symptoms I've had are tiredness in the first trimester, and that really wasn't bad because I have a fabulous hubby who didn't care that I didn't get off the couch for 13ish weeks, and then within the past week, my feet have begun to swell. Again, I married a man that is ok with me propping my feet up when I get home, so its all good!! Other than that, I feel great. I'm just happy all the time, and that is a wonderful feeling. And Matt can do no wrong in my eyes right now, so I think that is why he is happy all the time too!! It is just a thrilling, exciting, happy, emotional time in our life right now, and I am so grateful that God has blessed us in this way. It has strengthened my ability to trust in the Lord and lean on him. I pray much more fervently now, I trust him more whole-heartedly, and I have found pure joy in the Lord for realizing his love for me in the way He blesses us. And when I say emotional time, I have tears in my eyes right now while writing this!! All this to say, I've heard of the joy & excitement a child brings to a family, but now that I'm starting to experience a taste of it, it is pure bliss. And the cool thing, its just gonna get better!

Worry Is Like a Rocking Chair...

Someone once said, "Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." How true is this? I have never been a worrier. My mom always was..and to quote Shelby from Steel Magnolias, she told her mom, "I never have to worry because you worry enough for the both of us." I have always told my mom that in my best southern Louisiana "Shelby" accent! :) But really, I've never considered myself a worrier. We had a picture in our bathroom in the house I grew up in with scriptures about worrying, and casting our anxieties, fears and worries on the Lord. And I can say, it always kind of stuck with me. They were blue with little birds on it, and I can remember it vividly! However, I am ashamed to admit that it has kind of slipped away from me- that worry free attitude. It all came on when I found out we were expecting a sweet baby. It's crazy the thoughts that pop in my head. For example, the other night, Matt fell asleep watching a movie on the couch (I think I went to bed around 8:30!!). I woke up in the middle of the night and he wasn't there in bed. Pre-pregnant Lindsay would've thought: "Oh, he fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. He's done that before." And I would roll over and go back to sleep. Pregnant Lindsay, on the other hand, thought, "Oh crap! Where's Matt?? Did he have a heart attack or something and never made it to bed? Will I have to raise this kid on my own?? Where is he?!" Then I jumped out of bed and made it halfway down the hall because I heard him snoring in the living room. So I just rolled my eyes at myself, and got back in bed...and sprawled out in the middle since I knew I didn't have to share it! :) My point is, it seems like my brain goes nuts at the littlest things, especially the new things I feel going on with my body. And people have laughed at me, but hey, cut me some slack- I've never done this before!! Also, I have no idea how the baby is doing, and questions arise in my head, like is the baby healthy? Will he/she be normal? Will I have an easy delievery? And I could keep going, but anyone who has been a first time parent knows the questions you have. It's hard to be at peace because I am COMPLETELY out of control, besides taking care of myself. Anyway, my point is, isn't it such a wonderful feeling knowing that we don't have to control things and determine the outcome of events, that our God is in control and all we have to do is cast those worries on him? What a relief!! I challenge you, especially if you are a woman, because we need the most help in this area, to "let go and let God." So I will leave you with this passage from Philippians 4: 6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Here's the awesome part...read this slowly) 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Wow...isn't it wonderful to be a Christian and to have the peace of GOD? Amazing. Hope you have a peaceful week!