Family Outings and Big Surprises :)

The other day the weather was so nice that we all headed up to Anthem to go to the park and shop around and the outlets! Gracelyn LOVED watching all the duckies with Daddy and playing on the huge playground that they have! Briella and I watched from a bench :)

Gracelyn is still loving her "Bee Bee Lella" and wants to hold her all the time! 

We all met up at David's parents house to celebrate his sister Joy's birthday! Of course we were all SHOCKED when we saw Becca in the kitchen! She has been traveling on MercyShips for almost a year and we weren't expecting to see her until Christmas! It was such a fun surprise and now we get a whole three months with her until she returns to Africa for another year!! Briella LOVED meeting her Auntie for the fist time and caught up on some snuggles!!!

Briella is such a good eater and she is starting to chub up! I LOVE her little cheeks that are filling out :) Stay tuned for more pictures of my precious girls!!

Two weeks as a family of four :)

We continue to be blessed with having David off to spend time as a family and let him bond with our new Ella or as David calls her "Bri Bri"

We have been taken it easy and trying not to do too much. Family walks down to the horses have been a favorite of ours!

Gracelyn has been LOVING her time with Daddy at home! She is getting a lot of special times and keeping us entertained. For the most part she is doing really well with the adjustment... we are working on listening and obeying but I know that is also the fact that she will be 2 in less than two months EEK!

I have never really been a morning person and I used to be so bummed when Gigi would wake up before 9 am. Now she is up at 6:40 ON THE DOT every morning! I am usually up feeding around that time and though I imagined myself wanting to go back to bed I am actually wide awake and ready to start my day! It has been so nice to spend mornings together as a family. We will go outside on the back porch and have our coffee while G plays around and Ella sleeps :)

Today we got up and decided to go take a family trip to Anthem Community Park. It was our first time going there and we fell in love. The most beautiful and kid friendly park I have ever seen... though railroad in Scottsdale is a close second ;) She LOVED watching the duckies, riding on the the merry-go-round and playing on the playground. Unfortunately the train wasn't running today so we will have to go back another time to try that! Afterwards we headed over to the outlets for some window shopping and hoping to find some preemie outfits for our little peanut. Sadly we didn't find anything but G had fun playing on the playground while I fed Ella.

We got to give miss Briella her first bath and she didn't like it very much. The water was a bit cold for her and we have now learned that she likes warmer temps just like her sister does.

We are going to the Dr. tomorrow to see how I am healing and recovering. I am hoping she will allow me to drive so I can get OUT and so David doesn't have to chauffeur me around everywhere. Plus I am planning a trip to Hobby Lobby since tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN!!!!! and I know David wouldn't enjoy that store as much as my sisters and I would ;)

We are so thankful for our sweet girls. Gracelyn continues to bless our socks off with how much she is learning lately. She amazes us and how fast she is growing up and starting to act and look like a little preschooler :( Ella is still sleeping great, but just recently has started to eat like a mad little thing... which is fine since she is still such a little pea! 

David and I count our blessings daily and thank the Lord for our wonderful life that we have been given. We are eternally thankful for his never-ending love and constant grace that we as parents definitely need! I continue to look to Him for guidance and strength as I learn grace and patience myself. I don't know what I would do without the accountability and encouragement from my amazing hubby!

Thanks for reading up on our family!

:)

1 Week... a little late ;)

I can't believe my baby is already a little over a week old!

We went to her Dr. and she is almost back up to her birth weight. She is sleeping wonderfully  really only gets up once in the night to eat... almost a perfect 10-2-6 schedule. She is rooming with us and we LOVe it. Not only are we soaking in our last baby but it makes nights easier to get her out of the bassnet and change her and feed her in our bed rather than running back and forth down the hall. Since we was a preemie they encouraged us to have her in our room for a couple of weeks... we didn't fight that ;)
And nursing... well... she WAS four weeks early... I have to give her that... and she is trying but sometimes it is just easier for her if I pump and give her a bottle. She is getting better each day... and I am starting to feel less defeated. I know she will eventually latch great and will be able to nurse... I just need to have patience with her :)

Gracelyn continues to be so good around her! She wants to hold her and kiss her and rub her head... she has tried a few times to pick her up our of her swing... I am hoping there are no owies in the future... I have to watch this little mama like a hawk!

I LOVE having David off with us. Not only do we get in a lot of family time but we don't feel rushed to do anything since he has 5 more weeks with us until he goes back to work. He took Gigi to the toddler time at the library just down the street and they had fun!! We will definitely be making that a weekly routine to get out of the house... it is only 5 min away!! Daddy and Gigi get to have a special time while I stay home with Ella. Since she was a preemie she is still encouraged to stay away from public places... so I am taking it all in being at home and snuggling with her :)

She is still blonde and her hair coming in is blonde so I am (hoping) thinking she might be a sandy blonde baby after all! I love this little girl to death!! I am so so so thankful for my sweet babies and wonderful husband who has done so much to help me out and keep the house in order!

Thank you to everyone for your prayers... I am slowly healing and gaining more strength each day. We had to make an unplanned trip to the Dr. on Monday though because my entire side all the way to my belly button was black and blue and after all that bleeding we wanted to make sure everything was okay... it is just a HUGE hematoma that hurts like crazy!! Once this bruise goes away I will be able to sit, stand, sleep, go to the bathroom, nurse and pretty much do SO much more :)

We love you all and thank you for checking in on our sweet family of four :)

HAPPY MONDAY !!

Love, 

 Briella

Story of Briella's miracle birth!

** A lot of you have asked about the delivery and although I had a hard time deciding if I was going to post it or not.. David finally encouraged me to do so... so here it is ... from my heart... from my perspective... I hope you will be able to see the miracle God performed in bringing Briella into this world and allowing me to tell you all about it. God is so good and his mercy and grace is beyond amazing. I am so thankful he can now use my story to tell others of his mighty works!**

It is hard to believe that a little over a week ago I was sitting in the triage room waiting to hear if we would be delivering our baby girl or not. Little did we know what was ahead. We had been so optimistic about this delivery... though the pregnancy was a little more tough than Gracelyn's was we were so positive that it would be a routine operation that would go as planned... David and I thought it... our Dr. thought it we had no reason to believe the events from Gigi's birth would repeat themselves... but... they did... and it was much worse this time around.

I remember sitting in the O.R. getting prepped and thinking about holding my sweet baby... I remember hearing her loud cry as she was delivered... I remember thinking she was perfect and breathing a sigh of relief when they assured me that although she was almost four weeks early had no medical issues and truly was in perfect health. Then it all began, I could hear the Dr's voice getting more urgent and I could hear the anesthesiologist ordering more blood... I looked over at David holding our sweet Briella and could see the fear in his eyes... we knew... it was happening again. They couldn't get me to stop bleeding more Dr's were called in and they escorted David out... my heart sank. I closed my eyes and prayed... I cried... I had faith that the Lord would save me but it was so hard to believe that when I could hear my Dr telling everyone to throw everything they could at it... and then the anesthesiologist asking where the other blood was... I was bleeding out as fast as they were transfusing it in. they had to give me 8 units of blood along with a bunch of other clotting agents to try to stop the bleeding.  They had to stitch up the uterus as well to prevent bleeding.  They told my family  initially if they couldn’t get the bleeding to stop they would have not choice but to do a hysterectomy. Thankfully it didn't come to that however if it had, David said he would have chosen my life over losing my uterus. What a hard thing for my family to go through.

This picture touches my heart... it brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. 

I remember waking up not knowing where I was. Wondering what had happened. I had a tube down my throat and I was on a breathing machine... I couldn't speak and my hands were tied down so that by reflex I wouldn't try and pull out my tube... which according to my Mom and David I did try that night when they came to visit me in ICU. I just wanted to see David... I couldn't ask for him and I knew he was no where in sight so I would motion to my nurse... pointing to my wedding ring and then to my heart.. they figured it out and they called for him to come down... As soon as I saw the love of my life I started to cry... I wanted to ask him what had happened and say Hi I just wanted to talk to him but I couldn't. Just seeing him brought so much peace and comfort... thank you Lord for my husband! By the looks of it and because of what trauma I had gone through in surgery no one knew when or how fast I would recover. Most expected a few days in the ICU but God once again stepped in and healed me ... The breathing tube was taken out and though m throat hurt it was so nice to talk to my family. David would bring Briella to me for the day and I could snuggle her on my chest... it was perfect!

 Slowly they began to remove IV's I had four in my arms and one A-line that was directly connected to an artery. Some they had to leave in since I would still need antibiotics while I was staying in the hospital. They finally were able to put me on a clear fluid diet. Chicken broth, jello, shaved ice, tea.. I had not had anything to eat or drink since the night BEFORE I went in to triage. My throat was so raw from the tubes that anything felt good going down. They moved me out of my bed into a chair and slowly I gained more strength back. Everyone was amazed at how well I was doing and said that if my blood tests came back with rising numbers then I would be released and could go to a post partum room and be with David and my baby! Things came back looking good and I was on my way "home" around 10 that evening. There was nothing more amazing that being with my husband and holding my baby without tubes and ventilators and beeping and cords... it was just us three... the way it should be when you have a baby!

Some of the nurses came back to see me they had been a part of the delivery they couldn't believe it... here was a woman they almost watched die happily snuggling her baby... what an amazing opportunity we had to witness to them. We told them we had a lot of people praying and that our God is good! Only HE could have done this! Even my Dr. was shocked to see me up and walking around holding Briella... I felt great and I know that it was all because of the Lord our ultimate healer!

Although we are now dealing with the harsh reality of not being able to carry more children, I am trying to have peace in knowing I get to be my girls mommy! I have to be honest.. it has been really hard for me to accept it... David and I both have spend some time crying, praying and I know it will get easier as time goes by... right now we can be sad... I know God will bring comfort and take away all my tears! I am so thankful the Lord was able to use me and my story to tell others about his amazing grace and mercy and how powerful prayer is and that it really works! I am so thankful to have been able to have two beautiful baby girls who are perfect in every way and healthy! I am so thankful for our sweet little family of four, and I know the Lord will give me the strength to get through these tough times. I am so thankful for our families who have come around us and prayed and encouraged us, and again for our friends who continue to help us out with dinners and lifting our hurting hearts in prayer! I trust the Lord's perfect plan and I can't wait to live our life to him... living each day to the fullest and seeing what he has in store for us.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, thoughts, meals, and visits. Our family is indeed blessed!

Sisters!

Gracelyn LOVES being a big sister! She is such a good helper! Washing bottles, putting the pacifier back in Briella's mouth, rocking her... she loves to hold her and asks all the time as long as we are holding her. Lately she will throw the blankets off her and try to reach down and pick her up out of the swing or her car seat... I love how much she wants to be a part of her routine and it brings me so much joy to watch her show love for her baby sister!

I just love my girls and thank the Lord for allowing me to live to raise them and be their Mommy!