Olivia's first week home

Olivia is 11 days old! Time has been flying! It is our one week anniversary of her being home! Things are definitely different, but we love it!! We've had to get used to waking up a couple of times in the middle of the night, changing many, many diapers, drinking more coffee (BJ), taking millions of pictures of the same baby, having tons of visitors, taking our dates to BabiesRus, etc. Olivia is actually a really good baby. She already knows her nights and days...she has quite a bit of "awake time" in the day, and we have to wake her up every four hours in the night to feed her. She also is a great eater! She has made transitioning into being a mother very pleasant! We even took her out on her first outing last night...PF Changs and the mall! Of course her first outing has to include the mall!! She was really good too, until she realized she hadn't eaten in 3 hours! Then we had to cut the night short! Anyways, here are some pictures of her first week at home!

Daddy reading Olivia The Little PiggyPlaying with her toys!Our first outing to PF Changs and the Mall...she slept all through dinner!Napping with Daddy. Daddy wasn't really napping...and no she doesn't sleep in the bed with us!Fast asleep...this is always the result after feeding her!Olivia has her own snuggie! It helps her sleep for 4 hours at a time, so mommy and daddy can get the most amount of sleep!So cute! They take the best pictures!

Olivia June Sanders

Olivia was born last night at 6:33 pm, and she weighs 7 lbs. She is 19.5 inches long, and has strawberry blonde hair! She is absolutely perfect!!

Labor started at 1:30am and lasted until 6pm when we finished with a C-section. The whole process was unexpected, but we know that everything worked out for the good of me and Olivia. We are all well, but we both did have a fever during labor, so Olivia has to spend the first 24 hours in the NICU. We aren't too worried, because they say that she is making a lot of progress and is the best baby in there!! They also say people pay a lot of money for hair like hers!! Her fever has dropped, but we are still waiting on her blood cultures. I am getting all of my IV's out tonight and get to shower!!!

Daddy got to give Olivia her first bath today and the grandparents got to observe! It was the cutest thing! He spiked her hair out like crazy! Oh, he also got to change her first diaper...most of you know what I'm talking about!! ahha. Anyways, we are so excited to be blessed with this little angel. Please be praying for her to keep her fever down and to get out of the NICU so we can take her home! Also, please pray for my healing from the surgery!

I'm a Dad!!!

Well... to my unborn daughter, Olivia June. Man, that is scary stuff. I definitely don't know what to do with a baby, and I am certainly clueless as to baby girls! Is it anything like 3 older brothers?!
Let's see, we're going to the hospital in 2 hours, and sweet little baby Olivia will be here... tomorrow? Whew, all words of advice are welcome! Please comment!
Welp, big gulps huh, see ya later.

"Friends Forever"

"Friends Forever, we'll be friends forever!" That is a song that has been stuck in my head for the past 2 days. BJ and I have been enjoying our spring break in many ways. We have been spring cleaning the storage area, our closets, and anything else you can think of. We've been watching movies and countless numbers of Saved By the Bell. This song is from one of the episodes where they are in a band called "Zack Attack" and the song never leaves your head! But, I will tie this song into part of my blog!!!

I told Heather and John Paul that I would blog about them. They are our very first friends visitors to come and visit!!! And, they are faithful readers of our blog! Double Kudos!! It was actually unintentional, but I will still gladly give them the credit. They were skiing with family, when they had a layover in Milwaukee on their way back to Boston. The flight was overbooked so they were asking people to take the Sunday flight back. Heather called us and asked if they could come spend the weekend with us. Luckily, we were here with no baby and could fit them into our humble abode! We had the best weekend! It's always fun to reconnect with friends! So thanks for coming!!!

The next week was crazy as well. We found out the traveling team was going to be staying at our school the whole next week. We just so happen to know the members of the team!!! Amy Breeding, Hudson Smith, and Jill Sandore (no relation to me!) It was great to hang out with them and see what God's doing in their lives. Not to mention Hudson tore it up at our chapel!!! Amy, please send me the picture you took in the coffee shop so I can post it on the blog!!!

Our next visitors are dear friends...or...our parents! They will be coming in tomorrow night for the birth of our daughter!! My point with this blog is we love our friends. And we want to keep our friends FOREVER! haha. So, you don't need to schedule a visit with us...we are so flexible. You could come see us as you're flying through. We would love to see you!

Update on Olivia!

So everyone is asking...when is that baby going to come. I have been wondering that myself lately. We have both made guesses on a date, but that day comes and goes and still no baby. I actually don't blame her because she is probably so warm and toasty and doesn't have a care in the world in my belly! But, I did go to the doctor today and we are getting closer, but I'm still dialated to a one (sorry if that's too much information, but people openly ask me anyways)! We went ahead and scheduled the induction date because my doctors says that when she has it on the schedule, the baby speeds things up and comes before that! So, they are going to induce me on Tuesday, April 13th...which means I would probably have her on Wednesday, if she doesn't come before.

It's crazy to think that her arrival is so soon. Although I have been more uncomfortable with cramps and swollen feet, we are totally okay with waiting one more week. I have to be honest, people ask me daily "why isn't she here yet?" and I find myself wanting to speed up the process and I get anxious. But I have been without a baby for 25 years, and I have been pregnant for 39 1/2 weeks and one more day or week is not going to kill me. I'm learning to be patient and know that God's timing is the absolute best! I also know that for the next few days without the baby will be a few more days that BJ and I can spend quality time before we have an addition to our family. So, there is the update for everyone! Thanks for being excited with us during this next stage in our lives. Please be praying for a quick, pain-free labor (haha, yeah right!)...but really!!!

Olivia is spoiled!

I've been slacking a little on posting lately. We have been really busy. I hope to make it up this week because we just started Spring Break. It's a little bit later here in Wisconsin, but that's because it just finally feels like spring here! The weather has been absolutely incredible here...in the 70's! I know some of you in Oklahoma have been bragging about your 80 degree weather, but I will take 70 in Wisconsin anyday! The snow is finally melted and the grass is even green. We actually don't understand it...the grass is so green.

Our small group threw us a baby shower last week. It was so fun and so sweet! The guys played a bottle race game where they had to drink AN OUNCE of dr pepper out of a bottle. It took them forever! It was really funny to see these grown boys sucking on bottles! BJ did not win!

We had so much fun and Olivia was definitely spoiled. We feel so blessed that people have showered her with so much. Thanks to everyone who has loved on our baby!! We can't wait to use all of this fun stuff on her!!!