Sunday, April 5, 2009

My neice- Khloe Che'lynn!!!!!

While I was in the States I got to help deliver my niece- Khloe Che'lynn. She is the most precious little thing ever! Yes, I am a proud auntie!!! Alot of people told me that I was very brave to be in the delivery room with my sister, knowing that I was about to experience child birth myself in a few months. My sister was sooooo brave and she delivered Khloe WITHOUT an epidural!!! Since I will be delivering my baby here in Iceland without an epidural (unless there are complications), her experience gave me very real view of what to expect in my own delievery. I do understand, however, that our experiences can and probably will be totally different.
Childbirth, to say the least, is so amazing. I cannot even describe how intense and wonderful the whole thing was. I am so glad, however, that I have will have a little over two months to mentally prepare myself for my own baby's birth.
Tamara was induced early Monday morning on February 23. Her water broke at 8:30am that morning. She was in labor for about 7 hours and Khloe was born at 3:19pm that afternoon. I got to cut the umblical cord! It was awesome! Tamara's nurse and her doctor were both great and they took good care of her, but I will have to say that our mom was the MVP!!! Momma was awesome! She was soooooo encouraging and motivating! She really helped Tamara make it through.
Khloe weighed 6lbs-14ozs and was 19.5 inches long. She is about 6 weeks old now and she weighs almost 10 lbs! The pics below were taken when she was first born.

This is Khloe when she was just a few minutes old...I was so shocked at how rough the nurse was with her...She handled her more like a football rather than a newborn baby!

Khloe and her nana!!!

Khloe and her auntie!!!

Look at that precious sleeping baby!!!!

A little fussy here...She was probably hungry!

Ahhhhhh! That's better...

Baby Showers...

My trip to the states was great!!! It had its moments of frustration and heartache. Getting there was a total headache because I missed my connection from JFK airport in NY to Nashville and I spent literally 24 hours in JFK airport. I was supposed to arrive in Nashville at 10:30pm on Friday, February 13 and then drive to Huntsville; however I didn't get to Huntsville until 9:30am on Sunday, February 15. It was one big mess to say the least! I did, however, learn many valuable lessons in international travel. I also vowed to NEVER again travel internationally by myself when I am 7 months pregnant.
I made to Huntsville just in time for my sister's baby shower, or so I thought. We traveled to Florence, AL that Sunday afternoon for the shower. I got there to find out that the shower was for me too! My mom planned the whole thing and she had several of our close friends and family help her pull it off. It was so beautiful and it was so wonderful to see everyone!
Some of my dearest girlfriends from church planned a baby shower for me the next weekend- Sunday February 22. It was wonderful and again, I was sooooo happy to see everyone. The shower was beautiful! I want to thank everyone from church that helped plan the shower! I absolutely loved it! I also want to thank everyone that came. It meant so much to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is a picture of some of my dearest girlfriends. We all go to church together and they are some of the ones responsible for planning my church baby shower (from left to right: Cani, Stephanie, April, me, Stacy, and Emily). I love ya'll and God Bless you!
This a another picture of some of my dearest girlfriends (from left to right: Shotha, LaDonna, me, Quita, Andrea, Kendra, and Angel in front). We all played basketball together in college at UAH. Go Lady Chargers! I was soooo happy to see all of them at the baby shower. I love when we all get together. We just pick right up where we left off! I love you guys!
Me, my mom (Linda), Angel, and my sister (Tamara) at my church baby shower. Momma looks like she's a sister too, doesn't she. It's sickening, I know!

This is a picture of a blanket that was given to me by Angel (pictured above). Angel goes to church with us and is one of my baby's. She made this blanket (with help from Wanda) for our baby girl. This blanket was one of the sweetest, most precious gifts I received.
Here's a pic of the table decorations from the church shower. Everything was so beautiful! Thanks Joanna!
This is a picture of the gifts from my church shower. I was overwhelmed by everyone's kindness and generosity! I got some really beautiful gifts and I had a hard time getting everything back to Iceland. But don't fret, I got everything in one huge duffle bag thanks to Stephanie, Natelie, and space savers!!
Me and Tamara with our baby bellies! I love this picture! I am about 28 weeks and she is about 38-39 weeks.
Me and my sister at our baby shower in Florence.


The cake that my mom had made for us for our baby shower in Florence! This is the most beautiful baby shower cake I have ever seen!!!! Thanks mom- you are the best!!!! I love you!