Need. Sleep.

Too busy to do a long post... But this week has been super hard. One of the hardest weeks of my life. Caroline has regressed to waking up sometimes four times a night and not wanting to go back to sleep. I have went to work twice on 1-2 hours of sleep, including today. Working with (demanding) surgeons at 0730 on an hour of sleep and taking care of a newborn doesn't make for a good day. Needless to say, mama and daddy are not in good spirits this week. Fully relying on God to pull us through. But here is a picture that makes me smile. 

Praying to make it through another week. :(

Mother's Day 2015

Yesterday was Mother's Day and we dedicated Caroline to the Lord at our church alongside our friends Tyler and Amber Kelly and their baby girl Maggie. It was a sweet time for us as we vowed to raise our girls in a home that fears and trusts God and our families promised to do the same. I don't think C and Maggie could have been any different though. Maggie slept through the entire dedication and of course my little energizer bunny was wide awake and staring at the crowd the whole time. We had to poke the paci in halfway through but she ended up doing fine. 

 

We celebrated lunch at Cracker Barrell with our families and C changed into her sweet little VB bubble... I just love her in it. 

We got home and she passed out in the swing from around 5:30 to 8... I ended up unswaddling her to get her to wake up for bath time and she was passed out! Poor baby.

To be completely honest, motherhood has been the biggest challenge I have ever faced. It has not been easy and I have struggled very much so. To tell you that we have the perfect life now with a precious baby girl would be a lie. But I can't imagine life without Caroline now and I ask God continually to carry me through each day and night and to give me patience. And he has carried our family this far. We love our chunky little doll so much and every tear I have cried has been completely worth it. I am so proud to be her mama. 

Weekend Fun

Mother's Day 2015 has a new special meaning to me since it's my first one with my daughter. I am so proud to be her mother and so thankful God entrusted me with her. I can't imagine life any other way now. 

The past few days have been fun. Thursday after I got off work we went to visit daddy at the fire station. Caroline was so happy to see her dad! 

Sitting up like a big girl in the back of my car.

Thursday night Uncle A spent the night with us since daddy was at work. He is literally the best uncle ever.. I'm pretty sure he takes after my mother with his love for kids (especially his niece.) He helped give C a bath and watched her while I got ready for work Friday morning. He also helped me get Bruce back in the house after he got out and was in the street! 

Saturday we went to the Cody Renfroe Rod Run. Our family (Dusty Darnell) puts this event on every spring to honor Cody (a firefighter who was killed in a house fire) and we had a good time looking at cars and bikes. It was right up Daddy's ally. C got dolled up for a warm day outside. 

Passed out listening to the music in the sunshine! 

Today is Caroline's baby dedication at church and I can't wait to share my post from it. The weekends almost over but has been great already! 

Workin' Mama

Well my first week back to work is in the books and I am so glad the weekend is here! Luckily my first few days back we got finished with our surgeries early and I was home by lunch and boy was I happy to get out the door. I missed my little C so much! Whew. The tears definitely came every morning on the way to work. Next week probably won't be any easier, but I'm glad that her daddy got some practice keeping her and some bonding time. Here are phone snaps from this week. 

This picture cracks me up! She is such a little sassy girl. 

This picture looks so much like my baby pictures! Unfortunately she has started to scratch her face when she gets sleepy so we have accumulated a few scratches. 

Sweet sleepy girl in the car with her adorable cheeks and lips.

Before our (very long) Cinco de Mayo celebration at Rosie's!

Daddy and C having a talk in the car. 

Family picture! 

Visiting daddy at work on a pretty sunny day. 

Pink fire truck for my pretty in pink girl! 

 

Uncle A spent the night with us while daddy was at work and helped out so much. These two will be the best of friends. 

Well that wraps up week number one of being a working mama. I wish I didn't have to work and could stay at home but that's not the case. I'm just trying to deal with what I can and enjoy every minute with my girl. 

Wedding Fun

This is my official last day of maternity leave before I return to work tomorrow. I am actually taking it a lot better than I thought I would.. But tomorrow morning hasn't actually arrived yet. So thankful I wear a scrub hat and masks everyday... I might be hiding tears for a few days. 

Yesterday we traveled to Rainsville for my good friend Emily's wedding. We drove up to my parents a few hours before so we could spend some time with them, Andrew, and Victoria. Our original plan was for C to go to the wedding with us and then return to my parents after the ceremony for barbecue and wings, but nana convinced us to leave C with her and head on to the reception. It didn't take much convincing considering nana and C are best friends. Emily and Jared's wedding was spectacular and the reception was phenomenal... So beautiful. The band and the food were such a hit! 

My high school friends.. Meg, Leah, & Hannah. 

Bad photo quality but BEAUTIFUL bride... Seriously stunning. 

So glad I got to catch up with these girls. Photo creds to my date who didn't want to be in the pictures but thoroughly enjoyed the bride and groom's cake! :)

And of course I have to throw in some silly shots of Caroline! 

Funny girl! Anyways.. I hope my posting doesnt slow down too much when I get back to working all week. Prayers needed for this mama tomorrow and all week!

Big Girl

Our big girl is a little over 2 months old and is filling out her 3 month clothes already... Can't believe how fast she is growing! We had a good day at home today with daddy. C took a four hour nap! Let's hope she sleeps well tonight. I could not help but post to share these sweet pics of our baby girl sitting in her bumbo at nanas! 

I love that girl! 

Days at Nana's

The last couple of days daddy has been working a lot at the fire department so C and I have been at nana's house and boy has it been nice to have the extra help between Pop, Nana, and Uncle A. Especially since work starts back for me next week and we go into full swing busy mode... These fun days are going to end soon. 

C slept the whole way to nana's.. Which doesn't happen too much. 

She is the happiest when she's naked! 

"Hi mom!" 

Serious sleepy face.

"Man I just really like this nana woman!"

Just hanging out with mama while nana picks up our monogrammed outfits.

Happy....

Happy....

HAPPY!! :) 

"Thanks for the clean diaper, mama!" 

Uncle A rocked C to sleep and they rocked for quite a while! 

Last night nana and I took C to church where the ladies of Nazareth had a meal, music, and testimonies. C was good and I got a blessing out of it. We are having lots of fun at nanas and will be going home tomorrow. This week is ending soon and then my world will definitely be changed forever when work starts. Until then we are soaking up all the time we can! 

P.S. (C slept from 9pm to 4am last night but we won't talk about that!)