Lucas went down to the nursery with Lara to get checked out and have her first bath! The rest of the family was standing outside the nursery window taking pictures! I think we have over 1000 pictures of Lara already, so be prepared for a lot of blog posts in the next few weeks! Ha!

Love this picture - sucking on her whole hand

Daddy looking on as they check to make sure everything is good with Lara

Lara's first bath! Lucas is such a good Dad alreadfy!

Not such a fan of bath time...

All better holding on to Daddy's finger

She's just perfect!

Lucas' Mom, Dad and Sister got to Huntsville on Friday, and My parents arrived in Huntsville at 4:00 am, only 20 minutes after Lara was born!!

Here are a few pictures of the first time Lara met her Grandparents and Aunt!

Granpa & Granna

Granpa holding Lara for the first time!

Lara is looking right at Granna!

Aunt Luiza, Vovo', and Gran-Bob - Look Lara is smiling ;-)

Lara's only Aunt! Love this picture!

Lara and her Gran-Bob

Lara and Vovo'

We are so glad that our families could be here to share our special day with us! I think that they all look pretty fabulous in these pictures, especially since it is 4 in the morning! ha!

Thank you to both our parents and Luiza for coming to stay with us and helping out with Lara! We love you very much!

Lara is 5 days old today!! I think things have finally settled down enough for me to update the blog (although I have been trying to do this for 2 days and am just now getting it finished!) I never imagined how tired I could be, but it is all worth it when I look at her. She is perfect, and I love her so much already!

So for those of you are interested, here is the story of her birth. Otherwise, there are pictures at the bottom!!

As soon as I found out that I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to have a natural child birth. Lucas and I began looking into some classes that we could take to prepare. After talking with a few people who had gone the natural route, we decided to take a Bradley class. The class was every Saturday for 2 hours for 12 weeks (almost like going back to school!) We are so glad that we took the class and got so much great information out of it. We definitely felt prepared when the time came to have Lara!

Anyways, back to Lara! I started having contractions on Sunday Dec. 13th. They were very irregular and not very strong, so I really wasn't thinking that she would be born any time soon. We were all hoping that Lara would make her arrival before the 22nd. (this is long as the doctor would let me go without being induced) Lucas' parents and sister arrived on Friday and my parents were planning to arrive on Tuesday, so I told Lara that she needed to wait just a couple more days so that everyone would be here for her grand arrival!

On Monday the 14th, I was still having some contractions when I woke up, but still nothing too consistent. Mom and Dad called in the morning to let us know that they were heading to Louisiana. (They had planned to stay with my aunt and uncle in Monroe for the night and head on to Alabama on Tuesday morning.) I told them I was having some contractions, but that I didn't think that Lara would be here any time soon. Lucas had to work, but was planning on coming home after lunch, so Marcos, Bete, Luiza and I decided to go to the mall to pick up some things for them to take back home. While we were at the mall I got a text from my friend Jenny who is a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital telling me not to have Lara today because it was crazy at work! Ha! I wrote her back saying not to worry, Lara was going to take her time! :-)

Lucas got home about 1:30 and we ate lunch and then decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood because it was a beautiful, semi-warm day. While we were walking, my contractions were getting a little more regular, but I decided to keep it to myself for a while (I have a much easier time dealing with things if I just try not to think about them!) We got home and decided to play Mexican Train. While we were playing I decided to just check and see how close the contractions were together. I realized that they were about 10 minutes apart. Since this is our first baby, everyone told us that labor would take a long time, so I was starting to get excited, but we learned in our Bradley class not to take contractions too seriously until you have to stop doing what you are doing because of them.

We continued playing the game, and about 8:00 I realized that they seemed to be getting a little stronger, so I decided to time them again just to see. Much to my surprise, they were about 5-6 minutes apart. I pulled Lucas aside about 8:30 and we decided that we should go ahead and tell my parents that they might want to go ahead and come on to Huntsville rather than stay in Louisiana over night. I knew that they wanted to be there when Lara was born. They decided to leave Louisiana and come on (it's a 7 hours drive from there!!) I wasn't too thrilled about then driving until 4 in the morning, but mom said that she was too excited to sleep anyways! Ha!

Lucas and I went back in, and we finished playing Mexican Train (we still had not told Lucas' family that I was in labor yet!) After we finished the game, we told them the exciting news, that Lara would be here very soon! Bete had made some veggie soup, so we decided to eat quickly and then start getting everything packed up to go to the hospital when we were ready. Bete and Luiza worked on finishing the gifts that we were going to pass out to visitors at the hospital. About 10:30, the contractions were getting really strong, so I decided to go lay down and try to get a little rest (yeah right!) Lucas and his dad put all of the bags (we had FAR too much stuff to take to the hospital! Ha! But we had planned on being there a little longer than we were!) and got Lara's car seat in the car.

Pretty quickly I realized that the contractions were too strong for me to get any rest, so it was time for Lucas to be my coach and help me through the rest of labor. I decided to take a shower and Lucas was timing the contractions (of course things did not progress exactly as we had learned that they should in our class... things never work like they are supposed to do they!?) and helping me TRY to relax during contractions...

About 2:00 contractions were less than 3 minutes apart and I was feeling a little like I needed to push (This is when Lucas got a little nervous and thought we might have waited a little long to go to the hospital... Ha!) At this point he decided it was time to go because we definitely did not want to have this baby at home! We called our friend Jenny and told her that we were on the way to the hospital. She graciously offered to come in on her day off to help deliver Lara! She will never know how truly thankful we are for her being there for us!

We arrived at the hospital at 2:30. I was so afraid that they were going to tell me that I was only 5 cm. If that was the case, I truly didn't think I would be able to really do this naturally. To my great surprise, they told me I was 8 cm!!! By the time we got the monitor on, blood drawn and the paper work all filled out, it was time to push! I can't believe that things went so quickly! Everyone told me that the contractions at the end were the worst part, and that the pushing part was easy because you knew you were almost done... I will just say that I strongly disagree with that! :-)

I have to say that this experience was the most difficult thing that I have ever done, but it was totally worth it when they put Lara in my arms at 3:41 am on December 15, 2009! Everyone keeps asking me if I would do it naturally again. After a couple of days to process everything, I can say I wouldn't do it any other way. Yes it was painful and yes it was hard, but knowing that Lara got to start out life without having any drugs in her system makes me happy that I could do this for her :-)

She has been such a happy baby from the beginning! And she is a really great eater (we went to the pediatrician today and she is already back to her birth weight on day 5!!!!) Everyone told me that newborn babies sleep the whole time while you're in the hospital. Apparently she is not like most babies... She has been very alert from the beginning and doesn't sleep near as much as I thought she would. I'll never know if her alertness is due to her birth or if that is just her personality. Regardless, I am very happy with the choice that I made, and so glad that everything turned out just the way I wanted!

Lara, your Dad and I are so happy that you are finally here, and so glad that we can now hold you in our arms! We love you!

Our sweet Lara Grace - her first picture - 1 minute old!

7 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long

My first picture as a Mom with my sweet Baby Lara

Daddy & Lara

First family photo! Please excuse my nasty looking hair...

All cleaned up - our beautiful baby girl!

She has already changed so much in just 5 days! I will be better about posting pictures I promise!

On Monday afternoon, my Aunt Glenda came down from Nashville and my Aunt Janis and cousin Mandy (from Texas) came up with my Cousins Roni, Janis and Mary from Birmingham to visit for a bit and see Lara's room. It was so nice to get to chat with them since we don't get to see them near enough. We had a great time catching up and eating some Alabama Mexican food. Thanks to you all for coming to see us!

Lucas, Janis, Glenda, Roni and Mandy looking at pic tures from Bobi's piano recital. Bobi we are so proud of you, and wish we could have been there!

Me, Janis, Glenda and Roni chatting before we went to eat dinner.

Mandy and Lucas were having camera wars with their new cameras!

Hailey and Mary were quick friends. I think they both had a good time entertaining each other!

A cute picture of Hailey - love our new camera :-)

The whole gang - Janis, Mandy, Mary, Glenda, Very Pregnant Me, Roni and Janis

It was so great to see you all!

So, here I am with less than 1 month to go until our little girl gets here. I am SO very excited, but also nervous at the same time... What will she look like? Will she be a good baby? Are Lucas and I REALLY ready for this... not that we really have a choice in any of these things, but lately my mind has been racing thinking about all of these things.

I feel so blessed to have had such an "easy" pregnancy. I have felt really good and really have no major complaints. In all aspects, I have really loved being pregnant. I am, however, ready to finally hold Lara in my arms after feeling her move around for so many months! It is so exciting to think about! :-)

Lara's nursery is mostly done. Lucas built a shelf for her room and we finally got it moved in this week! I feel like things are finally starting to come together. All we have left now is hanging a few things on the wall and getting everything organized. We are almost ready for her arrival!

We have a few things left to buy, but had two wonderful showers where we got most of the things we need. A trip to Sam's to stock up on diapers and maybe a few more sets of clothes, and we will have everything we need! How exciting is that?!

I have only 4 more days of work left after today until I am out on my maternity leave for almost 5 months! How truly awesome that I will have so much time to bond with Lara before I have to go back to work. I am looking forward to every minute. And of course, every minute of work is dragging by. But, before I know it I'll blink and she will be here, and then I'll blink again and it will be time to go back to work. Time really does fly...

I went to the doctor today. The doctor said that she thinks she weighs about 6 pounds 10 oz. I'm really not sure how she figured this out just from feeling my belly, but the nurse said that she is usually within a couple of ounces! I was 1 cm dilated today, so not much... but it could really be any time now!

Well, as I sit here counting down the days to her arrival rather than the weeks (26 days to go!), I can't help but be in awe of what a miracle this whole process is. Being a scientist makes this even more amazing to me. How could anyone go through pregnancy and not realize that God is sovereign? Every little cell has to be in the right place doing exactly the right thing, and I had absolutely NOTHING to do with it! To me this is truly awesome!

I'll post some pictures soon!

Here's my 35 week picture for those who have asked! Lara's continuing to get bigger and kicking me like crazy! We can't wait to meet her! Only 5 more weeks!

Full View... getting bigger!

4 of my wonderful friends threw me a FABULOUS shower on November 1st! It was so nice to get to chat with all of my friends. My cousin Roni and Aunt Glenda were able to make it to Huntsville from Birmingham and Nashville for the event. It was so good to get to see them and chat as well. Mom and Dad came in from Texas for the weekend! We all had a great time!

Wall Hanging that my hostess Amanda made for Lara's Room - so cute!

Food Table! We had a Mexican theme - See the Dora the Explorer potty! Such a cute idea!

Cute Diaper Cake!

Entrance Table - Everyone wrote messages on the diapers so that Lucas and I can read them when we have to get up in the middle of the night! I'm not looking forward to those late night changings, but I am looking forward to getting to read what every one said! It should be entertaining!

Wendy and Staci enjoying the awesome beverages and chatting!

Danielle, Laura, Diane and I chatting as we are waiting to dig into the food!

Cute Sam - modeling her clothespin - no one was allowed to say the word Baby or they had to give up their clothespin, and the person with the most at the end got a prize!

Opening presents! Mom was my secretary! I got so many wonderful things! Thank you so much to everyone who came and made it such a special celebration!

Passing gifts around...

Jana, Jenny and I

Natalie, Amanda, Me, Rachel and Sam - My FABULOUS hostesses! Thank you so much girls! The shower was WONDERFUL!

While my parents were here we did several projects aroudn the house including converting the Study into Lara's Nursery! Dad and Lucas put up the chair rail and Mom and I painted. I think it turned out great! Now the room is just waiting to be used in just 10 short weeks when Lara gets here!

Before:

Dad and Lucas putting up the Chair Rail

Me painting!

Mom was the official "roller" - It turned out SO good!

I was the official "Edger." I think you can see it pretty well in this picture but dad says that the nursery looks like Neopolitan Ice Cream! ha! I agree! Yummy! :-)

Mom and I putting the bedding in!

Finished Product! It turned out perfectly! Exactly what I had envisioned!

30 weeks... only 10 to go! Crazy.... Time is really flying now. Lara will be here before we know it!

Lara had her first photo session on Monday. We had the 4D ultrasound done. It was so cool to get to see how she is really going to look!!!

Lara's foot - She definitely has Lucas' toes!

Profile Shot - She was sleeping on her arm the whole time.

Front shot - So cute! Too bad she had the cord or her hand in front of her face the whole time. Glad we got some pretty good pictures though!

Big yawn!

Only 12 weeks until we get to see her in person! We can't wait! :-)