Your Baptism…

Sweet, precious, baby girl. You were baptized this past weekend, on June 9th, 2012. It was such a great time, and you were such an amazing little girl. Grandma and Grandpa Culp, Uncle Alex, Grandpa Green, and Aunt Kendra and Laura all came down for your baptism. The Frommelt family was all there too.

You were baptized at Church of the Ascension in Overland Park, KS, which is where we are parishoners. We had you baptized on a Saturday after 5:00 mass, because we wanted everyone that came in from out of town to be able to stay and celebrate for a while.

There was a visiting priest there saying mass. He was from Jamaica. You slept most of mass, until he decided that he wanted to announce your baptism, which was going to be held after mass, and introduce you to the entire congregation. You woke up when I brought you up front, but you stayed calm and didn’t cry at all. Good baby!!

Fr. Tom (Thomas Tank, yes that’s his real name), who is the pastor at Ascension, came back down from a retreat he was helping with to do your baptism. Aunt Kendra and Great-Uncle Steve are your godparents. It was so nice to have everyone there for you.

You wore the same baptismal gown that I did when I was baptized. I didn’t think you were going to be able to fit into it my little chunky monkey, but we squeezed you in. You looked so pretty!

You got a little fussy during the baptism, mostly because you were hungry, but you found your thumb and then all was good. You are obsessed with sucking your thumb. You love it more than anything…well maybe about as much as you love ceiling fans. More about that later.

After mass and the baptism we came home and had dinner and cake, and then played some games. You did great, although you really aren’t a fan of large groups of people. You’d rather it just be you, Mommy, and Daddy. We are so glad that you are now baptized into the faith. We love you oh-so-much sweet princess.

Love, Mama

My Sweet Angel…

You have started “talking” to me and Daddy. I love when you “talk” and you tend to do it ALL THE TIME. You definitely have a story to tell us, and it is so sweet. I can’t imagine what life would be like without you anymore… I am so glad that I am your mommy. We have been taking some little videos of you, so we can remember what you were like when you were so little.

It seems like you are already getting so big. You definitely know who I am and who Daddy is. You smile SO big when you see us, and that is amazing. I love your smile. You have this huge gummy grin.

I love you more every day sweet baby girl. I am so glad I get to stay home with you now. I love waking up with you and staying with you every day.

Love,
Mama

I Love You To The Moon… and Back Again.

Sweet Baby Girl, there have been so many changes in your life lately. You have you smile a lot more. It still isn’t consistent, but we definitely are getting smiles from you. It makes all the long nights worth it when I get those big gummy smiles.
Speaking of long nights, you have started sleeping a lot better at night. For four nights in a row you slept for 7 or 8 hours straight!! Of course, last night you didn’t sleep too well, but I am hoping (and daddy is too) that you start sleeping 7-8 hours consistently. It definitely makes getting up for work easier!
There was a “super moon” on Saturday night. A “super moon” is when there is a full moon on the same day that the moon is closest to Earth in it’s orbit. According to the radio, a “super moon” is 14% larger and 30% brighter. Daddy and I took you outside on Saturday night to look at the moon. You actually stared at it, as it was the brightest thing outside. It was a little windy, and you liked having the wind blow in your face.
I really enjoyed just having family time- just the three of us. I am trying to take in every moment we have together while you are so little. I know that time is going to pass by so quickly, and I don’t want to miss a moment of it.
Yesterday there were tornadoes all around us and the sirens were going off. We couldn’t see any tornadoes, and normally I would have stayed upstairs watching the storm, but now with you here I couldn’t do that. We went and “hit” in the basement underneath the stairs. I’m sure you are going to love it as a play area when you are older.
I love you so much Noelle. More and more every day.
I will always love you to the moon and back.
Love always,
Mama

One Day Down, Only 18 Days To Go

Today was one of the hardest days I’ve had to go through since you were born. I had to go back to work today. When I was pregnant with you, I was thinking, “well maybe I could go back to work”. Now that you are here, I know there is no way I could be a working mom before you are in school.
I am finishing the school year before I can stay home with you full-time, which means that I have 19 school days that I have to be away from you. Daddy has to take you to daycare every morning, because you can’t go until 7:30. I have to leave by 6:15 at the latest to get up to school on time. So I left you with Daddy this morning. You were still sleeping when I left. You looked so peaceful, so calm…and it made me cry. I know you are too young, but I worried about you waking up without your Mommy, having to take a bottle, and being away from me all day.
Daddy took you to daycare and said you were sleeping when he dropped you off. Even he felt weird just leaving you with someone else. You are going to Sophie’s Infant Care, which is an in-home daycare. Miss Amber is taking care of you, along with 4 other babies. You are the youngest by far, with the others being 4 months, 6 months, 7 months, and 21 months.
I still worry about you all the time, even though I know you are in good hands- Amber has six kids of her own and has been doing daycare for a very long time.
Before today, the longest I had ever been away from you was 30 minutes, and that’s when my mom was watching you as we were moving into our new house. I thought about you all day at school. It’s hard to teach when you are the only thing on my mind. The kids were good today, better than normal, but it was still difficult to be away from you.
As soon as school got out I left to come get you. I was worried the whole way back down to Leawood, but when I got there you were happy and content- drinking your bottle. It made me feel a little better that you were happy, but it also made me sad that someone else had seen you all day. Someone else had played with you, someone else had gotten those beautiful gummy smiles that you are just starting to do.
The countdown has begun. There is one day down, 18 days to go. I love you sweet sweet baby girl, and I always will.
Love,
Mama

The Best Six Weeks of My Life

It is so hard to believe that it has been six weeks since you were born. You have grown and changed so much in these past six weeks. Since I was a little bit slow in starting to write, I am just going to tell you my highlights of the past six weeks.

1. Staying home with you- It has been the most amazing time to be with you and have the opportunity to be a full-time Mama. I go back to finish the school year this Tuesday, and I am dreading it. I will miss you so much. I know it is only for four weeks, but it seems like it is going to be forever!

2. Cuddle time. I love cuddling with you. I love when you are curled up on my chest. I love hearing you breathe. I love your new-baby smell. I love your little sighs. I love, love, love, everything about you.

3. Your first smile. You smiled at me for the first time on April 26th, Grandma Culp’s birthday! I even got it on camera.

4. Dress-up! Right now you are my little real-life baby doll. You have a ton of clothes, and they are all adorable.

5. Your first check-up. I was so worried you weren’t gaining enough weight. Looking back, I realize how silly that was, but I was super concerned you weren’t eating enough. You are! When you got weighed yesterday, you were a whopping 10lb 12oz (with clothes on)

6. Your little noises. You are now starting to coo and gurgle. It is ADORABLE, and I love the little happy sounds you make. You don’t really fuss unless you are hungry- and then you make sure to let everyone know your tummy is grumbling!

7. Nursing. I am so glad that I decided, and have been able, to nurse you. After a rocky start, I cherish the time we have together. Although I am not a huge fan of the 2:30 a.m. feedings, I love bonding with you during that time. I heard that before, but I didn’t believe it- but it is so true. I feel super close to you during that time.

8. Making every moment worth it. You have changed and grown so much already. It makes me sad to think that you will never be this little again. I am trying to soak it all in and cherish every moment I have with you.

I love you more than anything in the world and I always will.

Love,

Mama

You Are Here!

Sweet Baby Girl… It has already been over six weeks since you came into this world. It is so hard to believe that you have been here that long- and yet it seems like forever. This is Mama writing by the way. I want to use this blog as a way to let you know how I really, truly, feel about you while you are too young to understand it.

So, let’s start from the beginning. Mama and Daddy got married on May 28, 2011. On July 6, 2011 Mama found out she was pregnant with you. And she was scared. It was really scary because I didn’t think I was ready to be a Mommy just yet. After the shock wore off, we were both really excited that you were going to be in our life.

Your due date was March 7, 2012. Originally I wanted you to be born on March 10th, as it would be the beginning of Spring Break for my kiddos. (I am a Middle School Spanish teacher at Eastgate Middle School in North Kansas City, MO). However, you had other plans.

I started bleeding a lot after church on January 29th. Because of that I had to stay in the hospital for four days and then stay home on bed-rest for a while. After that little scare, I had a few episodes of Braxton-Hicks contractions, and we thought you were coming!! (You decided to play tricks on me). Finally, March 7th came and went and there was still no little baby! My doctor, Dr. Tom Kettler, scheduled an induction for the night of March 11th.

Daddy and I went into the hospital that night at 9:30. Grandma and Grandpa Culp drove down from Minnesota so they could be there when you were born. Everyone was so excited for you to come. You are the first grandchild on either side of the family- and I know you are going to be spoiled (even though daddy doesn’t like that).

They started Cervadil at 11:00 p.m., which was supposed to get Mama’s cervix all ready for you to come. The nurse told me that even though it shouldn’t, she thought the Cervadil would put me into labor. (I was 2-3 cm and 60% effaced before they started). Boy was she right. I started having contractions at about 2:30 a.m. the morning of March 12th, but I thought they were probably just Braxton-Hicks again and just waited for a while. At 3:00 a.m. they were hurting enough that I woke up Daddy, and things just kept going at lightning speed from there!

By 5:30 a.m. I was in a ton of pain and was throwing up with the contractions, so I asked for the epidural.  The anesthesiologist was my new best friend, and I told him that when he came in the room at 5:45 a.m.. He was great, waited during contractions, and got the epidural placed correctly the first time. He was done by 6:15, and in that time I had gone from 6 to 9 cm. You were just ready to come into the world!!

Dr. Kettler arrived at 6:45, and checked me, saying I was complete. My water never broke, so he had to do that for me. He waited for a little bit, and had me start pushing at a little after 7:00. You got stuck on my pelvic bone, and Dr. Kettler had to lube your head and give me an episiotomy to help you come out. You arrived at 7:31 a.m. on March 12, 2012.

I was so happy to be your Mama that I started crying. I didn’t get to hold you right away because you had meconium in your fluid and had to be checked out by the NICU team. Daddy was so amazed by you that he couldn’t even speak. The NICU team gave you a clean bill of health, and then the nurses started cleaning you up and getting you ready. They weighed you, and told me that you were a big little baby girl at 7 lbs 14.5 oz. and 19” long. You were short and compact :)

Mama was getting sewn up from her 4th degree tear, so I didn’t get to hold you for almost 30 minutes… and it seemed like forever. The nurse gave you your first shots before you came over and you did not like that at all. You kept screaming and screaming, and I felt awful. It made me so sad to hear you scream, even though you couldn’t produce tears yet.

They finally brought you over to me and I was so incredibly happy. I loved you immediately more than I have ever loved anyone, even Daddy. You were very alert for the first few hours and you kept looking at me with your beautiful dark blue eyes. You had only a little bit of brown hair, which made your Daddy really happy, and we couldn’t even really see your eyebrows at all.

You nursed after a little bit, and then Grandma and Grandpa Culp got to come in and meet you. They were so excited!!

This is the first picture of you!! (Grandpa is holding you in this picture) We hadn’t told anyone your name, and had been calling you “Baby Girl” to everyone. When Grandma and Grandpa came in we told them your name, Noelle Marie, and they loved it.

We just spent the first few days holding you and loving you. You were so little! Everyone kept saying you were the most beautiful baby, which you were and are. You are our first little baby, and will always be my Sweet Baby Girl. I love you oh-so-much.

Love,

Mama