April Nienhuis Photography – Birth Newborn Baby and Senior Photographer – Oklahoma

I think most of us with daughters have the battle.  We hear, “be gentle” and “I don’t want to fix my hair” and “that hurts” followed with tears.  Solution?  Chop all that hair off!

It’s been one absolutely wonderful, crazy, hectic, exciting and blessed month since our family of four turned into a family of five.

I have to brag on Miss Zoey.  She’s the easiest baby ever.  I never thought I’d say that after Layla but it’s true.  Although we’re having trouble getting her to gain weight, she eats great (nursing or bottle, she doesn’t care).  When she’s awake she’s content to look around quietly and wait for someone to realize she’s up and ready for some snuggles.  This girl loves to sleep too!  When she’s out, there is no waking her up.  It doesn’t matter how loud Layla and Finley are or if I strip her down, change her diaper, rub a wipey all over her, etc.  I can’t believe it’s been two weeks already.  Time is gonna start flying by…

Zoey Paige arrived Monday morning weighing 7lbs 4oz and 20 1/4″.  My c-section went perfectly and I’m feeling great.  However, we did have to stay an extra two nights in the hospital.  One because of my respiratory problems and one because of Zoey’s jaundice she had to be put under the lights for 24 hours.  We got home yesterday and are starting to settle in.  Layla and Finley are absolutely in love with her and constantly check to make sure she’s okay.  Thank you so much to everyone for all of your prayers.

It’s crunch time.  Time to pack the bags, cook some last minute items, scrub the house, wash some laundry and all the other 5 million things you forget that needs to be done.  Problem is, I’m sick and I don’t want to do anything.  Not just a little yucky sick but more along the lines of coughing up a lung and giving myself breathing treatments sick.  I continue to remind myself that all is well.  At this time Monday morning, I will be holding my sweet new baby girl in my arms.  Please pray for a safe delivery of my baby girl.

Wishing you a happy and relaxing holiday season!

I can’t believe how busy I’ve been and I haven’t even been “working”.  My days are packed with cooking, cleaning and stalking my phone waiting for my sister-in-law Mandy to call and say she’s having her baby.  The cooking seems to be getting a little easier.  I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of making recipes work for us by substituting ingredients.  I’ve managed to spend all of today cooking and have enough cooked up to last us a couple days.  We’ve also been a household of sicklings this past week.  Justin and I both have nagging colds but Finley is being treated for both pneumonia and bronchialitis.  We did have to make a trip to the ER for poor Finley but I’m so thankful we’ve been able to treat him from home rather than being admitted to the hospital.  Layla appears to be as healthy as they get.  It appears that our baby girl is quite healthy too.  Since I’ve been measuring small at my doctor appointments I’ve had two growth scans done on the baby.  At the first scan, she measured exactly right and at the second scan two weeks later she measured 1 1/2 weeks ahead.  Only 5 more weeks until our sweet girl gets here!

I’ll be honest, life is a little on the stressful side right now.  I feel like I’m constantly talking about Finley’s food allergies but it consumes me right now.  Seriously, for the past two nights my first and last thoughts of the day are about food and I’ve actually woken up in the middle of the night thinking about it.  We already knew that Finn is allergic to peanuts, dairy, egg, avocado, banana and tomato.  Monday at his allergy appointment, I found out that he is also allergic to corn, potatoes and pecans.  We’re starting to reach a point where his nutrition could be jeopardized.  Following his doctor’s instructions we are eliminating the corn for the next 2-4 weeks and if he doesn’t get better then we will have to eliminate potatoes.  Before this week, I had no idea how much stuff contained corn.  We can no longer buy anything pre-made at the grocery store.  Everything he consumes must be made from scratch with his special milk, butter, oil and baking powder.  I never realized before this diagnosis how much I had to be thankful for.  The ease of opening a box of graham crackers to give the kids for an afternoon snack is a thing of the past for us.  I’ll admit that it all makes me sad and even breaks my heart but I still have so much to be thankful for.  I am so thankful that I have my very happy boy.  I’m thankful for the products out there that I can cook with; products that make this lifestyle a little easier.  I’m thankful for all my friends and family that send me recipes and ideas for meals.  I’m thankful I have a working oven to cook in (even if it does smoke).  I’m thankful for the internet and the endless amounts of information I’ve been able to obtain.  I’m thankful for the medical knowledge and testing that has allowed us to diagnose Finn.  I’m thankful for epi-pens.  I’m thankful for the many prayers from our friends and family.  I am thankful that God is good.

This morning Finley and I made these simple biscuits (I’m including our modified ingredients below).  I am so thankful my boy loves to help me cook!

You all know we’re having a baby.  You all know we’re having a girl baby.  You all don’t know the name of the baby.  Sadly, neither do we.  Please please help us come up with a girl’s name that fits with Layla Juliet and Finley Jude.

Things change when you hit the 30 week mark.

• Half your food ends up on your stomach
• Lying on your back is no longer comfortable
• Nesting
• None of your clothes fit but you don’t want to buy new ones just to wear for two months
• Constant hunger
• You start to feel some pressure that you’re baby doesn’t have a name yet
• You realize you’re not prepared at all for the baby to be here
• Mild inconsistent contractions