How Holy :)

Wow, so these blogs are more like monthly...I can't believe I don't get around to this more often! Leah was baptised on the 15th of February, and she looked like an angel in her long white gown. She cried a little bit during the ceremony (although at 50 minutes plus, I can barely blame her!) but was really good overall. We were so lucky to have so much of our families in town, and it was great to see everyone! A special thanks to my sister, Amber, and my brother-in-law, Mike, for being Leah's godparents! It meant a lot to us.

After the baptism I drove back with my mom and grandma to Pittsburgh to see my extended family. We had a great time! Grandma took us to Little Sisters of the Poor, where she has volunteered ever since I can remember. It's a retirement home for the poor, run by Catholic nuns. If Leah wasn't Holy enough after her baptism, she's defintiely holy now with all of the blessings she got! :) Leah also got to meet her great aunts and uncles, and even learn how to play a little poker. She got pocket aces on her first round, lucky girl...

Bath Time!

Hello everyone!

It's been a busy few weeks since my last post, but we're finally getting into a comfortable routine! Leah's still having a little trouble taking naps, but has been doing better. She seems to know exactly when she's being put down and has certainly developed a healthy set of lungs to let us know she's not happy about it :) One of her favorite times of the day though is bath time! It took a few weeks to get her used to it, but now she enjoys it. Especially when Daddy gives her a bath! She just smiles and stares up at him with those big eyes :)

Hope to see you all soon!!

We're on our own!

Thanks to our families for all of the love and support you've shown the past few weeks! We've had lots of company and help in caring for Leah, which allowed Jonathan and I to get used to being parents before we were off on our own! Today is really day one of our new routine. Jonathan is back to work full-time as of this morning, so Leah and I are figuring out what to do with our days. Of course for her, eating, sleeping, and dirtying her diaper is all that's on the agenda. For mom though, trying to care for her and still have time to shower, get dressed, and brush teeth has proved a small challenge :) One I will meet head on! I'm hoping tomorrow it takes less than 5 hours to complete all three!

Leah is already growing up so fast! Below are pictures of her from last week - Jonathan and I probably blinded her with all the photos we took, trying to get the perfect shot for her birth announcement! We did catch her with one gassy smile though!

Ok well I'm getting errors in uploading, so I'll try again later. Thanks again to all the family for your help!

Leah's 1st Christmas

Happy New Year to everyone! We have been so blessed this year with the birth of our daughter Leah! A few days after we brought her home we celebrated her very first Christmas. She was intrigued by all the lights on the tree and would stare at them for quite a while! So many people were so generous with gifts for Leah and we thank you all! She will be the most well-dressed newborn this side of the Missisippi :-) We've had lots of family in town to help out over this wonderful time, and Leah has enjoyed meeting her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!

All the holiday festivities really wore Leah out, and we couldn't resist capturing every moment on either camera or video. The picture below is one of our favorite- she's like a little peapod! She loves to sleep during the day. Maybe someday she'll do the same at night! We love just watching her sleep though, she looks so peaceful and content.

We had Leah's 2-week doctor appointment today and everything looks great! As we've been saying for a while, she eats like a champ. She's gained almost a whole pound since birth! The doctor said that was a great sign though and we should continue to do what we've been doing. He also said that she should start sleeping up to 4 hours at a time in the next few weeks, which Jonathan and I are really looking forward to! As difficult as it can be to go without normal sleep, we're enjoying every moment with Leah and thank God daily for our beautiful little angel.

Our Baby has Arrived!!

We are so thrilled to announce the birth of our new little girl, Leah Noel.

She was born Friday, December 19th at 6:41pm. Leah weighed in at 7 lbs, 7 oz and is 21" long. She has a full head of beautiful dark hair, just like her mom and dad both did at birth! More pictures to come since we can't stop taking them, but here's a small sampling below, starting with right after birth through her first full day:

The Countdown Begins

Well folks, it's T minus 4 days until my due date! I went into false labor last week which was a little disappointing, but nothing exciting really has happened since then. It was a good dry run though! Jonathan and I are both anxious and excited, and just waiting for everything to start. At least the baby is nice enough to have let us enjoy our work Christmas parties :-) For all the curious people who haven't seen me in a while, here's what I look like 9 months pregnant:

We'll keep everyone posted when something exciting happens - hopefully in the next few days!

Baby Showers!

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging! I don't know what took me so long - it's a great way to keep in touch with everyone, which will be increasingly important as my due date gets closer!

I had two great baby showers, which I thank everyone for! I know how much work went into both, and I'm so blessed to have family and friends that love this baby so much already! My first shower was so creative- a web cam shower!! My mother-in-law Connie set everything up at her home in Indiana where the family is, and we logged in from our house in VA. After a few technical snaffus, we got it all set up, and it was so nice to see the Schulte/Pierce families! Such a great idea! Connie even got her sister Doris to decorate my house in the same decorations and the make the same appetizers!

My second shower was this past weekend, and I'm still shocked at the surprise everyone was able to pull off! I wanted to cry when I saw everyone who had traveled in just for me- I got to see my mom, sisters, aunts, grandmas, and so many great friends! It was such a wonderful suprise, and meant so much to me. My sisters and my mom put in so much work to coordinate everything. I hope someday I can do something similar for them! Jonathan too did a great job keeping it from me and coordinating the use of our house. We had such a blast!!

Thanks again to everyone! Love you!