Why I do love PA

We went to PA the beginning of May to visit Justin's family again. And like always we had a great time! ...

1. I love the landscape in that area. The open gently rolling hills dotted with trees and farmhouses are so picturesque. I would love to have a Pennsylvania inspired home in Nebraska! These pictures are of the battlefields of Gettysburg but this really is what it looks like in the Lancaster area where we visited.

2. I love the food! Grandma Fisher makes the best food for us! - ham loaf with stewed tomatoes, crab legs, stuffing, the creamy-est mashed potatoes ever, ham salad sandwiches, potato rolls - I'd eat anything she makes! That must be a grandma thing because I feel the same way about Granny's food. Grandpa Fisher loves anything peanut butter and so do I. We enjoyed peanut butter ice cream and peanut butter donuts daily. Again, these are the best peanut butter donuts I've had in my life! We even had ice cream fresh from the cows. You could see the cows as you walked in. Of course we had more than one of Joe's steak sandwiches. And we brought home a box of pretzels right off the line.

3. I enjoy all the time we spend with Grandpa and Grandma Fisher. We are blessed to be able to stay with them. We drive all over the countryside talking and hearing stories. And almost every night we stay up late playing Hand & Foot. It's a very fun card game! We always play in teams and the boys usually beat Grandma Fisher and I. I think it's my fault because I'm still learning. And the guys are merciless!

4. This year I loved watching everyone get to know Olivia...

Here's Olivia with Aunt Donna, Uncle Scott & Aunt Robin, Uncle John, and Aunt Miki.

I was actually sad to leave this time. I'm usually the type who is happy to go home at the end of vacation. I really have fallen in love with Justin's grandparents and think of them as my own. I'm sad to say good bye for at least another year. But in spite of the 20 hour drive I'm looking forward to our next trip east! 

Our 2nd Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day while in Colorado this weekend. It was sort of our 2nd time. Last year a month before Father's Day, I learned we were expecting our first baby. I went to the store hoping to find a creative way to share the news with J. For once I was happy that stores like to get the jump on whatever holiday is looming in the future so they already had the Daddy cards out. So last year I gave J his first Father's Day card and told him how excited I was for him to be a Daddy! :)
This year I went a little cheesy and ordered him a photo mug from Snapfish. J's not so into those types of gifts. But I know he drinks coffee at work and he needs a way to show off his cute little girl!

I also love Father's Day because I'm reminded to let my dad know how much I love and appreciate him. Sometime I think he out does me though! This year I just called to tell him 'hi'. I don't usually buy him anything because more than anything, I know he just likes to know I love him. But he always ends up telling me how much he loves me. It feels like Daughter Day! :) I love hearing him tell me how he loves me and loves Father's Day because he's reminded of how I made him a father.

So HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my Dad and my husband. I couldn't ask for a better dad for myself or my daughter!

Long awaited Nursery Finale

I promised a picture of Millie's room months ago - about 6 months ago. In December my cousin came over and painted a tree on the nursery wall based on a picture I found online. It turned out beautiful. I added stickers to complete the look.

the Good Life

I love Nebraska. Hear me go on about it on my love Nebraska page. See the link on the sidebar! 

What place do you love?

Happy Day!

Millie is making wonderful progress! Today we went to the doctor and she weighed 8lbs 10oz. I thinks she's gaining close to an once a day!! So this means we don't have to visit the doctor all the time and I don't have to pump.
As I think back 2 short weeks ago, I can hardly believe the turn around. Two weeks ago, she was 7.5 and not eating well. I was mess and really wanted to switch to formula because I didn't think nursing was going to work out. I was so discouraged.

But God has been so faithful...
He's brought encouraging people into our lives with just the right words to say right now.
He's laid it on the hearts of our friends to bring us much needed meals during this rough time.
He's answered the prayers for us from everyone we know!
He's brought us through our nursing challenges faster than predicted.
I know this progress is all God's handiwork!! Thank you Lord for watching over Millie and our family. Thank you for helping her grow in an amazing way!

Baby Girl

A lot has been going on and I know many of you have been praying for us. Since I have a minute I thought I'd update you on what's going on with Millie...

First, how she arrived... my water broke at 11am on Monday the 11th and we went to the hospital about 2:30pm. All was going well and I was happy that I was able to handle labor without drugs even though I was hyperventilating some. But by evening we found that Millie was not turning correctly and I was not progressing past 9cm. So after 3 awful hours of being stuck at that point, I needed an epidural. While waiting for it, Joanne (my midwife) and I tried everything to get Millie to turn. I wanted to die - it's not fun to dance around the room when you're in such intense pain! Once I got the epidural, we were hoping to get her turned and out safely. But her heart rate dropped and so we were immediately sent to get a c-section. I'm so happy we have modern medical ways like this for back up so she could get here safely! I'm also grateful that I can rest in God's sovereignty. I did not want a c-section but now looking back, I can rest in knowing that it was God's plan.

Her first week (at the hospital) we worked on nursing, but our first week (her 2nd week) at home was really hard and we found out at her 2 week appt that she was losing weight. I felt soo awful for not knowing that was why she was so fussy all the time. So since then I've been going in every 3-4 days to get her weighed and meet with a lactation consultant. Due to some challenges, we've had to supplement with pumped milk. This feeding schedule has been really really hard on me and at one point I was ready to switch to formula. But as of Monday she was nearly back to her birth weight! So we're continuing to make changes to the feeding schedule in hopes that I can stop pumping and giving her the bottle all together very soon. This continues to be a huge challenge for me as each change makes for a tough few days as we both adjust. This also makes it nearly impossible for me to get out of the house. So all your prayers, encouragement, meals and visits have been soo appreciated!! Hopefully Millie will continue to grow and feed well and we'll be able to start getting out soon! She's already growing and changing so much!

Painting the Nursery

This is step 2 of our Nursery. The first step was clearing out the room. It was our storage room/office before. Once again we had our trusty painting friend S help us out! We do like him for more than painting skills. :)I only have a couple of pictures because I was out of the house for most of the painting. But the nursery is yellow! At first, the brightness was a bit shocking. But once the blinds were back up and everything, I've decided I'm really happy with it. It's very light and cheerful!

We also painted our bedroom. The color is Raccoon Hollow - and that's exactly what the color is - a grayish chocolate brown. We really love this one too!

So I think we're done painting for awhile. The main floor is mostly done and we'll be a little busy. This weekend we're doing one final coat of paint in the nursery. I know it's running late. But we had some problems. Our paint was really really thick so the guys got on 2 1/2 coats of paint and it still didn't cover well. So we're finishing the 3rd to make it all even. And then next week, I'm having a fun surprise painted on one wall. I'll share pictures afterwards. :) Once all the painting is done, then we can finally move all the baby stuff in our living room in!