Team Jayden

Last weekend was the preeclampsia walk in Irvine and I've tried several times writing about it, but every time I sit down to start writing I get a little emotional. Hearing other stories so similar to ours was very difficult...especially when their story did not have a happy ending :( There was a huge group walking for a particular family that lost their baby...and other families had babies with major medical problems. I had so many mixed feelings...I was so sad and heartbroken for those who lost their babies while another part of of me felt so blessed our little Jayden is here and beyond healthy. There was a point in the ceremony that I was helping Jayden get comfy (she was being a little fussy in her stroller) and I looked over and read the back of one of the shirts a team was wearing...and I almost broke down... "We never got to hold you in our arms, but we will forever hold you in our hearts" ... I think back to the days in the hospital and that so easily could have been us. I don't know how we got so lucky...but I thank God every single day I get to hold little Jayden every day and every night.

My family did the walk with us and we had a BLAST! We decorated the wagon for my nephews to sit in...sooooo cute!!!

They were blowing bubbles at everyone with their bubble gun...it was pretty funny!! 

TEAM JAYDEN FAITH :) whoop whoop!!

And the walk begins!! 

Such a sad statistic...makes me sad :(

Our cute little family :)

I can't wait for next years walk! We are going to make shirts and go all out! Who knows maybe Jayden will actually be able to walk part of it :-)

3 month birthday :-)

Today is Jayden's 3 month birthday and what progress she has made!! If she's not there already, I think she is close to 7 lbs! I can't believe how much she has changed since the night she was born. She is such a little miracle and truly the most amazing gift Jonathan and I have ever been blessed with!!

So the past week has been quite exciting!! Jayden finally met her cousins! And the second we walked into Lexi's hotel room, my nephew Bryson asked to hold her!! Sooooo adorable!!!

It was an awesome fam reunion with my little sis Lexi and her adorable family! And Jayden was able to finally meet her "twin" cousin Brooklyn!! (Pics to come soon since I didn't have them on my phone). They are so cute together!! I love having my sis in town with her babies! 

Anyways, we had such a fun time in Phoenix! The hotel was awesome and the pool was amazing! We basically laid in the lazy river most of the time or sat under the umbrella by the toddler pool so the kids could play. 

Lounging in the lazy river :)

My little diva <3

Can she get any cuter?!?

I had to wake her for at least one pic! :-)

I think I have about a million pics of us by the pool! We had so much fun!! We are already planning our next big family trip.

Since Lexi has been here in CA I have been hanging with her, the boys and Brooklyn everyday! It's so much fun catching up on sister time! And Lexi's boys are so adorable! They always want to hug, kiss or hold baby Jayden :) she has the best cousins!! 

Oh and before we left for Phoenix, Jayden had her first visit to the nail salon!! I told her when she is older she can get her nails done too!! 

Girls day <3

10 week check up

It's been over a week since Jayden's 10 week check up...she weighed in at 6 pounds and 0.5 ounces :-) she also measured 18 inches long! Since she was born she has doubled her weight and grew 3 inches!! We are so proud of our little peanut! The doctor was amazed at her progress and how strong she was getting!! I think she is now just under 6 1/2 pounds! She has been eating every 3-4 hours during the day and 4-5 hours at night...so we have been getting a little more sleep. Jonathan has been great about getting up in the middle of the night and helping me by changing her diapers! I'm so lucky to have such an amazing hubby and Jayden is so lucky to have such an awesome daddy!

We are still careful about where we take her...but we are getting out more and more each week...so we finally feel like we are out of isolation :-) This week we are going on our first road trip with Jayden! We are headed out to Phoenix to visit family and attend my step sisters grad party. Lexi and her cute family are meeting us there! I'm so excited to see her, her boys, and her cute new addition to the fam...baby Brooklyn! It's going to be adorable seeing Jayden with her cousins! And I'm even more excited Lexi will be coming out to CA for a few weeks!!!!! We will get some much needed sister time/family time as she will be staying with me and Jonathan for a little bit and we will also be having a family weekend down in Carlsbad at the beach house...so excited to see the kids on the beach :) 

Bedtime and snuggle time with daddy <3

Ready to go run errands with mommy :-)

Our Sleeping Beauty

Our little Jayden is getting so big! She is no longer fitting in preemie clothes! She is wearing newborn clothes, even though they are still big on her :-) I tried weighing her this morning, and it was a little inaccurate. The first time it said 6.3 lbs (I know she's not that much lol), the second time it said 5.8 lbs and the third time it said 5.6 lbs. I guess I'll have to wait until her doctor appointment Friday for an official weigh in :)

She is getting much better at sleeping through the night. She wakes up every 3 1/2 - 4 hours and I've been really good about putting her back in her cradle or bouncer seat to sleep after she eats...until her 5:30/6:00 am feeding...then we have mommy/Jayden snuggle time :-) She's still sleeping most of the day, but she usually stays up for 30-45 minutes after she eats...and when she is awake she wants to be looking around! She wants to be watching anything and everything around her! It's adorable! I can already tell our little Jayden is going to be an explorer! And when she is sleeping, we have noticed she LOVES sleeping with her little hands by her face or her arms up over her head (she gets that from daddy!). She's our little sleeping beauty!

Raise your hand if you love daddy :)

She can literally sleep anywhere, anytime and through anything...and I mean anything

LOVE THIS ONE <3

This is how she fell asleep on our walk with Aunt B the other day! :)

One of my favorites!

She slept through the workers downstairs demoing our tile and installing new floors! I wasn't kidding when I said she can sleep through anything! 

Our little explorer LOL

L.O.V.E.

It's official ~ yesterday was my original due date (and just happened to be Jayden's 2 month birthday). She has been home for 3 weeks and what an amazing 3 weeks it has been! Yesterday we went to get her footprints and handprints done (special thanks to the Knights Family for the gift certificate!). She was fast asleep until her little hand and foot touched the cold clay! She was not a happy camper and was crying the whole time! As soon as we were done she stopped crying and passed out!

Little Jayden is also growing out of her preemie clothes! We put a newborn outfit on her for the first time the other day...it was too cute!! She was swimming in the onesie! Our next pediatric appointment is next Friday...I can't wait to find out exactly how much she weighs! I thought she was around 5 1/2 pounds so I bought a digital scale to try and weigh her...both Jonathan and I weighed ourselves and then weighed ourselves while holding her...both times the difference was 5.4 pounds...so I was almost spot on :) I can't believe she has almost doubled her birth weight! But at the same time it's weird to think she is still half of her cousins weight! LOL Baby Brooklyn (Lexi's baby that was born the same day as Jayden) had her 2 month check up and was just over 10 lbs :) I can't wait meet baby Brooklyn and I can't wait to see her next to Jayden! It is going to be adorable!!

Our Sleeping Beauty <3

It's obvious we were torturing her LOL

Daddy Daughter snuggle time <3

Ten Commandments to Parents

This afternoon I was browsing Pinterest while Jayden was napping and I found something so special, I just had to share!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Child's Ten Commandments to Parents

1. My hands are small; please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture, or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you. 

2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely: don’t restrict me unnecessarily.

3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little such a short time—please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and do so willingly.

4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs; don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would like to be treated.

5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by, and disciplining me in a loving manner.

6. I need your encouragement, but not your praise, to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.

7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I’ll be prepared to make the kind of decisions life requires of me.

8. Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me to my brother or my sister.

9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together.  Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.

10. Please take me to Sunday school and church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning more about God.

*A Child’s Ten Commandments to Parents, by Dr. Kevin Leman

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

It seems like forever since I've picked up my iPad to write a blog. Is it me...or does it seem like the second you have a baby (at home) time passes so quickly and the days and weeks seem to fly by!?! Don't get me wrong, her time passed by relatively quickly in the NICU, but now it seems like that was decades ago. Crazy it was just a week and a half ago I was basically living at the hospital and now we have settled into our daily routine at home and we are absolutely loving it. Or as Jonathan would say, he's "loving this dad thing". He is so sweet with her it blows my mind. I always knew he would be an amazing dad, I just didn't know how great it would be and how much I would love watching him just watching her!

Since we have been home, my days are longer and my nights are definitely shorter...but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to love on our little Jayden! Her first appointment with her pediatrician was last Friday (ya I know it's taken me forever to write about it)...but it went great! She gained weight, she weighed in at 4 lbs 7 ounces! And the doctor said she is looking amazing! I think Jayden is close to 5 lbs now...she is definitely feeling heavier when we pick her up. Jonathan and I went to Costco yesterday and bought a 6 lbs package of ground beef...when we got to the car I told Jonathan it's weird to think that package weighs more than Jayden (even more weird to think it is double what her birth weight was!!)

I'm so excited today we hung the first decorations in the nursery! And I must say, her room is definitely coming together! :) We have some of her furniture ready for her also! So far we have her crib, changing table, rocking chair and bookshelf! Everything looks adorable and it looks better than I thought it would! I can't wait until her room is ready, even though she won't be sleeping in there for a while, it will be nice to have it complete. This week we are also getting her dresser and a glider chair for our room delivered by Wednesday! It will be nice to have all of her clothes in the dresser instead of in the hallway. Her stuff has quickly taken over our house. I told Jonathan he needs to get used to it ;-)

Tomorrow morning we have her newborn photoshoot! I'm so excited to see how the pictures turn out and I can't wait to share them :-)

First nursery decorations :-)

Jayden's bookshelf full of books from friends and family!!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful, I know that full well." ~ Psalm 139:14