A Bigger, Better Hope Family!

Well, to sum it all up, we are totally and completely in love with our new addition! Chase thinks his little sister is the best, and can't wait to play with her. Currently, he just loves to brush her hair, and will run to get me if she even starts to cry even alittle.

Both mommy and daddy are thrilled to have this little bitty one around too! We've enjoyed snoozing with her on our chests, and snuggling with her maybe alittle more than we should. They say you can't spoil a baby under 4 months, so we will trust the experts on this one! ;)

The first few weeks were both exciting and exhausting, but we came out alive. I attempted to nurse again, and I gave up...again... I will say that, even though I didn't make it to full nurse-mode, I did have some enjoyable moments with Pria. If it weren't for the engorgement, near mastitis, and complete emotional breakdown, I think I could have endured (isn't that what they all say?) This is more than I can say for my time nursing with Chase, that was a total nightmare from day 1! The kicker for Pria's exit from nursing was her loss of over 10% body weight....after hearing that, both Sean and I just couldn't see ourselves going through all we went through with Chase as a baby.

I have to say, it was the best choice for our family---it couldn't be better now, aside from getting more sleep at night! Here are some fun things we've experienced, and other accomplishments since Pria burst onto the scene early:

• I conquered taking TWO kids to drop Chase off at preschool, even though it seems that Pria loves to nap right before drop off AND pickup every single day!
• I can spend the whole day with Chase and Pria, and it's more enjoyable than I ever imagined! (I remember being so nervous and anxious for Sean to come home when Chase was a baby-silly, I know)
• I can actually do some housework, and am ok with leaving some of it for....well, later or never! I did vaccuum the house for the first time since her birth (eww-5wks!)
• We've stayed overnight at our parents' house, and it wasn't so bad! Being normal is nice.
• Dinner is cooked most nights.
• Pria's schedule is predictable, even if not ideal. I guess it's not supposed to be, is it!?
• We are relaxed, and mostly amicable to eachother during trying times.
• Chase is starting to truly understand/prepare for big school, especially with his writing skills.
• Chase is a great big brother. :)
• Pria has been gaining weight, and doing it well! I am not ashamed of my formula baby.
• Just this last week, she's started to smile and copy mommy and daddy-so fun!
• I've been able to start contributing to CV Playgroup planning again, yay.

We are not completely back where we want to be though. Here are some things we still want to work on:

• Sleeping through the night!!!!
• Getting back on the Cityview serve schedule.
• Getting back on a workout schedule for both me and Sean.
• More of a routine for Pria (which we did with Chase too)
• DATE NIGHTS

Overall though, we are super happy, beyond blessed, and completely excited to spend the holidays with our families-we have so much to be thankful for!

Lastly-PICS!

Milk coma

The "face"

Mommy and me.

Bath time!

Baby Zebra for Halloween.

She's HERE!

Wow--that was unexpected. Miss Pria was supposed to be here on October 5th, but it seems she had different plans. Here's the story:

Sunday,Sept 25: We decided to stay home from church, and just have a relaxing family day. We lounged around the house, and then went to Irving Mall to let Chase play on the many trains they have there. We spent some time in Barnes & Noble, and then grabbed a late lunch. I had contractions all day, but nothing too frequent. The evening was just as lazy, and we just watched movies and stayed up kinda late just being together.

Monday, Sept 26: Woke up late (thanks Chase!) and decided to make some pancakes for the family. As I was flipping, I felt something "odd"...and thought I peed my pants! Turns out, my water broke--that's pretty rare actually! I was still in no pain, having no contractions, which was a good thing, because my dear hubby hadn't packed his own bag for the hospital, and we had nothing together for Chase either! We had also not prepared anyone to take over with Chase, so we set off down our list of friends...ending with my mother, who started the 45 minute drive to Keller. My sister met us, and got Chase to deliver him to my mom, and we were off to the hospital.

I got all checked in, and the nurse verified that my water broke--Pria was coming today! I was hooked up to all the monitors, and the waiting game officially began at 9am.

For the next few hours, I felt more contractions-and around 1, they were definitely getting real. I was still barely dialated, so they started pitocin. My amazing nurse was watching me "deal" with the pain, and knowing that I wanted an epidural, had already ordered the anesthesiologist to come around to relieve me--LOVE HER! At 3pm, and at 3cm-I got my relief-whew. Things moved much faster now that I was relaxed and happy. At 4pm, I was 6cm, and at 6pm, I was 9cm! About that time (you know, when the epidural is wearing off) I was ready to go. Not very excited about feeling some "natural" childbirth, I found the strength to push through 3 contractions--about 15 minutes. And just when I could take no more--PRIA said hello to the world!!!

I know people only care about PICTURES--so here are some from the hospital and beyond.

Pria is meant to be heard-she's got lungs...and she's a tiny thing at 6lbs (they rounded UP) and 19in long..We are in love and taking every day in--it's going to go by so quickly, we know.

You are a treasure, beloved Pria---God has truly blessed us!

The Countdown...

This thing is for real! In about seven weeks I will have a new little baby in my arms. I'll smell that new baby smell, and hear that faint (at first!) little helpless cry throughout the house. Oh my, I'll be responsible for every move this tiny thing makes. It makes me giddy and scared all at the same time. I pray for an ease and a calmness in knowing that I've done this before, that I can handle it much better than I did last time. I pray ALOT~

My nights are alittle less about sleep these days, and more about finding a comfortable spot in bed that keeps my legs, back, and tummy from aching-good practice for my next endeavor, I know.

Ok, honestly it's not so much about the comfort either...I'm constantly thinking of what I STILL NEED TO DO! The room hasn't been painted, there is no bedding in the crib, there is not one diaper in this house; we are completely unprepared at this point! I was done with every part of my list for Chase by month 7...where did time go for "Pria preparation"??

Also keeping me up, is the change our whole family will go through in just 7 weeks. I think Chase knows-and shows-his own apprehension too. In the midst of his frequent cries for attention, which are out of his character, he runs through the house to hug his baby sister even now, and he is in love with her already. Yet still I worry for him.

I worry about the strain of another newborn in the relationship between me and Sean. We have a great marriage in my eyes-respect, joy, laughter, love, understanding, compromise...and I pray that we learn to juggle our new life as easily as we did when we were blessed with Chase!

I KNOW that God is in control, I KNOW that the story of the Hope family was written long ago by the greatest author, I KNOW that He will never give me more than I can handle, and I KNOW that I can only survive and thrive by asking for God's help and giving HIM all the glory for every accomplishment within my family. It's remembering those truths in the wee hours of the morning that I have trouble with-luckily I've been using that time to pray for peace and give that time to God, so that the lack of sleep doesn't interfere with patiently shepherding Chase throughout the day!

Do everything you do to the Glory of the One who made you!!! I put this on my Facebook status after hearing the song from Steven Curtis Chapman.....and it puts my entire day-good parts and sinful parts-in perspective for me! If you know that you can glorify God in even the smallest thing, it makes it harder for sin to creep into those days when you feel lowest.

This post is kind of a mess...but forgive me, I'm alittle out of my mind! October 5th may be my due date, but according to my doctor yesterday....there's a good chance I won't make that date---AHH, I need to hurry and prepare! :)))

Thanks for reading, and praying for me and my fam too!

Pink...just this once!

The Hopes are not really 'pink' people....but in honor of our newest addition in a few months, our header shows that, in fact, we are having a little girl. Visions of bright colors, purple, turquoise, and other "hot" colors run through my head now, and I am getting excited!!

Most know, but just in case you didn't...we have also chosen a name- Pria Brynne Hope, isn't it awesome! If you ask Chase, he will definitely tell you that he's having a baby sister, that she isn't here yet, her name is Pria, and that she'll be here when the pumpkins are ready-LOL!

We are thankful that our journey so far has been a good one, and prayerful that we can continue to enjoy these last few months as a little family of 3, and shower our little boy with all the love and happiness and honesty as we can handle....soon enough, we'll be in a whole new world, won't we!!

New Name?

Although it's been pretty "official" for a while...I have fully come to terms with it, and soooo---The Hope Fam is having another baby!!

There has been a whirlwind of doubt, fear, some pain(lots of infections and antibiotics this go-round!), and a little bit of irritability around this house (HA!!!)....but I am thankful that I have a solid ROCK to lean on, and good friends to help me out of my prenatal funk. I'm excited to see what this baby will be like-God is the BEST Creator!

...now, does this mean I have to rename the blog????? :)

Out with the Old, In with the New!

Happy New Year everyone!
The Hope family had a great Christmas, and have really enjoyed sharing our time together. I was completely blessed to have Sean home for such a long time over the holidays...he was off from mid October to mid November due to an injury, and then just stayed off until our birthdays in December while waiting to start a new job. Most people would have considered the loss in pay (short term disability is only 70% pay) and the weeks without any pay at all (a two week span between jobs) a real worry, especially only a few weeks before Christmas...but for me and Sean and Chase, it was a real treasure to have the family together for this time---God is such an amazing vacation planner, isn't he!
We've enjoyed laying in Chase's new Big bed, reading him stories from the Bible before bed...and just talking to him about what those stories mean to him and to us. Prayers while cuddling with your little boy are the BEST!!! (of course, he's learned to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out his bedtime routine by asking for each of us to read him a story seperately, HA!)
This past year was such a gift-the gift of family! I can't wait to put all these memories in the "precious" category, and make way for a whole new set of memories in 2011!

Our memory verse for CV HISKIDS this month is fitting for my own views of 2011.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

I didn't put that exclamation point here, it was already there in the Bible. How exciting to know that we should be eager to go into the world, to face our challenges with JOY, because we have the promise of Christ's protection to help us!! Prayers for all of my readers (few or many, I have no idea!) that you can all embrace the 'vacation' that God has planned for you this year! :)