Mom or Dad?

Amy and I see a little bit of each other in Audrey and she is only 6 days old. I am sure we will continue to see more and more similarities as the days and months go by. I thought it would be fun to post a blog to survey which of us Audrey looks more like. One of the statements we made in a past blog is about how cool it is that God is able to create a person that takes on similarities of both parents. So be specific if you see a similarity.

This is not a competition, but it will be fun to see everyone's response. Have fun, by stating distinct reasons why you think she looks like either Amy or myself.

We thank you again for your love and support. Continue to pray for Amy as she recuperates from surgery, and that she will continue to rest well. Little Audrey is eating well, and has already gained 2 ounces since leaving the hospital. She slept great last night. We woke at 11:45pm, 3:45am, and again this morning at 6:30. We were grateful that she slept so well. We hope that she continues this pattern.

We've also been blessed to have "Gran" Taylor visit us to help us settle into our new life as a family. She has been so helpful already. We may ask her to stay forever! Grandpa is coming to visit tomorrow, so we are all looking forward to that.

Enjoy the pictures and let us know what you think. We love all of you.

First Easter Service with Audrey Rose Douglas

Easter this year has been extra special for the Douglas family. We've spent time relaxing in our hospital room, enjoyed the wonderful nurses that have been assigned to us, and even got to have an Easter service on our own. We read from Psalm 24, and were reminded that everyone belongs to the Lord. This means Audrey belongs to God. What a great confidence Amy and I have for her life, knowing Audrey belongs to such an awesome God.

It is so much fun loving my family the way that I do. I know that I do not deserve what I've been given, but am reminded that Christ has given me the chance to enjoy life in this way. What a way to spend an Easter! It feels good to know that the God of the Universe thinks of us as we think of Audrey. His love is perfect, so He loves us even more. Dwell on that for a minute.

Friends are a HUGE blessing in our lives!

We are so blessed to have our friends here in Boston. It was great to share some special moments with everyone during the first days of Audrey's life. We can't wait to share her with all of the rest of our friends throughout the US.

We are constantly amazed by God's generosity, and I am sure that we will see more and more of His good work as the years go by.

The Douglas family wants to thank everyone for their support and prayers during these extra special days. We love you all.

and the one on the way is here....

I'm only going to post a short message to say... we are grateful to have a beautiful, healthy, baby girl. Her name is Audrey Rose Douglas and she is doing great. Her mom is resting well, and I am working hard to take care of them both. It is fun. Spending the first day with our new baby has already made the nine months well worth the wait.

Here are some pictures of our beautiful girl. Enjoy! Please post your comments. We will make sure to tell Audrey she already has so many great friends.

Talk to you again soon. After the initial shock has worn off, and we can rest easier.

God is pretty amazing...

So, all along in my pregnancy I have been hit with thoughts of how amazing God is in all of this. As I was laying in bed this morning I thought that I (with some thoughts from Troy as well) would put together a little "Top Ten (among a gazillion) things about pregnancy that have amazed me about God."

Here you go:

1. Well, pregnancy in itself. I am pregnant. I am having a baby. Just the fact that people come to being in this way. That's pretty amazing.
2. Ultrasound. When we had our week 19 ultrasound and saw a heart beating, fingers and toes, a little nose, a sucking mouth. Amazing.
3. Feeling movement. The first time that I really felt movement and knew there was a real baby in there. A living, breathing baby.
4. Seeing movement. Nearing the end now, I have looked down and seen a bump move. Or my belly has at times been totally lopsided. Or just seeing a big bump where her back or little booty must be.
5. Breastfeeding. I took a class on breastfeeding and our teacher was talking about how when the baby is born she will naturally turn towards your breast. Your breastmilk smells like the fluid in the womb and she is drawn to that smell. Wow! That's pretty amazing! Man, when I heard that, I just thought "how could you deny our creator God when He works things out like that?"
6. Troy says "in taking care of Amy God has shown me more of the reality that I am going to be responsible for someone else. He has been preparing me to care for someone all along the way."
7. Troy has seen how God has strengthened us in relationship to our extended families and church. God can use this little baby to draw us together in family and community.
8. Troy shares that God is showing us in this pregnancy process that we can be good parents. We aren't fearful of that. We can be confident that God has prepared us and will give us wisdom to be the parents we need to be.
9. We have been given a Dr. that we totally trust and our friend (and Pastor's wife) is going to be our labor nurse. We feel so good about going into labor with Dr. McRary and Brandy caring for us and our baby.
10. And last, but certainly not least, I am SO sick of being pregnant that I am totally willing and ready to go through labor. How amazing that God works things out that way? He's pretty smart like that. :)

And I know that once this baby is born we will have so many more things to add to this list. What a blessing babies are. What a testimony of our amazing creator God!

What about you other pregos or new mom's? What have you seen that has amazed you about God?

Pregnant brain...or as some say...Placenta brain...

So, today I went to breakfast with my friend Aileen. Sound Bites is my favorite breakfast place around here. They have a serve yourself coffee bar that I love.
Well, today as Aileen and I went up to the bar to fix our coffee something really strange happened. As is my coffee custom (and really the best way to fix your coffee) I put my cream and splenda in first and then the coffee so as not to have to stir. The cream at Sound Bites is in one of those big pumps. So I pumped once and looked down and my entire cup was FILLED with cream. FILLED. Aileen and I both looked at it and had no idea what could have happened. Did the pump break? Or even crazier, the unreasonable thought went through my head that there was some sort of bubble in the cup and it made it fill at the top. So I went to pour some out and realized...
I had my cup upside down and had pumped the cream into the wrong end of the cup!
Now THAT'S pregnancy brain!

Nothin!

So, we just got back from the Dr. (I go weekly now.) I was so sure he was going to tell us some sort of progress has been made, but nothin. We got nothin. All is good, but still waiting. More ready than ever! We'll keep you posted.

Nesting?

So, I made this cake today - do you think this would be considered "nesting?"

They say it's an early sign of labor. :)

...(And no, I did not make it just for myself - I am taking it somewhere.)

:)

Packin...

"I Never!"

So, many of you who have known me for awhile know that I have this sort of list of things that I will "never" do (or never again.) Some of them include: own a mini van, own a brown trench coat, wear wooden ABC jewelry, and maybe even at the top of the list is...wear nude panty hose. It's just a matter of principle. There are some things you just never do. (no offense to those of you who do the above...this is my list.)

...Well...I guess you never say never. My friend "Dr." Kelli the PT has been listening to the woes of my pregnancy since the beginning and giving me her expert advice. Recently she suggested compression socks for my swelling. Medical professionals wear them when they are on their feet all day. So I was expecting athletic socks of some sort, but upon my visit to CVS pharmacy I learned that they are, in fact, nude hose.

I had to make a life decision right there...keep the rule on my list...or be able to walk.

And here we go...

Fun times in nude hose!