1 Month Old!

Our little girl is officially one month old! I am torn between feeling like Lillian has been with us for so much longer than one short month and disbelief that she is already that old. According to my dad, she has already experienced a "birthday" and came to visit this weekend baring LOTS of gifts to celebrate. The humorous part is that since I have an actual birthday (the yearly kind!) coming up on the 14th, I assumed that the large bag of gifts he brought were mine and got quite excited. You can imagine my surprise when I was informed that they were all for Lillian's one month birthday. Luckily, I love her so much that I am more than happy for her to get all of the attention - which is probably good as I have a feeling that will be the case for a long time to come! :)
We went to the pediatrician on Friday for her 4 week checkup and everything looked great. Lillian is already up to 9 lbs and 5 ozs from the 7 lbs and 6 ozs she was when we left the hospital! She is in the 50th percentile for weight and head size (I never even knew this was something they rated) and in the 75th percentile for height. Not that I think she will be tall, but coming from such a long line of short people, I do find it funny that she is above average in the height category!

Brad is already the most amazing dad and loves her SO much! Her little feet sticking out the bottom cracks me up.

Finally, I couldn't resist getting on the bandwagon and posting our results from the look-alike meter. I find it interesting that it says Lillian looks equally like Brad and I because I still see so much more of her daddy than me when I look at her!

Lillian's World

I chose the title, Lillian's World, for this post because that pretty much sums up the situation at the Carter household these days! Not that we mind at all, but this little girl is definitely the boss and we are just trying learn what makes her happy. Lillian will be 3 weeks old on Monday and she has not quite gotten her days and nights sorted out yet. Currently, she likes to sleep all day long and then wants no part of sleeping at night. I think you can figure out why this is a problem for Brad and I (poor Emily is suffering from sleep deprivation as well)! A few other facts about our little peanut is that she is a really good eater and is most happy when she is being fed. Also, she is already very independent and doesn't like to be held for too long at once. I can't for the life of me figure out where those traits come from - HA!

Still not quite sure about bath time...

She does like her hooded towels after the bath..

Just lounging around...

Spending time with big sister, Emily...

Our Baby Girl!

So, I am a little delayed with this post, but we had our little girl! Lillian Elise Carter was born January 5th at 5:50 pm weighing 7 lbs and 11 ozs and 19 3/4 inches long. We had a few setbacks along the way and she ended up coming into the world by C section and we had to spend 5 nights in the hospital. Brad and I now believe that may have been a blessing because we had the most wonderful care at St. Vincents Hospital and used the extra time to ask a million questions and maximize all the resources of their incredible staff. I really believe it made me more prepared to take our little girl home.
I know that every new mom says this but now I get it... you can never imagine just how much you can love until you have a child! Brad and I are reminded just how amazing God is every time we look at our little miracle! My goal is to keep updated pictures coming in a timely manner, but it turns out babies need a lot of attention so I can't make any promises. :)

One of Lillian's first hospital pictures... First picture of our new family...
Finally going home... She slept the whole way home and through her first pictures...
Even the excitement of seeing her room for the first time didn't wake her...
So we just gave up and let her get comfy in her crib...

Christmas

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas; we certainly did! It actually started the weekend before when we went to Alexander City to do an early Christmas with Brad's family. We then headed to Tuscaloosa on Christmas Eve to visit my grandmother on my mom's side and then over to my grandparent's house for our annual Lee family dinner. We are now up to 19 people who gather for this dinner and I absolutely love the chaos of it all! :) If you can get past the crowdedness, NOISE and this year, the heat of having that many people in such a small space (my grandparent's house is not that big) it is just amazing to have so much family together who love each other so much. After dinner, my dad followed Brad and I back to Birmingham and stayed with us for a few nights. The highlight (at least for me) was the annual watching of my favorite Christmas movie of all time... Christmas Vacation! My poor dad has been subjected to watching this with me at Christmas more than he would probably have liked to. :)
A quick Lillian update... Brad and I went to the Dr. last Tuesday and were told that we have made quite a bit of progress and he predicts we will be about a week early - bring it on!!! We have another appointment on Monday so we are praying that this still seems to be the case and hopefully, we will be meeting our little girl sometime next week.

We had such a good time getting to do our early Christmas with our niece, Carson. My dad, Brad and I on Christmas Eve at my grandparent's house.
One final belly shot before Lillian's arrival.

Ready and Waiting!

It is just under 3 weeks until Lillian's scheduled arrival and we are getting super excited and also a little nervous! I have been so fortunate that between vacation and maternity leave, I have not had to work this past week and won't go back until April. This has allowed me some much needed time to get things ready for Miss Lillian - oh, and that small holiday known as Christmas! We finally have the nursery finished so enjoy the pictures...

Emily is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her sister and strategizing how she can get in the crib :) Lillian's crib and the monogrammed painting that really did turn out so cute.
The piggy bank on the dresser was my mom's when she was little and I feel so honored to be passing it on to Lillian!
The glider is fabulous and so comfy - hopefully that will make middle of the night feedings a little better.
The changing table with the bunny painting that her daddy picked out.
This is wreath that will go on her hospital room door and then on our front door once we come home. Also, Brad's sweet family had a little shower for us in Alexander City a few weeks ago where we got some great gifts for Lillian. We had such a good time and feel so blessed to have people who already care so much about our little girl. Here are a few pictures from the shower...

The cake was so cute (and yummy!) and matched the plates and napkins exactly. One of the precious outfits we got for Lillian - can't wait for her to be able to wear it!

What a difference a year makes!

Brad and I decided that we would tackle Christmas decorating today which means that we had to first go and pick out our tree. I am super excited that Brad gave in and agreed to a live tree as that is what I grew up with and believe it is the only way to go (my dad will be so proud)! Two Christmas tree lots later, we had the perfect tree and it was time to start decorating.
These days (almost 35 weeks!), I do everything I possibly can in my pjs since they are so much more comfortable and I figured this project would be no exception. That is until Brad told me I needed to stay dressed because we had to take pictures since this would be our first real Christmas together. What?!? I couldn't believe it but he was right. It will be our third Christmas together, but first being married and getting OUR house ready for the Holidays. It is crazy to think about that just one year ago, Brad and I had not had our amazing wedding and certainly did not have any idea of the blessing we would have with Lillian! It was a very clear reminder that we can never imagine how quickly our lives can change or the many gifts God has in store for us.

Can you tell I am a little overwhelmed by the task ahead?

Brad trying to keep Emily from taking out the tree - Already!

Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower Sunday in Birmingham and it was so much fun! I was able to spend time with some of my favorite people in the world and got some fabulous gifts for Lillian as well. I cannot say enough about how blessed Brad and I are to have this type of love and support during such an exciting time in our lives!

This is my life-long best friend, Tracy, who came in from NC to help with my shower...
She also MADE this incredible cake - I cannot believe how talented she is!...
My other best friend, April, is due just 10 days after me so we had to do a belly shot...
My precious grandmother also came...
These are all the wonderful hostesses that made this day so special for me (They are all so amazing and I can't thank them enough!!!)...