Wow it is becoming difficult to keep my blog updated! If Abigail is asleep, all I want to do is either sleep too or get some chores around the house done! Well I was already able to take a nap this morning when she napped and I did the laundry, so I guess I have some time to blog right now! :) I am getting sad that I only have 2 weeks left with my sweet baby girl until I have to return to work. It's been so nice to be able to be home with her and home when my husband gets home. Life is going to get a lot busier once I go back to work and I'm really nervous about when I'm going to find time to sleep.

This past weekend, my cute, little family went to Marley Park and spent  a wonderful few hours there. The weather was perfect- high in the low 80s! Almost unheard of for end of May weather in Arizona! Marley Park is our dream neighborhood where we could see raising our family. It is only about a mile from our church and Marley Park has a great elementary school within the neighborhood, club house, community pool, softball fields and awesome parks. The homes have front porches (always wanted one) but the backyards are smaller because the master plan for that neighborhood was instead of spending your time in your own private yard, you will spend more time in the common areas. It is a very community-centered neighborhood, which we love. They also have movie in the park nights!! I mean, how perfect is that?! With their prices right now, we'd actually be able to afford living there, but cannot move right now because when Jim bought our home 2 years ago, he received that 1st time home owners tax credit and if we move before we've lived here for 3 years, then we'd have to pay the $8,000 back. Also, I truly do love our current neighborhood. I love our neighbors and we are literally within a couple miles of every single grocery store, a Target and a Ross (my favorite stores) and 2 major freeways. We could potentially move in 1 year, but for sure we plan on moving into our "forever home" within 4 years before Abigail starts school. We don't want to wait too long though because the housing prices are already slowly starting to increase again. So Jim and I talked about it, and within the next month or 2 I will start picking up an extra shift a work every pay period so we can save up for our down payment. It pains me to be away from my family an extra day, but working 4 days is still better than 5. Sheesh, being an adult is hard work!

I have so many things I want to do, so many things I need to do, but the hard part is finding the time now. I never realized how important time management was until Abigail was born!

Pictures from this weekend!

Family picture at the park! Jasper was there too but couldn't get a good shot with the 4 of us :/

Jim and I at our friend Kristi's wedding reception... first outing alone since Abigail was born! We left early because we missed our baby girl so much!

LOVE these ladies! All our lives have changed so much within the past year and will continue to change! Nikki (3rd from left) is moving to Chicago today, I'm going to miss her so much! But will see her at her wedding in San Diego in just a few short weeks! :)

My sis in law Laura and I went to the Phoenix Scrapbook Cottage and worked on our crafts! We plan on hosting a Pinterest party an overnight ladies crafting night there later on in the summer! :) Believe me, we are NOT some of those super crafty women, we just WANT to be! lol so the craft projects we do will definitely be beginner level. ;)

The birth of our daughter, Abigail Grace!

Ahhh we've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to update my blog! I know I want to remember these moments forever (reason why I'm keeping this in the first place) so I finally found some time to write about our dear baby Abigail's birth. :)

2 weeks before we were due to deliver, my benefits at work kicked in, making it very inexpensive to delivery at Maricopa (compared to a couple thousand if we were to delivery at West Valley as originally planned) so last minute, we decided to switch obstetricians and deliver at Maricopa Medical Center. I am SO glad we made that decision! We received excellent care. :) We were scheduled to be induced Tuesday morning (5/8) at 8:00A.M. at 41 weeks gestation. I never wanted to be induced, I always thought I'd go into labor naturally, but I just wanted Abigail out! But in God's perfect timing, at approximately 4:40A.M. on the day were scheduled to be induced, my water broke!!! Which is actually not that common, only about 10% of womens' water break naturally (well it would be more, but doctors actificially rupture the membranes once mom is at the hospital and in labor). I was so happy that Abigail would've came that day anyway and felt so much better going to the hospital in labor. :)

We got the hospital at 7:00A.M. We were surprised to see my mom in the lobby (although I called my parents when my water broke, wasn't expecting them to be at the hospital already). It turns out my mom had a work meeting that morning, thus being the reason why she was already there! So convenient. ;) While we were waiting for the elevator, my dad came around the corner from getting a coffee in the cafeteria, hugged us and said he'd be back later (he went to work that day). We checked into L&D and got settled in. My nurse was this Filipino lady named Noreen who knew my mom! She was there with us all day throughout my labor. She was great. My mom got to our room around 9:00A.M. I felt like I was given special treatment not only because I was an employee at the hospital but because all the doctors and nurses on the L&D floor knew my mom! :) The doctor checked us when we were first admitted and I was still only 1cm dilated (same as I'd been for weeks). Noreen said they'd be giving me cytotec, which is a pill, to help ripen my cervix. I was surprised to find out the pill was not taken orally, but actually put in the place where it is to ripen my cervix hahaha. The doctor said they migh have to inflate a foley catheter inside of me to help dilate my cervix. Luckily when he checked me again, I was far enough along that it wasn't needed. Then they started me on pitocin. THAT I was scared about, because I knew my contractions would start getting more frequent and stronger. My contractions did get to the point where they were seemingly unbearable, but I thought that when the doctor checked me next, if I was at least 8cm dilated, then maybe I could do it without the epidural. But around 5:00P.M. when he checked me again, I was only 5!!! I was so disappointed. I was only half way through dilating and didn't think I could do it anymore. So I opted for the epidural. I tried going into the whole labor and delivery process with an open mind. I knew I would've felt guilty and thoroughly disappointed in myself if I made a birth plan that I planned on sticking with. Everyone reassured me that it was okay that I was getting the epidural and after I received it, I definitely was happy with my decision! I felt so much better and I could still move my feet and feel my contractions but no pain. It was wonderful. Definitely going to get an epidural earlier next time hehe. After the epidural, which was around 6:00P.M., things moved pretty quickly and by 9:45P.M. I was fully dilated and ready to push!!! Forgot to mention that by that time, my mom, dad and in-laws were all there waiting for Abby to arrive. :)

I decided to have Jim, my mom, mom-in-law and sis-in-law in the room with me during delivery. I pushed for about an hour and a half, and at 11:06P.M. our daughter Abigail Grace was born at 7lbs 12oz and 21 inches long. :) I could not stop sobbing when she finally came out. It was the most wonderful, emotional and surreal moment I have ever experienced.

We had so many family and friends praying for us and for a safe delivery and it definitely was. I was so thankful that Abigail remained stable throughout the whole labor and delivery, not once did her heart rate get too low and I did not experience any complications. Although I did tear during delivery, that is a small price to pay. Since I had the epidural, I did not even feel it nor the sewing up afterwards. I am just so glad we did not have to have an emergency cesarean section and that everything went smoothly with the vaginal delivery. God is so good!!! Abigail is the greatest blessing we could ever receive. We love her so much already and our love grows for her everyday! After I delivered her I thought, how am I ever going to do that again?! But almost 2 weeks later, I can hardly remember the pain and looking forward to growing our family in the future. :)