She's here...

...and a week old already! How is it that time goes by so quickly when you don't want it to, yet takes for-ev-er when you do want it to? Not sure why that has to be, but it's certainly true.

After 40weeks and 3 days of waiting on my little girl to enter the world, she is finally here and home where she belongs. Labor was much easier than it was with Leyton--what an answered prayer. I was seriously dreading being in labor, but I can honestly say I felt great after Jada was born. I didn't feel tired, didn't have much pain, and was extremely happy to see that a healthy little girl was born.

Then, of course, she had to give us a scare and end up in the NICU for almost 4 days. Being told she was being admitted to the NICU scared me to death. It was about 1 a.m. and the nurses tell me they're going to keep her in the NICU to rule out a blood infection, but not to worry and try to get some sleep. Are you kidding me? How was I supposed to do either of those things? Let's just say I did the exact opposite. I spent the next 2 1/2 hours scared, anxious, crying, and praying that everything was going to be fine. At about 3 a.m. I was able to go into the NICU and see my sweet girl attached to monitors, IV lines, a feeding tube, and oxygen. Not the sight I was hoping for. She was breathing about 70 times per minute---in other words--working very hard. I continued to pray that she would be fine and I would be calm. Seeing her did ease my mind and I knew the nurses and doctors were going to take great care of her.

Every day, Jada continued to get better. She was slowly able to get rid of a wire or two each day, until she was finally able to come home with us Wednesday evening. What a blessing!

Leyton has been doing pretty well adjusting to having a baby around so far. He loves to give her kisses and hold her [although briefly]. Thursday, the first thing he said when he woke up was, "Where's my sister?" I think he's going to be a great big brother!

So remember the post about being patient? Well, I definitely think God was trying to teach me a lesson...and let me tell you, I think He got His point across.

[Im]patiently waiting

I've always thought of myself as a patient person, for the most part. I think I'm changing. We're 2 days from Jada's due date and I'm about to go crazy! I think the fact that Leyton was 4 days early made me think that Jada would come even sooner...seeing as that's usually how the 2nd pregnancy goes. I was dilated the same as I was with Leyton at my 36 week appointment and I've made even better progress this time around...up until now. On Thursday I was 4 cm dilated and about 80% effaced so I thought for sure we'd be coming home from the hospital with a little baby girl by today. I'm sad to say that's not even close. :( Even worse...the doctor says I'll have to wait until the 14th to be induced should the baby decide to continue liking her environment! The 14th! That just sounds unbearable. My hips hurt like they've never hurt before, I'm certain my belly can't stretch any more than it has, and I'm sure my husband is sick of helping me off the couch and out of bed. I'm ready. I'm more than ready, actually. Anyone have any suggestions for moving this along any quicker?

There's no doubt she's a Stearns...already making me wait on her. ;)

A nursery in the making

A couple of weekends ago, I called in all the troops for a day of painting. I had planned to paint the nursery, Leyton's bedroom, and our bedroom...all in one day. Let's just say I was a little off. After about 12 hours of painting, with a few breaks for eating, we were able to get the nursery and our room painted. We decided to leave Leyton's room for another day so he didn't have to sleep in the middle of the hallway while we were invading his room for the night. The paint cans are still sitting outside his room waiting. I decided to go with the yellows in the nursery. I couldn't find a green that matched the fabric well enough and didn't look like vomit, so yellow it is. Sister rolled on the first of the 'school bus' yellow paint. This is only on the wall behind the crib. The rest of the walls are 'butterfly bush' yellow...so sister has named the nursery 'butterfly bus'.

After we finished painting Saturday, sister and I got to work in art class. I painted the letters of Jada's name to hang above her crib, and sister began painting the wall art.

These projects took a little longer than expected as well. I was able to get the letters finshed before bed, but sister was only able to get part of one of the wall paintings finished before she had to leave. Luckily, I still had 3 of my 7 days off from work[!] left, so I was able to finish them by Monday evening.

Leyton painted his own project on Monday to keep me company. It's possible he painted the table as well, but luckily it was an easy clean up.

And, just in case you were wondering, mom and Jeni came to town as well. They were great at keeping Leyton entertained outside while we were busy filling the house with paint fumes.

This is a somewhat-finished product of our painting. The white stripe between the two walls will be painted the lighter of the two yellows, but we were unable to tape off the darker yellow wall due to the paint not being dry quite yet. Almost 2 weeks later, the white stripe is still there. Hopefully I'll remember to paint it before October arrives!

Random Ramblings

[1] We have a cat. Well, we don't technically have a cat, but there has been a cat in our yard every morning for the past few weeks. Leyton spotted him [?] one morning and I thought he was just making stuff up until I looked out the window to see for myself. The next morning, Leyton was so excited to see him again. I still thought he was making it up until I looked for myself, and sure enough, he was back. We haven't named him, except for Leyton referring to him as 'my cat'. I snapped a picture of Leyton staring at him the other morning. I don't mind looking from a distance, but I'm not a fan of having one in the house. We'll just stick with the neighbor's cat visiting for now.[2] My friends from work came up for a visit yesterday. We had planned a day at the Splash House [the water park in Marion...yes, we have one!]. They brought their kiddos and nephew for a day of fun...in the freezing cold. Who would have thought a month ago when we planned this that it would be barely 70 degrees on June 30th? C'mon Mother Nature. Anyway, we had a good time anyway. We lined the kiddos up on the couch for a group picture. Trying to get kids from the ages of 11 months to 6 to be happy, much less look at the camera at the same time, is a joke.

Roll call: Diane's nephew Thomas [6], Season's daughter Georgia [11 mos], Shanielle's son Brady [22 mos], Aubrey's daughter Meriah [18 mos], Leyton [26 mos], and Diane's son Jaden [4]

[3] Leyton and Brady "played together" at the Splash House. It cracks me up how 2 year olds play together. Took a look for yourself.

[4] Jada is growing! I'm 26 weeks today. I feel great, besides the fact that I think I totally ripped my round ligament the other day. I'm really not sure if that is possible, but it feels like it is. I picked Leyton up Sunday night and felt the burn. Now, it burns whenever I move the slightest bit. Otherwise, things are progressing well. My next doctor's appointment is July 10. It's hard to fathom having 2 kiddos, but I guess I better get ready! :)

Time to get creative!

Well, I've decided I'm going to attempt making my own crib bedding for baby Jada. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?! I've been looking online for different sewing patterns, and I've found some that make it seem pretty easy. I'm going to start by making the dust ruffle [in the striped pattern]--I think it'll be the easiest--and then move on to the bumper pads [in the dot pattern]. Only problem is- I got rid of my sewing machine a few years ago. Maybe I should've realized this before I bought the fabric. :) I'll find one though. Maybe Josh's grandma will let me borrow hers for awhile. I'm excited to get started! Here's the fabric I've bought so far. I LOVE it! I've also picked out a couple of paint samples to match with the fabric. I'm thinking I like the yellow better than the green at this point. I'm thinking of painting the darkest yellow just on the wall behind the crib and then one of the lighter yellows on the rest of the walls. [You can't really tell in the picture, but the yellows are different.] What do you think?

I'll keep you updated with pictures as I get started. Gotta find a sewing machine first! :)

Meet Jada Layne!

How cool is that? A 4D picture of Jada's little face! Her arm is up by her face as well, and you can see the umbilical cord in there. Pretty amazing the things we can do with technology these days. She's beautiful, isn't she?! :)

This is a look directly at her face. It's kind of hard to make anything out in particular besides the shape of her head and eye sockets, but she's in there and doing well!

Another profile view with her full bully in the shot this time. We think her ultrasound pictures look a lot like Leyton's. What do you think?

This was Leyton when I was 19 weeks pregnant with him. I think they have the same little button nose.

And lastly, here's a quick 4D glimpse of Jada's profile. Amazing, if you ask me. :)

I'm pretty sure I'm in love.

I love this kid!

Leyton and I spent some time outside today to play in the sunshine and the sprinkler. I maloves to play in the water! He's found many times throughout the day standing on his step stool in the bathroom "washing his hands"--as he likes to put it. I think I made all his little dreams come true when I dressed him in his swim trunks and turned the water on just for him. I have to admit, I loved watching him run through the water and scream when it hit him. He had tons of fun!