Not Sure What To Say.

My Dad, along with some other family members, are on their way to Texas to comfort my Uncle Rob, aunt Theresa and cousins Natalee (18) and Nathan (16). They will be there throughout the weekend to attend Niki's memorial service as well that will take place on Friday afternoon.
This will be a gut wrenching weekend for all and I, once again, ask that you keep them (us) in your prayers.

The details of Niki's passing, I feel, should be kept mostly private and between family and friends. With this being such a public forum I do not want to risk exploiting anyone.

What I can tell you is that Niki's death was most unexpected and a devastating shock to my entire family.
My little cousin Nathan did try and save his older sister.
My uncle did not want to leave her side and needed assistance doing so.

Such tragedy is enought to take the breath straight from your body.

I feel like I have so much I want to say, but at the same time, cannot piece together any words.

Ironically, I read "Nitty Gritty's" blog today and thought that her words were perfect. If you get a chance, pop over to her blog. She said a lot of what I am thinking.

Thank you all for being my listening ear and support.
We are broken and sad, but your kind words lift our spirits.

How Can This Be?

My cousin, Niki, passed away last night.

I have no words today.

All I am asking for is your prayers for my family.

Hi. I'm Adorable.

Two weeks old - post bath.
Weighed in today at 7 pounds 12 ounces. That's a pound and 2 ounces bigger than a week ago.
Glory, glory.

It's Friday.

And I can't tell you where this week went!!

I was so nervous about being on my own this week, but it turned out to be really enjoyable.

Laila is sleeping really well for me. She usually starts off the night by sleeping a good 4-5 hours (usually from 9:00pm-2:00am or so). The times vary depending on her awake time in the evening, but it's been consistent all week. She will wake to feed anywhere between 2-4 hours after that and then sleep in in the morning until 9:00am-10:00am.
Delaney was a really good sleeper too so I am hoping she takes after her older sister in that regard.

Delaney and Cecelia have been playing really well together this week. More so than usual, as a matter of fact. Bringing home baby #3 has been easier than bringing home baby #2 because of the fact that there are two siblings to play together vs. the one older child feeling left out.

Delaney has named her favorite baby "Laila." Cecelia nurses her babies like Mommy. It's pretty adorable.

The days are pretty low key. The weather is too hot for Laila so we either take a family walk in the evening when Bill gets home, or one of us (Bill or I) will take the older kids out back to play for an hour or so while one of us stays in with the baby.

We've had dinner brought to us and dinner sent home in a cooler this week by friends and acquaintances (both who have babies of their own!). What a treat and possibly one of the nicest things someone can do for a new Mom.

Last night I went out to dinner with a couple of girlfriends and took Laila along while Bill took Cecelia to swimming lessons. He brought Laney with him to watch.
It felt good to get out of the house and have some girl time. Laila slept through dinner in her carseat. What a good girl.

This weekend is supposed to be really hot - once again. There are some projects I need to get done (birth announcements, Baptism invites, thank you notes, etc, etc) I also need to get the house re-organized and set up for daycare which will resume in two weeks.

I will, however, try and manage some pool time as well. I figure Bill and I can rotate inside/outside by the hour :-))

All in all, a good week I'd say.

More pictures to come and maybe even a video.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Heaven You Can Hold

"Heaven You Can Hold" was written inside the card my Dad gave to us and I think it's just a perfect description of children.

Before I get in to our first week as a family of five there are a couple of people that I owe a big thank you to.

First, thank you, thank you, thank you to my aunt Minda. Minda came to the house the night I went in to labor. This is not the first time Minda has come to the rescue and will probably not be the last. No other person in our lives has given more of their time than her. Since time is probably the number one thing we all covet it means more to me than anything else.

If I didn't have Minda to rely on I really don't know what I would do. With my family all living out of town she has been my rock and for that I am truly grateful. I would like to add that true giving is when you give without an expectation of "payback." This is a rare quality that Minda possesses and someday, I swear, I will repay her somehow.

Also, thank you to Clare for coming to the hospital at 2:00 in the morning to videotape Laila's birth. The footage is precious to me.

A few more thank yous go to my Mom and Rick for sending the Edible Arrangement! Yum!

Our neighbor, Anita, for bringing dinner over on Tuesday!

Thank you, Dad, for coming down for the weekend and being the perfect Grandpa.

And thank you to Ronnie and Clare for coming over yesterday and feeding us delicious gourmet food all.day.long.

Oh, and I can't forget Melissa who drug her whole family over here last night to meet Laila after a full week in Floriday, a 3 hour plane ride and 1 hour in the parking garage trying to remember where they parked their car. Then again, there is a reason she is my very best friend.

Now, on to week one of being a mother of three.

Not much to report on since Bill was home all week to lighten the load. Everyone is doing great! Laila had one rough night after I ate some spicy Jumbalaya for dinner (how quickly we forget the rules of breastfeeding).

Cecelia has been very good with the baby - our little "mother hen." She wants to hold Laila all the time and kiss her and hug her and sing to her. She is also my little helper - fetching a diaper, blanket, or whatever else I might need.

Most people have been asking about Delaney and how she's handling the new addition. Truth be told she has been rather unaffected by the whole thing. She tells Laila how "tute" (cute) she is and gives her a kiss and then is on her merry way. Delaney is such a good girl I really shouldn't have expected anything different.

Bill was wonder Dad this week. Taking the girls with him to the grocery store, etc. This is no easy task and I'm proud of him for stepping up to the plate. He also had both the girls out at the pool every chance they could get. And when the other two are taken care of he scoops up his youngest Angel to just hold her and admire his handywork.

As for me. I too am feeling good and adjusting to my new role as a mother of three. This week will be a new challenge since I am on my own, but I think I am up for it.

Wish me luck and I will update with anything new and exciting.

The Short and Sweet Version

A brief play-by-play of Laila's labor and delivery is as follows:

Saturday
5:30 p.m.: The four of us were heading over to a BBQ at our friends Amy and Brad's house. As we made some stops on the way there I noticed I was having some contractions. I mentioned it to Bill but didn't want to get my hopes up in case they went away.

8:30 p.m.: Decided to leave the BBQ and head home. Contractions were mild and coming every 15 minutes or so while we were there. I still didn't think too much of it at the time.

9:00 p.m.: The four of us went for a short walk before putting the girls to bed. I was trying to either A) get things moving or B) decide I was in false labor - I figured the walk would be a good indicator.

11:30 p.m.: My aunt arrived at the house to spend the night "just in case". My contractions after the walk were closer to 5-10 minutes apart. I was STILL not sure if I was actually in labor as the contractions were not getting that much more intense.

12:30 p.m.: My aunt went to bed.

12:45 p.m.: I couldn't take the suspense any longer and woke Bill up (who I sent to bed at 10:00) to take me to the hospital just to see if anything was actually happening.

The minute we hit the garage to get in the car - major contraction. All of a sudden, bam, bam, bam - one after another.
I can't tell you how many contractions I had simply from the parking lot up to the maternity ward - they were constant and extremely painful.

1:15 a.m.: After checking in the nurse checked me. 6 cm dialated. Wow.

25 minutes later the anesthesiologist arrives. I'm 8 cm dialated. Basically, too far along for an epidural.

Insert wild, sweating, and screaming woman in intense and excruciating labor here. Not kidding one bit. It was hell on earth.

The anesthesiologist did manage to get me a narcotic to ease the pain, though, thank God!!

By the time he was done with me I was fully dialted and ready to deliver.
Seriously, probably less than an hour after we had arrived. It went VERY fast.

2:28a.m.: LAILA IS BORN!!

I would like to say that I do not like "natural" labor. I relate my experience to a cat delivering a litter - writhing in pain, eyes screwed shut, assuming death is my only option because my body is not equipped to handle the pain.

The only thing that makes it all worth it is, of course, the beautiful and exquisite outcome.

Our baby is here. She's perfect.

I am no longer pregnant and feel like a million bucks.

Thank God it's all over.

She's Here!!!

Laila Beth Heer

July 20, 2008

2:28 a.m.

7 pounds, 1 ounce

20 inches

Perfect.