Cousins!

Cute little cousins, we'll always be,
Forever friends from the same family tree

Our parents are siblings, this much is true
Now we light up this family, both me and you

Together, we'll giggle, laugh, play, and smile
And even get into trouble together once in a while

We'll teach other important things, like how to play
With ribbons and bows, and even to pray

I'll love you forever and together we'll grow
To be best friends, this much I know!

Jillian and Lauren are going to be best friends, I just know it! They were born 8 months and 1 day apart.  And though Lauren is much bigger now, I know that in a few short years, their 8 month age difference will not matter at all.  I already have visions of them running around the house together, chasing each other,  making up stories, and playing dress-up!  But I also have visions of them as teenagers, causing mischief, talking about boys, and growing up all too fast!  Lord, help us!
I know that these little girls are the light of our family as our parents have LOVED being Grandparents to them, and our brothers and sisters have LOVED being Aunties and Uncles too!  Someday, there will be lots of cousins to play with, but for now, everyone loves Lauren and Jillian!
Lauren is the daughter of my older brother, Mike, and Jen.  Though we are 5 years apart, Mikey and I were super close growing up and I can't wait for Jillian and Lauren to be just as close!  Mike and Jen and Julian and I have grown so close over these past 6 years.  And I am happy to say that not only are we Aunts and Uncles to these sweet girls, Jen and Mike will also do us the honor of serving as Jillian's Godparents, as we are Lauren's Godparents too!  I look forward to raising our little girls together! 

Whoa, How Time Flies...

...And like all new moms, I want time to slow down, so that Jillian can stay this little forever!  It has been a few weeks since we last blogged, even though I thought I would be that super mom that blogged every other day...ha! Somehow, our little girl is 3 weeks old, and at least I can say that we have enjoyed every minute of it!  It has been so much fun to watch her grow and change and to see how she has become the center of the universe for us.  Julian and I can't stop talking about how much we love her, how much we miss her when away from her, how happy we are when we wake up in the morning (even if it's at 3 AM for a feeding), how ecstatic we are to spend time with her (even if it's changing poopie diapers), and how exhausted, but ABSOLUTELY fulfilling, the roles of "Mommy and Daddy" have made us! 

So what have we been up to the past couple weeks?  Well, we have had a ton of family and friends come to visit, and Jillian has gone through a lot of firsts...

Like her first photo shoot!  We had Miss Sarah Giles of Butterfly Chaser Photography come to take Jilly's newborn shots.  That Sarah, she has so much energy and she works so hard to get the perfect shot.

In order to see some of the best shots from that day, please visit the Butterfly Chaser photoblog here.

Jillian also had her first bath.  So what did Miss Jilly think of her first bath?!

She HATED it! 

But she took her first bath just in time for her first date!  That's right, her first date!  It was actually a triple date, with Meredith and Justin, Mommy and Daddy, and Jack and Jill!  They came over for Valentine's Day, which was the first holiday that Jillian celebrated.  It was a day filled with love and one that we will never forget!

Jillian also went to her 2-week doctor's appointment.  She weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces, which is 5 ounces more than her birth weight.  And she had grown by 3/4 of an inch.  These numbers put her in the 85th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height, so our baby is big and healthy!!!

  

We also took her to church for the first time and of course, she was a perfect angel!  God and Jesus would be so proud...it's probably because we say her prayers every night!

And one of the most fun things Jillian experienced in the past 3 weeks...she got to meet her big cousin Lauren!  Uncle Mike, Auntie Jenny, and Lauren drove all the way from El Paso to come see us and it was fun to watch Lauren and Jillian interact. 

First meeting

Uncle Mike with Jilly and Auntie Amber with Lauren

Auntie Jenny, Jillian, and Lauren

Pretty faces!  But they look nothing alike

Hey who's that over there??!!

It has been a great 3 weeks of life for our little girl and we can't wait to see what the next weeks have in store for us.  Until then, bye for now!

Happy Valentines Day!

From our little Valentine

Bringing Home Baby

So this was it...7:10 PM on Wednesday, February 2nd and Julian and I left our house to head to the hospital.  We stopped at our front door, took a look back into our house, and realized that this was the last time we would leave our house as 2.  The next time we would walk through that door, we would officially be a family of 3!

After 48 hours of labor (OK, really, active labor was only 10 hours, but hey, who's counting), Jillian Annalise was born!  And though special guest blogger, Katy King, did a beautiful job of telling the story of how Jillian came into the world, I would be remiss if I did not take a second to pause and thank the amazing coaches that I had in the room with me when I gave birth to my daughter. 

Katy, thanks for all your support, positivity, and expert photographer skills.  You were able to catch so many special moments and they are memories that I will cherish forever.  And your loving words and witty jokes helped me so much as I was bringing my daughter into the world.  I am so grateful that you were there to share in this special moment, FNF!

And to my SAAHE Sister, Meredith, who was with me every step of the way, from labor the night before through delivery, and lots of support after Jilly was already here.  I seriously could not have done this without you.  I was so sad that my mom was not able to be here, but you were a huge comfort to me in my time of need!  And your words of support and encouragement carried me through a lot of hard moments.  I could have never predicted that you would be there, in the room, when I gave birth to my first child (not like how I predicted that one of my SAAHE sisters would be in my wedding)! Words can never express how grateful I am, Mere!

And to the best coach and husband that a woman could ask for, my husband, Julian.  I enjoyed every minute of this experience with you by my side.  From your constant positivity, calm and prayers when things got rough, love through the hard moments, and all the little special memories where it was just you and me, like reading the letters, I will never forget any of it.  We did this TOGETHER and just look at the beautiful, amazing life that we created and brought into the world.  Jillian is the luckiest baby in the world to have you as her Daddy and here is our first picture as a family of 3!

 

The weather outside was wintry and bad, but our room was filled with nothing but love.  Our time in the hospital went really smoothly, with lots of help from the St. Joseph staff and lots of visitors to occupy our time.  We were visited by family, like Grandma Julie, Uncle Joseph, and Auntie Shell...

And friends, like the Hayes, Franco and Adriana, Blake, the Kings, and more.  We even got a visit from the Malnars, including baby Jackson.  This was a momentous occasion as we have waited for a long time to see the meeting of Jack and Jill...

And we were even visited by my students, like Leakyn, Kyle, Tim, Allison, and Melina!

We were so grateful to be surrounded by love!

But alas, the time had come for us to go home.  So we got Jillian ready by putting her in her special bring home outfit (and a jacket, because it was so cold outside).

And I put her in her car seat (a gift from Mami Mari and Papi Papo) while Julian went to go get the car.

Here we are heading out, being wheeled by the nurse.

And here's daddy putting the baby into mommy's car. 

*A quick note...although we have daddy's brand new truck, I really wanted to bring Jillian home in my car.  I know it sounds weird, but when mommy bought her car in 2004 (even before she was dating daddy), I remember test driving this car and looking into the rear view mirror, thinking "Wow, this is the car I will use to bring home my first-born baby"

Daddy drove us home ever so carefully, and we were so excited that Mami Mari, Papi Papo, and Auntie Andy made it in time to greet us at our house.

.

...And so we finally came back through that door, as a family of 3!

Welcome Home Jillian Annalise Acosta!

Jillian Annalise Acosta...

Our hearts are a flutter, our lives are a whirl,

As we welcome our sweet baby girl!

So pretty and perfect with tiny feet,

Our baby girl makes our lives complete!

Jillian Annalise Acosta

made her grand entrance into the world at 10:38 AM on Thursday, February 3, 2011.  She weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces and measured 20 inches. 

Guest blogger, Katy, here to fill you in on the arrival of this sweet baby! After a 48 hour stint of labor (yes, Amber should own every minute of that) Baby Jillian decided to make her debut! And believe me, that sweet little face was worth all of the wait! Mom had to send a few more text messages before baby girl arrived...

Amber was a champ and did an amazing job! She was calm and collected and patient and loving; everything a mommy should be. And Julian was strong and encouraging; everything a husband and daddy should be. He sweetly encouraged Amber when she needed it and made sure to hold her hand throughout the whole process.

And once Jillian arrived he quickly let Amber know how proud he was. They sealed that moment with a kiss and relished in becoming parents together. 

Jillian made sure to let us all know that she was doing great! Those sweet cries were music to everyone's ears...

 

She has a head full of hair which is perfect for all of those bows that her Mommy has purchased!

What a beautiful moment as this family of three got acquainted...

It was love at first site for everyone... 

Daddy's little girl is already has him wrapped around her finger... 

And she is most definitely already filling up their hearts!

Welcome to the world, Jillian! You are loved already by so many people and one lucky little girl to have the parents that you do! You are their heart and soul and they love you very much!!

 Happy Birth Day!