Virtual Christmas Letter

It seems like writing a Christmas letter is the thing to do when you have kids. So, I'd like to share a few things from this past year, specifically the ways that God has provided for us.

Early this spring, when Ryan and I had decided to move to Texas to have our baby here, I had to make a decision about leaving my job at the university. I loved my job, and it was very difficult to tell my department chair that I wouldn't be returning. However, we were trusting God to provide for us in a new chapter of our lives.

Then this summer, we put our house on the market and moved away to Texas. God provided a buyer shortly after we moved. It is a difficult market for sellers in the midwest, and we had lived in the house less than two years. However, we were able to get back our whole downpayment that we had put down on the house. God was faithful.

It was difficult to trust God as my due date approached, and Ryan hadn't yet gotten a teaching job. My due date was 8/22, and our insurance was due to end on 8/31. However, we knew that God would provide all that we needed. I had a doula that I was going to use for my labor and delivery. Unexpectedly, I got called to work two days at my on-call financial job the week before my due date. The amount I made from those two days working was the amount I needed to pay my doula. God had also given Ryan a great summer job working at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. He blessed us with a beautiful home in which to live without cost from July to October. So, we waited on God in faith.

On August 16, Ryan was offered his teaching job. Because it was a job at an urban district and because he had two coaching positions, his salary is more than sufficient to provide for our family. The health insurance from his job would begin the day after mine ended. Even better, because Molly wasn't born until September 8, I purchased COBRA so that we would have dual coverage for the labor, delivery, first weeks of Molly's life, and my unanticipated "surgery". This saved us over a thousand dollars.

God's greatest gifts to us are the birth of our lovely daughter, the love of friends and family, good health, and the birth of Jesus that we celebrate today. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Memories

At church on Sunday we had a special family Christmas service in which some members of the congregation recounted special holiday memories. Here are the words that I shared:

It is with a thankful heart that I tell about three men in my life. I have had godly men that have pastored me and taught me about God's love. I don't want to take them for granted because I know that not everyone is blessed with caring males in their lives.

First I remember a Christmas when I was a girl. My dad surprised me with a doll house that he had made for my Barbies. He had constructed the house in our basement without me knowing. He put a lot of thought and detail into the house. The wallpaper on the walls was the same as that in my bedroom. There was a framed picture of Holly Hobby that was similar to my Holly Hobby bedspread. He had made small pieces of furniture to adorn the house.

Another Christmas memory is playing duets on the piano with my Grandpa. It is ironic that the song we just sang was "O Holy Night" because this was one of the songs we played together. These moments at the piano were special ones that he and I shared.

Five years ago for was the first Christmas for Ryan and me as a married couple. He surprised me by buying tickets for us to fly to Texas to visit my parents after Christmas. They had just moved to Texas that year.

This past Christmas, Ryan and I knew that I was pregnant, but no one else knew. It was a special time thinking about this Christmas when we would have our baby. We enjoyed sharing the anticipation together.

Christmas Morning

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11



We spent Christmas Eve Eve at my Aunt Jackie and Uncle John's house. I have lots of cousins, and one is expecting a baby in May. Molly will have another second cousin. It might be awhile before she has any first cousins, but she has nine second cousins.

Christmas Eve we spent at the Harrison's house. We are blessed to have wonderful friends with whom to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Molly wore her pretty Christmas dress and slept in her car seat the whole time except for a brief arousal during which she ate.

Last evening and this morning, we spent some family time in bed opening presents and enjoying each other. We got Molly a door way jumper. She isn't old enough to jump around in it yet, but she kind of turns around and looks at things from her new vantage point.







Molly loves her bunny puppet from my Aunt Ilene and Uncle Matt.



Later today my brother is flying in from Toledo. He and my parents will be coming to our place for Christmas dinner.

Christmas weather forecast for Fort Worth: Sunny, High 61 Low 40
Score of MSU - Texas game on Saturday: 78 MSU 72 Texas
(Rematch next December in Dallas)

More Christmas Pictures

All in the Family



Getting "wrapped up"



Nap time



Ryan and Kit Kat

Toes in Mouth

Molly learned something new today!

December 17

Ryan's dad and new wife came to visit this weekend. We really like Anne, but it is almost unforgiveable that she has a hard time distinguishing between U of M and MSU.

Our Little Church

We've been going to an awesome little church in the country. It is a United Methodist church. We go to the contemporary service. There are sometimes only 20 people at that service (the later service has a lot more- over 100). Then, we go to the young adult Sunday School class. (It is great to still be considered young adults. When does middle age start? 40?) The Sunday School meets right across the street in the pastor's house. At Sunday school we watch short films called nooma. See nooma.com.

One of the things we love about this church is that it is small. It is so unlike any church we've attended before. The pastor is so personable and friendly. He calls to check up on us if we've been gone, and he stopped by to pray with us after Molly was born. He is also such a great communicator of God's word. He really challenges us in our faith. He also did a series on God and science, which of course I loved!

Big Family

Molly met a lot of her family members on our trip. Here she is with my mom's side of the family.

Trip to MI

I think this is the most beautiful picture of Molly.



Visiting with friends



Snowy Thanksgiving



Four generations

We visited nearly 65 people on our trip to Michigan. It was definitely a whirlwind, but we had a lot of fun. There were still a lot of people that we didn't get a chance to visit! We spent most of our trip in Lansing. It was Molly's first visit with Ryan's mom.

She did amazingly well on the flights. I had prayed especially for the flight to MI that she'd do well. She can be fussy in the morning if she doesn't fall asleep for her naps when needed. She started screaming in the airport just before the flight began boarding. I frantically bounced, shushed and patted until she drifted off in my arms. She slept until we were descending in Detroit. Ryan had to buckle my seatbelt and retrieve items from my carry-on for me. She did almost the same thing on the flight home. Not one cry on either flight!

It snowed on Thanksgiving in MI and TX. Ryan got out in the snow and cold and ran a 5k. He's tough! It was especially difficult b/c he's not used to the cold weather.

Two months old

Tummy time!
I'm hungry. Grrrrr!
I love Grandma! She teaches me all kinds of good and bad things! She doesn't let me sleep and already spoils me. Does this guy know what he's doing? (This is my cousin Jason.)

Molly tolerated her first shots pretty well this week. She was sleepy and a little fussy for the rest of the day. She weighed in at 11 lb 8.5 oz. That's the 75th percentile for weight. She was 24.5 inches; this is the 100th percentile. She's not as big as Mommy was as a baby. At two months I was 13 lb and 25.5 inches!!!! Wow!

We leave Sunday for Michigan. We hope that Molly is quiet and happy on the flight. We'll see you all in Michigan soon.

Ryan is 1/3 of the way through his first year already. Please pray for his job. It is pretty difficult situation right now. He has nice weeklong break that starts tonight.

Baby Pix

This is Molly wearing her first hoodie. We bundled up to go for a jog yesterday. She likes riding in her stroller and baby jogger. Molly loves her hand-me-downs from her big friend Mady.
This is an outfit from the Troy Christian Jr. High Track parents.
Molly is sleeping under her play-gym. She loves this thing! She bats at the toys with her hands and feet. Mom found it at a garage sale for $3!
Molly was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. She's with her friend Jorja (she's a Georgia Peach).

Tomorrow is her two month birthday. So, she has a pediatrician visit next week. She needs to get all of her two month shots. I'm going to try to take her to the Health Dept. for her shots. There is this crazy deal at the Dr's office. If your insurance pays for the shots, they cost hundreds of dollars billed to the insurance. If the insurance doesn't pay, they cost $10 a pop. Well, our insurance covers $500 of well child visits, not subject to the deductible. However, this $500 will get used up very quickly by a couple of immunizations. So, we're going to try to spread out the $500 by paying for the shots out of pocket at the health dept. and having the insurance cover the office visits. I also need a flu shot for me and maybe a pertussis vaccine. I just read that 50% of babies get whooping cough from their parents who might not even know that they have it. So, it is recommended that parents get a vaccination.

Now that she's getting older, her BMs are less frequent. She went five days before having one today! I guess that means that her body is using most of what it's taking in. It was sure messy though! She is warming up to tub baths. She had two today. One before the mess and one after!

Molly Update

Molly is really growing. She's eight weeks old today. She doesn't go back to the pediatrician for another week and a half, so we don't know an accurate weight for her, but we are guessing around 12 pounds according to my scale when I stand on it and hold her. She has grown out of all of her newborn clothes and 0-3 month clothes. It is sad. I am really enjoying all of the time I get to spend with her. I don't even mind the middle of the night feedings because I know that they are short-term, and it is precious time with her. I thank God often that I am able to nurse her because I know that it just doesn't work out for a lot of people. She still eats every two hours during the day and then sleeps a couple longer periods at night. I'm a grazer and eat quite often, too, so maybe that's what she'll be like.

We had been giving Molly sponge baths. This week I tried introducing her to a real bath. The first time, I had her on a towel next to the kitchen sink, and I tried lowering her into the water. She stuck out her bottom lip and burst out with the loudest cry. I ended up sponge bathing her again. The next time, I was in the tub myself, and Ryan handed her to me. I held her on my legs so that she wasn't touching the water at all. Then, I gently sprinkled some of the water on her feet and legs. She screamed. She continued to cry for the next 45 minutes or so. Tentatively, I attempted again tonight. She was again in the tub with me. I held her so that as the water level rose it submerged her feet. She didn't seem to notice or mind. I ended up giving her primarily a sponge bath on my legs, but with much more splashing and dousing than normal. She was content the entire time. Hopefully, she'll be ready to be put in the water soon.

She is really becoming aware of her hands. She is trying to touch toys that are put in front of her. She grabbed onto her foot a couple times yesterday, but I don't think she knew it was her foot. She has a little toy that she lies beneath and looks up at. She kicks at the stuffed animals hanging from it and reaches for them.

We also try to give her a little tummy time. She really strains when she's on her belly because I think it is uncomfortable for her. She squirms around and trys to get her knees underneath her body. Earlier this week, she was on her belly and rolled over to her back for the first time. She's also been smiling quite a bit. As much as I don't like the idea of her growing up and time passing, she is a lot of fun right now. Other people comment that it is hard to believe she's already eight weeks old. However, it seems like a really long time ago that I was pregnant or that Molly was a tiny newborn. I'm so glad that I can be home with her all day. I think maybe the time doesn't go by so fast that way.

New Home

Our apartment has a very large living/dining room. This dining set was inherited from my grandparents. I just put new upholstery on the chairs. That is my favorite decorating activity, because it is so easy and cheap, but gives a brand new look to furniture. I spent $8 on fabric and used my dad's staple gun to do the chairs. Maybe Ryan will let me get curtains to brighten up the windows. Hint, hint, honey. No, that's not a cat statue. It is Kit Kat, in the flesh. (or, in the fur, whichever you prefer.)
Finally, I have a red wall. I tried to convince Ryan at our previous two houses to let me paint the living room red. However, he didn't agree since he knew we might be selling the houses soon. The management here will give you two accent walls of a color of your choosing. We choose "Moss Mist" for the wall in our bedroom. It is a soothing, romantic color just right for our bedroom.
We have a nice fire place, and my cactus has survived the trip from Ohio. It thrived getting the evening sun on my parents' Western facing back patio this summer. It doubled in volume. (As all of you math people know, that is not the same as doubling in height...)

So, we are open for visitors. Come one, come all... Only people we know, please. None of you strangers just happening upon this blog on the web.

There is a complimentary gourmet coffee bar in the office of the complex. So, guess where Molly and I end up for our morning walk??? We are meeting people here already. The neighbors next door have a three year old boy and are expecting a baby. The wife stays home during the day. We met another neighbor at NTB today. Because they are doing construction here, I ended up with a nail embedded in my tire. The kind repairman at NTB fixed it for free. He even had to reinstall the tire b/c we had put the spare on. After talking with him we discovered that he lives in the building just across the street from us. After I returned home, Ryan noticed that I was still missing my hubcap. I called NTB, and our new friend said that he had my hubcap and would return it after work tonight.

Molly and Family

This is Molly sleeping in her swing today. She only likes her swing if it is on the highest speed! Notice the UNC onesie from Grandpa Kelly.
This is Molly McIntyre, Molly's first American Girl doll. Molly's great grandma Kelly sent the doll to us.

This is Molly with her great Grandma Ritter. Grandma has Alzheimer's, but she quickly remembered how to hold a baby.
These are Molly's second cousins Ally, Brady, and Nolan.

Ryan and I have been looking for an apartment. We decided on one today. It is a two bedroom, and the complex has a lot of amenities, including a free YMCA membership. It is located in a nice part of Fort Worth and is right next to the Trinity trail, so there are a lot of cyclists and runners in the area. We are really excited about that! The apartment we are going to get is going to get brand new carpet, which will be great, especially when Molly starts crawling. It will be fun to live in the city. While my parents will be about 40 minutes away, we'll be closer to a lot of shopping, friends, and activities. Most importantly, Ryan's drive to work will be 10 minutes instead of 35! We will move in on October 26.

Sleeping Schedule and Surgery

I had to have a little outpatient surgery last week. As I tell people, "They left a little something in there when Molly was born." No, it wasn't a metal medical instrument, latex glove, or anything like that. That would be a good story. It was about a 1 pound piece of the amniotic sac. So, I had to have a D&C. I told Ryan not to take the day off of work because he's had to miss so much school already, and I know how hard it is to have a sub. Besides it wasn't that invasive of a procedure. So, my parents took care of Molly at the hospital while I was there.

It was a long day. We were there from 9am to 5pm. I opted to have a spinal anesthesia instead of general anesthesia so that medicine would not get into my breast milk. The procedure was quick and successful. (The worst part of the entire day was not having the spinal administered, but the first two botched attempts at inserting the IV needle. I was dehydrated from breastfeeding on top of the mandatory fasting period. So, it made my veins very tiny and constricted.) Then, they wheeled me into recovery. There I was, completely coherent, but numb from the belly down. Everyone else in recovery had had general anesthesia, and they were in various stages of consciousness and were emitting various decibel levels of snores!

I asked how long I had to be there. The nurse told me several hours until I regained feeling in my legs. I asked if my family could come see me. She told me no, that people in recovery weren't usually able to talk to anyone. I asked if I could at least have some magazines. She decided that I might just drive everyone crazy due to my boredom. So, she got me transferred pretty quickly to Stage 3 Recovery, a wonderful place with TVs, families visiting, alert patients, lunch trays, and a nice selection of beverages. I was reunited with my parents and Molly there. My parents did a great job of taking care of Molly. She was pretty cooperative!

Molly is still being a pretty good baby. We aren't trying to keep her on a tight schedule, however, we try to get her to sleep after she's been awake 1-2 hours. Dr. Weissbluth in his book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child advises that babies get overtired after being awake 2 hours. It seems to be pretty accurate with Molly. She has a couple of fussy periods each day: after she's been up a short time in the morning and then for a few hours in the evening. We've learned that the fussiness indicates that she needs to sleep, but is having difficulty falling asleep.
We are so thankful that she's an easy baby. I'm also thankful that I've been able to shower every morning since she's been born!