Christmas (and the past month)

Hello again! It has been forever since I have posted. I know posts without pictures are no fun, so we haven't been posting since Ellie's pictures are all the same, we have also been very busy. It has been lots of work getting ready for all these holidays and going many places and being a new mom :) We have been very busy with shopping and preparing for the holidays. Ben's parents came to our house this year for Ellie's first Christmas and Ben and I loved our first year staying in our home and our bed for Christmas! Ellie had a great first Christmas and has been a wonderful addition to our family. She is on the verge of really smiling, she gives us grins now. She doesn't love tummy time, but it does help her neck and she is getting good at holding her head up. She also is stretching some of her crib sleeping out at night and giving us a good 5 hour stretch. She is great at sleeping and loves the car and running errands. She enjoys her bouncer and swing more everyday and is able to entertain herself for little stretches. Her focus is getting better and she loves looking around when she is awake. She has enjoyed having a few babysitters and has been wonderful for all of them. We are getting into a little routine and now with all of the holiday busyness behind us we can get into a routine with our little family of three. We are looking forward to Ben being home this week and hope to have lots of family time! Hope you enjoy the pictures. I went a little crazy with the stocking pictures, but they were so cute and I figured we could take Ellie's picture with it every year to see how she is growing!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were so thankful and blessed to have little Ellie here to celebrate her first Thanksgiving and were overjoyed she had come two weeks early. We had a great time with family and great food. We also enjoyed cutting down our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving with our great friends Andy and Katie. It was our 2nd year cutting our tree with them and has become a tradition with them just like carving pumpkins. Ellie had a great time and was absolutely wonderful. She even went out to dinner for the first time on the way home and was great in the restaurant and even slept while we all ate! She is getting bigger everyday and is a great eater. We tried a bottle for the first time a couple of days ago and she did great. It is also great for Ben to be able to help feed her and it gives me a little more sleep. We have also tried sleeping in our crib and that is not going as well. She got addicted to people holding her in her first 2 weeks of life, even while she slept, and she now does not like to sleep very much without being held at night. We are working through her withdrawal issues and will have to watch how much she gets held while sleeping. We are hoping this is short lived and she starts to enjoy her crib!

Finished Nursery

Here are the pictures of the completed nursery. I have posted the nursery up to the final details and Ben finished the nursery the Monday before Ellie was born. We had no idea it was just in time! Ben did a wonderful job with the final details and took a lot of time thinking about where everything would go. We made joint decisions put he was the man power and made a beautiful nursery for our little girl!

My First Week

Hi, my name is Ellie and I have had a great and very busy first week in this world. I have met many new people including all my grandparents and my Uncle Andrew. I have seen my new room, played in my new toys, watched football with my daddy and helped him build some new bookshelves. I even went to the doctor and have gone on a couple walks with mommy and daddy and my new friend Ethan. I have met lots of mommy and daddy's friends and everyone who sees me says I am very beautiful. I am a great eater and a great sleeper. I am very good for my mommy and daddy and they love me so much. I can't wait to go and meet new people and for more people to come and meet me! Keep checking in with us every week and my mom will be making sure to update all of our family fun and how well I am growing!

Introducing Ellie Rebecca Holden

We are very excited to announce the arrival of Ellie Rebecca Holden. She was born on November 11, 2009 at 2:50 p.m. She is very beautiful and we are so overjoyed to have her her with us perfectly healthy at 6 pounds, 6 ounces.
We began the day by checking in to the hospital at 7:30 that morning to induce labor so to avoid the risk of me getting sick. We were both healthy and were ready for her delivery. Once we checked in they started the pitocin and used a very minimal amount and things got going. At about 3-4 centimeters I got an epidural and things were great after that. The nurses told me it could take a while since this was my first pregnancy, so I was prepared for a long day and even night. We had 2 great nurses and we were there only patient's the whole time, so we got great care and support and they took their time comforting, explaining, and supporting Ben and I through the labor and delivery. Their only request was that we have Ellie by 3:00 so they could be there. We of course were happy to oblige. We progressed very quickly and all were impressed since this was my first pregnancy. We started puching and an hour and ten minutes later Ellie was here, again very fast for a first baby. Ben was a wonderful support and the experience was exactly what I prayed for for the past 8 1/2months. We were also extremely blessed to have my mom and Ben's parents there to meet Ellie within an hour of her birth. They were a great support and great at taking my mind off of things in the time before delivery.
We are home and adjusting to our new life at home. Look for pictures of our new life at home in the coming week and how we are adjusting.

Our new family!!!

Baby Time Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day. We will be welcoming our little girl tomorrow. I will be induced at 7:30 in the morning. She is 6 pounds 14 ounces and is full term, so my doctor said it is time for this to happen instead of ricking my health deteriorating as time goes on. Also, a huge blessing, my doctor is on call tomorrow, so she will be the one to deliver our little girl!!! We are very excited and of course nervous. Please pray that things go smoothly and are healthy and safe. Also, pray that we can avoid a c-section and we progress smoothly. Pray for safe travels for our parents as well as they have started their travels here and will travel today, tomorrow and Friday, depending on their location and work schedules. Be looking for updates!!!

Still on the Couch

Things are still the same around here. We are at 36 1/2 weeks and doing well. The baby is very healthy and on Monday was estimated to be 6 pounds, 9 ounces. We have not showed any further progress, but my blood pressure was the best it has been since I went on bed rest. My doctor was very pleased with my appointment and I of course don't mind going to the doctor since it is my only time out of the house each week. We have had great friends and family come and visit with me and make us meals. I go back to the doctor on Friday for another check up, please pray we are both still very healthy and we have some more progress!

35 Week Check Up

There aren't any pictures to post, since I am on bed rest. Not much to photograph. We went to the doctor today and the baby looked great! Her estimated weight right now is 6 lbs. 2 oz. I am also 2 centimeters dilated, which could mean nothing for a while. We go back on Friday to have another check up to see our progress and continue to monitor my blood pressure, which is still high when I get there, but goes down as soon as I lay on my side. They reminded me today that if she wants to arrive any day they will not stop her. Continue to pray for our health!

34 Weeks and Bed Rest

We are now at 34 weeks and feeling good. Unfortunately I am now on bed rest for the next few weeks. The baby is doing great and I feel great, but twice this week I went to the doctor straight from work and my blood pressure was too high for me. My doctor said that it meant I was done with work. I am now allowed to get up to shower and fix a meal and I get to drive myself to the doctor twice a week. Ben now has to do all the cleaning, cooking and work. He is doing a wonderful job and is definitely always making sure I am resting. Unfortunately, it meant cancelling our baby shower and I am unable to be the matron of honor in one of my best friend's wedding coming up this weekend and can not even attend. However, it also great to see all the prayers and love from family and friends. We are on many prayer lists and have gotten many offers for help with cleaning and cooking. My family visited this weekend and made meals, cleaned and did grocery shopping and laundry for us as well as helped me pack my bag and wash baby clothes. Ben's mom has also offered to come down and help us every week if we need and so I am definitely grateful that they live so close and we will be taking her up on her offer. We also have great friends that have offered to make us a meal during the week and lots of offers to come visit me as many people know I am not someone who just sits around, thus probably the cause of the high blood pressure.
Ben has a busy week with his fall retreat this weekend, but he is still finding the time to make sure I am well taken care of. Even with all this going on we did manage to have our yearly pumpkin carving (3 years and counting) and dinner with our awesome friends Katie and Andy. Katie and Kellie also brought some of the shower to our family and I this Saturday and brought cupcakes and made a great necklace for me with charms from family and friends for me to have during delivery.
Ben and his dad did some work on quieting the garage for the baby while the ladies opened gifts. Ben's mom took some pictures of the weekend, which was great since I forgot.

The Nursery

Ben has worked very hard to prepare the nursery for the baby. He will say it was a joint effort, but he truly had most of the ideas. He came up with the idea of wainscotting and I just agreed. We did pick the paint color together and the accessories, but he really did all the research and found all the ideas. It is very cute and Ben with the help of his friend Steve did the wainscotting and it is amazing. It is very cute and I can't wait to put the finishing details on it. Ben has some more plans and will get to those as soon as the fall retreat is over next weekend. This is the nursery so far and I will post the finished product with all the details in a couple weeks.

Trip to Washington D.C.

At the end of September we went to Washington D.C. with Ben's parents. We go on a yearly trip with them every fall and this year we went to D.C. It is a great time to travel and Ben and I always look forward to it every year. This was our last year going just the four of us for quite sometime and our children will now begin going with us for a while. We had a great time and also got to spend Paulette's birthday weekend with her! Enjoy the slide show!

11 Weeks to Go!

We are at 29 weeks and have 11 weeks to go if we all the way to our due date. It seems to be going by quite fast. I went to the doctor this past week and everything was great. Her heart was perfect, my weight was great and my stomach was the perfect size. She moves around constantly and today I could see my stomach moving as she was moving. Ben was at work so I am hoping he gets to see it later tonight. It has been a really good pregnancy so far and that has been an answer to my daily prayers. Continue to pray we have a healthy, safe and strong third trimester.




We will be going on our last vacation before she arrives in just a week and a half. We are going to Washington D.C. with Ben's parents, so be looking for pictures.

Busy Month and 24 Week Pictures...

Maggie with the present she brought us when we brought her home! I tried to be excited, she was really being sweet!

Maggie, happy to be going home!!!!

Me with PawPaw and Grandmary

PawPaw and Grandmary, both looking great!!! A true blessing!!!

Ben and I

Ben and I. I am at 24 1/2 weeks and you can really see she is growing!

GrannyFranny and I

The garden center

My parents' garden center

Maggie outside on the farm.

The dogs watching Maggie outside

Maggie on her perch at the farm

The garden from the front porch of the house. You can really see how big it is here!

My Dad in the garden

The garden

The produce my parents grow. It is quite amazing that they have such green thumbs. So far I have not found mine, maybe later in life I will.

My mom and Ben in the garden

Ben in my parents' garden

23 1/2 Weeks


















I am so sorry for the lack of posts. I am going to try and get better about posting more frequently. We have had a very busy rest of the summer. Ben has been extremely busy with MAXlife, which I help with as much as I can. He also had a great opportunity to do a two week series in the main auditorium. He always amazes me with how well he uses his gifts that God has given him to speak and share God's call on our lives. He always gives a great challenge and the members always give him great feedback. We finished our busy July with a trip to see my parents on their farm in early August. It was the last time we will visit without the baby. We got to relax and visit with my family. We also go to see Ben's friends from high school who are expecting a baby girl the exact same day as us. We are now back in our normal routine as I have returned to work until November 20th and Ben is getting ready to kick off another year with MAXlife. September is going to bring big changes. Ben is going to paint next weekend, so look for before and after pictures of the nursery, we are going to do some more preparation to get ready for the baby, we are going to continue thinking of name, and we are going to Washington D.C. with Ben's parents. We always like to go somewhere with Ben's parents in the fall and this fall will be the last time we will be going just the four of us for quite a while. We are both very excited and can't wait for the trip! I am still mastering adding pictures to the blog. Ben is not home to help so you are stuck with this for now. The pictures are in reverse order, so sorry, but at least I got them here! Enjoy the pictures!!

20 Weeks!!!!

We have made it to the half way point. We are now 20 weeks along. I went to the doctor today and she said everything looked great! I am a perfect size and the baby's heart sounded wonderful! I have posted a couple of pictures of how the belly is growing (mainly for our family). Enjoy the pictures and we hope to post some more soon (hopefully of our little girl's first profile picture)!

Our Surprise!!

We are so excited that we have been blessed with an amazing surprise!!! We are expecting our first baby on November 28th!!!! It is a little baby girl and we can't wait to meet her! I will be posting pictures soon of her first pictures and of my growing belly. Please keep us in your prayers! Pray that we will both remain healthy and strong and that the Lord will begin preparing Ben and I to be parents!

Welcome to Our Blog!!!!

We have finally decided to start a family blog. We hope this will be a great way for our family and friends to keep up with us and our growing family. When November comes I am hoping to keep our blog updated on a regular basis with plenty of pictures for all to see, so check back soon!!!