Fun first month

Hooray! A King is Here!

After many months of waiting and days of waking up to expect a text or phone call, I know it was relieving for all of us to know Amy had a scheduled induce date. It wasn't the original Sept. 21 we all had in our heads, but Andrew was sure to be in town and we were fully ready to meet Colton James King! The blog title says it all in a text from Greg as he realized he was a second cousin and a true king Colton has proven to be. I know I was excited to be apart of the day since when Bailey was born I received a picture text at 8:00 in the morning and had to wait until 6:00 that night to hold her! I debated just taking off half a day, I mean it was my sister who was having the baby NOT me, why should I take the day off.  I sure am thankful I did though because there were precious moments for me that morning as I got to spend time with my little sister before she "became" a mom.  Much of the story I would write from my perspective would be completely different as we all could take a different angle to share, but the calm and patience I saw her hold onto as she had matured into an amazing woman was outstanding.  I guess the unspoken maturity of her allowing/tolerating me to be apart of the moments spoke volumes to my heart and transferred to me a love that I long to receive from my sister. Here's the rest of the story:

Dinner the night before at Chuy's.

                                                                

Memorial Herman was a very convenient location and after jokes of Andrew sleeping in at the house while mom took Amy to check in that morning, they all got their pretty early and quick to start induction. The delivery floor was nice as each patient had their own rooms, but as the family we were free to walk between the waiting area and Amy's room.  During delivery Erin even commented she wanted to hear Colton's cry for the first time and attempted to walk down the hallway in time. After seeing the doctor leave the floor Phillip, Erin, and I assumed he was here and shortly after Andrew came out to announce Colton was here and show pictures.  We all quickly took turns watching Bailey in the waiting area and seeing Colton for the first time.  Here Bailey finally gets to meet her cousin for the first time.

The nurses did a great job giving him a bath and letting us feel apart of the process.  The big picture windows sure help you feel like you are right there with them.

All cleaned and sleeping with his snuggle pup Aunt Lisa gave him.

After we had settled into the new room, Andrew and I changed him into his 1st day picture outfit. It came all the way from H&M.

Day 2 a quick visit after church and waiting for them to be ready to come home.

This little man is not going to be this small forever, so a picture on my legs will prove that in time.

                                            A great family picture.

                                Showing Colton his room for the 1st time.

                                           Playing dress up again.

                               Welcome home King family!
                            (Hook'em is already aware of the change)
                                        

Watching her grow

After months of getting to hold her and small times for people to leave us alone...this was the first "real" babysitting I got to do for Bailey.  She was just starting to sit up, but not able to sit on her own.  With Aunt Lisa's couch pillows and borrowed toys from Nana's house, we had a blast while the mom, dad, and grandparents were taking care of other things.

Although she won't sit for long any more, this was Bailey's first moment at the piano.  It was so fun to watch her tap out the keys and "sing" along.

Throwing her in the air and watching her squeal, we watched as she also began to find pure delight in bouncing on your lap. I was excited to buy this jumper and watch her go.

The process of walking is an amazing thing to see as it happens months before the actual first steps.  In fact, looking back on all of these pictures I realized how blessed I was to be able to see her through all of these stages and compare it to our own "walk" with God.  Babies gain the muscles needed to hold up their head, so they can transition into laying on their tummies for crawling and sitting up on their own.  Before watching Bailey "learn" to walk, I thought the sitting was the most important step before walking, but I actually realized it's when they are on their tummies learning to roll over that is most important.  If babies never learn to roll over and gain those muscles, then during those awkward crawling moments when they need to sit up and turn around they can't get their leg under them quite right.  It's at those times we have seen it happen with babies, their arms get stuck and their legs are tangled in just a way that makes it impossible to move, that's when they flop face first onto the floor. How many times have I done the same things, only whined and complained even more about the process to God.  He's trying to teach me to "walk" with him, only I'm trying to run before I have the skills and muscles to turn around.  Much like parents it would be easy for Him to scoop me up and make life so easy I never learn anything.  We don't have a Father whose mean enough to let us suffer, but loving enough to grow our muscles stronger so we can run with Him. 

Why crawl before we walk? We all knew Bailey wouldn't crawl for very long because all she wanted to do was jump and stand.  It's the arms that are gaining strength to pull up on objects so they can stand during the crawling process.  Here's a picture of her pulling up, shortly after Nana bought her a walker and she took off.  Balance is the last, most important skill in walking.  Observing Bailey I realized you first learn to balance by standing in one place.  The first moment I saw her doing this was in her parent's front yard.  She didn't like her feet touching the grass, so she didn't want to move when I stood her up.  Distracted long enough by a cell phone and she was standing for a few minutes on her own. Do our arms have the same strength or do we give in too soon and stop "crawling" letting our weakness keep us on the floor instead of taking adventures? Most of the times God is calling me to be still, I feel like I am not doing anything but looking at this process of walking I can see how standing still does require action. This sweetness is now running places and I love keep up with her!

Showers of blessings-Getting ready for Colton

With the time quickly approaching, I "helped" give Amy a baby shower for Colton. The reason I have "helped" in quotes is because despite my love for my sister....her and my mom are the ones with the gifted creativity.  They both love to have all of the i's dotted and t's crossed when it comes to excellence.(I keep hoping it will rub off on me, but it doesn't seem to be happening) So here are some of the beautiful things they were able to put together for the shower.

I did however get Colton a fun bag of goodies. I am hoping we will be able to use the frog bag equipped with a magnifying glass on some adventures in the future.  He also will now have a fabulous wardrobe that will include an outfit about how much his aunt loves him.

Of course Nana is looking

forward to having another grandbaby to love on.

The afternoon was spent being showered in gifts and pictures books by those who love Amy the most.  The best thing about showers is the people who come to give them.  Thankful to have learned from the GREATEST AUNT how to be an aunt.

Bailey moments

Everyone was right about this whole aunt thing!

Bailey's first Christmas

Sharing my favorite place with Bailey...the Drive in

We watched Gnomeo and Juliet.

Bailey announces shes is going to be a cousin...she Amy and Andrew are pregant!

Hanging on to this new outfit for my chance to be aunt to #2.

She's here (just a tad bit early)

Yesterday Erin went to her regular doctor's appointment, but the doctor decided to admit her to the hospital because of low fluids. So we went to the hospital to bring her and Phillip dinner. The plan was to let them rest and then start to induce the next morning. At 8:00am I got a text saying mom and Amy were headed to the hospital because they had decided to do a C-section. Less than an hour later while teaching my math lesson I heard the beep of my text message and was surprised to see the picture of a beautiful baby girl. Welcome Bailey!

I got to the hospital later than I wanted because of a flat tire, but was delighted to see her open her eyes for the first time.

She wore her "My aunt is my BFF" outfit the first time I went to see her at home.

Becoming an aunt..it's a big job

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 Life has not turned out as I planned, but as I am realizing things are better when you leave them in God's hands; His hands are bigger and His dreams for us are better.

My brother and sister-in-law have given me much grace and love as I have pestered them with silly requests during this process of "becoming an aunt". Erin has let me "attack" her at the door to "talk" to Bailey, let me lay my head on her stomach to feel Bailey move across my cheek, and allowed me to tag along to Babies R' Us and use the scanner to register. (my excitement can sometimes get the best of me) So for all of those people who have told me that being an aunt is the best thing ever...I can't wait to see if the moment holds true.

At Babies R Us registering.

Setting up the crib,
Baby Shower where Bailey got lots of fun things.