Olivia has arrived and I have been living under a rock ever since :-)

As most of you already know our sweet baby girl Olivia arrived 2 weeks ago and we could not love her more! Her arrival took quite a while, on Wednesday- June 12 at 4am I started having contractions that were 3-7 minutes apart so we headed to the hospital at 6:30ish only to be told a few hours later that I would need to leave triage and home labor until I was a tad bit further along.... Unhappy we went back home where I had to deal with my own contractions for hours- 15 to be exact....

Then the electricity went out. There was a horrible storm that night so we headed back to the hospital because my contractions were now 4 minutes apart and I could barely walk or talk when they would hit. We were then told to walk the hospital for an hour because I was so close... we are talking less than a centimeter from where they wanted me to be- I was in tears and couldnt really walk! It was the most painful hour of my life, hands down. After our nice stroll I was admitted and swiftly taken to my room.

I immediately got the epidural which made all my problems go away- SERIOUSLY! I am going to give any preggo people out there a piece of advice- get the epidural and get it as soon as you can! It is just not worth waiting for, the girl next store to me decided to wait until she aws 9.5 centimeters and then started screaming for it- she sounded crazy and I felt awful for her so don't wait.

Anyway, after the glorious epidural I spent the rest of the night trying to get rest in between all the nurses and vistors coming to check on me and kept thinking I would deliver that night but was totally fine with going past midnight because I really wanted my doctor to deliver me and she wasn't going to be on call until Wednesday morning- well I got my wish! After some time with an oxygen mask and alot of contractions I was told it was time to start pushing at 1:25PM, they told me it could take a few hours- I looked at the clock and said "No, she will be out by 2PM."

Who did I think I was to decide this? Pretty sure I got my confidence from the epidural or something but God decided to humor me and she started screaming and was out at exactly 2PM!! 35 minutes, after 15 home labor hours and 16 spent at the hospital our girl had arrived!

Ryan and my Mom and I were all crying looing at her and couldn't believe she had finally arrived.

The Memorial Herman staff was absolutely AMAZING! Grantit I was totally spoiled because we are good friends with 2 night shift nurses and the head nurse during the day so they made sure we were well taken care of which I couldn't be more thankful for. I love my doctor and I think she was the reason I was pretty calm once it was time to get Ms.Olivia out- I just never doubted she would do all she could and I really trust her. If you need a new doctor you seriously need to consider mine!

Our days at the hospital were a huge blur along with the last 2 weeks, I was so blessed to have Ryan home with me, he got 2 weeks off and I am pretty sure I couldn't have survived without him- he is the best husband. Seriously. I knew it before but seeing him with Livi, the support and help he has given me and he has still found a way to make me laugh and feel loved despite the sleep deprevity and stress!

Poor Olivia has had some difficulty feeding, we have had to switch to bottles which is totally fine if it means she does better but now she is spilling milk out of her mouth even with the slow flow bottles so we are going to talk to our pediatrician about it this week because there has been alot of spitting up and most recently she threw up which totally freaked us out. Please keep her sweet self in your prayers and that we can quickly find out a good solution for her!

Other than the sleep loss and feeding difficulty everything has been really great! She is such a good baby and we feel completely blessed beyond what we deserve having her and just being a family of 4- don't forget about Scout! Speaking of, he has been so great with Livi so far! He is super protective and so affectionate, when she is asleep on her little boppy lounger he cuddles up next to her and when she cries he immediately runs to us and wants us to make it stop- it's so adorable! We were worried he would be jealous but he just isn't. Grantit we have been walking everyday and giving him as much attention as we can because we want him to know that we love him just as much as we did before the baby.

So, about the rock I have been living under- we don't know what is going on in the world. I had no idea anything happened in CO and just heard about the healthcare fiasco yesterday- I guess when you can barely find time to eat and sleep the news just ends up way in the back seat. Please let me know if there is anything else major that has happened in the last 2.5 weeks! I promise to post more pics in my next post but here she is!!

Still no baby... but we do have a name!

I have never been the most patient person and will not pretend to be so but our baby girl's due date was Saturday, June 9th and here I sit 2 days later and she still isn't here! I know a lot of people go past their due date and I am thankful to have carried her all the way to 40 weeks as so many of my friends have had early babies and some have had to fight for the lives because of the early delivery so I am in no way going to complain about going full term and my heart goes out to those who came early.

I am going to say however that I am tired of being pregnant.

A lot of people say being pregnant was the happiest time of their life... it has been in no way an unhappy time but I really want the baby- not the pregnancy! Yes it has been a really amazing experience and I feel so blessed to even have gone through it but I am person who really enjoys a good conclusion- and in this case God is going to bring a brand new person into the world at the conclusion of this pregnancy and I can't really imagine a more exciting ending to a very long wait so I am ready! I am just ready to start the next step of this process and for Ryan and I to become parents- I think this for me will be the happiest time as opposed to the pregnancy. I just want to see her, hold her and can't wait to find out what her personality will be. I have so enjoyed feeling her move, kick and grow but now I want to SEE all of that!

Pregnancy is an amazing thing but with it comes alot of not so amazing things...

• Weight Gain! I have gained 24 lbs as of today. I feel that is all I really need to say here but carrying an extra 24 lbs around is no fun, especially in the summer and especially because I feel so unbalanced. I don't doubt that I have gained weight everywhere but since I can't see anything past my baby bump when I look down which by the way feels more like a baby mountain these days I feel like all 24 lbs are contained in the baby mountain which just makes me feel like I could teeter over at any moment. I have never been the most graceful person anyway and have fallen a few hundred times in my 28 years and you may remember my fall that I have already had during the pregnancy so I am just walking as carefully as possible these last few days and hope to stay on my two feet. Here are a few pictures, I haven't taken my 40 week yet because I just decided to take one when we are on our way to the hospital but here I am with my mountain the last 2 weeks, my size really hasn't changed much:

38 weeks:

39 weeks:

OK back to the ailments...

• I have a few stretch marks on my stomach. Luckily they all seem to be contained in one place but I hope they go away!
• I have varicose veins... this has by far been the worst plague of pregnancy for me- I honestly had a fear of them from the beginning because they do run in my family and sure enough they started popping up along with spider veins and I can't get them removed until after baby girl is here.Luckily there are only 2 that the Dr thinks I will need to get removed,she thinks the others will go away on their own once the baby comes but I am super self conscious about them and despise them.
• I am exhausted! I have had a lot of energy pretty much throughout the pregnancy but the last few days have been so exhausting- I just feel like I could sleep all day but that is just not in the cards as I am planning to work until the moment I go into labor so that I don't take away any days from the time off.
• I am nauseous again! i have read that this happens to alot of people at the very end, i was really sick in the beginning and had to bring back sprite and crackers yesterday- I had flashbacks of the grand morning sickness which needs to be renamed all-day sickness.

All complaining aside... I will say that I am very VERY excited about maternity leave. I am taking 8 full weeks off and then I am going back to work part time until the middle of September- I am so thankful to have this time with the baby and hope to get the hang of things during that time.

We have also finally decided on a name- we just couldn't decide for 39 weeks and then while swimming which has been my absolute favorite thing to do during the pregnancy we finally came to a decision! Drum roll please....

Her name will be:

OLIVIA RYLEA JASPER

You may be wondering where this came from because we had been going back and forth on a few other names, Camdyn, Mia, Chloe and Audrey but Olivia was actually in the back of our minds from the beginning. Our only reason in stepping away from it was just that we wanted a name we didn't know anyone to have which is pretty impossible to find! We both really loved Olivia, I have actually loved it since the Cosby show way back in my middle school years and I am so excited that we chose it! For a nickname should we decide to call her one we are thinking of Livi but we plan to call her Olivia.

Now I am on the look-out for the perfect giant "O" to put on her wall above her crib. I may just cover one with fabric on my own but we have been checking antique stores because I think having a vintage metal one would be cool.

As impatient as I have been feeling  I can't even tell you how excited I am! I know that Olivia will arrive at the exact moment that God has planned for her and I am in the home stretch. I can't wait to see what she looks like and hold her for the first time. We opted out of the 3D ultrasound so we truly have no idea how she is going to look- I would love for her to have lots of hair and for both Ryan and I to be obvious in her features but I really just want her regardless of all of that !! She is so loved already by not only us but our family and friends and for that I am so thankful!

Apparently I was due on May 9th and came on May 12th so it would be kind of cool now that she's late if she came tomorrow because she would be exactly a month from my bday and would have followed in my slow footsteps of arrival :-)

Olivia, as much as I wish I were holding you now I want you to take your sweet precious time and arrive exactly when you are ready! We are so excited to meet you! We love you!

My Best Friends Wedding!

I am so lucky to have amazing friends, all of my life I really have been blessed- I know I say it often but I just have to say it again :-)

In college I had the huge blessing of joining a sorority that led me to some pretty amazing girls that have changed my life! One of which was Raven. We were actually roommates in Fort Worth before I got married and she has been one of the best friends I have ever had. She is such a great listener, always full of good advice, ALWAYS makes me laugh and has been there for me during some really tough times and for that I will always be thankful for her :-)

Well, a few weeks ago this amazing friend of mine married the man of her dreams and I am so happy for this next chapter of life she has entered into! I was super worried that I wasn't going to be able to make it because of the pregnancy, her wedding was actually the day that became full term but THANKFULLY I made it and was able to share in their big day! It was such a beautiful wedding and so much fun seeing all of my besties and spending the weekend celebrating The Jones' family!! She was a gorgeous bride and I was so honored to stand next to her on this day- belly and all!! Here are some of my favorite pics!

Rehearsal Dinner with the bride:

 LOVE THEM!

 Getting ready- we all had team bride shirts she made us, so cute!

 Waiting with the gorgeous bride:

No big deal, just a few of my favorite girls on the planet:

Couldn't live without my Katie!!

 Precious centerpieces- each table was a little different, i loved it!

Bouquet toss!!

 Love him :-)

 SO GORGEOUS!!

 The Jaspers and Jones'!

 They each got a piece- it was hilarious!

This was their timeline on their guestbook table, such a cute idea- i loved it! 

I love you Mrs. Jones!!!

Outdoor Movie Birthday Party!

My sister and I have birthdays that are 2 days and 2 years apart so growing up we always had joint birthday parties which we always loved! Obviously when we got older we started doing our own things but this year we thought we should bring back the joint birthday with a bang! She was turning 30 and I was turning 28 and it just seemed like the right time :-)

Well, I had seen a picture on Pinterest that made me want to have an outdoor movie night for my birthday and when I told her that we decided to join forces and it was so much fun!

Here are a few pictures... or alot actually:

It was such a blast to do and we really want to have another one in the fall- maybe do this a few times a year!

Baby Showers!!

Ryan and I have been incredibly blessed with amazing family and friends who are so excited to celebrate our next chapter of life with our new little addition! We had 3 showers given by a few of our favorite people on the planet and are so thankful for all of the love and support everyone has shown!! Here are a few of the highlights!!

My first shower was given by my Mom, Sister, Aunt, Nana and 2 of my besties! It was at a tea room in Old Town Spring and was absolutely precious!! It was a "mini breakfast theme" so everything we ate was in miniture form- loved it! Here are a few pictures:

My girls!!

Group Shot of a most of the girls there- love all of you so much!

My lovely hostesses!

I have been friends with them longer than anyone else! We go way back to the 4th grade :-)

The original Qualls' ladies :-)

The adorable tables!

YUM!

Two weeks ago I had our 2nd shower that was given by our small group girls, I just have to say that these girls are wonderful. They along with their husbands have become such a huge part of our lives and it has been great having friends that are in the same chapter of life as we are. I can't believe we have been back in The Woodlands area going on 3 years and it was this group that made the transition so much easier and fun! I love these girls to death and I am not sure where I would be without them!! Here are a few pictures from the adorable shower:

Hostesses :-)

Group Shot!

This past Sunday our youth volunteers and the students gave us our final shower and it was such a blast! My friend Connie is quite possibly the most creative person I have ever met and did a theme called "She's about to pop!" So we had popcorn, poptarts, blowpops, popcorn balls, popcorn chicken and the cutest cupcakes- they looked like they had popcorn on the top but it was marshmellows with yellow food coloring- absolutely adorable!! We played some hilariously funny games as well and Ryan and I were so overwhelmed by all of the love and support from this group! We have such a wonderful church family and feel so blessed to have known our students and volunteers. Here are a few pictures from Sunday- we love our Retro group!!

I can't thank everyone enough for loving our girl so much before she is even born! Today actually marks one month from my due date so she really could come any day now!! I did find out the process has begun on Monday and we will find out her weight and all that next Monday- can't wait for the updates and to be able to see her again! My stats are looking good- the Dr said I am measuring just as I should be and that my weight gain is looking great so lets pray and hope it stays that way until she makes her grand entrance!! Come on baby!! I have had a few days of insomnia recently... i finally got a few hours of sleep last night which I am so grateful for and I am hoping tonight will bring a full night's rest- we all know I need to get as much sleep as I can before she is here so if you could be praying for that I would greatly appreciate it :-) I will try to post nursery pictures soon, we still have a few things to get but it is basically finished! Hope you all have a great rest of the week! I will be spending mine celebrating my sister's birthday tomorrow and mine on Saturday- we are doing an outdoor movie night combined birthday party- we used to have combined bdays when we were little so we are really excited about this year!!

Don't fall down when you are pregnant...

Well I have had what I would call a very smooth pregnancy, I haven't had any health problems or complications and other than the normal sleep deprivation and being uncomfortable at this point I don't really have alot to complain about. I mean I am definitely ready to move on past pregnancy but not because it has been awful, just because having the baby in the world is going to be way better than carrying her around!

Well, Tuesday night I had a little scare...
I was visiting my Nana's house and had walked in an out a few times that day not to mention I have been there and know where the steps are but for some reason I missed the step going from her entry-way into her sunken living room and fell. I have never been the most graceful person, I have fallen a few times in my life before and i feel like all of my practice prepared me for this because when I fall I always fall on my knees. This day was by far the most painful fall I have ever had, most of my weight went down on my left knee and I guess in my efforts to keep my stomach from touch the ground i tried to keep everything on the knees because my hands really didn't even touch the floor- i basically feel straight down. The pain was pretty horrible, but I kept thinking if there was an issue surely I would know right now!

After a few minutes of sitting on the floor completely still, hoping my knees would stop throbbing I moved the couch and did not get any relief. Well, I had plans that night to go to a pottery class for girl's night and didn't want to miss and really other than my knees I felt OK. No stomach pains etc... I told Ryan and he really wanted me to call the Dr. so I did and before hearing what actually happened she told me to head to the E.R. After I reasoned with her that it was just my knees she preceded to tell me that I would probably be OK but if I had any cramping at all I needed to go to the hospital.

Well, I went to the class, had dinner and headed home knees still throbbing and swelling while also bruising- basically I look like Tonya Harding attacked me. Don't worry, I didn't keep screaming "Why Me??" I really felt like everyone else was making a bigger deal out of it than it really was.

After a restless night's sleep I woke up yesterday morning and didn't feel very good. I took my shower and started work and just felt like something wasn't right. Then I decided if something had happened to our sweet girl and I didn't go get her checked-out I would never forgive myself. Not to mention that every step that I take means that I am going to be in pain. I called my Dr again and spoke to the nurse and she recommended I head to the Labor and Delivery triage to get checked-out. So, I called Ryan and he met me there- I was pretty nervous, I am not going to lie- I cried the entire drive there hoping and praying that our baby was OK- not caring about anything else on the planet. I think it was my first true "Mom" moment.

Our visit couldn't have been more pleasant- we happen to know the day shift head nurse and she just so happened to come to the check-in desk when I was filling out my paperwork and just seeing a familiar face and her sitting with us made me feel so much more comfortable, we were taken back immediately to be monitored and after a little over an hour were told everything looked great and our baby was happy! There are some things for me to watch for and I have a number to call should anything weird happen but while laying there waiting for our updates I couldn't think about anything but the baby- how she has already changed our lives and how we would do absolutely anything to protect her but at this moment we could do nothing. We literally just had to wait to find out if she was going to be OK and thankfully as scared as I was I knew that she was in good hands. Not because the hospital we were at is wonderful and that the nurses and dr's know what they are doing but because I know that God is holding our girl and has a plan for her that we just get to play a part in.

I am so thankful that He is entrusting us with a baby and although I feel inadequate I know that He is choosing for her to arrive at the very moment she does during this chapter in our life for a reason and all I need to do is trust that whatever happens is part of His perfect plan.

I am so thankful that everything turned out OK and will definitely be taking it easy and avoiding steps when at all possible until after the baby is here but I feel so very blessed that the news we received was good despite my clumsiness! I am going to leave you with a verse that has played a big role in my life recently- in fact a few weeks ago for D-Now Ryan's boss preached on it and did a pretty amazing job breaking it down, its one I have heard my entire life but it means something so different to me now:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5)

Where have the last 2 months gone??

Well, I don't have to tell you I have been on a two month hiatus from blogging, I am actually contemplating on deleting it all together because I don't really even have an excuse other than that I just never get on my blog account because of everything we have going on! It seems like every moment of everyday is filled with something and writing it all down has seemed a little daunting but here I am typing away and glad to be so we will see how it goes!

Just to give you a few quick updates, I am now 33 weeks pregnant- so crazy and I can't believe how fast it has flown by! Things are still going good, I am exhausted ALL THE TIME and I am not sleeping very well with her jumping on my bladder all night but I feel so lucky to have had what seems to me a super easy pregnancy. We are so ready to meet our girl and I am so ready to be past the pregnant chapter of my life! It has been great with my sister and so many of my friends being pregnant at the same time but as always, I am ready to get on with life :-) The nursery is almost complete, just need to get curtains, a rug and organize her closet and we will be ready! We still have alot to buy- babies sure do need alot of stuff! We have been so blessed by family and friends and their generosity- we have had one shower already and two more are coming in the next few weeks and I am just floored by how much everyone already loves our baby! I wasn't expecting any of this and we know how blessed we are by the people in our life. She still doesn't have a name... honestly, I bet we aren't going to make the decision until she makes her grand entrance!

To say work has been busy the last two months would be a huge understatement but I am thankful that the school year is almost over and my events and programs are wrapping up and summer will be here before we know it  and I can't wait!

My precious niece, Ava is as cute as ever and doing great! I usually get to watch her a few hours a week which I just love! Not only is it good practice but she is just such a wonderful baby and we love being able to take care of her :-)

I just got back from a weekend with my besties celebrating Raven, she is getting married in a little less than a month! I am so excited for her new chapter and glad she has found someone she wants to spend forever with. We rented a lake house right outside of fort worth and it was amazing! The weather was perfect and I think everyone desperately needed a relaxing weekend away not to mention that Raven is one of the best people to celebrate because she loves all of us so well! We stayed up way too late, kareoked until we were hoarse, ate a ridiculous amount of good food and spent all day yesterday laying out and catching up followed by Joe T's = a perfect girl's weekend. Friday was a little crazy driving up to the lake as Lindsee, Hannah and I got caught in a hail/monsoon storm- where it came from or went we are not sure but we sat in the car laughing about how random it was waited it out. Then, on our ride back we saw some weird things! I would have to say the man walking down I-45 with his arms stretched out to the sides was my favorite. We aren't sure what he was doing at 1am in between Huntsville and The Woodlands and we don't think he did either- no car in sight for miles just him... walking in the dark. It is weekends like these that I get extra thankful for my girls- even though we aren't all 2 seconds away from each other I love that we still do girls weekends- despite weddings, babies, boyfriends, jobs and everything else in between. It is so refreshing getting to see them and I wouldn't change our friendships for the world! I know it is such a rarity to find one great friend and I am blessed with great ones from different chapters in my life who know me often times better than I know myself and are constantly pointing me back to God when I need it most and can make me laugh until I think I am going to explode. I am just lucky to have friends that range from childhood-highschool-college-and beyond and love you all so much!

Ryan is graduating in December- we are SO excited and I am very, very proud of him. He has worked so hard and been in school for so long- really since he was 5 he has not had a break and he is going to be a seminary graduate with a Masters of Divinity in just a few months! He has 2 more weeks of this semester left and then in the fall he has 2 classes to take before walking across that stage! His job is still going really great- we love FBC!

Well, that is all for now- no promises on when the next post will be but in 7 weeks or less if I haven't deleted this I will be posting a picture of our little baby girl!