Professional Pictures at 2 weeks old!

We had a few photos taken of Alice when she was just 2 weeks old...here are a few of them. Hopefully we will have more to share from her 1 month shoot soon!

Just some pictures!

Alice at 5 weeks old

Dressed up to visit Bonne-Mama!

Eating her bottle with Dad!

First Garage Sale with Auntie Ky!

2 weeks old! Little Lady.

Welcome Alice Julyan

Alice Julyan Whitcomb was born via an emergancy c-section at 5:04 pm on May 6th, 2010. She was 18.5" long and weighed 6 lbs 5 oz. She is our tiny miracle!

I have been so bad about posting...Alice has been here nearly six weeks and I haven't even put up a single photo! Well...here she is moments after birth.


I am working on a post about her birth, I want to remember as much as I can so she can read about it when she is older. It is a hard post for me to finish so it may take a while for it to be published. Until then I will try to update with pictures!

Target Field

We spent yesterday at the Twins season opener in the brand new Target Stadium...it was a blast! We got down there about 4 hours before the game started and caught up with friends at one of the many overlooking bars. I was exhausted by the time the game started, but it was well worth it. Sun was bright and the Twins won...what could be better for the first outdoor game of the season?!?

4 weeks and counting...

I thought I would update quickly, with only 4 weeks left to go in this journey we are keeping very busy! We had our weekly check-up on Tuesday and the doctor said things are looking great! My blood pressure is very low and the babies heart rate is very fast...nothing of major concern. Since I am still measuring small for where we are at the doctor restricted my work hours and activity. It has been difficult to cut back because I am enjoying the experience at work right now and I want to take in as much as I can before leaving for 3 months.

Here is the latest picture...just beginning the final month!

Getting the nursery ready

We have been so busy trying to get the basement project complete that the nursery kind of got put on hold until about a week ago. I have been setting goals to complete each month and getting the nursery started was one of my February goals. Well, sure enough, Sunday February 28 at about 5:30 pm Derek decided he was going to make that goal happen. He ran over to my parents house and loaded up the crib and changing table. Hauled them up the stairs and got assembling. We still don't have all the accessories, but the big pieces are in place and it feels amazing. I am so lucky to have him!

Tinkerbell helped supervise...

We already had the room painted pink for Rosie. She will move to the blue and pink guest bedroom with the big girl bed in it!!

The changing table and crib are hand-me-downs from my sister. They are perfect and we feel blessed to be able to use them.

Grandma and Grandpa gave us the rocking chair for Christmas...I am sure we will have plenty of nights sleeping in there!

It is all coming together. I am sure I will have a lot of work to do as my showers are still coming up in the next two weeks. Looking forward to getting everything put together and organized before she arrives!

The Basement Project

One of the goals that Derek and I had set out to complete before baby joined us was finishing the basement. This would give us a less 'formal' family room and also a play area for all of baby's new things. After several long weekends of framing, drywall, taping, mudding, plumbing, electrical...etc...etc..etc...we are finally beginning to move into our new space.

Derek and I have enjoyed several low key nights sitting in our new basement and we are both very excited to spend many more nights down there with baby.

Here are a few pictures of the new basement!!!

The new play area and treadmill room...the half wall is a magnetic chalkboard!

The new family room/TV room

The bar...still waiting for countertops to come in.

The pink bathroom...

The 8th Month!

I honestly can't believe how quickly the past 8 months has gone by. It was just last August that Derek and I received the amazing news that we were expecting our first child. Something we were not sure would happen, and especially as quickly as it did. As we enter our 8th month of pregnancy I have had a lot on my mind. Something we haven't shared with everyone is our journey to getting here. Some of our close friends and family know that trying to conceive was a challenge we have been thinking about for well over a year now. I have been careful about sharing this challenge because so many opinions are out there, but it is an important journey that I never want to forget.

Because of some side effects of Derek's Diabetes (Type I) we have been aware that trying to conceive a child would be difficult since we first talked about marriage and a family. I began talking with my OB a few months before we were married to see what options we might have. After several long appointments, many blood draws, tests and conversations we were told our best option would be an IUI (Intrauterine Insemination). I am not going to go into details about the actual procedure, there are plenty of websites that explain the details for those of you that are curious. Along with telling us about this option they also made it clear that due to our specific case it may take several months/years before we saw any success. To our surprise we got a positive result the first month.

I know that I have family and friends that do not agree with medical assisted pregnancy and I respect that more then you know. I myself did not fully understand or agree with it until I myself was put in that situation. Yes, we could have looked into adoption and believe me we would have been very happy to do so. We spent many nights talking these options out and finally put our trust in God that if this was his plan things would work out. We were introduced to the most amazing fertility doctor in the state, our insurance indicated that treatments would be covered, I was transferred to the home office for work...these were only some of the signs that this was what we were supposed to do. Of course the final sign and most amazing miracle was that positive HPT we took last August.

Like I said I don't want to bore everyone with the details of our journey and procedure, I just needed to remind myself of the miracle we are experiencing and let anyone out there that might be going through something similar know that they are not alone. Also because I remember feeling very alone when we were going through this journey and I hope that if any of my Friends or family are going through this they feel they can talk to either one of us.

Anyways, enough of the serious talk. Baby is almost here! I can't believe it...less then 10 weeks. Here is the latest picture...

I feel huge...its hard to imagine how I will feel in another month. At our last appointment I was still measuring a little small (uterus size, not weight :)), but we were assured this is nothing to worry about. Since both Derek and I are on the smaller side baby may just be a little on the smaller side. I have also been experiencing some very minor braxton-hicks contractions...mostly if I am sitting in the same position for too long or doing to much around the house. The doctor cut my work hours down for now and we will see what baby is doing at our next appointment.

We have been busy working on the nursery, sorting through the amazing hand-me-downs, and trying to get the house ready for her to come home. I will post pictures of the progress soon.

Love to all our family and friends!