Good Golly Miss Molly

Well, yesterday we had a little scare. Late Tuesday night Molly started having some stomach problems. We took her to the doctor and it turns out she has an allergy to the cow's milk in her formula. Apparently this is pretty common in newborns, but it was very new to me! We switched her formula and already she is doing better. She was up to 9lbs yesterday! She's growing so fast!

Abby is home sick today. I believe she must have the "crud" that has been going around. Hopefully, she will be feeling better soon and no one else in the family catches it.

During my "free time" this week ( at 12:00 or 1:00 in the morning, when I can't go to sleep!) I have been reading the Duggar Family's new book. They are so interesting and quite inspiring. If any of you want to borrow it when I am done, I think you would enjoy it. There are times I feel so overwhelmed with my 3 kids, how do they do it with 18?

Well, here's some new baby pictures...

My Engineer

Will amazes me at his ability to build things. He's very creative and inventive. Probably his most absolute favorite thing to play with would be Legos. For a long time he had a bucket of Legos that you could pretty much build anything with. Christmas he decided that he wanted to start getting some of the different kits to build specific things. He received several from family and Santa and I must say he has already built them all! Although it took a while for him to use the directions! :)

Will has to be the sweetest child I know. I know he's mine, and I may be just a little partial, but really, he has the biggest heart. God has blessed that boy with the gifts of compassion, mercy and giving. I know God has great plans for Will. My prayer is that Will is obedient to whatever God calls him to. I am excited to see what it will be. Maybe it will have something to do with building things....

A day with Uncle John and Aunt Pamela

Today, my brother, John, and his wife, Pamela, came down for a visit. I'm pretty sure it wasn't to see Brian and me! :) But that's ok. I am so grateful for the relationship that the kids have with them. I know when they get older they are going to appreciate all the support and love that John and Pamela has given them and they are going to cherish John and Pamela's presence in their lives. I know Brian and I do. And I am sure the kids will remember all the gifts that their Aunt and Uncle have come bearing over the years!

Today, we went to San Jose for lunch. (Kelly, I know you will appreciate!) After that we had to make a "short stop" by WalMart. (Did you read the part above about the gifts?) Pamela and I sat in the car with Molly while the rest of the crew went inside. Will picked out his usual Hot Wheels cars and Nerf dart gun. Abby picked out a puzzle and.... a High School Musical wig! This was so funny, and so Abby! She loved having hair the same color as Aunt Pamela's! After a little playtime John and Pamela had to go. Visits with family just never last long enough.

Tomorrow the plan is to get this baby girl to church! I look forward to it so bad. I have missed being there and I have missed the Pastor's sermons. God is doing a mighty work at our church and it's so exciting to see it and be a part of it. Our family is so thankful for our Pastor and his family. They couldn't have come a better time. But then again, I guess God knew that! They have been an answer to prayer and in case we haven't told you guys lately, we love you all dearly! There's many churches who don't have solid, Godly leadership, and I am so thankful that we do.

PS--- This picture of John wasn't from today, but I felt bad for not getting any of him today so I thought I would post this one from the day we brought Molly home. :)

Friday Night With the Girls

Brian and the youth went to Winter Jam tonight, and since Toby Mac just happens to be Will's all time favorite, he went along with them. So, that left me and the girls with a night to ourselves. And what else to do with our "girl time" but to go shopping!! We didn't accomplish much but that's ok we had fun out together. Of course, Molly slept the entire shopping trip, but me and Abby got to have some good girl talk.

I didn't have much to say tonight but wanted to post this picture of the girls in their matching sweaters they got for Christmas. They wore them tonight for our night out! Uncle John and Aunt Pamela are coming for a visit tomorrow so I am sure I will have more to say then! We are looking forward to their visit. The kids adore them and we like them pretty good too! :)

Busy week already

Wow, it feels like it should be Friday already! I feel like I haven't stopped. Yesterday, Molly had a doctor appointment. She was up to 8lbs! I was so happy. During her first week of life, she dropped down to 6 lbs 15 oz. So, our goal for yesterday was to get her back to her birth weight, and we exceeded it! Yea!! The dr. said she was wonderful, like we needed to be told that! We take her back in March for her 2 month check up.

Also, yesterday our new table and chairs were delivered. Another yea! Our house seems to be getting smaller and smaller!

Last night, we went to try to find Molly a dress. We had our church directory pictures made today. We actually had them made 2 weeks before Molly was born, but when we found out there was going to be a remake day, we signed up. We did find her a sweet little dress. The pictures turned out so much better than I thought they would. I can't wait to show them off!

Today, has been spent doing laundry, washing bottles, sterilizing bottles, making bottles. I imagine tonight I will probably dream of bottles! And it amazes me how something so sweet and tiny and dirty up so many clothes! My washing machine has not stopped.

Well, sorry I didn't really have a lot of interesting things to say, but my life isn't always that interesting. But here's a few pictures to show off what we have been doing...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have to admit, Valentine's is not my favorite holiday. Honestly, I don't like it much at all. I remind Brian all the time of how easy he has it. (Not so sure he agrees with me, though.) I just don't need a holiday to tell someone I love them, and I don't want a holiday to be the reason someone tells me they love me. Too much pressure! But this year I thought I would try a little harder to participate in this holiday. I understand that many people do not agree with me on this, and that is totally fine. After thinking about it, I realized that one day Will may have a girl in his life that loves Valentine's, and he needs to know how to make that day special for her, if it is important to her. I also want him to know how to make ordinary days special too, though. He has a great teacher. (Brian is one of the most loving, and caring people I have ever met. Will isn't far behind him. ) So, I tried to do better today. Maybe next year, I will try harder...

But our Valentine activities started last night with the children's party at church. We played games, made crafts, decorated cupcakes and cookies, and of course ate! We had a really good time but boy was I pooped! And of course I forgot my camera!

Today, Nonnie and Papa came for a visit. After hanging out at the house for a while, they treated us to an early dinner at Red Lobster. Even though we had to wait for a little while, it was so worth it! And Molly got to wear her little Valentine outfit that Mrs. Mary Ann gave her!! :) We really enjoyed getting to spend the day with the grandparents. It just doesn't happen often enough.

My Princess in Training

Well, today was a big day for Abby. We (me, Abby and Molly) met Jessica, Nicole, Auburn, Mary Ann, Susan and Alex to shop for Abby a flower girl dress for Jessica's wedding. She thought this was the best thing ever! I mean, how much more fun could playing dress up be? After trying on 6 dresses we found "the one". She was beautiful if I do say so myself.

Alex will be walking down the aisle with Abby, as ring bearer. Although, we sent Brian a picture mail via cell phone of how adorable they were in their outfits, he wasn't very amused. :) But then again, we were going on about how that would be them in 20 years.

We also went today and bought a new dining table and chairs. Now, the Padgett's can actually sit down to eat together. I can't wait for them to deliver it, but I have to wait until Monday. :(

Maybe some Krispy Kreme's will make the days go by faster...

Sleepless in Columbia... for some of us anyway!

Can you tell how much sleep the Padgett's are getting these days? Really, it hasn't been that bad. This was the day after we pulled our "all nighter" last week. I actually enjoy getting up with Molly during the night and spending that one on one time with her. It's a good thing too, seeing how Brian copes with little sleep. :)

I went to the doctor this morning for my hemoglobin check and thankfully it was on the rise. We actually had two different families bring supper to us tonight. So, yea for me, I don't have to cook tomorrow either.

Daddy went back to work today and I must say, we missed him terribly. So, I think I will go spend some time with him now, since all our babies are in the bed... or on the couch!

So, it's been awhile....

I realize it has been awhile since I last blogged, and a lot sure has happened since the last post. The best thing that has happened is that we welcomed Molly Joy Padgett into this world, Friday, January 30 at 5:30pm. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 22 inches long.

For 4 years we prayed for another child. As happy as I was with the 2 wonderful children that God has blessed me with, my heart longed to become a mother again. In May of last year I went to a new doctor for my annual checkup. I was so impressed with this new doctor, but had no idea the role she would soon play in my life. After a discussion of our shared belief in God, she delivered the news that I would not be able to ever conceive another child. Once in my car, I thanked God for the children He had blessed me with and had allowed me the privilege of borrowing from Him. A peace swept over me and I was content with my family of 4.

A few weeks later, my mom fell off of a ladder and broke her arm. Brian and I took the kids to be at Nonnie's side for a week to help out. On the last day of our visit, Sunday, as I was walking up the patio stairs I caught a cramp in my left leg. I didn't think much about it and we packed up the car and was on our way home. The next couple of days the pain worsened. By Wednesday, I could hardly walk and after a call to a church member who is a RN, I decided to call our family doctor. From there I was sent to the hospital for a Doppler of my veins. There at the hospital, it was confirmed that I had a blood clot behind my left knee. After what seemed like forever, the doctor came in and told us as a standard protocol, while they were running the other labs, they also ran a pregnancy test, and that I was indeed pregnant. I didn't know what to say. An ultrasound was ordered and sure enough we saw the precious heartbeat of our 5 week 5 day old baby. The hospital sent us home that night with orders to see my Ob/Gyn the next day. I don't think I closed my eyes that night, afraid that if I did I would wake up and it would all just be a dream.

The dr. walked in the room that next day and her words were, "This is an act of God. A true miracle!". She also said that we would have a long road ahead, but that she would be there every step of the way, praying along side of me.

Being the OCD doctor that she is, :) many test were ordered to see if there was a cause to the blood clot. After a few weeks, we learned that I have an autoimmune disease that causes blood clots, but chances are more likely during pregnancy. She was very honest at the risk we would encounter throughout the pregnancy and afterward. But she vowed to me then that she would fight with me to be able to raise these children that God had blessed us with. I continued and would have to continue 2 shots of blood thinner each day in the tummy.

After a week of bed rest to give the blood clot time to dissolve, I felt like I had a normal pregnancy. There was moments throughout that I was afraid, but took comfort in Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you. I had to trust that God had a plan for this child.

I knew from the beginning, that my doctor would not allow me to go the full 40 weeks of pregnancy, due to the medications I was on, but I also was very aware of the odds of me being able to carry her past 20 weeks due to the APS.

But the days kept passing and the chances of us having a healthy baby grew stronger and stronger. Towards the end, I started having a problem with my amniotic fluid levels. I started going in for ultrasounds 2 times a week (with a grand total of 19 altogether!). On January 29, I went in for the routine and during the ultrasound the tech said "She's not going to let you go home today." My level was 2 times lower than it was 2 days before. I sat in the room, praying for peace, when my doctor walked in and said "We have reached the end of this journey. Tomorrow you will be a Mommy again." And then she said, "I never thought we would make it this far." She did agree to let me go home and pack and come back bright and early for my induction the next day. Although she was not very happy about it. :o

The next day was a looonnnggg day to say the least. But after being at the hospital for 12 1/2 hours the wait was over and Miss Molly was here. I still can't believe that she's mine. I look at her and can't help but tear up at the thoughts of how good God is. She is truly a miracle.

In all honesty, there have been times when I wondered why God led us to Columbia. Away from our families and friends and everything I had known my entire life. But throughout the last year and a half, he has shown me many, many different reasons of why. I believe this was one of them. Had we not ever moved here, I would have never met such a wonderful doctor, who believed that the calling on her life was to minister to people through modern day medicine, who I knew was praying for me and my child, who worked on her day off just to be able to be with me and to deliver Molly. God has had to remind me that He is always at work.

Wow, I guess I made up for all those days that have passed without blogging, huh, Kelly? I just wanted to give God the glory for the things He has done!

Weeping may last through the night, but Joy comes in the morning! Psalms 30:5