Christmas 2009

Derek and I left Troy on December 20th and returned on the 31st, we had a great time traveling around the state as a family of three and Luke was as sweet as he could be the entire time. 

We started our two week journey in Tuscaloosa. My grandmother had flown in from Illinois to spend the weekend before Christmas in Troy with us and then we drove her to my Dad's house the Monday before.  We spent 4 days in Tuscaloosa hanging out with my dad, stepmom and grandmother.  Luke experienced his first round of presents and pretty much slept through the whole process even though the majority of gifts under the tree were for him.  He got an aquarium to put on his crib, an ornament, a glow worm, and money to start him a savings account among other things.  We celebrated Christmas, my birthday, and my grandmother's birthday on the 23rd since we were headed to Crossville on Christmas Eve. Dad and Kris got Grandma and me a cake from Publix.  Despite being delicious the Publix bakery misheard my stepmom when she ordered it:

That's right folks, "Happy Birthday Barbara (my grandmother) and LeFlie (that'd be me)."  We had a great time trying to decide what the baker was thinking while decorating the cake.  Maybe she thought we were frenchies.  Anyway, the cake really was delicious and will definitely go down in history as the most memorable cake I've ever had.  And needless to say, you should always inspect your cake before leaving the bakery. 

Our next stop was Crossville; we arrived on Christmas Eve and opened more gifts.  We started the gift opening process with Papa reading Luke the Christmas story.  This was such a special moment, even though Luke isn't old enough to understand the true meaning of Christmas, I look forward to teaching him.  On to gifts...pretty much same story, most of the gifts were for Luke and he slept the entire time.  He got a golf club, lullaby seahorse, mobile for his crib (yes, his crib is pretty pimp now), and some more toys and books.  And the highlight of the night was a visit from, yep, you guessed it, Santa:

We spent a few more days in Crossville with Derek's family and then headed to Gardendale to see several friends.  The next few days included hang out time with the Smith's, Haubers', Hughes', Wingo's, Rice's, Travis' and Jordan's.  It was so great to spend a few days catching up with such special friends.  We really are blessed to have so many wonderful friends, and that's just to name a few.  We headed home on the 31st and man was it good to be home.  We had such a great time spending the holidays with family and friends but traveling with a 2 month old did me in.  It was nice to be home and get back to some kind of normalcy.

I also wanted to include this story since it was so special to us:
We ate breakfast on the 22nd with our good friends the Wilson's who are expecting baby number three in May (they currently have 2 boys).  They informed us that they had pictures from their 20 week ultrasound which told the sex of the new baby.   They had not yet looked at them becuase they wanted it to be a Christmas suprise.  They asked us to open the pictures and pick out a blue or pink outfit for them to unwrap on Christmas day.  We were honored and so we opened the pictures and then headed off to the mall to get them a BLUE outfit.  They will be having baby boy number 3!  We couldn't be any more excited for them. 

2009 SEC Champs!

I was in ATL in 1999, the last time Bama won the SEC Championship, and I don't remember it being quite as exciting. Probably because the 9 years previous included a national championship win and the 9 years previous to this one were, well, rocky. Luke stayed with Grana at the hotel while we went to the game. I promise he is Bama's good luck charm. He has brought the tide nothing but good luck since he was born. I can't wait until he is old enough to go to the games with us, okay maybe I can, I'm not ready for him to grow up!

Deron, Daryl, Haley, Me, Derek

Roll Tide Luke!!!

Dancing Baby

I love when babies do this...especially mine ;)

Hey Auburn....

Derek and I had the chance to go to the Auburn game last minute and after much deliberation I decided to go and leave Luke for the first time. He got to stay home with Grana, Papa, Nana and Uncle Deron which was probably much cooler than his Momma who is always kissing all over him. We had so much fun! In the first quarter I was second guessing my decision to come, however, we ended up pulling out the win and it made it all worth it. I've always said I had no desire to go to Auburn for a game because the joy of winning doesn't out weigh the horrible feeling of losing there. Luckily, I didn't have to experience that!

While I had so much fun and it was good to get away for a day, I missed the heck out of my little baby. I was constantly looking at his pictures on my phone. While we were gone Grana took such good care of him and he of course was an angel baby! I'm pretty sure he didn't even notice I was gone!

1 Month

Today Luke is one month old. He is growing too fast! He has started to focus on things and make small responses. For instance, if you stick your tongue out at him, he will try to stick his tongue out at you. I so badly wish I could know what is going through his little brain. He has been sleeping really well at night and last night went 5 hours before waking up to eat. He is eating 3-4 ounces 7 times a day. He got a new dog rug this week and he absolutely loves it. We put it on the floor and he will just lay there on it for hours and look around and then fall asleep. I love the faces he makes when he is waking up. He will stretch his back and wrinkle up his forehead and looks like an old man. It is the cutest thing.

Jessica came to see us this week and helped us get our bonus room set up. Up until this weekend it has just been a huge pile of junk so we are very grateful for her and the motivation she brought with her. We already miss her!

Derek's family is in town for Thanksgiving and we are enjoying them all very much. Right now Luke is watching 'Dancing with the stars' with his 83 year old Nana! I guess that is all for now. I hope I don't ever forget these precious moments. Praise the Lord for such a sweet baby!

Settling in...

Luke in his swing asleep...I'm telling you, he loves it!

The Irons decked out in Bama gear for the LSU game...Roll Tide!!

Luke and I (2 weeks old)

These are some pictures from his first 3 weeks at home. We are finally getting some sort of routine. We eat at the same time each day and have started to only need one night feeding. Momma is very excited about sleeping 4 hours at a time. When we brought Luke home from the hospital he was Jaundice and we had to feed him every 2 hours for the first week and then he didn't weigh enough at his 2 week appointment so we had to up his feedings and on week 4 we are feeding every 3 hours and letting him sleep as long as he will at night. So far that has been 4 hours. It is amazing to me how stinkin cute he is at 4 o'clock in the morning. I just want to kiss his cheeks all of the time! This is the first week I am at home by myself with him. My mom was here for 2 weeks and then Grana (Derek's mom) came for a week. It was so wonderful to have so much help for the first three weeks. My house is spotless and I have lots of food in the freezer.

Thanks Unyun and Grana!

Dear Aunt Angie...

Aunt Angie wasn't able to come to Alabama for Luke's birth so we made her this video.

The Wednesday night supper club (minus kids)

Derek and I are so fortunate to have made such wonderful friends in Troy. We love them very much and enjoy every time we get to hang out with them.

Thanks Nelson's and Jones' for coming to see us! Can't wait until Luke is old enough so that we can get back into the normal Wednesday night routine!

Welcome Luke!

Luke Michael Irons
8 lbs 11 0z 20.5 in.
October 24, 2009 2:03 pm

Our little man decided to arrive on October 24th and I will never be the same. I was scheduled to induce on October 28th but Friday, October 23rd I started having contractions around 7 pm. Derek was working the CHHS football game and my best friend's dad, Mr. George, was at our house staying the night. About an hour into having contractions, and not knowing what they were, I mentioned to him that I thought I could be having contractions. After timing them for a few hours and a phone call to the on-call doctor, Derek and I decided to ride up to Montgomery just to get it checked out. We arrived at the hospital at 11 pm and they informed us that I was having active labor and he would arrive within a few hours. 14 hours later including an hour of pushing, Luke Michael arrived at 2:03 pm and I have not been able to stop praising our sweet heavenly Father for entrusting this precious angel to us. He is so much more than I could have ever imagined him being. There really are no words to describe the feeling of looking at this little guy who is half me and half my wonderful husband and knowing that God answered every request of perfection in this child!

Ensuring us that he is a true Bama baby, he arrived 23 minutes before Alabama and Tennessee kicked off and got us the win. His birthday was also special in that it was my best friend Jessica's birthday. What a special person for our little Luke to share a birthday with!

How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me? Psalm 116:12

Our first family photo compliments of Aunt Haley and her awesome photography skills:

Long time, no blog

I really wanted this to be a place that I could journal about the 9 month process or pregnancy. Well, I have failed miserably. I am going to try and catch up on all of the happenings that have occurred since my last post. I am finding the time as I sit at home for the 4th day sick with the stomach bug.

So our house in Tuscaloosa rented out and we are in our new rental house in Troy. Beds are made, boxes are empty and pictures are hung. It really feels like home! Once I get the nursery done I will take pictures of the house and post them. Since my last post we have had 3 baby showers and have been so blessed to receive just about everything we could need. Not that I really know what all we need but based on the advice of my mommy friends I think we are ready for the little man's arrival. And it is a good thing because it is a month away. I can't believe it is so close. I go to the doctor tomorrow and they will start checking for dilation.

The month of August was mainly moving and unpacking. We took a beach trip with our good friends the Nelson's and we were able to attend the Alabama vs. Virginia Tech game in Atlanta for labor day (I guess that was technically September). Anywho, the next week my mom, sister, nephew and niece came into town which was a blast. The next weekend Derek's mom and brother's came to Troy and then last weekend we went to Tuscaloosa for the Arkansas game. I was unable to go so Derek went with his friend John Rushing and got to sit in the sky box. I came home from Tuscaloosa with the stomach bug and have missed this entire week of work. Yesterday morning I thought I was feeling better so I woke up and got ready for work didn't make it before getting sick again. A huge blessing of our house renting is that I will get to stay home with Luke and so next week is my last week of work. I feel awful about missing so much time right before my last day but I guess there isn't much I could do about it. At this point I am just trying to keep food/water down for a 48 hour period so I don't have to go see my doctor in Montgomery.

Tonight our Sunday school class is having a diaper dinner for us. I feel much better today and I am hoping I can attend tonight.

I guess that is all for now. I will try and do a better job of keeping everyone up to-date during these last few weeks!

Praises to Him!

I feel like so much has happened since my last post….

Last time I blogged (about our Tuscaloosa house) was the day we found out we had a Mercedes renter. Praise the Lord! 11 months after we put our house on the market we got the good news that a lady from Germany is coming to work for Mercedes for 3 years and wanted to rent our house for 3 years. This really was best case scenario and we give all of the glory to Jehovah-Jireh.

We are in the process of moving from our apartment in Troy to a rental house. I am totally pumped about getting the heck out of that college apartment. It has definitely been a frustrating move but despite my type A personality, I have been surprisingly calm. For those of you who don’t know, we have been living in a furnished college apartment (basically a nice dorm) and most of our stuff has been in storage for the past year. Some of our good friends in Troy bought a house and flipped it and are renting it to us. We moved everything from storage to the house on June 29th and a few days later the hot water heater broke in the middle of the night and pretty much flooded three of the rooms. None of our stuff was damaged but it set our official moving date back about a month. Praise the Lord that we didn’t have to be out of the “dorm room” until this Friday. Derek has been wonderful in organizing and laboring over all of our stuff to get us from the apartment to the house. Fingers crossed we will stay there tomorrow night.

We finally decided on a name, Luke Michael Irons. We will name all of our children first name biblical and middle name family. It just so happens for us the family name is also biblical. We had another ultrasound last week and he is growing like a weed. He was measuring 6 days ahead of schedule and a direct quote from the nurse who did our ultrasound, “he’s got a big ol’ head!” Not what momma wants to hear! His head measured in the 98th percentile so delivery day should be loads of fun. Derek claims that he has to have a big ol’ head to store his big ol’ brain…thanks for trying babe!

I can’t believe we only have 3 months left before he arrives. It seems like I just found out I was pregnant. I imagine the bigger I get I will not feel the same about the passing of time. Thanks to everyone for the many, many prayers on our behalf concerning the house and little man Luke. My words fail me to express my gratefulness to you for your diligence on our behalf.

waters gone by

"You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by." Job 11:16

I stumbled upon this verse a few days ago and it really resonated with me regarding our house. Having a second house payment clearly is a financial burden and there are many days that I feel like it will never end. Throughout these 11 months we have been able to tithe, pay our bills, have food on the table (praise Jesus!) but I am quick to go to a very dark place when I think about this burden hanging over our heads. I was reminded through this scripture that this too shall pass and one day we will look back and forget the frustrations it has brought us. When we suffer troubles, we, like Job, must trust God. He will provide the strenth to go on serving him.

My prayer is that God would continue to teach me and grow my faith throughout this process...

use me, break me, waste me on You, Lord.

It's a boy!!!

Shhhh. Don't tell Derek I put our son's boy parts on the internet. He wouldn't let me put this picture on the facebook. I didn't ask him about my blog. Also, remind me to take this down before he gets to an age where he understands his mom put his prives on the internet.

We are so excited it's a boy. We obviously would have been grateful boy or girl but definitely would have picked a boy if we could have. It is more of an order thing for us than anything else. Derek is almost giddy. I don't think I realized just how badly he wanted a boy until we found out. He has been so careful not to say a preference but he was on cloud 9 Monday after we found out.

We have the names narrowed down to about 4 so hopefully we will have a name picked out soon. One decision is for certain, all of our children's middle names will be family.

The ultrasound went well. The nurse was showing us all of the body parts and when she got to this view she started showing us his little legs and feet and I looked at her and said, "It's a boy, isn't it?" She just laughed and said, "yes it is, I was trying to get a better shot before I told you." My heart was racing...that moment determined the identity of our family. Would we be going to dance recitals or baseball games? I never realized until that moment how much of our future was determined by that ultrasound. She was able to clear just about all of his anatomy except for his heart because he was being a little stubborn (not sure where he gets this) and wouldn't let her get a clear shot of his front. She said she didn't see anything wrong but that she couldn't clear it without a better shot. Lucky for us because we get to get another ultrasound when I go in for my next appointment July 15th.

I am so in love. I can't believe how much I can love this tiny little man who has done nothing but exist. I can't wait to hold him and kiss him. I am truly overwhelmed by the blessing of my son and have spent two sleepless nights thanking our heavenly father for the perfection he is knitting together in my womb. Oh how I pray that the Lord will raise up a mighty warrior for His glory.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 4

Children, a reward from HIM

Since I'm not a huge fan of talking on the phone or exercising while I have a bulging baby bump, I have decided to combine the two (thanks to the IPhone). I was on my daily walk at the Troy University track and decided to call my mom, who I knew was at my sister's house. I ended up spending about a half a mile talking to these two precious angels. Each time I hear their sweet voices it gets me even more excited about meeting baby Irons. Meet Jackson (3) and Julia (2), dear son and daughter to my sweet sister….

Jackson's first question was, "where is Uncle Derek?" Of course it was. I am chopped liver in comparison to my husband who will play any game imaginable with this child for hours on end. We discussed his baby cousin “in my belly” and he declared it a boy (which we will find out Monday). After about 10 minutes of discussing something he had seen on the television it was time to give the phone back to my mom and as he was hanging up he said, “thank you for my baby cousin in your belly.” That little boy has got to be the cutest thing ever. He and his sister just melt my heart. I wish I could get a lasso and pull Houston, Texas closer to Troy, Alabama.

our little orange

I am 15 weeks today and our weekly email update said the baby is the size of an orange.

I went back to the doctor on Monday. Derek and I have been in Mobile for baseball so I am just now getting around to updating everyone. My doctor's appointment went very well. Dr. Connor said everything looks really good. She has been monotoring my sugar levels since my sister had gestational diabetes but so far so good. I also got to hear the heart beat again. The nurse was practically chasing the baby around with the doplar wand. It was neat to know that the baby was moving around so much and that he/she made the nurse laugh. I will go back to the doctor on June 1st and at that time I will be a little over 18 weeks so she will set up my ultrasound for my 20th week. I can't wait! I am so ready to know what this baby is.

My nausea has gotten much better. I was beginning to think my first trimester was never going to end. But thankfully I am somewhat getting back to normal. I still don't have a normal appetite but most of the foods that don't make me sick are healthy ones (imagine that) so that has been quite an encouragement to eat healthy.

Thanks again for praying for baby Irons!

You knit me together in my mother's womb...

This verse (Psalm 139:13) has gone through my mind as Derek and I read about the growth of our baby. It is truly the most amazing thing to have life inside of you and to know that God ordained this soul for His purposes and timing.

Derek and I went to the doctor this morning and Dr. Connor said everything looks really good. I am 10 weeks and 3 days today so usually at this point it is just to check vital signs and make sure everything else looks good. She said she usually doesn't attempt to hear a heart beat until 12 weeks but since my next appointment won't be until 14 weeks if I wanted she would try today. I of course wanted to try so after about 5 minutes of moving the doplar around she found our little rascal and his/her heart was just a thumpin'. Dr. Connor also said that he/she was moving around a lot and she could tell based on the heart beat fading in and out. She seemed very pleased with how fast the heart was beating and that he/she was active.

Our next appointment is May 4th which will put me a little over 14 weeks. I'm not sure what all will go on at that appointment but she did say going forward we will hear the heart beat at every visit. Thanks for the prayers for our little one!!

The waiting room, a land where time seemingly stands still

Derek and I got this email from our realtor this morning:

"Well....I'm kinda dumbstruck about ya'lls home! It has only shown a few times in the last two weeks. If you are really serious about what you told me last time we talked "do whatever to get it sold" then think about listing it at the lowest you possibly will go and let's see what happens. "

Well, the house is already at the "lowest we can possibly go" so this is very discouraging news for us. It's kind of funny the timing because Derek and I just had the conversation last night that we both have a peace that it will sell before we need to make living plans in July. Funny how Satan knows the exact time to swoop in and steal every bit of peace we have prayed for over the past 7 months.

I called Derek after receiving the email and he was still at home because he has a dentist appointment this morning. When he recieved the email he was reading in Matthew 6 and right when he finished the email he looked down at Matthew 6:25, "DO NOT WORRY." I love how the Lord continually encourages me through my husband. I was reminded that it does not matter how much Satan tries to discourage us through emails, phone calls, the failing economy, the constant question, "have ya'll had any luck selling your house?", the Lord knows the exact date our house will sell and no matter how much we worry, it will not change that date. Thank you Lord for sanctification and for teaching us long suffering while we wait and pray and wait and pray and wait....

Working for the weekend

I just thought I would add my first post. I really started this blog so that I could have a place to archive all of my favorite blogs. Maybe one day when we have kids I will be a better blogger.