it's pretty hard typing with one hand so the blogging has been pushed aside for now. BUT i do wanna be able to look back and read things so i'm gonna try. and my sister better too :)

i have my "one month" post that i need to put up and it's almost time for the next one! wow!

we are really adjusting to having this little one in our family and i can hardly remember what it was like without her. it is so incredible to TRULY love someone unconditionally. she can never ever do anything that could make me love her any less...such an overwhelming feeling to know that thats how MY parents feel about me. what a gift parents get to experience. so so thankful.

willow and i took our first trip together this past weekend. my little jet setter has been to 6 states in the first 6 weeks of her life. she was soo good on the flight! people were pretty rude to me though when i first got on b/c i'm sure they thought "o great, a screaming baby" but towards the end they started commenting on how good and sweet she was. duh, its MY baby, lol.

she had her first shots the DAY we left. w and i had knots in our stomach and she loves her dr so she was showing off how she could flip over and do planks and was sooo happy so when it came time to do shots, we felt even worse. the first one she didn't cry and then all of a sudden she realized it hurt and poor little thing cried so hard. as soon as it was over, i grabbed her and cuddled her and w wrapped his arms around both of us and she calmed down pretty quick. the nurses said they didn't even hear her outside the door though. it breaks my heart to see TEARS though. agh!! i kept up with her tylenol the rest of the day and she didn't react at all. so blessed.

tummy time before shots

after shots :(

we had sooo much fun in ft myers while w had a blast dove hunting with his dad. special times for both of us even though we missed each other like crazy. it was so neat to see jonathan and tyler with willow. they were so good to her. and it was soooo nice to spend that time with my sister and brother in law. kristi even got up with willow so i could sleep!!! they're coming here in october and i am SOOOO excited!!!


my seester

sweet boys

hope everyone is happy and healthy
xo

Mommy must-haves...and have-nots

I researched as much as I could on what things were really NECESSARY and for me personally, this is what I've discovered.

Must haves...

-Medela breast pump. The electric one. I prefer to only do one at a time so the double isn't necessary but that's what I have. It was worth every penny. Trust me.

-Baby bathtub. This is scrazy but as I'm typing shes laying in her bathtub (no water) on her sleeping wedge and blanket. When I need to do laundry I just pick her up and take it with me. :)

-The sleeping wedge. No that's not the name of it but it keeps them on their back and from rolling over and is sort of a tiny ramp to help prevent gas, spit up, etc. It's so co forging knowing she's sleeping on this.

-Noise machine. It's so great and has a "womb" setting which whe loves. I got ours at babies r us.

-Boudreaux Barrier Spray. This was a life saver for this diaper rash. You can spray it every change and it keeps Anything from coming in conta t with skin.

-Pampers swaddles are great bc they have a line that turns green when she's wet. Also the Huggies Organics are good too ESP until their umbilical cord comes off...they dip down in the front.

-Baby swing and Boppy LOUNGER (not Boppy)

-socks, socks, socks, socks. And socks.

-nursing pads. I got the knees that stick and I love them.

-keep your house stocked with one handed foods. Grapes, kasha bars, etc. Also if your like me, I've not had an appetite and so m'lis nutrition shakes have been a lifesaver.

-tons of receiving blankets. The ones that are 36" or larger work best for swaddling. Swell for Target makes them

Have-Nots...(or can waits)

-Boppy. A pillow works just as well.

-I woukd wait on overstocking on wipes bc your baby may be sensitive to one. We think that's what bothered willow.

-hand help breast pump. I got one and it took 30 minutes to get what the medela will get in 30 seconds.

-this may be different if you bottle feed but I've not yet used one bib. Willow doesn't spit up so I am only using burp cloths for random things but glad I have them.


*side note...

This is a personal decision but after a very interesting conversation with my bff Emily, who is I believe a phsycology major, ive learned that letting your child watch TV before they're 2 increases their risk of ADD and several other things by 50% because their brains aren't designed for that yet. That's why baby toys are made the way they are. The colors, the high pitched sounds. Now I know many SMART children who have watched TV and kids movies since they could focus but personally, I wont be putting her in front of the baby Einstein DVDs I got at a garage sale. But I'll interact with her in different ways. Again, this is a personal decision and not right or wrong just what we've decided.

Welcome Willow Kate

Well I'm typing on the iPad and I don't know how to add pics but you've seen this little girl on Facebook :)

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since she was born and shes not even "due" for 8 more days!! You preggo girls have ALL my sympathy!!

Well she came early b/c after a routine checkup then a stop at a fetal ultrasound specialist, it was determined that there was an unsafe amount of amniotic fluid to keep her in any longer. So we scheduled the c-section for the next day.

We were soo excited and I was soo nervous all of a sudden but we had THE MOST incredible team of dr's and nurses worming wih us. The c-section itself was a breeze and we all kept each other laughing. In minutes, she was born and we heard the most beautiful sound...her CRY!! Dr Wooley had prepared us nit to hear her cry and for her to be taken to the NICU if there were any questions since she's a peemie but she was perfect!! She was born at 13:13 and weighed 6 pounds even and is a little 18.5 inches. W got to bring her out to see the family and I finally got to hold her in my arms in recovery. It was instant love. I got to feed her and she is a natural. God is so incredible in His plan and design in all things.

We had a great stay in the hospital. The recovery was a little more intense thatk expected but just part of it.

We went home 3 days later and have really adjusted well. W took off the week and is slowly working back to his schedule this week. Willow is such a good eater, every 2-3 hours and is the MOST content baby vie ever seen. She o ky cries when she's hungry. She is getting over a terrible diaper rash and I think vie cried mire than her. I wish so bad I coukd take it from her.

She had her 2 week "well baby" checkup yesterday and they were so pleased. We LOVE her pediatrician! She's back up to her birthweight but my poor little runt is in the 5-10% on her height, weight and head. Shes gonna be a tiny thing.

It's almost feeding time so I better run! Thanks for any and all prayers!
Xo

I C U

Little running joke we have about how the ICU really got it's name...hospital gowns and the way it's impossible to be modest wearing them. That kinda sums up the past few weeks in the Boren house. Let's see, 3 weekends ago I had been having steady contractions so I was just trying to relax and chill out. One of our therapists came to the house and gave me an awesome relaxation massage, w and I got pedicures...and during ghe pedicure I was sweating bullets and was squirming out of the chair I was contracting so bad. We decided to get a couple movies and chill out in bed that night. Well, it got to the point where I couldnt talk through them so we went ahead and called the nurse on call. She said to go ahead to Labor and Delivery and they would stop them. We didn't bring anything with us because we thigh it woukd take a couple hours max. I got all checked in and the MOST amazing nurses work at Baptist. They hooked me up and started monitering and I was definitely having "beautiful" spiky contractions as they called them. I got a drip and then they gave me the turbutaline shot. Wow, if you've ever had one, you know it feels like Speed. Not that I literally know but I'd imagine. It makes your heart race (120ish) and you get super shaky and its just weird. It helped for about 10 minutes so they gave me another one. That one didn't help. I started taking Procardia which helps to stop contractions also. My Dr was on call that weekend so he was in constant contact with the nurses. I was soo bummed when they said we had to stay the night but W was sooo good to me!! He laid with me and brushed my hair off my forehead all night. They gave me something to make me sleepy and it helped the pain sooo much and by the morning I was down to only 4 an hour so they let me go home. The Dr put me on strict bed rest with only bathroom privileges so Williams mom came and stayed with me while he was at work during the week. My parents were in Pennsylvania. On Thursday or Friday, my bf Jennifer came and brought me some yummy soup from BroadStreet and helped pass a couple hours. Soon after she left though, I had a dull ache in my back on the side. I changed positions but just coukdnt get comfortable. It started to get steadily worse so I asked W to call me when he could, no rush though. It seems like as soon as I sent that, it went into triple time and within the hour I wa sobbing in pain. I have never ever felt anything like it. He rushed home and we called the Dr. I tried to get up and could not put any weight on my left side and could not stop crying. I very rarely cry from pain so it was weird for me to not be able to control it. We thought that Willow may have her foot on a nerve or something but the nurse said it sounded like Labor so William got me to the car (not really sure how) and he drove 100 mph to the hospital, I didn't even care at that point if we got in a wreck. He went through red lights and everything, ha! I was in soooo much pain and my whole body was shaking by then. We got there and the security guard got me in a wheel chair and ran us up to L & D. When I got in my room they told me to go to the bathroom so they could test it and when I coukdnt even stand up from the wheelchair they realized how much pain I was in. I finally got to the bathroom and this is probably tmi but my urine was all blood. William hid it from me bc he was so freaked out but he told me later. I coukdnt lay down all the way in the bed and I was still shaking all over and the nurse said that the Dr on call thought it sounded like Kidney Stone so they brout in the drip with Phenergran and Demorol. I knew I woukd be knocked out so I got pretty excited. Withing about 30 minutes I was so much more comfortable. They kept fluids in me but I coukdnt drink bc it made me super nauseous. I kept getting up to try to pass it in the little strainer and then I saw all the blood. Yikes. We knew we'd be there for a while so we got settled in and I let my self doze off when I could. I woke up at some point super nauseous and got sick all over myself. Ugh. Ive never not been able to hold it before so I felt so bad but of course W was amazing and the nurse was so sweet. The next day at some point I got an ultrasound of the kidney but bc of Willow everything was all squished so they couldn't see the stone. Later I decided to try and eat but that didn't go so well but luckily this time k made it in the little kidney shaped bucket...how appropriate ;). I think we stayed again that night and I was still just passing the grainy stuff but no stone stone. I got moved to 3 different rooms and then on Monday morning I was sooooo ready to go home and my arm with the IV was feeling so weird so I got them to take it out. My Dr came in around 7 and said that if I continued fluids and procardia and bed rest I could go home. I was sosososo excited! My parents were finally back in town so my mom was at our house waiting for us so W coukd go k work. Have I mentioned how wonderful he was through all this?? I was still kinda sleepy for a couple days but felt so much better and by my Drs appt Thursday I was back to normal, just a bit swollen still from the fluids. Everything was great at the appt and Willow did all her practice breathing :). Friday I woke up in the night with the kidney pain again but took my pain medicine and by the next morning it was manageable.
Saturday some of my sweetest most lifelong church family had a baby shower for Willow. Since nobody knew Willliam, he was able to come also....he was in heaven, he has so much fun around all women, he's so nuts! :). It was at a BEAUTIFUL home and it was decorated soooooo pretty. I look back at the pictures and just dream that one day is can host something that beautiful. I can't even describe how good it felt to see all these ladies. These are the moms of my very best friends who I've known since 2nd grade. William was just so touched by everyone and after we opened her presents they all gathered around us and prayed over us and Willow Kates little life. I get chill bumps now just remembering it. It meant so much to William also that everyone is just so loving and accepting if our blessing. Willow got some precious things and it feels so good to know how loved she is already.
On Sunday it was soo good to be back in church. We had a great message about taming the tongue. We went on a lunch date and it was so nice to be OUT together and in the sunshine! We took a little nap and then W went to the office to get a lot of things done. I still have to tell y'all our big news but I'll do a separate post for that.
Yesterday my mom took me to Babies R Us and I got her pack and play with some gift cards we had gotten. So gad to have that. We had a lunch date at mcalisters and again it was just so nice to be out. We stopped by Target and the grocery store and I was having some pretty good contractions by then so I was ready to get home. W took me to the chiropractor bc my SI Joint stays out of place but other than that I rested the rest of the day. They got pretty bad thrihg the night and still going this morning but I'm not calling the Dr unless my water breaks. I reeaalllyyy wanna make it to the scheduled date!!!!!! I have a Drs appt Thursday so I'll let him know then ;)

I think that catches up all the baby news. She was 5 1/2 pounds last week and doing great. :)
I'll post later about our news! Hope everyones been doing great!
Xo

mission trip

we brought our middle schoolers on a mission trip to tampa fl last week
it was a great week with a great group of students and leaders
we stayed at USF in the dorms and had breakfast and dinner in their cafeteria
we divided into 2 groups to do the tasks the organization had for us
one went to FBC and helped with their summer fun week
the other went to various houses through an organization and did yard work
at the summer fun week 13 children prayed to receive Jesus!
at the yard work houses 1 lady prayed
a few nights we went to malls and 2 people prayed

i was with the yard work groups and we had a good time
lots of memories were made and am very proud of these students
they had good attitudes and truly seemed to enjoy helping other people




steven turned 30 on the trip and my creative friend emily



cut tombstones out of black construction paper and had all the students and leaders write messages on them and we
taped them up and down the hall so when steven woke up he'd see them! very cute and funny.
that night we gave him elastic waist jeans and other elderly items


the last day we went to busch gardens before heading home

Weekend

Kristi is on a mission trip but she WILL be posting ALL about her life when she returns. Otherwise, I am posting a "cute" video I've got stashed away for times like these ;)

This weekend was full of excitement. We've had a baby shower in Tupelo planned for us for a while now but I don't think either of us realized how far along I'd be. Since we were there on his dads B-day weekend, we went up a day early (Friday) and had a surprise bday dinner for his dad. We left at about 4 and on the way there, I started getting pretty uncomfortable. I was having a lot of new lower pack pain that wrapped around my lower abs so we got out and walked around about half way. The closer we got to Tupelo, the more it went from uncomfortable to pretty painful. We went straight to the restaurant and the pain got worse and worse and my belly would get so tight and when it got to the point that it was hard to talk, we went outside and called my mom. She said to call the DRs office just to let them know. The nurse on call called us right back and said to go ahead and get to the ER just to be monitored. We checked in and they were sooo sweet. It's hospital policy that they have to transfer me to the women's place by ambulance so I was glad when the nice men let me ride up front. I told them I reallly didn't want to ride where all the blood and guts have been. W followed us over there and by that time, I didn't fuss about riding in the wheelchair. They brought me to L&D and the nurse came and hooked me up to the heart rate monitor and contraction monitor. Her heart was as perfect as ever and they monitored my contractions for about 30 minutes before the Dr came in. He was SOOO kind and it was his last night of OB before retiring. He showed me the contractions on the paper and after the exam and no dilation that it was probably caused by the car ride and dehydration. He gave me some Benadryll to help me relax and encouraged me to come back anytime that I felt bad so we left and went to go find a hotel room. I guess there was a big baseball competiton so the first 3 hotels we checked were full. Finally we checked in at a Hilton and I could hardly walk up to the room. Dramatic, huh? Whatev, it hurt. I stayed in bed ALL day on Saturday to rest up for our shower that night and W was right beside me, except when I forced him to go have lunch with one of his bf's. At about 4, I felt pretty much back to normal so I started getting ready. The shower was at a dear family friends house and it was beautiful. They held it in the courtyard and it was just soso nice to meet all of these people I've heard about for so long. It was a couples shower and such a big turnout, I was surprised. It was amazing to hear and see how loved and respected my husband is, even though he was CRAZY growing up. Boy did I hear some stories!! Everyone was so welcoming of me and so happy for our family. I sat down a little bit but after about 3 1/2 hours I couldn't do it anymore and W knew we has pushed it so we said our thank you's and goodbyes and went back to rest. Sunday we didn't rush and at around 11 we went back to their house to pick up our presents and visit over coffee for a bit. Again, it was so good to finally know these special people. We had lunch and headed back. W had set up a little "bed" in the back so I could lay down but I was so antsy it didn't last too long :)

Since everything turned out well, we are kind of thankful that we had the little scare b/c we realize Willow Kate IS coming and may not wait until her due date so we kicked it into high gear when we got home. BIG things are happening with our business that I'll be able to talk about more later so we are kicking it into overdrive to get some things settled before she comes. I've been taking it a lot easier but it is SO HARD. Especially with your own business b/c it's completely up to you to get things done. I ordered an iPad today so that I can work a lot easier away from the office. Last night, my dad took me to Babies R Us to get some must haves for Willow's arrival. I have everything washed and ready so her room is all ready and everytime I walk by, I get the biggest smile on my face. I sit in her rocking chair and talk to her and I get so excited thinking about meeing her.

We had our checkup this morning and they did the testing on her with sonogram. There were 4 tests but the only one I remember is her breathing test. That perfectly formed little girl took big breaths and scored and 8 out of 8!!! She's 4 lbs 11 oz and healthy as can be with a full head of thick hair. I just love day dreamin about what color it will be and whose eyes and nose she will have. Dr. Wooley said he would go ahead and put down August 5th for the c-section but he'll be very surprised if she waits that long. I'm excited in a way but I thought that since she was scheduled, I'd get to skip "going into labor". Oh well, at least I can say I went though it! So we are packing our hospital bags and ready to go. I feel like my instincts are getting my body ready for something big. Just little things happening that are new and different so I'm guessing a couple weeks from now, we might see something happen. Who knows. I know God is in absolute control as He has been since before we even knew about her.

We start the weekly appointments now so we'll see how we progress. :)
xo

about my pregnancy :)

Your name? Kimberly

Fathers name? William

Are you still with him? forever and ever

Were you trying to get pregnant? definitely not

When you found out:

When did you find out? December 8th

Were did you find out? I was at my apartment and asked W to bring over a test. The black women at the pharmacy told him exactly which kind to get, lol.

How far along were you? by the time i saw the dr, i was 4 weeks i think

What was your reaction? devastated, scared, ashamed....tears were pouring out and i kept saying "nonononononononono. do u think it's real? nonononononononono"

Who was the first person you told? Jennifer, she's the one that told me I needed to take a test

How did you tell the father? he was right there when i saw the plus sign

What was his reaction? he held me so tight and was comforting me but he was already so excited, he saw beyond the present situation and already realized what a blessing she was

All about your pregnancy:

When is your due date? Originally August 15 but she's a c-section so probably the 4-5th.

Did you have any morning sickness? yes, really bad from about 4-12 weeks

What are your fears? her cord wrapping around her neck :(

What are you most happy about? EVERYTHING...that this is real and I get to meet her in a few weeks and be her mommy forever

Did you want a boy or girl? it didn't matter at all b/c i want both :)

What did the father want boy or girl? it didnt matter but he said he KNEW it was a girl as soon as he saw the positive

Do you know what your having? a girl :)

Do you have a name picked out? Willow Kate

How much weight have you gained? 14 pounds

Have you felt the baby move? alll the time, it's amazing!!

When you have the baby:

Are you keeping the baby? pretty sure ;) no really though, i can't imagine what those mommys go through that give their baby up, what a sacrifice!!

Do you plan on a natural or medicated birth? me-di-ca-ted

Are you scared about labor? nope :)

What do you think will be the worst part of labor? recovery

Have you taken any classes? nah, i'd rather not see all that.

Who will be in the delivery room? since it's c-section, only w can be there but i WISH so bad it was w, my mom and sister

Are you having the birth videotaped? it'll be asking a lot for w not to pass out at all so we won't push that :)

Do you think you will cry when you see the baby for the first time? uncontrollably.

What do you think the fathers reaction to the baby will be? same, hes so in love with her

How do you think family and friends will feel? happy :)