Picture Update

Staying out of the sun at the beach

All Smiles!

Mommy and Me

Can you say "Cow-girl"?

Precious

Showing off her new cloth diaper

A Very VERY Late Update!!

As they say, "Having a baby changes everything"…and yes, this is quite true!  Fortunately for me, I've found all the changes to be for the better!! :-)  However, some of those changes explain the lack of update…and my somewhat procrastinating and perfectionist personality explains the rest!

Elisabeth was born at 1:35 am on Thursday, March 15th. The story of her birth is quite amusing, however it will keep it short and sweet!  I went into labor at 7:00 pm on Wednesday while sitting in church.  Just two hours before, Daniel and I had taken a 30 minute bike ride up a long hill on our tandem bike.  For me, nothing went as expected!  Labor progressed a lot faster than we realized, and at 12:45 am that night, we were rushing (thats an understatement) to the Birth Center that was supposed to be 45 minutes away.  We made it there (barely) and 10 minutes later our beautiful, healthy, baby girl was caught by her beaming father (who was quite relieved she was patient enough to not make her debut in the car!). :-)

These pictures were taken a few hours after she was born.

Daniel and I have loved the challenges and blessing that come with being parents!  God has blessed us with a precious little girl, and we take our responsibility to raise her up as a godly seed very seriously!  We take everything one day…sometimes moment…at a time, know every little struggle, trial, or hardship cannot last forever, but will eventually pass.  God has promised:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

Elisabeth 2 weeks old

Fast forward 2 months…

Elisabeth is growing so fast!!  The two comments everyone makes when they see her are, "Look at all that hair!" and "Wow, she is so alert and aware!".  She loves to look around, and is quite willing to give anyone looking her way a prize-winning smile that is sure to melt even the hardest of hearts! :-)

I'm determining to get better with my blogging!  In fact, I'm working on getting a schedule for me and Elisabeth, and I'm going to including picture taking and blogging in it!

Lastly, my sister, Jordan LeBlanc, is responsible for these beautiful pictures of Elisabeth!  She is currently in the middle of a 3 month stay in Japan and we are missing her (as well as her great photography skills) very much!!  Please pray for her, that God would be able to use her and grow her through this wonderful experience!

Best Friends

This weekend I was blessed with the task of watching my nephew, Jake.  I also am watching Princess for my parents.  Jake is 6 months old and Princess is 9 years old.  They get along great, as if they were old pals!  You know, I always knew having a baby and dog would be this much fun!!

Holiday Update

I’m so sorry it has been so long since my last post!  I have been very busy with the holidays, so much going on!  Here is a little update on all that has happened the last few months:

For Thanksgiving weekend we went up to Massachusetts.  We had Thanksgiving dinner at Daniel’s Uncle Tom’s house.  We had a nice time visiting with his family.  It was also exciting because three of us girls were pregnant; myself, my sister-in-law, and Dan’s cousin’s wife.  The rest of the weekend we spent with my family.

The few weeks before Christmas were filled with shopping and baking…and more baking!  I even cleaned out, baked and puréed four pumpkins that were on our stairs for fall decoration.  (They were supposed to rot, but since they didn’t I figured I should probably do something with them!)

The Friday before Christmas we had a lovely dinner of lamb at Daniel’s parents’ house.  We also were able to spend some time in God’s Word looking at the truths about the Christmas story.  The next morning we headed off early for my parents’ house. 

Christmas Eve we followed tradition and spent a few hours visiting with friends at Mrs. Fish’s house.  Dan and I really enjoyed our visit, and the conversation is always lively!  Mrs. Fish gave me some BEAUTIFUL sweaters and hats for Elisabeth!  I can’t wait to put her in them!!  Later that evening my Grampy and Grammy from Tennessee came for a visit.  We finished the evening with a merry round of gift giving and receiving.  Gifts always remind me of the greatest gift we can receive, salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.  It was to save our sinful souls from eternity in Hell that God sent His only son to earth as a tiny babe.  Thankfully he didn’t stay a baby, but became a man, without sin, and willingly died on the cross, and rose from the dead.  All this, and more, he did for ME!  And he offers this precious, priceless gift to all who will receive it.  As the Bible says in Revelation 22:17, “…whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”  It is a free gift that cannot be bought or earned, but must be received.

Christmas morning I prepared breakfast for the family before we all headed off to church for Sunday morning service.  Afterwards we had a scrumptious dinner with my family, friend Adriana and her son Wesley.  The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and enjoying each other’s company: what holidays are really about!

The following weekend, we prepared for another northward trek, this time to Vermont.  Although there were only a few inches of snow on the ground (which even diminished while we were there), we had a great time with the Richardson family!  The weekend consisted of snowmobiling, four-wheeling, ice skating, puzzles, long-talks, late nights, plenty of laughs, Penny Promise, yummy food, and great fellowship!

As of Sunday, January 1^st, I am 29 weeks pregnant.  I had an appointment Wednesday and everything is going perfectly normal!  Elisabeth is still moving and kicking up a storm as well as growing like a weed! She is about 2.5 lbs now.  My belly is really starting to show, in fact, I can’t really hide it anymore!

Psalm 139:13b-18

"Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

Ultrasound Pictures

Her face is blurry because of the movement of sucking her thumb.  It was so cute to see on the screen, the picture unfortunately didn't capture the moment well.

You can see her left foot clearly and her right foot is right behind and next to it (you can see the heel).

Baby Name

Since we know the baby is a girl, we were able to decide on a name (knowing the gender cuts the options in half!). We are no longer keeping it a secret! We have decided to name our baby girl Elisabeth Dawn Peragallo.  We have not agreed on a nickname yet, but we still have 4 months to decide!  On Sunday, November 20th, I was 23 weeks along.  Our due date is March 20th.