Abigail

Our littlest girl is now 2 weeks old! I'm trying to savor every moment because they feel like they are flying by so quickly. Abigail is still an amazingly easy, wonderful baby. She sleeps 90% of the time and when awake seems to be happy. She's growing like a weed- and now weighs 9lbs! She's also grown an inch and a half and is 21 1/2 inches long! She continues to have streams of visitors, with my Aunt Jeanie flying in for a visit last weekend, and my Dad in town this weekend. Its been so fun to spend time with family! Saturday we even drove down to Columbia, SC to introduce Abigail to my Grandma Bowers. She has been a busy little girl. Since Abigail is so happy & content, life with her has not been too eventful so far (now her big sis is another story...!!). The only thing worth mentioning (and this is kinda gross- sorry!) is that she has now 3 times covered me in poop reaching all the way to my shoulder! I know that is hard to imagine how, but she can explode! Like I said, gross, but true! Even with that said, I love my little Abi-girl!!

My Boy

I'm convinced that words cannot express how deeply I love this boy. I'm in awe at Gods amazing design of marriage, and how even when life gets more challenging (like through adding babies) you can by his grace fall even more in love with each other. This is whats happened these past two weeks. As we have started the journey of having two kids, an energetic toddler and a brand newborn, which means a lot of sleepless nights, much adjustment, less time to relax and rest, a postpartum body (for me), I have only fallen more in love with Joe.

God has once again opened my eyes to the gift that Joe is to me. He has joyfully laid down his own interests and desires (which is mostly simply to sleep at this point :), to serve me, Alathea & Abigail. Starting from the way he tenderly and compassionately held my hand during labor, the way he prayed for me and encouraged my soul when I was fearful of Abigail's health just before delivery, the exuberant joy on his face when he saw little Abigail for the first time- all these things make me love him so much. But that is just the start- during the days at the hospital my after birth contractions were so painful, other than feeding Abigail, he took on all other opportunities to care for her so that I could recover. Since we have returned home, he has had to work every day with February being his busiest month of the year. On top of working every day and still fighting a bad cough, he comes home full of joy & excitement to be with his girls. Yesterday, for example, he came home and immediately sat on the couch and read the girls stories, then picked up the house and vaccumed, then proceeded to heat up dinner, fed Alathea on his lap during dinner, did the dishes, gave Alathea a bath, played some more with her after her bath and once Alathea was in bed spent the rest of the evening with me & Abigail. You would have never known how little sleep he had been getting, or how much work he had waiting for him at the office the next day, or how he hadn't taken a moment just for himself in days. He is one godly, generous, loving, joy-filled, selfless man! And I am blessed beyond belief to be his wife! I love you, baby!

One Week Old

Abigail is one week old today! What a blessed week it has been. I have so enjoyed having TWO little girls, and it has been so fun to be at home with both of them. I'm also enjoying this "babymoon" as I call it, where I am not back to the daily tasks of cooking and cleaning and caring for two on my own. We have been blessed abundantly with family and friends who have served us, and allowed us to truly enjoy this sweet newborn season. Abigail is doing wonderfully. She is a happy, content baby. A great eater and sleeper. And she seems to only stay awake if Joe or Alathea are talking to her. What a sweetie! 

Happy Birthday, Alathea Joy!

Where did the time go?

Alathea turned TWO on Feb 10th!! Unbelievable! What a precious little girl that we are SO blessed with and love more every day! And she is one amazing big sister too :)

Abigail Kathleen Lechner...

Yes, she indeed does have a name! For months now we have prayed that the Lord would make this little girls name clear to us... and we "thought" we knew what she would be called. But about a week ago Joe began feeling very strongly about the name Abigail, which means "a fathers joy". Because it was such a shift from our original thoughts, we wanted to really be certain that is was indeed her name. There is more to the story, but that is it in a nutshell. So it took us until 9am this morning- and now there is not a doubt in our minds! You can still call her "baby A"- but now her official name is Abigail Kathleen. We call her "Abby-girl" :). Kathleen is my Mom's full name- and it is such a joy and honor to be able to name this little girly after her. 

Anyways...praise God we are home with a beautiful, healthy little girl. So far she has been so wonderful- a happy, peaceful baby. She's eating and sleeping great. We enjoyed the special "bonding" time with just her in the hospital. I am recovering pretty well, but feel pretty fatigued and "beat up" from labor, delivery and the after birth contractions that come with nursing (which have been WAY more painful this time!). But overall, I am far better than I would have expected. In case you haven't heard about her delivery- it took me from 8am-1:30pm to get to 2 1/2 cm- at which point they ordered my epidural. After the epidural, my blood pressure dropped rapidly, they put me on oxygen and were concerned about Abigail's heart rate- which was fluctuating from the 50's to 200's- they thought the cord may be wrapped around her neck. And the epidural was so strong that I couldn't move the bottom half of my body, which I really didn't like. I was tearing up at one point because I was so scared for the baby. I prayed and prayed that she would be OK.  I had to lay on my side to help the blood pressure stabilize, and they decided to turn me to my other side, at which point the nurse noticed Abigail's head coming out! This was at 3:40pm. So at 3:43pm Abigail was born! No doctor- just the nurses! I only barely pushed once. It turns out nothing was "wrong" with her or I, other than I went from 2-10cm in just over an hour and her head was starting to come out, but no one knew! Crazy. But praise the Lord we are both well!!

Alathea is still loving on baby Abigail. I can tell its a bit hard for her- so keep praying. Tomorrow is her birthday!! She'll be two! It will be wonderful to focus on her for the day.

Joe continues to amaze me as he is one AMAZING husband- he serves me & loves me all day & night!!! I love you, baby!

Here she is...

She's Here!

Our beautiful baby girl #2 has arrived! She was born at 3:43pm and praise the Lord she is halthy & adoralble! We arrived at the hospital and they immediately broke my water and started the induction by8:00am. It was pretty slow going a first - by 1:00 I was only 2cm - at 1:30 I got an epidural. I was checked again at 3:30 and the babies head was already half way outand I didn' even know it!!! So in the end I ony pushed like3 times - if you could even call it pushing. She was born healthy and in one piece at 3:43 - 7lbs15oz; 20inches long.

Alathea visited along with Joe's family and Steve and Lizzy. Alathea did great and totally loved her!! She even gave little sister her bunny a few times!! What a blessing!

Ifyou'd like to visit we are inroom 8905 at CMC Main - you can call 704-355-6760 first. Reba is coming in the morning and hopefully can post some pictures once she gets home .Love you all!!

She's Here!

Hi, this is Alathea here- I wanted to tell you all that I have a new baby sister!!! Mama and Dada haven't decided on a name yet, but I get to meet her today...finally! According to my Daddy, my sister was born at 3:43 this afternoon and she weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. My Mama is doing well, and Little Sister is healthy. I'm so glad. And while everyone else has been in the hospital, here's what I've been doing-

Coloring in my new Winnie the Pooh coloring book

I went to Chick Fil-A for lunch with Kathryn, CJ, and Avery...we had a lot of fun playing, as you can see!

After lunch I hopped in Kathryn's stroller basket...

...from my point of view, who needs a double stroller?

I think I might get to learn how to work Mama's camera tomorrow, so I'll post some pictures of my new little Sis then...

Here we go...

Joe & I are heading to CMC Main at 7am to be induced! Please keep us in your prayers...healthy baby girl, safe & smooth delivery, Joe's health (he's been sick all week), Alathea's transition, and a quick recovery!! Reba will be upadating the blog as soon as anything is worth updating!!! Hopefully you'll hear from us soon!

Take two...

February 3rd has now come and almost gone and no little Lechner lady has made an appearance. It seems strangely familiar to EXACTLY two years ago, on Super Bowl Sunday, our sweet Lechner lady named Alathea didn't appear either. That was her official due date as well!! (Super Bowl Sunday was Feb 5th in 2006). We also made plans to induce Alathea 5 days later- on Friday, Feb 10th. Its almost exactly the same if we go through with the induction of this little girl- 4 days later, on Thursday, Feb 7th. This sure feels familiar! I can only pray that this little girl is as easy of a baby as Alathea was, and that my recovery goes as smoothly (maybe labor & delivery could be different though- Alathea's was hard!). I'm trying to keep my expectations low while still being really excited...

I have the exact same picture of me holding a sign on Alathea's due date two years ago. Blogger isn't letting me upload it for some reason, but hopefully I will be able to soon. You can compare baby bellies too :)

An Update

My Handsome man giving me & the baby some love :)


I went to the DR yesterday morning and have made some progress. According to this DR (who is not my main doctor), I am still 1cm and now 50% effaced. The baby has dropped some. For most women I am still slow going, but for me any progress is progress :). My due date is Sunday the 3rd (2 days from now). My DR is going to be out of town for a week starting on Wednesday. She offered having me induced before she left, but Joe & I thought that was too soon. We did feel peace about scheduling one for Thursday, Feb 7th. The main reason for this is so that my aunt will be able to come in town and help for a few days. If we wait much longer than this, she will not be able to come. I have another appointment with my doctor on Monday morning and will have a better idea then if we will go ahead with the induction or not. Please pray for wisdom! I'm getting excited to meet this little sweetie face to face! Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!

Me & "My Girls"

In case you haven't noticed the baby ticker, we are just 4 days away from baby A's (each of the names we are deciding between start with A) due date- super bowl Sunday. Unbelievable! We are getting really excited, yet it still seems surreal. Somethings going on in my body because I have been REALLY emotional lately! I've been crying over everything! I've been having contractions and am dizzy at times, but won't know if I've made any progress until tomorrow morning at my OB appt. For now I am trying to keep my heart at peace as I finish up last minute projects around the house. Alathea has been a joy to spend time with, but at times a real challenge (especially with my heightened emotions) with the constant training & discipline she requires. I'm praying it will bear good fruit, as it takes everything in me to be faithful to do so. I am really praying for much grace in this area once I have a newborn added to the mix.

Reba was kind enough to take some sweet pictures of Alathea & I today. She really is a sweetie- and I believe at least for the most part, she'll be a great big sister :) I think its funny seeing how it looks when Alathea is sitting on my belly. Quite the seat she's got! As far as the baby front, we'll keep you posted!

Making Progress

If only I could get my pictures to upload so you could see my basketball sized belly! For some reason I am having trouble uploading them, but I will keep trying...

We are making much progress around here. First of all I am officially 1cm!! Wow! That is huge for me. With Alathea I was one week late when I was induced and even at that point I had made no progress. I am still very aware that 1cm is not much, and I am not expecting our sweet girl to arrive early at all. I am doing pretty well physically still- what a gift from God! I've noticed myself being much more emotional the past few days, which is a sign to me that I am fatiqued and a bit anxious. I can still feel like there is a lot to do before baby arrives, and at the same time ALL I want to do is savor each moment with Alathea, as I know my time alone with her will decrease once little girl #2 arrives. This makes it hard to actually get done what it is that I need to attend to :) In the end I'm sure I will not regret the time I spend with Alathea!

We are making progress on baby prep though- I now have her own closet set up (as she doesn't have an official room, just a closet for her stuff :), and her clothes washed and put away. I was INCREDIBLY blessed last week with one of my dearest friends throwing me a surprise baby shower. It meant the world to me, was super fun and it blessed us in the "baby needs" department tremendously. It also helped the reality of this girly coming soon sink in.

Alathea has been so sweet each day "kissing" my tummy, rubbing it and "singing" to baby sister. I know she doesn't completely have the concept grasped as last week at my DR's appointment, she convinced my OB to put the doppler up to her tummy, which only further convinced Alathea that she has a baby in her tummy too! It was really cute :)

Please keep our little family in your prayers- for a healthy baby girl and smooth delivery, for a smooth and peaceful transition for Alathea, for grace for Joe as he has much on his plate as far as preaching and planning in the midst of having a new baby come any day, and for me to trust the Lord with the transition. Also, that I would trust the Lord to provide the help I need once the baby is here- Joe will only be able to take one day max off of work after the hospital, and my Aunt Jeanie, who is planning on coming to help for 5 days once we get home from the hospital, only is available to come up until Feb 13th- which means that if the baby is late, she may not be able to help. The Lord will provide! You can also pray for wisdom on baby's name- we are almost certain on one, but are not 100% there yet.

Only 10 days until d-day! Wow!!

SNOW!!!

Yipee!! It snowed! This is quite a novelty since living in Charlotte. When I woke up to the beauty of the winter wonderland that snow brings, I couldn't stop staring out the window to soak it all up. The snow was unfortunately accompanied by rain as soon as Alathea woke up, but we still managed to get 30 minutes of play time in before she was cold! She loved it until then- she kept saying in her excited voice "snow! snow!".
And for those of you who know how much I dislike cold weather & winter- it is still true- but I have always loved snow!

Daddy love

Just a quick post to let you know that we are still alive :) Alathea & I (along with Lizzy Honea) made a 3 day trip up to MD this weekend to surprise my sister who was receiving a big award. I'll post more on that hopefully tomorrow. We've been keeping busy getting things in order for baby girl- whose due date is 19 DAYS AWAY!!! So incredible! We still have no baby clothes or items out at all...guess we've got a lot left to do :) I'm trying to savor every moment with my big girl right now- we've been spending lots of momma-Alathea time together!

Well, enjoy these sweet pictures of Alathea and her favorite person in the world- her Daddy!!

Julie & Ellen visit!

Aunt Ju-Ju is HERE!!!! Alathea could hardly contain herself!!! She did some sort of screaming, jumping, hysterical victory dance around our family room for probably 15 minute after Julie arrived on Friday!! I know now to have the video camera out and ready because it was so funny!! We were all laughing hysterically!


Here is a picture of Julie and one of her very best friends Ellen. They came in town with about 10 other MD folks to go to the MD vs UNCC basketball game on Saturday. Joe & I both were able to go as well. It was so fun to see BOTH of my colleges play against each other (I was in MD 2 years and UNCC 2 years). I couldn't decide who to cheer for, so I thought I'd go back to my roots and wear red for the Terps (and for fun since Joe was cheering for Charlotte. Maryland won by the way :).

The weekend went quick and Julie & Ellen were quite busy visiting friends, but we were grateful for the time we did get with them! Its always so fun to be with them!! I thought these pictures below of Alathea & Julie were so funny! Only Julie can get Alathea to make faces like that! Alathea adores Julie and will do anything she does...








We explained to Alathea that Julie & Ellen had to go bye-bye. When they left this afternoon Alathea burst into tears and banged on the glass door. I opened it so she could wave good-bye and she sprinted to the car, hopped in and waved good-bye to me!! After a few minutes I finally got her to stay with me :) What a gift Aunt Ju-Ju is to us!

9 Months

28 days?? That is what my little "baby ticker" says- WOW! Its so hard to believe. I remember when pregnant with Alathea and due on Feb 5th that the holidays make time fly during month 7 & 8 and before you know it the 3rd trimester is almost over before you realized it began. The blessing is that I in no way have the struggle "waiting" for month 9 to pass by and baby girl to arrive. Honestly I would be happy if she waited until at least her due date. I still feel great- what a gift, huh? Its a bit more cumbersome to move sometimes, but I am still sleeping well at night. I remember being more uncomfortable with Alathea than I am now. I go back & forth now with having incredible amounts of energy that keep me up organizing under sinks and closets and scrapbooking until 2am, to feeling utterly exhausted before lunch time! I am starting to really get excited about this baby- it is starting to feel more "real". We just got an incredible deal on an amazing bassinet for baby to sleep in. It was unplanned and God kind of dropped it in our laps, but its a HUGE blessing! Now she has an "official" place to sleep. And its one of the only things that is just for her (not a hand me down :). Hopefully we'll get the other baby stuff we have down from the attic soon. Every little baby thing like that helps me get ready! Oh- and Joe and the rest of my family all pitched in a surprised me with a glider for Christmas!! What a HUGE blessing! Its something I've always wanted, but they are so expensive and we have so little space in our tiny house, I kinda let it go. But after spending 18 months either nursing Alathea on the couch in our family room or on the floor next to her crib, I am so excited to feed the baby in comfort this time around :).
I am still tempted on and off being anxious and fearful about being able to sufficiantly love and care for an infant and a toddler. I an especially tempted to fear not being able to give Alathea the time & attention I want to and have been able to- as well as wanting to be able to faithfully train and discipline her. It seems like a daunting task if I will be up most of the night with baby and then Alathea will be ready to go bright and early in the morning. I'd love any advice from you experienced Moms who make it look so easy!! Pray that the next few weeks I will be able to cast these cares on the Lord and fill my mind with truth before the battle begins! Also please pray obviously for a healthy baby and smooth delivery, as well as for Alathea's little heart and her own transition during this time.