Auld Lang Syne

2008 has been a year of personal growth, great change, and immense blessing. The joys of this year have overwritten the sorrows. The challenges have intensified my faith, and its trials have taught me to rely on God instead of self. Here's to a great year that has taught me even more how glorious our great God is and how beautiful life with Him is.

A few favorite moments from 2008 (too many to name in their entirety)...

• Our first Sunday at Cambridge- Receiving the food pounding was humbling
• My trip to Atlanta for Promiss- I met so many wonderful people who are so dedicated to protecting the lives of the unborn
• My Spring trip with Bryan to Destin- Despite the fact that the weather turned to freezing temperatures and that we were wearing sweatshirts on the beach, we had a blast
• The morning my pregnancy test turned out positive- We were so excited that I took multiple tests just to make sure!
  
• My trip with Bryan to Indianapolis- I absolutely loved visiting friends, spending time with family, and traveling with Bryan to new places
• Spending a few days at the Camp for our 2 year anniversary
  
• Closing on our First Home-Such an answered prayer!
  
• Birth of our daughter Abigail- Too beautiful for words
• Our first Christmas with our baby girl

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! May 2009 be another year of blessings and discovery in the beauty of life and glory of God as we journey forth as a new family.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our happy family to yours!

Christmas in Our New Home

Finally, here are the requested photos of our new home finished and ready just in time for Abby's arrival and Christmas!

Foyer & entrance way between the master bedroom and the rest of the house

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen View #1

Kitchen View #2

The plate rack (Bryan built this) and the cabinet area several church members built for us

Master Bedroom- still have to put photos in the wall art

Master Bedroom view #2

Abby's Room

Guest Bedroom

Office & Music Room

Meditations on the Father

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are..."
1 John 3:1

As I fall more and more in love with our daughter each day, I am beginning to realize how significant and incredible it is that God considers me His child. I love Abby so much more than words can describe. I just smile and think, "What amazing love God has for us!"

Life is good

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3

Loving Life as a New Mommy

Motherhood is such a blessing. It can be exhausting but it is so fulfilling. What an amazing gift God has given us! I am overwhelmed by how good God is to give us our little girl. Abby is such a joy and adds so much to our lives already. Here are some photos that I took of her this week. Enjoy!

Abby taking a nap on her boppy pillow.

Closeup of our sleeping beauty

Giving a sweet smile after waking up from a nap

The most adorable smile ever!

Finally Home Again...

Abby enjoying her sunbath with Daddy today.

We came home from the hospital Thursday around lunch time and Abby seemed to be doing pretty well. Friday, we had to take her back to the clinic for a weight check and to the hospital for outpatient blood work, since she was looking a little jaundiced. The rest of our time at home was uneventful until Saturday night. Bryan and I were tired from being at the hospital and from having a newborn, so we had decided to go to bed early around 8:30 p.m. I nursed Abby well to get her ready to sleep when she began to vomit forcefully. She did not stop vomiting for the next few hours, so we called her pediatrician and it was recommended that we go to the ER if we could not get her to keep down the breast milk or pedialyte. Abby began to have diarrhea, so I volunteered to get the pedialyte to try to avoid a visit to the ER. We were worried about her dehydrating quickly at her size and age. When I got home, Abby was continually getting sicker and unable to keep down the pedialyte, so we left to go the ER around 1:30 a.m.


In the ER, we had great medical care and a very attentive physician. He ordered a chest x-ray and an abdominal x-ray to rule out pyloric stenosis or any other type of blockage, and poor Abby had to have more blood work done to ensure she was retaining enough nursing to avoid IV fluids. By 7:00 a.m., most of the serious conditions had been ruled out, and we were admitted onto the pediatric floor to try to determine what was going on and to allow the doctors to observe her. When she continued to stay sick and her vomiting became worse, her pediatrician decided to have her stay the night, because there were concerns that she would aspirate or choke on her vomit. Thankfully, after two nights of being very sick, it was diagnosed that she probably had a stomach virus, and it ended up being resolved on its own. We were discharged from the hospital around lunch time, and Abby is feeling much better. Her appetite is starting to increase again, and she has not vomited in over 24 hours.


Thanks to many prayers, Abby never had to have an IV and was able to stay hydrated enough nursing to keep her safe. If it had not been for all of the people praying for us, Bryan and I could not have gone for over 30 hours without sleep and still been able to care for our little girl and make good decisions while we were in the hospital. Our God is good and gracious, and we are so thankful to have Abby back home again safe and sound. It's a lot different being the parent of a sick child than being a pediatric nurse... I can truly say that only in Jesus is true joy and peace abundant and unceasing, even in scary times. Our greatest gift this Christmas season is our beautiful little girl... what an amazing blessing from the LORD she is!

Abby has arrived!

Introducing Abigail Bryanna Cirlot 3 days old enjoying her papasan swing at home. =c)

Since I am sure everyone is wondering why our induction date changed from Thursday to Tuesday, I thought I would give a quick update and explanation. Monday, around lunch time, I became disoriented and out of it, so Bryan took me to the ER to get me checked out. By the time we arrived at the ER, I was starting to be able to think more clearly, but something was obviously off. They admitted me to L&D, and my doctor decided that my body was just not handling the stress of being pregnant well anymore. I was already having strong contractions 3 minutes apart (which had been happening off and on for the past month), so they decided to keep me overnight and to stimulate my labor the next morning. Since I was unable to dilate past 2 cm on my own, they hooked me up to an IV the next morning and gave me drugs to help my body do everything it was supposed to do on its own. The doctor broke my water at 9:30 am, and I was in labor until 5:57 p.m. (not the predicted 1 p.m. estimate). My labor was long but fairly uneventful, so we are thankful! Abby was born weighing 7 lb 11 oz and was 21 inches long (no wonder why she hurt my ribs every night). She had an APGAR score of 9 the first time and 10 the second time. Praise God! We're both doing well and glad to be at home again. Thanks for the prayers!

6 Days or Less Until Abby Arrives

We had our last prenatal appointment yesterday afternoon. I am still contracting frequently- just not consistently. My body keeps trying to go into labor but then stops after a few hours. Abby has dropped 2 cm lower, and my cervix is becoming stretchier. I have just stopped dilating at 2 cm. Thus, unless Abby decides to surprise us, it looks like an induction will be necessary to have her. I am scheduled to be induced this coming Thursday at 8:30 a.m., and the doctor predicts she should arrive by 12:30 p.m. that day. Pray that we will have a safe and smooth delivery! It looks like Abby's birthday will be December 11 and that she is waiting until after Katie's wedding to appear (which we are all thankful for). God's timing is perfect, and we are leaving the day of our little girl's arrival in His hands.