Where does all this love come from?

"The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy" --Psalm 126:3

As many of you already know, our new love, Finley Grace, arrived Monday morning (3/19) at 9:33 a.m. and weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. and is absolutely perfect. I am so sorry that I haven’t posted before now but I am just too busy staring at my beautiful baby. I am so overwhelmed with how much I love this little 6 lb. bundle and I can’t imagine life without her now.

I have loved every minute of this past week. From spending time with family to just being with my baby at all hours of the night. I love seeing Richard cradle and kiss her and believe it or not he’s even pretty good at changing diapers. Below I wrote the Story of Finley and how she arrived into this world... enjoy.


Finley’s Story
We feel so incredibly blessed! After a really easy labor of only 2 hours (yes, start to finish) Finley arrived and was extremely healthy. I spent the night in the hospital on Sunday night so that I would be ready to go in the morning when they were to start the pitocin (drug that induces labor) at around 8 the next morning. They gave me a cervadil the night before to help get my cervix ready and I guess that was all I needed. I woke up the next morning just in time to start watching the Today Show and noticed that I had a few light cramps. Then at around 7:30 they began to get worse and in the matter of 10 minutes I was having full on contractions. The nurse came in and checked me and found that I was already 7 cm dilated. She ordered my epidural and the anesthesiologist came in around 8:30 and I think I have decided that whoever invented that should win the Noble Peace Prize. By 9:10 I was completely relaxed and feeling no pain. Shortly after I was comfortable the Dr. came in a checked me and found that I was ready to push. My water had not broken yet so she broke my water and I was ready to push at around 9:30. After just 4 pushes Finley had arrived at 9:33! It was such an amazing feeling to finally lay eyes on her and we all fell in love instantly. Richard and my mom were such great coaches and I’m so glad they were there in the room to help welcome Finley into the world. I’ll post some pics below but finleyvanhook.com has the whole scrapbook.

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for our daughter. Your prayers were heard and the Lord has blessed us beyond our imagination.

My mom with Finley

My dad with Finley

Ready to go home

Richard's mom and sisters

Richard's dad and stepmom

Her cute mittens

Going home outfit

Shower for Finley

Here are a few pics from the lovely shower my friends up here threw me and Finley. It was so much fun. They had lots of fun games and lots of good food. I love these girls and am so glad the Lord has placed them in our life to be our "family" while we are up here! It's so fun to see other people get excited about the birth of your child.

Finley got lots of fun, girly things!!

Katie and me! (a little swollen!)

Partaking in the goodies!

Katie smelling the baby food.

Trying to identify the "dirty" diapers.

Yes, we had to try baby food... it was a very humbling experience!

38 Week update

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Well the countdown is on. I am officially entering my final week of pregnancy. I have so many mixed emotions. I'm so ready to meet her, but I have really enjoyed being pregnant. Although my waddle has hit an all-time peak, my legs cramp a lot, my toes look like little smoky sausages, I have to use the bathroom constantly, I don't think Richard would say I'm as sweet as I used to be, my ankles are now "kankles", my bootie.... well, I won't even go there, I find that I don't mind at all.

I am so thankful for this little miracle inside of me. I love feeling her move and kick and I think I will really miss it. I can't wait for Richard to feel and get to know her like I have these past months. I want treasure every memory that we have had with this 1st pregnancy..... telling Richard, feeling nauseous every minute of the day the 1st trimester, seeing the heartbeat for the first time, feeling her kick for the 1st time, hearing the doctor say "it's a girl!", watching my body change and transform to provide for her.....It's all been so exciting!

Richard and I have tried to cram as much as we can into this past final weekend without children or family here. I have found that I have had this sudden burst of energy and I want to make sure everything gets done before she arrives. We cleaned the house good, completed the nursery, (except for the bed which is on backorder, so it's won't we here until a week after she is born) and ran errands that needed to be done. We also went on our final date, but it seemed every other thing out of our mouth was "Can you believe we're about to be parents?" or "I can't believe you're/I'm pregnant?" .... I guess it won't really set in until she's here.

I'm supposed to be induced a week from today, the 19th.
Please pray that she will wait till then so our family can all be here and for a healthy and safe delivery. Thanks for all your prayers thus far.
We will post as soon as she arrives!!