We're all feelin' it!

With a newborn in the house, everyone is feeling it with the sleepless nights and irregular schedule. Even Gabriel is affected by it. Please see attached picture - I needn't say more

Our Time With Family & Friends

Well on July 30th we had our first wave of family come in from CA. My brother and family stayed with us for a couple of days as well as my sister Angie, niece Jennifer and her little boy Cole. Then it was off to Rockford (my home town) to continue our time with family. This trip was Gracie's first road trip. Our trip began with an evening celebration at the Country Club I grew up going to (pretty much everyday) as a child. It was such a moment when Gabriel was swimming in the same toddler pool I grew up swimming in. I can't believe that was 36 years ago! What a cool experience. We then went and visited my Grandma Wood that just turned 100 in June. She is amazing and it was such another great time having her meet Gracie and see Gabriel again. We then celebrated my twin brothers birthday. A G.I. Joe theme was planned by my sisters who thought it would be fun for them to reconnect with their youth. We all dressed up in combat outfits and celebrated in style at my brother's house. Gabriel had another great day of swimming and wearing his favorite swim attire - GOGGLES! He doesn't go under the water, but he wears those things whenever he is even by water. It was great spending time with family. We returned home and had a couple of down days before our friends from CA arrived for a weekend of hanging out, letting the kids play and enjoying fellowship with great friends. We are blessed in so many ways!

Family, Friends and Fun Fotos

Well it's been 2 weeks since our Miss Gracie has graced us with her presence and I must say it's going very well. Gabriel loves his new little sister and gives her sweet little kisses. He often asks where she is (as if she is off riding her bike around the block or swimming with friends or something - too funny). I am still just so amazed at how wonderful and supportive people have been with her birth. We continue to have dinners delivered to us on a daily basis and of course, there always seems to be a cute little gift that comes as the "side dish" for Gracie. Gabriel loves to open them for her. I just wanted to share some photos of family, friends and other random ones that couldn't be passed up. Hope they put a smile on your face.
Blessings and Joy!

Gracie Anne Contreras has arrived

Well, we have been blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Gracie arrived at 10:17 am 7/9/07. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 15 oz and measured 18 3/4 inches in length. She is such a wonderful baby and you can never imagine how quickly they grab your heart. Because she was a C-Section I wasn't able to see her right away, but I could hear her cry and my heart immediately connected with hers. If I could have gotten up right then and picked her up I would have. We came home yesterday from the hospital and it's so wonderful to be home and together as a family. We have been blessed with so many people offering meals, help and prayers. God never ceases to amaze us with God's people and their giving hearts. My sister Mary has been here since Monday taking care of Gabriel and helping me out too. My mom and other family will be coming down this weekend to visit. Gracie has some wonderful people in her life (we all do). Thanks for sharing this very special time with us. We couldn't be happier or more blessed than we are right now - this moment. Enjoying the power of a "moment." I'm stopping each day to do just that - finding moments to bathe my spirit in the moments that God sends our way each day. Just stopping and taking them in. It's amazing how grateful my heart becomes when I do just that.
God bless you all and enjoy the pictures of Miss Gracie Anne Contreras. We love you all.

Here are the Baby Bump Pictures

Happy Thursday to you all! Here are the pictures I promised you all. A wonderful friend down the street with an amazing photo talent stopped by the other day and snapped these cool pictures of the baby girl belly. What a blessing that was and what a gift she gave to us by capturing these pics before the baby arrives. Hope you all enjoy. The real pictures of the baby will be up sometime next week after I'm home from the hospital. I'm still trying to figure out this blog thing and how to not have the pictures so big. I'll have to do some more "playing." But until then, here ya go! Have a blessed day!

The Time is Drawing Near

Well, the latest on the arrival of our little girl is a week from today - July 9th. Yep, that's right. We have a C-section scheduled for that day. We are hoping and praying that she stays in there until then because my Dr. is actually on vacation this week - ugh. I am actually experiencing some labor "feelings" this morning, but we will wait and see throughout the day and this week what happens. We will be putting some pictures up this week of "the belly" and all it's glory. Oh my goodness, I'm amazed at how much the stomach can stretch.

Home Sweet Home

Greetings to all from Saint John, Indiana! It has been my hope and prayer to get a blog started this new year, well... July isn't too bad, is it?! We just moved into our new house 3 weeks ago and it is so wonderful to be settled. We were in a transitional state for 8 months and now to be settled before our new little one comes along is a great feeling. Here are some novice pictures I took of our house. Hope you enjoy