Here she is.
Eliza Jill Lighten. Born March 31, 2015.
An angel straight from heaven and all those that love her there, to our family - who love and adore her here.
She is sweet. Tender. Pure.
And so curious about this place she has been waiting so long to come to.
From the moment she arrived those big eyes have been watching, scanning, focusing, and taking everything in. She is just constantly learning.
Oh how I wish she could talk and share her thoughts of what she is experiencing.
A few things we have learned about her so far.
1. She is so so sweet. We are all smitten with her.
2. She also has some spice. When she is unhappy, we all feel it.
But mostly she is snuggly and happy.
She did have a little bout with colic at the beginning, which made a lot of nights pretty long. Especially for me because I seemed to be the only one that could comfort her. And sometimes not.
Thankfully it didn't last too long.
Even those rough moments, however, just bonded us even more.
Oh how we love this little precious little one.
Our little caboosey baby.
And seriously, get a load of those lips!
Heartmelter, right?!
Perfection.
I say "I think..." because that is how I really feel.
"I think" we are done. Pretty sure.
But we haven't consulted Heavenly Father on that yet - so when that time comes that I actually ask, I will know for sure. But for now...we are done; with 5 great kids to show for it. :)
As per feeling done; I approached this pregnancy differently than I had with my others.
I wanted to do this "really well." In fact, that was my mantra - "do this well."
In my mind, this meant a couple of things:
1. Eat, sleep, and exercise as best I could to help my body and growing baby thrive. I actually went off treats (except for on holidays) throughout my pregnancy - knowing that if I did that I would consistently feel better.
2. No complaining or whining. I have been pregnant before and knew full well what to expect. When the tough times came, as I knew they would, I was going to chin-up and be positive instead of complaining or feeling sorry for myself. I was going to be strong and work on being cheerful and grateful - no matter what.
3. Enjoy the experience. Being pregnant is truly a remarkable thing. I mean, seriously, you have a precious baby growing inside you. There are so many tender moments that come along with that and I wanted to notice and treasure them.
These were a few of the facets of my approach to this pregnancy and I can't even describe how much each of these affected me over the last 9 months. Suffice it to say that this pregnancy was seriously my best! I wish I had approached my other pregnancies so deliberately. I felt amazing the entire time and was able to keep up with my family and life the same way I had before. It was truly astounding and after my pregnancy was over I felt such a sense of accomplishment! I had done what I set out to do...I had "done it well."
In addition to these few facets, I also wanted to actually take some pregnancy pictures of me. I hadn't done this before but felt that one day I would want to see myself as a pregnant, young mom.
I would want the flood of memories I would have looking at my former self. I would want the pull on my heart as I reminisced these early years.
So my sweet sister, Jessica, came down with her new fancy camera and helped me capture this phase of my life.
To my future self: This is you carrying Eliza at 8 months along - 5th and final baby. We also called her Baby Peanut for the first 6 months. You rocked this! Great job! Be proud of yourself. :)
