Tabitha (15 months old) plays the piano w/ her cousin Ben

15 months old, just being herself

Tabitha says "doll baby."

Yes, she's the smartest 10-month-old baby in the world!

Tabitha says hi and does her mad face!

my genius baby

Now when I ask Tabitha to clap her hands, she will. I don't have to do it first; I just have to ask her.

Tabitha says "KiKi"

Tabitha is 9 months and 2 days old.

Tabitha spins a chair

I just thought this was cute, as she was spinning the chair around for a while. My eight-month-old baby girl is getting more balance and is a genius.

Tabitha said, "Momma," and meant it!

Jason came home today, and before we were getting ready to run, Tabitha started being fussy. She didn't want to eat, and she was dry. Jason was holding her as I was changing my clothes. He asked her what she wanted, and she plainly said, "Momma." Jason and I were both sure that was what she said, so he handed her to me. She immediately stopped crying! My heart melted... (Jason was a little hurt, though.) That just made my day, my week, my month, my year, and quite possibly, my life.

Tabitha sings while I play the piano.

video of Tabitha

I'm trying to see if this works...

Twitter--Will this work?

Suzi's Twitters

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10/02 + 2/07 = 12/09

I realized this the other day and thought it was the coolest thing ever (and thus worthy of a quick post). Jason's birthday is 2/07, and mine is 10/02. Tabitha's birthday is 12/09. 10/02 + 2/07 = 12/09! Her birthday is the sum of Jason and my birthdays. And, in other news, Tabitha is now 18 days old and the most beautiful and smartest baby ever!

Tabitha: the perfect baby

Tabitha Hope, the most beautiful baby in the entire world, was born Tuesday morning, December 9, at 8:46 a.m. I went into labor around 7:30 p.m., though I started feeling a little pain around 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. is when I started timing the contractions, which were only in my back. We left here a little after midnight, and I was in a hospital room by 1 a.m. I was dilated 3-4 when I arrived and was 90 percent effaced. I did end up getting an epidural, which took over 45 minutes and five tries to get.

Labor went a lot more smoothly than I'd ever imagined it would, though. Once I had the epidural, I couldn't feel any pain whatsoever, had no clue when I was having a contraction. It was awesome! After I had the epidural, labor was easy, and I'm apparently a pro at pushing. Tabitha came quicker than they expected she would. The doctor planned on showing up around 8 a.m. to break my water; it broke on its own before then. When he showed up around 8 a.m., it was to be there when her head came out.

Anyway, onto the good stuff. Tabitha is absolutely wonderful, completely perfect. She is more beautiful than I would have imagined. When she's awake, she's very alert, looking at what's going on. She weighed 7 pounds and 7 ounces, and she was 21 inches long. She has a head full of black hair. Her eyes looked green at birth, but now they look like they might start to be turning brown. I'll resize some photos in the near future and post them.

We got to come home today, as they make you stay 48 hours after delivery. Tabitha and I have figured out nursing now and aren't struggling at this point. The pediatrician says she's perfect. Tabitha had lots of visitors: Mom, Dad, Jenny, Clinton, Beth (Jason's mom), Granny, Grand-pro, Aunt Mindy, Miranda, Jackie Stevens, and the church family: Willie, Angie, Bethany, Jerry, and Phyllis. Oh, and Lisa from church was one of the nurses who got to deliver Tabitha, so that was pretty cool! Rusty, her husband, popped in briefly before delivery. Jackie didn't get to visit b/c she was sick. Then the day after Mom, Dad, Jenny, and Clinton visited, Mom, Jenny, and Clinton were all sick w/ the 24 hour bug Jackie, J., and Ben had all had. So far none of us have gotten it, and I'm praying that we don't. I really don't want Tabitha to get sick.

Right now Tabitha is sleeping peacefully. I'm exhausted, have gotten no more than 8 hours of sleep during the past three days. I couldn't sleep well in the hospital. I have to get those photos resized soon and post them. Jenny's already posted some to Facebook. I just couldn't imagine a more beautiful baby or a smoother delivery. All of my fears were for nothing; God answered my many prayers that everything would go fine w/ labor. I mean, I was anxious and freaked out at times, but nothing bad happened at all. It went really quickly, too, especially for her being my first child. No one thought she was going to be born that soon. I think it's b/c they gave me Pitocin, but they said it's pretty much standard that they do that now.

I praise God that everything went so well and that our baby is healthy. I was so worried about everything, and God completely took care of everything. Then, as if to say "I told you so," God had her weigh seven pounds and seven ounces. :)

WE OWN A HOUSE!!!!!!!

WE OWN A HOUSE!!!!!!!
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Life


We closed on our house this morning!!!!! :-D Photos to come later (when we have an Internet connection at our house). "our HOUSE"...wow... We moved in Saturday.

Oh, and I'm halfway through my pregnancy now! Approximately 20 weeks until little Tabitha Hope joins us!!! (I have a countdown going on in her bedroom on the chalkboard-paint wall.) Yes, our little girl has the most awesome room ever! Light purple on top; chalkboard paint on bottom w/ a lovely trim and chair rail (by Jason) in a darker purple.

We still have a bit of unpacking to do and still need to move some miscellaneous things. But, the hard stuff is over w/, and the house is great... And, did I mention that we have a house?!?!!? :-D

God has blessed us w/ so much lately that it is overwhelmingly astounding. It just amazes me what He's done for us, especially considering how far we've come as a couple and individually. I just cannot thank Him enough for blessing us w/ a little girl and also a nice place to live. I'm really proud of how far Jason has come spiritually, too. My staff sergeant has been sober for over four months now. Yay Jason! Life is just going so wonderfully right now, and I owe it all to God. It's amazing what He can do when you give Him control of your life, though, of course, it's a daily struggle to give up that control.

And, that's my happy post for the day!

It's a...!!!!!!

We had the ultrasound today, and the baby seems to be very healthy. The heart rate was 160 still; we could even see the chambers of the heart and see it beating. It was absolutely amazing. The lady who did the ultrasound guesses the baby is about 6 inches long, and the ultrasound gave a due date of December 11, which is three days before my actual due date. Everything is right on track.

And... With almost absolute certainty... We are having a baby... GIRL! :-D I am so excited and happy. Mostly, I am elated that our baby seems to be exactly where she should be w/ development, but I'm also excited she's a girl. From the beginning I said I was having a girl, and I was right.

I will have to scan the ultrasound photos in the next few days and put them online. My baby is the cutest, of course! And, she got really active during part of the ultrasound; you could just see her little feet and hands moving around. Amazing... I can't believe that is inside of me, and I can't thank God enough to everything is going well.

Time for church, though!

160 bpm--our baby's heart rate!

Jason and I got to hear our baby's heart beat today! The rate was 160 beats per minute. Awww. July 2 we have our first official ultrasound.

Our baby has a heart!

Jason and I got to see our baby today on an ultrasound! Being only nine weeks along, our baby isn't very big yet, but we could see the heart (the flickering part). Also, our baby jumped around during part of it; our baby is already active!

It was so amazing and touching to see our baby and know that he/she is doing perfect at the moment. If anyone reads this, please pray that our baby continues to be healthy. I've been so worried about that, but now that I actually got to see a heart beat and know that everything is progressing exactly right, I feel a little more peace. I'm so touched that I feel like crying.

over a year ago

April 7, 2007, a year and ten days ago, I married a wonderful man. I didn't think to update this on on anniversary, so I'm updating it now. A lot has been going on lately, and lately it's all been very good. I thank God for how He's turned things around for us, and I am certain that my trust in Him has never been in vain.

On our anniversary Jason and I went to Velma Garret's viewing. I meant to post her obituary in my blog, and now I cannot find it online anywhere. She was a lovely woman, though, and will be missed by many. She had such a sweet soul, and I know that soul is now in perfect joy in Heaven.

I've been thinking about life lately, how as babies start out in life, other people pass away. On the day that Jason and I found out some very good news, I later found out that, that was Lucian's birthday. It's just strange how life connects w/ death, how we all go through transitions and all end up at the same destination. To see it as a cycle, as not just an end, makes it seem more comforting. As loved ones pass away, new ones to love are born.

new car!!!

As I said in the last post, I can't make links right now on FrontPage for some reason. View the Page for our New Car

Jason and I bought a new car today, a 2008 Hyundai Elantra. Her name is Ella Blue, and she is nice! I have to leave soon, so all I have time for right now are photos:


There she is, beside Jason under Mr. Silver.




Her paint shimmers and glitters in the sun; she is glittery.


KiKi likes her.

Ben and me

(These photos are under Family on my site; for some reason FrontPage won't let me make links. The program stops whenever I try to make a link now...)

Here are some photos of my nephew Ben and me from the other day:


Ben petting Maggi.


Light shining on my buddy.


Ben waves hello to Jenny, our photographer.


Ben feels the texture of a tree.


This is happiness in life.