2 weeks in, forever to go

It’s hard to believe that Solace was never a part of our lives. I can no longer imagine a home without her sweet scent, beautiful face, and that infant cry. Nick and I are forever in love with her. She is now two weeks old. You don’t understand the term “life-changing” until you’ve had a child. Getting married is more like “life-enhancing.” Since Sol has been here, not one thing about my life is the same.

For one, I can’t stop thinking about her. Everything I do involves her. I need to go to the bathroom, I think, is she ok til I’m done? I eat food, I think, will this be ok for her to eat later? I sleep and think, ok how long will she be sleeping and will I get any rest?

Two, I love her in ways I didn’t know were possible. Every day I love her more. She knows my voice and my smell, so when I’m around, she pierces me with those big eyes and melts my heart. We’ve been trying to keep her awake for at least 40 minutes after nursing during the day and it’s quickly becoming my favorite time of day. She’s such a bundle of sweetness during those times! And it’s helping her sleep better at night.

Three, my husband is loving and living in a brand new way. It’s crazy to see how much of a softy he can be :) Solace has him wrapped around her little finger already and he is so happy about it.

Four, my body will never be the same. I’m still healing from her delivery. Breast-feeding is doing a number on me (it’s much harder than I thought it would be!) I think I’m becoming accustomed to not sleeping as much, which kinda makes me sad because I love sleeping. I’m not saying I don’t need it anymore (heaven forbid), but yeah, I don’t really have a choice in the sleeping department right now. And my hormones are out of this world. Buckets of tears one minute, completely fine the next. It’s a roller coaster.

I could go on and on about it but in the end I wouldn’t have it any other way. (ok, maybe more sleep!) I’m in love!

Do I really have a daughter?!

Solace India Mae Laparra

January 1, 2012
8lbs 8oz
20 3/4” long
34 hours of labor

This little girl has completely changed my life.

Solace means “to comfort” and after our journey with adoption and our molar pregnancy, this name seemed so fitting and perfect. It’s pronounced “soul-ace.” We like the nickname Sol which means “sun” in spanish (bringing in Nick’s heritage).

India is a place Nick and I hold very close to our hearts. If ever the Lord wills, we would love to return someday.

Mae is after my great-grandma whom I was close with. She was affectionately called “Mae-Mae” but she passed away this year. Solace would have been her first great-great grandchild.

She’s so perfect in every way.

Nick’s face just about sums it all up! We are head over heels in love with her.

Feel free to visit us! Just call ahead to check in (we live on Solace time now!) But please don’t come if you’re sick. :)

Adoption :: 1 year later

One year ago we were eagerly waiting the birth of a little girl who was to be our daughter

One year ago, you were born into a world where 2 women wanted to be your mother

One year ago, we were in awe by your beauty and sweetness

One year ago, we loved you at first sight

One year ago, your mother couldn’t give you away. Her love for you was too strong

Today you are one year old. I don’t know where you are or what you look like now. I think about you almost every day. We look at your pictures, cry, and pray for you.

One year ago God knew that the best life for you was with your birth mother. We love you, little one. Happy 1st birthday.

O Holy Night

My husband’s favorite Christmas song is hands down “O Holy Night.” It’s never been an absolute favorite of mine, but this year I actually read the words. And by read, I mean I read the lyrics like I didn’t know it was a song. It was a beautiful poem, a spoken word. And it just came to life in front of me. My heart feels like bursting and tears come to my eyes at the weight and life I feel in these words.

// Oh holy night the stars were brightly shining.
It’s the night of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Until HE appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a NEW and GLORIOUS morn!

Fall on your knees!
Oh hear the angel’s voices!
Oh night divine, the night Jesus Christ was born.

Truly HE taught us to love one another.
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains HE shall break, for the slave is our brother,
And in HIS Name, ALL oppression shall cease!
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus we raise.
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord!
Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim! \\

I hope you read it like you had never heard it before. It’s become my new favorite. The power and promise blows me away. Here is one of Nick’s favorite renditions of this song. It’s beautiful. Merry Christmas everyone.

Maternity Photo Shoot!

This past weekend, Katie Roche took some maternity pics of me! Oh, and Nick got in on some of them too :) Thanks so much for documenting a part of my pregnancy, Katie! Only 5 weeks left you guys!

Baby room progress, or lack thereof

I really need to get on the ball. My due date is only 6 weeks away and I have yet to get anything done in our baby girl’s room. *sigh* I have a lot of things from our failed adoption last year which I am super thankful for, but it’s so unorganized and the room is so full.

Ok so in all honesty, it does look a little better than this now. All those bags of clothes are gone since I went through our closet and dresser and purged our clothes. Nick and I also went through all the baby clothes we have gotten from people and sorted 0-3 months and then 3-6 months+ in two separate bags. But that’s it.

The light-colored crib we aren’t keeping because some pieces are missing to put it together completely. Plus, I really don’t like that color. The other crib was given to me by my friend Jeanea and the pieces to put it together are in the mail! We have an awesome swing in the corner, a pack n’ play you can’t see, and a car seat that will eventually not be in this room, they’ll come downstairs or in the car.

I’m going for a vintage theme with the room. I’m hoping sometime this week to paint the walls a medium gray color. Then I want to accent with whites, soft pinks, and rugged brown. And when I say pink, I mean pretty pink. Cherry blossoms, if you will

In fact, if I could get some really awesome pictures or something of these guys to put in the room, that would be perfect. My mom bought me this glider for my Christmas present. It should match the crib well.

Now, my main hunt lately (or should I say for months) has been to find a dresser like this beauty

oh it’s so hard to find! This one is in California and I’m not paying $450 plus $350 for shipping. So a’searching I shall go.

Nick asked me what kind of “baby” room am I trying to decorate. My answer, is the kind that I will enjoy going into at 3am :) I’d like to find some more rugged, vintage things for the room. Hopefully this will all happen in the next 6 weeks. I can’t believe she’ll be here so soon. Is this real life?

A getaway weekend

Nick and I were so blessed to be able to get away this past weekend. In our 3 years of marriage we have only gone away for more than one night 2 times– our honeymoon and this weekend! We needed some alone time away from people and social media. We went up north to Biwabik (an hour north of Duluth) to stay at the Giant’s Lodge. We did a teeny, tiny bit of sight-seeing but for the most part we lounged in our room hanging out, talking, eating junk food and watching the NCIS Veteran’s Day marathon! haha. We also played pool one evening in which I barely lost. In my defense, it’s hard being short and very pregnant while playing pool. You try bending over that table!

I was also reminded while reading Song of Solomon this weekend (what other book of the Bible do you read when you’re on a romantic getaway??) why my children won’t be singing a certain verse in the song “His Banner over me is Love.” Banqueting table = Wine fest and sex. Yeah, not talking about Jesus. Context, people! (Song of Songs 2:4)

I felt well rested after our getaway and more refreshed in my relationship with Nick. It was very over due. I love that guy. Next time we do this, it’ll be with baby in tow! :) I can’t wait!

32 weeks!

We stopped in Duluth on the way home. First time being there for both of us!

Halloween Party ’11

I don’t think I have stressed out over something for so long in my life as I did about this Halloween Party. I was determined for it to be awesome. I mean, I had 8 hours at work every day to be thinking about this. That was a good thing and a bad thing! But I had SO much fun planning and executing. A bunch of Nick and I’s friends came to join the fun. Thank you to all of you that came. I’m so glad you did! You made my night with your awesome creative costumes! Seriously, it’s my favorite part about the party– seeing everyone’s unique ideas for a costume. Here’s some pics of the house.

One of the best ideas I had was to transform our small library into a photo booth! We set up white sheets and Drew brought his nice camera and a legit light and went to town! It was incredible.

Can you guess who everyone is?

Oh man. This was SO fun! It was even worth the 2 hour clean up afterward :) I’m already thinking about next year!!

10.26 :: My very own tradition

Another October 26 has come. I can’t explain the giddy feeling I get when this day comes around. There is nothing significantly special about it. It’s just my favorite day. It’s become a part of my life and I love it!

I know it’s purely psychological but everything seemed to be *just right* today. The sun was shining and I felt really happy.

the view from my desk at work

My friend Kristen and I got good coffee this morning instead of the dirt that work provides.

It was so good!

So many of my friends texted or FB’d me to wish me a happy favorite day. It meant so much to me! I love that you all put up with my quirkiness :)

Sadly, Nick was gone until 8pm today as he was flying back from Texas. BUT he still amazes me that he can do special things for me from far away! He texted me to tell me that a surprise would be waiting for me at home when I got off work. Seriously? I LOVE surprises! Not surprise parties, but surprise prizes. The anticipation was brutal. But when I got home, I was greeted with this in the freezer. (Thanks Lindsey for being so sneaky and helpful!)

Eeek!! An M&M Blizzard ice cream cake from DQ! This cake is to die for. And it’s all mine :) I have the sweetest hubby! After he got home, we went to get him some food to eat and talk about his trip. Then we came back and Stefan ate cake with us!

I feel content with October 26 this year :)

Concerts :: Gungor, David Crowder, John Mark McMillan

Nick has some cool friends that will get him into shows for free sometimes. So when he told me that he had gotten into a Gungor concert for free, I literally begged him to get me in too, even though the show was already sold out. And he delivered :)

If you haven’t yet heard of Gungor, good grief, get over to iTunes now and look them up! They just released a new album called Ghosts Upon the Earth. It’s phenomenal.

Anyway, Thursday night was the concert. I thought it was going to start around 8pm or 9pm and I obviously wasn’t looking forward to a late night then having to get up at 5:45am Friday. But it started at 6pm! We got to First Avenue around 5:15pm so Nick’s friend could get us in early allowing us to steal a table before everyone else. This pregnant body can’t hold itself up the same way it used to. Our spot was just perfect. Nick got me some cranberry juice, which I stretched out to last the whole show, and I sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the music.

John Mark McMillan played first. One of my favorites of his is “Death in His Grave.” Nick and I used to sing it sometimes at Bethlehem. It’s so awesome. He also wrote the song “How He Loves” but unfortunately didn’t sing it then. :(

After J.M.M another guy sang but we didn’t like him so we move on…

Then Gungor came out. They only sang 4 songs (acoustic) because it was David Crowder’s tour. I didn’t get any pictures of them because I videoed everything instead! Here’s a full recording of one of their more popular songs, Beautiful Things. Listen to it! If for any reason then to hear the black dude beat box towards the end. I heard this guy is on the Sing Off for beat boxing. He’s very, very good!

They are so talented. Wow.

And now David Crowder Band

In this picture, they are singing “Go Tell it on the Mountain!” haha. It was really funny when they started it. They sang some old hymns too. I’ve never been an avid fan of DCB but I thought it was cool we were able to see them live before they stopped singing together.

Remember I said the John Mark wrote “How He Loves?” Well, David Crowder Band made it popular. They started singing it and at first I felt bad for J.M.M cuz it was like, wait, that’s his song, he’s here, and YOU guys are playing it? Then all of a sudden he, Gungor, and the other guy we didn’t like came up on stage and they all sang it TOGETHER. Ahh. :) It was really cool. I got a partial video of it.

The concert ended around 9:30pm and I was home by 10:15pm!

Nick and I after the concert. I was so cold. I literally couldn’t stop shaking. We had to take the picture 4 times before my neck didn’t look someone was trying to strangle it and my chin stopped flopping around. I really need to get a maternity jacket. ASAP. It was a fun evening. Gungor announced they would be back in the spring and I announced to Nick that we’d be getting a babysitter and he needs to talk to his buddy to get us in again. This time it would be for more than 4 songs! Anyone wanna come with us?? :)