Photos by Sarah McElligot

These are the beautiful photos my friend Sarah took for us.

We were long over due for family photos.

Driscoll girls

 Miss Chloe Shalom

 All wrapped up

 Toes

 Sleep smile

 Mama's kiss

 Wide eyed

 Sweet

 Cutie in a basket

 Love the basket shots

We loved Sarah's work so much we're trying to convince her to do more but she's a busy woman.  Hopefully we'll have a chance to hire her to do photos in the future (she did these for free so she could put them in her portfolio to get her business of newborn photography going.)

Introducing: Chloe Shalom

Chloe Shalom Driscoll was born 9/3/10 at 12:14 am.  She was 11 days past her due date but came on her own (we didn't have to induce labor).  We arrived at the hospital at 8:15 pm and our little girl was born less than four hours later.  We were surprised that she weighed only 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.

The name Chloe means blossom.  We liked that because it ties in with Adi's middle name Rose.  Shalom, as most people know, means peace.  But it means more than that.  It's not like the hippy saying, "peace brother" kind of peace.  It's a heavenly, Godly, perfect peace.  As one friend wrote it means "nothing missing, nothing broken".  After the long rough road we traveled to get here with a second child we couldn't think of a better middle name for our little girl.  She's perfect.  Nothing missing, nothing broken.  Made perfectly by our heavenly Father, so gratefully received and loved by our family and friends.  We adore her. Our friend Sarah came by today to take some photos of our family and especially newborn pictures of Chloe.  Adilyn loves to have her photo taken so we got plenty of her as well.  I'm posting a few pictures that we took and I'll post some of Sarah's (which will be markedly better) in the near future.Adi is thanking God for her baby sister and watching over her much like a guardian angel.Cam liked the artistic shot of Adi and the crown of flowers I wore in my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Steve's wedding as a little girl.I snuck a shot of Chloe as Sarah was taking photos and this is one of my favorites.

We are all adjusting so well to being a family of four.  Adi is such a wonderful big sister to Chloe and Cam has been a wonderful husband to me, father to Chloe and Adilyn and I feel so blessed.  Thank you Lord for trusting us to be parents to these two precious girls.  Thank you, thank you, Lord!

41 Weeks and Counting

Here it is.  Belly at 41 weeks and a couple of days.  This pregnancy has been such a ride.  A long long ride.  I could even call it a long strange trip!  I never expected to be pregnant past my due date, it just doesn't seem like anyone should ever have to go past 40 weeks.  I think 40 weeks is plenty long enough.  I just learned that my mother-in-law went 3 weeks past her due date with brother-in-law Larry!  I have a whole new respect for her as a mother, I don't know how she endured such a long pregnancy!  At most I will have to wait until Friday 9/3 to be induced which is 11 days past my due date.  I already feel like the time couldn't possibly go any slower and though I'm physically comfortable (thanks to my chiropractor I think) I'm totally mentally and emotionally unstable!  I cry at very unpredictable times and am having a hard time dealing with the wait. Maybe part of that is that I'm home alone all day - except for all of the appointments I've been going to.  I probably have too much time to think and that feels miserable.

I do know, that this baby will be born by Friday.  After a second try at stripping my membranes today (first try was on Friday 8/27 but had virtually no effect) I went on to have a non-stress test which showed that baby is happily thriving in my womb.  And three cervix checks over the past week have shown almost no change in dilation or effacement.  Not only is baby not ready but apparently my body is not ready either.  Cam thinks it's because I'm too comfortable.  Interestingly, my chiropractor mentioned that the majority of his pregnant clients have carried their babies past their due dates which leads me to wonder if Cam is on to something.  Maybe there is something to the mother's discomfort that aids in babies timely arrivals.  I couldn't find any studies on it online, it's just an observation and has me wondering.  

So now the wait continues.  Not much is keeping me sane at this point, though Bethel teachings online have been good medicine for my soul and knowing that there is a specific date that we will not go past is helpful as well.  I'm so very very ready for this baby to be born.  So very ready.

First Day of Kindergarten

In preparation for the first day of school while shopping for socks and undies, Adilyn found a new pair of pajamas at Target that I could not resist.  I love the little owls all over the pants and had to get them for her.  Not something I would have anticipated getting but she just loves them and I do, too.

At the teacher meet & greet Adi received her first homework assignment.  She was to decorate a yellow star with a family photo in the center and whatever she wanted all around it.  I forgot to get a picture of the completed star but I can at least include the photo she chose.  We didn't actually have a family photo so we took several with the fun camera on our macbook.

This morning Adi was all set and ready to put on her first day outfit but insisted on posing with her beloved friend Golden Star, aka Puppy.

Here's a shot of the whole outfit in front of our little pond.  She's so grown up!

Of course I had to get a shot of the backpack she picked out.  It has hummingbirds on it - very appropriate for my bird loving girl.  The water bottle she got has butterflies, another favorite.

In front of Robert Lucas Elementary School where I attended school as did Papa (my dad).  Three generations at the same school is kind of fun.  We took Adi to the before school program and she was very timid at first but by the time we came back to take her to her Kindergarten classroom she was very happily learning how to sign her name with real sign language.  She's been into making up her own signs to communicate lately which is great, though I don't know anything more than "baby signs" so I'm going to have to learn some real sign language to keep up with her.

When it was time to go to her classroom Adi went straight to a table to color with some other girls.  It was fun to meet a girl in her class named Madelyn who was also wearing a peace sign on her shirt.  I think Adi felt like she fit right in and she did awesome.

So that's my girl.  All grown up and ready to learn all she needs to know in Kindergarten.  I'm so proud of her.  She's such an amazing kiddo.

And I didn't even cry when we left her there.  She was so content and happy to say good-bye because she was comfortable there that I had no emotion at all other than pride and joy that our girl is so awesome.  I can't wait to hear all about her day when I pick her up.  And after that, her baby sibling can be born at any time as far as I'm concerned ;)

My Little

Adilyn loves to have her picture taken.  Multiple times a day.  Yesterday she dressed up, made her hair fancy, came downstairs and said, "take a picture of me!"  So I took several.

She comes up with all of these poses.  I'm not really sure where she gets it from, it's not like she's ever seen a model posing that I know of.  I'm sure she's seen photos in the check out line at the grocery store but... I guess it just runs in the family.

I wanted to be a model when I was her age.  My mom wanted to be a model when she was a youngster too.  In fact my mom and I did a little modeling once upon a moon.

Adi doesn't know that, though.  For whatever reason it's just in her to want to pose for beautiful photos.  Interesting.

She is a beautiful girl, at home we emphasize that beauty comes from within.  When I asked her where beauty comes from her response was, "your heart".  It's true, I'm so glad she knows it.

Baby Shower!

I was so blessed to have the perfect baby shower this past weekend.  My closest friends and family came together to help celebrate the coming of our little one.  It was so much fun to spend time with the ladies who have so loyally prayed over the years for healing after miscarriages and for the conception and safe and healthy development of this precious baby.

My friend Amy, who happens to make some of the coolest cakes on the planet created the perfect cake.  I love how she puts so much thought into her cakes and creates something completely personalized and amazing.  It was tasty too!

There were lots of little girls around Adilyn's age who came to the shower as well.  Lucky for them, the Boelk's have a beautiful property which the girls were able to explore - catching butterflies, visiting the pond and even going for a wagon ride pulled by Brian and one of the twins (Kinnick or Carver, can't tell which ;)

Gifts are always a fun part of baby showers but the greatest gift for me was spending time with my favorite women.  All of the kind and encouraging words, the written blessings, the love poured out on me was joy to my soul.

Adi was right there with me for the gift opening and I realized once again what a precious part of my life she is and always will be.  I absolutely adore her and sometimes wonder how I can love another child as much as I do her?  I know in my head that God makes room in the heart for every child but I won't know the depth of that love until I meet our newest family member.

Here is my dear friend Rachelle, one of the hostesses of the party.  I love Rachelle and her family and am so grateful to her and all she's done for us.

And of course, Amy who hosted the event at her home.  We had so much fun, I think I need to hang out at Amy's house more often ;)

These two women put together such a wonderful celebration and I felt physically, emotionally and mentally blessed far beyond what I had anticipated.  I love that these friendships have transcended the divide of not seeing each other every Sunday.  These are true friends, and they are hard to find.  Thank you, friends!!

Day Trip: Blank Park Zoo

Our second day trip was to Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.  This time we went with Nana and Papa, and there was some concern that it was going to be another roasting hot day like Adventureland but it turned out to be beautiful and perfect for visiting a zoo.  Must have been because I told the weather to stay cool and the clouds to stay near ;)

The first thing we got to do was feed parakeets.  I didn't expect this to be so much fun.  An entire room was dedicated to free flying parakeets and sticks with bird seed could be purchased for $1 each to feed the birds.  The birds certainly knew what to do, they instantly hopped right onto our sticks and started pecking away.

Next was a bird show (Adi was in bird heaven) called Birds Down Under.  Here is the bird trainer and one of the many stars of the show.

Feeding the giraffes was a fun thing to do, too.  I had no idea how long their tongues were, this one was pretty shy and stood back but it had rained the night before so the ground was muddy and they apparently don't like standing in mud.  Can't blame them.

We saw several kids with very cool face paintings so it was easy to say yes to Adilyn having hers done.  She, of course, became a beautiful butterfly.  Amazing how much it changed her facial features.

We were so proud that Adi chose to ride the camel by herself.  There was, of course, a zoo employee leading the camel but she went without an adult.  She's growing up!

Feeding the koi lasted far longer than we expected.  Adi was giving them one piece of fish food at a time.  She really enjoyed it, crazy and weird as it is to see so many fish flopping all over each other!

One of Adi's favorite creatures was this guy.  I can't remember what it's called but it was very cool looking.

We also love frogs and this blue guy was very cool.  We really enjoyed our time at the zoo and I'm so grateful that we went when we did.  It was a fun and blessed day indeed.

Day Trip: Adventureland

We've been planning our short day trips for July so that we don't have to be too far from home in August in case baby decides to come early.  Instead of a vacation we're doing day trips, really only a couple but getaways just the same.

We started with a sleepover on Friday evening at Grandma Marsha and Grandpa Mike's in Newton.  A familiar love of Adilyn's is Bunny the bird.  How can she resist, it's so beautiful any kind of animal should be held as far as Adi is concerned.

On Saturday we rode off to Adventureland with our threesome, Grandma and Grandpa, Keelan, Larry's family, Carisa and her sister in-law with her 3 year old twins.  Bless that woman for having the strength and endurance to raise twin boys on her own!  We had quite a crew and needless to say, keeping track of everyone was quite a challenge.

Adi enjoyed some rides while we were there.  Daddy is particularly proud of Adi the pilot.

Adilyn's favorite was the Frog Hopper.  It's the kids version of the space shot which was Cam's favorite. I think Adi went on this thing 4 or 5 times, and watching her face and the huge smile each time was so much fun for me, I didn't even mind not being able to go on any of the rides.

It felt like it could have been one of the hottest days of the year so we spent a good amount of time at the new water park which was jam packed full of people.  Afterward, Adi and Keely rode the Chuck Wagon.  I think the guy running the ride was named Chuck which made it all the more interesting.

The Puff Dragons were a cute ride that Adi and Elleh went on together.  It was fun for Adi to have her cousins there to go on the kiddy rides with her.

After Adventureland we got to hang out at Carisa and Jeff's place for a while and Adi especially loved the above ground pool.  She's done so great in her swim lessons over the past several weeks and I know swimming in the pool with the brave and rambunctious twins definitely gave her more confidence to try new things and have fun at her lessons.  It's been fun to see the progress.