One month pictures

For my birthday Jody bought me a new Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR camera.  Fancy way for saying that it's not just a point-and-click camera.  I've really enjoyed learning how to use it over the last few months.  It takes great quality pictures but there is a lot I still have left to learn.  Gemma has been a great test subject.  Recently we took her one month pictures.  Each month I'll take new pictures so we can see  how she grows over the course of her first year.

Here are a few of my favorites...

Admittedly these were taken from my phone using Instagram instead of my Canon.  I thought they were really cute, though.

It's hard to believe that this little girl is growing up so quickly.  It seems like we were just in the hospital yesterday.  Today marks 7 weeks since she came into the world.  Everyday I see her growing and changing.  Lately she has started to smile more and more and it absolutely melts my heart every time.  Gemma has been such a well-tempered baby, too.  She's been sleeping well and has been doing great on her daily schedule.  We are so blessed in so many ways with this little angel.  I wish she could stay little for a bit longer so we could enjoy these moments more, but watching her grow up and experience new things will be equally as fun.

Gemma's First Bath

Technically this wasn't her first bath, since she got a sponge bath while we were in the hospital.  Nonetheless, this was our first time as new parents giving Gemma a bath at home.  And, let me tell you, she absolutely loved it!!
 

She was so calm and happy just sitting in the warm water.

 

We got a little squirt bottle to help wash her off.  This was her favorite part.

A long, long, long awaited update!

Ok, so it's been quite a while since we updated our blog and, as many of you know, a lot has transpired with our family.  On May 11th at 6:33 PM we welcomed Gemma Lyne Smith into the world.

Jody did an amazing job throughout the labor.  When she went into the hospital at 9 AM she was already dilated to 4 cm.  Jody giving the thumbs up to let the games begin...

After laboring for about 6 hours on her own she finally asked for the epidural and it was pretty smooth sailing from there.  She pushed for an hour and was able to enjoy a peaceful moment with her new daughter...

Gemma opened her eyes pretty much from the moment she came out.  This little angel has just melted my heart.

She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

I just love her little feet!

The nurses at the Morristown hospital were awesome!!  The nursery made her this cute little hat.

After two days in the hospital we were ready to come home.  Gemma was pretty happy to see her new home, too.

After 7 years of trying to get pregnant Jody and I cannot fully express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the blessing of this sweet child.  I have such a strong testimony that He hears and answers all of our prayers accordingly.  He does so on his schedule and not our's, and the last 7 years have taught us the lesson of patience.  Many times our patience felt like it was running on empty, but the reward was so sweet!

She's now 3 weeks old - I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone by - and she is doing great.  She's been sleeping on a really consistent schedule at night and is just the most pleasant, sweet baby.