Day by Day

So today is Kiah's 5 week benchmark and as I sit here watching her sleeping in her swing I find myself already joining the ranks of countless parents who have gone before me in saying, "Our little girl is growing up." Already she can hold her head up all by herself, even if it's only for 30 seconds, whereas she came to us completely floppy and unable to control her movements. Already she is starting to put herself to sleep. Already she is looking intently in our eyes and following our voices with her gaze. Already she is 8lbs., 4oz., so says the scale yesterday. Already she is starting to smile at grandma, at the waitress, really seeing people and responding to them. Yes, she is still so small and helpless and fragile, but already she is a little person. And, as so many people told me it would, it is going by so fast. In an attempt to cherish the moments, here are some more pics of the last few weeks.


She and Daddy are having a heart-to-heart.


Looking right at the camera, or maybe just at Mommy...


She's grabbing Ian's neck for safety!


After eating a good meal, she passed out.


So grown up and thoughtful...


Still Momma's little girl!


Kiah and Portia are getting aquainted.


Ian is helping her a bit, but that is her thumb in her mouth. Maybe the pacifier's days are numbered.

3 weeks in...

Well we now have 3+ weeks under our belts and I feel a huge sense of relief. We made it this far! The first 3 weeks were hard, so much harder than I thought they would be. But just as all of the wise sages who have gone before us promised, it does get better. Now everyday seems just a little easier than the last, even with the ups and downs of one bad night or hard feeding. All that said, I think we are both keenly aware of the fact that this is truly the hardest thing we'll ever do. And a huge opportunity to grow in grace!
The best part is that just when I feel like I can't do "blank" anymore (e.g.-get up in the middle of the night, calm her crying, etc.) I look down at her and my heart just melts. She is truly an incredible little person, and the awe and beauty of that overwhelms me. Here are some of her latest moments.


Daddy and Kiah taking a nap while Mommy gets a shower!


Milk coma...


Asleep between her loving parents =)


Contemplating the issues of the world with Grandpa


Daddy loves to calm her down

The Cousins Meet At Last

The joke in the Richter family is that Ian and I have patterned our life trajectory after his brother Karl and wife Jayla. Karl and Jayla got engaged a month before we did, were married 3 months ahead of us, and had their first baby girl just about 6 months before we had Kiah. Because of Jayla's job, that Richter clan migrated out to Arizona just before Kiah's birth. But this last week, Karl and Jayla and Kayla came out for a visit and the cousins got to meet at last. She's still waiting to meet her cronies in Utah, but Kiah now has her first extended-family visit under her belt.


Ian was a little freaked out by a baby that weighs over 13 pounds after holding our little 6 pounder. It was really pretty funny!



Kiah's getting to know her Aunt Jayla


The goofy Richter boys with their little girls.


I'm not sure Kayla knew what to do with a tiny baby


Grandma and Kiah are sharing a calm moment...

Welcome Kiah Mary

Here we are, just minutes after Kiah came whooshing out of my abdomen. I'd say we all look pretty good after 30 hours of labor and a c-section!


One of Kiah's first pictures--she's just 23 minutes old here.



















Mommy finally got to hold Kiah for a little while!


Daddy is in love already. Thanks to my c-section, Ian got to be the main one to hold, change, comfort, and love on our new baby girl. An interesting opportunity for early daddy-daughter bonding.


Look at those eyes. They were midnight blue, almost steely when born. We'll see what they become, but they are so gorgeous and intense right now.

The Final Days...

My wonderful friend Kate suggested that we get some final pregnancy shots before the baby arrived. As per her suggestion, we borrowed our friends' awesome camera and headed out to one of our beautiful forest preserves to take some pics.

Growing through the waiting days

Waiting... and trusting... seem to be our keywords these days. Waiting for our beautiful little baby, waiting while we look for a new job, waiting to get the house situated and settled, waiting, waiting. Some of the waiting is fun. Getting to dream about our baby and plan for what we can ahead of time. Some of it is a little harder, like drudging through job applications and wading through random household items out of place and out of sorts. But through it all, we're trying to trust. God's been so faithful in the past. Why is it so easy to forget that? So we take each day, one at a time, and try to trust in this moment, and the next. Waiting days... not always fun, but part of the journey. Some of what waiting looks like is in the pics below.

Why I'm new around here

Blogging is something I've honestly never really understood. I thought it was mostly for aspiring writers and/or those that have a lot of people interested in what they're up to.... As you will see if you read on, I am no aspiring writer and although I have many wonderful friends, I cannot presume to fit into the latter category either. However, it is that which is growing inside of me that has inspired me to create this space. First of all, because many of said wonderful friends live far away, and I want to share this crazy thing called pregnancy with them. And secondly, because I have recently been persuaded that some amount of memoir-ish writing is a good thing. So for the petite Richter forming inside I hope this will some day be of interest.