Angel Kisses

While pregnant with Mae Kathryn, I took monthly photos of my growing belly from my perspective seeing this might be our last (like 99.9% sure, but you know what happens when you say never)..... I just thought it was a fun way to document my pregnancy.

October, November, December, January & February

March - Clare Irish 5K Race

April - Hawaii 

May - Soccer Mom

June - six days before my little girl was born...a couple last walks in the field.

So when Carrie House captured newborn photos, I knew I wanted one with Mae so I could always remember the view from my perspective....like I did with the belly photos.

Now that Mae is almost nine months old, she loves to move and cuddling is a rarity left for night feedings and naps. Her crawling causes her to often pull her socks off. I only keep trying to put them on her because it's winter. I thought about putting her in tights so she couldn't pull them off, but you'd never notice this little freckle on her right big toe. Most people try to rub it off because it's easily confused as dirt or fuzz. 

After a close friend tried to rub it off, she told me a special freckle like the one on her toe was actually an angel kiss....then she said I'm sure your Aunt Casee wanted you to know she held Mae before you. 

I don't think it's irony she kissed her toe as she looked at her from the same perspective I had during nine months of pregnancy and now each night at bedtime.

So this week, when Facebook's "On This Day" shared this wall post, 

I smiled to think Casee sent Mae with a little message to tell me she knows I have a little girl and that she was able to love on her even before I held her. 

She always did like to have the last word.

Eisenberger Family of Five

Bless her heart, my amazing friend Carrie, dealt with my post pregnancy hormones during our family photos. All I wanted was the two oldest to look at her and smile....of course they're eight, six and all boy. I should know better than to get worked up....but I lost it....so I let go of the dream of having my very own Pinterest family photo shoot....

Note to parents - probably the best way to approach any photo shoot with your children in it, if you're able to, is to walk away and let the photographer do his/her thing rather than yell at your children behind the photographer to look at the gosh darn camera...that totally doesn't work...believe me, I know.

And yet, when I opened my gallery I was soooo happy with the final result - thankfully no signs of smeared mascara or flushed red cheeks...a couple funny out takes...and several photos of my awesome family of five...can't wait to get canvas prints on our walls!

Eisenberger - Family of Five

Pretty sure they're thinking...What the heck do we do with this???

My Grandma Shorty was an amazing quilter. Each Christmas meant new quilts for my cousins and I. She always had her sewing machine on the table working on someone's wedding, baby or anniversary gift. God bless her, she even tried to teach me to sew....we did create a couple projects worthy of bringing to the fair but more importantly, it meant I spent hours at my Grandma's kitchen table hearing her stories.

Shortly before our oldest, Gunner, was born she started showing signs of dementia... an awful disease that steals a persons mind far before their body fails them. She continued to sew and some days were good days. Other days found her talking to imaginary people who had stole her tv remote. 

At my baby shower, we knew the baby was a boy. So everything was either camo or blue. Until I opened my Grandma Shorty's gift. I expected a quilt, but what I didn't expect was a pink quilt and two pink receiving blankets. When I opened them, you could hear everyone whisper...isn't she having a boy? My mom did a great job of nicely whispering to people that Grandma had dementia and may or may not have remembered we told her it was a boy. I thanked my grandma though and stored the quilt in our basement.

Move forward to now. My mom and I were trying to figure out what family heirloom I could incorporate into Mae's newborn photos. With my family's history of quilt making, I wanted a special quilt, not just one picked up at a garage sale. I wanted one with a story.

Then my mom reminded me of the quilt my Grandma Shorty had given me.....eight years earlier... maybe she knew there'd be more to the story.

Mae Kathryn

On June 20, our family welcomed Little Miss Mae Kathryn Eisenberger.

It's been surreal, adding another little one to our family. Obviously, I was well aware I was pregnant for nine plus months, but I completely forgot how much I love the newborn stage. The sounds, the smells (both sweet and sour), the tiny clothes, the responsibility to care for this tiny, helpless, amazing beauty...and how it goes so fast.

Three years ago today, our lives seemed surreal as well. I lost my Aunt Casee to cancer. Since her passing, there have been moments that seemed to crawl by....experiencing life at its messiest. Many times, I would have given anything to listen to her advice and to be with her one more time.  Yet, at the same time it seems like yesterday we were celebrating her. Life goes so fast.

As we share Mae's birth, we are extremely thankful for God's grace, amazing friends and family and the many lessons life teaches us....through the hard times and the amazing times...at the end of the day we know now more than ever that we have each other and we feel blessed to have one more.

I just hope time can crawl by a little right now....I'm loving all the cuddles.

Special thanks to my mom who rocked the labor and delivery photos!

That moment when they hand you your daughter....

I met Dr. Traenkle three days before, when I came in for my weekly check in. 
She filled in for Dr. Moossavi, and though I will always love Dr. Moossavi, 
Dr. Traenkle made labor and delivery just as enjoyable ....the drugs may have also helped! 

Allison was the junior fair queen when I was the senior queen. We were 4-H members together. Her sister and I have been friends for 20 years. Our families have worked together on activities and events in the agriculture community. I took her engagement and wedding photos. We've shared so many memories together...and now Mae's birth. It was comforting having her in the room...talk about how life goes in circles... I'm thankful she is part of our circle. 

The boys were not exactly sure what to think of their baby sister, but they've adjusted well. 
Don't let them fool you, but they're completely in love.

This woman....if I'm even half the mom she is, I'll consider myself a success.