Let's go back a few months ~ Hello from the Dackiewicz'

So where should I begin....

Daddy and I were driving to work together as we always do. We were on the freeway going about 75 MPH and I turned to Daddy and I said, "I don't want you to be alarmed but I think I'm pregnant." His initial reaction was, "You're telling me this now, while I'm operating a vehicle at a high rate of speed???" :) He was shocked, as was I but I had the previous day to digest it. We had such an array of emotions. We were surprised, scared, but mostly excited. We had no idea then that you would be the best thing that ever happened to us.

Two of about 6 pregnancy tests. It's positive for sure!

A couple of weeks later, we went to the doctor for the very first time. They confirmed you were growing in my tummy. My due date was originally November 20th and then got moved to November 25th after my first sonogram. You had barely been in my tummy for 7 weeks and already your heartbeat was strong and steady. Daddy and I were even more excited when we saw that.

This is you! Can you believe it?!?

Just shy of 12 weeks, we got another glimpse of you!

At 17 weeks, we got to find out if you were a boy or a girl! We could hardly wait. Grandma, Uncle Ben, Uncle Jared and Aunt Vanessa thought you were going to be a boy. Grammy wanted you to be a girl but she thought you were going to be a boy. Daddy and I thought you were going to be a girl. When the person that was doing the sonogram saw that you were a girl, we had her write it down and put it in an envelope but she didn't tell us and we didn't peek. We took the envelop to a friend who made this awesome cake:

We had Grandma, Grammy and Pop Pop, Uncle Jared, Uncle Ben, Aunt Vanessa, Cousin Elijah, my good friend Chastity and Barton and Breanna Bloomquist over and we all found out together when Daddy and I cut the cake. It was awesome!!

Here is the video of us cutting the cake. Grammy is not going to be happy that we're showing you this because she was so embarrassed. She was just so surprised, she couldn't hold back her excitement!

Oh yeah, here's the sonogram picture...

From the time we found out you were a girl, I started planning your nursery, shopping for cute little girl clothes and making fabulous headbands :) Daddy and I both love baby owls so we decided to make your nursery owl themed. This is a picture of Daddy admiring his hard work after putting this decal on the wall in your room.

Here's your nursery after it's all finished!

This is your Mama, 26 weeks pregnant with you!

[PS- Check out that beautiful grass and garden. That's all Daddy!]

We got to see you one more time before you were born. You were very stubborn! You had your face dug into me so that we couldn't get a good look at your face. Each appointment usually only took about 20-30 minutes. This time it took the person about an hour to get this picture. They had to roll me on both of my sides and tilt me back so that my feet were up in the air. We knew right then and there, you were going to be a tough cookie :)

You loved to move around in my tummy at night when I was trying to go to sleep. Although sometimes it made it tough to sleep, I didn't mind at all. This video shows you dancing around in there ;)

A couple pictures of Mama and Daddy- 35 weeks :)

Here's you and I shortly before you were born! I still can't believe you were squished inside my tummy.

Flash forward to November 24th, 2012. Mama was really cranky. Just ask Daddy! I was walking like crazy, trying to make you come out. I had gone to the shopping outlets in Santa Fe with Grammy and we walked around a lot. There's one thing you'll come to learn about your Mama. I She likes to shop! That day, I didn't do much shopping though, just walking. When I got home, I wasn't feeling too well. I just laid around. I precisely remember that I was watching a college football game, USC vs. Notre Dame. There's another thing you'll come to know about your Mama. She likes college football. We're Penn State fans. Anyways, at about 11 pm, Daddy and I decided that we would try to go to sleep but my back was really hurting so I went and slept on the couch. At about 3 am, I woke up and my water broke. I went in and told Daddy that I thought it was time. He was half asleep and replied, "Are you sure?" I said YES!!!! I proceeded to take a shower and got ready to go to the hospital. We got to the hospital and all checked in by about 5am. It was a very long day. You just weren't sure that you wanted to come out! Grandma and Grammy and Daddy of course were all in the delivery room when you were born. You finally decided to come out at 7:06 pm on November 25th at Rust Medical Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. You were born on your due date! Statistics show that only about 4-5% of babies are born on their due dates. I hope that this is a sign that you're always going to be on time!

Here is a picture of you with the midwife and nurses. The primary nurse that took care of me all day while I was in labor is the one in the blue and her name was Emily too, but with a Y. They were all so nice.

The nurse came and got you from my room when you were about 6 hours old and gave you a sponge bath. You came back to me with these pretty little yellow bows in your hair. Daddy and I were both so happy that you had a little hair because we were both bald when we were born. In fact, Mama was bald until she was almost 2 years old! Grammy had to start scrubbing my head with the brush they gave her at the hospital and then my hair started to grow. I don't think you're going to have that problem ;)

Here are some more pictures from the day and days right after you were born.

Here you are, getting ready to leave the hospital!

The night we got you home, you only slept for about 2 hours total. You just cried and cried and cried. Daddy and I felt so helpless. On top of feeling helpless, we were so tired that we could barely keep our eyes open. Things slowly got better though. You started sleeping for 2 hours straight, then 3, then 4 and by about four weeks old, you were sleeping 5-7 hours straight. You are such an amazing baby!

On the day you were born:

President of the United States: Barack Obama

Average price of a gallon of gas: $3.43

#1 song on Billboard Hot 100: One More Night by Maroon 5

Temp: High- 57/Low- 24

Trending on YouTube:

Kinda silly huh?

This the the house we live in. Daddy takes care of the yard and everything outside and I handle inside. It's winter now so the yard isn't too pretty but once it starts to warm up, you and Daddy will be out there working away. One day this is where you'll be helping me cook and clean and we'll have sleepovers and pillow fights : )