Oh there you are!

So if you have been keeping up with us you probably know that the last few weeks have been quite eventful in the Arp house. Ainsley was finally born on July 9th, 2010. She was really comfy in there so on Thursday July 8th we went in to be induced. Everything was pretty uneventful for the first 12 hours of labor. We got there at 7pm and they gave me a little medicine to start induction. At about 2am things really seemed to be picking up. I was having contractions about every 1 to 2 minutes and they were lasting almost a minute. However, when the doctor came in to check and see how much progress we were making at 7am he took one look at me and knew something just wasn't right because Ainsley was still really high. When he checked I was still only 2cm dilated and her head wasn't even engaged. So in the midst of hard contractions he sent me for an ultrasound and they found out that her head was way too big! 39.5cm to be exact which apparently is very large by baby standards. So after that they started talking about a c-section. I was pretty bummed because I had "planned" (as much as anyone can actually plan anything) to go completely natural (i.e. no drugs). But once the doctor explained how not only I could be compromised, but because of how large her head was Ainsley could be compromised too (b/c of possible brain swelling) the c-section was the obvious choice. So at 10:30 we headed into the O.R, and at 11:07am Ainsley opened her eyes to the world for the first time. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. The first time she cried Andrew turned to me and said "she's here! we did it!" Years, literally years have lead up to this moment. The most amazing thing however, was that when I first saw Ainsley and heard her cry I felt like "who is this stranger?" it was the same feeling, the same exact feeling I had when I walked into the room to get Jonas. The feeling that this new little stranger was just the person I had been looking for. It was beyond words. Since then our lives have changed dramatically. Having 2 kids is double the blessing, and double the work. We are still learning how this family of four is going to work. Jonas LOVES Ainsley. I mean loves her, almost too much:) He always wants to give her her paci and throw her diapers away. He has been such a helper and such a protector. Andrew and I have been really busy with visits from family and friends. Andrew even had to leave us all last week to speak at camp. So if you were thinking that now we would have to slow down...wrong, its just not the Arp way. My recovery has gone great. I am 3wks out now and feeling pretty good, just a little tired still. Ainsley is a great baby. We have figured out that if we wake her up at 9pm and keep her up until 11 or 12 she will sleep 5-6hrs in one stretch! She is really happy too...she only cries if she needs something and she LOVES to be cuddled. So while our world has changed a lot in the last 3wks we wouldn't have it any other way! We have loved all the meals that all our church family has brought us and we have really loved all the visitors from Noni, Pop, Auntie Alecia, Luke, Gran-Gran, Pop-Pop, MeMe, Pa, Auntie Alyssa, Heather, Lilly, and Cindy! This has been an amazing time of miracles in our life and we love being able to share it with everyone. Oh and if you are wondering what is going on with the adoption? yes we are still planning to adopt...we have to update our homestudy since we have another little person living in our house, and then we will be "waiting" again. We ask that as you pray for our growing family you continue to pray for our child that's out there somewhere! We love you all and cant wait until each and everyone of you can hold our second little miracle in your hands....wow 2 miracles...we are so blessed!