World View

A view to those out in the world into our life.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Worth the Wait

 

Her shirt says it all. Cindy and I feel so blessed to have Oaklee in our lives. She is truly a heritage from the Lord and it is our prayer that she will truly be an "oak of righteousness". We have been given this gift from the Lord that we were not seeking nor asking for at the time, but we can't imagine life without her. I am so glad we did not wait any longer. I say this for all of our married friends out there who are thinking about waiting a "few more years". Psalm 127:3 says "Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from Him". Who doesn't want a reward from Him? It is worth it, and this is only the beginning.
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Guess Who?

 

So I come home from lunch yesterday to find the above photo. Who do you think was the guilty party? Suzie, the 2 year old mom, or Cinco, her 5 month old pup? I don't know for sure, but I have a real good guess. I hope they stay warm at night because the pillow is in the Sevier County Landfill by now.
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Sunday, October 28, 2007

Top Secret Recipes

Disclaimer: This is a non Oaklee blog.

For those of you who don't know this, I LOVE to cook. Yeah, this is Jason and not Cindy. What brings up this post is I made some marinara sauce that is a copy of Pizza Hut's sauce found here. Anyway, there is a neat website called Top Secret Recipes that has recipes from some of your favorite eating establishments. I have not looked at it in a while, but thought about it after making the sauce tonight and found they have added a LOT of recipes. Some that I am going to try soon:
- Sonic Cherry Limeade
-Starbuck's Frappuccino (Bottled Version)
-Outback Steakhouse Ceasar Dressing and Bread
Some recipes are free and others you can buy for 79 cents. Might be easier to just by the book. I suggest you Google search a restaurant if you like what they have and you just might find it online.

The Pizza Hut sauce is AWESOME and very very accurate.

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

is that a smile?

 


we took this today, and think we got a smile that was not caused by gas. :-) just thought it was too cute not to post.
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Friday, October 26, 2007

our philosopher

 


here she is pondering the meaning of life... or maybe just when her next meal was going to be. it was a good close-up of her, even though her pretty blue eyes are closed. i still don't think we've gotten a pic of her that just really captures 'her', so i'll work on it and will post it as soon as we do.
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our yawner

 


i just liked this pic. it was taken on saturday on our front porch swing. oaklee's yawns are so cute. she has a LOT of them right now. she has gotten into a pretty wonderful sleeping/ feeding routine. she's going around 4-5 hrs in between feedings, which is giving me around 3-4 hrs. of sleep at night at a time. woohoo! i'm feeling much more rested & sane than i was last week. she is not fussy at all, either. only when she's hungry (aren't we all fussy when we're hungry?) i really can't imagine life without her now. she is a good & perfect gift.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

day 8

 


i took this pic today. the red dots on her face are not zits, i promise, but rather, evidence of an evil mosquito that was in our house last night. i was so mad at 'him' when i saw her sweet little face covered in red dots this morning. they're not bothering her, though. she's still the cutest baby we've ever beheld. :-) more pics to come.
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Friends of Faith

One of Cindy's friends and her husband have an amazing faith journey they are on right now. If you want to be encouraged, read their blog. You might find yourself participating in the journey.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

sleeping in heavenly peace

 


Jason & I love to watch her sleep. She is the picture of peace.
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latest pic



Things are getting better each day with adjusting to having miss Oaklee with us. I (cindy) slept almost 5 hours last night! (not consecutively, of course) She is feeding really well, which helps to keep her satisfied longer...sometimes. She really likes to eat, though. We've had many visitors over the past few days, mostly family. We appreciate everyone loving on her so much. I need to go take a nap, but wanted to post a few more pics before I did. She is such a joy.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Family Fun

 

 

 

 



Here are some photos from today with Oaklee and her uncle Lee, aunt Sonya, and cousin Cole. And of course, her two abuelas.
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Friday, October 19, 2007

We Have Poop!

I never thought I would be so excited about seeing a poopy diaper but I am. The kid had not had a dirty diaper since early Wednesday morning and I was starting to get concerned. My concerns are now over. I will withhold the photos since it is supper time. Oh, and Cindy's milk has come in.

Las Bisabuelas

 

 
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The above photos are Oaklee with her great grandmothers.

She did well during the day yesterday but was once again up most of the night last night. Cindy was up feeding her about every hour, maybe an indication that her milk is about to come in? We were both exhausted last night and went to bed at 8:30. I slept until about 2 and have been up mostly since then. We are going to have to work on her schedule. The ladies from our church have organized a few meals for us which is much appreciated. So far we have had Mexican Casserole (Mamaw and Papaw), General Tsao's Chicken (Ryan and Rachel), and Meat loaf with fixen's (Caroleen). Thanks for the meals. They have been wonderful and very helpful.

In other news, it is very cold outside this morning - 46 degrees, with a high today of 84. These make the perfect combination to produce vibrant fall colors...if the nights will stay cool and the days stay warm. Here is a good article explaining the process.
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Thursday, October 18, 2007

Thank you

hello dear friends & family! i am alive & well, despite my lack of communication w/ everyone. i'm thankful that jason is such a good communicator & has taken the time to post pics & include everyone in the process. all i wanted to say is thank you to everyone who's made comments, called, emailed, etc. it meant the world to me to know that there are people who are thinking of us & really share our joy. i was in tears monday night after oaklee got here when jason was reading to me all the comments people had made on the blog. that really touched me. :-) it's been an overwhelming couple of days, as you can imagine. hormones are slightly out of whack, body is exhausted & sore, emotions are all over the place, but i've never felt such joy. deep down joy that grows by the day. when i closed my eyes last night to attempt to sleep, all i could see was her sweet face, and it just flooded my heart with joy. God is really amazing in how He created us to have kids. like, REALLY amazing. i can see now why He wants us to call Him 'Father', b/c the love of a parent for their child is unspeakable. truly no words can explain what it feels like. all you want is their best. you don't want them to cry, you don't want them to be in pain, you just want their best, and you want to see that look of sheer peace on their face when they are content. so i've now got a whole new understanding of the love of my Father, and i know this is just the beginning...

thanks again for all of your comments & encouragement. it has meant SOOOOO much to me. i still feel connected to the outside world even though i haven't been outside yet. if anyone wants to call my cell phone, i think i'm ready to have some real conversations. :-) i can't wait to show her off to all of you. she's awesome. more pics to come...

much love,
cindy

Finally asleep

Somebody in the nursery forgot to tell Oaklee that she is supposed to sleep from midnight to 7am, not want to be fed, held, and of all things she is not supposed to cry during those hours. Well, she did. Cindy was a trooper and stayed up most of the night. I did help when I could, but since I can't produce milk I was limited in what I could do. Cindy and Oaklee are both now asleep.

For all of you moms who have breast fed, how many dirty diapers should we expect in the first few days. So far she has just had one a day and seems to be feeding well. Cindy's milk has not come down yet, but she is getting colostrum. Her little tummy if full of gas so we got the infant simethicone (Mylanta) this morning. I don't know if it was the tight swaddle, the swing, the simethicone, or all but she is asleep. Thanks for any advice you mom's (or dads) can offer.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

We're Home

 


We made it home about 11 am. Oaklee did amazing on the ride home as she slept the whole way. We just ate some lunch and are about to crash. We were up with her from about 3-6 this morning, but really enjoyed the time.

We R Going Home!

Yeah.

Early Bird

Well, have been up since 3 am feeding, burping, rocking, and changing diapers. She may have some hobbit in her because she just had 2nd breakfast since 3am. She is starting to get the breast feeding thing down and feedings are going better. Praise God. We are so thankful for all of the prayers and advice and comments. It is funny how, at least now, being up at 3 am is not that bad. We have a saying at church to "suffer well" and that is something Cindy and I want to keep in mind when we have to get up in the middle of the night to change a diaper or feed.

We hopefully will be going home later this morning. Once she finishes feeding, hopefully will get a little more sleep. I feel like I am a medical resident on call once again having to get up in the middle of the night, except I am getting a LOT more sleep than most medical residents do.

And we agree, she is precious, beautiful, lovely and all the other adjectives so many of you have used. She is truly a blessing/gift/heritage from the Lord.

Psalm 127:3
" 3-5 Don't you see that children are God's best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior's fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don't stand a chance against you;
you'll sweep them right off your doorstep" (The Message)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Day 2 Photos

 

 

 


So we are going to stay another night. Cindy's blood count has dropped, as expected, but it was already slightly low coming in so her doctor wants to watch her overnight. We should be going home tomorrow morning. Oaklee and mom are doing great. Cindy is getting her appetite back but is still sore. We are going to try to walk some this evening. Oaklee is still figuring out how to eat. More photos to come.
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God's Promise

 


This was taken out of the waiting room window about the time Oaklee was born. My dad was driving to the hospital and said it looked like it was right over the hospital.

Cindy and Oaklee are both trying to sleep right now. Oaklee is still trying to learn to breast feed. We will probably be going home this evening if all goes well this afternoon.
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Oaklee with Ribbon

 


This was Oaklee early this morning after she had been cleaned up. They had put a ribbon in her hair. She was still sleeping around 7 am and we are about to go get her from the nursery. More pics to come after we get her later this morning. Once again, we feel so loved by all the emails and comments.
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First Diaper

So we are up at about 230 and have been for about an hour. Cindy is trying to breast feed, which has been so so. She does not seem to be latching on well yet. I get the honors of changing the first diaper. I have had a good deal of experience from my med school days during the pediatrics nursery rotation and from the nursery during residency. We had a rule in the hospital nursery that if you find a dirty diaper, you get to clean it. I think all the nurses new we would be coming in around 7 and left the diapers for us. All that to say I can handle my own when it comes to diapers.

So, any breast feeding tips? You can email Cindy if you don't feel like leaving a comment on the blog. Her address is firstnamelastname@gmail.com (no spaces, no dots, no_) between Cindy and Lofton.

OK, back to sleep. Oh, by the way, the nurses put a cute bow in her hair and had her all cleaned up. I will post more pics when it is daylight.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Pictures

We have put up photos in our Picasa Web Album which you can link to here or click on the photo of Oaklee to the right.

Thank all of you for your prayers and words of encouragement. We have been blessed by your comments and it has been a joy for Cindy to hear your words of encouragement.

We will be posting most of our photos in the Web Album in the future.

Jason and Cindy and Oaklee

Oaklee Kimberling Lofton


Isaiah 61:3
" They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor"

She is here. Born at 6:39 pm weighing in at 7lbs 11.8 oz and measuring 20 inches. Mom and baby are doing good.

The name Oaklee is derived from the above verse. We spelled it different than the sunglasses because we didn't want people to think of the sunglasses when they saw her name.

Kimberling was her mother's maiden name but her favorite grandmother's last name. Granny passed away two years ago.

We appreciate your prayers and will continue to update with photos.

Your Prayers are working

We are now at about 9cm, 100% effaced, and at "Zero Station". She should be pushing soon!!

Jules Photo Update


Cindy's mom wanted "her" to born over Arkansas soil. Since we are on the Texas side of the line, she came up with the idea above. It is now sitting under the labor bed so "she" will be Officially born over Arkansas soil.



OK, I was wanting to do this earlier and got an emphatic "no", but the epidural has kicked in and she relented. So Jules, this ones for you.

She is about 5cm now. Still a ways to go, so pray for a speeding up of the cervical dilation. I am having to caution myself not to say her name, so I am anxious for her to hurry up so I don't have to worry about slipping. My father tried to slip one in by asking Cindy what her name is, hoping the epidural would cause her to slip. But she was strong and did not. So, still waiting.

Epidural "Heaven":

Another update from the "play-by-play":
Cindy was checked around 2:30 and she was "3-4" with a 10 being fully dilated. Her contractions were getting pretty strong and she was getting tired (only 2 hours sleep last night) so she decided to get an epidural. It is now 4 pm and she is much more comfortable. She has actually been able to nap a little. She has had 2 orange popsicles but is already thinking and asking about what/when she can eat after the baby comes. I asked her to give me an adjective to describe the epidural and she said "heaven".

Thanks to everyone who has made comments. I am setting here at the bedside reading them to her which she is very much enjoying. Keep them coming. Thanks for all the prayers. Keep them coming as well.

That is all for now.

In Labor

We are still in labor. Cindy's contractions are getting stronger. The doctor broke her water around noon. She was still not dilated a lot, so you can be praying her cervix would dilate quickly and we would have a baby soon. She is doing well. Thanks for your prayers.

D-Day +5...at the hospital

So we are here in Labor and Delivery (L&D). They have wireless internet in the room, so I will be able to update from the room...sweet. Cindy doesn't want me updating with photos at the moment, I'll just wait until she doesn't care later on. So far, we have a good nurse, Pitocin is going, and we are now just waiting. We had a really good breakfast at Cracker Barrel but Cindy says it has already worn off and she is hungry. She gets ice chips and Popsicle's until the baby comes. Please be praying that her body would relax and that there be no spirit of fear or anxiety upon her. We will reveal "her" name when she is born along with pictures. More to come later.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

D-Day + 4...but counting down the hours

well, folks, no little lofton yet. we go in tomorrow morning at 9 to texarkana to induce, so we'll let you know when she makes her grand entrance. i (cindy) am doing well tonight. still hoping i'll go into labor on my own, but i've had such a peace all week about His timing in all of it. we've prayed a lot over the details of all this, and He told me a few days ago that He's heard every prayer & is working to answer them in His time & in His ways, so my job is to trust Him & be patient. it has been such a good pregnancy, at least the second half has. (from an attitude standpoint) i have no complaints physically, either. i haven't felt 'heavy' or ugly or miserable or anything like that. plus i've gotten more massages from my husband than ever before (big perk), and i've had the best excuse to sleep late, take naps and eat tacos carne asada as much as i want! it has been such a good process for me to go through, as i've had to come face to face with lies i'd been believing from the enemy. my heart is anchored in so much more Truth now than it was 9 months ago, praise God. i am so confident in the fact that He will give me ALL i need for life & godliness, as He promises, and that includes this new journey of being a parent. one day at a time. we have nothing to fear when we really know who our Father is. nothing at all. His peace came over me today like a warm blanket, so thank you to all who have been praying for that. it made a difference. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, for he trusts in you...isaiah 26:3 i love that verse. anyway, time now to rest. thank you for all the support, phone calls, prayers, gifts & encouragement! we are so grateful to have such awesome friends & family. we'll let you know as soon as she's here. :-) buenas noches!

here are a few pics of the nursery for those who care. it's not quite done, but you can get the idea. i love it. the walls are peach, of course (but you can't tell from these pics) my mom made the bedding, jason's mom & i made the curtains (which will be roman shades once we find brown ribbon), all the furniture was either consignment, given to us, or made for us. (jason's dad built the bookcase)

Saturday, October 13, 2007

D-Day +3...

...and still no baby...yet. We still have about 7 hours and 49 minutes left in the day. Cindy has still not changed (yeah, one of the perks about being a doctor is I can check her to see if she is dilated).

I spent some very peaceful hours in the woods this morning. I saw 1 hog, 3 deer, and a bunch of squirrels. I wish I could have stayed out there all day, but I needed to be here just in case.

So, maybe the Hogs game will be exciting and Cindy will go into labor. Then we would have to consider naming her Auburn. But not really.

No one has officially guessed the name yet. Keep trying. But we admit, we purposefully made it hard. We will let the blog world know as soon as she comes.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Arkansas vs Auburn Tickets

If anyone needs tickets to the game, my father and mother in-law have decided to forgo going to the Auburn game in case our child is born on Saturday. That means there are 2 50 yard line tickets for sale at face value!

I was looking at a highlight from last years game where Reggie Fish ran the trick play and found the one below. I have never seen it before but think it is pretty clever.

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Last Run

 

 

 

 


Here are some pictures from our trip to DeQueen lake yesterday evening. Yes, it is mid October and we are still able to get in the water. It was a beautiful evening on the water with Ryan and Rachel, Chad, Luke,Jordan, and Cindy and myself. We were hoping the bouncing action of the boat on the water might help our child decide to be born, but she just isn't ready yet. Cindy thinks it is because "she" is enjoying all the tacos and chocolate cake Cindy has been eating. So, still no baby yet.
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Thursday, October 11, 2007

D-Day +1

We are still waiting patiently on "her" arrival. We are really having a hard time not saying her name...so quit trying to trick us like some of you have. Ha.

The weather is beautiful here right now. Highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's.
We are actually going to the lake this afternoon with our friends Ryan and Rachel and get one last ride in...I am at least. Maybe being on the boat will bring on the baby.

One of Cindy's friends is trying to adopt a child from Guatemala. Please take a look at their story and pray for their situation.

So, we wait patiently all the while praising God for his goodness and provision.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

"D" Day

Today is "D" Day, or the day "she" is due. Cindy has had a "few" contractions this week but nothing major. We are really excited and anticipating her arrival. We are trusting in God for His perfect timing. We would rather it be sooner than later, but are content with waiting until Monday if that is what happens. It is getting harder and harder not to say her name around anyone because we talk about her and pray for her to each other. Thanks for all your prayers.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Happy Birthday Belle



On October 6th:
-1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day is skipped in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
-1884 - The Naval War College of the United States Navy was founded in Newport, Rhode Island.
-1889 - Thomas Edison shows his first motion picture.
-1922 - The great powers of the first world war withdraw from Istanbul
-1927 - Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent talking movie.
-1945 - Baseball: Billy Sianis and his pet billy goat are ejected from Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series (see Curse of the Billy Goat).
-1966 - LSD is declared illegal in the United States.
-1976 - New Premier Hua Guofeng orders the arrest of the Gang of Four and associates and ends the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China.
-1987 - Fiji becomes a republic.

CINDY was born! Happy 27th birthday!

(Still no baby. She is starting to have a few more contractions. She will be 40 weeks on Wednesday. Pray that little ________ will come this week!)

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Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Update

We saw the OB doctor yesterday and still no change...Cindy is at 1cm and her cervix has effaced (thinned) a little more. The due date is Oct. 10 which is approaching fast. We have the nursery ready and we are ready to accept "her" into this world. We will give you the name as soon as she is born.