Has it seriously been 2 weeks?...

Wow. I can't believe that we have a 2 week old perfect little peanut already. Time has flown by but yet it has gone so slowly over the last 14 days. These have, hands down, been the best 14 days of our lives and we wouldn't change them in for the world. Honig and I love our little Kara more than we thought our hearts could handle and the love was instantaneous from the second we saw her. She is perfect in every way and she already cracks us up and makes us cry at the same time.

We have been home since the 7th and I apologize for the lack of posts or updates but we've had company here with us and I didn't want to spend a lot of time on the computer and I wanted to spend time with Kara. She is napping right now next to me and I finally had to put her down because I figured I needed both hands to type.

Honig and I want to thank everyone from the depth of our souls for all the care, concern, prayers, and fasting that took place for our little Kara. She made drastic improvements right after everyone fasted and prayed for her and we KNOW Heavenly Father answered all of the many many prayers that were said on her behalf. We saw miracles happen in that NICU. And we want to thank everyone that prayed for the sustaining of Honig and I while in the hospital; we found out we are a lot stronger than we thought we were and that our bodies and minds were capable of handling a lot of stress. Of course there were tears that were shed in our room because one thing after another kept going wrong, but new mommy and daddy adrenaline kept us going. Those 7 days in the NICU are such a blur but yet we can remember everything that went on there. We both slept maybe 3 hours per day there because they kept me on a rigorous feeding schedule and then I had to pump, Honig would clean the bottles, I'd go potty, make sure to drink enough, find something to eat, and the nurses came in at least once an hour to check on Kara and my adrenaline just kept pumping and my brain wouldn't shut off to let me go to sleep because I knew I had to feed her again in less than an hour so I just stayed up. It's easier said than done, sleeping in a NICU. Honig was a PHENOMENAL support from the second my water broke until we walked out of Genesis as a family of 3 a week ago, and of course he still is an amazing support to Kara and I. I am amazed at how much dedication he has as a father and husband, and my heart wants to burst with love and appreciation for him.

Thank you everyone that visited and that called and texted. Sorry we couldn't return everyone's phone calls; those were busy times and we were deliriously tired sometimes. We feel so loved by so many I can't quite find the words I want to express our gratitude. Thank you, just thank you.

Life at home is wonderful and it isn't hard like so many people say it is. We think that's because we had such a baptism by fire experience in the NICU so life here in the Sheldon household is so easygoing and quiet and we can hold Kara all we want and she doesn't have to be stuck and poked and prodded several times a day, which I know she appreciates. She still has her days and nights mixed up but that's ok. We'll fix that over time. She is quite the master of making faces and she loves to "sing" while sleeping. It's hilarious. She makes us laugh all the time, and we're pretty sure she's trying to set a record for going through the most diapers in one day. She has a talent for having a poopy diaper and then as soon as she's changed and has a clean one on, she poops in that one 2 seconds later. She's awesome.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE being parents and it brings us more joy than we ever thought possible. It's so much easier than we thought it would be, and plus we are easygoing people and that transfers over to her and she is such a good baby. It feels so natural and it feels like she's been a part of our family forever.

We are blessed.

Now for the real reason you are stalking our blog.... PICTURES!!!!

Kara laying on Mommy's tummy when she was just 10 hours old.

She likes to lick her collar.

Look at our little chub. She's so gorgeous.
Mommy loving her baby right after she came down to the NICU.


I'm gonna guess she was hungry.



Kara getting her first round of antibiotics.



I love those chubba ckeeks. I could just eat them up.

So sad.

She is DEFINITELY honig's daughter. Just look at that.

Could she look any fatter?

She's the cutest.

Mommy crying because of how much I love her and my heart felt so full.

Mommy and Peanut.

I couldn't stop kissing her and still can't.

She probably burped in my face right after this was taken. She likes to do that to Mommy and Daddy.

I LOVE HER!!!!

Our poor little baby girl had to be under those bili lights for 4 days and we could only hold her when it was time to nurse. That was the hardest part of our whole hospital stay.

Our amazing friend Jessica came with some friends from church and they sang church hymns to Honig and I out in the waiting room. I couldn't stop bawling because the Spirit was so strong and I felt so loved by Heavenly Father which I really needed right at that moment. She brought me a delicious basket of goodies and also this picture of Jesus with the children and we put it in Kara's crib so He could look over her. It was perfect.

Sleeping princess.

I love it when she cries. She has the most beautiful cry I've ever heard.

Daddy sitting vigil by her bedside and rubbing her arm.

Her first bath. She decided she only liked it 50% of the time.

Look at that cute bum sticking up.

Our last day at the hospital. You can see where her leads were.

Rock-a-bye Road. Kara's home for the first 7 days of her life.