What's New With The Carter Family

SHE'S THREE WEEKS OLD ALREADY ???? CRAZZZZY!!!! It's going by SO fast now.... She's looking more and more like her big brother Jem at the same age, it's uncanny! We're getting close to the 1 month old mark Finley!

I can't believe how fast these first few weeks have gone by.....of course the first week and a half was just a blur, but even since then.... here is a picture of little Finley when she was just 11 days old! How cute is she? Love the little cupcake outfit she's wearing (thanks to her auntie April) and love that she had her eyes open! At that stage she was still sleeping quite a bit, so it was rare to catch her awake and alert :) Then there was this picture, that I took when baby Finley was just 17 days old. What's that... 2 and 1/2 weeks? Look at her chubby little hand...it's slowly getting more and more chunky :) I kiss her hand about a million times a day, as well as her head and cheeks and feet....but those hands are so sweet. I love how her fingers wrap around one of mine, or how she likes to grab my skin as she nurses. She's just the sweetest little thing!

Of course I pictured coming home with baby Finley, being a little tired, and slowly getting into my groove. Caring for a newborn seemed challenging, but I was up for it - and excited to get back into our normal routines. Unfortunately, not everything always goes as planned. That first evening home, I experienced my very first ever panic attack. Since I'd never had one in my life before, I didn't know what it was...I just knew that something was very wrong with me. My chest was very heavy, I was having trouble getting a breath. I could feel shots of adrenalin rushing through my arms and legs. I couldn't keep still, and I felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I woke up Brandon and told him that he had to take me to the doctors (and at that time of night, the E.R was all that was available) because something was seriously WRONG. Long story short, after being treated by an emergency room physician, I was diagnosed with Post-Partum Anxiety. Who knew that even existed? Certain...

We le ft the house at 5am on January 3rd to head to the hospital for our planned c-section check in. I got set up in the pre-op room, then with 15 minutes to go, Jem met up with his Aunt Sarah in the waiting room....and while he waited...for what seemed like forever.... ...our baby girl was born! A big thank you to my OB, Dr Joshua Nathan, who brought little Finley Ella Carter into this world safe and sound. At a whopping 8lbs 10oz I might add! Look at her rolls of fat, she's like the Michelin Tire baby! I was very excited to meet and hold her.....which I got to do right after she was born, and then again later in the recovery room. And yes, I am actually smiling! Not just on the inside (as the meds I was on post-op with Jem made me feel like I **was** smiling when in fact I wasn't LOL). Here's little Finley, just a few hours old, meeting everyone for the very first time! And first up, is Big Brother Jem! She looks a lot like her brother did when he was a newborn...and just...

I love this time of the year! I always look forward to attending Jem's school Christmas concert, and this year we added a Piano Recital to the mix! Here is a collage of pictures from the two events.... I even managed to take a short video of Jem playing his two songs at the Piano Recital....Click on the video below... And another video montage of Jem at his Christmas Concert...Click on the video below...

I had the most amazing time at my baby shower :) Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came....I love you guys, and it meant the world to me to have my closest friends and family there to celebrate the occassion with me! A very special thank you to my BFF April for hosting it -- you put in an enormous amount of time & effort to make the day very special! I love you for it! Thank you also to Heidi for snapping some pics - I'm sure it's the last thing you want to be doing when you're not working, but I'm ever so thankful to have some photographs to remember the day!

There is someone that is very special to me - her name is Jaymie . She is my cousin Bill's oldest daughter, and lives in Australia. When she was younger, and before I moved to the US to marry Brandon, I used to love spending time with her. She was such a smart little girl - full of spunk and love. She would come over to visit my grandpa with her family, and always end up in my room, at my desk, drawing. There's always been a very special place in my heart for Jay Jay...and there still is. It's very odd to me that almost 13 years have gone past since I left Australia. In that time, I've managed to go back and visit a couple of times...and have even had Jaymie come up here for the birth of Jem (which meant so much to me to have her share that with us). Through it all, I still can't help but remember her as she was when I left - 5 years old, adorable as heck, and my special little friend. Yesterday she celebrated her 18th birthday. So bizzare! How can she be Eighteen a...