Jada already loves music; Daddy's been singing to her since she was in my tummy. He still plays guitar and sings to her now. This is a little jam session from last night. He's such a good daddy.

Today Jada met little David. He's about 2 1/2 weeks older than her. Becky & I had such a great time together today just hanging out talking about our babies. It's so fun to have a friend that's going through the same baby stages at about the same time. David and Jada enjoyed meeting each other too, I'm sure. What a cute little couple they make!

I had to post this picture, one; because it is hilarious and two; because I'm pretty sure this is how Jada feels about 90% of the time that she is awake. If she's not freaking out about passing a little gas, as pictured to the left, she's feeding and passing gas at the same time, which is impressive on many levels. 9 days old and already multi-tasking, thats my girl!

You might be thinking why are Amber and Gabe posting at 11:40 pm, well it's because of the picture you see with this post. I now have a new enemy. GAS of the methane type. Good night and God Bless. 

Today was Jada's due date. I can't believe she's been in our lives for 9 days already. Well, physically out in the world with us; she's been in our lives for a while. Time is already flying by. We've loved having visitors and Jada has loved meeting everyone. She is letting me sleep from 1am to 5am pretty regularly then I get in a couple hours before and after that- it's really not too bad. She can breathe much easier now that her nose is clearing up. I love the sound of a peaceful, sleeping baby- cute little breaths and little baby sighs.

Gabe's parents just left today; it was so special for them to meet their new granddaughter. She's the first grandchild on both sides of the family! My family will be up again in a few days & we'll be able to have a late Christmas with them too.






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What I'm Thankful For:

A beautiful, peaceful, sleeping baby.
My awesome in-laws that allowed me to take a wonderful 2 hour nap today.
Ron for cleaning up dog poop in the backyard (seriously SO appreciated). Wow.
The great conversation I had with Becky today about our new little babies.
God's amazing creation of the human body that heals itself so well.
My incredibly patient, loving, caring husband who has been selflessly cleaning and cooking for me.
Coffee...oh how I've missed coffee over the past 9 months.
Being able to walk without my hips and legs hurting.
Going pee as frequently as a normal person instead of constantly feeling like I have to go.
My amazingly supportive friends and family who send me e-mails and call me to tell me that they care and ask if they can help.
Our Homegroup from church who showered us with love and gifts.
Dinners from church.
My little miracle... Jada Faith Carter. I am so blessed.

We love you guys so much and really appreciate all that you're doing for us. Thank you so much.

The Carter Grandparents made it up to Portland today to visit their new granddaughter. They were absolutely taken aback, I don't blame them as our daughter is so beautiful. I snapped a couple of shots with Jada and Papa Ron just hangin' out.





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Well, Jada had her first well baby visit today with Dr. Knapp. She did really well until the earlight was inserted in her ear. It didn't help that she was hungry and wanted to nurse as well.

P.S. Amber was excited to finally leave the house today.



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Jada is already growing so fast. We are enjoying every second with her. We have recently discovered that she sleeps much, much better in a semi-upright position sitting in her carseat as opposed to flat on her back in the bassinett (Thanks Mom for the tip!) Her tummy can digest her food much easier and she keeps down her food, which makes Mommy worry less when she spits up.

She has dimples on both cheeks when she smiles. Her ears wiggle up and down when she smiles too, which is amazing to me (I've never been able to wiggle my ears, but Gabe can do it). She has Daddy's olive Italian skin tone and Mommy's chipmunk cheeks and dimples.

She's not a fan of getting her diaper changed, but she's getting a little more used to it & doesn't put up as much of a fight. She loves cuddling on Mommy and Daddy and is still a good eater. We are so in love with our baby. I can't believe we're parents; what a blessing.

Today is Daddy's 27th birthday! Last night, he styled Jada's hair like his (spiked in the front). Silly Daddy! We love you and Happy Birthday!


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Jada loves being swaddled when she sleeps, however, she's so strong that sometimes her hands make their way out. She usually wakes herself up this way, but this morning when I looked over at her, she was happy with her escape and posed like such a girl :-). How can you not fall in love with such a sweet girl?




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Jada is as sweet as ever. We've been able to sleep quite a bit and she hasn't been fussy at all. She's taking a little nap on Dad right now but she'll be up and alert shortly.



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Just wanted everyone to know that we made it home safely. It feels great to be home. On the journey through the 18 inch high snow, we saw two stalled buses in the middle of the road, one stalled truck, cars not making it all the way up hills, and cars parked on the side of the road that had snow up past their tires. We only live 3 1/2 miles from the hospital! I sat in the back seat next to Jada and held her little head in place while we drove over fairly large bumps of snow. Gabe did a fantastic job driving home in the yucky conditions.

Well we are heading out of the hospital here in a few minutes to brave the elements. We do have chains and a 4 wheel drive vehicle, so we should be good.



We hope to see our friends and family soon; and I know that Jada is excited to meet everyone. Just look at her face.






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Jada is definately a heart breaker.








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Today was a great day and everything couldn't be better. Jada is feeding really well and she had her first 2 diaper changes (Dad was relieved that the nurses handled these). Grandma & Grandpa Chapin along with the rest of the Chapin & Thompson gang, visited us for a few hours today which was awesome, and of course Jada loved being held by everyone.

Mom has just finished eating dinner and is taking as nap while Jada sleeps, so I thought I would shoot some video of our baby girl sleeping.

On a side note, while I've been waiting for the video to upload I was thinking about Jada's name. We picked Jada because it is Hebrew for "wise" or "wisdom" and paired that together with Faith. But when you think about all three names put togther Jada Faith Carter it translates to a Wise Faithful Cart-Pusher. Just a funny thought I guess.

Enjoy!

Jada is looking beautiful as ever. Her skin tone is perfectly pink. She let us sleep for a good 5 hours last night (not straight, but we still appreciate the sleep...Mommy's pretty tired after yesterday). She can pick her head up and roll to the side when swaddled. She's a strong girl. She loves being held and cuddled very close. She responds really well to laying on her side with soft "shh" sounds while being rocked a little side to side when she gets upset.

She's nursing well which makes Mommy proud and very happy. She spits up every once in a while because her tummy is getting used to processing food. She had her first diaper changed this morning at 8:40 - potty and poop, so her digestive system is working great.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers. We'll continue to keep you posted.

Say hello to the newest addition to the Carter family...Jada Faith Carter

Jada Faith Carter was born at 9:13 pm, Saturday December 20,2008. She is a stout 8 lbs 3.8 oz and 19 inches long. She has beautiful brown hair under her pink hat. Both mom and baby are doing great.

Hi there friends and family,

Amber is doing aweseome. The doctor broke her water at 11:40 and she was given the epidural at 12:30. When her water was broken, the contractions were really rough for Amber but she did great. All that UFC cage fight training is paying off as she is now tough as nails. We are now just waiting for her dialate to 10cm and for when Jada decides she wants to meet us in person.

Thanks again for all your prayers as we are having an amazing experience. The Lord's hand has really been at work throughout this whole pregnancy.

"The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed." - Deut. 31:8

So, we made it through the "Artic Blast" on our way to the hospital. I'm thankful that the roads were pretty empty.


Here is our wonderful few of the parking lot.


Our suite is actually pretty nice...much bigger than I had imagined.


Amber is pretty happy now that she is laying down. The contractions were getting pretty tough, making it difficult to stand. She is doing so awesome! The Lord's hand has been in this entire pregnancy, Im so very thankful for His lovingkindness and grace.. It's amazing knowing that we can rest in Him and that this will workout for good.


Thanks for all the prayers.

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Gabe & I can't wait for this upcoming Monday (12/22)...Induction Monday :-). I can't believe that we get to meet our daughter in only 5 days. Maybe it will be even sooner if she decides to make her entrance before then! These past months have just flown by and we've been so blessed to be able to experience such a miracle take place . Here are some pictures of us as we prepare for Christmas and for our baby girl.