We got more family photos taken a few weeks ago after Amelia turned six months old. It was one of those sessions that I thought we didn’t get very many good shots — but our photographer is magic, and the photos we got back are some of my most favorite ever!
Photos by Sarah and Rachel Photography at Coxhall Gardens.
I wanted to capture a few photos of Amelia’s nursery — just so we could preserve our memories. It’s a sweet little nursery, and I’ve loved spending so much time in it with our Amelia girl.
When we moved into this house in 2014, we painted the small bedroom next to the master a pale mint green, thinking it was a great gender neutral color for a nursery. When we found out we were having another little girl, I decided to mix in some grays, pinks and even a little black and white to the color scheme. I love how it all turned out, and I think Amelia likes it too!
I love how this room came together — it was so much fun to make it piece by piece. Though she may not remember anything about this room, at least she’ll have these photos that tell the story of her very first room.
On May 15, we dedicated Amelia Rose to the Lord at our church in Indianapolis, College Park. We do not believe in infant baptism, given the fact that we believe baptism should be a choice made once an individual has chosen to follow Jesus. As it is an outward declaration of one’s faith, we believe it can’t be imposed on someone through infant baptism (sidenote: we do not judge anyone for baptizing their baby. The tradition is a sweet one. This is just our personal belief).
So with that, our church/denomination dedicates children to the Lord. This requires parents to present our children to the church and to make a public declaration that we will strive to raise this child so that she knows Jesus and has an opportunity to choose to follow Him all of her days. We do it in front of the church so that our friends there can hold us accountable to the promise we made, but it also implies that they should be personally invested in the outcome of childrens’ faith that attend the church.
We did the same with Charlotte at our church in Chicago, and we were so excited to have this special moment with Amelia too. Both of our parents joined us as well as two of my sisters. Amelia was a sweet, interested girl during her dedication, even listening intently as the pastor prayed at the end of the ceremony. Each child is also given a baton with a message from the church about living for God. For 18 years, the parents hold on to this baton as it is our responsibility to help start and nurture a child’s relationship with the Lord. However, at age 18, we pass the baton to our children — because the responsibility of their relationship with Christ passes to them.
Amelia, we wish so many good things for you — happiness, health and a life without pain and misfortune. But more than all of these things, we pray that you come to know Jesus as your Savior. With Him as the focus of your life, everything else becomes small. We hope that you live for Him and others over yourself. And we pray that you get to experience His saving grace, promises of life and assurances of hope and peace in whatever you face in this life. With Him, anything is possible.
Thanks to my awesome friend, Sarah, for taking these snapshots for us! We can’t wait to share this special day with Amelia as she grows older.
I had two deals going with Amelia. The first was that she wait until December/after Thanksgiving to make her debut. The second was that she wait until I had seen the final Hunger Games movie.
Well, she agreed to one of those — kind of.
Because my due date was two days after Thanksgiving, we asked our families to spend the holiday at our house — two days for the Randolphs and two days for the Knights. Given that, Ryan’s mom, Alison, was at our house the night before Thanksgiving getting food ready for the following day. We decided to take advantage of her free babysitting services to see the Hunger Games.
About 20 minutes into the movie, I started having regular contractions that were pretty strong. After about a half hour, Ryan was timing them at four minutes apart. He asked if I wanted to leave, but I was determined to stick it out until the end of the movie. While part of me thought that I was in labor, another part of me questioned the whole thing given my experience last time.
Once the movie was over, I opted to go home and take a bath. I figured that if this was false labor, the contractions would go away. While they did decrease in frequency and intensity, they picked back up an hour later. So I spent the whole night in labor, waking Ryan up at one point to watch some TV with me and trying to get some sleep in the minutes between each contraction.
The following morning, Thanksgiving, I called my Mom to inform her that I had painful contractions all night; however, I still wasn’t convinced that this was “it.” She told me to call my doctor anyway; and upon calling my doctor, she asked me to come in regardless so that she could know whether or not to go to her family Thanksgiving (p.s. my doctor is very frank, matter-of-fact and doesn’t beat around the bush about anything). We agreed that if I was in the early stages of labor, she would send me back home.
Ryan quickly packed a hospital bag, I grabbed mine and we headed out the door. I still wasn’t convinced that this was real labor. After all, I was able to shower, put makeup on and fix my hair — everything that I was not able to do when laboring with Charlotte.
So we walked into the hospital, straight to triage and found out shortly after that I was dilated to five centimeters, which meant that I was not going home and we were going to have a Thanksgiving baby!
I made it into my labor and delivery room at around 9 a.m., got an epidural shortly after I arrived, upped my epidural again at around noon because the contractions were still pretty intense and started pushing at 1 p.m. When the anesthesiologist upped my epidural, it was pretty strong, and I couldn’t feel a thing — which isn’t ideal once you start pushing.
I couldn’t really feel anything until near the end, at which point the exact same thing that happened with Charlotte happened with Amelia — she was pretty much stuck. The doctor asked if I was ok with doing another episiotomy; and once that happened, Amelia quickly made her way into the world. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and had gone to the bathroom inside of me; and for those reasons, she was whisked away to the NICU doctors before we could hold her. Fortunately, everything checked out fine, and then she was ours to hold!
I thought that giving birth the second time around would be different, knowing what it is to be a Mom now. But it was so surreal again! I didn’t cry or get overly emotional. In fact, it took me a few days to get used to the idea that she was here, and she was ours.
Amelia, we’ve been waiting for you for a while now, and we are SO HAPPY that you’re here and healthy. You were definitely worth the wait. Though it hasn’t even been two weeks since you were born, it already feels like you’ve always been here with us. You’re not just an answer to prayer for us, but a fulfillment of God’s good promises. We can’t wait to love you, raise you and know you. Welcome to the world, beautiful girl!
Dear Amelia Rose,
I had a feeling it was you, and my maternal instinct was right for the second time! It also helped that I have had three dreams about you — as long ago as last August. The dream felt more real than anything, and your Dad and I were holding you in our hospital room. Little did I know how much I would cling to that dream (and that hope) in the harder months that were to follow. I’m so thankful that we found out today that the dream wasn’t what could have been; but rather what will be in just a few short months.
You have played such a huge role in our lives already, requiring us to truly pray for God’s will, lean on His promises and trust in His timing. For that reason, you are so special to both your Dad and me. We are so grateful for how God has used you.
In a few short months, you will be coming into a really great family (if we do say so ourselves). You have an awesome big sister who has been training for this role for the past year and a half. For months, she has been taking care of her “babies,” singing them lullabies, changing their diapers and making sure they’re fed. No doubt you will be in good hands when your big sister, Charlotte, is around.
You also have an amazing Dad, who in my opinion, was designed to be a Dad for little girls. He is so loving, so fun and so gentle. You two will create so many beautiful memories with one another, just as he has done with your sister, Charlotte.
And finally, my love for you knows no words. I know some Moms are “worried” during their second pregnancy about having enough love for two children, but that has never been a concern of mine. My love for you has circled the moon and back before you were even in existence, and I can’t wait to show you through late night feedings, sickly snuggles and good times.
But more than the love that the three of us have for you now is the love your Heavenly Father has for you. We can’t wait to tell you how much Jesus loves you — so much so that He died for you on the cross. And we hope that as we pursue Him, we love you all the more better. You’re a treasure to Him, and we will treasure you all the more by knowing that.
We can’t wait for you to be here, Little Bit! You have already brought us so much joy, and we are eagerly waiting to live life with you!
Love,
Mom, Dad and Charlotte
And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. Matthew 20:22
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14
May He grant your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans! Psalm 20:4
In my 16 week post, it felt like time was flying by, but now that we’ve got our gender reveal appointment to look forward to, time is passing by so slow. Fortunately, we have exactly one week left to wait. In the meantime, we’ve been trying out old wives’ tales once more for a bit of fun.
1. Baby’s Position
I feel like this baby is sitting just like Charlotte was — a little lower. Ryan has even remarked on how low my belly seems. GIRL
However, I also seem to be a bit narrow (again), which would indicate a BOY.
2. Heartbeat
Initially, the heart rate was 171. The past two visits it has been 150 and 147. The old wives’ tale goes that a girl has a heart rate in the 140s, while a boy has a heart rate in the 130s. GIRL
3. Sweets or Salts
I’ve had my share of sweet cravings, specifically gummy bears and Twizzlers. However, most of my cravings have been for salty and sour-ish foods. BOY
4. Calendars
Both the Chinese and Mayans have calendars that supposedly determine whether you’re having a boy or girl. Both of these calendars predict that we’re having a GIRL.
5. Skin
Though I am breaking out a little, it’s not as much as last time. I’ll take that! BOY
6. The Ring test
We did the ring test a few nights ago. When I held the ring over my belly, it swung in a circle, which means it’s a girl. I also had Ryan hold the ring; and when he did it, the ring swayed from side to side, indicating a boy.
I also read that people can subconsciously move the ring to get the result that they want. In that case, our results are interesting. GIRL
7. Sickness
Finally, the last indicator is whether or not you’ve been sick or feeling fine. Just like last time, I was pretty nauseous during my first trimester, and even well into my second trimester, I’m still feeling pretty tired all of the time. But I definitely have had it better than others, which is why I’m going with BOY on this one.
If you check out this post from my pregnancy with Charlotte, you’ll notice the results are almost all the same. So what will Little Bit #2 be? We’ll let you know in a week!
We decided to tell our family a little earlier than we did last time simply because we were seeing them all for my 30th birthday. On my actual birthday, we shared the news with my Mom — asking her if she could keep a secret for a few days (and we know she can — she kept it for WEEKS last time). My Mom’s eyes swelled with tears, and you could tell that she was just SO HAPPY for us. She’s been praying just as diligently for you, Little Bit, as we have this past year.
A few days later, we had a majority of both of our families together in Bloomington for a big birthday dinner. Before dinner arrived at the table, Ryan had everyone group together for a picture. Little did anyone know what was coming…
Get together for a picture…
“Ok everybody, say, “Kathryn’s pregnant!””…
Cue tears, laughs and disbelief.
We FaceTimed and texted those that couldn’t join us that night, which brought even further freak outs (I wish we had been recording Josh and Jess’ FaceTime call). Unfortunately, the families are under strict instruction to keep the secret for about three more weeks. At which point, Ryan says he’s going to shout it to the whole world. He’s one happy Daddio.
We moved to Indianapolis on November 1, and drove right back to Chicago the next day for family photos. We had scheduled these photos six months beforehand, hoping to get some great shots of the family and the city before we moved in the spring of 2014.
…but life just never happens how you plan. Thankfully, my husband didn’t protest at the nonsensicality of this plan. He knew how important family photos in the city were for me before we left for good and just went along with it — and the result was a lot of great photos. Thank you, Amanda Rose Photography!
Hello? Is anyone out there? I’ve been terrible about posting. Between warm weather, more awake time from Charlotte and working, I just don’t have time to make the blog a priority. But I will keep updating when I can — I’m not giving up on this!
Ok, time for a photo/video dump…
While folding laundry one day, I got some of Charlotte’s favorite ways to play on video. She loves playing Peek-a-Boo (and in this case with my running shorts) as well as squealing at the top of her lungs.
Charlotte Plays_1 from Ryan Randolph on Vimeo.
CharlottePlays 2 from Ryan Randolph on Vimeo.
We had Newborn photos taken of Charlotte three weeks after she was born by our wedding photographer. Here are a few of the photos, which we absolutely love and will treasure always.
little bits • the randolph family blog 